Vanderburgh County, Indiana - Biographical sketches, 1897 (part 2 of 5)

Rev. Willkini Gavitt was a Methodist minister and died at Granville, Ohio, in 1837. Rev. Gavitt seems to have gone from Virginia to Ohio. His son, John Gavitt, was born in 1788. He married Miss Alice Smith on July 13, 1815. She was born at Fairfax Courthouse,

Culpepper county, Virginia, in 1793, and died in tliis city in August, 1867. They removed from Virginia to Ohio, and then to Louisville, Kentucky. In the short stay there John Gavitt died, February 28, 1832. To them seven children were born. William was born January 21, 1824; John Smith was born March 18, 1826; Miriam married Dr. Isaac Hutchinson and both' are now dead. Alice married Captain Joel F. Sherwood, January, 1847, and she is now living here, aged 69 years. Atlanta died at Madison, Indiana, April 27, 1816. Arillio also died there July 6, 1819. Hannah died at Little Eock, Arkansas. She was married to David Swing, August, 1839.

After the death of the father Mrs. Gavitt took her family to Madison, Indiana, and again changing her habitation came to Evansviile in 1840. She was long known here as "grandmother" Gavitt, and died here where her children had grown up, and where she had raised her grandchildren, Smith Gavitt's orphan boys, John, William and Joe, in August, 1867. It may be said that Mrs. Alice Gavitt felt the hard lines of life in common with all pioneers, and particularly the difficulties that widows ex^^erience in rearing a large family in a respectable manner. She was a good Christian mother, and loved her family, and they were devoted to her.

William married Miss Nancy Burns on April 18, 1846, and she died in November, 1846. William was a dashing, fearless young man, and he joined Captain Walkers' company and set out for the Mexican frontier. He was under command of General Joseph Lane, and knew him intimately before he became a soldier in his command. During this service William lost his lite in a singular manner. News traveled with a snail's pace in those days, and it was some time before the fact was known to his family, and the particulars of his death are very meagre. It seems that he and a comrade named Walden, the son of a widow who lived in Cincinnati, were detailed to capture and return two deserters. They succeeded in capturing them, and were returning to the post with their prisoners. While encamped in the woods.Walden, whose duty it was to stand guard while Gavitt rested in sleep, also fell asleep. The prisoners, seeing their opportunity, fell upon the two sleeping men and killed them. This tragedy was enacted about October 15, 1848, near Sonora, Mexico. The best evidences now point to this place as the spot of the horrible fatality. As soon as John Smith Gavitt heard the shocking news of his brother's awful death, he quickly packed his grip and without a word to any one, except to his family to tell them not to mourn for him, as the world was too small to hold him and the murderer of his brother, he left. For two years not a word wa.s heard of him. It is known that he pursued the object of his search through every difficulty, neglected no opportunity to find him, even cut down trees to cross streams that he could not swim and kept his ceaseless purpose in view day and night. At last he returned almost as unexpectedly as he had gone away. All he ever revealed of his tireless search for vengeance was that "he was satisfied." It was learned, however, in a half traditional way that he killed the man in a ten pace duel somewhere in California.

John Smith Gavitt was born at Madison, Indiana. For a longtime he was marshal of this city. He was also sheriff of Vanderburgh county, and a faithful administrator of the law, and a terror to evil doers. They both respected and feared him. When the civil war broke over the land with a palsying shock and made all patriotic hearts beat with excited rapidity, he was quick to answer the call to arms. In an eloquent and stirring appeal to his friends to unite with him in defense of his beloved country, he sounded a note of no uncertain character. His stirring words had a powerful influence in those doubtful times and undecided moments, and caused a tide to set in for the defense of the Union. He was major of the 1st Indiana cavalry under Colonel Conrad Baker. At Frederickstown, Missouri, while leading a gallant charge against Brigadier-GeneralJeff Thompson's forces he fell, pierced by five bullets. His death occurred on October 21, 1861. It was said that he was utterly without fear, and fought with the coolness of one who reckoned it sweet to die for his country. He fell fighting to the last. His body was brought to this city and interred. As a tribute to him the people assembled in one of the largest corteges ever witnessed here. His valiant, triumphant death fired the hearts of the people of Indiana. He was Evansville's famous and favorite character, and his funeral was a historic event in this portion of the state. It cast over all a gloom, and they seemed to go into mourning. He always had a large place in the hearts of his countrymen, and even at this writing his name is cherished and his fame is a proud memento of Indianians. In a word, it is a part of national history. He was among the bravest in the history of this country, and long hence his bravery and good character will be mentioned with grateful pride. It is hoped that at an early date the general government will erect a monument to his memory here in this city. This would be a fitting tribute to him by a generous nation, and is certainly due his record. The government owes it to him for his services so willingly and readily given, and for the great sacrifice he made on his country's altar. In truth, the yielding up of one's life is the grandest sacrifice that can be made. He lives in the hearts of the people, and a monument would be a just recognition of his supreme services. The Gavitt tamily have made sacrifices for their country which the government has been tardy to recognize and reward. They are history makers. Every one who enjoys the blessings of this country to-day owes something to the memory of this patriotic family.

He was popular with all classes, and his frankness, open heartedness and generosity were common remarks. Ot a kind disposition, quick to read human nature, and correct in his conclusions, he was a man who would unhesitatingly lay down his life for his friends. No one ever approached him for aid and went away empty-handed. His generosity, indeed, knew no bounds. His heart was as brave as a lion's and gentle as a woman's. Both the rich and the poor loved him. He was always ready to do whatever circumstances might demand.

General U. S. Grant, in a letter to Colonel J. B. Plummer, under date of October 27, 1861, states : "But little doubt can be entertained of the success of our arms, when not opposed by very superior numbers, and in the action of Frederickstown they have given proof of courage and determination which shows that they would undergo any fatigue or hardship to meet our rebellious brethren, even at great odds. The friends and relatives of those who fell can congratulate themselves in the midst of their affliction, that they fell in maintaining the cause of constitutional freedom and the integrity of a flag erected in the first instance at a sacrifice of many of the noblest lives that ever graced a nation." (History of the Rebellion, vol. 3, page 209, issued by the war department.)

General J. B. Plummer, in his report under date of October 31, 1861, in speaking of Major Gavitt's death, says: "It was there that fell one of Indiana's noblest and bravest sons." (History of the Rebellion, vol. 3.)

Colonel Conrad Baker, in his report dated October 22, 1861, says: "The death of Major Gavitt cannot be too deeply regretted, but it is consoling to know that he fell in the front of the battle gallantly defending the flag of his country."

John Smith Gavitt was married to Frances A. Lamphere, in Grayville, Illinois, July 2, 1850. This estimable wife and mother was of French descent, and she died March 14, 1859. Out of this union was born three children - John Smith, (nicknamed "Mitch,") on June 12, 1851, now living in St. Louis; William, on June 19, 1855, now re-

William Gavitt was partly educated in the public schools and St. John's school of this city, and partly in college at Teutopolis, Illinois, and was a student at Notre Dame, Indiana, and afterward electrician at that celebrated institution of learning. When a mere boy he was upon the western plains, during the Black Hills gold excitement, as one of the advance telegraph operators. In 1887 he was appointed special agent for the United States treasury department, in charge of St. George Island, Behring Sea, one of the seal islands. He was complimented by the United States senate in reports read before them and by Hon. C. S. Fairchild, his superior officer, then secretary of the treasury. Mr. Gavitt's efforts in behalf of the oppressed natives of Alaska have been well known and have been properly complimented. He will do his duty as he finds it, regardless of consequences. He was arbitrator in the great railroad strikes here, when capital and labor were in anger arrayed against each other. In brief, these sort of differences, because of his high sense of fitness and justice, were usually referred to him, and he did the public much good by his wise decisions and timely services. He was a citizen who was well known.

It is a characteristic of the Gavitt family that they never forget their friends or their enemies. True to trust, they would scorn anything dishonorable. They love their noble country and its glorious flag, and its grand institutions. When right, they will go the end. Unfaltering in purpose, unswerving in principle, always striving to be right, one who aims, in the old Latin adage, "esse quam videri," William Gavitt is one whose acquaintance and friendship are privileges to be desired.

Dr. Pennington was born in 1806 in Mecklenburg county Virginia, and came to Indiana in 1818. The author first became acquainted with him in 1837. The doctor was at that time living in Princeton, Indiana, and had an extensive practice at that place. He also practiced at Evansville and often made trips down here to .see his patients. He had many friends and the more they knew him the greater was their admiration for him. He was very genial and we talked about old Virginia life whenever we met. Dr. Pennington was a specimen of man in statue, was about six feet and one inch in height and finely i)roportioned, and was also a born orator, his speeches being eloquent and intelligent. He bore a striking resemblance to General Scott, and everybody who had known or seen the general in Virginia noticed the likeness. The doctor said that he and the general were raised in the same part of the country and had often met.

The author spent the summer of 1836 in Richmond, where he saw General Scott at the Fourth of July celebration. The general headed the great military procession on horseback, and was the center of attraction to all the people. He was a fine specimen of an officer.

As Doctor Pennington bore a facial resemblance to General Scott, so he resembled him in character. He was a brave, just, generous and sympathetic man. His character was replete with all that is admirable in human kind. He married Miss Elizabeth Ann Snethen, of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1831, and settled at Princeton, Indiana. Their family consisted of three sons and four daughters : Nicholas S., Walter B. and Charles C. Pennington, and Miss Susan M. H., Miss Belle D., Mrs. B. L. Groves (deceased) and Mrs. R. J. Harp.

Dr. Pennington came to Evansville in 1855. His career was one of great activity and application, conducting a large and successful medical practice. During the civil war he was surgeon of the first general hospital, for sick and wounded soldiers, established by the United States government at Evansville. He departed this life in 1891, his beloved wife having preceded him five years. He was a noble man and mourned bv all who knew him.

The Hopkins Family

The Hopkins race came orginally from England. Edward Hopkins, the pioneer in Evansville, lived at Truxton, New York. He and his brother Stephen eventually settled in the neighborhood of Evansville, when it was a pioneer village. In those early days farming was the chief occupation of the settlers, however, Edward, who with his family located in Evansville in 1819, was a merchant trader.

His son, John S. Hopkins, was born in Truxton, New York, on the 28th day of October, 1811, so that he was only eight years old when his father settled in Evansville. Early in life he started in commercial affairs, and all along in the history of the town he has been one of the leading, public-spirited citizens, prominently identified with its material growth from its very founding to the day of his death. His schooling was secured in the imperfect schools of his early day, and it was not such as the young people of to-day obtain. But he was a man of superior intellect, and the experience of a busy life were all valuable lessons, developing in him a vivid and clear conception of men and affairs and fixing his great force of character. His course towards all men was praiseworthy and gained him the esteem of his friends and acquaintances. For many years he was actively engaged in mercantile pursuits, and amassed a considerable fortune in that business. A mind ever ready to receive imformation from whatsoever source and open to every form of human activity and experience, he gained a wide practical knowledge of all that pertained to the general welfare of his fellowmen. Add to this his strong convictions of right and his courage to defend them, he was natually placed in positions of trust and honor.

He was elected city collector in 1837. Three years later he became a member of the city council. Following this he was placed upon the municipal board. These were gradation steps to the higher position of mayor of Evansville, to which place he was elected in April, 1853, his term of office lasting for three years. In the times that tried men's souls - in 1861 - he was in the Indiana legislature, and again in the same place in 1 879. His record was honorable there and open as a book. He retired from the business of merchandising with a competence, but still his business career was not closed. On the organization of the First National bank he was chosen its president, in which position he was retained until January, 1879. Even before this, it needs to be said, he was president of the old Canal bank. Great ability characterizes his thirty-three years' administration as president of the Evansville, Cairo and Memphis packet company, and in the last year of his life, when he had retired from nearly all busi- *ness affairs, he served as director of several corporations. In many of the great enterprises of this city he was one of the first promoters, and he was director of the Evansville & Terre Haute railroad almost from its inception. When the sands of life had nearly run out for him he forgot not his Creator, whom he had remembered in the days of his youth. He closed his earthly pilgrimage on July 6, 1882.

In regard to his character it may be said that he never forgot a triend, and always extended a liberal hand to the needy and the institutions around him that were designed for the betterment of mankind. He was jealous of the right and strict in the performance of his obligations to others. He neglected no duty and he rewarded every benefit rendered to him. He was an honest man and a benevolent citizen, and his place was never filled.

He was married December 9, 1834, to Mary Ann Parrett, daughter of Rev. Robert Parrett, the founder of Methodism in Evansvilie. To them were born : Frank Hopkins, Mrs. Alexander H. Foster, John S. Hopkins, Mrs. Edward Twombler, Robert P. Hopkins, Jr., Mrs. Frank P. Byrnes and Edward O. Hopkins. The three sisters that survived him were Mi'S. Charles Viele, Mrs. Charles Babcock and Mrs. Eliza Wheeler.

The Parrett Family

As heretofore noted Mary Ann Parrett was the wife of John S. Hopkins, and the mother of the present descendants bearing the Hopkins patronymic. To recount briefly the Parrett family, as it related to the Hopkins lineage, is the purpose here now.

Rev. Robert Parrett was of English parentage, and he himself was born in England February 14, 1791. He was properly educated for a curacy, and later a benefice in the church of England, but his liberal trend of mind carried him to the doctrines of John Wesley. With his family he emigrated to the United States about 1816, and began a more active promulgation of his views and convictions. In 1819 he located in Posey county, and settled to the task of a pioneer farmer for the livelihood of his family, at the same time engaging in the work of founding Methodism in this part of the state. Rev. Joseph Wheeler and his brother Rev. Richard Wheeler, both educated men, united with Rev. Robert Parrett and Rev. John Schrader in carrying the word of God into the newly established village of Evansvilie. Rev. John Schrader, a man of great enthusiasm and vast learning, a power in the pulpit, whose eloquence was almost resistless, on Saturday, December 12, 1819, in Hugh McGai-y's double-log warehouse, preached the first Methodist sermon ever delivered in Evansvilie. To attend this enthusiastic service Joseph Wheeler walked in from " Blue Grass " and heard Rev. Schrader. Rev. Parrett also attended the service. At this meeting it was arranged that Rev. Robert Parrett and the two Wheeler brothers should preach at this new point added to the Patoka circuit, so that there would be service every two weeks. In 1825 Rev. Parrett located permanently in Evansvilie, and never again lived elsewhere. On Sunday, May 19, 1825, Mr. Parrett organized a class here, the first, consisting of Mr. Parrett ami his wife, Martha Parrett, Edward Hopkins and his wife Mary Hopkins, Jane Lewis, Abraham P. Hutchinson, Arthur Mc- Johnson and his wife Mary McJohnson, Hannah Robinson, Jane

Warner and Mrs. Seaman. When the first church was completed in 1839, it was well-known that Mr. Parrett had done a liberal part indeed. His farm, lying in what is now the southeastern part of the city, supplied the brick which Mr. Parrett had burnt ior that purpose on his farm. In this church he labored until the close of his useful life. He was a man of unction, a master worker for good always, and had an unfaltering faith in God and his eternal justice. His rare intellectual powers, his close reasoning, his wonderful judgment, his constructive talent, made him a man of power as well as of distinction. In civil matters he was a man of wide reading and great comprehension, as his speech, in 1827, on Adams and Jefferson, demonstrated. His long-time friend, Rev. Joseph Wheeler, was born near Oxford, England, in 1778. He was a man of great sweep of intellect, finely educated, and a nobleman in the cause of Christ. Rev. Parrett died January 29, 1860. About four years after his death Rev. Wheeler closed his earthly career and passed to his reward.

The children of Rev. Robert Parrett were : Sons - Rev. John W., Richard Watson, Robert Bond, William F., John De La Fletcher and Joseph Parrett. Daughters - Mary Ann, wife of John S. Hopkins ; Sarah, wife of Rev. Reed ; Martha, wife of Rufus Roberts ; Jane, wife of Alvah Johnson, and Eva, wife of Union Bethell.

Watkins F. Nisbet

The man who was to achieve distinction in many ways in Evansville traces his ancestry back through a line of active men, who settled in Kentucky from the Carolinas. The father of Watkins F. Nisbet was of Scotch-Irish descent, and possessed all the excellent traits and unyielding energies and splendid mental powers of that enterprising class of people. He settled in Kentucky in an early day - indeed, was one of the pioneers. Being skilled in the science of surveying, he helped survey and lay out the larger part of Hopkins county. He secured a farm and devoted his energies to the cultivation of the soil. The subject of this biography was born in Madisonville, Hopkins county, Ky., November 27, 1825, and reared upon a farm. There he learned the broad precepts that nature teaches and builded up that fine energy which in mature life carried him successfully through every business enterprise he undertook.

left the farm and started upon a new career. It seems that this career was not a dream, but a pi-actical ambition, coupled with a strong resolution to succeed. From the farm Mr. Nisbet went to Madisonville, the county-seat of the county in which he had lived all his life, and engaged in the general merchandise business, about 1845. He remained in this business until the gold fever caught him in 1849. He, with four others, went to California to seek their fortunes in that great western state, which the "Pathfinder" had previously captured from Mexico for the United States. They arrived at San Francisco when it was only a village of a few dugouts and plain, low frame buildings - a real backwoods town. Without needless delay they went into the mining districts, and for one year dug gold from the mountains and the placers. Mr. Nisbet being a man of correct habits of life and always exercising his splendid sense of economy, met with fairly good success. But his partners dreamed of the ease at home, found the lile which Bret Harte describes in his " Luck of Roaring Camp " distasteful, and decided to return to the " states." Mr. ISfisbet, of course, did not wish to be left alone in those tremendous wilds, and concluded to return with them. In those days the pathway home was a long one, far around. Many journeyed the perilous way there overland across the alkali desert, but the usual way home was either down the coast and across the Isthmus of Tehauntepec in Nicaragua, or far around the point called Cape Horn. Vessels from Boston and the east carried cargoes there, which were disposed of along the western coast, and returning, brought back passengers. Often these vessels were old unseaworthy craft, and it was Mr. Nisbet's ill luck to take passage home in one of that kind. The voyage was a hard and perilous one of several months' duration. On the way they encountered several storms, and suffered many hardships on account of the prolongation of the journey. Their drinking water finally gave out, and their food supply was exhausted. Then the tortures of hunger and thirst obliged the passengers to pay almost any price for the seep water obtained from the ship's hold. This was sold at so much a glass, just as drinks are sold to-day over the bar. After a desperate struggle with wind and wave, and battling for life against starvation and death, they finally landed at British Honduras. They made an overland trip to the Gulf of Mexico, crossed the gulf and then came up the Mississippi river. After arriving at home, Mr. Nisbet again entered the business he had first begun. That same business energy that always characterized him now brought him an enlarged trade and better returns, if possible, than ever before.- He made his purchases for this Madison- ville store principally in Philadelphia. There he made a trip every year. It was a long and tedious journey. He went first to Henderson, thence up the Ohio river to Pittsburgh and took stage over the Allegheny mountains to the City of Brotherly Love. It was a long, wearysome journey then. Having purchased a year's supply, or stock of goods, he returned home over the same route he had gone. His freight, or goods, followed him in the same slow, tedious way.

After pursuing this line of business for several years in a successful manner, he enlarged the field of his labors. In the midst of a vast tobacco region, he saw that he could deal in tobacco in connection with his other business, and by that means enhance his net proceeds at the end of the year. With persistent energy, surmounting every obstacle, he turned everything to good account, and up to the opening of the mighty civil conflict between the north and the south, he had accumulated quite a little sum of money out of the mercantile and tobacco business united. With the sound of arms and the tramp of armies over the land, he observed that his sympathies for and with the Union were not in general harmony with that of his friends and neighbors. As the war progressed and its bitterness increased and the red blood of human veins dyed the soil a scarlet hue, his Union sentiments made his situation uncomfortable to a certain degree. He looked upon his growing family with a kind father's solicitude and desire for the welfare of each one, and feeling the necessity of better educational advantages for them, induced him to move to Evansville, in 1863. As far as is known, he never denied the fact that his Union sentiments had something to do with his change of location at that time.

And now as a citizen of Evansville, having previously carefully and fully considered his course, he engaged in the dry goods business. His unflagging application and masterful energies applied to business always brought him success. He never undertook anything without having first fully matured all its plans and considered it in its every detail, and consequently he never encountered failure or even a stagnant condition of trade. After several years of prosperous wholesale mercantile business, he bought out his partner's interests and joined in partnership with D. J. Mackey, under the firm name of Mackey, Nisbet & Co. Still continuing in this vast and increasing business they also engaged in buying cotton and tobacco in large quantities and shipping their purchase to New York and Liverpool. He was the first man in Evansville to go up the Tennessee river at the close of the war and buy cotton for the general market. He thus opened up a new and profitable market to the cotton growers along the river, and brought prosperity to their doors. It was like a blessing to those poor, warravaged people, from whose ears the terrible boom of cannon and the sound of the tramp of devasting armies had scarcely died out. After several years of activity in the tobacco and cotton business, the firm at length decided to discontinue further purchase of these articles of commerce and devote its entire time to the wholesale dry goods business. They possessed large interests in the cotton mill, and turned their attention now to its operation on a broader and more successful scale.

A man of such untiring energy and resistless force, as Mr. Nisbet was, could not be restrained to a single line of activity, nor be contented with a partial exercise of his business qualifications. So as might be inferred, or perhaps expected, he found exercise for his ceaseless activity in being at the head of other large public enterprises, or in counseling and lending liberal pecuniary support to social and moral movements. It was natural to find him in the van. He was a successful general in business and in social reforms. As an evidence or illustration of this truth, it may be mentioned that he was the first president of the Evansville, Eockport and Eastern Railroad. He was also president of the Evansville, Paducah and Cairo Packet Company, and a director in the Louisville and Evansville Mail Company.

His high moral ideas were not simply exercised on Sunday in church but as well in his affairs every day of his life. He was an elder in the First Cumberland Presbyterian church of this city, and always took great and unfaltering interest in its affairs, both spiritual and material. He was one of the largest contributors to the fund that built the large, beautiful edifice on the corner of Second and Chestnut streets. His moral activity was no less than his commercial energy; for he was a member of the board of publication, and one of the founders of the board of ministerial relief. This latter is one of the best, greatest, and noblest of its kind in the country. He was one of the trustees of Evans Hall, in the erection of which he took a prominent part. It would require more space than is here to be disposed of in that manner to recount his many private deeds of charity, or relate the many movements for the general good in which he concerned himself.

Mr. W. F. Nisbet and Miss Sarah F. Arnold were married A^ovember 23, 1852, by Rev. Mr. Bone, a Cumberland Presbyterian minister in Madisonville, Ky. She was a sweet and lovable lady, a true helpmeet all through his life, faithful in every family duty, watchful of her family's happiness, self-sacrificing for their happiness, and devoted to every good cause and work. With such a true companion life was a joy instead of a burden, a sumnaer day instead of a winter night, a glory instead of a meaningless span of days. To them were born ten children, whose names are : David A., Sarah A. (Mrs. Grammar), Samuel B., Edward A., Watkins F. (deceased), Jennie, (Mrs. Zarecor), Robert K., Fannie, (Mrs. Holeman), and her twin brother Frank W. and Gus T.

Mr. Nisbet was a man of extraordinary business energy. His faculty was more to move business masses, which is to say, move large commercial transactions and set them in motion, than to dwell upon minor affairs. And still no man had a clearer knowledge of the minutia of business or was more perfect in its details. His ability to handle large masses of business did not interfere with his watchful oversight of the minor matters of affairs. He was a man who could and did, superintend a wonderful volume of trade, and at the same time order its smallest detail. Exhaustless, tireless in business capacity, he never flinched from any duty. It was one of his marked traits to be able quickly to concentrate his qualifications on business. His judgment about the result of a movement in a commercial enterprise was unerring. It is not coarse praise to apply the flattering term of "merchant prince" to him; for he was indeed that.

Mr. Nisbet was a man of very reserved nature, particularly when it came to publicity regarding his own life or his family affairs - a very commendable and happy quality. He was always averse to publishing anything about himself, and he shrank from print just as one would from a touch with something displeasing and distressing. To his family, no man was more considerate and kind than he.

His death, a truly business calamity, occurred July 7, 1886. His wife survived him eight years. She passed to the beyond December 29, 1894. In a word, she was a noble woman, connecting herself prominently with every good thing in the city, and looking after the poor in a substantial way. Many a load of coal, or a sack of flour, or piece of beef found its way to the home of the discouraged poor that no one knew of bufherself. Her deep christian convictions led her into active help of the needy. Her contributions to worthy enterprises were liberal, and .she was actuated by the sublime christian doctrine of not letting her right hand know what her left hand did.

Samuel M. Archer

of a sturdy, quiet race of people, who early settled in South Carolina. Thomas Archer, the father of the subject of this sketch, emigrated from his adopted state and came to Indiana territory in 1808, settling in what is now Gibson county upon a farm. He took an active part in the public interests of that county. He was in the battle of Tippecanoe under General Harrison. His death occurred in 1840, his wife having died in 1836.

Samuel M. Ai'cher was born in Gibson county on the 24th of February, 1809. He was the fourth son, the last of a family of nine children to pay the debt of nature. In those pioneer times, when a man was obliged to clear his laud and raise his crops amid the fear of Indian forays, the opportunities of a boy for education were few. The boyhood of Samuel- M. Archer was not different from boys of his day and locality. His early life was upon the farm and not in harmony with his tastes, and when only eighteen years old he left the farm and began the career of a business man. He took a position as clerk in tiie general mercantile store of Robert Stockwell, in Princeton, Ind., in 1827. His industry, economy and business tact won him admission to the concern as partner. His enterprise and foresight in time made him sole possessor of the business. For twenty years he continued in business in this county seat. He was a merchant of the old school, and like his old and highly respected partner, Mr. Stockwell, he commanded the trade and respect of the community and surrounding country.

Feeling the need of a larger field of business, he came to Evansville in 1855. He embarked in the wholesale and retail dry goods business, taking Mr. D. J. Mackey, then a young man clerking for Mr. Eobert Barnes, a merchant, in with him as partner. They established a successful and thriving business, which extended into Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee. Theire was the leading business house in the city in establishing a trade in the southern states. Mr. Archer retired from the firm in 1864. This closed his mercantile career, which was successful from the first to the end.

In 1867 Mr. Archer undertook the combined business of banking and insurance, with John D Roche as partner. In 1870 Mr. Roche died, and then Mr. Archer sold the insurance 'business and pursued that of the bank with undivided energies and attention. He was a most careful financier in his investments, and honest and honorable in all his methods. Up to the time of his death he had been a director and stockholder in the Evansville (now the Old) National bank. For twenty years he sustained this relation with this bank. He was also a

Mr. Archer married in 1854 Miss Mary E. Snethen, a refined lady, whose native state was Maryland. They had three children : Annie, Lucy and Dr. Charles S. Archer, distinguished by their high accomplishments. Mr. Archer was a devoted member of Grace Presbyterian church, and one of its officers for many years. He j^assed to his eternal reward November 9, 1890.

Colonel John F. Grill

Colonel John F, Grill was born iu Offenbach, Bavaria, Germany, September 11, 1821. He was engaged iu the revolution of 1848 against the king, and his valiant conduct and military genius elevated him to the rank of captain. On the success of the crown and the overthrow of the revolutionists, he came to America, the land of the free. He stopped a few months in Baltimore, and then came on direct to Evansviile, arriving here in 1852. In his native country he had pursued the trade of a tanner, and had prospered. In this land of his adoption he bought the Stephens tannery in Stringtown, and pushed it to success. In 1854 he returned to Germany, and brought back to America his family, consisting of his wife and three children. He sold his tannery in 1859. During the mayoralty of William Baker, in 1860, when the spirit of rebellion was lifting up its head in the southern states, he organized a company of Turners and became its captain, a place he filled with skill, due largely to his past military experience in Germany. This company guarded the powder-houses of the city from the rebellious brethren in the south. In 1861 he enlisted as captain of company K, 24th Indiana volunteer infantry, in which regiment he .served out the term of his eulistment, three years. On his return home he organized the 143d Indiana regiment, and served as its colonel till the close of the war, acting as general of a brigade.

For meritorious conduct he was promoted to the lieutenaut colonelcy of the first regiment in which he served. He was a brave man, and his heroism on the battle-field was such as to excite compliment from his superior officers. Some of the principal battles in which he was engaged were : Shiloh, Champion Hill. Vicksburg, Grand Prairie, Fort Gibson, Jackson, Blackwater, Mobile and Fort Blakely. His military career closed by being honorably mustered out of the service October 15, 1865. In the course of his military duties he was' brought into close relationship with General Grant, General Lew Wallace, General Alvin P. Hovey and other distinguished generals, and everywhere he won the confidence and respect of his superiors and the unswerving loyalty of those whom he outranked. His military record was without a flaw or a reproach. Such confidence did the men of his regiment have in him that they were willing to follow wherever he led.

On the close of the war he returned to his home in this city and engaged in the pursuit of merchandising, a business he followed for many years with such success as to bring him a fair competency. Naturally he was an ardent republican and a great champion of freedom and American institutions. He loved America for her freedom, and his loyalty amounted to enthusiasm. He was a leader in his political party and an advisor in its councils. He was elected trustee of Pigeon township in 1870, and re-elected in 1872, closing his second term of ofhce in 1875. None were his superior as a citizen, and his fellow-citizens recognized in him a good officer. He was a Christian gentleman, belonging to St. John's Presbyterian church. He was a member of the Harugari lodge.

Colonel Grill was married to Marguerite Kloninger. in his native land, in 1845. To them were born six children, all residents of this city, as follows: Edward, Philip F., John F., Minnie, Amelia (Mrs. F. J. Scholz), and Elise. The brothers are wholesale dealers and manufacturers of cigars, in this city. Colonel Grill died of congestion of the brain on April 6, 1880. It was the anniversary of the battle of Shiloh. His widow died April 13, 1886.

He was a very sociable gentleman, complaisant and easy of approach. His warm nature and generous impulses often led him to render kind acts and deeds of charity to the needful, and he did not let his left hand know what his right hand did. In his family, his supreme place on earth, he was kind and devoted, and they all loved liim in return. He easily won the esteem of his fellow-men in business, and he rarely ever made an enemy on his own account. His friendship was abiding and true, and his friends were always sure of his support when they needed it. He was possessed of fine business qualities, and chief among these was his executive ability. For him to conceive of a thing, was almost tantamount to his performance of the same; that is to say, to think was to act. His superior intellectual strength was manifest by his great activity, as well as by the ease with which he acquired the English language and his fluency in the expression of it. His skill and mechanical genius in his trade are further evidences of his mental acumen and broad comprehension of matters. His early death was a loss to the business interests of Evansville.

Captain Otto F, Jacobi

Captain Otto F. Jacobi was born in Poessneck, Saxony Meiningen, Germany, November 28, 1835. His father, Gottlieb, a native of Silesia, Prussia, and a graduate of the university of Breslau, held for many years a prominent official position under the Duke' of Saxony Weimer. His mother, Frederika, was a descendant of the Von Osswalds, a family conspicuously identified in literary and military circles in Germany. The father died in 1849 and the mother eight years earlier. Captain Jacobi was the eldest son in a family of four, three of whom are now living. His education was received in his native country. He came to America in 1852, and settled in Philadelphia, Pa. There, in 1855, he enlisted in Company D., 1st United States Infantry. He soon attained the rank of first sergeant, which he held for several years, being ever ready for duty, and thus gaining the esteem of his superior officers. When the civil war broke out he was with his regiment, then stationed at Fort Cobb, Indian Territory. He remained in the regular army until 1863, when he received a commission as first lieutenant in the 10th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry. For faithful and efficient service he was promoted to the captaincy of Company G. on the 23d day of June, 1864, and in 1865 he was appointed assistant commissary of musters by the secretary of war, and was attached to the 1st Cavalry division department of the Cumberland. He acted a conspicuous part in the engagements at Duck Springs, Wilson Creek and New Madrid, Mo. , Island No. 10, in the siege of Corinth and the battle at that place, at Big Black River, Miss., and in the seige of Vicksburgh, where he received a disabling wound. His honorable discharge from the service followed in July, 1865. Soon after locating in Evansville he began the wholesale tobacco and cigar business. This he sold out in 1869, and in the next year entei'ed the employ of H. F. Blount, plow works, as book keeper. His service became so valuable to his employer that he was appointed financial manager and admitted to an interest in the profits in 1883. Honorable and upright in all his life's relations, he commands universal respect. He early joined the Masonic order and has attained the rank of Knight Templar. His public trusts have been numerous, and all faithfully executed, As a trustee of Oak Hill cemetery, as trustee and treasurer of Willard Library and director of the First National bank, he has rendered useful service to the public. He is also vice president of the Central Trust and Savings Co., the successful management of which has secured to many workingmen the ownership of homes. His marriage occured in 1862 to Mary E. Sawyer, of Corinth, Miss. Of this union five children have been born, of whom two, Otto L. and Sidney F. are living, and three are deceased, Alvin G., Irvin and Harry B. The latter died July 17th, 1888.

Samuel Bayard

As a financier Samuel Bayard deserves recognition ; as a man of honor and influence he merits particular notice ; as a man of purpose and unvarying application to a single pursuit through a long and useful life he needs to be presented to the young men just setting out in life as an example of merited success and a pattern to imitate. The name - Bayard - carries the reader's mind naturally back to Bayard, "the good knight," who was born in Dauphiny, France, in 1475, and died in battle in 1524 with his face to the enemy. The Bayards have been a race of warriors, and many of them have died in battle contending for what they conceived to be a noble cause. The name of the father of Samuel Bayard was John Francis Bayard, of Grenoble, France. Like the other Bayards of France, John Francis was a soldier, and fought under Napoleon. After his distinguished general had been sent to St. Helena as a prisoner and France was wrenched and torn with a restless, undefined, untamable desire for something she knew not what, John Francis Bayard determined upon emigrating to the new world. Accordingly he arrived at the little French settlement of Vincennes, Indiana, in 1817, and laying aside all his warlike life began life over again on a civil basis. It may be said he was almost a pioneer in this French village upon the Wabash. There this pioneer young Frenchman wooed and married Mary Ann Boneau, a member of an old and respected family, which had settled there when that town was a typical French village.

Here Samuel Bayard was born, and here in the splendid schools of the Catholic church he was educated. He attended private schools and the Collegium Sancti Gabrielis, making commendable progress in his studies. But he did not graduate, for the reason that he considered further study needless, since he could ill afford to spare the time from the business career he had mapped out for himself. As far as he went his education was thorough aud practical. His training now was of the sort gained by experience with various business affairs. He became a clerk in his father^s grocery store, then a worker on the paternal farm, now a flat-boat trader with sugar planters on the lower Mississippi, and then maker of ornamental woodwork at home - quite a varied application to business. A skillful penman and a natural aptitude in accounting, he was appointed to the deputy clerkship of the circuit and probate courts in Vincennes, in the year 1847. He profited by his duties in this position, and, when in 1851, the election of a new clerk was about to be held, he entered into the branch ol the state bank of Indiana, in Evansville. This bank had been established here in 1834, and was the first bank organized here. Up to that time no bank had been needed, as the town did not transact a sufficient volume of business to require a ready and extensive means of exchange. Even then the bank was thought to be a needless and unwise undertaking. The business was conducted in a small frame building on Main street, and the cashier had enough idle time on hands to allow him to act as porter and janitor as well as bookkeeper and cashier. As is well-known, capital, or money, is the foundation of all business transactions, and the volume of money is, in the common acceptance of the term, the index of the prosperity and activity of a city. The advance of business and the growth of a community go hand in hand. They are reciprocal. Banks multiply and do a larger business in proportion to the advance and growth of a people or community. This first bank had a capital, including state and individual stock, of $80,000. In 1843 the capital amouuted to $150,- 000, of which $73,000 was held by the state.

In November, 1851, after Mr. Bayard had been with the state bank but a short time, the directors made him teller of the bank. When the bank of Indiana succeeded the old state bank of Indiana, he was made cashier, and G. W. Hathbone, president. The special talent of Mr. Bayard for the conduct of banking finances was of such a character that his services became the life of the new branch bank. On the reorganization of the bank in 1865, by Mr. Bayard, the banking capital of this city amounted to almost two and a half millions of dollars. The men operating the money knew how to faciliate and increase business, and to encourage new enterprises. The new bank was called the Evansville National bank, and Mr. Bayard was made vice-president in 1867, and president in 1876. On the expiration of the charter of this bank in 1885, the Old National bank was founded as the successor in business of the Evansville National bank. It began business on a capital of $500,000, and the snug surplus of $250,000, with an average deposit line of over $2,000,000. Mr. Bayard is still the president of the flourishing institution. He is a director in the German bank, and stockholder in the First National and the Citizens National banks. The banking firm of W. J. Lowry & Co., was instituted or created in 1864, with which Mr. Bayard was prominently connected.

Mr. Bayard's far-seeing qualities have been in demand outside of his very busy banking business. He has been connected with several railroads, either as director or a member of the executive committee. He is treasurer of the Evansville gas and electric light company, and has been intimately associated with many movements looking toward the general prosperity of the "city and the good of its citizens. He subscribed liberally to the fund for the creation of a public library, for which he purchased in Cincinnati a great many books. His literary taste is of a cultured and high order, and his selections were most fitting to the popular taste. It is said he has one of the largest private libraries in Indiana. Always a student and a close observer, his mind is well-stored with learning, and it is a delight to hold converse with him. His attention to business has been careful, persevering and vigilant, and as a consequence success has attended his efforts. In person he is tall, upright and graceful, with genial features and benevolent disposition. His right hand never knows the liberal gifts of his left hand. He is a man who shrinks from the notoriety of the press, and who has has no sympathy with pretension. His inborn gentlemanly traits, bis well-bred manners, and his instinctive refinement have made him a useful and popular citizen.

It is not sufficient to recount simply the material side of the life of Mr. Bayard, to narrate merely the dates of his various advancements, and to sum up the results of his activity ; there is another side, that one that gave rise to action and originated events, that inner power of direction, thinking, planning, the self behind the course of his life. In plain words he has been a master in monetary afi*airs, a financial leader. His friends do not hesitate to say he has a singular genius for banking, and that his great financial influence was never exerted to a happier advantage than during the panic of 1893, when he so ably bridged over the crisis in this city and prevented any bank failures. He showed a natural talent in this great crisis for managing money to the best advantage - just as a general handles troops in a battle to secure victory. That Mr. Bayard should succeed and wear the mantle of large-minded financiers, is not only a compliment to his own abilities, but also the placing upon his shoulders of the management of larger funds and the direction of an increased volume of business. In this respect his usefulness and his powers are seen to the best effect. He has shown his competency for any banking emergencies that may arise, and has always persisted in his plans and designs until he reached them.

David J. Mackey

One of the greatest financiers and capitalists, as we may say, that Evansville ever had is David James Mackey. At one time he was the greatest railroad promoter and owner in the state of Indiana, and his resourceful mind has made Evansville the railroad point it is at the present time. At one time he was president of the E & T. H., the E. & I , the P., D. & E., the E. & R., the branch road to Mt. Vernon, the Belt road and still an owner in other railroad property. His extraordinary activity placed him in financial relation as owner of stock in the cotton mills, the mills at Mt. Vernon, as owner of the St. George hotel, as partner in the wholesale boot and shoe house of Dixon, Mackey & Co., as principal owner in the Mackey, Nisbet & Go's, large dry goods building, the Armstrong Furniture Co., and a large contributor in the magnificent B. M. A. building.

Mr. Mackey was born in Evansville in December, 1833, the only son of James E. and Eliza Mackey. His father died when he was not a year old, and as soon as he was able he began to earn a small salary with which to help his mother. He became a junior partner in the wholesale dry goods firm of Archer & Mackey in 1857. August 28, 1861, he married Caroline, the youngest daughter of Judge John Law. He pursued a most active life, no matter in what field of business he engaged. If genius is industry, then he was a genius. His ceaseless activity in commercial matters brought large returns. He pi'ospered greatly. At one time he devoted his attention almost wholly to railroads and the movements of capital on a large scale. His methods knew no bounds; his schemes for investment were in proportion to the massive business capacity of the man. He was early and late at his office, and a very hard worker, never happier than when the busiest. He had no time to waste in frivolities or squander in the vanity of show for the sake of making an impression, or in the mere desire of affection or self-seeking. His large enterprises kept many men em- ployed, and his benefactions were many and generous. Of late he has withdrawn from the heavy exactions of large managements, and the worries of ceaseless activity and harassings of large ownerships. He is a man greatly esteemed by his fellow-citizens.

The Ingles

In writing the histoiy of a man, a recital of the personal events in his life is necessary for the reader to catch a glimpse of the spirit that actuates him. The force within is all there is of him. No man in Evansville, perhaps, ever manifested a greater degree of energy and shrewdness than did John Ingle, Jr.

His father John Ingle, Sr., was born in Somersham, Huntingdonshire, England, in 1788. As a farmer he was prosperous, and pursued his business with a carefulness that is a happy trait in all his posterity. He watched the war between the allied powers and Napoleon with great interest, and had strong feelings in the results, of the worldshocking conflict. It appears that the unsettled condition of affairs after the overthrow of Napoleon at Waterloo caused him to look toward the United States for a new home, where liberty was enthroned by the generosity and wisdom of broad-minded men. He immigrated to this country in 1818, and reached Evansville on the first Monday in August of that year. In those days Princeton was more desirable as a place to dwell than Evansville, and he at once proceeded there and purchased a home in which to live. To his mind the town was not up to its reputation, and he soon after returned to Vanderburgh county and bought a farm in Scott township, a place now known as Inglefield. His incorruptible manhood retained for him the postoffice there for over forty-five years, his appointment to the position having first been made by President Monroe. He was a man of many superior excellencies, and endowed with more than ordinary talent. Exact in business methods, yet his broad humanity made every one his abiding friend. It is more than tradition that "John Ingle's cabin" never pulled in the latchstring, and was a well known half way house for what might be called the almost homeless itinerant preachers who passed on their ways up and down the land, preaching the gospel, as did St. Paul. Even emigrants availed themselves of the reputation of his "open house," and for many years they never left it hungry or unprovided for. His plain, simple and honest habits of life length-

The eldest son was called John after his father. This son was born in the very same shire in England in which his father was born. His birthday was the 29th of January, 1812. With a correct sense of education the father placed him for some time in M'hat was called a "dame" school; that is, a school taught by an elderly lady, who tried to keep the children out of mischief He was less than five years old when his father settled at Princeton, Ind. When about twelve years old he spent a year and a half in the common schools of Princeton, which were then regarded of a superior character, and are still among the best of the kind. The schooling he had so received but whetted his taste for reading and increased his thirst for knowledge, and he poured over the small but select library of his father until he had devoured everything in it. Many a night he read, as did Abraham Lincoln, by the flickering firelight, while the hungry, prowling wolves were howling hideously on the outside of the cabin. He believed in educating the hand, however, as well as the head, and for two years he worked at the cabinet-makers' trade and furniture business in Princeton, and finished his apprenticeship at this trade at Stringtown. Then in 1833 he started south as a journeyman worker, and engaged in his trade at Yicksburg at the time of the great cholera epidemic there. He pushed on further south and worked eight weeks at New Orleans, where he engaged passage in the steerage of a sailing vessel destined for Philadelphia. It is with no sense of oddity or boastfulness that we speak of the attraction he caused by his hogskin cap and Kentucky jeans clothes on the streets of the City of Brotherly Love; but in this sort of garb he walked the streets for more than two weeks, hunting work. At length he found employment at a place where he labored at his trade ten hours a day. But the aspiring, unsatisfied charactemof the young man induced him to read law eight more hours a day in the office where George R. Graham, since well known as the editor of Graham's Magazine, and Charles J. Peterson, who later became the publisher of Peterson's Ladies' Magazine, were also students. They were all young men then, looking forward in life to greater things, and received their instructions from Attorney Thomas Armstrong, Jr., in his office. Mr. Armstrong subsequently became noted for his success in his profession. He was president of a debating society, and his young students availed themselves of this opportunity to cultivate their forensic powers. Many were the stirring debates in which they participated, and Mr. Ingle manifested surpri^ing skill in handling the side of a question in which he had no faith. For three years he pursued his labors and his studies in this fashion, and finally in March, 1838, he was admitted to the bar to practice law. He returned to Evansville and associated himself with Hon. James Lockhart, but a year later formed a partnership with Charles I. Battel. In 1846 he and H. Q. "Wheeler became law partners, and in 1849 Asa Iglehart was admitted as junior member of the firm. The following year Mr. Ingle took up the career of a promoter of railroads, which were then just reaching out like spider lines all over the country, and he devoted his entire time and attention to the Evansville and Crawfordsville railroad, which had been set on foot by him, Judge Lockhart, Judge Jones, and others. Later Judge Hall was connected with the plan or project. Mr. Ingle, with his broad view of things and his shrewd insight into the promises of the future, saw that if Evansville was to i-ise out of the depression hanging over it and recover from the failure of the canal, it must be through the outlet of a railroad. Through his invincible energy the city was persuaded to issue bonds for $100,- 000 and the county to pledge itself for an equal amount, and with these as collateral, iron was secured, the road-bed finished to Princeton, the track laid, and the road set in operation upon a small scale, of course. As superintendent Mr. Ingle manifested superior skill, both as financier and director. His talents in this direction elected him president of the corporation, where he continued for more than twenty years. He labored on year after year extending the line northward, and did more to connect Evansville and Chicago than any other man that ever dwelt here or elsewhere. On account of failing health he resigned from the presidency of the railroad in 1873.

Mr. Ingle married in 1842, at Madison, Indiana, Isabella C. Davidson. She was the daughter of Wm. Davidson, who removed from Scotland to America. Seven children were the fi-uits of this union.

One of the grand schemes put into operation by Mr. Ingle was the development of the coal fields in this vicinity. An eccentric Englishman declared with much assurance there was coal here, and Mr. Ingle, having faith in his declaration, sunk a shaft, and at a depth of about 240 feet found coal of a fine quality. The firm of John Ingle & Co., was organized as miners and dealers in coal. This was in 1866. The first shaft sunk was at Coal Mine Hill, in the bend of the river, and is still yielding an output that is in excess of any other mine in this locality. This valuable business is to-day in the hands of John Ingle, Jr's. sons, John and George Ingle, and is very adroitly managed. The mine employs about 100 men. The average tonnage is 50,000 tons per

Previous to 1870 the mine M'as operated by Wymond, Norwood and Ingle. Since then the Ingles have been sole owners. They own 200 acres near the Insane Asylum, and it is all wooded. They own 140 acres near Coal Mine Hill, all wooded. Except these landed interests there are no single bodies of wood in the county to-day of over ten or fifteen acres.

Mr. Ingle lived in a quiet manner the remainder of his days. His death transpired October 7, 1875. It needs to be said, in oi'der to illustrate the character of the man more fully, that he was a strict temperance man. On one occasion, when the election was held in the first brick court house, yet standing on Main street, but used as a business house, he showed his utter abhorrence of the "miserable stuff." In those days it was the custom to use whisky freely at elections. On this particular occasion a barrel of whisky with the head knocked out and two tin cups chained to it, was standing in front of the building on Main street. Some seven or eight got so beastly drunk they could not get upstairs to vote, but slept off their stupor in the gutter. Mr. Ingle came up and seeing the free whisky, said to the crowd : "This will not do, boys. The vile stuff is a corrupting bribe. "We will conquer it before it conquers us." And he planted his foot against the barrel and upset its contents in the gutter and then went on his way.

Another incident in his life deserves telling. Once he went up the line of the E. & T. H., shortly after he had been appointed superintendent, and he was obliged to wait at a small way station for a returning train till after night. He sat very quietly and unknown in the dingy little depot. The pale oil lights did not reveal him in the dark corner. The operator asked the "boys" whether they had seen the new superintendent. None of them had. He overheard all they said. "Well, I have^ He looks like he'd been sinoked and dried for a month; or rather dead and buried and dug up after six months." After he had heard himself thoroughly dissected and pictured as others saw him, he stepped forth and without a smile or frown revealed himself The fellow's face looked as expressionless as the negative of a photographer after it has been erased.

He was a strict member of the Methodist church, and one of the leading official members of the board of Trinity church. He believed in tithing and scrupulously gave the tenth to the church. His church beneficence and liis leadershi]) in all church finance were matfilSTOEY OF A^ANDERBUEGH COUNTY, IND. 403 ters of wide comment and commendation. He was a man of profound thought, zealous in all his plans, studious all his days, very enterprising and unobtrusive. Small physicially almost as the author of the "Essay on Man" - Alexander Pope - he was a giant in intellect. He was masterful in reason, resourceful in emergencies, quick in apprehension, careful in the details of his plans, and invincible in his purpose. His life was a useful and active one, and his death was a source of profound and discouraging regret.

The Foster Family

The immediate antecedents of Matthew Watson Foster were George Foster and Jane Watson his wife. Matthew was born at Gilesfield, county of Durham, England, on June 22, 1800. His father was a tenant farmer, and the family of Jane Watson were tradespeople. Matthew's mother was his school-teacher, and at the age of ten years he was put in a Newcastle bookstore. When Matthew was only fifteen years old his father emigrated to America, arriving in New York in 1815. Farming was not as profitable in New York a,s was expected, and in 1817 young Matthew set out alone on foot, without bag or scrip, to seek a better place in the far west. Except an occasional ride on a " movers" wagon, he walked all the way to St. Louis - a great undertaking in that day in the wilderness infested by redmen. Induced by his dislike of slavery, he returned across Illinois and selected a home for his family about twenty miles east of Post Vincennes. Then he returned east afoot, made report, and in 1819 the family set out for the new home in wagons, carrying their household effects along with them. Matthew's father and mother and two brothers, James and William, constituted the family. On the headwaters of the Allegheny river they took flat-boats and journeyed eight hundred miles that way into the Ohio and down that stream almost to the juncture of the Wabash. On the way down the Ohio James Foster and wife located in Cincinnati, and the parents, the father seventy-nine and the mother seventy-three, remained with them. But the two brothers, William and Matthew, pushed on down the Ohio to the small village of Evansville and thence fifty miles by land to the interior where Matthew had selected a home. The government gave Matthew M. Foster a land patent, on the 8th day of August, 1819, for eighty acres, about seven miles northeast of Petersburgh, Indiana. After building a log cabin Matthew went to Cincinnati, overland, and returned with his parents^ who remained with him till the day of their death. In that day a barrel of salt cost sometimes as much as forty acres of land. The lather, George Foster, died in 1823. Matthew Foster made his first trip "down the river" to New Orleans in a flat-boat, as a hired hand or oarsman, in 1820. Twice he made the return trip on foot, before he used the steamboat tor the up river journey. His flat-boating business grew larger each year, until he at length sent to New Orleans in a single season as many as ten or twelve flat-boats. Shortly after his father's death he established a small country store on his farm, which became a valuable adjunct to his flat-boat traffic. In 1827 his business had so increased that he found it necessary to remove to Petersburgh. Here his activity and industry and prudence gained lor him a large and profitable trade. He also built a horse-mill for grinding corn and a cording-mill for preparing the wool and flax. In 1830 he saw the need of a large mill, and he built the first water-mill in the county, on Patoka river, about ten miles from Petersburgh. June 18, 1829, Matthew married Eleanor Johnson, "the belle of the whole county," the daughter of Colonel John Johnson, who was the son of a Revolutionai-y hero, who emigrated to Kentucky and was with General William Henry Harrison at Tippecanoe. She was a lovely woman, an adherent of the Cumberland Presbyterian faith, and trained her children in her Christian belief. The itinerant preacher always found a welcome in her home. MattheM- Foster, though a very busy man, was elected judge of the probate court, a legal organization that had mainly to do with the settlement of estates. He had had little schooling, but he had caught the valuable spirit of a great reader, and his education therefoi-e never ceased. He M'as a great admirer of Scott's writings. When a young man he endangered his health by so much reading and by late application to books over a variable firelight. By night study he became a well-educated man. History, poetry, and other writings were favorites, and he memorized much of Shakespeare, Scott, Thompson and Burns. After he was elected judge he carefully read Blackstone and other text-books, and became a fairly well-read lawyer, though he uev-er practiced it.

His father died at the age of 8."} and his mother at the age of 88, both at his home, and both loved for their many virtues. Judge Foster was a whig protectionist, and always took a lively interest in polities. He retired temporarily from merchantile pursuits in 1835, chiefly to settle up old claims, and re-entered the business in 1839.

Desiring a wider field for business Judge Foster removed to Evansville in the spring of 1846, and began general merchandising. In a short time he purchased the lots on the corner of Main and First streets, adjoining the State bank, now the Old National bank, and pursued his business in two buildings. Then he entered upon the wholesale or jobbing trade, and met with success as usual. He was prominently connected with the building of the first railroad out of Evansville, the Evansville and Crawfordsville, now Evansville and Terre Haute, and was a member of the board of directors. He was a director of the Evansville branch of the bank of the State of Indiana; being associated first with John Douglas as president and later with George W. Rathbone. He through this bank relationship, established a close relationship with Hon. Hugh McCullough. In municipal affairs he was early elected to the council, a position he filled often. There he showed aii unimpeachable firmness in the right under all circumstances, and was ever ready to defend his course at whatever sacrifice. He was president for some time of the board of trade, which he greatly aided to found. He was active in the foundation of a library association, of which he was also president, and secured several series of lectures by men of National repute.

There was no Cumberland Presbyterian church in Evansville when the family settled here, so the members attended the Walnut Street Presbyterian congregation. While Judge Foster was not a church member, he was a thoroughly Christian man, attended regularly church services, gave liberally to religious interests and read the Bible much. His beloved wife died in 1849.

Judge Foster was an affectionate husband and a considerate father- He took a wise and fatherly interest in the education of his children, and his letters to them when away at school show the bright and graceful character of the father. He delighted to follow the expansion of their minds, give kindly counsel, and encouraging them in welldoing and well-pursuing. He always wrote cheerfully and healthfully, so to speak. ,

On November 18, 1851, he was married to Mrs. Sarah Kazar, widow of Nelson Kazar, a Christian lady of culture and many attainments. To them were born Matthew William, (1852) and Sarah Elizabeth, (1857.)

aggressive determination. On the organization of the republican party he became an active member and a staunch anti-slavery advocate. To be an "abolitionist" then was almost to ostracise one's self, in this part of the country. He was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln. Their early experiences held much in common, and when the martyr president lived in Indiana the two men were neighbors. On the election of Mr. Lincoln he soon saw the lowering of the war cloud, which Helper had long predicted. And when the storm burst he encouraged his sons to go to the fi'ont and told them that whatever the fate of war might be for them their young wives should not suifer for the blessings of life. He looked after the families of the soldiers, and contributed for the relief of the men in the field and in the hospital. He was among the first to reach Fort Donelson and extend relief to the wounded and sick after the engagement there.

The long busy life he had led, and the worry growing out of the war, no doubt brought on the end, which occurred peacefully early on Monday morning, April 13, 1863. He was a man who from the first manifested his independence and his entire freedom from the financial support of others of his family. His great application and singleness of purpose are shown by his ceaseless pursuit of knowledge from the books under the most trying circumstances - he never relinquished his purpose. His unselfishness and large public spirit were matters of frequent remark by his neighbors and friends. His convictions were always strong and well defined, and his great prudence and broad judgment naturally put him in the lead in many enterprises that had for their object the general good. And not the least of his many virtues and excellent traits of character was his pre-eminently domestic disposition. His memory is cherishedto-day by many people for his excellence and his liberality.

John W. Foster

Of all the distinguished men of Evansville, none rank above Hon. John Watson Foster, son of Matthew Watson Foster, in learning, statesmanship and genuine manhood, and none his equal in diplomacy and the knowledge of the spirit of the governments of the earth, past and present. This di-stinguished fellow-citizen of Evansville was born in Pike county, Ind., on the 2d of IMarch, 1836. He was born upon a farm, and like other farm boys, he had the great book of nature open before him like a scroll, from which he read to great profit. His father had a fiue appreciation of the beauties and advantages of a good education, and he naturally encouraged his children to secure a higher knowledge of the languages, the sciences, history and all that goes to make the humanities. He saw to it that all his children had opportunities of acquiring good education at the best institutions of learning within easy reach. John W. Foster was graduated from the State university at Bloomington, Ind., in 1855, when he was not yet twenty years old. He adopted the profession of the law, and in order to qualify himself, he pursued his legal studies at Harvard law school in the years 1855-56. He was admitted to the bar in 1852, and practiced his profession at Evansville till July, 1861, when he laid aside everything and offered his services in the war for the preservation of the Union. As major of the 25th Indiana volunteers, he entered the service, and his abilities soon put him in command of the 65th and subsequently of the 136th Indiana regiments. In the battle of Fort Donelson he distinguished himself by his fighting qualities and his ability to anticipate the enemy and checkmate him. His record on the bloody field of Shiloh, in the fight at Knoxville and many other hard-contested engagements is one among the best achieved by any of the renowned soldiers and commanders who participated in these fearful contests. It is not the purpose here to more than allude to his career in the army. It would require a volume to do justice to this part of his life, and furthermore, it is not in our power here and now to treat it fully and satisfactorily. As commander of the cavalry brigade and division of the 23d army corps, in the east Tennessee campaign, he demonstrated his excellent ability to handle large forces speedily and effectively His war record is one of honor and efficiency and his services to his country cannot be summed up in words. He was mustered out of the army in September, 1864.

After the close of the war, destiny, moving him to still greater deeds, led him to the editorship of the Evansville Daily Journal, a position he filled with marked talent and power and grace from 1866 to 1869. In this latter year he was appointed postmaster of Evansville. President Grant commissioned him minister to Mexico in 1873, and while there he brought such rare diplomatic talent into use that he achieved wide fame as a skillful diplomat. By President Hayes he was sent to Russia in 1880 as minister. This difficult mission he performed with such orderliness and penetration that he came to be regarded as the one man who could accomplish great and difficult diplomatic ends. His friends watched his course with admiring interest and applauding words. His appointment as minister to Spain was made by President Arthur in 1883. It was a high compliment to him when President Cleveland, a man ot adverse politics to Mr. Foster, sent him on a special mission to Spain in 1885. This difficult special service he performed quite satisfactorily. In 1886 he resumed the practice of his profession in Washington, D. C, but he was not permitted to remain long in private life. President Harrison commissioned him, in 1891, to negotiate treaties of reciprocity with Spain, Germany, Sau Domingo and other countries. These treaties were made possible by the McKinley tariff measure, which provided for reciprocity treaties with those countries that desired better trade relations with the United States. The difficulties growing out of the seal fishing in the Behring sea between the United States and Great Britain for a time almost threatened the peace of the two nations, and to adjust the matter required the services of the most prudent men the nation afforded. Mr. Foster was designated as agent of the United States, June 1, 1892, to arbitrate the matter. Before President Cleveland had retired from office in 1889, the trouble had been hanging undecided so long that the delay seemed but to aggravate it. But the knowledge and skill Mr. Foster carried into this serious national affair enabled him to bring the trouble to a happy termination for both countries. When James G. Blaine resigned as secretary of state under President Harrison, to become a candidate for the nomination on the republican ticket, against Mr. Harrison, Mr. Foster was appointed his successor. The appointment was made June 29, 1892. He resigned this high position February 23, 1893, to attend the Behring sea tribunal of arbitration, which was held is Paris. This tribunal excited the lively interest of all civilized nations. After its adjournment Mr. Foster made a tour of the world, in 1793-94, for rest and personal interests. In December, 1894, he < was invited by the emperor of China to assist in the peace negotiations of that country with Japan. The confidence reposed in his talent as a master diplomat by this great foreign potentate was an evidence of the renown he had previously won in settling strained difficulties between nations. Once more, in 189o, he resumed his residence in Washington City, but in March, 1897, President McKinley appointed him as special envoy to Constantinople to secure from the Turkish sultan the payment of the claims preferred by the United States on account of the destruction of American missionary property and outrages to American missionaries committed during the uprising against the Armenians in 1895.

lie is perhaps the greatest iu the world to-day. He is a man of most liberal learning, and perfectly acquainted with the events transpiring in every nation on earth. His manly, moral character and his complete repose in the great Infinite have made him a man whose influence is always for good. Socially he is an ajiproachable man and happy in his domestic relations.

Evansville delights to count him one of her most eminent men, and to feel that his personal history is mingled with that of the nation which he has served so well ever since he first entered his country's service in 1861. His public course has brought glory and renown not only upon himself, but upon the people of this wonderful nation. That he has served in so many different capacities, and in all of them so well, has been a theme of frequent remark. The man, in his full stature, has been seen in all he has ever attempted and achieved. He has always been superior to every new and difficult duty he has attempted.

Dr. Charles S. Weever was born in Noblesboro, county of Lincoln, state of Maine, November 20, 1809. His boyhood days were spent on his father's farm. He received a very thorough education in those eastern schools. On arriving at the age of manhood he became engaged in mercantile business. At the age of twenty-five he was united iu marriage to Miss Mary Tucker Trafton, eldest child of John and Nancy Trafton, to whom were born in all seven children, four boys and three girls. On account of the climate during the severe winters of that far eastern country, his physician advised his removal to a southern or a western clime. His wife having an uncle, Dr. William Trafton, residing and practicing medicine in Evansville, Indiana, at that time, decided him to make this his future home. Accordingly in 1837 he started for Evansville, arriving here in August of that year, bringing a stock of dry goods with him. The hard times of 1837 to 1840 were just beginning, so he found there was not any sale for the goods here, as the jjeople did not have money to purchase with. The goods were boxed up and shipped to Quincy, Illinois, and sold for cash, but by the time the money reached Evansville, there was not a dollar of it good, being on what was then called wild-cat banks, which had succumbed to the prevailing hard times. After vei'ifj-ing the fact that the money was utterly worthless. Dr. Weever poked it through one of the ventilation holes in the foundation of the old brick Epis- copalian church, occupying the site, of the beautiful stone edifice reared in its stead, St. Paul's church. Thus ended the mercantile career of Charles S. Weever. In a strange, new country, financially nothing left, with a wife and two children on his hands, a man of most excellent habits, a good education, his yankee industry and economy had to be summoned to the front, so he began teaching school and studying medicine with Dr. William Trafton at the same time. Some few of the pupils attending his school are still living, among whom I now think of Mr. David J. Mackey, his sister, Mary Gilbert, and Mr. William W. Tileston. During the winter of 1842-3, he attended medical lectures at Louisville, Kentucky, and during the succeeding winter of 1843-4, took his second course at the Jefferson medical college at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in the spring of 1844. Returning to Evansville he was taken into partnership by Dr. William Trafton, his former preceptor, which partnership continued up to the death of Dr. Trafton, which occurred October 17, 1847, on Sunday, about 4 o'clock p. m. From the latter part of October, 1847, to October, 1850, Dr. Weever continued in the practice in Evansville by himself During the winter of 1849-50 he filled the chair as professor of anatomy, to which he had been elected in the first medical college ever formed in Evansville. In the summer of 1850 his horse, which he was driving to a buggy, ran away with him down Main street, throwing him out, producing severe concussion of the brain, from which he did not recover in time to fill his chair in anatomy that winter, consequently he resigned and Dr. William H. Byford, then practicing medicine at Mt. Vernon, Indiana, was chosen to fill his place. In the fall of 1850 Drs. Byford and Weever exchanged places,] Dr. Byford moving to Evansville and Dr. Weever taking his place at Mt. Vernon, Indiana, where he practiced continuously until his death, which occurred April 21, 1861, from double pneumonia. Being an extreme eastern man Dr. Weever's anti-slavery feelings were very strong, as evidenced by the following quotation of an extract from a Fourth of July oration he was called on to deliver at Evansville July 4, 1845 :

Dr. John B. Weever, second child of Cliarles S. and Mary T. Weever, was born in the town of Hallowell, Keuebeck county, Maine, September 25, 1836. His father moved to Evansville in 1837, arriving here in August of that year, when the subject of this sketch was only eleven months old. When of projjer age, he attended the schools of the then village of Evansville. At the age of fourteen his father removed to Mt. Vernon, Ind., where John B. entered the academy at that place, graduating at eighteen years of age. In 1854 he began the study of medicine with his father, attending his first course of lectures during the winter of 1855-56 at the Jefferson medical college in Philadelphia, where his father had graduated, and his son graduated in the spring of 1897. In the spring of 1856 he returned to Mt. Vernon, and continued his medical studies till the spring of 1857, when he again returned to Philadelphia, entering the office of Professor Samuel D. Gross, from whom his father had procured the privilege of an office student. Spending the entire year, from the spring of 1857 to the spring of 1858 in Philadelphia, he took in the summer course of 1857 and the winter course of 1857-58, graduating from the Jefferson medical college in the spring of 1858. He returned to Mt. Vernon in 1858, and began the practice of his chosen profession with his father in the town where he had been reared from the age of fourteen. The partnership continued between father and son till the death of the father, which occurred April 21, 1861. From that time until May, 1886, he continued the practice by himself in that locality, reaching the top round of the professional ladder, of his immediate surroundings, a task not easily accomplished under such circumstances, for "a prophet is not without honor," etc.

On the 23d day of December, 1862, he was united in marriage with Miss Emma J. Slocumb, at Carmi, 111. Seven children were born to them, six boys and one girl. Four children, three boys and the girl, were lost in infancy, leaving the family at present composed of father, mother and three boys, all grown.

After having practiced twenty-eight years in Mt. Vernon, he removed to Evansville, in May, 1886, where he has been engaged in the practice of his profession until the present time. During his practice, both at Mt. Vernon and Evansville, he has held the highest office in the county medical societies, is a member of the state medical society of the American medical association, and is one of the consulting staii of physicians of St. Mary's hospital of Evansville, and lecturer on nursing in obstetrical cases to the classes in training at St. Mary's hospital.

Christian Kratz

The subject of this biography was born in Ranschenberg Kuhrhessen, Germany, September 5, 1823. His parents were John and Elizabeth Kratz, and they lived the life of peasants or farmers. By some means John became involved, and to extricate himself from the difficulty he sold his farm and with his family came to America. They landed at Baltimoi-e in September, 1834, the father having only one dollar in his pocket. They ti-aveled, however, over the national turnpike to Pittsburg, where the father and his two sons went into a foundry until their removal to Evansville in 1837. In German township, Vanderburgh county, John Kratz entered a quarter section of land, at the government price of $1.25 an acre. In two years this industrious family had much of this heavily timbered land in a good condition of cultivation.

Christian Kratz, in 1838, began work on the Wabash and Erie canal, which was then in process of construction. By carefulness and strict economy he had saved out of his earnings, up to 1847, the snug sum of five hundred dollars. He had flat-boated to New Orleans and worked in a foundry at Louisville, and followed many other pursuits. A year before he had married the sister of William Heilman, and he now proposed to his brother-in-law to engage in the foundry business. This was one of his most successful undertakings. When he and Mr. Heilman dissolved partnership in 1864, he received $100,000 for his interest in the foundry and machine-shop, which had grown from an humble beginning to such magnificent proportions.

After he and Mr. Heilman discontinued their business relations, he established the Southern machine works, on the square opposite where he and Mr. Heilman had carried on their work so successfully. His trade grew to such dimensions that he was obliged to enlarge his foundry in 1870. It was then among the largest in this section of the country. His activity in business continued almost up to his death, which occurred June 26, 1884, just a year before the death of his brother-in-law, Hon. William Heilmau.

He was a man of splendid physique, and a practical machinist. He was plain and unassuming, kind to the needy, hospitable to a remarkable degree, and a man of good, clear and honest motives. His ceaseless industry and his large ideasof business gained for him a sufficiency of this world's goods. Three of his sons, John W., William and Charles T., succeeded him in the business, and the other, George Kratz, began business for himself. They are succeeding in the business they have always been connected with, because their gentlemanly qualities deserve success.

George Linxweiler

George Linxweiler, the progenitor of the large and well known family of that name, was one of the first Germans to emigrate to this part of the great west. He landed on Indiana territory opposite the mouth of Green river, in March, 1806, and for a time lived on the well known J. B. Stinson farm in Perry township. He came to the Whetstone settlement in 1811, and there founded his home. Industrious, economical and honorable, he at once gained the respect of the settlers, and through a long life of usefulness, he maintained a high position in popular esteem. His sons, William, Christ, Isaac, and their descendants, have been conspicuous in the work of developing the township and county. George Linxweiler, grandfather of Isaac W. Linxweiler, was born in the town of Two Bridges, Germany, April, 1768. He attended school in his native country between the age of six and fourteen, receiving there a good common school education. He then served an apprenticeship of three years, learning the miller's trade. He immigrated to the United States, landing in New York in 1785, going from there to Pennsylvania. Miss Catherine, Stull became his wife in 1790. She was a native of the same place in Germany, and was born June 5, 1767. After coming to New York in 1785, she worked three years in the city to pay her passage to America. They probably resided in Pennsylvania for several years after their marriage, removing to Vanderburgh county previous to 1809. George Linxweiler died February 22, 1857, and his wife followed early in November, the following year.

child born in the county. He was the youngest of thirteen children. One of his older brothers was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was wounded during that M'ar. William Linxweiler was a farmer, his father having been the first man to locate a number of farms in different parts of the county. He was married February 10, 1833, to Jane CliutoD, who M'as born in Warren, Ohio, January 10, 1815. She was the daughter of Jonathan and Lettia McAlree Clinton, both natives of Ireland, who came from that country to Ohio and settled in Trumble county. From there they came to this county, in 1831. Mrs. Clinton died August 24, 1874, aged eighty-seven. Seven children were born to William and Jane Linxweiler, as follows : Henderson, born March 12, 1835, died January 22, 1839; John D., born July 11, 1837; Margaret D., born September 10, 1839; George H., born January 21, 1842, died September 5, 1858; Mary J., born May 25, 1845; Isaac W., born September 14, 1847; Benjamin L., born October 7, 1849, died January 8, 1867. William Linxweiler died February 10, 1882, and his wife March 13, 1888. In 1833 he settled on the farm, where his son now resides.

Isaac Linxweiler was born and reared on this farm, and was educated in the schools of this township. He has devoted his entire life to farming, and now owns sixty-two acres of land, a part from the old homestead, nearl}^ all of which is under cultivation. He was married October 31, 1872, to Miss Cidney W. Hanson, who was born in Ohio January 20, 1852. She was the daughter of William and Joanna Hanson, both natives of Ohio, who came to this county in 1865. They went to housekeeping on the farm where they still reside. Eight children were born to them, one of whom died. Emma E., born July 25, 1874; Daisy L., born June 28, 1876, died October 9, 1876; Charles, born June 13, 1880; William H., born July 5, 1881; Laura B., born July 17, 1883; Jane J., born April 28, 1885; Isaac L., born August 11, 1887. Mr. Linxweiler is a republican in politics. He is a member of Vanderburgh lodge No. 34, A. O. U. W. He is an honest, industrious man, and represents one of the oldest families in the county.