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and how much good you have accom- plished. The work of the University goes on this year more smoothly than ever before. I never enter the door of Haskell Museum without thinking of you and your kindness." Another noble and successful enterprise of Mrs. Haskell is that of the Barrows Lectureship. In October of 1894, inspired by the spirit of universal brotherhood which had just been so powerfully stimulated in the World's Parliament of Religions, she do- nated $20,000 for the founding of an In- dian lectureship, with Dr. John H. Bar- rows at its head. Her object, definitely stated, was this: To establish in the ed- ucational centers of India lecture courses treating upon the relations of Christian- ity and other religions; to temper a schol- arly exposition of the subjects presented with the spirit of fraternity and helpful- ness; thus, without arousing antago- nism, and by revealing the essential har- monies that underlie alien faiths, to en- list the interest and thoughtful consid- eration of the student element of India in the great truths. beauties and claims of Christianity, thereby knitting a firmer bond between the nations. Dr. Barrows' book entitled "Christianity, the World Religion," published by AA. C. MeChurg & Co., of Chicago, in 1897, was dedicated to Mrs. Haskell in the following words: "To Mrs. Caroline E. Haskell, the elect lady, beloved and honored in the East and in the West, whose liberality founded the Indian Lectureship, this volume, the first-fruits of her endowment, is grate-
fully dedieated, with admiration for her world-embracing philanthropy and her brave and far-seeing faith; and also in recognition of her splendid services in the cause of Oriental learning in America, and of the expanding kingdom of God in the continent of Asia."
WILLIAM F. PIEL.
William F. Piel is a Prussian by birth. His father, a farmer of Dankarsen named Cort Henry Piel, married Katarina Pop- pe, of Larbeck, Prussia, in the same judi- cial district as Dankarsen. They had eight children, of whom but three survive. William F. Piel was the seventh child of this large family, and was born at Dan- karsen on April 23, 1823. On the death of his parents, their property reverted to his elder brother Henry, under whose guardianship William F. grew to man- hood. When a lad of seventeen, he adopt- ed the cooper's trade, in which he served for seven years as apprentice. He then came to America, landing, on August 8, 1846, at Baltimore. Thence he proceeded directly to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he followed his trade until 1858, when circumstances determined him to relin- quish it and enter the mercantile busi- ness. His first venture was a country store, stocked with the variety of wares required for a rural trade. In 1867 he sold out his business, and immediately began to build a starch factory in the outskirts of Indianapolis, little knowing
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to what colossal proportions his under- taking would one day mature. For the conduct of the enterprise he formed a quadruple partnership, his associates be- ing Edward Mueller, Charles Wischmier and Henry Burke (the builders of the Union Starch Factory on East New York street, just without the corporate limits of the city). The factory was equipped to employ about thirty men, and convert- ed into starch some one hundred and fifty bushels of corn per day. Its life was des- tined to be short, however, for on the night of October 8, 1868, it was complete- ly wrecked by fire. It was rebuilt with- out delay on the same site, and much the same plan as the first factory, and was run by the same management till Oeto- ber of 1872. At this time the interests of the other three partners were bought up by E. Birchard, between Mr. Piel and whom a new partnership was formed, and the business was continued for six months longer. In April, 1873, Mr. Piel and Mr. Birchard severed their connec- tions and the activities of the Union Starch Factory were suspended. 1 month prior to this disruption Mr. Piel and Mr. Andrew Erchenbrecker had combined their interests under the corporate style of W. F. Piel & Co., their purpose being to construct and carry on a larger starchi factory in a more favorable section of In- dianapolis. They bought fifteen acres of land, which ground is covered by a por- tion of the present works, and in the fol- lowing June they laid the foundation, and proceeded with the superstructure of
two three-story brick buildings, each cov- ering an area of 130 by 100 feet. Tracks were run from these buildings to the main line of the Vandalia railroad, the factory was finished, and its machinery and eighty operatives commenced activity in March, 1874, the consumption of corn av- eraging five hundred bushels per day. Since that time expansion and develop- ment have, in the main, been the law of this sturdy business organism, until, at the present day, the throb of its mighty pulses is a potent factor in the industrial life of Indianapolis. In the meantime, however, it experienced one period of marked depression, owing to competition and a consequent reduction in the price of cornstarch. A syndicate was organ- ized in New York city, whose purpose was to purchase all the western starch manufacturing plants; and W. F. Piel & Co. freely offered an option on theirs, in modest ignorance of the fact that they possessed the finest and most extensive establishment of the kind in the country. A meeting of the representatives of this industry was called, in 1889, to take place in Buffalo. The syndicate, however, failed to raise the sum of money which had been settled upon as necessary, so the vari- ous manufacturers formed a joint com- pany, styled the National Starch Manu- facturing Company, with its main office in New York, William F. Piel, Jr., being elected president, while William F. Piel, Sr., was made manager of the works at Indianapolis. These works are situated in the southwestern part of the city. The
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buildings are massive brick structures, within whose walls from two to three hundred men find employment, power for the machinery being furnished by three huge steam engines. This combination of forces is sufficient for the daily conver- sion into starch of four thousand bushels of corn. Although in its development many brains and many hands have participated, William F. Piel has been always the vital pow- er behind this enterprise. Set on foot by his far-seeing business thrift, it has been pursued with untiring zest, over a way plentifully strewn with difficulties and discouragements, until at length he has brought it where it stands firmly among the noblest industrial monuments of the West. Nor have commercial inter- ests absorbed all of Mr. Piel's time and energy. He has been largely identified with social and municipal affairs, and in the season of 1879-80 he was elected on the Democratic ticket one of the alder- men of Indianapolis. He refused, how- ever, to run for a second term. On the 29th of January, 1849, Mr. Piel married Elonore Wishmeyr, of Frille (near Min- den), Prussia. They had seven children, four of them sons, as follows: William F., who married Lizzie Meyer; Henry C. F., whose wife, Mary Ostermeyer, is now deceased; Charles F. W., who married Lena Stroub, and George H. W., deceased. Their three daughters are: Amelia M. H., widow of Henry Melcher, deceased, of Cleveland, Ohio; Lena M. M., wife of Charles W. Voth, of Cleveland, and Mary
L. E., wife of Frank Sudbrock, of In- dianapolis, who is manager of the Indi- ana Dry Goods Company, of which Will- iam F. Piel, Sr., is the president. Mr. Piel is a member and one of the trustees of the Trinity German Lutheran church of Indianapolis, to which church his wife and children also belong.
DELOSS W. MINSHALL.
The Minshalls appear to have been an ancient family of Cheshire, England, es- tablished early in the time of William the Conqueror (1066). There is a town called Minshall on the river Weaver in Cheshire; Minshall Church is a parish in Cheshire, and Minshall Vernon is a township in Cheshire. The original an- cestor, Thomas Minshall, came to this country as early as 1682 and settled in what is now Delaware county, Pennsyl- vania; one of his descendants is now liv- ing on a part of the land originally granted to him. Deloss W. Minshall was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, November 8, 1828. His father was Rob- ert Minshall, a native of Pennsylvania. His mother's maiden name was Lucy Nimocks, born in Westfield, Massachu- setts; both his parents were of pure En- glish descent. Ilis father was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, a quiet man of strong convictions, much be- loved and respected by a wide circle of friends. He died in 1828, the same year that his son was born. Young Deloss
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spent his childhood and early youth in his native place, where he led the usual life of a farmer's boy, working summers and attending district school through the winter months. Afterwards he became a salesman in a village store, where he re- mained until he was eighteen years of age. In 1848, he decided to go West in search of a home, and finally settled in Terre Haute. His former business ex- perience secured him a position in a store; being honest, resolute, and pos- sessing more than usual business intelli- gence, his success was assured from the first. During the next five years he made such progress that he secured an inter- est in the business, became a partner in the house and finally its managing head. In 1860 he commenced business for him- self and in 1866 he was tendered and ac- cepted the position of president of the First National Bank of Terre Haute. At this time he disposed of his mercantile business. His reputation as a financier. and successful business man, was a guar- antee of success to any enterprise where his name was used. In 1868 he resigned the presidency of the First National Bank and united with W. R. MeKeen in the opening of the banking house of Min- shall & McKeen, of which Mr. Minshall became manager. The new bank at once became one of the strongest money insti- tntions of the country. In 1877, after thirty-five years of continuous business activity. he disposed of his banking inter- ests and gave his attention exclusively to his large private affairs. 1 contempo-
rary says of him: "Mr. Minshall has al- ways identified himself with every public enterprise for the advancement of the city and its people. He has fostered in- terests that are now giving employment to hundreds of men; in fact he has been the friend of the people, of education and of literature. He has used his princely fortune in a princely way for the public weal." He was instrumental in securing for Terre Haute the location of the State Normal School, also the rolling mills, the blast furnace, the nail works, the water works, and in fact nearly all the great business concerns in that city have been assisted and encouraged by him. He has never sought political honors, though he has served the people in the city council, on the city school board, and in 1879 he was appointed United States revenue collector for the Terre Haute district, which office he resigned in 1883. Mr. Minshall is known extensively as a gen- tleman of high culture and rare literary attainments. He has been an industrious reader, and the emanations of his pen are marked as those of the graceful writer and scholarly thinker. Socially he is one of the most companionable of men. Although the frosts of seventy winters have whitened his locks, his heart is still warm for his fellow men. His mind is clear; his form straight and his step vig- orous. lle was united in marriage April 2, 1856, with Miss Sarah JJ. Seibert of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Her death occurred February 16. 1898. He has two children, Helen and Charles, both resi-
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dents of Terre Haute. The son Charles is vice-president and general manager of the Standard Wheel Company of Terre Haute.
EDMUND O. HOVEY.
Professor Edmund Otis Hovey, D. D., was born at Hanover, New Hampshire, July 15, 1801, and died at Crawfordsville, Indiana, March 10, 1877, in the 76th year of his age. On the 5th of October, 1831, he married Miss Mary Carter, who sur- vived him for nine years. The fruit of their marriage was a son, Rev. Horace C. Hovey, D. D., of Newburyport, Massa- chusetts, and a daughter, Miss Mary F. Hovey, who died at Crawfordsville in 1897. The family sprang from colonial ancestry on both sides of the house. Daniel Hovey, an emigrant from Eng- land, settled in Ipswich, Massachus- etts, in 1635, where he built the first wharf in the region, and a house that was a landmark for 200 years. James, son of Daniel, was killed in King Philip's War, after which his family removed to Mansfield, Connec- ticut, where Roger, the fifth from Daniel, was born, the father of the subject of this memoir. Roger served a year in the Army of the Revolution. He married Martha, daughter of Colonel Edmund Freeman, fifth from Edmund Freeman, a founder of Plymouth. She was also a niece of Colonel James Otis of Revolutionary fame. George III. gave to Colonel Free- man a land-grant including four towns,
one of which was Hanover, where Dart- mouth College was afterward located. The first buildings were of logs. When the brick edifice known as Dartmouth Hall was erected, the record is that "the handles on the doors, with all the iron- work, were made by Roger Hovey, the blacksmith, who had his shop on the Parade." He was the only smith in the colony and did every kind of iron-work. He was the first of the family to become a Presbyterian, and all his teu children were baptized by Dr. Eden Burroughs. Edmund Otis Hovey was the ninth in the list. The family removed to Thetford, Vermont, in 1813, where Edmund was fitted for college under Rev. John Fitch. In 1821 he joined the Thetford church, Dr. Asa Burton pastor; whose colleague was Rev. Charles White. The gifts of the young convert led the church to adopt him as a beneficiary, as his father did not favor his going to college, preferring that he should be a farmer. His health giving way, church aid was withdrawn. He took a trip on horseback to Saratoga, and af- terward went to Sandwich, on Cape Cod, to spend six months under the care of his uncle, Dr. Nathaniel Freeman, who, be- sides being a physician and the father of twenty children, had been a member of the Continental Congress and a brigadier general in the Army of the Revolution. On regaining his health, Mr. Hovey taught school at Thetford, Norwich and Hanover, thus getting the means to enter Dartmouth College, whence he was grad- uated in 1828. One of his classmates was
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Caleb Mills, at a later day associated with him professionally. The class numbered forty-one, of whom twenty-one became ministers, and eleven went West. In or- der to get through Andover Theological Seminary he shoved the plane, pounded the anvil, and did vacation mission-work in Vermont and Canada. The sole sur- vivor of his Andover class is Professor E. A. Park, D. D., ninety years of age. Six home missionaries, of whom Mr. Hovey was one, were ordained by the Presbytery of Newburyport, September 26, 1831, at Bradford, Massachusetts, to whom Dr. Elias Cornelius said in his ordaining charge, "Be sure to build a col- lege in the Mississippi valley." Their names appear as the "Band of Western Men" in the Home Missionary Magazine for that year. A Dartmouth classmate, Horace Carter, son of Ezra Carter, Esq., principal of the Peacham Academy, died in his junior year, and the friendship be- tween him and Mr. Hovey resulted in an attachment on the part of the latter for Miss Mary Carter, whom, on his thirtieth birthday he asked to "join in work for the wilderness of Indiana." She accepted after what she described as "great heart- searchings," and they were married by Dr. Leonard Worcester at Peacham. The bride's diary reads like a romance of travel. Certain events had disarranged the plans of the Home Missionary So- ciety so that they went forth as myster- iously as AAbraham, "to the place where they should afterward receive for an in- heritance." Their trunks and boxes were
packed so that they could start imme- diately after the wedding. Farewell vis- its were paid to relatives whom they nev- er expected to see again. They went by steamboat down Lake Champlain; by the Northern canal from Whitehall to Troy; and by the Erie canal thence to Buffalo. Pen pictures of Utica, Syracuse, Roches- ter, Lockport, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls are given. On the "Henry Clay" they made what was regarded as a fast trip to Detroit, in three days, with an hour's stop at "a muddy, busy village called Cleveland." Detroit was "a village of 3,500 inhabitants, half of them French, where log cabins jostled houses of brick and stone." It was an open question if they would go to Indiana, or to a mission station at Sault Ste. Marie. Rev. Noah M. Wells, who met them at Detroit, also introduced them to Rev. Jeremiah Porter, who took the latter mission, was trans- ferred in 1833 to Fort Dearborn, and or- ganized the first permanent church in Chicago. While thus delayed at Detroit, Mr. Hovey improved his time by forming the first temperance society in Michigan. Having renewed their purpose of going to Indiana, the next question was how to get there. They forwarded their baggage with a consignment of goods to Judge Hanna of Fort Wayne. The little steam- boat "Gratiot," which ran weekly to Per- rysburg-Toledo did not yet exist-left them stranded in the mud. By ox-cart and canoe they got to Maumee, and thence to a village of Pottawattomies, where they stayed some days at the mis-
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sion-house. It was a hard day's drive through the forest to the head of the Mau- mee rapids, where they embarked on a pirogue and were poled up stream, at the rate of ten miles a day, landing at night to camp about an open fire. After eleven days of this tedious voyaging Fort Wayne was reached. In a letter to his brother Mr. Hovey remarked that "rail- roads are a matter of contemplation, and chimerical as it may seem there are men who predict that a railroad may yet be built from New York to the Mississippi river." Judge Hanna, who doubtless made this prediction, was a far-sighted man. "If I were a young man," said he, "I should go to a smart little town of 300 inhabitants just started at the foot of Lake Michigan. They call it Chicago. Better go there." But the missionaries had set their heart on Indiana. From
Fort Wayne to the head of the Wabash they rode on sacks of flour hauled by oxen through marsh and timberland for twenty miles. At Helvey's they waited three days for a canoe in which to proceed to Logansport, where Mrs. Hovey stayed a fortnight, in the family of Rev. M. M. Post, while her husband went to "spy out the land." He was accompanied by Rev. James A. Carnahan; and, as they had only one horse, they had to "ride and tie." They spent Sunday at La Fayette, where Mr. Hovey preached for the first time in Indiana. Thence they proceeded to Foun- tain county, which was decided on as his field of labor. Returning for Mrs. Hovey they reached their journey's end, twelve
weeks after its beginning. The usual trials of pioneers were theirs. The marshes bred fevers and the woods "milk- sickness." The forest hid wolves, and there were snakes in the prairie-grass. Their chinked and daubed log cabin, with puncheon floor and stick chimney, swung its only door on wooden hinges, and "the
latch-string was always out." The nearest post-office, at first, was at La Fay- ette; and their furniture was bought at Louisville. They were urged to make their home at Covington, the county-seat ; but chose instead a location central to the whole county, and midway between Rob-Roy and Newtown. Fountain county had only existed six years and had no schools, churches nor newspapers for its 10,000 inhabitants. The young mission- ary had work enough ahead. He bought a horse named "Barney" that was used to racing and did not forget it. On this lively nag he made his rounds, preaching in cabins, barns and mills, as he had the chance. He distributed religious litera- ture broadcast, and helped to start a newspaper at Covington. He organized Presbyterian churches at Covington, New- town, Rob-Roy and Coal-Creek; and a Sun- day school, day school and temperance so- ciety went with each new church. Among those prominent in his support were the Paxtons, Millers, Briers, Dun- cans, Gregories, and others who left their mark on the community for good. One of his most efficient friends was Dr. Jos- eph S. Welsh, physician and poet, whose "Harp of the West" (pp. 204), was prob-
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ably the first volume of poems ever pub- lished by a Hoosier. The Wabash Pres- bytery covered sixteen counties, but had only four ministers; and when these, with their eight ruling elders, met in Mr. Hovey's log cabin, they shared together its accommodations, sleeping at night on the straw-covered floor, while host and hostess lodged with neighbors. The fleet little "Barney" carried its rider for more than 2,000 miles, through forest and prairie, so faithfully that Mr. Hovey nev- er missed but a single appointment, and then it was due to high waters. There were held camp-meetings now and then; and "four-days' meetings" found favor. But the time drew near for the mission- ary work to assume a more pronounced educational character. On the 21st of No- vember, 1832, soon after the annual meet- ing of the Indiana Synod at Crawfords- ville, nine men met there at the "Old Brick House" to found, as they said, "a classical and English high school, rising into a college." Five were ministers, namely, Rev. John M. Ellis, from Illinois, who presided, Rev. Edmund O. Hovey, secretary, Rev. James Thomson, pastor of the church at Crawfordsville, his brother, Rev. John S. Thomson, and Rev. James A. Carnahan. The four lay- men, all of them ruling elders, were John Gilliland, Hezekiah Robinson, John Mc- Connell, and Bradford King. Speaking of the share taken in this enterprise by the subject of this sketch, President Bur- roughs says: "The name of Edmund Otis Hovey appears in the trustee records first
in the list of those gathered in the found- ing conference, and first in the list of the ministerial trustees appointed the same day. Without question he exerted more extensive and more lasting influences over the affairs of the institution than any other of its founders. He was the East- ern agent of the young college whose perseverance saved its life. For forty-five years he was one of its trustees, and for more than a quarter of a century he was its treasurer. In 1834 he became one of its faculty, and continued to serve for forty-three years until his death in 1877." Mr. Hovey began his agency in March, 1834. He went by steamboat down the Wabash to its mouth, and up the Ohio, visiting Louisville, Cincinnati and Pitts- burgh. Then leaving his family at Owego, New York, he attended the May anniversaries at New York, and the Gen- eral Assembly at Philadelphia, and pro- ceeded to Providence and Boston, enjoy- ing opportunities to preach, and yet hear- ing on every hand the cry of "hard times," and "swarms of agents," and finding no success in even getting a hearing for his cause. After four months of such inef- fectual effort, he wrote, resigning the task, signing himself "at the point of des- peration"; but just then he met Rev. Mr. Ellis, who advised him to see the faculty of Yale College and of Andover Semi- nary, with the result that the letter of resignation was not sent. Ile was recom- mended to try. the country churches of New England. The first place where he publicly pleaded for Wabash College was
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at Amesbury, Massachusetts, where he ! got $50. At Newburyport he raised $125. Bradford, Rowley and Byfield followed. Villages in Vermont and New Hampshire were visited. A circular about "The Up- per Wabash Country" was printed by him and widely distributed. Meanwhile Mr. Hovey also had the responsibility of find- ing a president for the College. Friends in New York City advised him to ap- proach Dr. Elihu W. Baldwin, the most popular and successful minister in the metropolis. He did so in a memorable interview. Dr. Baldwin invited him to be seated; but he declined, saying: "The King's business requires haste. I have come to ask you to be the president of Wabash College." The clergyman had never heard of it before, but, on learning all the facts, he accepted, provided that $40,000 could be raised to ensure success. After Dr. Baldwin's death in 1840, the trustees sent Mr. Hovey to lay the presi- deney before Rev. Charles White, D. D., of Owego, New York. And at the ter- mination of Dr. White's presidential career of twenty years, they sent him on a similar errand to Rev. J. F. Tuttle, D. D., of New Jersey. He was also instrument- al in securing several other members of the faculty. We need not describe the in- cidents of his various trips through the Western and Eastern States, occasionally for recreation and the restoration of im- paired health, but usually in the financial interests of the college, or for the pur- pose of inspecting libraries, laboratories and museums, whence to draw new ideas
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