Louis HINCHMAN. Representing an old established family in Princeton Township, Louis Hinchman was born and reared in the Wolcott community, and for many years has been identified with the business enterprise of that village, and is now cashier of the State Bank. His has been a career in which industry, good judgment and integrity have been prominent factors, and his high standing in the community is also attested by various honors paid him as a citizen. His father was the late William Hinchman, a pioneer of Princeton Township, and whose death in July, 1912, removed one of the fine old citizens of that locality. William Hinchman was born in Cabell County, West Virginia, August 1, 1830, a son of William and Elizabeth (Symms) Hinchman. His grandfather came from England, and there is also an admixture of Irish stock in the family. William Hinchman, Sr. was quite an old man when the war came on and was at that time living in West Virginia, and on account of his positive expressions in behalf of the Union was made a prisoner by the Confederates and confined at Salisbury, North Carolina, where the hardship he endured caused his death. William Hinchman, Jr. obtained his education in the old field schools of Western Virginia, and early in his career was impressed with the increasing prosperity of the country north of the Ohio River as compared with the slave states, and on October 13, 1854, arrived in White County and began settlement on section 29 of Princeton Township. In early life he acquired the trade of carpenter and used that skill to good effect in the construction of his farm buildings. In the course of time he acquired 270 acres of land in Princeton Township, and was not only a prosperous but influential citizen. In his time he was probably the chief apiarist in White County and for a quarter of a century or more made bee keeping a specialty. Though a member of the minority party, the democratic, he was elected township trustee in 1860 for one term, and in 1877 received the nomination for county treasurer, but was not elected. On December 18, 1856, William Hinchman married Miss Rhoda Nordyke. In 1893 William Hinchman removed to the Village of Wolcott, and died there and is buried in the Meadow Lake Cemetery. His widow is still living at Wolcott. To their marriage were born seven children, a brief record of whom is as follows: John, now a retired farmer, married Ella Primmer; Emma Elizabeth is the wife of George Ferguson, proprietor of the Ferguson Hotel at Wolcott; James, who lives in Lafayette, has been three times married and has a son Fred by his second wife; Mary is the wife of Henry Waymire, a retired farmer living at Wolcott, and they have four children; William Jr. has been twice married and has two children by his second wife; Anna is the wife of A. U. Lux of Wolcott, and has five children; the seventh and youngest child is Louis Hinchman. Louis Hinchman was born on the old farm two miles east of Wolcott, September 7, 1868, and has been a resident of Princeton Township practically all his life. While growing up on the farm, to the duties of which he was well trained, he also attended the common schools in Wolcott and completed his education by several terms in Valparaiso University. He has to his credit five years of successful teaching, two years in Honey Creek Township and three years in Princeton Township. Following this he was appointed deputy postmaster at Wolcott, and held that office from 1893 to 1897. On retiring from office Mr. Hinchman became associated with W. C. Kinney in the hardware business at Wolcott and they were in partnership until 1903. Since that year Mr. Hinchman has been identified with the State Bank of Wolcott, and has had a large share of the responsibilities of its management in the post of cashier since 1904. He is also a member of the firm of Nordyke & Company, well known Wolcott druggists. Mr. Hinchman is a man whose character and activities have been such as to command the confidence and respect of the community, and evidence of this is found in his service as town treasurer for nine years from 1901 to 1910. As a democrat he was nominated in 1906 for the office of county treasurer, but was unable to overcome the normal republican majority of that year. His church home is the Baptist. On October 26, 1897, Mr. Hinchman married Miss Anna J. Stahl, who is of German family and a daughter of Carl Stahl, of Remington, Indiana. They have one of the comfortable homes of Wolcott and it is cheered by the presence of one daughter, Frances L, who has received her diploma from the public schools and is now in her junior year of the Wolcott High School. She has also taken instrumental music. Mrs. Hinchman is a native of Germany, born November 19, 1871, and was only two years old when her parents came to America. She was educated in the common schools. In 1912 Mr. Hinchman built a beautiful residence in Wolcott, Indiana, which is the abode of hospitality and good cheer.

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