Clemens Vonnegut Sr. | |
|---|---|
 Photograph from 1885 | |
| Born | (1824-11-20)November 20, 1824 |
| Died | December 13, 1906(1906-12-13) (aged 82) Indianapolis,Indiana, U.S. |
| Resting place | Crown Hill Cemetery and Arborteum Sec 6, Lot 4 39°49′12″N86°10′30″W / 39.819945°N 86.1750466°W /39.819945; -86.1750466 |
Clemens Vonnegut Sr. (November 20, 1824 – December 13, 1906) was aGerman emigrant to the United States and successful businessman. He was the patriarch of the prominent German-American Vonnegut clan (later Schnull-Vonnegut) ofIndiana – he was the father and grandfather of architectsBernard Vonnegut I andKurt Vonnegut Sr., respectively, and great-grandfather of scientistBernard Vonnegut and authorKurt Vonnegut Jr.[1]
Vonnegut was born inMünster,Westphalia, to a tax collector father who was an official for theDuke of Westphalia. Instead of continuing his university education toPh.D. level, he decided to work as a salesman for a textile firm inAmsterdam. In 1851, at the age of 27, he emigrated to the United States, and arrived inIndianapolis in 1851.[1] Another source states that he arrived inNew York City in mid-1851.[2]
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In Indiana, he formedVollmer & Vonnegut retail hardware and sundry merchandise store with a German immigrant named Charles Vollmer (who left for theWild West in 1853). After 1853, the firm was renamedVonnegut Hardware Company; the company remained under his family's control after his death.[1]
He married Katarina Blank in 1852 and moved to a modest house on West Market Street, Indianapolis. He had four sons: Clemens Jr., Franklin,Bernard, and George. He was the sometime chairman and chief administrative officer of the Board of School Commissioners of the City of Indianapolis. A city school was named for him. "He greatly admired Benjamin Franklin, whom he called an American saint, and named his third son after him...." He died aged 82 on December 13, 1906, in Indianapolis.[1] He was buried March 29, 1907 atCrown Hill Cemetery in the Vonnegut family plot.[2]
The family name is derived from a distant forebear who had an estate ("ein Gut" in German) on the river Funne, hence the surname Funnegut. Subsequently, Funnegut was changed to Vonnegut since Funnegut sounded too much like "funny gut" in English.[1]
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