Vanderburgh County, Indiana - Biographical sketches, 1897 (part 1 of 5)

Biographical sketches

Some Biographies of the Leading Men of Evansvillc - Men Who Have Distinguished Themselves in Various Pursuits in Life - Citizens Who Have Helped to Make Evansville What It Is - Those Who Have Laid Its Foundation and Have Seen Its Growth.

Henry Fitch Blount

Henry F. Blount was born in Richmond, Ontario county, New York, May 1, 1829. His 'father, Walter Blount, came to western New York from Norwich, Conn., when a boy, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. The family came originally from England, late in the 17th century, and settled in Massachusetts. Walter Blount, the father of Henry, was a woolen manufacturer, carried on the business first in Ontario county. New York, and in the winter of 1830 moved to Cattaraugus county, where he bought a larger mill, and in which the son learned the rudiments of the trade; and it was under the training and influence of his father, whose methods were ever of the humanitarian order, that the son was imbued with that spirit of fair dealing with the men in his employ, which has made his career as a manufacturer so successful.

On the death of the father, which occurred in 1845, the son was placed in a country store, (" commercial house," the young men of today would call it) to learn the methods and principles of business; and it was a happy circumstance that the father's training was supplemented by one equally as favorable in another department, for it was here that the more mature lad learned those business methods which he ever after practiced, and to wliich he attributes his success as a financier. After three years and a quarter the young man concluded to take the advice of Horace Greely, and "go west and grow up with the country." And so, in the autumn 1849, he started, going via Lake Erie to Detroit, and from there to New Buffalo by rail, and across the lake by steamer. There was no railway running into Chicago from the east at that time. His first winter was spent in Peoria, 111., the following summer in Iowa, from whence he went to Worthington, Ind., in the autumn. Here he began his first business life, as a partner with George W. Langworthy, with whom he was associated for eight years. Having succeeded far beyond his expectations, he sought the larger field of business in the growing city on the Ohio river, where he spent the next twenty-six years - from 1860 to 1886 - really all the remainder of his active business life.

The first ten years of his life in Evansville was devoted to the foundry business, as partner and financial manager in the firm of Roelker, Blount & Co. He also became a partner, and was the financial manager of the firm of James Urie & Co. in 1867. In the winter of 1869-70 he sold his interest in the foundry business, and six months later became the sole owner of the Blount Plow Works (the successor to the Urie Company.) This establishment, from the small dimensions which it possessed in 1867, has grown to its present immense capacity by virtue of that sort of genius which comprehends the capacity of every one in his employ, and to put every man in the place he is best fitted the fill, and above all to recognize in every workman a fellow man. This alone is a good reason why a strike has never occurred in his establishment. Mr. Blount was married while living at Worthington to Martha Baird, by whom he had three children, two of whom are still living, Frederick, the president of the Lone Star Salt Co., of Texas, and Rose, who lives with her two children at Kalamazoo, Mich. She was married to Samuel B. Nisbet, of Evansville. Martha died in 1862. The second marriage was in 1864 to Lucia A. Eames, of Kalamazo, Mich. By this marriage six children were born, four of whom are living, two daughters and two sons.

In the summer of 1886 Mr. Blount and family went to Europe, more especially to study the French language, as he had become convinced that it was practicably an impossibility for one taught a foreign language in this country to speak it with any degree of fluency. They lived a year most delightfully in a villa near the old city of Tours, in France, and another at that charming old French-Swiss city, Geneva. In the autumn of 1888 the family returned to America, and settled in Washington, and have for a number of years lived at "the Oaks," the most charming of the many famous old homes on Georgetown Heights. This grand old mansion was built by the Beverlys, of Virginia, (the local historians of Washington's time) in 1805, and was occupied by them till about 1821, when it was bought by the Calhouns, John C. and his brother, who occupied it till about 1832-33.

The life in Evansville was always characteristic of the man ; ever ready to advance the interests of his adopted city, whether in its business or its literary im^jrovement. When by the philanthropic gift of the Hon. Willard Carpenter the library was built, Mr. Blount was chosen as the president of its board of trustees, and held that position as long as he remained in the city. He was also a member of the board of directors of the Evansville National bank, and of the Old National for many years, and was instrumental in organizing the first railway leading out of the city to the east, and gave us our first direct connection with Louisville through Southern Indiana. In politics Mr. Blount was a republican, but in city affairs often cut loose from party, believing that in municipal affairs party should give way for capability and integrity. His church affiliation was with the Walnut Street Presbyterian, but in his religious belief, like his political, his range was not confined to the sect to which he had attached himself, but believed that there "was good in all, but none all good." In his new home in the nation's capitol, he seems to have carried the same characteristics as pervaded his life in Evansville. He has been for a number of years president of the board of trustees of the Industrial Home School, is vice president of the Central Dispensary and Emergency Hospital, chairman of the committee on parks and reservations of the board of trade, and member of the executive committee of the American Security and Trust Company, the largest monetary institution in the city, except those of the government. And while his head shows the effects of the frosts of a good many winters, his sixty-seven years have not been able perceptably to diminish the elasticity of his step, or the cheerfulness of hi.s disposition. His old friends, his business associates, and his employes all extend to him the hand of welcome as each year brings him to his old home to sit down with his workmen and their families at the annual dinner which he provides for them on the first day of May, his birthday. May he live long to do this.

Carl F. Rosenkranz

Carl F. Rosenkranz was born in Koenigsberg, Prussia, February 25, 1810. He was the fourth son of a family of seven sons and two daughters, children of Gottfried and Renate Rosenkranz. Six of the sons served in the Prussian army ; the oldest afterwards received an appointment as royal forrester. The second learned the trade of a blacksmith, while the four others learned the trade of their father, who was a builder of tower clocks long before machine-made clocks were thought of. The mother of these boys and girls, all of whom inherited robust physiques, was the daughter of a foundry man named Werner.

The subject of this sketch served as a member of a royal grenadier regiment for a number of years after his first enlistment term of three years. He then established himself in the business of watch-making at Baerwalde, an old-time fortress, where on the 10th of February, 1840, he married the widow of Samuel Speck, who was six years his senior and the mother of two sons and two daughters. The oldest of these sons, Wm. A. Speck, is an honored and well-to-do citizen of Owensville, in this state, and the other, Samuel E. Speck, of Grayville, Illinois. On the 26th of October, 1842, the only child of this union was born and named Albert Carl. The revolution of 1848 involved some of the relatives of the Rosenkranz family, who, with many others, concluded that a change of climate would benefit them ; and they left their native land for the home of the free and the brave ; some settling in Texas, others in Wisconsin.

In the early spring of 1850, Carl F. Rosenkranz and his wife sold their town and farm property, and in May started, with their five children, from Bremerhaven for the new home beyond the seas ; the north of Texas, by way of New Orleans, being their destination. After a tedious voyage of nine weeks on a crowded emigrant sailing vessel, they reached New Orleans on the 5th of July, 1850. During this long voyage a difference sprang up between those who were to form the Texas colony, and they concluded to separate. Mr. Rosenkranz embarking with his family on the first boat that left for the Ohio river, with no definite plans as to where they would land. On shipboard they had formed some acquaintance with a family who were going to join relatives living near Evansville ; and their good account of this locality induced them to stop here. Mosquitos and prickly heat tortured the new comers on their trip up the river, and all were glad when their long journey came to an end and they could again rest on terra firma, though strangers among people speaking a language they could not understand. An independent life in a free country had been Mr. Rosenkranz's ideal ; consequently he did not stop long in the very common-place village on the Ohio ; and with the aid of Martin Schmoll, who made a business of looking after newly arrived Germans, he bought a farm, near what is now Inglefield, from James White; who, with many others, had caught the California gold fever. Farm life was made romantic enough, and here this son, Albert C, started to learn the English language, in the rude country school where his knowledge of arithmetic, geography and a little Latin caused him to be regarded with wonder by the other scholars, who had thought all green Dutchmen were stupid.

In about a year the romance of farm life gave way to the American spirit of money-making ; and as watch-making in town seemed the better medium, before long a modest sign " C. F. Rosenkranz, Watchmaker," appeared on the window of a little house on Second street, between Main and Sycamore streets. His skill brought him customers, and finding a buyer in the person of Fred. Fenchler, who had recently removed here from New Orleans, he sold the farm and invested the proceeds in the property then owned by Harrington & Lockhart on Secoud street, adjoining the present B. M, A. building. Here Mr. Rosenkranz labored with unremitting industry for seventeen years, his son entering the business at the age of thirteen, as an apprentice, in 1855, rendering valuable assistance for six years until he entered the union army in 1862. At the close of the war the son, then a major of the fourth Indiana cavalry regiment, returned home and re-entered the business, which continued for two years under the name of C. F. Rosenkranz & Son. The very close attention given by Mr. Rosenkranz during so many years to business, dwarfing in its effect on the mental and physical powers, with the absence of congenial society, combined to produce a discontented state of mind which culminated in a long visit to Europe by Mr. Rosenkranz. His wife remained here where all her children were located and prospering. Thus the family separated in 1868 and were never re-united. Mr. Rosenkranz traveled extensively and finally entered to rest on the 1st day of January, 1886, in Baerwalde, Germany. His wife had gone before him, on the 21st day of July, 1884. This short history of the life of Carl F. Rosenkranz, as it relates to his connection with Evansville, would be lacking if uothing were said about the character of this man, which exerted an iufluence at the time and determined the career of his son. He had superior intellectual gifts, was an ardent lover of nature, detested shams of all kinds, was an agnostic in religion yet loved mankind. He endeared himself to the few who knew him iutimately. No son ever had a more affectionate father and friend.

William A. Hester

The energetic school superintendent, Professor William A. Hester, inherits the talent and qualities of progress he possesses from a long line of ancestors who have been in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. His father, his grandfather and some of his relatives have been teachers of God's sacred word, and at the same time were of that class of pioneer men whose services to their fellow-men aided in the development of the present state of education and civilization.

Mr. Hester was born in Indianapolis, on March 17, 1858. His father, at the time, was pastor of one of the Methodist churches there. He was graduated from DePauw university in 1881, and his scholarship there ranked high. Previous to his graduation he had adopted the profession ot teacher. For four years he was a teacher in the schools of southeastern Indiana, two of which years were immediately before he received his degree from DePauw, and the other two immediately after. Before the close of the year 1882, he was selected as principal of the high school at Owensboro, a position he filled without intermission from that time until he became connected with the schools of this city in 1890, as principal of the Campbell Street school. His excellence in his chosen work was so clear that in 1894 he was unanimously selected by the school trustees as superintendent of the public schools here, and he is still filling with credit to himself and profit to the schools and satisfaction to the city this responsible and important position. He has well demonstrated his thoroughness in his work, his comprehensiveness of the best methods of developing the tender young minds, his progressive ideas and approved system of teaching, and his masterful attention to detail as well as routine wdrk. He has had but one general aim all along, and that is "torward." He has spared no personal effort, he has shunned no reasonable sacrifice to make his labors profitable to those under his supervis^ion. He has not been neglectful in applying every form of progress, every new and approved educational method, every inductive plan that has been successfully tried, every devised way that would enlist the beginner and hold the attention and interest. In the primary department, where the best work is done, he has been especially felicitous. It is here that a man's superior powers of teaching are shown, or the lack of such powers are disclosed ; it is here that so many teachers fail in their ability to develop the active young intellect, seeking for new light and new knowledge. Success here is success in every higher grade of learning.. The pupil is led up through the diiferent grades so skiiUuHy that the art of literary expression becomes a delight and an ease. Expression, by tongue or pencil, in this modern lile is necessary, and correctness oi expression is a proud achievement. This has been one of the ultimate objects of Mr. Hester's plan of education. He has associated with him in this work a corps of competent and wide-awake teachers, and without flattery to him or disparagement to any of his predecessors, it may be said that the schools were never more ably taught than at the present. The high school is separated into departments, with a specialist over each. All the various schools throughout the city are successfully and honestly taught.

It may be said of Mr. Hester that he is a man of fine administrative ability. His excellent scholarship, his deep earnestness, his conscientious work, his gentlemanly qualities, his charitable disposition, his regard for the feelings of others distinguished him at once as a man eminently fitted for the great position he is so ably filling. He is indefatigable in his labors, and never wearies in carrying out his purposes and plans.

William Hughes

William Hughes arrived in New York from Ireland in 1837. After making quite a tour of the country, he heard of a flourishing paper mill in Madison, Indiana, which he hoped to secure. Failing in this, he embarked in the dry goods business in that town with William Griffin. In 1839 he married Miss Emelia Davidson, and shortly afterward moved to Evansville. He built the brick store on Main street opposite the Gilbert-Miller building, and opened one of the first dry goods houses in the city. He afterwards sold the building to Richard Raleigh and moved to the corner of Second and Main streets, where he conducted the same business for many years. Moving into larger quarters as the city improved, he combined wholesale and retail. His business career was very successful. He was a clear-headed, conservative business man. His honor was dearer to him than life, and he adh'ered to the strictest integrity in all his transactions. Mr. Hughes was much interested in the cause of education, actively using his influence in promoting the establishment of the public schools, and was one of the first board of trustees. He was a devoted and sincere christian - a member of the Catholic church, and always foremost in any effort for the cause of religion. He passed away in his seventyfifth year, leaving a name honored and respected by all who knew him. Three sons and two daughters survive him. Two of the sons continue the business, Alfred and Reuben. The third is a successful merchant at Marshall, Illinois.

Silas Stephens

It is not because Silas Stephens married the only daughter of General Robert M. Evans - Julia Ann - that entitles him to public recognition in a brief biographical sketch, but on account of his own worth and acts. In 1837 Mr. Stephens was the sole proprietor of the only saddlery in the town. After disposing of his business to the author and his brother, Dr. "William M. Elliott, he engaged in the sawmill business on the river front. He was the owner of the first steam sawmill built in Vanderburgh county. Naturally he succeeded in this. The elements of success were in him. Then he engaged in farming in Center township, developing a rare tact for managing land to the best advantage. A little past middle life he yielded to death. He was a man held in great respect for his integrity and high manly principles. His wife had entered upon her long rest shortly before him. Their only daughter, Mrs. Jane E. Scantlin, is now living in this city.

Cadwalader M. Griffith

In 1837 Cadwalader M. Griffith opened the first regular hardware store in the town. A man of thorough business qualities, he succeeded rapidly in building ujj a large trade. His business career was cut off by death in early life. A widow, daughter and two sons survived him. His daughter afterward became Mrs. Dr. S. W. Thompson. His elder son is now a partner in the Orr hardware store, of this city; the other son is a farmer in Knox county, Ind. The death of Mr. Griffith was a loss to business. He was universally respected, and was a member of the Episcopal church, and a consistent Christian.

The Lunkenheimer Family

Jacob Lunkenheimer and his brother, Frederick, emigrated to America, arriving in New York in November, 1845. They came from Bingen on the Rhine, that poetically historical spot, rendered familiar to every American school-boy by a poem in his reader. Jacob was born October 10, 1823, and Frederick was born April 13, 1826. They at once, on arrival in this country, proceeded to Mt. Carmel, 111., where they resided for three years. They at first engaged in farming. As was natural and commendable they wished to better their circumstances, and to do this they sought a larger field of operation. So again they changed their location, and for the last time. They came to Evansville with their old German wagon in July, 1848. They camped on the corner of Main and Third streets, where Nathan Gross's large store now stands, in a cluster of trees or grove, and stopped at the old Taylor hotel later. They at once, however, entered into business, and opened a confectionery store, saloon and restaurant on Second street, where Curnick's business college is now located, remaining there for two years. Jacob then went into the firm of Law, Johnson & Lunkenheimer. Their law and real estate business office was on the upper floor of a frame building on First street, where Loewenthal's store now is. This partnership lasted over three years. Then Jacob became a partner of Charles Denby, and their law and real estate office was on Third street.

It was apparent that these two brothers had descended from a stalwart, brainy family, and some of their transactions developed the fact that they were men of more than ordinary talent in commercial matters. Their talent was needed in conducting the affairs of the county, and Jacob was elected csunty clerk, serving from 1852 to 1857. His brother, Frederick, was his deputy clerk. So acceptably and efficiently did they conduct the duties of this office that Frederick was elected county recorder, and served from 1860 to 1864- The position was filled satisfactorily to the people, so that they elected him county treasurer, his term running from 1866 to 1871.

Jacob Lunkenheimer died in September, 1859, and his death was felt to be a great loss to the public. Few men possessed the natural tact and skill and broad knowledge of humanity that he did. Few men ever' performed the duties of a public office with more skill or more in accord with the wishes of the people. Few men were so absolutely honest and faithful and genial in every circumstance of life. It was the verdict of every one that he was an "honest man," than which no higher eulogy can be passed on any one. Two children were born to him, but they died young.

Frederick Lunkenheimer died August 4, 1885. It was a fact, known to every one in the county and even far beyond, that no man, holding a public office, ever had the confidence of the people so completely, or himself had their interests and general good more at heart. He was

To him were born eleven children, eight of whom are still living, towit: Jacob W.,Miss Carrie, Oscar, Edward, Miss Lillie, Clinton, Miss Ida and Miss Kate. There are two sisters of Frederick and Jacob living to-day in this city, Mrs. Valentine (Kate) Diedrich and Mrs. Andrew (Eva) Schlauch.

The oldest son of Frederick, named Jacob W. Lunkenheimer, is in the glassware business, a member of the firm of Blackman & Lunkenheimer. He is a prosperous and successful business man, and deservedly so.

J. B. Thomas

The subject of this sketch was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, March 28, 1821. At the age of twenty-five he embarked in the coal business on the Monougahela river in Pennsylvania, loading coal in barges and shipping the same to Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis and New Orleans. In 1854 he moved to Pittsburg, still operating his coal mines. Five years later, with that shrewd business sagacity that would gain the advantage of competition by reducing the expenses of transportation, he opened up a large coal mine on Green river, Kentucky, and shipped his coal to Memphis, Tennessee. In 1860 he located in Evansville, still operating his coal mines on Green river, near South Carrolton, Kentucky. He opened up a large new coal mine in Spottsville, Kentucky, in 1862, and brought this coal to the Evansville market. He brought the first Green river coal to this city that was ever in the market. While in the coal business he owned and commanded several steamboats. He purchased the First avenue coal mines, in this city, in 1877, and operated the same up to the time of his death, which occurred January 26, 1892.

He was married to Miss Elizabeth Van Hook, who was also born in West Moi'eland county, Pennsylvania. Their cliildren are : Malisa, now Mrs. J. H. Lozier, of Cleveland, Ohio ; C. C. Thomas, of Evansville, Indiana ; E. R. Thomas, at present in the bicycle manufacturing business at Toronto, Ontario, Canada; O. F. Thomas, and L. B. Thomas, both now in Cleveland, Ohio; and F. W. Thomas, in the railroad business in Memphis, Tennessee.

activity, and while engrossed with heavy, pressing business duties, he never forgot the qualities that make a gentleman, in the best sense of that word. He was always an engaging man, gentle to his family and kind to all. He was a most thorough man in all his undertakings, and omitted no honcR-able opportunity that would contribute to success. All his life he had been a useful, successful man, and his death was a source of great regret.

C. C. Thomas, his son, became the successor of his father in the coal business. He has had charge of the First avenue mines ever since his father's death. He is an enterprising, industrious man, always having an eye to business.

No citizen of Evausville was more endeared to the business public, or had won a more enduring and deserved reputation for honest business methods and fair dealing and prime manhood than Mr. Ferdinand H. Ragon, a brief sketch of whose life is presented in this connection. No pen can be too sympathetic or too heroic to picture the man in the fullness he deserves or in the true, pure character he lived. His instincts, in the first place, were right and had been rightly trained. His full and conscious knowledge of humanity always led . him to act justly and kindly toward every one. His broad, liberal spirit - so endowed by nature - considered men and their acts from the high standpoint of charity and forgiveness. His whole life was exemplary, as this all-too-brief biography will reveal.

Mr. Ragon's native town wasRussellville, Kentucky, and the year of his nativity was 1826. There he received such education as country towns then afforded, and laid the basis, at least in some degree, for his subsequent successful business career. When quite a young man, indeed in his eighteenth year, he started out to discover what life had in store for him. Correct always in his habits and wants, the talent and services of such a young man did not wait long for recognition or employment. At Cadiz, Trigg county, Ky., he found employment as clerk in the general mercantile store of Abner R. Terry. On the death of Mr. Terry four years later, Mr. Ragon, by economy and thrift, had accumulated enough money to go into the general mercantile business for himself. This venture was made in 1848, and he continued in it there till 1864. Fickle fortune never frowned upon him very long at a time, and these sixteen years of business for himself in Cadiz brought him neat and satisfactory returns. He felt the need of a larger field for business, and he came to Evansville in 1864, in war times, when prices were fluctuating in the business thermometer among the hundreds, so to speak. In this new field he entered into the wholesale grocery business. Here in Evansville, on entering the wholesale grocery business, he associated with himself Mr. Ebenezer Dickey under the firm name of Eagon & Dickey. Four years afterward - that was in 1868 - Capt. F. P. Carson took an interest in the firm, which now took the firm name of Ragon, Dickey & Carson. The latter gentleman disposed of his interest to Mr. E. G. Ragon, brother of Mr. F. H. Ragon, and retired in 1870. The firm name was then changed to Ragon, Dickey & Ragon. Three years afterward Mr. Dickey disposed of his interest to the two brothers and withdrew, from which time on the business was conducted under the firm name of Ragon Brothers. They builded up a large trade in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee. Their punctuality, reliability and great desire to please those who dealt with them won for them not only an enviable place in business circles, but a splendid reputation for honesty and fair dealing. An eye always to business, they came at length to read the market fluctuations almost with prophetic insight and gave their customers the benefit of this superior skill. Of course, such great application to business must needs bring success. In their particular class of business they were regarded as representative men, as commercial leaders, as setting the business pace. Said the Evansville Courier at the time of Mr. F. H. Ragon's death : "The deceased, the founder of the establishment, was a man of extraordinarily clear business qualifications, shrewdness and commercial tact possessed by few in Evansville."

So much for the life of this man in the "busy mart of trade." No one can be a successful business man without the requisite capital of geniality and kindness. Mr. F. H. Ragon possessed these happy qualities in a remarkable degree, and made it a rule of life to make no enemies if it could be avoided. As a result of such a high and beautiful course in life his friends were all who knew him. The inflexible realities of business had not hardened his nature and rendered him stony and unapproachable, but superior to such crystalizing influences, he seemed to grow only the more cordial and entertaining, like one smiling at the indurate hand of baffled fate. In his social family relations he was greatly beloved, and his home was one of the happiest. He was married twice. He was the father of three children by his first wife, whose death occurred in 1867. These children are Daniel S., Mallie (Mrs. Rosser S. Rock) and Addie (Mrs. T. M. Carothers.)

As a christian Mr. Ragon respected and revered the profound teachings of the Bible. His great practical good sense would not allow him to entertain flim.sy views leading away from the well-known truth of the "man of his counsel." Long years before, when a citizen of Cadiz, he united with the Baptist church, in which denomination he always retained his churchly relationship. However, being a warm friend of Rev. Dr. Martin, of Grace Presbyterian church - of which his wife was a member - he became a regular attendant on the services there in the latter part of his life. His religious convictions were deep and abiding.

went to Cadiz, Ky., and entered into business with his brother. There he prospered. He married Miss Sallie McKinney, of that town. He came to Evansville in 1869, and as previously stated, engaged iu the wholesale grocery business with his brother. From that time on it was no longer a question of business prosperity, but a question of enlarging the volume of trade and extending the territory of their transactions. When the mantle of business fell on the shoulders of Mr. E. G. Ragon and nephew, it was pushed on with the same old nerve and vigor, and prosperity and satisfactory dividends were theirs.

Daniel S. Ragon was born at Cadiz, Ky., in 18.57, and removed to Evansville with his father in 1864. His schooling was secured in the public schools of this city. In one capacity or another he has been connected with the firm of Ragon Brothers ever since the adoption of that name. He married Miss Eva Johnson, December, 1878.

As a concluding word it may be added that no wholesale grocery house in the city is more careful in filling and shipping its orders promptly, or carries on a larger volume of business than the firm of Ragon Brothers. It is a cardinal business principle with them to please their customers, and therefore they never loose trade they have once secured.

The Shanklin Family

A merchant's life usually is without positive incident. A mercantile career, however, is an expression of the force of character and intellect in him. It requires talent to succeed, and John Shanklin was a prosperous merchant. His life began near Derry, Donegal county, Ireland, on February 17, 1795. His father before him perished in the Irish rebellion in 1798. The son, named after his father, obtained the fragmentary education of an Irish farmer boy. When thirteen years old he was apprenticed in a genera! store in Donegal. After five years in the store, when eighteen, he sailed for the United States, and in New York entered a wholesale hardware establishment. Three years afterward he became a salesman for a hardware dealer at Frankfort, Ky. The accidental loss of a foot at this time necessitated his adoption of the profession of a school teacher, which he followed for three years, most of the time at Shelbyville (Ky.) and vicinity. He then entered the auction store of Ormsby, at Louisville, as a clerk, and in a short time young Shanklin was placed as manager of a branch house at Newcastle, Ky. On the failure of Ormsby, the young man purchased a stock of goods at Shelbyville, and one Moffatt was his partner. In six months they removed to Evansville - December 3, 1823. But their stock of dry goods M'as too large for the new location, and Moffatt took a half and located at Cynthiana, Ind., while Shanklin continued in business here with the other half. Their partnership was dissolved in 1827, and Shanklin continued the business alone till 1832 ; then to 1837 as Shanklin & Co.; then under other firm styles, until he retired from business on January 1, 1872. His accounts on earth closed January 11, 1877. He was an active, leading member of Walnut Street Presbyterian church. He was a man of scrupulous integrity, valuing his honor and credit above earthly estimate, and reflecting moral principles in his daily life.

This is the first early ancestor of five generations who have lived in this city up to the present moment. Edith Wilson - nee Bradford - the seventh generation from William Bradford, who came over in the historic Mayflower, was the grandmother of John Shanklin's children; Major Bezaleel Howe, of Revolutionary fame, was their great granduncle ; their mother was Philura Fillmore French. The names of these children are James Maynard Shanklin, Malvina French Shanklin, John Gilbert Shauklin, George William Shanklin, and Osborne Henry Shanklin.

James Maynard Shankliu in early life disclosed marked mental acumen. The law was his profession, and at the time Fort Sumter was fired upon he was prosecuting attorney of the circuit court. When the news of the bombardment reached Evansville, it aroused the people and temporarily suspended business. The patriotic young prosecutor, pale and excited, in his tragic style, addressed the grand jury m these words : " There is no more business for the grand jury to-day, and with the consent of the court. Judge Parrett, I feel it my duty to request that the grand jury and the court adjourn. At this moment matters of grave importance await every patriot. Fort Sumter has been fired upon, the flag dishonored, and all loyal eyes and hearts are turned in that direction. I, for one, shall enter the conflict in defense of my country's flag." And his army record is a brilliant one. As lieutenant-colonel of the -12d Indiana volunteer infantry, he took part in the battles of Wartrace, Perryville and Stone River. He was wounded at Perryville, an exploding shell tearing away part of the scalp. The wound was dressed, he returned to the fight. He commanded his regiment at Stone River, and was captured while leading a forlorn hope in the last day of the battle. After confinement in prison at Atlanta and Libby - five months in the latter place and two in the former - he was exchanged. After his I'eturn home from the war, he died suddenly of acute laryngitis He left a widow and son but two years old, who is now a member of the firm of Shanklin & King, brokers and real estate agents, Chicago*

Malvina French Shanklin married John Marshal Harlan, now a justice of the supreme court of the United States, appointed by President Hayes. The date of her marriage was December 23, 1856. Their children and grand children were : Edith Shanklin Harlan, who became the wife of Frank Linus Child, of Worcester, Massachusetts. She died leaving a daughter Edith Harlan Child, who lives with her graudparents. Justice and Mrs. Harlan. Rev. Richard Davenport Harlan, of Rochester, New York, married Margaret Prouty, of Geneva, New York. James Shanklin Harlan is an unmarried lawyer of Chicago. John Maynard Harlan is a lawyer also of Chicago, and he married Miss Elizabeth Flagg, of Yonkers, New York. They have one daughter, Elizabeth, five years old.

John Gilbert Shanklin was educated at Kenyon college, Gambier, Ohio, and afterwards took a course at the university of Berlin, Germany. He was elected secretary of the .state of Indiana in 1878, and served from 1879 to 1881. He was defeated for re-election in 1880. Tiiis is the only public office he has ever held. At present he is the owner and editor of the Courier, and his editorials show critical analysis and broad reading. They havelthe polish and tone of a close student of the humanities, and are widely quoted for their profound penetration into obstruse economical questions. Every editorial shows ripe scholarship and skillful thinking. He married Miss Gertrude

George William Shanklin was the fourth child of John and Philura Fillmore Shanklin. He was always associated with his brother, John Gilbert, in the business of the Courier. He bought the Courier in 1S66, soon after it was established. John Gilbert was then in Europe, traveling and attending the Berlin university. He returned in 1868, and the brothers sold, in 1869, to Messrs. Lauenstein. But in 1874 they repurchased the plant, since which time they have controlled it. George William died a bachelor in Washington City, D. C, February 6, 1897. His remains were cremated and the ashes scattered on the graves of his parents in this city.

William Reilly, born in Drummond, county Armagh, Ireland, August 12, 1813, came to America in 1838, and he came directly to EVansville. He entered the postoffice as a clerk under F. E. Goodsell, which position he filled until the year 1840, when he opened a wholesale and retail grocery on the corner of Main and Second streets, having formed a partnership with his cousin, James Reilly, under the firm name of "J. & W. Reilly." This business was carried on successfully for several years, until the death of James Reilly in 1854, after which William Reilly engaged in the commission business until his death in 1872. Mr. Reilly married Mary French Willson, who survived him many years, her death having occurred little moi-e than a year ago. Their children were : Mary Osborne, who died in infancy ; Edith Howe ; John Shanklin, and Anna Hazelton.

Mr. Reilly was a man of quiet and unostentatious manner, simple habits and large intelligence, He was a member of Trinity M. Echurch, and his daily walk and conversation was that of a thoroughly honest and honorable man. No higher encomium can be written upon any man's life. It is the one atti-ibute of humanity that lifts mankind to heaven.

The Edmond Family

numerous race, came from Germany aud settled in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and about 1808 settled in Muhlenburgh county, Ky. The family came to Evansville in 1815. There were five sons and two daughters born to George Edmond, as follows: John, Thomas, George, William, Michael, Ann and Elizabeth. Michael was the only son born in Evansville. John was born in 1800. Frank was a son by a second wife.

When the family came to Evansville in 1815 they probably came in a flatboat, on which was a house in which they lived. They settled at a a point five miles below Evansville, at what has all along since been known as the John Edmond homestead. John Edmond, being the oldest of the family, soon began life for himself, and he made a prosperous career of it. He was among the first who established a woodyard and regularly furnished wood to steamboats. As soon as the wood was cleared from the land and sold he cultivated the virgin soil and it yielded abundantly. The primitive crop of trees was converted into money and the crop from the rich alluvial soil yielded a satisfactory profit. He secured in time about 1,800 acres of fine land. The competition then, before the days when coal was known and used, was active and sharp, and barges were laden with wood and towed about to intercept steam boats, and supply them before they reached Edmond's woodyard. He pushed his business, and in the end became a wealthy man. He married Miss Talitha Sirkles, and to them two children were born. The son died in infancy. Susan was born May 9, 1826, in Vanderburgh county, lud., and was married to Alexander Maddux February 14,1850. Mrs. Talitha (Sirkles) Edmond died April 13, 1858. And John Edmond married a second time, and Mi.ss Sophia Burgdorf became his wife on September 20, 1859. To them were born six children. The living ones are John, Mrs. Augusta Kamp and Mrs. Ollie Yarner. After a long, active and useful life John Edmond, Sr., died October 10, 1876.

It is told with a good deal of amusement yet to-day by members of the family about the first piano he purchased for his family. He was a man very particular in his family comforts, and would not be behind in any of the conveniences possessed by his neighbors. Word came to the family that Mrs. Shanklin had one of the finest pianos that was made. Mr. Edmond always found great delight in music, and having a daughter who loved the charm of musical expression and harmony he ordered a very fine piano for his home. When the beautiful instrument reached Evansville, Mr. Edmond took a woodboat loaded with wood to Evansville and disposed of it and then took the piano l)ack home on the woodboat. It served on the way home as a polished seat for the boat hands. One time during high water, the piano was put on stilts, as it were, to keep it out of the water in the room. The chickens collected from trees and other things above water, were put in the same room to keep them from drowning. The piano was well covered, but that did not keep the chickens from roosting on it. The "gunnels" or plank walks on stilts, were common things in that day, from the door step to the outer gate, which were used to walk upon out of the water. It may be said the piano stood upon a "gunnel" at the time of the incident mentioned.

After his secoiid marriage he took the world easier, and attended to the happiness of those around him with seeming delight. About 1851 he turned the woodyard over to his son-in-law, Mr. Alexander Maddux, who had married his only daughter and only living child by his first wife. The son-in-law lived just below him, and he successfully operated the business for many years. He moved to Evansville in March, 1863, and the wood business went into other hands.

As to the character of .John Edmond - He was strictly honorable, upright and righteous in all things, a man whose word was as good as his bond, a man whose principles were as invariable as the hills, a man who was beloved for his merits and for his truly exemplary life. He was a consistant and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and had been for many years previous to his death.

In the onsweeping changes of time the family of Edmond became scattered, and all the children of the grandfather, George, are dead except Michael, the youngest. Those of the descendants who are now living in this city are Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Maddux. Mr. Maddux was born in Meade county, Ky., May 7, 1820. His father, Thomas Maddux, was a native of Green Brier county, Virginia. When 14 years old he came to Perry county, Indiana, where his stepmother died shortly afterward. Following closely upon this sad event the bereaved husband went to Cloverport, Kentucky, with his family, where he died about a year later. Then Alexander Maddux farmed in Perry county, Indiana, for a year or two after his father's death. In 1845-6 he taught school in Clay county, Missouri, and afterward attended school at Hardinsburg, Kentucky. He clerked at Stevensport, Kentucky, for a year and traveled for Dr. James Graves, of Louisville, for three years. His career as a son-in-law of John Edmond in the wood business has been previously told. Since coming to the city he has been served as a justice of the peace and one term

The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Maddux was Talitha J. She was married to John J. Brose, by whom she is the mother of two lovely, bright daughters, Susie B. and Effie M. After the death of Mr. Brose on July 1, 1878, the wife was married to Dr. J. D. Fillinger, October 10, 1894. Dr. Fillinger came to Evansville seventeen years ago and began the practice of his profession as a dentist, and he has l)een successful and prosperous.

After Mr. Maddux came to Evansville, William Brown, who had married Dorcas, the sister of Alexander Maddux, also came to Evansville. Mr. Brown arrived here in 1852, on the steamer "Georgetown" from Hardinsbui-g, Breckinridge county, Kentucky. Mr. Brown was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and many of the houses built by his hands are still standing in this city. He died past middle age, loved, honored and respected, on October 20, 1876. He was born June 8, 1807. His wife was born December 11, 1812, and died February 14, 1880. Thomas Brown, a son, died January 25, 1873 ; Wm. Fletcher, another son, died February 15, 1864 ; Mattie, 8 years old, and Crittenden, 5 years old, both died in 1855; Horace B., born June 17, 1839, died January 10, 1888. Mrs. Richard W. Snider, a daughter, died July 5, 1876. Mrs. John Martin, another daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Brown, died October, 1877. Mary E. Brown was born December 4, 1841, and was married to W. W. Myers, who died in 1884, at the age of 51 years. Miss Sue Brown was born April 10, 1843, and married John Payne, and to-day they are living in California. Miss Lucy E. Brown was born June 7, 1852, and was married to E. D. Wallace. She and her husband are at present living in this city.

All the members of this numerous family led useful, worthy and progressive lives, and were people of strict principles and higli moral precepts.

Ben Stinson

Ben Stinson is the son of John B. Stinson, who was liorn in Virginia, March 1, 1787, of English parents. He located in Kentucky, and in 1809 moved to Indiana territory and built a log house at the foot of coal mine hill, at the bend of the river, just below the site of Evansville. That was in the days when the copper-colored Indians still infested the country, and made life a dangerous affair, especially on the north side of the Ohio river.

Benoni Stinson, a brother of John B., afterwards moved to tliis part of Indiana. He was an eloquent Free Will Baptist preacher, whose labors extended over Vanderburgh, Posey, Gibson, Pike and Warrick counties in Indiana, and three or four adjacent counties in Kentucky. Sometimes John B. Stinson preached in the absence of his brother. He possessed less "religious_power," but was noted for his good, hard, native sense." The records of Vanderburgh county show that in 1818 Governor Jonathan Jennings appointed John B. Stinson as sheriff, being the first official of that character in the new county. He was elected probate judge, and held the position one term. He decided the most celebrated habeas-corpus case that ever came up in the county - the jurisdiction of a minor child between mother and church. He was a leader in church matters, and especially in all the "yearly associations." He, and his brother Benoni, and Rev. Jesse Lane, brother of Governor Lane, united with Amos Clark, James G. Jones, and Wm. T. T. Jones, in signing a circular in the George H. Proffit and Robert Dale Owen congressional race, which defeated Owen. The three reverend gentlemen signed the political document as "ministers of the Free Will Bajitists." For this act John B. Stinson ever after felt ashamed of himself He died at the old home on the river below Evansville, March 15, 1850. His wife, Matilda, died at the home of her son Ben, in Evansville, July 4, 1864, aged seventyfour years and nine months.

Ben - a contraction of Benoni, and as he always writes it himself - was born in Perry township, Vanderburgh county, Indiana, July 23, 182-3, on his father's forty-acre farm at the foot of what is called " Baby-town hill," in a one-story, unhewed log house, standing within a few yards of what was then called " Rattlesnake spring." Often some member of the family would have to drive away the snakes before water could be obtained to cook breakfast. The first school Ben Stinson attended was taught by Miss Ann Rolin, in the upper part of the town. His second teacher was Jefferson Ham, the father of Mrs. McCutchan, who was a teacher herself in the public schools of Evansville. At the age of seven years his father's family moved to the farm, where the L. & N. railroad shops now stand, adjoining Howell, and there his schooling was secured in "subscription schools." Later he attended the school of Alanson Chute, in Evansville. He also attended C. S. Weaver's "high school.'^ This was the extent of his schooling. He then took up the study of law in the office of Lockhart & Jones, and at length was graduated from the Cincinnati law college. 23h

When S. T. Jenkins, clerk of the Vanderburgh circuit court, died, Alvin P. Hovey, judge of the court, appointed Ben Stinson to the vacancy, returning a favor for a favor. Mr. Stinson had practically nominated Judge Lockhart to congress, thus occasioning his resignation as judge of the circuit court, and the appointment of Hovey to the place by Governor Joseph Wright. President Pierce appointed Ben Stinson postmaster at Evansville, and while serving in this position Judge Blackford, one of the judges of the court ot claims, had him appointed one of the commissioners of this new court. Conrad Baker was the other commissioner. When a justice of the peace he was appointed a commissioner under the fugitive slave law. The single case that came before him was disposed of by remanding the fugitives, an old man and his wife, back to their " lawful master." He resigned a short time afterwards, for the reason, as he said, " I was afraid of Chase, the secretary of the treasury." Afterwards he declined the appointment as commissioner of the Uuited States court, a position now held by Captain J. W. Wartmann. During the great Kansas- Nebraska discussion and the trouble in Kansas over the two opposing constitutions, Mr. Stinson was elected to the state legislature as representative, where he manifested his singular power in persuading men to his opinions and leading them to vote on measures as he suggested. After his return from the legislature he was elected a justice of the peace, a position he held over sixteen years. His first wife was Mary E. Banks, of Lewistown, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Hon. Ephraim Banks, auditor-general of Pennsylvania. To them were born two children. She lies in Oak Hill cemetery, near Evansville. His second wife was Caroline C. Cox, of Orange county, Indiana, who bore him three children, all living in Paoli, Indiana.

A man of great activity and push, he is not without an experience in the newspaper field. He purchased the printing office of Younglove & Sullivan, and continued the daily paper they had been publishing. Mr. Stinson writes of that venture in these humorous words: " My name stood at the head of the paper as editor and publisher, but really Mr. Hutchins, the foreman, was manager and editor. Horace Plummer, a young lawyer, sent in paragraphs almost daily." Mr. Stinson's " Gentleman in Black " was a surprising success to himself, the papers selling as high as twenty-five cents each. He sold the paper to C. K. Drew, Sr., and he sold it to a Mr. Baker. In time Mr. Stinson took the office back to indemnify himself against loss. The paper was suspended, and the printing material was nailed up. Rev. Mr. Vaux, an Episcopal minister, printer and school teacher.

opened a job office and used the material for a time. It was at last sold to Smith Gavitt, who in connection with a friend, started another daily. But Mr. Stinson was still not entirely free from all newspaper connections. At this time John B. Hall established the Enquirer, Charles Denby writing the editorials. Willard & Whitehead got hold of the j^lant, and Mr. Stinson in someway became surety on their notes, which went into court, where he was released from the payment of the same. A joint stock company received the Enquirer, purchasing Emil Bishop's paper entitled '"'Reform," and merging the two papers into one. Richard Raleigh, John A. Reitz, Ben Nurre, John Gavisk, Judge Barrett and others cashed their stock subscriptions and put the venture on a firm basis. They obtained Robert Spraul as their editor. Mr. Stinson was again induced to go into the newspaper field, and this time he went into the Enquirer office as business manager. He remained, however, only about seven months. When Maynard and Captain Archer bought the concern, Mr. Stinson also disposed of his interest in it. It was a failing enterprise someway, and Maynard & Archer went under.

About 1871 Mr. Stinson went to Orange county, where his ceaseless activity soon made him a leading citizen. He filled several county offices there in a very creditable manner to himself and a most satisfactory way to his friends and neighbors. He is at present living in Paoli, Indiana, where he and his good wife are enjoying the riches of sweet mutual confidences. For many years, ever since his term in the legislature, in fact, Mr. Stinson has been a great sufferer from rheumatism. It has been so severe and torturing as to render his lower extremities entirely useless. But he is a patient sufferer and a firm believer in the providences of an allwise God. He never belonged to any church, nor to any secret or open society. And yet ho has led a moral life, trusting in the God of all life and being.

Major Joseph B. Cox

The history of this family runs back to the year 1809. They were probably the first permanent white settlers of the Indiana territory. His maternal ancestor lived in the state of Kentucky, where his mother, Frances M. Miller, was born in 1805. Her parents, George and Elizabeth Miller, moved from that state in 1809, and crossed the Ohio river at the present site of Evansville. They found a log cabin on the bank of the river, near where Vine street now is, and they occu- pied it several moutlis. They then moved to what is now known as Knight's hill, near the lower Mt. Vernon road, three and a half miles west of Evansville. They were compelled to cross the river into Kentucky several times to get out of the way of savage Indians. His mother, Mrs. Cox, afterward Mrs. David Stephens, died in October. 1886, having been a continuous resident of Perry township for seventy-seven years. James Cox, the father of Joseph B., was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1800 and died in this county in 1834. He came to Vanderburgh county in 1818 with a brother, Joseph. They were potters by trade, and were occupied for a while in that branch of business. When steamboats began running on the river, using wood for fuel, they established a wood-yard near Ingle's coal mines, and in connection with that they cleared and cultivated land near their wood yard.

James Cox was colonel of the militia, and often called his regiment into camp for the purpose of drilling. Major Joseph B. Cox was born in what is now Perry township, this county, four miles west of Evansville, on the middle Mt. Vernon road. The log cabin that he was born in is still standing, but somewhat dilapidated. The date of his birth was the 8th day of September, 1830. He was the fourth of five children, three daughters and two sons. His boyhood days were spent on the farm, and in attending such schools as were in his reach, which was usually about three months in the year. The first school he attended was held in a small log cabin, one end of which was used as a chimney, the other end for a door, and on each side there was a log cut out for a window, and in place of glass greased paper was pasted over the openings. Puncheons were used for seats. The name of the teacher was Mr. Rice, and the next teacher's name was Cotton. At the age of fourteen years he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and entered the public schools as a pupil, and continued in these schools for three years, after which he was promoted to the high school, continued his studies for some time, then entered St. Xavier college and remained for one term. He next entered Bacon's commercial college and graduated, both institutions being in Cincinnati.

After his graduation he served as clerk on various steamboats plying between Cincinnati and New Orleans. In August, 1859, he entered the sherifTs office of Vanderburgh county as deputy for John S. Gavitt, and upon the enlistment of Mr. Gavitt as major in the 1st Indiana cavalry, he was appointed by the sheriff to fill out his unexpired term of office. The war of the rebellion being in progress. Major Cox raised a company, which was made company F of the 60th regi- ment, Indiana infantry, and he was selected captain, and served in the ranks until the 27th day of May, 1862, when he was elected major of the regiment. He served as such until the 30th of November, following, when he resigned on account of ill health. Returning to Evansville he entered the county treasurer's office as deputy with Leroy Calvert, and served for about two years. In 1880 he entered the sheriff's office as deputy for Thomas Kerth, and served for four years. On August 7, 1885, he was appointed by President Cleveland surveyor of customs for the term of four years.

From early manhood he has been interested in farming. In April, 1863, he was married to Miss Amanda W. Sirkle, who was born in Vanderburgh county, in 1833, and died in 1868, leaving one sou. Dr. David A. Cox, of Howell, Ind. He was married a second time, in 1870, to Martha J. Angel, who was born in Vanderburgh county in 1849. To this union two sons were born, Robert M., who is a lawyer, and Joseph B., who is a student in Oakland City college. Both of his wives were members of the General Baptist church.

Mr. Cox is a man of great force of character, an estimable citizen in all respects, and one whose life-record is characterized by usefulness and fairness.

Hon. Charles Denby

Evausville delights to honor her distinguished citizen, Hon. Charles Denby, whose I'eputation is far and wide, and whose public services have made him a national historical character. This skillful lawyer and wise diplomat was born in Botetourt county, Va., in 1830. He was a student three years at Georgetown college, in the District of Columbia, and afterward was graduated from the Virginia military institute with high honors. His splendid mental attainments led him into the profession of a teacher in the Masonic university at Salem, Ala., where he wore the honors of a professor until he came to Evausville in 1853. Here he edited the Daily Enquirer, and at the same time pursued the study of law in the office of Conrad Baker, who was then only a practicing attorney. Three years after his arrival in Evausville he was sent to the legislature. When the war of the Union began, he felt called upon to defend his country, and in 1861 he raised the 42d Indiana infantry and became its lieutenant colonel. At Perryville his regiment took an active part and suffered severely. His good military tact caused him to be promoted to the colonelcy of the 80th Indiana regiment. His services continued in the army till 1863 when he resigned because of his health. He returned to this city and resumed the practice of law, and for many years he unbrokenly pursued the practice of his profession. In 1876, and again in 1884, he was a delegate at large from Indiana to the national democratic convention. His party asked him several times to accept the nomination for congress from this congressional district, but he preferred rather to pursue his profession than participate in the entanglements of politics. For many years he was the senior member of the law firm of Denby & Kumler, consisting of himselfand Daniel B. Kumler, who died early in 1893. This firm had a large practice, and was markedly successful, which was due to its carefulness, its broad knowledge of the law and its application to cases considered and tried at its hands. Mr. Denby was first a careful, ceaseless student of the law, and next a man with deep earnestness in his cases. He had few superiors at the bar, and perhaps none excelled him in general information and belles-lettres. And in all the elements that went to make up a man and the high character of a spotless citizen, he was among the very first.

In the first year of President Cleveland's first term in .office Mr. Denby was appointed as minister of the United States to China, and when President Harrison came into office he did not find it necessary to displace him, so excellent were his services there, in that land of the Celestials. He continued in the same position through Cleveland's second term, and is still there, in the beginning of President McKinley's term, 1897. When the massacre of the Coolies occurred in the west of the United States, difficult national complications arose, but he carried them through to a successful termination. The law regulating Chinese immigration to this country again strained the relations of the two countries, but his fine diplomatic skill brought peace upon the troubled waters. All the delicate duties arising out of these imbroglios he has executed with consummate skill, and his handling of all state matters demonstrates his peculiar fitness for the great position he fills.

In the national democratic convention of 1888, his name was seriously considered by the Indiana delegates and others for the second position on the ticket instead of the " Old Roman," A. G. Thurraan.

He was married in 1858 to Maretea Fitch, daughter of Senator Graham X. Fitch, of Logansport, Ind. Graham Fitch Denby, his son, is a practicing attorney in this city to-day.

William Heilman

One of Evansville's most respected and honored citizens was William Heilman. His commercial and public career made him known to everybody. He was born in Bermersheim, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, on October 11, 1824. His father, Valentine Heilman, was a farmer, and died in 1826, when William was but a child. The widowed mother married Peter Weiutz. William labored on the farm and also attended the school of his native village. This embraced the extent of his education at school, but he was an observant man all his life and his schooling went on continually. In 1843 the family emigi-ated to the New World and landed first at New Orleans. Then they came up the river to St. Louis, and soon after located in Posey county, Indiana, where Mr. Weintz pursued the occupation of a farmer. Here young William labored, but the business was distasteful to him. Four years afterward - that is, in 1847 - he engaged in the foundry business in Evansville with his brother-in-law. Christian Kratz. Their small machine shop on Pine street, was at first run by two blind horses. Three years later their log shop was displaced by a brick one, and the horses relieved by steam power. Their first work was dog-irons, cast plows, stoves, &c. In 1854 they constructed their first portable engine, and in 1859 their first thresher; The emergencies of rebellion greatly enhanced their business, and they could scarcely fill their orders, notwithstanding the enlarged capacity of their works. When Mr. Kratz retired in 1864, he received $100,000 for his interest in the concern. Then through Mr. Heilman's untiring energy, the field of trade was enlarged, the City Foundry enlarged so as to cover almost an entire block, and the business made to prosper almost like magic.

When the war for the Union began Mr. Heilman took a very positive ground for the preservation of the country in its entirety, and his faith and convictions never varied. In 1852 he was first elected to the city council, and served in that official capacity several terms well and faithfully. His broad knowledge of things sent him to the state legislature in 1870, and gave him tlie nomination for congress on the republican ticket in 1872. In the congressional race he reduced his opponent's majority from 2,500 to 112. In 1876 he was elected to the state senate. While in Europe in 1878 he was nominated for congress again, and returned and was elected after a short, spirited canvass. In congress, as everywhere, Mr. Heilman exhibited his sterling good practical sense. His speech on the Warner coinage bill in 1879, just after the resumption measure had begun, shows his wisdom. He said: "I am strongly in favor of well considered, practical legislation to benefit the agricultural and manufacturing interests, to increase our commerce and wealth, but by all means let us have some stability in our financial legislation. The condition of the country is at last surely, although perhaps slowly, getting better, and what commerce and finance need just now more than anything else is to be let alone."

This measure would have enriched the silver bullion owners to the amount of fifiteen cents on the dollar at the expense of the people. In congress his keen practical foresight placed him in the category of the best business legislators. In business affairs he was an originator of plants upon a large scale. His enterprise brought commercial prosperity to Evansville. His wide grasp of affairs made him a director of the state bank of Indiana, and also of its successor, the Evansville national bank, as well as director of the horse railway company, president of the gas company, and leader in many other useful enterprises. His energy and capacity in financial investment made him the principal owner in the cotton mills. He was a man of remarkable capacity for business, and great executive powers. Therefore success always attended him. He always was the friend and supporter of everything good for Evansville. His gifts to the poor were many and constant, his benevolence toward every good work was a matter of general remark, his large-hearted acts toward enterprises making for the good of his fellow-creatures were but in evidence of the greatness of his warm heart, his liberal gifts to all benevolent institutions were almost of a lavish character, and his generosity never was appealed to in vain- It need scarcely be said here that Mr. Heilman was a self-made man. His mental capacities were exhibited in the broad sweep he took of business and the success he attained in matters of trade. Not to seem to be grasping round for fine phrases to apply to him, it may be added truthfully that he was eminently "faber suae forhmae," as the trite Latin phrase has it. His pathway to succe.ss is plain, and is worthy of being followed by young men setting cut in a long business career. For one thing Mr. Heilman was an indefatigable worker and punctual in all things.

In 1848 he was married to Mai'y Jenner, who came from Germany to this country when she was nine years old. Nine children were born to them. George P. and William A. are prominent business men here at this time. From the organization of the St. John's Evangelical church in 1851, Mr. Heilman wns a consistent member.

the city. His multitude of friends felt the loss as a sort of public calamity, and thus wound up the useful career of one of Evansville's best and most respected citizens.

One of the most enterprising and public-spirited men of Evansville was John August Reitz, and he is most deserving of the recognition given him by this memoir. He was born in Dorlar, Prussia, on the 17th day of December, 1815, and died in Evansville on the 13th day of May, 1891.

It is an evidence of his fearless and enterprising spirit that he was the first person to leave his own country, in Germany, and traverse the wide seas to the inviting New World. He bade his friends and his country adieu in 1836, and arrived in Evansville in December of the same year. From the time he left school, at which he received a fair and liberal German education, at the age of fifteen years, until he left his home for the United States, at the age of twenty-one, he supervised his father's farm, which consisted of about 600 acres; and he also superintended his father's distillery, his flouring mill and general store thereon. From seventy-five to eighty persons were employed to cultivate the land and take care of the stock, which consisted of 100 to 125 horses, 150 to 200 head of cattle, and 500 to 600 sheep. When he came to America, he traveled to various sections, seeking a location wherein tp cast his lot. When he began his career in Evansville, it was a river village. He had at the time but one gold piece of money in his pocket. Nothing daunted, however, but on the contrary with a firm determination to succeed, and plenty of energy and industry to back it, he began working for others in the manufacture of lumber, but was engaged mostly with Lloyd Olmstead, on Pigeon creek, on the Stringtown road, and with Judge Silas Stephens, on the bank of the Ohio river, at the foot of Chandler avenue, until he erected his first sawmill in 1845, against the advice of his best friends, who predicted failure, because that was the bitter experience of all those who had engaged in this business preceding him. Notwithstanding the well-meant advice of his friends, his business prospered, and to-day the third sawmill stands upon the same site, at the month of Pigeon creek. The first mill was burned in 1855, ten years after its erection. The second was built in the same year of the loss of the first, and was torn away in 1873 for a third and more modern and improved mill; and now it is running at its full capacity, and has manufactured more hardwood lumber for ten years - from 1883 to 1893 - than any other one sawmill in the United States. It was operated when the elements permitted twenty-two hours out of twenty-four and six days of the week. Mr. Reitz continued in the sawmill business uninterrupted from 1845 until his death, and since then the business has been conducted by his sons, making, up to this time, fifty-two years of consecutive operation without any interruption - probably the longest business career of any firm in the state.

Mr. Reitz was a man of broad understanding and usefulness and possessed of a public spirit of enterprise and helpfulness, and therefore his services wei-e required in a public way. He was for many years a member of the board of the town of Lamasco, and president of its board of trustees, until its consolidation with the city of Evansville. Afterward for many years he was a member of the city council. He was a member of the board of directors of the Crescent City bank during its entire existence, and at times was vice president and president. He was a stockholder and director of the Evansville, Indianapolis and Cleveland Railroad Company, then popularly known as the "Straight Line Railroad," and now as the Evansville and Indianapolis railroad, until its liquidation caused by the panic in 1857. In 1856 he, together with John A. Haney, purchased the foundry and machine shop then known as the "Eggleston Foundry," and continued its operation until 1881, when he sold it. He was one of the organizers of the E^vansville, Carmi and Paducah Railroad Company and its president until its consolidation with the St. Louis and Southeastern Railway, now a part of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad system, extending from Evansville to St. Louis. He was one of the organizers and directors of the German National bank of this city, and for many years its vice president, and at the time of his death its president.

He was largely engaged iu buying and selling real estate on his own account, and also with the late Willard Carpenter - buying a large number of lots at different times and selling them off to laborers and mechanics seeking a home, on long time and easy payments, often furnishing them means to erect a home on the lot, giving them such time as they wanted and needed to repay him. And in all these transactions, it is to be said to his credit, he never sold one out to indemnify himself.

He was a member of the board of trustees of Evans hall, and was one of the board of erection, and president of the board ot trustees of said hall for many years. In 1862 lie was elected to the state senate from Vanderburgh and Posey counties, as a democrat. In that stirring war-time it was no small political victory and no little evidence of popularity to be elected to the senate as a democrat.

In 1887 Mr. Reitz purchased ground and erected thereon the "Home of the Aged " for the Little Sisters of the Poor. It is a beautiful structure, situated on the Newburgh road. At this home are received and maintained during their natural lives the homeless aged - a most worthy purpose as all must see. No distinction is made, it must be said further, in regard to sex, color, nationality or religious creed - Jew or gentile. He was a member of the first board of trustees that erected Trinity Catholic church on Third street in 1848, and was a continuous member of that board until within a few years of his death. In 1889 he erected the Sacred Heart church in Independence, on the west side of Pigeon creek, and presented it to the congregation as a house of worship for their sole use and ^benefit.

While firm in his own convictions of right and wrong, he was most charitably disposed toward others who differed from him. In truth he was liberal and thoroughly American in his attitude toward all other organizations and churches, and extended to them the same toleration he expected in return. He contributed to every church in the city regardless of faith, and was well-known for his liberality.

During his entire business career he was never in debt, never owed a dollar on his own account, that he did not have the cash ou hand with which to pay. No prospective profit or business venture would induce him to contract a debt or obligation that he could not pay on demand.

He was a man of great energy and activity, and his powerful will force carried him through many embarrassments and intricacies. It is almost superfluous to add that he possessed great public spirit, and encouraged everything that looked to the general welfare. His distinct characteristic was his great executive ability, and he was therefore a man of few words His business activity and deep comprehension of commercial affairs are manifest in the success of eveiy enterprise he took hold of.

He was ever ready to help any one in need and render assistance to the destressed. Often when his judgment would tell him he was aiding at his own cost, both mentally and pecuniarily, he followed the dictates of his sympathies and his sense of benevolence and gave to those appealing for help.

tastes, and never happier than when at home surrounded by his family. The names of his children, in the order in which they were born, are as given here : Francis J. Reitz, Julia, (Mrs. John A. Haney), Mary, (Mrs. Herman Fendrich), John A. Jr., Miss Christine, Miss Josephine, Miss Wilhelmine, Miss Matilda, Edward C. and Miss Louise. All are living except the last two.

John A. Reitz, the father of this family, always enjoyed good health until his last illness. He was always a consistent and practical member of the Roman Catholic church, both in faith and works. When the race of life was completed for him, when the goal had been won, he passed to his final rest with the easy and trustful conscience of one retiring to sleep.

Frederick Lauenstein

A history of Evansville and Vanderburgh county would uot be complete without biographical sketches of the newspaper publishers, who have done so much to build up the city and help make history. The German press is particularly worthy of good words. Ever since its establishment it has been a power in bringing to the city some of those who are now it* very best people, so that at present the German element forms considerably over half of the total population. This proves conclusively that the German press has done its full duty in giving information about Evansville to the Fatherland.

Mr. Frederick Lauenstein, the proprietor and publisher of the Demokrat, which has been since its establishment the leading German paper here, is the subject of this sketch. He is now one of the old citizens, having resided here for thirty-one years. He was born in Hanover, Germany, September 10, 1844. After attending the leading schools in his mative country, where he secured a good education, he came to the United States in 1866. His first stopping place was Cincinnati, Ohio, where he resided for only a few months, after which he came direct to Evansville, and went to work for the Demokrat. He remained in its employ as a traveler for one year, and on March 16th, ' 1867, he and his brother, Dr. Charles Laueustein, purchased the paper.

In April, 1869, Mr. Frederick Lauenstein bought the Evansville Courier and conducted it in connection with the Demokrat, thus owning two papers, both daily, one German and one P^nglish. By economy and enterprise they rapily placed the Courier on a paying basis, but in 1872, having received a good offer for it they sold it to Mr. SD. Terry and devoted tlieir combined abilities to the publication of the

Demokrat. In 1872 Dr. Charles Lauenstein sold his interest in the Demokrat to his brother, Frederick, and returned to Germany, where he remained for three years, after which time he returned and bought hack his interest. In 1879 he died, and Mr. Frederick Lauenstein has since owned and controlled the paper with the exception of one yearwhen Messrs. H. Schiller and H. Dietermann had an interest. This was from 1883 to 1884. Mr. Lauenstein is descended from the best of old German stock traced back to 1550, when the Lauensteins were merchants of Peine, Hanover.

Mr. Frederick Lauenstein's father was Wilhelm Lauenstein, who lived on a plantation in Griessen, Hanover, after a term of service as a lieutenant in the Hanoverian army. He was a volunteer and fought at Waterloo in 1815. He lived happily on the plantation, married a wife, who was a native of Helpensen, in the same province, and raised a family of nine children, six boys and three girls. The mother died at the age of 66 and the father at that of 71. Young Frederick attended the schools of his native province until he was 21 years old, when he came to America, as has been stated in the first part of this article. Mr. Lauenstein has held the very best position as a citizen every since his arrival in Evansville. In 1871 he married Miss Constance Schiller and has had four children, two daughters and one son still living. He ran for state senator on the democratic ticket in 1892 and was defeated by only 40 votes. He was a delegate in 1884 from the first district of Indiana to the National democratic convention at Chicago, that nominated Mr. Cleveland. He has just been appointed a member of the board of education of this city, by Mayor Akin, and is particularly qualified to hold this position with credit to himself and benefit to the interests of the schools.

In 1878 he jiurchased a handsome residence in Washington avenue where he still resides, having added improvements frofh year 'to year as required by his increasing family. His son is now finishing his education at the Indiana state university. The Demokrat has never wavered from the true democratic faith and has always been a power in politics in Evansville. Its circulation and influence have been greatly increased during the last few years, so that at this time (1897) it is second to none in the state of Indiana. All of this is due to the excellent judgment, untiring industry and great ability of Mr. Frederick Lauenstein. In 1892 he purchased the present location of the Demokrat, a handsome and substantial building at 403 Main street. His personal appearance is very fine, being large and well proportioned, over six feet in height, dignified, agreeable, hospitable

The Babcock Family

Oliver Babcock and Anna Hearth, his wife, lived in Utica, N. Y., and to them were born eight children, four sons and four daughters. The sons were Edward, Charles, Elisha Spurr and Henry O. The daughters were Emily, Elizabeth, Ann and Mary. Elisha Spurr, Charles, Henry O., Emily, (Mrs. Peter Sharpe) and Elizabeth, (Mrs. John Hoff ) were long residents of Evansville, and well known. Edward lived in Troy, N. Y., and Anna, (Mrs. C. H. Edgar) dwelt at Easton, Pa. The only one of this family of brothers and sisters now living is Mary, and her home is in Detroit, Mich. Her husband's name is William H. Edgar, of Detroit. They resided in Evansville at one time, and then Mr. Edgar was in partnership with the Babcock Brothers. Elisha Spurr Babcock, Sr., was born at Utica, N. Y., August 10, 1815. In early life he located at Troy, N. Y., and subsequently in New York city. He came to Evansville in 1837, and entered into business with Charles and Henry O. Babcock, under the firm name of Babcock Brothers. They carried on the grocery business, coupled with hardware and saddlery. Elisha Spurr managed the grocery department, and when the firm dissolved he retained this department for his share of the business, and continued it for a number of years. In time, however, he met with reverses, and he retired from business for about two years. Then he entered the grain and commission business with his oldest son, Oliver. He continued this business up to the time of his departure for California.

He married Agnes Southerland Davidson, a native of Scotland, in May, 1844. f^e was a very estimable lady. The result of this union was eight children, as follows : Oliver, Louisa, Elisha Spurr, Jr., William D., Edgai", Frank, Amelia and John. Elisha Spurr, Jr., and William D. are the only survivors of their children. Oliver married Mary Gibson Hodge, a native of Kentucky, in 1872, and left two children at his cfeath, namely, Agnes Southerland and Mary Dixon Babcock, both now residing with their mother at Los Angeles, Cal. Elisha Spurr Babcock, Jr., married Isabella Graham, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. They have two children surviving - Arnold and Graham Babcock. Both of these sons are married, but have no children. Both assist their father in his vast business, and have also large indedendent interests of their own. William B. Babcock married Harriet

Mclntyre in 1893, but has no issue. His residence is at Los Angeles. He is a jihysician of large practice, making a sjiecialty of the eye and ear.

Elisha Spurr Babcock, Sr., closed up his business in Evansville, and moved to San Diego, Cal., in 1887, where he assisted in the vast business of the Coronado Beach company. His son, E. S. Babcock, Jr., is president and chief stock-holder in this enterprise. The father died of senile gangrene in 1890. Elisha Spurr Babcock, Jr , is one of the most remarkable business men of his day. It would require a volume to record the many enterprises he has carried to a successful completion. After graduating from the high school of Evansville, he entered the service of the E. & T. H. railroad company, commencing as a freight clerk at the Evansville depot, and working himself up to the position of general freight agent of the road. He left the railroad service to engage in developing the Bell telephone company, which controlled a large territoi'y, extending from Evansville to New Orleans, having at the same time the sole ownership of the Eugene ice company, with some five large houses and a number of agencies, and being a partner in the firm of E. S. Babcock & Son. Since the death of Oliver Babcock, his success mai'ked him a man of distinctive mental character, a man of vast resources in large commercial transactions. In 1885 he commenced to close out all these industries with a view of retiring from business. Regaining his health, he began a year later to embark in the large enterprises in California that have since made him known far and wide. He and three associates, in 1885, purchased the property known as Coronado Beach, a tract of over 4,000 acres opposite San Diego, being the peninsula that makes the bay of San Diego. They organized the Coronado Beach company, of which Mr. Babcock has always been president and active manager. They laid out the city of Coronado, sold $2,750,000 worth of property during the boom, built the grand hotel, Del Coronado at a cost of $1,600,000 - a building that is without a peer on this continent. They also built the water works for both Coronado and San Diego, the street railway lines, a railroad twenty-two miles long around the bay of San Diego, an electric light plant, a shipyard and many other enterprises. At the close of the boom Mr. Babcock bought out mo.st of the other stock-holders. John D. Spreckles and A. B. Spreckles,'sons of the sugar king, Claus Spreckles, bought the balance of the stock. These three men became the sole owners of the enterprises developed by Mr. Babcock. Since then he has entered on his wider career, which has made him one of the leading representative men of the Pacific slope. All the great works, looking to the development of San Diego county, Cal., are under his guidance. He is now engaged in the comprehensive development of the water supplies of the San Diego bay region. To show up briefly the result of his work since 1886, we may enumerate the folloM'iug enterprises, which he has given or developed in the city of San Diego : Its water works, street railway system, electric light plant, a I'ailroad twenty-two miles long and many other public institutions.

The Grand Hotel del C'oronado is a thing of iiis creation, as is also the city of Coronado, with its tree-lined avenues and many beautiful parks, filled with the flowers of the tropics, its electric railway and railroad around the bay, its electric lights and ferry, its pure water and drainage. He has, besides his great interests in the Coronado Beach company, many investments outside. To his energy, grit and perseverence is due all the great projects of which he is at present master. All the great schemes conceived by him have been carried to completion, and success has crowned his efforts in all undertakings, whether of public or private interest. He is in full vigor of body and intellect, and evidently has a long career before him.

For one thing among many, Mr. Babcock never sought public office, and lived free from such an infection. His private and corporate interests are .so large that he has hardly a moment he can call his own. If he wishes to rest, he must leave home and conceal his whereabouts, as early and late at his business offices and in his private room, he is sought after at all hours by parties wishing his help or his information. In the bay region roundabout San Diego his name is a household word. You cannot walk the streets or enter a public conveyance without hearing his name and his projects discussed. He is very reticent about his business and private affairs, and it would be very hard to make an estimate of the amount of his fortune. The Coronado Beach company has a capital of $.3,000,000, and he and John D. Spreckles and A. B. Spreckles are the sole owners. Though this is the largest business matter he is engaged in, it is, however, but one of the many. It is not his fortune so much as his great ability in opening up new sources of wealth to himself and the consequent development of the country that has made him so well known.

The Residences of the living members of the family of E. S. Babcock, Sr., are as follows: Mrs. E. S. Babcock, Sr., Mrs. Oliver Babcock and her two daughters, xlgnes and Mary, Dr. W. D. Babcock and wife - all residents of Los Angeles ; E. S. Babcock, Jr., and wife and Graham Babcock, his son and wife, at the Hotel del Coronado,

Charles Babcock, who for many years was a leading business man of this city, died July 22, 1894, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. He was born December 10, 1812, in Utica, New York. He resided in Troy in the same state until he was twenty-two years old, and then he went south to Mobile, Alabama. For three years he was in business there. In 1839, with the first upward move of Evansville he came here, and began an active business career, which he continued the rest of his life. He was a member of the firm of Babcock Brothers, having three separate stores or departments - wholesale groceries, wholesale hardware and wholesale queensware. They were the first importers of the latter class of goods in this city.

Shortly after his arrival here in 1839, he was called upon to draw up papers to be placed in the corner-stone of old St. Paul's Episcopal church ; and when the new structure of this denomination replaced the old one, a similar request was made of him, and again he cheerfully complied with the pleasing duty. He was vestryman and treasurer of this church for over thirty-five years, and a liberal contributor to all of its needs during his long lifetime.

Henry Oliver Babcock was born July 20, 1822. His grandfather was a Revolutionary officer, and his mother traced her ancestors back to the Mayflower. His father was a legislator of New York at one time. And Henry Oliver himself was the youngest of eight children. His parents died before he was nine years old. He was graduated from Brown's university at the age of eighteen, and soon after he went south, spent two years in New Orleans, and then started in business in San Antonio, or near there. Not long afterwards the settlement was burned by the Indians. Losing all his goods in this calamity, he joined the Texas volunteers, was taken prisoner, but after long and tedious marching he managed to escape. Soon after the war was over he returned to New Orleans, and accepted the position of bookkeeper in one of the largest firms in the city. In 1845 he came to Ev^nsville and entered into partnership with his brothers Charles and Elisha, in the wholesale grocery, hardware and queensware business. Many of their goods were imported. The business was a continued success, and in 1858 it was divided, each brother taking a

Mr. Babcock was devoted to his business and his family, and was always deeply interested in the affairs of the city and nation. He was married June 8, 1848, to Mary E. Howser. His home was the center in which his love and devotion made perpetual sunshine. His life was lull of charity, and his broad views of humanity led him to help others without boasting. He died September 10, 1879, leaving a wife and six children. The names of his children living at the time of Mr. Babcock's death were . Henry Howser Babcock, Mary Kate Veatch, Lucy Alice Walker, Morgan Babcock, Howard Leigh Babcock and Guilford Carlisle Babcock.

Henry H. Babcock, the son of Henry O., succeed him in business, and extended the same so that it covered many states. He displayed great business tact and ability in the management of his affairs. He was a man of high character, and had "many qualities which attracted people to him, and was a man of fine presence. He died in the full flush of business success at the early age of forty-two years. He left surviving him his widow - a daughter of Gillison Maghee - many years a resident of Evansville, a son Gillison and a daughter Mary.

The Gavitt Family

In many respects the several members of the Gavitt family have been remarkable, not more for their patriotic services to their country than for their singularly clear perception. No one but remembers John Smith Gavitt, whose heroic death on the battle-field fired the hearts of all who ever knew him and called forth commendations from General Grant and others.

This brief history of the Gavitts is in no way commensurate with the importance of the characters. It is difficult to trace their lineage beyond the shores of America, so long have they been citizens here. Indeed they were in at the founding of the republic, and have been among its staunchest supporters ever since. On the Gavitt side they are of Scotch and English extraction. The name seems originally to have been of French origin, and at one time the family spelled it Gavit.