Sept 20, 2019
New Albany today is a regional hub of activity. Companies like Samtec, Baptist Health Floyd, Horseshoe Southern Indiana, and others show the diversified large reach of technology, health care, and entertainment that employ so many in our area. Yet, over Floyd County’s first 200 years, New Albany once occupied a national position in terms of economic prowess and influence. Today I will discuss two men who had an enormous impact at the peak of that period, William S. Culbertson and Washington C. Depauw.
Born on February 4, 1814 in New Market, Pennsylvania, William Stuart Culbertson was one of six children born to William and Julia Culbertson. The Culbertsons operated a mercantile business in New Market. Young William Stuart’s grandfather Robert fought in the American Revolution, participating in notable battles in Trenton and Princeton. He learns the dry goods trade, working for a merchant in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania helping his family. The country continues to expand westward after the War of 1812, and in 1835 he leaves Pennsylvania and arrives in Louisville to apply as a clerk for a dry goods merchant in Louisville. After being told to look in New Albany, the 21-year old is introduced to General Alexander Burnett, operator of the town’s largest dry goods store.
William after several years leaves Burnett, and joins forces with another firm, Downey and Keys. Culbertson becomes the business manager, and is there the next five years. During this time, he marries a young woman from Corydon, Eliza Vance (1840). They would eventually have eight children together. In short order, William and his brother John partner together at the corner of Pearl and Main Street to operate Culbertson & Brother, a retail/wholesale dry goods business. It grows and is successful. In short order, William serves as a city councilman for New Albany, representing the 2nd ward. John later leaves the business, and William’s son, William Arthur, begins clerking in the store at 19 years old (1859).
During the Civil War, Culbertson is very supportive of the Union, and helps to organize a home guard, helping to defend New Albany. He assists through the success of his business and local connections to help raise money for the cause, and wartime economic conditions allow for his wholesaling business to grow exponentially.
Washington C. DePauw takes a slightly different path to his success. Born in Salem, Indiana (1822) to John and Elizabeth DePauw, young Washington learned from his pioneering father the value of hard work. John was a participant in the Indiana Constitutional Convention in 1816, and helped draft the platted area in and around Salem and prepare the lots for sale. John DePauw was a lawyer and judge in early Indiana, and was instrumental in Salem’s early establishment as a bustling county seat. In a few short decades, President Lincoln’s personal secretary John M Hay would similarly grow out of the Washington County soil and move on to prominence.
The DePauw family also dated back to the American revolution, with Washington’s grandfather Charles Lievin serving with the Marquis de Lafayette, fighting together at Yorktown. Washington continued the family line, learning at the early Washington County Seminary in the 1830’s, supported by his father’s grooming of his son in his trading business. John operated in grain, as well as merchandise, trading for up to 100 miles deep into the Indiana wilderness at the time. By the time John DePauw passed away in 1838, Washington had a head start, a good education, and a $700 inheritance. Washington wasted no time, and in six short years he was elected Washington County Clerk.
His first cousin, John Ford, established a mill and business interests a short 19-mile ride away on horseback in Greenville. He set about mimicking Ford’s growth, expanding into a saw and grist mill, as well as renting out space in his newly built brick commercial building (one of the first in Salem) to rent. He got involved in banking, and started banks in both Salem as well as nearby New Albany, a growing economic power in the years leading up to the Civil War. DePauw saw the value of the railroad, and helped build Salem’s railroad depot, and helping facilitate the New Albany-Salem Railroad coming online in late 1849. His first wife Sarah Malott died in 1851, not long after two of their three children pass. DePauw, undaunted, remarries in 1855. Sensing the upcoming military conflict between the states would impact commerce, and investments in a variety of interests, including iron factories, a wool mill, and a chemical plant in addition to government supplies during the war made him wealthy. By 1864, DePauw had an annual income of over $300,000, and after his wife Catherine died that same year, he moved his base of operations to New Albany from Salem. Shortly thereafter, DePauw purchased a glass operation, dubbing it American Plate Glass Works, which soon ballooned to produce two-thirds of all plate glass manufactured in the United States.
DePauw’s neighbor, William S Culbertson, had just started a mansion in 1863 that would later bear his name. Inspired by the French Second Empire style, the roomy 20,000 square foot mansion began with a $5,000 lot, and the construction budget swelled in the 1860’s to a final cost of $125,000 (over $2.5 million in today’s dollars). The mansard roof, clad in imported tin, had a 3-foot railing. Nearly 30 servants were employed to serve the family once complete. Culbertson’s first wife, Eliza, died of pneumonia in 1865, leaving 5 children from age 18 down to only 6 months old. William quickly remarries in 1867, to Cornelia Eggleston of Evansville, a widow. As the couple embarks on life together, Culbertson focuses on the local railroad access, helping a New Albany group fund and establish the later-known New Albany to St. Louis Air Line Railway.
DePauw, who had earlier invested in ironworks and a rolling mill, bought out cousin John Ford, and ramped up production to nearly $1M worth of glass per year by 1882. The workforce grew exponentially, with first 1,000, then 2,000 employed at the glassworks. Over his life, DePauw is recognized for his investment wisdom. He became known for turning around failed businesses with attention to detail, perseverance, and initiative. Gerald Haffner wrote, “He seemingly could invest in projects no one would touch and, in the end, made the projects pay.” DePauw finally made a profit in glass in 1879, despite European competition and tough international trade practices. A diversified lineup of business interests also allowed him to persist in glass when others would have folded.
Culbertson & Son also expands along Pearl Street, and sales grow along with the company. One order is recorded as having crates and packages covering nearly “half a square” in New Albany. Culbertson acquires the neighboring Whitehill tract by his mansion from the Whitstandley family, and funds the construction of the Culbertson Old Ladies Home. Women without means of support would be welcome residents. Culbertson also founds the Cornelia Memorial Orphans Home on Ekin Avenue. Culbertson then moves fully into banking, selling the dry goods business prior to 1885, and invests heavily in bank stock in St. Paul, Minnesota. Culbertson is elected vice-president of the National Banker’s Association in 1885. In 1886, as New Albany starts lighting the streets with electricity, the City Electric Light Company (occupying the site of his former New Albany Gas & Coke Co) is led by chief financier and partner William S. Culbertson.
DePauw also gives back at this time, starting the Kingsley Mission Sunday School for poor children. DePauw had a strong presence rooted in the Methodist Church, and his wife Fanny helped establish an orphanage in New Albany as well. During the bank panic of 1883, both DePauw and William English invest capital in New Albany’s First National Bank to avoid collapse. DePauw stays away from the political landscape, turning down insistent advice to run for Governor or Lt. Governor. DePauw responded at the time, “I have neither the time nor the inclination for politics, I have found full work in endeavoring to assist in promoting the religious, benevolent and educational interests of Indiana. My long experience gives me hope that I may accomplish something for religion and humanity.”
Having served two terms as a trustee of Indiana University (1868-1874), DePauw saw the growing importance of education in Indiana. He also served on the board of Indiana Asbury College, where his sons attended. Becoming board president in 1881, enrollment suffers in an economic downturn in 1883. Sensing his massive fortune will eventually be passed along to others (DePauw was the wealthiest man in Indiana at this time) the philanthropist puts forth an offer to assist, ultimately working with representatives from Greencastle and Putnam County to rename Indiana Asbury as DePauw University. At the time of his death in 1887, DePauw donated an additional $600,000 to Indiana Asbury. DePauw was buried in Fairview Cemetery in New Albany.
Culbertson passed away not long after, in 1892. Also like DePauw (as well as other famous Hoosiers like Michael Kerr, Benjamin Scribner, and Ashbel Willard) Culbertson is buried in Fairview Cemetery. Both men were known during their lives to be voracious businessmen, accumulating assets and making key critical decisions to further their empires. They were both labeled “The Wealthiest Man in Indiana” in the decades following the Civil War. Yet, toward the end of their lives they idolized people like John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, donating vast sums of that wealth on to charitable causes, helping further education, community outreach, and care for orphans, widows, and other needy citizens. In this way, the rich soil and fertile business environment of Floyd County proved to also be an effective environment for charity, compassion, and a lasting legacy for future generations.
Works Cited:
Depauw.edu, Did you Know Washington C Depauw (https://www.depauw.edu/alumni/help/alumniassociation/alumniblog/post/did-you-know-washington-c-depauw/)
Guide to Indiana’s Historic Sites, South Central edition (http://mossyfeetbooks.blogspot.com/2016/01/exploring-indianas-historic-sites.html&usg=AFQjCNGO1zhmWd9of8a4NL7elnLWggrJzQ&source=gbs_buy_r)
Culbertson Mansion History (https://www.culbertsonmansion.us/History/WSCulbertson.html)
The Statehouse File, courtesy Franklin College (http://thestatehousefile.com/people-who-shaped-the-hoosier-state-washington-depauw/23879/)
In the Hills and Fields: Floyd County's History 