Shelby  County,  Indiana
Biographies

Harry  Meikel

          Harry Orlando Meikel.  He who adds to the beauty of the world and makes it attractive through the sense of vision is a benefactor of his race though his name be unknown beyond the circumscribed limits of the little locality in which the even tenor of his life is passed far from the maddening crowd.  Such an in dividual is Harry Orlando Miekel, the subject of this review, and the leading florist of Frankfort, through the medium of which calling he has done much to arouse a taste for something else than the merely practical and induce not a few to turn their attention to the cultivation of flowers — the most beauti ful of nature's adornments and among the most precious of God's gifts to man.  Mr. Meikel is a native of Indiana and of German ancestry, from whom he doubtless inherits his taste for the true, the beautiful and the good.  His father,  Charles P. Meikel,  was born in Pennsylvania, of German par entage, and his mother, who bore the maiden name of  Mary E. Null,  was a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and a lady of much more than ordinary intelligence and natural refinement.  Charles P. Meikel when a youth learned the printer's trade and in due time became very experienced and skillful in the art preservative, as the several responsible positions he held with various publishers abundantly indicate.  A number of years ago he located in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he followed his chosen calling successfully until his death, in 1884, his wife surviving him ten years after that date.  Harry Orlando Meikel was born in Indianapolis February 28, 1863, and received a good education in the schools of that city.  While still a mere youth he manifested much more than ordinary interest in the growing of flowers and later decided to make floriculture his life work.  In 1901 he came to Frankfort to engage in the business which proved successful from the beginning and to which he has devoted his attention with satisfactory financial results ever since.  As already stated, he is today the leading florist in the city, being proprietor of an establishment consisting of 132 square feet of space on East Barner street, nearly all under cover, besides owning two acres of fine bottom land which he devotes exclusively to the cultivation of the different varieties of bulbous plants, which of recent years have become so popular with gardeners and others.  Mr. Meikel has made a careful and systematic study of his vocation, keeps in touch with every advancement in floriculture and carries a full and complete stock of all kinds of flowers and plants for which there may be a demand.  His place is a favorite resort of people of refined taste, as well as for the general public and his financial success has kept pace with the growth of his business, as is indicated by the respectable standing he occupies among the solid men of his adopted city.  As a citizen he is public spirited and popu lar, keenly alive to every laudable movement having for its object the mater ial advancement of the community and the intellectual and moral welfare of the populace.  In his political affiliations, Mr. Meikel is a Republican, but in no sense a partisan or aspirant for the honors and emoluments of office.  His fraternal relations include membership with the Knights of Pythias. Independent Order of Red Men and the Haymakers.  Religiously, he has strong and well grounded convictions, being a sincere believer in the Sacred Scriptures and a respected member of the Presbyterian church of Frankfort, to which eccles iastical organization his wife also belongs.  He is a gentleman of domestic as well as refined tastes and has a pleasant home in the above' city which is presided over by an intelligent and gracious lady, to whom he was united in the holy bonds of wedlock August 1, 1900, and who previous to that time was  Miss Ada A. Kelly,  of Shelbyville, Indiana.
The History of Clinton County, Indiana, Hon. Joseph Claybaugh, 1913, A. W. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, page 516.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming

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