USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Pictorial and biographical memoirs of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, together with biographies of many prominent men of other portions of the state, both living and dead > Part 51
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HENRY MILHOUS. Among the sons of Ohio who brought with them to the Hoosier State the enterprise and thrift which have ever distinguished the native Ohioan, we are gratified to be able to name Mr. Milhous, who was born in Clinton County, that State, February 19, 1830. The Milhous family came originally from Ireland, and there the great-grandfather of our subject, Henry Milhous, was born May 1, 1736, in the parish of Timahoe, County Kildare. The latter married Miss Rebecca, daughter of Isaac and Mary Cook, and they had several children, among whom were the following: Robert, grandfather of subject; Mary, who married David Whitson; Rebecca, who married Amos Compton; Sarah, who married M. Spray; Ann, who married Amos Hawkins; Henry, died unmarried, and Dinah, who married Stephen Compton. The father of these children died in Ireland, and his sons, Robert and Henry, came to America in their early manhood. Robert landed at Charleston, S. C., but the other two settled in Philadelphia, where all trace of the one whose name is not given was lost. Henry, one of the brothers, died young, and it is supposed that he was a single man. Robert, the grandfather of our subject, was the one who settled in the Pal- metto State. The latter came to Ohio early in the nineteenth century and located in Clin- ton County. About 1836 he came to Indiana and located in Hendricks County, where his death occurred in 1841. He married Miss Sallie Compton, and seven children were given them: Henry, Samuel, John, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Ann and Robert. The grandfather was drafted into the Revolutionary War, but being a Quaker did not serve. Samuel Milhons, son of the above and father of our subject, was born in South Carolina, January 23, 1796, and early in life came with his parents to the Buckeye State. He was married in Clinton County, May 14, 1829, to Mrs. Sarah Scott, widow of William Scott and daughter of Will- iam and Amy Sanders. Six children were the fruits of this union: Henry and Mary (twins), the latter deceased; Charity, Amos and Robert, deceased, and Elizabeth. In 1835 Mr. Milhous moved to Indiana and located in Decatur Township, where he bought 160 acres of Jesse Jones and five acres of Joshua Compton. There he passed the remainder of his days, dying in 1843. He was a Quaker in religious belief. His wife survived until 1886. Henry Milhous, their eldest child and the subject of this sketch, grew to mature years in Decatur Township, Marion County, and there received his scholastic training. He was first married to Miss Beulah, daughter of Josiah and Hannah (Jessup) Carson, in 1854. One daughter, Maria E., was born to this union. She married Henry Williams, and they have one son named Wayne. Henry Milhous selected his second wife in the person of Mrs. Rachel (Sum- ner) Ritter, daughter of Caleb and Rebecca (Harold) Sumner and widow of John Ritter. Three children were born to the second nnion, one of whom died in infancy. Those living are: Charles R., who married Ella Jones and became the father of one child, Sibby. Charles' second marriage was with Miss Mary T., sister of his first wife, and they have one daughter, Cecily, and Amos E., wbo married Miss Addie M. Dickenson, and became the father of two children, Thurlow and Glada D. Henry Milhaus was married the third time in 1872 to Mrs. Eliza J. (Williams) Harvey, daughter of Isaac and Sibby (Carter) Williams, and widow of Elwood Harvey, by whom she has one child living, C. D., who married Laura Rariden.
HERMAN C. HOLLE. It is a pleasure to record the character and enterprise of men of business, who, on 'account of their long tenure and extensive operations comprise almost a history of the business in which they are engaged. Of such men it is unnecessary to speak in words of colored praise. Their very existence is emphatic evidence of the hon- orable position that they occupy and the long course of just dealings that they have pursued.
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Such a gentleman is Herman C. Holle, stone contractor, who is a native of Germany, in which country he was born in the year 1840. His father, G. F. Holle, who was also a stone mason, came to the United States in 1866 and located on South East Street, Indianapolis, where he died when about eighty-three years of age. When a lad of about fourteen years of age Herman commenced to learn the stone mason and stone cutter's trade and when fifteen years of age came to the United States and at once settled in the town of Indianapolis, almost immediately securing employment with a Mr. Duncan and later with Henry Helm, being employed by the latter as journeyman, then as a partner. These two gentlemen put up some of the most imposing edifices of the city among which was the Odd Fellows' Hall, the How- ard Block, both handsome and imposing structures. At a later period Mr. Holle engaged in business for himself and since that time he has erected a new steel rail mill and some of the most elegant residences in the city, among them being that of Col. Downing on North Mer- idian Street, which will long endure as a monument to his skillful workmanship. Mr. Holle came to this country laboring under the disadvantages of extreme youth, a very imperfect knowledge of the English language and a scarcity of friends, but being a youth of much energy and ambition he continued to gradually climb higher and higher on the ladder of success until he now occupies an enviable position in business circles. He has passed all the chairs in the I. O. O. F. lodge and is a member of the Grand Lodge. He is a married man, his wife having been a Cincinnati lady.
JESSE ALLEN REYNOLDS. Many of the farmers of Marion County, Ind., lead such quiet, unobtrusive lives as to be seldom heard of outside of their own township. They are doing fine work in their own community, but do not care to mingle in the more public matters of political life, and devote all their time and energies to the cultivation of their farms, and the development of the resources of their vicinity. Such men deserve more mention than they ordinarily receive, and we are glad to here present one of them in the person of Jesse Allen Reynolds, who has a good home in Decatur Township, this county. He was born in Brown Township, Morgan County, Ind., November 22, 1830, on his father's farm of eighty acres, and there made his home until eighteen years of age. His schooling was limited, for he attended not over two months in a year, and left school altogether when fifteen years of age. When in his seventeenth year he went to Guilford Township, Hendricks County, Ind., and there entered the blacksmith shop of Verlin Jones, his brother-in-law, with whom he remained for eighteen montlıs. After four months' work on a farm in Iowa, our subject returned to Jones' shop, and remained with him for nine months. After this he worked for a farmer named Z. L. Jackson, who owned a blacksmith shop, for about two years. On December 24, 1853, he was married to Miss Purlina Stone, daughter of Gabriel and Isabel (Long) Stone, and on March 13, 1854, he located in West Newton, Decatur Township, Marion County, Ind., and opened a blacksmith shop which he carried on for nine years. After this he bought 160 acres of land, and made his home on the same from 1863 to 1874, and then bought 160 acres of David George on which he resides at the present time. Mr. Reynolds has cleared 118 acres of the land he now owns, and has sixty- five acres in timber. He raises wheat, corn, hay, etc., aud is a thrifty, thorough-going farmer. In 1876 he engaged in the dairy busi- ness, and now owns 54 head of cows, and six months of the year he sends to Indianapolis from 100 to 140 gallons of milk per day. During the winter he ships 50 to 60 gallons of milk. He makes no butter. In his political views Mr. Reynolds is a Democrat. At one time he was a Mason, and he also belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church a number of years ago. To his marriage was boru thirteen children, eleven of whom reached mature years as follows: Noab, born September 7, 1854, and died September 19, 1883, unmarried; Mary, married Aaron Stanton, and they have two children, Orpba and Clarence; George, who married Jane Holman, and they have six children, Nona, Mamie, Jesse, Pearl, Edna and -; Charles married Snsan Horton, and they have three children, Orlando, Ora and Dora; Eli married Emma Yager, and they have four children as follows: Levi, Sophia, William J. and Mary; Elizabeth married Andrew J. Petty, and they have three children: Wallace, Nellie aud Henrictta; Martha married Lewis Monday, and is the mother of three children, Ethel, Charles and - -; Eliza J., single; Emeline, single; Louie married Charles F. Yager, and bas two children, Berty and Mamie, and Henry, unmarried. Mr. Reynolds' parents, Henry and Mary (Jones) Reynolds, were natives of North Carolina, the father born
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in Surry County in 1787. He was reared in that county, and there married to Miss Jones in 1812. She was a daughter of Isaiah and Martha (East) Jones. After marriage Henry Reynolds and family emigrated to middle Tennessee, remained there for a year or two, and then in 1823 came to Indiana, locating first in Wayne County, where he remained one sea- son, and then settled in Hendricks County, where he made his home for about two years. From there he moved to Morgan County, and entered eighty acres of land on which he passed the remainder of his days, his death occurring in 1851. He had nearly all of his land cleared up at the time of his death. In politics he was a Whig, and in religion a Christian. He was the father of fifteen children: Elizabeth, died, unmarried; Mary, deceased, married Jona- than Wilson; Bethania, deceased, married Joshua Stokesbury; Mahala, deceased, married John W. Stokesbury; James, deceased, married Mary Barnett; Martha, deceased, married Jeremiah Garrett; Caleb E., married Eliza J. Garrett; Joseph A. married Marian McDaniel; Sarah, died, unmarried; Isaac married Lovina Castine; Purlina E. married, first Berlin Jones, and afterward John Kellum; Jesse A., our subject; Adeline, unmarried; Ruth A., deceased, married William Jessup, and Henry, deceased, married Barbara A. McCreery. The mother of these children died in 1844, aged forty-nine years. William Reynolds, grand- father of our subject, was a native of the Old North State, born in 1765. He had one son killed in the War of 1812. Our subject's father-in-law, Gabriel Stone, was a native Ken- tuckian, born in 1796, and he was married in that State. In 1834 he came to Indiana, and located in Morgan County, where his death occurred in 1841. His wife, who was born in 1799, died in 1887. They were the parents of twelve children: Nancy, deceased, married John Francis; John married Fannie Ray; Amelia, who married Alexander Tansy; James, who married, first Mary Scott, and afterward Mary Murray; William, who died unmarried; Albert, who married Melinda Munford; Sarab, who married John Stevenson; Eli, who mar- ried Martha Cox; Purlina, who married Jesse A. Reynolds; Harvey, who married Eliza Arnold; Rebecca, married Esau Kent, and Eliza, who died unmarried. Mrs. Reynolds' grandfather, Nimrod Stone, was born in Kentucky about 1771, and served in the War of 1812.
FRANK B. DEARINGER. This gentleman, who is one of the wide-awake business men of Indianapolis, Ind., is a member of the firm of Dearinger & Niemier, artificial stone contract- ors at No. 313 East Georgia Street. Theirs is one of the most extensive concerns of the kind in the city and has been established for a period of eight years, during which time they have made both reputation and fortune for themselves. They make a specialty of lithogen floors for warehouses, cellars, machine shops, sidewalks, curbing, steps, etc., also cisterns, vats and concrete foundations. The senior member of this well known firm, Mr. Dearinger, was born on March 24, 1855, in the city in which he now lives and is doing business, his father being Simeon Dearinger. The wife of Simeon has been dead quite a number of years. There were born to their marriage two children: Frank B., and Joseph, who is a successful business man engaged in the sale of wall paper at Evansville, Ind. Frank B. Dearinger was educated in the schools of Indianapolis. He gradually worked himself up in the business and the firm of Dearinger & Niemier is to-day one of the most extensive in the city. They executed the work on the Commercial Club Building, the new jail, and have done a great deal of important street work.
JAMES W. HUDSON. The proper paving of the streets of a large city is of the greatest importance, for it not only facilitates labor greatly but it adds much. to the enjoyment of those citizens who have horses and carriages, and greatly augments the appearance of a place. The business of street contracting has been that of James W. Hudson, since 1867, and he is one of the most extensive and trustworthy in the city. He was born at Ft. Ball, (now Tiffin), Ohio, in 1826, a son of George M. Hudson, a native of the city of "Brotherly Love." The latter removed to Ohio when a young man and worked at his trade, that of cooper, in Chillicothe, until 1832 or 1833, when he went to Cincinnati, and there success- fully conducted a bakery, finding an able assistant in his wife, whom he had married in Chillicothe. In politics he always supported the Whig party. James W. Hudson was educated in the schools of Cincinnati but when he had reached the age of twelve years he went on the river between Cincinnati and New Orleans and held the position of steward until his marriage when he took up his residence in Cincinnati, and turned his attention to
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the paving of streets as a contractor. In August, 1862, he became a member of Company B, Eighty-third Ohio Infantry, with the rank of corporal, and was present at the first attack on Vicksburg. Later he was at Arkansas Post, where he received a very severe wound by a gun shot, losing bis upper jaw. He was given up for dead but after a long period recovered although he was also for a long time sick with typhoid fever, the result of expo- sure, and was finally honorably discharged from the service.
JOHN WACKER. All the successful business men of the West are self-made men. From poverty and obscurity they have fought their way in life's battle to prominence and honor. Not only this; they have stamped upon the industries and institutions of their section their own characteristics, and have thus given permanency to every enterprise. In their lives and success is found demonstrated
The rank is but the guinea's stamp --- The man's the man for a' that.
A volume of the successful business men of Indianapolis would be incomplete unless mention were made of John Wacker, who has been one of the public-spirited citizens of Haughville since about 1885. He is a native of Germany-that land that bas sent to this country some of her worthiest citizens-born May 16, 1851, a son of Philip and Anna (Hol- ley) Wacker, also Germans by birth, where they lived and died. The father was the owner of an extensive vineyard and manufactured a great deal of wine. He was for three years a member of the German Army under William I, and died in his native land in February, 1883. To him and his wife three sons and two daughters were born: Carl, August, John, Nannie (deceased), and Sophia (deceased). The subject of this sketchi was the youngest sou, and in the section in which he was born be resided until he was fifteen years of age, securing in the meantime, a good practical education in the common schools. He then began learning the trade of a butcher, and followed this occupation in the principal cities of Germany until he was twenty-two years of age, at which time he decided to come to America, and shortly after his arrival in this country in April, 1873, be came to Indianapolis and worked at his trade for about a year and a half thereafter. He then opened a meat market of his own on Kentucky Avenue, where he remained about six months, then moved the same to Davidson Street and there conducted a successful trade for about two years. He contin- ued this occupation at different points in Indianapolis until 1885, then came to Haughville and in February of that year opened the first meat market in the place in a small temporary building erected on property which he had purchased there. During the summer of 1885 he erected a handsome two-story brick building, the first building of the kind to be erected in the place, it being 36x48 feet in dimensions, but this was afterward found to be inade- quate for his purpose and he put on an addition of twenty-five feet in the rear. For about one year, in addition to his meat market, he kept a stock of groceries also, then sold his stock of groceries and a short time after his meat market, as well. Since then he has devoted much attention to the building up and improvement of Haughville and has made it one of the most flourishing places of Marion County. He has been an extensive dealer in real estate, a suc- cessful purchaser of acre property, and has recently laid out an addition of twenty-three acres to the town, which he has himself improved in the way of trees, the grading of the streets, the laying of natural gas pipes, etc. Mr. Wacker universally commands the respect of his fellow men even though he has attained no high political or other preferment, and his whole course through life is one deserving of emulation and well worthy of preservation. Besides the addition referred to above he has other large real estate interests and is the owner of twelve acresadjoining the town which is not yet laid out. He has built fifteen houses which he rents to twenty-one teuants, and he also has a fine graded spot of seven and a half, acres which is finely improved with walks, trees, etc. In fact, Mr. Wacker has been the leading spirit and factor in the development of Haughville, for when he first purchased the land at that point it was nothing but a corn-field but now has a population of about. 3,500 people, a state of affairs largely brought about through his efforts. He is a stanch Demo- crat, takes an active interest in the success of his party, in the interests of which he wields a wide influence throughout his section. He is a member of the K. of P., the Butchers' Protective Association and the Ancient Order of Druids. On July 29, 1875, he was united in
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marriage to Miss Emma E. Lahman, a native of Indianapolis, and a daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth (Dipple) Lahman, the former of whom was born in Prussia and the latter in Hessian, Germany. They were brought to the United States when children, were reared and married in this country and became early settlers of Indianapolis, at which time it was but a village. Mr. Lahman was a shoemaker by trade and during the Civil War in this country he had charge of a shoe firm's interest at Camp Morton. After the war he opened a grocery store and for many years pursued the calling of a merchant in Indianapolis. He died in 1880 but is survived by his widow who is a resident of Indianapolis. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Wacker has resulted in the birth of the following children: Emma, Edward, and Florence. The entire family are inembers of the Zion German Evangelical Church in Indianapolis. In 1883 the demand for a German church in Haughville was met with and Miss Emma Wacker has proved a potent factor in its organization and continuance. Being an accomplished musician she has served as organist and is a member of the choir. She also takes an active interest in the reading room recently established in Haughville, in fact, is an intelligent and indefatigable worker in all causes in which women are usually interested.
JOHN P. LE PAGE. The business in which Mr. Le Page is engaged is a most important one and requires a degree of proficiency which is not acquired by all who aspire to success in this line of work. Mr. Le Page is a remarkably successful marble cutter and monument builder, and near the gates of Crown Hill Cemetery he has carried on an extensive business for the past sixteen years, and during this time has erected some of the finest monuments in that most beautiful resting-place of the dead. He is, with reason, considered one of the finest and most artistic workers in marble in the State, and his services have been called into requisition on many of the largest, most beautiful and elaborate monuments within the borders of Indiana. He is a native of Belgium, where he was born on March 29, 1849, to Albert and Catherine (Ballion) Le Page, both of whom were born in Belgium and were there reared and married. In 1855 they sought a home in the New World and here they reared their family of seven children, whose names are given in the order of their birth : John P .; Mar- guerite, who was born in 1853, and is now living in Floyd Knobs, Ind., the wife of John Shoeman; Josephine, who resides in the same place, the wife of John Erb; Emily also resides there and is the wife of Koon Navale; Rosie is a resident of New Albany, Ind., and is the wife of William Smith, and the two youngest children died in infancy. John Le Page was reared on a farm until he was about sixteen years of age, at which time he began working at his present trade of marble cutting, which he lias followed successfully ever since. His father was a fresco painter and gave his son many valuable lessons and hints in the art of drawing, which proved very valuable to him in his present business. On November 22, 1874, he led to the altar Miss Louisa Kinzie, who comes of excellent German stock, her parents being still residents of the Old Country. To his union four children living have been given, and were named as follows: John, born September 3, 1881; Emma, Charley and Elmer, all of whom are pursuing their studies in the public schools. Six children are deceased. No man in the community stands higher than does Mr. Le Page. Socially he is a member of the K. of P., the A. F. & A. M., the Druids, the Red Men, the Chosen Friends, the K. of L. and the K. of H., and is also an earnest and consistent member of the church.
NUERGE & REINKING. This is one of the best- known building and contracting firms of the State of Indiana, and has been in existence since 1872, although prior to its formation each gentleman was engaged in building and contracting on his own responsibility. The senior member of the firm, Charles Nuerge, was born in Adams County, Ind., in 1850, a son of Charles A. Nuerge, a native of Germany, who came to the United States when a young man and took up his residence in Adams County, Ind., where he became extensively and successfully engaged in farming. In the schools of his native county Charles Nuerge obtained a practical common-school education and assisted his father on the farm. After a time he began working at the carpenter's trade and learned all the details of this business even to hewing the timber for frames. In 1870 he came to Indianapolis and entered tlie employ of George Hoereth, in whose employ he remained seven years, and in 1878 con- menced contracting for himself. He was very soon after engaged by Henry C. Wilson to do some work for him and this, which was his maiden effort, was his start in his present business. He first formed a partnership with Frank Mowwe and finally, in 1883, became
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associated in business with Henry E. Reinking and together they have erected some of the following buildings: the Jamison & Malott buildings, the rebuilding of Progress House, the Arcade Clothing House, the residence of John W. Schmidt, which was the finest in the State at that time, the A. C. Harris residence on North Meridian Street, the school-house on Noble and North Streets, the Fishback house on North Delaware Street, the Snow's resi- dence, Home Brewing Company, and others, also a great deal of work on St. Mary's in the Woods, at Terre Haute, and just completed the Starch Works in Des Moines, Iowa, for which he was paid $130,000. In 1873 he was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Schildmeyer, of this city, who died leaving him with two children and he took for his second wife Mrs. Lizzie Pierson, who has also borne him two children. Mr. Nuerge is a member of the Builders' Exchange and the Contractors Association and for some time has been a member in good standing of the Lutheran Church. He is an affable and agreeable gentleman and very suc- cessful.
HENRY E. REINKING, the junior member of the above mentioned firm, was born in Adams County, Ind., July 21, 1851, a son of Conrad Reinking, who was born in Germany and who, after coming to the United States, located in New Orleans, where he joined the United States army and went to Mexico, during the war with that country, where he was engaged in the principal battles fought. After that war ended he came to Indiana and commenced farming in Adams County an occupation which still receives his attention to some extent, although he is now over seventy years of age. Henry E. attended the schools of Adams County, and partially learned his trade there, and in company with Charles Nuerge, his present partner, with whom he had gone to school and associated with as a boy and young man, he came to Indianapolis and together they entered the employ of George Hoereth, but afterward worked for other parties and shortly after com- menced taking contracts for himself. In 1883 he formed his present partnership and together these two gentlemen have made a success of their undertaking. In 1873 he was united marriage with the daughter of Fred Schildmeyer, of this city, and their union has resulted in the birth of six sons. Mr. Reinking is a prominent member of the Builders Exchange, the Contractors Association and the German Lutheran Church. In his political views he has always supported the principles of the Democrat party, but so far as himself is concerned he has not been an aspirant for office.
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