USA > Indiana > Vanderburgh County > Evansville > History of the city of Evansville and Vanderburg County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 9
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George L. Miller spent his youthful days in his parents' home, and was sent as a pupil to the public schools when six years of age, continuing his studies until, feeling the necessity of providing for his own support, he began learning the iron molder's trade, which he followed until 1894. He was only fifteen years of age at the time of his mother's death. Diligence and enterprise were early developed in his business experience and grad- ually he worked his way upward until with the capital saved from his meager earnings he was enabled to engage in business on his own account. He turned his attention to general contracting and in this field has pros- pered. He now makes a specialty of buying unimproved property, erecting residences thereon and selling them on the easy payment plan. He origin- ated this course and in the conduct of his interests has not only furthered his individual prosperity but has also made it possible for many to secure homes who could not do so if an entire cash payment had to be made. He builds according to modern styles of architecture with all the later day im-
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provements, and his business has grown along substantial and broadening lines.
On the 23d of November, 1893, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Mary Miller, who though of the same name, was not a relative. Her parents were William and Elizabeth (Schaefer) Miller, natives of Germany and early residents of Evansville. Her father died in 1905 at the age of seventy-two years, having long survived his wife, who passed away on the 13th of July, 1887, at the age of forty-three years. Her father was one who braved the dangers and difficulties of crossing the plains in 1849 to seek gold in California, and his labors in the mines were quite successful. Both Mr. and Mrs. William Miller were prominent in the German societies of this city, holding membership in the German Benevolent Society and other organizations. Their many good qualities gained them warm friends who entertained for them the highest respect. Unto Mr. and Mrs. George L. Miller have been born two children: Sylvester L. and Elder L.
Mr. Miller gives his political support to the republican party but with- out desire for office. The family attend the Presbyterian church and are well known socially in the community. That Mr. Miller is prominent in the trade circles of the city is indicated by the fact that he has been hon- ored with the presidency of the Master Builders Cooperative Association and that he is also the vice president of the Master Building Association. His life has been one of unremitting diligence, crowned with gratifying and honorable success.
DAVID A. COX, M. D.
David A. Cox is a representative of the medical profession of Vander- burg county now living in Howell, where he has practiced continuously since 1890, largely making a specialty of surgery. He is, moreover, active in other lines of business and his efforts likewise touch the general interests of society wherein the welfare and progress of the community are involved. The county numbers him among its native sons and he has the honor of being a representative of the first family of Evansville.
His paternal grandparents were Colonel James and Frances (Miller) Cox, the latter a member of a family that came down the river to the present site of Evansville in a boat. There they found a partially completed log cabin. The probability was that the Indians had killed the owners before they had completed their pioneer home. The Miller family, therefore, finished the building and occupied it, but several times were obliged to take their boats and escape the redmen by going out upon the river. This was the first house within what is now the corporation limits of Evansville, and stood under the shelter of the old elm tree on Water street. It was a daughter of this family, Frances Miller, who became the wife of Colonel James Cox, also one of the pioneer settlers of southern Indiana.
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They made their home in Perry township where, on the 8th of September, 1830, was born unto them a baby boy, who was afterward prominently known in the community as Major Joseph B. Cox. Reared amid the surroundings of pioneer life, he enjoyed the educational advantages offered in this locality, and afterward attended high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, for one term, also spending one term in St. Xavier's at Cincinnati. In 1849 he was graduated from Bacarus Business College, and was thereafter engaged in steamboating between Cincinnati and New Orleans until 1857. This gave him splendid opportunity to meet and mingle with the travelers and business men upon the docks, and he became an excellent judge of men, his ready discernment in this particular constituting a factor in his success in later life. Soon after leaving the river he was elected a trustee of Perry township and subsequently he entered the sheriff's office as deputy, serving until the outbreak of the Civil war. He organized and was elected captain of Company F, Sixtieth Regiment of United States Volunteer Infantry, and a few months later was promoted to the rank of major. On the 8th of October, 1862, in the battle of Perrysville, he received orders from his brigade commander to proceed with three companies to a certain point and hold the position until a certain hour, after which he was to report with his troops to the general headquarters. The orders were faithfully executed, but when he reported, the general in an angry tone, inquired : "Major, did you know that your services with your men were badly needed on the firing line?" He answered: "From what I could see and hear I did." "Then sir," said the general, "why did you not bring your men up?" Major Cox then confronted his senior officer with his own order, and said emphatically : "This order from you commanded me to hold another important position, and I obeyed." The general looked at the paper and said: "Major, you have done your duty," and issued a new order which Major Cox faithfully carried out at once. For thirteen months he was in active service and was then detailed to return home because of im- paired health. Soon afterward he was appointed chief deputy county treasurer, and throughout the period of his residence in Evansville was recognized as a prominent and influential citizen of the community. He served for six years as deputy sheriff and afterward held the position of collector of customs at Evansville during Cleveland's administration. His duties as a civilian were performed with the same fidelity that marked his military service.
There was still another phase of his character which perhaps was the most important, for his Christian faith, permeated his life and was an influencing factor in all of his relations, public and private. For many years Major Cox was a leading and influential member of the Liberty Baptist church and assisted in the organization of this association. He took an active interest in every department of the church work and did whatever he could to further its interests and extend its influence. Through three decades he was regarded as the most prominent member of the general home mission board. He assisted in the organization of the Oakland City College and was ever one
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of its stalwart champions, giving freely of his means and his labor for the welfare of that institution. For some years after the death of Dr. Williams he served as president of the college. He was not only a good man but was a forceful citizen his labors constituting an effective element for progress and improvement. His patriotism was no less marked in days of war than in days of peace; his loyalty was no less pronounced in public affairs than in private life. His was an upright, noble Christian manhood. Major Cox was twice married. He wedded Miss Amanda Sirkle, who died in 1868, leaving one son, Dr. D. A. Cox, of this review. In 1871 Major Cox wedded Miss Martha J. Angel and they had two sons, Robert M., now deceased; and Dr. Joseph B. Cox.
Dr. David A. Cox, whose name introduces this record, was born in Union township, October 1, 1865, and after mastering the elementary branches of learning in the district schools continued his education in the Evansville High school and in Indiana University, which in 1888 conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His literary course completed, he began prep- aration for a professional career and is numbered among the alumni of the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati of 1890. Immediately afterward he located for practice in Howell, where he has since remained, and although he has been accorded a large general practice he specializes in the field of surgery, wherein he has gained notable skill. For years he has been surgeon for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and he has also been surgeon at the Deaconess Hospital for a number of years. At the same time he displays excellent business ability in other directions. The family still owns three hundred acres of land in this vicinity, of which Dr. Cox has the rental. In 1906 he became one of the organizers of the Howell State Bank, which was capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars and of which he has been the president since its organization. His associate officers are E. J. Young, vice president, and F. C. Baugh, cashier, the latter succeeding E. M. Roland, who was made cashier on the organization of the bank. A fine building has been erected to accommodate the business which is conducted along general bank- ing lines, and has already reached large and gratifying proportions.
Prominent in Masonry, Dr. Cox has attained the Knight Templar degree and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Evansville Lodge of Elks, is a member of the Independent Order of For- esters, and is physician of the Foresters for the state of Indiana. He is like- wise a member of the Court of Honor at Evansville. Important business and fraternal relations do not exclude his active participation in community affairs, for he has figured as a prominent factor in the public life of Howell since early in the organization of the town government. Since that time he has served on the town board and labors earnestly and effectively for public progress, reform and improvement. His politcal views accord with the principles of the democratic party.
In 1894 Dr. Cox was married to Miss Gertrude Walsh, a native of Memphis, Tennessee, and a daughter of Thomas Walsh, master mechanic at
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Howell for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Dr. and Mrs. Cox hold membership in the Baptist church and he is serving on the board of trustees of the Baptist College of Oakland City. His life has touched many lines of activity and in all he has continued the work which was instituted by his ancestors, who as early settlers of Vanderburg county began the initial development and improvement of this section of the state.
W. H. MCCURDY.
While a resident of Evansville for a little more than seven years, W. H. McCurdy is recognized as a dynamic force in the business circles of the city, the extent and importance of his operations in the industrial field placing him in a prominent position in the ranks of the city's representative business men. His initiative spirit, his executive force and his keen dis- crimination have combined to gain him a position among the capable and resourceful men who, in modern parlance, are termed captains of industry. Moreover, in the establishment and conduct of the business carried on under the name of the Hercules Buggy Company he has contributed an enterprise of distinct value to the commercial and manufacturing circles of the city. In other fields, too, he has given proof of his capacity for suc- cessful management, and his cooperation is sought in those fields where sound judgment and business talents of the first rank are needed.
Mr. McCurdy was born near Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1853, and descends from Scottish ancestry. He was educated in the common schools and an academy, and, being of a mechanical turn of mind, was apprenticed to a millwright, showing a proficiency that soon made him the most skillful workman in the shop. In much less time than usual he mastered the trade, at which he continued until twenty-two years of age. A spirit of unrest, however, took possession of the young mechanic, and he was seized by an irresistible longing to see the world. He closed his tool chest, never to be opened by him again, and resigned his position and started out to seek a fortune under new conditions and amid new surroundings. As a traveling man he proved especially successful, having a confidence in himself which inspired respect and being gifted with the happy ability to make friends and retain them. In 1879 he settled at Kansas City, then on the eve of great real-estate speculation, which extended into the surrounding state. There he engaged in the insurance and real-estate business, making a suc- cess in those lines as he had in everything he had undertaken. In 1889 Mr. McCurdy returned eastward and located in Cincinnati, where he be- came interested in the Favorite Carriage Company, of which he was secre- tary for five years. In 1894 he resigned that position to engage in busi- ness for himself. He organized the Brighton Carriage Company and then entered upon an independent career, which has made his name widely
W. H. MCCURDY
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known in manufacturing circles as one of the important factors to be reckoned with by all operators in his department of activity. Beginning with a small capital he became one of the captains of industry.
Facilities at Cincinnati being inadequate, owing to a rapidly growing business, Mr. McCurdy found at Evansville a location that seemed to meet existing and future demands and in 1902 he removed his business to this city. Here he erected a factory according to the most approved mod- ern ideas, equipped with every device for turning out on time the best vehicle the market demands. The name of the company was changed to the Hercules Buggy Company, of which Mr. McCurdy is principal owner. The plant has a floor space of nearly seven acres and a capacity for the manufacture of fifty thousand vehicles per year. The Hercules Buggy Company gives employment to over one thousand men and is one of the important agencies in maintaining the prosperity of Evansville. It is diffi- cult for the uninitiated mind to comprehend the magnitude of an enter- prise so large as the one presided over by the subject of this review. Such a plant did not grow up in a day. It required years of practical experience in manufacturing and business affairs, a wide grasp of possibilities as to manufacture and distribution, and large financial resources. The success of the enterprise is a great gratification to many who have noted its pro- gress from the beginning. Mr. McCurdy has gathered about him a corps of assistants who are able and energtic and who gain much of their in- spiration from one who possesses these qualities in an unusual degree.
At the time of this publication in 1910 Mr. McCurdy has been a resi- dent of Evansville seven years. In that time he has figured prominently in many business enterprises. He was elected a director in the Old State National Bank the first year of his residence in the city. He was one of the organizers of the American Trust & Savings Company, which is now doing a thriving business with a capital and surplus of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and is still a director in this institution. He has also figured prominently in the new traction lines coming into the city and is now president of the Evansville & Eastern Electric Railway and the Evans- ville Railways Company. He is a leading member in a syndicate which now owns and controls the street car lines in the cities of Owensboro and Henderson, Kentucky.
On the 25th of June, 1880, Mr. McCurdy was united in marriage to Helen E. Hess, of Cincinnati, who is a most estimable lady and has proven to her husband a constant source of encouragement and support. Their home is one of the most attractive in the city.
Mr. McCurdy is a public-spirited and patriotic citizen in the best sense of the term. From sturdy ancestry he inherited physical vigor and mental endowments of a high order. Eminently fitted by ability and experience for the discharge of large responsibilities, he easily occupies a place in the front rank of the leading men of Evansville. The real upbuilders of the city are not those who handle the reins of government but who give
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their influence to continuous municipal progress and who found, promote and control extensive business interests. Laudable ambition, ready adapta- bility and a capacity for hard work are essential elements of success and in none of these has Mr. McCurdy ever been found lacking.
HENRY J. RUSCHE.
The success which Henry J. Rusche has attained makes his business principles and methods of interest to the public and investigation into his life record shows that he has justly won the proud American title of a self- made man, in that he started out on his own account as a youth of fifteen years and has since been dependent entirely upon his own resources. More" over, his record also proves, as does that of a great majority of men, that advancement depends entirely upon unremitting effort intelligently di- rected. Today he is secretary and treasurer of the Specialty Furniture Company, twenty-one years having been devoted to the duties of the dual office, his executive force and administrative direction constituting im- portant elements in the growth and prosperity of the house.
Mr. Rusche was born in Oldenburg, Germany, December 23, 1862, and is a son of Herman and Magdalena Rusche, who were also natives of that country. The father, who was born in 1837, was engaged in farming in Germany until he came to the new world in 1867, making his way direct to Evansville, where he accepted the position of pipe man in connection with the gas works. On his retirement from that position he was made inspector of the city waterworks and later became a stockholder in the Southwestern Broom Company, thus becoming associated with the indus- trial and commercial interests of the city. He continued a factor in busi- ness circles until 1904, when with a comfortable competence acquired through his labors he retired to private life.
Henry J. Rusche was only five years of age when his parents came to the United States and since that time has lived in Evansville. As a public school pupil he pursued his education to the age of fifteen years and then sought the available opportunities of business life, learning the cabinet- maker's trade with the Evansville Furniture Company, with which he was connected until 1898. During that period he made steady progress in knowledge and skill in the business which he had chosen as his life work and his ability won him promotion from time to time until he had attained a position of large responsibility. Desiring, however, to engage in business on his own account, he withdrew from connection with the Evansville Furn- iture Company, organizing the Specialty Furniture Company, with Albert . Doerschler as president, Mike Breger as vice president and himself as secretary, treasurer and general manager. His long experience well qual- ifies him for the active control of the business in its operative department
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and from its inception the house has enjoyed a growing success. The out- put finds a ready sale on the market, because of durability, style, finish and general workmanship as well as reasonable prices.
On the 22d of May, 1889, in Evansville, Mr. Rusche was united in mar- riage to Miss Rosetta Reitz and unto them have been born six children: Matilda, at home; William, sixteen years of age, who is attending Lock- year's Commercial College; Sylvester, fifteen years of age, a student in the public schools ; Robert and Henry A., aged respectively thirteen and eleven years, now pupils in the parochial schools; and Herman, three years of age. The parents are communicants of the Catholic church.
Mr. Rusche is a worthy representative of the class of foreign born citi- zens whose adaptability has enabled them to recognize and improve the opportunities furnished in the new world. From the outset of his business career his progress has been continuous and through the development of his latent powers and talents he has gained a creditable position in the manu- facturing circles of Evansville.
JOHN N. ADLER.
John N. Adler started in business life as a carpenter, but is now the owner of a fine farm property, in the midst of which he has erected a com- modious and modern residence of attractive style of architecture. The other buildings and improvements upon the place are in keeping with the home, and the property is a valuable one, indicating the industrious and enterprising life which Mr. Adler has lived.
He was born in Vanderburg county on the 14th of January, 1859, and, like many of the sterling residents of this part of the state, comes of German ancestry. His parents were Mathias and Maggie (Knaub) Adler, both of whom were natives of Germany, and on coming to this country settled in Vanderburg county in 1854. The father possessed the national love and talent for music and for a number of years gave his attention to that art as a source of livelihood. Finally he turned his attention to general farming, purchasing a thirty-acre tract of land which he owned and cultivated for twelve years. He then sold out and invested in one hundred and twenty-five acres in Center township, carrying on that farm until 1902, when he divided the place among his children, his son John receiving twenty-five acres as his share. In addition to that property the father also owned one hundred and sixty acres in Gibson county, Indiana. He was a man of marked energy who in business affairs carried forward to successful completion whatever he undertook.
The youthful days of John N. Adler were spent under the parental roof, the district schools affording him his educational privileges, while the summer months were devoted to farm work that made him well acquainted with the
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requirements of modern agricultural life. On attaining his majority, how- ever, he thought to follow another occupation than that to which he had been reared and began working at the carpenter's trade, which he followed for seven years. At the age of twenty-eight he was united in marriage to Miss Maggie Klein, a daughter of Adam and Kate Klein, both of whom were natives of Germany. At the time of his marriage Mr. Adler rented a tract of land from his father-in-law and continued its cultivation for fifteen years, during which period he carefully saved his earnings. He then invested in fifty acres of land in Center township and has since lived upon this farm, although he has extended its boundaries until it now comprises sixty-eight acres. The soil is rich and productive and responds readily to the care and labor which he bestows upon it. He has erected a good house that is thoroughly modern in style and equipment, has also built a large barn and a number of large buildings, so that the improvements upon the place are modern and attractive. He has a fine vineyard and other fruit growing on his place keeps him busily employed, his labors, however, being rewarded by good crops.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Adler have been born five children: Kate, Edward, Mamie, John and Arthur, aged respectively, twenty-one, twenty, eighteen, sixteen and twelve years, all of whom are yet at home. The parents and children attend the Evangelical church and are interested in its work and upbuilding. Mr. Adler is a republican in his political views and in matters of citizenship is progressive, giving his allegiance to measures and move- ments which are instituted for the general welfare. He displays in his life many sterling traits of character and all who new him hold him in warm regard.
ALBERT F. KARGES.
An eminent statesman has said: "In all the world the thing supremely worth having is the opportunity coupled with the capacity to do well and worthily a piece of work, the doing of which shall be of vital significance to mankind." To Albert F. Karges has come this opportunity, and Evans- ville recognizes the fact that in its utilization the public at large has been benefitted. He has been connected with various business interests of im- portance in the industrial, commercial and financial circles of the city, his enterprise proving a factor in the development of substantial trade re- lations.
Mr. Karges was born in German township, Vanderburg county, No- vember 3, 1861, and is the second in a family of four children whose parents were Ferdinand and Rosina (Dulty) Karges. His father, who was a pioneer furniture manufacturer of Evansville, died in the year 1891, having long survived his wife who passed away in 1869.
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