USA > Indiana > Dearborn County > History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 94
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On April 1, 1894, John H. Knippenberg was united in marriage with Mary Schaffer, daughter of Michael and Catherine (Grummel) Schaffer, the former a native of Germany and the latter born and reared in this county. The Schaffers were farmers here for many years, and here all the children were born and reared. Those other than Mrs. Knippenberg are Charles, John, William, Elizabeth, Frances, George and some who died in infancy.
To Mr. and Mrs. Knippenberg have been born two children, Elmer and Frances. Mr. and Mrs. Knippenberg are faithful and devout members of Zion Evangelical church, and he holds his fraternal affiliation with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows through Union Lodge No. 8, and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics he is a Repub- lican, and being public-spirited, he served on the city council for about five and one-half years.
Mr. Knippenberg owes the success he has attained to his own efforts and to the encouragement and assistance he has received from his capable and sympathetic wife. He has encountered many obstacles in his upward rise and whenever a time of doubt and anxiety would come, by her encour- agement and help she has aided him to meet and overcome them. Mr. Knip-
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penberg is considered one of the city's most excellent citizens and he has done much to enhance the commercial strength of his community, while at the same time he stands high in the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens, a most fitting tribute indeed.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Knippenberg come from families identified with the early history of this county and they themselves have seen many changes which the years have brought to pass. Great strides have been made along all lines of progress and development, to all of which they have been attentive and appreciative spectators, and in preserving this history of their family, it is by way of being a tribute to the memory of the father and mother of both and is to be handed down by them to their posterity. Happy indeed might every family be if such a clean record of proper ambitions and wholesome living might be handed on from generation to generation.
STANLEY ELSTER WILKIN.
There is no earthly station higher than a minister of the Gospel; no life can be more uplifting or grander than that which is devoted to the ameli- oration of the human race, a life of sacrifice for the betterment of the brother- hood of man, one who is willing to cast aside all earthly crowns in order to follow in the footsteps of the lowly Nazarene. It is not possible to measure adequately the height, depth and breadth of such a life, for its influences continue to guide the lives of others through succeeding generations; so the power it has exerted cannot be known until the last great day. One of the self-sacrificing. ardent and true spirits who is doing his utmost for the uplift of the race, who leaves in his wake an influence that ever makes the world better and brighter, is the honored man whose name appears at the head of this sketch. He has the unequivocal confidence and esteem of the people among whom he labors and is in every sense of the word an honest and sincere man.
Stanley Elster Wilkin, pastor of the Church of Christ at Lawrenceburg, Dearborn county. Indiana, was born in Petersburg, Highland county, Ohio. July 4. 1880, being the only child of his parents. He is a son of Elias and Eva (Powell) Wilkin, both natives of the same county, where their families were among the earliest settlers. Elias Wilkin was born and reared on a farm in Highland county and in early manhood he turned to landscape and portrait painting and also practiced photography for several years. He is an artist of
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no mean ability and is also a musician, having been leader of a number of cornet bands. He now resides at Blanchester, Ohio.
The paternal grandfather was Eli Wilkin, who was among the earliest settlers of Highland county, Ohio, where for a number of years he carried on farming. He died there at a good old age and among his children were William, John, Elias and others.
Eva Powell, mother of Stanley Elster Wilkin, was a daughter of David Powell, who came to Highland county, Ohio, in the early days, and farmed there for a number of years. He was a veteran of the Civil War and died in Highland county at a ripe old age. There were eight children in their family, namely: Harvey, David, Emma, Precious, Clara, Eva, Laura and Hester.
Stanley Elster Wilkin was reared in his native county and in Iowa, attend- ing the district schools near his home in Ohio and later the public schools of the towns of Monroe, Grinnell and Marengo, Iowa. His higher education was partly obtained at Central University, a Baptist institution at Pella, Iowa. He began preaching the Gospel when sixteen years of age and was regularly on the platform by the time he was seventeen years old. He returned to his native state and his first charge as a minister was at old Dallas postoffice, in Highland county, where he received his board and clothes and thirty-five dollars for his first year's services. He was married the next year and returned to Iowa with his bride, and again entered school. He held student charges while pursuing his studies and was able to assist himself in this man- ner. After being ordained, he went to Nebraska and preached in Wilsonville and while there his convictions underwent a change regarding certain doctrines of the Baptist church and he came to the conclusion that there was no church for which he could consistently and conscientiously preach. So he decided to give up the active work of the ministry and took up the study of telegraphy and received an appointment from the Santa Fe Railroad Company to take charge of one of their offices. About that time he met an old man of Wilson- ville by the name of Lee Thompson and during their conversation, the old man asked with tears in his eyes if he might present to him a few thoughts concerning the church he loved. He was a most devout member of the Church of Christ, or "Christian" church, as commonly called. Previously. Mr. Wilkin would never permit one of that faith to talk to him regarding religious teach- ings. on account of the prejudice and dislike he felt for that body of people, but out of respect for that man's years and hoary head, he permitted him to say what he wished. The old gentleman spoke five sentences only. but they opened up a new line of thought to Mr. Wilkin and after carefully following
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the line of thought suggested to him, he found himself a member of the Church of Christ and he at once resumed preaching. What the old gentle- man said was "The Old Testament conceals Christ; the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)' convince men of Christ; the book of Acts converts men to Christ ; the Epistles confirm men in Christ and the book of Revelation crowms men in Christ."
Mr. Wilkin has been a successful minister of the Word and since becom- ing pastor of the Lawrenceburg Church of Christ, November 1, 1914, the church has taken on new life under his watchful care and preaching and many persons have been added to the body of Christ.
Mr. Wilkin has a most sympathetic and encouraging helpmate in his wife with whom he was united in wedlock on October 12, 1903. Mrs. Wilkin before her marriage was Ethel Mae Smith, daughter of Charles E. and Amanda (Freeland) Smith, and was born in Wamsley, Scioto county, Ohio. October 12, 1886. They have an adopted son, Paul S., attending the public schools of Lawrenceburg.
Mr. Wilkin holds his fraternal affiliation in the ancient order of Free and Accepted Masons through Mount Moriah Lodge No. 23. of Farming- ton. Iowa. and he is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows through Helena Lodge No. 192. of Helena, Arkansas.
Although Mr. Wilkin has been a resident of Lawrenceburg but a short time, his influence is already being felt and needless to say so sincere and devout a man commands the respect and esteem of all.
WILLIAM EDWARD ENYART.
Few men of the past generation are better remembered in Lawrenceburg and Dearborn county than the late William Edward Envart, the son of a prominent Illinois attorney, who came to Dearborn county and became the Lawrenceburg agent for the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Company. after which he was connected. for a number of years, with the James & Meyer Buggy Com- pany. The late William Edward Enyart is remembered as a man of striking personality, who was warm and ardent in his friendship and who also pos- sessed the capacity of acquiring many friends. He lived a most useful life. during which he was devoted to his wife and to the children who still bear his name. A man of strong and active religious impulses. he set a sound example of religious living. His character was such as radiated a warm. affectionate and kindly personality of which he was possessed.
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William Edward Enyart was born on March 18, 1865, in Pennsylvania, the son of Samuel and Mary Enyart, who had five children. Samuel Enyart, a lawyer by profession, practiced law for many years at Flora, Illinois, and was serving there as prosecuting attorney at the time of his death. His wife, who survived him about two years, during her life was an active worker in the Methodist church. He also was a member of this church. Of their five children, Cora is the wife of Joseph Gadderbury, of Dot, Washington; Myrtle is married and also lives in Washington; Mary is the widow of Will- iam Moore, of Washington, D. C .; Elizabeth is married and also lives in Washington, D. C .; and William Edward, deceased, is the subject of this sketch.
The paternal grandparents of Mr. Enyart were natives of England.
William Edward Enyart received a common-school education in the Illinois public schools. At the age of sixteen, he began clerking in a dry goods store and after being engaged in this occupation for a few years, took a position in the court house as an abstract title writer. Subsequently, he entered the employ of the Ohio & Mississippi Railway Company at East St. Louis as a freight agent, and was later transferred to Lawrenceburg in 1882, and became freight and passenger agent of the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Company here, a position which he held for a number of years. Later, how- ever, he became bookkeeper for the James & Meyer Buggy Company, which position he held until the time of his death.
William E. Enyart was married on December 31, 1894, to Mrs. Emma (Barrott) Corbin, the widow of William Corbin and the daughter of Eneas and Anna (Sherman) Barrott. To this union three children were born, Howard Barrott, Claude Eugene and William Edward. Howard B. is a graduate of the Lawrenceburg high school and now a mail carrier in the city of Lawrenceburg. William Edward is attending high school. Claude Eugene is a Western Union telegraph operator at Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mrs. Enyart was born on May 5, 1865, in Massachusetts. Her father was a native of Yorkshire, England, and her mother of Rhode Island, com- ing to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, in 1867. After permanently settling in Dear- born county, the father established the old woolen-mill, which he operated for many years, giving employment to a large number of men and women. He passed away in Lawrenceburg, April 4, 1914, at the age of seventy-nine years. His wife is still living at the age of seventy. He was an Episcopalian but his widow is a member of the Catholic church. They had four children, William, Emma, Ida and Elkanah. Mrs. Enyart's paternal grandparents,
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who lived to rear a family of eleven children, ten daughters and one son, died in England. Their history, however, is lost. The maternal grandpar- ents were natives of Rhode Island and were well-known citizens of that state. Her maternal grandfather died in Rhode Island and after his death, his widow came West, settling in Lawrenceburg, where she died at fifty- four years of age. Her only child was Anna Barrott, the mother of Mrs. Enyart.
Before Mrs. Enyart's marriage to William E. Enyart, she had been married to William Corbin and to this union had been born one daughter, - Willia Mae, a graduate of the Lawrenceburg high school, who is now in the dry goods business on Walnut street in Lawrenceburg. William Corbin died early in life, March 3. 1884. at the age of twenty-eight years. A farmer by occupation, he was the son of Albert and Mary Corbin, who were the par- ents of six children, Michael, Fanny, Benjamin, Alice, William and Amelia.
William Edward Enyart died at the age of thirty-eight years, July 23, 1900. He was a member of Lawrenceburg Lodge No. 8, Free and Accepted Masons, and was secretary of the lodge at the time of his death. He also belonged to Lawrenceburg Chapter No. 56, Royal Arch Masons, and was a thirty-second-degree Scottish Rite Mason. In politics he was, during his life, identified with the Democratic party. He was also secretary of the Lawrenceburg school board at the time of his death.
Mr. Enyart's memory is revered not only by his loving widow and chil- dren, but by a host of friends in Dearborn county. Although he himself is gone, his influence continues to live and in the years to come may be the guiding star of the three loving children and the widow left to mourn his loss.
GEORGE W. RUPPERT.
George W. Ruppert is a well-known citizen of Lawrenceburg and Dear- born county, and a United States storekeeper at this place. Mr. Ruppert received his training for the government service especially as a clerk of the Greendale distillery, where he was situated for four years. After having served four years as bookkeeper he took the civil service examination, and having passed the examination, was assigned the position which he now holds. Mr. Ruppert's father was in the government revenue service for four years, and during his life was engaged in many businesses. He owned and operated a cigar factory, was a proprietor of a steam laundry, was engaged
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in the bakery business and at present has a mercantile store in the city of Lawrenceburg. The Rupperts are old citizens of the vicinity.
George W. Ruppert was born in the city where he lives, April 19, 1878. His parents are George C. and Augusta (Linckenback) Ruppert, the former a native of Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, and the latter of Cincinnati, Ohio. Only two of their four children are living. Clara died in early childhood, and one died in infancy. The living children are George W. and Amelia. Amelia is a stenographer.
George C. Ruppert, the father of George W., lived in his native land until seventeen years old, and received his education in that country. He came to America in 1869, and located in New York City, where he remained for more than a year. He then came to Lawrenceburg, where he went to work as a tobacco stripper. He learned the cigar making trade and operated a shop of his own for a number of years, employing as high as fifty men at one time. This business he discontinued in 1888, and went into the revenue service, in which he was engaged until 1892, a period of four years. He then purchased the Favorite Steam Laundry and ran that for two years. He was next engaged in the bakery business for a number of years. For some time he had been engaged in the general mercantile business in Greendale, Lawrenceburg. George C. Ruppert's father was Heinrich Ruppert, a native of Germany, who died there at the age of eighty-three years. He was a farmer in his native land, and had a good-sized family, among whom were the follow- ing children : Jacob, Catherine, George C., Heinrick and Charles. The mater- nal grandfather of George W. Ruppert was William Linckenbach, who with his wife came from Bremen, Germany, and who were early settlers in Cin- cinnati. They came from Cincinnati to Lawrenceburg in pioneer times. He was a cabinet maker. He and his wife died in Lawrenceburg, he at eighty-two and she at sixty years. They have five children living, and five who are deceased. The living children are Mollie, George, Augusta, Will- iam and Henrietta.
George W. Ruppert was reared in Lawrenceburg and attended the public schools of this city. He later was a student at the Nelson Business College of Cincinnati, and was graduated from this institution. After leav- ing the business college, Mr. Ruppert became a clerk in the Greendale dis- tillery, and was there four years, after which he took a civil service examina- tion and was assigned a possition in the government service as United States storekeeper-gauger.
George W. Ruppert was married on January 3, 1900, to Sarah C. Kep- per, daughter of Charles and Louisa (Schleicher) Kepper. Two children,
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Helen and Earl, have been born to this union. Mrs. Ruppert was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, October 3, 1876. Her father was a native of Can- ada, her mother of Lawrenceburg, Dearborn county, Indiana. The mother died in 1895, at the age of forty-two. Her father is still living and is a cabinet maker. They had nine children, Sarah, William, Carlos, Alice, Vela, Ger- trude, Earl, Celestine, and one who died in infancy. William died on April 2, 1915. Mr. Ruppert's paternal grandfather was a native of Germany, who immigrated to Canada, and afterwards to Dearborn county, Indiana, where he died. He and his wife had five children, three of whom were Charles, Anna and Elizabeth. Mrs. Ruppert's maternal grandfather was Adam Schlei- cher, who married Louisa Meyer. They were both natives of Germany and early settlers in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where he died. His wife is still living and is eighty-five years old. They had a large family of children, Joseph, Emma, Sarah, Alice, Charles and several who are deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Ruppert are members of the Zion Evangelical church. Mr. Ruppert belongs to Dearborn Lodge No. 49, Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a Republican, but he has never been especially active in political matters.
JOHN MARTIN ROEHM.
Patience and perseverance are two of the prominent characteristics of the German people. John Martin Roehm, dealer in hardware, stoves, tinware and queensware, and the proprietor of a prosperous business in the city of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, is the son of native-born German parents. Mr. Roehm himself succeeded to his present business six years ago, after having served in the employ of his predecessor for a period of thirty-eight years. Young men of the present generation are more restless and insist generally upon quick returns from their efforts, yet it is extremely doubtful whether the young man who moves about from place to place and from position to position actually will accomplish as much in the long run as the man who takes one position and holds on to it until success has smiled on his efforts. The career of Mr. Roehm is a splendid example of what patience and persistence will accomplish.
John Martin Roehm was born on September 20, 1857, in Cincinnati. He is the son of Martin and Anna (Schaffer) Roehm, both natives of Wurtem- burg, Germany. John Martin was one of four children. Louisa married Harry Borman, a conductor on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, out of Cin-
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cinnati; Caroline is the widow of George Voll, of Cincinnati; John Martin is the subject of this sketch; and Anna is the widow of John Schwein, of Cin- cinnati.
Mr. Roehm was reared in Lawrenceburg, and has lived here from the time he was nine years old. He attended the public schools of Lawrenceburg, and then worked in a brickyard for three seasons. After that he began to learn the tinner's trade under H. G. Kidd, and was in his employ continuously for a period of thirty-eight years. He became his successor in the hardware busi- ness, and has now run the business himself for six years. He has a splendid trade in the city of Lawrenceburg and vicinity, a business which it has taken years to build up, and in which Mr. Roehm has had a prominent and con- spicuous part.
John Martin Roehm was married on October 26, 1882, to Mary Osborn, a daughter of William Osborn, who married a Miss Martin. To John Mar- tin Roehm and Mary (Osborn) Roehm four children have been born, Hugh G., John Otis, Carl Edward and Marguerite. Of these children, Hugh is a fireman on the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern railway. He married Flora Caldwell, and they live at Greendale, Lawrenceburg. John Otis is a stove molder in Cincinnati, but lives in Greendale. He married Emma Probst, and they have one son, Lee Roy. Carl is a tinner in his father's shop. He mar- ried Medora Kyle, and they have one daughter, Rose Mary.
Mrs. Mary (Osborn) Roehm died on July 26, 1896, at the age of thirty- eight years. She was a member of the Methodist church, and was born in Manchester, Dearborn county, Indiana. Her parents died in Manchester. her father having been killed when she was a baby by a log which rolled on him. Her mother lived to be seventy years old. There were three children, Anna, Ambrose and Mary.
After the death of Mr. Roehm's first wife, Mr. Roehm was married on December 26, 1897, to Mrs. Mary Huffman, the widow of Elmer Huffman. and the daughter of a Mr. Bixinstine. Mr. and Mrs. Roehm have no chil- dren by this second marriage. Mrs. Roehm was born in Cincinnati, but came to Dearborn county with her parents when she was four years old. and has lived in the county ever since. Her parents settled at Dover. and both died there. Of their children. three are now living. Mrs. Mary Roehm. Edward and Henry Bixinstine.
The father of John Martin Roehm was reared in Germany and educated there. He learned the tailor's trade in Germany and after having learned his trade came to America. He settled in Cincinnati. He was a merchant tailor. In 1866 he moved to Lawrenceburg, and worked at his trade here. He died in
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1872, at the age of forty-nine years. His wife died in 1869, at the age of forty-five. Both were members of the Lutheran church. Mr. Roehm's grand- parents lived and died in Germany. They had seven sons, among whom were Martin, Simon and John. Mr. Roehm's maternal grandparents also lived and died in Germany. They never. came to this country.
Mr. and Mrs. John Martin Roehm are members of the Zion Evangelical church, of which for several years Mr. Roehm was church treasurer. He was a prime mover in the remodeling of the church, and has always been influential in the congregation. Mr. Roehm belongs to Union Lodge No. 8, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also a member of the encampment. Like- wise he is a member of Dearborn Lodge No. 49, Knights of Pythias. He is a Republican in politics, and for about ten years served as city councilman of Lawrenceburg. Mr. Roehm is well and favorably known in Dearborn county, where he does a large business. He is a good man and a good citi- zen, and throughout his life he has been connected with all worthy public movements, but next to his home and his family his church and his business are most important.
RICHARD WHITE.
Richard White, a native of Cochran, Dearborn county, Indiana, and at present a resident of Aurora, Indiana, and inspector for the Indiana State Board of Health, is one of the prominent younger politicans of southeastern Indiana. He has been interested in politics since he was fifteen years old and has been a delegate to every state Democratic convention since he became a voter. He has also been a delegate to congressional and judicial conventions in this part of the state and in 1912 attended the national Democratic con- vention at Baltimore, where he was assistant sergeant of arms in charge of the press gallery. Few of the younger men living in Dearborn county have been the recipients of greater honors than Mr. White. While a conductor on the electric line he was elected sheriff of Dearborn county and carried every precinct in the county except two. Two years later, when a candidate for re-election, he received one more vote in Dearborn county than Governor Marshall, who was a candidate that year.
Richard White was born in Cochran, Dearborn county, Indiana, Septem- ber 15, 1874, is the son of James and Catherine (Quirk) White, natives of County Tipperary, Ireland, who had twelve children. James White was a farmer in the Emerald Isle and came to America about 1868 and located at
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Cochran, where he worked for the old Ohio & Mississippi Railway Company, afterwards the Baltimore & Ohio. After working for about twenty-five years as a railroad blacksmith, he died in February, 1894, at the age of fifty- three. His wife, the mother of Richard White, is still living at the age of seventy-five. She is a member of the Catholic church, as was also her hus- band. Their twelve children were: Maggie, the wife of Gus Henry, of Middletown, Ohio; Michael, of St. Louis, Missouri; Thomas, deceased ; James, deceased; John, deceased; Richard, the subject of this sketch; Katie, who died single; Nellie, who died single; Alice, who married John Volmer, of St. Louis, Missouri; Edward, deceased; and two who died in childhood in Ireland. Maggie, Michael, Thomas and James were born in Ireland and the six children following were born at Cochran, Indiana.
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