USA > Indiana > A History of Indiana from its exploration to 1922 > Part 33
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California, then returning to Evansville, where he oversaw the con- struction of the buildings for the old State Bank, Stanley Hall and the Wheeler school. In 1918 Mr. Brentano became efficiency engi- neer for the Midland Furniture Company, which had been started in 1910 by John Stephans, and which was purchased from that gentleman by Nestor Brentano in 1915. In 1918, Sol A. Brentano became sec- retary and treasurer of the company, but since that time a reorganiza- tion has been effected, the present officials being: Nestor Brentano, president ; Sidney Schenhauser, vice-president ; Sol A. Brentano, treas- urer; and Sam Brentano, secretary. The business of this concern is the manufacture of living room suites, in addition to several special- ties put forth by the company, these including a "spinet desk" and a "chifforobe," the product having a wide sale all over the United States. Sol A. Brentano has charge of the factory, at Seventh and Ohio Streets, while Nestor Brentano superintends affairs at the offices of the company, in the Lions Building, corner of First and Main Streets, suite 203-4-5. The firm belongs to the Chamber of Commerce. While Mr. Brentano gives his principal attention to the Midland Furniture Company, he also has other interests, and is a stockholder in Raphael Brothers, the Southern Stove Works, the United States Furniture Company, the Brentano Investment Company, the Sunbeam Electric Company, the Furniture Building, and other enterprises. A Republi- can in politics, he has taken a keen interest in civic affairs, and as the first building inspector of Evansville drafted the first building ordi- nance of the city, with the assistance of Albion Fellows Bacon. Octo- ber 23, 1907, at Los Angeles, Mr. Brentano was united in marriage with Miss Kathryn Doyle of Keokuk, Iowa, whose father was a large landholder in the Hawkeye state. To Mr. and Mrs. Brentano there have been born three children: Kathryn Loraine, who was born in 1908; Mahla Anne, born in 1911; and A. Doyle, born in 1913. Mr. Brentano's family are all members of the Church of the Assumption, and with them, he is a regular attendant, although not a member.
Charles Newton Brown, a resident of Evansville since 1903, is accounted a leader in manufacturing circles, being president and treas- urer of the Lincoln Cotton Mills Company. Mr. Brown has been iden- tified with this line of industry ever since his youth, and there are few who are better informed as to its many-sided interests. He was born at Woonsocket, Rhode Island, June 15, 1857, and is a son of Smith S. and Sarah (Darling) Brown. His mother, a native of Cumber- land, Rhode Island, died about 1903, while his father a dry goods and musical supplies merchant of Woonsocket, passed away about 1908. There were three sons in the family: Charles Newton, of Evansville ; and Herbert R. and Walter O., of Woonsocket. Charles Newton Brown attended the graded and high schools of his native place, and at the age of sixteen years secured a position as office boy and clerk for the Social Manufacturing Company, a Woonsocket cot- ton mill. He remained with that concern until 1884, when he went to one of their chain of mills as assistant superintendent at Woonsocket, and that continued to be his status until 1893. He then went to Kear-
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ney, Nebraska, where he became treasurer of the Kearney Cotton Mill Company, and remained in that community until 1903, the year of his advent at Evansville. Here he assisted in the organization of the Lin- coln Cotton Mills Company, of which he became secretary and treas- urer, and subsequently bought out the other stockholders and became president and treasurer of the company, his son being secretary. The business has enjoyed a consistent and healthy growth, and has assumed a position among the leading industries of the city. Mr. Brown is held in high esteem by his business associates and from 1915 to 1918 served as president of the Manufacturers Association of Evansville. He belongs to the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce and is a Mason. In politics a Republican, while at Woonsocket he was the youngest member elected to the town council, was a member of the city water commission and during the administration of President Ben- jamin Harrison was postmaster of Woonsocket. In Nebraska he served as a member of the school board of Kearney. At the time that he left the East, the president of his old company advised him to re- main out of politics if he desired to make a business success, and since coming to Evansville Mr. Brown has had little to do with political activities. However, he considers it his duty as a citizen to take an active part in local civic movements, and all that are worthy can depend upon his unqualified support. September 9, 1885, Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Lena May Folsom, of Foxcroft, Maine, and to this union there have been born two children: Charles F. and Marion Darling.
William A. Browning. One of the best known names in Indiana in connection with the milling business is that of Browning. For three successive generations men bearing this name have applied themselves to this vocation and in so doing have conducted their activities in such a manner as to bring credit to the name and benefit to the community. One of the leading business men of Evansville is a worthy representa- tive of this family and the milling business, which he is carrying on at Evansville, William A. Browning. Mr. Browning was born on a farm in Scott township, Vanderburgh county, Indiana, April 30, 1860, and is a son of George Boston and Margaret Anne Browning. Richard Browning, the paternal grandfather of William A. Browning, was born February 8, 1791, in the parish of St. George, County Middlesex, England. In his native land he married Lucy Weil, who was born October 16, 1796, at Bedford, Golsden parish, England, and in 1817 they came to the United States and made their way to Vanderburgh county, the last part of the journey being accomplished by flatboat from Cincinnati. About 1820 Mr. Browning started operating a mill at Inglefield, this being one of the first in the county, the motive power for which was oxen. As early as 1838 he began to run this mill by steam, and in 1840 received a prize from the New Orleans Exposition for producing the best flour in the United States. In 1858 he built a new mill and was connected with its operation until his death, which occurred June 26, 1874, his worthy wife having passed away August 26, 1872. They were the parents of the following children : Richard,
WILLIAM A. BROWNING
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William, Anthony, Lucy, Mary, Ebenezer, who died from wounds re- ceived while serving as a Union soldier during the Civil War; and George B. All of the sons of Richard Browning were engaged in the milling business. George Boston Browning was born July 7, 1833, in Scott township, Vanderburgh county, and there spent his entire life as a miller, dying October 23, 1898. His wife, who was born in Ire- land February 29, 1836, died April 2, 1902. They were the parents of six children : Mary Ellen, born August 5, 1857, of 1320 Franklin Street, the wife of Walter Scott, who does special carpentry work; William A .; John Thomas, born July 23, 1862, who is now engaged in operating the old family homestead in Scott township; Lucy Ann, born January 3, 1865, who is deceased ; George Morris, born July 10, 1869, who is engaged in the garage business at Darmstadt, Indiana ; and Joseph Emery, born October 17, 1871, a traveling salesman whose home is at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. William A. Browning attended the country schools of Scott township and "Daddy" Knight's private school, completing his education by a course at Rank & Wright's Commercial College, which he left in 1878. When he had graduated from the private school in 1877, he, with the other members of his class, was granted a license to teach, but never made use of this priv- ilege. Instead, he began to work for his father in the milling business, subsequently was engaged in the sawmilling and farming business for five years, and then entered the commission business at the corner of LaFayette and Iowa Streets, Evansville, where he carried on opera- tions for three years. The Spanish-American war broke out at this time and Mr. Browning enlisted April 26, 1898, in Company E, 159th Regiment, with which he saw service until honorably discharged with the rank of corporal, in December, 1898. On his return to Evansville, he engaged in his present business, January 1, 1899, at 11 South Kentucky Avenue. He started with a frame mill, which he operated until 1908, on June 27 of which year he completed his present brick building. He confines his operations largely to home trade, buying from the farmers of this locality and selling to the merchants of Evans- ville and adjacent communities, and has built up a splendid business. Mr. Browning is also interested extensively in farming operations, be- ing the owner of a number of properties in Vanderburg county, which he has improved with modern buildings and equipment. He is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce. Although his grand- father was a strong Democrat, all of the Brownings now living of this branch of the family are Republicans, and William A. Browning has been an active worker of the polls, while never desirous of public office. Fraternally, he is an Odd Fellow, and he holds membership in Major Fee Camp, Spanish-American War Veterans. September 6. 1906, Mr. Browning was united in marriage with Ruth, daughter of Ike Sanders, a carpenter of Evansville. Mrs. Browning was educated in the pubilc schools, and takes a prominent part in social and fraternal affairs, being a member of the Ladies' Auxiliary of Major Fee Camp, Spanish-American War Veterans: Garvin Lodge of the Rebekahs and the Order of Lions. She and her husband belong to the Methodist church.
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Charles T. Bush. In order to discharge successfully the duties and responsibilities of the office of superintendent of public school buildings and grounds, the incumbent of such a position must be possessed of versatile abilities and talents. He must be something of a mechanic, an architect, a landscape gardener and an artist, in addition to possessing business capacity. Thus the city of Evansville is for- tunate in the possession of Charles T. Bush in the position noted above, for he is peculiarly fitted by nature and training for the proper fulfill- ment of his duties as evidenced by the splendid work which he has accomplished since the beginning of his incumbency in 1914. Mr. Bush was born October 29, 1865, and is a son of Thomas and Irene (Mills) Bush. His father, born in 1821, came to Evansville from Newark, New Jersey, and entered the shoe manufacturing business with Mr. Richer, following that industry until his death in 1888. Mrs. Bush was born at Wheeling, West Virginia. Thomas Bush and two of his sons, Alonzo S. and Plattoff P. Bush, fought in the Union army from the beginning to the end of the Civil war. Charles T. Bush re- ceived his education in the public schools of Evansville, and at the age of nineteen years began working on the railroad in winters and follow- ing carpentry during the summer months. He was thus occupied until 1889, at which time he interested himself in the theatre business and equipped the Grand Theatre at Owensboro, Kentucky. Finding that he possessed a natural genius for this kind of work he made it his regular business, and during the next quarter of a century his ser- vices were retained in various capacities, by theatres and other enter- prises, and in none of his undertakings did he fail. When Evansville noted the need of a capable man to act as superintendent of the build- ings and grounds of its public school system, Mr. Bush's name was brought forward as the proper man for the place, and accordingly, in 1914, he was installed in that position. Since then he has developed the Evansville school buildings and grounds amazingly, so that they com- pare favorably with any other city in the country of the same size. Not only does he personally oversee every bit of work done in a me- chanical way, from the laying of a sidewalk to the stage arrange- ments and remodeling, but makes all the preliminary drawings for this kind of work. He has done much to beautify and improve the grounds and buildings of the school system, and has the confidence and sup- port of those who realize what a great help his labor has been to the cause of education. Mr. Bush maintains democratic views as to poli- tics, and religiously he is a member of the Walnut Street Presbyterian Church. In 1893 Mr. Bush was united in marriage with Miss Ida Koenig of Evansville, and to this union there have been born the fol- lowing children: Roy, who spent eighteen months in the infantry dur- ing the World war and is now identified with the Standard Oil Com- pany ; Jeannette (Mrs. Oliver Kertz) is identified with the Burroughs Adding Machine Company ; Mildred (Mrs. Edward McGowan) is em- ployed as head stenographer at the Bucyrus Shovel Co., L. Pedley, who is a member of the senior class at high school ; and Charles T., Jr .. who is in the high school; and there is also a grandson, Roy Bush, whom Mr. Bush adopted, and who is in the graded school.
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Daniel H. Caldemeyer. Included among the manufacturing concerns of Evansville which, under able and progressive manage- ment, have made rapid strides during the past several years is the National Furniture Company. Few companies can boast of a faster development than this enterprise, of which the directing head is Daniel H. Caldemeyer, an energetic and progressive business man of the self-made type. Mr. Caldemeyer was born January 1, 1885, at Hol- land, Indiana, and is a son of John and Minnie (Linstrot) Caldemeyer, natives of Holland. The father, who was a lifelong agriculturist of Dubois county, died in 1922 at the age of seventy-four years, after an industrious and well-spent career. Daniel H. Caldemeyer secured his education in the public schools of his native community and was reared on the home farm, where he continued to work during the summer months while attending the Lockyear Business College at Evansville, which he entered at the age of eighteen years, during the winter months. Upon the completion of his business course, he started to work in the grocery store of his brother, who was in partnership with a Mr. Krueger, his salary being $4 per week. Three months later he transferred his services to the business firm of Fowler, Dick & Walker, for which concern he worked five months at $5 per week, then becom- ing his brother's business partner by purchasing the interests of Mr. Krueger. While Mr. Caldemeyer made a success in the grocery busi- ness, he felt there were greater possibilities to be found in the fur- niture manufacturing field, and in 1921 became the founder and organ- izer of the National Furniture Company. The business proved a suc- cess from the start, and sixty men are now employed in the modern plant at 315 Keller Street. The company manufactures cane and overstuffed living room and parlor furniture and is extending its trade territory rapidly under Mr. Caldemeyer's energetic and able management. He gives practically his entire attention to the busi- ness, but has several civic and social connections. His religious affilia- tion is with the Zion Evangelical Church. Politically he is an inde- pendent voter. In 1913 Mr. Caldemeyer was united in marriage with Alma, daughter of Fred and Christina Sickman, of Evansville, and to this union there have been born two children: Daniel and Helen Louise.
Owen C. Carr. A business experience covering a number of years is, according to its nature, honorable or otherwise but in either case it develops capacity and either broadens or lessens an individual's outlook on life. While every type of business man must possess cer- tain qualities to ensure success in his undertakings, those indispensable to the banker rest on a higher plane than in many lines, and for this reason, if for no other, the banker occupies a position of prestige in any community. Not only is Owen C. Carr, secretary and treasurer of the Morris Plan Company, of Evansville, possessed of the necessary qualities referred to, but he also has others which have made him a valuable and helpful citizen in a civic way. He was born June 28, 1885, at Mount Vernon, Indiana, where he received a public school education, and when eighteen years or more of age, January 2, 1904,
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came to Evansville and entered the Lockyear Business College. After completing his course at that institution he accepted a position with the Hercules Corporation, a concern with which he was connected for a period of ten and one-half years. He resigned April 24, 1916, at which time he became the first manager of the Evansville Morris Plan Com- pany, acting also as secretary, and in 1920 assumed also the duties of treasurer. In 1922 he was made a member of the board of directors of the company. He has been a material contributor to the success of his company, and is accounted a capable banker and one of Evansville's alert, up-to-date business citizens. He belongs to the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce, in the activities of which he takes part, and is much interested in the work of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association, of which he is a member of the board of directors. It was through his efforts that The Merchants Credit Rating Bureau was established and made a success. Formerly, for ten years, he was a member of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church, but now be- longs to the Bethel Evangelical Church, and has been active in re- ligious and Sunday school work, having been superintendent of the Bethel Evangelical Bible School for seven years. Mr. Carr is a Blue Lodge and Royal Arch Mason. November 17, 1912, Mr. Carr was united in marriage with Miss Laura C. Horstmann, of Evansville, who was formerly employed in the offices of the Hercules Corporation, and to this union has been born one son: Henry Clinton, whose birth occurred at Evansville, February 27, 1914.
William F. Cleveland, M. D. Prominent among physicians who have contributed to the professional prestige of Evansville during the past thirty years is Dr. William F. Cleveland. Not alone is he eminent in the ranks of his calling, but likewise in public affairs, in which he has been the incumbent of several important offices within the gift of his fellow-citizens. Doctor Cleveland was born in Gibson county, Indiana, November 23, 1855, and attended the public schools and the Fort Branch High School. At the age of twenty years he began teaching in the public schools of Gibson county, and for fifteen years continued his work as an educator, becoming one of the popular and efficient instructors of his community. During this time he had ap- plied his spare hours to the study of medicine, and in 1890 enrolled as a student at the Kentucky School of Medicine, from which he was graduated with the class of 1892, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. June 14 of the same year he located at 1208 East Vir- ginia Street, Evansville, where he has since been engaged in active and successful practice. He has built up a large and appreciative follow- ing, at the same time winning a recognized place in his calling and the respect and confidence of his fellow-practitioners. Doctor Cleveland is a member of the Vanderburgh County Medical Society, Indiana State Medical Society and the Ohio Valley Medical Association, and as a fraternalist holds membership in the Woodmen of the World and Wakee Tribe No. 150, Improved Order of Red Men. His religious connection is with the Central Methodist Episcopal Church. Always deeply interested in civic affairs, he has backed movements for the wel-
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fare of Evansville, particularly during the ten years and nine months that he served as a member of the city council. In 1912 the Doctor was elected to the State Senate and served capably in that body for four years, during the sessions of 1913 and 1915. Doctor Cleveland was married November 19, 1882, to Miss Mary E. Pritchett, of Gib- son county, Indiana, and to this union there has been born one son: Dr. Walter R., of Evansville, a successful practicing physician, a sketch of whose career appears elsewhere in this work.
Walter R. Cleveland, M. D. During recent years the profession has made marvelous strides in opening up new fields of usefulness and the heights to which a physician of reason and courage can climb are practically limitless. So numerous are the avenues of activity in the profession at this time that many physicians prefer to make a specialty of certain subjects, rather than to endeavor to cover the entire field. At Evansville, one who has made rapid strides as a specialist in Roent- genology and radiology is Walter R. Cleveland, M. D. Doctor Cleve- land was born in Gibson county, Indiana, May 24, 1885, and was six years of age when brought to Evansville by his parents, Dr. William F. and Mary E. (Pritchett) Cleveland, who are now residents of this city. He was given his early training in the public graded and high schools of Evansville, following which he entered the Indiana Medical College, at Indianapolis, and graduated therefrom in 1906, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. With the exception of fourteen months spent at Asheville, North Carolina, where he was identified with the Winyeth Sanitorium, he has always practiced at Evansville, where he occupies offices at No. 205 Cleveland Building. In his special fields of Roentgenology and radiology, he is an acknowledged authority, and in practicing in these directions has built a large and important clientele, the members of which place the utmost confidence in his ability. He is a member of the Radiological Society of North Amer- ica, the Vanderburgh County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medi- cal Society and the American Medical Association. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masons, having attained the thirty-second degree, Scottish Rite, and is likewise a Shriner. He belongs to the staffs of the Deaconess and St. Mary's Hospitals. In 1906 Doctor Cleveland was united in marriage with Miss Nita L. Richards, of Indianapolis, Indiana, and they are the parents of one daughter : Helen Frances.
Pearl B. Combs, M. D. In the present century of expanding horizons in the medical profession, of marvelous discoveries and undreamed of surgical accomplishments, the science seems almost to have reached a point where its achievements are little short of miracles. The modern physician and surgeon, taking advantage of every opportunity for added knowledge, must often realize with professional elation his great power, and be encouraged in his struggles to conquer the strongholds that have not yet been over- come. Of the physicians of Evansville who have kept pace with the constantly advancing standards, one who has acquired a large practice through the demonstration of ability is Dr. Pearl B. Combs, of 206 1-2 Main Street. Doctor Combs was born at Hindman,
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Kentucky, July II, 1886, and received his early education in the public schools of his native state and at the Eastern Kentucky State Normal School, from which he was graduated in 1903. He then entered the Kentucky University, where he completed his course in 1906 and in 1911 received his medical degree when he graduated from the medical department of the University of Louis- ville. To further prepare himself for his profession, Doctor Combs then served an apprenticeship at the Deaconess Hospital, Evans- ville, and February 15, 1913, commenced practice at Evansville. He has built up an excellent professional business and established a reputation for sound ability and strict standards as to professional ethics. Doctor Combs is on the staff of the Deaconess Hospital. He belongs to the Vanderburgh County Medical Society, the Indi- ana State Medical Society, the Ohio Valley Medical Association and the American Medical Association. He is also a member of the Alumni Association of the University of Louisville, the Country Club and the B. P. O. Elks and is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. With his family, he belongs to St. Lucas Evangelical Church. During the World war he was a member of the board of medical examiners for military service. In 1913 Doctor Combs was united in marriage with Miss Freida Brandhorst, of Evansville, and they reside in a pleasant home at No. 808 Kentucky Avenue.
Charles G. Covert. Numerous advantages result from the in- creasing tendency of men learned in the law to accept positions and responsibilities outside their immediate sphere of activity. This is the natural result of a profession which equips its devotees in more lines of business than any other wage-earning medium, causing it to be regarded, oftentimes, as a means, rather than an end, and as an adjunct rather than an entirety. The result is necessarily an elevation of standards, an avoidance of complications, a means of adjustment out of courts and a general simplifying of conditions through a knowledge of underlying principles and penalties. An illustration of this modern phase of law is found in Charles G. Covert, who after many years of successful legal practice, is now devoting the greater part of his attention to the office of postmaster of Evansville. Mr. Covert was born at Washington, Daviess county, Indiana, September 3, 1864, and was six years of age when brought to Evansville by his father, Jacob Covert, a newspaper man and veteran of the Union army during the Civil war. After attending the public schools, Charles G. Covert entered the shop of his father's newspaper plant, where he learned the printer's trade, and later entered the editorial department, finally becoming manag- ing editor. In 1894, he was elected sheriff of Vanderburgh county, a position in which he served until 1898, or two terms, after which he became associated with the Evansville Packing Company. In 1899, he was nominated for the office of mayor of Evansville, but met with defeat. In 1900, he was made supervisor of census, and in 1901 was again nominated for mayor and this time was elected,
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