In a message dated 12/23/2003 7:03:05 AM Central Standard Time, INRIPLEY-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: X-Message: #3 Date: 22 Dec 2003 22:34:57 -0700 From: Lora1957@aol.com To: INRIPLEY-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <MFMBM02251dyZSdA6kv000005f5@mfmbm022.myfamilycorp.local> Subject: [INRipley] Hillenbrand, Mitchell, Schrader Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by lists5.rootsweb.com id hBND2j42031307 This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Hillenbrand, Mitchell, Schrader Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/4h.2ADI/1690 Message Board Post: This book has no cover, and no index, and no author. I bought it on Ebay;= it just has the insides, but it is full of Indiana biographies. I am not= researching this family, just thought I would share. I do not know anymo= re about these families or these surnames. NOTE: I don=E2=80=99t know if = there is any additional mention of this family in the book, it has no ind= ex. I do not want to sell this book. I am typing the biographies from it. Typed by Lora Radiches: Other surnames mentioned in the biography of JOHN HILLENBRAND, SR are, Hi= llenbrand, Mitchell, Schrader,=20 JOHN HILLENBRAND, SR. In the death of John Hillenbrand, Sr., wh= ich occurred in 1924, the community of Batesville lost one of its capable= and energetic businessmen, the founder of the American Furniture Company= , and a citizen who had been instrumental in forwarding the interests of = the city from the time of his arrival in young manhood. Heavy responsibil= ities were thrown upon his shoulders at an early period in his life and t= hese assisted in developing a strong and sturdy character and qualities t= hat assisted in making him a leader in his later years. Mr. Hillenbrand w= as born in 1835, on a farm in Ripley County, Indiana, and attende= d the public schools of that vicinity, although his education was= not of an elaborate nature, as his father died when he was but ten years= of age and he was forced to assist in the support of the family.= After thirteen years on the farm he moved to Batesville, where h= e embarked in the general store business! , under the title of Hillenbrand Brothers Merchandise Company. T= wo years later the furniture plant at Batesville, its most important indu= stry, was destroyed by fire, and Mr. Hillenbrand, always alive to opportu= nity, purchased the property, rebuilt the plant along larger and more mod= ern lines, and founded the American Furniture Company, this coming into b= eing in 1880. At the outset it was an unpretentious business, limited by = a small capital, and employed about twenty employees. The mercantile busi= ness was kept in operation until 1888, when John Hillenbrand bought his b= rother=E2=80=99s interest and later sold all of the merchandise, putting = the money thus secured into the furniture plant, which originally covered= 8,000 square feet, and specialized in the manufacture of bedroom furnitu= re. Under the able direction and matured judgment or Mr. Hillenbrand the = business showed a healthy growth, and about every five years it was found= necessary to add additional buildings a! nd equipment. At the present time the plant covers 240,000 square feet , and employs about 220 skilled mechanics, office workers and salespeople= . The Hillenbrand Company=E2=80=99s sawmill and timber manufacturing depa= rtment was organized in 1890, at Batesville, with John A. Hillenbrand as = president and George Hillenbrand, vice president, and bought 10,000 acres= of standing timber in Ripley County, where seven sawmills were operated.= This acreage consists of American walnut, oak and poplar timber, which i= s used in the manufacture of furniture, and the business employs ninety = men. Mr. Hillenbrand then organized the Batesville Casket Company,= of which he became owner in 1902, and at that time his sons became activ= e in the business, the floor space of this plant being about 16,000 squar= e feet, with an output of 15,000 caskets a month, and 160 men employed. J= ohn A. Hillenbrand is now president of the casket company and his brother= George, vice president. Later John Hillenbrand organized the Batesville = electric light & Power Company, with ten! people employed to furnish electric light and power to Batesville and o= ther communities of Ripley County. It now has 900 meters in use, with a 7= 00-kilowatt production, John A. Hillenbrand being president of this compa= ny and George Hillenbrand vice president and treasurer. The Batesville Wa= terworks Company was founded in 1901, by Mr. Hillenbrand, and this was so= ld to the village of Batesville in 1928. In 1913 the Batesville Cabinet = Company was bought by the sons of John Hillenbrand, Sr., George and John,= and now employs 255 people in its plant, specializing in dining room fur= niture. This plant covers 345,000 square feet of floor space, and is loca= ted at Batesville, where George Hillenbrand is president and treasurer an= d John is vice president. George is also president of the First National = Bank of Batesville and of the First Savings & Trust Company, a position w= hich he has held since its organization in 1907. John Hillenbrand, the el= der, was a son of William Hillenbrand, w! ho was born in Alsace Lorraine and came to the United States in young=20 manhood, settling, in 1830, in Ripley County, where he passed the remaind= er of his life in agricultural operations. John Hillenbrand married Marga= ret Hillenbrand, a native of Dearborn County, Indiana, who died in 1929, = aged eighty-seven years. They were the parents of three children:= George M.; John A. and Mrs. Mary Mitchell. While he was primaril= y a businessman, John Hillenbrand never refused any of the responsibiliti= es of citizenship, and served in the capacity of postmaster of Ba= tesville during President Cleveland=E2=80=99s second administrati= on. George M. Hillenbrand, son of John Hillenbrand, attended the schools= of Batesville until he was fourteen years of age, at which time = he entered his father=E2=80=99s plant and gradually learned the business = details of the various enterprises conducted by the elder man. So= well did he progress that at the age of twenty- one years he too= k active charge, after spending several ! years as a traveling salesman, and when twenty-three years of age was ma= de president and general manager of the controlling company. He and his b= rother, John A., a review of whose careers will be found elsewhere in thi= s work, are liberal-minded, far-sighted business men, and their plants gi= ve employment to about eighty percent of the population of Batesville. Ge= orge M. Hillenbrand married Miss Sophia Schrader, a daughter of Frederick= and Hedwig Schrader, the former of whom was a prominent citizen of Bates= ville, and at one time served in the Indiana State Legislature. Mr. and M= rs. Hillenbrand have no children. =20