USA > Indiana > Allen County > History of the Maumee River basin, Allen County, Indiana > Part 31
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appointed him to his present responsible position as chief engineer of the court house, power house, jail, orphans' home and infirmary, and he has ever since remained incumbent, by successive reappoint- ments, a fact testifying fully to the appreciative estimate placed upon his services, both technically and in an administrative capacity. About eight assistants are employed under his direction, and he has the general supervision of the entire heating, lighting and water plants in each of the public institutions mentioned. Mr. Reiling has a wide circle of friends in his native city and county, and en- joys unqualified esteem wherever he is known. He is a vigorous supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, but has never sought political office. In a fraternal way we find him identified with the Royal Arcanum, while his religious views are in harmony with the tenets of the Lutheran church, in whose faith he was reared.
In the year 1879 Mr. Reiling was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Futerknect, who was born and reared in Fort Wayne, and of this union have been born six children, all of whom are living except one : Ferdinand is engineer in the power house of the court house, under the direction of his father; William is a machinist and is employed in the great oil-tank works of S. F. Bowser & Com- pany, in Fort Wayne; Herbert is employed in a machine shop in the city of Chicago; Edward died from an attack of diphtheria when twelve years of age, and his twin sister, Loretta, remains at the pa- rental home, as does also Dora, the youngest of the children.
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THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
ALFRED D. CRESSLER.
One of the leading and most widely known industries of Fort Wayne is the Kerr Murray Manufacturing Company, manufactur- ers of gas works machinery and gas holders, and the success of the enterprise is in a great measure due to the untiring efforts and busi- ness sagacity of Mr. A. D. Cressler. Mr. Cressler was born at Lucas, Ohio, in 1851, and is the son of George Holloway and Nancy (Miller) Cressler. His father, who was a prominent and successful railroad contractor, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, where the family has lived since 1731. Alfred D. Cressler secured his elementary education in the public schools, and subsequently attended Eastman Academy, at Poughkeepsie, New York, where he graduated in 1870. The same year he came to Fort Wayne and entered not long after the employ of the Kerr Murray Foundry and Machine Works. Because of his energy, ability and integrity he gained the confidence and good will of his employer, taking an active part in the affairs of the concern, and becoming eventually general manager. In 1880, upon the death of Mr. Kerr Murray, Mr. Cressler was made administrator of the estate, and when in 1881 the firm was incorporated under the name of the Kerr Murray Manufacturing Company, Mr. Cressler was chosen its president and has served in this capacity since that time, acting both as executive and chief engineer. Under his direction the business of the firm has steadily increased, and its record has been one of unbroken prosperity. Mr. Cressler has made an especial study of apparatus for the manufacture and storage of illuminating gas and has been granted a number of patents for improvements and new inventions in the field of gas engineering. An installation of local interest is the seven hundred and fifty thousand cubic feet capacity gas holder, designed and erected by his company during
ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA. 417
the year 1905 at the plant of the Ft. Wayne Gas Company. He is a stockholder in several gas companies, but in general confines his in- terests and attention to the Kerr Murray Manufacturing Company. He is a member of the American Gas Light Association and the Western Gas Association.
In 1874 Mr. Cressler was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Esther Murray, the daughter of Kerr and Jane (Scott) Murray, of Fort Wayne, and to them have been born three sons, Alfred Miller, George Holloway and Kerr Murray, all of whom have graduated at Yale and are now associated with their father in business. In poli- tics Mr. Cressler is a Republican and in religion a Presbyterian, be- longing to the First Church of that denomination at Fort Wayne. His sterling integrity and splendid personal qualities have gained for Mr. Cressler the trust and liking of all who know him.
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KERR MURRAY.
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Few men of Allen county were as widely and favorably known as the late Kerr Murray. He was one of the strong and influential citizens of Fort Wayne who, while advancing his own individual success, also largely promoted the material welfare of the com- munity. A man of keen perception and tireless energy, he was en- abled to successfully plan and carry out large enterprises and to him is Fort Wayne today indebted in no slight degree for its remark- able prosperity and for its reputation at home and abroad as an in- dustrial center.
Mr. Murray was born in 1822 at Lanton, near Kelso, Scotland, and was the son of William and Esther (Scott) Murray. Mr. Mur- ray received his technical education and training in his native land, and in the early '5os he came to America, living for a time in Buf- falo, New York. In 1854 he came to Fort Wayne and, in partner- ship with Hugh Bennigan, started the Kerr Murray Foundry and Machine Works. Particular attention was given to the manufac- ture of apparatus for making and storing illuminating gas, Mr. Mur- ray having gained recognition as an authority on this subject. The business grew steadily and rapidly and the company handled suc- cessfully many large contracts, installing, under Mr. Murray's di- rection, gas plants in a large number of cities, including the exten- sions to the Fort Wayne Gas Company's equipment made in 1868 and in 1876. The early success of the enterprise was due mainly to Mr. Murray's foresight and sound business judgment, as well as to his intimate knowledge of every detail of the mechanical features of the business. He was an early member of the Amer- ican Gas Light Association, and was a director of the St. Thomas Gas Company, St. Thomas, Ontario, of the Ottawa
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Gas Light Company, Ottawa, Illinois, and of the Columbia Gas Company, Columbia, Missouri.
Mr. Murray was married to Miss Jane Scott, of Dalkeith, Scot- land, and to them was born one daughter, Elizabeth Esther, who in 1874 became the wife of A. D. Cressler, of Fort Wayne, now the head of the Kerr Murray Manufacturing Company. In politics Mr. Murray was a Republican, and his religious affiliation was with the First Presbyterian church of Fort Wayne. Mr. Murray died in Fort Wayne on the 6th of May, 1880.
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THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
CHARLES C. F. NIESCHANG, M. D.
Of high professional and academic attainments and known as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of the city of Fort Wayne, where he has been actively engaged in practice for the past score of years, it is incumbent that consideration be accorded Dr. Nieschang in a publication of the province assigned to the one at hand, since here is it aimed to make proper mention of those who stand prominent in the various fields of human activity as per- taining to Allen county and as complementing the generic history touching the civic, political and industrial fabric of this portion of our national commonwealth.
Charles C. Fremont Nieschang was born in the fair city of De- troit, Michigan, on the 24th of September, 1860, and is a son of Dr. Frederick and Charlotte (Pedro) Nieschang, the former of whom was born in Switzerland and the latter in France. The father of the subject was educated for the medical profession in his native land, and there his marriage was solemnized, while about the year 1850 he came with his wife and children to America and located in the city of Detroit, where he engaged in the active practice of his profession, in which he continued to labor with much success until his death, which occurred in 1861. He was a man of high intel- lectuality and of marked ability in his profession, while his integrity of character commended him to the confidence and good will of all with whom he came in contact in the various relations of life. His devoted wife was summoned into eternal rest in 1875, so that the subject of this sketch was but fifteen years of age when he became doubly orphaned. Of the four children born to Dr. Frederick and Charlotte (Pedro) Nieschang we record that Louis Napoleon was for many years a member of the United States army, from which he recently retired; Arnold Hugo was a master mechanic and was killed in a railroad accident in France in early manhood; Emil Her-
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man is a successful mining engineer in the west; and Charles C. F., subject of this review, is the youngest of the four children.
After the death of his father Dr. Nieschang's mother returned to Switzerland, where he was reared from infancy to the age of twelve years, when he came again to the United States, where his mother died about three years later. He completed his more purely literary education in the schools of ·Cleveland, Ohio, and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and thereafter began his prolonged course of dis- criminating technical study in pharmacy, medicine and surgery, along which lines he carefully prosecuted his studies in the cities of Pittsburg, Chicago, New York and Fort Wayne, being graduated in the Fort Wayne College of Medicine as a member of the class of 1882, and receiving from this well known institution his degree of Doctor of Medicine. He forthwith engaged in the practice of his profession in Fort Wayne, and here has ever since maintained his residence, while he has met with success in his chosen field of en- deavor and gained prestige as one of the able and representative physicians and surgeons of the county. He is a member of the Allen County Medical Society and the American Medical Associa- tion, while he is a close student of the sciences of medicine and surgery and keeps in touch with the advances made in all depart- ments of his profession. The Doctor is a man of genial person- ality, and during his many years' residence in Fort Wayne he has gathered about him a wide circle of loyal friends, in business, pro- fessional and social circles, so that his lines are "cast in pleasant places." He has a comprehensive and lucrative practice, princi- pally of the office nature, and his finely equipped professional head- quarters are located at No. 108 West Jefferson street.
In politics the Doctor is a stanch and uncompromising advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and there is an element of peculiar consistency in his political attitude, for he is named in honor of the "grand old party's" first standard-bearer, General John C. Fremont, who was a personal friend of his honored father. In a fraternal way Dr. Nieschang is affiliated with the Royal Arcanum and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, being medical examiner for the local bodies of each. Though he takes a lively interest in public affairs of a local nature and in the cause of his political party, he has never sought official preferment of any description.
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THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
HENRY G. FELGER.
An exemplification of the potentialities of comparative youth is given in the honorable and successful career of this well known native son of Allen county, where he is at the time of this writing serving in the important office of county superintendent of public schools and the while occupying a prominent position in the edu- cational field in northern Indiana.
Mr. Felger was born in Lake township, this county, on the 17th of October, 1873, and is a son of David G. and Anna Felger, both of whom were born in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany. The father of the subject was a child of four years at the time of his parents' immigration from the fatherland to America, and the family came forthwith to Allen county and located on a farm in Lake township, where he was reared to manhood and where he has ever since maintained his home, being one of the prosperous farm- ers and influential and honored citizens of that section of the county. His marriage to Miss Anna was solemnized in the city of Fort Wayne, she having come with other members of her family to America in 1870, at the close of the Franco-Prussian war, in which the family was represented. Mr. and Mrs. Felger became the parents of nine children, of whom eight are living, while the subject of this review is the eldest. Sophia is the wife of a Mr. Ohneck, of Fort Wayne; Adolph, who is married and lives on one of his father's farms in Lake township; David G., who is engaged in teaching school in New Mexico; Otto is a resident of California; Anna died at the age of twenty-one years; and Daniel, Rosa and Lena remain at the parental home, the estate comprising two hun- dred and thirty acres of fine land, while the improvements are of excellent order, making the place one of the valuable and attractive farms of the county.
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Henry G. Felger was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm, while his early educational training was secured in the public schools, after completing whose curriculum he entered the normal department of the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business College, at Valparaiso, after which he passed two years in the Indiana State Normal School in the city of Terre Haute. For eight years he followed the pedagogic profession as a vocation, being employed principally in the schools of Lake and Adams town- ships and proving peculiarly successful in his work, in which he developed a mastering of expedients and showed that facility for detail work, for initiative and organizing and systematizing that have so signally contributed to his prestige and success in his pres- ent responsible office. In June, 1903, from several most eligible and popular candidates for the office, he was chosen to the office of county superintendent of schools, receiving the appointment at the hands of the board of school trustees of the county, to whom is relegated the selection of the superintendent by the school laws of the state. Mr. Felger entered upon the discharge of his official du- ties on the 10th of June, 1903, having been appointed for a term of four years, and his course has been such as to gain to him un- qualified indorsement both official and popular, while his enthusiasm and unfailing energy are doing much to further the cause of edu- cation in his jurisdiction. He has the power of infusing his en- thusiasm in others, and thus secures the hearty co-operation of the teachers, while as an executive and administrative officer he is specially well placed, so that his official regime is one which will pass to record as one of distinct accomplishment and effective work in all departments of the public-school system of his native county. In addition to the handling of the general office details devolving upon him Mr. Felger has the supervision of the various teachers' examinations in the county and has one hundred and ninety schools in his jurisdiction. He has charge of the selection of all school text books and acts as adviser to the school officers and teachers, and it is thus superficially evident that the demands upon his time and attention are exacting. Concerning the subject of this review one who has watched his progress in the past few years has given the following appreciative estimate of his character and services :
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"Mr. Felger is a young man who has already laid a stanch founda- tion for a life of much usefulness, while his prospects for advance- ment along the lines of his chosen profession are exceptionally bright. As a public official he is prompt and obliging, while he is well versed in the principles of the law as pertaining to the diversified interests of the public schools, and is firm and courageous in the denial of special privileges, yet just and considerate in official dis- crimination." In politics Mr. Felger gives a stalwart allegiance to the Democratic party, and he takes a lively interest in the ques- tions and issues of the hour, while he is known as a young man of scholarly attainments and as one whose life is distinctly loyal, up- right and purposeful. He is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, in whose faith he was reared.
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ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
WILLIAM A. JOHNSON.
At this juncture we enter brief record concerning the able and popular clerk of the circuit court of Allen county, and one who stands as a scion of one of the honored families of this section of the state, where he has passed his entire life.
Mr. Johnson was born on the homestead farm, in Eel River town- ship, Allen county, Indiana, on the 12th of February, 1869, and is a son of Nathan and Mary E. (Gump) Johnson, both of whom were born in Knox county, Ohio, while their marriage was solemnized in Eel River township, where the respective families located in an early day. The father of our subject is one of the substantial and influential members of the farming community of the township mentioned, and has long been influential in public affairs of a local nature, commanding unqualified confidence and esteem. He has served as township trustee and assessor and been accorded other marks of popular regard. He purchased his present farm in 1870, and, with the aid of his sons, has improved the place and made it one of the attractive and valuable rural domains of the county. Of the four children in the family we enter brief record, as follows : Lucretia is the wife of Lorain W. Dugday, of Churubucso, Whit- ley county; George C. is engaged in farming in Eel River town- ship; William A. is the immediate subject of this sketch; and Simon H. is employed by the Wabash Railroad Company, in Fort Wayne, all of the children being married and well established in life.
William A. Johnson was reared under the grateful influences of the old homestead farm, in Eel River township, and in the public schools of the locality he secured his preliminary educational dis- cipline, which he supplemented by a course of study in the high school at Churubusco, in the adjoining county of Whitley, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1891. Thereafter Mr. Johnson gave evidence that he had made proper use of the ad-
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vantages offered him, since he became a most successful and pop- ular teacher in the schools of his native township, where he taught for eleven terms, seven of which found him retained as instructor in his home district. In 1894 he was elected trustee of Eel River township, remaining incumbent of this office until 1900 and gain- ing unqualified commendation for his able and effective services in the connection. The result of the election was a tie vote on the office of trustee, the canvassing board being compelled to decide the matter by lot and the result being that our subject won the office. In 1902 Mr. Johnson was candidate on the Democratic ticket for the office of clerk of the Allen circuit court, and in the election of November of that year he was accorded a gratifying majority at the polls, while he entered upon the duties of his office on the Ist of January, 1903. He has fully demonstrated the wis- dom of the choice made in calling him to this important and exact- ing office, and is handling the manifold details with consummate discrimination, while in the various departments of the work he finds it necessary to retain a total of five deputies. He was elected for a term of four years. Mr. Johnson is one of the leaders of the "young Democracy" in Allen county, and his enthusiasm and ef- fective work in the party cause have made him an influential fac- tor in the local councils of his party. He served for a number of years as a member of the Democratic committee of Eel River town- ship, and did active service during the various campaigns. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias and the Pathfinders, the last mentioned being an insur- ance order. It may be said that the Johnson family traces its line- age back to stanch Scotch-Irish stock and that the name has been identified with the annals of American history ever since the co- lonial era. In the maternal line the genealogy of our subject is of stanch German origin.
In the year 1892 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Johnson to Miss Eva Parks, who was born and reared in Eel River town- ship, this county, being a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Brown) Parks, honored residents of the county, Mr. Parks being a promi- nent farmer of the township mentioned. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have eight children, namely: Edith M., Blanche, Herman, Gladys, Arthur, Mary, Ronald and an infant.
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ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
GEORGE L. ASHLEY.
The life and career of the present efficient and popular recorder of Allen county constitute a practical illustration of the truth of the statement made by Shakespeare, when he said: "The purest treas- ure mortal times afford is spotless reputation; that away, men are but gilded loam or painted clay." Through self-discipline and right living Mr. Ashley has gained and retained the confidence and good will of the people of this, his native, county, and a distinctive evidence of this popular esteem was given in his election to his present important office, in November, 1904.
George L. Ashley was born in Maumee township, this county, . on the 2d of February, 1854, and is a son of George H. and Esther A. (Lenzey) Ashley, both of whom were born in the state of New York. The former was born in Genesee county, that state, on the Ist of June, 1814, and the latter was born in the city of New York, on the 28th of January, 1815, while their marriage was solemnized in Greene county, New York, on the 18th of January, 1837: A few months later the young couple came to Indiana and numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers in Allen county, where they made their advent on the Ist of June of the year mentioned. They first located in Washington township, when they later removed to Maumee township, where they continued to abide until 1865, when they removed to St. Joseph township, where the father died on the 7th of August, 1868, having been the owner of a good farm prop- erty at the time of his demise and having devoted his attention al- most entirely to agricultural pursuits after coming to Indiana, while he reclaimed a large amount of wild land to cultivation during the early years of his residence in Allen county, on the roll of whose worthy and honored pioneers his name merits a place of distinc- tion. On the same homestead which was his place of abode at the
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time of death his devoted wife continued to reside until she too was summoned to the "undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns," her death occurring on the 18th of February, 1879. They became the parents of seven children, of whom three died in infancy or early childhood, while of the four still living we record that Elizabeth M. is the widow of Rev. James Green, who was a member of the clergy of the Methodist Episcopal church, and she now resides in the city of Muncie, Indiana; Sarah is the wife of Nathan Doctor and they reside on the old homestead of her parents in Maumee township; George L. is the immediate subject of this review; and Theodore H. is a representative farmer of St. Joseph township. In politics the father was originally a Whig, supporting the principles of this party until the organization of the Republican party, when he transferred his allegiance to the same and gave it his adherency during the remaining years of his life. Both he and his wife were devoted and valued members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
George L. Ashley, the popular county recorder, was reared un- der the invigorating discipline of the home farm and secured his early educational training in the district schools of his native county, after which he completed a three-years course in the Methodist College. After leaving school Mr. Ashley continued to be actively concerned in agricultural pursuits, in St. Joseph township, until 1889, when he located in the city of Fort Wayne and secured a position as mail carrier in connection with the local postoffice serv- ice, while for a period of twelve years he also conducted a success- ful dairy business, having a well equipped dairy farm in St. Jo- seph township. Mr. Ashley has ever been an active and zealous worker in the ranks of the Republican party, and has richly mer- ited the recognition which came to him in the general election in November, 1904, when he was elected to the office of county re- corder, by a gratifying majority, while his personal popularity in the community is well attested in the fact that he has the distinction of being the first Republican ever elected recorder of Allen county. In the handling of the manifold details of his office he has four com- petent assistants, all of whom assumed their new duties simul- taneously with his induction into office with the exception of one.
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