USA > Indiana > A History of Indiana from its exploration to 1922 > Part 63
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president of the Evansville Real Estate Board which was organ- ized in 1914; he was elected vice-president of the Indiana State Real Estate Association for the term 1922-23. In political affiliations Mr. Hart is a Democrat, but is primarily a business man and takes only a good citizen's part in political matters. However, worthy movements find in him a helpful and valued friend, whether of a civic, religious, or educational character. In religious faith he is a Presbyterian, which he attributes to the influence of his mother. He is liberal in his support of the church and at this time is the president of the Men's Brotherhood of the Grace Presbyterian church of this city. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, being a member of the Blue Lodge at Boonville, Indiana, Stranger's Rest Lodge No. 240 and the Evansville Scottish Rite lodge. He is also a Shriner, being a member of Hadi Temple. Carl B. Hart is in- nately a horseman. He loves a good horse. In fact, he is a judge of all kinds of live stock. He keeps a saddle horse and gets a great deal of pleasure out of this recreation. Mr. Hart is a bachelor, but a great lover of children. The newsboys are his friends. He gives an outing, once a year to the newsboy friends of his neighborhood, not only because the boys like it, but because he loves it himself. The children all like him, and this is one of the things that he takes great pride in. He is a good companion and a good friend.
Thomas A. Heldt. In comparison with some of the other indi- viduals whose biographies appear in this volume, Thomas A. Heldt belongs to the younger generation of business men of Evansville. However that may be, during his career he has made rapid and consistent advancement in business life, and today occupies an enviable position as superintendent of the Buckskin Manufacturing Company and manager of the Buckskin factory store. Mr. Heldt was born March 15, 1892, in Vanderburgh county, Indiana, and when six years of age was taken by his parents to Warrick county, this state, where he attended the public schools of the town of El- berfeld. When he reached the age of seventeen years, March 15, 1909, he entered the employ of the Buckskin Breeches Company of Evansville, and with the exception of about two years has been in the employ of this company ever since, although it has since changed its name to the Buckskin Manufacturing Company. Dur- ing the two years referred to, Mr. Heldt pursued a course at the Lockyear Business College, Evansville, and then went to Chicago, where, while attending a well-known commercial school of that city, he was employed in the big department store of Marshall Field & Company. Since October 15, 1917, he has occupied the po- sitions of superintendent of the company and manager of the fac- tory store, and in addition is a large stockholder in the company, of which he was the first member of the board of directors. Dur- ing the World war Mr. Heldt was placed in the deferred class, as his concern was engaged in carrying out large contracts for the United States Government and his services were needed in direct- ing the company's activities. He has been too busy to enter politics
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actively, but has displayed his public spirit and civic pride at all times. For some years a member of the Olympic Club, he is now vice-president of that body, and belongs also to the Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club. As a fraternalist he belongs to Reed Lodge No. 316, F. & A. M., and is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine .. He and his wife are identified religiously with the Salem Evangelical Church. February 14, 1923, Mr. Heldt was united in marriage with Miss Viola A. Blaier, of Evansville.
John L. Houghland. In the career of John L. Houghland there has been enough adventure to satisfy even the most adventure-lov- ing individual, and in its range has covered a number of the states of the Union and has included experiences in Alaska. From the time he sold newspapers on the streets of Evansville as a lad to the present, when he is a member of the firm of David-Houghland De- tective Service Company, his life has been varied and interesting, and he has never allowed himself to get into a rut where existence or occupation would prove monotonous. Mr. Houghland was born in Warrick county, Indiana, February 8, 1870, and is of Kentucky ancestry, being a direct descendant of the famous scout and fron- tiersman, Daniel Boone. His paternal grandparents, Andrew and Sarah Houghland, came from Kentucky to Warrick county, Indi- ana, at a time when the town of Newburg was called Sprinklesburg in honor of Mr. Houghland's paternal grandmother's father, whose name was Sprinkles. John L. Houghland was eight years of age when brought by his parents to Evansville and attended the public school at Eighth and Canal Streets, now known as the Wheeler school. He was still in knee trousers when he began selling news- papers at Evansville and continued to be thus engaged until be- coming city collector for the John H. Morris Coal Company. After two years he became manager of the coal and river business of this concern, with which he remained until the death of Mr. Morris, when the business was sold to R. H. Williams, now local steamboat hull inspector with an office in the customs house. Mr. Houghland had charge of Mr. Williams' river business until it was sold to John Ingle Coal Company and Mr. Houghland remained with Mr. Ingle for about eight years. He was then offered and accepted the post of captain of the steamer "Linda," which made an Alaskan explora- tion trip on the Yukon river, in behalf of the Alaska Exploration Company. After about one year he returned to Evansville, during the administration of Hon. Charles G. Covert and secured a posi- tion on the police force. He traveled a beat as a patrolman for one year and was then made a city detective by Mayor Covert, a po- sition which he held also during the administration of Mayor John W. Boehne. At the time of the election to the mayoralty of Mayor Heilman, Mr. Houghland left the force, as did John J. Davis, also a city detective, and the two formed the present company, known as the Davis-Houghland Detective Service Company, this being about the year 1910. The company occupies offices at 203 Furni-
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ture Building and employs a large force of skilled operatives in the handling of all kinds of cases requiring the services of men who 'are experienced and trained in the detection of crime. For the greater part, this company is employed in the bigger cases, involv- ing murder or other of the more desperate crimes as differentiated from the petty forms and domestic troubles. They have been greatly successful in their work, and one of the recent large cases which they solved was the noted Noffsinger murder, which attract- ed widespread attention and notoriety in 1923, at which time Mr. Houghland was appointed a deputy sheriff in Henderson county, Kentucky, January 8, 1923. In 1888 Mr. Houghland was united in marriage with Miss Abbie Darling, of Evansville, and they be- came the parents of six children: Alexander, Amy, who is de- ceased ; Ruth, Mildred, Marion and Fred. The present Mrs. Hough- land was formerly Mrs. Alberta Ruston, daughter of Capt. James Thompson. Captain Houghland and his family reside at No. 537 Jefferson Avenue.
John T. Jacobs. Invading the fields of school teaching, general merchandising and the sale of insurance, the career of John T. Ja- cobs has been one of successful participation in varied lines of work. Now resident agent of the Equitable Life Insurance Com- pany of Iowa, at Evansville, he has also seen his share of public life, having rendered valuable service in several important capaci- ties. Mr. Jacobs was born in Meade county, Kentucky, January II, 1876, a son of John T. Jacobs, a minister of the Christian church. He was three years of age when brought by his parents to Harri- son county, Indiana, where he attended the public schools until he was sixteen years old, when he accompanied the family to Spencer county, this state, and while residing in that community Mr. Jacobs had the benefits of attendance at the high school located at Rich- land, from which he was graduated. This training was supple- mented by a course at the normal school at Rockport, and when he left that institution he assumed the vocation of teacher and for two years had classes in the farming districts. Deciding that educa- tional work was not his forte, Mr. Jacobs turned his attention to commercial lines, and for eight years was the proprietor of a gen- eral merchandise establishment located in the little community of Lake Mills, situated near Rockport. While there he impressed his fellow-citizens with his business ability and strict integrity, and in 1906 he was elected county treasurer of Spencer county, a capacity in which he served most capably from 1906 until 1911. At the ex- piration of his term in the latter year he was elected mayor of Rock- port and remained in that executive capacity until 1915. Leaving Rockport the same year, Mr. Jacobs removed to Evansville, which has since been his home and the scene of his successful business operations. At the time of his arrival he took over the general agency of the Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa, and this he has since retained, his offices being situated at 605-6 Citizens Bank Building. He has built up a large and profitable business
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and has formed pleasant business and social connections. He is a valued member of the local Kiwanis Club, the Retail Credit Men's Association and the Chamber of Commerce, and as a fraternalist holds membership in the Knights of Pythias, Reed Lodge No. 316, F. & A. M .; Evansville Chapter No. 12, R. A. M .; La Valette Com- mandery, K. T .; and Hadi Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., Bethlehem Shrine No. 2, Robert-Morris Chapter O. E. S. No. 87; in all of which he is popular. December 26, 1898, Mr. Jacobs married Miss Rachel Phillips, of Richland, Indiana, and they became the parents of three children : Oden B .; Olive Mary, who died at the age of 15 years; and Zelma Irene. Mrs. Jacobs died December 26, 1908, and in April, 1911, Mr. Jacobs married Miss Kathryn B. Maas, of Rock- port, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs are members of the First Chris- tian Church of Evansville, and their pleasant and attractive home is located at Maryland Street and New Harmony Road.
Abraham Lincoln Kingsbury, one of the reliable and enterpris- ing merchants and the proprietor of a modern grocery establish- ment at 1526 First Avenue, has been engaged at his present loca- tion at Evansville since 1903. He was born in Scott township, Vanderburgh county, July 12, 1865, and is a son of Robert and Susan (Newman) Kingsbury, and a grandson of natives of Eng- land who immigrated to the United States as young married people. Robert Kingsbury was born in Vanderburgh county, where he was reared to agricultural pursuits, and when about twenty-two years of age enlisted for service in the Union army during the Civil war, this being soon after his marriage. He arrived at his home July 8, 1865, just four days before the birth of his son, Abraham L. It is a curious incident to note that an uncle of the child, William New- man, who was also a soldier of the Union, reached home from the war on the date of the babe's birth. When he again took up the ac- tivities of peace, Robert Kingsbury resumed farming, a vocation in which he continued to be engaged throughout his life. This indus- trious farmer and worthy citizen passed to his final rest in June, 1913, aged seventy-one years, and is survived by his widow, who has reached the age of eighty years. Mr. Kingsbury was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He and his wife were the par- ents of three children : Abraham L., of this review; Mary Nettie, who is the wife of Adam Reinhart, of Princeton, Indiana, and Caro- line, wife of Otto Reinhart, of Evansville. Abraham L. Kingsbury acquired his education in the public schools of Armstrong town- ship, and in 1891 came to Evansville where he secured a position in the chair factory of E. O. Smith. He later accepted a position with Elliott and Ruff, contractors, and subsequently went to Howell, Indiana, where he worked for the I .. and N. Railroad until 1903, when he returned to Evansville, and in partnership with Philip Maurer opened a grocery store at 1526 First Avenue. This alli- ance continued eighteen months, at the end of which time Mr. Kingsbury purchased his partner's interest, and since that time has conducted the business alone. He has made a decided success of
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his venture and now has a large and steady patronage, built up through integrity and fair dealing, as well as efficient service and personal courtesy. Mr. Kingsbury is the owner of an attractive home at 1604 First Avenue. He joined the Royal Arcanum soon after his arrival at Evansville and has been a member of that body ever since, having for some years served as financial secretary. With his family, he belongs to the Church of the Assumption. April 28, 1891, Mr. Kingsbury married Miss Mary Reinhart, of Scott township, and to this union there have been born three chil- dren : Florence, the wife of Bruno Pirnat, of Evansville, with one daughter, Mary Louise, born July 17, 1921 ; Edward, a vaudeville performer, who married in Canada, Miss Ione Gray, of New York City, also a performer, the team now appearing in California; and Dorothy, who resides with her parents.
Jacob L. Knauss. Although having passed the allotted three score years and ten, Jacob L. Knauss is still active in the milling business as president and manager of the Phoenix Flour Mill. He has been a resident of Evansville for fifty-seven years, and for nearly half a century has been identified with the milling industry of this city. He has always maintained the highest standards of business ethics, and at all times his career has been loyal, energetic and circumspect, and his life has been one of useful endeavor and successful attainment. Mr. Knauss was born in Millstadt, a mill- ing town of St. Clair county, Ililnois, September 18, 1850, and is a son of Jacob J. Knauss and Caroline (Blitt) Knauss, natives of Germany. His father was a missionary of the Evangelical Church, and was one of seven ministers who composed this creed and estab- lished the church in North America. He came to this country in 1844, first locating at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where for one year he acted as assistant to an old pastor who was in ill health. He then went to St. Louis, Missouri, and for several years did mis- sionary work in the back-woods of that state. He later settled at Millstadt, Illinois, where he remained for practically twenty years as pastor of the Zion Evangelical Church, but finally went to Canel- ton, Perry county, Indiana, where he resided for six years, then re- moved to Millstadt, where he and his worthy wife passed to their final rest. After attending a private school at Canelton, Indiana, Jacob L. Knauss came to Evansville in 1866, and became a student in the Carpenter Street School. He later pursued a course in the Mayfield & Jennings Business College, conducted in the old Car- penter Building on First Street, and after his graduation from that institution, he took a position as bookkeeper with Steinbach, Wack & Company, wholesale saddling and hardware merchants. After eight years with this concern, in 1874, he became identified with the milling business as an associate of Nicholas Ellis, who had founded the old Canal Mills some years previous. The new firm became Ellis & Knauss, and upon the death of the senior partner, Mr. Knauss continued in business with a son of the deceased. In 1885 the business was incorporated as the Phoenix Milling Company,
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and in 1895 the plant was established at its present location, on Morton Avenue between Indiana and Illinois Streets. Since locat- ing at this place, the capacity of the mill has been increased from 250 barrels to 1000 barrels, and is one of the notable enterprises of the city. Although Mr. Knauss is still the executive head of this great milling concern, he is ably assisted by his son, Otto A. Knauss, a man of ability and energy. While Mr. Knaus's is still active in business affairs, and can usually be found at his mill every day, he gives much thought to church work, being a charter mem- ber of St. Lucas Church, of which he has been a trustee, and in the church and Sunday school work of which he takes a very active and helpful part. He was one of the organizers of the Deaconess Hospital, and is a member of its Board of Trustees. For many years he has been interested in the welfare of Evansville, and has never lost an opportunity to do what he could for the best interests of the city. His efforts are not confined to lines resulting in indi- vidual benefit, but are evident in those fields where general inter- ests and public welfare are involved, and his activities have meant much to the community in both civic and material progress. Mr. Knauss has been twice married, and both wives are deceased, while four children survive : Otto A., who is salesmanager of the Phoenix Milling Company ; Mrs. Charles Harpole, wife of a prominent Ev- ansville physician ; Mrs. L. Hughes, and Mrs. Daniel Ortmeyer.
Norman L. Kniese, manager of the employment department of the Evansville Manufacturers' Association, is a worthy representa- tive of the younger business executive element of Vanderburgh county. It is, to a very considerable extent, this element in any community, which infuses spirit and zest into the activities of the place. It is this element, whose entrance upon the arena of active life dates back only several decades, which monopolizes most of the vigor, zeal and pushing energy, which keeps the nerves of the commercial world ramifying through all the lesser towns of the country strung to the full tension of strenuous endeavor. Mr. Kniese was born at Evansville, February 4, 1897, and had the ad- vantage of attendance at the grade and high schools of his native place. He was but twelve years of age when his father, the late Louis Kniese, died in 1909, and it thus becoming necessary for him to assist in gaining his livelihood, he secured a position as store- keeper for the Public Utilities Company, a concern with which he continued to be identified for two years. He was then transferred to the Northern Ohio Traction and Light Company, located at Ak- ron, Ohio, where he remained as assistant to the superintendent of motive power, after which he went to Dayton, Ohio, as assistant to the superintendent of motive power of the Oakwood Street Rail- way, the Dayton & Troy Electric Railway and the Dayton West- ern Railway. In these several capacities, Mr. Kniese remained at Dayton until July 5, 1921, at which time he returned to Evansville to accept the position tendered him as manager of the employment department of the Evansville Manufacturers' Association. He has
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been successful in placing this department upon a basis of high ef- ficiency and in making it one of the most useful of the association. In the handling of employment and labor problems he has devel- oped ability of an unusual character, this largely because the sub- ject has always held great interest for him and has been one to which he has given much thought and study. His official duties demand his attention to such an extent that he is not interested in other matters, save as to how they affect the welfare of his commu- nity, in which case he is always ready to assume his share of the responsibilities of good citizenship. Mr. Kniese is fond of the com- panionship of his fellows, and has many friends in Masonry, in which he has attained to the thirty-second Scottish Rite degree, being likewise a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. His offices are lo- cated in the Old State Bank Building, where he handles all matters pertaining to employment as they affect the Association. March 23, 1920, Mr. Kniese was united in marriage with Miss Esther E. Mar- tini, of Evansville, Indiana, a granddaughter of W. Martini, who served as a soldier of the Union during the Civil war, being in a company of Indiana volunteer infantrymen, and died at Evansville at an advanced age. Mr. and Mrs. Kniese are members of St. Lu- cas Evangelical Church, in the work of which they have been act- ive and in their support of which they have been generous. They reside in a pleasant home at No. 605 Read Street.
William J. Mace. A comparatively recent addition to the loan and investment brokers of Evansville, William J. Mace, embarked in this line of business in 1919, bringing with him a commendable ambition to succeed, and the force of character and ability to with- stand temporary discouragement and competition with older and more experienced brokers. Mr. Mace was no stranger to the people of the city, however, as he has lived at Evansville all his life, hav- ing been born here May 6, 1878, a son of Nicholas and Sophia (Ulsas) Mace. Nicholas Mace was born in Canada and was still a youth when he came to Evansville in 1855. Here he met Miss Ul- sas, who was three years of age when brought to the city in 1849, and they were married in 1869 and had five children, all of whom still survive. Nicholas Mace was an iron molder by trade, an expe- rienced man in his calling and for twenty years foreman at the Ev- ansville Stove Works, where he was highly esteemed by his em- ployers and possessed the respect of the men with whom he worked. He died in 1914, in the faith of St. Mary's Catholic Church, of which Mrs. Mace, who survives him, is a member. As a lad Wil- liam J. Mace was sent to the parochial school of St. Mary's parish, and later furthered his education by attendance at the old Canal Street school. This was supplemented with a course at the Cur- neck & Wilson Business College, and with this mental equipment he entered upon his independent career as a clerk in a wholesale and retail grocery house, with which he remained for several years. Later he accepted a position with William Frier, a cigar manufac- turer, by whom he was employed for about three years. In 1919
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Mr. Mace took charge as manager of the Crescent Loan and In- vestment Company, which had been founded in 1900 by his broth- er-in-law, William Gramelspacher. The death of Mr. Gramel- spacher, which occurred in 1918, left the business without a direct- ing head, and Mr. Mace stepped forward to assume the responsi- bilities, which he has dicharged capably to the present time. The offices of this concern, which is now doing a thriving business, are located at No. 51812 Main Street, and the company has a large and representative clientele. Mr. Mace possesses many qualities which should commend him to the attention of the business and social world. He is honest, industrious, painstaking and enthusiastic. He seeks the best, and intends to find it, and therein lies the secret of overcoming obstacles and making light of discouragements. His business duties are such as to preclude the idea of his entering ac- tively into public affairs, but his natural public spirit causes him to be an exponent of progress in civic affairs. May 5, 1904, Mr. Mace was united in marriage with Miss Martha Wiggers, who was born and educated at Evansville and is a member of a well-known fam- ily of this city. They are the parents of two children : Melvin, born August 1, 1905, a graduate of the Evansville High School, class of 1922, and now a student of Indiana University ; and Eloise, born September 29, 1911, attending the graded schools of the city.
George L. Miller. The name of George L. Miller has become as familiar to the present generation of Evansville people as a house- hold word, being indissolubly associated in the mind of the public with a number of important enterprises, which have not only added to the city's growth, but have also placed comfortable homes with- in reach of the industrial classes, and have incidentally added to the projector's wealth. His career has been one of worth-while achievements, accomplished before their architect reached the age when slower minds are beginning to comprehend life's possibilities. Mr. Miller was born at Evansville, August 16, 1867, and is a son of Peter and Margaret (Muth) Miller. Peter Miller was born at Niederengelheim, Hesse, Germany, in 1828, and at the age of eigh- teen years came to the United States, settling at Evansville in an early day. He was active in business circles and in the work of the German Methodist church, and for years followed the trade of cabinetmaker. His death occurred in 1894, while Mrs. Miller, who was born in Pennsylvania, in 1840, died in 1882. George L. Miller had only a limited public school education, as he got only as far as the "Third Reader," although he was always clever at mathematics, something that has proven a big factor in his success. As a lad of fifteen years he learned the trade of iron moulder, which he fol- lowed until 1894, and in the meantime, when only nineteen years of age, started out with a companion to see the world. Working their way, they traveled for five years, visiting various points in the United States, and also visited Europe and Alaska. Mr. Miller has never lost his love of travel, and since the attainment of success has spent much time with his family in visiting points of interest,
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