History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 83

Author: Archibald Shaw
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1123

USA > Indiana > Dearborn County > History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 83

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).

Edward Holthause was born on November 4. 1858, at Covington, Kentucky, a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Mauntel) Holthause. He was reared and educated at Covington, attending the parochial schools, after which he entered Nelson's Business College. Upon finishing school, he learned the upholstering trade, and later the molding trade, which he fol- lowed until March 26, 1881, at which time he went into business for himself, starting a small upholstering and repairing business, making mattresses, etc., in Lawrenceburg, this county. In 1882 Mr. Holthause lost everything he had in the flood of that year, necessitating a new start in business. In 1883 he located at Aurora, engaging in the furniture and undertaking busi- . ness, which he later discontinued and moved to Washington, Indiana, where he was engaged for more than four years in the same line. Selling out there, he moved to Cincinnati and engaged in a livery and undertaking business which in nineteen months he sold and then returned to Aurora, where he has since followed the same vocation. Mr. Holthause introduced the first rubber- tired buggy and surrey into Dearborn county, also the first white hearse and funeral car and ambulance fitted with rubber tires, and claims to have had one of the first gasoline automobiles in Dearborn county. He was one of the first embalmers in the state of Indiana, having graduated from the Clark School of Embalming, at Indianapolis, in 1887. Professor Clark told him at that time that he was the youngest man on his roll in the state. Mr. Holt- hause passed the state board examinations for embalming in both Indiana and Kentucky. In 1885 and 1886 he was assistant superintendent of the Aurora Valley Furniture Company, which position he abandoned to go into the furniture business for himself, buying out Matthew Herring. Politically, Mr. Holthause is a Democrat, and has shown his public spirit.by serving on the township advisory board for several years, of which board he is now president. He and his wife are members of the Catholic church. He belongs

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to St. Joseph's Society, and has always taken an active interest in the welfare of Aurora, having displayed his public spirit by establishing a city morgue and an emergency hospital.

Benjamin Holthause, father of Edward Holthause, was born at Bentheim, Germany, where he attended school until fourteen years of age, and then came to America with his parents, who settled at Covington, Ken- tucky, where he grew to manhood. He was a molder by trade, which he followed until his death, which occurred at Covington, in 1896. He was a teamster during the Civil War, and drove a six-mule team to a commissary wagon, hauling provisions and ammunition. Elizabeth (Mauntel) Holthause, his wife, was also a native of Germany, her birth occurring at Ossenbreck. At an early day Mr. Holthause and his wife became members of the Catholic church. She survives him, and is now seventy-nine years of age. They were the parents of the following children, Edward, of Aurora; Sarah, who mar- ried Clement Hembrock, of Covington, Kentucky; Anna and Mary, both single, who make their home in Covington, Kentucky, and five others, who died young. Mrs. Holthause came with her parents to America when but ten years old, and settled at Cincinnati, where she grew to womanhood and was married. Mr. Holthause's paternal grandparents were Benjamin and Char- lotte Holthause. the former a shoemaker by trade. Both died at Covington at ripe old ages. They were the parents of three children, Benjamin, Anthony and a daughter. Anna. Mr. Holthause's maternal grandfather, Louis Maun- tel, followed teaming at Cincinnati, where he owned a number of teams. Both he and his wife died there. he at the age of ninety-four, and she at ninety-eight. Among their children were John. Elizabeth and Frank.

Edward Holthause was married on November 5. 1880. to Belle Blasing, born at Lawrenceburg. daughter of Lawrence and Barbara Blasing. who died two years after her marriage, at the age of twenty-three. One son was born to that union. Edward. Jr., who is following the undertaking business at Lincoln, Nebraska.

Lawrence Blasing, father of Mrs. Belle Holthause, was a native of Germany, and her mother was born in Hardintown, Dearborn county. In- diana. March 6, 1834, and died on August 7. 1914. at Lawrenceburg, aged eighty years, five months and one day. He and his wife were the parents of two daughters and two sons, Belle. Lawrence. Charles and Lucy, the two latter being the only ones now living.

On May 25. 1885. Edward Holthause married. secondly. Maggie Car- roll. daughter of Patrick and Mary (Durneen) Carroll. to which union two children were born. John and Millie, both of whom died of diphtheria. the

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former at the age of five years and the latter at the age of three years. Patrick Carroll, father of Mrs. Maggie Holthause, was born in Ireland and came to America, locating at Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he died. After the death of her husband Mrs. . Carroll, who also was a native of Ireland, moved to Aurora, about 1870, with her two children, Frank and Maggie. She was married there to Martin Cochran, who died aged seventy years. There were no children born to this union. Mrs. Cochran died in 1905, at the age of sixty years.

Mr. Holthause is very popular in a social way, being a member of the City Business Men's Club, and of the Automobile Club, and is chairman of the good roads committee of the Ohio Valley Motor Club. He is a thor- oughly enterprising and successful business man and enjoys the respect and confidence of all his business associates.

GEORGE DEMAS.

The biographer is pleased to include in this volume the sketch of a man who belongs to the type of foreign-born citizens that this country should de- light to honor. Bereft of a mother's tender care at the age of six, and in other ways handicapped, Mr. Demas early decided that he would win in the battle of life, and so steadily has he held to his purpose that now in his young manhood, he has realized his ambition, and has become an American citizen respected by those countrymen with whom he has made his adopted home. Mr. Demas, who owns a large and attractive ice cream parlor and confection- ery store in Aurora, this county, was born in the city of Trekkala, state of Thessaly, Greece, August 29, 1881.

George Demas and his brother, James, a confectioner of Seymour, In- diana, were the only children of Nicholas and Rena (Spanos) Demas, natives of Trekkala, Greece. Both parents died at a comparatively early age, the father being forty-eight, and the mother only twenty-six, when they left their sons to the mercy of the world and their own brave hearts. They died in Trekkala, he in 1896, and she in 1887, and were buried with the ceremonies of their church, the Greek Orthodox Catholic. The father's father was James Demas, and he and his wife became the parents of Nicholas and Vaseleke. The latter married Athanese Vowondas, and is now a widow in Trekkala. Unfortunately, the family history of the subject's mother, a brave industrious little woman, is lost. But many of her estimable traits of character, it is said, survive in her children.

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George Demas spent his boyhood in classic old Greece, receiving his edu- cation in Trekkala, a city of twenty-five thousand inhabitants. A lad of six when his mother was taken, he grew to young manhood in his native city, and was only twenty-two years of age, when by his own efforts, he managed to cross the ocean and land in New York with scarcely anything more than hope and faith in himself as his capital. On the night of his arrival in Amer- ica, January 2, 1903, George Demas departed for Dayton, Ohio, where for- tunately, he met some friends. Putting to them the very practical question as to what vocation it would be best for him to follow in the new country, he was advised to become a confectioner, and he was sent to Columbus, Ohio, to work for the firm of Zaharako Brothers. From this time on, until he finally settled in Aurora, his life was somewhat varied as to residences, but each change of place was made for the purpose of bettering his material con- dition. Having worked two years for the above-mentioned firm, Mr. Demas went into business in partnership with his brother in Columbus. Indiana, a partnership which lasted for five years. Removing to Connersville, Indiana, George Demas started in a business enterprise for himself, remaining in that town for eighteen months. The two following year's, he had a store in Wa- bash, Indiana, and then spent a similar period of the time in New Albany, Indiana. from which place he went to Louisville, Kentucky, where he re- mained one year, at the end of which time he went to Brazil. Indiana, where he remained for a short time, and in 1913. located at Aurora, where he opened a most attractive ice-cream parlor and confectionery shop. There he has exercised all of his knowledge and skill in the manufacture of sweets, and so successful has he been that his well-kept establishment is acknowledged to be the center of an enviable trade.

George Demas has not lived alone all of these years, for on October 14, 1910. Mary Athanaseade became his bride. Mrs. Demas is the daughter of Anthony and Klyo ( Mavros) Athanaseade, and was born in Volo, Greece, in 1885. Her father died there in February. 1915. at the age of eighty-one years. The mother. who is now fifty years of age, is still living. The five children born to this couple are Mary. Arestaer. Demetra. Athanase and Jones. During all of his mature life. the father was a wholesale grocer. Mr. and Mrs. Demas are members of the Greek Catholic church, and Mr. Demas, who since coming to this country has become somewhat interested in our politics, votes the Democratic ticket.

Although at first unfamiliar with our language and customs, Mr. Demas has overcome this handicap, and by his industry, ambition and personal char- acteristics has won not only success, but the respect of the citizens of his adop-

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ted home. He is a wide-awake business man, and has contributed something to the commercial interests of the town in which he has chosen to make his home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Demas have many friends and are held in high esteem by all who know them.

WILLARD M. DEAN.

To do justice to the biographical sketch of a successful professional man is a difficult task in the space allotted in a volume of this nature, for no doubt there would be sufficient interesting data in the experience of a man holding the position of prosecuting attorney to fill more than a volume of this size; but when it is pointed out that a man has made a success of any undertaking in life, it speaks volumes; for in these days of competition and scientific training, the man who climbs to the top possesses a force beyond the average.

Willard M. Dean, for many years a prominent and well-known attorney- at-law at Aurora, this county, and now prosecuting attorney for the seventh judicial circuit of Indiana, comprising the counties of Dearborn and Ohio. was born on October 4, 1879, at Cochran, now a part of Aurora. a son of John and Cecelia (Dobel) Dean. He attended the public schools of Cochran, and later went to St. Mary's parochial school at Aurora. His first employment was in the capacity of a machinist but continued thus engaged for a short time only. his inclination being in the direction of the law, and he soon entered the McDonald Law School at Cincinnati from which he was graduated in 1904. being admitted to the bar the same year. He also took a course in the law department of the Michigan University at Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he performed regular work in the literary department. Mr. Dean established his law offices at Aurora in 1906, and built up a very suc- cessful legal practice. He held the position of city attorney for three years, and in 1914, was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney for the seventh judicial circuit. resigning as city attorney on December 31, 1914. and at once entered upon his duties as prosecuting attorney. On January 1. 1915. Mr. Dean associated with him his brother. John Dean, Jr., under the firm name of Dean & Dean. John Dean. Jr .. is a graduate of the Aurora high school. and also attended the parochial school at Aurora. He was graduated from the Indiana University. at Bloomington, in 1911. after which he was engaged in the sale of law books, traveling from place to place for a period of two years, at the end of which time he took a post-graduate course at Cin- cinnati, just prior to entering into partnership with his brother, Willard.

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He was elected city attorney in January, 1915. Mr. Dean and his brother are still bachelors, and both belong to the Catholic church. They are mem- bers of the Knights of Columbus, the Dearborn County Bar Association and the Aurora Commercial Club.

John Dean, father of Willard M. Dean, was a native of Pennsylvania, and came to this county as a small boy locating at Cochran where he was employed as a machinist in the old Stedman foundry and machine works for many years. His wife, Cecelia (Dobel) Dean, was born in County Mayo, Ireland. Their children were eight in number, namely : James V., of Kansas City, Missouri; Silas D., of Aurora, Indiana; Willard M., the subject of this sketch; Anna M., a teacher in the public schools of Aurora; Cecelia M., a teacher in the academy at Asheville, North Carolina; Rosella G., who mar- ried Fred J. Dober, of Richmond, Indiana; John, Jr., law partner of his brother Willard, and Theodosia R.

The senior John Dean was the son of Peter and Bridget (Cochran) Dean, natives of County Mayo, Ireland, who came to America about 1840, locating in Pennsylvania, whence they came to Indiana, locating at Wilmington, from which point they moved to Aurora, and finally settled at Cochran. Peter Dean was drowned when comparatively a young man and his widow lived to the age of seventy-eight years. She died at Cincinnati and was buried in River View cemetery by the side of her husband. They were the parents of three children, John, Mary, the wife of Patrick Feeley, and Michael.

Mr. Dean's mother was the daughter of James and Mary (McGrath) Dobel, natives of the County Mayo, Ireland, and early settlers in Dearborn county. James Dobel was a contractor and stone mason, who lived to be eighty-seven years old, his wife living to the age of seventy-nine. They were the parents of six children, Patrick, Anthony, Cecelia, Luke, Mary and Julia.

The well-known law firm of Dean & Dean, is doing a thriving legal practice, and bids fair to become one of the most successful law firms in Dear- born county, the members of this progressive firm being very popular through- out this section of the state, their practice bringing them in connection with affairs beyond the confines of their home county. Both are Democrats and are earnestly interested in the political affairs of their home county. Willard M. Dean is secretary of the Democratic central committee and his counsels in the deliberations of the party managers in this county receive much weight. He is public spirited and enterprising, taking a warm interest in all matters per- taining to the advancement of the better affairs of this county and enjoys the confidence and esteem of the entire community.

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FRANK HEFFELMIRE.

Frank Heffelmire has spent the greater portion of his life in Cæsar Creek township, where he has successfully followed agriculture, and through his sound and progressive business methods, has made for himself a name that stands at the head as an enterprising and representative citizen. His farm is one of the most attractive places in the township, and consists of almost two hundred acres.

Frank Heffelmire was born on August 1, 1864, in the township where he now resides. He is a son of Frederick and Caroline ( Piepper) Heffel- mire. His education was obtained in Cæsar Creek township and Farmers Retreat, and after school he remained on the farm for two years, assisting his father. At the age of twenty-one years he became interested in seeing other parts of the country and took a trip to Nebraska where he remained two years, returning to Cæsar Creek and bought the old homestead, con- sisting of eighty acres, which he later sold and bought another tract of ninety- two acres, to which he added one hundred acres more, and is still living on the place. Mr. Heffelmire has always given his ardent support to the Demo- cratic party. He is a member of the Lutheran church, of which all the other members of his family are also members.

Frederick and Carolina (Piepper) Heffelmire. parents of Frank Heffel- mire, were natives of Germany. They immigrated to America and came to Indiana, settling in Cæsar Creek township, Dearborn county, where Mr. Heffelmire bought eighty acres of land, on which he lived until his death, which occurred in 1887, at sixty-nine years of age. Mr. Heffelmire was mar- ried twice, his first wife being Mary (Calkmier) Heffelmire, by whom he had three children : John, Louisa and Julia. By his second wife, Caroline (Piepper) Heffelmire, he had twelve children : Henry, Eliza, Mary, William, Amelia, Elizabeth, George, Frank, Fred, Anna, Caroline and Charlie. Eliza and Henry died in infancy. Caroline ( Piepper) Heffelmire died in 1913, aged eighty-two years, after which his widow, Caroline, was married to Antex Opp, and lived at Farmers Retreat.

Frank Heffelmire was united in marriage on December 4, 1890, to Anna Linkmeyer, daughter of Christian and Minnie (Coleman) Linkmeyer. She was born on March 4, 1866, in Cæsar Creek township, and received her edu- cation in the district schools. To this union five children were born, Clifford, Elmer, Herbert, Lawrence and Alma.

Christian and Minnie (Coleman) Linkmeyer, parents of Mrs. Frank

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Heffelmire, were early settlers in Cæsar Creek township, and lived there un- til their death, Mr. Linkmeyer dying in 1910, aged seventy-three years.

Mr. Heffelmire is a gentleman whose daily life has been upright, and whose industrious habits have set a good example for his children, as well as others, who are willing to learn from those who have had practical ex- perience in both agriculture and the important business of being a good and desirable citizen.

FRANK M. COX.

The name at the head of this sketch is that of a man who is a fine ex- ample of the progressive instinct and determination of the present generation. His pathway has not all the way been strewn with flowers. He has had his full share of thorns and "rainy days," but he struggled with the thorns and, with the knowledge that all things must come to an end, he persevered until the sunshine drove the clouds away, and is now well established as a representative merchant of Aurora. where he is highly respected for his fine character and the interest he takes in the welfare of his city.

Frank M. Cox was born on October 26. 1859, at Bellevue (now Grant's Post Office), Kentucky, son of Thomas and Marietta (Carson) Cox. When he was three years old, his parents moved to Petersburg, Kentucky, where he attended the public schools until thirteen years of age, and then engaged his services on a farm by the month, covering a period of four years, after which he was employed in a distillery at Petersburg, remaining thus engaged until twenty-one years old, when he began clerking in a general store, after a time going into the grocery business for himself. He later sold his grocery and, in July, 1895, located in Aurora, where he entered the employ of W. W. Lamar, remaining thus engaged a number of years, at the end of which time he purchased the general store of R. J. Gardiner, and is now doing a very successful business, being one of the prosperous merchants of Aurora. Mr. Cox is a Democrat, to which party he has always given his loyal support. While in Petersburg he was president of the board of trustees one term, and since locating in Aurora served as' councilman for two years, during which time many improvements were made in the way of street paving, cement sidewalks, waterworks, and the rebuilding of the Royal wheel works, which had burned. Mr. Cox is a member of Harmony Lodge No. 69, Knights of Pythias, of which he is a charter member, and also is a member of Walla Walla Tribe No. 229, Improved Order of Red Men, and of the Modern Woodmen of America. in the latter of which orders he has been very active.

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Mr. Cox is a large stockholder in the Fortune Mining Company, whose mine is located near Prescott, Arizona.

Thomas Cox, father of Frank M. Cox, was a native of Virginia, where he was reared on a farm. He moved to Kentucky and followed various pur- suits, but was a miller by trade. He died in Petersburg, Kentucky, in 1893, aged sixty-three years. His wife, Marietta (Carson) Cox, was also a native of Virginia. She survived her husband and died in 1910, aged seventy-six years. They were early settlers at Bellevue, Kentucky, and were members of the Christian church. They were the parents of five children, as follow : Frank M., of Aurora; William, deceased; Allen S., of Indianapolis; Charles, of Petersburg, and Anna, who is the wife of Levi Spencer, a commission merchant in Chicago. Thomas Cox had a brother, John, and his wife was one of four children born to her parents, the others being Marion, Ann and Arminta.

Frank M. Cox was united in marriage on June 7, 1885, to Lilly B. Mc- Guffin, who was born on April 2, 1865, at Rising Sun, Indiana, daughter of Shannon and Harriet (Stegner) McGuffin, to which union two daughters have been born, Ethel and Frances. Ethel, who was graduated from the Aurora high school, married Edwin W. Randall, of Chicago, and has one son, Marcus; Frances clerks in her father's store. Mr. Cox is a member of the Christian church and Mrs. Cox and her daughters are members of the Presbyterian church.

Shannon McGuffin, father of Mrs. Cox, was a native of Pennsylvania and his wife of Indiana. They were early settlers in Ohio county, Indiana, 'and were the parents of seven children, namely: Quella, Jerome, Mary, Lilly B., Perry, Nellie and Richard.

Mr. Cox is one of the enterprising citizens of Aurora, where he has a large circle of warm and admiring friends, and he and his wife are held in the highest esteem by all.

LOUIS D. STOLL.

Dealing out honest measure and honest meat in return for honest money has always been the pivot on which the success of Louis D. Stoll's business has turned. He not only holds his old customers, but, by reason of the reputation already established, he is constantly adding new ones. In treating one's fellow men as one would be treated, the average citizen is bound to get his innings in the long run, and the square deals given by Mr. Stoll all

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along life's pathway are now bringing him compound interest in his present line of business.

Louis D. Stoll, proprietor of the Stoll meat market, at Aurora, this county, is a son of Leonhart and Caroline (Sauter) Stoll. He was born on November 2, 1859, at Covington, Kentucky, where he attended the pa- rochial and public schools, going later to St. Xavier's College, at Cincinnati. after which he went to work in the butchering establishment of his brother- in-law, Peter Funck, at Covington, where he remained for one year, at the end of which time, in 1878, he moved to Aurora, where he entered into partnership with his father in the butchering business, which arrangement was continued, with the exception of about three years, until his father's death, in January, 1915, since which time he and his brothers, August and William, have been partners in business under the firm name of the Stoll Meat Company, incorporated with a capital stock of three thousand dollars. They have a strictly first-class meat market, with modern improvements, and do an extensive business. Politically, Mr. Stoll is a Republican, and his religious belief lies with the Lutheran church. He is also one of the direc- tors of the Aurora State Bank.

Leonhart Stoll, father of Louis D. Stoll, was born on September 10, 1828, in Muhlhausen, Alsace, his mother dying when he was but three days old. At the age of thirteen he left home, going to Paris, then to Havre, and later immigrating to America, landing at New Orleans, going from thence to Louisville, Kentucky, and from there to Covington, Kentucky. He was married to Karoline Sauter in 1854, and this happy union was blessed with eighteen children, ten of whom are still living to testify to the goodness and nobility of their highly honored parents. Fifty-one years of happy wedded life was granted this good man and his wife. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1904, and Mrs. Stoll died in the following year.

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History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 83

Author: Archibald Shaw Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1123

Author: Archibald Shaw
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1123