USA > Indiana > Memorial and genealogical record of Representative Citizens of Indiana > Part 54
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
The death of Samnel Hinton, of this memoir, occurred on April 26, 1892, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. His widow survived until January 8, 1900. They were a grand old pioncer couple and were highly esteemed by all who knew them.
SOLOMON ANDREW AURENTZ.
A publication of this nature exercises its most important function when it takes cogmzanee, through proper memoriai tri- bute, of the life and labors of so good a citizen as was Solomon A. Aurentz, who was one of the best known business men and most representative citizens of Fort Wayne, Indiana, having been the leading grocer for a period of thirty-five years and an influential factor in the general development of the city of his choice. IIc ever stood exponent of the most leal and loyal citizenship and was a noble personality whose memory will be long cherished and venerated in the city to whose civic and material progress he contributed in most generous measure. A man of great busi- ness capacity and of the highest principles of integrity and honor, he made his influence felt along diverse lines and he was long a leader in the promotion of legitimate industrial and semi-public enterprises which conserved the general welfare of the city and county of his adoption. He matured his plans carefully and pa- tiently and was a man of splendid initiative power and construc- tive ability, so that he was well fitted to become one of the up- builders of a thriving city. He gave generously of his superb powers in furthering the industrial and civic upbuilding of the locality so long honored by his citizenship, and his name is one that merits a conspicuous place on the roll of those who have worthily conserved such progress. His integrity was of the most insistent and unswerving type and no shadow rests upon any por- tion of his career as an active business man and sterling citizen. He had his limitations, as do all, but he gave of the best of his in- nate talents to the world and to aiding his fellow men. Mr. Au- rentz was a man of impressive personality, was broad of mental ken and had the characteristics which ever beget objective es- teem, confidence and friendship. Viewing his life in its perspec- tive, none can fail to have an appreciation of his great accomplish- ments at a time when such powers as his were at a premium, and he should ever be remembered as one of the noble, kindly and public-spirited men of affairs who played a conspicuous role in the carly drama of civilization which had its setting in the city of Fort Wayne.
606
Solomon A. Aurentz was born in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, Oc- tober 2, 1831. He was the son of John and Sarah L. (Luntz) Au- rentz, also natives of the above named place, where they grew to maturity and were married and from there they moved to near Blairsville, Pennsylvania, when their son, Solomon A., of this sketch, was quite young, he being the oldest of twelve children. John Aurentz, the father, devoted his life to agricultural pursuits in Pennsylvania, and was very successful in that line of endeavor, having been a hard worker and a good manager. When old age came on he retired from active life and moved to the town of Blairsville, where he spent his declining days. In speaking of his death, which occurred there, the following account is given by a Blairsville paper: "At the ripe old age of ninety-one years, John Aurentz, one of Blairsville's oldest and most esteemed citi- zens, has passed away. IIe came to Indiana county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1846, and moved to Blairsville in 1863. Here for many years he was actively identified with the business interests. He was a progressive man, fortunate in his undertakings and withal a consistent practical Catholic. In point of years he was one of Blairsville's oldest citizens at the time of his death."
Solomon A. Aurentz grew to manhood in the vicinity of Blairsville and received a practical education in the common schools, after which he went to work in a general store for a Mr. Geise, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. This seemed to be his nat- ural bent and he soon mastered the ins and outs of this line of endeavor, and there he remained several years, then engaged in the same business for himself at Blacklick, Pennsylvania. He was there three years, building up a good trade, but, seeking a larger field for his operations, he next moved to Greensburg, that state, and engaged in the clothing business. After remaining there five years, he sold out and in 1869 removed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and embarked at once in the grocery business, purchas- ing the store of Daniel Nestel on Broadway, among the first gro- ceries of Fort Wayne, later changing the location of his store to a site across the street, and he subsequently built a block at the corner of Broadway and Jefferson streets, and was there sixteen years, when he sold to Kayser & Baade, seeking a site on West Main street, more central, which he conducted very successfully up to the time of his retirement, in 1904, when he turned his busi- ness over to his sons, P. Skelley Aurentz and August C. Aurentz,
60%
who are still conducting this long-established and popular store, successfully carrying out the plans inaugurated by their worthy sire. The latter was successful from the first in the mercantile business and he gradually built up a large and lucrative patron- age, always carried an extensive, up-to-date and carefully selected stock of goods, and he treated his thousands of customers with every consideration and courtesy, so that they had the most im- plicit confidence in his integrity. The elder Aurentz was a very charitably inclined man. Notwithstanding that he passed through many hardships in a business way, he was one of the most suc- cessful of the many merchants of Fort Wayne. He was a great home man, a great reader and was very domestic in his tastes. Politically, he was a Democrat, but was never very active. He was strongly urged from time to time to run for office, but he would never permit his name to be used. For a period of thirty- five years he was the best known and foremost grocer of his chosen city, and his patrons came from all over Allen county, his career, taken as a whole, being a very active and successful one.
Solomon A. Aurentz retired from active business several months before his death, which occurred on April 4, 1905, at the age of seventy-three years. ITis principal characteristic was his sterling honesty; his word was as good as his bond, and when he gave a promise that settled all doubt of the issue as effectively as though legal documents had been prepared, duly signed and sealed. He belonged to that race who, in their business transac- tions one with another, dealt not in notes, bonds and mortgages. Their honor was their bond and their sayso was equivalent to a mortgage in effectiveness and force. His disposition was kindly in the extreme, and he enjoyed the respect and esteem of all who knew him. The same can be said of his old father, "Daddy" Aurentz, as he was affectionately called by the older residents of Blairsville, Pennsylvania.
The subject was an excellent citizen, possessed of many ad- mirable traits of character and had a very large number of friends. He was a devoted member of the Cathone churen, a conspicuous figure in the Cathedral congregation, and was identified with the Married Men's Sodality of that organization.
Solomon A. Aurentz was united in marriage with Mary Phil- omena Skelley, of Latrobe, in historical St. Vincent's Abbey, where he went to school. She was the accomplished daughter of
608
Hugh and Mary ( Easley) Skelley, both parents being natives of Pennsylvania. She was one of nine children. Mrs. Aurentz was born in New Alexandria, near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on Febru- ary 14, 1834. She had excellent home training and received her education in the parochial schools in the town of her birth at the Sisters Academy, Latrobe, where she made a splendid record for scholarship, being a close student and by autant a talented and ambitious lady. She was a favorite with all who knew her, being a woman of many accomplishments and graces, not the least of which was a deep, but unostentatious charity, and many unfortu- nate, distressed and sorrowing people have been greatly helped by her benefactions, words of encouragement and timely advice. However, she lived in the quiet of her home, rearing her children in a wholesome atmosphere and guiding them into right paths. Her greatest ambition, and it was fully realized, was to prove a good mother. She was born and reared a Roman Catholic, to which faith she was devotedly attached and for which she was ever most loyal. She has been one of the worthiest members of the Cathedral congregation from her advent in Fort Wayne and in all the charities of that parish she had a promoting hand, and when she passed away, a few years after her husband, her death was universally lamented, everyone that knew her feeling that a warm personal friend had gone, one who could never be replaced, and since then those visiting the beautiful Aurentz homestead at No. 1604 Forest Park boulevard, greatly miss her genuine hospi- tality and the sunshine of her beneficent nature.
The following children were born to Solomon A. Aurentz and wife: Mrs. Mary L. Muhler, Anna, Paul Skelley and August C., all live at the homestead; John Andrew, Emma S., Joseph A., Robert J. and Francis W. are all deceased.
WILLIAM H. VOLLMER.
Gaining snecess and recognition for himself and at the same tine honoring ms county and sure my undlinguistsal services in important trusts, William H. Vollmer, treasurer of the state of In- diana, holds worthy prestige among the leading men of the com- monwealth. Distinctively a man of affairs, he has long filled a conspicuous place in the public eye, and as a leader in important business enterprises, as well as a notable figure in the political arena of his day, he has attained distinction in a field where sound erudition, mature judgment, strict integrity and talents of a high order are required. As a political leader his convictions of right have always placed him in harmony with the positive and avowed policies of his party, but he heartily endorses the maxim that he serves his party best who serves his country best, and upon all questions involving the material, moral and educational interests of society he has always endeavored to ascertain the right in- volved with a view of acting in conformity therewith. He is first of all distinctively a man of the people, whose interests he has at heart and for whom he would not hesitate to make any reasonable sacrifice. Ile recognizes no aristocracy except that of true and noble manhood, based upon genuine worth and merit, for, thor- oughly American, and with faith in the ultimate glorious destiny of our free institutions, he believes the best way to realize that destiny is for each member of the body politic to live up to his highest ideas of right, which, to the best of his ability, he has endeavored to do.
William H. Vollmer is descended from sterling German an- cestry, his parents, Frederick and Johanna (Baker) Vollmer, háv- ing been natives of the Fatherland. His father, who was born in Prussia, Germany, came to the United States at the age of twenty- one years and settled near Vincennes, Indiana, where for six years he engaged in agricultural pursuits. He then moved to Sullivan county, where forty acres of farming land engaged his attention until 1882, when he moved back to Vincennes and retired from active labor. The subject's mother was born in Lippe-Det- mold, Germany, and came to the United States at the age of six-
(39)
610
teen years, being married to Mr. Vollmer after her arrival in this country. They became the parents of ten children, namely: Will- iam H., the immediate subject of this sketch; Frederick E., a farmer near Vincennes, Indiana; Louis L., who deals in grain and operates an elevator at Vincennes; Ama is the wife of A. Her- manu, a farmer; Henry, a farmer at Vincennes; Ernest, of Vin- cennes, formerly a farmer, but now retired . Wannal a Laune also near vmeennes; three children who died in infancy. The parents of these children are both deceased.
William II. Volhner was reared under the parental roof and secured his education in the common and parochial schools of his native county. At the age of seventeen years he left the home farm and, going to Vincennes, entered the employ of his uncle in the general mercantile business, remaining in his employ for fif- teen and a half years. During the first year he managed to save fifty dollars, which he put out at interest, and this gave him a start in a business. He went into the grocery business, with a partner under the firm name of Vollmer & Recker, in which he was en- gaged for eight years, meeting with a gratifying measure of suc- cess. During this time he received the Democratie nomination for county treasurer. Selling out his interest in the grocery business, Mr. Vollmer formed a partnership with C. C. Winkler as wholesale handlers of watermelons, the enterprise developing mammoth proportions so that the house was eventually recog- nized as one of the largest handlers of these melons in the state. Mr. Vollmer's efforts in all the enterprises to which he addressed himself were rewarded with success, owing to his energetic meth- ods and wise management. In 1902 he was instrumental in the organization of the Citizens Trust Company, of Vincennes, which has a capital stock of seventy-five thousand dollars, and of which he was elected president. This institution met with pronounecd success from the start and was soon numbered among the sound monetary concerns of Knox county, much of its success being directly due to Mr. Vollmer's personal efforts, sound and conser- vative management and personal influence. In 1910 Mr. Vollmer received the nomination of his party for treasurer of state and at the ensuing election was successful, being the present incumbent of this responsible office. He brought to the discharge of the duties of his office qualifications of the highest order and he has so administered the finances of the people as to receive their uni-
611
versal commendation. Believing firmly that public office is a public trust, he conducts his office according to the strictest and most correct business methods, keeping personally in touch with every detail of the department. He is popular in the official cir- cle at the state capital and because of his business ability and per- sonal integrity he commands general respect and confidence.
Politically, Mr. Vollmer ic aligned with the Democratic party and has been active in its interests, having served three terms as chairman of the Knox county central committee, doing effective work in both local and state campaigns. Fraternally, he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On the 3d of May, 1882, William H. Vollmer was married to Julia L. Rettershamp, of Vincennes, and they became the parents of one child, a son, Oscar, who was born December 25, 1895, and who died July 23, 1901. Those most closely associated with Mr. Vollmer are proudest in their praise of his splendid personal quali- ties and his fidelity to every trust confided in him, and he is emi- nently deserving of representation in a work of the character of the one at hand.
SCHUYLER COLFAX.
Eminent statesman, Odd Fellow, and Vice-President of the United States-Sehuyler Colfax will go down in hh! of Tadland's most distinguished citizens of a past generation. He was born in New York City, March 23, 1823. llis grandfather, Gen. William Colfax, was a native of Connecticut, and served with distinction in the war of the Revolution. His father died before his son's birth, as did also a sister, and thus he became the only child of his widowed inother. The early years of Mr. Colfax were spent in his native city, where he attended the public schools and afterwards became clerk in a store. In 1836 he came to Indiana, locating at New Castle, where he again entered a store as clerk, and in 1811 he became a resident of South Bend, in which city he subsequently received the appointment of deputy auditor. In 1842 he was active in organizing a temperance society at South Bend and continued a total abstainer throughout his life. At this time he reported the proceedings of the state Senate for the In- dianapolis Journal, and in 1844 entered the political arena as a political speaker for Henry Clay. In 1845 he became editor and proprietor of the St. Joseph Valley Register, of which he was also founder, and he continued its publication for a period of eighteen years. He was secretary of the Chicago harbor and river convention in 1847, and in 1848 was elected secretary of the Whig national convention, at Baltimore, which nominated Gen. Zachary Taylor for the Presidency. He was a member of the Indiana con- stitutional convention of 1850, and in 1851 received the Whig nom- ination for Congress. His opponent was Graham N. Fitch, well known Indiana politician, and a fine speaker with whom he en- gaged in a joint canvass, during which the two men traveled over one thousand miles and held over seventy discussions. The dis- triet was strongly Democratic, yet Mr. Colfax was defeated by only two hundred votes. In 1852 he was a delegate to the national convention which nominated Gen. Winfield Scott for the Presi- dency, and in 1854 was elected to the thirty-fourth Congress by the unprecedented majority of one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six votes, although the same district in previous years
613
gave a Democratic majority of twelve hundred. In 1858 he was again triumphantly elected to Congress, and served as a member of that body by successive elections until 1869. Ile was elected speaker of the llouse in December, 1863, and on April 8th of the following year he descended from the chair to move the expulsion of Mr. Long, of Ohio, who had made a speech favoring the recog- nition of the Southern Conf. . ward changed to one of censure, and Mr. Colfax's action wa ; gen- orally sustained by Union men. On the convening of the thirty- ninth Congress, Mr. Colfax was again elected speaker by a major- ity of one hundred and thirty-nine votes. On March 4, 1867, he was for the third time chosen speaker, and his skill as a presiding officer, often shown under very trying circumstances, gained the applause of both friends and political opponents.
In May, 1868, the Republican national convention at Chicago nominated him on the first ballot for Vice-President, General Grant being the Presidential nominee, and the ticket having been successful, he took his seat as president of the Senate March 4, 1869, In Angust, 1871, the President offered him the position of secretary of state for the remainder of his term, but he declined. In 1872 he was prominently mentioned as a Presidential candi- date, and the same year he refused the editorship of the New York Tribune, Horace Greeley's great paper, which at that time was one of the most influential journals in America.
Mr. Colfax's later years were spent mostly in retirement at his home in South Bend, and in delivering publie lectures, the most popular of which was that on "Lincoln and Garfield." He was one of the most prominent members of the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows in America and that order erected a bronze statue to his memory in University Park, Indianapolis, Indiana, which was unveiled in May, 1887. His death occurred at Man- kato, Minnesota, January 23, 1885.
HON. LEWIS G. ELLINGHAM.
It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of a state or nation lies not in the machinery of oncomment aus chen in its Hans, but rather in the sterling qualities of the individual citizen, in his capacity for high and unselfish effort and his devo- tion to the public welfare. In these particulars, he whose name appears at the head of this review has conferred honor and dig- nity upon his county and state, and as an elemental part of his- tory it is consonant that there should be recorded a resume of his career, with the object in view of noting his connection with the advancement of one of the most flourishing and progressive sec- tions of the commonwealth, as well as his official relations with the administration of the public affairs of the state honored by his citizenship.
Lewis Glendale Ellingham, who is efficiently and ably dis- charging the responsible duties of secretary of state of Indiana, was born on a farm in Wells county, Indiana, on February 23, 1868, and is a son of Charles and Hannah (Scotton) Ellingham. These parents were natives of England, who emigrated to the United States in carly life. Their marriage occurred after their arrival here, in Huntington, Indiana, immediately after which they settled on a traet of land in Wells county, to the improve- ment and cultivation of which the father applied himself. He has prospered in his labors and was able to buy more land from time to time until at length he had a fine and productive farm of two hundred acres. He lived on this farm continuously until well advaneed in years, when, having accumulated a competency and being assured against future needs, they retired from active labor and moved to Bluffton, where they spent their remaining days. They were the parents of seven children, of whom six are living.
Lew G. Ellingham was but six years of age when the family removed to Bluffton and in the public schools of that city he re- ceived his education. In his youth he entered the office of the Bluffton Banner to learn the printing trade, in which he became a very proficient workman. At the age of nineteen years he pur-
615
chased the Geneva Herald, which he edited and published during the following four years. Selling the Herald in 1891, he pur- chased the Winchester Democrat, which he conducted for three years, selling out at the end of that period. Mr. Ellingham then moved to Decatur and was the leader in forming a stock company, which established the Decatur Democratic Press, of which Mr. Ellingham became editor. Shortly after founding this paper the company purchased the subscription list and good will of the Democratic World, and in August, 1896, purchased the Decatur Democrat, thus consolidating all the home papers and publishing the same under the name of the Decatur Democrat. In July, 1897, Mr. Ellingham purchased all of the stock of the company, thus becoming sole proprietor of the plant. In January, 1903, he founded the Daily Democrat, the second daily paper published in Adams county, and in July, 1906, he purchased the daily edi- tion of the Decatur Journal, consolidating it with the Daily Demo- crat. It is a seven-column, four-page paper, and has a splendid circulation throughout the county. The weekly edition is a seven- column, eight-page paper and has a larger circulation than any of its competitors. In 1910 the business was incorporated, the stock being owned by Mr. Ellingham and his wife and J. H. Heller and his wife.
In 1910 Mr. Ellingham was honored by the Democratic party with the nomination for secretary of state, and at the November election he was chosen to this office, of which he is the present incumbent. His performance of his manifold duties has been marked by promptness, ability and sound judgment, eliciting nothing but praise from all, regardless of party lines. During his official term his editorial chair at Decatur is filled by J. Il. Heller. The newspapers controlled by Mr. Ellingham are well gotten up mechanically and are ably edited, their political sup- port being given to the Democratic party. Mr. Ellingham enjoys an enviable reputation as a newspaper man, having raised the standard of all the papers with which he has been identified. Ilo is a strong editorial writer and has the genuine newspaper man's instinct for news, so that the Democrat now stands at the fore- front among the newspapers of his section of the state. Per- sonally, Mr. Ellingham is a man of pleasing address and genial disposition though entirely unostentatious in manner, and he- cause of his eminent ability and high qualities of character he
616
has a host of warm personal friends. His circle of acquaintances and friends has been enlarged since entering public life and on all sides he is regarded as eminently fitted for the responsib'e position which he now fills.
On January 2, 1895, Mr. Ellingham was united in marriage with Nellic Miller, the daughter of Col. M. B. and Sarah J. Miller, of Winchester, and they are the parents of two children Winfor 1
Politically, as is inferred from the foregoing paragraphs, Mr. Ellingham is a Democrat, while, religiously, he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has taken the degrees of the Scottish Rite up to and including the thirty-second, and he also holds membership in the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in all of which he is held in high appreciation.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.