USA > Indiana > Dearborn County > History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 64
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Henry Werner was married on September 9, 1891, to Mary Alig, who was born on April 19, 1872, in Kelso township. She is a daughter of Philip and Magdalena (Wilhelm) Alig. A history of the Alig family is presented elsewhere in this work. To Mr. and Mrs. Werner have been born nine chil- dren, Ida (deceased), Helen, John, Oscar (deceased), George Lewis (de- ceased), Edward (deceased) and Albert. Those now living are all at home with their parents.
Mr. Werner, besides being a successful farmer, holds a high rank in the citizenship of his community, and merits the confidence which he now enjoys
JOHN A. ANDRES.
With a splendid education before starting his business career, Mr. Andres was fitted to "conquer any foe," and for eighteen years fitted others for the same strenuous business of foe-conquering, at the end of which time, he felt the need of a complete change to give him a much-needed rest. Being wise enough to know that resting did not mean merely doing nothing, he interested himself in a store doing a general merchandise business, in which he has also been very successful, and in all questions pertaining to the benefit of the citizens of his county, he has given his sincere support, believing it the duty of each one
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to do his share in such matters, whenever possible. Mr. Andres has been especially fortunate in being situated so he could follow his inclination and de- sires along these lines.
John A. Andres, township trustee and merchant, was born at Kelso, Kelso township, Dearborn county, November 19, 1874, and is a son of John and Rosina (Hannmerle) Andres. He was educated in the parochial schools of Kelso, and Moores Hill College, finishing in 1894, after which he attended the Central Normal College, at Danville, Indiana, and being thus qualified, he at once began teaching school, in which line he continued for eighteen years. He finally felt the need of a change, both mentally and physically, and in 1914, when he was elected on the Democratic ticket, by a large majority, to the office of trustee, calling for a four-year term, he gave up his school work, and is now dividing his time between his official position of trustee, and a general store, in which he has been successfully interested since 1901.
John Andres, Sr., was born in Rhenish Bavaria, Germany, May 20, 1846, and died on February 29, 1912, at Kelso, Dearborn county. At the age of twelve years, he came with his mother to America, settling in Kelso township, where he spent his entire life. At an early age, Mr. Andres learned the wagon- maker's trade, and later became an undertaker, in which business he continued for forty years. After taking instructions as an undertaker under Phillip Huber, he became expert enough to manufacture his own coffins, and in ad- dition to his wagon-manufacturing plant and his undertaking establishment, in the former of which he was associated with John Probst, he was also inter- ested in a good-paying blacksmith shop, of which Mr. Probst was the manager. Another special line of manufacture, in which Mr. Andres was especially in- terested, was that of grain cradles, and in 1882, he still further increased his source of income by opening a general store at Kelso, which he conducted until his death, in 1912. Notwithstanding the fact that he spent the most of his time and attention looking after his business in the village, Mr. Andres did not lose sight of the value and importance of owning a farm, and bought fifty acres of good, tillable land in Kelso township. He was trustee of Kelso township for a five-year term. His political beliefs were with the Democratic party. His wife, Rosina (Hannmerle) Andres, was born in 1850, in Cin- cinnati, Ohio. She died in 1887, aged thirty-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Andres were the parents of ten children, as follow: George, Joseph, John, Katherine, Mary, Jacob, Balser, and three, who died young. George Andres was married to Mary Tallon, and is now living at Marion, Ohio, where he is employed as master mechanic by the Huber Manufacturing Com-
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pany. To this union have been born seven children, Rose, Cyral, Sarah George, Bertrand, Angela and Robert, who died in infancy. Joseph Andres was married to Catherine Ennis, and is a successful undertaker in Kelso. They have three children, Mary, Stella and Edith.
The paternal grandfather of John A. Andres had the distinction of fighting under Napoleon. He died before his family left Bavaria, the land of his nativity.
John A. Andres was united in marriage, June 5, 1901, with Cecelia Merkl, who was born in Kelso, Kelso township, October 10, 1881, and is a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Walsman) Merkl. Mrs. Andres was reared and educated in Kelso, and both she and her husband are devout members of St. John's Catholic church. Five children have come to bless this union, namely : Alma, Corinne, Leo, Virgil and Martha, three of whom are now attending school.
Through his official position of township trustee and his honest method of transacting business, Mr. Andres is recognized as one of the best and most able citizens of Kelso township.
LOUIS FREDERICK FISCHVOGT.
Louis Frederick Fischvogt, one of the leading farmers of Clay township, Dearborn county, Indiana, was born of German parentage in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 4, 1852, being a son of John Henry and Margaret Sophia (Corwes) Fischvogt, both of whom were natives of Hanover, in Germany. John Henry Fischvogt was born on April 1, 1815, and immigrated to the United States in 1848. He located first in Cincinnati and turned to the car- penter trade as his means of livelihood. He had learned the trade in his native land, but after coming here he again apprenticed himself for three years and in that time mastered the English language and American ways. He followed his trade in Cincinnati for some fifteen years and then came to Dearborn county where he purchased a farm on Mud Lick branch, about one and one-half miles south of the then small town of Dillsboro. This farm contained fifty acres and he paid the sum of fourteen hundred and fifty dol- lars for it. However, he did not take up his residence thereon for the next two years, remaining in Cincinnati at his trade in the meantime. In 1860 he settled on his farm and remained there for the balance of his life. His
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death occurred on July 16, 1877, at the age of sixty-two years. Mr. Fisch- vogt was a faithful member of the German Lutheran church, serving his local society as trustee for a number of years. He was a warm adherent of the principles of the Republican party and took a keen interest in the manage- ment of its affairs. John Henry Fischvogt was a son of Henry Fischvogt, who with his wife never left their native land. However, all of their four children (John Henry, Frederick, Louis and Sophia) came to the United States and here passed the remainder of their lives.
Margaret Sophia (Corwes) Fischvogt, mother of the immediate subject of this sketch, was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1821, and in 1847 she came alone to this country, settling in Cincinnati with friends. She worked out for a year and at that time met Mr. Fischvogt and was soon married, their wedding being celebrated in January of 1849. To their union were born eight children, namely: Henry, Louis, Frederick, Eliza (deceased), George (deceased), Frederick (deceased), Charles, Sophia (deceased), and William. Henry married Wilhelmina Pruss and is living in Ripley county. He is the father of six children, Amelia, Anna, William, Theodore, Emma and Ida. Charles married Minnie Stadtlander and lives in Ohio county, this state, south of the town of Milton. He has three children, Louis, Charles and Martha (deceased). William married Emma Konig and lives at Mount Healthy, Ohio. He is the father of seven children, Lillie, Edwin, Grace, Leslie, Cora, John and Emma. Margaret Sophia (Corwes) Fischvogt was a daughter of Gerhard Corwes, who spent his entire life in his native land. Her brother and sisters were: Henry, Harry, George, Margaret, Sophia, Louisa and Dorothy.
Louis Frederick Fischvogt received his elementary education in the public schools of Cincinnati and also in Green township, Hamilton county. He later attended the German schools at Farmers Retreat and South Dills- boro, this county. After completing his studies, he took up farm work on the family homestead near Dillsboro and remained there until 1873, when he took up farm work in various parts of Dearborn county. In 1889 he started a huckster route, which he operated four years, living in Dillsboro two years of the time. He abandoned that enterprise and returned to the farm in Clay township belonging to his wife and in 1898 removed to his own farm which he had bought from one of the heirs. In 1901 the family returned to his wife's farm, where they still reside.
On August 16, 1877, Louis Frederick Fischvogt was united in marriage with Anna M. Louisa Plumer, born in Cincinnati on October 14, 1856, a
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daughter of John W. and Annie Mary (Luhrsen) Plumer. John W. Plumer was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1815, and died in 1901, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. Annie Mary Luhrsen was born in Oldenburg, Germany, and died in April of 1868, when but thirty-two years old. Upon coming to this country she settled in Cincinnati, where her marriage took place. To John W. Plumer. and wife were born four children, Anna M. Louisa, Anna Louisa (deceased), John Henry, and John Christian (deceased). John Henry Plumer, who is a carpenter and farmer living in Dearborn county, married Elnora M. Hocker and has six children, John (deceased), Emma, William, Sophia Elizabeth, Harry and Clara Elizabeth.
To Mr. and Mrs. Fischvogt have been born four children, namely : John Henry William, Anna Margaret Sophia, Carl Louis Henry and Carl George Louis. William, the eldest son, married Amelia Sandman and lives in Tipton county. He has four children, Dorothy Louisa, Mary Elizabeth, Anna Leonora and Louis William Henry. Anna Margaret Sophia became the wife of John Tepker, living in Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio. He is a blacksmith by trade and they have three children, Helena Dorothea, Erwin Louis William and Howard William Carl.
The Fischvogt family has always been considered among the representa- tive citizens of this community, the head of the family having always been known as a man of sterling qualities of character and entitled to the high degree of respect which he enjoys. Mr. Fischvogt is a member of the Lu- theran church of Dillsboro, as is also his wife. His political support is given to the Republican party. He is keenly alive to the political questions of the hour .and, while never seeking office for himself, is known to be a man of influence in -his party's ranks.
CHARLES A. OPP.
Charles A. Opp, whose name commences this sketch has, by associating his interests with the various institutions of his home city, arrived at a point of affluence that ought to satisfy the ambitions of more than the average individual, and no doubt, were he urged for an answer, he would admit that Fate has been most generous in dealing out her prizes. In these times of competition and trust-juggling, the man is fortunate who can earn from his business investment a fair living, and when success such as Mr. Opp is en. joying rewards one's efforts, that man is especially favored.
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Charles A. Opp, coal dealer, Aurora, Indiana, is a son of Anthony and Mary (Heffelmire) Opp, and was born on January 16, 1866, at Farmers Retreat, Cæsar Creek township, Dearborn county, Indiana, and was reared on his father's farm. He attended the district schools and then took a course at a business college in Cincinnati, after which he became a commercial traveler, and at the end of nine years he associated himself with his brother, Frank M., in a general store at Farmers Retreat for a period of eight years, and then conducted it alone until 1904, when he came to Aurora and estab- lished himself in the coal business, in which he is still interested. In politics Mr. Opp's views are in line with the Republican principles, and his religious views are in accord with those of the Methodist church. Mr. Opp is a director of the Aurora State Bank.
Anthony Opp was born at Hessen Darmstadt, and his wife was a native of Bremen, Germany. They were reared and educated in the land of their birth, coming to America in 1849. They were early settlers in Cæsar Creek township, where Mr. Opp became engaged in merchandising, and also op- erated one of the first cooper shops in the township, and later conducted a blacksmith and shoe shop. He and his three brothers were men of such influ- ence that their neighborhood was called Opp town. He died there on the home place in 1899, at the age of eighty years. Mr. Opp was very fond of travel, having made three trips to Germany, and was all through South Africa, but became thoroughly Americanized and enthusiastic for the inter- ests of this country.
He and his wife were members of the German Methodist church, and he was postmaster at Farmers Retreat for over thirty years.
The paternal grandparents were Abraham Opp, and his wife, Elizabeth Opp, both natives of Germany. They immigrated to America at an early day and settled at Farmers Retreat, where they died at an old age. They had eight children: John, Frederick, Jacob, Anthony, George, Catherine, Rebecca and Elizabeth. Their son Anthony was thrice married, his first wife being a Miss Dexheimer, of Lawrenceburg, Indiana. To this union one son was born, Philip, now a resident of Portland, Oregon. His second wife was Mary (Heffelmire) Schmolsmire, widow of Casper Schmolsmire. To this union were born six children, namely: John F., of Cincinnati; Elizabeth, the widow of Isaac Shutts, of Seymour, Indiana; Sarah C., who married J. M. Pate, passed away during the fall of 1904; Frank M., of Cincinnati, Ohio: Lydia K., wife of Christian Lubbe, of Aurora; and Charles A., of Aurora. His third wife was Mrs. Frederick Heffelmire.
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Mrs. Mary E. Opp was twice married, her first husband being Casper Schmolsmire. Mr. Schmolsmire passed away during the cholera epidemic of 1849. To this union three children were born, Mary, Henry and Louise. The only surviving child. at this writing is Louise, wife of Martin Mat- ting, of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Charles A. Opp was united in marriage June 6, 1895, with Mary E. Denton, daughter of John H. and Martha (Cole) Denton, of Aurora, Indiana. There is one son to this union, Denton V., who is now in high school. Mrs. Opp was born in Aurora, December 9, 1865.
The parents of Mrs. Charles A. Opp came from one of the eastern states, and were early settlers in Aurora, where her father was postmaster for eight years. He died in 1893, and her mother is still living. They were the par- ents of three children, Mary, Nellie and Cora.
After his many years' experience in a commercial life Mr. Opp knows just how to meet the demands of his many customers.
HERMAN H. LEIVE.
An Italian writer has said, "It is not by sleeping, but by working, waking and laboring continually, that proficiency is attained and reputation ac- quired," a sentiment that may apply truthfully to every self-made man. A splendid strength of character is his who, forced to confront obstacles early in the struggle of life, removes them one by one from his path to success, and finally finds himself a conqueror who not only has kept his own self-respect, but has won the esteem of his fellow men. This is what Herman H. Leive has done, and his life has thereby become an inspiration to the younger generation who are beginning to tread the same difficult path. Mr. Leive's first difficulty was overcome when he' mastered the language and customs which he found in America, the new country to which he migrated when a lad of seventeen. It was then that he came with his parents, John Henry and Gertrude (Obermueller) Leive, from Germany, where he was born on Sep- tember 3, 1842, in Oldendorf by Melle.
During the Napoleonic War, the paternal grandfather of Herman H. Leive drove a team for the government. His occupation was farming, in which task he was helped by his good wife who, before her marriage, was Clara Bishop. To this union one child was born, a son, John Henry.
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The maternal grandfather Obermueller was a miller and farmer. He and his wife were natives of Germany, and lived to be quite aged. Their chil- dren were three in number, Henry, Gertrude and William, of whom the first- named was godfather to the subject of this sketch. .
To John Henry and Gertrude (Obermueller) Leive were born twelve children, namely: Henry W., of South Webster, Scioto county, Ohio; Will- iam, deceased; Louisa, Mrs. William Sherman, deceased; Herman H., of Aurora, Indiana; John Christian, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Charles, deceased; Catherine, who married Barney Lecker, of Cincinnati; Henry, deceased, who was for several years an Aurora jeweler; August, a retired farmer of Aurora, and three who passed away in early childhood.
John Henry Leive came to America with his mother, wife, and children in 1860, first living in Cincinnati, afterwards purchasing a farm in Dear- born county, Indiana. This land which he proceeded to improve consisted of eighty acres in Center township, and here he lived until after the death of his wife in 1873, which occurred in her fifty-eighth year. He spent the year beginning 1876 in the old country, and returning to America, bought a tract of good land near Brockville, Salina county, Kansas. But because of illness, his son Herman brought him back to Aurora, and he died at the home of his daughter in Cincinnati, in 1898, at the ripe old age of eighty-two. Both he and his wife were adherents to the Lutheran faith.
When only a lad of seventeen Herman H. Leive began his battle with life's realities by becoming an apprentice of the cabinet-maker and wood- carver's trade, in Cincinnati. His next ventures were in the grocery and furniture business, and after some experience in these lines of trade, he moved to Batesville, in the year 1866, at the time when there was in the town only one factory. It appears that business affairs did not run as smoothly as he had expected, and in a few months he returned to Cincinnati, and from there went to Louisville to open up a grocery store with his brother-in-law, William Sherman, at the same time working at his carving trade. After the death of his mother he returned to Aurora, which has been his home ever since. His first position there was with the Aurora Chair Factory, whose proprietor was John Cobb. He preferred, however, to have a business of his own, and in 1878 formed a partnership with Henry Wolka and John Franz, who established together the Cochran Furniture Company, at Cochran, now a part of Aurora. One year later he and Mr. Franz bought out the interest of Mr. Wolke, and the firm became the Cochran Chair Company. Subse- quently, in 1879, August Steinkamp and Clemens Post were added to the
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partnership, but this arrangement lasted for only a year, at the end of which, Mr. Post sold out, and Frederick Schmutte was added to the firm. In 1901 Mr. Leive retired from active business, when William E. Stark and Harry Schmutte became the sole owners, and devoted their entire time to the manufacture of chairs of all descriptions, selling these in every part of the United States. About one hundred and twenty employees were re- quired in the establishment. While Mr. Leive still retains stock in the company, he gives his time to other business interests, being vice-president and treasurer of the Aurora Tool Works, a stock-holder in the Wymond Cooperage Company, and in the Indianapolis Furniture Company, of Aurora, as well as in the Aurora State Bank.
Margaret Schwaka, of Cincinnati, became the wife of Herman H. Leive on December 3, 1863. To this union seven children were born, two of whom passed away in infancy, as follow: Anna married John Ritter, of Cochran, and is the mother of six children, Walter, Edna, Herman, Hildah, Anna and Harry ; Mary married Henry Poehlmann, of Cochran, and of this union three children, Lucille, Lelah and Emma, were born; Carrie became the wife of John Hang, a merchant tailor of Aurora, their children being Loretta, Esther and Alvin; Amelia is at home; Matilda became the wife of William Sieffermann, also a merchant tailor of Aurora. Besides being an ideal wife and mother, Mrs. Leive has been of invaluable assistance to her husband in the social life which his prominence in the community at- tracted, and their home has been one of the popular gathering places for their friends. Both Mr. and Mrs. Leive are members of the German Evan- gelical church, having identified themselves with it when it was first estab- lished in 1874.
For over fifty years Mr. Leive has been a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, also belonging to the Encampment. Re- publicanism in this county has had a strong ally in the subject of this sketch, and for one term he was a member of the town council of Cochran. Not all of Mr. Leive's attention has been given to business and politics for, being a lover of music, he has been a singer, possessing a splendid tenor voice, and has done much for the community in bringing to it good music, this being made possible through his activity in the Saengerbund, of which organization he is at present treasurer.
Herman H. Leive has risen above the common-place, and by business ability, foresight and an unusual amount of energy, has passed from the ob- scure life of a German youth in a strange land, to a place of prominence in a
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large American community, thus showing the possession of innate ability and integrity. He has been true to his"ideals, and in his own success, has contrib- uted to the commercial activity of his town in which he is a recognized leader.
JOHN A. BOBRINK.
Thackeray, in introducing to "the gentle reader" one of the most inter- esting of his many families of story folk, observes, in one of his inimitable asides : "You may not like my friends; very few people do like strangers to whom they are presented with an outrageous flourish of praise on the part of the introducer. But don't you acknowledge that the sight of an honest man, with an honest, loving wife by his side, and surrounded by loving and obedient children, presents something very sweet and affecting to you? If you are made acquainted with such a person, and see the eager kindness of the fond faces round about him, and. that pleasant confidence and affection which beams from his own, do you mean to say you are not touched and gratified?"
It does not require an overly inclusive acquaintance in Dearborn county to make positive the statement that there are many families in this favored sec- tion which might very properly be introduced in just such a fashion as the above, and it is a pleasure on the part of the present biographer to call the reader's attention, at this point, to just such a family as the great novelist might have had in mind when he penned the above introduction, the family of the gentleman whose name heads this brief biographical review, John A. Bobrink, a well-known and popular grocer of the Greendale section of Law- renceburg and the present efficient treasurer of Dearborn county, Indiana.
John A. Bobrink was born in Lawrenceburg township, this county, on February 22, 1867, the son of Henry and Anna (Niehaus) Bobrink, natives of Germany, to whom three sons and five daughters were born: John A., treasurer of Dearborn county; Henry, who lives in Lawrenceburg; Louis, who lives in Greensburg, Indiana; Maggie, the wife of Enoch Hilderman, of North Vernon, Indiana; Mary deceased; Sophia, a teacher in the public schools of Lawrenceburg; Anna, the wife of Martin Linkmeyer, of Lawrenceburg township, and Alice, the wife of A. J. Blackburn, of Tampa, Florida.
Henry Bobrink was the only son of Albert Bobrink and grew to young manhood in his native land, receiving there the careful tuition prescribed by the German regulations. In 1866, shortly following his marriage with Anna
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Niehaus, the daughter of Albert Niehaus, he came to America, proceeding im- - mediately to Dearborn county, Indiana, where he settled on a farm in Miller township, where he reared his family and where for forty years he engaged in farming, dairying and stock raising. His wife died in 1884, at the age of forty-four years, and he is now living, at the age of seventy-two, in comfortable retirement on his fine farm of two hundred acres (the old William Marshall farm), in Lawrenceburg township. In his native days Henry Bobrink was a man of large influence in the neighborhood in which he lived and there are few men in the county today who have a wider acquaintance or a more de- voted circle of friends than he.
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