GUS BARFUSS, Rockville florist, is a master of his profession and business, and a long and thorough training and technical knowledge have enabled him to make a more than ordinary success in his work.

He was born in Germany, October 8, 1885, son of Amial and Anna (Finchel) Barfuss, who are still living in the old country. Gus Barfuss attended the German schools, and after his literary training had four years of study and experience in an agricultural and technical college. There he specialized in floriculture, both theoretical and practical, and the studies begun in college have been continued through a mature life, so that there are few points about the growth and development, the nature of plant life, particularly blooming plants, of which he has no knowledge.

As a young man Mr. Barfuss came to America for the purpose of finding here the opportunities to use his diversified training. The day after he landed in Baltimore he started to work for a florist, with whom he remained two and a half years. After that he was in Pennsylvania and New York State, and in 1919 came to Rockville, Indiana. Here he used his modest capital in putting up a small hothouse and nursery, and his business has been the result of a steady expansion, each increase justified by the volume of his transactions. More capital has been put into the business and he has a large amount of space under glass, and all the facilities and arrangements for growing and production of flowers and the handling of them in artistic floral designs. Shipments of cut flowers and plants are made from his greenhouses to several states. He is a member of the F. T. D. Florists Association, an organization of florists that makes possible the prompt delivery of floral orders in any part of the United States.

Mr. Barfuss married, November 27, 1916, Miss Catherine Bexta, daughter of John and Johanna Bexta, who were natives of Germany. Mr. Barfuss is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Lutheran Church.

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

VICTOR E. HARMAN for the past thirty years has been one of the most active business men of the community of Saratoga in Randolph County. He was formerly in the general merchandise business, and is one of the oldest established automobile dealers in this section of the state.

Mr. Harman was born in Randolph County September 10, 1881, son of Daniel and Mahala Harman, his father a native of Ohio and his mother of Indiana. His father spent his life as a farmer and died in 1910 and the mother passed away in 1907.

Victor E. Harman was educated in district schools and grew up on an Indiana farm. When he was nineteen years old he began clerking in a store at Saratoga, later for a time clerked at Portland, Indiana, and then joined his brother Henry E. in a general store at Saratoga. After six years he bought his brother’s interest and in 1911 traded his business for a farm. He has been handling automobiles for over fifteen years and is one of the oldest dealers in the Overland and Willys-Knight cars in this section of the state. He built a well-equipped garage, 32 by 120 feet, in 1915 and in 1920 added an addition 35 by 120 feet. This is a fire-proof garage, providing ample space for sales and service, and his general repair department is one of the most popular institutions of the kind in Randolph County. Mr. Harman is a director of the Saratoga State Bank.

He married in July, 1904, Miss Bessie E. Fraze, who was born in Randolph County, daughter of Hiram C. and Jenetta (Holms) Fraze. They have two children, Cyrus Dale and Robert C. Mr. Harman is secretary of the United Brethren Church at Saratoga. For six years he was a member of the town council, is a Democrat, has filled chairs in the Improved Order of Red Men, the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a member of the Encampment of the Odd Fellows and a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason.

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

WESLEY W. RATLIFF, prosecuting attorney of Henry County, is a resident of Knightstown, and during the past eight years has established himself in a successful practice as a lawyer.

He was born at Lawrence, Indiana, June 80, 1900, son of Luther H. and Mary (Wilson) Ratliff. His father, a native of Marion County, Indiana, was an able physician and surgeon and stood high in his profession at Lawrence, where he practiced until his death on July 9, 1929. The widowed mother still makes her home at Lawrence.

Wesley W. Ratliff was liberally educated. After the public schools he entered DePauw University and while there was enrolled, in September, 1918, with the Students Army Training Corps. He received training as an infantryman until his honorable discharge on December 12, 1918, after the armistice. Mr. Ratliff in 1922 graduated LL. B. from the Indiana Law School and at once located at Knightstown, where his abilities and his personality won him friends and a rapidly growing law practice. Mr. Ratliff became prosecuting attorney of Henry County on January 1, 1930.

He is a Republican, a member of the Henry County and Indiana State Bar Associations, and fraternally is a Royal. Arch and Council Degree Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

They reside at 34 West Pine Street, Knightstown. Mr. Ratliff married, April 4, 1923, Miss Ruth Sherwood, who was born at Bedford, Indiana, daughter of Frank T. and Ida (Hatfield) Sherwood. Her father was born in New Jersey and her mother in Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Ratliff have two children, Wesley W. and Christian.

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

VICTOR C. KNAUTH is owner and executive head of the Victor C. Knauth Company, which, with well equipped headquarters at 321 North Second Street in the City of Vincennes, controls a substantial and important leadership in the contract plumbing and heating business.

Mr. Knauth was born in France, June 9, 1885, and is a son of Martin and Dora (Gross) Knauth, both of whom were born in Germany. In 1886 Martin Knauth came with his family to the United States and made settlement at Brazil, Indiana, where he became identified with operations in the coal mines of that locality. Of the seven children in the family the eldest is Mrs. Dora Hand, a widow; Lang is a retired meat packer; Katherine is the wife of Albert Zinkler; Victor C., of this review, was next in order of birth ad was an infant at the time the family came to the United States; Louise is the wife of Ernest Loranze; Henry is deceased; and Freda is the wife of Leo Swettenam.

Victor C. Knauth received in his early youth the advantages of a Lutheran parochial school in the City of Terre Haute, where his parents then maintained their home, and he was but thirteen years of age when he there initiated his apprenticeship in the plumbing and heating trade. In this service he continued to be associated with the Prox & Brinkman Company of Terre Haute five years; and in 1904 he established his residence in Vincennes. Here he was associated with J. H. Sowden about three years, and in the period of 1908-12 he was here in the employ of the Buck & Boyd Company. In April of the latter year he became senior member of the firm of Knauth & Earson, which engaged in the plumbing and heating business at 305 North Third Street. In April, 1914, Mr. Knauth assumed full ownership of the business, which he continued in an individual way until after the close of the World war. He admitted his brother Henry to partnership in the business, and this alliance continued until the death of his brother, January 2, 1929. Mr. Knauth has continued as the owner and active executive head of the business, which is conducted under the title of Victor C. Knauth Company, the concern ranking as one of the foremost in Vincennes in the handling of plumbing supplies and in general contracting for heating and plumbing installation. The company utilizes at its headquarters 8,500 square feet of floor space, and owns the building in which the business is conducted -- on a corner lot 130 by 65 feet in dimensions. All departments of the establishment are of the best modern equipment and the service of all is of the highest standard. The concern has handled many important contracts in plumbing and heating installation, including that of the six-story Oliphant Building, on Main Street; the Good Samaritan Hospital; the Gibault High School; the cathedral and school buildings of Sacred Heart Church; similar installation in connection with the remodeling of the courthouses of Knox and Sullivan counties; the new senior high school building in Vincennes, and many of the finer residences of this city. The business of the concern has been extended over a territory within a radius of 100 miles from Vincennes, and the company installed the first vapor heating system in Southern Indiana. A corps of skilled employes is retained and the substantial business has been developed on the basis of fair dealings and effective service.

Mr. Knauth is a member of the Indiana Engineering Society, was formerly a director of the Indiana Association of Sanitary Engineers, in 1926, is a member of Indiana Engineering Society, the National Association of Piping Contractors, the Associated Building Contractors and the Vincennes Merchant Plumbers Association. His political alignment is with the Republican party. He is a member of the local Harmony Society, he is a past president of Vincennes Aerie No. 384, Fraternal Order of Eagles, and is affiliated also with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His hobby is quail hunting and clay pigeon shooting.

Mr. Knauth in January, 1913, at Vincennes, married Miss Ethel Mann, who was born in Illinois and is a representative of a family that was founded in that state in the early pioneer days. Mr. and Mrs. Knauth have two children, Vivian Maxine and Betty Fay, both students in the Vincennes public schools.

While Mr. Knauth gained effective technical knowledge through his apprenticeship and practical experience in his trade, his ambition led him to broaden his fortification by completing a course in plumbing and heating, through the medium of the International Correspondence Schools, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, in which he was graduated in 1906 and duly received his diploma. He has won advancement and success through his own ability and efforts and has secure standing as one of the progressive business men of Vincennes.

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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

SAMUEL H. ROSS. Few business enterprises can lay claim to a better record for sustained and continued public service or for more honorable methods than the drug business of Samuel H. Ross, which has flourished at Shoals, Martin County, for more than four decades. Since 1889 Mr. Ross has lived and labored among the citizens of this thriving community, and during this long period has not only become known as one of the most substantial and honorable merchants here, but also as a citizen who has borne his full share of public responsibilities.

Mr. Ross was born in the little community known as Hart's, Mill, in Ripley County, Indiana, April 23, 1865, and is a son of Joseph A. and Emily (Savage) Ross. His grandfather, William T. Ross, was born in Scotland, and in young manhood immigrated to the United States and made his way to Dearborn County, Indiana, where he followed his trade as a cooper. Many still live who remember his sturdy industry and many sterling qualities of mind and heart. Joseph A. Ross was born in the village of Harrison, Indiana, where he was reared and given a good public school education. Early in life he took up teaching as a vocation and followed it in the rural schools for a long period, but in later years was identified with mercantile houses and financial institutions as a bookkeeper. A highly religious man, he was for many years a local preacher of the Methodist Church, continuing as such until his death, August 26, 1878. Reverend Ross married Miss Emily Savage, a native of Indiana, who died December 23, 1926, and to this union there were born eight children: Henry M., of Shoals, Indiana; Florence, deceased; Samuel H;, of this review; Jennie; Charles, deceased; Laura; James, deceased; and Nina.

Samuel H. Ross attended the public schools of Huron, Indiana, but his father died when he was only thirteen years of age, which obliged him, as the eldest living son, to go to work and assist in the support of the family. His first employment was in a brick yard, but later he secured a position as clerk in the general merchandise store of Johnson & Chenoweth, at Shoals, where he remained for several years. He received his introduction to the drug business in the pharmacy of Benjamin C. Johnson, and in 1889 embarked for himself in the same line of business, in which he has continued without interruption to the present. During the passing of the years Mr. Ross has kept fully abreast of the advancements and progress of the business and now owns one of the most modern drug stores in Southern Indiana, located at Shoals. He has a splendid record in business circles as a man of integrity and high character, and as a citizen has done his share in the upbuilding and development of the community. A Republican in politics, he has served ably as a member of the school board for nine years and as a member of the board of trustees two and one-half years. Mr. Ross is a consistent member of the Methodist Church and was for many years a member of the board of trustees. Fraternally he is a Mason and a past master of the Blue Lodge of Shoals and belongs to the Knights of Pythias, of Shoals, the Order of the Eastern Star and Odd Fellows.

On February 25, 1897, Mr. Ross was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Allen and there have been born to this union three children: Dr. Harry P., a successful practicing physician at Richmond, Indiana, who married Beryl Barber and has three children, Ellen E., Margaret Ann and Eleanora Jean; Allen T., who is interested in the drug business with his father, married Mary Rogers, and has two children, Marion Allen and Betty M.; and Thelma, a graduate of the Indiana University Training School for Nurses at Indianapolis.

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

MISS HAZEL LETT. The public library as an institution has become generally accepted as one of the principal and most important factors in our country's educational system, and at present there are few progressive cities which do not possess an institution of this kind. All, however, are not as fortunate in the possession of a capable and efficient librarian as is the Washington Public Library, where Miss Hazel Lett is in charge. A college graduate and a former school teacher, Miss Lett is singularly equipped both by talent and training for her post, which she has held since 1925.

Miss Lett was born in Daviess County, Indiana and is a daughter of Alvin P. and Cora (Russell) Lett, members of old and honored families of this part of Indiana, who came as pioneers from South Carolina in 1820. Most of their members have been agricultural people, but both the Lett and Russell families have had prominent representatives in business, professional, public and military life. John Russell, Miss Lett's maternal grandfather, enlisted in the Union army at the outbreak of the war between the states, and served a private in the Forty-second Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for two years, or until incapacitated for further active duty by a serious wound received in action.

Miss Lett received her education in the public schools of her native locality, following which she pursued a course at the Danville Normal College. She began her career as an educator following her graduation, and for five years was one of the most popular and efficient teachers at Washington, but in 1925 gave up her work in this direction to accept the appointment as librarian of the Washington Public Library, which position she has since retained. Miss Lett is thoroughly familiar with every branch of her work, and has systematized the details of the library so that all matters are handled expeditiously and without friction. Through her courtesy and obligingness and a pleasing personality she has attracted numerous new patrons to the institution, and has established innumerable friendships, as well as having won the confidence and regard of the people of Washington. In Miss Laura Routt she has an energetic and capable assistant.

The Washington Public Library was organized in 1901 and from small beginnings has grown in equipment and number of volumes to large proportions, offering its patrons a wide range of literature of all kinds. The present school board is composed of J. W. McCarthy, president; Lester Lee, vice president; and W. F. Axell, secretary, all of whom are prominent citizens of Washington.

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

ENOCH O. CHATTIN, D. V. S. In the extended and varied career of Dr. Enoch O. Chattin, of Washington, there has entered none of that monotony which often ensues as the result of the following of a single line of endeavor. A veterinary surgeon by profession, he has also followed contracting and road-building, and among his other interests are holdings in farms and city property. Likewise he has been prominent in public affairs for a number of years, and at present is serving his second term in the office of county treasurer.

Doctor Chattin was born on a farm in Daviess County, Indiana, September 20,1877, and is a son of William and Eliza A. (Harris) Chattin. His father was born in Dubois County, Indiana, where he was educated in the country schools and reared on a farm, and at the outbreak of the war between the states enlisted in the Union army as a member of the Sixty-fifth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served four years. After the war he came to Daviess County, where he was successfully engaged in farming and stock raising until his death in 1927, at the age of eighty-three years, at which time he was one of the well-to-do agriculturists and substantial citizens of his community. Mr. Chattin married Miss Eliza A. Harris, who survives him at the age of seventy-eight years, and they became the parents of five children: Dr. Robert A., a successful doctor of dental surgery at Richmond, Indiana; Nathaniel H., who is engaged in farming in Daviess County; Elizabeth, the widow of Hawley Williams; Nettie, who is single and resides with her mother; and Dr. Enoch O., of this review.

Enoch O. Chattin attended the public schools of Daviess County, following which he pursued a course at the Indianapolis Veterinary College, from which he was graduated April 9,1909, with the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. He commenced practice at Washington and devoted himself to his profession for several years, following which he became a contractor and built several roads in Daviess County. In 1916 and 1917 he occupied the post of county highway supervisor, and in 1926 became the Republican candidate for the office of county treasurer, to which he was elected by .a gratifying majority. His services during his first term were so acceptable that in 1928 he was reelected to this office, in which he is acting at this time to the entire satisfaction of his fellow-citizens. Doctor Chattin is a religious man, although he has no avowed church affiliation, nor does he belong to any lodges, although appreciative of the companionship of his fellow-men. He has always had faith in the value, present and future, of property in this section, and owns city real estate and farm lands.

On December 1, 1899, Doctor Chattin was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Carroll, a native of Daviess County, and to this union there have been born two children: Oral C., of Indianapolis, Indiana, and Earl E., who is identified with farming in Daviess County and who married Hazel Wallick, of Oden, Indiana.

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

EDWIN M. ROWLETT, of Gaston, is one of the outstanding business men of Delaware County. His business activities have been centered at Gaston for a great many years. Since 1920 he has had the authorized Ford car agency, but his activities have not been confined to one line. He is the father of Mr. Charles E. Rowlett, a popular young business man of Muncie.

Edwin M. Rowlett was born in Blackford County, Indiana, February 26, 1872, son of David E. and Esther A. (Heaton) Rowlett. The Rowletts are a pioneer family of Indiana. His great-grandfather came from France, and settled in Eastern Indiana as early as 1817, when Indiana was a very new state. Mr. Rowlett's grandfather, Edwin Rowlett, was born and reared in Wayne County and spent his active life as, a merchant and miller, his home for many years being at Pennville. Finally he moved to Nebraska, and died at Madison in that state, he and his wife being buried there.

David E. Rowlett was born in Wayne County and was a boy when his parents moved to Jay County. He had the distinction of being the youngest Indiana soldier in the Civil war, enlisting at the age of fourteen years, four months, eight days. He served in Company B of the Eleventh Indiana Cavalry and after the war for many years conducted a mercantile business and a mill at Pennville. From there he moved to Delaware County, settling on a farm, and also had a store at Gaston. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He died September 5, 1920, and is buried in Beech Grove at Muncie. His wife, Esther A. Heaton, was born in Jay County, attended school at Trenton, and from childhood was a devout Methodist. She passed away January 5, 1878, and is buried in the Bethel Cemetery of Delaware County. She was the mother of five children: Mary Jane, wife of A. J. Brock, of Bristol, Indiana; John, who died in infancy; Edwin M.; George W., a merchant in Muncie; and Ida Belle, deceased, who was the wife of George W. Carnes, of Muncie, and left a daughter, Mrs. Eva Guinn, of that city. David E. Rowlett after the death of his first wife married Samantha A. Brock, of Gaston, and to this union three children were born, Orpha B., wife of Fred McIntosh, of West Alexander, Ohio, Arthur J., who died in infancy, and Mittie M., who died after her marriage.

Edwin M. Rowlett attended the grade schools at Gaston and as soon as he left school found an opportunity for a business career in association with his father. He started in his father's store but at the age of eighteen he started in business for himself and for over thirty years has been closely identified with general merchandising there. In 1920 he took the Ford agency for Gaston and has done a big business in that territory. He owns a well equipped shop and sales room and takes the responsibility of contracting for hundred cars annually.

Mr. Rowlett was one of the men who brought about the establishment of a canning factory at Gaston. He owns a summer resort at Tippecanoe Lake, and is interested in real estate in Muncie and Gaston. He is affiliated with Mathews Lodge No. 650, A. F. and A. M., Sioux Tribe No. 123 of the Improved Order of Red Men, belongs to the Eastern Star and Tribe of Pocahontas. He has served on the local school board and has always played a helpful part in local affairs. He is a Republican and a Methodist. His grandmother was a sister of Bishop Wright, long a prominent figure in the United Brethren Church at Dayton and father of the famous Wright Brothers.

Mr. Edwin M. Rowlett married in Delaware County, May 22, 1892, Miss Lydia F. Rector, daughter of Rev. James A. and Cordelia (Carey) Rector. Her father spent forty years in the ministry of the United Brethren Church and is now living retired at Gaston, at the age of seventy-seven, his wife being seventy-four. Mrs. Rowlett attended school in Harrison Township of Delaware County. For many years she was identified with the United Brethren Church, but is now a Methodist. She is a member of the Eastern Star and is a past great chief for the State of Indiana in the Tribe of Pocahontas. Mr. and Mrs. Rowlett had three children. Their daughter Iva Fern died at the age of two years, ten months, twenty-one days. The living children are Charles E. Rowlett and Ruth I. Ruth graduated from the Gaston High School, attended the Blaker School of Indianapolis, and taught at Muncie until her marriage to Mr. Robert O. Rinker, who is in the grocery and meat market business at the corner of Council and Howard streets in Muncie. Mr. and Mrs. Rinker have a daughter, Alice May, now a kindergarten pupil.

Charles E. Rowlett was born April 3, 1894, graduated from the Gaston High School in 1917, enlisted in the United States Marines. He was stationed at Washington with the Navy Yard Detachment and received his honorable discharge in February, 1919. On returning to Indianapolis he became a traveling salesman for Hibben & Hollweg for three years. In 1922 he moved to Muncie and has a splendid location on College Avenue, near the Ball State Teachers College, where he has built up a splendid business in a well appointed shop, handling confectionery and lunch service. Charles E. Rowlett is affiliated with Mathews Lodge No. 650, A. F. and A. M., Muncie Chapter No. 30, Royal Arch Masons, Lodge No. 245, B. P. O. Elks, and Delaware Post No. 19 of the American Legion.

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