USA > Indiana > Clark County > Baird's history of Clark County, Indiana > Part 41
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Politically he yields allegiance to the Democratic party as before indi- cated, the success of which in his own county is partly due to his judicious counsel and able leadership. He keeps in touch with the leading questions and issues of the day. In the broadest sense of the term he is a self-made man and he occupies a place of influence.
Mr. Ballard takes much interest in secret fraternal work and belongs to a number of organizations and societies, in all of which he has been honored with positions of trust and importance besides taking an active interest in the wider field of general state and national work. He is a charter member of the lodge of Red Men in Jeffersonville, and a past official in the same ; he be-
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longs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Although reared under the influence and teachings of the Christian church, with which his family were identified, he is a mem- ber of the Methodist church.
REV. JOHN SIMONSON HOWK, D. D.
·Pastor of the First Presbterian church of Jeffersonville, and one of the most learned and popular divines of his church in Indiana, is he whose name appears above, who is a native of Floyd county, this state, and a son of the late Hon. George Vail Howk, of New Albany, formerly a Judge of the Supreme Court and a jurist of national repute. The Howk family is of German origin, but settled in Massachusetts early in the eighteenth century and engaged in agricultural pursuits. Isaac Howk, the subject's grandfather, was born in that state, received a liberal education in Williams College and in 1817 located at Charlestown, Indiana, where he engaged in the practice of law. His wife, Elvira Vail, was a daughter of Dr. Gamaliel Vail, who moved from New Eng- land to Indiana Territory in 1806, and settled in Clark county.
Hon. George V. Howk was reared in Charlestown, graduated from As- bury University in 1846, studied law with Hon. Charles Dewey, a Judge of ' the Indiana Supreme Court, and was admitted to the bar in 1847, beginning the practice of his profession in New Albany, where he soon arose to eminence in his chosen calling. He filled various official positions and was long promi- nently before the public, serving as City Judge of New Albany, Common Pleas Judge, Circuit Judge and Representative to the General Assembly. In 1876 he was chosen one of the Judges of Indiana Supreme Court, which dis- tinguished position he held twelve years with credit to himself and to the honor of the state, and in which he achieved national repute as a learned and profound jurist. Judge Howk was twice married, the first time in 1848 to Eleanor, daughter of Judge Charles Dewey, of Charlestown, and in 1854 to Jane Simonson, daughter of Gen. John S. Simonson, of the United States army. The subject of this sketch is the only survivor of the family of eight children, born of these marriages. Charles D. and George V. Howk, Jr., brothers of the subject, were lawyers at New Albany, both dying in early manhood, and a sister, Jennie, also grew to years of maturity, the others dy- ing in infancy and childhood. Judge Howk was one of the leading Democrats of Indiana, and for many years filled a large place in public view. His pro- fessional and judicial careers were eminently honorable and distinguished and his life for many years closely identified with the history of his native state, made him distinctively one of the noted men of his day. He died at his home in New Albany January 13, 1892.
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Rev. John Simonson Howk was born May 28, 1863, and spent his early life in New Albany, receiving his elementary education in the public schools of the city. Manifesting an ardent desire for more thorough intellectual training, he was prepared for college under the tutorship of Miss Suda May, and in due time entered DePauw University, where he prosecuted his studies . until 1883, when he was graduated with the Degree of Bachelor of Arts. Subsequently in 1886 he received from the same institution the Degree of Master of Arts, and having taken up the study of theology in the meantime, and achieved high standing as a scholar and much more than ordinary suc- cess in the ministry, he was granted in the year 1896 the Degree of Doctor of Divinity, by his alma mater. Animated by a laudable ambition to attain the highest possible efficiency in his holy calling, he afterwards took a two years' post-graduate course in philosophy and ethics under Rev. Dr. McCosh, at Princeton University, and in 1888 he was graduated with an honorable record from the Princeton Theological Seminary, thus laying broad and deep a substantial foundation for his subsequent career in one of the noblest and most responsible fields of endeavor.
At one time Doctor Howk seriously contemplated entering the lagal pro- fession and to this end studied law under his father, and in due time was admitted to the bar, but after a year's practice he abandoned the business to devote his life to the Christian ministry. On May 17, 1887, he was licensed by the New Albany Presbytery, and on June 19th of the year following, was ordained by the Presbytery of New Castle, since which time he has given him- self unreservedly to his chosen calling, his first charges being the churches at Rehoboth and Pitts Creek, Maryland, where he labored with great acceptance from 1888 to 1898 inclusive. In the latter year he was chosen minister of the church at East Palestine, Ohio, but after a residence of a little more than a year at that place he resigned the pastorate to take charge of the First Pres- byterian church of Jeffersonville, of which he was duly installed pastor on the 19th day of October, 1899, and to which he has since ministered with marked ability and happy results as the growth of the congregation in all lines of ac- tivity abundantly attests. Doctor Howk's labors in Jeffersonville have been highly creditable to himself and satisfactory to his congregation, presenting a series of successes which have tended greatly to the strengthening of the church temporally and spiritually, and making it one of the most prosperous Presbyterian organizations in the southern part of the state. Fruitful in ex- pedients, he has introduced a number of reforms calculated to arouse the latent energies of the members and develop their usefulness along practical lines, not the least of which was a Presbyterian Brotherhood he established five years before the national organization of the same name went into effect. This society, which has fully realized the object for which intended, has been of al- most inestimable value by keeping alive an interest in religious and benevolent
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work, while at its sessions many subjects of vital importance to the church as well as ways and means for the general dissemination of the cause of Christ, are considered and discussed. He was also instrumental in organizing the Thomas Posey Post, Presbyterian Brotherhood Cadets, for the purpose of en- listing the interest of the boys of his congregation by means of Bible study, athletics, physical training, healthful amusements, etc., the success of the en- terprise more than meeting his expectations and proving a sure safeguard against the many alluring temptations and evils to which the youth and young men of cities are subjected.
During the past nine years Doctor Howk has been secretary of the home missionary work of the New Albany Presbytery, and as such has been un- tiring in his efforts to advance its interest and plant churches and Sunday schools in destitute fields. He was a commissioner of the General Assembly in 1893 and 1903 respectively, and for several years served as chairman of the Sunday school work of the Baltimore Synod, comprising the states of Dela- ware, Maryland and the District of Columbia. He keeps in close touch with his denomination and everything relating thereto, is influential in its public assemblages and stands high in the esteem of his fellow ministers and co- workers, besides enjoying the confidence of the public irrespective of faith or creed. While loyal to the church of his choice, the faith and practice of which he justifies by reason and history, showing that its object and aim both appeal to and receive the sanction of all fair-minded persons, he is by no means nar- row in his views, perceiving good in all religious organizations and being ready at all times to co-operate with his brother ministers of other bodies in the laudable work of the world's evangelization.
Doctor Howk is not unknown in the domain of literature, having con- tributed a number of articles, chiefly of a religious and historical character, to the different magazines and periodicals. While pastor of the old church at Rehoboth, Maryland, he discovered and secured the history of the first Presbyterian organization on the American continent, which appears to have been established as early as 1683, by Rev. Francis Makenzie, who ministered to the little band of worshipers for many years. Collecting all available data bearing on this church, the doctor wrote a very interesting history of the birth- place of Presbyterianism in the United States, the sketch proving one of the most valuable additions to church literature in recent years. He has also writ- ten not a few poems of decided merit and a number of hymns which have appeared from time to time in various religious and secular journals, all of his literary productions finding ready publishers and appreciative readers.
The doctor's fraternal relations include the Phi Gamma Delta college fra- ternity, Jeffersonville Lodge, No. 240, Free and Accepted Masons ; R. S. Tag- gart Camp, Sons of Veterans of East Palestine, Ohio, and the Indiana Society, Sons of the American Revolution, being eligible to membership in the last
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named organization through his great-great-grandfather, Colonel William Edmonson, who was second in command at King's Mountain and dis- tinguished himself by bravery and gallantry in that and other battles. His maternal grandfather, Gen. John S. Simonson, was a soldier in the War of 1812 and the war with Mexico, and bore a distinguished part in the Civil war from 1861 to 1866, besides serving a number of years in the frontier against various hostile Indian tribes. He was a soldier by profession, rose by successive promotions from private to the rank of general and was noted for fearlessness and bravery in action as well as for strict discipline as a com- mander.
Doctor Howk was married at New Albany to May Lorraine Collins, daughter of Henry H. and Mary (Scribner) Collins, both residents of New Albany, and representatives of the early pioneer families of that city and well and favorably known in social and religious circles. Mrs. Howk was reared and educated in her native city, graduating from the high school with the class of 1886. Doctor and Mrs. Howk have two daughters, Margaret, born March 12, 1890, at Pocomoke, Maryland, and Mary Simonson, whose birth oc- curred at the same place on March 31st of the year 1895, both being students at Hanover College. Doctor Howk has been a trustee of Hanover College since 1905, and his interest and activity in educational work is secondary only to his ministerial and religious duties.
Since October, 1908, Doctor and Mrs. Howk have moved to Hanover to be with their children, and Doctor Howk has engaged in general evan- gelistic work.
JOHN C. ZULAUF.
The fact that this name appears in the city directory of Jeffersonville is due to a somewhat romantic episode, involving a rather interesting chapter in the history of Southern Indiana. Many years before the Civil war a wealthy citizen of Switzerland, by the name of Fischli, pre-empted a large amount of land near Seymour, and owned other extensive tracts near Jef- fersonville. At that time the law of Indiana prohibited the inheritance of land by foreign heirs, and at the death of the original owner the estate escheated to the school fund of the commonwealth by provision of the statute. To recover lands John Zulauf, a distant relative of Fischli, was employed to come to America. He was born in Switzerland, in 1818, and obtained a collegiate education, spoke six languages and altogether was an unusually well informed man. He spent several years in clerical occupations in some of the factories and banks in different parts of Europe, including one year in the bank at Mar- seilles, France, and several years in the large manufactories at Birmingham,
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England. His employment as attorney for the Fischli heirs brought him to Clark county, in 1846, and the extent and complications of the business neces- sitated his remaining in this country for many years. Realizing that he had become a fixture he opened a lace and silk importing store on Fourth street, Louisville, in 1848, and was appointed Swiss consul to the western states. By the exercise of much diplomacy as well as skill and legal ability, he man- aged after a protracted struggle against powerful and influential opposition to save the Fischli estate for the heirs. During these complicated transactions and delays he often returned to his native land and while there, in 1857, was married to Wilhelmina Schoch, daughter of a prominent government official of Bavaria. In 1861 he brought his wife and eldest daughter to Jefferson- ville, but a year or two later, when the Northern and Southern armies were closing on Louisville, he sent his family back to Switzerland. The entire family returned from Europe in 1865 and settled permanently in Jefferson- ville, where the father died in 1873.
John C. Zulauf, one of his father's four children, was born in Switzer- land, October 26, 1864, soon after his mother's return from the United States. His father did not see him until he was about a year old, when he was brought back to Jeffersonville with the rest of the family, of which he was the first son. He grew up in Jeffersonville and in 1885 was graduated from DePauw University, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1886 he re- ceived the degree of Bachelor of Laws from the Louisville Law School and subsequently took a special course in the law department of Harvard Univer- sity. Admitted to the bar in 1887 he entered actively into the practice of his profession at Jeffersonville, continuing alone until 1888, when he formed a partnership with Judge George W, Howk, of the Supreme Court of Indiana, with offices in New Albany and Jeffersonville. In 1894 he became vice-presi- dent of the Citizens' National Bank, was elected president of that institution in 1904 and three years later was made president of the Citizens' Trust Com- pany. In many ways he has been prominent in the business affairs of Clark and Floyd counties, being recognized as a public-spirited citizen of great energy and enterprise and excellent judgment. He was a director of the Louisville and Jeffersonville Bridge Company, and made several trips to Washington to obtain rights of way for the bridge across the river at the most suitable landing place on the Jeffersonville side. He was president and business manager of the Ohio Falls Street Car Company, organized to con- struct and run a line in Jeffersonville and composed of Louisville and Jeffer- sonville capitalists. Mr. Zulauf has also been quite prominent in politics, as a Republican. In 1892 he was candidate for Joint Senator from Clark, Scott and Jennings county, but owing to the great preponderance in the opposition majority was defeated. In 1904 he was chairman of the Republican Dis- trict Committee, and in 1906 was a member of the Republican State Central
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Committee. In 1908 he was a delegate to the Republican National Conven- tion at Chicago, that nominated Taft and Sherman.
In 1896 Mr. Zulauf married Agnes, daughter of Dr. W. D. and Matilda (Koehler) Hutchings, of Madison, Indiana. They have two daughters, Agnes and Elizabeth. The family's religious affiliations are with the St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal church, of which Mr. Zulauf has been vestryman since 1888.
WILLIAM A. RUBEY.
Of sterling New England ancestry and inheriting many of the sturdy qualities for which the people of that historic section of the country have been distinguished, the subject of this sketch although young in years has ' achieved success in the dual capacity of professional and business life. Wil- liam A. Rubey, attorney at law and secretary of the Denhard, Rubey Com- pany, dealers in furniture and a kindred line of goods, is a native of the old and time-honored town of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where his birth occurred on the 23d of September, 1872, being the third of a family of seven children whose parents, Albert B. and Fannie E. (Hoyt) Rubey, were also born and reared in the Nutmeg state.
Albert B. Rubey is a merchant and manufacturer at Bridgeport, Con- necticut, and one of the leading business men and representative citizens of that city. Of his family of two sons and five daughters, all but one of the latter are living, their names being as follows: Georgie, wife of O. V. Smith, of Milford, Connecticut; William A., of this review; Lena M. died in her twenty-second year; Sarah, now Mrs. Edwin R. Hampton, lives at New Ha- ven, Connecticut, where her husband is practicing law; Elizabeth married Harry C. Gates and resides at Bridgeport; Albert B. is engaged in the auto- mobile business at Springfield, Massachusetts, and Ethel, now Mrs. Walter Griffith, is still under the parental roof.
The early life of William A. Rubey was cast in pleasant places. As soon as old enough he entered the schools of his native city, where under the direc- tion of capable teachers, he made commendable progress and attained high standing as a close and diligent student. He remained in the state of his birth until eighteen years of age, at which time ( 1891) he came to Louisville, Ken- tucky, moving to Jeffersonville, Indiana, in 1900, to prosecute his legal studies in the Jefferson School of Law, Louisville, which institution he attended until completing the prescribed course and receiving his degree. With a mind well dis- ciplined by intellectual and professional training he was admitted in 1907, to the Clark county bar, and soon won recognition as one of the enterprising and capable young lawyers in a city noted for the high order of its professional
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talent. Two years before engaging in the practice of law, however, he be- came interested in a mercantile enterprise which, under the firm name of the Denhard & Rubey Company, was incorporated in 1905, and which jointly man- aged by the original proprietors is still carried on, being at this time the largest and most successful furniture house in Jeffersonville, as well as one of the leading commercial concerns in the southern part of the state. It is ably conducted by the solid business men whose names the company bears, the stock which represents a heavy investment of capital, consisting of a large · and complete line of furniture from the simplest and cheapest to the most ornate and expensive, also full lines of all kinds of house furnishing materials, no pains nor expense being spared to satisfy the most critical demand on the part of customers. By honorable dealing and a sincere desire to please the , proprietors have gained the confidence of the public and the business has grown steadily in magnitude; is now widely and favorably known in commercial circles and its reputation is second to that of no other enterprise of the kind in the country.
Aside from his professional and commercial interests Mr. Rubey is con- nected with the Casino Amusement Company, of which he is now secretary and treasurer and in the management of which he takes an active and influ- ential part. In this as in other enterprises he has met with well earned suc- cess, by the people appreciating his efforts to provide them a commodious and pleasant place in which to meet, and a series of high class amusements for their entertainment.
In his political affiliations Mr. Rubey is a Democrat and an influential worker in his party, while the Episcopal church represents his religious creed. He is a leading member of Lodge, No. 362, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in which he holds the title of past exalted ruler, and his name also adorns the records of other local lodges, including the Improved Order of Red Men, Knights of Pythias, K. of T. M., of the World, in which he fills the office of record-keeper. In addition to the organizations men- tioned he belongs to the Century Road Club of America, and to the National Automobile Association, besides being identified with various other enterprises of a social, literary and benevolent nature in all of which he has been honored from time to time with important official positions, to say nothing of his liberal contributions for their maintenance.
Mr. Rubey was happily married on September 6, 1894, to Ida M. Den- hard, of Jeffersonville, daughter of Edwin L. Denhard, his business partner, and proprietor of one of the largest furniture establishments in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. Mrs. Rubey is a native of Louisville, received a liberal education in the city schools of the same and made her home in that city until her marriage. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rubey, namely : Florence, Ruth, Wallace, Edward and Elmore, the last two, Edward and
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Elmore, being dead, the remaining residing with their parents, constituting a happy and contented household.
FRANK SPEAR ARMSTRONG.
The subject of this sketch was born in Jeffersonville, November 18, 1868. Captain Armstrong's family is among the oldest, if not the oldest family in Clark county, and from the earliest time has held a very prominent position in the history of the county. His great-grandfather, Col. John Armstrong, was the last commandent at Fort Steuben, long before Jeffersonville existed. He was a captain in the First United States Regiment, Colonel Harmar, at the · close of the Revolution and had seen extended and meritorious service during that conflict, being in four general engagements, including the battle of Mon- mouth and the siege of Yorktown. After leaving the service of the United States he returned to Clark county and was one of the most prominent men in our early history. He settled on a tract of land opposite the Grassy Flats, where his remains now lie buried and where his monument still stands.
Col. John Armstrong's son, William Goforth Armstrong, made Bethle- hem his home until 1841. He served eleven years in the Indiana House of Representatives and two years in the Senate, and was receiver of public moneys in the land office at Jeffersonville under William Henry Harrison. He was one of the principal promoters of the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indi- anapolis Railroad and it was due greatly to his energy that the road was finished, in 1852, and trains run through to Indianapolis. He was the first president of this road, retiring in 1853. His son, John R. Armstrong, Capt. Frank S. Armstrong's father, was closely connected with the business and commercial life of Jeffersonville until ill health compelled him to go to the West. He died in Jeffersonville, in June, 1878, at the age of thirty-four. Of unsullied character and possessing ability of a high order, he filled a large place in the business circles of his community and elsewhere, and in his un- timely death the city of Jeffersonville lost a leading citizen who promised to rise to still higher positions of honor and trust.
Lucy M. Howard, daughter of James Howard, the boat builder, who became the wife of John R. Armstrong, was reared in Clark county, and like her husband possessed many amiable qualities of head and heart as well as a strong and beautiful character, which endeared her to the large circle of friends with whom she was wont to associate. She measured up to the high- est standard of intelligent and cultured womanhood and exerted a refining and elevating influence upon all with whom she came in contact ; she departed this life in Jeffersonville, in the year 1900, being the mother of three children :
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Howard Armstrong, who died in infancy; James H. Armstrong and Capt. Frank S. Armstrong, whose name introduces this article.
Frank Spear Armstrong was educated in the public schools of Jeffer- sonville and at old Rugby, in Louisville. He graduated from the West Point Military Academy in the class of 1891, and was assigned to the Ninth Cavalry at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. This regiment was transferred to Fort Grant, Arizona, in October, 1898. Lieutenant Armstrong served on recruiting ser- vice in the South during the war with Spain, but returned to his regiment when it was ordered to China, in 1900. He sailed for the Taku Forts at the mouth of the Pei Ho river, August 16, 1900, but the Chinese troubles becom- ing of less importance, the regiment was ordered to Neuva Caeceres, Southern Luzon, Philippine Islands, where it served for two years, returning to the United States in 1902 to garrison Fort Walla Walla, Washington. Two years later the regiment was ordered to Fort Riley, Kansas. Lieutenant Armstrong was commissioned first lieutenant July 1, 1898, and captain February 2, 1901. August 30, 1904, he married Jennie Dimmick, the daughter of Major Dim- mick, of the Fifth United States Cavalry, and has two sons, Frank and John.
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