USA > Ohio > Memoirs of the lower Ohio valley, personal and genealogical : with portraits, Volume II > Part 8
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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
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presidency of the Evansville Business Men's Association, to which he was elected in June, 1904. Dr. Pittman was married on Nov. 16, 1881, to Miss Anna Knowles of Clinton, Ind., who is popular in the social life of Evansville.
BENJAMIN BOSSE, secretary and treasurer and general manager of the Globe Furniture Company, of Evansville, Ind., was born on a farm in Scott town- ship, Vanderburg county, Nov. 1, 1874. His parents, Henry and Caroline (Schlen- sker) Bosse, were both natives of Ger- many. Henry Bosse became in subsequent years one of the leading farmers of Scott township, and was also prominent in local political affairs. He is now deceased, and his widow resides in the city of Evansville. They had twelve children, viz .: William, Louisa, Mary, Frederick, John, Henry, Louis, Benjamin, George, Ella, August and Amelia. Eight of the children are still living ; Louisa, Mary, Frederick and August being dead. Benjamin lived on his father's farm until he was fourteen years of age, attending the parochial schools during the winter seasons, where he obtained his primary education. When he was fourteen he came to Evans- ville and found employment in a grocery business at ten dollars a month and his board. Here he worked for some time, saving his money until he had enough to enable him to take a course in the busi- ness college, from which he graduated at the age of seventeen. He then was employed for two years with a wholesale grocery house and at the age of nineteen embarked in the retail grocery business for himself. After six years in this business he sold out to become one of the organizers of the Globe Furniture Company, of which he was elected secretary and treasurer. That was in, 1899, in which capacity he has continued to serve up to the present time. Besides the interest in this company, Mr. Bosse is vice-president and treasurer of the Evansville Cooperage Company, which was organized in 1903; director in the Karges Wagon Company, which he helped organize in the same year ; a director in the Evansville Hoop and Stave Com- pany; president of the Bosse Furniture Company and is stockholder in several other manufacturing enterprises. He is the president of the West Side bank. This bank commenced business Jan. I,
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1903, and Mr. Bosse has been president of it ever since its organiza- tion. He has won the confidence of the business men and especially of the furniture manufacturing industry ; having served for the past four years as president of their association, and previously as secre- tary and treasurer. He is also a member of the Evansville Busi- ness Men's association, the Evansville Manufacturers' association, and vice-president of the Traffic bureau of this city. Mr. Bosse is one the active members of the German Evangelical Lutheran church. On Sept. 2, 1896, he was united in marriage to Miss Anna Riechmann, daughter of the late Frederick Riechmann.
HON. FREDERICK WASHINGTON COOK, president of the F. W. Cook Brewing Company, of Evansville, Ind., and a prominent citizen of that city, was born at Washington, D. C., Feb. I, 1832. His parents shortly afterward removed to Port Deposit, Md., then to Cincinnati, and in 1836 located at Evansville. There Mr. Cook received his education, afterward attending the Anderson collegiate institute at New Albany. About a year after the family came to Evansville Mr. Cook's step- father, Jacob Rice, in connection with Fred Kroener, bought a site in Lamasco, near the terminus of the Wabash & Erie canal, and erected the "Old Brewery"-the first in Southern Indiana. Mr. Cook began his business career as a clerk in the dry goods store of L. W. Heberd, on Main street, but after being there two years his brother died, he was taken home by his parents and soon afterward started in to learn the brewing business. In 1853 he, in conjunction with Louis Rice, a brother of his stepfather, built the "City Brewery" on the site occupied by the F. W. Cook Brewing Company at the present time, though the place was then a corn- field. Their capital consisted of $330.00. Mr. Rice took charge of the brewing department, while Mr. Cook looked after the business management. Four years later Mr. Rice sold his interest to his brother Jacob for $3,500 and a new beer cellar was at once put in, the company soon afterward beginning the manufacture of lager beer. An extensive malt house was also added to the plant. Jacob Rice died on May 3, 1872, as the result of an accident some weeks before, and the mother of Mr. Cook died on Nov. 6, 1878, when
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he became sole heir to the property. The business was continued under the old name of Cook & Rice until 1885, when it was incor- porated under the laws of Indiana, as the F. W. Cook Brewing Com- pany, with F. W. Cook as president. On Dec. 3, 1891, the brew house and offices were destroyed by fire, but were immediately re- built and in March, 1893, the company boasted of one of the most complete brew houses in the United States. The brewery now has a capacity of 300,000 barrels annually and is known all over the country as one of the first class breweries of the United States. Mr. Cook has been for years a prominent member of the National Brewers' association, which is said to be the wealthiest co-opera- tive body in the world. While Mr. Cook has been identified with the growth of the brewing business in Evansville he has also been closely connected with several other great enterprises, such as the Evansville, Newburg & Rockport railway, of which he is president; the F. W. Cook Investment Company, which owns as part of its property Cook's Park, one of the finest resorts about Evansville. He is president of this company, is a director in the Citizens National bank, the Ohio Valley Trust Company, the Evansville Trust and Sav- ings Company, as well as other important corporations. Besides his large and growing business interests Mr. Cook has found time to devote to the public welfare. In April, 1856, he was elected councilman for the Fifth ward and in 1863 was elected to represent the Eighth ward, from which he was re-elected the succeeding year, but resigned to accept a seat in the Indiana legislature, to which he had been elected in the fall of 1864. In both the municipal and state legislatures he evinced a grasp of public questions that fully demonstrated the wisdom of his selection. He afterward repre- sented the Fourth ward in the city council. Mr. Cook is the architect of his own fortune. Yet as he built up his own fortune he has not been unmindful of others, and has been a potent factor in the upbuilding of the city's most praiseworthy institutions. His pleasant face and sympathetic nature are known all over the city where he has passed nearly his entire life of more than threescore and ten years, and where thousands of people have benefited by his public spirit, charity and benevolence. Mr. Cook was married in 1856 to Miss Louise Hild, of Louisville, Ky. She died in February, 1877, and in November, 1879, he was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Himeline, of Kelley's Island, Ohio, who died in January, I885.
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ALBERT F. KARGES, who has for several years been prominently identified with the furniture manufacturing interests of Evansville, Ind., was born on a farm in German township, Vanderburg county, ten miles from that city, Nov. 3, 1861. His parents, Ferdinand and Rosa Karges, were both natives of Germany, who came in early life to the United States and were married in Vanderburg county. Ferdi- nand Karges was a cabinet maker, and when Albert was about two years of age, he went to Evansville, where he embarked in the manufacture of furniture, first as a member of the firm of Miller & Karges, and later as a member of the Evansville furniture company, which was organized in 1869. This corporation was the pioneer furniture manufacturing concern of Evansville. Some years later he sold his interest in the business and spent his closing years on a farm. He died at the age of fifty-six, his wife having died some years before at the age of thirty-two. Albert F. Karges was educated in the public schools and at the Evansville commercial col- lege, from which he graduated at the age of seventeen years. For the next six years he was bookkeeper for the wholesale notion house of William Hughes. Then for a few months he was engaged in the lumber business, and in February, 1886, he formed a partnership with Henry Stoltz, under the firm name of Stoltz & Karges, for the manufacture of furniture. He continued in this connection for three years, when he bought out Mr. Stoltz's interest and incorporated the concern as the Karges Furniture Company, with Frederick Bockstege as president, and Mr. Karges as secretary and treasurer. Since that time the company has had a very successful career, and is today probably the largest furniture manufacturing establishment in the city, its specialty being high grade bed room suites. Mr. Karges was one of the organizers of the Globe Furniture Company, of which he is president. He is also president of the Karges Wagon Com- pany ; vice-president and director of the Evansville Mirror and Bev- eling Company, and a director in the Bockstege Furniture Company, the Jourdan & Loesch Furniture Company, the Evansville Metallic Bed Company, the Ohio Valley Seed Company, the Bosse Furniture Company and the City National bank. In numerous ways Mr. Karges deserves to be classed with the most progressive men of the city.
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He is a member of the Business Men's association, a director in the Young Men's Christian association, and an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian church. On Dec. 8, 1885, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Hauck, of Evansville, and to this union there have been born four children, three of whom are living. They are Albert F., Jr., Edwin F., and Esther C. One son, Arthur W., died in the fifth year of his age.
JOHN JOURDAN, secretary and treas- urer of the Bockstege Furniture Company, of Evansville, Ind., was born in that city, Sept. 27, 1858, and is the eldest son of John and Eva (Heilman) Jourdan. The father was born and reared in France and upon coming to America settled first at New Orleans, but later made his way to Evansville, where he is still living at the age of seventy-five years. The mother, who is also still living, aged sixty-eight, is a native of Germany, and a member of the well known Heilman family of Evansville. They had a family of six children, two sons and four daughters, all of whom are yet living. John Jourdan was educated in the parochial schools of Evansville, in which he studied German and Latin. He mas- tered the English language by self-study, his only text book being the dictionary. Later he attended the Evansville Commercial college for one term. At the age of twelve years he began his business career as a cash boy in the dry-goods and notion house of Foster Bros. After a short season with this firm he went to a wholesale millinery store as errand boy, and remained with that concern for twenty-two years, rising by successive promotions to the position of head salesman, which he ably filled for several years before sever- ing his connection with the house. In 1895 he engaged in the retail furniture business as the senior partner in the Jourdan & Loesch Furniture Company, which company still exists. In 1900 he was one of the incorporators of the Bockstege Furniture Company, and has been its secretary and treasurer ever since the organization. This company makes a specialty of fine oak and mahogany tables, and is one of the leading industries of the city. Mr. Jourdan is also a direct- or in the Karges Furniture Company, and has interests in one of Evansville's leading banking institutions. He is a member of the
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Business Men's association and one of the trustees'of the First Ave- nue Presbyterian church. On Sept. 27, 1882, Mr. Jourdan was mar- ried to Miss Carrie J. Thuman of Evansville, and to this union there have been born nine children, four sons and five daughters, viz .: Elsie, Eva, Sophia, Ruby, John, Jr., Florence, Arthur, Ralph and Russell.
EDWARD BOETTICHER, president of the Boetticher-Kellogg Company, of Evansville, Ind., wholesale dealers in hard- ware, was born on a farm in Monroe county, O., Jan. 7, 1837. When he was about nine years of age the family removed to Cincinnati, where he grew to manhood and received his education. At the age of fifteen years he entered the well known hardware house of Tyler, Davidson & Co., where he served a five years' apprentice- ship, at the end of which time he had acquired some knowledge of the whole- sale hardware business. In 1857 he came to Evansville, which city has ever since been his home. He took a position in the wholesale hard- ware concern of Charles S. Wells, where he remained until the death of Mr. Wells in 1863. The following year the firm of Wells, Kellogg & Co. succeeded to the business and Mr. Boetticher acquired an in- terest in the new firm. Three years later his interest had grown to such proportions that the name of the house was changed to that of Boetticher, Kellogg & Co. The business was continued under this name until 1897, when it was incorporated as the Boetticher-Kellogg Company, with a capital stock of $100,000, all of which is held by the Boetticher and Kellogg families. Mr. Boetticher was made president when the house was incorporated and has held the position ever since. The death of Charles H. Kellogg occurred on Dec. 8, 1903, which ended their association as fellow clerks and partners that had existed for forty-five years, and his son, O. H. Kellogg, succeeded to the position of secretary and treasurer. Three sons of Edward Boetticher, viz .: William H., Oscar and Carl F., are connected with the company and hold responsible positions in its management. The. house is the largest wholesale hardware concern in the city of Evans- ville, and the third largest in the state. It is a member of the National Hardware Association of America. Mr. Boetticher is connected with
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several other important enterprises in the city, being vice-president of the Evansville Trust and Savings Company, and a director of the Central Trust and Savings Company. He is a Republican in politics, but has never been an aspirant for office, though he has served as a member of the city council and is now president of the board of sinking fund commissioners of Evansville. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of St. John's German Evangelical church. He was married Nov. 27, 1859, to Miss Amelia S. Beste of Cincinnati, and they have three sons, already mentioned.
MAJ. ALBERT C. ROSENCRANZ, president of the Vulcan Plow Company, of Evansville, Ind., was born in Baerwalde, near the city of Berlin, Prussia, Oct. 26, 1842. His father, C. F. Rosencranz, was a watchmaker by trade and a man of some prominence in the affairs of his native vil- lage. In the revolution of 1848 he took up arms against the king and was com- pelled to leave the country. Accordingly in 1850 he came with his family to America, settling first near Evansville, and a year later removing to the city, where he resumed work at his trade. In 1867 he returned to Europe and died there twenty years later, his wife, whose maiden name was Dorothea Nohse, having died in 1884. Albert Rosencranz received his education in private schools, devoting part of the time while attending school to learning the watchmaker's trade under his father's instructions. When the Civil war commenced he left the shop of his father, where he was employed, assisted in organizing Company A, First regiment, Indiana Legion, and was made orderly sergeant. In July, 1862, he recruited Company F, Fourth Indiana cavalry, and was commissioned first lieutenant. His first service in the field was as body guard to Gen. Ebenezer Dumont, after which he was in a number of battles, among them being the engagement at Chickamauga. He was promoted to captain in 1863, and in March, 1864, his regiment was ordered to join Sherman for the march to the sea. Near Buzzard Roost, while making a reconnaissance, he was slightly wounded and captured. He was kept a prisoner at Macon and Savannah, Ga., Charleston and Columbia, S. C., and Charlotte, N. C., until March 1, 1865, when he was paroled, and on May 3, fol-
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lowing, was exchanged. Soon after his release from prison he was made major, his commission dating from May 1, 1865. As soon as he was exchanged he rejoined his regiment and was mustered out on June 29. Upon his return home he succeeded his father in bus .- ness, in which line he continued until 1868. In that year he married Miss Mary, daughter of William Heilman, and soon after his mar- riage accepted a responsible position in the office of the Heilman Machine Works. Confinement to office work impaired his health and in 1873 he went to Missouri, where he engaged in stock raising. He was successful in this business until 1876, when the death of his two children led him to sell out his interests there and return to Evansville. On the first of the following January he took charge of the Heilman-Urie Plow Company, and when Mr. Urie retired in 1878 Maj. Rosencranz assumed the entire management of the con- cern. By his executive ability he has since that time quadrupled the capacity of the works to meet the constantly growing demand, and has added the manufacture of chilled plows to their steel goods. Upon the death of Mr. Heilman in 1890 the works were incorporated under the name of the Heilman Plow Company, with Major Rosen- cranz as president. This office he has continually held since that time, though the name of the concern was changed to the Vulcan Plow Company in 1898. In addition to his large business interests in the plow company he is a member of the board of trustees of Oak Hill cemetery, and for several years has been president of the board. He is also a member and ex-president of the Business Men's associa- tion, and a member and director of the Manufacturers' association. In the spring of 1887, when the question of settling the city debt was before the people for consideration, he was one of a committee appointed by the city council to consider the subject. In that capac- ity he demonstrated his ability for handling important public ques- tions, and in April was elected to the city council from the Fifth ward. Upon the organization of the council he was made chairman of the finance committee and the satisfactory adjustment of the debt is due in a large degree to his valuable services. He also served as chairman of the water-works committee. Major Rosencranz was one of the largest contributors to the erection of the Young Men's Chris- tian association building in 1890. He acted as treasurer of the build- ing committee, and has since been treasurer of the board of trustees. He is a prominent member and officer in the Trinity Methodist Epis- copal church; is a member of the Indiana Commandery of the Loyal Legion; Farragut Post, No. 27, Grand Army of the Republic; La
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Vallette Commandery, Knights Templars, and wields a potent influ- ence in all these organizations for their healthy advancement. Polit- ically he is a Republican. He has three living children : Olive, a grad- uate of Wellesley college; Richard, a graduate of Cornell university; and Gertrude, now a student at Irvington, N. Y.
HARRY H. OGDEN, cashier of the West Side bank, Evansville, Ind., was born at Slaughterville, Webster county, Ky., Nov. 9, 1876, his parents being Wil- liam C. and Margaret (Kuykendall) Ogden. The father was a merchant in Slaughterville, and died when Harry was about six years of age. The mother is still living at Slaughterville. Harry H. Ogden was educated in his native town. At an early age he learned the art of telegraphy and was for twelve years in the employ of the Louisville & Nash- ville Railroad Company at different points in the State of Kentucky. In 1899 he left the railroad and went to Davis, in the Indian Territory, where for about two years he was assistant cashier in a private bank, known as the Bank of Davis. In the fall of 1900 he returned to Kentucky and organized the Webster County bank at Clay. He was elected cashier of the bank and held the position until in 1902, when he came to Evansville and organized the West Side bank, of which he was made cashier. The officers of the bank at the present time are: Benjamin Bosse, president; George W. Warner, vice-president; Harry H. Ogden, cashier ; H. F. Riechmann, assistant cashier. The board of directors consists of August Rosenberger, Jacob Fischer, Jacob Folz, Jr., Ben- jamin Bosse, Thomas Macer, Leon Curry, Frank Lohoff, G. W. Warner and H. H. Ogden. The West Side bank has been prosperous from the start; much of its success being due to the energy and tact of Mr. Ogden. It fills a much needed want for the citizens in what is known as the West side, a district with a population of about 15,000 people. In 1904 Mr. Ogden organized a bank at Haubstadt, a thriv- ing little town in the edge of Gibson county, a few miles north of Evansville. He still holds an interest in this bank, though he has no official connection with it. He also still retains his interest in the Webster County bank. Few men at the age of twenty-eight years
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can claim the distinction of having organized three banks, all of which have been successful, yet such is the record of Mr. Ogden. He is a born financier and has a keen instinct, amounting at times almost to an inspiration, for discovering the financial needs of a par- ticular locality. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks, the Methodist Episcopal church, and the Evansville Business Men's association. The West Side bank belongs to the Indiana State and the American Bankers' associations. On Sept. 2, 1896, he was married to Miss Lissette McClusky of Florence, Ala., and they have one daughter, Jerrie Virginia, aged six years.
JOHN C. ZUTT, secretary and treasurer of the Evansville Mirror and Beveling Company, Evansville, Ind., was born in the city of Louisville, Ky., March 25, 1866. His parents, Daniel and Louise (Geis) Zutt, were both natives of Germany. The father came to the United States in 1851 and the mother in 1859, and they were married at Louisville on March 5, 1863. For many years Daniel Zutt followed the trade of butcher in Louisville, and died there in 1898, leaving two sons, Daniel and John C., who with the mother are still living. Daniel is a druggist in Louisville. John C. Zutt received his educa- tion in the Louisville schools, and before reaching his majority began his business career as a bookkeeper in the Falls City bank, where he remained for eleven years, or until the bank went into liquidation. In 1895 he came to Evansville and organized the Evansville Mirror and Beveling Company, with John Weber as president and himself as secretary and treasurer. This introduced a new industry into the city of Evansville, and it has come to be recognized as one of the sub- stantial manufacturing concerns of that busy place, its success being largely due to the enterprise and business sagacity of Mr. Zutt. Besides his interest in this company Mr. Zutt is also connected with several other manufacturing concerns and holds stock in some of the leading banking institutions. He is a member of the Business Men's and Manufacturers' associations of Evansville, and is identified with every movement having for its object the advancement of the city's commercial standing. He was married on June 16, 1897, to Miss Elise Hartmetz of Evansville, and two sons have come to bless the union, viz: John Hartmetz, aged six years, and Daniel J., aged four.
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SAMUEL G. EVANS, head of the well known mercantile establishment of S. G. Evans & Co., 328-330 Main street, Evans- ville, Ind., was born in Jackson county, W. Va., March 19, 1839, and is the son of E. S. and Ruami (Wright) Evans, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Pennsylvania. The father, who was born at Morgantown, Va., in the year 1800, was an old time gentleman farmer. He died in his native state in 1876, and the mother died in Jackson county, W. Va., in 1882. Samuel G. Evans grew to manhood on his father's farm. After completing the course of study in the local schools he entered Washington college in Pennsylvania and graduated in 1861. For a short time after leaving college he studied law, and then came to Evansville as an employe of the Adams Express Company. In 1864 he took a position in the dry goods house of Jaquess, French & Co., with whom he remained for about two years, when he became the junior partner in the firm of Jaquess, Hudspeth & Co. In 1876, in connection with D. J. Mackey, he opened the business at 211 Main street, under the firm name of S. G. Evans & Co., which did well for four years, when, in 1880, the house of Evans & Verwayne was organized. The business of this firm increased from the beginning. In 1895 Mr. Evans acquired the interests of his partner and removed to his present location on the corner of Fourth and Main streets, where he has since conducted the business under the name of S. G. Evans & Co. Mr. Evans is practically the sole proprietor. Politically Mr. Evans is a Democrat, but is one of the kind who never makes himself offensive to his opponents, although never swerving from his settled convictions. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar, and belongs to the Business Men's Association. For years he has been one of the trustees of the Willard Library, and belongs to several societies for the advancement of science, among them being the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Indiana Academy of Science; and the National Botanical Asso- ciation. In 1867 he was married to Miss Louisa Hornbrook, who was born near Evansville in 1842, and is a descendant of one of the pioneer families.
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