USA > Indiana > Vanderburgh County > Evansville > A history of Evansville and Vanderburgh County, Indiana : a complete and concise account from the earliest times to the present, embracing reminiscences of the pioneers and biographical sketches of the men who have been leaders in commercial and other enterprises > Part 41
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Dr. John T. Walker was commissioned surgeon of the regiment August 13, 1861, was promoted to the rank of major October 20, 1862, and resigned January 10, 1864. The adjutant of the regiment from its muster into the service to March 7, 1862, was William H. Walker, Jr., and from July 5, 1862, to October 5, 1864, Captain Jesse W. Walker, who was honorably discharged and appointed captain and assistant adjutant-general, and who rendered valuable service to this country as citizen and soldier.
Alexander H. Foster and Henry M. Sweetzer, both long identified with the business interests of Evansville, were quartermasters, the former from August 10, 1861, at which time he was promoted from quartermaster to sergeant, to January 15, 1862, when his resignation was accepted. Jesse Walker served as chaplain of the regiment from November 25, 1864, until its muster out of service. The other field and staff officers were from the adjoining counties. A band of twenty- six pieces was mustered in with the regiment but was discharged soon afterwards. Wheeler Dexter, of Evansville, was mustered as com- missary sergeant. He died at New Harmony, August 23, 1861.
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HON. F. W. COOK.
Frederick Washington Cook was born at Washington, District of Columbia, February 1, 1832, and when a young boy he removed with his parents to Port Deposit, Cecil county, Maryland. After a resi- dence of about three years at this place, they removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1836 to Evansville. In 1837 the stepfather of Mr. Cook, Jacob Rice, bought property in Lamasco, near the terminus of the Wabash and Eric canal, which was then in course of construction, and in the same year built what was later known as the "Old Brewery," the first brewery built in Southern Indiana.
Mr. Cook was cdncated in Evansville, also attending the "Anderson Collegiate Institute ' at New Albany, Indiana. His first business en- gagement was with Mr. L. W. Heberd, who was at that time in the dry goods business on Main street. Mr. Cook retained this position for two years, until the death of his brother, when he was taken home by his parents to learn the brewing business. In 1853 Mr. Cook, in conjunction with Louis Rice, a brother of his stepfather, built the city brewery on the site occupied by the F. W. Cook Brewing Co., of to- day. The premises at that time were surrounded by a corn field. When they began business, the cash capital of the firm was $330, Louis Rice having accumulated $165 and Mr. Cook's father advanc- ing him an equal amount. Louis Rice attended to the brewing de- partment and Mr. Cook to the business and financial department. In 1857 Louis Rice sold his interest in the brewery to Jacob Rice for $3,500. The new firm at once commenced the erection of a lager beer cellar, and in 1858 made the first lager beer in Southern Indiana. In 1858 an extensive malt-house was also added to the brewery property.
Mr. Cook was elected councilman for the Fifth ward in April, 1856, and for the Eighth ward in April, 1863. He was re-elected in April, 1864, but resigned in the fall of 1864, having been elected as repre- sentative from Vanderburgh county to the legislature of Indiana. In this capacity he served during the called session of 1864, and also during the regular session of 1864-5. After his return home in 1867, the people again showed their appreciation of his public services by electing him to the city council from the Fourth ward, and it may be said of him that both in the city council and legislature his public services have been satisfactory to his constituents and have been per- formed with great credit to himself.
In 1856 Mr. Cook was married to Miss Lonise Hild, of Louisville, Kentucky, who died in February, 1877. He was again married to
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Miss Jennie Himeline, of Kelley's Island, Ohio, in November, 1879. This lady died in January, 1885. Mr. Cook steadily built additions to the brewery and enlarged it from year to year; also procuring all the modern improvements known to the art of brewing.
Mr. Rice, the stepfather and partner of Mr. Cook, met with an accident in April, 1872, and died on the 3rd of May following from the injuries received, and Mrs. Rice, his mother, died the 6th day of November, 1878, leaving Mr. Cook the sole heir to the eity brewery. The business was continued under the old firm name of Cook & Rice until 1885, when it was ineerparated with F. W. Cook as president, under the laws of the State of Indiana as the F. W. Cook Brewing Company, which name is not only identified with the growth of Evans- ville, but known far and wide in the southern and eastern states. On December 3, 1891, the brew-house and offices of the F. W. Cook Brewing Co., were destroyed by fire. Hardly had the smoke eleared away and the ashes cooled before arrangements for a modern building were being perfected. The offices of the Brewing Company were tem- porarily removed to 706 Main street. In March, 1893, the new brew- house, one of the most modern and perfectly arranged brew-houses in the United States, was completed and the offices were again moved to their commodions quarters in the new building. The construction of this magnificent and imposing brew-house, with a capacity of 300,- 000 barrels annually, is an evidence on the part of Mr. Cook of his confidenee in the future of Evansville.
It is safe to say that there is no more energetie or ambitious man engaged in the manufacturing or any other line of business than Mr. Cook. Few names are as well-known as his, which is synonymous with advancement, only wanting an opportunity to meet any exigeney. He has taken a prominent part up to the last two years at the meet- ings of the brewers' national association, the wealthiest co-operative body in the world, and his suggestions have always been listened to by that august body with the profoundest respect. Mr. Cook certainly deserves the great eredit he has achieved. He is the architect of his own fortune and is to-day one of the representative men of Evans- ville, who ranks as one of the wealthiest men in Indiana. His pleas- ant face and his sympathetic manner are characteristic of the man. While devoting striet attention to business, Mr. Cook finds time to attend to the duties devolving upon him as president of . the Evans- ville, Newburgh and Suburban railway, also of the District Telegraph company, and also of the F. W. Cook Investment company. The latter concern owns a great deal of real estate, one piece being Cook's
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Park, which is one of the finest summer resorts in the country, con- sisting of seventeen acres within the city limits, on which has been erected a handsome club house. Mr. Cook is a director in the Citizens' National bank, and also in the Bank of Commerce. From the above it is evident that Mr. Cook ranks as a citizen of great influence. Although sixty-five years of age he possesses a splendid physical structure, and has before him a business career which for its lustre and brilliancy must eclipse even his own past, which stands pre- eminent for its remarkable success. His acts of charity and benevo- lence have been extended to thonsands. Equally liberal has he shown himself in all enterprises tending to benefit the general public and the welfare of the city of Evansville.
On further consideration of this biography of Mr. Cook, and re- viewing the facts as known well by others, and investigating his course as written in the history of Evansville and the state of Indiana, I would add an additional remark, which I think necessary and just. His public-spirited beneficence has always been accompanied by a broad, praiseworthy wish to benefit Evansville and its citizens. They have been many and continuous, as have also been their kindly influence and special good, a fact observed in the undisguished blessings returned to him by the recipients of his benefactions. And then as a citizen among ns, he has always been an acknowledged leader in public enter- prises, and in whatever else would enhance the general welfare of all. His liberal hand has been proverbial. His influence has been seen and felt in every pulse of the city's industrial life. It has been a car- dinal economical principal with him all along his business life to keep his capital active and working, and thus give employment to others. As an active, successful business man, he stands the peer of any in the city ; indeed he rather leads in this respect the more prominent ones in Sonthern Indiana. His energies are untiring, and, in fact, seem to grow greater with each year of his eventful lite.
SAMUEL ORR.
Samuel Orr came to Evansville in 1835, from Pittsburgh, Pa., in the interests of the iron business of Alcx. Laughlin & Co. In fact, he was a partner of this concern. His place of business was situated on the corner of Water and Vine streets, near where Orr & Griffith now are. His residence was near the corner of Second and Division streets, in a frame honse owned and built by Amos Clark. For many years he
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supplied the surrounding country with iron of all descriptions for the manufacture of wagons and blacksmiths' supplies. Besides the iron business, Mr. Orr was also engaged in pork-packing, which he con- ducted on an exceedingly large scale. His packing-house was near the corner of Water and Division streets. It was one of the first pork- packing establishments in the town. He was the principal purchaser in southern Indiana. Posey, Gibson, Warrick and Vanderburgh counties found a ready market for their hogs.
Throughout all this country Samuel Orr was universally known as an upright business man in all of his dealings, his word being as good as his note in all agreements and contracts. He was prosperous in every undertaking of life, and he used the fruits of that prosperity to bless the community in which he lived, contributing largely to benev- olent institutions, and giving liberally to the poor. It can truthfully be said of Mr. Orr that he was never idle, never a pleasure-seeker, and never known to leave his home or place of business, except on some errand necessary to the interests of his own business affairs or those of the town. He was strict in all of his religious observances, and never let his business interfere with his duties to his church. He regarded the Sabbath as a day of rest, set aside for the worship of God, and he so observed it He was one of those model men, so much needed in pioneer times, and his moral influence was powerful for good over those around him in his business life. He made annual donations to the asylums and institutions for the poor in this vicinity. On Christ- mas day they all had a day of feasting and rejoicing-the gift of his generous hand. He was the personification of honesty and liberality. There never was a man iu Evansville who lived a better life than did Samuel Orr, and his death was regarded by all with deep sorrow and regret.
His name has been referred to in this history in different official capacities. It has become so linked and interwoven with the growth and prosperity of the good institutions of this city that their history could not be truthfully written except it bear eloquent testimony to his nobility and generosity. His memory will survive the city which he did so much to benefit.
THE INDIANA BRANCH OF THE STINCHFIELD FAMILY.
[Written by one of the family in 1883.]
Daniel Stinchfield, the head and father of our wide-spread family, was born in the town of New Gloucester, in the state of Maine, on the
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11th day of March, A. D. 1783. His father's name was James. He also was born in the town of New Gloucester. The father of James was John Stinchfield, who came from Leeds, England, and settled in New Gloucester, Mass. From there he moved to New Gloucester, Maine. From all we can learn, he seems to be the only one of the name that ever came to America to make a home there, and he is doubtless the founder of the Stinchfield family in America. There is a tradition that the founder of our family-undoubtedly John-sailed from Belfast, Ireland, when a mere boy for America, and that the proper name of the boy was Litchfield, but he being young, careless and illiterate, the name was written Stinchfield by those who made out his shipping papers, and that he never corrected the mistake and thus originated the name which we now bear. This belief is strengthened by the fact that the name of Stinchfield is not kuown in Ireland or England. If this tradition be true, we are purely an American fam- ily, and the only one on the face of the earth of our name, and that old Grandfather John, who settled at New Gloucester, Maine, is the present stem of our people who have spread over the United States and the British possessions of, America.
In the year 1808, when Daniel was twenty-five years of age, he left his home and traveled west on foot, to seek a fortune and find a home in the limitless wilds of the far west. That year he came to the vil- lage of Cincinnati, Ohio, which at that time was too small and insig- nifleant to be graced by the name of city. Here he seemed to have lived for some time, following any occupation that was honest and remunerative. While here he worked for a long time for Nicolaus Longworth, then a poor man, but who, by perseverence and industry, afterward became rich and died a millionaire. In the carly days of the west the commerce of the country was carried on by means of fleets of keelboats and flatboats. Railroads and steamboats were then unknown. A trip to New Orleans and back to Cincinnati consumed several months' time by this slow mode of travel. Large, flat, square-ended boats were loaded with the produce of the country and floated down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, which was at that time the sole market for all the western countries. The produce taken down the river on the flatboats was exchanged for goods that would suit the wants of the people of the towns and settlements on the upper rivers. These goods were placed upon keelboats, which as the name implies, were built with keels, something in the shape of the steam- boats of the present day, but small enough to be propelled by man power against the strong currents of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
For self-protection against the bands of lawless men, who at this early day infested the districts of the western rivers for the purpose of rob- bery, and for mutual assistance to each other in times of difficulties, the boats went in fleets, and were called " fleets of keelers." Their progress was very slow and the manner of propelling them was mostly by long poles. Of course they were obliged to hug the shore where the water was shallow, that the long keel would touch the bottom or bed of the river. Where this mode was not practicable they resorted to what they called "cordelling." A line four or five hundred feet long was carried up the stream in a skiff and fastened to a tree, and the boat was drawn to the upper end of the line by means of a capstan or windlass attached to the boat, when the line was again run out and the operation repeated until poles could be used. This mode of run- ning a keelboat from New Orleans to Cincinnati usually took from two to three months. The time was of course governed by the difficulties encountered on the way. In this laborious business the subject of this sketch was engaged for several years. Sometimes after taking a flat- boat to New Orleans the crew of the flat would not engage to go back by way of the river on the keels, when they would be compelled to foot it back to Cincinnati, across the states, or what is now Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. On this route, which they ironically named the "foot and walker's line," they were obliged to go in bodies large enough to repel any attack that John A. Murrell, who was then a dreaded robber of the western territories, might make upon them with his band of thieves and cut-throats. When steam power had been substituted for man power in propelling boats against the current of the western rivers, the days of keelboats were ended, but for many years after the puffing of the steamers was first heard on the western rivers the great bulk of the produce from the upper country was conveyed to New Orleans in the flatboats. The writer of this has seen a dozen of these ungainly crafts floating awkwardly down the . current of the Ohio river at one time. As late as 1850 "flatboat pilots" were men of much importance in the boating season, and always com- manded good wages. The rush in the business was, of course, in the early winter, after the immense crops of corn were gathered and ready for shipment. Corn was the great staple of the western country that found its way to New Orleans, but hay, pork, live stock, fruit, lumber, staves for barrels, and immense quantities of coal from the Alleghenies were taken down the rivers and found a ready market at New Orleans.
In this business Daniel Stinchfield, the subject of this sketch, was engaged until about 1835, usually making one or two trips during the
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boating season. The introduction of steamboats facilitated and greatly shortened the return trip. In 1811 he was with a fleet of keel boats at New Madrid, Mo., at the time of a severe earthquake which gave the western and some of the southern states quite a terrible shaking up. The quake was heavier at New Madrid and vicinity than at any other place. The swamps and lakes baek of New Madrid, now known by the name of "Sunken Lands," comprising many thousand acres, were caused by this severe earthquake. I have heard him speak of this freak of nature as being frightful to behold. The broad Mississippi river, usually so mild in appearance, in a moment became like the ocean in a storm ; great waves swept over the river bank, large trees that had been imbedded in the sands of the river bed for years were hurled from their resting places, and tossed about like straws on the seething, murky waters. The surface of the ground seemed to run in waves like the swells of the ocean; great fissures opened in the earth of cousiderable width and unknown depth. The shock came so suddenly, and scene so terrible to look upon, that many of the rough boatmen imagined that it was the end of the world, and that the summons had come for them to appear at the judgment bar of God. All ceased their swearing, some were speechless, and some tried to pray-probably the first attempt they had ever made-and all were badly frightened. Daniel, like his illustrious namesake of Bible fame, was a praying man, as his habit had been to pray morning and night. He was a firm believer in the power of prayer. This duty he never neglected, although surrounded by the wild, reckless, wicked men who comprised the boatmen of the Mississippi. In relating these circumstances, he said : "When the earthquake shock struek such terror into the hearts of my fellow-boatmen, I was not at all frightened. I had always tried to live near to my God, and if He was ready to call me away I was ready to go. I examined the great cracks and fissures that the earthquake had made along the shore, and went down into one of them where I knelt down to pray to my God at Whose will the earth was made to tremble." His sober, honest, Christian bear- ing gained the confidence of the owners of the cargoes, and often when they went ashore on business or on a carouse, have they taken off their money belts and buckled them around his body, well knowing that their gold was perfectly safe in his keeping.
In 1813, after returning on foot from New Orleans to Cincinnati, he concluded to visit his native home at . New Gloucester, Maine, and accordingly started on foot to undertake the long journey. In this age of railroads and steamboats, with all the conveniences they afford,
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the journey from New Orleans to Maine afoot would be an immense undertaking, but to this hardy pioneer it seemed but a pleasure trip. On the 10th of September, after having finished his visit, he was trudging back to Cincinnati past Lake Erie when he heard the thunder- ing of Commodore Perry's guns that heralded that celebrated dispateh to General Harrison, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." After his return from his visit to Maine he met with a family of emi- grants from Vermont, who had settled at Covington, Kentucky, on the opposite side of the river from Cincinnati. The family whose name was Judkins, consisted of David Judkins, his wife, Lydia, and their children, Hiram, Mahetable, Roxany and Lewis. Roxany was then about fourteen years of age. She wished to attend school but had no books, and books in those days were hard to procure. Daniel loaned her what books he had in his possession and bought her others snitable for her stndies. These little acts of kindness must have ripened into love, for they were married at Covington, Kentucky, on the 26th day of May, 1816, he being in his thirty-fourth and she in her seventeenth year. The writer of this has often heard him say that the interest he received on that loan of books was the best interest he ever got, as it could not be computed iu dollars and cents, for he gained a loving, faithful wife more precious than gold and jewels. Soon after the marriage he settled in New Richmond, Clermont county, Ohio. His brother Mark, had previously come west with his family and had settled at the same place. He probably lived at New Richmond two or three years, as his eldest child was born there. About 1818 he dis- posed of his property at New Richmond, and taking his little family on board a small boat, they floated down the Ohio river to where the city of Evansville now stands. Here he landed and settled ten miles back from the river in Vanderburgh county. He lived at this place for about ten years, engaged in improving his farm and occasionally taking a trip to New Orleans during the boating season. About 1828 he moved back to New Richmond, Ohio, and remained there for about three years, when he again moved to his old home in Vanderburgh county, Indiana. While living at New Richmond, George, bis seventh child, was born. All the other children except David, the oldest, were born at his farm in Vanderburgh county, Indiana. Here he lived until 1848, when he sold his farm and moved to another farm he had pur- chased near Evansville, and which is at present-1897-a portion of this prosperous city. Here he lived the remainder of his days, and here he died on the 9th day of March, 1852, wanting but two days of being seventy years of age. 27
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Daniel Stinchfield was abont five feet, nine inches in height, and weighed about 160 pounds. He was somewhat stoop-shouldered, which made his height appear less than it actually was. His head was of medium size and his features large. His hair was brown, his eyes were blue and remarkable for their mild and benevolent expres- sion. His frame was well knit and capable of great endurance, pos- sessing unusual strengthi for one of his weight. In his younger days he said that he had never met but one man that brought him to the ground in wrestling, collar-and-elbow holds, an exercise that was practiced by the young men of his time. His nerves seemed to be formed of steel, for he could stand suffering and punishment with the stolidity of a wild Indian. One leading trait of his character was that he was absolutely void of fear. By this is not meant the hot- brained recklessness that characterizes the desperado, but that cool, quiet bravery that is prepared to combat danger when it presents itself, no matter in what shape or at what time. Although so fearless he was a quiet, peaceable man and never engaged in broils of any kind, nor did he ever associate with the boisterous, carousing faction of the pioneers of the west, which was a peculiar feature among the semi-civilized people who inhabited the west in those early days. In the belief of the supernatural he was a confirmed skeptic. One in- stance will illustrate a peculiar trait of his character in this respect. The writer of this remembers an old house located in an out-of-the- way place, which had been abandoned by an early settler. The win- dows were gone and the roof fallen in, and the briars and brush bad grown up in the little clearing that had been made, and a more lonely, desolate place could not be imagined. If there are such supernatural beings as ghosts, truly this was a fitting place for their abode. The place was said to be haunted. Stories were told of the strange 'sights seen there, and ghostly forms it was said would suddenly rise and speak to the passer-by in deep tones that seemed to come from another world. These supernatural beings were wont to appear at the dark hour of night when "ghosts do mostly walk." The writer rccollects that when a boy his fears were so wrought upon by the stories of the wonderful things seen and heard there that he never passed the place without breaking into a dead run, with hair standing on end. At this lonely place the subject of this sketch was in the habit of resting when traveling over the country. "Although I have visited this haunted house," said he, "at all hours of the night, I have never scen any form but my own, and have never heard any voice but my own, while on my knees asking God to banish from the hearts of my neigh-
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