Mr. Tilden was born at Wanatah, Indiana, October 17, 1867. He was named for his grandfather, J. Franklin Tilden. His grandfather was a first cousin of Samuel J. Tilden, the great. Democratic statesmen who was "counted out" of the presidency of the United States in 1876. J. Franklin Tilden was one of the early pioneers of LaPorte County. He moved here from Ohio in 1847. He was born in Vermont. He and his wife are buried in the Morgan Cemetery.
The father of J. Frank Tilden was W. S. Tilden, who was born at Milan, Ohio, and was three years of age when the family came to Indiana in 1847. He was reared and educated in LaPorte County and spent an active life as a farmer. He died March 7, 1928, when past eighty-three years of age. He and his wife are buried in the Morgan Cemetery near Wanatah. His wife was Sarah J. Lawrence, who was born near Hanna, Indiana, attended school there and was a teacher before her marriage. She died December 20, 1928. Her parents, John and Agnes (Lawrence) Lawrence, were natives of England. They came to America in 1842, landing at Port Hope, Canada, where they remained working for a year and then continued their journey around the lakes to Michigan City, where they landed in 1843. They moved to a farm at Hanna, Indiana. All of this region was then sparsely populated. John and Agnes Lawrence are buried in Union Mills Cemetery in LaPorte County.
J. Frank Tilden was one of seven children. His sister Emma is the widow of Robert Marks and lives at Michigan City, her four children being named John, Russell, Mrs. Dorothy Eldridge and Francis. The other brothers and sisters of Chief Tilden included: Neva, , who died at the age of eighteen; Clifton, who died when four years old; Leonora, who died at the age of twenty months; Barney and Grover, both of Wanatah.
J. Frank Tilden attended school at Wanatah and completed his education in Valparaiso University. After leaving school he farmed for a few years at Wanatah, was in the retail meat business at Michigan City, and in 1910, having become prominent in local politics, he was elected sheriff of LaPorte County, and by reelection served four years. After leaving the office of sheriff Mr. Tilden bought a farm near LaPorte and this was his home for twelve years. In 1927 he moved into the city, and operated a feed business there until January 1, 1930.
At that date Mayor A. J. Miller selected him as chief-of-police, and in that position he has rendered an efficient service to the community. Mr. Tilden is a member of the Fraternal Order of Police of the United States. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and has been one of the leaders in the Democratic party in LaPorte County for many years. He is a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church.
He married at Wanatah, June 5, 1901, Miss Idary A. Conboy, daughter of John L. and Ellen (Sullivan) Conboy. Her father was a farmer of LaPorte County. Both parents were devout Catholics. Her father died June 20, 1918, and her mother on December 26, 1914. They are buried in Pine Lake Cemetery. Mrs. Tilden was educated in the public parochial schools of South Chicago. She was the only daughter in a family of five children. Her brothers are Edward; John; Frank, a LaPorte attorney; and Phillip, a farmer at Wanatah. Mrs. Tilden passed away February 23, 1931, and is buried in the Pine Lake Cemetery.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
MISS VIDA NEWSOM. If participation in the field of activities much broader than those included in the scope of the normal individual, and important work accomplished in broadening the scope of human endeavor and social organization toward new and better standards in the use of our national energies and resources, constitute the primary qualification for the distinction of a properly national character in biography, then this distinction is found in abundant measure in the career of this very interesting Indiana woman, Miss Vida Newsom, whose home is at Columbus. Some years ago the Indiana Alumnus devoted a page to a record of some of the accomplishments of Miss Newsom, a graduate of the university with the class of 1903. Since then many other accomplishments might be added to the record which was briefly reviewed there, but otherwise the article seems a very happy and appropriate means of introducing and telling the outstanding features of her life and work. Those who know her will agree with the statement that through her unlimited ability and tireless energy she has so impressed her own community that her work attracted the attention of the larger sphere of the state and nation and there has come to be held in the same high regard as in her own community.
Miss Newsom's career, says the writer in the Indiana Alumnus, has been parallel to that of many American women who have risen to great heights in the same work in which she is engaged. She began by interesting herself in the welfare of her own community. No need was too insignificant for her to lose sight of. She early recognized the vital part which public playgrounds play in the life of a modern, healthy, American community, and she inaugurated a crusade in Columbus for such grounds. For a number of years public playgrounds were her especial work. She was president of the Columbus Playground Association in 1911-1913 and in that capacity was instrumental in securing the enactment of legislation providing for the appropriation of funds in cities of the fifth class for playground purposes.
More than once she did pioneer work in movements that are now a familiar part of our social program. She sold the first Red Cross Christmas seals in Bartholomew County; the first year such seals were issued. She was active in organizing the county for women's franchise. In 1913 she was elected president of the Indiana State Federation of Clubs. In that capacity she did not lose sight of her opportunity to aid the playground movement in a larger way. While head of the state clubs she interested the local club units in the movement and a larger number responded by organizing such playground movement. While she was president of the Indiana clubwomen, 128 new clubs were added to the organization. The same article makes reference to her historical work. She served as Bartholomew County World war historian and as war historian compiled a complete list of the gold star record of her county. Incidentally, it should be noted that the director of the State Historical Commission pronounced her contribution from Bartholomew County one of the two best, most complete and accurate gold star records submitted by the various counties. Since that time Miss Newsom has completed more than half of the World war history for her home county.
This is perhaps sufficient to indicate in a broad way something of the general activities and purposes that run through the career of Miss Newsom. A record in more detail is as follows:
She was born near Columbus, daughter of Jesse Ruddick and Mary (Cox) Newsom and is descended from long lines of Quaker ancestry who came from North Carolina in 1818 to Indiana. She is a graduate of the Columbus High School, and after taking the A. B. degree at Indiana University in 1903 continued with her studies and was awarded the Master of Arts degree in 1906. Since 1908 she has been secretary of the class of 1903.
The organizations in which she is most active today are the American Association of University Women, American Sociological Society, National Club of Past State Federation Presidents and Alice Ames Winter Club; the Indiana Historical Society, Society of Indiana Pioneers and the Indiana Society for Mental Hygiene, of which she is member of the board of directors.
She has been a member since 1904 of the Columbus Culture Club and Magazine Club, is member of the Columbus Art League, the Presbyterian Church, the Missionary Society, and teaches a Sunday School class of young girls. She was treasurer and publicity chairman of the Bartholomew County Historical Society from 1921 to 1931; since 1909 has been secretary of the Board of County Charities; since 1913 treasurer and from 1924 to 1928 was secretary and treasurer of the Associated Charities of Columbus; state chairman of the Division of Mental Health, Indiana Federation of Clubs, from 1923 to 1931; and adviser in mental hygiene, Division of Public Health, General Federation of Women's Clubs, 1926-1932.
Reference has been made to her activities as a franchise worker. She was president of the Columbus Franchise League, 1912-20; member of the board 6f directors of the Woman's Franchise League of Indiana, 1915-18; president of the Columbus League of Women Voters, 1920-24.
In the Indiana Federation of Clubs she was corresponding secretary from 1909-1911; second vice president 1911-13; president 1913-15; was one of the three members appointed by Governor Ralston of the Turkey Run Commission, 1915-16; state chairman, Endowment Fund Committee, 1915-19. Miss Newsom derives a great deal of satisfaction from her connection with the movement which resulted in Indiana's first state park. It was at the request of the Indiana Federation of Clubs that the honorary commission known as the Turkey Run Commission was appointed by Governor Ralston and from its findings and investigations was set in motion the campaign of public education, actively fostered by the federation and also financially supported by it, ending with the acquisition of this wonderful tract of land in Parke County now known as Turkey Run Park, and which was the first unit of the now extensive Indiana State park system.
Miss Newsom was a member of the Indiana University Alumni Council, 1914-17; first vice president of the Legislative Council of Indiana Women, 1915-21; and chairman of the Information Committee of the Legislative Council, 1921-23. She was vice president or: member of the executive committee of the State Conference of Charities, 1915-21 and in 1923 was made president of the State Conference of Charities, now known as the Indiana Conference on Social Work. It has been in this special field that most of her efforts have been concentrated during the past seven or eight years. Beginning with her address as president of the conference in 1923 and earlier, she has contributed regularly to the proceedings of the annual meetings of the State Conference on Social Work. She has also been a contributor to the proceedings of the annual meeting of the Indiana Society for Mental Hygiene in addresses. at three state meetings and also as chairman of the Division of Mental Health Indiana Federation of Clubs, which cooperates with the state society for mental hygiene. She was a member of the executive committee of the Society for Mental Hygiene from 1916 to 1931, and has served two years as vice president of that organization.
During the war period she was vice president of the Municipal League of Indiana 1917-21. She was state chairman of the Committee on Maintenance of Existing Social Service Agencies, State Council of Defense, 1917-19; county chairman, Woman's Liberty Loan Committee. 1917-19; “Fourteen Minute Woman”, Council of Defense. She was one of the two women appointed by the governor on the commission of five known as the Indiana Child Welfare Commission, 1919-21; was vice chairman, Indiana Committee on Social Legislation, 1922-24; chairman, Woman's Division for Bartholomew County, Indiana University Memorial Fund Campaign, 1922-23; and state director, General Federation of Women's Clubs, 1920-22. From 1922 to 1928 Miss Newsom was chairman of the Committee on Highways and Memorial Tree Planting, Gardens, with the General Federation of Women's Clubs, and in that capacity she contributed a great deal to the country-wide movement for the planting of memorial trees along the highways of the country and the systematic adornment and beautification of our national system of highways and parks.
All of these relationships have involved not only tremendous activities, travel at home and abroad, working in committee rooms, public speaking, but also an amount of literary work the total of which is amazing to all except those who understand the tremendous vitality and energy of this Indiana woman. She compiled the State Year Book of the Indiana Federation of Clubs for 1912-13 and has written or compiled pamphlets in connection with state or General Federation activities and contributed to the proceedings of every State Federation Year Book since 1910. She has written articles for publication in newspapers and magazines on public playgrounds, various phases of woman's club activities, on highways and memorial tree planting, on national garden weeds, on mental hygiene, and other subjects. She was the author of the Bartholomew County Pageant, in 1916, in celebration of the centennial of Indiana's statehood. Among her contributions to local and state history one of the most notable was the article published in the Indiana Magazine of History in March, 1924, entitled "Phases of Southeastern Indiana History." Dr. James A. Woodburn, of Indiana University, stated that it was the first time that section of the state had been subjected to review by a critical historian.
Click here for photo.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
ROY W. LEETS, county auditor of LaPorte County, was born on a farm in that county, June 27, 1894. He is a World war veteran, and his varied business activities have made him a very popular and substantial figure in his community.
Mr. Leets is descended from some of the early pioneer settlers of Northern Indiana. His grandfather, John Leets, came from Germany and was an early day farmer in LaPorte County. He and his wife are buried at Bettys Corner Cemetery near Michigan City. Charles Leets, father of the county auditor, was born at Michigan City, attended public school there and spent all his active life as a farmer. He was a Democrat in politics. He died February 12; 1916, and is buried at Chesterton. Charles Leets married Hattie Frame, who was born and reared in Porter County, Indiana, and attended school there. She is a resident of LaPorte County. Her parents, Younger and Louisa Frame, came from one of the eastern states and settled in Northern Indiana while the Indians still occupied a portion of this region. They were buried near their old home on the county line between Porter and LaPorte counties. Roy W. Leets has two brothers, Clarence, of Gary, and Arthur, of Michigan City.
Roy W. Leets attended public schools in Porter County and on leaving school worked at farming until 1915. In that year he became an employee in one of the automobile plants at Detroit. From this industry he was called to the colors in 1917, received his training at Camp Taylor, Louisville, and Camp Sherman at Chillicothe, Ohio. He was overseas ten months with the Eighty-fourth Division, in the Engineering Corps. He was given his honorable discharge at Camp Sherman July 19, 1919.
After returning to LaPorte County Mr. Leets followed farming until 1924. For two years he managed a feed and saw mill and in 1926 was made superintendent of the county Asylum, an office he held for four years. In 1930 he was elected, on the Democratic ticket, county auditor and began his four year term January 1, 1931.
Mr. Leets is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of the Maccabees, the Loyal Order of Moose, Eastern Star, Hamon Gray Post No. 83 of the American Legion. He has been very active in civic matters and in Legion work. He is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of LaPorte.
Mr. Leets married at LaPorte, June 27,1917, Miss Marguerite Rotzien, daughter of Emil and Caroline (Benkie) Rotzien. Her father was a miller at Holmesville, Indiana, until his death on April 18, 1931. He is buried in Pinhook Cemetery. Mrs. Rotzien lives at Holmesville. Mrs. Leets was educated in the public schools of LaPorte County, and attended high school at Michigan City. She is a member of the Methodist Church and the Eastern Star, and also takes an active part in the American Legion Auxiliary. Mr. and Mrs. Leets have one son, Charles Emil, born October 15, 1926.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
ERIC C. HAEHNEL, prominent Hammond business man, was born in that city November 4, 1888, and since early manhood has been identified with the ice and coal business. His father was a pioneer in the wholesale storage and distribution of ice in the city.
He is a son of Otto and Amelia (Duske) Haehnel. His parents were born and reared and educated in Germany, and soon after their marriage they came to the United States, about 1885, locating at Hammond. Otto Haehnel was the founder of the Lake George Ice Company, and he was active in the conduct of the business until 1919. He died in 1925 and is buried at Hammond. He was always much concerned with the progress and material upbuilding of his community. His widow is now seventy-five years of age and still lives at the old homestead. She is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. In the family were seven children: Max, deceased; Leo, who died when six years old; Carl, who died at the age of three years; Otto, who died in 1926; William, of Hammond; Eric; and Fred, of Calumet City.
Eric C. Haehnel was educated in the grammar and high schools of Hammond, and also had a business college course. He went with his father in the ice and coal business and in 1913 took over the active management of the Lake George Ice Company. In 1919 he bought the Hammond Pure Ice & Coal Company and for the past twelve years has done much to enlarge the facilities of this organization, which operated one of the largest plants and does an immense business throughout the Hammond territory. The office of the business 18 at 241 Russell Street.
Mr. Haehnel is a member of the Hammond Chamber of Commerce, is affiliated with Garfield Lodge No. 569, A. F. and A. M.. Hammond Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, the Council, the Fort Wayne Consistory and Orak Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is a Republican in politics and he and his wife are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. He married at Hammond, May 16, 1916, Miss Meta Meinke, daughter of August Meinke, of South Chicago. Her father is a retired resident of South Chicago. Her mother died in 1926 and was buried at Hammond. Mrs. Haehnel attended school at South Chicago.
Mr. Haehnel's chief diversion from the cares and responsibilities of an active business is found in hunting and fishing. He is a veteran fisherman and big game hunter. For several years he has made annual trips to Canada both for big game and for fishing, and usually gets his share of the moose, deer and fish. He has many trophies of his hunts, and both at his office and in his home has many pictures that would qualify him for memberships in any of the honorary hunting and fishing organizations.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
HON. LEMUEL DARROW, who for five terms occupied the office of mayor of the City of LaPorte, is a lawyer by profession and has had a very busy career during the nearly forty years since he was admitted to the bar, a career that has brought him a high degree of success and public esteem.
Mr. Darrow was born in LaPorte County February 6, 1867, son of Pliny and Susan (Rynearson) Darrow. The Darrow family in England were identified with the Puritan movement and some of them crossed over to Holland, and from that country came to America in 1656. Their first American home was in Connecticut. Clarence Darrow, the famous criminal lawyer of Chicago, is a distant relative of Mr. Lemuel Darrow.
Lemuel Darrow's grandfather went to Illinois in the early days. After his death his widow removed to LaPorte County, where she died when past ninety years of age. Pliny Darrow was born in Illinois, was educated in public schools, and was married in LaPorte County, Indiana. He became an engineer with the Illinois Central Railroad and was killed in an accident in 1869, being buried in Illinois. His wife, Susan Rynearson, was born in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, attended school there and was a small girl when her parents came west to LaPorte County in 1848. She was a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Webster) Rynearson. Elizabeth Webster was related to the family of Daniel Webster. Mrs. Susan Darrow was an active member of the Presbyterian Church. She died February 11, 1911. Her two children were Anna E. and Lemuel. Anna is the widow of Jacob Grove and lives at Long Beach, California.
Lemuel Darrow attended public schools in LaPorte County, graduating from the Rolling Prairie High School in 1885. In 1888 he completed a course in the Valparaiso Normal School, now Valparaiso University, subsequently took up the study of law and in 1894 wall admitted to the bar. For two years he practiced in association with Hon. Mortimer Nye at LaPorte. He then engaged in practice alone and in 1898 became a member of the law firm of Weir & Darrow. Mr. Darrow; was first elected mayor of LaPorte in 18981 and gave the city five consecutive terms of service in that position, until January 1, 1914. Since then he has devoted himself to the busy routine of a successful law practice. On retiring from the office of mayor he organized the firm of Darrow & Rowley, his associate being Mr. Earl Rowley. In 1925 they took into the firm Clarence V. Shields, and the firm is now Darrow, Rowley & Shields, with offices in the Andrew Building.
Mr. Darrow is a member of the Indiana State and American Bar Associations, is a director of Smith's Hudson Lake Hotel Company, is a former president of the LaPorte Chamber of Commerce and a Democrat in politics. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and B. P. O. Elks.
At Lockport, New York, May 20, 1889, he married Miss Martha E. Clehorn, daughter of William W. and Martha (Smith) Clehorn. Her grandfather Clehorn was a Scotch Presbyterian minister, a pioneer of the West, and was appointed an Indian agent of the Government and had charge of a large band of Indians when they were moved from Northern Indiana to the western reservations. The first wife of this pioneer minister was the daughter of an Indian chief. Mrs. Darrow's parents are buried at New Carlisle, St. Joseph County. Mrs. Darrow attended grammar and high school at New Carlisle, and completed her education in Butler University at Indianapolis. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mr. and Mrs. Lemuel Darrow have had two daughters, Pauline and Dorothy Catherine. Pauline died when two years old. Dorothy was educated in the LaPorte High School, attended the Ward-Belmont College for Girls at Nashville, Tennessee, and also had special training at Boston, Massachusetts. She was married to Mr. Arthur M. Swasey, of .LaPorte, formerly of Ontario, Canada. They now reside at Atlanta, Georgia, where Mr. Swasey represents the Lakewood Engineering Company of Cleveland. Mr. and Mrs. Swasey have one son, Arthur M., Jr.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
CLARENCE VANCE SHIELDS, of the prominent law firm of Darrow, Rowley & Shields at La- Porte, has practiced law in Indiana for twenty years.
Mr. Shields is a native of Oregon, but his grandfather was an early settler in Indiana. Mr. Shields was born at Creswell, Oregon, March 15, 1883, son of Zachariah and Lydia (Ludy) Shields. His grandfather was William Shields, a Virginian by birth. He was born in 1799, and was a pioneer settler of Putnam County, Indiana, where he married. Later he went out by the overland trail to Oregon and was a pioneer of that state. A large part of his old farm and ranch is now included within the city limits of Cottage Grove. He and his wife were buried in the Shields Cemetery there. Zachariah Shields was born at Cottage Grove, Oregon, was educated in public schools and was a carpenter, contractor and builder, and also owned a cattle ranch. He died in 1894 and is buried at Cottage Grove. His wife, Lydia Ludy, was born in 1853 and was six years of age when her parents went west to California. She attended school in College City, California, and she met Zachariah Shields in that state. They lived there for several years after their marriage, when her husband moved back to Cottage Grove, Oregon, and to Creswell. In the fall of 188:5 they went to Harrington, Washington, and were early settlers in that district of Eastern Washington. About 1891 they returned to Cottage Grove, Oregon, and after the death of Zachariah Shields, Mrs. Shields returned to Harrington, Washington. She died in 1898 and is buried there. She was a member of the Christian Church and had much to do with establishing the first Sunday School in the Big Bend country near Harrington. In the family were five children: Eric Irwin, who died in childhood; Darius D., who died in 1919; Clarence Vance; Robert Currin, who died in 1914; and Alice Cary, now Mrs. Leo Manning, of Carlsbad, New Mexico.
Clarence Vance Shields attended public school at Harrington, Washington, and in 1903 was graduated from high school at Davenport in that state. Subsequently he came east to complete his education in Valparaiso University, where he was graduated from the law department in 1911 and admitted to the Indinana bar in June of the same year. Mr. Shields on June 20, 1911, located at LaPorte, and here he has found congenial associations and opportunities for a very successful law practice. For two years he was associated with Earl C. Hall and then was alone until 1923, when he became a partner in the firm of Darrow, Rowley & Shields, with offices in the Andrew Building,
Mr. Shields was deputy prosecuting attorney of LaPorte County in 1918-19, and in 1928 was elected a member of the LaPorte City School Board and has been its president since 1930.
He is a member of the LaPorte County, Indiana State and American Bar Associations, the B. P. O. Elks and the lzaak Walton League of America. He is a thorough outdoor man, and enjoys fishing and hunting. . He has been interested in promoting good citizenship, and for years has been identified with the Boy Scout work of LaPorte. For three years he was president of the Pottawattomie Boy Scouts, resigning that office on January 1, 1931, to become chairman of the camping committee. He is a Democrat in politics, a member of the First Baptist Church, and for twelve years was on the boardof directors of the LaPorte Y. M. C. A.
Mr. Shields married at Chicago, November 3,1913, Miss Harriet Swanson, of El Centro, California, daughter of Albert W. and Effie (Burke) Swanson, now of San Diego, California. Her father for a number of years was a printer and newspaper editor and was also juvenile probation judge until he retired. Mrs. Shields attended grammar and high school at El Centro, for a time was a student in the high school at Royalton, Minnesota, but graduated from the El Centro High School. She came to Indiana to enter Valparaiso University and was graduated in the kindergarten and primary course in 1911. After that, until her marriage, she taught kindergarten at EI Centro, California. She is a member of the Episcopal Church, the Woman's Club, and has been active in literary societies and in the Young Girls Club. She is commissioner of the Girl Scouts at LaPorte. Mr. and Mrs. Shields have two children, Marian Lydia and Currin Vance. Marian Lydia, born in 1915, is a member of the class of 1932 of the LaPorte High School. The son, Currin Vance, is in grammar school.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
WALTER FUERST HUTHSTEINER. Bearing an old family name that is honorably identified with Tell City almost from the time of its beginning, Walter Fuerst Huthsteiner, banker, manufacturer, civil engineer and progressive, broad-minded citizen, is one of the outstanding business men of this section of the state. His interests are extensive and important and some of these, from their germination in Tell City's early village days, have expanded side by side with the city's growth.
Mr. Huthsteiner was born at Tell City, Perry County, Indiana, September 23, 1876, and is a son of Gustave and Paulina (Webber) Huthsteiner. His father, who was born in Germany, April 5, 1844, was brought to this country by his parents at at an early age, the family settling at Cincinnati, Ohio. Gustave H. Huthsteiner was among the earliest residents at Tell City, where he arrived at the time of the Swiss colonization movement, the community being named in honor of the Swiss patriot, William Tell. Mr. Huthsteiner from modest beginnings rose through industry and keen judgment to be one of the leading citizens of his adopted place. He was one of the founders of the Tell City National Bank, in which he was a heavy stockholder, and was interested largely in a financial way in the insurance business. A man of great foresight and progressiveness, he was a leader in movements that assisted the little town to grow and prosper, and in his death, which occurred February 1, 1902, Tell City lost one of its most valuable and highly respected citizens. He married Paulina Webber, whose father, John Webber, was one of the early settlers of the Swiss community, and died in 1881. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Huthsteiner: Eugene, deceased, who married Amalia Fricke, of Tell City; Ella, who married Charles F. Herrmann, the latter now deceased, and has five children; Edward, of Tell City, who married Dora Wittmer and has two children; Robert, who married Hedwig Duenwig, resides in El Paso, Texas, and has four children; Alfred, who married Dora Ahlf, resides at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and has two children; and Walter Fuerst, of this review. The mother of these children, Mrs. Paulina (Webber) Huthsteiner, died December 25, 1883. In August, 1885, Gustave Huthsteiner married Louisa Ludwig. To this union were born five children: Hans, of Schenectady, New York, who is married and has two children; Gustave, of Cleveland, Ohio, has three children; George, a captain in the United States Army, is married but has no children; Louis, of Kingston, New York, has two children; and Helen, wife of Harry A. D. O'Connor, of New York City, has no children.
Walter F. Huthsteiner attended the public schools. Tell City at that time had no high school and, after finishing the work of the grades he attended the Weiley High School at Terre Haute for one year and had one year of work in Indiana State University. At this time he received an appointment to West Point Military Academy; but after one year left that institution and entered the Rose Polytechnic Institute at Terre Haute. Here he completed his work in civil engineering in 1901. During his years in the Rose Polytechnic, while he stood only a little more than average in his academic work, being on the honor roll once, he was especially active in extracurricular movements. He was captain of the football team, captain of the track team, president of the Athletic Association, president of the Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association, which included all the larger schools in the state, and president of his class and of the Student Council.
On leaving college Mr. Huthsteiner became an employee of the Tell City National Bank, as assistant cashier, with which he has been identified for thirty years. He was made cashier upon the death of his father, and beame president, an office he still holds, in January, 1919. In 1906 he became identified with the Tell City Furniture Company as president, and in 1924, upon the death of his brother, Eugene Huthsteiner, became active manager as well as president of the company, positions he still retains. In addition to the above he is president of the Tell City Creamery Company, president of the Knott Manufacturing Company, secretary and manager of the Tell City Canning Company and a member of the board of directors of the Citizens National Bank of Evansville. On January 1, 1931, he was elected a director of the Louisville branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis. He is also treasurer of the Tell City Hotel Company, operating one of the most popular hotels in Southern Indiana.
A friend of the public schools, he has done much to raise educational standards at Tell City as president of the local board of education. He served one term in the City Council, although he has never sought public office. Politically he is a Democrat. Fraternally Mr. Huthsteiner is a York Rite Mason, is a member of Hadi Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Evansville and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias. His religious connection is with the Episcopal Church. Mr. Huthsteiner is the foremost business man of the community, and has lived up to the splendid traditions of the family, the members of which have long been the backbone of the city's prosperity.
For an adequate picture of his character as a business man and citizen. some other items showing his unselfish service to the community should be noted. During the World war he served as chairman of the Liberty Loan organization of the county. Much of the population of the county was strongly pro-German in character. There was only a weekly paper for publicity, with poor roads to facilitate meetings in the county, and under these circumstances it is highly creditable to the energy and understanding of the committee that each quota assigned was over subscribed, so that an indispensable service was rendered to the nation at that time. The record of the committee still remains unrecognized by any of the usual patriotic memorials given to those who served their country in time of need.
Mr. Huthsteiner also served as a director of the Tell City Chamber of Commerce for twenty years, and for two years was its president. In this connection he has been very active in efforts to secure new industries. He has also fathered the good roads movement in Perry County for over twenty years, and his part in this work has made his name known throughout the state.
Mr. Huthsteiner married Miss Edna L. Clark, whose father, Charles R. Clark, was a pioneer settler and pottery manufacturer of Cannelton, Indiana. To their marriage were born two children. Dorothea, who lives at Tell City, and Walter Clark Huthsteiner, who was graduated from the Staunton Military Academy at Staunton, Virginia, in the class of 1931. He had the honor of being fourteenth cadet in military rank in a corps of over 500 boys, holding the rank of lieutenant.
Click here for photo of Gustave.
Click here for photo of Walter.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
SCOTT C. KNOLL, county superintendent of schools of LaPorte County, has had many years of active contact with the educational affairs of Northern Indiana. Before being elected to his present office he was principal of the school at Westville; where he has his home.
Mr.. Knoll was born near Cloverdale, Indiana, March 28, 1888. The Knoll family have been in Indiana for a century. The founder was John Knoll, a native of Bavaria, Germany, where as a youth he learned the tailoring trade. He came to America in 1832 and settled at what is now Cunot, Indiana. He lived on a farm. He was married near Richmond, Indiana, and both he and his wife are buried at Cunot. One of their children was William Knoll, who was born in Owen County, Indiana, and is buried at Cunot. John Knoll, father of the county superintendent of LaPorte County, was born and reared at Cloverdae, attended rural schools, and has been a farmer and stock raiser throughout his active career. He was forn1erly active in the farm organizations of his community.
Mr. Knoll's mother, Emma Croy, also r- resents one of the old names of Clay and Putnam counties. She is a descendant of Benjamin Croy, who established a pioneer grist mill on the Eel River, a business which was continued by her father, John Croy, for many years. Croy's Creek, east of Brazil, was named for this family. John Croy and wife are buried at Cunot. Emma Croy was born and reared there. She is a member of the Universalist Church. Her three children are: Hallie, Mrs. Harvey Mace, of Brazil, and mother of four children; Effie, Mrs. Clarence McCammack, who lives near Cloverdale and has one son; and Scott C.
Scott C. Knoll grew up on a farm, attended rural schools, the Cloverdale High School, and finished his high school work in Valparaiso University. From 1905 to 1908 he taught school for three years in Owen County. Teaching enabled him to go on with his education at Valparaiso University, where he took his A. B. degree in 1910. Since then he has taken summer work in the University of Wisconsin. After completing his university education he became principal of the high school at Westville, and held this post continuously for nineteen years, until 1929, when he was elected county superintendent of schools. His office as county superintendent is in the courthouse at LaPorte, but he continues to reside in Westville. He is a member of the County and State Teachers Associations and the National Education Association. Mr. Knoll is a Royal Arch Mason, member of the Knights of Pythias, the Kiwanis Club, and is a Democrat. He is on the official board of the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Westville and teaches a class of young men and young women in the Sunday School. His hobby is nature work, and he is an amateur landscape gardener who has taken great pride in adorning his home at Westville. With his own hands he constructed a rock garden which is an object of admiration for the community. He also enjoys hunting. He was active in the patriotic drives during the World war and as a progressive educator is naturally interested in all civic matters.
He married, August 22, 1910, at Hillpoint, Wisconsin, Miss Rose Kollmeyer, daugnter of Fred and Wilhelmina (Schleuter) Kollmeyer. Her parents were natives of Germany. Her father came to America at the age of fifteen, and her mother when a small child. They grew up in Wisconsin, and her father was a prosperous farmer at Hillpoint, Wisconsin, and died August 6, 1931, at the age of eighty-two. Her mother died in 1921. Mrs. Knoll was educated in the grammar and high schools of Hillpoint and attended Valparaiso University. She taught four years in the rural schools of Sauk County, Wisconsin, before her marriage. She is a member of the Methodist Church, is president of the Ladies Aid Society and a member of the Westville Chapter of the Eastern Star. Mr. and Mrs. Knoll have four children, Virginia, Rosalie, Carleton and Scott C., Jr. Virginia was graduated from the Westville High School in 1929, and in 1931 completed the primary course in the State Teachers College at Terre Haute. Rosalie graduated from the Westville High School in 1931. Carleton is in high school, and Scott C., Jr., is in the grades.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
JESSE HAYS HOSKINSON has been superintendent of the school system of Whiting since 1915. This is a long and important service with one of the larger school systems of the state, and his constructive work there has brought Mr. Hoskinson a splendid and well deserved reputation among Indiana educators. Mr. Hoskinson has two degrees from Indiana University.
He was born at Elizabethtown, Kentucky, January 11, 1871, son of J. W. and Elizabeth Hoskinson. His father was also born and reared in that section of Kentucky and spent his active lifetime as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, being a member of the Louisville Conference. He died in October, 1916, and is buried near Elizabethtown. His wife was also a church worker, but her life's devotion was to her home and family. Of her ten children, seven sons and three daughters, the daughters are all deceased.. Jesse Hays Hoskinson was the eighth child in the family.
His early educational advantages were obtained at Elizabethtown, Kentucky. He was quite young when he did his first work as a teacher. Later he came to Indiana and entered Indiana University, where he was graduated A. B. in 1907 and received the Master of Arts degree in 1911. For several years he was superintendent of schools at Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and for two years superintendent of the Training School in the State Normal School at Richmond, Kentucky. Mr. Hoskinson then did a year of graduate work in the University of Chicago, and in 1915 was chosen superintendent of schools at Whiting.
Since he came to Whiting the educational plant has been practically made over and at least half of the buildings have been erected under his administration. There are six buildings, including the high school. Under his supervision are seventy-five teachers and 2,000 pupils enrolled. Mr. Hoskinson is a member of the Lake County and Indiana State Teachers Societies and the National Education Association. He is a member of the Phi Delta Kappa and is a charter member of Alpha Chapter at the University of Indiana in 1906 and served as its first president. He is a Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Woodmar Country Club. He is an independent Republican and for the past fifteen years has taught the Men's Class in the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Whiting, and is a member of the official board of the church. His position involves constant responsibilities toward the civic welfare of the community. Among outside activities he has been especially interested in the Boy Scout work. Mr. Hoskinson enjoys the game of golf, but his chief hobby is farming. He owns two farms near Brandenburg, Kentucky.
He married at Brandenburg, Kentucky, August 6, 1902, Miss Daisy McIntire, daughter of William and Mary (Funkhouser) McIntire. Her father for fifty-five years was a general merchant at Brandenburg, where he died January 14, 1928, and is buried. Her mother resides at Brandenburg. Mrs. Hoskinson attended school at Brandenburg and completed her literary and musical education in Logan College for Girls at Russellville, Kentucky. For a number of years she has been a teacher of piano and has made herself prominent in the musical circles of Whiting particularly in church music. She is a member of the Eastern Star and Woman's Club.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
BRYCE BYRUM REEVE, physician and surgeon, is a native of Indiana, member of one of the old families of Knox County, and since graduating from medical college has had a busy industrial practice at Whiting, where be is tbe physician and surgeon for the Standard Oil Company.
Doctor Reeve was born at Edwardsport, Knox County, Indiana, March 29, 1895. His grandfather came to Indiana from Pennsylvania, was a carriage maker and painter, and both he and his wife are buried at Edwardsport. Doctor Reeve is a son of Samuel M. and Lealie S. (Hulen) Reeve. His father was born and reared in Knox County and for many years carried on a successful hardware business at Edwardsport. He was a deacon in the Christian Church, a Master Mason and secretary of his lodge, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He died December 30, 1926. His widow, who now resides at Terre Haute, was born and reared at Edwardsport. She is a member of the Christian Church. They had six children: Miss Helen E. Reeve, dean of women at the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute; Dr. Roscoe H. Reeve, of Casper, Wyoming; Dr. B. B. Reeve; Margaret M., a registered nurse at Corydon, Indiana; Dr. Virgil K. Reeve, a dentist at Aruba, Dutch West Indies; and Gordon Reeve, with the Bank of Terre Haute.
Bryce B. Reeve attended the public schools of his native village, graduating from high school in 1913. For two years he taught school as a means to promoting his higher education. In 1919 he was graduated Bachelor of Science from Indiana State University. While in the university he enlisted, in 1917, and was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station near Chicago. Soon afterward he was released and sent back to medical school and put in the Medical Reserve Corps. He was relieved of military training on December 20,1918, but was retained in the Medical Reserve Corps until November, 1920. Doctor Reeve was graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1921. He received his interne training in the Passavant Memorial Hospital in Chicago, then practiced a year at Malvern, Arkansas, and on April 23, 1923, located at Whiting. For the past eight years he has been physician and surgeon for the Standard Oil Company and is also industrial physician for the Union Tank Car Company. Since March, 1930, he has been secretary of the Whiting board of health. Doctor Reeve is a member of the Lake County, Indiana State and American Medical Associations.
He is a member of Whiting Post No. 80 of the American Legion, of the Phi Chi medical fraternity, the Casa-Del-Mar Country Club and Lake Hills Country Club. He votes independently and is a member of the Christian Church. His hobbies are fishing, hunting and golf, and he is also an ardent football and baseball fan.
Doctor Reeve married at Vincennes, Indiana, December 29, 1926, Miss Evelyn Tharp, daughter of Wesley L. and Maude {Johnson) Tharp. Her father for many years has been a leading merchant at Whiting. Mrs. Reeve attended the grammar and high schools of Whiting, is a graduate of the National Kindergarten College of Chicago and taught for two years before her marriage. She is a member of the Christian Church, the Woman's Club and the Beta Gamma sorority. Doctor and Mrs. Reeve have two children, Esther Ruth, born May 30, 1929, and Bryce B., Jr., born April 15, 1931.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
ROLAND E. GREENBURG completed his engineering education at the University of Illinois, and for a number of years has been with the engineering department of the Sinclair OilRefining Company, and has charge of the engineering work at, the great Chicago plant. His home is in Whiting.
Mr. Greenburg is a native of Indiana, born at Talbot on February 5, 1892, son of John C. and Hannah J. (Barber) Greenburg. John C. Greenburg was a native of Bremen, Germany, attended public school there and at the age of seventeen came to America, in 1859. He had been in this country only a year or so when he enlisted in the Union army. He was a member of the Seventy-second Indiana Infantry, in Wilder's mounted infantry known as the Lightning Brigade. Wilder's Brigade played a famous part in many battles of the Civil war. After the war John C. Greenburg devoted his active years to farming and stock raising. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. He died in 1910 and is buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery: near Lafayette. His wife, Hannah Barber, was born and reared in the vicinity of Talbot, being a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Barber, early settlers there. Her father took up land from the Government and improved a farm. Her parents are buried in Boswell Cemetery. Hannah Barber was educated in the public schools, was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and died in February, 1911. She was the mother of seven children: Estella, Mrs. Thomas Davis, of New Richmond, Indiana; James A., of Morgantown, Indiana; Lula, wife of L. P. Brown, of Linden, Indiana; Carl F., of Wingate, Indiana; Viola, Mrs. T. E. Bailey, of New Richmond; Ernest, of Linden; and Roland E.
Roland E. Greenburg attended school at New Richmond and after graduating from the high school in 1910 spent one year in the Indiana State University. In 1915 he was graduated Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois. During the following year he was with the engineering department of the Standard Oil Company of Whiting, and for a few months was with Wilson & Company in Chicago. On November 19, 1916, he joined the engineering forces of the Sinclair Refining Company at East Chicago. He had a responsible position during the construction of the buildings of the huge plant, which now covers about 300 acres. From 1922 to 1924 he was transferred to the main offices in Chicago, in general charge of the construction program. Since 1924 he has been engineer in charge at the East Chicago plant.
Mr. Greenburg has made a splendid record as a construction engineer, specializing in oil refining equipment. He is a member of the East Chicago Chamber of Commerce, the Pi Tau Sigma fraternity, the Masonic Order, and is a Republican and a member of the Congregational Church. During the World war he took part in all the patriotic drives. His recreation is fishing and golf.
He married at Whiting, July 1, 1916, Miss Helen M. Green, daughter of Edwin and Minnie (Malloy) Green. Her father for many years was with the Standard Oil Company at Whiting. He and his wife are buried in the Forest Home Cemetery at Chicago. Mrs. Greenburg attended grammar and high school at Whiting, graduating from high school in 1915, following which she spent one year in the University of Michigan. She is a member of the Congregational Church, the Beta. Gamma Upsilon sorority and the Whiting Woman's Club. Mr. and Mrs; Greenburg have two children, Roland Edwin; Jr., born January 5, 1919, a student in the public schools at Whiting; and Minnette, born July 23, 1928.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
JOSEPH ENSMINGER CRAIN, president emeritus of the Cass County Historical Society, was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, June 2,1844, and was just a year old when his parents, James Harvey and Mary Elizabeth (Ensminger) Crain, moved to Cass County, Indiana. His position as president of the Historical Society is well deserved. As a boy he was acquainted with many of the personal actors in the events which it has been the purpose of the Historical Society under his leadership to preserve.
Mr. Crain's great-grandfather, Elihu Crain, Sr., was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Elihu Crain, Jr., the grandfather, was born in New Jersey, in 1775. On going west he first settled in Kentucky, then in Ohio. He was a brick maker and brick mason, and is credited with having erected the first brick building in the City of Cincinnati. About 1800 he settled on a farm in Warren County, Ohio. It was on that farm that his son, James Harvey Crain, was born August 27, 1809. Ten years later the family moved to Montgomery County, Indiana. There James H. Crain grew to manhood and became a farmer and carpenter. In 1841 he married Mary Elizabeth Ensminger and four years later they moved to Cass County, Indiana, and located on an unimproved tract of land and opened a farm, where the subject of this sketch grew to manhood.
Joseph E. Crain was a pupil in one of the rural schools of Cass County at the time of the Civil war and he left school to go into the Union army. He was in Company F of the 151st Indiana Infantry. Shortly after his return from military service he married, October 19, 1865, Miss Sarah Elenor Updegraff, and to them were born seven children: Edna Mary,Schuyler Colfax, Harriett Ann, Rodney James, Charlotte Bell, Barton Keep and Horace Ensminger. During the first two years after he was married he engaged in farming and then moved to Logansport, where he was subsequently, until he retired from business, identified with the building trade, at first as a carpenter and contractor and eventually as an architect. Mr. Crain is one of the older architects of the state. While in building work he studied architecture and from 1884 gave his undivided time to the practice of that profession for thirty-two years.
Mr. Crain on January 1, 1917, was made governor of the Northwestern National Soldiers' Home at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and served in that office three years and ten months. Since then he has resumed his residence at Logansport. He is a Republican and has enjoyed several political honors, having been elected county commissioner of Cass County in 1894 and a member of the County Council in 1904. He has been a member of the Market Street Methodist Episcopal Church since 1869 and for thirty years held the position of choir director and was a trustee for forty years. He was a member of the Logansport G. A. R. quartette and sang with it for thirty-two years. He and Miss Sallie Horn, the accompanist, are the only members now living. Since 1886 he has been a member of Logansport Post No. 1,4, Grand Army of the Republic, two years commander, ten years quartermaster, twelve years adjutant, and patriotic instructor, Department of Indiana G. A. R. 1929-30. He became a Master Mason in 1901 and is affiliated with the Royal Arch Chapter and is a past master of Tipton Lodge No. 33, and wrote the one hundred years history of that Lodge, a book of four hundred and sixty pages.
Mrs. Crain passed away March 24, 1921, and of their three daughters, the eldest, Edna Mary, married Edwin F. Martin, of Cass County, and she died January 3, 1926. They had five children: Stanley Crain, deceased; Esther Fern, deceased; Joseph Edwin; Rachael Elenor, and Jesse Gilbert. The two living daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Crain are: Harriett Ann, who married George W. Shank, of Boonesboro, Maryland, who died January 2, 1931, and Charlotte Bell. The four sons of Mr. and Mrs. Crain are living. Schuyler Colfax, of Tacoma, Washington, married Harriett Wimer, of Winfield, Kansas, deceased. Rodney James married Evelyn Cline, of Rensselaer, Indiana, deceased, and their three children are: Donald Jay, David Allan and Geneva. Donald Jay married Isabel Brown, of Logansport, and their four children are Donald John, Richard James, Joseph Ensminger and George Allan. Geneva married Leroy F. Baker, of Logansport, and their one child is Beverly Jene. Barton Keep Crain married Elizabeth Pherson, of Logansport, and they have had four children: Chester William, who married Virginia Francis, of Indianapolis, Indiana; Frances Louise, who married Omer Zell, of Kokomo, Indiana, whose two children are Robert Nelson and Mary Ellen; Mary Elizabeth, who is not married; and Ralph James who died March 22, 1930. Horace Ensminger Crain, of Portland, Oregon, married Elsa Lauderholm of that city.
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INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
