George Theobald
The subject of this review has earned an honorable place in the company of
self-made men of Shelby County. He has learned the great truth which so
many fail to grasp--that energy is talent and time is capital.
George Theobald
was born in this county November 26, 1862, being the son of Michael
and Catherine (Haehl) Theobald, both of whom were emigrants from
Germany. Michael Theobald was born in Rheinpfalz, Germany March 13,
1820. He came to America alone in 1840, and was followed one year later
by his parents. Upon his arrival here he located at Natchez, on the
Mississippi, where he worked for some time at his trade as a butcher.
From there he went to Cincinnati, where he was married, and where his first
four children were born. He then came to Shelby County, Indiana, where
he continued to live until the close of his days. He followed farming
and stock buying after coming to Shelby County, and was an active, liberal and
public-spirited citizen, a Democrat, but not an office seeker, and a member of
the German Protestant Church. His companion was also born in Rheinpfalz,
Germany, in 1827. She came to this country with her parents, who located
at Cincinnati, where she was married to Mr. Theobald. She became the
mother of twelve children, of whom George was the ninth.
George Theobald received a common school education and was reared to
manhood on the farm. When twenty-two years of age, December, 1884, he
was married to Elizabeth Hurst, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph
Hurst.
She was born in Louisville in 1863, was reared to womanhood in Clark County,
Indiana, and came to Shelby County in 1883. She died June 28,
1887. Her only son, Julius J., born September 12, 1885, married one of
the daughters of George Haehl, and lives in Rush County.
Mr. Theobald's second wife was
Minnie Stickel, born November 26,
1870. She has become the mother of six children, as follows: Viola was
born January 9, 1890; Edna, June 6, 1892, married to Chester Phares, a teacher
in this county; Florence, born February 8, 1894; Earl
Andrew, born August 11,
1898; Rosie, June 21, 1902; William Charles, September 10, 1904.
Mr. Theobald has devoted himself to general farming and stock buying.
He is a Democrat and takes an active interest in the political affairs of the
community. His unimpeachable integrity and sound judgment have won
for him the confidence and esteem of friends and acquaintances, and as a
result he was called upon to serve as Township Trustee from 1900 to 1904,
member of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
fraternities, having filled all the important offices in both of these
orders. He and his family are members of the German Protestant Church,
and are liberal and faithful in its support. Through these many sided
activities, the family has won a merited place among the records of Shelby
County's citizens.
--Chadwick's History of Shelby County, Indiana-- pg. 584-585
Contributed by Melinda Moore Weaver
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