Submitted by: Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert
The History of Fayette County, Indiana - l885
John Uhl. – There is no element which has entered into our composite national fabric which has been of more practical strength, value and utility than that furnished by the sturdy, persevering and honorable sons of Germany, and in the progress of our Union this element has played an important part. Intensely practical, and ever having a clear comprehension of the ethics of life, the German contingent has wielded a powerful influence, and this service cannot be held in light estimation by those who appreciate true civilization and true advancement.
Among the most prominent German-American citizens of this section of Indiana is John Uhl, of Connersville, who was born near Heidelberg, Germany, June 16, 1828, a son of George and Catharine (Miller) Uhl, who spent their entire lives in that country. Being drafted, the father entered Napoleon’s army at the age of sixteen years, and after the overthrow of that great commander he served seven years longer under the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was delicate as a young and most of his service under Napoleon was in the hospital, where he studied and practiced surgery. After the close of his military service he was engaged in the grocery trade, kept a hotel and also engaged in surgical work, such as cupping, bleeding and setting limbs.
Our subject remained with his parents until twenty-two years of age and acquired a good education, attending first the excellent public schools of Germany and subsequently a gymnasium and seminary. Under his father he also learned something of surgery and the grocery and hotel business. Emigrating to America he landed in New York city, June 1, 1850, and the same day started for Cincinnati, which he reached one week later. Being nearly out of money, he took up the barber’s trade, which then included cupping, bleeding, etc., of which he had an excellent knowledge.
In 1857 Mr. Uhl came to Connersville, Indiana, and purchased an interest in a brewery, with which he was connected for two years. During that time he learned something of coopering and started a cooper shop of his own. He soon established a good business and gave employment regularly to fourteen men for six years, the product of his plant finding a ready sale in the home market, as Abraham B. Conwell and others were at that time extensively engaged in the pork-packing business and needed barrels. The work was then all done by hand. Mr. Uhl is still interested in the business, which is now conducted on a small scale. In 1865 he embarked in the milling business, operating with different partners the Valley Mills on Whitewater river, in Connersville. He has been from that date the leading spirit in the business, which is a large one, and is now conducted under the firm name of Uhl & Snyder, his son-in-law, Frederick Snyder, being a member of the company. Mr. Uhl is also a stockholder in the Connersville Furniture Company and was formerly a director in the First National bank, one of the strong financial institutions of the county. He is a business man of much more than ordinary ability and carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. Religiously, he is a member of the German Presbyterian church, and socially of Guttenburg Lodge, No. 319, I. O. O. F.
In 1850 Mr. Uhl was united in marriage with Miss Maria Elizabeth Kartsher, a native of the same place as her husband, and to them were born two children: Minnie, who married Frederick Snyder and died in 1880, leaving two children; and George W., who died in 1883, at the age of thirty years. He was a bright young man with seemingly a brilliant future before him, having obtained a good English and commercial education. For seventeen years he was connected with the First National Bank of Connersville, where he was serving as assistant cashier at the time of his last illness. He spoke and wrote both English and German fluently, had a good knowledge of French, and had traveled extensively over this country and also Germany, France and Italy.
Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 207 - 208.
Anthony Watt. – Anthony Watt, of Connersville, Fayette county, is a native of the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, having been born there March 23, 1823, a son of John and Edith (Rue) Watt, - the latter of French ancestry and the former a stone-cutter by trade. At the early age of twelve years young Watt entered a large commission and jobbing establishment in his native city, devoted to the importation of silks, satins, etc., and continued a faithful employee there for a time, giving his earnings to the family. In the spring of 1844, in company with a man in the employ of the same house, he came west to Danville, Indiana, whence the same year he came to Connersville, engaging in the mercantile business, for which the first stock of goods was furnished by his employer, John Elliott. Soon Mr. Elliott started a branch store in Alquina, leaving Mr. Watt in charge; but the next year this store was moved to Harrisburg, where Mr. Watt continued in its management for three years and then removed to Connersville, where he continued the business for one winter. In the spring of 1848 Mr. Watt opened a store at Frost, and with his partner, Charles Frost, opened also a general store at Harrisburg. Two years afterward Mr. Watt bought out his partner’s interest, and continued to conduct the store there until 1850. Selling out, he opened a store at Connersville and conducted it for five years.
Next he became deputy county auditor, under Auditor William H. Green, and continued to discharge the duties of that position during the remainder of Mr. Green’s term. Then he was employed in the county recorder’s office, in the work of compiling a set of abstract books, which he completed and which are still in use. In 1875 he was selected to take charge of the books in the office of the Connersville Gaslight & Manufacturing Company, in which J. N. Huston, United States treasurer under President Harrison, was one of the main stockholders. Mr. Watt continued with that company from its organization for twenty-one years, when it sold out. He had full charge of all the office business, handling all the money and even managing all the details of the business. He had full supervision of all the details in the installation of the electric-light works. He remained with the new company until it became thoroughly established. He is now living retired, while he still owns a farm at Harrisburg, and his present residence, generally known as the Jeff. Claypool residence, he has occupied ever since 1873.
In his political principles Mr. Watt is a Republican. In respect to religion he was reared in the Presbyterian church, of which he is still a member, being now the oldest living member of the church at Connersville. In connection with the fraternal orders Mr. Watt is eminent. He was admitted into the Odd Fellows order as early as 1845, at Cambridge City. In 1849 he and John F. Youse established the first lodge (Fayette Lodge, No. 31) in Fayette county, at Connersville, of which he was the first vice grand, and for years was its secretary. In that lodge he filled all the offices. He has also been a member of the grand lodge for a number of years, and he has been district deputy for many terms. While a resident of Harrisburg he started Harrison Lodge, No. 84, in which he retained his membership until three years ago, when he returned to Fayette Lodge, and he is the only charter member now living. He has never been delinquent and never entitled to sick-benefit dues. Indeed, during all his fifty-five years’ residence in this state he has been sick but one week, and he has been a constant worker. In Encampment No. 33 the office of financial secretary was created specially for him, and he executed its duties for a number of years; and he is now the treasurer for that body. He has also been a member of Warren Lodge, No. 15, F. & A. M., for twenty years, taking an active part in the same, of which he was secretary for a number of years. In Fayette Council, No. 6, he has been illustrious master and secretary; of Chapter No. 18, he has been king and scribe; of Commandery No. 6, he has been generalissimo; and since 1896 he has been a member of the Consistory of the Valley of Indianapolis, Scottish Rite Masonry. Only two other men at Connersville are members of the consistory.
Mr. Watt was married at Harrisburg, in 1852, to Miss Malinda Murphy, daughter of John Murphy, a pioneer of this state; she was a native of Harrisburg.
Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 728 – 730.
Jacob Burger. – Among the German-Americans who have by their own honest efforts each made a comfortable living and acquired a nice home and farm in Fayette county, Indiana, may be mentioned Jacob Burger, of Connersville township.
Mr. Burger was born in Kuhr, Hessen, Germany, July 25, 1831, and lived in his native land until he was twenty-three years old. He was the only son in a family of four children. At the age above mentioned, having determined to come to America, he took passage for this country, accompanied by an older sister, and in due time, July 17, 1854, they landed at New York, strangers in a strange land and without means. His sister married and is now living in Kentucky. Arriving in New York city with only five cents in his pocket, young Burger sought employment and soon secured a position as gardener. After working there a few weeks and saving his money, he came west to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he spent the next two years farming and gardening. On the last day of April, 1856, he arrived in Connersville, and from that time until 1860 he was employed as a farm hand in the vicinity of Connersville and from 1860 to 1867 he was a resident of Wayne county. He purchased his present farm, in Connersville township, in September, 1869. The farm comprises eighty acres, well improved and under a high state of cultivation, many of the improvements having been placed here by Mr. Burger, including the building of his comfortable and attractive residence.
Mr. Burger was married May 7, 1857, to Miss Veronica Fager, a native of Baden, Germany, born August 20, 1829. She came to America, alone, in 1853. July 19, 1898, after a happy married life covering a period of over four decades, she passed away, leaving husband and large family of children to mourn their loss. Of the nine children born to them, - four sons and five daughters, - seven are now living, namely: Mrs. Anna Geis, John, Mrs. Clara Schoenborne, Miss Maggie, Joseph A., Miss Lizzie, and Louie. Those deceased were Mary and Charles, the eldest and the youngest of the family. Mr. Burger and family are members of the Catholic church.
Submitted by: Jeanie
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899.
Pages 889 and 890.