USA > Indiana > A History of Indiana from its exploration to 1922 > Part 40
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY
January 23, 1923, Mr. Heston was united in marriage with Mary Louise, daughter of John A. Reitz, of Evansville.
Frederick A. Heuke, sheriff of Vanderburgh county, a position . which he assumed in 1922, has had broad and extended experience as a detector of crime and an official of law and order. For many years he has been before the people of Evansville in official capac- ities and at all times has shown himself a courageous and efficient officer. Sheriff Heuke was born at Evansville, September 24, 1855, a son of Frederick John and Fredericka (Schaffer) Heuke, natives of Germany. Frederick John Heuke was a young man when he came to the United States and settled at Evansville, where he mar- ried and engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods. During the early days he assisted in the building of the canal and the railroad, and in other ways assisted in the development of the community which he had adopted as his home. He was a stanch Republican in politics and active in the ranks of his party and he and his wife were consistent members of the St. John's Evangelical Church. In the evening of life Mr. Heuke retired from active affairs and re- moved to a small farm near the city, where his death occurred in April, 1901, when he was seventy-seven years of age. There his wife also passed away. Of their nine children, two are living. Frederick A. Heuke was educated in the public schools of Evans- ville, and after holding several positions secured a place on the Fire Department. He rose to be captain of Fire Company No. 2, and was then transferred to the Police Department, holding every position from patrolman up to chief of police, a post which he occu- pied honorably from 1901 to 1905. Subsequently he held the office of humane officer as a detective, was again promoted to captain of police and then became chief of detectives, from which position he was retired on a pension, November 9, 1922. November 7, 1922 he had been elected sheriff of Vanderburg county, which office he occupies at the present time. Sheriff Heuke is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Order of Lions. He is fond of travel, and on one occasion accompanied his father on a trip to Germany, in which country they spent one and one-half years. He belongs to St. John's Evangelical Church. In 1876 Mr. Heuke married Miss Minnie Juengst, who was then a resident of Evansville, although reared at Cannelton, Indiana.
John W. Heyns. Prominent among the business men of the younger generation at Evansville, one who is making rapid strides in his chosen calling is John W. Heyns. Mr. Heyns has made his own way in the world from the time that he started his career as a messenger boy in a bank at the age of fifteen years, and at present is the active manager of a new corporation known as the Welfare Loan Society, with which Mr. Heyns was instrumental in merging the former Remedial System of Loaning. He was born at Evansville, December 25, 1892, and is a son of Theodore and Anna B. (Ottman) Heyns. His paternal grandfather, a native of
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Germany, brought his family to the United States and for a number of years carried on agricultural operations on the Posey and Van- derburgh county line, where his death occurred. Theodore Heyns was born at Oldenburg, Germany, and was four years of age when brought by his parents to the United States. He was reared on the home farm, but as a youth learned the trade of shoemaking, and this he followed until the time of his recent retirement. He became well known in his line of business, and was accounted not only a man who was skilled at his vocation, but who was honorable and upright in his business dealings. He also took quite an inter- est in politics and for some years was an active worker in the ranks of the Democratic party. Both he and Mrs. Heyns, the latter a native of St. Wendell's, Posey county, survive as residents of Ev- ansville, and are each sixty-three years old. They are the parents of three children : John W .; Mrs. Stanley Atkins, of Birmingham, Alabama, who has two children; and Mrs. W. W. Warren, who went to the Canal Zone in the civil service as a nurse fighting dis- eases, there married one of the builders of the Canal, and now re- sides with her two children and husband at Cristobal, Canal Zone. John W. Heyns attended the public schools of Evansville and spent a short time at business college, which latter he left at the age of fifteen years to become a bank messenger for the old City National Bank. With that institution he won repeated promotions through his fidelity and industry, and when he left the bank was occupying the position of chief clerk. July 20, 1920 he resigned to identify himself with the Remedial System of Loaning, and February 5, 1923, was one of the instrumental factors in bringing about a mer- ger between that institution and the Welfare Loan Society, the new corporation, of which he is the active manager, bearing the latter name. July 1, 1918, Mr. Heyns enlisted for service in the United States Army, and was first sent to Valparaiso University, whence he was transferred August 15 to the Infantry Officers' Training School at Camp Grant, Rockford, Illinois, where he was subsequently commissioned a second lieutenant. Mr. Heyns was not called into active service, and some time following the sign- ing of the armistice was given his honorable discharge. He is re- corder of Evansville Council No. 565, Knights of Columbus, and belongs to the B. P. O. Elks, the American Legion and the Service Club. In politics he is a Democrat.
William Heyns. A resident of Evansville since 1866, William Heyns has witnessed numerous changes which have developed the city from a struggling village to a city of strength and importance, and in many of the movements which have brought about this con- structive development has played an important part. He has been identified with a number of enterprises and at present is devoting his attention to the development of the Evansville Dimension Com- pany, a concern of importance in the line of veneer manufacture. Mr. Heyns was born in Germany, October 1, 1847, and was nine- teen years of age when he came to the United States in company
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with his widowed mother, Mrs. Mary (Hendricks) Heyns. He had attended school in his native land, but in order to become fa- miliar with the English language went to the public schools of Evansville for some time. One of his memories of early Evans- ville is that of a pond which stood in front of the present site of the Coliseum, in which there were a number of fish. When he sought employment, Mr. Heyns found it in the form of a position in a furniture factory, and thus became connected with this line. For a number of years he worked for others, but in 1884 established the Heyns Furniture Company, a business which he conducted for about thirty-one years, with great success. While thus engaged, he became interested in the manufacture of veneer, and this led him to establish, in 1915, the Evansville Dimension Company, and to erect the veneer plant at which this article is manufactured. This has since become one of the substantial industries of the city, employing a large amount of labor and shipping its product to all parts of the country, in addition to having a large and constant local demand. Mr. Heyns is a member of the Catholic church, hav- ing been reared in that faith from boyhood. A Democrat in poli- tics, he has not been a seeker for party preferment, but has always been ready to discharge the responsibilities of citizenship, and from 1890 to 1894 was a member of the city council. It was during this time that the first brick street was laid at Evansville, and numer- ous other improvements were inaugurated. He has several civic and social connections, but now, in his evening of life, prefers to divide his time between his office and his home, although still appreciative of the companionship of his friends. He has always been progressive in his tendencies and was one of the organizers of the Vendome Hotel Company, which built the first concrete building at Evansville. June 20, 1875, Mr. Heyns was united in marriage with Miss Anna Raben, and to this union there were born five children: Mamie, (Mrs. Ray Lannert, of Evansville) ; John, who resides with his parents ; Lina, (Mrs. William D. Hardy, of Evansville) ; Winnie, (Mrs. James Carton, of Kentland, Indi- ana), and Nettie, (Mrs. Albert Waltz, of Chicago). Mrs. Heyns, mother of this family, died January 28, 1891, and in June, 1902, Mr. Heyns married Mrs. Theresa Rexing.
Michael J. Hoffman, president of the M. J. Hoffman Construc- tion Company at 402 Furniture Building, is one of the solid busi- ness men of Evansville who has risen to his present enviable po- sition in his community through honorable methods and excellent judgment. He was born in Dubois county, Indiana, October 28, 1861, a son of George Jacob and Stephena (Schultz) Hoffman, both of whom were born in Germany. Coming to the United States at the age of sixteen years, and she when she was fourteen, they became thoroughly Americanized, and were married in Dubois county, Indiana. He died at Louisville, Kentucky at the age of fifty years, in 1875, but she survived him for many years, dying in 1920, when eighty-eight years old. All of their nine children are
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still living. By occupation George Jacob Hoffman was a farmer. Both he and his wife were devout members of the Roman Catholic church. Reared at Louisville, Kentucky, Michael J. Hoffman was taught the homely duties relating to farm work, and the habits of industry and thrift. In 1881 he came to Evansville to learn the carpenter trade with Bippus' & Kanzler. After completing his apprenticeship with this reliable firm he worked as a journeyman until 1890 and then went into the contracting business, carrying on a general line of contracting, and his operations in the course of time assumed such importance that he incorporated his present company in 1910, of which he has since continued president, and his son, A. J. Hoffman, as secretary and treasurer. This company is doing a large amount of the building at Evansville and in its vicinity, and is noted for the fidelity with which the spirit as well as the letter of the agreements is carried out. In 1885 Mr. Hoff- man was married to Elizabeth Feulner of Evansville, and they became the parents of three children: William, who died in in- fancy; Amelia, who also died in infancy; and Albert J., who is mentioned at length below. Mr. Hoffman and his family belong to St. Anthony's Catholic Church. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus. Albert J. Hoffman was born at Evansville, Indiana, July 31, 1890. He received his educational training in the paro- chial schools and business college of his native city, and studied civil engineering by correspondence. His first business experience in business was gained as an employe of the City National Bank on Main street, and he remained with this institution for three years. Entering his father's employ at the termination of that period, he served an apprenticeship to the carpenter trade, and has continued with him ever since, now being, as before stated, secretary and treasurer of the M. J. Hoffman Construction Company. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks, the Kiwanis Club and the Country Club, and he and his family are Catholics. In 1912 Albert J. Hoffman was mar- ried to Genevieve Magdalene Bartholome, a native of Evansville, and they have two children : Sarah Catharine and Genevieve Rose. He resides at 1020 Fulton avenue. Both father and son are very highly regarded and their company is recognized to be one of the leading ones of Vanderburgh county.
Frank J. Haas, who is vice-president and general manager and also a director of the Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Company of Evansville, has risen to his present position of prominence entirely through his own unaided efforts. His record of service with this com- pany covers a period of thirty years, during which he has worked his way upward through the ranks. He was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, De- cember 2, 1877, the son of Frank G. and Kate (Folz) Haas. The fa- ther was born at Alsas, France, June 28, 1853, and the mother at Ev- ansville, Indiana, March 3, 1854. When Frank J. Haas was one year old he was brought to Evansville by his parents, and here he has lived ever since, a period of over forty-four years. The boy was given the
Frank J.Maas
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educational advantages of the Evansville schools, and at the age of fifteen became employed with the Evansville Gas & Electric Company, now known as the Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Company, as a messenger boy. From the very beginning he had ever at heart the wel- fare of the business, and so intelligently and faithfully did he labor in his employers' behalf that successive promotions to positions of greater and greater trust came to him. Today he is, as stated above, vice- president and general manager and a director of the company, and is freely accorded a place in the front rank of the progressive business men of Evansville. Although his time is much occupied by the cares of his position, he nevertheless finds time to devote to any measure which has the improvement of his home city and county as its object, and his support to such measures is always freely given and eagerly sought. He has numerous lodge and club affiliations, including mem- bership in the Elks, the Knights of Columbus, the Rotary Club, the Central Turners, the Travelers Protective Association, the Evansville Country Club, and he is a director of the Evansville Chamber of Com- merce and the Evansville Base Ball Club Association. He is a Re- publican, and while he takes a good citizen's interest in political mat- ters has never sought political favors at the hands of the local electo- rate. He was married on April 19, 1904, to Miss Emma J. Seiffer, daughter of Gustav and Elizabeth (Heilman) Seiffer of this city, and they are the parents of three children, Madeline, Virginia and Frank, Jr., born April 1, 1906; October 6, 1910, and June 30, 1916, respect- ively. The entire family are members of the Assumption Catholic Church.
Allie Lloyd Holland, district manager of the Evansville district of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, has been prominent not only in his own calling, but in matters of civic welfare, espec- ially those pertaining to the maintenance of the public health. Mr. Holland was born near White Day, Monongalia county, West Vir- ginia, September 17, 1885, and is a son of John M. and Susan (Moran) Holland. John M. Holland was born August 5, 1858, at Fairmont, Virginia (now West Virginia), and as a young man took up farming, which he followed for a number of years, also engag- ing in contracting in the mining district of West Virginia. He is still living, although now somewhat retired from active business affairs. Mrs. Holland, also born in West Virginia, died at the age of twenty-eight years, in 1889. There were three children in the family : Allie Lloyd; Lola M., secretary for a mining machine com- pany at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Maude, who is a graduate of Cook's Hospital, of Fairmont, West Virginia, and is now fol- lowing her profession in that city. Allie L. Holland received a public school education, and when still a boy was placed in charge of his father's agricultural operations while the elder man was occupied with his contracting business. He remained on the farm until reaching the age of twenty-one years, at which time he went to Morgantown, West Virginia and served an apprenticeship with the Mississippi Wire Glass Company. When the factory closed down three years later, he had risen to the position of cutter, and he left
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this very dangerous work to take a position as assistant superin- tendent of the Union Stopper Company, manufacturers of patent bottle stoppers. He was only twenty-four years of age when he was placed in entire charge as superintendent, but after eight months left the company to join the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, as agent at Wadsworth, Ohio, where he remained from September, 1910, until July, 1911. During this time his work had been so satisfactory that he was promoted to deputy superinten- dent and sent to South Bend, Indiana, where he remained until May, 1914, being then promoted to general assistant superinten- dent, a capacity in which he traveled all over Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky until October, 1914. He was then appointed district manager of the Evansville branch, a position which he still retains. In this capacity Mr. Holland has forty-three agents and six clerks under his jurisdiction, the district including Van- derburgh, Posey, Warrick, Spencer and Dubois counties. As be- fore noted, Mr. Holland is greatly interested in public health con- ditions, and was active in the organization of the Visiting Nurses' Association. He also helped to raise funds for the Community Welfare Association, which is now a perfected organization, of which he is president. He is also vice-president and a director of the Wonderland Way Association. During the World war, Mr. Holland was a four-minute speaker in the Liberty Loan and War Savings drives. Fraternally, Mr. Holland is affiliated with the Masons, the B. P. O. Elks and the Knights of Pythias, in addition to which he belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club, and he and his family hold membership in the Trinity Meth- odist Episcopal Church. A Republican in politics, he is serving as treasurer of the City Republican Central Committee, an office to which he was appointed in 1921. April 7, 1915, Mr. Holland married Miss Kathryn Hayden, of Evansville.
George W. Hornby, treasurer and general manager of the Ideal Dairy Company of Evansville, is a man of long and varied experience in his field of endeavor, in which he has attained success through hard work and intelligent direction of effort. His career is one in which is again exemplified the truth that industry and good man- agement form a combination hard to defeat, and that integrity is one of the component parts of any real success. Mr. Hornby was born three miles north of Evansville, Vanderburgh county, Indiana, De- cember 21, 1877, and is a son of George W. and Caroline (Lahr) Hornby. His father, who was born in 1845, in Warrick county, Indiana, passed his life in agricultural pursuits and died in 1903. Mrs. Hornby was a native of Henderson, Kentucky, and died in 1920. George W. Hornby, Jr., acquired his early education in the public schools of Center township, and after one year at the Assumption Parochial School at Evansville, he had two years' training at the Evansville High School. Then after taking a commercial course at what is now Lockyear's Business College, he embarked in the dairy business at Evansville in 1898. After successfully conducting this
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enterprise, known as the Blue Grass Dairy, for more than twenty years, he consolidated his business with the Ideal Dairy Company, of which he became treasurer and general manager, and has since filled this position. His fellow-officers are: Joseph Gourley, president ; John H. Heldt, vice-president ; and John L. Martin, secretary. This business was organized in 1918, by Joseph Gourley and John L. Mar- tin, with a plant at Missouri and Governor Streets, whence were dis- tributed pasteurized milk and butter. In the latter part of the same year it was incorporated, with increased capital, and in 1919 the merger referred to above was effected. In the same year the present plant, at No. 112 North Seventh Street, was built, and upon its completion was one of the largest in Evansville, and as modern as any dairy in the State of Indiana. The Products consist of ice cream, butter and pasteurized milk and cream, all bearing the "Ideal" brand which has become known far and wide for its purity and superior quality. About seventy-five persons are given employment at the present, and the company covers a radius of sixty-five miles in the distribution of its products. Mr. Hornby is a member of the Evansville Chamber of Commerce, the Kiwanis Club and the Knights of Columbus. In his political affiliations he is a Republican, but takes no active part in politics aside from casting the weight of his influence in support of men and measures working for the public good. Mr. Hornby was married in 1905 to Miss Minola O. Muth, of Evansville, and they main- tain their home in this city.
Herman H. Horne. One of the most enthusiastic workers in his field of activity, Herman H. Horne is likewise one of the most popular citizens of Evansville, where he has a wide acquaintance. Engaged in the work of the Young Men's Christian Association at Evansville since 1910, his labors have been productive of great good, and in the office of general secretary, which he now occupies, he has charge of an organization which has been in continuous existence since 1876. Mr. Horne was born in Parke county, Indiana, July 17, 1885, and is a son of Henry W. and Annabelle (Sinclair) Horne. The his- tory of the Horne family of Indiana dates back to 1750, at which time the original emigrants from England came to the American colonies and first located near Baltimore, Maryland, whence they later moved to North Carolina. There Thomas Horne, the father of the early In- diana settlers, was born in 1783. His wife was a direct descendant of Sir Robert Peele, and they were the parents of nine children. Thomas Horne spent the greater part of his life in Wilson county, North Carolina, and throughout his life adhered to the faith of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, of which all the early Hornes were members. His death occurred in 1853. After his death several of his children came to Indiana and settled at what is now known as Horne- town. Of more recent years the majority of the family have adopted the faith of the Methodist church. Henry W. Horne, the father of Herman H., was born in North Carolina, while Annabelle Sinclair was a native of Putnam county, Indiana, where her family resided for many years. Herman H. Horne attended the public schools of Terre Haute,
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and after two years spent in the high school there began railroad work with the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad, with which he was iden- tified as a caller, yard clerk and rate clerk for eight years. It was while he was thus employed that he decided to enter Young Men's Christian Association work, and accordingly entered upon a period of strenuous training to equip him for his duties. He had to overcome numerous obstacles in the attainment of his ambitions, as the greater part of his education was secured through correspondence courses, although he also took seven summer courses, and at this time is fully as well equipped as a man who has had the benefits of a college educa- tion. At the age of twenty-four years, or in 1909, he left railroad work and started at Indianapolis to get his training. In 1910, he came to Evansville and entered upon his duties as physical director in the old building, accepting this position at Evansville in preference to going to 4
Kokomo, Indiana, which post had also been offered him. It was his desire to enter the campaign at Evansville, and he therefore took the position of physical director under rather undesirable circumstances. He served four years in that capacity in the old building and one year in the new building, and in 1915, succeeded Ernest L. Mogge in the capacity of general position, an office which he has since filled with great credit to himself and to the lasting benefit of the organization. The present organization has been in continuous existence since 1876, for while it was first organized in 1858, it was discontinued during the Civil war, and it was not until 1876, that matters became sufficiently arranged for its rehabiliment. Since the latter year the organization has occupied four different homes, each a great improvement over the one which preceded, and its membership has increased wonderfully, while the older members have retained their membership loyally, there being many in the body who have belonged thereto since 1890. Mr. Horne, a man of great capability and broad-mindedness, has met with the best of success in his work, and has formed countless friendships both in and out of the body. While he naturally centers his interest in the organization of which he is the head, he also takes a keen interest in other affairs, and touches life on many sides. He is a member of the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Pastors Asso- ciation and is a Scottish Rite Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. September 12, 1906, Mr. Horne was united in marriage with Miss Nola E. Evans, who came from New Albany, Indiana, a daughter of J. S. and Alice (Minton) Evans, natives of Kentucky. To Mr. and Mrs. Horne there have come four children: Wilson Sylvester, born at Terre Haute; Dorothalee Belle, born at Indianapolis; and Harold Ernest and Clarice Alice, born at Evansville.
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