USA > Indiana > Vanderburgh County > Evansville > History of the city of Evansville and Vanderburg County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 15
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The activities of Mr. Bosse have by no means been confined to one line of business or to one organization. His energy has sought expression in many directions and the impress of his individuality is to be witnessed in many quarters. He has been president of the Bosse Furniture Company, of the Metal Furniture Company and the World Furniture Company. Since January 1, 1903, he has filled the office of president of the West Side Bank. He was one of the organizers of the Karges Wagon Com- pany, of which he is a director, and as stockholder in a number of growing manufacturing concerns his advice and assistance have been eagerly sought. He was the originator of the plan which led to the organization of a com- pany to erect the Furniture Exchange building, where all the show rooms of the manufacturers could be brought together under one roof. He is a member of the board of directors and has been treasurer since the organi- zation of the company. He is also a member of the Evansville Business Men's Association, of which he is now president, the Evansville Manufac- turers' Association and vice president of the Traffic Bureau of this city. It would be difficult to name any important movement for the upbuilding of the city during the last ten years with which Mr. Bosse has not been actively identified. He is regarded by associates and friends as one of the ablest advisers in matters pertaining to general business interests of Evans- ville and the wide region contributory to its manufacturing and distrib- uting instrumentalities. In politics Mr. Bosse adheres to the democratic party. He has never sought political honors but has always extended an assisting hand to friends whose ambition lay in that direction. He served
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with general acceptance under Mayor Boehne as president of the board of public safety and succeeded in accomplishing changes in the administration of the board which have been of permanent benefit to the city.
On the 2d of September, 1896, Mr. Bosse was united in marriage to Miss Anna Riechman, daughter of the late Frederick Riechman, of this city. Mrs. Bosse is a lady of refinement and culture and has proven a true helpmeet to her husband. She presides over a beautiful home where hospitality abounds and true worth always receives recognition. Mr. and Mrs. Bosse are members of the German Evangelical Lutheran church, a belief in which they were both reared. He is a member of the general board of supervision of the Lutheran church of the United States, this board having supervision of all the properties belonging to the church. It is one of the important factors in the organization in America.
Although scarcely yet at the doorway which opens to middle life, Mr. Bosse has accomplished a great deal of work which will stand as an en- during monument to his name. Inheriting from his father an honesty and integrity that has never been questioned, he is one of the fortunate men of large affairs who has made few mistakes and has had the foresight and judgment to avoid many of the pitfalls into which too many men, starting with high ambitions in the business world, have fallen. It is with true pride that we present this record of one who has won his way, starting as a simple country lad and attaining a place among the acknowledged leaders in honorable lines of business in Evansville.
HENRY MATHER SWEETSER.
Success and disaster both played a part in shaping the life history of Henry Mather Sweetser but through all there remained in him strong traits ยท of character which did not unduly succumb to either influence. He recog- nized the fact that character building is the most essential thing in the world, and day by day he wrote in his life record an account that is worthy the reading. He possessed courage to overcome obstacles, resolution to con- tinue in a course which he believed to be right, and thus his name ever re- mained an honored one in the community where he long made his home.
His birth occurred in Hartford, Connecticut, July 12, 1840. He was a son of Henry P. Sweetser, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, who in 1849 went to California, where he located valuable mining properties. He then returned to the east to secure machinery with which to operate his mines but became lost en route and died. The mother was a Mather of the Cotton Mather family, which possessed a coat of arms that dated back to 1602.
Henry Mather Sweetser was educated in the east. He was only nine years of age when left an orphan and was later reared by his grandmother. He was afterward employed upon the farm of an uncle through the summer
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months, with the privilege of attending school in the winter seasons. During one of his vacations he was asked by Mr. Alfred to accompany him to Evansville on a business trip and to see the country. While here he met Willard Carpenter, who took a fancy to the lad and asked him to remain and enter his store, for Mr. Carpenter was at that time the senior partner in a general mercantile enterprise of this city. When the firm of Willard Car- penter & Company was succeeded by the Jewell-Newberry Company, whole- sale dealers in dry goods. Mr. Sweetser went upon the road as traveling representative for that house, and as a salesman showed remarkable business talent. At length he left that company to become a salesman for the Mackey- Archer Company, which later became the Mackey-Nisbet Dry Goods Company.
Ambitious to engage in business on his own account, he carefully saved his earnings until his economical expenditure enabled him, in 1862, to estab- lish the first wholesale notion house in Evansville. In this new enterprise he was wonderfully successful and built a large fortune. For years the firm of Sweetser, Caldwell & Company, at No. 124 Upper First street, was the larg- est wholesale notion house in the city. His field of success, however, was not limited to this line. He became a large stockholder in the Evansville, Cairo & Paducah Steamboat Company and later became president of the Tennessee Rivet Packet Company. Because of his large river interests he was called Commodore Sweetser and was so spoken of by friends until his death. The building of the railroads was followed by a depression in the steamboat busi- ness, causing heavy losses to Mr. Sweetser, followed by the failure of the Sweetser-Caldwell firm. With the courage and determination which always characterized him, however, Mr. Sweetser established a brokerage business in 1894, with an office on upper Third street, near Main. In this he again prospered, regaining much of the fortune he had lost.
In 1863 Mr. Sweetser was married to Miss Mary Caldwell, a daughter of Joseph M. Caldwell, a merchant of Evansville, who was one of the early settlers of this city and was a brother of William Caldwell, who was a grocer of Evansville. Mr. Caldwell always had a great fondness for boys and assisted many in gaining a start. He married Miss Du Puy and they had the Du Puy coat of arms from one of the best old French families. Her father was Benjamin Franklin Du Puy, a very early settler of this part of the state.
It was a short time before his marriage that Mr. Sweetser responded to the country's call for troops and enlisted for service in the Civil war as a member of the Twenty-fifth Indiana Infantry, with which he served with dis- tinction. He was prominent in Masonry, belonging to Reed Lodge, No. 316, F. & A. M .; Evansville Chapter, No. 12, R. A. M .; and La Vallette Com- mandery, No. 15, K. T. The death of Mr. Sweetser occurred January 31, 1910. Coming to Evansville when a lad, he was identified with its business interests for over a half century, and throughout that period maintained an honored name and enjoyed the friendly regard of those with whom he was
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associated. He brought with him to the middle west the thrift and enter- prise characteristic of New England. His fellow townsmen soon recognized his trustworthy qualities, and he left the impress of his individuality upon the history of the city which for more than a half century remained his home.
CHARLES J. HORNBY.
Charles J. Hornby has passed the Psalmist's span of three score years and ten and his entire life has been spent in Vanderburg county. He was born in Scott township, December 14, 1837, and through the intervening period of seventy-three years he has been an interested and observing witness of the progress that has been made in developing the county along modern lines of advancement and improvement. His memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present and he relates many interesting incidents of pioneer days.
His parents were Henry F. and Caroline (Mansel) Hornby, both of whom were natives of England, whence they came to 'America in child- hood days with their parents. After arriving at man's estate Henry F. Hornby purchased land and began farming on his own account. The tract which he owned was originally covered with timber. This he cleared away and, preparing the fields for the plow, at length gathered good harvests as a reward for his industry and untiring labor. He also engaged exten- sively and successfully in land speculation and at one time owned over a thousand acres. He continued actively in farming up to the time of his death, which occurred in March, 1867, his wife surviving until 1868.
The youthful days of Charles J. Hornby were spent upon the home farm in the usual manner of boys of that period. There were difficulties and hardships to be borne that are unknown at the present time but there were also pleasures to be enjoyed, with which the young people of the present day are unfamiliar. He continued on the old homestead until twenty years of age, when his father gave him and his brother each one hundred and forty acres of land. He at once began to cultivate the farm, has erected thereon all of the buildings seen upon the place and in course of years has developed a productive and valuable property. As he pros- pered in his undertakings he extended the boundaries of his place until he is now the owner of two hundred and thirty-seven acres of fine land.
On the 21st of November, 1867, Mr. Hornby was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Minney, a daughter of George and Alice (Pauley) Min- ney, English people, who on coming from their native country settled in Vanderburg county. Here the father established a brickyard, which he conducted for a number of years, when he purchased a farm, continuing its cultivation until the time of his death in 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Hornby
CHARLES J. HORNBY
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became the parents of five children: Mrs. Nellie Mccutcheon, now living in Harrisburg, Illinois; George Frederick, who was born November 20, 1871, and died December 23, 1874; Mrs. Minney Mccutcheon; Clara, who is a school teacher and lives at home; and Ernest R., who is married and lives in this township. The wife and mother passed away September 9, 1894, and her death was the occasion of deep regret to many who had known her and who recognized her many good and womanly qualities.
The Hornby family are well known in Center township and other parts of Vanderburg county and enjoy the high regard of those with whom they have been associated. Since attaining his majority, Mr. Hornby has given his political support to the republican party and has ever kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day. His life has ever been upright and honorable and has gained him the high regard of all with whom business or social relations have brought him in contact. While a resident of Vanderburg county many changes have occurred. Its forests. have been cut down and the land converted into fine farms. Towns and cities have sprung up containing important manufacturing and industrial interests and progress along all lines has been conserved, making this one of the leading counties of the commonwealth. Mr. Hornby has ever cast the weight of his influence on the side of improvement and has stood for all that is for the best for the individual and the community.
HENRY WIMBERG.
Henry Wimberg, whose business ability has advanced him from a humble position in industrial circles to a place among the successful manufacturers of Vanderburg county, is now president of the Evansville Brewing Associa- tion. As the surname indicates, he comes of German lineage. His parents were George and Helen Wimberg, natives of Germany, and in the city of Oldenburg Henry Wimberg was born on the 3Ist of December, 1851. In his youthful days his time was largely given to the acquirement of an educa- tion in the Catholic schools until he reached the age of fourteen years, when he put aside his text-books and devoted the three succeeding years to work with his father, who owned a tavern. In the meantime reports reached him concerning America, for many of his fellow countrymen had crossed the Atlantic and had found opportunities for advancement and progress, and a spirit of laudable ambition prompted Henry Wimberg to attempt the same. At the age of seventeen, therefore, he made his way to the new world and without pausing on the Atlantic seaboard, came at once to Evansville, where he began learning the moulder's trade in the C. & H. Lindenschmidt foundry, where he continued for five years. That period brought him capital sufficient to enable him to engage in the saloon business, in which he continued for twelve years. He next undertook the teaming and transfer business, with
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which he is still connected, finding in it a good source of revenue. His identi- fication with the Evansville Brewing Company dates from 1891, in which year he was elected its president. Three years later this was consolidated with the John Hartmetz & Son Brewing Company and the Fulton Avenue Brewery under the name of the Evansville Brewing Association, which is today in control of one of the most extensive plants of this character in Southwestern Indiana. Their capacity is about twenty thousand barrels annually and they employ two hundred and fifty people. The plant is splendidly equipped for the conduct of the business along the most sanitary lines, and the matter of quality is never sacrificed to quantity. It is the excellence of the product that has insured a ready sale on the market making the trade a large and growing one.
In September, 1875, in Evansville, Mr. Wimberg was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Emge, and unto them have been born four children: Catharine, the wife of Wm. T. Drury, of Morganfield, Kentucky ; Henry A., aged thirty-three years, general manager of the branch brewery of the Evansville Brewing Association; John G., aged thirty-one years, who is manager of Memphis, Tennessee, branch of the same concern; and Louis W., aged nineteen years, bookkeeper of the Evansville Brewing Association.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Wimberg is an Elk. He belongs to the Catholic church and gives his political allegiance to the democratic party. He is likewise a member of the Country and Crescent Clubs and of all of the different German societies of Evansville, and is prominent and popular among the German-American people of the city. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the United States, for he has here found the business opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has won success, the hope of which brought him to the new world.
AUGUST JAMES SCHLAEPFER.
The business interests of Evansville should occupy a prominent place in any work relating to Vanderburg county, for it is to these interests largely that the city and county owe their present creditable standing. In the list of important business concerns is that presided over by August J. Schlaepfer, a well known druggist, who was born in Evansville, July 12, 1867, and has been identified with this city ever since he entered his active career. On the paternal line he comes of Swiss stock. His father, Henry J. Schlaepfer was born in Switzerland, in 1837, and came to America with his parents at ten years of age. He established himself in the drug business at Evansville in 1861, continuing until 1903, when he was called away. The mother, Emma Smith before her marriage, was born in this country of English parentage and departed this life two years before her husband, in 1901. Mr. Schlaepfer, Sr., was a man of fine business capacity and for more than forty years was
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connected with the mercantile life of a community where he was known as one of its stanchest citizens. He was greatly beloved by those with whom he associated and his death brought a deep sense of personal bereavement to a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.
The subject of this review grew up under the favoring influences of a happy home and was educated in the public schools of Evansville, graduating from the high school in 1885. He became a student of the Philadelphia Col- lege of Pharmacy, from which he was graduated with the degree of Ph. G. in 1888. Returning home, he assisted his father until the death of the latter, when he succeeded to the business of which his father had been for many years the head. Mr. Schlaepfer is in charge of a large and well appointed drug store at the corner of Main and Second streets, which has long been one of the established institutions of the city and is favorably known not only in Evansville but throughout a wide region in southern Indiana. Patrons of this establishment feel assured that they will receive what they call for and that it will be the best of the kind that can be found in the market. It is this reputation for fair dealing that accounts for the prosperity of a house founded nearly fifty years ago, and which is more flourishing today than at any previous time in its history.
Mr. Schlaepfer is socially connected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and with the Crescent and Country Clubs. He has never taken any active part in politics, as his attention is mainly occupied with the busi- ness to which he devotes the best energies of his life.
JOHN E. IGLEHART.
Devoting his life to a profession wherein advancement depends entirely upon individual merit, John E. Iglehart has gained distinction as one of the eminent members of the Evansville bar. He was born on the 10th of Au- gust, 1848, in Warrick county, Indiana, a son of Asa and Ann (Cowle) Iglehart. Judge Asa Iglehart was recognized as one of the leaders of the Indiana bar. The Igleharts were an old country family in Prince George county, Maryland, when Levi Iglehart, the grandfather of John E. Iglehart, came west about a hundred years ago. He settled first in Ohio county, Kentucky, and afterward removed to Warrick county, Indiana, where he reared his family and where throughout the remainder of his life he was recognized as one of the leading and influential men of the country, hon- ored with various public offices. He held the office of county commissioner for many years, in early life was a magistrate and later a "lay judge" in the circuit or probate court.
John E. Iglehart supplemented his preliminary education acquired in the public schools by study in Asbury, now De Pauw, University at Green- castle, Indiana, where he was graduated in 1868. In 1871 his alma mater
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conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. Having qualified for the bar by a thorough course in Asbury, he at once entered upon practice and for forty-two years has devoted his attention to the work of the legal pro- fession, making his home in Evansville since 1849. Prompted by laudable ambition, he applied himself earnestly to the mastery of the legal problems that came before him and soon gained recognition as a strong and forceful representative before the bar. His success in a professional way affords the best evidence of his capabilities in this line. He has always been a strong advocate with the jury and concise in his appeals before the court. He possesses a natural discrimination as to legal ethics and he is so thor- oughly well read in the minutiae of the law that he is able to base his argu- ments upon a thorough knowledge of and familiarity with precedents and to present a case upon its merits, never failing to recognize the main point at issue and never neglecting to give a thorough preparation. His pleas have been characterized by a terse and decisive logic and a lucid presenta- tion, rather than by flights of oratory, and his power is the greater before court or jury from the fact that it is recognized that his aim is ever to secure justice and not to enshrould the cause in a sentimental garb or illu- sion which will thwart the principles of right and equity involved.
On the 4th of November, 1874, in Evansville, Mr. Iglehart was mar- ried to Miss Lockie W. Holt, a daughter of Robert and Ann Holt. Her ancestors in the paternal line lived in Kentucky and Virginia and were descended from the family of that name well known in American and Eng- lish history. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Iglehart have been born two sons and two daughters: Eugene H., who married Emily Powers; Ann, the wife of John Ingle; Lockie H., the wife of Charles A. Humphry ; and Joseph H.
Mr. Iglehart holds membership in the Trinity Methodist Episcopal church and in all matters of public moment he is deeply interested. For three years, from 1887 until 1890, he was a trustee of the Evansville public schools but has never sought nor desired official prominence or political honors. His influence has been all the more potent perhaps from the fact that it is moral rather than political and is wielded for the public good rather than for personal ends. He stands for that which is just and pro- gressive and as man and citizen no one in Evansville is held in higher regard.
HENRY E. DREIER.
For a period of ten years Henry E. Dreier has filled the office of county assessor and his official record is one over which there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. Not only is he a capable and efficient public officer, but is also well known because of his force and enterprise in busi- ness circles and his activity in affairs which directly concern the interests of society and the community at large.
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He was born in Evansville, February 4, 1867, his parents being Henry and Mary Dreier. His father was a native of Lippe-Detmold, Germany, born August 2, 1842. Crossing the Atlantic to America in his youthful days, he became a resident of Mount Vernon, Indiana, in 1859, and there engaged in the wagon-making trade in connection with his uncle. But after two years devoted to industrial pursuits he put aside business cares as his patriotic spirit was aroused by the attempt of the south to overthrow the Union. In 1861 he joined the army, becoming a member of the One Hundred and Sixty-seventh Indiana Cavalry, with which he served con- tinuously until honorably discharged at the close of the war in 1865. Dur- ing that period he had participated in some hotly contested engagements and had met the usual experiences of military life. At the end of the war he came to Evansville, where he engaged in the wagon-making business until 1869. He then entered the employ of C. Decker & Sons, for whom he worked as a wagon-maker for fifteen years, at the end of which time he turned his attention to general agricultural pursuits, locating in Perry township. Vanderburg county. He was there successfully engaged in farming until 1908, when with the comfortable competence which he had acquired through his persistent labors he retired to private life.
Henry E. Dreier was a pupil in the public schools of Evansville until twelve years of age, after which he attended the German Lutheran schools for a year. Subsequently his attention was given to the work of the fields and he was continuously identified with farming interests in Perry town- ship until 1900, when his fellow townsmen elected him to the office of county assessor, in which position he has since remained, his reelection constituting proof of his ability and fidelity in office. No word of criticism has ever been heard concerning his official career, and he has no opposi- tion save that which is occasioned by partisan loyalty. The value of his judgment in business affairs has been demonstrated in his connection with various important interests of the city and county. He is now the president of the West Side Insurance & Real Estate Company and in control of its interests displays keen sagacity and a spirit of unfaltering enterprise. He is likewise the president of the Forest Hill Real Estate Company and the vice president of the Farmers & Citizens Bank.
Nor are Mr. Dreier's activities confined to those interests which are a source of renumeration, for he is a director of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society and a director of the Associated Charities, connections which show that he is thinking out along the broadening lines of humane interests and individual obligation.
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