USA > Indiana > Indiana and Indianans : a history of aboriginal and territorial Indiana and the century of statehood, Volume V > Part 6
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Professor Coulter's services are in much demand as a lecturer, and he is one of the most popular platform speakers among modern scientists. He is author of Forest Trees of Indiana, published in 1892; Flora of Indiana, published in 1899; eleven pam- phlets upon Nature Study, forty-five pam- phlets of Scientific Studies and Reports, and seventy other titles, including many book reviews, biographical sketches, etc. Professor Coulter is a director of the Na- tional Society for the Protection of Wild Plants. He is a member of the Associa- tion of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Northwest, and in 1901-02 was pres- ident of the State Audubon Society. In 1904 he was chairman of the Central Botanist Association. Another member- ship that attests his broad interests is in the Association for the Promotion of En- gineering Education. All his former stu- dents at Purdue will appreciate the truth of the following words that have been writ- ten of Professor Coulter: "He is a man of deep convictions, indomitable persever- ance and thorough in his investigations. He is not easily discouraged, brushes away trifles and goes directly for the heart of his subject. With all his learning and dis- tinction he is modest in his claims, kind and patient in dealing either with people or problems, open and candid in manner, and of the well poised equable temperament which renders him proof against discour- agements."
January 21, 1879, Professor Coulter married Lucy Post, daughter of Martin M. Post, D. D., of Logansport. Their only daughter, Mabel, born in October, 1880,
married Albert Smith, a member of the Purdue University faculty.
CLASSON VICTOR PETERSON has taken high rank as an educator in Indiana, is both a teacher and school administrator, and is a man whose ideals and breadth of view make him peculiarly well qualified to direct the schools of such an important county as Tippecanoe in the capacity of superintendent.
Mr. Peterson is a native of Tippecanoe County, having been born on a farm ten miles southwest of Lafayette on July 14, 1873. His father, Augustus Peterson, was born in Sweden January 3, 1832, brought his family to America in 1872, and ar- rived in Indiana with practically no capi- tal and no experience with American ways. For a time he rented land in Tippecanoe County, and as success came to him he bought property and had a small farm near West Point, on which he spent his last years. He died there December 4, 1903. He was a member of the Society of Friends and after attaining American citi- zenship voted as a republican. He married in 1854 Caroline Freeburg, who was born in Sweden December 11, 1831. Of their nine children the four oldest died in Sweden in infancy. The other five are: William A., deceased; Classon V .; Clin- ton E .; Alice E. and Amanda J., also de- ceased.
Classon Vietor Peterson was reared on his father's farm, attended public schools in Wayne Township, and in preparation for his chosen work attended the State Normal School at Terre Haute two terms and one year in Valparaiso University. His higher education was acquired as a result of his own earnings as a teacher. Mr. Peterson graduated from Purdue Uni- versity with class of 1910.
In the same year he became superin- tendent of schools at West Point, and his successful record there as well as his in- dividual work as a teacher laid the founda- tion for his promotion in 1917 to his present responsibilities as county superin- tendent.
Mr. Peterson is a republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. April 27, 1904, he married Miss Elna B. Fouts. Mrs. Peterson was born in Tippecanoe County and for four years
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prior to her marriage was a teacher. They have five children, Mabel, Paul, Dorothy, Lillian and William Arthur.
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LEO POTTLITZER was a resident and busi- ness man of Lafayette almost thirty-five years. The importance of his life could not be stated more concisely than in a brief editorial which appeared in a Lafayette paper at the time of his death. This edi- torial reads as follows: "The death of such a public spirited citizen as Leo Pott- litzer, whose sudden demise is chronicled today, is a distinct loss to the community. For many years he had been one of our enterprising business men, a hard worker and an enthusiastic supporter of every movement calculated to benefit his home city. He was intensely loyal to Lafayette and ever deeply concerned for its welfare. In the ranks of the Travelers' Protective Association he was long prominent, being one of the organizers of this great national society of commercial travelers. The story of his business career shows how success inevitably ' comes to reward honest effort rightly applied."
Leo Pottlitzer was born in Germany May 24, 1856, and died in Lafayette September 15, 1917, at the age of sixty-one. For a lifetime limited by three score years, it was signally useful and remarkable for its fruits and achievements. At the age of nine years he was brought to America, the family locating at Jersey City, and thence going to New York, where he spent his years to manhood. Early experience brought him in touch with the fruit and general commission business, and under his hands that became really a profession and he was never in any other line than the fruit and commission business, for which reason he was sought on every side in his mature years for advice and directions as to methods and practices in the business.
On coming to Indiana Mr. Pottlitzer first located at Indianapolis, where he had a commission business on a small scale, but in 1883 he removed to Lafayette. Leo was the oldest of five sons, the other brothers being Jacob, Max, Julius and Herman. He also had one sister, Mrs. Henrietta Dia- mond, who is still living in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He and his brothers are all now deceased.
Leo Pottlitzer came to Lafayette with his brother Julius, who died May 17, 1910.
The brothers opened a small commission store at Second and Main streets. Two years later they were joined by their brother Herman, who died in January, 1908. A little later Max Pottlitzer came to the city and joined forces with them. Max died in May, 1907. In 1887 the Pott- litzer brothers bought the old Baptist Church property on Sixth Street between Main and Ferry. There they put up a large building which they occupied many years under the name Pottlitzer Brothers Fruit Company, another portion of it being occupied by the Lafayette Baking Com- pany. All the brothers were master minds at directing such a business, and its growth and prosperity were steadily increased. The firm finally bought adjoining real es- tate in the same block and erected the build- ing which was the home of the Pottlitzer Brothers for many years, and besides this main establishment they maintained branch stores in Fort Wayne and Huntington. In 1908 Pottlitzer Brothers Fruit Company was dissolved, and a little later Leo Pott- litzer organized the Leo Pottlitzer & Son Company, commission house, first occupy- ing a room on North Fourth Street, and then as business demanded larger quarters moving to 10 North Third Street, where the establishment still stands as a monu- ment to the career of its founder. Leo Pottlitzer was president of the company, and his son and successor, Edward L., was secretary and treasurer.
The late Mr. Pottlitzer was a man of irreproachable character, unquestioned in- tegrity, and a citizen of liberal views and generous impulses. Any worthy charity could always depend upon him for assist- ance and the City of Lafayette was richer for his presence as a citizen and coworker. He cherished and supported every plan and movement for making Lafayette a bet- ter and greater city, and no matter what the cares of private business he always kept well informed as to public questions and of matters of broad public interest.
He was one of the charter members of the National Association of the Travelers' Protective Association, and was one of the four delegates from Indiana at the first convention in Denver in 1890. He had been a member of the old Travelers' Pro- tective Association for years before it dis- banded. He was state president in Indiana at one time. The delegates to the Denver
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convention were furnished passes to that city by the different railroads, the pass con- sisting of a solid silver piece, good for 2,500 miles of travel. Leo Pottlitzer preserved his pass as a treasured relic. He was fond of talking of the days of the Denver cou- vention, and believed that no convention had ever been celebrated with so much hos- pitality and entertainment. He was promi- nent both locally and in the state and national organizations, and in 1891-92 served as president of the State Associa- tion of Indiana and was a national di- rector of the organization in 1893-94. He had many warm friends among the Travelers' Protective Association through- out the country. In June, 1916, when the national convention of the association was held at Lafayette, Mr. Pottlitzer was treasurer of the local executive committee and really overtaxed himself with work of arrangements and other responsibilities. During the entire week of the convention he was confined to his apartments at the Fowler Hotel, but from his sick bed was able to greet many of the visiting delegates who came to express recognition of his services.
Mr. Pottlitzer was also affiliated with the local lodge of Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the United Commercial Travelers, the Masonic Order, the Knights of Pythias, the Royal League and was a member of the Reformed Jewish Congrega- tion. His funeral was conducted by Rabbi Maxwell Silver. On January 12, 1879, Mr. Pottlitzer married Minnie Truman, of Cin- cinnati. She and two children survive him, the son being Edward L. Pottlitzer and the daughter, Mrs. Charles Ducas, of New York City. There were also two grand- children by Mrs. Ducas, Dorothy and Elaine, and three by his son, Leo, Babette and Joseph Pottlitzer.
Edward L. Pottlitzer, only son of the late Leo Pottlitzer, was born in Indianap- olis, Indiana, May 25, 1881, but has lived in Lafayette since early infancy. He was educated in the Lafayette High School, and attended the Northwestern Military Acad- emy at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. On com- pleting his education he became associated with his father in business, and was secre- tary and treasurer of the Leo Pottlitzer & Son Company, and after the death of his father became president of this large and prosperous commission house.
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He is also affiliated with the Travelers' Protective Association, the United Com- mercial Travelers, the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, and the Rotary Club of Lafayette. On January 12, 1904, at St. Louis, Missouri, he married Miss Helene J. Klein. She was born at Cincinnati No- vember 12, 1881, daughter of Solomon and Babette (Hyman) Klein, natives of Ger- many and both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Pottlitzer have three chil- dren : Leo, born March 24, 1905; Babette, born January 12, 1906; and Joseph Klein, born February 10, 1910.
HENRY HEATH VINTON. No name rep- resents more of the dignity and high abil- ities of the legal profession in Northwestern Indiana than that of Vinton. The present judge of the Superior Court of Tippecanoe County is Henry H. Vinton, and as a ju- rist his work has brought further honors to a name that has been associated with ju- dicial and other high places in the affairs of Tippecanoe County for over half a cen- turv.
His father, the late David Perrine Vin- ton, was a successful lawyer and judge at Lafayette for almost half a century. Born at Miamisburg, Ohio, November 18, 1828, David P. Vinton was a son of Boswell Mer- rick and Hannah (Davis) Vinton. His father died in 1833. His mother married again and in 1841 brought her family to Lafayette. David P. Vinton was thirteen years old when the family moved to La- fayette, and for a number of years he and an older brother conducted a foundry and machinist's business. He worked in the shops until 1848, when he supplemented his somewhat intermittent schooling by en- tering South Hanover College at Hanover, Indiana, and was a student there until De- cember, 1851. In the spring of 1852 he began the study of law with Behm & Wood of Lafayette, and was admitted to the bar in 1854. Public honors came to him in rapid succession. He was city attorney in 1855 and again in 1861, and in the latter year was appointed by Governor Morton judge of the Common Pleas Court. After filling out the vacant term he was elected to the office. That district of the Common Pleas Court had jurisdiction over the coun- ties of Tippecanoe, Benton, White, and Carroll. He was in office six years, and in March, 1865, had declined a commission
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from President Lincoln as an associate jus- tice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of New Mexico. In 1867 Governor Baker appointed him judge of the Criminal Court, and he was elected in the fall of that year and held office to 1870. In 1870 he was elected circuit judge, and performed the responsible duties of that office for twenty years.
Henry H. Vinton, a son of David Per- rine and Elizabeth Catherine Vinton, was born at Lafayette November 30, 1864. He grew up in a home where there was every incentive to make the best of his oppor- tunities. He was given a liberal educa- tion. He attended the public schools of Lafayette and in 1885 graduated from Purdue University. During 1885-86 he was a student of law in the offices of Cof- forth & Stuart at Lafayette, and in 1886-87 attended the Columbia Law School. Judge Vinton was admitted to practice in Tippe- canoe County in 1887, and has been one of the prominent members of the bar for thirty years. He was in partnership with his father from 1889 until the latter's death, and from that date until February, 1901, was in practice with Edgar D. Ran- dolph.
Judge Vinton was appointed in 1898 referee in bankruptcy by Hon. John H. Baker, then United States district judge. On February 8, 1901, Governor Winfield T. Durbin appointed him judge of the Superior Court of Tippecanoe County, and by regular election and re-election he has since continued in that office until his serv- ice now covers a period of seventeen years.
Judge Vinton married June 13, 1888, Miss Mabel Levering. Their only child is Katherine Levering, now the wife of Wil- liam F. Taylor of the Rainbow Division and who is referred to on other pages.
CHARLES J. ELLIOTT, president of the Ridge Lumber Company, is one of the younger and very enterprising business men of Newcastle, and came to that city and took his place in business affairs after a successful experience as farmer and farm owner.
Mr. Elliott was born in Columbus Town- ship of Bartholomew County, Indiana, in 1884, son of Oscar and Sadie (Carr) Elliott. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His people have been in America for many generations. Mr. Elliott obtained his early
education in the country schools of his na- tive county, and developed his strength by work on the home farm. At the age of sixteen he went to farming, and he had a farm of 346 acres under his personal man- agement and supervision until 1916. In that year he came to Newcastle, buying a retail lumber yard from J. D. Case. He soon incorporated the business, of which he has since been president. Besides selling general lumber material Mr. Elliott also es- tablished a planing mill, and now has one of the principal concerns of Henry County for mill and general builders supplies. He also owns some local real estate.
In 1907 Mr. Elliott married Mary M. Schwenk, daughter of John and Margaret (Moores) Schwenk, of Columbus, Indiana. They have two children: Helen M. and Charles Dale, the son born in 1909. Mr. Elliott is a democrat and a Knight Templar Mason, a Knight of Pythias, and is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church.
GEORGE W. COOPER, for many years a member of the Columbus, Indiana, bar, was born in Bartholomew County of this state May 21, 1851. In 1872 he graduated from the law department of Indiana Uni- versity, and from that time until his death, he was one of the leading members of the legal profession of Columbus. Some years before his death Mr. Cooper was elected to represent his district in Congress, and in that office he carried forward the same high ideals which he had maintained in his daily practice.
WILLIAM S. POTTER has been a member of the Indiana bar forty years, has prac- ticed his profession in his native city of Lafayette, and has become widely known as a corporation and business lawyer, financier, and as a citizen who has contrib- uted much to the material improvement and general betterment of his home city.
He represents one of the older families of Lafayette, being the oldest son of Wil- liam A. and Eliza (Stiles) Potter. Wil- liam A. Potter was born in New York State, and located at Lafayette, Indiana, in 1843. He was a merchant for many years, after- wards a manufacturer, and used his means and influence in such a way as to promote the substantial welfare of Lafayette. His wife was a native of Suffield, Connecticut, and came to Lafayette, Indiana, in 1850.
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Chas of Elliott
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William S. Potter was born at the home of his parents on Columbia and Tenth Streets in Lafayette in 1855. He was well educated both in public and private schools, and in 1876 graduated from the Massa- chusetts Agricultural College at Amherst, Massachusetts. His mind was definitely made up to follow the law, and returning to Lafayette he became a law student in the offices of Wallace & Rice, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1878. Soon after- ward the firm of Wallace & Rice was dis- solved. For a time he was associated in practice with Mr. Wallace, but later ac- cepted the offer of a full partnership with Captain Rice. The firm of Rice & Potter continued for twenty years, and during that time gained a reputation and a busi- ness hardly second to any law firm in north- ern Indiana. This partnership was dis- solved through the death of Captain Rice in 1901, and since then Mr. Potter has practiced alone. For a number of years he has given special attention to business law and real estate law, and in these spe- cial fields his clients have never hesitated to recognize skill and ability with the best in the state. No small part of his special training in real estate matters is due to his own operations, which have been extensive and important in the handling and devel- opment of real estate both in Lafayette and in different parts of the state and country.
Mr. Potter is vice president and a direc- tor of the Northern Indiana Land Com- pany. This organization formerly owned about 25,000 acres in Lafayette and Chi- cago, property bought for development and improvement. He also owns important holdings in the South and West and in Chicago., Mr. Potter for many years has been interested in banking, has been vice president and director of the National Fowler Bank at Lafayette, and is a stock- holder in institutions in various cities and towns. Throughout his career he has kept in close touch with the material progress and improvement of his native city.
In 1885 Mr. Potter married Miss Fanny W. Peck, of Troy, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Potter is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. They have one son, George L. Potter, who is a graduate of Hamilton College, New York, and later was taking post graduate work at Harvard Uni- versity when the war broke out and he en-
listed in the signal corps. The Potter fam- ily are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Potter served on the board of trustees of the church for many years. He and the late Oliver Goldsmith had charge of the erection of the church build- ing, and when destroyed by fire soon after its completion they were selected to rebuild, and the congregation now has one of the most beautiful and attractive edifices in the city. He is also the only living char- ter member of the "Lincoln Club" who has been a continuous member since its organization.
Having been in the enjoyment of the rewards of mature success for many years, Mr. Potter has used his means liberally for the good of his city, for various worthy ob- jects of charity and for the comforts of wise provision of those near and dear to him. He has one of the most attractive homes in Lafayette. It is situated on State Street near Ninth, and known as "Whitehall." The description of this place and how it came to be acquired and built by Mr. Potter has been written at length for another publication, and may be used without apology here. "This mansion was originally built by the state of Connecti- cut to represent that state at the World's Fair at St. Louis, but when the Fair closed it was purchased by Mr. Potter, who had it dismantled, packed in cars and shipped to Lafayette. In preparing a site for the structure he secured a tract of four acres on State street, from which he removed the buildings and erected the present structure thereon, making one of the most beautiful and attractive residences in the state. The edifice is a perfect type of the colonial mansion of olden times, being mod- eled after several historic homes of Con- necticut, the main part three stories high, with wings two stories. The porch is also two stories, and extending out across the front is semi-elliptical in shape and sup- ported by four huge fluted columns of stone. An elaborate colonial stairway af- fords entrance to the main part of the building, and some of the interior wood- work, taken from the historic Hubbard Slater home in the city of Norwich, Con- necticut, adds interest as well as beauty to the apartments. The great central hall is open through both stories, the upper rooms forming a gallery which is wainscotted to the ceiling in the fashion greatly admired
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by former generations. The edifice, which is complete in all its parts, is finished in the highest style of the builder's art and with its elaborate furnishings and broad attractive lawns, walks bordered with beds of beautiful flowers and containing a num- ber of gigantic forest trees and many other beautiful and pleasing features, combine to make a complete and luxurious home."
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HENRY C. SCHROEDER. During the many years of his life spent in Indianapolis Henry C. Schroeder attained to those things which constitute a well rounded and unequivocal snecess. By sheer force of personal character and will power he made his name honored and substantial with dig- nity and esteem in a community where, the center of a large population, only a comparatively few men attain the wider distinctions of being thoroughly well known.
His life throughout was a record of self achievement. He was born in Hanover, Germany, August 3, 1862, a son of Kasper and Anne (Bruenger) Schroeder. His par- ents spent all their lives in Germany and were farmers in modest circumstances. Henry C. Schroeder was nine years old when his mother died, and from that time forward he was practically unaided in his efforts at making a place and position in the world. He benefited from the system of compulsory education and attended the German schools until abont fourteen. He was then apprenticed to a shoemaker, and spent four years in learning that trade. After that he worked as a journeyman, and at the age of nineteen set out alone for America, reaching New York City with only one dollar. It was not long after that he came to Indianapolis, and here his ex- periences were varied but always in a ris- ing degree of usefulness and reward. For a time he worked as a shoemaker, after- ward in a furniture factory, was employed in the old Eagle Machine Works and from there went into the shops of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway as a car repairer. For a time he was also a brakeman on the Panhandle Railroad, but after his marriage was for ten years car inspector of passenger cars at the Indian- apolis Union Station. While active in the railway service he was associated with John Groff in the organization of the order of Railway Car Men.
After leaving the railway service Mr. Schroeder engaged in the retail shoe busi- ness for about two years, following which he was a member of the city police force several years, the last three years being sergeant. He then engaged in the retail coal business, but sold his interests there four and a half years later in order to de- vote his entire time and attention to his duties as trustee of Center Township, Ma- rion County, an office to which he was elected in November, 1908. He was a hard working and painstaking public official and practically died in the harness of his of- fice, being its incumbent at the time of his death on May 25, 1913.
There was not a time in his life from the age of nine when he was not engaged in some useful service which earned him all the rewards he received. He acquired an honored name and a comfortable fortune in America, and richly merited both. He was true to himself in the finer sense of the term, was honorable in his dealings with his fellow men, gave freely in an unostentatious way to worthy charitable objects, and stood always for those things which are hest in community and private life. He was a greatly beloved citizen, and he left an unsullied name as a heritage to his children.
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