CHARLES PETER LEUTHART, M. D. Good birth and breeding, augmented by comprehensive general and professional training, contribute to the present success and future of Dr. Charles P. Leuthart, a medical and surgical practitioner of New Albany who has followed his calling at this place and Galena, Indiana, for three decades. During his long and active career he has been honored by appointment to numerous offices, and since 1924 has been a member of the board of health of Floyd County.

Doctor Leuthart was born on a farm in Floyd County, Indiana, May 18, 1873, and is a son of Charles and Mary (Rosenberger) Leuthart, both of whom are now deceased. His father, a native of Switzerland, came to the United States in young manhood and secured land in Floyd County, where he passed the remaining years of his life in farming and became one of the highly esteemed citizens of his adopted locality. He married Miss Mary Rosenberger, who was born in Harrison County, and they became the parents of seven children.

Charles P. Leuthart attended the public schools of Floyd County, following which he entered the Kentucky School of Medicine, now the University of Louisville, and was graduated therefrom as a member of the class of 1901, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In the same year he commenced the practice of his profession at Galena, Indiana, where he remained for twenty-four years, and then removed his residence to New Albany, where he maintains his office at 1410 East Spring Street, although continuing also his practice at Galena. He has a high standing and a large and lucrative practice, is genial and approachable in manner, skilled in diagnosis and treatment, and has completely won the confidence of the most conservative members of the community. Doctor Leuthart was United States pension examiner under President Wilson from 1912 until 1918, and from 1924 to the present has been a member of the Floyd County Board of Health. He is treasurer of the Academy of Medicine, and a member of the Floyd County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and has several civic and fraternal connections.

Doctor Leuthart married Miss Barbara Best, a native of Indiana, and they are the parents of two children: Valeria Louise and Woodrow Charles, both of whom are attending school.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


RUDOLPH W. MEISINGER has been the county engineer under whose technical supervision all the hard surfaced paved roads of Vanderburgh County have been constructed. Mr. Meisinger has had a wide experience in his profession and has been in construction work at many different times over the country.

He was born in Pekin, Illinois, February 15, 1882. His parents, Adam and Elizabeth Meisinger, came from Germany, were married in this country, and his father, now eighty-two years of age, has spent the greater part of his active life as a contractor and builder. There were four children in the family: Alma, Rudolph, John and Roy. Alma is the wife of George Kickler, of Pekin, Illinois, and John and Roy live in Ohio. Roy was in France eighteen months during the World war.

Rudolph W. Meisinger attended grade and high schools at Pekin, Illinois. His engineering training was acquired in practical work for his father in the contracting business. For two years he was a draftsman at Terre Haute, Indiana, and for four years assistant city engineer, from 1906 to 1910. His engineering work has taken him to all parts of the United States. During 1910-11 he was engineer of construction for the Big Four Railway Company. During 1912-13 he was general foreman for the Ohio River Contracting Company, and in 1916-17 was construction foreman with the Arnold Construction Company of Chicago. He was doing essential work when America entered the World war, and in 1918 he was transferred to the direct service of the Government at Nashville, Tennessee, in charge of the skilled mechanics at the powder plant, having the responsibility of overseeing 3,500 men in the mechanical division there. After the close of the war and the shutting down of this plant he took up work for the State Highway Commission as a locating engineer one year, during 1920 was construction engineer for the Standard Oil Company, and in 1921 was appointed special engineer for Vanderburg County for hard road construction. All of the modern highways of Vanderburg County have been built since the close of the war, and Mr. Meisinger has been the official who has supplied the technical planning and supervision for practically all of that work. In November, 1922, he was elected county engineer, and has been reelected to that office in 1924, 1926 and 1928.

Mr. Meisinger is a Republican, is a member of the Evangelical Church, and is a Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter Mason. He married in July, 1911, Miss Carrie Seiffer, daughter of August and Elizabeth Seiffer. Their two children, both attending school, are Elizabeth C., born September 8, 1913, and Katherine L., born April 15, 1915.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


SAMUEL CHESTER WENTZELL. Well known in Floyd County, Indiana, is S. Chester Wentzell, one of the younger members of the bar at New Albany, a graduate of the University of Kentucky, at Louisville, a lawyer of recognized ability, and something of a leader in civic matters in his community. Although born in Kentucky, most of his life has been passed in the Hoosier State. He is of Colonial settlement and Revolutionary stock and can trace an ancestral line back to the Empire of Austria, whence his paternal forefathers came to America and became residents of Pennsylvania as early, perhaps, as 1682. In after years their descendants migrated to Virginia and many served under General Washington in the War of the American Revolution. In still later generations the Wentzells became people of importance in other states and in 1907 the parents of S. Chester Wentzell came to New Albany from their old home of many years in Kentucky. On the maternal side, also, Mr. Wentzell can claim ancestral distinction, for his mother's people, the Lords, belong to the same branch, of a sturdy old English family that gave to the world that Immortal poet, Alfred Tennyson.

S. Chester Wentzell was born at Louisville, Kentucky, May 24, 1905, and is a son of William and Emily (Lord) Wentzell. The family first settled in Pennsylvania, but moved to Kentucky about 1849, and in that state William A. Wentzell was born. In young manhood he became identified with the tobacco industry, in which he became a prominent figure, and for a number of years made his home at Louisville. He became vice president of the Tobacco Rehandling Company of Louisville, and still retains that position, although since 1907 he has made his home at New Albany, where he likewise has large and important interests. He married Miss Emily Lord, and they became the parents of six children.

S. Chester Wentzell was about two years of age when brought by his parents to New Albany, where he attended the parochial and high schools. Subsequently he entered the University of Kentucky, at Lexington, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws as a member of the class of 1925, and in 1926 was admitted to the bar. Since then he has been engaged in the practice of his profession, with an office in the Second National Bank Building, and has been successful in building up a large, important and representative clientele. In the litigation in which he has been engaged as counsel he has shown the possession of marked ability, and is making rapid strides in his calling. He is a member of the Floyd County Bar Association, Indiana State and the American, Bar Associations. An ardent Democrat in politics, he was appointed, in 1931, city attorney.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


JOHN A. NEWHOUSE, physician and surgeon, has built up a successful practice and enjoys some prominent associations with the professional life and community affairs of Hammond, and is a member of the staff of St. Catherine's Hospital of East Chicago. Doctor Newhouse came to Hammond from Chicago and earlier was a professional man of Ontario, Canada.

He was born at Brampton, Ontario, March 22, 1898, and is descended from one of the oldest of the French families of Montreal. His great-grandfather was Antoine Maisonneuve, which is the French form for the word Newhouse. The Maisonneuve family history runs back to the very beginning of Montreal and the old French regime in the Saint Lawrence Valley. Doctor Newhouse's father was John Newhouse. Antoine Maisonneuve had a grant of land given him for his service as a soldier in the War of 1812.

The parents of Doctor Newhouse were lifelong residents of Ontario, and his father was a farmer there and quite active in local politics. He held the position of reeve in his township for a number of years, and later for one year was warden of the county. He was a Baptist. He died November.7, 1924, and the mother of Doctor Newhouse passed away September 22, 1924. They are buried at Snelgrove, Canada. Jessie (Groat) Newhouse was also of a pioneer Canadian family. There were two children, Dr. John A. and Wilfred, the latter of whom died in 1929, at the age of twenty-nine years.

John A. Newhouse attended school in his native community, graduating from the Brampton High School in 1914, and completed his professional preparation in Toronto University in 1921. In the meantime, during the World war, he was enrolled in the Officers Training School at Toronto University and his time was taken up with military training until after the armistice, when he resumed his medical studies. He had his interne work in Toronto General Hospital. Doctor Newhouse practiced medicine and surgery in Northern Ontario, until 1924. During 1925- 29 he was located in Chicago and in the latter year moved to Indiana Harbor and Hammond, becoming one of the physicians of the Indiana Harbor Clinic. His offices are at 6445 1/2 Kennedy Avenue, where he also has his home. He is a member of the Lake County Medical Society. Doctor Newhouse is independent in politics and is a member of the Baptist Church and a Mason.

He married at Toronto, September 22, 1923, Miss Madeline McConnell, daughter of William and Amelia (Evans) McConnell, formerly of Toronto, now of Chicago. Her father spent many years with the Ellis Brothers establishment of Toronto, but since 1928 has been in the mercantile business in Chicago. Mrs. Newhouse attended public school at Toronto, completing the work of the High School of Commerce there. She is a member of the Ladies Clubs of the United Presbyterian Church at Hammond. Doctor Newhouse's favorite sports are golf, baseball, fishing and hunting. They have two children, John Robert and William Eugene, both students in the Hammond public schools.

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INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


WILLIAM FRANCIS EDWARDS, M. D. Among the various branches of professional knowledge on which civilized humanity is more or less dependent for the maintenance of healthful conditions and for exemption from physical distress, medicine and surgery playa leading part. Careless habits of living, indulgence in articles of food and drink that are detrimental to the bodily organs, and the changed conditions of modern existence make the physician and surgeon indispensable. Moreover, the doctor of today must keep fully abreast of the latest achievements in his profession. He must add skill to thorough research and combine close application to his task with the ability gained through experience. Such a practitioner is Dr. William Francis Edwards, a specialist in the treatment of the eye, ear, nose and throat, who has been attached to the staff of Saint Edward's Hospital, at New Albany, since 1929.

Doctor Edwards was born January 4, 1901, at Anniston, Alabama, and is a son of William Thomas and Laura Frances (Coker) Edwards. The family originated in England, whence came the first American progenitors in Colonial days, taking up their homes in Virginia. Later members of the family migrated to various parts of the United States, following the close of the Revolutionary war, and for the most part have been business and professional men.

William Francis Edwards received his early education in the public schools of Alabama, and after his graduation from high school entered the University of Alabama, where he completed his literary course and received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1921. He then enrolled as a student of the medical department of Emory University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1925, but was not yet satisfied with his preparation for his profession, and therefore spent more than three years of interneship, one year of general work, at the Grady Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia, and eighteen months at the Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta, in special work. This was followed by postgraduate work in eye, ear, nose and throat at several Florida state institutions, at April 1, 1929, he settled permanently at New Albany, Indiana, where he has been engaged in practice of a private character and also as a member of the staff of St. Edward's Hospital, confining himself to his specialty, in which he has acquired a broad and substantial reputation. Through hard work and close application Doctor Edwards has won a recognized position among medical men of Indiana, and it has likewise been his fortune to gain the confidence and esteem of the people of his adopted community. He is a member of the Aesculapius Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the Floyd County Medical Society, the Phi Chi medical fraternity and Anniston, Alabama, Lodge No. 700, A. F. and A. M. During the World war he was a member of the Student Army Training Corps. In politics a stanch Democrat, he has been steadfast in his support of the principles and candidates of his party, but has never sought office or preferment.

Doctor Edwards was united in marriage with Miss Lucy Elizabeth Moore, a native of Georgia, and a direct descendant of the distinguished old Colonial Virginia family of that name. Their attractive home at New Albany is situated at 2408 East Spring Street. They have one daughter, Dorothy Ann, born March 15, 1928.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


CHARLES D. KNOEFEL. As a community passes out of its embryo and assumes a stable position, when the frontier settlement has become one of the leading centers of a great and productive region, there arises an insistent call for banking and trust institutions with large capital, carefully guarded by law, and for managers learned in the principles of monetary science and trained in the intricate business of the bank. With this mode of growth and such management one would look, as the community increased, for greater stability and wiser management, and when it had grown to the dimensions of a commercial and financial center, one would expect to find solidity, permanence and solvency in banking institutions, and matured experience and trained and expert skill in their management. The evolution of banking at New Albany is but a process of such natural growth and a realization of such expectations, and this applies emphatically to the New Albany Trust Company, the able president of which is Charles D. Knoefel, one of Floyd County's leading citizens.

Mr. Knoefel was born at New Albany, in December, 1858, and is a son of Dr. August and Wilhelmina (Merker) Knoefel. His father, a native of Germany, left the Fatherland about the time of the overthrow of the revolution in that country, in 1848, when such noted patriots as Carl Schurz and others sought sanctuary in the United States. For a time August Knoefel lived at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but in 1857 moved to New Albany, Indiana, where he passed the remaining years of his life in the drug business. He was a man held in the highest esteem in his community, was well read and highly intelligent, and took an active part in civic betterment. He and his wife, who was also born in Germany, were the parents of seven children.

Charles D. Knoefel attended the public schools of New Albany, after leaving which he pursued a course at the College of Pharmacy, at Louisville, Kentucky. Returning to New Albany he became associated with his father in the drug business, and remained with the elder man until 1885, at which time he established a pharmacy of his own. During the next twenty-eight years he built this up to large proportions and developed one of the most modern drug stores in the state, at the same time establishing himself firmly in the confidence of his fellow citizens as a man of honor and high character. When he retired from this enterprise, in 1913, it was a wholesale and retail business employing eighteen people and shipping its products allover the state. It is still in business but operating under a different name and management. Mr. Knoefel is a man of great organizing ability and was organizer and first president of the Louisville Home Telephone Company, and was a member of the board of directors and president of the New Albany Home Telephone Company from the time of its organization until it was sold to the Bell Telephone Company. He was elected president at the time of the organization, in 1921, of the American Securities Company, and occupied that position until the time of his retirement from the company in 1928, and was a director of the Seelbach Realty Company up to the time of its selling out. In 1914 Mr. Knoefel was made president of the New Albany Trust Company, and has remained in the same capacity to the present, this being an institution with a capital of $50,000. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Second National Bank of New Albany, chairman of the board of trustees of the Masonic Temple Association and for several years was commissioner of the sinking fund of New Albany. He is a past president of the Commercial Club, and although he has reached the age when most men are willing to give over life's tasks to those of the younger generation, is still possessed of an active body and an alert mind that allow him to participate fully and constructively in all movements fostered for the benefit of the community and its people. He is a thirty-third degree Mason, being a member of DePauw Lodge, A. F. and A. M.; New Albany Chapter, R. A. M.; Indiana Council, R. and S. M.; New Albany Commandery, K. T.; Indiana Consistory, S. S. R. M., and Knights of Constantine, thirty-third degree, and Murat Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of which he is jester. He has passed through all the bodies and offices of Masonry and is one of the best known men of this order in the state, having been a past grand illustrious master of the Council in 1913. He is also a past exalted ruler of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and a former president of the Hall Maenerchor Company. He is past president of the New Albany Rotary Club and one of its organizers. He maintains offices in the New Albany Trust Company Building.

Mr. Knoefel's first wife was Miss Mary Lang, who died in 1920, without issue. The present Mrs. Knoefel was formerly Miss Teckla Henry, of New Albany.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


BENJAMIN LEWIS HARRISON, physician and surgeon, is a native of Indiana, and has earned a high reputation in his profession since locating at Newcastle.

He was born at Danville, Indiana, May 23, 1898, son of Francis Marion and Hattie May (Thomas) Harrison. His parents were born in Hendricks County, Indiana, and his father is a retired farmer at Danville. Doctor Harrison was educated in the grade and high schools and the Central Indiana Normal College at Danville. He was graduated with the A. B. degree from Indiana University and took his degree in medicine in 1924. For one year he was an interne in the Indianapolis City Hospital and remained with that institution two more years as resident surgeon. In March, 1927, he engaged in private practice at Newcastle, where his offices are in the Jennings Building.

Doctor Harrison is a member of the Henry County, Indiana State and American Medical Associations. During the World war he was sent for training to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station near Chicago in May, 1918, and was assigned duty in the Hospital Corps. He received his discharge in August, 1919, as a third class pharmacist's mate. Doctor Harrison is a member of the American Legion, the Sons of the American Revolution, is a Methodist, a Republican, a Scottish Rite Mason, member of the B. P. O. Elks, Modern Woodmen of America, the Columbia Club of Indianapolis, is a director of the Kiwanis Club, and his college fraternities are the Phi Beta Phi and Alpha Omega Alpha.

Doctor Harrison married, September 12, 1928, Miss Florence Catherine Bufkin, who was born at Middletown, Indiana, daughter of Samuel J. Bufkin.

Mr. Samuel J. Bufkin, postmaster of Newcastle, was born at Zionsville, Indiana, June 20, 1874, son of Oliver and Catherine (Thornton) Bufkin, both natives of Henry County. His paternal grandparents, Samuel and Catherine (Kinnick) Bufkin, came from Pennsylvania to Henry County and were members of the Quakers or Friends Church. Mr. Bufkin's grandfather, George Thornton, was born in Henry County, Kentucky, and settled at Flat Rock in Henry County, Indiana. Oliver Bufkin was a carpenter. He died in May, 1900, and his wife in September, 1929.

Samuel J. Bufkin attended public schools and at the age of fourteen began learning the cigar maker's trade. This was his working occupation for six years, and for eight years he worked as a heater and rougher in a rolling mill. He then established a cigar factory in Newcastle and conducted that business for eighteen years. Mr. Bufkin was appointed postmaster in 1922 and was reappointed for a second term in 1926. He has always taken an active part in Republican politics and for eight and a half years was a member of the City Council. He is a member of the Friends Church, belongs to the B. P. O. Elks, Knights of Pythias, Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce.

He married, January 1, 1900, Alegra Parker, who was born at Lewisville in Henry County, daughter of Benjamin F. and Hulda (Vickersham) Parker, both natives of Henry County. Mr. and Mrs. Bufkin have two children, Florence Catherine, wife of Doctor Harrison, and Samuel Parker. Mrs. Bufkin has been a leader in woman's club work and is secretary of the Newcastle Historical Society.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


RICHARD WOOD HARRIS, M. D. The dean of the medical profession in Pike County, is Dr. Wood Harris, of Algiers. Doctor Harris has to his credit a career of professional activity covering more than half a century. All that time he has been the devoted doctor and friend of the community where he now resides.

Doctor Harris was born at Dale, Spencer County, Indiana, October 28, 1848. His father William G. Harris, was a Virginian by birth, and was an early settler in Spencer County, locating there about 1832. He was a cabinet maker by trade, and one of the worthy and industrious citizens of that community. He lived to be eighty-four years of age., passing away in 1886. The mother of Doctor Harris was Isabelle McQuon who was born in Kentucky, and also lived to be eighty-four years of age, passing away in 1901. Of her eleven children three died in infancy, and those to grow up were George W., Edward J., Benjamin F., deceased, Dr. Richard W., William M., James F., deceased, Sarah E., and Samuel deceased. George, a resident of Gentryville, Spencer County, married Nancy Daniels and has seven children. Edward, of Petersburg, married Sarah Brown and had one child. William, of Gentryville, is married and has six children. Sarah E., is Mrs. Milton Lemon and the mother of four children.

Richard Wood Harris derived his early advantages from the public schools at Dale, attended high school at Huntingburg, and largely through his own efforts and earnings paid his way through the Louisville Medical College, where he was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1877. On getting his medical diploma Doctor Harris located at Algiers, and that community has known him as its stanch friend in time of need for more than fifty- three years. He has always had a large medical practice, and has worn out many horses, vehicles and in later years automobiles in attending to his work. He still drives his own car and he works, acts and looks like a man only fifty instead of only four score. Doctor Harris married, June 8, 1880, Miss Loualla A. Lett, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Traylor) Lett. She was born in Pike County, Indiana. By this marriage Doctor Harris has eight children: Maude, John, Audrey (who died at the age of eighteen months), Sarah J., Ben F., Ruth, Simon and Virgil. On April 27, 1901, Doctor Harris married Ada Hall, and of this marriage there are two children, Lena and Harry.

Doctor Harris has always voted the Democratic ticket. For eleven years in addition to his duties as a doctor he served as township trustee. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, and belongs to the Pike County, Indiana State and American Medical Asociations. Doctor Harris owns and supervises 200 acres of farming land in Pike County.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


GROVER E. SALB, member of one of Dubois County's best known families, his father and several of his brothers having attained eminent positions in the medical profession, was liberally educated but chose a business rather than a professional career. Mr. Salb has been the man largely responsible for the building up of an important manufacturing industry at Jasper, the Indiana Desk Company of which he is manager.

He was born at Jasper, November 6, 1892, son of Dr. John P. and Margaret (Bell) Salb. His father for many years practiced as a physician and surgeon at Jasper, and his great skill as a surgeon earned him election as a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He and his wife had the following children: May, Dr. John A., Dr. Leo A., Dr. Oscar G., Vic M., Grover E. Ardella, Aurelius (now deceased,) and Dr. Max. Dr. John A., is practicing medicine at Indianapolis and is a graduate of Purdue University. Dr. John A. and Vic M., were both World war veterans, Dr. Leo A., also a World war veteran, is an able physician at Jasper. Dr. Oscar G., a graduate of St. Louis University, practices at Seymour. Vic M., is a graduate of Purdue University and is in business at Jasper. Dr. Max graduated from the medical department of Indiana University and is practicing at Indianapolis.

Grover E. Salb attended public schools in Jasper and attended Purdue University in 1911-12. The first line of work he took up was the automobile business. He became widely known as a skillful driver, and engaged in automobile racing and was one of the drivers in the 500-mile races at the Indianapolis Speedway in 1913 and 1914.

Mr. Salb in 1915 joined the Indiana Desk Company at Jasper. His father was one of the chief owners of this business and industry. With the death of his father in 1927 Mr. Salb succeeded to the active management and control of the business, being now secretary and general manager of the Indiana Desk Company. His work with this company was interrupted by his participation for fifteen months in the World war, assigned to the Ninety-first Division, overseas, and seven months in the Army of Occupation.

Mr. Salb married, September 4, 1919, Miss Lucille Beckman, daughter of Henry Beckman. The have four children: Thomas, born in 1920; Earl, born in 1924; Mary Jane, born in 1926; and John P., born in 1928.

Mr. Salb is a Democrat, is a member of the Catholic Church, and has affiliations with the B. P. O. Elks, also with the American Legion, of which he has served as post commander. He is also a member of La Societe de 40 Hommes et 8 Chevaux. He has also served as a director of the local Chamber of Commerce. In addition to his active connection with the Indiana Desk Company he is a director of the New Indiana Chair Company.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


Deb Murray