USA > Indiana > Daviess County > Living leaders, an encyclopedia of biography : special edition for Daviess and Martin counties, Indiana > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Martin County > Living leaders, an encyclopedia of biography : special edition for Daviess and Martin counties, Indiana > Part 20
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HON. DAVID J. HEFRON.
suffrage, and in the congressional appor- tionment which was arranged by that Leg- islature he was a prominent factor.
On September 10, 1873. Judge Hefron married Florence H. Barton, daughter of Dr. G. G. Barton, and Ann (Murphy) Bar- ton, the former born in New York, and the latter was of Irish birth.
Mrs. Hefron was born in Washington, Ind., in the year 1847, and was educated at St. Mary's Institute. She was a faith- ful and affectionate wife, a true woman and the light and joy of her husband's house- hold till December 18, 1884, when death claimed her. She was an exemplary Christian lady, a devout member of St. Mary's Church and an ideal mother and companion. Her loss was not only irre- parable to her family, but was one keenly felt by the church and society.
Mrs. Hefron was the mother of three daughters and a son, viz .: Josephine M., Anna B., Helen A. and John D. The daughters JJosie and Anna were at St. Mary's College, Terre Haute, until their graduation, and Helen is a student there now.
In conversation with a gentleman who has been intimately acquainted with Judge Hefron for many years, he made the fol- lowing observations : "During Judge Hef- ron's service as Cirenit Judge he has been noted for his ability and especial adapta- bility to the discharge of his judicial func- tions. He has kept the court docket cleaner than any of his predecessors on the Daviess or Martin County benches, and has suc- ceeded in retaining the respect of all classes of people beyond that which was ordinarily enjoyed. His speech in one of the last cases he ever tried, as counsel for a Daviess County farmer against a Baltimore com- mission firm, was the prettiest thing I ever listened to. As a speech maker the JJudge is a pronounced success. He is ready, quiet and graceful, and acquits himself with great credit.
"As a citizen Judge Hefron stands the peer of any man. He enjoys the universal respect of his fellows. The best evidence of his popularity in his district is the fact of his election to the beneh in 1886 and again in 1892, being elected the last time withont opposition."
WILLIAM F. AXTELL, superintendent of the schools of Washington, a successful
and progressive educator and a highly esteemed citizen of this city, was born in Greene County, Ind., December 28, 1855. He is a son of Dr. A. J. Axtell, of Bloomington, Ind., late Captain of Com- pany A, Ninety-seventh Indiana Volun- teer Infantry. The latter was born in Pennsylvania sixty-nine years ago, and with his father, Thomas Axtell, emigrated to Zanesville, .O. He is a literary and medical graduate and has devoted his life to his profession. He resided in Greene County till 1872, when he established him- self in Bloomington. He married Susan Gilkerson, and Prof. Axtell is the second of their six children, five of whom are living.
Our subject entered the Bloomington high school upon the removal of his father to that city, and afterward entered the preparatory department of Indiana State University, in which institution he com- pleted a classical course, and received a diploma in 1880. He began at once the study of medicine and pharmacy. He en- gaged in the drug business and continued it till his election to the office of County Superintendent of Monroe County in 1884. Upon his retirement from that office he was offered the principalship of the Washing- ton high school, accepted, and entered upon his duties in September, 1885. He served the people of Washington in that capacity faithfully and efficiently for nine successive vears, and when Superintendent Hoffman retired Prof. Axtell was promoted to the vacancy. He is now completing his third year in this position and has maintained the same high standing that the schools of Washington have occupied for years.
Mr. Axtell is a leader in educational work in this State; is well-known to teachers of Southern Indiana, being a member of their Association, as well as the Association of Indiana State Teachers. He is an active member of the Association of Superintendents of Schools of Indiana, an organization for the exchange of views and suggestions to the end that the schools of the State may attain to the highest degree of excellence.
October 18, 1883, Prof. Axtell married Miss Kate Bollenbacher, daughter of George and Margaret (Shaver) Bollenbacher. The children of this union are: Josephine L. and William.
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The schools of Washington are " in com- mission," have an enrollment of 1,600, housed in four modern and well equipped buildings, are operated by a corps of twenty-nine teachers and have graduated 250 pupils. The high school has one of the finest chemical and physical laboratories in the State and sustains a circulating library.
FRANK A. SLATER, general foreman of the car construction and repair shops of the B. & O. S. W. Ry. at Washington, was born in the province of Prussia September 20, 1837. His father was Charles Schlieder, which has become Americanized into Slater, and his mother, Caroline Schaner, were working people who came to the United States to seek opportunity and free- dom. The father and his two young sons, one of whom was our subject, reached this country first in 1846, landing at New York on the latter's birthday anniversary. They established themselves at. Croghan, that state, and were variously employed the following four years. In 1850 the father. with his son Frank, returned to the father- land for the purpose of, in time, bringing the remainder of the family to their new home. While there Frank was apprentieed to a cabinet maker for a period of three years, or so much of that time as he desired to remain in Prussia; but having to work fifteen hours a day besides having to pay an apprenticeship fee of $40.00, he chose to return to the United States before his eighteenth birthday, and in 1854 left Prus- sia after having served two of his three years. The remainder of the family fol- lowed later in the year and took up their residence at ('roghan, now Naumburg, New York.
While serving his German master Mr. Slater's sole desire was to become an ef- ficient workman and to master a trade with which he could earn a livlihood and a repu- tation as a mechanic. His ambition was not entirely crushed by the severity of his first apprenticeship, and upon his return to New York he engaged himself to a mas- ter at Watertown to finish his trade, and for the first year he received $40.00, second year $50.00 and third year $70.00, with board and washing, a very scant allowance, it will seem, to one of whom much is re- quired.
In 1858 Mr. Slater engaged in chair-
making in Oswego, N. Y., and was so em- ployed till October, 1861, when he went to Toronto, Canada, where he was similarly employed till the 2nd of the following July, when he went to Syraense, N. Y., a sick man from overwork. He was not able to resume work till some time the next year, when he entered the employ of D. L. Fry & Co., piano-forte makers.
He remained with this company till 1865, when he came to the O. & M. Ry. Co. and entered their shops at Cochran, Ind., as a cabinet maker. In 1870 he was promoted to be foreman of his shop. The next year he had the duties of draftsman added to that of foreman, and for five years he pored over his table and developed into a fine draftsman, whereas in the beginning he knew not the primary principles of draw- ing. In 1876 he was appointed general foreman, and on Angust 10, 1889, was added the duties of master car builder.
Mr. Slater started in life with a limited education. His parents were people with 'small means, and the labor of their sons was needed to aid in sustaining the home. The time selected to send the boys to school was when the weather was too bad to work, and in consequence not more than eight weeks in the year were spent within the walls of a school house. Mr. Slater has felt the loss of these opportunities all through life, and it has made the road to snecess a very rough and thorny one for him.
The Slater family contains now Gottlob, a brother at Sheboygan, Wis .; Charles, a brother at Naumburg, N. Y., and Mrs. Theresa Richter, a sister, at Grand Junc- tion, la.
Frank A. Slater was married at Oswego, N. Y., March 27, 1859, to Mary Cowan. Their two surviving children are : Charles F., a machinist, and Caroline, the wife of J. S. McConnell, foreman of the mill room at the B. & O. shops.
Mr. Slater is a high Mason, being a member of the bine lodge, chapter, council, commandery and Scottish Rite, Ind. Con- sistory.
HUGH H. SULLIVAN, one of the veteran locomotive engineers of the B. & O. S. W. R'y has spent almost an average lifetime in the service of this railroad company, and is a brave, competent and trusted employee. His career as a railroad man began with
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the New Albany and Salem R'y Co., now a part of the Monon system, in 1853, as a freight brakeman on its southern division. He served in this capacity three years and entered the locomotive department as fire- man on the old " Bloomington " with engi- neer Edward Gregory, in which position he was at the breaking out of the war.
He enlisted at once in Company K, Fourteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, was mustered in at Terre Haute and taken to West Virginia, where his command be- came a part of the Army of the Potomac, Sumner's Division of the Second Corps.
July 11, after his enlistment, his regi- ment was initiated into the realities of war by coming into contact with the Rebels at Rich Mountain. From this on Mr. Sulli- van saw hard service and participated in many of the bloodiest battles of the war, among them being Bull Run, Kilpatrick's Raid on Richmond, Green Briar, South Mountain, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Cedar Mountain, Raccoon Ford, Malvern Hill, Antietam and Gettysburg. Other lesser engagements were had later and be- fore his time of enlistment expired, but the mention of the foregoing is sufficient to indicate the service he rendered to the Union.
Having served his three years, Mr. Sul- livan took up the duties of a civilian where he left off, as a locomotive engineer, but on the L. & N. R'v. He remained with this railway till the latter part of the 60's, when he went out onto the " Great American Desert," and put in several months in the employ of the company then constructing the Union Pacific R'y, helping to build that road through Nebraska, Wyoming and down Weber Canon to Ogden, Utah. Soon after his return to the East he entered the service of the old O. & M. R'y Co., passing to its successor, and is now nearing the completion of his twenty-eighth year with them. Nineteen years of this time he has been " running passenger " on the east end, and in 1889 he took up his residence in Washington.
Mr. Sullivan is a veritable "Grand-l'ap" in the service, and so he is familiarly called by his associates. Railroading was in its real infancy when he set his first brake. It has kept pace in improvement with other public carriers and seems now to be ap- proaching very near to perfection. The 2
old strap rail with its myriads of "snake heads," the original broad gauge track, the engine with hand brake and tallow cup, all are superseded by the modern steel rail, the universal standard gauge, the air brake and lubricator and other minor improve- ments.
Mr. Sullivan was born in Lawrence County, Ind., January 16, 1838. His father, William Sullivan, a blacksmith, was born in North Carolina, and his mother, Maria Quakenbush, was born in New York. They came to this State early and were married in Lawrence County, and the survivors of their family of six are Lemuel, of Medora, Ind .; Isabel, wife of William Hydenrich, of Bloomington, Ind., and Hugh H.
The Sullivans were from Ireland, no doubt many generations ago, but too far back to lay claim to any ties other than those of full-blooded Americans. Hugh H. Sullivan was married in Seymour, In- diana, December 21, 1881, to Mrs. Myrtle Jolly, a daughter of Mrs. Mary Wheeler. They reside in their cozy and comfortable home on West Walunt street.
Mr. Sullivan's close confinement to busi- ness has precluded the possibility of his becoming extensively acquainted, although his position and standing render him well known to the public; yet those who have been associated with him for years and have, consequently, had an opportunity to know him, speak of him in the highest terms as a citizen and as a man. He be- longs to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
THOMAS F. SPINK, manager of the "('ity Mills," of Washington, is a de- scendant of one of the early families of Daviess County. His grandfather, Francis X. Spink, was born in Maryland, and came to this county about the time of the admis- sion of the state into the Union. He set- tled upon a farm and spent the residue of his life there. His son, James C. Spink, and the father of our subject, was born on a farm in this county in 1824, and in his young manhood was engaged in tilling the soil. He worked as a surveyor on the Wabash and Erie canal when it was being constructed through this locality. He finally engaged in the milling business, and it was in this capacity that he was most widely known. He was the senior mem- ber of the well-known firm of Spink &
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Veal. which flourished in this city a quar- ter of a century ago. In 1879 James C. Spink built the "City Mills" and operated it to his death in 1893. He was a mem- ber of the first council of Washington, and was a democrat. His widow, whose maiden name was Ann Elizabeth Wright, of Penn- sylvania stock, still survives. Her only living child is the subject of this sketeh. The latter was born April 29, 1865, in Washington, and completed a course in the schools of this city in 1884. He went from the school-room into the Democrat office as city editor. He took up the study of phonography and prepared himself in a phonographic institute of Cincinnati. He seenred employment in the general offices of the L. & N. R'y Co. in Louisville, and remained there three years. He next represented the Hammond people in the sale of typewriters, in Louisville and in Cincinnati. Retiring from that connection, he came home in July, 1889, and took a position in the mill with his father.
Mr. Spink was married in Louisville October 5, 1887, to Mary W., daughter of John W. Stone, a prominent tobacco dealer of Lynchburg, Va. Mrs. Spink died January 19, 1896, leaving an only child, James Warner, born in 1888.
Mr. Spink is a thrifty, industrious and progressive citizen, and in addition to the interests above mentioned, he is a stoek- holder in the Washington Street R'y Co.
He is Chancellor Commander of the K. of P. fraternity, and is Past Grand Senator of the Ancient Essenie Order.
WILLIAM F. HOFFMANN, of Washington, is a native of Indiana, his birth having oe- curred in Owen County, this State, on the 18th day of Angust, 1857. He is a son of John A. and Elizabeth (Kerschner) Hoff- man. His father was born in the city of Speyer, Germany, in the year 1834, and was a son of John Hoffmann, whose entire life was spent in Germany, but his son, John A. Hoffmann, after receiving a fair educa- tion in his native land set out for the New World, at the age of eighteen years. On coming to this country his first place of settlement was Brownsville, Union County, Ind. Here he formed acquaintance with Elizabeth Kersehner, whom he married in 1856. Unto the marriage five children were born, William F. being the eldest. The mother died in 1868, and subsequently
Susan Hahn became the second wife of John A. Hoffman and bore him three chil- dren.
Soon after his first marriage John A. Hoffmann, who followed plastering for many years in early life, settled on a farm in Owen County, Ind., where he has since resided. His son, whose name forms the caption of this sketch, was reared on the farm ; he did farm work and learned the plasterer's trade under his father. His early education was obtained in the com- mon schools of his eonnty. At the age of twenty-one years, Mr. Hoffmann entered the Northern Indiana Normal, of Valpar- aiso, from which institution he graduated in 1882. He had previously taught school, and upon his graduation accepted the prin- cipalship of the high school of Washington, Ind. After three years of successful ser- viee in this position, Mr. Hoffmann re- ceived a merited election to the superinten- deney of the city schools of Washington, being the youngest man in the state to hold a superindency of so large a city. For nine years he remained in charge of these schools, and gave universal satisfaction, and gained high rank as an educator. In 1894 he resigned the position, in order to prepare himself for the practice of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1895, and in May of that year opened a law office in Washington, and has since enjoyed a lucrative practice.
Politically Mr. Hoffmann is a staunch Democrat, and fraternally a member of the Knights of Pythias order and also Masonic . fraternity. He is a Knight Templar Ma- son and is junior warden in his command- ary He has served three years as master of the blue lodge, and has always taken a very active part in the fraternal organiza- tions to which he belongs. He is also an esteemed member of the Presbyterian Church. In 1884, Mr. Hoffmann wedded Miss Stella Lee, the youngest daughter of Clement Lee, Esq., of Washington. The marriage has been blessed by the birth of two sons.
Mr. Hoffmann is truly a self-made man. From early life he has manifested a fond- ness for research into the vast field of knowl- edge in the scientific and literary world. He possesses a liberal education, and is one of only two persons in Daviess County who hold a state teacher's license. He en- joys the esteem and confidence of a wide
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acquaintance and is a distinctively repre- sentative citizen.
FRANK I. SEFRIT, the able and popular editor of the Washington Gazette, is a gen- tleman who has grown up in this city, and one whose career has been marked by a fixedness of purpose, by an intense ambi- tion and by his peculiar fitness for the pro- fession he has chosen. He was born in Knox County, Ind., August 29, 1866. His father came to this city soon after this in- cident, and here he educated his children. Frank began life as a clerk in the store of O. H. Brann. He had worked for his father around the latter's coal bank before this, but as an independent business man his merchandising was his first experience. Upon leaving the store he went to Clark County, Ia., and was absent one season, and upon returning home he began work- ing in the capacity of a reporter for the Ga- zette, then owned by his father and brother. He soon familiarized himself with the re- quirements for a successful news-gatherer and received the usual promotions as rap- idly as he was deemed fitted for them, and when his father laid down his pen and took his last journey the management placed Frank in business charge of the Gazette. In 1896 he was officially named as its editor.
Mr. Sefrit is a son of the late M. L. B. Sefrit, who was born in this, Daviess Coun- ty, Ind., in 1837. He had the advantage of only a common school education, but he was a man possessed of a bright and fertile mind. He stored it with the knowl- edge of experience and became able to cope with those of far superior childhood oppor- tunities. The Sefrits are of German de- scent. The name was originally " Seifert, " which has passed through frequent Ameri- canization and become Sefrit. The de- seendants of the first representatives of the family in the United States drifted into North Carolina, and it was in the " Old North State " that Charles Sefrit was born. His father, George Seifert, seems to have been the German emigrant before men- tioned. The family is noted for its long- evity, and it is said that this hardy old man was fatally injured while out hunting at the age of 104.
The grandfather of our subject came into Daviess County about 1816. He married Elizabeth A. Everett and M. L. B. Sefrit
was their son. The latter married Eleanor, the daughter of Frances McDonald, a brother of Judge David McDonald, of In- diana, and a cousin of the late Senator Joseph E. McDonald. Mr. Sefrit died in 1892, and his wife in 1894. Their children are: Charles G., Frank I. and Louie B., all newspaper men, and Walter and Callie.
Frank I. Sefrit was married June 10, 1891, to Ethel, danghter of Mrs. Malinda Leonard. The children of this union are : Irene, Charles L.
Mr. Sefrit is a Past Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and is a prominent Knight of Ancient Essenie order.
J. W. RAMSEY, one of the foremost con- tractors and builders of Washington, has been identified with the building interests of this city for nearly a quarter of a century, having come here in April, 1873. He he- gan contracting soon after this date, and among his best buildings are : the residences of John Helphinstine, Dr. Winton, Henry Thomas, Thomas Graham, John T. Neal, Joseph Wilson, Mrs. Geeting, M. J. Car- nahan and Simon Joseph. The store-rooms of Jackson, Joseph, Graff & Keller, E. R. Eskridge, Z. Jones, the Meredith House addition, Helphinstine's livery barn, City Hall, the remodeling of Wilson's store, three good residences in Wheatland, and one in Shoals for J. P. Hawkins are among the buildings he has erected.
Mr. Ramsey learned his trade with Lord & Lankard at Danville, Kv. After the war he went west and worked in the towns St. Louis, Mo., Lees Summit, Mo., at Topeka and Leavenworth, Kan., and in New Orleans, La. He was born in Lan- caster Ky .. Jan. 22nd, 1840, and was a son
of Wm. Ramsey, born in the same locality, a blacksmith, and the husband of Martha Easton. His living children are our sub- ject, and Mrs. Catherine Woods, of Chicago.
Our subject got a fair education in the subscription schools, in his boyhood and his school days ended with a term in an academy at Lancaster some years later. September 19, 1861, he enlisted in Com- pany C 19th K. V. I. and was mustered into the service at Harrodsburg. His com- mand was at Sommerset, Cumberland Gap, and in the fall of 1862 skirmished its way ont to the Ohio river. It was with Sher- man's first advance on Vicksburg, at Chick- asaw Bluff, Ark., Post, and back to Young's
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Point, where it aided in digging the famous canal in front of Vicksburg that afterwards turned the course of the Mississippi river at that point. In the spring of 1863 the command started at Port Gibson, Miss., and fought the battles preliminary to the siege of Vieksburg and wound up the campaign with the eaptnre of that city. Their next capture was Jackson, Miss., and from there they went to North Carolina; did some serviee in the Tesche country ; returned to New Orleans, put on board a vessel, and sent to Matagorda Bay, Tex. and were busy in that region till the spring of 1864, when they were sent baek to New Orleans, from where they started on the famous Red River expedition. Cain River, Cotton Plant, Yellow Bayon, and Mansfield were fought on this raid and the campaign ended at Morganza Bend on the Mississippi river. Succeeding this the regiment did provost guard duty at Baton Rouge for some months, and was mustered out at Louisville in February, 1865. Mr. Ramsey was mus- tered in as 3rd Sergeant of his Company and was mustered out as 1st Lienten- ant.
Mr. Ramsey is an ardent Republican and never fails to do a citizen's duty in desig- nating the policy of the state and nation. Ile was married in St. Louis, Mo., August 2nd, 1871, to Eliza Kelso, whose father, Wm. Kelso, was an old settler of Daviess County, and descended from South Caro- lina parents.
Mr. Ramsey's only child living is James.
Mr. Ramsey is an Odd Fellow and a member of the Grand Army of the Re- public.
W. P. ELLIS, ex-postmaster of Washing- ton, and a well-known mechanic, was born in this county, December 31, 1835. His youth was spent upon the farm and his ed- neation obtained within the walls of the proverbial log school house. On approach- ing manhood he placed himself under the direction of George Birge, an efficient ear- penter, to learn the trade and after the nsual term of service he was a competent workman and set out for himself. He had not more than fairly begun when the civil war became the all absorbing topic and men were dropping civil pursuits on every hand and entering the army. Mr. Ellis was no exception to this rule. He enlisted in Company E. 27th Ind. Vol. Inf., was
mustered in at this point, ordered to the national capital and there placed in com- mand of General Banks. Later, he was in MeClellan's command in West Virginia. Following this he participated in the engage- ments at Antietam, Gettysburg, Chaneel- lorsville, Cedar Mountain, and after veter- anizing at Tullahoma, Tenn., he participated in the campaign of Atlanta and went with Sherman to the sea. From that point north he saw the closing events of the war ; hard marching, swamp wading and pontoon building through the Carolinas, ending with the surrender of General Johnston near Goldsboro. Mr. Ellis was wounded at Gettysburg and at Resaca. He enlisted a private and was discharged a sergeant. He was in the Grand Review at Washing- ton, D. (., and when he returned home he had seen more than four years of war.
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