Part 2 - Deeper into the Bachman story

This story mentions a lot of local people and I wanted to research them a little as well.

I mention the book "History of Gibson County, Indiana: Her People, Industries and Institutions" by Gil R. Stormont a lot in this article.  You can find it at most of the libraries in the county, or in PDF format at archive.org here.  I like the book, but it was published in 1914. I wish there was a part 2 as the book is over 100 years old at this point.

As far back as October 11, 1897, Julius Alfred Oswald was traveling to Cincinnati for business dealings with his jewelry store.  In the August 3, 1899 issue of the Clarion, an article appears pursuading the idea of moving the Bell Watch Case Co from Cincinnati to Princeton.  This deal obviously fell thru, but Oswald did not give up.  The paper noted on August 23, 1899, Oswald making trips to Chicago as well and by September 28, 1899, Joseph Bachner was visiting town.  Why did Oswald want a watch and clock factory in Princeton?  Pure speculation, he was a businessman that was probably looking for ways to cut overhead and increase profits.  If he had a watch supplier making watches in town, and he knew the owner, he could get factory direct prices and save a fortune on shipping costs.  And by bringing the factory to town, he would also create jobs for the community and earn lots of respect.  It didn't exactly work out that way, but he tried.

At the same time, Bachner's clock factoy in Chicago had gone into receivership.  He needed to find a new place to set up shop or he was out of business.  How Oswald heard about Bachner we will never know.  However, if someone read the Chicago Tribune, they would have read articles about it.

The Clarion also had an article stating that Oswald took a trip to Nashville,TN were he got married.  It is implied that he kept this quiet as it sounded like a surprise in the newspaper.  Oswald did not live out his life in the Princeton area.  His wife died in 1910 and she is buried in Nashville,TN.  Oswald moved to Fort Wayne where at one time he was the city trustee.  He last visited Princeton in 1943 and died in 1954.  He is buried in Fort Wayne.

Oswald ad from 1896

 Louis J Oswald (b1862, d 27 Aug 1919) was Julius' brother and business partner. He was one of the initial investors in Bachner Timepiece. They also had another brother they were in business with named Oscar H. Oswald who owned a newsstand called "The Orient." They probably sold the Chicago tribune. Louis later moved to Evansville and then to Indianapolis.  His obituary says he was the manager at Princeton Coal Company.  Sadly, Louis was shot to death in Kingsport, TN. Strangely the article about his shooting says "...Oswald with his wife moved to Indianapolis where he lived several years. Mrs Oswald had not heard from [Louis] for the last three years before his death it was said, and had given him up for dead."


 

Steele Gilmore ad from 1874

Dr. Steele Francis Gilmore(b1852, d1932), a local dentist, was a member of the board of directors at Bachner Timepiece.  The earliest ad I could find in the Clarion was July 2, 1874.  Curiously, I found where someone had pointed out that in 1874 there was no degree in dentistry, so he was technically not a "doctor".  He was allowed the title from experience in the field.  His first name, Steele, was his mother's maiden name.  He was an inventor and held patents for dentistry appliances.  One was for a device for sizing false teeth.  His obituary also says that he "was instrmental in originating the first building and loan institution in Princeton" and he was on the Princeton school board.  It also claims he owned the first bicycle and the first automobile in Princeton.  He later moved to Indianapolis where he was a faculty member at the Indiana dental college. In 1912-1913 he was president of the Indiana state dental association.  I could go on and on, but I can tell he was an excellent choice for the board of directors.  He is mentioned in the book "History of Gibson County" on page 405.

Will H. Lewis (b1859,d1932) and Andrew E. Lewis Jr (b1855,d1936) were brothers and business partners known mainly for Lewis Brothers Dry Goods. They are the sons of Andrew and Eliza Lewis, two of the earliest residents of Princeton.  Andrew worked for Peoples American National Bank where their uncle was the president.  I am unable to figure out if they are connected to the modern day Lewis Hardware or Lewis Plumbing businesses.

Louis Bros ad from 1897

Robert Newton Parrett (b 1849, d 1931) owned a local saw mill and was one of the investors for Bachner Timepiece. His other business interests included Princeton Light & Power, Princeton Telephone Company, Peoples American National Bank, and Patoka National Bank.  He is talked about in the book "History of Gibson County" on pages 338 and 725-726.  I have not mentioned Julius' grandson and Lester Hansen's son, Robert Paul "Bob" Hansen yet.  He was married to Marilynn Parrett who was the daughter of Fred Parrett and granddaughter of Robert. Thanks to Don for pointing that out.  Princeton Telephone Company was mentioned and, as Don also pointed out, the first to bring telephone to Princeton.  It is worth noting that Dr Steele Gilmore was one of the first customers.

Roscoe Conkling “Ross” McGinnis (b1872, d1906) was the one who bought out Bachner's remaining interest in the company.  He was known for McGinnis Teel & Co, Citizens Bank, and Citizens Trust and Savings Co.  He is talked about in the book "History of Gibson County" on page 338.  I was a bit surprised when I realized that he was only 28 years old when he made the purchase from Bachner.  Sadly, McGinnis died at the age of 33 of appendicitis.  From the articles, it sounded like they waited too long to operate.  The Evansville and Terre Haute railroad set up a special train service between Princeton and Owensville the day of his funeral for anyone who wanted to attend and return to Princeton that evening. The cost was 45 cents.  How cool do you have to be for a railroad to offer a special service for your funeral?  Ross McGinnis cool.

Lucas and Funk ad from 1897

Edward Borland Funk (b1865, d1933), better known as E.B. Funk, was the owner of the store where Henry Bachner was arrested outside. He and his brother Henry and business partner Harvey Lucas were in the furniture business known as "Lucas and Funk" and "Funk, Lucas & Co." He later operated the Industrial Loan Company and was associated with Thomas Riggs of Riggs Realty.  He was once a member of the Princeton school board and a director of Farmers National Bank.  He wasn't really involved in the Bachner story at first, I just liked his name: E.B.Funk.  Sadly, you could say he worked himself to death.  He went to work one morning and complained he wasn't feeling well.  Thomas Riggs took him back to his (Funk's) home. Within minutes of returning, he had a cerebral hemorrhage and died.

E.B. Funk ad from 1901

I summed up the ending to the Bachner Timepiece/Princeton Clock story by saying there were some lawsuits and a receivership.  Here's more details. June 1, 1902, John Kruse filed suit against Princeton Clock Co suing for $1250 for violation of contract discharge.  I think the article said he was an engineer. In the June 20th edition of the Clarion, an article talking up the success of the clock factory is published.  It is a curious article.  In fact, on August 28, another short blurb talking about how the clock factory is "one of the most successful [enterprises] ever launched in Princeton." Still curious. 

January 16, 1903, the Princeton Clock Company wants the Business Men's Association to buy 200 shares at $30 per share, face value $50.  Not sure what this maneuver is, but I would say it was a last ditch effort to keep the business going.  By July 21, the Princeton Clock Company went into a receivership and appointed as receiver... Edward B.Funk.  The news on this receivership was reported all over the place, not just in Princeton and Evansville.  Examples are: Louisville, Chicago, Fort Wayne, Huntington and even Iowa City.  I had to look up what a receivership is.  Basically it is an alternative to bankruptcy.  It is cheaper and someone manages the paying of debts without costly litigation.  The receiver can liquidate assets to pay debts.

November 1, Lucius Embree files suit against the Princeton Clock Company to recover $500 for legal services. The case was handled in an Evansville courthouse.  Embree won, but I don't think they were able to pay up.  On March 13, 1904 the court ordered the receiver to sell assets and property to pay.  On May 21, a public auction was held to sell some of Princeton Clock Company's assets.  On June 21, the court acknowledged that Embree was paid up. 

On May 8, 1905, it is reported in the Clarion that Princeton Clock Company has been sold to an unnamed buyer. It states that it may be moved to Indian territory and if not, it will remain in Princeton.  "The clock company went into the hands of a receiver several month ago and was sold to Robert F Warnock as trustee for the bond holders.  Trustee Warnock has transferred the property to the new owner."  The Clarion may not have known the buyer, but with modern technology, I was able to find out who the buyer was.  On June 23, a Tulsa, OK newspaper states that E.A.Bazzett, manager of the Tulsa Watch company, returned from inspecting Princeton Clock Company.  It was declared to be worth at least $70,000 (not including buildings and land).  It turns out that they did purchase it, but never moved it to Tulsa.  The deal fell through and they ended up selling the machinery to a new watch factory being set up in Rochelle, Il, west of Chicago on land donated by the city.  This was reported on February 15, 1906 in the Dixon Evening Telegraph.
 

From 1909 to 1912, Bachner ran the Manistee Watch Company in Michigan.  From somewhere on the web I found: "The  common council of Manistee, Michigan agreed to allow Joseph Bachner and W R Rath to build a watch factory, with the town holding the mortgage, provided the factory employ 250 people for five years. The company produced roughly 60,000 low and mid-grade watches in men's sizes and distributed by the Star Case Co before going bankrupt and being sued by Star for the non-payment of a note for $5,994."

I probably found that information on this page which has a short history of several watch companies.  A couple in the list involved Joseph Bachner.

One final note on this story.  E.B.Funk filed suit against Princeton Clock Company for $2500 because he wanted to get paid for his services and time as the receiver.

Before Hansen there was... Joseph Bachner

Joseph Bachner

Note to any Bachner descendants who might find this: this story is based on newspaper accounts from the time, nothing more.  Readers can form their own opinions. 

The vast majority of this story comes from articles in the Clarion and a few other newspapers. I was going to make it very detailed, but I changed my mind since some details are not important.  This story takes a twist you will not expect.  Honestly it would make a decent movie if written right.  No one has probably even thought about this story in 100 years and no one alive today lived through it.  This is the story of Joseph Bachner's time in Princeton.  

Joseph Bachner was born in Paris, France in 1852. He lived in New York for a short time when he arrived in the US and then moved to Chicago.  He married Mary Marceline Lambert April 15, 1882 in Manhattan. They had nine children, though not all lived to adulthood.  In 1885, Mary filed for divorce because of bigamy.  A charge he was also arrested for.  As it turned out, some busy-body decided to show Mary a document showing that Joseph was married to someone else. But the name on the document was only similar and not actually Mr Bachner.  The charges were dropped and they stayed married.  This is just a small precursor of things to come.  In addition to being a businessman, he was also an inventor that held many patents.

At this point, I am going to skip to the part where he comes to Princeton.  In September of 1899, Joseph Bachner visited Princeton as a guest of Julius Oswald, a local jeweler.  The newspaper stated that Mr Bachner was looking to build a factory to make "cheap" watches and clocks.  In reality, he already had such a factory in Chicago, he was actually looking for a place to move it to.  He arranged for some land to build on, some wealthy investors, and a tax abatement from the city.  He brings some starting capital and machinery to the table.  He manages to get funding from Dr Steele F. Gilmore (a long time dentist), Will H. Lewis, Robert N. Parrett (Princeton Light & Power), and Louis J. Oswald (a grocery store owner).  On November 2, Mr Bachner returned to Princeton to do some paperwork.  A board of directors was chosen that included: Joseph Bachner, Will H. & Andrew E. Lewis (Lewis Bros dry goods), Julius A. Oswald, and Dr Steele F. Gilmore.  The Clarion states that work to build will begin "immediately" and it will be located at the corner of Hall and Water St.  Today the location is in between Young's Auto Body and the rail road tracks on Hall St.  Princeton exempted the company from city taxes until April 1, 1904.  It was also reported that they were off to a slow start due to a shortage of bricklayers, but orders for clocks were already coming in.  The building was completed by December 21 and was ready for machinery to be moved in.  This sounds like record pace to me.

By January 12 of 1900, it was reported that the factory may start up by the next week.  They have a "horde" of applicants and ads were even placed in the Evansville newspaper. Orders were still coming in and Bachner estimated they would eventually hire 300 people when all was said and done.  On January 18, the boiler was fired up and Joseph Bachner gave tours to some VIPs.  The article states that they still haven't brought in the machines yet, but they have installed the "line shafting".  They used overhead drive shafts with belts and pulleys to run the machines in those days.  Hansen was set up that way originally and some photos survive, such as this one:

By February 19, twenty-five people are hard at work so far, but they are still not running at capacity.  March 2, 40 people are now working.  It was also reported that work on a new foundry building started.  This building will be to the north of the factory. The public is now welcome to tour the factory on Saturdays from 10 to 12.  On April 9, the foundry fired up for the first time, just over a month after construction begun. The clock factory was up to 70 people now.

Map from 1901 showing the
location of Bachman Timepiece/
Princeton Clock Company

In the May 9 issue of the Clarion, it is announced that Julius Hansen is now the "superintendent of the machine department on the first floor."  The article says "Mr Hansen served his apprenticeship in Denmark and has held several responsible positions in this country."  I'm guessing that the announcement was written by Joseph Bachner himself to help advertise and talk up the business.

On June 15 it was reported that disaster strikes as a large rainstorm came to Princeton and started flooding the town. The Clarion says that Bachner Timepiece's engine and boiler rooms were flooded with water. The plant was shut down temporarily.

Out of nowhere, in the Clarion on July 18, for reasons not explained by the paper, the board of directors was pressuring Joseph Bachner into resigning as superintendent of the factory. He got lawyers involved and it is noted how he owns considerable stock in the company.  The next day, Joseph Bachner resigns from the company that bears his name, but still keeps his financial interest.  

August 29, the Clarion reports of a gas stove exploding in Joseph Bachner's home on Spring street.  It caused little damage, but suspicious none the less.  In the grand scheme of things, this may have been just a coincidence, but the next day, Bachner's interest in the company is bought out by Ross McGinnis. This ended all potential legal matters between Joseph Bachner and the board of directors.

Then suddenly, this happened....

On September 2, Joseph Bachner's 16 year old son, Henry, was arrested by the town marshal. It turns out he had been using the new foundry at Bachner Timepiece to make counterfeit coins with the help of other boys his age.  This was reported in the Princeton, Mount Carmel, and Evansville newspapers.  Knowing that he was being investigated, Henry went to Chicago several weeks prior.  When he returned, he was apprehended by Marshal Dan Haley (accompanied by a Clarion reporter) as he entered E.B. Funk's furniture store on the square.  Many accounts say he was making nickles, dimes, and quarters.  It may not sound like much but adjusting for inflation it adds up.  I can't find an inflation calculator that goes back to 1900.  I can only find back to 1913 and even then, a dime equals $3 in today's money.  Days later, Henry Bachner is released on $200 bond.  By September 11, more people were arrested for using counterfeit money, some of it even spent at the county fair. They were later released for lack of evidence, but they had worked out a deal to testify against Henry Bachner.  On September 14, Henry Bachner's trial started in federal court in Evansville.  He waived examination and was bound over to a grand jury in Indianapolis in October.  In attendance were City Marshal Haley, Deputy Marshal McClurkin, Policeman Lee Morton, and Constable McAfee.

On November 24, without surprise, Henry Bachner was indicted on counterfeiting charges by the grand jury and was held over for trial.  The Clarion said he "may go to reform school".  He pleaded ignorance of the law stating he did not think it was against the law to make counterfeit money.  He claimed he thought it was only against the law if you try to spend it.  I can't find any articles about his trial, other than it took place.  It may be because he was under aged, but I am not sure they took that into consideration back then.  Strangely, The Chicago Tribune reported on December 13 that Henry Bachner was arrested by Chief Deputy US Marshal Rowe at Oak Park (a suburb of Chicago) charged with spending counterfeit money.  I'm willing to bet that US Marshalls were following him by that point.  I can find no articles saying how Henry Bachner's trail(s) ended.  If he was ever incarcerated, he would have been released no later than 1906.  He married and had 7 children, the first born in 1907.  He died February 13, 1920.

Back in Princeton, on November 29, 1900, Bachner Timepiece files to change it's name to Princeton Clock Company. The hearing was on January 21, 1901 and passed. The Clarion states that it is a compliment to rename the factory after the city that built it.  And to me it makes more than enough sense that they wanted to take the Bachner name off of it.

In September 1901, Julius Hansen resigned from the Princeton Clock Company and went back to work for Herman Vollmer.  I think he saw what was coming.  Eventually, after lawsuits and a receivership, the Princeton Clock Company went under.  I would say that the original investors were not as enthusiastic about maintaining a clock company as Bachner and Oswald.  They had their own businesses to take care of.  It is unclear to me what happened to what remained of the company exactly, but there is a hint that it moved and set up shop again in Rochelle, IL (west of Chicago).  

The building was later leased to the Gardner Printing Company.  They later moved to Evansville. It was also used by Sexton Manufacturing Company from Fairfield, IL as a garment factory.  Due to labor troubles, it was moved to Fairfield.  A Clarion article from October 1917 asked if the building was a "Jonah"?  This is the last time the Princeton Clock Company is mentioned in the Clarion with the exception of a few obituaries.

Digging a little further into Joseph Bachner's life, I discovered that in December 1908, he took a trip on the Lusitania.  For those who don't know, that was a ship owned by the White Star Line, the company that owned the Titanic. The Lusitania was most famous for being torpedoed and sank by a German U-boat in 1915.

I'm going to summarize a lot of articles that I found about Joseph Bachner before and after he came to Princeton. I found many many articles describing the following sequence of events:
1. Bachner comes to town proposing to move his or set up a new factory that makes watches and clocks and promising to hire 100+ people
2. The community invests some money
3. Bachman asks for land to be donated
4. tax abatements are given
5. An actual factory is optional, but if there is one, it goes into receivership
6. Bachman sells his share of the company and leaves town
In addition to Princeton, this or something similar happened in the following towns: Sterling,IL, Appleton,WI, Stevens Point,WI, Springfield,IL, Tulsa,OK, Vincennes,IN, Mainistee,MI, and there are probably a couple more including Rochelle,Il mentioned earlier. 

Joseph Bachner died October 1, 1929 in Chicago.  He has a multitude of descendants.  Many of which are very wealthy successful business men and women.  Some even hold their own patents.

As for his part in Hansen's history, he gave Julius some experience in running and supervising a factory.  Not to mention he was a first-hand witness to all of this.  I doubt that Julius purchased any of the machines from the Princeton Clock Company because he would have had to store them somewhere for a while before they would have been used at his factory.  

One last note on Bachner, someone is selling a poster of one of his patents on Etsy.