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 anymore about these families or these surnames. NOTE: I don’t know if there is any additional mention of this family in the book, it has no index. 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, Hillenbrand, Mitchell, Schrader, JOHN HILLENBRAND, SR. In the death of John Hillenbrand, Sr., which 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 responsibilities were thrown upon his shoulders at an early period in his life and these assisted in developing a strong and sturdy character and qualities that assisted in making him a leader in his later years. Mr. Hillenbrand was born in 1835, on a farm in Ripley County, Indiana, and attended 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 he embarked in the general store business! , under the title of Hillenbrand Brothers Merchandise Company. Two years later the furniture plant at Batesville, its most important industry, was destroyed by fire, and Mr. Hillenbrand, always alive to opportunity, purchased the property, rebuilt the plant along larger and more modern lines, and founded the American Furniture Company, this coming into being in 1880. At the outset it was an unpretentious business, limited by a small capital, and employed about twenty employees. The mercantile business was kept in operation until 1888, when John Hillenbrand bought his brother’s 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 furniture. 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’s sawmill and timber manufacturing department 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 is 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 active in the business, the floor space of this plant being about 16,000 square feet, with an output of 15,000 caskets a month, and 160 men employed. John 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 other communities of Ripley County. It now has 900 meters in use, with a 700-kilowatt production, John A. Hillenbrand being president of this company and George Hillenbrand vice president and treasurer. The Batesville Waterworks Company was founded in 1901, by Mr. Hillenbrand, and this was sold 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 furniture. This plant covers 345,000 square feet of floor space, and is located at Batesville, where George Hillenbrand is president and treasurer and John is vice president. George is also president of the First National Bank of Batesville and of the First Savings & Trust Company, a position which he has held since its organization in 1907. John Hillenbrand, the elder, was a son of William Hillenbrand, w! ho was born in Alsace Lorraine and came to the United States in young manhood, settling, in 1830, in Ripley County, where he passed the remainder of his life in agricultural operations. John Hillenbrand married Margaret 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 primarily a businessman, John Hillenbrand never refused any of the responsibilities of citizenship, and served in the capacity of postmaster of Batesville during President Cleveland’s second administration. 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’s 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 took active charge, after spending several ! years as a traveling salesman, and when twenty-three years of age was made president and general manager of the controlling company. He and his brother, John A., a review of whose careers will be found elsewhere in this work, are liberal-minded, far-sighted business men, and their plants give employment to about eighty percent of the population of Batesville. George M. Hillenbrand married Miss Sophia Schrader, a daughter of Frederick and Hedwig Schrader, the former of whom was a prominent citizen of Batesville, and at one time served in the Indiana State Legislature. Mr. and Mrs. Hillenbrand have no children.