Biography - WILLIAM HENRY BROSMAN
This is an age of progress and America is the exponent of the spirit of
the age. In the beginning of the nineteenth century our country was in its
infancy and history shows no parallel for its growth and achievements. No
other country has made as great advancement in the lines of science and
mechanical invention and the superiority of her inventions has been widely
recognized throughout the civilized world. In this steady growth and
development which has characterized the age, the science of dentistry has
kept pace with the general progress and in that profession Dr. William Henry
Brosman stands as a man of eminent qualification.
Dr. Brosman is of Hoosier birth, his life record having had its inception on
April 12, 1867, in Greene county, Indiana, the scene of his nativity being a
log house on his father's farm. The parents of Dr. Brosman were Ezra and
Margaret (Myers) Brosman. Ezra Brosman was born in the year 1835, in
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, of Pennsylvania-German stock, the son of
Adam Brosman. The period of his life extended to 1897, and his summons to
the Great Beyond occurred at his home in Greene county, Indiana, at the age
of sixty-two. He had migrated to Ohio as a young man, but remained in the
Buckeye state only a few months before going to Indiana which was to prove
his permanent home. A considerable company of relatives and friends made the
home-seeking journey westward, but when they came to the middle west they
took different directions, some remaining in Greene county, Indiana, others
locating in Clark county, Illinois, and others seeking Missouri. Among those
who chose Clark county, Illinois, were Peter Isaac and Henry Brosman, uncles
of Dr. Brosman. Ezra Brosman reared five children, the doctor being the only
son and the third in order of birth. Alice (Killinger) lives in Greene
county, Indiana; Inez (Calvert) is a resident of Champaign, Illinois; Zelma
Jane (Huffman) makes her home on a farm in the vicinity of Bloomfield; and
Eva (Skomp), who died in 1911, lived near Worthington, Indiana. The mother
of these children died in 1872, at about thirty-two years of age, and the
father married again in 1873, Sarah Cuthrell, a native of North Carolina,
becoming his wife.
Dr. Brosman received his preliminary education in the common schools of
Greene county, and also in those of Mitchell county, Kansas. When eighteen
years of age he bade adieu to the parental roof -tree and started out in the
world in quest of whatever fortunes might await him. For some ten years he
worked on farms in Kansas and Nebraska and in addition to making his living
secured a great deal of valuable experience. It was at this time that he
attended school in Mitchell county. In the fall of 1888 he left Kansas and
located in Nebraska where for a short time he made his livelihood working
011 a farm, and, what is more important, began the study of dentistry in
which he was to prove so gifted. These early studies were inaugurated in the
office of a dentist in Auburn, Nebraska, where he entered upon the practice
of his profession. He also studied in the Kansas City Dental College, from
which institution he received his degree in the spring of 1895. It was in
December, 1896, that Dr. Brosman first became identified with Albion and his
career here has been of the most satisfactory character, his practice being
large and his services generally recognized as of the highest character. He
is also very skilled in taxidermy and has a remarkable collection in this
line.
Dr. Brosman has from the first taken a great interest in public affairs and
a helpful one. This fact made very appropriate his selection to the
mayoralty of the place, and he gave an excellent administration of the
duties of this office. He also served two years as a member of the board of
education and in 1907 was president of the Home Coming celebration at the
fair ground. He served two years as president of the Fair Association and
assisted in the organization of the Albion National Bank, of which he is
vice-president. He is identified with other interests of broad scope and
importance and assisted in the organization of the Vitrified Brick company,
of which he is president. At the time of the erection of the plant in 1902,
he was vice-president and he served in such capacity until 1907, when he was
elected to the presidency. His influence has been of success-bringing order,
for he is a wise and discriminating business man.
Mr. Brosman is a popular lodge man, being identified with the Masons, the
Knights of Pythias, and the Modern Woodmen of America. His faith is that of
the Presbyterian church, of which his wife is also a valued member.
Dr. Brosman was happily married in 1901, Rachael Eliza Leavitt, of Greene
county, Indiana, becoming his wife. Mrs. Brosman is the daughter of George
B. Leavitt. They share their charming household with five children, as
follows: Paul, Monica, Harriet, Julia, and Robley May. Dr. Brosman may well
be designated as a man who does things and he exerts much influence in the
county, both as a man of value to his profession and a capitalist who has
achieved much in the industrial and municipal upbuilding of Albion. In
addition to the fraternal affiliations noted, he is prominently identified
with the several dental associations.
The Albion Vitrified Brick Company, organized in 1902 with a capital of
forty thousand dollars, has experienced steady growth, the capital being
subsequently increased to sixty thousand dollars. The plant covers
thirty-five acres, all owned by local capitalists, some eight citizens
sharing the ownership. The plant manufactures twenty -five thousand paving
blocks per day, each block weighing ten and two-fifths pounds, and is
manufactured from shale. The product is sent to St. Louis, East St. Louis,
Louisville, Memphis, Terre Haute and points in Arkansas. The company employs
on an average sixty men. For the past five years the success of the company
has been phenomenal, and its influence on the prosperity of Albion is
marked. It is equipped with the most modern machinery procurable. The
officers are as follows: President, Dr. William H. Brosman; vice-president,
W. A. Schock; secretary, S. A. Ziegler; treasurer, L. W. Wilson; directors,
Ben L. Mayne, Albert Epler, R. T. Barber, and the four officers.
Extracted 11 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 History of Southern Illinois, by George W. Smith, volume 3, pages 1595-1597.
