Genealogy Trails
Vigo County, Indiana
Biographies

A large number of the men who have taken an important part in the upbuilding of Vigo County and Terre Haute have already been mentioned more or less in detail, but there are many others, both living and dead, who have done and are doing much toward the development of the community, and concerning whose work and lives some brief account is eminently fitting at this time. Chauncey Rose. There has been, perhaps, no single man who did more for this city, both commercially and philanthropically, than Chauncey Rose. In a sketch of his career, Mr. C. C. Oakey has said that Chauncey Rose was born on a farm on the Wethersfield Meadows, Connecticut, December 24, 1794, and died at Terre Haute, August 13, 1877. John Rose, his father, was the son of John Rose, who emigrated from the Highlands of Scotland early in 1700. Mary Warner, his mother, was a daughter of John Warner, of Wethersfield. The mother died in 1832 at the age of 72 years, and the father six years later at the age of eighty years. Chauncey Rose survived his six brothers and one sister, all of whom were without children ; so that when he died, also childless, he was the last of his race. The education of Chauncey Rose consisted of a brief attendance at the common schools of his district, but he inherited good health and was endowed with energy, courage, a strong intellect and abundant common sense. His firmness of will did no discredit to his Scotch ancestry, and his unflinching integrity in purpose and act were marks of his Puritan ancestry. The Northwest Territory, as it was then called, offered strong attractions to a man of such character as Mr. Rose. He decided to try his fortunes on the frontier, and went to Mount Sterling, Kentucky. He came to Indiana in April 1818, locating at Roseville, Parke county, where he spent five years engaged in milling and trade. In 1825, Mr. Rose returned to Terre Haute with a capital of $2,000 with which to enter trade, and became one of the most popular and successful merchants in the region. His profits were judiciously invested in land, which he worked according to the most approved methods, until, acre by acre, it gradually passed, with the increasing population, from farmland into city lots. In these and other ways he amassed a fortune. He was foremost in securing railroad transportation for Indiana, as has heretofore been told. A distinguished mark of this man's character was his public spirit and liberality; he always responded to every worthy application. Among the more worthy of his good deeds was an act of justice to the memory of his brother John, which was so unique that it cannot be omitted. He found that for many reasons the will of his brother, if executed under the laws of the State of New York, would not accomplish the clearly defined intentions of his brother. The will made bequests of more than a million dollars, and Mr. Rose became satisfied that only a small part of the bequests would reach the objects for which they were intended. He succeeded, after nearly six years of litigation, in setting the will aside, and he thus became heir to an estate valued at $1,600,000. He then dispensed more than a million and half dollars in New York for more than eighty charitable objects, ranging in amounts from $1,000 to $220,000, doing fitting justice to the memory of his brother. His philanthropies from his own fortune were many and great. He contributed liberally toward the expenses of nearly every church in Terre Haute, and by the munificent gift of $90.000 to the Ladies' Aid Society of Terre Haute he enabled it to become a noble charity. His donations to Providence Hospital, until recently St. Ann's Orphan Home, were upon a most liberal scale. The medical dispensary where the poor are provided for without money is a work of benevolence. Added to these, with others less conspicuous, is the Rose Orphans' Home, with an endowment sufficient to insure its permanency, and the foundation and endowment of the nationally renowned Rose Polytechnic Institute will confer immortal honor upon his memory.

Demas Deming, who was for years president of the First National Bank of Terre Haute, was born at the northwestern corner of First and Ohio streets on April 4, 1841, the son of Demas Deming who came to Terre Haute from Connecticut in 1818 and Sarah C. (Patterson) Deming, who came here from Virginia. Mr. Deming was the seventh in line of descent from John Deming who settled in Connecticut in 1641. The family was prominent for several generations in colonial history of Connecticut. When Demas Deming was two years of age, his parents built the frame house on the southwest corner of Sixth and Walnut, the present home of Mrs. Sophie Wheeler, Mr. Deming's sister. With the exception of a short time Mr. Deming lived his entire life in the one block, in the old home and in the new home occupied by the family at Sixth and Poplar streets. Mr. Deming was educated in the public schools and the Academy of Waveland, Indiana. He started his business career at sixteen in the bank of McKeen and Tousey, which later became the bank of McKeen and Deming, and in 1868 he became the president of the First National Bank. He was then twenty-seven years old, and was called the "boy banker". He was successful from the very beginning due to the fact that Chauncey Rose came to do business with him. thus giving him great prestige. Mr. Rose had been a director of old State Bank at its inception when Demas Dem-ing, Sr., was president of that institution. Demas Deming, Jr., assisted Mr. Rose on the Board of Directors of Rose Polytechnic Institute, and was treasurer until his death. He was always very loyal to the school, and never lost a dollar of its endowment, replacing bad bonds, if there ever were any such, with good bonds of his own. Mr. Deming was married on February 7, 1871 to Mary B. Floyd who died February 12, 1893. On October 3, 1916, he married Mrs. Lillian R. Lohrmann, who survives him. Mr. Deming had no children by either marriage. He had many friends, and was particularly interested in the three small children of Mr. and Mrs. Lovell E. Waterman, son-in-law and daughter of the second Mrs. Deming. He built the Deming Hotel, was president of the Deming Land Company, a family corporation owning large acreage east of Nineteenth street and south of Wabash avenue, part of which is being developed as a residential district. He owned nearly all the common stock of the Deming Hotel Company which was built in 1913 and 1914, was vice-president of the Terre Haute Savings Bank and a director in the United States Trust Company. He was generous in his church gifts, and helped churches in many ways, buying part of the Presbyterian church property on which to erect a building, by buying the Congregational church property as a site for the Deming Hotel, and by buying the Baptist church which he let the Christian Science Church use for many ears rent free. His favorite sports were horse racing and boxing, and in politics he was independent. He was a great admirer of Cleveland and Roosevelt, and was a delegate to the Progressive National Convention in 1912. In 1921 the Board of Park Commissioners sought to buy land lying west of Fruitridge avenue and north of Poplar, and Mr. Deming sold it for $155,000, of which $100,000 was given to Rose Polytechnic as a memorial to his parents, and $55,000 was given to improve Ohio boulevard to the Park. He had a genius for
business organization, was always at his desk at the First National Bank, and was taken ill there four weeks before his death from angina pectoris on March 7, 1922.

Crawford Fairbanks, prominent business man, philanthropist and financier of Terre Haute, is a son of the late Hon. Henry and Emeline (Crawford) Fair- banks, and was born in the city in whose upbuilding he has been a strong factor. The paternal ancestors were English, and came to America in the colonial period of its history. Henry Fairbanks, the father, was long an eminent character in the affairs of Vigo County, and at the time of his death was the mayor of Terre Haute. He was a native of Massachusettes, born at Brimfield, January 2, 1814, a son of Henry Fairbanks, and a cousin of the inventor of the platform scales. Mr. Henry Fairbanks spent his childhood days on the farm, at an early age learned the gunsmith's trade and when twenty years of age located at Terre Haute. Although of an unassuming and even retiring disposition, has was a man of strong, practical and strictly honorable character. He accomplished much good, but the only public offices he could be induced to accept were those of mayor of Terre Haute and countytreasurer. By his marriage to Emeline Crawford two of the old and honored families of this community were united. Her father, Caleb Crawford, was a native of New York state, and came to settle permanently in Terre Haute in 1819, and became one of the best known business men of the town. The marriage of Henry and Emeline Fairbanks was blessed with many children. The eldest, Col. William H. Fairbanks, for many years a resident of the west, later of Terre Haute, was identified during the Civil War with the Thirty-first Indiana Regiment of Volunteers, and was promoted to the command of his regiment for his meritorius and gallant service, still later he was made colonel of the 149th I. V. I., passing the grade of acting adjutant general under General Cruft. After the war he located in the lead and zinc regions of southwest Missouri and engaged in mining and smelting. He was one of the founders of Galena City, in southeast Kansas, one of the largest lead and zinc producing regions of the southwest. In 1896 he retired from business and returned to Terre Haute. He was married at Fort Madison, Iowa in 1876 to Miss Ella Peters of that city. From this union there was one child, Grant Henry Fairbanks, born February 18, 1877. Other members of the family were Edward Paige Fairbanks, Frank Fairbanks, Pauline, Ella and Carrie. Crawford Fairbanks was educated in the public schools of Terre Haute, and inherited both his father's distaste for publicity and his high ideals of faithful service in the ranks of citizenship. He enlisted for service in the Union Army in the 129th I. V. I., and after serving some time as a private was promoted to a lieutenancy.
After the war, he began his business career which has been signally successful. He is owner of the Terre Haute Tribune. He was the organizer of the extensive combination known as the American Straw Board Company, with a capital of $6,000,000, and of which he was president. Further, he is part owner of the magnificent French Lick Hotel, and his business interests ramify many other parts of the United States. Mrs. Fairbanks was formerly Clara Collett, daughter of Stephen S. and Sarah (Groendyke) Collett, and sister of the late Hon. Josephus Collett of Terre Haute. Their only child, Sarah, married Bruce Failey, well-known for his connection with leading industries and financial institutions of Terre Haute.
Mr. Fairbanks is a Mason, and is identified with the Indiana Commandery of the Loyal Legion. His philanthropies have been wide and varied. He gave the Fairbanks Library to Terre Haute as a memorial to his mother and with his brother, Edward P. Fairbanks, gave the Henry Fairbanks Memorial Park to the city. Improvements on this park have just begun, but it is predicted that it will be one of the show places of Terre Haute and one of the most beautiful city recreation places in this section. Mr. Fairbanks but recently purchased the old Scott homestead at Eighth and Eighth Avenue and gave it for public use under the name of the Clara Fairbanks Home for Aged Women. Mr. Fairbanks long has been prominent in the councils of the Democratic party in the state and nation and served as national delegate at several of his party's conventions.

Peter J. Ryan, For more than half a century Peter J. Ryan was a resident of Terre Haute, and his worth as a citizen and business man was uniformly acknowledged. He was born in Ireland, February 18, 1844, and was but seven years of age when his parents started for the new world, but the mother died during the process of the voyage and the father passed away shortly after their arrival in America. Thus, left an orphan, the son was sent to the home of an aunt in Dayton, Ohio, and his early education was acquired through the medium of the district schools. He came to Terre Haute in 1856, and remained a resident of this city until his death. On his arrival here he worked as an apprentice in a harness shop, but left that trade to enter the army at the outbreak of the Civil war. He distin- guished himself for gallantry several times and was awarded a congressional medal of honor. At the conclusion of hostilities, he returned to Terre Haute where he engaged in business as a manufacturer and dealer in harness. He conducted this enterprise until 1875, when he sold out and turned his attention to the livery business, while later he became a funeral director. He prospered for some years, but owing to ill health was not engaged in active busines for several years prior to his demise, turning the business over to his sons, Frank and Charles. Mr. Ryan was united in marriage on May 28, 1868 with Miss Mary E. Maloney. His labors were so directed that he won not only prosperity but an honorable name, and when he was called to his final rest January 8, 1908 he was mourned by all who had known him.

Hon. John E. Lamb, of Terre Haute, was one of the leaders of the Indiana Bar for more than thirty years, and during nearly the entire period in which he was before the county, the state and the country as a public official, was a sturdy representative of the Democratic party. He made his entrance into public life in 1871, when he was appointed deputy county treasurer of Vigo County, a position which he filled for two years. During that time he commenced the study of law, which he completed in the office of Voorhees & Carlton, being admitted to the Indiana bar in 1874. In the year following his admission to practice, Mr. Lamb was appointed the prosecuting attorney of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, comprising the counties of Vigo and Sullivan, and in 1876 he was elected to that office, serving a full term. In 1880 he served as a district elector on the presidential ticket headed by Hancock and English, and in 1882 overcame a large Republican majority in his election to the Forty-eighth Congress. In 1885 President Cleveland appointed him United States district attorney for Indiana. His party placed him at the head of the Indiana electoral ticket for Cleveland and Thurman in 1888, and in 1892 he served as delegate to the national convention which nominated the second successful Cleveland ticket. In 1896 he was again sent to the Democratic National Convention, which met at Chicago, serving as alternate delegate-at-large in the place of Senator Voorhees who was ill at the time. He was district delegate to the St. Louis convention in 1904, and was chosen one of the four delegates-at-large for the convention of 1908 at Denver. During all these years of political honors, Mr. Lamb maintained his eminent rank at the Indiana bar, and was the senior member of Lamb, Beasley & Sawyer, one of the strongest law firms in the state. He was not only an active member of the state bar, but conducted much important litigation in the United States courts. Mr. Lamb was a native of Terre Haute, born on the 26th of December, 1852, the son of Michael and Catherine (McGovern) Lamb, both of whom were born in Ireland. The father came to America when a youth of sixteen years, and in 1835 became a resident of Terre Haute, where he resided until his death in 1874. On July 2, 1890, Mr. John E. Lamb was married to Esther, daughter of

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kent, a resident of Terre Haute. Their son, John'Kent Lamb was born April 11, 1902. Samuel R. Hamill, one of Terre Haute's leading lawyers, was on the very threshold of a national professional achievement .at the date of his untimely death, January 24, 1908. He was born in Sullivan County, Indiana, on the 13th of December. 1857, being one of a family of ten children born to Samuel R. and Martha (Wood) Hamill. His father, a native of Pennsylvania, was a distinguished lawyer of Sullivan county. Samuel R. Hamill. Jr., spent the years of his childhood in the pursuit of an education, and at the age of eighteen was appointed a cadet to West Point, but as his father died a short time afterward, he completed but two years of his military course, and then, as the oldest son, returned home to look after the welfare of his mother and her family. In the meantime the family had removed to Terre Haute, where young Hamill commenced preparation for his professional work. He studied law under Judge Cyrus McNutt, and was admitted to the bar in 1872, forming his first partnership with John G. McNutt. In 1882, he became associated with Hon. George W. Faris, and for fifteen years the firm of Faris & Hamill held a prominent place at the bar of Terre Haute and Vigo County. At the time of the dissolution of this partnership, Mr. Hamill continued practice alone. He was engaged in Chicago at the time of his death in the defense of John R. Walsh, former president of the Chicago National Bank, who had been convicted of improper use of funds. The case had already kept Mr. Hamill in Chicago for a year, and bid fair to bring him fame as a great lawyer. On June 29, 1892, Mr. Hamill married Miss Jessie B. Sawyer, of Piqua, Ohio, who with one daughter, Josephine, survives him.

Adolph Herz was for many years one of the most prominent citizens of Terre Haute, and the leading merchant of this city. He was born in Schwabish Hall, Wurtemburg, Germany in 1843, and came to the United States in 1866. He came to Terre Haute in 1867, and entered the establishment of Joseph Erlanger, merchant tailor. In 1869 he commenced business on his own account, establishing a store on South Fourth street between Wabash and Ohio, which he named the "Herz Bazaar". The business was moved from location to location to accommodate the growing trade until, in the fall of 1907, he entered his new building on Wabash Avenue erected expressly for him, which is one of the finest building blocks in the Middle West. Mr. Herz was in business in Terre Haute for nearly fifty years, and each one of those years was a substantial growth in the volume of business done by his house. Aside from the commercial life, Mr. Herz was very active in the affairs generally of Terre Haute, and impressed his individuality and personality upon the history of the city and her institutions. He served several terms as president of the Chamber of Commerce, was a director of the McKeen National Bank, and a trustee of the Rose Orphans' Home. Mr. Herz was married in 1872 in New York City to Pauline Einstein, and to their union were born four children : Bertha H., Milton E. who now conducts the business, Rose, and Henrietta Pauline. Mr. Herz died December 17, 1917.

Hon. John Beggs, deceased, was one of Terre Haute's most successful business men and citizens. Mr. Beggs was a native of Ireland, born April 6, 1832, a son of Edward Beggs, a manufacturer. In 1843, the family came to this country, and established a home in Cincinnati, the son being educated in Woodward College of that city. Early in life he learned the distilling business, and for a number of years was employed in that business at New Richmond, Ohio. In 1852, he commenced to operate a distillery of his own. He sold this plant and was variously located, and was elected to the state senate from Franklin and Union counties for two terms. In 1884, Mr. Beggs came to Terre Haute and became interested in the Wabash Distilling Company, of which he served as treasurer for several years. In company with Crawford Fairbanks, he purchase the Terre Haute Brewing Company in 1886, retaining his interests in that corporation until his death. In 1853, Mr. Beggs married Rebecca Lewis of Kentucky, and seven children, three sons and four daughters, were born to this union. Mr. Beggs died on April 18, 1904, and his passing was a great loss to the entire community.

Frederick W. Hoff was one of Terre Haute's pioneer German citizens as well as one of her leading business men, his name having long been associated with its grocery interests. He was born in the province of Hesse-Nassau, Germany, September 23, 1836, the son of John Christian and Anna Catherine (Shaley) Hoff. The father and mother came to this country in 1847 with their children, and in 1848 removed to Clay county, Indiana. Frederick W. Hoff
received four years of his schooling in his native land, and as there were no schools in Clay County, he was sent to Terre Haute to attend school during the winter months. In 1853, he left the farm and began his career as a merchant in Terre Haute. He entered the employ of his uncle, F. W. Shaley, in the grocery business, and continued in this capacity for ten years when he purchased the business from his uncle. In 1863 he enlisted in Company I, Seventy-sixth Indiana Regiment, and was later transferred to 133rd Regiment, from which he was discharged in September, 1864. After the war, he engaged in the retail grocery business, later branching out into pork packing, farming and the feed business in a small way. Mr. Hoff married Mary D. Shaley, a native of his native place in Germany, on May 2, 1867, and their union was blessed with seven children, all but one of whom lived to maturity.

Hon. Emory P. Beauchamp, a native of Indiana was born in Putnam county, in the town of Portland Mills, on April 28, 1849. He came of worthy ancestry and parentage, early evincing strong intellectual traits. Having exhausted the resources of the home schools, he entered Earlham College, from which he was graduated. Afterward, he completed a course in the study of law, and came to Terre Haute with the design of making that the profession of his life. He rose rapidly both as a lawyer and a Democratic leader, his first official position being that of prosecuting attorney. In 1872 then only twenty-three years of age, Mr. Beauchamp was appointed consul to Aix-la-Chapelle, Rhenish Prussia being the youngest man ever thus honored by the United States. His services at that post were so creditable that he was advanced to the more important consulate at Cologne, and in this capacity he met his future wife, Miss Paula Moeller, whom he married in 1877. Mr. Beauchamp was promoted still higher in the service, serving for some time as consul general to Switzerland. While a figure in this phase of public life, he formed the acquaintance of many prominent Americans, as well as distinguished characters of foreign countries. He had the pleasure of numbering among his intimate friends President Grant, with whom he traveled in foreign countries, as he did with other men of international reputation. The death of this brilliant, polished, attractive and honorable gentleman occurred on the 11th of June, 1891, shortly after the celebration of his forty-second birthday.

Wilson Naylor was for more than a quarter of a century identified with the progressive steps which kept Terre Haute apace with the trend of universal growth and improvement, and his public service although done as a private citizen, made heavy demands upon his time and attention. He was born in Adams County, Ohio, December 5, 1828, his parents having been James P. and Sarah (Moore) Naylor, who were of English descent. In the year 1831, the family came to Indiana, settling first at Eugene, Vermillion County. The education of Wilson Naylor was limited to the opportunities offered by the schools of his day, and thus his advantages were quite meager. As a boy just entering his teens he found employment on a flat boat, and made altogether fifteen trips down the Wabash and Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers to the New Orleans market. Later when the method of transportation was somewhat changed he made several trips on steamboats. Following this experience, he was for twenty-two years a dry goods merchant in Eugene, conducting a successful business there. The year 1864 witnessed his arrival in Terre Haute, where he opened a grocery store on the corner of Fourth and Ohio streets. In 1882, the financial affairs of the old Terre Haute Opera House became involved. The public including Mr. Naylor, had subscribed one hundred thousand dollars in stock of the company, but the fine four story stone structure, erected at a cost of two hundred and eighty-three thousand dollars, was heavily mortgaged, and its affairs were brought into court. At this juncture Mr. Naylor bought the property for one hundred thousand dollars and changed the name to the Naylor Opera House. This he conducted until his death, after which his estate managed the opera house until it was destroyed by fire in 1896. On the site of the old building the estate of the late Benjamin G. Cox erected the handsome Naylor- Cox business block. In 1848 occurred the marriage of Wilson Naylor and Miss Florilla Shaw, a daughter of Benjamin Shaw. She was born near Eugene, Vermilion county, Indiana, and lived in Terre Haute for forty years, her death occurring in this city March 4, 1904. She was a leading member of the First Congregational church.

Henry Adamson, well-known member of the law firm of Adamson & Gallagher, was born in the town of Fontanet, Vigo county, Indiana, September 21, 1885, the son of E. H. and Mary (Porter) Adamson, the former of whom was born in 1849, a native Hoosier, and an old resident of Parke, Clay and Vigo counties, the latter born at Bloomfield, Illinois in 1853. The father was a hoisting engineer in coal mines in the Indiana fields. Mr. Henry Adamson went to Clinton High School, from which he was graduated in 1903, and then went to the Indiana Law School at Indianapolis. He early displayed an aptitude for the legal profession and was admitted to the bar when he was but nineteen years of age. He began the practice of law in Clinton in 1904, forming a partnership with D. C. Johnson, under the firm name of Johnson & Adamson, this partnership continuing until 1909, when he began practicing alone. He was county attorney of Vermilion county, Indiana during the years 1912 and 1913, and on July 1, 1914 he came to Terre Haute. In January of the following year he formed a partnership with John E. Cox, and on October 1, 1917, Thomas P. Gallagher became a member of the firm, which was then known as Cox, Adam- son & Gallagher. When Mr. Cox was elected judge of the superior court of Vigo county, he retired from the firm, which is now known as Adamson & Gallagher. Mr. Adamson married Edna M. Crane, of Clinton, Indiana, October 4, 1906, and they have four children, James H., Lloyd, Mary Elizabeth and Robert C. He is Knight Templar and Scottish Rite Mason, a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Exchange Club, the Fort Harrison Country Club, the Automobile Club and the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce. He is identified with the mining interests of Indiana, being secretary of the Glendale, Glenco, Glenjean, Shirkie, West Clinton and Interstate Coal Companies, and is a member of the Codification Committee for revising mining laws.

Thomas P. Gallagher, of the prominent law firm of Adamson & Gallagher, of Terre Haute, was born February 12, 1885, at Shawnee, Ohio, the son of Anthony and Ann (Mohan) Gallagher, natives of Donegal, Ireland, who came to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1869 and 1866, respectively. Anthony Gallagher, with his wife, moved to Shawnee, Ohio where they remained until Thomas was eleven years of age, when he moved to Terre Haute. Thomas P. Gallagher attended the public schools, and later went to St. Patrick Parochial School at Terre Haute, from which he was graduated in 1901. He then went to work for the Southern Indiana Railroad Company in the general manager's office, continuing in this employment until 1909. Deciding to follow the legal profession, he studied law in the office of Mr. L. F. Tilley, was admited to the bar in 1913, and in the following year became a partner of his preceptor, the association enduring until Mr. Tilley's death in 1916. Mr. Gallagher practiced alone until October 1, 1917, when he became a member of the firm of Cox, Adamson & Gallagher. The firm is now Adamson & Gallagher, Mr. Cox having withdrawn upon his election to the judgeship of the superior court. Mr. Gallagher married Anne Moloney, of Sidney, Ohio, October 4, 1921. In his political views he supports the Democratic party, but has never aspired to office. Fraternally and socially, he is a Knight of Columbus, a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fort Harrison Country Club and the Chamber of Commerce.

O. O. Alexander, M. D., although a young man, has attained a position of great prominence in the medical profession at Terre Haute. He was born in Deadwood, South Dakota on July 26, 1887, the son of Henry O. and Gertrude (Hayes) Alexander, both natives of Urbana, Illinois, where they were born in 1858 and 1862, respectively. Dr. Alexander was graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1909, and since that time has been continuously engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery at Terre Haute, with the exception of two years spent in the United States army during the World war. He is a member of the surgical staff of the Union Hospital at Terre Haute, and is chief surgeon of the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern Traction Company, the Citizens Gas & Fuel Company, the United States Fuel Company and the Western Union Telegraph Company. He is also in charge of the Rose Dispensary, and chief examiner for the United States Veterans Bureau in Terre Haute, and his large and growing clientele makes great demands on his time and energy. The first medical man in Terre Haute to enter the army after war was declared by the United States upon the Central Powers of Europe, Dr. Alexander enlisted on June 1, 1917. He was given the rank of first lieutenant in the Medical Corps, was promoted to captain in August, 1917, and was advanced to major in August, 1918. He served with Headquarters Staff of the Thirty-seventh division, and was engaged in the Bacarat sector, the Avocourt sector, the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the Pannes sector and the Ypres-Lys offensive.
He was discharged from the service on April 12, 1919, and immediately returned to Terre Haute to resume the practice of his profession. Dr. Alexander was married on April 29, 1915, to Miss Elizabeth Marshall, daughter of B. V. and Mary A. (Briggs) Marshall, prominent residents of Terre Haute, mentioned elsewhere in this work. Dr. and Mrs. Alexander are the parents of three children, Mary Elizabeth, Marshall and Jane Gertrude. In his religious beliefs, Dr. Alexander is a communicant of the Episcopal church, and in political matters gives his support to the Republican party. He is a member of several professional societies, including the Terre Haute Academy of Medicine, the Vigo County Medical Society and the Esculapian Society. Fraternally, he is a valued member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Lions Club.

Homer E. Anderson, president of the Root Dry Goods Company which operates one of Terre Haute's largest department stores, was born in Knox county, Missouri, September 9, 1887, the son of John W. and Addie M. (Jones) Anderson, natives of Ohio and Missouri respectively, and of farming stock. After their marriage they went to Missouri where their children were reared, and in that State, at Shelbina, Homer E. Anderson received his education up to the high school. He was further educated in the high school at Quincy, Illinois and Kansas City, and in a business college at Kansas City, Missouri. In 1910 he became connected with the Jones Advertising Department, a position which he held for two years, and at the expiration of that period went with J. J. Nathan at Beaumont, Texas, as manager of the advertising department. He later returned to the Jones Store Company where he remained until 1915. On July 22, 1915, he came to Terre Haute as general manager of the Root Store, later becoming vice- president of this organization, which position he held until 1919,
when he became its president. His remarkable success and rapid rise as a managing executive of this large concern stamps him as being one of the leaders in this branch of commercial enterprise in the State. On June 20, 1917, he was married to Frances S. Ryan, daughter of Mrs. Bettie J. Ryan, of Terre Haute, and their union has been blessed with one son, Homer E. Anderson, Jr., aged four years. Fraternally, Mr. Anderson is a Mason, belonging to Gate
City Lodge, No. 522, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, of Kansas City, Mo., and is also a member of Terre Haute Lodge, No. 86 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He manifests his interest in and gives his support to measures promoting the welfare and progress of Terre Haute through his membership in the Chamber of Commerce and in his religious affiliations is a member of the Baptist church. Mrs. Anderson is a devout member of the Episcopalian church.
The Root Dry Goods Company is the oldest store in the city, having been established in 1856 under the name of Edsull,
Rice & Company, at the corner of Sixth and Main streets. In 1859, the growth of the business demanded a change of location, and removal was consequently made to the corner of Fourth and Main streets. Mr. Root came from Hartford, Connecticut in 1857, and became associated with the store in Terre Haute. Mr. Rice died, and the firm name was changed to Edsull, McDougall & Company in 1860. In the meantime, Mr. Root had gone into business in Fort Wayne, but returned to Terre Haute later and bought out Mr. McDougall's interest in the store, the name thereupon being changed to Edsull, Root & Company. In 1865, Mr. Root returned to Fort Wayne and remained until the following April. The firm name was by this time Hoberg, Root & Company, but Mr. Hoberg retired from the firm on Mr. Root's return from Fort Wayne, the style of the company being changed to L. B. Root & Company.

Ira D. Andrews, who is giving efficient and able service to the people of Terre Haute in his capacity as city clerk, is a native of Indiana, having been born in Vermilion county, April 15, 1862, the son of John and Margaret Andrews, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter of Pennsylvania. Two older half-brothers of Mr. Andrews, James and Silas Andrews, served in the Union army during the Civil war, and James died of sickness while in the service. Silas Andrews is still living. Mr. Ira D. Andrews received his education in the public schools of Vermilion county, and one of his teachers was Judge D. W. Henry, now of Terre Haute. Mr. Andrews also attended the State Normal School at Grant City, Missouri, and'after completing his course in that institution, spent several years on a farm. Coming to Terre Haute in 1906, he bought a home and entered into the business which is now conducting, the Merchants Loan & Savings Bank at No. 515 Ohio street, one of the sound financial houses of the city and county. Mr. Andrews is an enthusiastic Republican, and always gives that party his loyal support. He was for several years secretary of the Good Government League, and on account of his good work in that connection was appointed by Mayor Hunter to fill the vacancy in the city clerk's office caused by the death of Mr. George W. Fears. Such able service was rendered by Mr. Andrews in this capacity, that he was elected at the next election by over 1,200 majority, to succeed himself as city clerk. Mr. Andrews is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and for the past fifteen years has been an ardent worker in the cause of Christianity as president of the Vigo County Sunday School Association. In 1883, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Andrews to Mary E. Koonce, the daughter of John S. and Eliza N. (Rhyan) Koonce, of New Goshen, Vigo county, Indiana, and to this union three daughters have been born, two of whom are living. The eldest, Mae, is a graduate of Chicago University, is married and lives at Syracuse, New York. The other living daughter, Lena, is a graduate of Indiana University at Bloomington and also of the Princess School of Boston. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Andrews was again married on August 11, 1917, to Chloe V. Daniels, the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Overpeck) Daniels, both of Terre Haute. Fraternally, Mr. Andrews is an Odd Fellow, and is interested in all things pertaining to that order.

Hugh Annis, field engineer for the George D. Whitcomb Company, has had a varied and interesting career, and his travels have carried him into many remote corners of the globe. He is a native of Indiana, having been born at Sullivan on April 23, 1884, the son of John H. and Mary Jane Annis, the former born in Sullivan county, and now deceased, and the latter at New Brighton, Pennsylvania. Mr. Annis was educated in the public school of Terre Haute, and his first work was for the Citizens Telephone Company of this city, where he continued for a number of years. In 1904, he volunteered as a private in the Twenty-fifth Artillery, United States Army, and was soon transferred to the Signal Corps that he might study electrical engineering. He was made chief post electrician at Bernicia Barracks, Bernicia, California for about one and one-half years, and was then made instructor in the school of telephony until 1906. During the San Francisco earthquake and fire, he had charge of the telephone service under Captain Clark. He then spent a year and a half at sea, returning to San Francisco to open a business for C. F. Splitdorf, of New York, ignition specialists, the new business being opened at Los Angeles. Mr. Annis was discharged from the army at Fort Mason, California in 1907, holding the rank of sergeant when he left the service. In 1910, he was instructor of internal combustion engineering at the Golden Gate School, and in the following year went with the Sunset Magazine Department of the Southern Pacific Railroad, laying out a survey of a trail to be followed by the tourists going to the Panama Pacific Exposition. He then returned to the east, and engaged with the Vacuum Oil Company as engineer for one year, later taking the territory comprising Indiana and Illinois as engineer for the Haviland Oil Company. He retained this position for fourteen months, and in 1916 went with the George D. Whitcomb Company as engineer, in which capacity he continues today. During his period of service with the Whitcomb Company, his work has taken him into India, China, Burma and various parts of the United States. On May 1, 1915, Mr. Annis married Mrs. Blanche C. Field, daughter of J. S. and Rhoda Bartley, of Springfield, Illinois. In his political beliefs, he supports the doctrines of the Republican party, and in religious matters adheres to the tenets of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Annis is popular in club and fraternal life, being a York and Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Mystic Shrine, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Old Colony Club and the American Association of Engineers.

Randolph B. Appel, successful jeweler of Terre Haute, Ind., was born at Centerville, of School Post Office, Ill., eight miles from Carmi, that State, November 1, 1880, the son of John Appel. John Appel was born in Germany, twelve miles from Lauderbach, at a town called Ulrichstein, February 11, 1843. He was educated in his native country and learned the blacksmith trade. He spent five years in Switzerland, and in 1868 came to the United States. He landed at New York City, where he remained for three years. He then went to Greenland, where he stayed eighteen months, or two days and one night as the days and nights are six months each in that latitude. He then returned to New York City, thence to Buffalo and later to Chicago, leaving the last named city just twenty-four hours before the great fire, going to La Crosse, Wis. He next went to Lafayette, Ind., thence to Mt. Carmel, Ill., where he finally settled and where he reared his family, working at the blacksmith trade. He married Lucy Randolph, in White county, Illinois, and their marriage was blessed with two children, Randolph, the subject of this biography, and Cumae, a widow, who owns a fine home at 925 S. Center street. Randolph B. Appel was educated in the public schools of his home community, and was graduated from the Carmi High School in 1900. In the following year he came to Terre Haute. Here he continued his education, receiving a diploma from the Terre Haute High School, in 1906, and entered Rose Polytechnic Institute. He took one year at Brown's Business College, and in August, 1909, moved to Chicago where he entered Armour Institute of Technology, where he completed one semester of study. At this time his mother died, and he returned to Terre Haute and went to work in a jewelry store, learning the business thoroughly. Later he bought a half interest in the store, and still later assumed complete ownership of the concern. He then went to the Northern Illinois College of Optometry from which
he received the degree of Doctor of Optics in May, 1914. Still later in the same year he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Opthalmology, passing the State Board of Examination immediately. In 1913, he engaged in the jewelry business at 1272 Lafayette avenue, Twelve Points, Terre Haute, and has had a satisfying measure of success. Mr. Appel is prominent in local Masonic circles, being a Free and Accepted Mason, Kerman Grotto, Royal Arch Mason, Super-Excellent Master, Knights Templar, Zora Temple ; is a Shriner and is a member of the famous Zora Temple and Terre Haute Knight Templar Band and Kerman Grotto Band. He was married April 30, 1913, to Miss Kathryn E. Glenn, of 1001 South Seventh street, daughter of McElroy B. and Sarah J. Glenn.
One child was born to this union, John Glenn Appel, June 4, 1918.

John W. Applegate, proprietor of the famous White Crystal Baths at Terre Haute, Ind., was born in Jackson county, this State, May 8, 1891. He was educated in the public schools of Crothersville, Jackson county. From early boyhood Mr. Applegate has made his own way in the world, commencing on a farm at the age of fourteen. He farmed for a short time, and then went into the transfer business with his father at Crothersville, at which he continued until he was nineteen years old. He then became employed with Armour & Company, locating at Indianapolis, and continuing in that concern's employ until 1917. On March 8 of that year, he enlisted in the United States army, in the photography department, and was sent to school at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. At that school he was associated with many prominent young men, including Frederick B. Patterson, now president of the National Cash Register Company, Quentin Roosevelt, C. Ted Steen, well- known in the Chicago steel business, and Eddie Rickenbacker, the famous American flying ace. From Cornell he was sent to the Eastman Kodak school at Rochester, New York, and was sent overseas on August 30, 1918. In France he did historical photographic work. He was at Montfaucon where the German Crown Prince had his headquarters during the siege of Verdun, and has lectured in several different places on the subject. While in foreign countries, he conceived the idea of treating different diseases by the bath method, and upon his return to the United States, and discharge on May 28, 1919, he did some experimental work along those lines. On August 3, 1921, he opened his establishment, the White Crystal Baths, at Terre Haute, locating at No. 800 North Ninth street. His specialties are the treating of rheumatism, asthma, eczema, stomach and kidney diseases, and in the past year has treated sixteen hundred patients with excellent success. Mr. Applegate was reared in the Presbyterian faith, and fraternally is a member of the American Legion, in the affairs of which he takes an active interest.

William F. Cronin was born in Terre Haute in 1878. He was educated in the schools of Terre Haute, St. Patrick's parochial and Wiley high school, graduating from the latter instution in January 1896. He is the son of the late Jeremiah J. Cronin and Catherine E. Cronin. His father was a native of Ireland, but when a boy settled in Warren, Mass., and in early manhood came West and settled in Terre Haute. He died in 1883, his widow and five children surviving. William F. Cronin has engaged in newspaper work for the past twenty years, and for a number of years past has been editor of the Terre Haute Tribune. He was connected with the United Press for a number of years, was one of the founders of the Terre Haute Post and later served as associate news editor in the United Press office in New York. He has served on the local boards of safety and park commissioners and was a member ' of the Indiana flood commission during the administration of Governor Samuel M. Ralston. In 1920 he was named as one of the Indiana delegation to the national democratic convention at Sar. Francisco. Mr. Cronin was married to Miss Gertrude Rierden, of Montezuma, Ind., in 1918, and they have two children, Gertrude Ellen and Robert Francis.

William C. Arp, one of the well-known citizens of Terre Haute, now deceased, was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1848, the son of John W. and Elizabeth (Ritter) Arp, both natives of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania and born in 1824 and 1825 respectively. Eleven children were born to them, and while the father died in 1866, the mother survived until 1910. The parents of John W. Arp were Peter and Susan Arp, natives of Pennsylvania, and the great-grandfather of our subject was Henry Arp, who was reared and who died in Pensylvania, having lived at the time of the Revolution in which great struggle he fought gallantly for the independence of the Colonies. William C. Arp was reared on his father's farm until he was seven years of age, when he moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania where he attended the public schools and spent one year in a private school for additional instruction. Leaving school at the age of fourteen years, he began working as messenger boy in the Pennsylvania Railroad shops at Williamsport, and in 1866 was made machinist apprentice. Long and faithful service in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad brought consequent and deserved promotions, and, in 1896, Mr. Arp came to Terre Haute as superintendent of motor power. In this capacity he conducted himself with exceptional ability which was characterized by foresight and fearlessness, and it was a distinct loss to the company when Air. Arp retired from active service in 1918. He was married, on November 16, 1871, to Mary Virginia Meginness, of Williamsport, Pa., and to this union one child was born, who died in infancy. Mr. Arp was a valued member of the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, and his executive ability found appreciation in his appointment to the executive board of Rose Polytechnic Institute. One of the solid citizens of the community was Mr. Arp, and his many friends were always welcome at his fine home at 825 S. Seventh street, Terre Haute, Ind. Mr. Arp passed away on June 16, 1922. Mr. and Mrs. Arp celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on Nov. 16, 1921. Jefferson Davis Askew, who has charge of the wood and iron work of the John Hanley Tent & Awning Company, of Terre Haute, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, April 15, 1861, the son of William Freeman and Harriet Jane (Moore) Askew, of Raleigh. William Freeman was a dealer in slaves prior to the Civil war, but after the war dealt in mules and cotton. During the war he bought live stock for the southern army, and was a loyal supporter of the cause of the Confederacy. He and his wife had seven sons and two daughters. Mr. Jefferson Davis Askew was educated in the common schools of Raleigh, and in the University of North Carolina, from which he was graduated. At the age of seventeen years, he became a locomotive fireman on the Texas Pacific Railroad, and at twenty-one he was an engineer. He followed railroading as an engineer for about fourteen years, and in 1896 came to Terre Haute. In 1902, he became foreman of the iron and wood working departments of the John Hanley Tent & Awing Company, and has held that position ever since. He understands the machinist, wood work and blacksmith trades thoroughly, and is a very valuable assistant to Mr. Hanley. Mr. Askew married Viola Shewmaker, daughter of William R. Shewmaker, of Terre Haute. Mr. Shewmaker was one of the pioneer citizens of Terre Haute, and served during the Civil war in the Union army. Mr. and Mrs. Askew became the parents of two children, Minnie and Margaret. Mr. Askew married a second time, taking for his wife Miss Emma Hanrahan, and to this union one child has been born, John Donald. Mr. and Mrs. Askew are devout members of the Roman Catholic church, and are deeply interested in its welfare.

Ira W. Aten, secretary and treasurer of The Consolidated Collieries Company of Terre Haute, holds a prominent position in the ranks of Indiana coal operators. Mr. Aten was born at Jackson, Ohio, February 14, 1878, the son of Joseph and Emma (Johnson) Aten, both of whom were born at Jackson, Ohio, August 21, 1854, and January 16, 1856, respectively. The father is a carpenter and contractor at Jackson, and both he and his wife are well and favorably
known to the people of their home community. Their ancestors were from Pennsylvania and known as Quakers and Pennsylvania Dutch. Ira W. Aten was educated in the public schools of Jackson and attended the high school there. He left his home town at the age of sixteen to work for his uncle, J. W. Johnson, at Waverly, Pike county, Ohio, on the Waverly Courier as a "printer's devil." He worked there for one year, and then returned to Jackson to work on the Jackson Standard Journal, under Daniel Webster Williams, who, while Mr. Aten was in his employ, was appointed consul at Cardiff, Wales, by President McKinley and who is candidate for governor of Ohio this year. Mr. Aten became foreman of the printing department of that newspaper in 1896, and remained in that position until in 1900 when he resigned his position to go into the coal business with E. O. Roberts, also of Jackson, Ohio. During the time he was with Mr. Roberts, Mr. Aten, together with Mr. Roberts and a number of other Jackson county, Ohio people, organized a company for operating coal in Indiana and, in 1912, Mr. Aten severed his connection with Mr. Roberts in Ohio to go to Indiana, being elected to the position of secretary-treasurer of this company. In this connection a number of coal mining companies were organized and Mr. Aten was elected to the same position of secretary-treasurer of each. During this present year, 1922, all former companies having been merged into one company, a reorganization was effected, in which George M.  Jones, of Toledo, Ohio, and O. S. Roberts, also of Toledo, Ohio, a son of E. O. Roberts and son-in-law of Mr. Jones, became heavily interested in the new organiz- ation, which is incorporated under the name of The Maumee Collieries Company, with holdings in Indiana of approximately $2,000,000.00. In 1900', Mr. Aten was married to Edith Walters and they have seven children, David Walters, Mary Elizabeth, Dorothy Louise, Kathryn Emma, Joseph Robert, Charles Wesley and Winifred. David W. was graduated from Wiley High School in 1919, and is now attending Indiana State University in his senior year. Mary Elizabeth was graduated from King Classical School in June, 1922. Dorothy and Kathryn are still at King Classical School and Joseph Robert and Charles are in public schools, and Winifred attending Kindergarten. Mrs. Aten's parents, William D. Walters and Elizabeth (Jones) Walters, were of Welsh descent and were both born in Wales, having come to America when quite young to make their home in the United States. This was prior to their marriage. Mr. Aten is a Scottish Rite Mason, of Valley of Indianapolis, a member of the Mystic Shrine, Murat Temple, Indianapolis, Indiana, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 86, Terre Haute, Ind., the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 588, Patricksburg, Ind., Theseus Lodge, No. 191, Knights of Pythias, Jackson, Ohio, the Fort Harrison Country Club, the Exchange Club, Chamber of Commerce, Y. M. C. A., one of the governors of the Automobile Club, all of Terre Haute, and is a member of the official board of the First Methodist church at the corner of Seventh and Poplar streets. His registration certificate for the World war shows date of September 12, 1918, at Terre Haute, Vigo county, Indiana, with residence at 903 South 6 1-2 street, which is his present address.

Ezra R. Baldridge, M. D., a highly esteemed member of the medical profession at Terre Haute, and who has won considerable renown as an occulist, is a native Hoosier, having been born at Farmersburg, Ind., September 1, 1873. He attended the public schools at Roseville, and then entered De Pauw University in the preparatory department. He was in the Freshman class of 1897, and then went to Cincinnati to take a medical course in the famous old Ecectic College of Medicine. From this institution he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, in 1896, and at once began practicing at Old Roseville, Ind. After three years spent in this community, Dr. Baldridge went to Rosedale, Ind., where he continued for twelve years, building up a profitable practice and gaining much valuable experience. At the expiration of that period, he decided that it would be advisable for him to specialize in some branch of the profession, and he accordingly went to Chicago to take up special work on the eye, ear, nose and throat. He next went with the Manhattan Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital at New York, where he remained until 1915. In that year he came to Terre Haute, and here has since continued in his specialized branch of the medical profession. He has gained an enviable reputation and a clientele that makes exhausting demands upon the Doctor's time and strength. He is a member of national, State and county medical societies, and is a member of the board of directors of the Terre Haute Medical Academy. He is on the staff of the Union Hospital, and is earnestly endeavoring to alleviate some of this world's suffering, having for some time given gratuitous attention to all eye, ear, nose and throat cases at the Rose Orphan's Home. He maintains modern offices in the Rose Dispensary building, and is the owner of a fine home at 1435 South Sixth street. Dr. Baldridge was married in 1899 to Miss Rhein, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a valued member of the Masonic Order, having attained the Thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite, and was president of the Rotary Club in 1917.

Odus L. Baldridge, M. D., a practising physician and surgeon of Terre Haute, was born in Rosedale, Ind., May 28, 1880, the son of Dr. John H. and Gellena (Challis) Baldridge. The father was a well-known medical practitioner of this city, and was graduated from the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati. Ohio, in 1870. He then located at Roseville, Parke county, Indiana, where he engaged in practice for about five years. He then made removal to Rosedale, Indiana, and there he remained for about six years, when he came to Terre Haute. Here he was eminently successful, and lived honored and respected until his death. He was a member of the County, State and Eclectic Medical Associations, and fraternally, was a Mason. Tn religious matters he was a communicant
of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife, the mother of the subject of this review, died at Terre Haute in 1887, at the age of forty-four years. The Baldridge family are of English and Welsh origin, and trace their ancestry back to 1727. Dr. Odus L. Baldridge completed the common and high school courses at Terre Haute, and then took up the study of medicine at the Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati, from which he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1902. Since that time he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession at Terre Haute with offices at 2047 North Eleventh street. He is a member of the State, American and Eclectic Medical Associations, in which he takes much interest. In addition to his medical cares, he was one of the organizers of the Twelve Points State Bank, of this city, and is treasurer of the Twelve Points Building, Loan & Savings Association. Fraternally, Dr. Baldridge is a Thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias.

Frank Ball, president of the Ball Undertaking Company, is a native of Vigo county, having been born in the city of Terre Haute, December 20, 1868, the son of Isaac and Caroline (Taylor) Ball. Isaac Ball was born August 29, 1826, in New Jersey, and was related to the mother of George Washington, while his wife was born, in 1831, in a house on Third street, Terre Haute. Isaac Ball walked from his home in New Jersey to Indianapolis when he was a young man, there being no railroad connections with the east from the Hoosier capital at that time, and learned the cabinet and undertaking business. He then went to Lafayette, and later came to Terre Haute via the old Wabash Canal, arriving here in 1847. He immediately engaged in cabinet making, specializing in coffins, and continued in this business until his death, in 1907. Fraternally, he was a member of the Masonic Order and the Independent Orderof Odd Fellows. Mrs. Caroline (Taylor) Ball, his wife, was the daughter of John and Matilda Taylor, both of whom came to Vigo county before their marriage, which was celebrated at Fort Harrison, and after which they settled in Terre Haute, buying the property at No. 220 North Third street. The parents of Frank Ball came to live with him in 1902, in his home on Swan street, remaining with him until they died, the mother passing away in 1911, having survived her husband four years. They had a large family, two of whom grew to maturity, Frank and Matilda. Matilda became the wife of Eugene Hess, a book binder by trade, who died at Terre Haute. After her husband's death, Matilda (Ball) Hess lived with the subject of this review, her brother, until the time of her death in 1915, at the age of sixty- four years. She and her husband had no children. Mr. Frank Ball was educated in the common schools and the high school at Terre Haute, the high school at that time being in the old Normal school building, and in Garvin's Commercial College. After leaving school, he worked in a book bindery for two years, and then went into the undertaking business with his father. After his experience and ability had made him an indispensable adjunct to the busi- ness, he was taken into partnership with his father, the firm name being Isaac Ball & Son. At the death of the senior partner, the company was incorporated under the name of Isaac Ball Undertaking Company, and is now the second oldest firm of its kind in the State. Just prior to his death, Isaac Ball was the oldest living undertaker in the State. Frank Ball is a prominent fraternalist, having held membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Red Men. He is now active in Terre Haute Lodge No. 86, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Ball was married, April 28, 1897, to Norma Van Duzer, who was born in Terre Haute, the daughter of James and Louise Van Duzer, the former of whom is now deceased, while the latter makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Ball. No children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ball. In their religious beliefs, the entire family, on both sides, have been and are ardent supporters of the Baptist church.

Joseph M. Ball, the proprietor of a prosperous and modernly equipped drug store at Terre Haute, was born at Waveland, Montgomery county, Indiana, the son of Zoepher and Sarah Ellen (Milligan) Ball, both representatives of old families in Montgomery county, on December 8, 1872. The father was a medical practitioner at Waveland for many years, and was a veteran of the Civil war. He and his wife, who both passed away at Waveland, were the parents of two children, Thomas Z., a member of the medical profession at Waveland, and Joseph M. Joseph M. Ball received his preliminary education in the public schools of his home community, and after completing the high school, taught school for a time. He then attended Wabash College, and after leaving that institution entered the drug business as a clerk in a store at Waveland. He later went into business for himself in that town, and then sold out his interests and went to Bloomington, where he was for six months in the drug business. He then spent four months at Breman, Ind., and in the fall of 1903 came to Terre Haute, and bought out the drug business at No. 423 North Thirteenth street, where he still continues. His business methods, combined with the high grade of service rendered in his establishment, have attracted to Mr. Ball an excellent patronage, and his business has steadily grown from year to year. Mr. Ball is an interested member of the Knights of Pythias, Castle Hall, No. 374, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 86, and in public and political matters he performs the duties of good citizenship, although he has never sought nor held public office.

Albert Balsley, vice-president of the Rouch Motor Company of Terre Haute, was born in Chrimon, Ill., July 19, 1876, the son of William D. Balsley. Mr. Balsley was reared in Danville, Ind., and was educated in the public schools of that city. Upon completing his scholastic training, he learned the printing trade at Danville, with the Danville News. In 1902, he came to Terre Haute, where he was employed for some years with the Terre Haute Tribune. He then went to the Terre Haute Post as head of their printing department, where he continued until 1919. In July of this year he helped in the organization of the Rouch Motor Company, of which Mr. Rouch is president, Mr. Balsley, vice-president, and Mr. H. R. Pugh secretary and treasurer. This concern does a general automobile business, and has been eminently successful since its inception. Mr. Balsley was married, in 1904, to Florence Forrestall, of Terre Haute, the daughter of Charles T. Forrestall, and they are the parents of four children : Dudley H., Mildred R., and Mary F. and Jane E., twins. Fraternally, Mr. Balsley is a Free and Accepted Mason, and belongs to the Commandery and the Mystic Shrine. His religious affiliations are with the Presbyterian church, and in political matters he gives loyal support to the Republican party. He has been a member of the County Republican Committee, and in every way takes an interest in the political and civic affairs of Terre Haute and Vigo County. Charles Bartholomew, a leading jeweler of Terre Haute, is a native of Vigo county, having been born in Terre Haute, December 25, 1869, the son of Henry S. and Harriet (Peters) Bartholomew, the former of whom was born at Ogdensburg, New York.

Henry S. Bartholomew served in the Union army during the Civil war, enlisting as a private in Company I of the Twenty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Regiment (First Cavalry Regiment). He won promotion to the rank of lieutenant, and as such was honorably discharged from the service July 3, 1864. Charles Bartholomew's grandfather managed the hotel at the first station in Terre Haute, located at Tenth and Wabash avenue. This was at the time when passengers were wont to take the canal boats up the river from Terre Haute. He later took charge of the hotel in the new Union Station at Tenth and Chestnut streets, and at this hotel many celebrities of the day were entertained, among them Gen. U. S. Grant and his family. Here, in this hotel, Charles Bartholomew was born. He received his education in the public schools of Terre Haute, and began his career in the jewelry busines sin 1885 with E. W. Leeds. He continued with this firm until 1922, when, in association with Joseph Hartig, he bought out the business, Mr. Leeds retiring. The store of this firm, located at No. 714 Wabash avenue, is one of the fine jewelry establishments of the city, carrying a choice line of silver ware, precious stones and the like. Mr. Bartholomew is a Republican in his political views, and in religious matters is a Protestant. On June 14, 1893, he was married to Eliza A. White, daughter of Jacob and Isadora (Archer) White, of Terre Haute, and to this union five children have been born, of whom three are living, Henry, William and Leeds. Mrs. Bartholomew is a descendant of the fifth generation of the Defenders of Fort Harrison, and is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Indiana. The eldest son, Henry, served in the United States army during the World war. He enlisted as a private in Company H, under Captain Duddleston, and afterwards attended an officers' training camp in Texas, where he was commissioned second lieutenant. He was later promoted to first lieutenant before going overseas to France for his splendid work as a drill master. William J., the seco'nd son, was graduated from Purdue University in 1922, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the cadet corps. He has already received his commission in the United States army as second lieutenant of Battery A, Three Hundred and Twenty- sixth Field Artillery. Charles Bartholomew is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is popular socially among his many friends.

Judge Charles S. Batt, who has made an enviable record in his conduct of several important public offices in Terre Haute and Vigo county, was born at Salem, Washington county, Indiana on February 2, 1878, the son of William and Verlinda Violet Batt, the former of whom was born in England in 1842, and the latter in Virginia in 1850. Judge Batt attended the public schools of his native locality, and then, having decided upon the profession of law for his life work, entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. From that institution he was graduated in the year 1904, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar in 1904, and since that time has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession, with the exception of his term upon the city bench. He has been extremely active in the workings of the Democratic party, and has been the successful candidate of that party for the offices of city attorney of Terre Haute, and county attorney of Vigo county, as well as for the office of city judge. He has filled these offices with credit to himself, and to the utmost satisfaction of the citizens of the county and city. In his legal work, he specializes in defending insurance and personal injury cases, and has gained an enviable reputation for himself by his successful handling of such cases. Judge Batt was united in matrimony, January 10, 1907, to Florence M. Wyeth, daughter of Henry and Hannah Wyeth, of Terre Haute, and to this marriage one daughter has been born, Frances Virginia, aged seven years. In his religious affiliations Judge Batt is a member of the Christian church, and in fraternal circles belongs to Terre Haute Lodge, No. 19, Free and Accepted Masons, Indiana Consistory of the Scottish Rite, the Knights Templar, and to the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Judge Batt is president of the Terre Haute Tax Payers' League, and is in every way doing his share toward \the betterment of social, civic and business conditions of this city.

Spencer F. Ball, who was for many years associated with his brother, William Creighton Ball, in the ownership and publication of the Terre Haute Gazette, was, during his life, one of the leaders in practically every movement designed for the advancement of the civic welfare in this city and county. He was the son of William J. and Julia (Creighton) Ball, and was born in Terre Haute September 10, 1856. His father and mother, both of whom were of English descent, were natives, respectively, of Virginia and Ohio, but came to Terre Haute in the year 1840. Here, the father, who was by education and profession a capable engineer, engaged in the building of the Wabash and Erie Canal in this district, and was also identified with numerous other engineering projects of importance in the development of Vigo county. The Ball family home was at first at the corner of Seventh and Cherry streets, but in 1864 removal was made to No. 1138, South Fifth street, and this home is still the residence of members of the family. William J. Ball died in this city in 1874, and was survived by his wife for two years. Spencer F. Ball was educated in the Terre Haute public schools, and was graduated from the Terre Haute High School, after which he became a bookkeeper in the Terre Haute Gazette office. The Gazette had been established in 1868, and was issued twice a week, Thursday and Saturday, by Major O. J. Smith and C. W. Brown. Major Smith was widely known as an able newspaper man, and at one time was president of the American Press
Association. He sold his interests in the paper to R. N. Hudson and L. M. Rose, the new owners converting the paper into a daily, and issuing it every afternoon from June 1, 1870, as a Republican paper. In November, 1872, it was sold to William C. Ball and John S. Dickerson, but in 1874, Mr. Dickerson sold his interest in the paper to Spencer F. Ball, and the firm became W. C. Ball & Company. The Gazette continued to be a prosperous and influential daily under the management of the Ball brothers, who retained ownership of it until 1904, when they sold out to James Barcus, and Spencer P. Ball retired from the field of journalism. At this time theretired from the field of journalism. At this time the name of the paper was changed to the Terre Haute Tribune, and as such continues at the present time, appearing every afternoon and Sunday morning. Mr. Ball was always keenly interested in the welfare of his city. He was one of the organizers of the Commercial Club, now the Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Young Men's Business Club. He was also one of the prime movers in the organization of the Civic League, and was prominent in church affairs and in the Young Men's Christian Association. He was identified with all war campaigns during the World war, beginning with the tornado fund for the relief of victims of the Mattoon and Charleston, Ill. disaster, and in every way open to a civilian aided the cause of the United States until the time of his death, which occurred November 6, 1917. He was survived by his wife, three sisters. Susan and Sarah Ball and Mrs. Julia B. Donham, and two brothers, William C., now deceased and of whose life an account is given elsewhere in these pages, and John C. Ball. Mr. Ball was a member of St. Stephen's Episcopal church of Terre Haute, and in political matters gave loyal support to the Democratic party. Mr. Ball was united in marriage, February 9, 1892, to Miss Susan Beach, daughter of John S. Beach and Harriet Gilbert Beach, well- known residents of Terre Haute. In the death of Spencer F. Ball, Terre Haute lost one of its most conscientious and constructive citizens, a loss which will be deeply felt for many years to come.

Prof. Birch Evans Bayh, of the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute, has been very successful in his capacity of physical director and athletic coach. He was born in Owen county, Indiana on September 29, 1894, the son of Fred Bayh, who was early in life a blacksmith, and later a hardware merchant. Professor Bayh was educated in the public schools of Owen county, and in 1911 was graduated from Clay City High School. In the spring of that year he entered the State Normal at Terre Haute, attended that institution in the summer, and taught school during the winter. This practice he continued until 1915. In the fall of that year he became principal of the Clay City High School, having the summer previous taken special work at the normal college operated at Indianapolis by the American Gymnastic Union. In the spring of 1917, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Indiana State Normal, and that spring assisted in history instruction under Professor Lynch. Before his graduation he was elected to his present position, head of the physical training department, and then was given two years leave of absence to enter the United States army during the World war. He entered the second officers' training camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, and at the conclusion of that camp was commissioned a captain of infantry. He was ordered to Camp Taylor, Kentucky, where he remained about one year, and was then sent to Camp Perry, Ohio, for about two months. From Camp Perry he was sent to Camp Cody, New Mexico, where he was promoted to the rank of major. At Camp Cody he helped in the organization of the Ninety-seventh division, and had command of the casual camp. In January, 1919, he returned to his position as professor of physical education and director of athletics at the State Normal at Terre Haute, and in this work has made an enviable record in turning out winning teams. He attributes no small part of his success to the co-operation of the students, but his ability to get and hold their support and loyalty is the primary cause of this success. While a student, he was a member of the Daldalion Literary Society, and has been through all the chairs of the Terre Haute Literary Club. Fraternally, he belongs to Clay City Lodge, No. 562, Free and Accepted Masons, the Thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite at Indianapolis, Zorah Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Terre Haute, and Terre Haute Lodge, No. 86, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Clarence E. Bear, secretary and treasurer of the Bear Manufacturing Company of Terre Haute, was born in Effingham, Ill., May 30, 1884, the son of William and Lucy (Stahl) Bear; he was born in 1849, at Highland, Ill., and she in Greenville, that State, in 1854. William Bear was the son of Sebastian Bear, a native of Switzerland, and Anna (Mueller) Bear, also a native of that country, where they were married. They came to this country, and settled at Highland, 11l., where the father died, the mother spending the last years of her life at Effingham. Lucy (Stahl) Bear, was the daughter of William and Elizabeth (Grass) Stahl, both natives of Germany, who came to Madison county, Illinois, where they met and married. William Stahl owned a woolen mill at Greenville, Illinois, and was for years one of the prominent citizens of that city. He was the son of Paul and Anna Stahl, both born in Germany, and who came to this country early in life. Anna Stahl died on the ocean trip from Germany, and her husband continued his journey to Madison county, Illinois, locating first at Highland, and later at Greenville. He returned to Highland toward the end of his life, and died in that community at the age of ninety years. The Bear family originally spelled their name Bar. William Bear, the father of the subject of this biography, was educated in the public schools of Highland, Ill., and was a boiler maker by trade, working in one shop for twenty-seven years. He then worked for the Vandalia Railroad until 1904, since which time he has been associated with the Bear Manufacturing Company, acting as president of that organization since its inception. He was married, in 1873, and to him and his worthy wife six children were born : W. H., married Elizabeth B. Clift, to whom two sons were born, Harry A. and Wayne; Frank E., died at the age of eight years; Lorena L., the widow of Lewis M. Asher, is a teacher in the Terre Haute public schools and has one son, Harold ; Harry A., a resident of Denver, Colo., married Anna Jeffries, who left him one son, Donald J., at the time of her death, after which he married Nina Schroer ; Clarence E., whose name heads this article ; and Florence Mae, a graduate of De Pauw University, and an accomplished musician, having charge of the music of Plymouth Con- gregational church at Terre Haute. Clarence E. Bear received his education in the public and high schools of Effingham, Ill., being graduated from the higher institution the day after his seventeenth birthday, in 1901. In that same year he came to Terre Haute, where his brother had started the Bear Manufacturing Company, and after two years in this city, he went on the road as traveling representative for the company, selling its products over a large part of the United States. His brother, Harry Bear, was also traveling representative for the concern for about the same length of time. The Bear Manufacturing Co. was organized in 1901, and has its plant at Sixteenth street and the Pennsylvania Railroad. The company manufactures concentrated toilet preparations for the barber trade, and in 1908. began the manufacture of Jack Frost for the general market, sales in this product being made through drug stores and similar establishments. All the preparations that go out under the Bear name are widely known, and recognized as being leaders in the trade. A policy of fair dealing combined with an astute management of the company's affairs by its officers has brought large success to the concern, and it now ranks among the more important industries of Terre Haute. Its present officers are William Bear, president, and Clarence E. Bear, secretary and treasurer, while the two brothers of the latter, W. H. and Harry A. Bear, are also members of the firm. Clarence E. Bear was married, in 1908, to Julia E. Lyon, daughter of James N. and Margaret Lyon, well-known residents of Terre Haute, Mr. Lyon having been associated with the Bement-Rea Company of this city for thirty-five years as traveling representative, now living retired. To Mr. and Mrs. Bear one child has been born, a daughter, Margaret, who came to them October 16, 1909. Bert Beasley, member of the Terre Haute law firm of Beasley, Douthitt, Crawford & Beasley, is a native Hoosier, having been born at Shelburn, Ind., January 22, 1878, the son of Samuel and Lucy (Rogers) Beasley, the former born in Greene county, this state in 1852, the latter at Maysville, Ky., in 1858. After completing his preliminary education, Mr. Beasley attended the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute, and then took the law course in the Indiana Law School. He was admitted to practice before the Terre Haute bar June 17, 1904, and became associated with the firm of Lamb, Beasley & Sawyer, now Beasley, Douthitt, Crawford & Beasley, the other members of which are elsewhere mentioned in this work. He is a stanch Democrat, but has never sought nor held public office, although he takes a good citizen's interest in all political matters. He is a Presbyterian, and holds membership in that Church at Terre Haute. On December 29, 1904, Mr. Beasley was married to Mary E. Evans, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Evans, of Terre Haute, and they are the parents of the following children : Lois K. ; Lucy Elizabeth, Byron and Julia Betty Beasley. He is a member of the County, State and American Bar Associations, and fraternally and socially belongs to Paul Revere lodge of the Knights of Pythias, the Terre Haute Exchange Club and the Terre Haute Literary Club. John H. Beasley. Although a young man in years, John H. Beasley is one of Terre Haute's most promising legal lights. He is the son of John T. Beasley and a member of the law firm of Beasley, Douthitt. Crawford & Beasley. A review of Mr. John T. Beasley, banker and lawyer of Terre Haute is given elsewhere in this work. John H. Beasley was born in Terre Haute in 1897 and in 1914 took up the private study of law in the office of his father. He was admitted to the Vigo county bar in 1918 but has in reality been practicing law for the past eight years, specializing in corporation counsel work. Mr. Beasley has had few court cases, but has accomplished some admirable results in his special work, being considered an expert in corporation law. He is a member of the Vigo County and American Bar Associations. In addition to his law practice he is secretary of the General Fuel Corporation which is sinking several mines in Gibson county, Indiana, and secretary and treasurer of the Somerville Development Company, also secretary and treasurer of the Hoosier Tie and Lumber Company. Mr. Beasley was married in 1916 to Miss Janet Passmore, a native ofPennsylvania, and they are the parents of two children.

W.B. DICKERSON, farmer, Seelyville, was born in Butler county, Ohio, January 26, 1821. At the age of seventeen or eighteen his parents came to Lost Creek township, Vigo county, and settled on the National Road seven miles east of Terre Haute. His father, John DICKERSON, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1791, and in 1819 was married to Rhoda HOLLAND, a native of Jackson county, Georgia, born in 1800. She now resides in the county, and her husband departed this life January 3, 1878. W.B. DICKERSON, the subject of this sketch, has been a hard-working and enterprising man, always willing to take part in everything pertaining to the interest of the community in which he lives. In political affairs he is always foremost in behalf of the republican party. In 1846 he was married to Miss Phoebe DICKERSON, daughter of Samuel DICKERSON. She has been a faithful wife and kind mother to her three children, two daughters and one son: Rachel A., now wife of J.T. REYNOLDS; Martha E., wife of J.S. TILEY; and Samuel A., who is at home. Mr. DICKERSON has served the people of his township as justice of the peace for about eight years, and being of a social turn has gained many friends in the community in which he resides.
HISTORY OF VIGO AND PARKE COUNTIES, Together With Historic Notes on the Wabash Valley Contributed by Dale White

H.C. DICKERSON, farmer, Seelyville, was born in Vigo county, Indiana, in 1844. He served in the rebellion in Co. E, 183d reg. Ind. Vol. Inf., and has been a resident of the county all his life. He was married in 1871, and has a family of three children: Roscoe, Raleigh and George W. Mr. DICKERSON, in connection with his farm, keeps a country store, and by not having the rent to pay that they do in the city, he is able to compete with them in prices. By his courteous treatment of his many customers, he has not only established a good trade, but has gained many friends. He is a member of the Terre Haute Lodge, No. 51, I.O.O.F., and in politics he is a republican.
HISTORY OF VIGO AND PARKE COUNTIES, Together With Historic Notes on the Wabash Valley
H.W. Beckwith - 1880 Lost Creek Twp. - p. 399 Contributed by Dale White

C. EVERSOL, farmer, Terre Haute, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1814. When he was seven years of age his parents came to Floyd county, Indiana, and remained about three years, after which they removed to Vigo county in 1824, and lived three years. They then returned to Floyd county again, and in 1828 came to Vigo county, where Mr. EVERSOL has lived ever since. He now owns 120 acres of land, forty acres of which he entered. There were only three acres of land cleared, and the rest he has done himself. In 1841 he was married to Miss Nancy LATTY, a native of Owen county, Indiana. They have five children, three sons and two daughters: Jane E., Joseph, Jacob, John W. and Emma D. Mr. EVERSOL got his start by working for 85 per month, and taking part in store pay.
HISTORY OF VIGO AND PARKE COUNTIES, Together With Historic Notes on the Wabash Valley  H.W. Beckwith - 1880 Lost Creek Twp. - p. 393 Contributed by Dale White

HARPER, Mrs. Ida A., journalist, was born in Indiana, of New England parentage. She showed in childhood a remarkable memory and marked literary talent. Her education was almost wholly received in private schools, although she was graduated in the public high school. She entered the State University in Bloomington, but was married before completing the course. For a number of years after marriage she did a considerable amount of writing. Her work was of a character that always commanded excellent pay. For a dozen years she conducted a department in the Terre Haute "Saturday Evening Mail," that discussed all of the questions of the day and was widely copied. During that time Mrs. Harper traveled extensively and corresponded for a large number of papers, including the "Christian Union," " Western Christian Advocate," "Advance," Chicago " Inter Ocean," Chicago "Times," the Detroit "Free Press," the Toledo "Blade," the Boston "Traveller," the Cleveland "Leader," the Indianapolis "Journal" and the Terre Haute " Gazette and Express." For the past ten years she has edited a woman's department in the "Locomotive Firemen's Magazine." In 1889 she decided to make literature a profession. She was at once invited to an editorial position on the Terre Haute " Evening News." In a short time she was made managing editor by the directors, one of the first instances on record of a woman occupying the position of managing editor on a political daily paper. She carried the paper through the hottest municipal campaign ever known in that city, making up an independent ticket from the best men on the other tickets. She wrote every line of the editorials and dictated the policy of the paper throughout the canvass, and every man on the ticket was elected. At the end of a year she was called to a place on the editorial staff of the Indianapolis "News," which she has filled for two years, going to her office regularly each morning.
(Source: American Women by Frances Elizabeth Willard, Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, Vol. 1, 1897. Transcribed by Marla Snow)



Maxwell Carson Hamill. one of the leaders of the Terre Haute bar, is a native of Sullivan, Indiana, where he was born March 27. 1866. He is a son of the late Hon. Samuel R. Hamill, Sr., and Martha (Wood) Hamill. His father was a native of Shippensburg. Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He was a graduate of Jefferson and Williams College and in law of the university at Carlisle. Pennsylvania. When he became a settler of Indiana he located for practice at Evansville. and thence removed to Sullivan, where he was long the leader of the bar and prominent in the state as a skillful lawyer and an eloquent orator. He served as prosecuting attorney in the district composed of Vigo and Sullivan Counties. He died in Sullivan in June, 1876. His mother was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and as a young woman came to Terre Haute with her widowed mother, brothers and sisters. The late surgeon general of the United States Navy, William Maxwell Wood, was her brother. The Wood family was a large one and its various members were prominent in the early financial and social history of Terre Haute and it’s descendants have been influential and leading citizens.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel R. Hamill were: Mary Augusta, the wife of Rev. Edward W. Abbey, a minister of the Presbyterian Church at Smithtown, Long Island. New York: Frances Wood, of New York City : Samuel R., Jr., who at the time of his death was classed as one of the most able and brilliant attorneys in the West; Charles Wood, also deceased: Elizabeth R., who married Harry J. Baker, a lawyer of Terre Haute: and Maxwell Carson Hamill.
Maxwell Carson Hamill was reared in Terre Haute and educated in the public schools of that city and Hamilton, Ohio. While pursuing his law studies he taught school in the vicinity of Terre Haute and was also with the United States mail service for some time, with headquarters at Indianapolis. During the latter period he was a student in the office of Duncan. Smith & Wilson, of Indianapolis, and finished his studies with his brother, Samuel R. Hamill, Jr., of Terre Haute.
In 1900 he was admitted to the Indiana bar, and at once commenced practice in that city. In the following year he was elected prosecuting attorney of Vigo County and re-elected to the office in 1903. He afterwards served as county attorney for two years. His marked success as prosecuting attorney made him a leader in criminal proceedings, and since he relinquished the office there have been no important cases in that field
of law in which he has not participated. As a private attorney, however, he has generally been retained by the defense. Still, he is not regarded as a criminal lawyer, for his practice in civil litigation for years has been large and he is retained in almost every important case, and as a legal consultant his reputation is strong and wide and he is recognized as one of the leading lawyers in the state.
Outside of the professional organizations of which he is a member, Mr. Hamill is No. 1 in the Terre Haute Lodge of Elks, and is also identified with Social Lodge, No. 86, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and the Commercial Club of Terre Haute.
He married Miss Ann Van Der Veer, a native of Hamilton, Ohio, and daughter of Henry Van Der Veer, niece of General Ferdinand Van Der Veer, of Civil war fame, and granddaughter of Thomas Milliken, who was one of Ohio's most distinguished lawyers. Mr. and Mrs. Hamill have one daughter, Mary Milan, born in 1899.
Transcribed by Charlotte Slater

Homer L. Williams.—It is a noticeable fact that the young men of today are constantly forging to the front, becoming leaders in the business world, successfully controlling the veins and arteries of traffic. To this class belongs Homer L. Williams, the efficient manager at Terre Haute of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. He was born at Brookhaven, Mississippi, December 18. 1880, his parents being Thomas and Ann Elizabeth (Martin) Williams, both of whom are natives of Mississippi. The father was a cotton planter of that state for many years, but during the latter part of an active business life engaged in growing rice in Louisiana. He became a prominent and influential resident of his community, exerting considerable influence in public life in both Mississippi and Louisiana. He held membership in the Baptist Church, was a leading representative of the Masonic Fraternity and also belonged to the Woodmen of the World.
The maternal grandfather of Mr. Williams was the late Capt. A. J. Martin, of Mississippi, who was born in Lincoln, then Lawrence, County, that state, September 21, 1835. His life record covered the span of years to November 8, 1905. He served in the Confederate army during the Civil war as captain of Company C, Third Mississippi Regiment, and was a brave and gallant soldier and an efficient commander, who inspired his men to deeds of valor by reason of his own bravery and loyalty. He left home for the front on the 15th of April, 1862, mustering one hundred and forty men in the company. At the surrender of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston at Greensboro, North Carolina, on the 26th of April, 1865, there were only thirteen members who were able to be at their post of duty, for illness, wounds and death had thus decimated the ranks.   This fact alone stands in incontrovertible evidence of the splendid service performed by Company C in that long an sanguinary struggle. On the 25th of October, 1855, Captain Martin was married to Miss Sarah Gwin, a daughter of a prominent planter of Lawrence County, Mississippi, and their daughter, Elizabeth, became the wife of Thomas Williams and the mother of our subject.
Homer L. Williams acquired his education in the common schools of Brookhaven and also attended the Peabody High School at Summit, Mississippi. Removing with his parents to Crowley, Louisiana, his father there engaged in rice growing and the boy spent his time on the plantation. Later he attended Business College at Macon, Georgia, and in 1901 he came to Terre Haute, where he accepted the management of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. In this connection he has given excellent satisfaction to the company which he represents by reason of his clear discernment and sound judgment, his unfaltering energy and his unflagging diligence. In the meantime, however, he returned to Louisiana and spent one season in rice growing, but in 1903 again came to Terre Haute and resumed his position as manager of the branch house of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company at this place.
Mr. Williams was married to Miss Louetta Greggs, of Terre Haute, and the hospitality of the best homes of the city is cordially extended them. Mr. Williams is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 86, Paul Revere Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and also belongs to the Young Business Men's Club and is in hearty sympathy with its purpose to advance the commercial interests of his adopted city. Alert and energetic, he is making good use of his opportunities and his many friends feel no hesitancy in prophesying for him larger successes in the future.
Transcribed by Charlotte Slater

John Nelson White, who in every relation of life displays a fidelity to purpose and a trustworthiness that have gained for him the respect and confidence of his fellow men, is now in business circles occupying the position of collector with the Root Dry Goods Company, while as a representative of Odd Fellowship he is known throughout the state. He was instrumental in forming what is today the second largest organization of the order in Indiana, and enjoys in the fullest degree the confidence and friendship of his fraters of the society. He was born in Ross County, Ohio, September 18, 1855. His parents were William J. and Mary Ann (Niseley) White, who were also natives of Ross County, the former born in 1825 and the latter in 1830. The family, however, comes of Scotch ancestry and was established in America by the great-grandfather of our subject, who, leaving the land of hills and heather, came to the United States and settled in Pennsylvania, where White continued until November 19, 1899. At that time he became deputy under Sheriff Fasig, being a riding deputy. He continued in the sheriff's office until September 5, 1904, when he resigned, having been appointed a member of the Terre Haute city board of works by Mayor Bideman and continued under Mayor Buckingham, who filled out Mayor Bideman's unexpired term. He served on the board as a minority or Democratic member for two years and acted as its secretary during that period. On the 1st of November, 1906, he accepted a position as collector with the Root Dry Goods Company and continues to the present time.
Mr. White became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows on the 11th of October, 1887, when he joined Terre Haute Lodge, No. 51. He took all of the degrees until he became a full member of the subordinate lodge, and in June, 1888, he joined the encampment, ultimately reaching the highest degree in that department of the society. In February, 1889, he was one of the charter members of Canton McKeen, No. 28, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He began active work in the order upon receiving the third degree in the subordinate lodge, and as the years have passed his activity has increased until he is today considered one of the leading Odd Fellows of Indiana. He has filled all of the chairs in the subordinate lodge and encampment and retains a membership in the grand lodge and grand encampment. For eleven years he was captain of Canton McKeen, and in 1894 associated with James Colter, he originated the idea of organizing a new subordinate lodge, the charter members of which should be composed of transient Odd Fellows, who held withdrawal cards. It required not less than ten to procure a charter to institute a lodge. In pursuance of this plan Mr. White withdrew from Terre Haute Lodge, No. 51, and Mr. Colter withdrew from Fort Harrison Lodge, No. 157. The charter was granted and the new organization, as Amico Lodge, No. 707, was instituted on July 16, 1894, with Mr. White as treasurer. Amico lodge began its new life with an initiation of sixty-eight members and is now the second largest lodge in the state of Indiana, having a membership of five hundred and fifty at the report of December, 1907. Mr. White's present activities are in the line of financial secretary of Amico lodge, which position he has filled for the last eleven years, and as secretary of the Temple Association, which was formed for the building of an Odd Fellows temple. Its plans have been perfected and the contract is now let for the building. Mr. White has not only been most active in all the work of the order, but is in thorough sympathy with its beneficent spirit and in his life exemplifies that mutual kindliness and brotherly charity which constitute the basic elements of the order.   He be
The grandfather of our subject was born and reared. The maternal grandfather was also a native of Pennsylvania and, removing westward to Ohio, became one of the pioneers of Ross County, aiding in laying the foundation for its early development and progress.
Transcribed by Charlotte Slater

William J. White, born and reared in Ohio, started westward in 1857 and visited Terre Haute, but did not settle here. He located on a farm in Clark County, near Marshall, Illinois, and there his wife died in the year 1861. Long surviving her, Mr. White passed away in Terre Haute in 1897, having made his home with his son, John, during the last twelve years of his life. Both he and his wife were devoted members of the Methodist church.
John Nelson White, whose name introduces this record, was but a young lad at the time of his parents' removal to Illinois and was there reared upon a farm in Clark county. There he acquired a common school education, and when not busy with his text books devoted his time and energy to the work of the fields. At the age of sixteen years, however, he left the farm and became engaged on construction work on the Vandalia Railroad. For six months he was employed as a laborer, after which he learned the stone-cutting trade with the company, following that pursuit for about three years. He next entered the employ of the state of Indiana, his time being thus passed between June, 1874, and April, 1876, in assisting in the care of the insane at Indianapolis. Going thence to southwestern Kentucky, he went to work for the firm Booth, Delaney & Company, proprietors of a hub and spoke factory, where he learned the trade of spoke and hub turning. Eighteen months were spent in Kentucky, after which he returned to Terre Haute in the latter part of 1877. He then joined his father in the business of getting out railroad ties in southern Illinois, and the following year took up the occupation of farming in that state, continuing in active connection with agricultural interests for two seasons.
In 1879 Mr. White once more came to Terre Haute, where he made permanent location, going to work in the spoke factory of Shoyer Brothers. He was first employed as a turner, but eventually took charge of the works. In 1882 the factory was closed and in the following spring Mr. White took up planing mill work with the firm of Snapp & Rogers, with whom he continued until the dissolution of the company. His next connection was with the Clift. Williams Company in their planing mill. There he was given charge of the machine-made product and so continued until April, 1895, when he withdrew from that line of business and engaged in the retail grocery trade with his brother, William J. White. In January, 1896, they closed out their establishment and began contracting with the Terre Haute car works, where John N. Longs to social lodge, no. 86, free and accepted masons, is also a charter member of camp no. 3376, modern woodmen of the world, and also a charter member of tent no. 43, knights of the maccabees. He belongs to the junior order of american mechanics and all of these societies find him most loyal and faithful.
On the 20th of december, 1881, occurred the marriage of mr. White and miss caroline hoff, who was born in terre haute, a daughter of john h. Hoff, a pioneer german resident of this city, and a sister of charles w. Hoff, of terre haute. They have one daughter, lilly marie, who was born in terre haute, may 10, 1889, and a son, william leroy, born march 27, 1892. Mr. White was reared in the faith of the methodist church, but withdrew from that society and is now with his family a member of the german reformed church. The analyzation of his life work shows that in all that he has done he has been actuated by a spirit of helpfulness and kindliness. His deference for the opinions of others is one of his salient characteristics. He possesses, too. That executive ability and keen discrimination which enables him to become an effective force in fraternal organizations, and the independent order of odd fellows today recognizes him as one of its most prominent and valued representatives in indiana.
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Louis Gerhardt.—the German element in our american citizenship has ever been an important one. The sons of the fatherland have brought to the new world the determination and energy ever characteristic of the teutonic race, and, improving the opportunities of the new world, where labor is not hampered by caste, class, tradition, custom or precedent, they have gained positions of prominence in all lines of life contributing to business development and to the upholding of the legal and political status of the various communities in which they have established homes. To this class belongs louis gerhardt, who for forty years has been known as a thoroughly reliable and enterprising business man of terre haute, conducting through four decades a successful bakery here. He was born in baden. Germany, august 24, 1852, his parents being august and catherine (lutz) gerhardt, both of whom were natives of baden. The father was born in 1820 and the mother in 1830. They continued residents of germany until august, 1861, when they crossed the atlantic to america with their family of seven children, landing at new york, whence they made their way direct to terre haute, where they had friends and relatives. Following his arrival in this city the father first worked for mr. Zimmerman, a baker, for a few years, and afterward entered the employ of the harings in a steam bakery.  Acquiring capital sufficient to justify his establishment  of a business of his own, he opened a bakery on the south side of Main Street, between Eighth and Ninth Streets, in the old Frey building. He next removed to the old Jenkins property on the corner of Fourth and Cherry Streets, and the growth of his business necessitating larger quarters, in 1872 he purchased the property on which is located the present bakery of Louis Gerhardt on Thirteenth and Deming Streets. There he continued actively and successfully in business until his death, which occurred in 1879. His widow traveled life's journey for twenty-three years longer, passing away in 1902. Mr. Gerhardt was a good business man, who enjoyed in full measure the confidence and trust of his fellow citizens, and by reason of his thorough understanding of the trade he met with gratifying success in his business career.
Louis Gerhardt was a lad of only nine years when the parents left the fatherland and came to the new world. His education, begun in the schools of his native country, was continued in the schools of Terre Haute. He afterward worked in the bakery with his father and in 1880 succeeded to the business. He has continued in this line to the present, and in 1905 erected a fine brick bakery, this building being two stories in height and well equipped for the specific uses to which it is put. Year by year his trade has increased until he now has the largest local sale for bread and cake of any establishment of this character in the city. He utilizes nine delivery and supply wagons and employs eighteen men. He has always aimed at a high standard in the character of service and has sought an increase in trade through merit rather than by a war in prices.
Mr. Gerhardt was married in 1883 to Miss Christina Becker, who was born in Baden, Germany. Their children are Estella, twenty-one years of age: Louis, seventeen years of age, and Mary, a little maiden of six summers. The family are communicants of St. Patrick's Catholic Church and Mr. Gerhardt is treasurer of the German Savings and Loan Association. In this connection he manifests his desire to aid his fellow countrymen, and at all times he is interested in matters of public moment, giving efficient aid to many measures that are proving of genuine worth in the community. He is a supporter of the Democratic Party and is a member of Humboldt Lodge, No. 42, Free and Accepted Masons, Chapter No. n. Royal Arch Masons, the Eagles, the Travelers', Protective Association, the Improved Order of Red Men, the German Club and the German Benevolent Society. Perhaps Terre Haute has no more enthusiastic hunter than Mr. Gerhardt, as is evidenced by his hunting trips. His long residence in Terre Haute, covering almost half a century, has brought him a wide acquaintance, and his business principles have certainly stood the test of time.   The consensus of public opinion regarding Mr. Gerhardt and his life is altogether favorable and places him among the representative men of this city.
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Frank F. Schmidt has the distinction of being the oldest German citizen in Terre Haute in point of continuous residence, for he has been prominently identified with its business, political and social life since June of 1849, when the now populous city was but a little hamlet of twenty-three hundred. He was born in Bismarck, Prussia, Germany, November 21, 1830, and was but a lad of eighteen when he came to America with his father, John Frederick, and his brother August. Another brother, Carl, preceded them to the United States about two years, but in 1849, the year of the little party's arrival here, he and the father, who was not pleased with the prospects here, returned to Germany. John Frederick Schmidt was the father of four children and was a brewer and distiller in Germany, operating a large brewery and distillery in connection with a prominent hotel, and was a well-to-do business man. August Schmidt died in Cincinnati, Ohio, of cholera in 1849, the same year of his arrival in this country.
It was in his father's hotel in Bismarck that Frank F. Schmidt was born and reared, attending school up to the age of fourteen, and gained a fair education. A friend of his father was a German army officer, and at his suggestion Mr. Schmidt had his son learn the trade of machinist that a position as such might be secured for him in the army as chief in that department. He accordingly entered upon a three years' apprenticeship, making a specialty of the edged tool trade, but instead of carrying out the original plan of his father he left with him on the 4th of November, 1848, for the United States, landing in New Orleans in February, 1849, after a terrible voyage of fifteen weeks. From there they went up the Ohio River to Cincinnati, Ohio, from whence Frank F. Schmidt came to Terre Haute in June of the same year, and has in the main since lived in this city. At the time of his arrival here his health was impaired, for he, too, was stricken with cholera in Cincinnati, and he was not able to do any work for about two years or more afterward. But after his recovery he followed various employments until he entered upon his long connection with railroad work in 1851, for eighteen years remaining with what is now the Vandalia Railroad Company, and during six years of that time he was their foreman. He now has the distinction of being the only man in this city who was among the employees of the first railroad in Terre Haute. He also assisted in running the first locomotive from the canal. It had two drive wheels and was called a "pony."
In 1870 Mr. Schmidt abandoned the railroad business, and for two
years was engaged in the manufacture of stave and cross ties, being at the head of a crew of men, and he was also engaged in the grocery business at the same time. Since then he has devoted his activities to various industries. In 1873 he was elected a member of the city council and served for six years, or three terms. In the same year, 1873, he, with others, established the Terre Haute Mutual Savings Association, of which he has been the president since, and the institution has become one of the leading ones of Terre Haute. About twelve years ago he was the prime mover in instituting the Terre Haute Mutual Fire Insurance Company, serving as its president since the organization, and he also previously been somewhat identified with the fire insurance business, and has also dealt quite extensively in real estate. He has been successful in business and prominent in the public life of the community. He was one of twelve who organized the first Republican Club of Terre Haute, he having been identified with that party's interests for several years, but has since been independent in his political affiliations. He is well and favorably known in Terre Haute and Vigo County, and is universally respected and honored for his many sterling characteristics.
Mr. Schmidt married, November 15, 1855, Miss Ida Nonnenbrunch, who was born near Cologne, on the River Rhine, in Prussia, Germany, June 10, 1837, and came to America with her parents in 1849, arriving in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 10th of June of that year. The father, Bertram Nonnenbrunch had, in 1848, been involved in the Prussian revolutionary uprising, and for that cause came with many other of his fellow countrymen to America, among the number being the distinguished Carl Schurz. The objective point in this country of the Nonnenbrunch family was Parkersburg, West Virginia, where Mr. Nonnenbrunch intended to build a mill, for he was a miller by trade, but his untimely death from cholera on the Fourth of July, 1849, changed all their plans. The wife and mother then bought the farm in Clark County, Illinois, which Mr. Schmidt's father had previously purchased for him, and thither she removed with her family of seven children. She survived her husband for many years, dying in 188o, aged seventy-eight years.
Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt have had four children, three now living, namely: Rosa Louise, the wife of William A. Peker, of Terre Haute; Frances Otello, the wife of Henry F. Schmidt, the present deputy sheriff of Vigo County; Edgar B., the city engineer, and Edwin F., who died at the age of five years. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt were reared in the German Lutheran faith. Mr. Schmidt has been a prominent factor in the development and progress of Terre Haute, and his name is inseparably interwoven with the record of its advancement. The introduction of many of the business interests which have promoted the prosperity of the city were the work of this progressive, public-spirited pioneer, and his canal boating in the early days won him the title of Captain Schmidt.
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George H. Cooke, secretary and treasurer of the Hendrich Abstract Company of Terre Haute, is a native of Warren County, New Jersey, born February 2, 1861, his parents being William J. and Martha (Lanterman) Cooke, early settlers of New Jersey. The public schools afforded him his educational privileges and as an equipment for the practical and responsible duties of life he took up the study of civil engineering in the field, beginning as an axman. In 1883 he came west and October 14, 1898, accepted a position as civil engineer with the Southern Indiana Railroad Company, the headquarters then being at Bedford, Indiana. He continued with that company on construction work until the fall of 1905, when he entered the office of the Hendrich Abstract Company, and on the 1st of April, 1906, was made secretary and treasurer. He had become a resident of Terre Haute in 1900 and has here since made his home. Through close application and discriminating energy he has developed a good business and is recognized as one of the enterprising, progressive men of the city a valuable addition to it’s business circles.
Mr. Cooke was married in 1904 to Miss Caroline Hendrich and has one son, William Hendrich Cooke. , Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and became a charter member of the first lodge of that order organized in North Dakota, in which state he was located from 1883 until 1890. He is a member of the Western Society of Civil Engineers and aside from any membership relations is known as a gentleman of genial manner, whose personal qualities make him popular and well liked.
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William E. Hendrich, one of Terre Haute's prominent citizens, who figures in business life as president of the Hendrich Abstract Company and as a member of the bar, is a native of Tennstedt Thuringia, Germany, born February 1, 1836. The first nine years of his life were spent in that land and in 1845 he came with his parents to the United States, the family home being established at New Albany, Indiana. He was a young man of eighteen years when, in 1854, he came to Terre Haute, and in 1856 he began reading law in the office of Col. John P. Baird. After careful and thorough preparation he was admitted to the bar in 1858 and the next year was appointed attorney for the old Terre Haute, Alton & St. Louis Railroad Company, which position he held for a period of eight years. Throughout his entire residence here, covering more than a half century, he has contributed in substantial measure to the growth, progress and development of the city.  In 1864 he assisted in erecting the block of buildings on the southeast corner of Third Street and Wabash Avenue. In 1868 he turned his attention to the abstract business, being the pioneer abstractor of Terre Haute and of the state. He has since conducted the leading abstract office in the city and is now president of the Hendrich Abstract Company, which he founded and which was incorporated in 1902. He also continues in the practice of law.
On December 25, i860, was celebrated the marriage of William E. Hendrich and Miss Mary Katzenbach, a native of Germany, and their children are four in number: Mary, the wife of Charles Merrill, formerly of Clinton, Indiana, but now a resident of Riverside, California; Lucile. the wife of George M. Pierson, also living at Riverside; Caroline, the wife of George H. Cooke, secretary and treasurer of the Hendrich Abstract Company, and Linda, the wife of Josephus C. Davis, of Terre Haute.
Mr. Hendrich is a member of Humboldt Lodge, No. 42, Free and Accepted Masons, and has attained the Knight Templar degree of the commander. He is also connected with the Commercial Club. His interest in the general welfare is that of a public spirited citizen and many tangible evidences can be given of his devotion to the public good. All who know him entertain for him the respect and good will which are ever given a man whose life is largely exemplary in its relations with his fellow men and with the community at large.
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George William Jacoby Hoffman, whose intense and well directed activity has gained him recognition as one of the representative business men of Terre Haute, is conducting two drug stores here, and his thorough preparation for the trade, combined with his stalwart purpose and strict conformity to commercial ethics, have brought him both prosperity and an honored name. He is one of Terre Haute's native sons, his birth having occurred October 28, 1864, in the old Cincinnati House, which stood on the present site of the new National Hotel on North Fourth Street. He is a son of Tilghman J. and Alavesta (Jacoby) Hoffman, both of whom were natives of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, and of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. The maternal grandfather was William Jacoby, whose birth occurred in the Keystone State. It was in that state that the parents of our subject were reared and married and a son was born to them ere they left Pennsylvania. Removing westward they settled in Terre Haute about 1863 and the father embarked in business as a retail grocer, in which line of trade he continued for many years, being recognized as one of the enterprising factors in commercial circles here during the middle of the nineteenth century.   In 1876 he re- moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where he engaged in business, and there his death occurred in 1885. His widow still survives and is now a resident of Terre Haute.
George W. J. Hoffman attended the city schools and the Terre Haute Commercial College. At the age of fifteen years he began clerking in the drug store of Gulick & Berry, who occupied the store in which Mr. Hoffman now carries on business on the corner of Fourth Street and Wabash Avenue. For four years he remained with that house, after which to further perfect himself in this line of activity he entered the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and was graduated there from with the class of 1886. While pursuing his studies he acted as clerk for Thomas S. Wiegand, the registrar of the institution which he was attending. His collegiate course completed, he returned to Terre Haute in the spring of 1886 and took the position of head clerk in the old drug store, where he served his apprenticeship, the style of the firm, however, having been changed in the meantime to Gulick & Company. In 1890 Mr. Hoffman became the junior partner of the firm, and in July, 1897, became sole proprietor of the business. From his entrance into the trade as a proprietor he has met with constantly increasing success, his business career being characterized by an orderly progression which has led to substantial results. On the 1st of September, 1900, he opened his second drug store on the corner of Sixth and Wabash Avenue, known as the New Central Pharmacy, and now conducts both establishments, which are two of the leading drug stores of the city. The original one is known as the Hoffman Drug Store, and there he makes his headquarters. It is today the oldest establishment in this line in Terre Haute. The building was erected in 1851, and since its completion has been continuously utilized for the sale of drugs. Mr. Hoffman carries a large stock, which, combined with honorable business methods, insures a well merited success.
On the 2d of October, 1888, Mr. Hoffman was united in marriage to Miss Mattie M. Miller, the eldest daughter of Peter Miller, one of Terre Haute's oldest and best known businessmen and German-American citizens. He was at one time commissioner of Vigo County and prominent and influential in community affairs. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman have been born two children: Hester, who was born June 1, 1895 and Herman M., born August 3, 1900. Mr. Hoffman and his wife are well known socially and their circle of friends is constantly increasing as the circle of their acquaintance widens. Mr. Hoffman belongs to the Young Business Men's Club and Vigo County Druggists' Association. He is widely recognized as an active, alert and enterprising young businessman he  moves carefully and surely in every trans action, possessing the persistency of purpose which ultimately reaches the objective point.
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John H. Baldridge, M. D.—One of the best known, as well as one of the oldest and most successful physicians of Vigo County, is Dr. John H. Baldridge. Since 1884 his name has been enrolled among the active practitioners of Terre Haute, and in the interim he has achieved a success that has gained him prominence among the best representatives of the profession in the county of Vigo. He is also the son of a physician, Dr. John Alexander Baldridge, who, too, claimed Morgan County, Ohio, as the place of his nativity, from whence he moved to Sullivan County, Indiana, when his son, John, was a boy of ten years. He established the home on a farm east of Farmersburg and became actively identified with the public and professional life of the community. His wife, nee Eliza Leeper, bore him three sons and one daughter.
Dr. Baldridge was the third born and the youngest son, and had his nativity in Morgan County, Ohio, November 9. 1840. He grew to manhood's estate in the home near Farmersburg, attending the pioneer country schools of Sullivan County, as well as a private school in the town. He then began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of his father, with whom he studied for three years, and then moving to Rosedale, in Parke County, Indiana, practiced there from 1868 to 1884, covering a period of sixteen years. At the expiration of that time he came to Terre Haute. After practicing three years in Parke County, Dr. Baldridge entered the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, where he graduated in 1873, and has since been a successful representative of that old and time-honored school of medicine. He has won particular success in his treatment of lung trouble.
Dr. Baldridge was first married, in 1869, to Gelana Challis, who died on the 20th of September, 1893, after becoming the mother of seven children, but only two of the number are now living. In 1898 he married Lovilla Challis. He is a Republican politically. His services in the Civil War entitle him to membership in Morton Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He enlisted in Company D, Forty-third Indiana Infantry, in 1863, and served until the close of the conflict.
When Dr. Baldridge came to Terre Haute it was said that he had consumption, and after three years' treatment of himself he was cured and has since been in constant active practice of his profession. He is hale and hearty, notwithstanding the decision of a number of physicians that he could not last long when he came to the city. For several years he has been a member of the Eclectic Medical Association of Sullivan and Vigo counties.
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Joseph A. Frisz, M. D.—The medical profession of Vigo County finds an able representative in Dr. Joseph A. Frisz, a substantial type of the liberal, progressive practitioner of today. He has been located in Terre Haute since his graduation eight years ago, and the community takes a pride in his advancement and high standing because he is one of her sons, both by nativity and preliminary education. Dr. Frisz was born in that city on the 4th of March, 1878, and is a son of Joseph and Margaret (Rolles) Frisz, both Germans, although the father was born in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, which was then French territory. The father came to this country with his parents when he was three years old, spent his earlier years on an Indiana farm, became a resident of Terre Haute thirty-six years ago, and has since been prominent in business and municipal life.
The Doctor is a graduate of the Terre Haute High School, pursuing his professional course at the Indiana Medical College, from which he received his degree of M. D. in 1900. He has since established a good practice in this city. Like other progressive members of his profession, he keeps in touch with the latest development in the theories and practices of his profession by maintaining an active membership in the local and national societies. He is identified with county and state medical societies, the Esculapian Medical Society of the Wabash Valley and the American Medical Association. He is also a member of the staff of St. Anthony's Hospital of Terre Haute. His fraternal relations are with the Knights of Columbus, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Red Men, and his broad education and easy bearing secure him admission to the best society of the city.
Joseph Frisz has taken an honorable part in the molding both of the business and the civic history of Terre Haute. He is perhaps best known as one of the oldest and most prominent grocers of the city, who continued in that line for twenty-nine years at one location, No. 301 North Thirteenth Street. He is a native of Alsace-Lorraine, which at the time of his birth, September 28, 1843, was a French Province. His parents, Joseph and Margaret (Long) Frisz, came to America in 1846, locating in Jennings County, Indiana, in August of that year. They settled upon an uncleared and unimproved farm and there their remaining days were passed, the father devoting his time and his energies to the cultivation and development of his property until his death, which occurred in 1864, when he was sixty-eight years of age. His wife survived him until 1868, and had also reached the age of sixty-eight at the time of her demise. Their family numbered nine children: Barbara, Christopher and Jacob, all now deceased; George, who is living in Illinois; John, a resident of Terre Haute; Michael, who has also passed away; Anna and Peter, who are also residents of Terre Haute, and Joseph, of this review. The father was a Catholic in religious belief and reared his family in that faith.
Joseph Frisz was only three years of age when his parents left his native land and came to the new world, so that he was reared upon the Indiana farm, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors of the average farmer boy. His education was acquired in the public schools, and after putting aside his text books he learned the blacksmith's trade.
In 1868 he was married, in Jennings County, Indiana, to Miss Margaret Rolles, a native of Prussia. She died May 7, 1891. For three years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Frisz resided at Bowling Green, Kentucky, and spent nearly two years in Hopkinsville, that state. In 1873 they arrived in Terre Haute and Mr. Frisz commenced his career as a grocer at the familiar location on North Thirteenth Street, where, as stated, he remained for twenty-nine years. Many patrons who came to him in early days continued to give him their support throughout the passing decades, and from time to time he found it necessary to enlarge his stock in order to meet the demands of a growing patronage. His goods were judiciously selected and tastefully arranged, prices were reasonable and measures good, and to cap all Mr. Frisz was courteous and accommodating. He therefore became one of the leading merchants of the city and secured not only a handsome competency but an honorable name—even more to be desired than riches. Although Mr. Frisz has been retired from the grocery business since 1902, he has long served as president of the Mutual Savings Association and is also identified  with the Terre Haute Mutual Fire Insurance Company. As a Democrat and a man of municipal affairs he has wielded a strong beneficial influence, having served for one term as city councilman and for twelve years as city commissioner. Like his business career, his public record has been a constant demonstration of a prompt, faithful and efficient discharge of the duties as they developed. He is a stanch communicant of the Catholic Church, and in that faith has reared his family. Seven of his nine children yet survive: Lena M., Jacob N., Margaret K., George B., Joseph A., Clara M. and Fred J. Frisz.
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Worth B. Steele, manager of the extensive lumber interests of R. A. Hooton & Company, of Terre Haute, was born in Crawford County, Illinois, July 22, 1851. His parents were Nenian T. and Martha A. (Harris) Steele. The father was born in Virginia and was of Scotch-English ancestry.   In early life he prepared for the practice of medicine and sur-
gery, and, removing westward, located near Hudsonville, Illinois, where he devoted his time and energies to his profession. He died there in his forty-sixth year, while his wife passed away at the comparatively early age of thirty-eight.  She, too, was a native of the Old Dominion.
Their family numbered three sons and a daughter, of whom Worth B. Steele is the eldest. He resided in the county of his nativity to the age of sixteen years, when he came to Terre Haute to supplement his early educational privileges by study in a commercial college. After completing his course he accepted a position in the W. S. Ryce dry goods house, where he remained for a short time. He then went to Louisville, Kentucky, where he spent six or seven years as bookkeeper in a wholesale grocery house, but in 1881 returned to Terre Haute, where he has since made his home. He became connected with the lumber trade as bookkeeper in the employ of T. B. Johns, who subsequently sold the business to the Wabash Lumber Company, and in 1897 the yards were purchased by R. A. Hooton & Company. Mr. Steele has been continuously associated with the business for twenty-seven years and gradual advancement has brought him to his present responsible position of manager, which is one of the oldest and most extensive in this line in the city. Its success is attributable in no small degree to his close application and executive force, and few men are better informed concerning the lumber trade and all the subjects which bear upon this important industry.
In 1873 Mr. Steele was united in marriage to Miss Delia Patterson, and unto them have been born three sons and a daughter: Malcolm A., John P., Alma L. and Wilbur B. Malcolm A. represents the Bankers' Surety Company in western Indiana and eastern Illinois: John P. is connected with his father in the office: Alma L. graduated from the high school in 1907, and Wilbur B. will finish high school with the class of 1907.
Mr. and Mrs. Steele have an extensive circle of friends in Terre Haute, gained by reason of their genuine worth during the long period of their residence in this city. Mr. Steele is moreover recognized as one of the leaders in Republican circles here. He has always given stalwart support to the party, served for one term as a member of the city council, and has done effective work for Republican interests as chairman of the city central committee. He also belongs to the Commercial Club and co-operates in various plans and movements which it puts forth for Terre Hante's development along business lines. He is likewise well known in Masonic circles, and has attained the Knight Templar degree in the commandery. While there have been no startling or exciting chapters in his life history, neither has there been a single esoteric phase. He is a man of known honesty of purpose, despising all unworthy or ques tionable means of securing success in any undertaking or for any purpose. His is a sturdy American character and of stalwart patriotism, and in the faithful performance of life's duties as they come to him day after day he has achieved much that is honorable and commendable and won .the respect and confidence of his fellow men. He was one of the first class to become a member of the "Hoo-Hoos," No. 8383, and has always been very active, especially in the state.
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Edward J. Schott, M. D., was born in the city of Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio, March 16, 1875, and since 1905 he has been prominently and successfully engaged in the practice of medicine in Terre Haute. When he had attained to the age of sixteen, having in the interim attended the public schools of Bucyrus, he obtained the consent of his parents to leave home and to do for himself. Making his way to Chicago he completed his literary training in a high school there and later entered a medical college, working his own way through and finally graduating from the well known Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, May 12, 1904. During that time he was prominently identified with hospital work, and immediately after his graduation he began practice in Chicago. Shortly afterward, in April, 1905, he left that city for Terre Haute and has inscribed his name high on the roll of its eminent physicians, following a general practice and a specialty of electro therapeutics. He is a member of the Vigo County Medical Society and of the Knights of Columbus fraternity.
Dr. Schott married Miss Ada Cornell, of Allegan, Michigan. They had one child, Edward Anthony, who died at the age of four months. Dr. Schott is a member (and on the board censors') of the Wabash Valley Homeopathic Medical Society and the Indiana State Homeopathic Society, also the American Institute of Homeopathy.
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W. B. Richmond, M. D.—The name of Dr. W. B. Richmond finds a place on the roll of the medical fraternity in Terre Haute, where he has practiced since 1906, but he is a native son of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, born May 13, 1876. He was reared there and graduated from the high school in 1894, after which for one year he was employed as a bookkeeper for a general mercantile firm. He then matriculated in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and graduated in the medical department June 1, 1899. For three years after his graduation Dr. Richmond practiced in Brazil, Indiana, while for two years thereafter was at Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, and returning thence to Brazil he spent two more years in practice there. It was at the close of that period, in the fall of 1906, that he came to Terre Haute, and is rapidly winning a name and place among the city's leading physicians. He served in the Spanish-American war as a member of Company A, Thirty-first Michigan Infantry. He entered the ranks as a private on the 26th of April, 1898, and was discharged from the hospital corps, United States Army, September 30, 1898. He is a member of the Elks and Knights of Columbus fraternities.
Dr. Richmond married, in 1902, Oval G. Tribble, of Brazil, Indiana, and has one son, Richard Charles.
Transcribed by Charlotte Slater

Albert L. Pfau.—Indelibly engraved on the pages of history in connection with manufacturing interests in Terre Haute is the name of Albert L. Pfau, the president and treasurer of the North Baltimore Bottle Glass Company. He is of German-American descent, but a native of the Buckeye State, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 7, 1865, a son of Jacob Pfau, Jr., a pioneer of Cincinnati, and during his lifetime one of the most prominent business men of the Queen City.
Jacob Pfau, Jr., was born in Germany, the son of John Michael Pfau, who brought his family to the United States and located in Cincinnati in 1832, becoming one of the pioneer business men. His son in time became largely interested in distilling in that city, served as a director in the old German National Bank and was otherwise prominently identified with its industries. He married Margaret, the daughter of Peter Bogen, another of the early pioneers of Cincinnati, and in his time the largest pork packer in the city. He was identified with that industry when it flourished there and gave to Cincinnati her name "Pork-opolis." Mrs. Pfau was born in that city and died there in 1889, her husband's death having occurred a few years previously, in 1883.
Albert L. Pfau was reared in the old Pfau homestead on Ninth Street, Cincinnati, and graduated from the old Woodward High School with the class of 1883. In the same year of his graduation and following soon upon his father's death he became interested in the glue business, his mother investing thirty thousand dollars in the industry for him. This proved an unfortunate investment, in which Mr. Pfau bought some bitter experience, for at the end of three years the company suspended business and the thirty thousand dollars invested for Mr. Pfau was lost in the enterprise. This was his first business venture, and he was at that time just twenty-one years old and married. He felt keenly the failure of his first attempt in business, but the experience gained was invaluable to him and he at once began looking around for another opening in the industrial world.
The discovery and development of natural gas was at that time attracting manufacturing interests to Findlay, Ohio, and Mr. Pfau visited that city to investigate. There he fell in with Col. I. W. Richardson, a practical glass manufacturer and at that time manager of the Hemingway Glass Company, of Covington, Kentucky, just across the Ohio river from Cincinnati. The two conceived the idea of establishing themselves in the glass industry in the natural gas belt, and in 1887 they organized the North Baltimore Bottle Glass Company, erecting their plant, on account of the high value of land in Findlay, eleven miles out from the city, at what is now North Baltimore, Ohio. And here it may be said that that town was laid out to a considerable extent by Messrs. Pfau and Richardson and they became large holders of it’s real estate. At the beginning the company was capitalized at fifty thousand dollars and furnished employment to sixty people, but owing largely to Colonel Richardson's practical experience their business prospered from the first and soon began to expand and enlarge. Mr. Pfau had charge of the financial business end of the firm and Col. W. Richardson the manufacturing. At that time the latter's two sons, I. W.. Jr., and David C. were also members of the company and had charge of its different departments.
But in 1895 the natural gas began to fail in the Findlay District, and not waiting for it to fail entirely the North Baltimore Glass Company moved its plant to the Indiana belt at Albany. Anticipating, however, that history relating to natural gas would repeat itself there, Mr. Pfau, in 1899, began looking about for a new and permanent location for the plant, and on account of the abundance of soft coal and railroad facilities, chose Terre Haute for it’s future location. In 1900 the company built it’s first factory in this city, and in 1902 a second factory was erected, and in 1905 the third. The company was incorporated under the Indiana laws with a capital of three hundred thousand dollars, with a surplus of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, with Mr. Pfau as president and treasurer, I. W. Richardson, Jr.. secretary, and David C. Richardson, general manager, both of the latter having been with the company since it’s organization at North Baltimore, Ohio. With the passing years the business has grown to mammoth proportions, the company now furnishing employment to six hundred operatives. They have an annual payroll of six hundred thousand dollars and an annual output of over two thousand cars of beer bottles, equivalent to eight carloads a day. The North Baltimore bottles are known to the trade over the entire United States, shipments being made from seaboard to seaboard and to all parts of the West. For the reason that the name "North Baltimore Bottles" has become so famous the appellation of the company has never been changed from it’s original form, notwithstanding the different removals.   All of the buildings of the company are Of structural steel and brick, and with slate roofs, and the entire plant is kept in such excellent condition that it is referred to by the trade as the "parlor plant." Mr. Pfau is a lover of fine blooded horses, and owns a number of noted saddle and harness animals, finding his recreation in a spin or canter when business permits. He is a knight templar mason, a knight of pythias, an elk and a member of the commercial, manufacturers' and young business men's clubs of terre haute, of the columbia club of indianapolis, and of the union league club of chicago.
Mr. Pfau married miss carrie l., the daughter of joseph f. Jewett, of the old commercial houses of jewett & adams, cincinnati, and of adams, jewett & company, of cleveland and cuyahoga falls, ohio, manufacturers of paper boxes, burlap, twine, etc. To mr. And mrs. Pfau three children have been born: albert l., jr., george harold and lucy margaret. The eldest is now a cadet at culver military academy, indiana, and the younger son is a student in the terre haute high school. Mr. Pfau erected his handsome home opposite collett park, terre haute, in 1903, surrounded by large trees and massive shrubbery, one of the beauty spots of the city.
Transcribed by Charlotte Slater

George M. Glick.—the name of click in terre haute at once suggests the manufacture of vehicles, for both father and sons have been prominently identified with the enterprise since its pioneer period, and their reputation extends throughout the country. The glick family came to terre haute from circleville, ohio, but were originally from pennsylvania and are of pennsylvania dutch stock. Ananias n. Glick, the originator of the vehicle manufacturing industry in terre haute, was born in ohio in 1834, and came from there to this city during its formative period and continued the manufacture of wagons here until in 1875. He then traded his business for a farm near salem, illinois, and there engaged in farming and also operated a wagon factory in salem until his death in 1883. He made a specialty of manufacturing two-horse wagons, and in all these years became well known in the industry. He was a strict and devout member of the methodist episcopal church. His wife bore the maiden name of matilda rowe.
In their family was george m. Glick, who was born on south third street, terre haute, october 14. 1866, and after completing his education in the public schools of this city he began learning the wagon and carriage business under his father at salem, illinois. In 1885 he returned to his native city and began work for his brother, philip a., who was in business at the corner of twenty-fifth and poplar streets for a number of years, and in 1887 he succeeded to his brother's business. The plant, however, was destroyed by fire in 1905, entailing a heavy loss to its owner, but he at once purchased the lot at the corner of Seventeenth and Poplar Streets and erected his present manufactory, a large two-story building forty by seventy feet. Mr. Glick is not only a manufacturer of and dealer in carriages, but also does general repair work and has won a reputation in the various departments which is not confined to the limits of Terre Haute or Vigo County. He is also a director in the Valentine Company, wholesale meat dealers.
He married a native daughter of Terre Haute. Miss Minnie Higdon. Her parents are Robert and Mary E. (Hoddie) Higdon, and the union has been blessed by the birth of two daughters. Edna May and Norma Merle.   Mr. Glick is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity.
Transcribed by Charlotte Slater

Robert T. McDonald.- On the list of Terre Haute's honored dead appears the name of Robert T. McDonald, who was one of the native sons of the city, born on the 21st day of January, 1862. His life record covered the comparatively brief span of forty-three years, his death occurring November 28, 1905. His father, Thomas McDonald, who for many years was a resident of this city, served his country as a soldier of the Union Army, and in civic life was one of the employees of the Vandalia Railroad Company.  He is now residing at Stewardson, Illinois.
Robert T. McDonald was reared and educated in the city of his nativity, and in early manhood here engaged in the livery business, while later he continued in the same line in St. Louis. He was afterward foreman of a flour mill in Terre Haute, and later took up railroading in the employ of the Vandalia Railroad Company, performing his duties as a switchman at the time when he sustained injuries that caused his death.
Mr. McDonald was married in the year 1890 to Miss Katherine Souder. a native of Bedford, Indiana. Unto them were born two children, Leland and Avis, both of whom possess considerable musical talent. Mr. McDonald was a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, in which he attained the uniform rank. He was also connected with the Woodmen, the Red Men, the Foresters, and with the Switchmen's Union, and in all these organizations gained the esteem of his brethren, who rate a man not by his wealth but by the worth of his character and by the principles which govern his conduct. Mr. McDonald held membership with the Methodist Church and shaped his life in accordance with its teachings, so that all who knew him respected him, and many gave to him warm friendship. Mrs. McDonald, residing with her sons in Terre Haute, is a lady of good business ability and attractive social qualities. She has recently erected one of the best apartment buildings of the city and from her property derives a good rental.
Transcribed by Charlotte Slater   

Henry T. Biel is one of the leading photographers of Terre Haute, and has been identified with it’s interests throughout the entire period of his business career. Just one month before his sixteenth birthday he went into the studio of G. H. Wright in this city to learn the business, and under the able instructions of Mr. Wright he learned the art in its every department, and in 1886 was able to engage in the business for himself. He at that time purchased the studio of John Adams, and has ever since remained at that location, 419 Wabash Avenue, his name having long stood in the front rank of photography in Terre Haute. He also owns considerable city real estate and is interested in other directions in the business life of this city.
Mr. Biel is of German parentage and a native of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, born April 25, 1855, to Henry and Augusta (Hesland) Biel. In the fall of 1854 the family, consisting of father, mother and six children, came to the United States and located at Sheboygan, but ten years later they came from there to Terre Haute. The father was a blacksmith, and for many years was in the employ of the Vandalia Railroad Company. He died in this city in 1885, in his seventy-second year, and his widow survived until 1898, dying when seventy-seven years of age. Both were members of the German Lutheran Church, and in their family were the following children: Theresa, wife of Valentine Burget, of Terre Haute; Fred J., a tobacco merchant of this city: William, in the real estate business here; Fredericka, who became the wife of Charles Klaer, of Terre Haute, and both are now deceased; Hanna, wife of W. S. Mahan, who has served as a deputy both in the sheriff and clerk's offices in Vigo County, and is now residing in Los Angeles, California. Mary, who married Robert Whittenburg, who was a dry goods merchant of Terre Haute, but now deceased. Henry T, the subject of this review. Ferdinand, of this city, and Clara, who has never married and now resides in Los Angeles, California. Six of the children were born in the fatherland of Germany, and the remaining three in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Henry T. Biel received his educational training in both the schools of Sheboygan and Terre Haute, but his entire business career has been spent in this city. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity and of the Retail Merchants' Association. He married Francina Bundy, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, a daughter of Samuel K. Bundy.
Transcribed by Charlotte Slater 

Eugene  Duenweg.—Throughout many years of his active life Eugene Duenweg was connected with many of the leading business institutions of Terre Haute, and his name therefore fills an important niche in the history of its industrial development.   He was born in the Rhine province of Germany, March 15, 1844, but his death occurred in Terre Haute, the city in which he had so long lived and labored, March 20, 1902. In his native land he learned the carriage and harness maker's trade, and worked at those callings until he enlisted in the German army in 1862. In 1866 he served in the Austrian war, and in the following year, 1867, he came to the United States and to Terre Haute, where he first secured employment in the lumber yards of the Vandalia Railroad Company. Later he was with Bement & Company, a wholesale grocery house, for three years, was with the Hulman & Cox Company for one year, and then accepted the superintendency of the Moses Ester Brewing Company. This was the beginning of his later successful career as a brewer. It was during his deputyship in the city treasurer's office, to which he was appointed in 1877 and served for six years, that he accepted the position of manager for the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company's interests in Terre Haute, remaining with that corporation until the spring of 1897. In 1898 he became the manager of the Miller Brewing Company's interest in this city, and continued in that position until his death. This brewing company was also of Milwaukee.
On the 8th of March, 1873, Mr. Duenweg married Minnie, the daughter of Fritz and Mary (Frautner) Glass, who were born in Germany, as was also Mrs. Duenweg, January 20, 1853, and she survives her husband. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Duenweg: Marie, Toni, Alma, Max J., Freda, Minnie, Eugene, Carl. Rudolph and Robert L. The eldest daughter, Marie, married Carl M. Reynolds and resides in Terre Haute.   The second born is deceased.
Max J. Duenweg, the eldest son, was born in Terre Haute, January 4, 1880, and after attending it’s graded and high schools pursued a course in the Commercial College. His first entrance into the business world was with the Central Manufacturing Company, under the supervision of his uncle. Mr. Louis Duenweg. In 1898 he became an assistant to his father in the office of the Miller Brewing Company's agency, and succeeded the elder Mr. Duenweg at his death.
Transcribed by Charlotte Slater

Oscar Philip Leith, senior partner of the firm of Leith & Avery, general merchants of Terre Haute, is a native of Effingham County, Illinois, born November 9, 1869. His parents were David Rank and Mary Jane (Wilson) Leith. The father was a native of Fairfield County, Ohio, born on the 27th of January, 1837, and his parents were James and Barbara (Rank) Leith, the former a native of Fairfield County, Ohio, the latter of Pennsylvania. In 1843 the Leith family left the Buckeye State and established their homes in Effingham County, Illinois, where the grandparents of our subject died. David R. Leith, the father, has followed farming throughout his entire business career but in recent years has retired from active life and since 1897 has enjoyed a well merited rest, making his home among his children. In that year he lost his wife, who died on the 8th of April, 1897, at the age of fifty-six years. She was born in the same county of Ohio in which her husband's birth occurred and was the daughter of William M. and Mary Elizabeth (Snapp) Wilson.
O. P. Leith pursued a public school education in the county of his nativity, where he was reared to farm life, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the boy who is reared amid rural environments. Desiring a commercial career, however, he has since 1903, been associated with William R. Avery in general merchandising, in Terre Haute, and the firm is recognized as a strong one, with a growing and profitable trade. In 1897 he came to Terre Haute and for a few months engaged in clerking. In July, 1898, he purchased a half interest in the store in which he was employed and which at the time of his earliest connection with it, was located on the northwest corner of Seventeenth Street and Wabash Avenue. When he became a partner the store was located just across the street in the place now occupied by Leith & Avery. As stated, William Avery came into the firm in 1903 and the style of Leith & Avery has since been maintained. The business from the beginning has enjoyed a steady growth and has long since become a profitable investment.
In June, 1900, Mr. Leith was married to Miss Fannie May Carter, who was born in Riley Township, Vigo County, a daughter of John B. and Jane (Sankey) Carter. Mr. Leith is a member of the Masonic Lodge, No. 217, Mason, Illinois, and he and his wife are faithful and interested members of the Central Christian Church. Their circle of friends is extensive and is constantly widening as the circle of their acquaintance increases. Having no children of their own, they are now rearing a little niece, Cootie Ruth Carter. There have been no exciting chapters in the life record of Mr. Leith but his history is that of a citizen who has ever been faithful to his duty, has eagerly embraced his opportunities and by persistent, honorable effort has worked his way steadily upward.
Transcribed by Charlotte Slater

Edgar B. Schmidt, civil engineer, who is now occupying a position of city engineer in Terre Haute, belongs to that class whose lives are proof of the attractiveness of Vigo County as a place of residence, inasmuch as they have always resided within its borders and yet are not lacking the ambition to establish homes elsewhere, if this locality were behind other districts in its advantages and equipments. Mr. Schmidt first opened his eyes to the light of day in Terre Haute, March 12, 1869. His father, Frank F. Schmidt, was one of the city's pioneer German residents and became a prominent and influential factor in its business circles, mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume.
The son, spending his boyhood days under the parental roof, was sent at the usual age to the public schools, and mastering the branches of learning therein taught, he passed from grade to grade until he was graduated from the high school with the class of 1886. He afterward attended the Rose Polytechnic Institute, of this city, for four years and lacked but a few months of completing the regular course. He left college in 1890, however, and started upon his business career as a civil engineer, by accepting the position of assistant city engineer. In 1893 he entered the civil engineering department of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad Company in the original Choctaw system, now a part of the Frisco system, but in 1896 he returned to Terre Haute and as engineer took charge of the construction of the big belt sewer, on which work he was engaged for two years, faithfully executing his task in this connection. In 1898 he became superintendent of the Peters Construction Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio, in charge of sewer construction at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania and Fort Wayne, Indiana. At this he was engaged for one year. In 1899 he became assistant division engineer of the Indiana Southern Railroad and superintendent of concrete construction, the duties' of which position occupied his attention until 1903. He was next superintendent of concrete construction for the Cairo (Illinois) division of the Big Four Railroad Company and on the 1st of September, 1906, he was appointed to his present responsible position as city engineer of Terre Haute. In the line of his chosen profession he has established an excellent reputation, proving his powers equal to those who occupy positions of leadership in this field of labor.
On the 15th of June, 1904, occurred the marriage of Edgar B. Schmidt and Miss Emma Kenens, a daughter of Jacob Kenens, one of the old residents of Terre Haute. Mr. Schmidt belongs to Euclid Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and to the Terre Haute Lodge of Elks and is a welcome member at their meetings. In this country where the road to success is open to all and where "labor is king," Mr. Schmidt has made advancement, the years bringing to him increased ability with increased experience. The positions which he has filled have been of an important character and he is now well qualified for the onerous duties that devolve upon him, while his fidelity in office is unassailable.
Transcribed by Charlotte Slater

Wilbo Bergmann.—The German-American element has always been an important one in our citizenship, for the representatives of the Teutonic race in this as in other lands, have been foremost in planting the seeds of civilization, in developing the natural resources of the country and in furthering the ends of trade and commerce. A worthy member of this class of citizenship in Terre Haute is Wilbo Bergmann, who has been identified with the brick manufacturing industry here for a period of more than thirty years, and is now proprietor of the Park Brick Plant, at No. 1100 North First Street. He was born in the kingdom of Hanover, Germany, on the 5th of September, 1846, his parents being William and Gretchen (Heikes) Bergmann, both of whom were natives of Hanover, where they were reared, educated and married. In the spring of 1847, with their only child, Wilbo, they crossed the Atlantic to the new world, making the voyage in a sailing vessel, which dropped anchor in the harbor of New Orleans after sixteen weeks. From the Crescent city they made their way northward by steamboat to Evansville, Indiana, and thence by canal to Terre Haute, which was their destination when they left the old country. The father had followed farming in Germany, but in America turned his attention to industrial pursuits, securing employment in a brick yard in Terre Haute. He was thus engaged through the summer months and in the winter season was employed in a pork packing house, his attention being given to the dual pursuit for many years. Gradually through his unwearied industry and careful expenditure he secured funds sufficient to enable him in 1871, to purchase the old brick plant at what is now No. 1625 South First Street. There he began the manufacture of brick on his own account and successfully and perseveringly conducted the business up to the time of his death, which was occasioned by the big distillery explosion on October 20, 1880. His wife had passed away the previous year. In the family of this worthy couple were seven children, namely: Wilbo, the subject of this review; John and Jacob, who were drowned in the Wabash River at the age of sixteen and fourteen years respectively. Daniel, who has also passed away. Enos, of Terre Haute; Minnie, the deceased wife of William Stout, a resident of Crawfordsville, Indiana; and Chris, who is engaged in blacksmithing in St. Louis, Missouri.
Wilbo Bergmann was only six months old when the family came to Terre Haute, so that he has practically spent his entire life in this city and has been closely associated with its interests. The public school system here afforded him his educational privileges and when a boy he gained a knowledge of brick manufacture through the assistance which he rendered in his father's brickyard. Being the eldest child, he remained with his parents until their deaths, and at his father's demise succeeded to the brick manufacturing business. His previous training and experience well qualified him for its successful conduct and improvement and as the years have passed he has enlarged the enterprise in its scope and in its output. In 1890 he removed the yard to a point south of Wabash Avenue.
Transcribed by Charlotte Slater

MANCOURT, Edward M., coal operator; born, Terre Haute, Ind., (Vigo Co) Aug. 1, 1863; son of Constant W. and Sarah Jane (Scofield) Mancourt; educated at Kenyon College, Gambier, O.; married at Sandusky, O., Dec. 22, 1886, Mattie Elizabeth Kenny. Began active career as employee of the First National Bank, Sandusky; was proprietor Merchants’ Bank, Sidney, Neb., 1883-91; treasurer and purchasing agent Columbus Hocking Coal and Iron Co., 1891-02, also Mancourt-Olmsted Coal Co., Columbus, 1899-02 and secretary J.A. Clark Coal and Coke Co., Fairmount, W. Va., 1897-02; came to Detroit, 1902, and has since been Western manager Fairmount Coal Co., Consolidation Coal Co., and Somerset Coal Co. Director National Bank of Commerce and United States Savings Bank. Member McKeen Cadets, Indiana State Militia, three years, Mason (32o), Knight Templar, Shriner. Clubs: Detroit, Detroit Boat. Office: 1408-1410 Majestic Bldg. Residence: The Pasadena.
Submitted by Christine Walters Source: "The Book of Detroiters by Albert Nelson Marquis 1908"

FRANCIS MARION McCARTY is certainly one of the earliest pioneers of what is now the state of Montana, having arrived here in 1863, coming with his parents who located in Alder gulch. From that time to the present he has steadily made his way in this country and has accomplished much in development and building up, as he is an energetic man and has done a worthy part in pioneer labors. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on March 15, 1852, the son of Stephen and Martha Annie (Goucher) McCarty, natives of Kentucky and Indiana, respectively, and descended from colonial stock.
Our subject received his educational training in Indiana and Illinois, as the family went to that latter state before coming to Iowa in 1859, to Colorado in 1861 and to Montana in 1863. The father was fairly successful in his search for gold and Francis, although but a lad, was active in his work in the diggings. He was on the ground where Virginia City stands before a house was built there and remembers the days of vigilantes very vividly. He speaks freely of the three men whose graves were dug and who were to be hung for murder, but who were released because of the sobs and weeping appeal of the only white woman in that vicinity.
Later, about one year, one of them was apprehended and hanged for another murder and was buried in the grave dug the year previous. Mr. McCarty remained in Alder Gulch until 1807 and then went with his mother and brothers to the Gallatin valley where the mother secured a homestead. In 1872, having then become of age, our subject took a preemption close to his mother's place and there spent several years farming. In 1874, he sold his holdings there and secured placer ground in Emigrant gulch and tried his hand, once more, in mining, but meeting with indifferent success, he gave up mining and in the fall of 1881 squatted on his present place, which lies on Deep creek, ten miles up the Yellowstone from Livingston. When the Crow reservation was opened for settlement in 1886, he selected his place, it being the one where he had lived, and took it from the government. It is one of the most beautiful spots in this vicinity, being so situated that one can view the country for miles, while the soil is exceptionally fertile and is supplied with an abundance of water for irrigating. Mr. McCarty is a member of the Episcopalian church, having been confirmed by Bishop Tuttle, while in politics, he is a Republican, but is not active. Mr. McCarty has done a lion's share of pioneer work and has carried well the real character of the path finder and is now enjoying the fruits of his labors in the land he materially assisted to open for settlement and the ingress of civilization.
[Source: "An Illustrated History of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana" - Sub. by K.T.]

BUNTIN, Davis Carpenter, contractor; born, Terre Haute, Ind., July 9, 1858; son of Toussaint Campbell and Emma (Steele) Buntin; educated in graded and high schools, Terre Haute; graduated from Indiana State University, Bloomington, Ind., A.B., 1880; married, Indianapolis, Feb. 12, 1901, Stella Walcott; two daughters: Katherine and Sue. After leaving college, 1880, entered service of Vandalia R. R. as clerk in general office, and later secretary to general counsel and general manager, and assistant paymaster, to 1887; contractor for public work as member of firm of Buntin & Shryer, Duluth, Minn., 1887-94, and with Indianapolis as headquarters, 1894-1902; since 1902 in St. Louis; assisted in organizing and incorporating the Granite Bituminous Paving Co., of which has since been general manager, treasurer and a director, the company being engaged in contracting for all kinds of public work. Republican. Methodist. Club: St. Louis. Office: 409 Pierce Bldg. Residence: 20 N. Kingshighway.
(Source: The Book of St. Louisans, Publ. 1912. Transcribed by Charlotte Slater)

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