This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Surnames: Kleist, Ashley, Cowger, Swantes, Phillips, Moore, Powell
Classification: Biography
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/Hk.2ADE/1086.1.1.1.1
Message Board Post:
http://brookston.lib.in.us/WhiteCo/biographies-K.htm#kleist
CHARLES H. KLEIST
Undoubtedly one of the best known and most popular citizens of White County is Charles H.
Kleist,
whose name requires little introduction to the people of the county on account of his
capable service
as county recorder for several years, and in the community about Wolcott, where he has
spent most
of his life, he has long been one of the leading citizens and is now cashier of the
Citizens State Bank.
His family, which originated in Posen, Germany, was established in White County prior to
the Civil war.
His father was Rudolph Kleist, who emigrated to America and settled about {1869} at
Bradford as it
was then known, now the City of Monon. From the very modest circumstances in which he
came to
White County he soon found the means to advance himself in community esteem and secure a
sufficiency of this world's goods. About 1865 he removed to Reynolds. In the old
country he had
learned the trade of cabinet maker, and at Reynolds from 1865 to 1883 worked as a
carpenter and
also conducted a furniture and undertaking business. His death occurred February 13,
1883, and
he is buried in the Bunnell Cemetery southeast of Reynolds. A distinctive part of his
record is his
service to his adopted country during the Civil war. He enlisted in Company G of the
famous Forty-
sixth Indiana Infantry, veteranized at the end of his term, and was with the command until
honorably
discharged in 1865. He not only carried a musket but also performed most of the clerical
work for the
regimental commanders, being a fine penman. He was a member of the German Lutheran
Church,
and in politics mainly a republican, though in 1878 he was unsuccessful candidate for the
office of
county recorder on the greenback ticket. Besides these items which indicate his useful
position in
the community, he was also materially prospered, and at the time of his death owned some
town
property and 160 acres of farming land. Rudolph Kleist married Johanna Swantes, who was
also
born in Posen, Germany. Their two oldest children died in infancy, and the other four are
mentioned:
Elizabeth, who is the wife of Seward Phillips and lives in Chicago; Emma is the wife of
Rev. T. D.
Moore of Spokane, Washington; Ida is the wife of R. E. Powell of Reynolds; and the sixth
and
youngest is Charles H.
Charles H. Kleist was born in the Town of Reynolds, April 3, 1870, and practically all his
life has
been spent in White County. With only such advantages as the common schools could then
bestow, he has since early youth been a resourceful and energetic worker. While living at
Reynolds
he learned telegraphy, and at the age of nineteen was employed by the Monon Railway. From
1889
to 1904, a period of fifteen years, he was an operator and agent at various places,
spending six
years as agent at Reynolds and five years at Brookston. In the meantime he had gained a
large
acquaintance over the county and had become one of the leaders in the democratic party.
In 1904
he was elected county recorder, and held that office in the courthouse at Monticello from
1904 to
1912 a period of eight years. Prior to leaving the office he became cashier of the
Citizens State
Bank at Wolcott in August, 1911, and for several years the duties of that position have
commanded
most of his time and attention. Prior to his election as county recorder he served three
years from
1893 to 1895 as town trustee, and was clerk of the Town of Reynolds for one year in 1892.
Among
other interests Mr. Kleist is owner of 160 acres of land near Reynolds.
Fraternally he is affiliated with Lodge No. 92, F. & A. M. at Gosport, Indiana, with
the Royal Arch
Chapter at Monticello, and with the Consistory of the Scottish Rite and the Temple of the
Mystic
Shrine at Indianapolis. On October 25, 1899, while still in the railway service, Mr.
Kleist married
Mabel V. Ashley, a daughter of George and Margaret (Cowger) Ashley of Monticello, both
parents
being now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Kleist's only child, Karl E., is now deceased.