B.F. HOUSEMAN, the efficient and affable gentleman who manages the telegraphic service of the L.E.& W. railroad at Albany, Ind., is the subject of this biographical notice. Mr. Houseman was born in Seneca county, Ohio, January 4, 1861, and is a son of D.M. and Elizabeth (Powell) Houseman, natives of Pennsylvania and of Virginia, respectively. They were the parents of four children, David, who died in the army; George, a farmer, Catherine, an accomplished lady who spent seven years in Africa, teaching the natives, and B.F. The father died in June, 1883; the mother is now a resident of the village of Albany. Mr. Houseman had been a soldier, and his death was caused by trouble contracted while in the army. Politically, he was a democrat.

At the age of sixteen years the subject of this sketch began life for himself, engaging in any general work to which he could turn his hand, until he was twenty-one years of age, when he began the study of telegraphy under F.L. Twining, at Kansas, Ohio, remaining under his instructions for one year. In 1882 he was appointed to take charge of the office at Buckland, Ohio, and remained in that position for three years, and in 1886 became the manager of the office of the L. E. & W. , at Albany, Ind. He has faithfully performed his duties to the company and has been most thoughtfully treated in return.

Mr. Hoseman was married December 23, 1888, to Miss Wilda M. Barlett, daughter of William T. Barlett, of Albany, and has two bright little daughters, Lena A. and Blanche. Mr. Houseman is a democrat and is considered one of the prominent factors of his party in Delaware county. Socially, he is a member of the R.R. Telegraphic union and in a financial way is a member of the Co-operative Gas company of Albany.


File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Gina Reasoner
GReasoner@prodigy.net
December 23, 1999

A Portrait and Biographical Record of Delaware
and Randolph Counties, Ind.,
A.W. Bowen & Co., 1894.