Brown County IN Archives Biographies.....Seitz, John B. 1872 - 
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Author: B. F. Bowen (1904)

JOHN B. SEITZ.

   Descendants of the sturdy German yeomanry in our national domain enter
largely into the thrifty and prosperous populace of Indiana and other central
and western states and wherever found they are noted for intelligence, industry
and the sterling integrity which gives character and standing to a community. As
the name indicates, the well-known and popular gentleman whose brief life story
is herewith presented is a representative of the large and enterprising class of
people and by a career of signal usefulness he has worthily maintained the high
reputation for which his nationality has long been noted and added lustre to the
honorable family name he bears.

   Although a young man, John B. Seitz has been an influential factor in the
business circles of Brown county and his sterling: worth so commended him to the
confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens that quite recently he was chosen
by them to fill one of the most important official positions within their power
to bestow. A native of this county and a lifelong resident of the same, he has
been very closely identified with its history, having formerly taken an active
part in advancing its educational interests and of late years he has been at the
head of one of Nashville's leading industrial enterprises. His parents, Henry
and Catherine Seitz, were both born and reared in Germany, in which country
their marriage took place. They emigrated to the United States sometime in the
early 'fifties, settling in Monroe county, Ohio, and after living there until
about the year 1859 came to Washington township, Brown county, Indiana, where
the father purchased a tract of wild land from which he cleared and developed a
good farm and to which the family added at intervals until it amounted to two
hundred and eight acres, the greater part in cultivation and otherwise improved.
Mr. Seitz, like the majority of his countrymen, was a man of great industry and
thrift, an excellent manager and as a farmer easily ranked with the most
enterprising and successful in the county of Brown. He was also a kind and
accommodating neighbor, a progressive and public spirited citizen and during his
residence here won a large circle of friends and gained the respect and good
will of all within the limit of his acquaintance. Although of foreign birth and
always retaining tender memories of the fatherland and the home of his youth, he
became a great admirer of the country of his adoption and its institutions.,
manifested a decided interest in the leading questions and issues of the times
and gave his allegiance to the Democratic party. Religiously he and his good
wife were reared in the Catholic church and to the end of their lives they
remained true to its teachings and exemplified its principles and precepts in
their relations with their neighbors and friends. Henry Seitz departed this life
in 1874, and in the year 1903 his faithful companion was called from the scene
of her earthly labors, both deaths being deeply lamented by the people with whom
they had so long mingled. Of their family of ten children, John B. of this
review is the youngest and perhaps the most widely known by reason of the
prominent part he has taken in the civic and public affairs of his native county.

   John B. Seitz was born on the homestead in Brown county, October 28, 1872,
and at the tender age of two years was deprived of a father's care and guidance.
His early life on the farm was conducive to vigorous physical development and,
growing up in close touch with nature, he became strong of body, energetic and
self-reliant, thus laying broad and deep a firm foundation for his subsequent
career of activity and usefulness. A naturally inquiring mind, together with a
strong taste for reading and study, led him to take much more than ordinary
interest in his school work, in consequence of which he made rapid progress in
his studies and at the age of seventeen was sufficiently qualified to pass
successfully the required examination and obtain a teachers license.

   Mr. Seitz took charge of a country school in his seventeenth year and taught
the term very creditably, winning the confidence and good will of pupils and
patrons and earning the reputation of a capable instructor and successful
disciplinarian. Encouraged by his first attempt, he decided to continue
educational work; accordingly he taught other schools during the years that
followed and while thus engaged devoted the spring and summer seasons to work on
the farm. Actuated by a laudable desire to fit himself more thoroughly for his
professional duties, he entered the State Normal School at Terre Haute, where he
pursued his studies, thus not only adding to his knowledge and broadening his
mind, but greatly increasing his efficiency as a teacher. Mr. Seitz's practical
experience in the school room extended over a period of eight consecutive years,
during which time he ranked with the most efficient instructors in the county,
as is attested by the numerous demands for his services. He remained at home,
assisting in cultivating the farm and looking after his widowed mother's
interests until the age of twenty-four, when he set up a domestic establishment
of his own by taking unto himself a wife and helpmeet, in the person of Miss
Winnie Marshall, to whom he was united in marriage on June 19, 1897. Mrs. Seitz,
who is a daughter of Jesse Marshall, a well-to-do farmer, was born and reared in
Brown county, and she has presented her husband with one child, a son by the
name of Glenn, whose birth occurred on the 19th of June, 1898.

   Shortly after his marriage Mr. Seitz engaged in the manufacture of flour at
Nashville, where for a period of three years he operated a mill quite
successfully, building a large and satisfactory business the meanwhile. In the
month of August, 1897, he purchased the Calvin & Tilton mill, which he has since
owned and operated and which under his efficient management has become the best
known and most extensively patronized establishment of the kind in the county.
Since taking charge of the mill Mr. Seitz has remodeled, it, supplying
considerable new and improved machinery for the making of flour by the latest
process and at this time it has a yearly capacity in excess of four thousand
barrels, the greater part of which finds immediate sale at the home and
neighborhood markets, the brands being noted throughout this section of the
country for their excellence and superiority over other grades. The mill does
both custom and merchant work, is kept running at its full capacity to meet the
constantly increasing demand for its produce and being under the personal
direction of a man skilled in flour making, the high reputation for which it has
hitherto been noted is likely to be maintained in years to come.

   Mr. Seitz is a Democrat in politics and one of the influential party
organizers and workers in Brown county. He has taken a leading part in a number
of campaigns, has been a delegate to county, district and state conventions, and
to him perhaps as much as to any other man is due the series of victories won by
the local Democracy during the past ten or fifteen years. While Mr. Seitz's
services to his party have been entirely gratuitous, they have been duly
appreciated, and in recognition thereof he was nominated in 1902 for the office
of county auditor, his triumphant election to the position, being achieved in
the fall of 1903.

   Mr. Seitz took charge of the office on the first day of January, 1904, and
the business-like manner in which he has thus far discharged the duties of the
same indicates an able, efficient and satisfactory administration. He possesses
business abilities of a high order, good judgment, sound discretion, ready tact
and resourcefulness, qualities which make him popular and trusts worthy with the
people whom he has been elected to serve. Mr. Seitz's fraternal relations are
represented by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which organization he
has been a leading member for several years, and in which he has also been
honored with official station from time to time. His religious belief is in
harmony with the faith in which he was baptized, while his wife holds membership
in the Christian church. Among the many pleasant and hospitable homes in
Nashville that of Mr. Seitz is not less bright and cheerful than the best, much
of the attractiveness radiating therefrom being due to the excellent lady, who
so ably and worthily presides at the board and wields such a gentle and refined
influence over the domestic circle. Like her husband, Mrs. Seitz enjoys high
social standing and is much esteemed by the large number of friends who have
learned to prize her for her amiable qualities and beautiful character.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY
INDIANA

INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GOVERNORS AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF INDIANA

ILLUSTRATED

1904

B. F. Bowen PUBLISHER


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