My Genealogy Hound

GOTTFRIED O. WILDE, one of the prominent and successful business men of Boonville, was born May 15, 1842, in Prussia, and was the fifth in a family of eleven children born to the marriage of Karl J. G. Wilde and Franziska Hevelke, both of whom were also natives of Prussia, where they lived and died. Our subject received a good education, in youth graduating at St. Peters College, Dantzic, and in the special course of chemistry. He then entered a wholesale chemical and mercantile store in Dantzic, but at the end of two years entered a merchant vessel, upon which he remained several years. In 1868 he crossed the ocean to America, locating in Boonville, Ind., in 1869, and in 1870 embarking in the drug trade in partnership with a brother who had preceded him to this place a short time. Four years later our subject purchased his brother’s interest and has since conducted the business alone with more than ordinary success, owning a large stock and controlling a fine trade. In December, 1878, he was united in marriage with Marie Sasse, and he and wife are members of the Evangelical Church. Mr. Wilde, in politics, is a Democrat and is one of the enterprising men of the place. He helped organize the Evangelical Church, having served as Elder in the same nine years, and is one of its principal supporters.