A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 8

Author: Johnson, E. Polk, 1844-; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 860

USA > Kentucky > A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III > Part 8

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ALBERT L. BOEHMER .- One of the progres- sive business men who has contributed mate- rially to the industrial and commercial prestige of the city of Covington is Albert Louis Boeh- mer, who is here engaged in the manufacturing of paints and who has through his well di- rected endeavors built up a large and prosper- ous enterprise, which is both wholesale and re- tail in its functions. Mr. Boehmer was born in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 19th of August, 1868, and is a son of Bernard and Mary (Meyer) Boehmer, the former of whom was born in Bissendorf, Germany, and the latter of whom was born in Minster, Auglaize county, Ohio. Bernard Boehmer was reared and educated in his native land and as a young man he severed the ties which bound him to home and fatherland and set forth to seek his fortune in America. He located in the city of

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Cincinnati, where he followed the painter's trade, but he soon moved across the river to Covington, Kentucky, where he engaged in business on his own responsibility and where he continued as a successful contracting paint- er for a number of years. He died in Cov- ington in 1887, at the age of fifty-four years, and his widow, who survived him about seven years, was fifty years of age at the time of her demise. Of the five children the subject of this review is the eldest and of the number only two are now living.

Albert Louis Boehmer was reared to ma- turity in Covington and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the paro- chial schools. At the age of fourteen years he entered upon an apprenticeship to the painter's trade under the able direction of his father, with whom he continued to be asso- ciated until the death of the latter. Thereafter he continued business as a contracting painter for about six years. In 1893 he established a small manufactory of paints and from this modest nucleus he has built up a very success- ful busness. He has a well equipped retail paint store and practically all of the stock util- ized in the same is manufactured by him. The trade of the concern is confined principally to Kenton and neighboring counties and is con- stantly increasing in scope and importance. Mr. Boehmer has shown a most progressive attitude and has interested himself in other local lines of business enterprise, including the development of real estate. He is president of the Beachwood Realty Company, which has effected the development and upbuilding of the attractive suburb of Beachwood. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Suburban Home & Land Company, and both of these corpora- tions are now actively concerned in the devel- oping of the fine suburban district known as Fort Mitchell. Though never a seeker of pub- lic office, Mr. Boehmer gives his allegiance to the Democratic party in so far as national and state issues are involved, but in local affairs he maintains a position independent of strict partisan lines. He is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Knights of America, and both he and his wife are com- municants in St. Benedictus Catholic church.

On the 10th of May, 1910, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Boehmer to Miss Caroline E. Schmidt, who was born and reared in Cov- ington and who is a daughter of Henry Schmidt, of whom individual mention is made on other pages of this work.

GAVIN FULTON, M. D., a prominent member of the medical profession of Louisville, whose marked ability and careful preparation have gained him distinction in the line of his chosen

life work, has spent the most of his life here, and he is a native son, born in Louisville on April 8, 1873, the son of Edward and Caroline (Wilson) Fulton. The father was born in Zanesville, Ohio, the son of Robert Fulton, who was born in Pennsylvania and was one of the first men to cross the mountains into Ohio in his own conveyance, bringing with him his family. He was a pioneer of Zanes- ville, the old Fulton homestead there still stand- ing and being occupied. The great grand- father was John Fulton, who came from Scot- land with his widowed mother when a child and settled in what was then Robbstown, Penn- sylvania. Edward Fulton, the father of our subject, came to Louisville as a youth of eighteen or nineteen years of age, and became one of the Spring Hill distillers of Louisville. He died on January 7, 1893, at the age of fifty-two years, and during his life was a quiet, home-loving man, and very fond of his large, well-selected library. The mother of our sub- ject was born in Louisville, the daughter of Dr. Thomas Wilson and grand-daughter of Dr. Daniel Wilson, who founded what is now the Peter-Neat wholesale drug concern. Dr. Thomas Wilson was born in Louisville and graduated from the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, but never practiced, as he took up the drug business upon the death of his father. Daniel Wilson, the pioneer, was a native of Georgia, of Virginia parentage. The mother died in 1882, at the age of forty-two years.

Dr. Fulton was reared in Louisville and re- ceived his education in that city, first attending the public and high schools. After grounding himself thoroughly in these preparatory courses he entered the University of Louisville in 1890, and was one of the two first four-year students to enter that institution. He was graduated there in 1894, with the degree of M. D., and was assistant to the professor of chemistry for one year in the Louisville University, then ad- junct professor of diseases of children in the Kentucky Medical College for two years. At the end of that time he engaged in country practice in Oldham county, Kentucky, where he went on account of his health, but in 1903 he returned to Louisville and for the next three years was adjunct professor of physiol- ogy in the old Hospital College of Medicine. He is now (1910) adjunct professor in the diseases of children. Dr. Fulton is engaged in the general practice of medicine, at the same time making a specialty of children's diseases and obstetrics. He is a member of the staff of the Deaconess Hospital and chairman of the medical committee of the Baby's Free Milk Fund. He is a member of the Jefferson County

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Medical Society, the Kentucky State Medical Society and the American Medical Associa- tion.

The Doctor married Mary Henry. Peter, who was born in Louisville, daughter of M. C. Peter, the well-known citizen and wholesale druggist of Louisville, of whom a sketch is published elsewhere in this work. From this union there are two children: Nellie Crutcher and Rhoda Peter. As a physician and surgeon Dr. Fulton is constantly broadening his knowl- edge and promoting his efficiency as a prac- titioner by reading and study.

CAPTAIN JOHN LINK, now retired, is one of Newport's interesting characters. He has a thrilling Civil war record, which includes some of the most important encounters in that strug- gle, and also can review twenty-five years' service in Newport's fire department, both in a minor capacity and as chief, he having been one of the city's original fire fighters. Captain Link was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, February 28, 1836, and is the son of Jacob and Jane (Hays) Link, the former a native of Bavaria, Germany, born in the year 1800, and the latter born in the same year in Philadel- phia. The father cast his fortunes with the new world at a very early age and came across with little stock in trade with the exception of his knowledge of the butcher trade, which he had learned in Germany. In Philadelphia, where he first located, he met his future wife and married, and shortly afterward located in Wheeling, West Virginia, where Captain Link was born. The family made several changes of residence, living for different periods of time at Marietta, Ohio, Maysville, Kentucky, and finally located permanently in Newport in 1849. The father subsequently retired and died in 1857. The demise of his wife occurred in Newport some two years previously. They were the parents of five children, namely, Elizabeth, Mary, Philip, Captain Link and Charles. All of these are deceased with the exception of the subject of the biography. Charles, who died in Newport in 1876, served in the Civil war for a short time prior to its close, as a member of the Fifty-Third Ken- tucky Infantry.

Captain Link was an infant when his fam- ily left Wheeling, West Virginia, and was only thirteen years of age when the home was es- tablished in Newport. In the several places at which he resided during his early years he attended the public schools and obtained a com- mon school education. When he became fif- teen years of age he became apprenticed to an engineer on a steamboat plying on the Ohio river, and for several years thereafter the scenes of his activity were the upper and

lower Mississippi and Ohio rivers. At the beginning of the Civil war Captain Link en- listed in Company B of the Twenty-Third Kentucky Volunteer Infantry and served from 1861 until September 12, 1865, when he re- ceived his discharge. He veteranized and re- enlisted in the same company and regiment at Blaine's Cross Roads in East Tennessee in 1864. Under an order of the war department issued in 1864 all the river men were trans- ferred from the army to the navy and Captain Link was transferred to the United States Vindicator, upon which he remained until his discharge. Previous to his transferral to the navy Captain Link participated in a number of engagements, among which were Round Mountain, Perrysville, Stone River, Talla- homa, Locust Grove, Battle Creek, Laverne, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Sweet Water and Blaine's Cross Roads. He was three times wounded but not seriously, and at none of these times was incapacitated.

After the conclusion of the war Captain Link returned to Newport and set bravely about to take up again the broken threads of life. He resumed his position in the Globe Rolling Mills and when in June, 1868, the New- port fire department was organized he was ap- pointed stoker. In 1872 he became chief en- gineer of the department and the following year was appointed its captain under a new law passed by the legislature abolishing the office of chief engineer. When in course of time the abolished office was re-created Cap- tain Link assumed its duties again in 1874 and remained in this capacity until 1889, when he retired. In a few years he returned to active life and from 1896 until 1901 served as chief of the fire department of Newport. In his service of over a quarter of a century he has inaugurated many improvements and much of the efficiency of the organization is directly due to his enlightened and zealous manage- ment of its affairs. His connection with the department beginning as it did at its inception, he has had a virgin field upon which to work, and the past record of the fire fighters is in- deed a credit to its guiding spirit.

In the matter of politics Captain Link is an enthusiastic supporter of the policies and prin- ciples of Republicanism. He is a lodge man, belonging to the Masonic order, including the Knights Templar division, and for many years he held membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, although recently he has not affiliated.

In 1865 Captain Link was united in mar- riage to Anna Cronin, a native of Cincinnati and daughter of Morris and Anna Cronin, both of whom emigrated to the United States

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from Ireland and located in the Queen City. Morris Cronin was a cabinet maker by trade. Seven children were born to this marriage, as follows: Charles, who died in 1894 ; Cora, who died in 1906; William, John, Jennie, Mollie and Lizzie (the two latter deceased). The mother of these children died in 1883 and Captain Link married again, this time to Sophia Risch, a native of Campbell county and the daughter of an emigrated German, named George Risch. Three sons were born to this union: George, Harry and Walter. The second Mrs. Link died in 1894.

CARL WEIDNER, M. D .- Nowhere are men so thoroughly grounded in the principles of education and in science generally as in the great German empire; and the educated Ger- man is the synonym of the well-rounded, broad cultured man, who may be depended upon to execute affairs of great importance requiring powers of mind and persistence. Dr. Weidner in large measure meets all of these require- ments, and is regarded by many as an ideal physician. Certainly if patronage is any cri- terion of ability, he ranks high among the leading physicians in Louisville, where he is now enjoying a large and lucrative practice.

Dr. Carl Weidner is a native of Germany, born on the 12th day of September, 1857, at Hofgeismar, Hess-Nassau. He is the son of Jacob Weidner, who was a native of the above place, and where for many years he was en- gaged in .cabinet and organ making, in which line he not only was a finished mechanic but an artist. The Doctor was reared in his native town, where he attended the gymnasium or high school. After leaving that school he took up the study of pharmacy, as a preparation for the medical profession. He came to the United States in 1874, coming directly to Lou- isville, Kentucky, where he had friends from the old country. In that city he engaged in the drug business until 1879, when he com- menced the study of medicine and in that year entered the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville, where he was graduated in 1881 with the degree of M. D. The Doctor next went to Europe and spent a year and a half in post graduate medical study at the University of Strassburg. Having thus splendidly equipped himself for his future life work, he re- turned to Louisville and immediately entered into the practice of medicine, in which he has been engaged ever since. He is well grounded in his profession, and is endowed by nature with those characteristics that particularly fit him for the work of this profession, which is the noblest of all. For years he was connected with the corps of instructors of the Kentucky School of Medicine, filling different chairs,

among them those of physiology, pathology, bacteriology and clinical medicine, and was the first instructor to give a systematic course in histology and bacteriology in Louisville. Since the merger of the medical colleges, Dr. Weid- ner has occupied the chair of Hygiene and Pre- ventive Medicine. He has also been for many years connected with the different Louisville hospitals, and has taken great interest in those lines of professional work.

Dr. Weidner is a member of the Jefferson County Medical Society, the Kentucky State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is a valued member of the Masonic order, belonging to Aurora Lodge, No. 633, F. & A. M. The Doctor has been married twice. By his first marriage there are four children: Carl Jacob, M. D., graduated from the medical department of the Univer- sity of Louisville, served as house surgeon of St. Anthony's Hospital and is now in practice with his father. The second child is Teresa, the third, Walter and the fourth is Elise. The Doctor's second marriage was to Mamie, the daughter of William Lehr, a well-known paint- ing contractor of Louisville, and to them two children have been born: Margaret and Gar- land. Dr. Weidner undoubtedly deserves his success, for while the physician occupies a foremost place among the learned professions, and the rewards for a successful career in this line are sufficient to attract an ever increasing number of the ambitious young men of the country, still the thorns are numerous among the roses and the successful practitioner has none of the ease which accompanies many of the professions, and no rewards are too great for the years of preparatory study, the per- severence required to get one into a good prac- tice and the actual hardships which are en- dured in journeying in cold and rain to the patients far and near. Dr. Weidner has worked his way upward until he has found his level at the top.

JAMES L. DODGE .- On the old homestead estate which was the place of his nativity and which is eligibly located about three miles east of Paris, Bourbon county, Mr. Dodge is found as one of the representative agricultur- ists and stock-growers of his native county, where, both as a loyal and progressive citizen and as a reliable and substantial business man, he is well upholding the prestige of a name that has been identified with the annals of Kentucky history for four generations.

On his present fine homestead James L. Dodge was ushered into the world on the 17th of May, 1869, and he is a son of David M. and Rebecca J. (Kenney) Dodge, both of whom were likewise natives of this county,

Jas. L. Dodge

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where the former was born on the Ist of August, 1832, and the latter on the 24th of August, 1835. David M. Dodge was a son of Edwin M. and Elizabeth (Seamands) Dodge, natives respectively of Clark and Bourbon counties, this state. Edwin M. Dodge was a son of David and Dorcas (Mills) Dodge, the former of whom was the founder of the family in Kentucky, whence he came from Pennsylvania in the pioneer days and estab- lished his home in Clark county, where he continued to be engaged in agricultural pur- suits until his death. The ancestors of David Dodge are as follows: His father was Isaac, son of Eli, son of Josiah, son of Josiah, son of John, son of Richard, who was the founder of the Dodge family in America. He ap- peared in Salem, Massachusetts in 1638 .- See Genealogy of the Dodge Family. David Dodge reared a large family of children and many of his descendants are now to be found in various parts of the old Blue Grass com- monwealth, as well as in other sections of the Union. Mrs. Elizabeth (Seamands) Dodge, paternal grandmother of James L. Dodge of this review, was a daughter of Manson Sea- mands, who served as major of a Kentucky regiment in the war of 1812 and who died in 1856; the maiden name of his wife was Newton.

Edwin M. Dodge was born in Clark county, Kentucky, about the year 1811 and was there reared to maturity under the conditions and influences of the pioneer epoch. As a young man he removed to Bourbon county and lo- cated in North Middletown precinct, where was solemnized his marriage to Miss Eliza- beth Seamands. There he continued his identi- fication with farming and stock-growing until his death, which occurred about the year 1836, and his widow subsequently became the wife of Kinzea Stone. They continued to reside in Bourbon county until their death.

David M. Dodge remained with his mother and stepfather until he had attained to the age of twenty years, and in the meanwhile he duly availed himself of the advantages of the common schools of the locality and period, the while he contributed his quota to the work and management of the home farm. In Feb- ruary, 1852, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Adeline Fretwell, daughter of Pascal and Maria (Hildreth) Fretwell, both of whom were representatives of old Virginia families. Mrs. Adeline Dodge died in 1860, and of her four children Bettie is now the only one living ; she is the widow of William Wood and resides in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. The three deceased children were Mary D., Edwin M. and William P. On the

22d of May, 1861, David M. Dodge con- contracted a second marriage, having then been united in the bonds of wedlock to Miss Rebecca J. Kenney, daughter of Victor M. and Catherine A. (Rogers) Kenney, both of whom were born and reared in Bourbon county. Victor M. Kenney was a son of James Kenney, who was born in Virginia, where he was reared to adult age and whence he came when a young man to Kentucky, numbering himself among the pioneers of Bourbon county. His first wife, the mother of Victor M., bore the maiden name of Mar- garet Johnson, and after her death he con- tracted a second marriage. Mrs. Catherine A. (Rogers) Kenney was a daughter of Thomas and Rebecca (Spahr) Rogers, who were numbered among the early and honored pioneers of Bourbon county.

In 1856 David M. Dodge established his home on the farm now owned by his son James L., of this sketch, and as before stated, the place is located about three miles east of the thriving little city of Paris, on the Paris and North Middletown turnpike. He here gave the best of his splendid energies to the development and improvement of his property, and the tangible results of his efforts remain patent to all. He was a man of impregnable integrity in all the relations of life, was en- dowed with strong mentality and good judg- ment, and he was numbered among the best known and most highly esteemed citizens of his native county, where his death occurred, on his old homestead, on the Ioth of April, 1903. He was a stanch Democrat in his po- litical proclivities and his religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church. He did not hedge himself in with mere personal aggran- dizement but was liberal and progressive in his civic attitude. His second wife, Mrs. Re- becca J. (Kenney) Dodge, who survives him and remains on the old homestead, bore him four children, concerning whom the follow- ing brief record is entered; Martha V. is the wife of Charles G. Blakely, of Topeka, Kan- sas; David M. died when about 34 years of age; James L. is the immediate subject of this review; and Victor K. is an interested principal of the Phoenix Motor Car Com- pany, of Lexington, this state, where he maintains his residence.

James L. Dodge was reared to maturity on the old homestead which is his present place of abode and which was likewise that of his nativity, and after availing himself of the ad- vantages of the district school he continued his higher academic studies in the Garth In- stitute, at Paris, this county. He has never severed his allegiance to the great productive

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industry under whose influences he was reared and he is now the owner of the old homestead, to which he has added until his landed estate comprises 803 acres. The spa- cious residence and other buildings on the place are of the best type and this is recog- nized as one of the many fine farms that have given Bourbon county such distinctive pres- tige. As a young man Mr. Dodge began to devote special attention to the breeding and training of fine trotting and pacing horses, in which connection he gained precedence as one of the leading horsemen in the section which has ever represented his home. He still con- tinues to own and handle a few high-grade horses and has never abated his love for the horse, but since the death of his father he has confined his energies more especially to diversified agriculture and to the raising of high-grade live stock, besides which he deals somewhat extensively in the same, making large shipments each year. He is one of the progressive and wideawake citizens of Bour- bon county, ever ready to give his influence and aid in support of measures and enter- prises advanced for the general good of the community, and while he has had naught of aspiration for public office he is found aligned as a stanch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, in whose faith he was reared. He is a member of the Presbyterian church.

On the 10th of December, 1890, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Dodge to Miss Lucy H. Williams, who was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, on the 20th of September, 1869, and who was a daughter of John J. and Elizabeth (Stone) Williams. Of this union were born two children, one of whom died in infancy ; the surviving child, Edgar W., was born on the 25th of November, 1893. Mrs. Dodge was summoned to the life eternal on the 17th of July, 1905, secure in the affection- ate regard of all who had come within the sphere of her gracious influence.

GEORGE H. KLAENE, president of the Star Foundry Company, of Covington, is an able and representative business man in the city which has represented his home since he was a lad of about nine years of age. Mr. Klaene was born in Lutten, duchy of Oldenberg, Germany, on the 17th of October, 1857, and he is a son of Harmon Henry and Catherine (Boske) Klaene, both of whom were likewise natives of the German Empire, where the for- mer was engaged in gardening and where his death occurred about the year 1859. The widowed mother and surviving children emi- grated to the United States in 1866. The long and weary trip was made in a sailing vessel,

the voyage covering a period of ten weeks and three days. The "Austria Nome" landed at Baltimore, Maryland, when the family pro- ceeded to Covington, Kenton county, Ken- tucky, where Mrs. Klaene joined her son Henry and her brother, John Boske, who had

come to America in 1864. The mother passed the residue of her life in this city and was summoned to the life eternal at the venerable age of eighty-six years. She was the mother of five sons, four of whom accompanied her to the United States, and of the number three are now living, the subject of this review be- ing the youngest of the family.

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 8

Author: Johnson, E. Polk, 1844-; Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 860

Author: Johnson, E. Polk, 1844-; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 860