Biography of Jacob E. Maus

Jacob E. Maus. One of the early settlers of Shawnee County as well as one of its prosperous farmers is Jacob E. Maus, who has additional claims to consideration, for he is a veteran of the great Civil war, a survivor of a struggle that brought peace and prosperity, almost uninterrupted for a half century. Jacob E. Maus was born in Carroll County, Maryland, June 11, 1844. His parents were John and Louisa (Erb) Maus; his grandfather was Jacob Maus, and his great-grandfather was George Maus, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. John Maus followed the family avocation … Read more

Biography of Judge William W. Noland

Judge William W. Noland, Riverside’s well-known City Recorder and the impartial Judge of her municipal court, was born in Anderson, Madison County, Indiana, June 25, 1825. He is a descendant of representative Southern families. His father, Brazelton Noland, was a native of Kentucky. He was one of the earliest pioneers of Madison County, Indiana, locating there in 1821. Judge Noland’s mother was a native of North Carolina. Her name before marriage was Nancy Russell. The subject of this sketch was reared in the pioneer days of his native place, schooled in the log cabin schoolhouse by the itinerant teacher of … Read more

Biography of Robert L. Queisser

Queisser, Robert L.; pres. The Queisser-Bliss Co.; born, Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 9, 1866; son of Julius and Caroline J. Schliobitz Queisser; educated, Indianapolis public and high schools; married, Springfield, 0., Nov. 24, 1887, Jessie L. Fried; two sons, Charles Fried, and Robert L., Jr.; regimental adjutant, 3rd Regiment Inf., 0. N. G.; battalion adjutant 7th Regiment Inf., 0. N. G.; captain commissary, 5th Regiment Inf., 0. N. G.; aide-de-camp on staff of Gov. Judson Harmon, four years; former pres. Chamber of Commerce, Zanesville; spent early life in railroad work, leaving a responsible position in the traffic department of The Baltimore … Read more

Slave Narrative of Joseph Mosley

Interviewer: Anna Pritchett Person Interviewed: Joseph Mosley Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Place of Birth: March 15, 1853 Federal Writers’ Project of the W.P.A. District #6 Marion County Anna Pritchett 1200 Kentucky Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana FOLKLORE JOSEPH MOSLEY, EX-SLAVE 2637 Boulevard Place [TR: Also reported as Moseley in text of interview.] Joseph Mosley, one of twelve children, was born March 15, 1853, fourteen miles from Hopkinsville, Kentucky. His master, Tim Mosley, was a slave trader. He was supposed to have bought and sold 10,000 slaves. He would go from one state to another buying slaves, bringing in as many as 75 or … Read more

Biography of David G. Parker, D. D. S.

David G. Parker, D. D. S., a popular dentist of Riverside and well known in professional circles of that city, is a native of Alabama, where he was born in 1850, his parents being Peter and Nancy (Blackshear) Parker; the former a Northern man by birth, a descendant of the old colonial families of Massachusetts, by occupation a planter; the latter of German descent, the arrival of whose forefathers in this country antedates the Revolutionary period. When the Doctor was a mere lad his parents moved to Mississippi, settling in Clarke County, where he received his education, closing his studies … Read more

Biography of Judge Edgar C. Steele

Edgar Clarence Steele occupies as enviable a position in the public esteem as the most ambitious could desire or as any of our prominent men have achieved. To the citizens of Moscow and the second judicial district he can only be known as being a reputable, prominent man and an honest, able and efficient officer. At the bar he manifests all the qualities of the successful lawyer, and on the bench he displays a rare combination of talent, learning, tact, patience and industry. The successful lawyer and the competent judge must be a man of well balanced intellect, thoroughly familiar … Read more

Slave Narrative of George Washington Buckner

Interviewer: Lauana Creel Person Interviewed: Dr. George Washington Buckner Location: Evansville, Indiana Date of Birth: December 1st, 1852 Ex-Slave Stories District #5 Vanderburgh County Lauana Creel A SLAVE, AMBASSADOR AND CITY DOCTOR [DR. GEORGE WASHINGTON BUCKNER] This paper was prepared after several interviews had been obtained with the subject of this sketch. Dr. George Washingtin [TR: Washington] Buckner, tall, lean, whitehaired, genial and alert, answered the call of his door bell. Although anxious to oblige the writer and willing to grant an interview, the life of a city doctor is filled with anxious solicitation for others and he is always … Read more

Biography of Henry A. Smith, M.D.

Dr. Henry A. Smith, physician and surgeon of St. Louis and also the president and medical director of the People’s Life & Accident Insurance Company, a Missouri corporation, was born in Madison, Jefferson county, Indiana, September 16, 1857. He was educated in the public schools of Madison and pursued his medical course in the American Medical College, an Eclectic School of St. Louis, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1905. Various experiences, however, had come to him ere he prepared for his present profession. At the age of fourteen years he started out to earn … Read more

Biography of B. C. Burgess

B. C. BURGESS. There are few men in business circles who show as much fitness for their avocation in that they are wide-awake, experienced, reliable and energetic as B. C. Burgess, the prominent miller at the old Watkin Mill, the most historic mill in Missouri. He was born and reared in North Carolina, his birth occurring June 8, 1833. He is the son of Emsley and Nancy (Cavness) Burgess, both natives of the Old North State. There the father resides at the present time, but the mother is deceased. Some of the early members of this family served in the … Read more

Slave Narrative of Betty Jones

Interviewer: Lauana Creel Person Interviewed: Elizabeth Jones Location: 429 Oak Street, Evansville, Indiana Ex-Slave Stories District No. 5 Vanderburgh County Lauana Creel THE STORY OF BETTY JONES 429 Oak Street, Evansville, Ind. From an Interview with Elizabeth Jones at 429 Oak Street, Evansville, Ind. “Yes Honey, I was a slave, I was born at Henderson, Kentucky and my mother was born there. We belonged to old Mars John Alvis. Our home was on Alvis’s Hill and a long plank walk had been built from the bank of the Ohio river to the Alvis home. We all liked the long plank … Read more

Biography of David Morey

David Morey, one of the pioneers of Redlands, was born in Perry County, Pennsylvania, in 1824. His father, Jacob Morey, moved to Delaware County, Ohio, at an early day, and took a farm out of the woods. He died there at the age of ninety years. His mother, Barbara (Jacobs) Morey, is still living, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. The subject of this sketch left home at the age of fourteen to learn the cabinet trade. He worked at this trade in Marysville, and in 1842 went to Indianapolis, where he remained until 1845. He then went to … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Will P. Blair

Blair, Will P.; brick business; born, Plainfield, Ind., June 28, 1849; son of Enos and Margaruitte Blair; educated, Earlham College, Richmond, Ind., married, Indianapolis, Ind., Viola V. Sanders; issue, one daughter, Marion W. Blair; pres. National Paving Brick Manufacturers’ Ass’n, 1904-5; also pres. in 1910; member of American Ceramic Society; member brick committee of the American Society for Testing Materials; author of “Direction Direction for the Construction of Brick Street Pavements”; 1894 to 1909, sec’y and mgr. of Terre Haute, Ind., Vitrified Brick Co.; sec ‘y and member board of directors National Paving Brick Mfr’s Ass’n; member Ohio, Indiana and … Read more

Biography of Isaac C. Hattabaugh

Prominent in the field of politics and in business circles, Isaac C. Hattabaugh has left the impress of his individuality upon the public life of Latah county, and is today numbered among the leading and influential citizens of Moscow. A native of Indiana, he was born in Salem, that state, December 24, 1851. His grandfather, Jacob Hattabaugh, was born in Germany, and crossing the Atlantic to America settled in Virginia, whence he afterward removed to Pennsylvania and from there to Indiana. He was a man of ability and an influential pioneer settler of southern Indiana. His son, George W. Hattabaugh, … Read more

Champ, Margaret – Obituary

Child Killed In Accident Buried At St. Omer Margaret, the nine-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Willard Champ of Indianapolis, was crushed to death under the wheel of a heavily loaded wagon near her school building in that city, last Thursday evening [April 13, 1918]. The little girl had been sick all winter and had been going to school but a few days. She and a girl by the name of Knight who lived close together were starting from school when the other girl’s father came along with a wagon. Quite a number of children were in the street but … Read more

Biography of G. W. Traylor Dr.

Dr. G. W. Traylor, who practices in association with Dr. J. Arthur Knoop at McCune, was born in Neosho County, Kansas, July 9, 1877, and is a son of Dr. J. B. and Mary Augusta (Meade) Traylor. The Traylor family came originally from France, where the name was spelled Trealor, and located in the Carolinas during colonial times. Dr. J. B. Traylor, father of Dr. G. W. Traylor, was born in Indiana, in 1846, and died at McCune, Kansas, in 1899. As a young man he went to Chicago, Illinois, where he attended Rush Medical College, one of the oldest … Read more

Biography of William J. Combs

William J. Combs. Among the families which have been known in business circles of Leavenworth for more than half a century, one which had always borne an honorable reputation and a name for absolute integrity combined with notable achievements is that of Combs, as represented here by the late William J. Combs, who was connected with a number of business enterprises dating from the year 1858 until his death, and his son, George W. Combs, general superintendent of the Great Western Manufacturing Company, and the inventor of several appliances which have made his name widely known. William J. Combs, with … Read more

Slave Narrative of John W. Fields

Interviewer: Cecil Miller Person Interviewed: John W. Fields Location: Lafayette, Indiana Place of Birth: Owensburg, KY Date of Birth: March 27, 1848 Age: 89 Place of Residence: N. 20th St., Lafayette, Indiana Cecil C. Miller Dist. #3 Tippecanoe Co. INTERVIEW WITH MR. JOHN W. FIELDS, EX-SLAVE OF CIVIL WAR PERIOD September 17, 1937 John W. Fields, 2120 North Twentieth Street, Lafayette, Indiana, now employed as a domestic by Judge Burnett is a typical example of a fine colored gentleman, who, despite his lowly birth and adverse circumstances, has labored and economized until he has acquired a respected place in his … Read more

Biography of H. L. Kinnaman

H. L. Kinnaman. The present county treasurer of Chautauqua County is one of the oldest residents of that section of the state. More than forty years ago he began farming on some of the virgin acres of this county, and the careful study and energy he gave to the business brought him an ample competence besides providing liberally for his growing family. He is now a resident of the City of Sedan and had recently been chosen for a second term to the responsibilities of the county treasuryship. Mr. Kinnaman represents old American stock. His Kinnaman ancestors were German people … Read more

Slave Narrative of Rosaline Rogers

Interviewer: Anna Pritchett Person Interviewed: Rosaline Rogers Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Place of Birth: South Carolina Date of Birth: 1827 Age: 100 Place of Residence: 910 North Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana Federal Writers’ Project of the W.P.A. District #6 Marion County Anna Pritchett 1200 Kentucky Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana FOLKLORE MRS. ROSALINE ROGERS-EX-SLAVE-110 YEARS OLD 910 North Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana Mrs. Rogers was born in South Carolina, in 1827, a slave of Dr. Rice Rogers, “Mas. Rogers,” we called him, was the youngest son of a family of eleven children. He was so very mean. Mrs. Rogers was sold and taken … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Blechschmid

Blechschmid, John; florist; born, Germany, June 7, 1870; son of John and Christina Hess Blechschmid; educated, public schools, Germany, and Newport, Ky.; married, Cleveland, April 26, 1906, Marie Sterk; three children; 1893, worked for Eugene Walter, florist, Lexington, Ky.; one year for Wm. Jones, florist, Newport, Ky.; one year for Mrs. Hennings, florist, Cincinnati, and several other firms and private parties; then was in Indianapolis, Ind.; then back to Cincinnati, as head gardener in The Zoo; was there two years; in 1904, started his own business in Cleveland; designer and decorator; vice. pres. The Florist Club.