USA > Indiana > Posey County > History of Posey County, Indiana > Part 37
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Harry Cuyler Ford, New Harmony, October 7, 1903, and three children have been born to them: Richard Corbin, born September 23, 1904, John Birkbeck, born December 4, 1906, and William Michaux, born Novem- ber 3, 1909; Helen Margaret, born March 31, 1882, married Robert Heinl, of Terre Haute, Ind., September 3, 1912. Mrs. Heinl is a musician of unusual talent. She studied under such noted instructors as Prof. Albino Gorno, Edward MacDowell, Carreno and Harold Bauer, and was a stu- dent at Madam Fredin's School, Cincinnati, and the Packer Institute at Brooklyn, N. Y., also Barnard College, New York. The youngest child born to Captain and Mrs. Corbin is Courtland Gibson, born January 9, 1886, who resides in New Harmony. At college Captain Corbin was a Beta Theta Pi. The Corbin family residence is one of deep historic in- terest. It is one of the finest modern residences to be found in the coun- ty, a part of it stands on the original foundation, built by George Rapp in 1819, and later occupied by William Maclure. The original house was burned in 1844, and rebuilt by the Maclure estate in 1847, afterwards owned by David Dale Owen and heirs, from whom it was purchased by Captain Corbin in 1901, who partially remodeled and rebuilt it. Thomas Say, the naturalist, at one time lived there, and in the rear of the Corbin home is a marble monument, erected by Alexander Maclure to the mem- ory of this genius of his time. Here, too, is a mound, underneath the green sward of which rests the mortal dust of Alexander, Ann and Mar- garet Maclure, and Thomas Say. Surely, this spot possesses a rare combination, as it seems to whisper in deep historic accents, the story of past ages, and at the same time presents to the beholder a magnificent place with every modern convenience and luxury.
Conrad Meinschein (deceased), a German-born farmer of Marrs town- ship, Posey county, Indiana, came to the United States when two years of age, with his parents, who located in Posey county and lived there the remainder of their lives. Our subject was a farmer in Marrs township. ail his life, and died there in 1894. He married Miss Mary Espenscheid, daughter of Peter and Katherine (Schnare) Espenscheid, the former a na- tive of Germany, and the latter of Posey county. Their daughter, Mary, was born January 1, 1857, in Leavenworth, Kan., to which place the family had removed about 1850. They returned to Posey county in 1878. Mr. Espenschied died in 1892. He was a butcher. Mr. and Mrs. Meins- chein became the parents of six children: Adam, born August 1, 1884, died August 2, 1885 ; Conrad, born January 29, 1886; John, born January 2, 1888; Frank, born July 2, 1890, died in infancy ; William, born Septem- ber 20, 1892; George, born June 2, 1894. Mr. Meinschein died in 1894. He was a Republican and a member of the German Presbyterian church, in which organization he was an officer.
Edward Lewis, a farmer of Marrs township, was born April 20, 1879, son of Thompson Price and Elizabeth (Green) Lewis (see sketch of
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former). He was married July 23, 1902, to Miss Anna Katherine Niemier, daughter of Antone and Katherine (Wolfe) Niemier, of Marrs township, where she was born, July 23, 1885. Mr. Niemier was born in Germany, coming to the United States at the age of eighteen. He was a farmer in Posey county until his death, in 1898. By his first mar- riage he had one child, Henry Niemier, who lives in Marrs township. By his second marriage he had eight children: Antone, Benjamin F., Anna K., John, Maggie, Lena, Philip, and Mary. The Niemiers were Catholics, as are Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lewis, who became the parents of three sons: Amanel Antone, Edward Benjamin, and Charles Ellis. This family also belongs to the Catholic church.
Thompson Price Lewis, a pioneer farmer of Marrs township, Posey county, Indiana, was born June 8, 1840, in the same farm house where he now lives. He is the son of Robert and Martha (Price) Lewis, the former having been born March 26, 1814, in Marrs township, where he was a farmer till his death, on August 10, 1848. The father of Robert Lewis was a native of Kentucky and came to Posey county in 1809, mak- ing the trip on foot and carrying his supplies, and blazing the way with a hatchet. This was Col. John Lewis. He had two sons: James and Robert, the latter the father of our subject; and four daughters-Jane, Betsie, Nancy and Martha, all deceased. Colonel Lewis resided in Posey county till his death in 1854. Robert Lewis had four sons and one daughter : James, born in 1835, died March 16, 1876; John, born in 1837, died in infancy ; Thompson Price, of this sketch; Orila Jane, born January 30, 1849, now the wife of Thomas M. Green, a farmer in Black township; Nathaniel, born in 1847, died in December, 1864. Thomp- son Price Lewis was married November 3, 1858, to Miss Elizabeth J. Green, daughter of Thomas S. and Mary Green, of Hamilton county, Illinois. She was born February 22, 1844, in the same county. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis became the parents of six sons and six daughters: Mary Jane, born May 11, 1860, now the wife of Miles Thomas, farmer and trustee of Black township; James Robert, born October 7, 1861, now a farmer in Marrs township; Udora, born January 6, 1863, now the wife of Alexander S. Goodall, a farmer of Marrs township; Nathaniel, born January 6, 1866, a farmer in Marrs township; Patsey, born April 12, 1868, now the wife of Jacob Benner, farmer in Marrs township; William David, born April 15, 1870, died October 18, 1877; Orila, born August 22, 1872, died August 26, 1873; Price, born August 18, 1874, a farmer in Lynn township; Ellsworth, born September 22, 1876, a farmer in Marrs township; Edward, born April 20, 1879, a farmer of Marrs township; Thompson, born July 27, 1882, now on the old home place with his parents, married Miss Margaret Keitel December 31, 1905, and has one child-Elwood Thompson Lewis, born August 27, 1912; Oscar, the youngest child of Thomas Price Lewis, was born May 17, 1885, died
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May 4, 1887. Mr. Lewis has 365 acres of land in Marrs township and has one of the best improved farms in Posey county with a fine residence and a number of large barns. He is a Democrat and a Baptist.
A. C. Thomas, New Harmony. Perhaps no other man in Posey county is more entitled to the substantial success that he has made of his efforts and opportunities than the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch. His early advantages for an education were limited to what was known as the Bayou school in Bethel township, Posey county, but he continued to be a student of books as well as of men and affairs, so far, throughout a career of advancement and accomplishment. He is a native son of Posey county, born in Bethel township, November 28, 1857. His parents were Shelby H. and Sarah (Williams) Thomas. The father was a native of Kentucky and the mother of Indiana. The Thomas family consisted of three brothers, and one sister who died in childhood. A. C. remained at home and worked on the farm until he reached ma- jority, when he went to Kansas to join a brother, who had pre- ceded him a short time. He located in Cloud county, between the towns of Minneapolis and Concordia. This section of Kansas was well on the frontier in those early days. He bought land and remained there two years, during 1879 and 1880. These two years of pioneer life on the great plains of the West gave the young man an insight into the development of the country, which, no doubt, was a valuable asset to his business career. In 1880 he returned to Posey county and engaged in farming until 1885. About this time the Corbin Milling Company was organized. Mr. Thomas took stock and became secretary and treasurer of the company. He later took more stock, and in 1906 be- came the active manager of the company. His management of this ex- tensive milling and grain business was characterized with the same en- ergy and keen business insight typical of the man. In 1913 he retired as the active business head of this institution in order that he might be able to devote more attention to his other investments and extensive real es- tate holdings. Mr. Thomas was united in marriage October 16, 1881, to Miss Ella C. Bailey, a refined daughter of William and Elizabeth Bailey, prominent pioneers of Posey county. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have been born four children: Clauda B., who died in childhood; William H., a resident of Los Angeles, Cal .; Jessie M., who married Robert Ribeyre, of New Harmony ; and Helen C., a student at a young ladies' school at Oxford, Ohio. Mr. Thomas is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, a director of the New Harmony Banking Company, and has been a member of the Working Men's Institute twenty years. He has been a Democrat all his life, cast- ing his first Presidential vote for Cleveland in 1884, and the last one to date for Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have one of the finest residences in Posey county and their genial hospitality is highly prized and much appreciated by their many friends.
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M. B. Pote, postmaster of New Harmony, is a native son of Posey county, born in New Harmony July 28, 1844. He is a son of Thomas and Maria Pote, both natives of England, and early settlers in Posey county, and spent the latter part of their lives in New Harmony. The subject of this review spent his boyhood days in New Harmony, where he attended the public schools during the winter terms. He was just growing into manhood when the Civil war came on, and July 28, 1862, which was his eighteenth birthday, he enlisted in Company A, Ninety-first Indiana in- fantry. He was in Sherman's march, including the campaign in pursuit of Hood, then back to Clifton, Tenn. Then, they were ordered to Cin- cinnati, and from there to Washington, then to Wilmington, Cape Fear, Raleigh, and he was mustered out at Salisbury, N. C., July 7, 1865, which gave him an active and honorable military career of three years, lacking twenty days. He served as orderly on General McClain's staff for a time. At the close of the war Mr. Pote returned to New Harmony and was engaged in farming until July 1, 1897, when he was appointed postmaster of New Harmony, having served in that capacity to the present time. Mr. Pote has given general satisfaction in the conduct of the office. He was united in marriage, May 6, 1866, to Miss Mary, daughter of Luther Schnee, a Posey county pioneer. To Mr. and Mrs. Pote have been born five children: Carrie married J. W. Bailey, New Harmony ; Anna resides at home; Ray married F. J. Hortsman, Chicago; Sara married Alva J. Ragon, Evansville; and Geraldine is a teacher of art and music in the New Harmony public schools. Mr. Pote has a fine farm of 160 acres just east of town. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Episcopal church, and is a Republican.
William Oliphant Wilson, who has so capably and acceptably filled the position of superintendent of schools for Posey county, occupies a notable position among the educators of Indiana. He was born on his father's farm in Center township, Posey county, on September 22, 1878, a son of Lewis M. and Missouri (Record) Wilson. John S. L. Wilson, grandfather of the subject of this review, was the founder of this branch of the family in Indiana. He was a native of Butler county, Pennsyl- vania, and came to Posey county previous to 1820. It is probable that the Wilson family have had a more important part in connection with the development of Lynn township than has any other. They were among its first settlers, accumulated extensive land holdings, were active in practically every movement which concerned the progress of the community, and were, without exception, men of influence. Lewis M. Wilson, the father of Superintendent Wilson, was born in Lynn town- ship. His early life was spent on the farm of his father. After acquir- ing his education he was for some few years a teacher, but later returned to farming. He was a Democrat, but political office never appealed
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to him, although he served for several years as a justice of the peace. He married Missouri Record, who died in 1888. Mr. Wilson died in 1895. They are survived by the following children: Clara E., the wife of Rev. William L. Rhein, of Francisco, Ill .; William O., the subject of this sketch; Nina D., the wife of E. Benson Oliphant, a salesman in the employ of the Vincennes Bridge Company, who resides at Fort Branch, Ind .; Lewis O., a well known educator of Tulsa, Okla .; and Ethel M., the wife of Charles Fox, a farmer of Center township, Posey county, Indiana. Two children are deceased, viz .: John, who died in infancy; and Ernest Cleveland, born in 1887, a graduate of the Mt. Ver- non High School, who completed a two-years course in the School of Mines at Rolla, Mo., and who died at Bisbee, Ariz., on September 29, 19II. In 1884 Mr. Wilson removed to a farm near Carmi, Ill., his place of residence at the time of his death. Here also occurred the death of his first wife and his marriage, in 1889, to his second, who was Miss Anna Donoghue. One child, a daughter, was born of this union. She died aged three. William Oliphant Wilson was graduated from the high school at Mt. Vernon with the class of 1899. He initiated his career as an educator in the fall of that year as a teacher in the Mt. Vernon schools. From 1901 until the close of the spring term in 1904, he was principal of the Wadesville, Ind., schools. During the summer months of the years in which he was employed in teaching he was a student, completing a one-term course in the State Normal School at Terre Haute in 1900, a similar course in the State University at Bloom- ington in 1901-02-03 and returned to the latter institution in the fall of 1904. In August, 1905, he was elected superintendent of schools for Posey county for the unexpired term of Charles A. Greathouse, who had resigned. He was elected to succeed himself in 1907 and in 1911. Dur- ing the eight years in which Professor Wilson has been at the head of Posey county schools, he has proven the possession of administrative ability of a high order, has initiated reforms which have greatly bene- fited the pupils of the county, and has been a consistent advocate of sys- tem in all departments of school work. He has brought about uniformity in length of school term in all district schools, uniform reports, and has developed interest among the pupils as regards the Young People's Reading Circle, which has resulted in an increase in the number of books read of about 700 volumes. There is not a school in the county which does not possess a good library, well selected and of wide range, and numbering 200 or more volumes. His administration has been marked by the harmony which has prevailed between superintendent and teachers. Agriculture was included among the studies for students of the seventh and eighth grades in 1912, anticipating by one year its introduction by law. Domestic science was introduced in the country schools in 1913, and although entailing an expense of $2 per student,
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it is proving generally popular and can not help but be beneficial to the pupil. Mr. Wilson is a member of the National Educational Association, the Indiana State Teachers' Association, the Southern Indiana Teachers' Association and the Southwestern Indiana Teachers' Association, and of the last named was one of its most active organizers and has served as secretary of the organization. He has attained to the Council degrees in Masonry, is a member of the Mt. Vernon Lodge, No. 277, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, Court of Honor, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows-a charter member of Wadesville Lodge. He is an influential factor in the political life of his county, is a Democrat and chairman of the county central committee of his party and treasurer of the Mt. Vernon city committee. Mr. Wilson married on June 29, 1910, Miss Harriet Brinkman, a daughter of Henry Brinkman, of Mt. Vernon, personal mention of whom is to be found elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Wilson is a graduate of the Chicago Musical School and popular in the social circles of Mt. Vernon, in which she is a leader.
Peter W. Roche, editor and publisher of the Mt. Vernon "Democrat," was born October 14, 1867, in the city of Evansville. His father was John D. Roche, who served as city treasurer of Evansville one term. His grandfather, Peter W. Roche, was a pioneer who settled in Point township and was a large land owner. He was a resident of Ireland and came to America in his early days, after one of the numerous insur- rections in that country. He was educated for a Catholic priest and taught school after coming here. He died in 1844. Dr. Moses Wining was the maternal grandfather of Mr. Roche. He died in 1875. He was born in 1790 and came to this section in the '20s. He was one of the earliest doctors in Posey county and blazed the trail to make many calls in his practice. Peter Roche has been in charge of the "Democrat" since September, 1907, when he purchased his brother's interest in the paper. April 15, 1891, he was married to Miss Letitia Pugh at Paducah, Ky., a daughter of Captain Phineas Pugh, one of the noted river men of the war times. He was pilot of many boats that transported soldiers during the war. Mr. Roche has served as Democratic county chairman and been on the Posey county executive committee for twenty years. He served three years as a member of the Mt. Vernon school board, two years being president of that body. At the session of the Indiana State Senate in 1913 he served as chief clerk of the engraving department, a very responsible position.
Dr. Carl Flucks, of Armstrong, Ind., one of the best known men in his section of the State, was born in Patchkau Schlesien, Germany, De- cember II, 1847, son of Carl and Anna Ertelt Flucks, both born and reared in that place, where the father was a veterinary surgeon. The grandfather of Dr. Flucks, who was sheriff of the State of Prussia, sold the property and rights back to the State. The father of our sub-
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ject was born in the prison where the grandfather was sheriff. Carl Flucks attended at the Perfectorat School of Patchkau and later Neisse in Breslau Neurachi Clinic, after which he was in the sanitary service in the Austrian war and later in the Franco-Prussian war in 1870 and 1871. After the latter war Dr. Flucks came to America, locating in Terre Haute, Ind., where he practiced medicine. Here he married Miss Mary McHenry, daughter of George (of Scotch parentage) and Hannah Mc- Henry (a native of Ireland). Mrs. Flucks was born in Terre Haute. Dr. Flucks practiced there one year and then came to St. Wendell, where he has practiced continuously since 1872, except for a short period when he was in Arkansas. In point of service he is the oldest physician in the county. He keeps abreast of the times, being a reader of all the mod- ern journals dealing with his profession, and belongs to the American, State and county medical associations. In 1887 Dr. Flucks went from St. Wendell to Conway county, Arkansas, for his health. Here he had a drug store and also engaged in the gin business and had other inter- ests which were profitable. In 1892 he was elected to the legislature of Arkansas, where he was a member of the medical committee and of the immigration committee. He introduced the first sanitary bill ever drawn in the State, besides fathering several other bills that became laws. Dr. Flucks also bought several hundred acres of land near the town of Moralton, Ark., the county seat of Conway county, and remained in that place until 1897, when he returned to Posey county, taking up his practice at St. Wendell. He made many friends on his sojourn in Arkansas, among whom are Governor Clark, the present United States senator, Jefferson Davis, Congressman Reed, of the Fifth District, and Captain Carroll Armstrong, of Moralton. He was at one time post- master of Oppelo, Ark. Since his return he has been exclusively engaged in the practice of his profession, but does only office practice. Dr. Flucks had three brothers : one in Germany, one in St. Louis, and Em- mett Flucks, now deceased, for several years a veterinary surgeon of St. Wendell. Dr. Flucks was married May 21, 1873, and had twelve children, seven of whom are living: Annie, born February 26, 1876, married Fred Sheller, lives in Washington, Mo., and has five children, Carl, Harold, William, Mary Alice and Helen Marie; Martha, born January 29, 1880, married William Hildebrand, lives at Moberly, Mo., where Mr. Hildebrand is foreman in the Brown shoe factory, had two children, Hubert and Margaret (deceased) ; Carl Joseph, born August 20, 1884, married Bessie Kabe (now deceased), by whom he had one child, married as his second wife Miss Florence Sneyd, of Terre Haute, has four children, Melvin, Carl Jay, William and John Silas; John J., cor- poral of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh company at Ft. Crock- ett, Galveston, Texas, where he is serving his second enlistment, his first being in the Forty-fifth company coast artillery at Fort Du Pont,
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Del., where he was first gunner; Theoderic, born July 29, 1896, at home with parents; Albertine, born August 18, 1899, living with parents, and Paul, born September 26, 1904, now attending school at St. Wendell. Dr. Flucks is prominent in the councils of the Democratic party in this section of the State, especially in his own county. He is a member of the Catholic church and of the Woodmen of the World.
General Alvin Peterson Hovey .- A pioneer family in any community is of more or less historic interest, no matter if its tenure of residence be of long or short duration. But when a family is not only among the first to settle in a community, but also continues to reside in it for decade after decade and generation after generation, and certain of its members at all times are leaders in every movement intended to con- serve the community's welfare and promote its progress, then that family becomes of special historic interest and prominence. One of the most prominent families of southern Indiana, and, indeed, of the whole State, is the Hovey family of Mt. Vernon, established there in 1818 by Abiel Hovey, a native of Vermont and son of Rev. Samuel and Abigail (Cleveland) Hovey. Abiel Hovey married in 1802 Frances Peterson, born in Vermont on May 20, 1780. He brought his family to Posey county in 1818, then in a formative condition, and engaged in farming. He possessed energy, thrift characteristic of the native of New England, his home training had imbued him with high ideals, which, together with his desire to attain a competence in his new home, soon caused him to become one of the influential men of the county. His death occurred on July 17, 1823, after a residence of five years in Posey county. That of his wife, on September 6, 1836. Alvin Peterson Hovey, the youngest child of Abiel and Frances (Peterson) Hovey, was born in Mt. Vernon on September 6, 1821. He acquired his education in the schools of his native town, was variously employed, while a boy, part of the time as a mason, and while in the latter occupation studied law of evenings in the office of Judge John Pitcher. He was admitted to the bar in 1843. In 1849 he was elected delegate to the Indiana consti- tutional convention. He served as judge of the circuit court of South- western Indiana, composed of eleven counties, from 1851 to 1854. He was elevated to the bench of the Supreme Court of Indiana in 1854 and served for one year, being the youngest member in the history of that body. He was appointed by President Pierce in 1856 United States attorney for the district of Indiana. When the division in the Demo- cratic party occurred, with President Buchanan and Stephen A. Douglas as leaders of the two factions, Mr. Hovey became a partisan of the latter and his activities in his behalf were so fruitful that Buchanan re- moved him from office, appointing Daniel W. Voorhees to succeed him. On the first call of President Lincoln for volunteers, Judge Hovey be- gan the organization of a company and in a short time the First regi-
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ment of Indiana legion, of which he was commissioned colonel, was ready for the field. Later he became colonel of the Twenty-fourth In- diana, which joined Tremont's army in Missouri. He was with General Grant in the Vicksburg campaign and was made brigadier-general for gallant conduct at Shiloh. In the battle of Champion's Hill, Miss., May 16, 1863, Hovey's brigade suffered one-third of the entire loss of the Federal forces. He commanded the Twelfth division of the Thirteenth army corps in this engagement. General Grant, in his memoirs, gives special credit to Hovey for his part in the battle. In July, 1864, he was appointed major-general and ordered by General Grant to raise 10,000 men. Only those unmarried were invited to enlist and when the quota was made up it was found that many of the recruits were mere boys and on that account were afterward known as "Hovey's babies." However, there were no more effective troops in the march to the sea. In the latter part of 1864 Secretary of War Stanton appointed General Hovey military commander of Indiana, an office made necessary by a growing hostility in the State toward the national government. While serving in this capacity General Hovey caused the arrest of a number of persons belonging to the so-called "Sons of Liberty," a treas- onable organization, five of whom were convicted and sentenced to be hanged, their sentences being commuted to life imprisonment by Pres- ident Lincoln. In 1865, at the request of General Grant, he was ap- pointed minister to Peru, serving in this capacity until 1870, when he returned to Mt. Vernon and resumed the practice of law. In 1872 he refused the nomination for governor as he did not wish to reënter poli- tics. However, in 1886, he accepted the unanimous nomination as the Republican candidate for Congress from the first district and was elected by a majority of 1,357 over Mccullough, his Democratic opponent. In Congress he championed the cause of the Union veterans in the matter of pensions. In the Republican State convention of June, 1888, he was unanimously nominated for governor and in the election the following November received a majority of 2,000 over the Democratic candidate, C. C. Matson. While in the executive chair the legislature passed a measure making the State Board of Education a text-book commission and authorizing it to determine what text-books should be used in the schools. During the debate on this bill Governor Hovey urged that all text-books used in the public schools should be furnished by the State. The Australian ballot system was also adopted during his administra- tion. At the annual encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, held in St. Louis in 1888, Governor Hovey was unanimously elected president of the service pension association of the United States and in December, 1889, he addressed an appeal "to the loyal people of the United States and their representatives in Congress," demanding on be- half of the many surviving Union soldiers of the late war the passage
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