USA > Indiana > Vanderburgh County > History of Vanderburgh County, Indiana, from the earliest times to the present, with biographical sketches, reminiscences, etc. > Part 86
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ized in 1854 through the labors of Rev. A. Saupert, who served the society for many years. Under him a division arose and about one-half the members went with him to Trinity church in Evansville. The church has always been supplied by the pastor of a church of the same name on the corner of First avenue and East Franklin street in Evansville. They are separate organiza- tions, but the country church is a filial of the city church. Rev. Saupert was succeeded by Rev. Reidenbach, and he by Rev. H. Koenig, who served twelve years. The present pastor is Rev. George Bachmann, in charge during the past twelve years. Among the earliest members were: Henry Oppermann, Christ Bakelmann, Conrad Schuenemann, Henry Henricks, Henry Mahrenholz, Fred Mahrenholz, Traugott Hauschild, and their families. The present membership comprises fourteen families; fifty communicants. In 1854, on the middle Mt. Vernon road, six miles from Evansville, a small log building was erected as a place of worship. Since renovated and remodeled, it has been made a very neat and comfort- able edifice.
Towns .- There are no towns in the township except Perryville, or Babytown as commonly called, which is practically a small part of Evansville, having no import- ance as a separate village. Col. John Rhein- lander, a man of considerable note as a soldier in the Mexican and civil wars, and as a leading business man, established a grocery and cigar factory here some thirty years ago. The growth and the inception of the place have been due to this enterprise.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
engaged, grew and was strengthened to a considerable extent. Mr. Brandis came to this country from Stratford in the year 1840. He resided for short time in Evansville, and then removed to a farm in Perry township, five miles west of the city, which was his home in all the succeeding years. He brought with him from England a wife and five children, of whom only one survives him, Mrs. Rosanna Cralley, of Mount Ver- non, Ind. His wife died in 1849. In the summer of 1849 he made a voyage to Eng- land for the purpose of transacting business there. Mr. Brandis was married again March 14, 1855, to Mrs. Maria Felstead, a widow lady with three children, Anna, Mary and George, all of whom are living. She was born in 1831, in the parish of Blunlesham, England, the daughter of Thomas and wife. In 1832 her parents emigrated to America, coming directly to Evansville, near where she was raised. Her parents are now deceased, and are buried ten miles from the city. Her mar- riage with Joseph Felstead, a native of Chatteris, England, occurred September 26, 1849, and he died in June, 1854, aged thirty years. In 1872 Mr. Brandis started a bookstore on the corner of Second and Locust streets, and in 1875 he purchased the bookstore of Dobell & Conyngton, then oc- cupying part of the present First National bank building. By reason of his wide busi- ness relations and congenial and upright character, Mr. Brandis became generally esteemed, and through life was surrounded by a host of friends. After leading an ac- tive business life for several years, he re- tired to his quiet country home. Having acquired considerable taste for reading, he had several years before selected with ex- treme care a handsome library of instructive and useful books, where his leisure time was
JOSEPH H. BRANDIS, deceased, was a na- tive of England, born in Birmingham, Octo- ber 28, 1805. At Stratford at an early age he made his first entry into business, and | mostly spent in a way that was pleasant and
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owing to his keen talent and close applica- tion, the dry goods business, in which he profitable. After twenty-eight years of happy married life, Mr. Brandis and wife were separated by his death, which oc- curred May 8, 1883, when he had reached the age of seventy-eight years. His widow and seven children, viz .: Martha, Joseph H., Ellen, Sarah, William E., Thomas J. and Charles D., still survive him. Mrs. Brandis resides at the old homestead, which is pleasantly situated, and surrounded with all of life's comfort.
HERMAN KLAMER, who resides just west of Evansville, in Perry township, is a native of Germany, born September 25, 1836, son of John M. and Charlotte (Kleinsmidt) Klamer. At fifteen years of age he became employed in a brick yard, and thus continued in his native country until 1855, in June of which year he emigrated to America and came to the city of Evansville. In the spring of 1856 he became employed in a brick yard in the vicinity of Evansville. In 1859 he took a contract to manufacture a quantity of brick in Posey county, where he spent one season. During the summer of 1860, he was engaged at brick-making in Armstrong township. From the fall of 1860, until the spring of 1864, his attention was given to his farm in Perry township. In March, 1864, he removed to Evansville, and he has ever since resided either in the city or in its immediate vicinity. For some six or seven years after removing to town, Mr. Klamer conducted a brick yard. In the spring of 1872 he was appointed street commissioner, and served in that capacity three years. In 1875 he became a-partner in the Bunker Hill Flouring mills, to which his attention was given until 1884, when he sold out. Since 1884 he has owned and operated a large brick yard west of the city. On the 25th of November, 1860, Mr. Klamer was
married to Mary Schloskey, a native of Germany, born August 6, 1840, the daugh- ter of William and Christiana Schloskey, with whom she came to America in the spring of 1851. Mr. and Mrs. Klamer have had ten children: Matilda E., William M., Gustav H., Herman H., Clara, Selma, Vina, Oscar A., Ida (deceased), and Albert A. Mr. and Mrs. Klamer and all of their children are members of the Zion's church. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and D. O. H. lodges. In 1884 he was elected trustee of Perry township, and was re-elected in 1886, with an increased majority.
HENRY KREIPKE, a prominent miller of Perry township, was born February 16, 1854, son of Henry and Catherine Kreipke. He received a good common school and commercial college education. He began business in Evansville in the feed-store and commission trade, which he followed until 1883. He then entered the large flouring- mill, of which he is at present the half owner, which has become a leading indus- try, and one of the prominent mills of the country. There is a capital of $45,000 in- vested in the business; the capacity of the mill is 350 barrels a day; and there is $300,- 000 worth of product handled per year. They use the very latest roller process, and make the finest grade of flour, which is sold throughout the entire south, besides being in great demand at home. The establish- ment is a large four-story brick building, situated in the western suburbs of the city, and uses a ninety-horse steam power. Mr. Kreipke was married January 24, 1883, to Alice Ayers, and the result of this happy union has been two children, Charles Edwin and Pearl Caroline. He is a member of St. John's church and belongs to the Knights of Pythias. He is a man of rare ability in business, and has fine executive talent, which assure him prosperity. He enjoys the con-
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fidence and respect of the community, and enlisted in July, 1862, in Company H, Sixty- all with whom he comes in contact through his extensive business.
WILLIAM POGGEMEIER, a prominent farmer of Perry township, is a native of Prussia, born October 10, 1825, son of Anst Poggemeier, and his wife Mary. He emigrated to this country in 1846, and was twenty-one years of age when he arrived. He came directly to Evansville and to Ger- man township, where he resided for about four months. He found work as a carpen- ter, which trade he learned in Prussia, and he continued in this vocation for about five years, when he married and settled down on a farm, and has since devoted himself to agriculture. He bought the farm in Perry township, which he still occupies, in 1849, and moved upon it in 1850. In March, 1850, Mr. Poggemeier was married to Louisa Reckfurst, daughter of Henry and Katherine Reckfurst, and they have had nine children: Mary, Caroline, Henry, Will- iam, Frederick, Wilhelmina, Mary, John and August, all of whom are deceased except Mary. Mr. Poggemeier is a republican, and his religious associations are with the Luth- eran church.
CONRAD ROSE, a well-known farmer of Perry township, was born in Germany, Sep- tember II, 1841, the son of Ludwig and Louisa Rose, who came to Evansville from the fatherland in about 1845. The father died in that city about four weeks after his arrival, when Conrad was but four years old. As a boy and youth he was able to attend school but six months, but by close application, soon was able to read and write the strange language to which he was so inauspiciously introduced. He chose the business of agriculture as his pursuit in life, and has devoted himself to it with the ex- ception of three years spent valiantly on the field, during the war of the rebellion. He
fifth Indiana Volunteer infantry, under Col. Foster, and was engaged with his com- mand in the battles of Bean Station, Rock- ville, Franklin, Nashville, Blountsville, and many others, and through the entire cam- paign and march to the sea under Sherman. He was confined to the hospital for six or seven weeks, and has not fully recovered from the effect of that army illness to this day. He was mustered out at Greensburg, N. C., and discharged at Indianapolis, at the close of the war. He was married Janu- ary 29, 1868, to Octavia Stinson, daughter of the distinguished General Baptist preacher and pioneer, whose family is known through- out southern Indiana, and whose distin- guished career is treated of in another part of this volume. They have had four child- ren: Benoni S., Parthenia, Guy C., and Harry B., all living and at home but Guy, who departed this life February 9, 1876. Mr. Rose and his estimable lady are faithful members of the Baptist church, and are leaders in their community. He is a mem- ber of the A. O. U. W. and G. A. R., and is in politics a staunch republican.
JOHN N. STEINER was born in Saxe- Coburg, Germany, in 1815, the son of Adam and Barbara Steiner. He emigrated to America in 1838, over half a century ago. He came directly to Cincinnati, where he spent ten years as a clerk in a restaurant. He then, in 1848, went to Perry township, and in that year settled on the farm which he now occupies. Then the country was con- siderably a wilderness, and land was cheap. While in Ohio he had the opportunity to work on the first railroad built in that state, and he has seen Evansville grow from a vil- lage to a great city. He was married in 1847, to Margaret Roeder, daughter of Fred Roeder, of German township, and they have had eight children, all of whom
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are living: John, Fred, George, Charles, Andrew, William, Lizzie and Christina. Mr. Steiner received a good education in his native language, and has also become versed in English. He is a republican, and a member of the Methodist church. He has done well in life, having a good home upon a fine farm of ITO acres.
WASHINGTON STINCHFIELD, a prominent farmer of Perry township, was born in Van- derburgh county, February 3, 1844, and is the son of Hiram Stinchfield, and Sarah A. Mc- Creary, his wife. The mother was a native of Virginia. The father was born in this state also, the son of Daniel Stinchfield, who came from Maine, at a day when the country was very wild, and was one of the very earliest pioneers who began the work of making the paths straight for the future commonwealth. The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of Perry township, receiving a good training. Hardly had he completed this stage of his life, when the rebellion broke out, and in August, 1862, when he was eighteen years old, Mr. Stinchfield enlisted in Company D, Ninety-first Indiana volunteer infantry, un- der Col. Mehringer. He participated in the battles of Atlanta, Kenesaw Mountain, Franklin, Nashville, and marched through Georgia with Gen. Sherman. On June 29, 1865, he was honorably discharged at Salis- bury, N. C., and mustered out at Indianapolis, after three years of brave and patriotic service in defense of his country. This was the only period in his life, during which he has not been engaged in agriculture, a pursuit which has been to him both pleasant and profitable. He was married December 15, 1869, to Mary A. Sanders, daughter of John Sanders, and Elizabeth, his wife, both of this country. This union has been a happy one, and has brought them nine children: John, George, Sadie, Caddie, Harriet, Charles W., Moses
O., Clinton and Herman E., of whom all are living but John, George, and Harriet. Mr. Stinchfield has been a member of the I. O. O F. for twenty years.
JAMES L. THOMPSON, a prominent citizen of Perry township, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, December 15, 1832. He received a common school and academic education in his native land, and learned the profession of steam-engineering, under the severe restric- tions of Scotland. In 1856 he came to America, and came direct to Evansville, and soon after engaged as engineer for the Ardril Iron Works, on Green river, Ky. At the outbreaking of the rebellion he enlisted in Company D, Fifth Ohio vol- unteer infantry, under Col. Dunning. His captain was John H. Patrick. After serving with this regiment three months he enlisted in Company G, Twenty-sixth Ohio, and served altogether over four years, being one of the veterans in 1865. He partici- pated in the battles of Stone River, Mission Ridge, Knoxville, Franklin and Nashville, and then went with his command to Texas. After his long and perilous service in defense of the nation, he was mustered out at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio. He then resumed the practice of engineering, and is now en- gaged in running the engine at Ingle's mines. In 1868 Mr. Thompson was married to Amanda Smith, who lived but one year. In 1871 he married Louisa, daughter of Frederick Keck, and they have had these children, Emeline, James F., Jacobina Agnes, Louisa and Margaret. Mr. Thompson is a member of the A. O. U. W., and affiliates with the Baptist, and his wife with the Methodist, church. In politics he is a repub- lican. He has a beautiful home on the Mt. Vernon road. Mr. Thompson's parents were James Thompson and Jane Laing, his wife, who both lived their entire lives in Scotland.
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GERMAN TOWNSHIP.
JAMES S. WILLS, a highly respected citizen and pioneer of Perry township, was born March 1, IS22, in Scott township, this county, the son of William Wills and his wife, Frances Sellings. The parents came to Vanderburgh county in 1819 from the county of Kent, England, where the father was en- gaged as a measure-maker. James spent the early part of his life with his father at the farm in Scott township, and was able to receive but a limited education. At the age of eighteen he learned the trade of car- penter, which he followed for three years and then returned to the farm life, which he followed for thirteen years with success. In June, 1857, he again began to work at car- pentry, but this was interrupted in 1861 by the war of the rebellion. He enlisted July 8, 1861, in Company B, Twenty-fifth regi- ment Indiana volunteers, under Col. Veatch. With his regiment he participated in the fol- lowing battles: Blackwater, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, siege of Corinth. Mr. Wills was severely wounded on the steamer Continental going from St. Louis to Cairo, and he has never recovered fully from the wound. After the siege of Corinth, Mr. Wills returned to Evansville and remained in the hospital for some time, and on regaining strength, returned to his regiment and par- ticipated in the battle of Davis Mills, Miss. He was discharged in October, 1863, at Evansville, ending a most honorable service in defense of his country and flag. Since then he has devoted himself to the peaceful business of farming and carpentry. In 1845 he was married to Frances Martin, and they had four children, William, Armilda, John Perry, and Laura. But two are living, John Perry and Laura, in California. Mr. Wills was married a second time in 1864 to Amelia Newman, by whom he had ten children: Carrie, U. S. Grant, Amelia, James, Henry, Wallace, George, Aaron,
Letitia, and Donald. Mr. Wills is a mem- ber of the I. O. O. F., and has passed through the chairs.
German township, with its present name and bounds, was created September 1, 1845. Upon the organization of the county and its division into civil townships, its territory formed a part of each of the two first town- ships - Pigeon and Armstrong. Subse- quently the two tiers of sections on the south formed a part of Perry township. It is now bounded on the north by Armstrong, on the east by Scott and Center, on the south by Perry township, and on the west by Posey county, and embraces within its limits twenty-seven sections. Its surface, rolling and in parts hilly, was originally covered with a dense growth of majestic forest trees. Perhaps no part of the county produced more splendid timber, and fur- nished a more inviting retreat for the game that was in all these parts in great abund- ance. When deer and turkeys began to be scarce in some other parts of the county, here they remained plentiful, and he was a poor marksman, indeed, who, penetrating the wildernesses of German township, could not secure venison and fowl for his larder.
Early Settlers .- It was about the time that the few Anglo-Saxons began to occupy the . wild lands of what is now Armstrong town- ship that German was first invaded by the hardy, dauntless pioneers. It is probable that occasional hunters and trappers crossed its territory while still in the possession of the Indians, but such persons had little in- fluence upon its subsequent growth, and their acts form no part of its history. The first permanent settlement, which, by gathering together a few families for mutual protection from hostile red men and wild beasts, formed a nucleus about which a neighborhood was gathered, and where the woodman's ax first made a clearing and
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raised a cabin, which, though rude and un- inviting in its aspect, was designed for more than a temporary shelter, was made in the northwest corner of the township by the Hensons, David and Jesse, and Joseph Chapman. The date of their coming can not be stated. The Hensons took the gifts of a bountiful providence, as they were sent, without any worry or complaint. The Chapmans, Joseph and his family, were a " fighting set," yet withal good, respectable people, honest, and always poor. William and Walter Bryant, hardy backwoodsmen, who were known as more than ordinarily skillful and successful hunters, came into the Henson settlement in very early days.
To the south of this settlement and within two miles of the south line of the township -in sections 5 and 6 -a few more cabins were raised in a cluster, and here others began life's rough experiences in the lonely wilds of the forests. Old Jesse Holloway, a good natured man, kindly disposed to all, and liked by every man who enjoyed the of the very few old settlers who in this
hospitality of his humble home, or met him at the "rolling" or on the hunt, was one of the earliest in this settlement, though it is impossible for any man to say whether or not he was preceded by some other equally " courageous pioneer. In this "neck of the woods" John Warren became well and fav- orably known as an industrious man and good citizen. Very few of the early set- tlers in these parts took the precaution or went to the expense of possessing them- selves of the lands where they erected their cabins and established their homes. It was, indeed, a difficult matter to accumulate enough money, when money was so scarce, to pay the sums required by the government for a title to the land, though the amount was but $2.00 per acre. The industry of John Warren had been productive of lar- ger results than that of any other individual
in the neighborhood where he lived, and per- haps, in the entire township. He succeeded in clearing not less than forty-two acres on the congress land, and had it in very good condition. His cabin was a well-built, com- fortable structure, such as might be expected from the hands of one so industrious and en- terprising. A stable of moderate size was also on the place. These improvements were sold to John Morgan, who entered the land, and though they represented many days of toil, the purchase money was but $40.00.
About 1820 and 1821 John and Morri- son Fitzgerald, James F. Fauquhar, Nich- olas -Long, and the Judkins family, became a part of this settlement. They did not come together, but each family, some of them having been for some time in neigh- boring localities, drifted in singly, and took their places in the small and slowly increas- ing community. James Fauquhar was al- ways upright, and was tolerably " well fixed " financially for his day. He was one township bought his land from the govern- ment and passed it to his children. Will- iam Fauquhar, a son of James, the pioneer, and probably the oldest native born citizen of the township, though only sixty-four years of age, still resides on the land en- tered by his father. John Fauquhar, now a resident of Evansville, and Mrs. Lydia Saunders, of Union township, are the only other surviving descendants of James Fauquhar.
German township was very thinly settled; there were only a few spots where a hunter encountered human habitations for many years after the dawn of civilization in south western Indiana. There were none south of the settlement last named until Perry township was reached. To the eastward, in the wild and dense woodland, there was not a trail except those of the untamed
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beasts and their hunters, until the Parker neighborhood was reached, a little south- west of the site of the village of St. Joseph. Here in very early times, probably not later than 1809, the Parkers, Richard Wells, old Mr. McKinnis, the father of Alex and James, and others, formed a settlement, where lived some of the best hunters and most sterling characters of the period. In the extreme eastern part of the township a few settlers were scattered here and there; the smoke of a cabin occasionally beckoned the weary hunter to a haven of rest, and the ax of the pioneer at times made the woodland ring with sturdy blows and re- sounding echoes even in these less sought. for parts. It was in this part of the town- ship that James Kirkpatrick and Brian Short, afterward very well known, but only as simple, rough backwoodsmen, and yet with the good traits characteristic of such men, built their cabins. Here also lived George B. Wagnon, the son of William Wagnon, one of the first associate judges of the county. Young George was rather pretentious for the times and was unpopu- lar. His character had little in it worthy of admiration. He was rough, unscrupulous and of a low order mentally and morally.
Besides those whose names have found their way into these pages there were many other squatters and early settlers who, with what may be called the second settle- ment of the township, beginning about 1830, almost fleeing before the hordes of industrious immigrants who came from across the sea to possess themselves of homes in the land of liberty,
ยท Folded their tents like the Arab, And as silently stole away.
Soon after the year 1830, the state began to improve and to attract the attention of in- telligent people in all parts of the country. The favorable location of Evansville respect- I scenes of the early settlers.
ing the commerce of the west, became the objective point of many who were leaving the old world and fleeing to America -that mighty oak of freedom beneath whose um- brage the oppressed of all nations were intended to come for shelter and protection. When the Germans commenced coming in the lands were rapidly taken. The first who came to settle among the old set of pioneers and to open their eyes to a new condition of things, was John Eichle, a good man and valuable citizen. His industrious and econom- ical habits at first amused the pioneers who had been accustomed to taking life easy, but soon finding that in the struggle for existence they must compete for suc- cess with these habits, which were soon found to be common to all of the new comers, they became alarmed and one by one left the country to take up the thread of exist- ence in some more favorable land. It is not possible or necessary for the purposes of this work to name those who came in the great throng, before whose surge the early set- tlers were forced from their forest homes. They were an enterprising, pushing, pru- dent people, who, with wonderful celerity, cleared away the forests and brought the land into cultivation. With the exception of a few families, who cling like the last leaves upon the tree, there are no represen- tatives of the earlier settlers, and the en- tire township, as its name indicates, is peopled with Germans, who in the main are thrifty, honest, honorable, and valuable citizens.
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