USA > Indiana > A History of Indiana from its exploration to 1922 > Part 44
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY
and remained with the firm until 1902. It had always been his am- bition to be at the head of a business of his own, and in 1902 he founded "The Hub," Henry Levy, proprietor, in a small store at 427-9 Main Street, near the corner of Fifth. He made several enlargements and improvements, but soon found that he would have to have a much larger establishment, and, not liking to move away from the locality in which he had achieved his success, took up temporary quarters at No. 313 Main Street, where he carried on his business while the present modern building was being con- structed, this being completed in 1914. "The Hub" is an exclu- sive haberdashery and the largest one in its section. Mr. Levy is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Retail Merchants' Association, the Central Turners, the Kiwanis Club, the B'nai B'rith, the Eagles, Moose, Elks and is a York Rite Mason, and has been treasurer of his lodge of the Fraternal Order of Eagles for twenty years. During the late World war his activities in behalf of the sale of Liberty bonds won him an appreciation from the Government in the form of a medal. He has always been public- spirited and a supporter of civic movements which promise to benefit his city. April 18, 1901, Mr. Levy was united in mar- riage with Miss Corinne R. Rosenheim, of Louisville, Kentucky, daughter of the late Charles Rosenheim, who founded the large wholesale queensware business at Louisville, Charles Rosenheim Company, Inc., which is now, being carried on by Mr. Rosenheim's son and other members of the family. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Levy: Louis H., a graduate of Staunton Military Academy, of Virginia, who is assisting his father in the management of the haberdashery business; and Charles R., a grad- uate of the Evansville High School, class of 1923.
Joseph B. Lindenschmidt. Few of the business concerns of Evansville which have been in existence for the past forty years have a better or more substantial reputation and standing than the Lindenschmidt Company. Founded in 1883 on a firm basis, its prosperity has been built up through honorable dealing and the maintenance of high principles. Among those of the present gen- eration who have contributed to the success of this enterprise, one who is worthy of mention is Joseph B. Lindenschmidt, who now occupies the positions of secretary and general manager. Mr. Lindenschmidt was born April 3, 1880, at Evansville, and is a son of Henry Lindenschmidt. Henry Lindenschmidt was born in 1835 in Germany, and was twenty-five years of age when he emigrated to the United States. For a time he was located in the East, but finally he came to Evansville, where he was first employed by Ben Mesker & Company. 'Later he embarked in the foundry business, in partnership with his brother, Charles Lindenschmidt, but after a trial gave this up and went to Topeka, Kansas, where he spent one year engaged in iron work. He then returned to Evansville, where, with Goswin Lindenschmidt, he founded in 1883 the H. & G. Lindenschmidt Company on the site of the present plant. When
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the business was incorporated, in 1905, he became president of the company and occupied that position until his death, April 10, 1916. Mr. Lindenschmidt was a business man of the old-time, sub- stantial type, admired and respected because of his honorable deal- ing, both by associates and competitors. He was a good citizen, supporting those measures, which he approved as being of benefit to the city, and his benefactions were many. Joseph B. Linden- schmidt secured his education in the parochial schools of Evans- ville and when still a youth was taken into his father's business, where, under the excellent preceptorship of the elder man he learned all its details. At the time of the death of Goswin Linden- schmidt, Henry bought out the interest of his former partner's heirs and the business was incorporated as The Lindenschmidt Company, with Henry as president, Edward C., vice president, and Joseph B. as secretary and treasurer. Since the death of the father, in 1916, Edward C. Lindenschmidt has been president. The busi- nes is that of general machine work, cylinder and crankshaft re- grinding, oxy-acetylene welding, etc. All work is given prompt attention, and the company has a reputation for superior work- manship. Joseph B. Lindenschmidt is a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Chamber of Commerce. January 27, 1913, he married Mary C., daughter of William Schulte, a shoemaker of Evansville, and to this union there have been born eleven children : Henry, Lawrence, Mary, Margaret, Mildred, Joseph, deceased ; Raymond, Ruth, Charles, Dorothy and Elizabeth. The family are members of St. Anthony's Catholic Church.
Thomas W. Lindsey, Sr. Among the attorneys of Indiana who have made a specialty of the practice of criminal law, there are few better known or who have made a greater success than Thomas W. Lindsey, Sr., member of the firm of Lindsey & Lind- sey, of Evansville. During his long and intensely active career he has appeared in some of the most notable cases that have come before the courts, both as a private counsel and as a public offi- cial, and his reputation is based on a sound and substantial founda- tion, included in the formation of which are native talent, oratori- cal ability, untiring industry and a comprehensive knowledge of his profession as pertaining to litigation in tort and criminal cases. Mr. Lindsey was born in Warrick county, Indiana, February 28, 1867, and is a son of Thomas J. and Jane (Crow) Lindsey, the former born August 23, 1842, and the latter in 1838. His paternal grandfather, with his two sons, Thomas J. and John N., fought as a soldier in Company D, Forty-second Regiment, Indiana Volun- teer Infantry. After acquiring a good preliminary educational training, Thomas W. Lindsey, at the age of twenty-one years, commenced teaching school, and followed this vocation for sev- eral years, having taught various schools in Indiana, Kansas and Missouri. He then applied himself to the mastery of law, and in 1894 opened a law office at Boonville. There his talents were soon recognized and appreciated and in 1896 he was elected prosecuting
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attorney for the old Second Judicial District, including Perry, Spencer and Warrick counties, a post to which he was re-elected in 1898. Mr. Lindsey's record in this office was a remarkable one. During his tenure of office he succeeded in securing the conviction in some grade of homicide of every man and woman brought be- fore the court charged with murder. He closed his official career by securing the conviction, in one of the most notorious cases that ever came before an Indiana court, of Joseph D. Kieth, charged with the murder of Nora Kifer, April 3, 1900. This conviction was later ratified and Kieth was executed. Mr. Lindsey remained in practice at Boonville until January 1, 1908, at which time he changed his field of activity to Evansville, where he now occupies offices at No. 605 Furniture Building, being in partnership with his son, E. Menzies. His practice is almost entirely of a criminal and tort nature and he is adjudged one of the most capable plead- ers in the state, it being the expressed opinion of Judge Spencer that Mr. Lindsey made the best defending plea in a recent mur- der case that he had ever heard. He is also a splendid speaker on political questions and has been a campaigner for the national Re- publican party. Mr. Lindsey is past commander of the Indiana division of the Sons of Veterans and belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World and the Order of Owls. No- vember 28, 1888, Mr. Lindsey married Miss Katie Fisher, of Boon- ville, who died October 1, 1889, without issue. August 4, 1890 he married Miss Blanche Fisher, a sister of his first wife, and she died October 4, 1891, also without issue. The present Mrs. Lind- sy was formerly Miss Ida L. Cissell, of Cannellton, Indiana. They have had five children: Mrs. Isola C. Goldsmith, of Evansville; Mrs. Esther M. Holzman, also of this city; E. Menzies, who is asociated with his father in practice ; Bertram G., of Austin, Texas ; and Thomas W., Jr., who died August 13, 1917. It is an odd co- incidence that all of Mr. Lindsey's children were born on the 25th day of some month.
Peter Joseph Lintzenich, whose conduct of the West Side Im- plement Company has won him recognition as a capable business man and one of high principles, has been a resident of Vander- burgh county all of his life, with the exception of four years, and since 1892 has been located at Evansville. While he took up his present business only in the latter part of 1921, he has already made it an assured success by his use of modern approved meth- ods. Mr. Lintzenich was born on a farm in Armstrong township, Vanderburgh county, Indiana, May 31, 1872, and is a son of Wil- liam Joseph and Maria (Ritzel) Lintżenich. The paternal grand- father of Mr. Lintzenich, Christian Lintzenich, was born in Ger- many, whence he brought his wife and family to the United States and settled on a farm in Vanderburgh county. He followed an agricultural life throughout a long and useful career, and died highly regarded and esteemed. William Joseph Lintzenich was born in Germany and was a child when he accompanied his parents
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and brother and sister to this country. Reared and educated in Vanderburgh county, he early adopted the calling of wagon mak- ing, and for many years was identified with this line of work. He died in 1885, at fifty-six years of age, while Mrs. Lintzenich, a na- tive of Utica, New York, survived until 1911 and was seventy-three years of age at the time of her demise. Mr. Lintzenich followed the old style of making wagons by hand, and was an expert in this field of activity. In 1881 he moved to Union township where he farmed until 1885. In the latter year he took up his residence at Evansville, where for a time he followed his trade. The maternal grandfather of Peter J. Lintzenich, Joseph Ritzel, brought his family to Indiana via the Erie Canal, before the days of railroads, and during the early '3os conducted a general store at Evansville. Four of his sons fought as Union soldiers during the Civil war, and one, Joseph, was killed in action. In the family of William J. and Maria Lintzenich there were nine children who grew to maturity: Christian, Frank, William, John, Peter J., Anna, Lena, Matilda and Josephine. Peter J. Lintzenich was educated in the common schools of Vanderburgh county and at Ridgeway, Illinois, where he spent four years. Returning to Evansville in 1892, he secured employment with Rosenberger, Klein and Company, a grocery, hardware and implement house, with which he remained for nearly thirty years, resigning in November, 1921, to found the West Side Implement Company, of which he is senior partner. Mr. Lintzen- ich has a modern establishment at No. 1218 West Franklin Street, where he carries a full line of the most up-to-date and highly im- proved machinery, implements, etc., and is now in the enjoyment of a large and lucrative patronage, which is growing steadily. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the West Side Nut Club, and in politics gives his allegiance to the Democratic party. November 26, 1898, Mr. Lintzenich was united in marriage with Miss Odelia Schmitt, and to this union there have been born nine children : Margaret, Joseph, Josephine, Henry, Louise, Francis, John, Mary and Helen.
Frank Lohoff. During the more than half a century that Frank Lohoff has been a resident of Evansville, his career has been a somewhat varied one, at least in its earlier years, when he was interested in several lines of enterprise. For a long period, how- ver, he has been president of the Evansville Tool Works, which, under his direction, has become one of the important business in- dustries of Evansville. Mr. Lohoff was born March 1, 1858, in Germany, a son of William and Frances (Schulte) Lohoff, who brought their family to the United States and settled at Evansville in 1868. Two years after their arrival, William Lohoff, who was a stone-cutter by trade, met an accidental death by drowning. His widow survived him a number of years, passing away about 1890. There were two sons in the family: William and Frank, both of Evansville. Frank Lohoff was forced to be content with a lim- ited educational training, as when his dather died he was but
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twelve years of age and at that time he secured employment in the furniture factory of Blommer-Schulte & Rirtman. After five years with this concern he resigned and accepted the position of weigh- master, feedmaster, etc., at the Stock Yards, and when he left that enterprise became a member of the police force of Evansville. Leaving the department, he embarked in the restaurant business, but eventually disposed of his interests therein and became one of th organizers of the Schulte-Nehring Company, of which he was an officer for two years. This then became the Schulte-Lohoff Company and when Mr. Schulte died, in 1896, the company was incorporated as the Evansville Tool Works, the name which it bears at the present time. At the time of the incorporation, Mr. Lohoff was made president, and he still retains the chief executive post. The business has expanded wonderfully under his wise and capable direction, and, starting with a working force of but four- teen men, has grown to be an enterprise employing 165 persons. Mr. Lohoff has other business interests, being a director in the West Side Bank and the West Side Real Estate Company, presi- dent of the West Side Building and Loan Association, and treas- urer of St. Joseph's Association. Fraternally. Mr. Lohoff is iden- tified with the Knights of Columbus. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, the McDermott Club and the West Side Nut Club. During the administration of Mayor Bosse he served eight years as a member of the Sinking Fund committee. November 23, 1881 Mr. Lohoff married Miss Mary Fitterer, of Troy, Indiana, and to this union there have been born five children : Frank J., Oscar A., who is deceased; Mrs. Edward H. Johnstone of Evansville, Mrs. Syl- vester J. Rusche and Miss Valeria E. 'Lohoff.
Albert F. Karges. One of the foremost business men of Evans- ville, Albert F. Karges, of the Karges Furniture Company, not only has built up a splendid business success, but has characterized his ca- reer by participation in civic affairs in a manner that has been beneficial to the community of his adoption. Mr. Karges is a native of Vander- burgh county, born on a farm in a log hut in Armstrong township, November 3, 1861, a son of Ferdinand and Rosina (Dulty) Karges. Ferdinand Karges was born in Germany, where he learned the trade of cabinetmaker and in 1853 came to the United States, where he found employment at his vocation. He became a pioneer furniture manufacturer of Evansville, and one of the founders of the Miller Karges Furniture Company, which was succeeded by the Evans- ville Furniture Company. In 1879 Mr. Karges disposed of his holdings in this business and moved to a farm, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1890 when he was fifty-six years old. Mrs. Karges died at the age of thirty-three years. There were four children in the family: Albert F., William T., Mrs. J. W. Boehne and Mrs. August Schlensker. Albert F. Karges secured his education in the public schools of Evans- ville, and for a time resided in boyhood at Memphis, Tennessee. The prevalence of yellow fever there drove them back to Evansville in 1874,
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albert Ranges
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and Albert F. Karges started to work for the Evansville Furniture Company at $1.50 per week. After a short time he accepted the posi- tion of bookkeeper in the tailor shop of Fred Brokamp, and in the meantime added to his equipment for a business career by attendance at the Rankin Rice Business College, night classes. When eighteen years of age he was keeping books for William Hughes, remaining here five years. For six months Mr. Karges was identified with the lumber business, then returning to the furniture business with the Stoltz-Karges Company, manufacturing a line of cheap beds at Fulton Avenue and Water Street. In 1889 Mr. Karges became the founder of the Karges Furniture Company, and in 1892 the business had grown to such an extent that he was forced to seek larger quarters, and ac- cordingly built the new plant on Maryland Street. At first he acted merely as secretary and treasurer, but subsequently acquired complete control and became sole owner of this business. In 1899 he became the organizer of the Globe Furniture Company, and after this the World Furniture Company and Bosse Furniture Company. In 1906 the busi- ness concerns were merged as the Globe-Bosse-World Furniture Com- pany, the largest at Evansville. In 1900, still increasing the scope of his activities, Mr. Karges bought the Armstrong Furniture Company, in partnership with F. W. Bockstege, the new concern becoming the Bockstege Furniture Company, as at present. In 1908 he sold his stock in this company and bought all the interests Mr. Bockstege had in the other concerns. In the Karges plant he now employs some 225 men, who are engaged in the manufacture of a product that is widely known to the furniture world. Mr. Karges has numerous other inter- ests, being president of the Merchants Commercial Bank, the oldest (next to F. J. Reitz) director in the National City Bank, president of the Globe-Bosse-World Furniture Company, president of the Karges Furniture Company, president of the Karges Wagon Company, direct- or of the Crescent Stove Works, a director of the Evansville Furniture Company, a director of the Metal Furniture Company, a director of the Evansville Metal Bed Company, a director of the Wemyss Furniture Company, a director of the International Iron and Steel Company, chairman of the board of directors of the E. & O. V. R. R. Company, president of the Furniture Manufacturers Building Company, a direct- or in the Sunbeam Manufacturing Company, the McCurdy Hotel and the Journal Publishing Company. He is a charter member of the Chamber of Commerce, which he joined more than thirty-five years ago. Mr. Karges is a Republican politically, but politics have played only a minor part in his career. He is a civic worker, however, and can be counted upon to give his moral and financial support, as well as his wise judgment and counsel, to movements which promise to advance Evansville's interests. He is a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Country Club, and his religious affiliation is with the Washing- ton Avenue Presbyterian Church. He was an elder and superintendent of the Sunday school for over three years and Y. M. C. A. director for three years. December 8, 1885, Mr. Karges was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie Hauk, of Evansville, daughter of Thomas Hauk, and to this union there have been born three children: Albert F., Jr. ; Ed-
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win F .; and Esther K., the wife of John Daus of the Anchor Supply Company of Evansville.
Carl R. Lomatch, who is numbered among the successful busi- ness men of Evansville, in his capacity of treasurer of the Southern Finance Company, the oldest and largest business of its kind in the southern part of the state, and had much experience in finance, al- though still a young man as years are counted. He was born in Ripley county, Indiana, June 28, 1901, and is a son of Alvin W. and Mary (Hallforth) Lomatch, and a grandson of natives of Germany, on both sides of the family, who emigrated to the United States as young people, and, settling in Ripley county, there spent the remainder of their lives in agricultural pursuits. Alvin W. Lomatch was born September 28, 1857, in Ripley county, and was reared to the life of a farmer, but at the age of eighteen years turned his attention to mer- cantile pursuits and established a modest business near Versailles, Indiana. He built up a large and lucrative business which extended all over the surrounding countryside, and at the time of his retirement, in the spring of 1923, was considered the oldest merchant in Ripley county. During his younger years he was quite a politician and took an active part in civic affairs. Mrs. Lomatch, who was born August 22, 1859, also in Ripley county, survives. She and her husband have been the parents of seven children: Carl R .; Clements F., who is cashier of the Ripley County Bank; Louis H., who is connected with the Fletcher American National Bank of Indianapolis; Amelia, the wife of George Smith; Elsie Licking, of Versailles; Ida, the wife of W. Mead; and Helen, the wife of Claude Brocks, of Ripley. Carl R. Lomatch was educated at Ripley, Indiana, where he was graduated from the high school as a member of the class of 1916, and immediately thereafter entered the Cross Plains State Bank, at Cross Plains, In- diana, where, in order to gain experience, he worked for eight months without receiving remuneration. He then went to Indianapolis, where he was employed in all branches of banking work in the Continental National Bank's city banking department and the clearing house de- partment. Starting as a $40 per month clerk, he worked his way up to the post of teller, a position which he held for eight months. He then joined the Continental Finance and Securities Company of Indi- anapolis, for which he was employed as cashier from June 1, 1919, until September 21, 1919, when the present company, the Southern Finance Company of Evansville, was founded, and he came to Evans- ville in the capacity of assistant treasurer. September 21, 1921, he was made treasurer and a member of the board of directors, and the business is now operated by him in association with Owen J. Conrad, the oldest automobile banker in the state of Indiana. The business was incorporated August 4, 1919, and its operations consist of the discount- ing of time payment paper in automobile deals. It is the first com- pany organized at Evansville and the largest in this part of the state that deals exclusively with this kind of business. Mr. Lomatch is also vice-president and a director of several acceptance corporations, and is alert and energetic in any venture in which he engages. In politics
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he is a Republican, while fraternally, he is a Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine. While residing at Cross Plains he was for three years secretary and treasurer of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday School. Mr. Lomatch is not married.
Edward A. Lorch. Of the men whose ability, industry and in- tegrity have added to the character, wealth and good government of Evansville, few are better known than Edward A. Lorch. Mr. Lorch is a lawyer, not only by education and long practice, but by tempera- ment and preference. He has been actively engaged in practice for twenty-two years, all spent at Evansville. Mr. Lorch was born at Troy, Perry county, Indiana, February 19, 1879, a son of David C. and Louisa (Porter) Lorch. David C. Lorch was born at German- town, Pennsylvania, August 7, 1837, and when a boy resided at Evans- ville, in a small German settlement, which was located here at the time. For the most part his youth was spent on the river, although he mas- tered the carpenter's trade, and was following that vocation at the out- break of the Civil war, when he enlisted as a private in Company K, Fourth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. At the close of the war David C. Lorch returned safely to his home, and spent the greater part of his life as a resident of Troy, where he died December 5, 1909. His residence at Evansville included the period when his father was employed in the Kratz-Heilman Foundry shop. Mrs. Lorch, who still survives, was born in Spencer county, Indiana, July 29, 1839, and is a member of a former family of North Carolina whose members became pioneers of Spencer county, her father being the first pilot on the Ohio river. Mr. Lorch is still the owner of a farm that has been in the possession of this family in Spencer county since 1805. At one time in his career, Mr. Lorch's maternal grandfather, was associated with Abraham Lincoln in a commercial venture. Edward A. Lorch was one of six children, of whom beside himself only one sister, Linnie, survives. Mr. Lorch attended the public schools of Troy, following which he pursued a course at the University of Valparaiso and grad- uated with the degree of Bachelor of law, as a member of the class of 1900. In the following year he took up his residence at Evansville, where he formed a law partnership with Edgar Durre, but after two years this association was dissolved and since then Mr. Lorch has practised alone. In 1910 and again in 1912, Mr. Lorch made the race for the office of prosecuting attorney on the Republican ticket, but each time was defeated by a small majority. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Chamber of Com- merce.
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