USA > Indiana > History of the Catholic church in Indiana, Volume II > Part 52
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Mr. Klein was married first to Anglebirtha Reling, and they had one child, Mary. Mrs. Klein died in 1870, and Mr. Klein next married, June 3, 1873, Marguerite Fisher, daughter of S. Fisher, of Dubois county; this marriage has been blessed with six children, all living, viz: John J., Anna, Lizzie, Albert, Leo and Olivia. The family are all members of St. Joseph church, and in politics Mr. Klein is a stanch democrat. Mr. Klein is also a mem- ber of the Catholic Knights of Jasper, being sergeant of the uniform rank.
OHN KLUEBER, JR., proprietor of a popular clothing house J in Aurora, Ind., is a son of John and Antonia (Matin) Klueber, and was born in Aurora, March 8, 1858. He attended the paro- chial schools until he attained the age of thirteen years, then for five years worked in a cooper shop; then he began work for Joseph Meyer in the capacity of clerk, at Aurora, in 1875, and continued with that gentleman until 1885, when he opened up his present business, March 30, putting in a small stock of clothing, and has met with marked success.
Mr. Klueber has been, indeed, very prosperous, and is now a stockholder in and vice-president of the Aurora Tool works. He (832)
CATHOLIC CHURCH OF INDIANA.
was married February 23, 1886, to Miss Carolina Frank, a daughter of Vincent and Margaret Frank, of Aurora. Mr. and Mrs. Klueber have five children, viz: Pauline, Evaline, Lenora, Carolina and Ottilia, all members of the church of the Immaculate Conception. Mr. Klueber is also a member of Aurora commandery, No. 232, Knights of St. John, and of St. Joseph and St. George Benevolent societies, and is very liberal in his contributions to the support of his church and in aid of these sodalities. He is affable and atten- tive to the needs of his patrons, never misrepresents the quality of his goods, and in consequence has met with the success he so well merits.
A NTHONY J. KLEIN, president of the Southwestern Broom Manufacturing company and a member of the firm of Rosen- berger, Klein & Co., wholesale and retail grocers at Evansville, Ind., and also a member of the Certain Cure company, manufac- turers of patent medicines of acknowledged merit, was born in Germany, July 23, 1855, a son of Anthony and Josepha (Hoffman) Klein. He was primarily educated in the Catholic schools of his native land and in the United States, and this education was sup- plemented by a course of study in a commercial college. He began his business life in 1870 as a bookkeeper, and by his close attention to his duties has worked himself upward to his present prominence as a business man.
May 25, 1880, Mr. Klein was united in marriage with Miss Mary Nienhaus, who was born in St. Wendell's, Ind., November 13, 1857, a daughter of Bernard Nienhaus, and this union has been blessed with four children, viz: Alfred, Emma, Mamie and Lilly. The family are members of St. Boniface church, and Mr. Klein is a member of the Catholic Knights of America, is a director in St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery association, and is also a director of the First National bank of Evansville. In politics Mr. Klein is a democrat, but has never been offensively partisan, nor has he ever sought office for the sake of pecuniary emolument. He and family stand high socially, and are liberal in their contri-
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THE CLERGY AND CONGREGATIONS,
butions to the support of the church, and Mr. Klein willingly extends his aid in advancing any project designed for the good of the public.
A LPHONS KOHNE, one of the most prosperous farmers of Washington, township, Adams county, Ind., was born three miles east of Decatur, May 19, 1855, on the family homestead, and is a son of Anthony and Elizabeth (Klaphake) Kohne.
Anthony Kohne, father of subject, was born in Bresenbrook, kingdom of Hanover, Germany, December 6, 1806, and there learned the baking business. March 17, 1835, he sailed for Amer- ica, accompanied by his sister, Philomena, and Henry Derkes, a friend, landed in New York May 4, and soon afterward Mr. Derkes and Philomena Kohne were united in matrimony. From New York the party came to Indiana, and in 1837 Anthony Kohne entered a claim for the land on which his son, Alphons, now lives, the government deeding the land November 10, 1840. In 1841, Anthony Kohne married a Miss Mentor, who lived but a short time. May 17, 1845, he married, at the Redeemer's church, on Third avenue, New York city, Miss Mary E. Klaphake, who was born in Hanover, Germany, January 6, 1822. Mr. Kohne was the first Catholic to settle in Adams county, and in 1843, when the project was first broached for the erection of a Catholic house of worship in Decatur, he took a subscription book and traversed the country from Decatur to Detroit, and so on to New York city. This book of subscriptions is now in the possession of his son, Alphons. On the return of Mr. Kohne from his tour, he brought with him the lady whom he had married in New York, and settled down on his farm, where his wife died April 16, 1867, and where his own death occurred October 27, 1882.
Alphons Kohne, whose name opens this sketch, was educated in the schools of his native township, and has always lived on the farm on which he was born. He was married, October 26, 1886, at Fort Wayne, by the Rev. Father Oechtering, to Miss Mary Gales, and this marriage has been blessed with six children, named Ida, Alberta, Estella, Agnes, Raymond and Aloysius. The family
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CATHOLIC CHURCH OF INDIANA.
belong to St. Mary's Catholic church, at Decatur, and Mr. Kohne- is a member of St. Joseph's society. He has led a life of industry and sobriety, has prospered in his vocation, and he and family are esteemed as among the most respectable people of Washington township. In the fall of 1897 Mr. Kohne removed to Decatur in. order to give his children better school advantages.
C HARLES KOKENGE, the principal dealer in hardware, tin- ware and stoves, at Avilla, Noble county, Ind., was born in. Minster, Ohio, April 14, 1856, a son of Joseph and Agnes (Heit- kamp) Kokenge, natives of Germany.
Joseph Kokenge cameto the United States when a boy, and grew to manhood in Minster, Ohio, where he learned the carpenter's trade, which, in conjunction with school-teaching, afforded him the means for a comfortable subsistence. He married Miss Heitkamp in Minster, and to this union were born eight children, viz: Mary, Charles, Barney, Henry, Elizabeth, Louise, Joseph and Amelia- all reared in the Catholic faith. In this faith the father passed away in 1875; his widow, also a devout Catholic, still resides at the old home in Minster.
Charles Kokenge attended the parochial school at Minster until fourteen years of age, when he was apprenticed toa tinsmith in Glan- dorf, Ohio, with whom he served three years, and afterward worked as a journeyman, in various towns, until twenty-nine years old. In 1885 he settled in Avilla, Ind., and for five years, in partner- ship with A. Vogeding, conducted a hardware and tinware store and shop, but at the expiration of that period started his present establishment on his sole account, now carrying a full line of stoves, hardware, etc., and manufacturing tinware of every variety to order, beside keeping on hand a ready-made stock for instant delivery, and doing, also, general repair work.
The marriage of Mr. Kokenge took place at Glandorf, Ohio, May 12, 1885, to Miss Mary Helmer, who was born in Avilla, Ind., October 15, 1865, a daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Kreienbrink) Helmer, natives of the Buckeye state and of German extraction
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Mr. and Mrs. Helmer were the parents of six children-Henry, John, Joseph, two deceased and Mary (Mrs. Kokenge). Both parents were called to rest in 1872, dying in the Catholic faith. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Kokenge has been blessed with five children, born in the following order: Charles, Loretta, Lucinda, Edward and Irvin. They belong to the congregation of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at Avilla, of which Mr. Kokenge is a trustee, and he is also a member of St. Joseph society and the Benevolent society at Glandorf. Mr. Kokenge has been an industrious and temperate man all his life and owns a neat dwelling in Avilla, where his leisure hours are passed in domestic felicity and the enjoyment of the society of his numerous friends.
B ENJAMIN JOHN KNAPKE, a well-known business man of Decatur, Ind., was born in Mercer county, Ohio, July 9, 1866, a son of Bernard and Anna Knapke, the father being a native of Mercer county, and the mother of Holland. Bernard Knapke was born in the year 1843, married, in 1865, Anna Vander- bush, and all his life has followed agricultural pursuits, which he still carries on. The following are the names of the ten children of Bernard and Anna Knapke: John, Frank, William, Anthony, Henry, Joseph, Rose, Lizzie, Katie, who married B. J. Bertke, and Ben- jamin, whose name introduces this sketch and who is the eldest of the family.
Benjamin J. Knapke attended the parochial school at Cran- berry Prairie, Mercer county, Ohio, until his fifteenth year, from which time, until attaining his majority, he assisted his father on .
the farm. In 1889, at the age of twenty-two, he came to Decatur, Ind., and entered the employ of J. W. Voglewede in the latter's café, which he purchased in 1895 and of which he is the present proprietor. Mr. Knapke's place is one of the most popular resorts in the city and he does an extensive and lucrative business.
He was united in marriage at St. Francis church, Mercer county, Ohio, November 16, 1893, with Maggie Meibers, the cere- mony, which made them man and wife, being performed by Father (836)
THE CLERGY AND CONGREGATIONS,
Den Branden De Reeth. For some time he taught private school, and later for three years at the Louvaine seminary; in 1886 he came to America, landing in New York, and coming thence to the diocese of Fort Wayne, Ind. His first appointment was made by Bishop Dwenger, of this diocese, to North Judson and the mission of Koutz, where he officiated four years, doing excellent ministerial duty. In 1891 he was appointed pastor of St. Casimir parish, by Bishop Dwenger, and here, at Hammond, he has worked most earnestly and assiduously, increasing his congregation from thirty families to 120, with seventy pupils attending the parochial school. Father Kobylinski has not yet been able to accomplish all that he desires, owing to the limited means of the congregation over which he presides in his holy office, but he is laying a foundation for the future that will culminate, in a very short period of time, in mak- ing the Polish parish of Hammond a matter of pride to the people of the town and an honor to Catholicity. He is still young and energetic, and has clasped his faith to his soul with hooks of steel, and it is a mere matter of time before he will make his way to further advancement with his superiors in the church, who are never slow in recognizing ability in its servitors, wherever found.
C HARLES VALENTINE KORPAL, prominent as a member of St. Hedwig Polish Catholic church at South Bend, Ind., was born in Poland February 14, 1853, a son of Valentine and Josephine (Zagrodnik) Korpal, the former of whom was born in 1824 and died in 1894; the latter born in 1830, died in 1893, and both in the faith of the Roman Catholic church.
Valentine Korpal, father of Charles Valentine, the subject, attended the parochial school of his native parish until fourteen years of age, and then devoted himself to his life-long pursuit of farming, inheriting, at the death of his father, his own farm, which he occupied until his decease. He had married. in 1851, at the village of Krostkowa, Poland, Josephine Zagrodnik, the cermony being performed by Rev. Father Tessmer, the fruit of the union being four sons and four daughters, viz: Weadyslaus, Martin, John
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CATHOLIC CHURCH OF INDIANA.
Catherine, Josephia, Onellia, Stella and Charles V. The remains of the parents lie interred, side by side, in St. Valentine's cemetery, in the village of Krotskowa, Poland.
Charles Valentine Korpal, the subject of this memoir, attended the parochial school in his native village until nineteen years of age, and then came to America, landing in New York city in the spring of 1872, whence he came directly to South Bend, arriving here March 31. He first found employment here as a molder with the Oliver Chilled Plow company, and held his position until 1880, and then worked for the Studebaker Wagon Manufacturing company for a year. In 1881 he was appointed deputy street commissioner of South Bend, filled the office three years, then for three years was a city policeman; in 1890, he served a term as alderman from the Sixth ward, and during the first term of President Cleveland he was mail carrier, and after serving out his various official positions he engaged in general merchandizing, and is now conducting one of the most popular grocery and clothing stores in the city of South Bend. He has built for himself a handsome brick store, equipped with every modern improvement, and his trade is one of the most thriving of its class in the city.
The marriage of Mr. Korpal took place May 5, 1875, in St. Patrick's church, South Bend, to Miss Catherine Gonia, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Father Mahoney. This union has been blessed with three children, all at home with their parents and named, in order of birth, Stella, Weadylous and Tillie, all reared in the Catholic faith. Mr. Korpal is a member of St. Valentine and St. Stanislaus societies, and for sixteen years has been president of the latter. He is one of the oldest Catholic residents of Polish descent, in South Bend, and is consequently held in the highest esteem by his fellow-countrymen and the public at large, Polish or not Polish, Catholic or non-Catholic.
M ATTHIAS JOSEPH KRAMER, the popular dealer in general merchandise at Crown Point, Lake county, Ind., is a native of this city, was born October 30, 1854, and is a son of Matthias and Susan (Wachter) Kramer, natives of Germany, born in 1824
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THE CLERGY AND CONGREGATIONS,
and 1823 respectively, and married in Besringent in 1851, the mar- riage resulting in the birth of Leonard, now living in Chestertown, Ind .; Mrs. Catherine Quick, of Chicago; Angeline, wife of Michael Kolp, of Hammond, Ind .; Elizabeth and Maggie, of Crown Point, and Matthias J., the subject of this sketch. In 1852, Matthias Kramer brought his wife to America, and for a short time worked in Chicago, Ill., at his trade of shoemaking, then came to St. John's, in Lake county, Ind., where he and family were among the early attendants of mass in the pioneer days of the Catholic mission at that village. In the fall of 1852 he brought his family to Crown Point, where he was bereft of the partner of his joys and sorrows in 1894, and where his own death took place March 11, 1894.
Matthias J. Kramer, the subject of this memoir, was educated in the public schools of his native city of Crown Point, and after securing a sound knowledge of the branches taught therein, served an apprenticeship at cabinetmaking, which trade he followed as a journeyman in Chicago for several years, and then returned to Crown Point and opened a general store, in which he has met with well-merited success, as he handles a large and well-selected stock of every variety of goods usually kept in a general store, and is courteous, obliging and desirous of supplying the needs of his numerous patrons, who appreciate his efforts to please.
Mr. Kramer was united in marriage May 4, 1879, at St. Mary's church, Crown Point, by Father Amelian, to Miss Elizabeth Ens- wiler, the union being blessed with nine children, all of whom have been reared in the Catholic faith, the family being members of St. Mary's congregation, of which Mr. Kramer has been a trus- tee for the past twelve years. Mr. Kramer is also a charter mem- ber of St. Mary's court, No. 293, C. O. F., organized December 10, 1892. Mr. Kramer and family hold a high position, and in church circles are very prominent, while as a business man Mr. Kramer has maintained a name that is without a blemish.
EBASTIAN KUEBLER, a trustee of St. Joseph church, Jas- S per, Ind., for thirty-two years, and general merchant, is a son of John and Magdalena (Gutzwiler) Knebler, was born in Baden,
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Germany, January 16, 1829, and came to the United States in 1832, locating in Ohio, where he remained until 1840. In the fall of 1840, he came to Dubois county, and here attended the local schools. He first engaged in farming, which he continued until he was sixteen years old, and then engaged in the manufacturing of farm implements until 1868; then in the tobacco and general merchandise business in Jasper, and has continued in the same ever since, now carrying a stock valued at $15,000 or $20,000. He has also been township trustee and justice of the peace. He was united in marriage in August, 1853, to Miss Stephena Lam- pert, a daughter of Martin Lampert, and this marriage has been blessed with ten children, viz: Elizabeth M., Maggie, Helen (now wife of A. M. Sweeney, of Indianapolis), Rosie, Edward J., Will- iam J., Frank C., Carrie (now wife of Robert Wilson, superintend- ent of public schools of Jasper), Teressa and Emma, all members of St. Joseph church at Jasper. Three of the children were con- firmed by the Right Rev. Bishop de St. Palais, the rest by the Right Rev. Bishop Chatard. Mr. Kuebler owns a fine business block and reserves three rooms for his own use, while his youngest son, Frank C., uses another room for the general jewelry and wall- paper business.
ACOB KREUTZER, a retired business man of Peru, Miami J
county, Ind., was born in Hesse Cassel, Germany, in August, 1827, a son of Amantes and Elizabeth (Schaffer) Kreutzer, who came to America in 1838, and settled in Auglaize county, Ohio, where the mother died in 1878, and the father, who was a farmer, passed away in 1881, both in the faith of the Catholic church, in which they reared their nine children, who were born and named in the following order: Sabina, now deceased; Peter, of Columbus, Ohio; David, of Wapakoneta, Ohio; Jacob, the subject of this sketch; Catherine, now Mrs. Joseph Shattler; Conrad, of Spring- field, Ohio; Albert, of Toledo, Ohio; John, of the same city, and Celia, living in Wapakoneta.
Jacob Kreutzer was about eleven years old when brought to America by his parents, and remained with them in Auglaize
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THE CLERGY AND CONGREGATIONS,
county, Ohio, a year after their arrival, when he went to Dayton, in the same state, where he was employed as clerk in a store until 1852, when he came to Peru, Ind., and engaged in business on his own account as a general grocery merchant, which he most suc- cessfully followed until 1894, when he retired on a competency.
Mr. Kreutzer was united in marriage, in Allegheny City, Pa., April 17, 1854, by Rev. James Kearney, with Miss Margaret Lang, a native of Bavaria, Germany, born February 9, 1833, and a daughter of William and Mary Lang, and this union has resulted in the birth of six children, viz: Mary A., now Mrs. J. H. Faust, of Peru; John J .; Louisa, wife of H. J. Faust, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Catherine; Francis X., of whom further mention will be made, and Margaret, wife of Nicholas Bruck, of the firm of Bruck & Sons, brick manufacturers. The family are all devout Catholics, and Mr. Kreutzer has served on the building committee of his church, in which he always takes an active interest. In his business transactions, Mr. Kreutzer has managed excellently well, and is now the owner of a 280-acre farm, valuable residence property, an interest in a glass factory, and bank stock, and is also a director in the First National bank. He has always been a useful citizen, upright in all respects, and is greatly respected for his many excel- lent individual attributes.
F RANCIS XAVIER KREUTZER, son of Jacob Kreutzer, whose biography is given above, was born in Peru, Ind., May 28, 1866, and attended the parochial schools until thirteen years of age; he next attended the public schools for five years, and then supplemented his education by a course of study at the college of Notre Dame, graduating from the commercial department in 1887. He then went to Chicago, Ills., accepted a position as correspond- ing secretary for W. B. Crane & Co., with whom he remained eighteen months, and June 1, 1889, came to Peru to assume the position of bookkeeper and manager for J. O. Cole, of the above firm, and this position he has filled in a most satisfactory manner up to the present time.
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CATHOLIC CHURCH OF INDIANA.
Mr. Kreutzer was very happily married, in Peru, August 26, 1890, to Miss Catherine Sexton, who was born here August 26, 1866, a daughter of Patrick and Ann Sexton, and this union has been blessed with four children, viz: Lucille, Clare, Roland and Antoinette. The family belong to St. Charles Borromeo congre- gation, and Mr. Kreutzer is a member of the Catholic Knights of America. In politics he is a democrat.
REV. JOSEPH F. GERDON, who is located at New Middle- town, Ind., has possibly more work in parish and missions than any other priest in the two dioceses of Indiana. He is a native of Harrison county, Ind., and was born August 26, 1858, the second in a family of seven children born to John and Lucinda (Ekart) Gerdon, who have also two other sons who have finished their collegiate course at St. Meinrad and will enter the seminary this fall-1898. After an early educational training in the common schools, Father Gerdon, in September 3, 1883, entered St. Mein- rad college and there finished the classical, philosophical and theo- logical courses of study and was ordained priest March 18, 1893, by Right Rev. Bishop Chatard, at Indianapolis. His first work began at New Middletown, in the Most Precious Blood parish, in 1893, where the first church erected was by Rev. F. X. DeLange. It is a frame structure, to which an addition was built, in the fall of 1892, by Rev. Aug. Peckskamp, now of Lanesville, Ind. The home parish has a membership of fifty families, or about 250 souls. St. Peter's, at Buena Vista, ten miles southeast, is a mission with fifty-eight families, or about 320 souls; the church is a frame struct- ure, erected by Father Peckskamp, and cost about $1,200. The next mission is St. Joachim's at Bridgeport, Ind., ten miles east of the home parish, with about sixteen families, or eighty-five souls. The church is a frame, erected by Father Peckskamp, and cost about $1, 200. The next mission is St. Michael's parish, which is seven miles southwest of the home parish. It has a membership of about twenty-one families, or 100 souls; the first church erected in the county was a frame, and was built about sixty years ago.
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THE CLERGY AND CONGREGATIONS,
The next mission is St. Mary's, at Laconia, which has a member - ship of ten families, or seventy souls. The next mission is St. Joseph's, at Corydon, five and one-half miles northwest from the home parish, with about thirteen families, or about sixty-five souls. This is a remarkable record for one priest's work, and is not dupli- cated in either of the two dioceses of the state of Indiana.
Father Gerdon entered upon this arduous work in March, 1893. The home parish improvements, such as papering the church and parsonage, and fencing, new windows for the church and new roof, will amount to $590. Improvements on the church at Buena Vista will amount to about $305, and the improvements on St. Joachim's church will amount to about $100. The church at Corydon was erected in 1897, and is a frame, cost $2,250, and was dedicated October 15, 1897, by Bishop Chatard. Father Gerdon is now erecting a frame church, 28 x 60 feet, with a seventy-foot spire, at St. Michael's parish, at a cost of about $1, 500. The church will be ready for dedication in October, 1898, if nothing unforeseen happens. It is seen that Father Gerdon has more parish work than any two ordinary men; all his missions are in a healthy state financially, and no dissensions exist among the par- ishioners. He is known as an indefatigable worker and has the respect of Protestants as well as Catholics.
REV. A. RIEHLE, pastor of St. Mary's parish, Vigo county, is a native of Ohio, born of German parentage, February 7, 1854, in the city of Cincinnati. He received his education in the Cincinnati seminary and St. Meinrad's Benedictine abbey, Ind., studying the classics and philosophy at the former and theology at the latter institution. Father Riehle was ordained priest by Rt. Rev. Bishop Chatard, of Vincennes, June 15, 1879, and immedi- ately following his ordination was appointed assistant pastor of St. Mary's, the duties of which position he discharged from July 14 to October 15, of that year. Upon the removal of Father McCar- ron to Evansville, Father Riehle was made pastor of St. Mary's, a relation he still sustains. He is an earnest worker in the interests (848)
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