Edward Valentine Trautmann, owner and proprietor of the Miami Electric Company at Peru, has built up that business from an enterprise that was started by himself and another electrician while both of them were employed on a salary for other companies. It has become one of the largest electrical contracting firms in Northern Indiana.

Mr. Trautmann was born at Peru, March 15, 1884. His father, Andrew Trautmann, a native of Bavaria, Germany, came to Indiana in 1870. He married Margaret Kolb, also a native of Germany.

Edward V. Trautmann was one of a family of seven children. He attended public schools but was only fourteen when he began earning his own living. He was employed in a wood working factory for a time and in 1905 took up electrical work. His experience was an opportunity in which to exercise his keen powers of observation and he has studied all phases of electrical engineering. His promotion was rapid while with the electrical department of the Indiana Manufacturing Company at Peru and he rose to the post of chief engineer. When the company moved its business to Richmond, Indiana, he was assigned the responsibility of installing the electrical machinery.

In the meantime, in 1911, he and his partner had started a small business of their own as electrical contractors. To buy the original stock of equipment Mr. Trautmann had to borrow the sum of $10. They took various jobs after working hours, such as house wiring and installation of electrical fixtures. In 1913 they rented a small room to carry a stock of fixtures and in 1914 they began giving all their time to the business, then known as the Miami Electric Company. The business steadily grew and in 1920 Mr. Trautmann bought out the interests of one of his partners and since 1927 has been its sole owner. The first shop was at 9 West Second Street, then moved to 12 West Second Street, next to 19 West Second Street, from there to 63 South Broadway and to 4 South Broadway, and in February, 1925, to the present location, at 18 West Main Street. These changes were all made in response to a growth in the volume of business which demanded increased quarters and a better position in the business district. The Miami Electric Company, at 18 West Main, has a very attractive shop with show rooms and repair department, the entire business requiring over 11,000 square feet of floor space. Fourteen people are employed, and as electrical contractors they have done important work all over the State of Indiana. They handled the electrical work for the Rochester City Hall, for the Beverly Terrace Company Apartment Building at Anderson, the McCordsville School, the Wabash County Loan & Trust Company Building and many others.

Mr. Trautmann for several years was a director of the Peru Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the Kiwanis Club, the National Association of Electrogists, the Indiana Electrical Association, Association of Building Contractors of Indiana, the Miami County Jefferson club, Columbia Club of Indianapolis. He is a Lutheran and in politics exercises his independent judgement as a candidate. During the World war he assisted in all the war drives and helped raise funds for the Red Cross and Y. M. C. A.

Mr. Trautmann married Albertina Butzin, who was born at Peru. Her parents, Carl and Bertha Butzin, came from Germany to Indiana about 1880. Both are living in Peru, the father a highly respected citizen who until he retired was a cabinet maker. Mr. and Mrs. Trautmann have two children, Oscar Herman and Florence Ottilie. Florence is a graduate of the Peru High School and is assisting in her father's business.

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


HARRY KENNETT CUTHBERTSON, prominent Peru attorney, was born in Chicago, Illinois, October 13, 1882, was reared and educated in that city, and came to Peru in 1914. All his professional career has been spent in Indiana.

Mr. Cuthbertson is of Scotch ancestry. His grandfather, Edwin Cuthbertson, was a professor in Edinburgh University. About 1834 he crossed the Atlantic and settled in Canada. The father of Harry K. Cuthbertson was John Cuthbertson, a Chicago business man, who married Josephine Cornwell.

Harry K. Cuthbertson attended grammar and high school in Chicago and was graduated from the LaSalle Extension University of that city, in the law course, in 1914. On coming to Peru he was admitted to practice in the Indiana courts, and has since been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court and the Federal Courts.

He had made a promising beginning of his professional work when America entered the World war. On May 4, 1917, he enlisted in the Second Engineers, with the rank of master engineer and later was assigned to the Twelfth United States Engineers, going overseas in July, 1917. He was brigaded with the British troops at San Quentin and Cambrai and participated in both of the Cambrai battles in 1917. He was with the British general, Bain, in the counter attack against the German drive and in the Somme offensive, beginning in March, 1918. In June, 1918, he was transferred to the Second American Army and was in the St. Mihiel and Meuse Argonne campaigns and was near Metz when the armistice was signed. General Pershing gave him a citation for exceptional merit and conduct at the battle of Cambrai. Mr. Cuthbertson was overseas until April 29, 1919, and received his honorable discharge on the nineteenth of May, 1919.

Since the war he has taken an active interest in the American Legion and has served as adjutant of the post at Peru. He is a member of the Miami County, Indiana and American Bar Associations. Along with his law practice Mr. Cuthbertson has rendered valuable service to the Democratic party organization. He was nominated candidate for Congress from this district in 1920 and in 1930 was candidate for state senator from Miami and Howard counties, and was elected in November, 1930. He has served on the executive committee of the county organization.

Mr. Cuthbertson married June E. Wood, who was born in Butler Township, Miami County. Two sons and one daughter were born to their marriage, Robert Wood, deceased, Harry Kennett, Jr., and Joella.

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


RICHARD ROSENCRANZ represents a notable line of industrial and commercial figures in the life of Evansville and is head of one of the city's most substantial industries.

He was born in Evansville, November 11, 1879. His paternal grandfather, Carl Frederick Rosenkranz, came with his family to America in 1850 from Germany. He was a watchmaker and jeweler, and that was the trade and business he followed during his remaining years in Evansville. Mr. Roesncranz' maternal grandparents were William and Mary (Jenner) Heilman. William Heilman was a foundryman, head of the Heilman Machine Works, and had a conspicuous part in Southern Indiana affairs. He was a railroad builder and at one represented the first Indiana District in Congress.

Richard Rosencranz after two years of high school worked entered the foundry of the Vulcan Plow Company, and served successively as iron molder, pattern maker and foreman, thus getting a fundamental knowledge and experience in the business of which he is now the active head. He then spent three years as a student in DePauw University at Greencastle, Indiana, and at Cornell University at Ithaca, New York. On the death of his father in 1920 Mr. Rosencranz succeeded to the presidency of the Vulcan Plow Company. During the past ten years this industry has made steady progress in its manufacturing facilities and in the range of distribution of its products. In 1930 the Vulcan Plow Company acquired control of a number of established lines related to its own manufacture and reorganized, by consolidation, under the firm name of Farm Tools, Incorporated.

Mr. Rosencranz was on the original committee of the Evansville Chamber of Commerce to secure a college for the City of Evansville. Through the efforts of this committee one of Indiana's noted older institutions of learning, the Moore's Hill College of Moore's Hill, was moved to Evansville and has since been known as Evansville College. Mr. Rosencranz has served as a trustee and secretary of the board of trustees of the college since its establishment at Evansville in 1919. He has held a constant contact with the important civic, educational and benevolent affairs of his home city. He is a director of the Central Union Bank, member of the Rotary Club, is a Republican in national politics, independent locally. He has done considerable work in Inter Racial and boy welfare movements. Mr. Rosencranz is a lover of music and outdoor activities.

He married in 1915 Miss Margaret Eberle, of Watertown, Wisconsin. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and is a daughter of Herman T. and Ida Louise (Oehler) Eberle. Her father was a druggist, postmaster of his town, and served on the library and school boards. The four children of Mr. and Mrs. Rosencranz are Richard, born in 1916, Albert and Allen, twins, born in 1919, and Joan Eberle, born in 1925.

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


HERBERT ERICKSON. Prominent among the officials who have contributed to the upbuilding, development and progress of Gary is Herbert Erickson, who has occupied the office of building commissioner for two terms. A resident of Gary since 1908, he has been engaged in the profession of architect since the time of his arrival and in numerous ways has added to the beauty of the city of his adoption through his professional skill and capable workmanship.

Mr. Erickson was born at Fort Wayne, Indiana, June 22, 1885, and is a son of John and Anna (Fries) Erickson. John Erickson was born in Sweden, where he received good educational advantages, including a course in the University of Upsala, following which he became a designer and engineer in his native land. There he met and married Anna Fries, also born in Sweden, who was educated at Stockholm, and not long after their union they immigrated to the United States and about 1870 settled at Fort Wayne. There John Erickson continued to be employed as a designer and engineer until his death in July, 1929, having also been active as a member of the Masonic fraternity and as a public-spirited citizen interested in civic affairs. Mrs. Erickson died November 4, 1924, and both are buried at Fort Wayne. There were nine children in the family: Emil, who died at the age of thirty-five years; Richard, of Chicago, Illinois; Capt. Marshall, U. S. N., retired, of Seabeck, Washington; Herbert, of this review; Miss Ida, of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Nannie, the wife of Nestor Fries, of Fort Wayne; Maria, now Mrs. Lenz, of Montpelier, Ohio; and Misses Esther and Vivian, of Fort Wayne.

Herbert Erickson attended the public schools of Fort Wayne and after his graduation from high school, as a member of the class of 1904, secured a position with Charles Kendrick, an architect of Fort Wayne. He spent two years in the drafting department, and then entered the engineering department of the Wabash Valley Traction Company, where he continued for a like period. His next three years were passed in the engineering department of the Clover Leaf Railroad Company, and in 1908 he came to Gary, where he opened an office and entered upon the practice of his profession as an architect. He has continued in this line to the present and has advanced steadily to a commanding position in the ranks of his profession. In 1922 Mr. Erickson was appointed a member of the board of city building commissioners, serving in that capacity for four years, and January 6, 1930, was again appointed to this office for another four-year term. He has discharged the duties of his office in a highly capable and commendable manner and has the full confidence and esteem of his associates and the public in general. Mr. Erickson is a member of Gary Lodge N. 677, A. F. and A. M., and for some years was active in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in which order he held several offices. He is also a member of the Optimist Club and the Gary Country Club. A Republican in his political views, Mr. Erickson was a member of the county council for a number of years and was the first president of the Gary Republican Club. Recently he was elected president of the Harrison Republican Club, and at all times he has been a leader in the ranks of his party. Mr. Erickson is a member of the English Lutheran Church.

At Delphi, Indiana, August 15, 1908, Mr. Erickson was united in marriage with Miss Grace Sines, a daughter of Edward and Emma (Jakes) Sines, of Delphi, the former of whom was for years a prominent merchant of that place, where he now lives in retirement. He has been active in civic affairs, and he and Mrs. Sines are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Erickson is a graduate of the Delphi High School, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is active in club circles. She was county chairman of the Red Cross and Liberty Loan drives during the World war, and is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Erickson: Herbert Jr., who died at the age of two years; and Jerry David.

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


SAMUEL NUSSBAUM was born and grew up near Berne in Adams County, and as an active citizen has found some connection with nearly every line of business in that community. He has been in insurance and real estate, a manufacturer, and has helped create new resources and opportunities for this enterprising city.

Mr. Nussbaum was born near Berne, October 15, 1880. His father John P. Nussbaum, came from Switzerland, where he was born October 14, 1844. The Nussbaum family settled in Adams County, Indiana, in 1852, when he was eight years of age. He is now eighty-five and enjoying well earned retirement at Berne. John P. Nussbaum married in February, 1866, Virginia Mazeline, who was born near Berne, Adams County, October 15, 1845. Her people were among the very early settlers, coming from France. She is now eighty-four years of age and a very active woman for her years. The children were all born at Berne: Levi, born in 1869, since twenty-two years of age has lived in the West, is a contractor at St. Mary's, Idaho, and has never married; Peter, born in March, 1870, went west with his brother Levi and for many years has been a gold miner and prospector in Canada and Alaska, and like Levi, has never married; Sarah, born October 7, 1871, married Rudolph Wyss, of Chehalis, Washington, who died in 1918, and she is now living with her parents at Berne; William, born December 24, 1873, a farmer four miles from Berne, married Lena Stauffer; John, born October 9, 1877, went to North Dakota, where he married Cora Camel, and they now live at San Diego, California, where he is an employee of the municipal government; and Samuel, the youngest of the family.

Samuel Nussbaum gew up on a farm, was educated in local schools and at the age of twenty began teaching in country districts of Adams County. He continued his own education in Valparaiso University, graduating in 1903. For two years Mr. Nussbaum was on the road as a traveling salesman and in 1906 entered the clothing and shoe business at Berne. In 1908 he was elected township assessor, holding that office for six years. In 1914, after selling out his clothing store, Mr. Nussbaum took up real estate and insurance and that has been one department of his varied business enterprises during the past fifteen years. In 1913 he was elected manager of the Berne Supply Company, and as acting head of that business he has made it an organization covering a wide range, handling supplies for schools, and also supplies for road and bridge contractors.

Mr. Nussbaum in 1924 started the Nussbaum Novelty Company, of which he is president and manager. The former purpose of this business was making cedar chests of cedar wood for holiday trade. Mr. Nussbaum organized a small stock company and capitalized it at $12,000 and at first nearly all the work was done by hand. Larger quarters were secured, a heavy investment of wood working machinery installed and the force has been steadily increased until now about 100 people are employed, manufacturing an exclusive line of Cedar boxes and chests, which are shipped and sold in every state of the Union and in many foreign countries.

Mr. Nussbaum in 1922 acquired eighty acres of the Emanuel Leichty farm and laid it out into a splendid residential subdivision of Berne. From it he donated generously lots for school purposes and in every way handled the project to reflect credit upon his public spirited citizenship. Mr. Nussbaum for fifteen years has been an active member of the Berne fire department and for several years was secretary of the Berne Business Men's Association. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the Mennonite Church.

Mr. Nussbaum married, February 6, 1906, Miss Mary Leichty, who was born in Switzerland and was two years of age when her parents came to America. She died May 20, 1916, and is buried at Berne. There were three children of this marriage: Hazel born September 7, 1907, was reared and educated in Berne, spent five years in her father's office and is now the wife of Dora Brewster, of Berne. Lester, the second child, was born April 5, 1911, and is with his father's manufacturing business. Florine, the youngest was born May 20, 1915, and is attending the Berne High School. Mr. Mussbaum on June 20, 1919 married Miss Ida Zumbrum, of Pierce, Nebraska. She was reared and educated in Nebraska. Her father, a farmer, died in 1917 and is buried in Nebraska and her mother now lives in Berne.

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


HARRY ORVILLE WHITE in point of years and continuous service is the oldest undertaker in Miami County. He has been in business at Converse for thirty-two years.

Mr. White was born in Wayne County, Eastern Indiana, August 17, 1871, and is a member of an early family of that section of the state. His grandfather, Nathan White, was born in Kentucky and moved to Indiana prior to 1816, using Government script with which he acquired some of the public lands. White is one of the old and honored names in Wayne County. The Whites were originally Virginians and followed westward over Boone's trail to Kentucky, where they settled about the close of the Revolutionary war. The father of Harry O. White was Thomas P. White, a blacksmith by trade, who served as deputy sheriff of his native county of Wayne. He married Orpha Blose, who was also born in Wayne County.

Harry O. White was one of four children. He attended school in Wayne County, and first prepared himself for the duties of educational work. After taking a course of training in the Central Normal College at Danville he taught school three years in Randolph County. He left school work to serve a practical apprenticeship of four years with an undertaking firm at Richmond, and in 1898 came to Converse and started the undertaking business he has carried on continuously. He has been successful in his aim to give this community a thoroughly progressive service. He has made provisions for a funeral chapel, has a combination coach and hearse and other equipment. In connection with the undertaking business he has been a dealer in monuments since 1902. For this he has provided a complete shop with skilled workmen and facilities.

Mr. White has served as a member of the Miami County Council, and has been on the city advisory board at Converse. During the World war he was put in charge of Jackson Township drives for the sale of Liberty Bonds, the raising of funds for the Red Cross and Y. M. C. A., and was also a member of the local sugar commission. Mr. White is past master of Converse Lodge No. 601 A. F. and A. M., member of the Royal Arch Chapter and Council, is a past commander of the Knights Templar Commandery at Marion, and a member of Fort Wayne Consistory of the Scottish Rite and Murat Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Indianapolis. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias.

Mr. White married Miss Mattie E. Conley, a native of Wayne County, Indiana. They have one child, Naomi Emma, who graduated from the Converse High School and from the Metropolitan School of Music at Indianapolis. She is the wife of Fred Hankins, of Omaha, Nebraska. Mr. White is a member of the Lions Club and its treasurer, and is a member of the Monument Dealers Association.

Click here for photo.

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


MISS EUNETTE BUCK is librarian of the Kentland Public Library and has given her talents and services to that institution since it was founded, January 19, 1910. She has been librarian since 1928.

The public library at Kentland was established from a fund raised locally, and later benefited by a contribution by the Carnegie Library Fund and is now a standard Carnegie Library. The members of the board are: Charles Rinard, president; James Illingworth, vice president, secretary and treasurer; Clyde Hurt, W. O. Schanlaub, E. Griffin, Mrs. Virginia McCray, Mrs. Birdie Sharp and Mrs. O. E. Glick.

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


EDWIN GERHARDT VON FANGE was born in Bartholomew County, Indiana, December 17, 1875, and represents a family that was established in that section of Indiana ninety years ago. Mr. Von Fange is owner of the Von Fange Monument Works at Peru.

His grandfather, Gerhardt Von Fange, came from Hanover, Germany, and settled in Bartholomew County about 1840. He was a farmer and had much to do with the establishment of the White Creek Lutheran Church in his community and was one of its most liberal supporters. He married Wilhelmina Ohmann, also a native of Germany. The father of the Peru business man was Herman C. Von Fange, a native of Bartholomew County, who married Wilhelmina Bode of the same county. They were substantial and respected farming people in that community.

Edwin G. Von Fange grew up on a farm, attended grade schools and lived with his father and was more of less closely identified with farm work and management until 1924. During that time he also sold farm implements and from 1912 to 1923 conducted a monument business at Seymour. When he sold his interest in that enterprise he moved to Peru and bought the Frank Cheeseman Monument Shop. Mr. Von Fange is a member of the National Memorial Craftsmen of America and the Indiana Craftsmen. He has a shop and show room at 19 West Canal Street, with a large amount of fine work on display, and has the technical facilities and the skilled craftsman capable of doing the finest type of work.

Mr. Von Fange had the contract to execute the markers and place them on several of Indiana's historical landmarks, including the ten o'clock line marker near Seymour.

For a number of years he represented the Federal agricultural department as a crop and farm condition reporter for Jackson County. During the war he assisted in all the drives for funds in his locality. He married Miss Emma Knott, a native of Jackson County. They were the parents of five children: Walter, Minnie who died in 1929, Carl, Alvin and Edward.

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


GEORGE SMITH, a resident of Goodland, is one of the oldest men in the service of the Chicago, Attica & Southern Railway on this division. He has earned the respect and frequent commendation of superior officials and is a man noted for his thoroughness and his ability to get work done under unfavorable as well as favorable circumstances.

Mr. Smith was born in Kentucky, March 17, 1879, and was a child when brought to Newton County, Indiana. His father was Samuel Smith, who died when his son George was an infant. The mother, Mrs. Helen (Jenks) Smith, was born in Kentucky and lives at Goodland. They had three children, Alva, William and George. Alva lives in Portland, Oregon, and William is deceased.

George Smith was educated in public schools in Newton County and followed farming during his early life. About thirty years ago he became an employee of the Pennsylvania Railway, and for the past fifteen years has been trackman of the track work for the Chicago, Attica & Southern. Mr. Smith is unmarried and resides with his mother at Goodland. He is a Republican in politics and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

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


JAMES M. KNAPP, of Hagerstown, has had an important role in the civic affairs of Wayne County for a number of years. He has served in the Legislature and has been identified with practically every movement for better advantages and progress at Hagerstown.

He was born there December 11, 1876, son of Charles T. and Inez Allen (Stombaugh) Knapp. His father was born in Ripley County and his mother in Henry County, Indiana. His father was a lumber dealer in Hagerstown. James M. Knapp attended grade and high schools at Hagerstown and as a boy served an apprenticeship to learn the marble cutting trade. That trade has been the basis of his permanent business, and since 1917 he has managed the monumental works at Hagerstown.

Mr. Knapp married, May 10, 1896, Miss Ethel J. Fox, who was born in Jefferson Township, Wayne County, daughter of Minus T. and Della (Petty) Fox. They have two children. The son, Wilfred T., connected with the Standard Oil Company at Richmond, married Elizabeth McLear and has a son, Donald Eugene. The daughter, Pauline, is the wife of Howard Klute, with the Dickinson Trust Company at Richmond.

Mr. Knapp has long been a leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church and for twenty-five years was superintendent of the Sunday School. In 1897 he served one year as truant officer for five townships of the county, and he was town clerk from 1908 to 1912. During 1905-07 he was clerk in the postoffice of the National House of Representatives at Washington. He served six years on the local school board. In 1919 he was a member of the General Assembly, and served on several important committees, being chairman of the cities and towns committee and the education committee. Mr. Knapp served seven terms in the Indiana House of Representatives and was speaker in the 1929 session and Republican floor-leader in 1931. He is a Republican and since 1905 has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Knapp was one of the men mainly responsible for building up a Chautauqua organization at Hagerstown. He is a member of the George Rogers Clark Memorial Commission. Mrs. Knapp died October 20, 1928.

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


Deb Murray