I have to start out with a disclaimer because there are so many contradictions about his life in most of the documents available. Documents such as obituaries, census forms, newspaper articles, and various other government documents. One thing is certain, the only person who knows for sure is Julius himself and you will understand what I mean as we journey through his life. Many articles and his obituaries are based on what people recall Julius telling them at one point. I find that some people's memory is fuzzy. I also learned that Julius kept some things to himself. Based on my review of the information, I am going to offer what I think is the most reasonable version of events. For example, some say he was from Hamburg, Germany, others say Denmark. My conclusion is that he was born in Hamburg, Germany, then known as Prussia, and moved to Denmark. From there he immigrated to the United States.
Julius Wilhelm Hansen was born November 23, 1866 in Hamburg, Prussia to Wilhelm Hansen and Ida Abels. I have not found anything stating Julius' father's exact name, only "Wm", which I assume is short for Wilhelm or the English version, William. It is a common German name. It was also common for German's middle names to be their father's first name, it is definitely widespread in my family. I found nothing about his childhood, so I can only make some assumptions. From what I read, he had an apprenticeship in Denmark, then came to the United States. The history books say that the area around Hamburg and Denmark was unstable during his younger years. The Denmark-Prussia border moved from time to time and war was common. It is possible that Julius left Prussia to avoid being forced to join the Prussian military. Most accounts say that he came to the US in 1881 at the age of 14. No where did I read that his parents came with him, in fact I have more evidence that he came by himself. I have not been able to find a passenger list so far. One account says that he first came to Cincinnati, OH and finished grade school. He then moved to St. Louis to attend a watchmaking school. I will be writing a separate article about the watchmaking school. The St. Louis directory of 1882 lists him as a "laborer" at 1021 Allen Ave. The St. Louis directory of 1883 lists him as a "watchmaker" and living at 3205 Easton Ave. Today there is a senior living center at that address, but it is a few blocks from the watch making school.
The time between 1883 and 1888, I lost track of him. I do know that he moved to Humphrey, Nebraska in Platte County. I looked at the local newspaper to see if there was a jewelry store or some other place he would likely work at, but I could not find one. I just know that he filed his first patent while living in Humphrey. It was in 1890 for a "watch bow fastener" patent number US437690A.
This next statement is going to be very controversial. I found a marriage certificate showing that Julius got married while living in Humphrey, Nebraska on January 3, 1888. I accept this marriage certificate to be our beloved Julius Hansen because it lists his parents as "William Hansen" and "Ida Abels" and his age was correct. The chances of this being someone else is astronomical. His first wife's name was Dorothea "Dora" Knipping, daughter of Franz and Anna Marie Knipping of Bloomfield, Iowa. I can find very little about her. I can't even figure out when she died, but I am making the assumption that she died before 1892. I have a theory as to why, but I will not share it here because I have no proof. Once again, I lose track of Julius between 1888 and 1892 other than the patent in 1890. It would be very helpful to see the 1890 census, but the vast majority of the US census of 1890 was tragically lost in a fire in the 1920s.
At some point he came to Owensville, IN because he married Sarah Francis "Fanny" Sampson on February 29, 1892. Curiously, on the 1930 census, one of the questions was how old you were when you first got married. Julius put his age when he married Sarah and not when he married Dora. This leads me to believe that he never told anyone about his marriage to Dora. Sarah Sampson was born April 17, 1867 to Coleman and Katherine Sampson in New Albany, IN. Sometime between 1870 and 1880, the Sampson family moved to Owensville, IN. Almost immediately after marrying, Julius and Sarah moved to Crow Wing, Minnesota where he worked at the Brainard municipal power plant. Their first child, a daughter, Lenora (aka Nora) was born on December 9, 1892 while living in Minnesota. I am curious to know what Julius did while working at the power plant because during his time there, he filed another patent. This time for an "electric motor" patent number US490280A with William H Eimers. One obituary mentioned Julius working at the power plant with an "Eric Drescholl", but I think this is fuzzy memory because I cannot find any information about someone of that name, even trying various spellings.
Sometime around 1896, the Hansens moved to Buffalo, New York. The city directory has their address as 218 W Forest Ave, which is a parking lot today. They did not stay in New York very long before moving to Owensville, IN. On May 12, 1897, William Lester Hansen was born. The following February 8, 1898, was the first mention of Julius in the Princeton Clarion. It stated he was visiting Princeton. I think he was there for a job interview at Vollmer's jewelry store and possibly looking for a place to live. By April, the Clarion says that Julius is now working at Vollmer's (a story for another article) and Sarah's obituary states that they moved to Princeton in 1898. The 1900 census says they lived on Oak Street, but did not give a house number.
In May of 1900, Julius took a new job as a supervisor at the Bachner Timepiece Company. This is definitely a story for another article! Julius resigned in September of 1901. The Clarion claims that he left for a job in Shreveport, Louisiana. Either he made that up and told the paper, or it was short lived. I found no evidence he actually went down there. In October 1901, the Clarion says he went to Buffalo, NY again. Maybe he did just to visit, but he did not move back there as the paper implied. It is possible these two stories were a ruse just to throw someone off because in March of 1902, there was an advertisement for Hansen's jewelry store on the "Kidd Block" in Princeton. I learned this is the block surrounded by Broadway, Hart, Water, and West streets. Named for the Kidd Hotel and Kidd Opera house. In September of 1903, Julius moved his store to the south side of the courthouse square, 115 W Broadway, where it stayed until he sold it. The building was eventually tore down and a new one, which is still there today, was built in 1920.
In 1906 Julius had the now infamous conversation with W.C. Fisher, the school principal that wanted a programmable clock to automatically ring the bell at his school. Julius of course went to work developing the clock and first installed it in 1907. The 1907 city directory said that the Hansens lived on the corner of Seminary and Water streets. By 1908, Julius had hired his first salesman, Lawrence Snapp, and had the Columbia School Supply Company as a distributor. In 1911, Julius purchased property on McKaw summit from James H Webster who was moving to Prescott, Arkansas. Julius sold his jewelry store, and essentially the jewelry part of his business, to Carl G. Applegath. It eventually moved to the north side of the square. Details of this will be in another article.
The 1914 city directory has the Hansens living on Virgil Blvd and lists Nora as a stenographer. On January 11, 1916, Nora Hansen married Samuel Clifton Taylor. The city directory notes that Samuel Taylor is a cabinet maker for Hansen Mfg, so I think I know how they met. On February 28, 1921, William Lester Hansen married Eunice Strawn.
From this point on, Julius and Sarah lived out the rest of their lives in Princeton. Julius filed many patents for clock mechanisms and motors. In 1927 the first synchronous motor was made and Hansen was incorporated. Julius filed his final patent in 1935. Also in 1935, Hansen sold the program clock line to Arvid Montgomery who ran Montgomery Time in Owensville. Julius himself retired in 1935 and turned the company over to William Lester Hansen.
On February 26, 1936 around noon, Julius Wilhelm Hansen died of coronary thrombosis (a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart). He was 69 years old. The photo at the beginning of this post is from his obituary in the Evansville paper in 1936.
On July 16, 1947, Sarah Hansen died of stomach cancer. Her obituary mentions that she was the vice-president of Hansen Mfg Co.
William Lester Hansen died February 25, 1957 in Princeton, and Lenora Taylor died January 28, 1985 in Indianapolis. Julius, Sarah, and William Lester can be found at Columbia Church cemetery west of Princeton.
