A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I, Part 22

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1038

USA > Indiana > A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I > Part 22

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ist Episcopal Church, as before stated, and has ever since been a steadfast member of that organization. After the beginning of the Civil War, and up to the candidacy of Horace Greeley for the presidency, he was a consistent member of the Republican party, but at that time he united with the Liberals who nominated Mr. Greeley, and subsequently held no further allegiance to the Re- publican party. He is now a member of the National Greenback party. He believes in the abolishment of the national banks, and the substitution of treasury notes, and the unlimited coinage of silver money. Cap- tain Rose was married, August 19, 1847, to Ellen Elliott, daughter of William Elliott, of Bloomington, Indiana, who is at present his interesting and amiable companion. He is the father of seven children, five of whom are living. Captain Rose is now the senior member of the law firm of Rose & Short, his partner, Mr. Emerson Short, being his son-in-law, a talented and promising young lawyer. As a lawyer, Captain Rose has a repu- tation equaled by few attorneys in the state. He has the largest criminal practice of any man in his county. In the manipulation of his cases he is adroit and skilled, always on the alert for mistakes or blunders of the op- posing counsel. He has both application and wit, and is remarkably successful wherever employed. He is full of fun and humor, and always has a pleasant word for every body. These qualities, and his high sense of honor, have endeared him to a large circle of friends, in whose esteem he holds a high place.

CHREEDER, CHARLES C., postmaster, Hunting- burg, Dubois County, one of the most prominent, - active, and zealous Republican politicians of the county, was born in the city of Berlin, Germany, January 19, 1847. His parents were Charles Frederick and Mary (Arensmann) Schreeder. His father, by trade a machinist, was one of those who took part in the famous German revolution of 1848, headed by Robert Blum and Carl Schurz, and was in one of those terrible street fights when the Crown Prince of Prussia (now Emperor of Germany) opened on them with grape and canister, causing ninety-one of the revolutionists to fall. He died, August 6, 1849, of cholera, which was then epidemic, leaving his wife and one child, the subject of our sketch, who was then an infant. In 1852 Mrs. Schreeder, with her infant boy, emigrated to the United States, leaving Germany April 3d, on the sailing vessel "Adolphena." She arrived at Baltimore August 16, after a long and tedious voyage, during which she was dangerously ill, her life being almost despaired of at one time. To make such a voyage with her infant, after the loss of her husband, and without a friend, was most trying. Having relatives at Huntingburg, Indiana, she

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immediately went to them, reaching this place on the Ist of September, after another most tedious journey by boat and rail. She took up her residence with her sister, the wife of Gerhart Niehaus, one of the earliest settlers of the county, and one of its prominent men. Mrs. Schreeder, on September 7, 1853, was married to the Rev. Frederick Wiethaup, a well-known minister of the German Evangelical Church, and the family re- moved to Evansville, where Mr. Wiethaup had charge of a congregation, and continued there until 1855, when they removed to Newville, Wells County. The early educational advantages of Charles C. Schreeder were exceedingly meager, the country at the time being but sparsely settled. The only schools were small log build- ings, and the year's term consisted of about six weeks .. His step-father being a minister, they were constantly removing from one place to another. He, however, embraced all the opportunities within his reach. In 1861, his step-father being appointed to a Church at Dayton, Ohio, he was there afforded a much better op- portunity, and attended a term at the public school. From 1853, the time of his going to Evansville, Indiana, till 1860, when he located at Dayton, Ohio, they were at the following places: Evansville, till the spring of 1855; Newville, Wells County, until the fall of 1857; near Fulton, Fulton County, fall of 1858, when they removed to Bremen, Marshall County. In the fall of 1859 he left his parents, and returned for one year to Huntingburg. In the fall of 1860 he rejoined his parents at East Germantown, Wayne County, and in the fall of 1861 they were at Dayton, Ohio. During these eight years he worked on various farms during the summer, but spending his winters at home, and making the best use of his time and such books as were within his reach. At Dayton, in the spring of 1863, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted in Company D, of the 2d Ohio Infantry, and was shortly after engaged with his regiment in chasing Morgan and quelling the noted Vallandigham riot at Dayton. After six months' service, he was dis- charged, and returned to Evansville, where he endeav- ored to learn the saddler's trade, but his health did not permit. He left Evansville in the spring of 1864, and returned to Huntingburg. January 25 he again en- listed, this time at Huntingburg, in Company E, 143d Indiana Volunteers, under command of the late gallant Colonel J. F. Grill. While in the service he at different times performed various officers' duty, though never holding a commission. When they reached Tullahoma,

Tennessee, he was detached from his company, and, upon the special selection of General M. A. M. Dudley, placed on his body-guard in the capacity of an orderly, a position he occupied until the division was ordered to Clarksville, Tennessee, where the company was mounted, and engaged in scouting, and ridding that section of guerrillas. While thus engaged, on the 17th of August,

he was severely wounded, disabling him for life, although the wound was not at the time considered very serious. It afterward developed into a life-long disability. He remained with his regiment, however, and did train- guard duty between Clarksville and Bowling Green. October 17 he, with the regiment, was mustered out, and proceeded to Indianapolis, where on the 26th of October, they were discharged. He then returned home to Huntingburg, arriving on the 2d of November, where he continued through the winter to recruit his health, which was very much broken. In the spring of 1866 he went to learn the wagon-maker's trade, and remained with his employer until he retired from business, a year after, when he removed to Evansville, and was employed in the wagon and carriage factory of C. Decker & Sons. April 12, 1868, he was married to Miss Louisa C. Beh- rens, daughter of Herman Behrens, one of the first set- tlers, and the first merchant in Huntingburg. They have one little daughter. During the summer of 1868, in the Grant and Seymour political campaign, there be- ing a battalion of veterans formed at Evansville, he was elected lieutenant-colonel, a just honor, he being at the time only twenty-one years of age. In the winter of 1868 his wound became so troublesome as to unfit him for manual labor, and he was consequently forced to aban- don his occupation. Through the influence and interest of his former employers he secured a position in January, 1869, as deputy real estate appraiser of Vanderburg County, and served in that capacity with credit to him- self and profit to the county. While thus engaged his wound became so bad that he was obliged to abandon his position, and was confined to his bed for several months. January 1, 1870, he was appointed deputy assessor by the late William Warren, senior, then as- sessor of Pigeon Township. In April, 1870, he received the Republican nomination for city assessor of Evans- ville, and was elected by a large majority. In October, 1870, he was chosen township assessor, holding that office until April 1872, when he was elected to the office of city clerk, at the age of twenty-five, being the young- est man who ever held that important place. It is the second official position in a city of some forty thousand inhabitants. This is a conclusive evidence of the trust and confidence reposed in him for ability, capacity, and honesty. He had become one of the prominent politi- cians of Evansville, but his health again failing cut short, for the time being, all his political aspirations. In politics he is an ardent Republican, and has always taken an active and earnest part in the interests of his party. He was occupied during the remainder of his residence in Evansville as assignee of various estates. In the fall of 1876, on account of his aged parents, he being their only child, he returned to Huntingburg, where he exerted considerable political influence, the county being the strongest proportionate Democratic

yours Truly, A. Simonsen.

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county in the state, and he being a Republican. Since then the party has been gaining in strength and num- bers, and it now includes many of the best and most prominent citizens. May 28, 1877, he was commissioned by the President postmaster of Huntingburg, which po- sition he most ably fills. In taking charge of the office he thoroughly revolutionized the system, and has in his short term of service doubled the amount of mail, and considerably increased and extended mail facilities, hav- ing one of the best arranged and ordered offices in the state, thereby winning for himself many friends, re- gardless of differences in political faith. He is chair- man of the county central committee and delegate to the Republican state convention, and is recognized as one of the leaders of the Republican party in his sec- tion of the state. Few men of his age have attained so much prominence or exert as much influence. Al- though a stanch party man, yet he never allows his political opinions to run to bitterness, and hence is pop- ular with both sides. The physical disabilities from which he suffers, which have compelled him to aban- don manual labor, have caused him to give considerable time and attention to his education, which had been much neglected in his earlier life, and his industry has enabled him to gain much that he needed. He is most truly what may be termed a "self-made" as well as "representative man." He has a good personal appear- ance, and is an intelligent and courteous gentleman.

HERROD, JAMES H., M. D., of Paoli, Indiana, was born near Lexington, Virginia, June 18, 1816, and is the eldest son of Robert W. and Jane (Holden) Sherrod. His father was a farmer and school-teacher, and served as a soldier in the War of 1812; and his grandfathers, on both sides, were soldiers in the Revolutionary War. His early life was spent on the farm and in attending school at Lexington. In 1835 he entered the state university at Charlottesville, Vir- ginia, and graduated in the spring of 1845 from the medical department. During this time he spent several years in practice in Rockbridge County, Virginia. In 1849 he moved to the West, stopping at Paoli, Orange County, Indiana, to visit his brother. He was induced to remain all winter with his sister, while his brother attended a session of the Legislature, and in the spring had built up so good a practice that he decided to make that place his home. He continued to practice his pro- fession until 1870, when he opened a drug-store, and partially retired, having at this time the most extensive practice of any physician in the county. He was mar- ried, February 29, 1854, to Elizabeth Rigmy, daughter of a wealthy farmer of Orange County. They had one son living, William F., who, having begun the study of

medicine, is now a clerk in his father's store. Mrs. Sherrod died May 1, 1867; and the Doctor was married to his present wife, Miss Maggie Scott, daughter of an Orange County farmer, October 26, 1870. By her he had one daughter, Maud I. He was reared in the Method- ist Episcopal faith, and in political matters is a stanch and trustworthy Democrat. Doctor Sherrod is well and favorably known in Southern Indiana, and his home is noted for its elegance and refinement. His hospitality is unbounded, and he is regarded truly as a gentleman of the old Virginia school. He has, in various ways, done much to develop the farming interests of the county, and towards the building up of the town of Paoli, and no man stands higher in the esteem of her citizens than Doctor Sherrod.

IMONSON, ALFRED, merchant, Edwardsport, Knox County, Indiana, was born in that county and state, October 1, 1815. His early life was one of continued privation and hardship. He worked unceasingly at various kinds of manual labor, but was more especially employed in spinning cotton, under the direction and for the benefit of his mother. When about the age of sixteen he was employed by the neigh- bors during harvest, at a compensation of seven or eight dollars per month, returning to the spinning-wheel in unfavorable weather. It will naturally be inferred that under such circumstances as the above there was little or no opportunity for attending school. In fact, young Simonson enjoyed but two or three weeks of schooling, which was in a rude log school-house. By the strictest economy he was daily saving from his meager wages, and at the age of twenty-two was enabled to purchase a team. Soon afterward he rented a farm from Nathan Bascum, in Daviess County, and began life's battle for himself. This was the initial step to a prosperous and successful career. At the close of the first season he traded his team for lumber, with which he built a flat- boat for the transportation of grain to New Orleans. After loading his boat he succeeded in effecting a prof- itable sale to parties at Washington, Indiana. Imme- diately after this transaction he purchased a tract of land in Daviess County, to which he removed with his newly-made wife. Mr. Simonson cultivated this land with great industry and economy for four years, being also interested in boat-building on White River, during the winter and spring. Early in 1846 he removed to Edwardsport and engaged in mercantile pursuits, at first occupying as a salesroom a very unpretentious one- story frame building, whose dimensious were sixteen by eighteen feet. As a merchant he has since continued, and until 1860 carried on in addition boat-building and pork-packing. He was also engaged in loading flat-

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boats for the markets of the sunny South. He made many profitable trips to the lower Mississippi River towns. His first experience on the stream was as a hand at low wages in the employ of John Cawood. In 1848 he formed a partnership with Francis P. Bradley, which continued for two years. Since 1870 he has been associated with. his son, Jefferson G. Simonson. Mr. Simonson never held a public office excepting that of trustee of Steel Township, Daviess County, during one term, although often strongly solicited to do so. He joined Charity Lodge, No. 30, Free and Accepted Masons, at Washington, Indiana, in 1848, and is still an honored member of that benevolent fraternity. He is the treasurer of Edwardsport Lodge, No. 427, and was one of its charter members. He has always been a steadfast member of the Democratic party. In mat- ters of religion he holds to the Cumberland Presbyte- rian faith, though he is not a member of any Church. He contributes liberally to all alike. He is a man of great public spirit, always taking a prominent part in every movement calculated to advance the moral, relig- ious, or material prosperity of his town and county. He was the prime mover in organizing and building the graded school of Edwardsport. His sympathy for the poor and lowly is great, and his acts of charity are innumerable. In matters of business he maintains the most rigid standard of honor ; his word being univer- sally regarded as equivalent to his bond. As a result of his industry and perseverance, he is now the pos- sessor of a large landed estate, free from incumbrance, and a handsome brick store containing a large stock of goods. November 11, 1841, he was married to Miss Sarah Perkins, daughter of Reuben Perkins, who still survives. He is the father of ten children, eight of whom are living.

MITH, DOCTOR HUBBARD M., physician and surgeon, of Vincennes, Indiana, was born in Win- chester, Kentucky, September 6, 1820. His father, Willis R. Smith, was appointed a lieutenant in the army, and settled at Winchester, Kentucky, where he became acquainted with and married Elizabeth W. Tay- lor, daughter of Hubbard Taylor, senior, who came out to Kentucky from Virginia with General Knox. They were on a surveying expedition, and settled in Clark County, then a wilderness, about the year 1780. His father and mother are descended from some of the best families of Virginia and Kentucky, numbering among them the following named presidents: Washington, Mad- ison, and Taylor. His father, after resigning his po- sition as lieutenant, settled in Winchester and engaged in mercantile pursuits; and when, at the close of the War of 1812, the great monetary crash came on, he had a large stock of goods on hand and three stores.

Owing to the sudden and great fall in prices, he became financially ruined. Following this disaster his health became impaired, and he remained an invalid up to his death. In 1850 he removed to Missouri, where he died, his consort surviving him until 1868. The subject of this sketch, owing to the misfortunes of his father, was unable to attend college. He received the rudiments of his education in the country schools of his neighbor- hood, which he attended in winter, laboring on the farm during the summer months. When he arrived at the age of fourteen, seeing the struggles of his father to support a family of ten children, he voluntarily left his home to seek a maintenance by his own exertion. He apprenticed himself to James Woodward, in Winchester, who was engaged in the saddlery business, remaining with him until he sold out his establishment. He after- wards worked at his trade until about the age of twenty, using such spare time as he had in study and reading, when his fondness for learning and the necessity for maintenance induced him to engage in teaching, and finally in the study of medicine. After reading a year or two he attended the Medical Department of Transyl- vania University, at Lexington, Kentucky, after which he engaged in the practice of medicine at Warsaw, Kentucky, for eighteen months. During this time he was married to Miss Nannie W. Pendleton, youngest daughter of the late General Edmund Pendleton, of Clark County, Kentucky. At this time the Doctor, feeling the want of greater proficiency in his profession, attended the Starling Medical College, at Columbus, Ohio, where he took his degree early in 1848. In May, 1849, he removed to Vincennes, Indiana, where he has been engaged in the practice of medicine almost con- tinually ever since. In 1858 he purchased the Vin- cennes Gazette, and conducted it as a daily for about six months; but, finding it unremunerative, he dis- continued the daily issue, continuing the weekly and semi-weekly until 1861, when he was ap- pointed postmaster at Vincennes, Indiana, by Presi- dent Lincoln. At the expiration of his term he re- ceived a reappointment, which he held until May, 1869, when, upon the accession of the administration of General Grant, he was rotated out of office. A vast majority of the citizens desired his retention, but he had already held the office two terms, and, the soldier element becoming clamorous, the President yielded to the pressure, and the Doctor failed in a reappointment. He had for the preceding eight years given little atten- tion to his profession, but he now resumed its practice, and has steadily gained upon his competitors until to-day he enjoys the largest business of any physician in Knox County. Having a literary taste, Doctor Smith found time amid his arduous duties to cultivate his love for poetry, and for many years contributed articles to the leading magazines and newspapers of the East and West.

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At one time he was a regular contributor to the Ladies' National Magazine, Louisville Journal, Philadelphia Saturday Courier, etc., etc. His earlier productions were given to the press under the nom de plume of Ulric, but his later communications appear in his own name. Doctor Smith holds the honorable position of member of the board of trustees of Vincennes University, and trustee of the Presbyterian Church of Vincennes. He is also a member of the State Medical Society, the Tri- state Medical Society of Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, and of the American Medical Association. He has con- tributed various articles to medical journals of the West. He is the father of six children, four sons and two daughters. The eldest son for the last five years has been a clerk in the War Department, and has just re- ceived an appointment as consul and commercial agent for the United States at Carthagena, Columbia, South America. The second son is a clerk in the War De- partment ; the third is a student at Hanover College, in Indiana; the fourth, a boy of eighteen, is a member of the senior class at Vincennes University. His eldest daughter attended school at the Vincennes University, and at College Hill, Ohio, and the younger is a grad- uate of the Vincennes University. For the last three years Doctor Smith has been the surgeon and pension officer at this point. He is regarded as one of the most intelligent gentlemen of the city, and, although he came to Vincennes an entire stranger and almost penniless, yet, by gentlemanly bearing and strict atten- tion to business, he has acquired an enviable reputation in the city of his adoption, and no man stands higher in the estimation of the community.

MITH, DOCTOR WILLIAM Z., physician and surgeon, of Shoals, Indiana, was born at Hardings- burg, Washington County, Indiana, January II, 1838, his parents having been William H. and Margaret M. (Elliott) Smith. He assisted his father on the farm until he was eighteen, being unable at that age to read or write. Upon leaving home he began to study, and entered the Hardingsburg school, working for his board, clothing, and tuition. After remaining two years he taught for a time, and in 1857 entered the Asbury University, at Greencastle, where he spent a portion of three years, keeping up with his classes by private study while he was away teaching. During this time, in the winter and spring of 1857 and 1858, he also attended the course of lectures at the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati. In 1860 he returned to Greencastle and made a special study of Latin; and when the war broke out he enlisted, November 16, 1861, as a private in the 49th Infantry. He was afterwards appointed hospital steward, was soon commissioned assistant surgeon, and

finally rose to the rank of surgeon of the regiment, serv- ing until June, 1864. He then resigned, returned home, and commenced the practice of his profession at Shoals, where he has since resided. In 1870 and 1871 he at- tended the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, and graduated in the spring of the latter year. He was married, August 28, 1864, to Charlotte M. Sholtz, daughter of a wealthy farmer of Martin County, by whom he has had two children. His daughter, twelve years of age, is her father's pride, standing at the head of her classes at school, and being also a natural musician. In political matters Doctor Smith is a stanch and active Republican. He was reared in the Baptist faith. He is highly respected as a citizen, and regarded as one of the leading physicians of Martin County, where he is well known as a clever, genial gentleman. He is now holding the position of United States pension surgeon, and is also a frequent contributor to the different med- ical journals of the country.

MITH, CAPTAIN SAMUEL M., merchant, of Washington, Indiana, was born January 30, 1836, five miles east of Washington, Daviess County, Indiana, and is a son of John and Rebecca (Cahill) Smith. His father was a farmer, and came to this county in 1815, being one of the early settlers. When Samuel was four years of age he lost his mother, and three years after his father died. From that time he was brought up by his grandfather, at Maysville, Daviess County. His means for obtaining an education were limited, having been confined to a few years' attendance at a winter school. At the age of fifteen he went to learn the blacksmith's trade with his uncle, Wilson Wy- koff, intending to remain until he was twenty-one. Finding him a hard task-master, however, he left at the expiration of two years. He then engaged to work for William Trantor at twelve dollars a month; but before he reached his twentieth year his wages were increased to fifty dollars a month, and at the age of twenty-one . he had accumulated six hundred dollars in cash. He then began business for himself, and continued it until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he raised a company and was elected second lieutenant. Being too late for the three months' service, the company was at- tached to the 24th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and soon after he was promoted to first lieutenant. The fol- lowing letter, written by his old colonel, gives a good idea of his military service :

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A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I, Part 22

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1038

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1038