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Julius L. Showers
A business man of excellent repute and large influence,
the subject of this sketch has been identified with various lines of enterprise and the high esteem in which he
is held by the public speaks well for his standing as a citizen. Julius L. Showers is a native of
Bartholomew county, Indiana, and dates his birth from November 23, 1853, being a son of Adam and Susan Showers.
Adam Showers, whose birth occurred in Ohio in the year 1829, was a son of Benjamin Showers,
also a native of that place and a representative of a very old and esteemed pioneer family. Adam came to
Indiana when a boy and grew to maturity in Bartholomew county, and at the breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted
in the Eleventh Indiana Infantry and gave three years to the cause of the Union. He participated in several
battles and minor engagements, under the leadership of Gen. Lew Wallace, was taken prisoner at one time, but was
soon paroled and on August 30, 1864, received his discharge at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. He was a farmer
all his life and died at his home in Bartholomew county April 26, 1898.
Susan Holland, wife of Adam Showers, was a native
of North Carolina, and belonged to an old Moravian family of that state, several members of which figured in the
early history of Bartholomew county, Indiana, her uncle, Martin Hauser, a Moravian minister, migrating to
this state a number of years ago and establishing a church at Hope, of which town he was the founder. Thomas
and Susan (Hauser) Holland, parents of Mrs. Showers, spent the greater part of their lives in the county of
Bartholomew, and are remembered as a most excellent and praiseworthy couple. They were among the early residents
of the vicinity of Hope, locating one mile north of that town where Mr. Holland improved a good farm and acquired
a competence. They reared a family of eight children, the youngest of whom was Mrs. Showers, and departed
this life a number of years ago. Mr. Holland was a man of much natural genius as a mechanic and could turn his
hand to almost any craft, his skill being greatly appreciated by his neighbors who profited thereby in early times.
Adam and Susan Showers had six children, of whom four
are living, Thomas B., in New Mexico; Mrs. Mary B. Shultz, Melville J., of Oklahoma, and Julius
L., of this review. A daughter by the name of Mrs. Sarah L. LaMar, died some years ago leaving
four children. A son by the name of Henry A., is also deceased.
Julius L. Showers was reared in his native county and
received his education in the public schools and the University of Hartsville. His early life was spent on
a farm and in his young manhood he turned his attention to teaching which he followed with gratifying success for
four years. Not caring to devote his life to educational work he discontinued it at the expiration of the
period indicated and became bookkeeper for John Nading, a grain dealer at Flat Rock, in whose service he
continued for four years, resigning his position at the end of that time to engage in the implement business at
Edinburg. After two years in that town he closed out his business and since then has been identified with
various enterprises, being at this time the leading spirit in the Homestead Building and Loan Association, of Shelbyville,
one of the most successful organizations of the kind in the state. The association was established in 1899
with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars, which was afterwards increased to one million dollars, the present
assets being three hundred twenty-seven thousand eighty-seven dollars and eighty-one cents, and the business all
that the most sanguine member could desire. Mr. Showers has been secretary ever since the organization went
into effect and to his efficient and judicious management the success is largely due. He was also secretary
of the Citizens' Natural Gas and Water Company, and during the four years of his incumbency built up the enterprise
from nothing to a paying basis, and made the business profitable.
Mr. Showers was a member of the school board for three
years, and is now a member of the City Council, where he has rendered valuable service to the municipality. He
is deeply interested in the prosperity of Shelbyville, and takes a leading part in all enterprises with that object
in view. Judging by his past achievements and present influential standing, it is proper to bespeak for him
a career of great promise and usefulness in the future.
Mr. Showers was married April 12, 1882, to Fannie
L. Saddler, daughter of J. J. and Angelina (Richie) Saddler, the father a surgeon in the Civil
War, and the mother's father a member of the convention which framed the present constitution of Indiana. Doctor
Saddler, a native of Indiana, attained an eminent reputation in his profession. He married Angeline Richie,
being related to the distinguished Huntington family of Shelby county.
Mr. and Mrs. Showers have two children, the older of
whom, Joseph Ralph, married Letta Brant, of Shelby county, and has one son, Joseph Ralph, Jr.
Helen D., the second in order of birth, is unmarried and a student in Fairmount Seminary in Washington county.
Mr. Showers is a Mason, being a member of Shelby Lodge,
No. 28, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Charter No. 20, Royal Arch Masons; Council No. 3, Royal and Select Masters;
Commandery No. 2, Knights Templar, and Chapter No. 73, Eastern Star, of which organization his wife is a charter
member. He is past chancellor in Lodge No. 457, Knights of Pythias, and also belongs to the Modern Woodmen.
In politics he is a Republican and in religion belongs, with his wife, to the Methodist Episcopal church.
p 540-542
Chadwick's History of Shelby County, Indiana by Edward H. Chadwick, B.S., assisted by well known local talent,
B.F. Bowen & Co, Publishers: Indianapolis, IN, 1909, pages 540-542.
Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming for Bob Bergstrom, HOUSER researcher.
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