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.

Before Hansen there was... Herman Vollmer

 Herman Vollmer was born in Baden, Germany on June 18, 1861 the son of Joseph and Walburga Mauer Vollmer. In 1879 he attended what we would call college in England.  He came to the United States in 1882 through Boston and moved to Princeton.  He worked for Uel Mathes Caudell (b.1854,d.1943) until early 1883. Mr Caudell was a watchmaker with a jewelry store on the Kidd block.   Did you ever get the idea that Princeton was some kind of hotbed for jewelry and clocks??  Vollmer went into business for himself in early 1883 opening the Pfohl shoe store. This must have been short-lived as I can't find much about this.  Instead, I find an advertisement for Vollmer as a watch, clock, and jewelry dealer in the Clarion on April 5, 1883. The ad says that he is operating out of "Keimer's Grocery Store" on the east side of the square.  The ad states "I have had five years' experience in Germany, and three years' experience in England in watch-making and repairing."  He moved into his own store in May 1883 at 103 West Broadway called Devin's corner back then.  Known today as Susan Bobe's dining room.

On September 1, 1885, Herman married Mary C. Keimer.  She was the sister of John Keimer owner of Keimer's Grocery Store mentioned earlier.  Together they had 6 children.

In 1898, Vollmer hired Julius Hansen.  An article in the April 21, 1898 edition of the Clarion mentioned Julius as an employee.  There was another article talking about a project that Vollmer's was hired to do.  It stated that he assigned the job to Julius and spoke highly about the quality of his work.

I was going to write a separate article about this incident, but since it happened at Vollmer's store, I will include it here. In the July 6, 1899 edition of the Clarion, there is a story about Julius Hansen while working for Vollmer.  It turns out that Vollmer was responsible for the clock in the tower of the courthouse at the time.  A service contract perhaps?  According to the article, Mr Vollmer was out of town and left instructions for Julius to wind the clock, but he put it off too long.

I learned that back then, the bells in the courthouse, in addition to time, were also used to notify the fire department of the address of a fire.  Kind of like Morse code, only with bells.  Julius put off winding the clock and the bells started ringing in an abnormal way that started to confuse the fire department.   The article says "The noon strokes were slow and painful and indicated the striking mechanism had that tired feeling."  It goes on to say that Julius fixed it and "how tempus is fugiting as they did before."  I had never heard the phrase "tempus fugit" before, but it is Latin for "time flies."

In May of 1900, Julius left Vollmer's to go work for Bachner Timepiece.  More on that in the next article.

On December 5, 1901, Herman's wife Mary passed away.  He remarried the following September to Catherine Wagner.

Herman Vollmer passed away on March 6, 1937.  He is buried in Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Princeton. His obituary points out how he was a very long-term business man in the community and was well respected. 

As for his part in Hansen's history, he gave Julius his start in the Princeton community.  Julius probably learned a lot of the ins and outs of running your own business.  And even though Julius had plenty of his own training, I'm sure he learned a lot about jewelry making and watch repair from Herman Vollmer.

Here is a photo of Vollmer's store

Before Hansen there was... Rudolph Jaegermann

At first I thought I had this article all sorted out, but then I found some new information and had to rethink it.  As previously stated, Julius came to the United States in 1881 at the age of 14.  He lived in Cincinnati, OH and later moved to St. Louis.  I found in a St. Louis city directory from 1882 Julius listed as a "laborer" living at 1021 Allen Ave. The building is still there:

In the 1883 directory, it listed Julius as a "watchmaker" at 3205 Easton Ave.  Today there is a senior living center at that address.  All of that I still think is correct.  Previously I stated that Julius attended the St. Louis Watchmaking School at 5815 Easton Ave (today it is known as Dr Martin Luther King Drive).  I think I have found this to only be partially true.  The school was ran by a man named Rudolph Jaegermann.  I just like saying his name... Rudolph Jaegermann.  In a German accent it would be Rudolf Jägermann.

Rudolph Jaegermann drawing
from St. Louis newspaper

He was born in 1849 in Hamburg, Germany (what a coincidence!).   He first came to St. Louis and married Marie Holst in 1874. They had a son named Otto and three daughters Matilda, Maria, and Ester.  

Prior to running the school, Mr. Jaegermann ran a jewelry store in St. Louis for 10 years.  It was located at 415 Pine St. The building has long since been tore down and was located about 2 blocks from where the arch is now.  This is where I believe that Julius actually worked for Mr. Jaegermann and may have been considered an apprentice.  Julius could have attended Mr. Jaegermann's school during it's first year.  Julius may have even given Mr. Jaegermann the idea of starting it in the first place.  From what I can find, the jewelry store went out of business owing a lot of money to a bank... and to his mother-in-law.  He had a couple court rulings against him in 1885 and the store and assets were auctioned off.  This gave Mr. Jaegermann the opportunity to focus entirely on his school.

Mr Jaegermann was an inventor in his own right.  I have included a couple of his patents in the photos at the end. One is a clock with a pendulum above the clock face.  The other is some sort of winding mechanism for a pocket watch. Here are some advertisements for the school:

I guess daughters need not apply.  The address given at 622 Locust St, was the Jaegermann home at the time.  Later advertisements had the Easton Ave address.  There were many examples, mostly in newspapers, some in magazines.  Looking at other advertisements at the time, it seems that St. Louis was a hotbed for various specialty schools.   

Their house was also the school.  After Rudolph died, I do not think that Otto kept the watchmaking school going.  The last advertisement for the watchmaking school I could find was from 1922.

I have also included a photo from a few years ago of the watchmaking school and Jaegermann home known as "Capstick Hall".  It is still there today, but I am not sure what it is used for at this point.  At one time the local diocese owned it.  On September 9, 1947 it was the site of what is now considered a historical event for the St Louis area. You can read about it here.

 

I wonder if Julius kept in touch with Mr Jaegermann?  If he did, I'm sure Mr Jaegermann was very proud of the accomplishments of what was surely one of his star pupils.  It is worth noting another student of Mr. Jaegermann's named Joseph B. Vandever.  He ran a jewelry store in West Salem, Il, which is north-west of Mt. Carmel.

Rudolph Jaegermann died in St. Louis in 1934 and has no living descendants.  His son Otto never married or had children. His daughter, Matlida, had two daughters Lois and Esta Jane and neither had children.  Esta Jane was married to Vernon W. Meyer who was a circuit court judge in St. Louis.  Ester married but had no children. Maria married, but her husband died young.  She moved back to Capstick Hall with Otto and never re-married.

As for his part in Hansen's history, he educated Julius on jewelry, watch and clock making, and how to file for patents.  Who knows, maybe without Mr Jaegermann, Julius would have never invented the programmable clock.

 

Julius Hansen Biography

 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.