USA > Indiana > Vanderburgh County > Biographical cyclopedia of Vanderburgh County, Indiana : embracing biographies of many of the prominent men and families of the county > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16
"I am strongly in favor of well con- sidered, practical legislation to benefit the agricultural and manufacturing interests, to increase our commerce and wealth, but by all means let us have some stability in our financial legisla- tion. The condition of the country is at least, although perhaps slowly, get- ting better, and what commerce and finance need just now more than any- thing else is to be let alone."
In 1852 Mr. Heilman was elected councilman of Evansville and served in that capacity several terms. Subse- quently, in 1870, his party friends elected him representative to the State Legislature. Ile was nominated in Mr. Ileilman rose, phonix-like from an unsophisticated German boy, who 1872 as the congressional candidate. The district had always given a demo- had never entered a school house after
-
114
VANDERBURGH COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
he was thirteen years of age, to the position of statesman and successful business man. He organized the Cot- ton Mill company of Evansville. Was a large stockholder in the Evansville Gas Works, director in the Evans- ville National Bank, director in the Evansville and Terre Haute and other Railroads. His fortune was not ac- quired by objectionable methods, but by persistent exercise, for forty-four years of industry, economy and sound judgment. His individuality was strong. In intercourse, he showed little con- sciousness of self but in all circum- stances a strict regard for dignity. He had extraordinary pertinacity and self- reliance. His intelligent gaze went straight to the heart of the most com- plicated questions. No fallacy, no scheme, no contrivance could ever evade his glance. His judgment was as profound as his penetration was acute. He had the ability to make conclusions clear, the honesty to make them right and the generosity to make them bene- ficial. He was pre-eminently a man of reason. His intelligent sagacity, not less than his moral integrity kept him ever away from the illusions, the am- biguities and the torments of the world of chance. Mr. Heilman's greatest en- dowment was strong practical common sense. He calculated shrewdly the cost of an enterprise before embarking in it. He went to work with tireless 'industry and firm determination to win success.
JIe was united in marriage in 1848 to Miss Mary Jenner, and their union was blessed with nine children. Ilis
death occured September 22, ISSS. Although he had rounded out more than the allotted age of man, to those who had known him, his span of life seemed far too short; but his memory lingers with them like a benediction and in his fame and fair name his de- scendents have a precious heritage.
JOSEPH ANGEL,
F OREMAN of the Aiken farm, was born in Vanderburg county, Indiana, December 17, 1849, and is the son of Matthias and Elizabeth (Murphy) Angel. The father was born in Ohio in 1819 and the mother was a native of Vanderburg county. Mr. Angel came west in 1821 with his parents, who were among the first settlers of this section. He was for a number of years engaged as a pilot on flat-boats and steamboats. He was a man of high integrity and his efforts were crowned with gratifying success. He was honored and respected by all who knew him. Joseph Angel received his education in the common schools of Newburg, Indiana. and his first business engagement was in the capacity of clerk in that town. For twenty five years he has been engaged as farm overseer, and for the past four- teen years has been acting in that capacity for Mrs. Elizabeth Aiken. whose biography appears in this vol- ume. Mr. Angel is an overseer of ability as is demonstrated by the man- ner in which he handles Mrs. Aiken's large farm He is a member of the
115
VANDERBURGH COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
Masonic order and of the Knights of ago the first people of that name landed Honor, belonging to Silver Cloud on American soil in Maryland. Lodge of Evansville. In IS70 he was united in marriage to Miss Anna Rob erts, who died one year afterwards. In 1872 he was again married to Miss Mollie Bullett. She died in ISSo and Mr. Angel was again married to Miss Lollie Butts, of Evansville. Mr. Angel is the father of five children, all living. One the issue of his first marriage, two of the second and two of the last.
Mr. Angel is recognized as an enter- prising and progressive business man, and by fair and honorable conduct he has placed himself in the good-will of the people.
ASA IGLEHART,
Ty his day the leading legal light of Evansville and one of the most fore- most lawyers of this county, was born in Ohio county, Kentucky, December S, 1816. His grand father was John Igle- heart, of Prince George county, Mary- land, and his father was Levi Igleheart, the fifth son of John Igleheart. Levi Igleheart married Annie Taylor and in IS15 left Maryland for the west and settled in Ohio county, Kentucky. Asa Igleheart was seven years of age when his parents removed from Kentucky into the wilds of Warrick county, Indiana, and the name of Igleheart is one of the oldest and most highly re- spected in the county. They trace their ancestors back to Germany and it is recorded that over two hundred years
In a wilderness in the midst of wild animals Asa Iglehart grew to man- hood, and the privations and hard work that foster self-denial and independence, were his. There he underwent the monotonous routine of clearing the forest and farming, and little oppor- tunity was afforded for procuring an education. He never attended college but his massive head was filled with that superior knowledge, common sense. It was not until he had formed a matrimonial alliance that he decided to take up the law as a profession. He commenced the study of law on the farm and pursued it with eagerness a little short of romance. He was ad- mitted to the bar of the State of Indiana in 1848 and that event marked an era in his career. Ile devoted himself with zeal to the study and practice of his profession from then up to the time his health failed several years before his death, which occurred February 5, ISS7.
He removed to Evansville in 1849 and at once became a member of the law firm of Ingle. Wheeler & Iglchart, where he remained until he was appointed common pleas judge to fill a vacancy in 1854, and afterwards he was elected without opposition to the same position. In 1858 he resumed his practice after thorough elementary training and four years experience on the bench and his success came rapidly and surely. He served in the adminis- tration of the law as judge and wrote a valuable treatise on practice and made other numerous digests and expositions.
116
VANDERBURGH COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
His personal acquaintance with the not employed by him, nor did he seek leading lawyers of the state was great. by rhetorical outbursts to darken coun- sel. Ile was active in organizing the first State Bar Association and was its first president. He was an original promoter and member of the Bar Association of the United States and for many years contributed editorially to the Central Law Journal. He took up and revised "McDonald's Treastise," and that work subsequently became known as "Igle- hart's Treatise," and also prepared an original work on " Pleading and Prac- tice" in Indiana. He performed these and many other minor literary labors while actively engaged in his profession.
He practiced successfully for many years in the supreme court of Indiana, and his opinions were always respected by that court. His mind was naturally capable of great research, and he could see readily through the mazes of intri- cate problems and divest difficult sub- jects of their obscurity. He practiced regularly in the federal courts of Indian- apolis before it was established in Evans- ville, and was often associated with such men as Hendricks and McDonald, and a number of other important cases were conducted by him through the supreme court of the United States. His reach and grasp of thought was clear and incisive and at the same time it was broad and comprehensive. No scheme, no fallacy, no contrivance, no fraud could ever evade his glance. He had the ability to make conclusions clear, the honesty to make them right and the generosity to make them beneficial. His judgment was as profound as his penetration was acute. Sophistry was
He was a trustee and steward of Trinity church for many years, and in a broader sense a steward of the Lord's vineyard; dispensing charity as a trus- tee among the worthy poor, helping such as were in distress, inspiring more hopeful views of life and aiding in the attainment of better conditions. He took a prominent part in the proper education of the young and his good work in that way could not be calcu- lated. He was a member of the Evans- ville board of education, and for twenty Years a trustee of Asbury and DePauw University.
In speaking of Judge Iglehart, one of his contemporary and fellow-towns- men said: "He was a lawyer, pure and proper --- imbued with respect for his profession, abiding by its etiquette and illustrating its high intellectuality. His appropriate place was the court room, and his greatest pleasure the argument of an abstruse question of law. My mind often reverts to law and to lawyers. Among them there was no stronger or clearer mind, no greater equity pleader, no professor of more profound legal learning."
He was a man of means and affairs and successful in accumulating property. His home was noted for its hospitality, which was dispensed with a lavish hand. The surviving children of this notable man are as follows: Rev. Ferd. G. Iglehart, now pastor of Simpson Meth- odist Episcopal church, Brooklyn, New York, well and favorably known as a
117
VANDERBURGH COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
writer, lecturer and orator; J. E. Igle- hart, prominently engaged in the gen- eral practice of law, a competent and well qualified corporation lawyer and solicitor for several railroad companies. The daughter is Mrs. Annie Taylor, wife of lawyer Edwin Taylor, of Ev- ansville.
PROFESSOR KARL KNORTZ,
S UPERINTENDNT of the German de- partment of the Evansville City and High Schools, was born in Garbenhiem, Rhenish, Prussia, August 28 1841, and attended the Royal Prussian Gymna- sium at Wetzlar, and studied philology and philosophy at Heidelburg Univer- sity. He came to this country in 1863, when he engaged in teaching at Detroit which continued until 1868. He taught at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 1868-71, and at Cincinnati 1871-74. For a number of years he edited a German newspaper at Indianapolis, and in 1882 removed to New York City where he devoted himself to literature. He came to Evansville five years ago and took charge of the German department of our school. Professor Knortz is to-day the most prolific German writer in America. Speaking of his achieve- ments Appleton's Biographical Encyclo- podia of America, says: "Mr. Knortz has done much to make American liter- ature known and appreciated in his native country." He has published besides translation of American poetry, "Marchen und Sagen der nordameri- kanischen Indianer," ( Jena 1871);
"Amerikanische Skizzen," (Halle i S76) : "American Shakespeare Bibliography," (Boston 1876); "Humoristische Ge- dichte," ( Baltimore 1877); "Longfel- low: Eine literarhistorische Studie," ( Hamburg IS97) ; "Aus dem Wig- wam," (Leipsic 188o); "Kapital und Arbeit in Amerika," (Zurich 1SS)); "Aus der transatlantischen Gesell- schaft," (Leipsic ISS2; "Staat und Kische in Amerika," (Gotha 1SS2); "Shakespeare in America," (Berlin 1882); "Amerikanische Lebensbilder." (Zurich 1884); "Eines deutchen Matro- sen nordpalfahrten, (1885); "Represen- tative German Poems," with transla- tions, )New York 1885); "Gæthe und die Wertherzeit," (Zurich 1885); "Brook Farm und Maragreth Fuller," (New York ISS6); "Gustav Seyffarth, " (ISS6).
Of his recent productions may be mentioned "History of American Liter- ature," in two volumes, a critical study of Longfellow, whose writings he translated into German. He wrote a book on Shakespeare, and one on Walt Whitman, translating the latter's prin- cipal work, "Leaves of Grass," into the German language. Professor Knortz has written a history of three of the most important German Communistic Colonies in the United States. The first was the "Colony of the Harmo- nies:" second the "Colony of the In- spirationists" at Amina, Iowa, and third the "Colony of the Separatists" at Zoar, Ohio. He also wrote "Rome in America," and published a book on "Folklore" and one entitled "Individ- uality in Education," which was his latest effort.
118
VANDERBURGH COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES,
Professor Knortz was united in mar- riage in 1878 to Miss Anna Singer, a native of Leipsic, Saxony, but at the time a resident of Pennsylvania. Their union has been blessed with one child, a daughter, seventeen years of age.
WILLIAM BOWER,
PROMINENT farmer and stock raiser of Scott township in Vanderburgh county, was born February 5, 1836 or 1837, in Scott township and is the son of Thomas and Lucinda (Lee) Bower. The father was a native of England and came to America in the early twenties. The mother was a native of Ireland and came to this country when a young girl.
Thomas Bower was engaged as a · after it.
horse trainer and married Lucinda Lee in New York city. They came west and located in Scott township about 1836. Their union was blessed with four children, the subject of this sketch being the oldest. Thomas Bower was a successful man and farmed and raised stock on a large scale. He was a demo- crat in politics and served the people as public officer at various times and in various capacities. True to every trust he was a man honored and esteemed by his fellow.men. He took a prominent part in the civil war and rendered valu- able service as a recruiting officer.
William Bower received his education in the schools of Vanderburgh county and worked on his father's farm in the summer. He now owns a fine farm of
300 acres in Scott township and gives a great deal of attention to the raising of stock, especially to sheep and wool growing. On his farm seven to ten men are given employment. Mr. Bower's affiliations are with the demo- cratic party and he served the people of Vanderburgh county as commissioner during the time the new court house was being erected. He has been county assessor and has filled various minor offices in the township, and it can of truth be said that he discharged every duty with grace and dignity, both to himself and to his constituents.
Mr. Bower has accumulated a con- siderable fortune and is a large tax. payer. He is a man of means and affairs, owns considerable property in the city of Evansville, which calls him there about once every week to look
I'm. Bower was united in marrige in 1860 to Miss Martha J. Stacer, of Van- derburgh county, and three children, two of whom survive, issued from their union. Martha J. Bower died in 1865, and Mr. Bower married (second) 1866, Miss Charlina Morrison, of Warrick county. Three children, only one of whom survive, were born to them, and the mother died in ISS1. Mr. Bower was again married in 1883 to Miss Anna Denison, of Scott township, and five children have blessed their union.
As a public spirited, loyal and enter- prising citizen Wm. Bower has no superior. He is a man of great energy and force of character, possessing many of those qualities without which few men rise to distinction.
WILLIAM BOWER.
119
VANDERBURGH COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
LOUIS PUSTER.
T HE life of Captain Louis Puster, of Evansville, may be profitably con- sidered in three distinct relations, all of them important. First, in the relation- ship of private citizen, occupied with every day work of securing a livelihood, the performance of social, domestic and religious duties, and gaining position in the commercial world; second, in the relation of a soldier, defending the flag and fighting for the restoration of national unity; third, as an eminently successful business man, the head of one of the most important manufacturing concerns in Indiana.
Louis Puster was born July 25, 1832, in Germany, and is the son of Jacob and Katrina (Kerth) Puster. He received his early education in the schools of his native land and in 1850 came to Amer- ica seeking his fortune. He was for five years in St. Louis, where he learned the trade of wood-turner. Later he was engaged in Keokuk, Iowa, Quincy, Illinois, and Cincinnati, Ohio.
Of his war record we have no more illustrious example of bravery and effic- ient service. When the war dogs began to bay, Mr. Puster returned to Missouri, and on June 15, 1861, enlisted in Company K, Twenty-first Missouri Volunteer Infantry as a private. He soon became first sergeant and was promoted to captain March 6, 1863. The following is a complete record of the service actually performed by Mr. Puster, compiled by Mr. F. H. Dyer, compiler of war records at Washington, D. C. He served altogether four years 16
and nine months, having enlisted July 1. 1861, and was discharged April 19, 1866, and we venture to say that not another man from Evansville served so long and faithfully.
"SERVICE .- Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7, 1862. Advance on a siege of Corinth, Miss., April 17, May 30. Occupation of Corinth and pursuit to Boonville, May 31, June 12. Duty at Corinth until September 19-20. Battle of Corinth. October 3-4. Grant's cen- tral Mississippi campaign, November and December. On post and garrison duty at Columbus, Ky., Union City, Tenn., Clinton, Ky., and Memphis, Tenn., until January, 1864. Ordered to Vicksburg, Miss. Action at Islands Nos. 70 and 71, Mississippi to the river while en route, January 29. Meridian campaign from February 3 to March 5. Action near Black river, February 5. Slightly wounded in leg by cannon ball but remained on duty. Meridian, Feb- ruary 14-15; at Columbus, Ky., April, 1865. Smith's expedition to Tupelo, Miss., July 5-23 .- Near Ripley, July 7; Pontotoc, July 11-12. Camargo cross roads, July 15; Harrisburg, near Tupelo, July 14-15; Old Town Creek, July 15. Smith's expedition to Oxford, August 5-26. - Tallahatchie river, Aug- ust 7-9; Abbeville and Oxford, August 12; Hurricane creek, 13-14; College Hill, August 21-22; Abbeville, August 23. Moved to Duvall's Bluff, Ark., September 1. Marched through Arkan- sas and Missouri in pursuit of Price, September 7 to November 16, marching over 700 miles. Moved to Nashville, November 25 to December 1. Occu-
120
VANDERBURGH COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
of Ilood to the Tennessee river. De- cember 17.28. Moved to Clifton, Tenn .. thence to Eastport, Miss .. January 2-7. 1865, and duty there until February 9. Moved to Vicksburg, Miss., thence to New Orleans, La., February 9-21. Mobile campaign, March and April. Siege of Spanish Fort and Ft. Blakely. March 26, April 8. Ft. Blakely, April 9. Marched to Montgomery, Ala., April 13-25, and duty there until June. Moved to Mobile, June 1. In command of U. S. arsenal at Mt. Vernon, Ala., June 15 to August 16, 1865. Provost Marshal at Pollard, Ala., to March, 1868. In command of battery Gladden, near Mobile, until April. Mustered out April 19, 1866, and honorably dis- charged from service."
"This is to certify that the above has been compiled and arranged from offi- cial records and sources only, and was graces of womanhood bears a conspicu-
not furnished in particular by Captain Puster, whose military record it pre- sents. (Signed) F. H. BYER."
Soon after the war Mr. Puster located in Evansville and embarked in the furniture business, at first being con- nected with the Union Furniture Com- pany and afterwards with the well-known Armstrong Company, with whom he remained until the organization of L. Puster & Co., in ISSI. The business of this concern has grown and pros- pered under the guiding hand of L. Puster until it has become one of the largest and best known manufactories in the west.
Mr. Puster is a progressive citizen.
pation of Nashville until Hood's invest- ment, December 1-14. Battles of has been a member of the Business Nashville, December 15-16. Pursuit Men's Association, and is also an active and helpful member of Farragut Post. G. A. R. and Loyal Legion. He has always been a friend and patron of education, an earnest supporter of the church, being a member of St. Lucas Evangelical church, and all instrumen- talities for the promotion of religious principles and moral reforms. His long life has been filled with usefulness and crowned with honor. He has been suc- cessful in accumulating the means essential to personal comfort, without neglecting any of the higher duties of life, which contribute to the intelligent. spiritual and moral growth.
Mr. Puster is the head of a delight- ful family, in which the happiest rela- tions are maintained. His home is characterized by the most liberal as well as elegant hospitality, in which a cul- tured wife, panoplied with the refined ous part with charming cordialty.
ALFRED BERNARDIN,
PRESIDENT of the Bernardin Bottle Cap company, was born in France. 1845. He came to America in 1856, locating in Ohio, and in 1873 removed to Evansville, and since that time his success as one of the foremost business men of Evansville has been gratifying.
The Bernardin Bottle Cap company was organized to manufacture the cele- brated Bernardin patent bottle cap in
LOUIS PUSTER.
121
VANDERBURGH COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
1885. The incorporators were C. R. Bement, F. W. Cook and A. L. Ber- mardin. In 1893, the two sold their entire interest to Jacob Haas and A. Bernardin, who are now the sole owners of this mammoth plant, which is located at the corner of First Avenue and Ingle street. The products of this con- cern are shipped to every state in the union and to the following foreign coun- tries: England, Australia, South Amer- ica, Mexico and Canada. Mr. A. L. Ber- nardin is president of the company and Mr. Jacob Haas, secretary and treas- urer.
CHANDLER H. PEIRCE,
INSTRUCTOR of penmanship, was born June 13, 1850. in Clarke county, Ohio, and is the son of Jacob and Marian (Chandler) Peirce. The father was born March, 1821, in Chester county, Penn- sylvania, where he lived until he was fourteen years of age, when he removed to Ohio and was there successfully en- gaged in farming. He was a man of highest integrity, loved, honored and respected by all who knew him. His mother died in 1892.
The early education of Chandler Peirce was received in the common schools of Clarke county, Ohio, and he attended the National Normal at Lebanon, Ohio, and was graduated in 1870. He entered Eastman's Business College at Poughkepsie, New York, in 1870, where he took a course which prepared him for teaching. This led
to his removing west and he located at Keokuk, lowa, where for twenty three years he was engaged as supervisor of writing, and for fifteen years he was principal of the business college in that city.
January 1, 1895, Mr. Peirce came to Evansville and has since been engaged as supervisor of writing in the High school. He is a self-made man, having earned his way through college and his success has been due in a large measure to his untiring zeal, constant watchful- ness and unswerving probity.
At the age of thirteen Mr. Peirce left home against the wishes of his parents to join the army, and his first service was in Kentucky and Tennessee, where he joined the Eighth O. V. C., and was later in service in Virginia and West Virginia. He participated in the cam- paign of Kewanoh and Shenandoah Valley, and was taken captive at Beverly, West Virginia, January 11, 1865, and for two months was a prisoner, confined in Libby prison. He was one of the youngest captives and enjoys the dis- tinction of having been selected to keep the records for the Confederates, his re- muneration consisting of simply double rations and the luxury of a clean bed. He was honorably discharged July, 1865. The plate which bears his name is in a museum at Chicago at the rear end of the first floor.
Mr. Peirce is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Grand Army of the Republic and the Court of Honor. He possesses in a marked degree the attrib- utes of genuine manhood. Honest purposes and laudable conduct have
-
122
VANDERBURGH COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES.
marked his career. His sympathetic nature, the gentleness of his disposition and the worth of his character have won for him the admiration and respect of all who know him.
WILLIAM JOHNSON LOWRY.
IN THE annals of Vanderburgh county no name appears which commands more sincere respect than William Lowry. He came to Evansville after a business career of many years, with strong independence of character and a determination to make his own way among the foremost. He sprang from Irish ancestry that recognized a patri- otic duty in rearing large families under wholesome restraint and religious influ- ences. Both of his parents antedated the revolution, and were old enough to remember the stirring events of Concord and Lexington.
William J. Lowry was born in Anne, Arundel county, Maryland, on October 15, 1795, and it was there his mother died. His father moved into Ohio when he was a boy. There were pioneers in Ohio, and the senior Lowry was one in Scioto county. At the age of seven- teen years the scholastic attainments and intellectual maturity of young Lowry being quite equal to those of the aver- age young man of twenty-one, he formed the purpose to make his own living and forthwith entered upon the execution of it. Leaving home he was engaged in the river trade for a number of years and performed the venturesome and dan-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.