William Heilman (October 11, 1824 – September 22, 1890) was an American businessman who served two terms as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

from 1879 to 1883. He was the great-grandfather of Charles Marion LaFollette.

Biography

Born in

Albig Albig is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in Rhenish Hesse in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The municipality l ...

, Duchy of

Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Heilman immigrated to the United States in 1843 and settled on a farm in

Posey County, Indiana Posey County is the southernmost, southwesternmost, and westernmost county in the U.S. state of Indiana. Its southern border is formed by the Ohio River, and its western border by the Wabash River, a tributary to the Ohio. As of 2010, the popul ...

. After moving to

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

, he worked for a manufacturing company and subsequently became president of a

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven b ...

. In 1847, he founded a machine shop for the manufacture of drills.

Political career

He served as member of the city council 1852-1865, as member of the Indiana House of Representatives 1870-1876 and as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1876. He served in the Indiana State Senate from 1876 until March 3, 1879.

Congress

Heilman was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1883). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882 to the Forty-eighth Congress.

Later career and death

He resumed his former business activities. He died in

, September 22, 1890. He was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heilman, William 1824 births 1890 deaths Politicians from Evansville, Indiana Republican Party Indiana state senators Republican Party members of the Indiana House of Representatives Hessian emigrants to the United States 19th-century American politicians Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana