USA > Indiana > A History of Indiana from its exploration to 1922 > Part 31
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY
. Lawrenceburg. Joseph Bartholome was engaged in the hotel busi- ness during the greater part of his life, and died August 17, 1894, his worthy wife having passed away September 20, 1892. Of their children, six still survive: Edward, a resident of Cincinnati ; Frank, of Indianapolis; Margaret and Augusta, who live at Law- renceburg ; Ida, of Marion, Ohio; and Simon, of this review. Simon Bartholome attended the parochial school of Lawrenceburg, as well as the Lawrenceburg High School, and was not quite seven- teen years of age when, in August, 1861, he enlisted in the Union army as a musician in a regimental band. He received his honor- able discharge from the service in March, 1863, and returned to Lawrenceburg, where he made his home and was variously occu- pied with business interests until 1877. In that year he came to Evansville and entered the grocery business at the corner of Fulton Avenue and Columbia Street, where he remained two years. He next entered the lumber business with Ritman & Schultze, but after six months severed this connection and took charge of the Fulton Avenue Brewery, with which he continued to be identified until his retirement from business affairs in 1917. Mr. Bartholome not only made this one of the leading enterprises of its kind, but was also one of the organizers of the Evansville Brewery Associa- tion, in which were included the Fulton Avenue Brewery, the Hartmetz Brewery and the Evansville Brewery. In his political views Mr. Bartholome is a Republican. He is a member of the T. P. A. and the Grand Army of the Republic, and his religious faith is that of the Catholic church. January 23, 1866, Mr. Bartho- lome married Miss Mary M. Albright, who was born in France, and who died January 31, 1906. They became the parents of six children, as follows: Lillian, born December 16, 1866, who mar- ried Ben Rietman, whose death occurred October 1, 1900; Joseph F., born January 27, 1870, who is connected with the Hoffman Con- struction Company ; Anna, born March 15, 1875, who married Leo Rietz, June 13, 1896; Simon, Jr., born November 2, 1877, proprietor of the Home Bottling Company, who married Ruth Sherwood, April 24, 1907; Margaret I., born March 16, 1880; and Charles L., born September 20, 1883, an electrical engineer with the Pennsyl- vania Railroad, located at Terre Haute, Indiana, who married Emma Klein, June 16, 1908. Mr. Bartholome has fourteen grand- children, as follows: Henry Rietman, son of Ben and Lillian Riet- man, who entered the World war with the first draft and was hon- orably discharged, married Teresa Helfrich, October 27, 1920, they having one daughter, Claraette Jean; Genevieve, the daughter of Joseph F. Bartholome, who married A. J. Hoffman, June 18, 1912, they having two children, Sarah Catherine and Genevieve Rose ; Leo B. and Annatia Rietz, children of Leo B. and Anna Rietz; Alice, Mary Jane, Bernard and Jean Christine Bartholome, children of Simon, Jr. and Ruth Bartholome; and Mary Magdalene, Paul, Carl, Donald, James and Mary Ann, children of Charles Bartholome. February 6, 1907, Simon Bartholome, Sr., was united in marriage
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with Tillie C. Beiling, who was born at Evansville, a daughter of Adam and Katherine (Hedrick) Beiling, the former of whom was in the meat market business at Evansville for a number of years. Mrs. Bartholome has one brother, Will E. Beiling, a former business man, who is now living in retirement.
George A. Beard. Not the least of the concomitants which make for the pleasure and benefit of mankind are those which are included in our national sports and recreations. The normal Ameri- can is naturally an out-of-door man, and has ingrained in him a love for pastimes of an athletic and sporting nature. In every com- munity there are found men who are naturally accorded leadership as sportsmen, and at Evansville, one who is widely known and greatly popular in this connection is George A. Beard, who is at the head of a number of sporting organizations, and who conducts a popular and flourishing sporting goods establishment at 214 Main Street. Mr. Beard was born December 10, 1867, at Grand View, Spencer county, Indiana, and is a son of John C. and Elizabeth (Perwine) Beard. His father was born April 3, 1847, and was about sixteen years of age when he enlisted in the Union army for service during the Civil war, fighting through to the finish as a private of the Forty-second Indiana Mounted Infantry. With an excellent record, the young soldier returned to Grand View, where he later established a wagon manufacturing business, and after fol- lowing this line for some years took up the vocation of contracting and building, in which he was engaged until his death, being like- wise active in the hardware and furniture business. His death oc- curred April 23, 1920. Mr. Beard was one of the well-known and highly esteemed men of his community, and on occasion was elected to public office, serving as both county auditor of Spencer county and as city councilman of Grand View. His worthy wife was born and reared in Dubois county, Indiana. George A. Beard acquired only a limited education in his youth, as he only attended the public school until he had reached the "Third Reader," and at the age of fifteen years left home and began to learn the tinner's trade at Grand View. In 1886, when nineteen years of age, he came to Evansville and secured employment with the City Railway Company, by which he was employed twelve years. He worked on the mechanical end at first, and was then promoted to the office, where he soon found his education insufficient for the demands of his duties. Accordingly he bought a set of books, and, with a room- mate to assist him, he made rapid progress and thus prepared him- self for the promotions that came rapidly. At the end of five or six years he had been promoted to treasurer, which position he held until 1898, and then resigned to associate himself with the firm of H. Koch & Sons, dealers in stoves, hardware and bicycles. He was identified with this concern for something more than three years, and in 1902 embarked upon his initial independent venture, estab- lishing the Crescent Cycle Company, at 208 Main Street. The name of the concern was changed in 1907 to G. A. Beard & Com-
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pany, sporting goods, and as such it has remained to the present time, although the address is now 214 Main Street. Mr. Beard carries a complete line of all standard sporting goods and his estab- lishment is the rendezvous for the sport lovers of the city. He takes a leading part in athletics of all kinds, and is president of the Evansville Gun Club, secretary and treasurer of the Evansville Baseball Fans' Association, secretary and treasurer of the. Wimbo Fishing Club and president of the Evansville Casting Club. In politics he is a Republican as to national questions, but in local matters takes and holds a liberal and independent stand. He is a trustee of St. John's Evangelical Church. Mr. Beard takes a lively and public-spirited interest in civic affairs, and at present is serving as a member of the board of park commissioners. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and was treasurer of his lodge from 1912 to 1920, and is also a charter member of the Evansville Rotary Club. November 4, 1896, Mr. Beard was united in marriage with Emma C., daughter of Henry Koch, engaged in the stove and tinware business at Evansville, and to this union there has been born one son, Floyd G. After graduat- ing from high school in 1916, Floyd G. Beard attended Culver Mili- tary Academy one summer, and Indiana University one year, and in 1918, enrolled in the Student Army Training Corps at the lat- ter institution, being honorably discharged therefrom December 21, 1918. He is a member of the Theta Beta college fraternity, and his father's assistant in the store. From his father he has inherited a love of athletics, and is one of the popular young business men of Evansville.
Jesse W. Bedford. One of the prominent business enterprises of Evansville, the management of which has descended from fath- ers to sons, and throughout its existence has merited the confidence in which it has been held, is the Bedford-Nugent Company, dealers in gravel and sand. This company, founded by two of Evansville's most substantial business men of a former day, has been developed along lines of material progress, and its operations have assumed large proportions. The president of the company at this time is Jesse W. Bedford, a native son of Evansville, born January 6, 1875, whose father, William Bedford, was one of the founders of the present business, and a sketch of whose successful and interesting career will be found elsewhere in this work. Jesse W. Bedford attended the public and high schools of Evansville, following which he pursued a course at Mrs. Hornbrook's private school. He then enrolled as a student of the school of civil engineering, at Purdue University, from which he was graduated with his degree in 1895, and following this spent several years at various points in pursuit of his profession, including St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri ; Hot Springs and Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Brooklyn, New York. Returning then to Evansville, Mr. Bedford was elected sur- veyor of Vanderburgh county, but after holding office for three months resigned, having the distinction of being the only county
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official of Vanderburgh county who ever resigned from office. In 1902, Mr. Bedford became associated in business with his father in dealing in sand and gravel and in 1916 assisted in the work of in- corporating the Bedford-Nugent Company, when the following of- ficers were elected: William Bedford, president; Jessie W. Bed- ford, vice-president; James Nugent, treasurer ; and James L. Nu- gent, secretary. In 1917, both William Bedford and James Nugent died, leaving their only sons in charge of the business, and at that time Jesse W. Bedford became president, and James L. Nugent secretary and treasurer of the concern. The business has con- tinued to grow and prosper and is accounted one of Evansville's important commercial adjuncts. Mr. Bedford is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of several civic or- ganizations, in addition to which he has business interests. In 1912 he was united in marriage with Mrs. Edith D. Walker, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and they occupy a pleasant residence at No. 1023 Blackford Avenue, in a restricted residential district of Evans- ville.
Bruce H. Beeler, M. D. The capable son of a brilliant and hon- ored father, Dr. Bruce H. Beeler is successfully engaged in the practice of medicine, as a specialist, at Evansville, where he has a large and representative clientele. Doctor Beeler was born in War- rick county, Indiana, in 1888, and was ten years of age when brought to Evansville. His father, Dr. Jerome S. Beeler, was born in Warrick county, in 1849, and was given a thorough medical training, eventually graduating from the University of Cincinnati. He was one of the first physicians in the country to specialize in diseases of the rectum and practiced at Boonville, Indiana, until 1898, in which year he took up his residence at Evansville. This city was his home until his death, December 10, 1922. He had acquired a large and lucrative practice and had drawn to him the respect and confidence of his fellow-practitioners and the public in general. He was a valued member of the American Homeopathic Medical Association, and as a fraternalist was an Odd Fellow, a Knights Templar Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. Doctor Beeler married Miss Sarah Florence Barrett, of Pike county, In- diana, and she died in 1901, having been the mother of five chil- dren, of whom four are living: Mrs. Harold Van Orman, Mrs. Harry Davidson, Mrs. Bert Hart, and Dr. Bruce H. Bruce H. Beeler attended the public schools of Evansville, and after spending two years in high school entered Phillips-Exeter Academy, of New Hampshire. He next attended the medical department of the University of Louisville, from which he was graduated in 1915, and following the securing of his degree commenced three years of work in eastern hospitals at Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. At the latter place he was on the staff of the Delaware Hospital, and the young- est surgeon thereon, and also carried on a private practice, special- izing in general surgery. In 1920 Doctor Beeler returned to Evans- ville and took over his father's practice, and since then has been
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1
specializing in the treatment and cure of diseases of the rectum. Doctor Beeler saw service in the World war as a member of the United States Army Medical Corps, being attached to the Eighth French Army. He enlisted in 1917, went over seas in 1918, and returned to the United States early in 1919, being honorably dis- charged in February. Doctor Beeler is a member of the Vander- burgh County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Fraternally, he is a thirty- second degree Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. At Wil- mington, Delaware, Doctor Beeler married Miss Eleanor Graves, who died in August, 1919, leaving one son : Bruce H., Jr., who was born while his father was overseas in France. March 22, 1922, Doctor Beeler married Miss Dana Wolvin, of Pike county, Indiana, and they now reside in a pleasant home at 609 Kentucky Avenue.
Samuel Barker Bell. While he is practically a new-comer in the official life of Vanderburgh county, having entered upon his present duties January 1, 1923, Samuel Barker Bell, county auditor, has been well known at Evansville as a successful and honorable business man, and prior to that as a prosperous agriculturist. He was born at Decker, Indiana, February 16, 1878, and is a son of Dr. H. S. and Mary (Barker) Bell. His maternal grandfather, Samuel Barker, came from the Carolinas, making the journey to Indiana by covered wagon, and settling ten miles from Evansville, in Union township, where he was a pioneer resident. He continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout his life, and was a man of sound judgment and progressive ideas, whose position in the confidence of the community is indicated by the fact that he was elected to serve six terms as a member of the board of county commisioners. Dr. H. S. Bell was born in Kentucky, near the city of Lexington, and while attending the Indiana State University, at Bloomington, met and married Mary Barker. In young manhood he taught school for a means of livelihood while gaining his medical training, and later became an army surgeon. Eventually he located at Paris, Illinois, where he was engaged in the practice of his profes- sion for years. He is now living retired at Grant Pass, Oregon. Mrs. Bell, who was a native of Union township, Vanderburgh county, died when thirty years of age, her son Samuel B. being then only twelve years old. There was another son in the family, Robert N., who is engaged in the drug business at Philadelphia. Samuel B. Bell attended the public schools of Paris, Illinois, and Kearney, Nebraska, and at the latter point graduated from high school when he was eighteen years of age. He next pursued a short course at Platt Institute, and on coming to Vanderburgh county commenced conducting the farm owned by his maternal grandfather. He continued to apply his activities to agricultural operations until 1919, and then embarked in the wholesale grain business, as the Samuel B. Bell Grain Company. His first entry into the field of politics was in 1922, when he became the Republi- can candidate for the office of county auditor. He was elected, and
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assumed the duties of his office in January, 1923. He has shown himself thoroughly competent to fulfill his responsibilities and since he has occupied his present post the affairs of the office have run very smoothly and efficiently. Mr. Bell is a member of Lodge 416, F. & A. M., has'passed through the various degrees of Masonry and is a Shriner, and also holds membership in B. P. O. Elks Lodge, No. 316. He maintains constructive views as to good citizenship and has supported all worthy movements for civic betterment. August 5, 1908, Mr. Bell was united in marriage with Mabel, daughter of Henry B. Smythe, of an old family of Vander- burgh county, and to this union there have been born two children : Henrietta and Betty.
Isaac H. Bennett. Two occupations, carpentry and farming, constituted the activities of the late Isaac H. Bennett, who will be remembered by the older generation at Evansville as a man of business integrity and good citizenship, who left to his family the heritage of an honored name., Mr. Bennett was born in Perry coun- ty, Indiana, March 29, 1841, and received his education in the public schools. While being reared on the home farm he learned the trade of carpenter, but in young manhood applied himself to agri- cultural operations and continued in that line of activity until December, 1893, when he located at Evansville. Here he took up carpentry and followed it until his death, January 1, 1897. Mr. Bennett served the Union as a soldier during the Civil war and in after years proved himself a loyal and public-spirited citizen. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity and was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In Perry county, Mr. Bennett married Miss Mary V. Reynolds, who was born in 1852, at Rome, Indiana, and she survives him as one of the highly respected women of her community. She resides at 250 South Kentucky Avenue, and is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which she takes a great interest. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett were the parents of two children: Blanche B. and Lola L., the latter of whom was educated in the public schools of Evansville and is the widow of Edward Selzer. Blanche B. Bennett was born in Perry county, September 23, 1877, and attended the public and normal schools of Rome and public school at Evans- ville. In 1897 she married Edward B. Goodge, and they became the parents of two children: Cuba 'Lucile, the wife of Fred Hall, of Mount Carmel, Illinois, with one daughter, Virginia Gale, born July 24, 1920; and Guy Bennett, twin of Cuba L., who married Opal Kerchivel, of Rockport, Indiana. Edward B. Goodge was born at Evansville, June 13, 1875, where he was reared and re- ceived his education. His father, George W. Goodge, was a brick contractor for many years at Evansville, but is now retired from business and resides in California. He and his wife were the par- ents of five children: Etta (Mrs. Eljin Archer, of California) ; William, also of California; Susie (Mrs. Edwin Fowler, of Chi- cago) ; Edward B., of Evansville and Samuel B., also of this city.
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In 1919, Edward B. Goodge took over his father's enterprise of brick contracting.
David S. Bernstein, president of the Triangle Overall Company of Evansville, and a gentleman who has attained to unqualified suc- cess in the manufacturing world, was born June 2, 1871, in New York, the son of Joseph and Tillie Berstein, both natives of Germany. The father, who died in 1894 at the age of sixty years, was a mer- chant throughout his active life, and he and his wife, who is now living at the advanced age of eighty-six years in New York, became the par- ents of five children, three of whom are now living : David S., Herman of New York, and Esther, now Mrs. Esther Heiman. David S. Bern- stein was given his education in the common and high schools of New York, was graduated from high school in 1888, and found his first employment sweeping floors in a clothing factory, where he worked six months for one dollar a week. Having decided to learn the clothing manufacturing business in all its details, he went to work for another clothing factory which had adopted a system of cutting garments. This trade, considered a difficult one to master, Mr. Bern- stein quickly learned, working without compensation for six weeks under capable supervision after which he was placed on the pay roll at eight dollars a week. His unusual ability and absolute dependability brought him rapid and well-deserved advancement and he was em- ployed as general superintendent of several large clothing factories, notably that of Weinberger & Uhlfelder. In 1894, upon a visit to Evansville, Mr. Bernstein became so impressed with the climate, the city and the opportunity here presented for entering into work cloth- ing manufacturing, that he promptly decided to make his home here and engage in the business. The enterprise was forthwith commenced, operating under the name of D. S. Bernstein, and was from the first successful. In 1915, it was incorporated as the Triangle Overall Com- pany, the name having been derived from a unique "five-in-one" pocket which he had in that year patented, this being the only pocket of its kind made in the United States and is especially valuable for use in overalls. At the beginning, Mr. Bernstein manufactured trousers, and was the first man to introduce high grade dress trousers in Evansville. The expansion of the business has been steady, and the output of the plant is now enormous, the garments made being sold as far west as North Dakota, as far south as Texas and as far east as Pittsburgh. Mr. Bernstein is president and general manager of the company, his son, Jesse M., is secretary, while Mrs. Bernstein is its vice-president. He was married April 10, 1894 to Nannie C. Paul, the daughter of Robert and Sarah (Ehrlich) Paul of Evansville. Mr. Bernstein is well-known in local fraternal circles, being a past Chan- cellor of Orion Lodge Knights of Pythias, a York Rite Mason, a Ro- tarian and is a charter member of the Chamber of Commerce. That he takes a helpful part in the welfare work of the city is shown by his being a member of the Board of Washington Avenue Temple Char- ities, and for three years holding the presidency of the Child Welfare Work Board, a position which he resigned. He is now on the board
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of the Hoosier State Automobile Club of this city, and is a director in the Mercantile-Commercial Bank. He is also ex-president of the Evansville Club and Chairman of the Health Committee of the Com- munity Welfare. Politically, he is a staunch Republican and was at one time candidate for member-at-large of the county council.
Louis Bessel, who has been well and favorably known to the people of Evansville for a number of years as the proprietor of a modern and flourishing pharmacy, is a native son of the city, and was born July 2, 1870, his parents being Henry and Sophie (Ollrogge) Bessel, natives of Germany. Louis Bessel's father was a young man when he came to the United States, in 1864, and here built up a foundry business on the site of the present Hughes foundry plant. He devoted his entire life to that business and did not seek outside inter- ests, but is remembered as a man of honor and integrity. He and his worthy wife were the parents of three children: Louis, Miss Emma and Mrs. John Holler, of whom Louis is the only survivor. Louis Bessel attended the public schools of Evansville, and following his graduation from high school went to Chicago, where he pursued a course in the Chicago School of Pharmacy, from which he was grad- uated as a member of the class of 1890. Returning to Evansville, in 1892 he entered the drug business with Henry Teppee, and when Mr. Teppee died, three years later, Mr. Bessel assumed entire charge of the enterprise, which he has conducted with increasing success to the present. Its location is 2001 Main Street, and Mr. Bessel carries a full stock of up-to-date goods, all the standard drugs and medicines, rem- edies and sundries, toilet articles, candies, cigars, etc. Mr. Bessel is a Republican, but has not sought public preferment. January 3, 1894, he married Bethia Jack, who was born and educated at Evansville. Her father, Alexander Jack, was born May 29, 1834, in Scotland, and followed foundry work all his life. He married Elizabeth Sneddon, who was born May 10, 1830, in Scotland, and they became the parents of eight children, of whom three are living : John, connected with the Evansville Supply Company, who married Alice Ennis and has a son Raymond; Robert, who is in the plumbing business with Craw- ford Brothers, married Agnes Reeves; and Bethia. Mr. and Mrs. Bessel have one daughter, Bethia, born October 31, 1894, who grad- uated from the Evansville High School in 1894, and married Adolph Goeke, who is a partner of Charles Stinson in business. Mr. and Mrs. Goeke, who live with Mr. and Mrs. Bessel, are the parents of one daughter. Marilynn June, born May 20, 1922.
Claude D. Beverly. It was not so long ago, as measured by the years, that the bicycle, after furnishing one of the greatest pastimes in the history of the country, suddenly passed out of sight as a popular concomitant of sport, and there were many who stated that it would never retrieve its lost ground. Of more recent years, however, it would seem that those who believed the sport of bicycling to be dead were in the wrong, for manufacturers and dealers everywhere are insistent that the pastime has been fully resuscitated, such statements being largely borne out by the numerous bicycles seen in use on the
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