History of Posey County, Indiana, Part 27

Author: Leffel, John C., b. 1850. cn
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Standard Publ. Co.
Number of Pages: 456


USA > Indiana > Posey County > History of Posey County, Indiana > Part 27


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Douglas C. Ramsey, M. D., a prominent physician of Mt. Vernon, Ind., was born in Xenia, Clay county, Illinois, son of George D. and and Mary A. (Price) Ramsey. His father was born and reared in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his mother in Vincennes, Ind. The father was a physician and prac- ticed at Xenia, Illinois, where he died at the age of seventy-seven, and the mother died at Mt. Vernon, aged eighty-two. The name Ramsey is of Scotch origin. Douglas Ramsey attended the public schools and for two or three years had a private tutor. He graduated from the Washington University in 1880, and shortly afterward located in Mt. Vernon, remaining here since that time. He took a post-graduate course in the St. Louis University in 1893, one in the Chicago Policlinics in 1895, and has visited Montreal and other Eastern cities to obtain medical knowledge. He has written much for medical journals, the following being among his subjects: "Brain Surgery," New York "Medical Rec-


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ord," "Salicylic Acid in Rheumatism," and "Preventation of Tuberculo- sis." Dr. Ramsey was appointed a member of the State Board of Health by Governor Matthews, and served from 1895 to 1897. He was president of the board and while serving in this capacity he wrote sev- eral valuable reports. He is a member of the Posey County, the State and American Medical associations, and also of the Mississippi Valley So- ciety. He has twice been president of the Posey County Medical As- sociation. For four years he was medical examiner for the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and was for a similar time their medical director or intermediate. Governor Durbin appointed Dr. Ramsey dele- gate to the National Tuberculosis Congress, held in New York in 1907. He was president of the pension board under the two terms of President Cleveland. In politics, Dr. Ramsey is a Democrat, and fraternally he is a Master Mason and an Elk. He was medical director for the Inter- mediate Life Assurance Company for the first four years of its exis- tence.


Col. Richard Sarlls, one of the early pioneers of Posey county, Indi- ana, was born in Ghent, Carroll county, Kentucky, August 13, 1839, son of Richard and Julia (Evertson) Sarlls, the mother a native of New York, and the father of Indiana. They removed to Kentucky and died when Richard was but seven years of age. Richard Sarlls came to Posey county, Indiana, in 1846. At that time the place called McFadden's Bluff, now Mt. Vernon, did not number over 500 inhabitants, and the wharf was not yet built. The boy had already begun its schooling in Ken- tucky, and continued in the schools of Posey county, paying tuition of $1.00 per month, besides having to do the janitor's work. He attended school in Mt. Vernon. At that time the "Ricaune" mill stood where the wharf was built later. Our subject started in life by blacking shoes, and at the age of twelve was able to operate the steam wool carding mill owned by his uncle. About three years later he and his uncle began grinding wheat. He became an expert judge of grain, and during the Civil war worked for Lowry Welborn & Sullivan, a big grain concern. Upon leaving the employ of this firm he engaged in the grain busi- ness with a nephew of Mr. Sullivan, under the name of Sullivan, Sarlls & Company. They did a general merchandise business, in addition to buying and selling grain. This company did a thriving business until the cholera epidemic in the '70s, when they failed and turned everything over to their creditors. He left the company in 1874, and two or three weeks later he bought a barge load of drowned corn and flour, the cargo of the old "Ironsides." Inside of two more weeks he sold the cargo at a profit of five cents per bushel, netting the sum of $2,500, with which he again embarked in the grain business. The next year Mr. Wash- ington Boyce sent Mr. Sarlls and Mr. William Fuhrer to Wichita, Kan., to buy grain and they bought 30,000 bushels, which they sold in Kansas


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City and returned to Mt. Vernon. That fall they began buying hogs, as there was no corn on account of the floods. In 1876 they bought over 450,000 bushels of corn, which they sold at a profit of $50,000. Mr. Sarlls then began buying land and secured 1,100 acres in Illinois. He continued in the grain business alone and has prospered ever since. He has made his money by dealing in grain and land, and has handled more than 20,000 acres of land. He did not make money in hogs, having only about $100 when he got through with his season, but the buying of grain in 1876 put him on his feet again. Mr. Sarlls is also a mechanic and un- derstands machinery about mills. On one occasion he was paid $20.00 for four hours' work fixing a pump. This was before he worked for Wel- born & Sullivan. Colonel Sarlls now owns about 2,800 acres of land in Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana. At the time of the Civil war Colonel Sarlls was lieutenant in Company A, National Home Guards, and made trips to Kentucky in charge of his company. On June 7, 1860, occurred the marriage of Richard Sarlls to Elizabeth Hinkle, daughter of Edward Hinkle, a merchant of Shawneetown, Ill., where Mrs. Sarlls was born, December 7, 1840, and where she was raised. They had seven children : Richard E., deceased; Edward, deceased; Jessie Walter, of Jackson, Miss .; Howard, of Mt. Vernon; LeRoy Anson, of Philadelphia, Pa., and Louis, of Evansville. Jessie married E. M. Brady. The first wife died February 7, 1879. Mr. Sarlls married again in June, 1883, Frances Hinch, daughter of John D. and Ellen Hinch, natives of Posey county, where she was born and raised. They have one child, Mary Emily, who mar- ried Dr. H. P. Carson, now a resident of Phoenix, Ariz. Our subject is one of the largest land owners of Posey county, and is offering some at- tractive farms to the people.


Ferdinand A. Funke, vice-president and general manager of the Mt. Vernon Straw Board Company, was born in Evansville, Ind., January 24, 1868, the son of Ferdinand and Mary (Kuntz) Funke, both of whom were born in Germany, the father at Ruethen, Luebstadt, Westphalia, and the mother near the city of Worms. Ferdinand Funke learned the trade of a gun and lock smith. He came to the United States in 1849, locating in Evansville, Ind., where he opened a shop and followed the trade learned in his native land. In 1858 he built a paper mill and began the manufacture of wrapping paper, in the operation and man- agement of which he continued until his death in 1895. The enterprise was a success from the start and he realized a substantial fortune from its profits. After his death the business was continued by his sons, John M., Ferd A. and Joseph, under the firm style of Ferdinand Funke Sons. The output of the plant at the present writing is three thou- sand tons per annum, marketed in the United States, and the plant rep- resents an investment of over $50,000. It is operated under the man- agement of John M. Funke. Mr. Funke is survived by his widow and


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the following children: Caroline; John M. Funke, president of the Mt. Vernon Straw Board Company, Mt. Vernon, the Commercial Bank, Ev- ansville, director in the Globe Paper Company, and having important real estate and manufacturing interests in Evansville; Ferdinand A. Funke, the subject of this article, and Joseph Funke, secretary of the Mt. Vernon Straw Board Company, Mt. Vernon. Ferdinand A. Funke acquired his education in the public schools of Evansville and the Ev- ansville Business College. He entered the employ of his father in 1885 and was taught by him the trade of making wrapping paper. On his father's death in 1895, and the taking over of the business by his sons, under the firm style of Ferdinand Funke Sons, he became superintend- ent of the mill and remained in charge of the manufacturing end of the business until 1904, when he was elected vice-president and general manager of the Mt. Vernon Straw Board Company (see chapter on Manufacturing). The continuous and healthy growth of the business of this corporation since its founding, the satisfaction given by its prod- ucts, together with the good will extended to him at all times by the employees, prove his possession of these qualities which not only assure his business success, but make him a valuable acquisition to the citizen- ship of Mt. Vernon, of which he became a resident in 1909. He is a Democrat and a member of Mt. Vernon Lodge, No. 277, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a communicant of the Catholic church and a member of the Knights of Columbus. Mr. Funke married on October II, 1909, Miss Mary Logel, daughter of Louis Logel, of Evansville. They are the parents of two children: Ludwig Ferdinand, born August 2, 1910, and Karl Ferdinand, born May 2, 1912. Mrs. Funke is a communicant of the Catholic church and a leader in the social circles of Mt. Vernon.


John H. Moeller, mayor of the city of Mt. Vernon, successful man of affairs and popular citizen, is a native of Posey county and was born in the city of which he has served as chief executive on August 7, 1867, the son of John and Dortha (Haas) Moeller. John Moeller, the founder of the family in Indiana, was born in Altenschlirf, Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, on December 11, 1837. He received a good education in the schools of his native town, was apprenticed to the cooper's trade, and came to the United States in 1855, first locating in New Orleans, where he remained a short time, and then came by boat to Louisville, Ky., where he secured employment at his trade. In 1857 he became a resi- dent of Mt. Vernon, secured employment in the cooper shop of Philip Vernon, and in 1864 succeeded to this business through purchase. From 1882 until 1893 he had as associates in business George Zeigler and William Rheinwald, but in the last named year bought them out. In 1903 he consolidated his business with that of his son's, John H. Moeller, under the firm style of J. H. Moeller & Company. In addition to the


J.A.Moller


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cooperage shop they ran a saw mill and stave and heading factory. The business was operated very successfully, but in 1911 the mill burned and John Moeller retired from the firm. He at present is the owner of a cooperage plant which is reviewed at length in the chapter "Manufactur- ing and Commercial Enterprises." Mr. Moeller married on May 18, 1859, Miss Dortha Haas, a daughter of Charles Haas, a pioneer resident of Mt. Vernon, who was born in Lauteraka, Beiren, Germany, and who died in Mt. Vernon in 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Moeller are the parents of the following children : Mollie L., the wife of Adam Ware, Mt. Vernon; Charles C., Mt. Vernon; John H. Moeller, the subject of this review ; William, Mt. Vernon; and Nellie H., the wife of Charles Pearson, Mt. Vernon. Mr. Moeller and his wife are members of the German Metho- dist church. Mayor Moeller was reared in the city of Mt. Vernon, ac- quired his education in its public schools, and learned his father's trade, that of cooper. He became a clerk when sixteen years of age; later learned telegraphy and was employed in Mt. Vernon by the West- ern Union Telegraph Company, the Evansville & Terre Haute and the Louisville & Nashville railroads, and in Texas by the Missouri Pacific railway. He returned to Mt. Vernon from Texas in 1885 and was made assistant agent of the Evansville & Terre Haute railroad, a position he filled until 1888, when he engaged in the cooperage business, having as a partner his brother, Charles. He purchased the latter's interest in 1898, built up an exceedingly profitable enterprise and in 1903 consoli- dated it with that of his father, under the firm style of J. H. Moeller & Company, as previously stated. In 1911 the saw mill was destroyed by fire, and as this portion of the firm's enterprise was uninsured, they suffered a heavy loss. Shortly after the fire the elder Moeller retired from the firm and the business was continued by our subject. During IQII he was the chief factor in inducing the Whitmore Handle Com- pany to locate in Mt. Vernon, and as one of the inducements held out to them for locating in the city, rented his cooperage property to them at a very low rental. The value of this plant to the city of Mt. Vernon is easily estimated by perusal of the chapter on "Manufacturing and Commercial Enterprises," which contains an article descriptive of its history. As a manufacturer of staves, heading and cooperage, Mayor Moeller attained a substantial success ; he was an untiring worker, knew each and every detail of the business, from the buying of timber in the tree to the marketing of the finished product, and had the cheerful co- operation of his employees. As a citizen of Mt. Vernon he has, since attaining his majority, been actively concerned in the development and betterment of its commercial and civic affairs. He has always been a consistent advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party and an active worker in its ranks. His first public office was an ap- pointive one, that of city commissioner, which he entered in 1901, and


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served for six years. His record in the administration of the affairs of this office was such that he was honored in 1909 by his party with the nomination for the office of mayor, and he was elected by the largest majority ever given a candidate for that position. During the four years in which he has occupied the mayor's chair he has given the city an exceedingly able and frugal administration, considering the many im- provements made; while his unselfish attitude and broad-mindedness in dealing with questions and policies which had for their object the good of the city proves that he has the right conception of the duties and obligations of the office. To his progressiveness, stick-to-it-iveness in surmounting difficulties and business foresight the city is indebted for its handsome water-front park; another site having been under con- sideration. His logical handling of the proposition, combined with per- severance in securing the money necessary for its equipment, won for the citizens not only a place of recreation for young and old, but one that could not be surpassed for accessibility and beauty of view. He found the city with a debt of $3,000 in excess of its limit. This was changed within two years to a surplus of $5,000. He has secured greatly improved service from the light, water and telephone companies, public drinking fountains, an overhead crossing at Mulberry street and the Louisville & Nashville railway, safety gates at other dangerous cross- ings have been installed, sanitation and sewerage conditions greatly im- proved, a street flushing machine bought, many of the unpaved streets oiled, the weeds cut and trees trimmed on the public thoroughfares, while other improvements are in prospect. During the disastrous flood of April, 1913, his executive and initiative talents were exploited at their best. With a vast section of territory adjacent to the city under water, thousands without shelter or provisions, and live stock in the greatest peril, he headed the relief movement and assumed charge of its opera- tion. He secured, through the War Department, rations for ten thou- sand people for ten days, together with a distributing force under the command of Captain W. K. Naylor, and with him acted as pilot of the relief expedition. He commandeered every boat, power, skiff, and flat, on the river and these were in constant use in bringing to Mt. Ver- non the people who were marooned. He obtained by telegraph from Governor Ralston an order stationing one company of militia in the city, who were to assist in rescue work, and who were under his orders. Through his efforts the Red Cross Society sent a representative, Mr. Hubbard, to the city, and through their joint efforts $20,000 was raised for the relief of those who had lost their all in the disaster. This labor entailed upon Mayor Moeller severe hardship and caused him to be absent from his business for nearly one month. During this trying period his conduct was marked by no thought of self but by a desire to do all in his power to relieve those who were in need, irrespective of


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condition, and to fulfill to the utmost his obligations as head of the government of Mt. Vernon, which was untouched by the waters. That his efforts have been appreciated is attested through his nomination for the office of mayor, to succeed himself, in the election of 1913; his ma- jority in the primary having been overwhelming, and his reward by elec- tion to a second term seems certain. Mayor Moeller is affiliated with a number of secret and social organizations. He is a member of Mt. Vernon Lodge, No. 277, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Posey Aerie, Fraternal Order of Eagles; Loyal Order of Moose ; Knights of Pythias, Hoo Hoos, and is president of the Mt. Vernon Boosters Club. He is a member of the German Methodist church. Mr. Moeller married on August 23, 1892, Miss Anna H. Nefzger, daughter of the late Xavier Nefzger, of Mt. Vernon. They are the parents of two children: Esther C. Moeller, born October 25, 1893, who graduated from the Mt. Vernon High School in the class of 1912, and John Robert Moeller, born January 18, 1911. The family are popular in the social circles of their home city and the Moeller residence is known for its generous hospital- ity. Mrs. Moeller is a communicant of St. Matthew's Catholic Church. Mayor Moeller is a fine type of the German-American citizen, is a self- made man, possesses energy, initiative, and executive ability of a high order, and is justly entitled to the popularity he has attained, both as a citizen and as an official of his home city. He has always maintained that the best citizen is the home builder, and that such are to be de- pended upon to devote a part of their time, intelligence and funds to secure that which is most desirable in furthering the general welfare of the community in which they reside. That he is consistent is exempli- fied in his record as mayor of Mt. Vernon.


David M. Erwin, formerly a merchant at Erwin Station, a point named for him, was born in that vicinity in Black township, Posey county, Indiana, July 21, 1854, son of James M. and Rachael J. (Redman) Erwin, both natives of the township in which our subject was born. James M. is the son of Samuel Erwin. Both his parents were natives of Tennessee and came to Posey county over one hundred years ago, when this part of the country was still a wilderness, there being no city of Mt. Vernon. Samuel Erwin entered several hundred acres of land in Black township, part of which is still in the hands of his grandson, David M. James Erwin cleared up a number of acres of this land and our subject finished the work of clearing away the forest. James Erwin was born September 6, 1829, and his wife, Rachael, was born August 25, 1832. Both are living with their son, David M., enjoying a ripe old age. David Erwin received his early education at Farmersville and at Gill school house. Later he graduated from the Evansville Commercial Col- lege and attended the University of Indiana at Bloomington, Ind. After leaving the university he engaged in the book business in Mt. Vernon,


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where he had a store for about two years. Selling out, he went back to the farm where he was raised and farmed for about six years. In 1884 he opened a general stole at Erwin Station. Here he remained for twenty years and was ticket agent for the Evansville & Terre Haute railroad and the only postmaster the place ever had. The store is now abandoned, but the flag station is still known as Erwin's Station. In 1902 he retired from business and removed to Mt. Vernon, where he has a nice city home. His farm at Erwin's Station contains II0 acres. Mr. Erwin has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for thirty-three years, a member of the Encampment for sixteen years, and has represented the Grand Lodge and Grand Encampment sev- eral times. He also belongs to the Ben Hur Lodge and the Baptist church. In politics he is a Republican. On April 12, 1879, Mr. Erwin married Miss Katie Kastenbader, a native of Hawesville, Ky., who was raised in Mt. Vernon, where she attended common school. They had three children: Minnie, John and James, all deceased, and the mother died in December, 1881. Mr. Erwin married the second time, February 12, 1884, taking as his wife Amelia Banks, a native of White county, Illinois, where she was raised and attended common school. They had two children, one of whom died in infancy. The other, Frank M., was born June 25, 1889. He attended at Craborchard school in Black town- ship until he finished the eighth grade. His parents then removed to Mt. ·Vernon and he graduated from the high school there. He then entered Purdue University, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1912, and also received a degree in civil engineering, being the first person from Posey county to graduate with the degree of Civil En- gineer. He married Pearl Bottomly, daughter of James Bottomly, of Mt. Vernon, and he is now engaged by the Louisville & Nashville rail- road as civil engineer at Louisville, Ky. In politics he is a Republican.


Howard H. Sarlls, publisher and proprietor of the Mt. Vernon "Re- publican," a weekly newspaper, was born in Mt. Vernon December 27, 1870, and has been a resident of that city ever since. He is the son of Colonel Richard and Elizabeth A. Sarlls (see sketch of father). His mother died February 7, 1879. He attended the public schools of Mt. Vernon, graduating in the class of 1888. He worked at the printer's trade in local offices during the summer months while attending school. He went to business college in Indianapolis in the winter of 1889-1890, after which he again took up printing in local offices and in the offices of the Poseyville "News" and Evansville "Journal." In February, 1893, he went in with John B. Thomas to establish the "Republican" under the firm name of Sarlls and Thomas. Eighteen months later he took entire charge of the paper, which he has since conducted. On December 4, 1895, Mr. Sarlls married Miss Lottie Engler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Engler. At present their home is at 220 West Fifth street, Mt. Vernon.


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John Willis Turner .-- The growth and development of any community depends largely upon the management of its financial institutions. The manufacturing and commercial enterprises of the city of Mt. Vernon, as well as the farmers of Posey county, owe much to the progressive policy of the First National Bank of Mt. Vernon, of which Mr. Turner has been the controlling executive since 1907. He occupies today a prominent place in the banking circles of southwestern Indiana, has contributed in large measure to the advancement of Mt. Vernon, in whose still greater commercial and civic prestige he is a firm believer, and holds a secure position in the confidence and esteem of the citizens of the county. John Willis Turner was born on his father's farm in Owen county, Kentucky, near Georgetown, Scott county, on August 7, 1872, the son of Thomas W. and Amanda J. (Lee) Turner. The family was founded in America by Joshua Turner, a native of Ireland, who settled in Kentucky in 1847. He was a farmer and a successful one. He served with the Confederate forces in the Civil War and was killed at the battle of Cumberland Gap. His son, Thomas W. Turner, the father of our subject, was also a native of Ireland, where he was born on February 19, 1843. He came to Ken- tucky with his parents in 1846 and was reared on his father's farm. He also served with the Confederate forces in the Civil war and was wounded in the battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn. He married when a young man Miss Amanda J. Lee, the daughter of Nathaniel W. Lee, founder and owner of the town of Lee's Mills, and well known distiller and land owner of Owen county, Kentucky. Mr. Turner was reared and has always followed farming as an occupation. He has been suc- cessful as an agriculturist, is a man of influence and enjoys the confi- dence and esteem of the residents of his neighborhood. His political allegiance has been given the Democratic party and he has taken an active part in the work of that organization. Mrs. Turner died in 1880. They were the parents of four children, two of whom are living: Fan- nie Lee, born August 26, 1870, is the wife of Frank M. Davis, a car- riage and implement dealer of Corinth, Ky., and John Willis, our sub- ject. Flora, born October 5, 1875, died of pneumonia in 1892, and Stella, born April 5, 1879, died in 1887. Mrs. Turner's maternal ancestors were among the early settlers of America and numbered among them are men who achieved distinction in the frontier life of those early days, in the commercial era which followed, in the War of the Revolution, and later in the Civil war. The founding of the Lee family in Kentucky dates from the settlement there of Dr. LeGrand Lee, a physician of Virginia, and descendant of General Lee of Revolutionary fame. He was joined later by Doctor Joseph Lee, a physician, John Lee, a Bap- tist preacher, and Nathaniel W. Lee, brothers, the latter of whom was the grandfather of the subject of this review. He became the most extensive land owner of his section of the State, one of its most suc-




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