USA > Indiana > Dearborn County > History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 89
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 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107
Clifford S. Diehl was married on April 26, 1911, to Laura Bauer, daugh- ter of Jacob and Evangeline (Hayes) Bauer. She was born in Greendale, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. One son has been born to this union, Robert Bauer Diehl. For the history of the parents of Mrs. Laura Diehl, the reader is referred to the sketch of Jacob Bauer, presented elsewhere in this volume.
FREDERICK HEIBECK ..
As the son of Frederick Heibeck and Margaretta (Luntz) Heibeck. the subject of this sketch has inherited the thrifty, industrious characteristic of the German race, and these traits of character have made them assets to the Amer- ican commonwealth.
Frederick Heibeck was born in Jackson township. Dearborn county. Octo- ber 15. 1857. his parents having married in Germany, and settled when they first came to this country. in Aurora, Indiana. The father was born in the year 1817. After draying for a few years, the senior Frederick Heibeck pur- chased a general store in Lawrenceville which he managed for two years, then traded his shop for seventy-six acres southeast of Lawrenceville. Later, selling fifteen acres, he lived on the remaining sixty-one acres until his death which occurred on August 18, 1863, when he was a comparatively young man forty-six years of age. He was a prominent member of the Methodist Episco- pal church.
Margaretta (Luntz) Heibeck was born on January 5, 1830, at Reinhart-
Digitized by Google
894
DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.
shofen, Baiern, Germany, and educated there. She met and married her hus- band in Germany. To them were born six children, Anna, Frederick, John, Margarette, and two who died in infancy. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Heibeck married Mathew Steiger, and to them were born three children, Mary, Anthone and Katherine. The mother of these children lived to be seventy years of age, passing away on March 24, 1900.
After his education in the public schools of this county, Frederick Heibeck looked after matters on the farm for his mother until his twenty-first year, then beginning his independent life by doing miscellaneous farm work for the following three years in Decatur county. In 1881, on March 15, Frederick Heibeck was united in marriage to Lena Disque, daughter of John and Lena (Steinhauser) Disque. He then rented a small farm near Lawrenceville, where he farmed for three years, then improved his material condition by rent- ing a larger piece of land, remaining there for seven years. Buying seventy- two acres near Sunman, in this township, he started life on the farm which has been his home until the present. Sixty-one acres were later added to the original ground, and again a strip of twelve and one-half acres adjoining was added to his rural possessions, this totalling a property of one hundred and forty-five acres.
On April 10, 1896, Mrs. Lena Heibeck passed away, at the age of thir- ty-five. Her father was born and reared in this country, while her mother was a native of Germany, but came to this country when young. Lena was born in 1861, in Lawrenceville, which continued to be her home until her marriage.
The nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Heibeck were. Charles, l'earl. Edward. Alice. Elma. Augusta, Wesley, Lucinda and Malinda. Pearl be- came the wife of John Edwards, a trimmer, of Indianapolis, and became the mother of three children, Dortha, Mable and Melvin. Edward married Ger- trude Clemenz. a carpenter of Terre Haute, Indiana. Augusta is Mrs. Earl Hornberger. her husband being a farmer in this township. They have a daughter named Arvilla. Lucinda is now Mrs. Clarence Eichacker, her hus- band being a farmer of Batesville.
Frederick Heibeck was twice married. After the death of his first wife, he married Mary Michel, daughter of Matthias and Mary ( Albers) Michel, the former being born in Switzerland in 1819. He came to the United States in 1850, and settled in Batesville, where he lived until his death at seventy- nine years of age.
Mary Michel was born in Batesville, February 14, 1871, was educated in the town schools until her thirteenth year, when she began to be self-support- ing by working out, and continued thus until her marriage to Adam Hafner,
Digitized by Google
895
DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.
of Lawrenceville. Mr. Hafner was a skillful wood carver. At the time of his marriage to Mary Michel, he was the father of two children, Viola (de- ceased) and Chester. Mr. Hafner died on August 13, 1896, at the age of twenty-seven. Then Mary (Michel) Hafner married Frederick Heibeck, and to this couple four children were born, Emma, Irene, Alvin and Harvey.
Among the Republicans of the county, Frederick Heibeck is well-known, for he is an enthusiastic supporter of the principles of that party. He is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and has served on its board of directors. Mr. Heibeck is respected by all who know him, for he is known to be a man of strict moral principles, of kindly disposition, of strong character, and of integrity.
WILLIAM S. CALHOUN.
The man who puts into any enterprise or undertaking the best that is in him is almost sure to win out and when such a man encounters obstacles and difficulties, they but whet his determination and bring out traits of character which might have gone undeveloped but for adversity. It is especially pleas- ing to the biographer to point to a man who is succeeding in his own particu- lar line of endeavor and the attention of the reader is directed to a short sketch of the man whose name heads this paragraph.
William S. Calhoun is a native of this county, having been born in Wash- ington township, on February 24, 1877. a son of Simeon B. and Emma (Wright) Calhoun. His father was also born in this county, receiving his education in the public schools of Washington township and during the earlier portion of his life he lived the life of a farmer. In 1884 Simeon B. Calhoun left the farm and became a contractor and builder, which business he still fol- lows at his home in Aurora. He is considered among the leading citizens of his town, being a man of upright character and interested in the welfare of his city. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, to the support of which he contributes generously of his means. He is a member of the ancient order of Free Masonry. He owns property in Aurora and is a director of the Peoples Building and Loan Company, of Cochran, this county.
Simeon B. Calhoun is a son of William Calhoun and wife, who were among the early settlers of this county. They lived here for many years and had the privilege of seeing something of the onward march of civilization in the great improvements in this region over the days of the pioneer.
William S. Calhoun received his education in the schools of his home
Digitized by Google
896
DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.
district and remained in his home neighborhood working out among the var- ious farmers until he was twenty-two years of age. At that age he joined the United States navy and went into training on the United States steamship "Hartford." From there he went to the battleship "Indiana," and later to the cruiser "Atlanta." He spent two and one-half years along the coasts of South America, touching at practically every port of that continent. After fulfilling his enlistment of four years, he returned to Aurora, and there followed the car- pentering trade for a year. However, he did not find the pursuit of that trade to his liking, and, in 1904, he came to Dillsboro and opened up a furniture store. His original place of business was a small room about sixteen by forty feet and his business has so grown that it now occupies two floors of a build- ing twenty-two by one hundred and thirty feet, and he also owns the building. He has succeeded admirably in this undertaking, but the result is not to be won- dered at, when it is considered that he brings to his enterprise sincerity, undoubted integrity and an earnest desire to please his patrons.
In 1906 William S. Calhoun was united in wedlock with Nellie Gilliland, daughter of Newton and Jennie (Shields)' Gilliland, both of Ripley county, where Mrs. Calhoun was also born. She received her education in this county and remained with her parents until the time of her marriage. William S. and Nellie (Gilliland) Calhoun are the parents of one son, Francis W., born November 19, 1898.
William S. Calhoun is a member of the Presbyterian church, in the work of which he takes a commendable interest. His fraternal affiliation is held with the ancient order of Free Masonry, in the work of which he has attained to the chapter degree. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in politics he votes the Republican ticket. Mr. Calhoun is a man of strong personal qualities, easily makes friends, and also retains them. United in his composition are many elements of a provident, practical nature which are winning for him the success which he desires.
JOSEPH GROFF.
In the golden sayings of Epictetus there is no nobler utterance than this : "What wouldst thou be found doing when overtaken by Death? If I might choose, I would be found doing some deed of true humanity, of wide import, beneficent and noble. But if I may not be found engaged in aught so lofty, let me hope at least for this-what none may hinder, what is surely in my
Digitized by Google
897
DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.
power-that I may be found raising up in myself that which had fallen ; learn- ing to deal more wisely with the things of sense; working out my own tran- quility, and thus rendering that which is due to every relation of life .* * * If Death thus finds me thus employed, it is enough if I can stretch forth my hands to God and say, 'The faculties which I received at Thy hands for appre- hending this Thine administration, I have not neglected, As far as in me lay, I have done Thee no dishonor. Behold how I have used the senses, the pri- mary conceptions which Thou gavest me. Have I ever laid anything to Thy charge? Have I ever murmured at aught that came to pass, or wished it other- wise? Have I in anything transgressed the relations of life? For that Thou didst beget me, I thank Thee for that Thou hast given; for the time during which I have used the things that were Thine, it suffices me. Take them back and place them where Thou wilt! They were all Thine, and Thou gavest them me.'-If a man depart thus minded, is it not enough? What life is fairer or more noble, what end happier than his?"
The above beautiful and tranquilizing thought is suggested to the biog- rapher by a review of the life of the late Joseph Groff, for many years one of the best-known manufacturers and well-beloved citizens of Lawrenceburg, a man who was known and respected throughout the bounds of Dearborn county as few of his contemporaries were, a man who reflected honor upon his gen- eration and who left, at his passing, a pleasant memory, ever to be cherished by his descendants. A work of the character contemplated by this volume is peculiarly adapted to memorial utterance, and it is fitting that a brief biog- raphy of the former well-known citizen of this commonwealth, whose name is noted above, should be presented here for the information and instruction of coming generations.
The late Joseph Groff was born in New Jersey on August 6, 1813, and died in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, in May, 1899. He was a son of Henry and Rebecca (Inness) Groff, the former of whom was a native of New Jersey, of Dutch descent, and the latter of whom also was born in New Jersey, of Scot- tish descent. The Groffs were of Quaker stock and Henry Groff's father was the founder of the family in this country. The Inness family had its origin in Inverness, Scotland, the founder of the family in this country having settled at Asbury, New Jersey, upon his arrival in America and from that point the family became widely scattered, the Innesses being well and worthily repre- sented in various parts of the country.
Henry Groff was brought up as a hatter and founded and for years operated a hat factory at Asbury, New Jersey, from which point he and his family later immigrated to Ohio, locating at Elizabethtown, where he and (57)
Digitized by Google
898
DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.
his wife spent the remainder of their days, she dying at the age of thirty-four and he at the age of fifty. They were the parents of seven children, James, Robert, Joseph, William, Theodore. Sarah and Mary.
Joseph Groff was but a boy when his parents immigrated to Ohio and he grew to manhood at Elizabethtown, learning from his father the details of hat manufacturing. acquiring at the same time an excellent education in the schools of that town, which was largely supplemented by the instructions he received from his mother, who was a woman of superior intelligence and of a degree of education far in advance of the average woman of that period, that being before the days of schools for the higher education of women. It was in the town of Elizabethtown that Joseph Groff married Deliah, daughter of Zach- ariah and Mary ( Pride) Nowlin, and in 1834 came with his bride to Dearborn county, Indiana. locating at Lawrenceburg. where he started a hat factory and in the business section of the then rapidly growing village opened a hat store, which for many years was one of the best known business houses in the city. Mr. Groff was a man of much activity and in connection with his hat business operated a fleet of flatboats in the New Orleans trade. He was a large buyer of furs, of which there was an apparently inexhaustible supply in this region in that day, the greater part of his fur supplies being consumed in the manu- facture of hats, which he turned into a profitable trade. the product of his fac- tory being in wide demand. He was a very successful business man and pos- sessed great influence not only in the thriving city of Lawrenceburg. but throughout the whole countryside. He and his wife were Methodists, in the various beneficences of which they were among the most active factors in their day and generation, as well as being earnest promoters of all the good works of the community. Mr. Groff was one of the first men in Lawrenceburg to discern the possibilities of the beautiful Greendale section of the city and was the first to build a modern dwelling house on the Ridge, wherein he made his home during the rest of his life. This beautiful home at 141 Ridge avenue is now occupied by his son, William, and his daughters. Mary and Cordelia.
Joseph Groff died in May, 1899, in the eighty-sixth year of his age, and his widow survived until the year 1910, she being ninety-five years of age at the time of her death. This venerable and worthy couple were the parents of eight children, four dying in infancy. Those living are Mary, Cordelia, Will- iam and George. The Misses Mary and Cordelia Groff were graduated from the Springfield Female Seminary, at Springfield. Ohio, after which Miss Mary taught school for two years and Miss Cordelia served as a teacher for a num- ber of years. These two women are among the leaders in the gentle circles of their home city and preside charmingly in their hospitable home. William
Digitized by Google
899
DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.
Groff owns a farm near Indianapolis and a farm near Knightstown, Indiana, though making his home in Lawrenceburg. In connection with the operation of his farms, he is widely known as a successful trader and man of affairs in the city. He was twice married, but both of his wives were without issue and he is living with his sisters in the old Groff home. George Groff, who died in 1910, was a farmer and was living on a farm at the time of his death. He married Sarah Dobell, to which union there were born seven children, Eva, Edna, Harry, Clarence, George, Cora, and one who died in infancy.
The memory of the late Joseph Groff is a precious legacy to the com- munity in which he so long lived and labored and in which the influence of himself and that of his gentle wife was exerted with such beneficent results and his name will long be held in reverent remembrance throughout this county. He, indeed, had rendered "that which is due to every relation of life," his good deeds having erected for him a monument more durable than stone.
GEORGE KUNZ.
Among the active and thrifty business men of Lawrenceburg, George Kunz is worthy of special mention in this .volume. Starting empty-handed, but with a brave heart and undaunted courage he has, by his own industry and good management, become associated with, and is now at the head of a number of the leading industries of the town. He is honored and respected by his business associates and the citizens in general, both as a successful business man and a citizen. Always public-spirited and enterprising, he has at heart the welfare of the community, and thus he has won the high esteem of an admiring and appreciative public. He has reared a family, of whom he is justly proud, and is entitled to recognition as a man who has accom- plished things. He has been a resident of Lawrenceburg practically for forty- six years, and when in a reminiscent mood, can tell many interesting stories of the happenings that go to make up a good history of the city during his long residence and eventful career. He has been a valuable citizen in the industrial development of Lawrenceburg, and many of the children now growing up will remember him for his genial and social qualities, and the many good things he has done.
George Kunz was born on August 15, 1849, in Mutterstadt, Bavaria, Germany, and is a son of Michael and Catherine (Bartholomew) Kunz. He was reared and educated in the common schools of Germany, from which
Digitized by Google
900
DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.
country he came on May 2, 1869, to America, landing at New York City on May 15. Three days after landing, he started west, settling at Lawrence- burg, where, with the exception of one year, he has since lived. He began his first work by assisting in putting the streets of Lawrenceburg in good condition, and later spent a short time on a farm, going from there to Omaha, Nebraska, but soon returned to Lawrenceburg and went to work in a cooper shop. In 1872 he was employed in a spoke factory, where he remained two years, and then went to work in the Ohio Valley Coffin Factory, working there continuously for nineteen years, at the end of which time he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, William F. Ritzman, and established a bottling factory, which proved a very successful investment. Mr. Kunz disposed of his interest to his brother-in-law in 1900, in order that he might devote more of his time to the coal and lumber business, in which he was also interested. He is now president of the People's Coal Company. and of the Lawrenceburg Lumber Company, general superintendent, secretary and treasurer of the Lawrenceburg Gas Company, president of the Lawrenceburg Water Company, president of the Dearborn County Agricultural Society, and is at present receiver for the James Meyer Buggy Company. Mr. Kunz is a Republican, and his fraternal affiliations are with Lawrenceburg Lodge No. 4, Free and Accepted Masons; Lawrenceburg Chapter No. 56, Royal Arch Masons; the consistory, Scottish Rite Masons; Union Lodge No. 6. Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and the Society of Eagles. He was a member of the city council for ten years, representing the third ward.
Michael and Catherine (Bartholomew) Kunz were natives of Bavaria, the former serving in the War of 1848, in that country, after which he became an officer of a railroad. He died in 1872, aged seventy-one years, and his wife died in 1882, aged seventy-seven years. In religion, Mr. Kunz was a Catholic, and his wife was a member of the Lutheran church. To this union were born seven children, namely: Christian, of Mutterstadt; Elizabeth, who lives at Speier, Germany; Catherine, Maria and Jacob also reside at Mutter- stadt; George is a resident of Lawrenceburg, Indiana; Peter lives at Nor- wood, Ohio.
The paternal grandfather was Michael Kunz, Sr., a native of Germany, where he held the position of government overseer of road construction. His wife, Elizabeth (Bartholomew) Kunz, was also a native of Germany, where they both lived and died. They were the parents of three children, Michael, Peter and Caroline.
The maternal grandfather was George Bartholomew, a native of Ger- many, and a farmer. His wife, Anna (Wendel) Bartholomew, was also
Digitized by Google
901
DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.
born in Germany, and both died in the land of their birth. They had four children, Adam, Andrew, Catherine and Barbara.
George Kunz was united in marriage on October 31, 1872, with Eliza- beth Ritzman, daughter of Adam and Albertina (Rupp) Ritzman. She was born on March 10, 1847, at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and died in 1906. Her religious sympathies were with the Zion Evangelical church. She was the mother of eight children, as follow: Catherine, Melinda, Caroline, Agnes, George, Mamie, Alma and Georgia. Catherine became the wife of Charles Eberhart, and is the mother of three children, Elizabeth, Edward and Paul. Melinda is housekeeper for her father. Caroline died at the age of seven years. Agnes is married to Anthony Meischeider, They reside at Wabash, Indiana, and have one child, George Kunz. George was drowned in the Ohio river when seventeen years of age. Mamie and Alma are at home. Georgia is married to Elmer Harry, bookkeeper for the People's Coal Com- pany. They have one daughter, Elizabeth.
Adam and Albertina (Rupp) Ritzman, the parents of Mrs. Kunz, were natives of Germany, and came to America in 1847, locating at Lawrenceburg, where Mr. Ritzman engaged in general farming, and where he spent the remainder of his life, dying at the age of sixty-six years. His wife died in 1881. Their family consisted of seven children, as follow : Elizabeth, Maria, Catherine, Anna, Caroline, William F. and Melina.
Mr. Kunz has contributed his full share to the commercial life of the city, and is justly entitled to the high regard in which he is held.
HARRY LANGDALE NOWLIN.
One of the country's greatest manufacturers, a man who has received more than passing note by reason of the methods he employs in securing ungruding and efficient service on the part of his small army of employes, and whose close personal relations with the men who have helped to make the product of his great factory a household word throughout the country is a matter of common knowledge, upon being asked: "What do you call a man?" quickly answered. "One who stands four square to the world in refer- ence to the functions that should be absolutely right. with regard to himself. those who are dependent upon him, and society in general." Upon being asked to extend his definition so as to cover the process of "making a man," this manufacturer declared that he made men "by the application of horse
Digitized by Google
902
DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.
sense." This, of course, but emphasizes, by giving personal authority to the utterance, the truth that is not only self-evident, but widely accepted. It invariably is found that the men who really stand four square to the world in all the relations of life are the men who are possessed of a large portion of what commonly has come to be known as "horse sense," upon the proper exercise of which they base the success which, without exception, follows their efforts. Happily. there are many such men in Dearborn county, among the best known of whom, perhaps, is Harry Langdale Nowlin, retired farmer and enterprising insurance secretary of Lawrenceburg, this county.
Harry Langdale Nowlin was born in Miller township, Dearborn county. Indiana, February 12, 1860, the son of Enoch B. and Jane H. (Langdale) Nowlin, the former of whom was born on the farm in Miller township, on which he spent his entire life, and the latter, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but who came to this county with her parents when a small child, and grew to womanhood here.
Enoch B. Nowlin was a thrifty and successful farmer as well as one of the most progressive and influential men in the section of the county in which he spent his whole life. He owned about five hundred acres of fine land in Miller township, as well as lands in Kansas and Wisconsin, and at the time of his death in the year 1900 was accounted quite well-to-do. His father. Jeremiah Nowlin, a native of Kentucky, was one of the pioneers of Miller township, this county, where he married Pamelia Blasdel, who was born in that township, a member of one of the earlier pioneer families of the county. He was of Irish descent and she of English descent. They founded in this county one of the most substantial families of the county and were accounted as among the leading residents of the community in which they lived and labored. being among the foremost and most honored pioneers of that region. It is undoubted that their influence in that community did very much toward bringing about proper conditions of social and economic life in the formative period of the now prosperous and established farming region. and the fifth generation of their descendants in this community find conditions of living immeasurably easier for their having striven, "blazing the way." Jeremiah Nowlin died at the age of sixty-five, his widow sur- viving him a few years, her death not occurring until she was past seventy years of age. They were the parents of Enoch B., Ferris J., Ambrose E. and Jacob Z. Nowlin, besides two or three children who died in infancy.
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.