USA > Ohio > Memoirs of the lower Ohio valley, personal and genealogical : with portraits, Volume I > Part 36
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tion. In 1879 he was united in marriage to Miss Helen, daughter of Philip Auler, who was for many years identified with the Spring- field Fire Insurance Company, and one of Evansville's representa- tive citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Kramer have three sons. Frank lives at East Orange, N. J., and is the champion bicyclist of America ; Edward is in charge of the company's yards at New Harmony ; and Louis, Jr., is connected with his father in business.
JOHN R. BRILL, junior member of the law firm of Spencer & Brill, Evans- ville, Ind., was born near Center Valley, Hendricks county, of the same state, Dec. 26, 1863, his parents being William and Jeannette (Matthews) Brill. His father was a native of Frederick county, Va., and in his earlier years was a millwright. After coming to Indiana he followed farming until his death, which occurred when the subject of this sketch was about ten years old. The mother was born in Scotland, but when she was about twenty years of age she came with a sister to this country, two brothers having previously come over the water. She died at the home of her son, in Evansville, April 10, 1904. John R. Brill is the third child in a family of six, four sons and two daughters, five of whom are yet living. George W. Brill is a prominent lawyer at Danville, Ind .; William T. is an undertaker in the same city; Rachel Jeannette is the wife of Frank Sparks, of Hendricks county; and Betsey Vir- ginia lives in the same county. After the death of his father John R. assisted his brother in conducting the farm until he attained his majority. During that time he attended the district school until he was proficient in the common branches, and then went to the Central Normal college, at Danville, two winter sessions. In 1884 he entered the Indiana State university, at Bloomington, and gradu- ated in 1889 with the degree of A.B. He then went to Arkansas and was principal of the public schools at Eldorado in that state for one year, when he returned to Indiana, and in the fall of 1890 entered the law department of the State university, graduating with the de- gree of LL.B. in June, 1891, as the orator of his class. On July 12, of the same year, he located in Evansville and the following fall formed a partnership with John W. Spencer, under the firm name of
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Spencer and Brill, which still exists, being one of the leading law firms of Southwestern Indiana. In politics Mr. Brill is a Democrat and has taken an active part in political matters ever since coming to Evansville. He served four years as deputy prosecuting attorney and was chairman of the city central committee two terms. In 1894 he was the nominee of his party for the office of prosecuting attorney for the First judicial district, composed of the counties of Vander- burg and Posey, but was defeated by 251 votes, although he led the ticket. The Republican state ticket that year carried Vanderburg county by about 1,100 votes, yet Mr. Brill's opponent carried the county by only 351, thus demonstrating his popularity with the masses, as well as his reputation as a lawyer. Mr. Brill is a prominent Knight of Pythias and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was married on June 29, 1899, to Miss Mary Baird, of Evansville, and they have three little daughters: Mary Jeannette, aged five years ; Martha Virginia, aged three, and Katherine Elizabeth, aged one year.
HON. FRANK B. POSEY, surveyor of customs, lawyer and ex-Congressman, of Evansville, Ind., is a native of the Hoosier state, having been born at Petersburg, the county seat of Pike county, April 28, 1848, and is a son of Dr. John W. and Sarah (Blackburn) Posey. For more than a century the name of Posey has been closely inter- woven with the growth and development of Indiana and the nation. The grand- parents of Frank B., Richard and Frances (Allen) Posey, came from Abbeville dis- trict, S. C., in the year 1804 and settled at Bruceville, in Knox county. The grandfather was a cousin of Gen. Thomas Posey, a brigadier-general on the staff of George Washington during the Revo- lutionary war, and from whom Posey county, Ind., took its name. Richard Posey was the son of John Posey, a native of North Caro- lina, and his father was a native of Sussex county, Va. At the time Richard and Frances Posey came to Indiana Dr. John W. Posey, Frank's father, was an infant. He received such an education as the schools of that day afforded, took up the study of medicine and after his graduation located at Petersburg, where for more than fifty years
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he was one of the leading physicians. As a skilled surgeon he was known all over Southern Indiana. He died at Petersburg in 1884. On the maternal side the mother of Mr. Posey was a member of the same branch of the Blackburn family as United States Senator J. C. S. Blackburn of Kentucky. She died on Aug. 12, 1851, when the subject of this sketch was but a few months over three years old. Frank B. Posey is the youngest of six sons and is the only surviving member of his family. He received his primary education in the com- mon schools of his native town and at the age of fifteen entered Asbury-now DePauw-university, attending that institution from 1864 to 1867. For the next two years he was deputy auditor at Petersburg, studying law during his leisure time, and in 1868 he entered the law department of the Indiana State university at Bloom- ington, graduating therefrom in 1869. Being admitted to the bar immediately afterward he established himself in practice and soon became well known over all the southwestern portion of the state. At the age of twenty-five years he had a clientage that extended to five county .courts. Before he reached his majority he was appointed dis- trict attorney for Knox, Daviess, Martin and Pike counties, by Gov- ernor Baker, to serve out an unexpired term. In early manhood Mr. Posey cast in his lot with the Republican party. In 1872 he was nominated by acclamation for representative to the state legislature ; was defeated by two votes in a county where the Democratic majority gen- erally ran into the hundreds ; was again nominated for the same office in 1878, without opposition, but was defeated with the rest of his ticket. In 1880 he was one of the presidential electors for Indiana and cast his vote for Garfield and Arthur. He was nominated for this posi- tion by a convention at which he was not present. Two years later he was chosen as his party candidate for state senator for the district composed of Pike and Warrick counties-a district in which the Democratic majority was about 1,000, yet Mr. Posey was defeated by only 150 votes. In 1888 he was the Republican nominee for Con- gress, against Judge W. F. Parrott, of Evansville, and was defeated by only twenty votes in a district where the normal Democratic majority was at least 1,000. In January, 1889, a special election for a congressman to fill out the unexpired term of General Hovey, who had been elected governor, was ordered, and Mr. Posey and Judge Parrott were again made the opposing candidates. This time the Republicans were successful and Mr. Posey was returned by a majority of 1,300. In 1892 Mr. Posey located in Evansville, where he soon became one of the most prominent attorneys at the local bar and
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a leading citizen in other ways. He was a candidate for the con- gressional nomination in 1892, but was defeated on the eighty-seventh ballot by Hon. James A. Hemenway. In 1899 Mr. Posey's name was presented to the general assembly as a candidate for United States senator, the other candidates being J. Frank Hanley, now governor of Indiana; Maj. George W. Steele, for many years congressman from the Eleventh district; and Albert J. Beveridge, of Indianapolis, who was finally elected, although Mr. Posey received a flattering vote. In 1902 President Roosevelt appointed Mr. Posey surveyor of customs, which position he still holds, and in which he has instituted a number of important reforms. In addition to his legal and political career Mr. Posey is popular as a lecturer on literary and classical subjects ; is a director in the Lincoln Mining Company, one of the largest coal mining concerns of Southern Indiana, and the Indiana vice-president of the Ohio River Improvement Association, which is composed of the progressive men of the large cities of the Ohio, from Pittsburg to Cairo, the object being to secure a nine foot stage of water between those two cities. As a campaigner Mr. Posey is recognized as one of the most forcible and convincing speakers in his party and has a reputation that extends far beyond the state lines. He is a Knight of Pythias, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. On Jan. 21, 1878, Mr. Posey led to the altar Miss Harriet E. Brown of Petersburg, and they have four children : Helen, Francesca, Myrtle and John A.
CAPT. JAMES W. WARTMAN, deputy clerk of the United States courts for the district of Indiana, and United States commis- sioner at Evansville, was born at Lewisburg, Greenbrier county, W. Va., Feb. 7, 1832, the county being at that time in Virginia. His grandfather, Lawrence Wartman, was a native of Switzerland, a fine scholar, spoke seven languages and was a journalist by profession. In 1821 he established the Rockingham Register at Harrisonburg, Va., which was owned and published by two of his sons for more than fifty years. Frederick Wartman, the father of the subject, was a painter by trade, and while the Captain was still in his boyhood removed to Cincinnati, where the son graduated from the Woodward college in 1847. For some years after that he was engaged in busi- ness in Cincinnati, after which he removed to Spencer county, Ind., and took up the study of law under L. Q. DeBruler. Upon being admitted to the bar he began practice at Rockport; was provost marshal of the First district of Indiana in 1864, with headquarters at
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Evansville ; became commissioner for the board of enrollment for the district and during the drafts of 1864-65 he performed his delicate and important duties to the satisfaction of the national authorities and without friction. After the war he returned to Rockport, where he formed a partnership with T. F. DeBruler and practiced law until 1871, when he was appointed deputy clerk of the Federal district court at Evansville. In September of the same year he was appointed United States commissioner, and for almost a quarter of a century he has efficiently discharged his duties in both positions. Captain Wartman is a Republican and never shirks his duty as a citizen. He has a pleasing personality, is a good judge of human nature, a quick grasp of business and public problems and is a man of unquestionable integrity in all his transactions. In fraternal circles he is well known, being a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and for many years has been a member of the finance committee of Eagle Lodge, Knights and Ladies of Honor. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and takes an active interest in its good works. In January, 1857, he was married to Miss Mary Graham, of Rockport, and of the five children born to this marriage three are living. John G. is a wholesale grocer in Los Angeles, Cal .; Harry W. is president of the Ryan-Hampton Tobacco Company of Newburg, Ind., but resides in Evansville, and Sarah D. is at home with her father, Mrs. Wartman having died on March 31, 1897.
JOHN W. SPENCER was born on the bank of the Ohio River, at Mt. Vernon, Ind., on March 7, 1864, on the border line, during the terrible struggle between the states; his primary education was limited to such schools as his home town afforded; his collegiate course consisted of a short term at the Central Normal college of Danville, Ind .; he acquired some commercial knowledge by two years of service as assistant bookkeeper for the Mt. Vernon Banking Company, after which he began the study of law in the office of his father, Elijah M. Spencer, who was one of the pioneer lawyers of Southern Indiana. By close application to his studies, he was far enough advanced in the law to be admitted to prac- tice when he was twenty-one years old; at the age of twenty-six he
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was elected prosecuting attorney of the First judicial circuit of Indiana, composed of the counties of Vanderburg and Posey, which position he held for two terms. He moved to Evansville in September, 1891, and there has since resided and practiced his profession, with marked success, as a member of the law firm of Spencer & Brill. For four years he was a member of the Democratic state central committee of Indiana, and in 1902 he was the unanimous nominee of his party for Congress. On Dec. 12, 1882, he married Miss Lillie Lichtenberger, of Mt. Vernon, Ind., and they have two children, Alethea Lowry and John . W., Jr.
CAPT. ISIDOR ESSLINGER, deputy collector of internal revenue for the Seventh district of Indiana, located at Evansville, is a native of Germany, having been born at Stuttgart, in the province of Würtemberg, Jan. II, 1833. After a primary education in the regular schools he prepared for col- lege in the Stuttgart gymnasium. He
then attended the Heidelberg university for one year and after a three years' course in the university of Tuebingen graduated from the latter institution at the age of twenty- two. He studied law at both Heidel- berg and Tuebingen and came to the United States in 1857, when only twenty-four years of age. After a year in Cincinnati he came to Evansville, where he has ever since made his home. His first employ- ment in Evansville was as a dry goods clerk. In 1861 he left the counter to take up arms in defence of his adopted country and enlisted as a private in Company K, Thirty-second Indiana infantry. Shortly afterward he was made sergeant, then first lieutenant of Company K, and in 1862 was promoted to captain and given command of Company E, of the same regiment. He served the full term of his enlistment for three years, participating in all the battles and skirmishes in which his regiment was engaged. For twenty-one years succeeding the war he was the editor and proprietor of a German daily paper called the Union, which he ably conducted and made a power among his German fellow-citizens. Early in the administration of President Harrison he was appointed deputy collector of internal revenue and served until the inauguration of President Cleveland in 1893, when he was . removed. In 1901 he was again appointed to the position which he
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now holds. The interim between his removal and re-appointment was occupied by the management and proprietorship of a job printing office. Captain Esslinger is an unwavering Republican in his political affiliations and is a charter member of Admiral Farragut Post, No. 71, Grand Army of the Republic. Soon after leaving the army in 1864 he visited his mother, then a widow, in the Fatherland, and while in Europe formed the acquaintance of Miss Jeannette Guth, of Switz- erland, to whom he was married on June 24, 1864, bringing her to Evansville on his return. Captain and Mrs. Esslinger have four chil- dren living-three sons and a daughter, Julius A., Frederick, Oscar N. and Nora-all grown and living at home with their parents. Julius A. is deputy county clerk of Vanderburg county. Captain Esslinger's career has been marked by a strong personality and an unimpeachable reputation for honesty. Though positive in his likes and dislikes he has a host of friends who know him for an honorable and worthy man.
CAPT. THOMAS BOLUSS, wharf master at Evansville, Ind., was born in the city of New York in the year 1832, of Eng- lish parentage. His father, whose name was also Thomas, came to America in 1831, and the mother came the following year. Thomas Boluss, Sr., was a builder of roll- ing mills in this country for English capi- talists and his occupation took him from one place to another, so that the early life of the subject of this sketch was spent in various cities of the Eastern states. At the age of fifteen he started to learn the trade of steamboat engineer on one of the Ohio river boats and worked at this until 1851. In that year the father came to Evansville to construct the city's first gas plant, the son coming with him to assist in the work. Here he worked with his father until 1853, when he returned to the river as an engineer, continuing in that occupation until 1857. He then started a brass foundry in Evansville, which he conducted for about two years, when he sold out and again re- turned to the river, this time as a steamboat captain. For the next forty years he was a captain and pilot on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, few men being better known in river navigation. In the spring of 1901 Captain Boluss became wharf master of the port
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of Evansville, a position he still holds and one for which his long experience in river matters has eminently fitted him. At every land- ing between Pittsburg and Cairo, and at many points on the Mis- sissippi he has acquaintances that he formed while a master or pilot, and to be acquainted with Captain Boluss is to be his friend. He was married in 1852 to Anna Gilman, who died in 1882. Captain Boluss has two children, Sophia, wife of a Mr. Skinner, and Thomas, both living in Evansville.
THE CITY NATIONAL BANK of Evansville dates its existence back to Jan. 21, 1850, when the Evansville Insurance Company was granted a perpetual charter with banking privileges, and commenced business under that charter as the "Canal Bank." The entire capital of the insurance company and the bank at the beginning was $250,- 000. John M. Stockwell was elected president and James G. Jones secretary. Mr. Jones was soon thereafter succeeded by W. T. Page. The bank operated under the banking law of Indiana for several years but in 1863, on the enactment of the national banking law, the officers of the Canal bank made application for a charter and the institution was incorporated as the First National Bank of Evansville. It was the first bank in Evansville and in fact the sixth in the United States to make application for a charter under the national law. It started with a capital of $250,000, which was subsequently increased to $500,000. H. Q. Wheeler was the first president of the national bank with W. T. Page as cashier. The first board of directors was composed of Gillison Maghee, Robert Barnes, Charles Viele, John S. Hopkins, John Ingle, M. J. Bray, S. M. Archer, H. Q. Wheeler and William Brown. All were men of great prominence in Evansville financial circles. In 1865 Mr. Page was succeeded as cashier by James H. Cutler and in 1867 Mr. Wheeler was succeeded in the presidency by John S. Hopkins. Mr. Hopkins was succeeded as president in 1880 by Charles Viele. In 1882 the original charter expired and a new one was secured. The bank was then reorganized with Charles Viele, president ; James H. Cutler, cash- ier ; Will Warren, assistant cashier; Thomas E. Garvin, John Ingle, Chas. Viele, M. J. Bray, Isaac Keen, F. J. Reitz, Cyprian Preston and James H. Cutler, directors. In 1893 Mr. Viele was succeeded as presi- dent by Francis J. Reitz. On April 21, 1902, the City National bank of Evansville was organized and succeeded to the business of the First National, whose charter expired by limitation, with the same officers and directors. The present officers of the City National are: Francis J. Reitz, president ; James H. Cutler, vice-president ; F. A. Foster,
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cashier ; John H. Dippel, assistant cashier ; the directors being Francis J. Reitz, Thomas E. Garvin, James H. Cutler, M. J. Bray, George L. Mesker, O. F. Jacobi, D. Kronenberger, Geo. A. Cunningham, A. F. Karges, and F. A. Foster. At the present time the capital stock paid in is $350,000, the total assets amount to over $3,500,000, the surplus fund is $65,000, and the deposits $2,900,000. From the very commence- ment of business, this bank has enjoyed a successful career and large dividends have regularly been paid on its stock, which has always been considered most valuable property.
M. CARNEY, an old resident and prominent business man of Shawneetown, Ill., was born June 24, 1856, not far from Athens, O., and is of Irish extraction. His grandparents both lived and died in Ire- land, and his father, whose name was John Carney, was born in the County of Tip- perary in 1830. In 1852 he came to the United States and located at Circleville, O., where he worked as a stone mason on railroad construction for some time, after which he located at Big Run, in Athens county. There he lived until 1869, when he came to Shawneetown, where he continued to follow railroad building until his death at the age of fifty-seven years. With the exception of a 'short residence in Cairo he lived at Shawneetown from the time. he first came there until his death. Soon after coming to America he was married to Margaret Euright, who was born in County Limerick, Ireland, and came to this country in 1851 with a brother. Of the children born to this marriage Mary and Ellen are deceased; William lives in Cincinnati; the subject of this sketch; and Josephine is a Mrs. Ward, of Danville, Ill. The mother of these children died in 1875. Mr. Carney was denied the privilege of attending school, for at the age of nine years he began life as a driver of a cart in railroad building. However, he has by self-study kept up with the world's progress, and today has a more practical education than many whose opportunities far excelled his own. He continued to drive carts on the railroad for three years, and when he came to Shawneetown in February, 1869, he was employed as a teamster on the Springfield & Illinois Southeastern, now part of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern railroad, which was then under
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construction. From that time until now he has been connected with the road in various capacities, though he is also interested in other enterprises. On Jan. 1, 1901, he was made general superintendent of the Bruns-Bowersox Lumber Company at Shawneetown, which position he still holds. He has also been engaged in the grocery business, and dealer in coal and ice. For several years he was super- intendent of the Bowlesville Coal Company, and owns and oversees several farms. Although Mr. Carney had the misfortune to lose his left leg by an accident, he is one of the most active men in Shawnee- town, and successfully conducts his various interests. In political matters he is a Republican, and has held the following offices: Tax collector, 1892; alderman, 1893-97; mayor, 1897 to 1901. His ad- ministration as mayor was marked by the big flood of April, 1898, which did great damage to Shawneetown and vicinity, a number of lives being lost. In this emergency Mayor Carney was prompt to devise measures for the relief of the sufferers, and the progress of the city since that unhappy event is due in a great degree to his wise course at the time. He is a member of Lodge No. 838, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is popular for his genial dispo- sition and many good qualities. On April 15, 1879, Mr. Carney and Miss Belle Ward, a native of Ohio, were united in marriage. They have three children, Charles H., William F. and John M., all at home with their parents.
CHRISTIAN 3 KRATZ, prominently identified with the lumber and sawmill interests of Shawneetown, Ill., was born Aug. 6, 1864, in the city of Evansville, Ind. His parents, Christian and Philipine (Krug) Kratz, were both born in Ger- many. The father learned the trade of machinist in his native land, and in 1858, when about sixteen years of age, came to America. Soon after reaching this coun- try he located at Evansville, where he fol- lowed his trade until he retired from the active pursuits of life. He was married at Evansville, his wife having come over in 1853. They had eight chil- dren, all living. All except the subject of this sketch live at Evans- ville. Mary is a Mrs. Hartman; Tillie a Mrs. Wade; Philip; Ed- ward; Elizabeth is a Mrs. Smith, and Emma is at home with her
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father. The mother died in 1896. The family belong to the Ger- man Lutheran church. Christian Kratz was educated in the public schools and in 1881 graduated from the Evansville Commercial col- lege. He then served an apprenticeship as a machinist and followed that trade several years, after which he engaged in the planing mill and hardwood lumber business at Evansville. In 1898 he came to Shawneetown and commenced operating a sawmill on the Wabash river, later dealing in lumber in the town. Since then he has built several mills in the county, and has recently erected a new one at Shawneetown. He is also connected with the dressed lumber and commission business as a member of the firm of Kratz & McMurchy. Mr. Kratz is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias, and belongs to the Presbyterian church. Politically he is a Republican, and while living in Evansville served two terms as councilman at large. In 1886 he was married to Miss Ella Casper, and they have three children, Christian, Walter and Elenora, all at home with their parents.
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