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ENCYCLOPEDIA 


OF 


Genealogy  and  Biography 


OF 


LAKE  COUNTY,  INDIANA, 

WITH  A  COMPENDIUM  OF  HISTORY 
1834— J904 


A  Record  of  the  Achievements  of  Its  People  in  the  Making  of  a 
Commonwealth  and  the  Founding  of  a  Nation. 


REV.  T.  H.  BALL 

OF    CROWN   POINT,  EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 


ILLUSTRATED 


CHICAGO        NEW  YORK 

THE  LEWIS  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1904 


INDEX. 


A 


Ackerman,  William  W 395 

Adams,  James 9S 

Address  to   Children 45 

Agnew,   David ig 

A  Golden  Wedding 156 

Ainsworth   Made   a   Station 34 

Allman,    Amos 296 

Allman,    Mary 298 

Allman,   Walter  L 205 

Ames,    Samuel 122 

An  Old  Landmark 154 

Artesian    Wells 49 

Artesian  Well  at  Crown  Point 37 

Asche,    Henry 614 

Atkinson,   David   C 229 

Ausley,    Robert 543 

A   West   Creek   Settlement 12 

Ayers,   Alexander   E 493 


B 


Babbitt,  W.   S 60 

Bacon,  E.  R 528 

Bader,    Callus   J 216 

Bailey,   Charley   T 512 

Bailey,    George    B 498 

Bailey,    Josiah    B 526 

Bailey,  Levi  E igi> 

Baker,    Charles   M 263 

Ball,  Amsi  L 107 

Ball,    Charles 57 

Ball,    Hervey 69 

Ball,   James    H 576 

Ball,  John 107 

Ball,   T.   H 667 

Banks,   N.    P 388 

Baptist   Organization 11 

Barker,    Louis 555 

Barr,  Herbert  S 213 

Barrett,   Edward   F 649 

Batterman,   Edward 382 

Batterman,  Henry  C 331 

Batterman,    Herman    A 621 

Bauer,    Carl    E 299 

Beattie,    Joseph   A 320 

Beckman,    Herman   C log 

Beckman,   John   N S92 

Bell,    Benjamin    L.    P 484 

Bell,  Samuel  A 655 

Belman,  William  C 454 

Belshaw,    George 77 

Belshaw,    Henry 77 

Belshaw,    William 77 


Belshaw,    William    E 368 

Berg,  Joseph  B 40S 

Biggs,   Mrs.   T.    Norton 552 

Black,    John i8c 

Blakeman,    John 179 

Bliss,    M.    G 102 

Bohling,   John    G 194 

Borger,  Charles  A 418 

Borger,    John    H 626 

Borman,    Otto    C 524 

Bothwell,   Charles   C 271 

Boyd,   Eli   M 317 

Boyd,     George 401 

Bradford,    James    M 176 

Brandenburg,    Elmer   D 656 

Brandenburg,    Oliver   C 657 

Brandt,    Henry 421 

Brannon,    Amos 442 

Brannon,    James 360 

Brennan,   John   J 192 

Brick  Blocks  at  Crown  Point 32 

Bridge,    William    F 278 

Bridges  Across  the  Kankakee 37 

Brown,  Alexander  F m 

Brown,    George 112 

Brown,    John 168 

Brown,    Mathew    J 202 

Brownell,  F.   E 605 

Bryant,   David 118 

Bryant,     Elias 119 

Bryant,  E.   Wayne 119 

Bryant,    John 392 

Bryant,    Samuel    D 119 

Bryant,   Simeon 119 

Buckley,    Fred    W 595 

Buckley,   William 521 

Buczkowski,    John i8g 

Buse,    Fred   T 524 

Butler  Cabins   of   1834 i 

Business  Men  of  Crown  Point 27 


Campbell,    Cyrus   W 658 

Capturing    Timber    Thieves 7 

Carlin,    Bernard    F... 529 

Castle.   Fred 352 

Castle,   George  L 435 

Cedar  Lake  Incidents 162 

Chartier,   Fred    S 567 

Cheney,   Byron   M 595 

Chester.    Henry 280 

Children  at  World's  Fair 40 

Chipman,    A.    B 451 

Church,    Richard 81 


INDEX. 


Churches,  School  Houses,  Banks 48 

Claims  Made  in   1834 2 

Clark,    Alexander 89 

Clark,    Judge 88 

Clark,  Sanford  D 117 

Clark,    Thomas 89 

Clark,  Wellington  A 538 

Cleveland,    Ephraim 103 

Cleveland,   Timothy 103 

Cochran,    Henry 175 

Cochran,     William 174 

Conrad,    August 356 

Conroy,    Joseph    H 501 

County  Officers  of  1847 17 

County    Organized 6 

County  Purchased  from  Indians i 

County  Seat,  Efforts  to  Remove 39 

County    Seat    Location 13 

County   Set   Off   from   Porter 4 

County    Surveyed i 

Cox,    Arthur    T 324 

Cox,    Lawrence 215 

Creston  Made  a  Station 35 

Crown  Point  Telephone  Co 41 

Crumpacker,    Peter 662 


D 


Dickinson,    William   T 485 

Dinwiddie,   John    W 73 

Dinwiddie,    Oscar 568 

Doescher,   Herman 86 

D wyer,    John 437 

E 

Earle,    George 64 

Early  Mail  Routes 9 

Early    Railroad    Stations 27 

Early    Religious    Meetings 8 

Early   Sawmills 9 

East    Chicago    Commenced 38 

Eddy.    Russell 91 

Eder,    George    M 267 

Edgerton,    Alfred 124 

Edgerton,   Amos 124 

Edgerton,  George  W 57 

Edgerton,    Horace 124 

Ege,    Francis    X 664 

Einsele,    Sebastian 607 

Einspahr,    Frederick   H 411 

Einspahr,  Mrs.  Katharina 420 

Electric  Lights  at  Crown  Point 39 

Electric  Railway  at  Hammond 41 

Exploring   Parties   in   1834 2 

F 

Fancher,    Reuben 461 

Fancher,     Richard 90 

Fancher,    Thaddeus    S 362 

Farley,    Benjamin 116 

Farrineton.    Dr 99 

Farwell,    Major    C 92 


Fieler,    Christian 183 

Fiester,   John   L 349 

First  Bridges   Built 10 

First  Census  of  the  County 14 

First    Church    Buildings 15 

First   Court   House    (Log) 8 

First  Justice  of  the  Peace 5 

First  Meeting  of  Commissioners 6 

First  Minister  at  Crown  Point 15 

First    Postoffice 6 

First  Railroad  Through  Crown  Point.  29 

First    Regular   Physician 8 

First  Resident  Methodist  Minister 15 

First    Store 6 

First   Term   of   Circuit   Court 7 

First    Townships 5 

Fisher,    David    A 254 

Fisher,    John 220 

Fisher,    John ^ in 

Fisher,    Thomas in 

Foster,   Albert 425 

Foster,   John   M 59 

Foster,   William   M 353 

Fowler,  Luman  A 91 

Franz,     Balzer 222 

Friedrich,    Charles   A 292 

Fricdrich,    Charles    W 223 

Fry.    Alfred 58 

Frysinger,   Miles   C 45S 

Fuller,    James 125 

Fuller,   Richard 197 


G 


Gavit,    Frank   A 616 

Gavit,  John  A 559 

Gerlach,   Adam  J 283 

Gerlach,  George  F 327 

Gerrish,    Abiel 121 

Gibson,   Charles  C 431 

Gilbert,   Edwin   S 541 

Gill,  James   A 572 

Glover,   William  J 328 

Golden   Wedding,  A 156 

Grant,    Thomas 424 

Gravel    and    Rock    Roads 42 

Gravel  Road  Through  Hobart 41 

Graves,    M 58 

Greene,    Joseph 98 

Greenwald,    Charles    E 237 

Griffin,  Charles  F 98 

Griffin,    Elihu 97 

Griffith   Becoming  a  Town 40 

Griffith,   David  D 346 

Griffith  Made  a  Station 34 

Grimmer,    Michael 193 

Gromann,    Charles 589 

Growth    at    Tolleston 28 

Growth  of  Lowell 30 

Growth    up    to    1847 16 

Gruel,    Charles 383 

Guyer,  E.  H 650 

Guyer,    James 399 


INDEX. 


H 


Hack,    John 83 

Hack,   Mrs.   Angelina 84 

Haie,  William  F 172 

Half  man,    William 654 

Halls    Opened 2,2 

Halsted,  James  M 291 

Halsted,  Melvin  A 560 

Hammond  in  1894 41 

Hammond,  Superior  Court 41 

Hammond,  Walter  H 212 

Harrison,    Elizabeth 500 

Hart,   A.   N 8,V5S2 

Hathaway,    Mahlon 440 

Hathaway,    Peter 116 

Hayden,   Albert  L 519 

Hayden.    Cyrus 481 

Hayden.    Edgar 496 

Hayden,    Jacob 516 

Hayden,  John  K 459 

Hayden,    Joseph 497 

Hayden,    Lewis 52J 

Hayden,    Nehemiah 116 

Hayden,    William    N 468 

Hayes,    Benjamin    F S50 

Hayhurst,    Eldon    N 517 

Hayward,   Charles    113 

Hay  ward,   Thomas 113 

Hayward,   Warren   H 574 

Herlitz,   Lewis 86 

Herlitz,    Louis    W 628 

Hershman,    William    H 557 

Hess,    Frank 242 

Higgins,  Jolm    100 

Higgins,    John 344 

Highland   Made   a   Station 35 

Hill,    James 96 

Hill,    Rufus 120 

Hillman,   John 359 

Hipsley,     Reuben 248 

Hobart,  Founding  and  Growth  of 28 

Hobart    Public    Schools 404 

Holmes,  Charles  J 597 

Holton,   J.   W 89 

Holton,  W.  A,  W 90 

Hornor,    Amos 105 

Hornecker.  George  M 240 

Hoskins,    George    H 184 

Huber,    Albert    C s8S 

Humphrey,    Augustine 126 

Hunting  Wild  Hogs 160 

Hurlburt,    Jacob 79 

Hutton,    Levi 211 


Ibach,   Benjamin   F 563 

Iddings,    H.    L 319 

Indiana  City  Named 5 

Indiana    Harbor 43 

Irish,   J.   Floyd    569 


J 

Jackson,  Joseph 115 

Jackson,  L.  D 659 

Johnson,    Charles    A 304 

Jones,    David 107 

Jones,    George    W 284 

Jones,  Herbert  E 256 

Jones,   J.   D 77 

Jones,  Levi  D 107 

K 

Kammer,    Andrew 282 

Keilman,    Henry    L 335 

Keilman,  John  L 191 

Keilman,    Leonard 250 

Keilmann,    Charles 249 

Keilmann,    Francis    P 233 

Kelly,    P.    J 463 

Kelsey,    James    J 414 

Kenney,  Jerry  M 208 

Kimmet,  John   A 507 

Kitchel,  John n6 

Klaas,  Henry  A 635 

Knotts,   Armanis   F 571 

Koehle,  August 255 

Kolb,    Michael 638 

Kopelke,    Johannes 225 

Kozacik,    Michael 316 

Krinbill,  Oscar  A 661 

Krost,    John 87 

Krudup,    John 591 

L 

Lake   County   Crow   Roosts 152 

Lake    County's    Semi-centennial 35 

Land     Sale 12 

Landmark,  An  Old 154 

Landscapes    150 

Large  Land  Holders S3 

Larson,    Louis 423 

Lash,    Frederick 258 

Lauerman,  Mathias  M 618 

LeRoy     29 

Little,   James   H 467 

Little,    Jesse 472 

Little,    Joseph    A 121 

Little,  Lewis  G 5M 

Liverpool  Made  a  Town 5 

Livingston,    Robert no 

Livingston,    Samuel 1 10 

Log  Court  House  Built '      8 

Love,  James  H 536 

Love,   John   E 49i 

Love,    Samuel    A 534 

Luther,    James    H 94 

Luther,  John  E 276 

Lynch,     Daniel 504 

Lyons,  Frank  H 637 

M 

Mandernach,   Frederick  W 623 

Marvin,    Charles 114 


INDEX.' 


Marvin,   Mrs.   Eliza   L 386 

Mason,   Cyrus   M 79 

McAleer,   William  J 343 

McCarty,   Benjamin 65 

McCarty,   Miles   F 57 

McDonald,    Alexander 102 

McGlashon,   W.   G 108 

McKnight,   David 127 

McMahan,   W.   C 288 

Meeker,    Charles    H 239 

Meeker,  Hiram  H 232 

Meeker,  J.  Frank 236 

Meeker,  Nathan  B 301 

Meikle,    Hugh   F 206 

Merrill,    Dudley 78 

Merrill,  John   P 60 

Merrill.     William 78 

Metcalf,    Ozro 544 

Methodist   Organization 11 

Meyer,  John  H 610 

Meyer,   LeGrand  T 599 

Meyer,   Mrs.  Johanna 456 

Meyers,    Stephen 432 

Mexican   War   Company 17 

Michael,    Edwin 375 

Michael.    William    H 47S 

Miller,  H.  F.  C 506 

Miller,    Samuel 119 

Miller's    Station 31 

Morey,  Mrs.  Susann 397 

Muenich,    Gottlieb 334 

Murphey,  William  C 584 

Muzzall,    Edwin   J 639 

Muzzall,    Thomas 114 

N 

Names   of   One   Hundred   and   Twenty 

Women     129-142 

Names   of    Soldiers   Who    Fell    in   the 

War    61 

Nelson,    F.    E 503 

New  Brick  Blocks  in  Crown  Point....  34 

Nichols,   Charles   E 364 

Nichols,    Horatio    R 366 

Nichols,    Mrs.    Sarah    E 445 

Norwegian,    A    Young 21 

Number   of   Families   in   Crown   Point, 

Lowell,   Hobart.   in   1897 42 

Number  of  School  Children  in  1895...  41 

Number  of  School  Children  in  1897...  42 

Number   of  Votes   in   1876 34 

Number  of  Votes   in   1884 35 

Number  of  Votes   in   1896 42 

o 

Old  Settler  and  Historical  Association.     45 

Our   Dead   Soldiers  at   Nashville 58 

Our    Soldiers 54 

Owen,   W.   B 35° 

P 

Palmer,    Dennis 336 


Palmer,  H.  D 66 

Palmer,    James 124 

Palmer   Made   a   Station 35 

Pattee,    Wesley 371 

Patten.  John  H 117 

Patterson,    James   A 332 

Patton,    James 295 

Patton,    Joseph 246 

Patton,     Seymore 294 

Pearce,    John 641 

Pearce,    Michael 75 

Pearce,  Seth  L 289 

Peiton,   H.   S 88 

Pettibone,    Harvey 100 

Pettibone.    Henry 100 

Pierce,    Floyd    M 245 

Pierce,  Marion  F 218 

Pioneer  Children  and  Nature 146 

Pioneer  Period,  Review  of 18 

Pixley,   Chester   P 470 

Plummer,    Abiel    G 488 

Plummer,   Frank  B 487 

Politics  of  Lake  County 29 

Population  in  1900 44 

Pratt,    A.    J 99 

Pre-historic    Man 53 

Presbyterian   Church   Organized 15 

Pulver,  David  C 532 

R 

Railroad  Through  Merrillville 44 

Red    Cedar   Lake 5' 

Reiland,  John  S 185 

Reilley,   Patrick 56S 

Review  of   Pioneer   Period.... 18 

Rhodes,   Jonas 113 

Richards,    Frank 475 

Rifenburg,    William    H 494 

Rimbach,    Jacob 272 

Robbins,  Stillman  A 56 

Robinson,    Clifford   C 642 

Robinson,  John   G 447 

Robinson,    Milo 88 

Robinson,   Solon 63 

Rockwell,  T.  C 81 

Rockwell.   W.   B 81 

Rockwell,   William 81 

Rowins,  James  F 604 

S 

Sanders,    William 127 

Sasse,    Henry,    Sr 85 

Sasse,  Herman  E 85 

Sauerman,   Andrew   A 188 

Sauerman,  J.  C 86 

Saunders.   Gilbert   C 643 

Sawyer,  Daniel  F 60 

Saxton.    Ebenezer 75 

Schaaf,    F.    Richard,   Jr 264 

Schaaf,   F.   Richard,   Sr 452 

Schaefer,  John  P 244 

Schafer,   Nickolas 510 


INDEX. 


Scharbach,   Frank   C 368 

Scharbach,    William 367 

Scherer,  Nichols 308 

Schmal,    Adam 84 

Schmal,    Alfred 630 

Schmal.   Joseph 84 

School  Grove,  now  Oak  Grove,  and  Its 

Sportsmen     33 

Schrage,    Henry 274 

Schrage,    Heinrich    C 303 

Scoffern,    Isaac    H 646 

Scritchfield,    Hiram   H 127 

Seehaiisen,    Henry 609 

Servis,  Orlando  V I99 

Settlers   of   1833 3 

Settlers   of    1834   and    1835 3 

Settlers   of   1836 5 

Settlers   of   1837 6 

Sharrer,  Harry   E 54^ 

Sheerer,  George  B 181 

Shelby   Village   Commenced 35 

Sherart,    Frank    P 3/8 

—Sherman,    William 97 

Sickness    of    1846.  .  .^ 16 

Sigler,    Samuel 76 

Sigler,   William 76 

/'Bniith,  Andrew  J 384 

Smith,  Clarence  C 269 

Smith,   Cyrus   E 323 

Smith,    Fred    J 200 

Smith,   Joseph    P 88 

Smith,   William   C SSi 

ySrnith,    William    E 347 

Soldiers    Enlisting 29 

Soldier's    Monument 62 

Soldiers  at  Nashville,  Our  Dead 58 

Soldiers,     Our 54 

Some  Lake  County  Miscellany 146 

Some  Sheep  Brought  In 14 

Some   Sad   Occurrences 19 

Some  Suggested   Pictures 22 

Spear,    Robert 266 

Spalding,    Heman    M 117 

Spalding,    N 116 

Spring  and  Wells  of  Water 49 

Spry,    John 449 

Squatters'  Union  Organized 5 

Stark,    John 401 

Stark,    Joseph 581 

State  Line  Slaughter  House 31 

Steam  Dredges  on  the  Kankakee  Marsh     37 

Stearns,    Thomas    J 429 

Stephens,   Francis   E 653 

Stephens,    John 260 

Sternberg,  Mathias  G 647 

Stuppy,   Philip 480 

Sturtevant,    Daniel    B 374 

Summers,  Zerah  F 108 

Sunderman.   Fred   L 380 

Suprise,    Henry 443 

Sutton,    Emerson    0 464 

Sutton,   Festus   P 408 

Sutton,    Gabriel 466 

S wanson,    Albert   J 433 


Swartz,    Henry    P 227 

Sykes,   William   N ^2 


Tabular  View  of  Railroads 26 

Take,   John   F 650 

Taylor,     Adonijah 124 

Taylor.  Albert 124 

Taylor,  Charles  A 476 

Taylor,   DeWitt   C 124 

Taylor,    Horace 124 

Taylor,     Obadiah 124 

Templeton,  Charles  L 82 

Thiel,   John   M 234 

Thompson,  Alexander  C 358 

Thompson,   D.   H 204 

Thompson,  Lyman 97 

Torrey,     Henry 116 

Towle,   Marcus  M 306 

Township    Organizations 49 

Traptow,   Ernest 407 

Turner,   A.   M 341 

Turner,  David 73 

Turnei .    Samuel 72 

Turner,  Samuel  R 310 


U 


Underwood,    John 80 


V 


Valuation  of  Taxable  Property  in  1895.     41 

VanDewalker,  James  G 579 

Van  Home,   Willard   B 178 

VanLoon,  D.   M 348 

Vansciver.   William   H 253 

Village  and  Town  Life  at  Hammond..     32 

Viimer,   W.   E lOI 

Voltmer,     August 391 

VonHollen,  Henry 85 


w 


Wagonblast.  Gotf ried  W 170 

Walsh.    Redmond   D 312 

Warriner.  Lewis ^0 

Warwick,    William   E 322 

Wason,  H 122 

Wason,  T.  A 473 

-^Wells,  Henry 72 

—Wells,  Rodman  H 54^ 

West  Creek  Settlement,  A 12 

Wheeler,   Harold   H.. 252 

Wheeler.  John   54 

Wheeler,    John   J 577 

Wheeler,  Oliver  G. 601 

Whiting    Commenced 39 

Wiggins,  Jeremiah 123 


INDEX. 

Wille,   H.   Ph 339                                          Y 

Willey,    George 123 

Wise,   Jacob 125      ,,•               r,    t> 

Wood,  James  A 98      Yeoman,  SB gg 

Wood,  John 67      l°'"'^'='J-  W-V,; ^°^ 

Wood!   Martin 102      ^  °""g'  George  W 224 

Wood,  Thomas  J 632 

Wood,  Wilham  H 330                                             Z 

Woods,    Bartlett 92 

Worley,  John  L 127      Zumbuelte,  Mathias 612 


HISTORY 


OF 


LAKE   COUNTY. 


CHAPTER    I. 
Outline  History  of  Lake  County,  Indiana.     From  1834  to  1850. 

Indiana  Territory  was  organized  May  7,  1800. 

Indiana  was  admitted  into  tlie  Union  as  a  State  in  December,  18 16. 
At  that  time,  and  for  several  years  after  that  date,  the  northwestern  part 
was  a  true  American  wild.  In  1820  the  county  of  Wabash  had  an  area 
of  8000  sc[uare  miles  with  a  population,  according  to  the  census,  of  147. 
The  entire  north  part  of  the  State,  about  one-third  of  its  area,  had  not  then 
been  purchased  from  the  Indians.  .\  very  small  part  of  what  became  Lake 
county  was  purchased  in  1826,  the  little  fractions  north  of  the  Ten  Mile 
Line,  but  the  main  part,  it  might  be  said  all,  of  Lake  county  was  purchased 
in  1832.  In  1834  file  land  was  laid  out  liy  LTnited  States  surveyors  into 
townships  and  sections. 

A  rumor  of  the  desirableness  of  this  region  soon  went  southward  into 
the  Wabash  Valley  and  far  below  the  ^\'al)ash  River  into  Jennings  county. 
From  those  older  settled  parts  of  the  State  explorers  and  persons  seeking 
new  locations  came,  and  some  from  the  eastward,  in  the  summer  and  fall 
of  1834.  There  is  evidence  that  some  came  from  the  eastward  in  the  sum- 
mer by  the  name  of  Butler,  and  that  claims  were  made  bv  them  and  some 
cabin  bodies  erected,  probably  no  roofs  put  on,  where  is  now  the  town  of 


2  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Crown  Point :  but  for  some  reason  these  made  no  settlement  tliere  then  or 
afterward.  The  log  walls  were  found  there  by  those  who  came  later,  but 
who  came  to  stay. 

In  September  of  1834  a  party  of  fi^■e  men  came  from  Attica  on  the 
Wabash  and  camped  on  the  bank  of  the  Red  Cedar  Lake.  These  were 
Richard  Fancher,  Charles  Wilson,  Robert  Wilkinson,  afterwards  known  as 
Judge  Wilkinson,  and  with  him  two  nephews.  Richard  Fancher  and  Charles 
AVilson  were  well  mounted,  the  other  three  men  had  a  wagon  and  team, 
and  these  two  rode  extensively  over  the  central  parts  of  the  county.  If  they 
could  ap])reciate  nature's  beauties  those  lonely  rides  must  have  been  delight- 
ful. Lonely,  these  rides  are  called,  as  there  were  no  settlers,  no  human 
beings  to  be  seen  in  their  explorations,  (the  Indians  were  probably  then  on 
the  Calumet  and  the  Kankakee),  and  these  two  men  had  the  open  prairies, 
the  groves,  and  the  woodland  to  themselves.  They  had  first  choice  of  the 
locations.  Richard  Fancher  selected  that  little  lake,  which  still  bears  his 
name,  and  the  land  around  it.  which  is  now  the  Lake  County  Fair  Ground. 
Charles  Wilson  selected  his  location  on  the  west  side  of  that  lake,  on  the 
shore  of  whicli  was  their  camping  ground,  of  which  mention  will  hereafter 
be  quite  fully  made.  To  that  same  lake  in  October  of  1834  came  another 
]iarty  from  the  W'abash,  Dr.  Thomas  Brown,  David  Hornor,  and,  probably, 
Thomas  Hornor.  These  men  selected  locations  for  settlement,  made  several 
claims,  according  to  pioneer  or  squatter  usage,  and  returned  to  their  shel- 
tered homes  for  the  winter.  These  were  the  explorers  bi  what  liecame  the 
Hornor  settlement  on  the  west  side  of  that  lake.  But  settlers  as  well  as  claim- 
seekers  came  in  that  summer  and  fall  of  1834. 

E.\RLV    SETTLERS. 

According  to  the  Ijest  authority  now  accessible,  the  Iiest,  indeed,  now 
in  existence,  the  Claim  Register,  claims  were  made  or  locations  selected,  in 
1834,  by  the  following  named  persons  or  for  them:  in  June,  William  S. 
Thornburg,  Thomas  Thornburg,  William  Crooks,  Samuel  Miller;  in  October, 
Robert  Wilkinson,  who  became  Probate  Judge  and  made  his  selection  of  a 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  3 

home  spot  on  that  stream  called  West  Creek.  Noah  A.  Wilkinson.  Noah  B. 
Clark,  R.  Fanciier.  Thomas  Chiklers,  Thomas  Hornor.  Solon  Robinson,  Milo 
Robinson;  in  November.  T.  S.  Wilkinson.  Robert  Wilkinson  of  Deep  River. 
B.  Wilkinson.  Thomas  Brown,  Jacob  L.  Brown,  claim  bought  of  Charles 
Wilson.  Thomas  H.  Brown,  ^\■illiam  Clark.  J.  W.  Holton.  H.  Wells,  David 
Hornor.  L.  A.  Fowler.  J.  B.  Curtis.  Elias  IMyrick.  Thomas  Reed:  in  Decem- 
ber. W.  A.  W.  Hulton.  Harriet  Holton.  then  a  widow,  Jesse  Pierce.  David 
Pierce.  John  Russell.  William  Montgomery. 

Persons  made  claims. — that  is  the  form  used  l.)y  the  pioneers. — or 
selected  locations,  for  their  friends  as  well  as  for  themselves,  and  there  is 
no  evidence  tliat  many  of  these  named  above  actually  made  settlements  in 
1834.  Those  who  did  settle  in  this  year  were:  Thomas  Chiklers  and  family 
in  School  Giove.  on  "section  17."  in  October:  William  Crooks  and  Samuel 
Miller,  probably  in  the  summer:  Solon  Robinson  and  family  (in  the  last  day 
of  October,  claim  dated  November,  and  spending  that  winter  with  him  two 
young  men.  Luman  A.  Fowler  and  J.  B.  Curtis:  Robert  Wilkinson  of  Deep 
Ri\"er  and  family  in  November. 

In  January  of  1835  settlers  were.  Lyman  Wells  and  John  Driscoll :  in 
Februarv.  \\'illiam  Clark,  known  afterwards  as  Judge  Clark,  and  family, 
W.  A.  W.  Holton  with  his  mother  and  sister,  and  J.  W.  Holton  with  wife 
and  child. 

In  the  spring  Richard  Fancher  with  his  family  came  to  settle  on  the 
shore  of  the  little  lake  which  he  had  selected  on  section  17.  a  noted  section 
for  several  \'ears,  but  to  his  great  disappointment  he  found  out  before  long 
that  on  that  section  had  been  laid  an  "Indian  float."  As  the  year  of  1835 
ad\'anced  settlers  came  in  quite  rapiill}'.  In  April  the  "Bryant  Settlement" 
was  commenced.  The  names  of  these  Bryants  were,  Wayne,  David.  Elias, 
and  Samuel  D. ;  and  with  them  in  this  settlement  was  a  sister.  Mrs.  Agnew. 
They  called  their  location  Pleasant  Gro\-e. 

In  May  the  "INIyrick  Settlement"  was  made  by  Elias  M}-rick.  \\'illiam 
Myrick.  and  'I'homas  Reed :  and  Centre  Prairie  was  settled  by  S.  P.  String- 


4  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

liam  and  J.  Foley.  Robert  Wilkinson  of  \\"est  Creek  also  settled  on  his 
choice  location,  and  north  of  him.  in  wliat  becan^e  known  as  the  West  Creek 
woods,  Thomas  \\'iles  and  Jesse  Bond.  In  the  fall  of  1835  the  large  Hornor 
family  came.  Da\'i(l  Flnrnor  and  fonr  sons,  Thomas,  George,  Amos.  Levi, 
a  daughter,  Ruth,  and  other  children,  and  Jacob  L.  Brown,  a  son-in-law. 
In  this  year  also  John  ^^'ood  from  Massachusetts  made  a  claim,  Robert  Ham- 
ilton settled,  ^lilo  Roljinson  came  from  New  York  city,  and  Henry  Wells 
of  Massachusetts  began  his  long  residence  in  what  became  Crown  Point. 

The  settling  of  a  nev>-  region  is  always  a  rich,  an  interesting,  sometimes 
a  tr\'nig  and  a  dangerfuis  experience,  whether  in  planting  colonies  like  those 
early  tlnrteen  on  the  Atlantic  coast  a  few  hundred  years  ago.  or  commencing, 
as  thousands  did  in  the  nineteenth  century,  in  what  was  called  for  many 
years  the  West,  new  settlements  of  white  people  among  Indians  and  wild 
animals,  the  native  dwellers  on  our  prairies  and  in  our  forests. 

The  experiences  of  the  pioneers  in  the  prairie  belt  was  different,  in  some 
respects,  from  the  earlier  life  of  the  settlers  in  the  large  forests  of  Ohio  and 
of  southern  and  central  Indiana,  for  although  they  Iniilt  their  first  cabins  in 
the  edges  of  woodlands  or  in  groves  where  they  had  the  shelter  of  trees, 
instead  of  being  obliged  to  make  clearings  in  heavy  timlier  thus  opening  up 
at  first  a  very  small  farm,  these  prairie  settlers  started  at  (jnce  the  large 
"breaking  plows,"  with  six  or  more  yoke  of  oxen  attached,  and  could  sow 
and  plant  the  first  sunnner  after  their  arrival.  And  they  put  up  free  of  any 
expense  all  of  the  grass  for  hav  which  they  could  find  time  to  mow.  From 
a  large  amount  of  heavy  labor  in  what  is  called  clearing  land  they  were  thus 
relieved.  Thev  had  at  first  rails  to  split  for  fences,  making  as  they  did  the 
Virginia  worm  fence,  and  this  was  their  heaviest  work. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  these  early  prairie  settlers, — one  family, 
that  of  William  Ross,  in  1833,  Init  not  a  permanent  family,  these  others  in 
1834  and  1835, — were  what  were  called  squatters  on  newly  surveyed  Gov- 
ernment lands,  before  Lake  county  had  any  civil  existence.  The  legislature 
of  Indiana  in  the  winter  of  1835  and  1836  divided  the  territory  north  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  5 

Kankakee  River,  extending  from  the  organized  connty  of  LaPorte  to  tlie  Illi- 
nois line,  into  two  portions,  one  to  l)ecome  Porter  connt\-  and  the  other  Lake. 
Porter  was  organized  and  the  territory  that  was  to  he  Lake  was  attached 
to  it  to  hring  it  under  ci\-il  go\'ernnient.  It  was  cli\-ided  into  three  townships 
and  a  justice  of  the  peace  was  elected  in  each.  These  were,  Amsi  L.  Ball, 
Solon  Robinson,  and  Robert  Wilkinson  of  \\'est  Creek,  In  1836,  the  year 
of  the  first  justice  courts,  when  three  or  four  cases  only  were  tried,  settlers, 
came  in  rapidly.  The  names  of  one  hundred  and  thirteen  "settlers  in  1836" 
have  been  found  on  tlie  Claim  Register. 

As  many  of  these  names  are  likely  to  appear  in  the  Isiographical  sketches 
they  are  not  gi\'en  iiere.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  state  that  in  this  year  there 
came  the  Taylor  and  Edgerton  and  Nordyke  families,  the  families  of  James 
Farwell  and  Charles  i\Iar\'in.  the  Church  and  Cutler  families  of  Prairie  West. 
William  Alerrill  and  Dudle}-  ^lerrill,  and  in  September  George  Earle.  These 
commenced  new  centers  of  settlement. 

The  town  of  Liverpool,  which  became  Lake  coimtv's  first  countv  seat, 
was  laid  out  as  a  town  in  May  probably  or  in  June  of  this  year.  The  sale  of 
lots  there  in  July  amounted  to  sixteen  thousand  dollars.  Lot  number  107 
sold  for  eighty  dollars.  The  men  concerned  in  this  town  were  John  B. 
Chapman,  Henry  Fredrickson,  and  Nathaniel  Davis.  A  true  "paper  city" 
was  laid  out,  probably  this  year,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Calumet  River,  by  a 
company  of  men  from  Columbus,  Ohio.  It  was  called  Indiana  City,  and 
was  designed  no  doubt  to  compete,  with  tlie  then  young  Michigan  City  and 
Chicago,  for  the  commerce  of  Lake  Michigan.  It  was  sold  in  1841,  the  tra- 
dition is,  for  fourteen  thousand  dollars.  There  is  no  evidence  that  it  bad 
any  inhabitants,  and  actually  it  was  valueless. 

July  4,  1836,  there  was  organized  at  the  house  of  Solon  Robinson  or 
in  his  grove.  The  Squatters'  LTnion  of  Lake  County.  A  constitution  of  four- 
teen articles  was  adopted,  and  attached  to  that  four  hundred  and  seventy-six 
signatures  have  been  counted.  Some  of  them,  however,  held  claims  in  Porter 
countv. 


6  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

In  ]\Iarch  nf  lliis  same  year  a  postoffice  was  estalilished  called  Lake 
Court  House,  Solon  Robinson,  postmaster,  bringing  tbe  mail  bimself  or  by 
a  deputy  from  Michigan  City  and  for  which  he  was  to  have  the  proceeds 
of  the  oirice.  Although  letters  in  those  days,  coming  any  long  distance,  cost 
twenty-fi\e  cents  each,  paid  by  those  who  received  them,  the  proceeds  of  this 
office,  up  to  October  i,  1836.  were  only  fifteen  dollars. 

In  this  same  year  was  opened  the  first  settlers'  store  by  Solon  and  Milo 
Robinson,  brothers,  who  sold,  before  the  spring  of  the  next  year,  about  three 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  goods,  selling  the  largest  amoun.  to  the  Indians, 
buying  from  them  fur  and  cranberries. 

COUXTY    ORG.VXIZATION. 

By  an  act  of  tbe  Indiana  Legislature  Lake  was  declared  to  be  an  inde-  . 
pendent  county,  separated  entirely  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Porter,  after  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1837.  March  8.  1837.  Henry  \\'ells  was  commissioned  Sheriff, 
and  an  election  was  dulv  held  at  the  house  of  Samuel  D.  Bryant,  E.  W. 
Bryant  Inspectoi.  at  the  bouse  of  A.  L.  Ball.  \V.  S.  Thornburg  Inspector, 
at  the  house  of  Russel  Eddy,  William  Clark  Inspector,  for  the  purpose  of 
electing  a  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  a  Recorder,  two  Associate  Judges,  and 
three  coimty  Commissioners.  Solon  Robinson  was  elected  Clerk,  William 
A.  ^\^  Holton  Recorder,  William  B.  Crooks  and  William  Clark  Judges, 
Amsi  L.  Ball.  Thomas  Wiles.  S.  P.  Stringbam,  Commissioners. 

April  5.  1837.  the  Board  of  Commissioners  held  their  first  meeting. 
They  transacted,  as  one  might  expect,  a  large  amount  of  business  in  starting 
all  the  departments  under  their  jurisdiction  in  a  newly  organized  county. 
Some  of  their  acts  it  will  be  of  interest  to  notice. 

They  adopted  a  county  seal.  They  (li\'i(led  the  county  into  three  town- 
ships and  three  commissioner's  districts,  these  having  the  same  geographical 
limits.  The  number  of  districts  is  still  three.  They  appointed  J.  \\".  Holton 
county  treasurer  arid  fixed  the  amount  of  his  bond  at  two  thousand  dollars. 
They  appointed  ]\Iiio  Roliinson  trustee  of  what  was  then  called  the  Seminary 
Fund,  the  amount  of  his  bond  as  trustee  to  be  two  lumdred  dollars,  and  they 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  7 

appointed  liini  also  agent  of  the  Tliree  Per  Cent.  Fund,  fixing  his  bond  as 
agent  at  tiiree  thousand  dollars.  They  instructed  the  sheriff  to  prevent  any 
person  from  taking  pine  timber  from  the  public  land  or  school  lands  of  the 
county,  and  to  bring  such  offenders  to  justice.  It  was  found  on  trial  much 
easier  for  the  commissioners  to  give  these  instructions  than  for  the  sheriff 
to  carry  them  out.  It  is  an  old  saying,  catch  before  hanging,  and  the  catch- 
ing part  was  what  the  sheriff  found  to  be  difficult. 

An  amusing  instance  of  an  attempt  to  capture  some  timber  thieves  is  on 
record.  When  the  young  Chicago  was  beginning  to  grow  and  pine  timber 
was  needed,  a  report  reached  the  county  officers  that  men  were  stealing  valu- 
able trees  from  off  our  northern  sand  hills.  A  posse  was  summoned  and 
an  independent  military  company  was  taken  into  the  service.  The  party 
took  dinner  at  Liverpool,  and  proceeded,  it  is  said,  with  drum  and  fife  sound- 
ing,— how  could  niililary  men  march  \\ithout  martial  music? — to  the  place 
where  men  had  Ijeen  cutting  down  the  grand  pines.  But  the  men  had  dis- 
appeared. Knowing  that  they  were  trespassers  they  did  not  propose  to  face, 
not  only  the  ci\-il  but  the  military  authorities  of  Lake  county.  It  was  cer- 
tainly a  novel  way  to  secure  the  capture  of  thieves.  The  county  commis- 
sioners finally  paid  the  amount  of  the  different  bills,  and  perhaps  they  and 
the  sheriff  learned  wisdom  from  experience.  The  pine  timber  went  to 
Chicago. 

Solon  Robinson,  who  is  good  authority  for  those  times,  wrote  in  1847 
about  Lake  county,  that  the  sand  ridges  along  Lake  Michigan  were  "orig- 
inally co\ered  with  a  valuable  growth  of  pine  and  cedar,  which  has  been  all 
stript  off  to  build  up  Chicago."  So,  according  to  this  statement,  the  instruc- 
tions given  by  the  county  commissioners  in  1837  amounted  to  very  little. 

CIRCUIT    COURT. 

In  October  of  1837  was  held  at  Lake  Court  House,  in  the  Robinson  log 
building,  the  first  term  of  the  Lake  Cnxuit  Court,  Judge  Sample  presiding 
and  Judge  Clark  associate.  The  other  associate.  Judge  Crooks,  does  not 
seem  to  ha\-e  been  present.     There  were  nine  lawyers,  and  thirty  cases  for 


8  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

this  first  term  were  on  the  docket.  It  is  reported  to  have  been  a  very  quiet 
session.  The  majest}',  as  sometimes  manifested,  of  human  law,  coming 
for  the  first  time  into  the  wild  magnificence  of  nature  ouglit  to  have  quieted 
human  passion. 

In  this  year  of  the  organization  of  the  countv.  mail  facilities  were  poor 
while  letters  were  costly.  John  Russell  was  sent  from  Lake  Court  House  to 
Indianapolis  to  oIit?in  the  sheriff's  appointment  and  he  went  and  returned 
on  foot  before  a  letter  could  go  and  return.  The  postoffice  eastward,  from 
which  the  mail  was  brought,  was  then  Michigan  City,  distant  about  forty 
miles,  and  the  ne.xt  ones  west,  in  Illmois,  were  Chicago  and  Joliet,  each  also 
distant  about  forty  miles. 

There  was  in  the  county  at  this  time  one  regular  physician.  Dr.  Palmer. 
A  quite  large  log  building  was  put  up  in  the  summer  by  the  two  brothers. 
Solon  and  Milo  Robinson :  it  was  made  later  in  the  year  or  in  1838  a  two- 
story  building,  and  a  few  frame  buildings  were  in  this  summer  erected.  Many 
new  settlers  came  in,  and  log  cabins  were  becoming  quite  abundant,  with 
their  stick  and  clay  chimneys,  their  puncheon  floors,  clay  plastered  walls, 
and  roofs  made  without  nails.  Of  the  eighty-one  whose  names  are  on  record 
as  "Settlers  in  1837,"  the  Claim  Register  for  that  year  not  being  entire,  the 
following  names  are  quoted  as  having  been  at  one  time  grouped  together : 
"Bartlett  Woods  and  Charles  Woods,  natives  of  W'inchelsea,  England ; 
Llervey  Ball  and  Lewis  Warriner  of  Agawam,  Massachusetts ;  George  Flint, 
Benjamin  Farley,  Henry  Torrey,  Joseph  Jackson :  Henry  Sanger.  Ephraim 
Cleveland,  William  Sherman,  A.  D.  Foster,  and,  first  of  the  German  settlers 
on  Prairie  West,  John  Hack."  These  were  prominent  settlers  in  different 
parts  of  the  county  and  their  names,  with  many  others  of  that  }-ear,  must 
continue  to  live  in  Lake  county  history. 

Religious  services  ^vere  held  several  times  this  year  at  Solon  Robinson's 
house  and  in  the  log  l)uilding  at  Lake  Court  House,  and  at  Pleasant  Grove, 
where  probably  the  Methodists  commenced  a  formal  organization,  the  first 
on  record  in  the  countv. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  9 

These  early  }ears,  so  important  in  laying  foundations  for  the  future, 
passed  rapidly  along  with  their  excitements,  their  adventures,  and,  to  some 
extent,  with  their  privations,  and  the  date  soon  came  of  1838. 

As  early  as  1S33  had  been  opened  along  the  beach  of  Lake  Michigan 
a  route  for  travel,  and  another  road  opened  not  long  after  a  few  miles  inland, 
and  four-horse  coaches  had  been  put  upon  the  road  by  Hart,  Steel  and 
Sprague,  for  conveying  passengers  and  mail  from  Detroit  to  Fort  Dearborn 
which  became  Chicago.  But  this,  except  furnishing  a  ta\ern-stand  or  two 
on  the  lake  shore  and  a  ferry  across  the  Calumet,  had  little  to  do  with  the 
settlement  or  growth  of  Lake  count)'.  But  in  the  winter  before  the  summer 
of  1838  Congress  established  some  mail  routes  through  the  county,  two  of 
which  were  of  considerable  benefit.  One  was  from  LaPorte  to  Joliet,  pass- 
ing through  Lake  Court  House,  which  was  taken  by  H.  S.  Pelton.  and  the 
other  was  from  Michigan  City  to  Peoria,  this  also  passing  through  Lake 
Court  House,  now  Crown  Point,  and  then  southwest,  passing  near  the  present 
town  of  Creston. 

SAW    MILLS    AND   BRIDGES. 

Luniber  is  a  necessar_\'  article  for  any  improvement  in  building  beyond 
the  primitive  log  cabins,  and  enterprising  pioneers  soon  commenced  erecting 
saw  mills.  They  seem  to  ha\'e  found  considerable  difficulty  in  making  their 
mill-dams  sufficiently  strong  to  gi\e  them  water  in  a  dry  season  and  then 
to  resist  the  pressure  of  a  freshet.  Four  of  these  earliest  mills  are  accredited 
to  the  year  1838.  called  Irom  the  names  of  their  builders,  Walton's,  Wood's. 
Dustin's,  and  Taylor's.  The  Wood  mill,  where  is  now,  at  \\'oodvale,  a  large 
flouring  mill,  furnished  the  most  lumber. 

One  mill  had  been  put  into  successful  operation  before  this  year,  built 
by  \Wlson  S.  Harrison,  which  in  the  spring  of  1837  furnished  oak  lumber 
for  fifteen  dollars  for  a  thousand  feet.  The  great  market  place  was  Michigan 
City,  afterwards  Chicago,  from  which  places  pine  lumber  could  be  obtained. 
Pine  trees  grew  in  the  northern  part  of  Lake  count}-,  but  this  was  mostly 
stolen  and  taken  to  the  market  in  Chicago. 


10  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Bridge-buikling  commenced  in  tliis  year  of  1838,  for  wliich  work  lumljer 
was  a  necessity.  One  who  looks  over  tlie  county  now.  especially  in  the  sum- 
mer time,  seeing  here  and  there  a  ditch,  but  very  little  flowing  water,  can 
have  no  correct  idea  of  our  streams  in  the  early  days,  when  free  and  bridge- 
less,  in  the  spring  and  (jften  in  mid-summer,  the  Calumet  and  Turkey  Creek, 
Deep  River  and  Deer  Creek.  Eagle  Creek,  Cedar  Creek,  and  West  Creek, 
were  sending  off  their  full  flow  of  water  to  the  distant  Atlantic,  some  through 
Lake  ^lichigan.  and  some  southwanl  through  the  Kankakee  to  the  Alissis- 
sippi  and  the  Gulf.  The  stream  called  West  Creek,  with  its  wide  marsh,  its 
springs,  its  quicksands,  formed,  until  Ijridges  were  built,  an  impassable  bar- 
rier for  any  thing  like  tra\-el.  The  horseman  was  in  danger  in  many  places 
if  he  tried  to  urge  his  horse  across.  Two  bridges  were  built,  in  this  year 
of  lumber,  across  Deep  River,  a  short  distance  northeast  of  Lake  Court 
House,  costing  five  Inuulred  dollars.  These  were  built  by  Daniel  ALay  and 
Hiram  Xordyke.  That  bridges  were  needed  across  this  river  then  was  evi- 
dent, for  in  the  mid-summer  of  1837  a  very  large  horse  drawing  a  buggy, 
in  an  attempt  to  ford  the  marshy  stream,  went  down,  probably  into  quick- 
sand, lea\'ing  only  his  head  out  of  water,  and  only  by  rapid  exertion  of  his 
dri\-er  wiio  plunged  at  once  mto  the  water,  was  separated  from  the  buggy 
and  helped  up<)n  his  feet,  regaining  the  drv  prairie  on  the  further  side. 

Over  West  Creek,  near  the  Wilkinson  home,  a  bridge  costing  four 
hundred  dollars  was  built  by  N.  Havden.  Across  Cedar  Creek,  called  some- 
times the  Outlet,  near  the  home  of  Lewis  Warriner,  now  the  Esty  place,  the 
Ijridge  cost  only  two  hundred  dollars,  erected  by  S.  P.  Stringham  and  R. 
Wilkinson.  The  one  across  Deep  River  at  B.  \\'ilkinson's  crossing  near  the 
Porter  countv  line,  built  liy  Amsi  L.  Ball,  cost  four  hundred  dollars. 

Thus,  in  the  first  year  of  bridge-building  it  appears  that  for  five  very 
needful  bridges  the  amount  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars  was  laid  out.  The 
money  came  from  what  was  known  then  as  "the  three  per  cent,  fund." 

FIRST    BAPTIST    CHURCH. 

June  17.  1838.  was  constituted,  according  to  their  denominational  usage, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  11 

with  nine  Baptist  members  from  the  two  states  of  Alassachusetts  and  New 
York,  Elder  Frencli  of  Porter  county  present  and  acting"  as  Moderator,  what 
was  called  the  Cedar  Lake  Baptist  Church.  The  meeting  for  organization 
was  held  in  the  large  log  schoolhouse  which  was  not  then  quite  completed. 
Besides  this  center  two  otlier  places  were  selected  for  holding  Sabbath  meet- 
ings. Prairie  West  and  Center  Prairie,  hut  these  two  other  places  were  soon 
given  up.  It  may  be  added  that  at  the  schoolhouse  of  this  first  Baptist 
center,  public,  formal  recognition  services,  according  to  usage,  were  held 
May  19.  1839. 

METHODIST  ORGANIZ.ATION. 

Says  an  old  manuscript,  referring  to  the  summer  of  1838,  "The  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  mav  be  considered  as  regularly  organized  in  the 
county  from  this  time,  forming  with  Porter  county  a  circuit,  and  supplied 
with  preaching  at  stated  times."  According,  however,  to  Conference  Min- 
utes the  circuit  which  comprised  Porter  and  Lake  was  not  formed  till  1840, 
but  there  was  a  Ivankakee  Mission  formed  in  1839.  and  a  Deep  Ri\-er  Mission 
formed  in  1835.  so  that  it  is  probable,  as  was  stated  in  regard  to  Pleasant 
Grove,  that  there  was  a  beginning  of  Methodist  organization  in  the  county 
earlier,  Ijut  not  much  earlier,  than  the  Baptist  organization. 

These  two  bodies  of  Christians,  the  Methodist  and  Baptist,  were  the 
strong  religious  forces  in  the  early  years  until  the  Presbyterians  made  a 
beginning  in  1840,  and  man\'  more  iNIethodist  than  Baptist  pioneers  came 
into  the  county.  They  were  successful  also  in  establishing  themseh'es  in  a 
fe\\-  centers  which  did  not  change  as  did  the  Baptist  center,  until  it  became 
only  a  pleasure  resort.  Before,  however,  that  first  Baptist  church  was  com- 
jiellecl  to  disband  by  the  changes  which  were  taking  place,  it  had  on  its 
record  book  th.e  names  of  nearly  one  hundred  members,  fort\'-two  of  whom 
had  been  baptized  in  accordance  with  their  usage  in  the  crystal  water  of  their 
beautiful  lake. 

Of  the  earliest  Methodist  centers,  four  at  least,  at  one  of  which  a  bishop 
once  preached,  would  not  now  be  recognized  as  places  where  people  ever 
met  for  worship. 


12  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

This  summer  of  1838.  at  the  reHgious  organizations  of  which  a  glance 
has  been  tal\en.  was  one  of  ''continued  cHstressing  sickness."  It  is  quite 
sure  that,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  inhabitants,  more  deaths  took  place 
than  in  any  other  summer  of  the  county's  historw  It  was  a  very  dry  sum- 
mer, called  a  summer  "of  excessiye  drouth." 

Yet  many  improyements  were  made  this  year,  and  other  settlers  came 
in.  One  party  came  from  the  state  of  New  York  in  four  wagons  drawn  by 
horses,  making  the  journe\-  in  four  weeks.  Among  these  were  the  families 
of  Solomon  Burns  and  George  Willey.  also  Harry  Burns.  They  settled  on 
the  west  side  of  West  Creek,  where  a  little  neighborhood  was  formed  com- 
prising the  families  bearing  the  names  of  Rankin.  Hitchcock,  Gordinier,  Mar- 
yin.  Burns,  FuHer.  Farwell,  \\'illey,  and  later  of  Grayes,  Irish,  also  Blayney. 
which  was  an  almost  inaccessible  neighborhood  from  the  eastward  until  the 
constructicm  of  the  Hanoyer  bridge. 

THE   LAND  SALE. 

;\Iarch  19.  1839,  came  that  event  for  which  the  settlers  had  been  looking 
and  waiting,  and  yet  for  which  many  of  them  were  not  ready.  The  sale  of 
United  States  lands,  including  the  public  lands  in  Lake  county,  commenced 
on  that  day  in  the  !own  of  LaPorte,  The,  so  called,  squatters  of  Lake  were 
there  in  large  numbers,  some  of  them  hardy  pioneers,  accustomed  to  frontier 
life,  some  of  them  but  recently  from  New  England  and  New  York,  who 
had  been  taking  their  first  lessons  in  frontier  life,  and  some  of  them  sturdy 
Germans,  lately  remoyed  from  the  thronging  life  of  Europe  into  the  new 
freedom  and  abundant  room  of  this  western  world,  all  determined  to  stand 
by  each  other  in  seeing  that  no  speculator  should  bid  upon  a  claimant's  land. 
The  e\'ent  in  view  of  which  they  had  organized  the  Squatter's  L'nion,  July 
4,  1836,  had  now  come,  and  they  were  prepared  to  fulfil  its  agreements  and 
its  pledges.  The  impression  \vas  strongly  made  that  no  speculator  should 
oyerbid  a  squatter,  and  the  moral  force  of  the  fact  that  five  hundred  deter- 
mined men  had  decided  upon  that  question,  was  sufficient.  Men  were  chosen, 
according  to  their  agreement,  to  do  the  bidding,   Solon   Robinson   for  one 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  13 

townsliii),  W'iniam  Kinnison  for  another,  and  A.  ^McDonald,  whose  name 
appears  here  for  the  first  time  in  these  records,  who  was  afterwards  a  promi- 
nent lawyer,  tlie  first  one  at  Crown  Point,  whose  date  of  settlement  is  1839, 
was  the  bidder  for  the  third  township.  No  speculators  interfered.  The 
record  is :  "The  sale  passed  ofi^  quietly,  and  the  sons  of  Lake  returned  peace- 
fully to  their  homes."' 

COUNTY   SEAT    LOCATION. 

Another  prominent  event  took  place  this  year,  in  ]\lay,  the  location  oi 
the  county  seat.  The  Lidiana  Legislature  api)ointed  the  commissioners. 
They,  it  is  to  be  supposed,  looked  over  the  county.  Three  places  sought  the 
location.  These  were,  the  town  oi  Liverpool  where  so  many  town  lots  were 
sold  in  ICS36,  the  village  of  Lake  Court  House,  where  already  a  log  court 
house  was  built  and  where  Commissioners"  Court  and  Circuit  Court  bad  been 
held,  and  where  the  comity  ofiicers  were  residing,  and  Dr.  Calvin  Lilley's 
place  at  the  now  well  known  lake. 

By  some  means  or  by  some  influence  the  Commissioners  selected  Liver- 
pool. Great  dissatisfaction  resulted  from  their  decision,  and  the  citizens 
determined  to  ask  for  a  re-location.  Their  request  was  granted.  The  Legis- 
lature again  appointed  commissioners.  These  were,  "Jesse  Tomlinson  and 
Edward  Moore  of  Clarion  county,  Henrv  Barclav  of  Pulaski,  Joshua  Lind- 
sey  of  \\  bite,  and  Daniel  Doale  of  Carroll  county.'"  The  same  localities  were 
in  competition  as  l^efore.  George  Earle  for  one,  Solon  Robinson  for  one, 
and.  instead  of  Dr.  Lilley,  Judge  Benjamin  ]\IcCart\'  f(ir  the  third,  having 
b<!ught  the  Lilley  place,  laid  out  tnwn  lots  and  named  it  \\'est  Point.  The 
Commissioners  came  in  June.  1840.  Donations,  large  for  those  days,  were 
offered  In-  the  friends  of  each  Incalit}-.  Finally.  Lake  Court  House  was 
selected  as  the  proper  place  fiir  the  county  seat  of  Lake  county,  those  five 
men  who  ha\-e  been  named  located  it  tliere,  and  there  for  sixt}'-four  years 
it  has  remained.  Solon  Robinson  and  Judge  Clark,  the  former  setting  apart 
forty  acres  and  the  latter  sixt}-  in  section  8  for  the  town  that  was  soon  to  be. 
laid  out  seventy-five  town  lots,  donated  a  large  public  square,  and  gave  an 


14  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

acre  of  ground  besides  the  square  for  a  court  house  and  other  public  build- 
ings, also  an  acre  for  school  purposes.  The  two  men  named  were  considered 
the  proprietors  of  the  town.  They  donated  one-half  of  the  lots  and  gave 
additional  land.  Russel  Eddy,  who  became  a  prominent  resident  in  1838, 
donated  ten  acres  of  land  and  J.  \\'.  Holton  fifteen.  Other  donations,  some 
in  money,  some  in  work,  were  also  made.  George  Earle  of  Liverpool  was 
appointed  County  Agent.  He  and  the  two  proprietors  re-named  the  place 
and  called  it  Crown  Point.  The  County  Agent  and  the  proprietors  sold  lots 
at  auction  November  19.  1840.  The  prices  varied  from  eleven  dollars  up 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty-se\'en  and  a  half  for  a  lot. 

The  census  taken  this  year  by  Lewis  Warriner  gave  for  the  population 
of  the  county,  when  Crown  Point  as  a  town  commenced  its  existence,  1463 
inhabitants. 

EVENTS  FROM  184O  TO  185O. 

Without  minute  details  such  as  an  annalist  might  give,  the  more  im- 
portant e\'ents  in  these  ten  years  of  rather  slow  growth  may  be  briefly  noticed. 

Politicallv.  the  county  was  now  largely  Democratic  and  in  favor  of  re- 
electing Martin  Van  Buren ;  but  there  were  some,  then  called  \\'higs,  among 
these  were  especially  Solon  Robinson  and  Leonard  Cutler,  who  went  to  the 
great  political  gathering  at  the  Tippecanoe  Battle  Ground,  joining  in  the  log 
cabin  and  hard  cider  campaign  of  1840.  and  helping  to  elect  General  Harri- 
son. The  two  men  named  were  decidedly  in  fa\-or  of  temperance  and  took 
no  part,  their  friends  were  very  sure,  in  the  hard  cider  part  of  the  celebrations 
of  that  year. 

Health  had  prevailed  at  Crown  Point  from  1834  to  1843,  but  in  the 
spring  of  this  latter  year  scarlet  fe\-er  came  in  a  very  malignant  form.  A 
spot  was  now  chosen  for  a  cemetery  and  soon  there  were  eight  burials. 

^Lanv  sheep  were  brought  in  from  Ohio  this  same  year,  and  for  a  time 
Lake  county  was  quite  a  wool-growing  region.  A  few^  sheep  had  been 
among  the  domestic  animals  of  the  early  pioneers.  Their  great  enemy  was 
the  prairie  wolf.  After  the  large  flocks  came  disease  spread  among  them. 
A  few  good  flocks  are  still  in  the  county. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  15 

In  1844  the  wheat  crnp  was  injured  hy  rust.  The  wheat  crop  of  1845 
was  considered  \-ery  good.  But  for  several  years  in  this  decade  the  average 
price  was  not  more  than  sixty  cents  a  l>usliel.  It  was  a  trying  time  for 
farmers.  Many  hecame  discouraged.  There  is  evidence  from  different 
sources  that  in  these  years  of  depression  as  many  as  one-half  of  the  earliest 
settlers  passed  out  of  the  county  seeking  homes  in  the  then  distant  West. 

But  some  improvements  in  this  trying  time  were  made.  Gospel  min- 
isters came,  churches  were  organized,  buildings  erected.  Almost  as  soon 
as  the  county  seat  cjuestion  was  settled  and  Crown  Point  was  named,  so  that 
Solon  Robinson  felt  sure  of  the  growth  of  his  town,  he  secured  the  residence 
of  Rev.  N.  \\'arriner,  a  Baptist  minister  who  harl  Iieen  recenth-  ordained  at 
Cedar  Lake,  built  a  house  for  him  near  his  own  home,  and  helped  to  provide 
for  his  support. 

In  1843  K^^'-  -^J^-  Allman.  a  Methodist  minister,  settled  in  Crown  Point. 
Two  church  buildings  were  erectetl :  one  for  the  Methodist  congregation  at 
the  crossing  of  West  Creek,  the  other  a  Romaji  Catholic  chapel  <:in  Prairie 
U'est.  And,  this  same  year  or  the  next,  was  built  a  Methodist  church  at 
Hickory  Point,  on  the  county  line,  Init  in  Lake  county. 

April  2'j.  1844.  was  organized,  liy  Rev.  J.  C.  Brown  of  Valparaiso,  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  Crown  Point  witli  eighteen  members.  The  two  prom- 
inent women  of  this  church  at  this  time  were,  Mrs.  Harriet  Warner  Holton 
and  Mrs.  Richard  Fancher.  Elias  Bryant  and  Cyrus  M.  Mason  were  the 
first  elders.  In  1846  Rev.  William  Townley  became  the  first  resident  pastor 
of  this  church.  A  church  building  was  soon  erected  at  a  cost  of  three  thou- 
sand dollars.  About  the  same  time,  between  1845  and  1847,  the  Methodists 
also  erected  a  church  building.    Cost  not  now  known. 

In  1846  sickness  again  came,  and  other  calamities  befell  the  struggling 
inhabitants  of  the  new  county.  The  summer  was  very  dry,  the  weather 
was  very  hot.  This  is  part  of  a  record:  "Sickness  was  almost  universal. 
There  were  few  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  sick  or  to  administer  medicine." 
There  were  no  trained  nurses  to  be  obtained  in  those  days,  and  no  money 


16  -         HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

to  pay  for  trained  nursing  if  it  could  have  been  obtained.  So  the  members 
of  eacli  family  did  for  themselves  the  best  that  Avas  possible.  Physicians 
were  few.  This  is  another  record:  "The  summers  of  1838  and  1846  are 
the  two  most  noted  for  sickness  in  the  annals  of  Lake.  Both  were  very  dry 
seasons."  Besides  the  sickness  of  1846  fields  of  grain  went  to  waste,  for 
there  were  no  men  to  do  the  harvesting.  The  men  and  the  boys  who  were 
able  to  work  were  taking  care  of  their  sick  and  performing  the  needful  house- 
hold A\ork.  .Only  those  who  passed  through  that  trying  year  can  know  how 
great  the  trials  were.  In  the  present  conditions  of  the  county  such  a  time 
can  not  come  again,  even  if  extensive  sickness  should  again  prevail.  Increas- 
ing the  privations  of  that  memorable  year,  much  of  the  wheat  that  some  did 
succeed  in  harvesting  was  hardly  fit  for  market  or  for  bread,  and  half  the 
.  potato  crop  raised  was  destroyed  by  disease.  In  those  years  spring  wheat 
was  quite  extensively  raised  in  the  county,  and  potato  bugs  were  destroyers 
unknown. 

That  summer  of  1846  passed;  a  number  had  died,  some,  perhaps  all, 
sadly  missed  in  what  had  been  bright  homes:  but  the  living  prepared  again 
to  hope  on  and  live  on.     A  very  favorable  fall  and  a  mild  winter  followed. 

In  1847  th.ere  were  in  the  county  seven  postoffices,  five  saw  mills  in  oper- 
ation furnishing  oak  lumlier.  two  grist-mills,  'A\'ood"s  mill,"  which  did  grind- 
ing for  the  farmers  of  both  Lake  and  Porter  counties,  and  ^^■ilson  and  Saun- 
der's.  George  Earle  of  Liverpool  was  also  erecting  a  third  at  what  became 
Hobart.  There  were  then  in  the  county  about  fifty  frame  houses,  five  church 
buildings,  two  brick  dwelling  houses,  and  five  stores.  Two  of  these  were 
at  Crov.'n  Point,  one  kept  by  H.  S.  Pelton  and  one  by  William  Alton.  One 
was  at  Pleasant  Grove,  one  at  Wood's  mill,  (ine  at  St.  John.  There  were 
in  the  county  two  lawyers,  six,  perhaps  seven,  physicians,  fifteen  justices  of 
the  peace.  There  were  five  local  Methodist  ministers,  one  circuit  preacher, 
and  one  Presbyterian  pastor.  The  Baptist  pasior,  the  first  minister  of  the 
Gospel  residing  in  Crown  Point,  had  removed  to  Illinois. 

The  county  officers  for  1847,  ^vhen  were  completed  ten  years  of  organ- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  17 

ized  county  life,  were  the  following  named  men:  "Henry  Wells,  Sheriff; 
H.  D.  Palmer,  Associate  Judge:  Hervey  Ball,  Probate  Judge;  D.  K.  Petti- 
bone,  Clerk;  Joseph  Jackson,  Auditor;  Major  Allman,  Recorder:  William 
C.  Farrington,  Treasurer;  Alexander  McDonald,  Assessor;  S.  T.  Green, 
H.  S.  Pelton,  Robert  Wilkinson,  Commissioners." 

OUR    MEXICAN    WAR    COMPANY. 

Lake  county  ha\ing  made  so  grand  a  record  in  that  fearful  conflict  for 
the  life  of  the  nation  between  1861  and  1865,  it  would  not  be  just  to  omit 
some  mention  of  the  deeds  of  Jier  earlier  sons  in  a  very  diiYerent  contest. 

May  II,  1846,  there  was  declared  by  our  Government  war,  stern,  and 
ever  fearful  war,  upon  the  country  called  Mexico.  Fifty  thousand  volunteers 
were  called  for  by  the  President.  Many  young  men  were  ready  tO'  ofifer 
their  services,  and  to  join  the  forces  that  were  expected  to  reach — there  was 
an  air  of  romance  in  the  expression — tlie  "Halls  of  the  Montezumas." 

Joseph  P.  Smith,  a  business  man  of  Crown  Point,  who  had  been  a  mili- 
tar\-  man  in  New  York  city,  was  at  this  time  captain  of  an  independent  mili- 
tary company  at  Crown  Point,  and  lie  with  twent}'-five  or  thirty  of  these 
men,  and  others  from  outside  of  the  county,  started  for  the  war.  This  com- 
pany joined  the  army  in  Mexico  in  1847.  They  saw  little  of  what  some 
call  the  glory  of  war,  little  of  the  glitter  of  JNIontezuma  halls.  They  were 
in  no  battle.  They  did  that  needful  but  wearing  work,  guard  duty.  They 
were  si.x  months  at  Monterey.  Forty-seven  of  the  company  died  amid  the 
burning  heats  or  on  the  trying  march,  and  in  the  fall  of  1848  they  returned, 
as  Tennyson  said  of  the  Light  Brigade,  "all  there  were  left  of  them."  One 
of  them  who  had  lived  through  the  sickness  and  death  of  so  many  comrades, 
afterward  lived  through  the  sufiferings  of  the  Libby  prison,  and  returned  a 
second  time,  safe  from  the  perils  of  war.  to  his  home  in  Crown  Point.  In 
that  later  war  record  his  name  will  appear. 

The  year  1849.  ^^  years  after  the  Land  Sale,  and  with  it  the  vear  1850, 
closed  up  in  Lake  county  the  true  pioneer  mode  of  life,  a  life  that  had  its 
enjoyments  and  its  privations,  a  life  which  has  been  many  times  described 


IS  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

on  written  antl  printed  pages,  but  whicli  In'  the  younger  people  of  this  gener- 
ation can  he  1)ut  sHghtly  understood  or  appreciated:  yet  which  made  possible 
for  them  and  those  coming  after  them  the  great  advantages  wliich  are  now 
enjoyed. 

Lord  Bacon  assigned  tlie  higiiest  meed  of  eartiily  fame  to  the  founders 
of  States,  called  in  the  Latin  tongue  coiditons  iiiipcrioruin.  The  Pilgrims 
and  the  Puritans,  the  Quakers  and  Covenanters,  the  Cavaliers  and  Hugue- 
nots, with  many  others  from  the  kingdoms  of  Europe,  helpeil  to  found  the 
first  thirteen  states  of  this  Lnion.  Our  pioneers  founded  a  county,  not  a 
large  division  of  country,  but  twice  as  large  as  that  noted  region,  the  ancient 
Attica,  a  division  of  the  old  Greece,  which  contained  once  a  large  population, 
seven  times  as  many  as  we  yet  ha\-e.  And  these  men  and  women  who  laid 
the  foundations  here  are  justly  entitled  to  a  fair  meed  of  fame,  and  their 
pioneer  life,  up  to  1850,  is  worthy  of  consideration  and  of  due  appreciation. 
Some  of  its  peculiarities  are  in  detail  yet  accessible  to  the  present  inhabitants 
of  the  county.  Memorial  sketches  of  many  of  these  pioneers  will  l)e  found 
in  this  work.  According  to  the  L'nitecl  States  census  there  were  in  the 
county  in  1850  seven  hundred  and  fifteen  families. 

Beautiful,  exceedingly  l^eautiful,  as  this  region  was  in  its  nati\-e  wild- 
ness,  the  prairies,  the  groves,  the  woodlands,  showing  \ery  little  indication 
that  man  had  e\-er  Ijeen  here,  only  some  trails,  some  dancing  floors  made  of 
■earth,  some  Ijurial  places,  it  did  not  prove  to  be  an  Eden  after  the  white  man's 
presence  began  to  be  felt  in  its  most  choice  localities.  Virtuous  in  general 
as  the  pioneers  were,  there  was  so  little  of  society  restraint,  of  civil  restraint 
over  them,  that  sometimes  the  temptations  to  do  wrong  proved  too  strong 
for  a  feeble  \-irtue.  But  these  were  rare  cases,  only  a  few  dark  spots,  in  a 
generally  moral,  upright,  virtuous  community. 

When  one  considers  the  crimes  that  are  so  numerous  in  these  later  years, 
not  only  in  towns  and  cities,  but  often  in  country  neighborhoods,  it  is  pleasant 
to  look  back  sixty  years  ago  upon  the  quiet,  yet  active  home  life,  that  was 
spreading  out  upon  the  prairies,  and  to  see  how  secure  life  and  property  were, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  19 

and  liow  fearlessly  the  young  maidens  could  roam  into  the  -wilds  in  search  ol' 
Howers  and  fruits,  before  tramps  had  an  existence:  and  if  they  met  some 
hunter  youth,  he  was  sure  to  be  a  friend.  Now  a  lone  man  is  to  be  dreaded 
and  shunned.     It  was  not  so  then. 

SAD   OCCURRENCES. 

In  the  course  of  vears.  and  in  anv  community,  as  human  life  is.  there 
will  always  he  some  e\'ents  of  more  than  ordinary  sadness.  At  least  two  of 
such  events  may  fittingly  be  recorded  here.  The  first  is  the  death  Ijy  freez- 
ing of  David  Agnew,  whose  wife  was  a  Bryant,  on  the  ifight  of  April  4, 
1835.  As  one  of  th.e  Bryant  family  making  the  settlement  at  F^leasant  Cirove, 
it  fell  to  his  lot  to  take  an  ox  team  across  from  Morgan  prairie  in  Porter 
county  to  the  new  settlement. 

The  weather  had  been  mild  with  some  rain,  and  snow  and  cold  were  no 
longer  expected ;  Lmt  on  that  .April  day  there  came  "a  most  terrible  snow- 
storm." Circumstances  had  separated  Da\'i<l  Agnew  with  the  o.x  team  from 
others  of  the  party,  but  as  the  storm  became  \ery  se\ere  Simeon  Bryant 
stopped  at  Hickory  Point,  built  a  fire,  and  waited  for  their  coming.  They 
came  not  as  expected,  and  at  about  four  in  the  afternoon,  Simeon  Bryant, 
thinking  that  David  .\gnew  had  coricluded  not  to  come  on  in  that  storm, 
building  a  large  fire  of  logs  for  a  camping  place  if  he  should  come,  started 
on  foot  for  the  settlement,  distant  ten  miles  west.  He  was  "a  remarkably 
strong,  robust  man,"  said  one  of  that  family,  but  was  very  thoroughly  chilled 
when  at  dark  he  reached  the  cabin  of  E.  \\'.  Bryant.  David  .\gnew  was  not 
a  very  strong  or  healthy  man,  and  no  one  thought  of  his  undertaking  that 
perilous  trip  01  ten  long  miles  on  such  a  fearful  night.  The  next  morning, 
when  the  storm  was  over,  an  April  fog  coming  011,  as  Simeon  Brvant,  Daxid 
Bryant,  and  li.  \\'.  Bryant  went  out  to  look  over  the  land,  they  saw  some 
object  lying  in  the  snow,  and  E.  W.  Bryant  said,  'Tt  looks  like  a  dead  man." 
David  Br\-ant  took  a  closer  look  and  said.  "It  looks  like  Agnew."  .\nd  the 
body  of  David  Agnew  it  proved  to  be,  beside  which  those  three  stout-hearted 
men  stood  aghast.  \\'hat  that  night  had  been  to  him  in  suffering  and  in 
struggle  none  could  fully  know. 


20  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

1  (jtiote  now  from  the  Bryant  narrative:  "Upon  looking  round  they 
found  beaten  paths  where  Agnew  had  at  first  run  round  in  a  circle  to  try  to 
keep  from  perisiiing,  and  then,  as  if  strength  had  failed  so  as  not  to  be  alile 
to  do  that,  he  had  su|)piirted  himself  with  his  arms  around  the  trunks  of  the 
trees,  running  around  them  till  there  was  quite  a  path  worn  and  leaving  the 
lint  of  his  coat  sticking  in  the  bark.  He  finally  got  hold  of  a  pole  about 
se\-en  or  eight  feet  long,  and  ]5lacing  one  end  on  the  ground  and  leaning  on 
the  other  ran  round  in  a  circle,  until,  as  it  would  appear,  his  strength  was 
entirely  exhausted  i.nd  he  fell  across  his  support,  leaving  no  sign  of  having 
made  a  struggle  after." 

W'e  can  see  in  this  account  how  heroically  he  struggled  for  life,  and  that 
he  should  have  perished  so  near  to  a  home  and  a.  shelter  seems  doubly  pit- 
iable. It  was  found  that  he  had  reached  Hickorv  Point  with  his  oxen  and 
wagou,  but  instead  of  tr_\ing  to  camp  there  uith  them  l)y  the  fire,  had  drawn 
out  the  keys  from  the  ox  bows,  dropped  them  with  the  yokes  all  chained 
together  upon  the  ground,  thrown  out  a  few  unbound  sheaves  of  oats  from 
his  wagon  as  food  for  the  oxen,  and  had  started  immediately  to  follow  Simeon 
Bryant  across  the  ten  miles  of  prairie  and  marsh. 

The  Bryant  narrative  says  that  there  was  an  In.dian  trail  ])assing  by 
Hickory  Point  and  through  Pleasant  Grove,  Init  that  the  night  was  very 
dark,  although  the  snow-storm  was  followed  liy  almost  incessant  lightning. 
Somehow  Agnew  made  his  way  across,  but  perished  almost  within  reach 
of  help. 

There  have  been  a  few  deaths  in  Lake  county  the  circumstances  of 
which  ba\-e  made  them  exceedingly  pitiable,  but  none  much  more  so  than  the 
death  1:)y  freezing  of  David  Agnew. 

The  other  of  these  occurrences  is  the  death  of  Peder  Olsen  Dijsternd, 
a  young  Norwegian,  who  was  passing  through  the  county  in  a  buggy,  with 
one  companion,  on  his  way  to  a  settlement  of  his  countrymen  across  the 
Kankakee  River  south  of  where  is  now  Momence.  Before  reaching  his  des- 
tination lie  was  taken  sick,  and  was  left  Ijy  his  tra\eling  companion  at  a  home 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  21 

near  the  Red  Cedar  Lake  to  recover  or  to  die.  Of  tlie  companion  wlio  left 
him  nothing  is  liere  known.  Ignorant  as  lie  was  of  their  language  the  family 
learned  not  much  from  him.  but  gave  him  such  care  as  their  home  afiforded. 
He  soon  died.  The  hurial  was  witnessed  liy  the  writer  of  this  record  soon 
after  his  finding  a  home  at  the  lake,  and  to  him  it  ;\as  exceedingly  sad.  No 
kinsman  of  the  dead  man  jiresent,  no  countr3-man  present,  no  one  to  shed 
one  tear  or  speak  one  pitying  word.  A  few  pioneers  gathered,  undertakers 
in  those  days  were  not,  and  the  rude  cotlin  was  conveyed  to  a  little  mound 
near  the  lake  shore  and  the  IxKJy  of  the  fine-looking  3'oung  stranger  was  laid 
away  to  rest.  The  boy  who  \\itncssed  with  a  sad  heart  all  the  proceedings 
has  in  the  years  of  his  manhood  conducted  \ery  many  burial  services,  he 
has  heard  the  voice  of  wailing  and  has  witnessed  Ijitter  weeping,  as  tender 
earth-ties  have  been  severed,  but  the  burial  of  the  }oung  Norwegian  stranger 
remains  fixed  in  his  memory  as  the  one  example  of  a  burial  of  an  unknown 
stranger,  alone  in  a  foreign  land.  Nearly  thus  was  the  body  of  Henry  Mar- 
tyn,  the  missionary,  committed  to  the  dust;  and  of  our  stranger's  death  it 
might  be  said  as  of  Henry  Martyn's, 

"no  sister's  hand, 
No  mother's  tender  care  his  pillow  smoothed. 
All,  all  he  loved  on  earth  were   far  away." 

But  soon  there  came  in  search  of  this  Norwegian  an  uncle,  Peter  Sather, 
a  quite  wealthy  exchange  broker,  from  the  city  of  New  York.  He  learned 
from  the  Ball  family  such  facts  as  were  known  in  the  neighborhood,  he 
found  the  burial  place  of  his  nephew,  he  paid  to  the  owner  of  the  claim  five 
dollars  for  the  little  mound,  (he  could  get  no  title,  as  all  the  land  of  Lake 
county  then  belonged  to  the  Government  or  to  a  few  Indians),  and  returned 
to  his  city  home.  In  the  Commissioners'  Records  of  Lake  county,  January, 
1838,  that  nephew  is  called  a  "pauper"  whose  burial  cost  the  county  of  Lake 
thirty-one  dollars;  but  in  the  city  of  Nev.-  York  and  in  his  childhood's  home 
in  Norway  he  was  evidently  far  from  being  penniless.  What  money  or  its 
equivalent  he  took  with  him  from  his  uncle's  home,  and  what  became  of  it, 
probably  no  one  now  li\-ing  knows.  He  had  not  lived  "a  pauper"  if  indeed 
thus  he  died. 


22  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

PICTURES    SUGGESTED    FOR    SOME    ARTIST. 

At  least  three  Ijeautiful  scenes  might  he  placed  on  canvas  showing  some 
few  of  the  many  interesting  events  in  Lake  county  history. 

One  is  an  event  in  Liilian  life  here,  and  Lidian  custom;  a  custom,  proh- 
ably,  learned  from  French  missionaries. 

The  locality  is  Big  White  Oak  Island  in  the  Kankakee  Marsh.  The 
time  is  January  i,  1839.  The  witnesses  and  narrators  are  Charles  Kenney 
and  son  of  Orchard  Grove.  The  circumstances  are  these :  On  that  Island 
a  French  trader  named  I^slie,  who  has  an  Indian  wife,  has  a  store.  The 
two  Kenneys  were  looking  up  some  horses,  and  the  night  of  December  31, 
1838,  came  upon  them.  They  staid  at  Laslie's  place  all  night.  Mrs.  Laslie, 
the  Indian  woman,  kind  and  thoughtful,  treated  them  well,  gave  them  clean 
blankets  out  of  the  store  on  which  to  sleep,  and  would  receive  from  them 
no  pay. 

I  quote  now  from  "Lake  County,  1872,"  a  book  out  of  print:  "The 
morning  dawned.  The  children  of  the  encampment  gathered,  some  thirty  in 
number,  and  the  oldest  Indian,  an  aged  venerable  man,  gave  to  each  of  the 
children  a  silver  half-dollar  as  a  New  Year's  present.  As  the  children  re- 
ceived the  shining  silver  each  one  returned  to  the  old  Indian  a  kiss."  Surely 
a  beautiful  picture  could  be  made  from  this  historic  scene,  the  broftd  marsh 
spreading  out  on  each  side,  southward  the  line  of  timber  skirting  the  unseen 
river,  the  encampment,  the  two  white  visitors,  the  joyous  Indian  children, 
the  aged  Pottawattomie,  who  had  years  Ijefore  been  active  as  a  hunter,  now 
bestowing  the  half-dollars,  the  money  of  civilization,  and  bending  gracefully 
down  to  receive  the  gentle  kisses  from  the  children's  lips. 

The  second  of  these  events  is  a  very  different  scene.  It  is  the  turning 
over  of  the  first  furrow  on  the  prairie  where  was  afterward  to  be  the  Main 
street  of  Crown  Point.  The  time  is  spring,  the  year  1835.  I  quote  now 
from  "Lake  County,   1884,"  also  out  of  print: 

"A  large  breaking  plow  with  a  wooden  mold  board  had  been  provided, 
four  voke  of  oxen  were  attached  to  the  plow,  and  the  women  and  children 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  23 

came  out  from  the  caljin?  to  see  the  first  furrow  turned  in  the  green-sward  of 
the  prairie.  Judge  Clark  held  the  plow.  Thomas  and  Alexander  [his  sons] 
gitided  the  oxen.  W".  A.  \\'.  Holton  walked  behind  to  aid  in  turning  over 
an}'  refractory  turf,  himself  then  young  and  vigorous  with  that  jet  black 
hair,  that  cares  little  for  exposure,  which  has  characterized  the  Holton  young 
men ;  while  in  front  of  all,  to  enable  the  oxen  and  boys  to  keep  the  line, 
walked  the  tall,  spare  form  of  Solon  Robinson,  even  then  as  white-haired 
as  Christopher  Columbus  when  he  stood  on  the  deck  of  the  Santa  Maria." 

The  third  of  these  historic  events  is  a  widely  different  scene.  It  may 
be  called  a  sacred  scene.  It  is  peculiar  to  Christianity.  It  is  the  public 
recognition,  the  first  in  this  county,  of  a  Christian  church.  The  time  was 
May  19,  1839.  The  locality  was  the  Red  Cedar  Lake,  a  few  rods  south  of 
the  present  Cedar  Lake  schoolhouse. 

The  recognition  services  were  on  Sunday,  the  Christian  Sabbath,  and 
were  held  in  the  grove  or  the  lake  woodland,  with  the  shade  of  the  young 
and  thrifty  oaks  over  the  heads  of  the  pssembled  people,  and  far  above  the 
leaf  crowned  treetops  the  blue  May  sky,  the  bright  water  of  the  Lake  of  the 
Red  Cedars  sparkling  in  tlie  sunlight  not  far  eastward,  all  the  circumstances 
combining  to  add  beauty  to  the  picture.  Two  aged,  venerable  ministers 
of  the  Gospel  were  present,  the  stout  built,  rugged  form  of  Elder  French  of 
Porter  county  is  in  full  view  and  the  more  slender,  less  'vigorous,  but  yet 
manly  form  of  Elder  Sawin  of  LaPorte.  Elder  Sawin  has  just  preached  to 
the  attentive  congregation,  and  now.  as  the  camera  is  adju.sted,  the  brethren 
and  sisters  rising  from  their  seats  form  a  circle  in  the  center  of  the  assembly, 
join  their  hands,  and  Elder  French  in  the  name  of  the  council  of  churches 
there  represented  gives  to  them  the  right  hand  of  church  fellowship. 

They  are  seated.  Our  picture  is  taken.  Other  exercises  follow.  That 
little  band,  among  them  the  three  pioneer  men,  Richard  Church,  Lewis  War- 
riner,  and  Hervey  Ball,  other  men  in  the  prime  of  life,  some  young  mothers, 
and  some  elderly  women,  now  a  recognized  church,  there  in  that  woodland 
which  gave   little  e\idence  that   human   footsteps   Iiacl  been   on   the  ground 


2-4  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

before,  celebrated  for  the  first  time  together  what  is  called  the  Lord's  Supper. 
They  "took  the  sacred  emblems  of  blood  stained  Calvan'."  But  the  picture 
for  the  painter's  brush  is  the  group  of  men  and  women  so  lately  members  of 
large  Eastern  churches,  as  they  join  hand  to  hand  in  the  open  air  of  the 
almost  untrodden  western  woodland,  to  act  thenceforth  together  as  a  church 
of  Christ. 

These  ttiree  suggested  pictures,  painted  as  this  writer  would  paint  them 
were  he  an  artist,  taking  in  the  natural  beauty  that  was  then  around  the 
human  actors,  would  be  treasures  on  the  wall  of  the  Old  Settler  Historic 
Hall  that  is  to  be. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  25 


CHAPTER  n. 

The  Railroad  Period.     Outline  History  from   185  i  to   1904. 

When  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  closed,  the  frontier  or  pio- 
neer method  of  li\ing,  of  working,  of  making  sure,  but  slow  progress,  was 
coming,  in  Lake  county,  to  a  sudden  end.  For,  eastward,  in  the  distance, 
and  not  far  away,  could  be  heard  the  sound  of  the  railroad  whistle.  The 
railroads  were  coming:  the  swift  passenger  cars,  the  long  lines  of  freight 
cars,  with  all  the  changes  which  these  meant  to  the  quiet  life  of  the  settlers, 
were  coming  to  help  luiild  up  a  mighty  city  on  the  Lake  Michigan  shore 
just  outside  of  the  county  of  Lake.  Of  necessity,  from  its  geographical  situ- 
ation, every  railroad  entering  Chicago,  which  in  1850  was  just  commencing 
its  remarkable  growth,  must,  coming  from  the  east  or  southeast,  cross  the 
northwestern  corner  of  Lidiana.  And  rapidly  they  came  after  a  l.)eginning 
had  been  made.  So.  when  the  families  in  the  central  part  of  the  county, 
waking  one  earlv  morning  in  the  springtime,  besides  the  sounds,  to  which 
they  were  accustomed,  of  the  sand-hill  cranes  and  wild  geese  in  the  marshes 
and  of  the  thousands  of  the  grouse  on  the  prairies  near  them,  heard  far  up 
among  their  northern  sand  hills,  the  shrill  whistle  of  the  steam  engine,  they 
knew  that  a  new  agricultural  and  commercial  life  was  near  at  hand.  The 
very  deer  were  startled  by  the  sound,  unaccustomed  as  they  had  been  even 
to  the  sound  of  horns  and  the  having  or  trailing  of  dogs,  hearing  only  some- 
times a  cowbell  in  the  woodlands.  W'Wd  life,  so  abundant  as  then  it  was,  at 
length  grew  war}-.  The  railroads  came.  The  Indians  had  gone.  The  deer 
followed  them  or  were  exterminated. 

It  has  always  been  stated  in  Lake  county  history  that  the  first  road  to 
enter  Lake  county  was  the  Michigan  Central,  and  the  date  assigned  has  lieen 
1850.     And  this  date  is  found  in  a  paper  prepared  by  Re\-.  H.  W'ason,  one 


26  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

cf  the  best  statisticians  of  the  county,  for  tlie  Semi-Centennial  of  1884.     He 

says :     "For  statistical  purposes,  I  append  the  report  of  the  State  Board  of 

EquaHzation  on  Railroads  for   1884."  one  cokunn  in  that  report  is  lieaded, 

"Time  when   roads  commenced   running,"   and   the  time   for   the  ^Michigan 

Central  is  gi\-en,  1S50.     This  authority  is  good.     And  yet  the  writer  of  this 

Outline,  from  some  information  gleaned  in  the  last  few  years,  hesitates  now 

to  claim  that  date,  iielie\ing  himself  to  have  been  responsible  for  it  at  first, 

and  he  thinks  the  date  ought  to  be  185 1,  the  same  A'ear  in  which  the  ^Michigan 

Southern  came  into  the  county. 

From  the  best  evidence  to  be  obtained  two  other  dates,  as  given  in  thai 

State  Board  report  are  here  changed,  and  the  following  are  belie\'ed  now 

to  be  the  certain  dates  of  these  various  roads  when  trains  commenced  running 

in  the  county : 

Michigan  Central ■ 1851 

Michigan  Southern 185 1 

JoHet  Cut  Off 1854 

Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne,  &  Chicago 1858 

"Pan  Handle"  road 1865 

Baltimore  &  Ohio 1 874 

Chicago  &  Grand  Trunk 1880 

Chicago  &  Atlantic  (Erie) 1882 

New  York,  Cliicago,  &  St.  Louis  (Nickel  Plate) • 1882 

Louisville,  New  Albany  &  Chicago  (Monon) 1882 

Indiana,  Illinois.  &  Iowa  ( the  Three  Ts ) 1883 

Later  roads : 

Elgin.  Joliet.  &  Eastern  (  Belt  Line) -  1888 

Chicago  &  Calumet  Terminal 1888 

\\abash 1892 

Grii^th  &  Northern    ( Freight) 1899 

Chicago,  Cincinnati.  &  Louisville 1903 

These  si.wecn  roads,  taking  the  whole  railroad  period  of  fifty  years,  are 
placed  together  here,  near  the  beginning  of  this  Outline,  for  convenience  of 
reference,  and  that  the  readers  may  see  at  a  glance  what  have  so  largely 
helped  to  make  Lake  county,  in  the  last  few  years,  first  in  rapid  growth  among 
all  the  counties  of  Indiana. 

On  these  roads  are  now  three  cities,  Hammond,  East  Chicago,  which 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  27 

includes  Indiana  Haidior,  and  Whiting";  three  inxorporated  towns,  Crown 
Point.  Hobart,  and  Lowell;  and  se\enteen  towns  and  villages,  these  having 
a  population  of  one  hundred  and  less  up  to  four  hundred  and  five  hundred. 

That  Lake  C(junty  stands  first  among  the  counties  of  the  State  in  the 
number  of  miles  of  railroad  might  naturall}-  be  expected,  Marion,  Allen, 
LaPorte,  and  Porter,  coming  next  in  number  of  miles  of  road-bed.  Three 
of  the  best  roads  of  the  State,  which  are  "great  thoroughfares  in  the  nation," 
the  ^Michigan  Central.  ^lichigan  Southern,  and  Pittsburg  &  Fort  Wayne, 
pass  across  the  county.  These  were  assessed  for  taxation  in  1884.  "at  twenty 
thousand  dollars  for  each  mile  of  road-bed." 

Having  looked  over  the  railroads  wliich  have  been  built  in  this  period 
of  new  life  and  more  rapid  growth,  it  will  be  instructi\-e  to  look  at  some  of 
the  stages  of  advancement.  The  first  place  for  shipment  of  grain  and  for 
obtaining  freight  from  cars  was  Lake  Station,  distant  from  Crown  Point 
fifteen  miles.  This  gave  no  great  impetus  to  farming  or  to  Iniilding.  The 
next  stations  were  Ross  and  Dyer,  and  the  latter  soon  became  a  large  ship- 
ping point.  Ross  Station  gave  facilities  for  a  dailv  mail  at  Cruwn  Point, 
a  little  stage  which  carried  passengers  running  up  and  back  daih-.  This 
town,  the  only  one  in  the  countv.  in  fact  onlv  a  village  itself  for  several  vears, 
had  been  slowly  impro\'ing  in  the  latter  part  of  the  ]Moneer  period.  The  log 
huts  had  been  gradually  disappearing,  shade  trees  and  fruit  trees  were  taking 
the  place  of  the  natixe  growth,  business  houses  were  increasing  in  number, 
and  in  1849  ^'^^  frame  court  house  was  erected.  "George  Earle  architect; 
Jeremy  Hixon  builder,"  so  the  statement  on  the  building  said;  and  from  1850 
to  i860  a  large  amount  of  Imsiness  was  done  for  a  small  inland  town.  In 
these  years  some  enterprising  and  excellent  Iiusiness  men  were  building  up 
the  town.  Some  of  tliese  were:  J.  .S.  Holton.  J.  W.  Dinwiddle,  Joseph  P. 
Smith.  William  .\lton.  A.  H.  Merton.  David  Turner.  James  Bissel.  E.  M. 
Cramer,  J.  C.  Saiierman.  H.  C.  Griesel,  and  J.  G.  HofI'man.  There  were 
also  the  firms  of  Nichols  &  Nichols,  Luther  &  Farley,  Lewis  &  Dwver,  then 
Lewis  &  Pratt.     .\lso,  business  men.  Fred  J.  Hoffman.  Levi  Tarr,  and  W.  G. 


28  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

McGlashon.  The  railroad  stations  from  which  goods  were  haulefl  were 
Lake  and  Ross  and  at  length  Hobart.  The  roads  were  dirt  roads,  some- 
times dnsty,  scnietimes  very  muddy,  some  of  the  way  deep  sand.  Brick  huild- 
ings  as  well  as  frame  dwellings  were  erected.  In  1858  were  built  the  brick 
dwelling  houses  of  Z.  P.  Farley,  of  J.  \Mieeler,  of  J.  G.  Hoffman,  and  a  three- 
story  business  house;  in  1859  two  brick  county  offices  and  the  brick  school- 
htiuse,  the  Sons  of  Temperance  donating  to  the  schoolhouse  one  thousand  dol- 
lars: and  in  i860  was  erected  the  present  Methodist  church  building.  In  its 
steeple  was  ].ilaced  a  bell,  and  since  that  time  the  families  of  Crown  Point 
ha\-e  been  able  to  hear  for  these  last  forty  years  in  their  peaceful  homes  "the 
sound  of  the  cluuxh-going  bell." 

The  completion  of  the  Pittsburg  &  Fort  \A'ayne  road  enabled  Hobart, 
founded  in  1847,  to  become  a  prosperous  manufacturing  town.  The  mill- 
dam  was  completed  and  a  sawmill  started  in  1846,  and  soon  a  grist  mil! 
was  l.usv  grinding  wheat  and  corn.  Town  lots  were  laid  out  in  1848.  But 
there  was  little  to  bring  business  or  inhabitants  until  the  railroad  passed 
through  to  Chicago.  Then  busy  life  commenced.  Making  brick  became  a 
great  industr}-,  followed  by  making  what  is  called  "terra  cotta  lumber  and 
fire-proof  products."  Hobart  has  continued  year  after  year  to  improve, 
having  as  citizens  some  verj'  enterprising  and  energetic  business  men,  and 
of  terra  cotta  alone,  the  State  Geologist  has  said  that  from  H(ibart  "sixty 
carloads  a  month  are  shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  United  States."  Hobart 
has  good,  brick  buildings  and  is  a  thri\'ing  little  city. 

Another  village  or  town  owing  its  growth  if  not  its  origin  to  that  same 
railroad  is  Tolleston,  between  the  two  Calumets,  twelve  miles  due  north 
of  Crown  Point.  Its  date  as  a  village  is  1857.  The  ^Michigan  Central  road 
also  runs  through  it,  and  the  Wabash  touches  its  northeastern  corner.  The 
inhabitants  are  for  the  most  part  German  Lutherans  and  the  men  work 
on  the  railroad.  It  has  a  large  Lutheran  church  and  parsonage  and  school, 
and  the  population  has  reached  five  hundred. 

For  several  years  no  new  road  crossed    the    countv,    and    from    i860 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  29 

to  1865  the  interest  nf  tlie  inliahitants  of  the  central  and  southern  jjarts  was 
concentrated  on  the  events  t'nat  were  threatening  the  flestruction  of  the 
nation.  Tlie  mhabitants  north  of  tiie  Little  Calumet  were  then  few.  Lake 
county  having  been  strongly  Democratic  in  its  earlier  )-ears,  became,  when 
those  trouljlous  times  came  on.  intenseh-  Republican,  and  sent  to  the  war, 
as  men  were  needed,  company  after  company  of  her  lirave  antl  patriotic 
sons,  until,  so  far  as  can  be  determined,  fully  one  thousand  had  joined  the 
regiments  of  Indiana  antl  Illinois  to  help  decide  the  great  question  then  at 
issue  over  all  the  land.  The  population  of  Lake  count}-  in  1S60  was  9,145. 
This  number,  of  course,  mcludes  men,  women  and  children,  also  men  too 
infirm  or  too  far  advanced  in  life  to  perform  a  soldier's  dutv,  and  leaving 
these  all  out,  it  will  appear  that  Lake  county  sent  a  large  proportion  of  men 
into  the  fierce  cuntiict.  Sonie  of  them  returned,  but  not  nearlv  all  of  the  one 
thousand. 

Much  money  was  sent  back  to  their  homes  by  the  soldiers  on  the  field, 
and  in  a  new  form:  what  were  called  "greenbacks'"  then  came  into  circu- 
lation, and  many  improvements  in  the  county  were  thus  made. 

It  was  not  a  time  for  building  railroads,  and  yet,  in  1865.  a  road  came 
up  from  the  southeast,  passing  directly  through  Crown  Point  onward  to 
Chicago.  It  has  had  several  names  Init  is  now  generally  known  as  the  Pan 
Handle.  For  this  the  business  men  had  been  wishing  long.  They  had  for 
about  fifteen  years  felt  the  great  disadvantage  of  being  "inland;"  of  bringing 
all  their  goods  and  sending  ofY  their  butter,  eggs,  and  prairie  chickens, 
immense  numi:;ers  of  which  they  shipped,  on  wagons  that  went  back  and 
forth  to  Ross  and  Lake  and  Flobart.  To  them  and  to  all  Crown  Point  the 
railroad  was  a  cause  of  new  life.     Xew  growth  began  and  kept  steadily  on. 

In  the  s])ring  of  1868  the  town  was  incorporated. 

This  road  gave  two  other  stations,  one  at  Le  Roy.  which  though  a  small 
village  became  a  large  shipping  point,  and  one  called  Schererville.  a  larger 
village,  mostly  German  families,  and  a  place  for  some  shipments.  As  the 
road  left  the  county  south  of  the  Calumet  it  gave  no  growth  to  the  northern 
townships. 


30  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Tlie  year  1870  came  with  no  other  new  road.  But  without  a  road, 
withou.t  mucli  prospect  of  one,  a  town  of  no  httle  importance  liad  laeen  grow- 
ing up  in  the  soutli  part  of  the  county  in  these  eventful  years  from  i860 
to  1870.  Its  commencement  may  he  placed  as  early  as  1850.  Its  founder 
was  ^Melvin  .\.  Halsted.  It  is  called  Lowell.  It  is  located  in  the  hest  agri- 
cultural portion  of  the  county.  West  of  it  lies  the  southern  portion  of  Lake 
Prairie,  and  east  of  it  and  south  of  it  the  rich  farming  belt  skirting  the 
Kankakee  marsh  lands.  As  early  as  1836  it  was  selected  as  a  "mill  seat  on 
Celar  Creek"  by  John  P.  Hoff.  of  New  York  City.  He  purchased  the 
claim  from  Samuel  Halstead.  who  had  selected  and  claimed  it  in  August, 
1835.  In  November.  1836.  the  New  York  man  having  forfeited  his  right, 
it  was  transferred  for  two  hundred  and  tweh'e  dollars  to  James  ]M.  Whitney 
and  Mark  Burroughs.  It  came  at  length  into  the  possession  of  Aleh'in  A. 
Halsted,  whose  name  is  not  written  as  was  the  first  Halstead.  He  com- 
menced his  long  residence  there  in  1850  in  a  brick  house,  built  a  flouring 
mill  in  1852.  laid  out  town  lots  in  1853.  and  secured  the  erection  of  a  brick 
church  building  in  1856,  a  small  brick  schoolhouse,  used  as  a  church,  ha\ing 
been  built  in  1852.  About  1853  Lowell's  first  store  was  opened  by  Jonas 
Thorn,  and  about  1857  \\'illiam  Sigler"s  store  and  soon  after  Viant's  store 
were  opened  for  business.  These  two  were  for  some  time  the  two  principal 
stores  of  Lowell.  The  growth  of  Lowell  was  also  advanced  in  these  years 
before  i860  by  a  settlement  made  in  1855  and  1856  by  a  group  of  families 
from  New  Hampshire,  who  made  their  homes  near  the  heart  of  Lake  Prairie. 
This  was  known  for  some  years  as  the  New  Hampshire  Settlement. 

The  citizens  of  Lowell  were  not  behind  others  in  the  war  period,  from 
i860  to  1865,  in  showing  their  loyalty  to  the  flag  and  in  sending  men  to 
the  conflict.  Their  deeds  as  patriotic  citizens  belong  to  a  later  portion  of 
this  Outline. 

In  going  on  along  this  railroad  period  from  1870  to  1880,  it  will  be 
interesting  to  notice  yet  further  the  enterprise  and  growth  at  Lowell.  One 
lesson  might  here  be  learned,  the  benefit  for  a  town  to  be  situated  in  a  grow- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  31 

ing  and  rich  farming  community.  In  1869  and  1S70  new  church  liuildings 
were  erected,  making  in  Lowell  tour  churches.  In  1S72  Lowell  had  the 
largest  and  best  school  building  in  the  county,  built  of  brick,  a  two-story 
structure,  costing,  with  the  furniture  eight  thousand  dollars.  The  other 
largest  building  at  that  time  in  tlie  county  was  also  at  Lowell,  a  brick  l.nhld- 
ing  of  three  stories,  built  for  a  factory,  eighty  feet  long  and  fifty  feet  wide. 
also  costing  eight  thousand  dollars.  At  that  time  there  were  in  Lowell  one 
hundred  and  six  families.  B'or  some  years  Lowell  was  the  strongest  tem- 
perance town  in  the  county.  It  had  a  Good  Templars  Lodge  with  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  members. 

In  1874  there  came  yet  another  railroad,  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio.  Init  it 
kept  so  very  close  to  the  shore  line  of  Lake  [Michigan  that  it  added  very  little, 
as  to  anv  grov.-th  in  the  county.  It  gave  one  station  called  Miller's,  among 
the  sand  hills  of  the  northeast  township  now  called  Hobart.  about  one  mile 
and  a  half  from  the  Lake  Michigan  shore.  The  Michigan  Southern  had 
passed  along  among  those  sand  ridges  in  185 1. 

The  ice  business  formed  for  years  the  principal  business  at  Miller's 
Station,  to  which  was  afterwards  added  shipping  sand,  both  profitable  indus- 
tries, and  requiring  no  large  amount  of  capital  on  the  part  of  the  men  who 
carrv  them  on.  A  gra\-el  road  has  been  made  from  Lake  ^Michigan  through 
this  village  to  the  town  of  Hobart,  and  there  is  a  good  church  building  and 
good  public  sch.ool  building.  The  inhabitants  are  mostly  Swedish  Lutherans. 
There  is  one  large  store. 

About  1S69.  perhaps  1870,  a  small  industry  was  commenced  on  the 
Calumet  River  and  the  early  Michigan  Central  Railroad  near  the  Illinois 
State  line.  The  place  was  called  the  State  Line  Slaughter  House.  About 
eighteen  men  were  employed,  and  three  or  four  carloads  of  beef  packed  in 
ice  were  shipped  each  day  to  Boston.  It  was  understood  that  George  H. 
Hammond  of  Detroit  was  the  head  of  the  company  who  started  this  line  of 
business.  The  men  worked  seven  days  in  the  week  for  a  long  time,  never 
stopping  for   Sunday.      As   the  business   increased   village   life  started.      In 


32  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

1872  there  was  one  store,  one  boarding  house.  After  a  few  families  moved 
in  besides  the  early  settler-families  (the  Hohman.  Sohl,  Drecker,  Dutcher, 
Booth,  Miller,  Goodman,  Olendorf  and  Wolf  families,  of  that  corner  of  the 
county),  a  Sunday-school  was  proposed,  organized,  and  carried  on,  and 
then  regular  Sunday  work  ceased.  Sending  beef  to  Boston  soon  assumed 
quite  large  proportions.  The  village  was  becoming  a  town,  and  to  the  town 
was  given  the  name  of  Hammond.  Could  the  founders,  men  from  New 
England,  have  thought  that  on  those  sand  hills  or  ridges  and  those  marshes 
of  1870  in  a  few  years  a  city  would  be  flourishing  with  only  an  air  line 
between  it  and  the  southeast  corner  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  they  would 
probably  have  laid  foundations  with  more  care.  It  seemed  far  enough  away 
from  any  Christian  civilization  in  1870.  For  a  footman  on  a  cloudy  day 
to  have  undertaken  to  cross,  then,  from  the  slaughter  house  to  the  little 
station  called  Whiting  on  the  Michigan  Southern  road,  would  have  been 
very  risky.  The  distance  in  a  straight  line  is  about  five  miles :  but  the  swampy 
underbrush  then  was  well  called  impenetrable.  This  writer  tried  crossing 
there  once,  years  after  1870.     He  failed,  and  he  liad  been  in  many  a  wild. 

Hammond  continued  to  grow.  The  first  plat  of  the  town  as  so  called 
was  recorded  at  the  office  in  Crown  Point  in  the  spring  of  1875.  A  growth 
had  already  commenced  there  which  soon  made  Hammond  the  first  place 
in  the  county  for  manufactures,  for  shipments,  for  population. 

In  these  years,  from  1870  to  1880,  there  was  growth  elsewhere  also  in 
the  count}-.  In  1873  the  building  of  brick  blocks  of  business  houses  com- 
menced in  Crown  Point.  The  first  three  large  halls  were  in  that  year 
opened.  These  were :  The  Alasonic  Hall,  Cheshire  Hall,  now  Music  Hall, 
and  the  Odd  Fellow  Hall.  In  1874  A\as  organized  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Crown  Point. 

In  1872,  on  an  island  in  the  Kankakee  ]^Iarsh,  a  singular  enterprise 
was  commenced.  The  island,  called  School  Grove,  as  it  was  on  section  six- 
teen, afterward  Oak  Grove,  a  beautiful  grove  surrounded  by  marsh  and 
water,  was  an  early  home  for  a  trapper  known  as  John  Hunter.      Heath 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  33 

&  Milligan  of  Chicago  afterward  bought  some  land  on  this  island,  and  with 
eight  other  Chicago  men  Iniilt   in  the  grove  a  hunters"  home  in    1869.     It 
\vas   called   Camp    Milligan.      The   entries   in    their    Hunters'    Record    Book 
show  that  no  shooling  was  done  there  on  Sundays,  and  that  eight  men  in 
a   few  davs  shot  five  hundred  and  thirteen  ducks.     The  one  who  kept  this 
camp,   G.   Vx.   Shaver,  has  the  record  of  shooting  in    1868   eleven  hundred 
ducks.     In  187 1  there  visited  this  camp  a  young  man  from  England,  William 
Parker,  said  to  be  a  member  of  a  family  belonging  to  the  nobility  of  England 
and  heir  to  the  title  of  an   English  peer.     \\'ith  him,  in  some  relation,  was 
an  older  man  called  Captain  Blake.      These  were  so  well  pleased  with  the 
island   and   the   abundance   of   wild    fowl   that,   after   visiting   England,    they 
returned  in  1872,  laid  out  quite  an  amount  of  monc}-  in  lands  and  buildings 
and   stock.      The  buildings   c<imi)rised   a   (|iiite   large  dwelling  house,   barns 
and  kennels.     Thev  imported  from  England  "some  sixteen  of  the  choicest 
blooded  dogs  known  to   sportsmen."   and   sc^iie   choice   Alderney  cows  and 
some  horses.     Other  choice  stock  they  imported  or  purchased.     They  hat! 
a   black   Ijear   and   some    foxes.      The   establishment    was   called    Cumlierland. 
Lodge.      A   younger   brother   of   \\'illiam   Parker   came  with   the   others   in- 
1872,  who  was  for  a  time  a  very  pleasant  member  of  Crown  Point  societv.. 
Captain    Blake   seemed   quite   communicative   to    the   writer  of    this   sketch, 
whn  visited   tlie  Lodge  and   was  much   interested  in   examining'  the  kennels 
nnd  in  seeing  all  the  animals  that  came  from   England,  but  the  real  reason 
for   such   a   singular   in\-estment.   which   was   soon   passed   into   other   hands, 
remains  to  this  da\-  unkno\An  in   Lake  count}-.     Lord  Parker,  if  that  is  now 
his  title,  if  now  living,  could  give  the  real  reasons.     Short  as  was  the  resi- 
dence of  these  English  \-isitors  in  the  county,  they  laid  out  c|uite  an  amount 
of  money  and   so   aided   the  business   interests  of   Lowell.      And   Lowell    iv 
these  years   was   steadily  impro\ing,   as  also  was   Hobart.     The  increasing- 
productions  and  wealth  of  the  farmers  were  building  up  Lowell;  n-ianufac- 
turing  was  building  up  Hobart. 

In   1875  was  (jrganized  at  Crown  Point  the  Old  Settlers'  Association: 


34  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

in  1876  quite  an  interest  was  manifested  in  collecting  specimens  of  mineral, 
agricultural,  and  manufactured  products  for  the  Centennial  at  Philadelphia. 
A  numher  of  the  citizens  ^•isited  Philadelphia  that  summer,  among  whom 
was  Wellington  .\.  Clark,  Escp.  who  spent  twenty-four  days  viewing  that 
great  exposition. 

The  votes  of  the  count}'  this  year  as  cast  for  governor  were  3.187, 
showing  that  there  must  have  been  at  that  time  as  many  as  thirty-two  hun- 
dred voters.  In  this  same  vear  a  large  brick  business  house  was  erected  by 
Geisen,  Eancher  &  Groman.  .\nd  in  1878  a  brick  block  costing  about  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  was  built  by  Hartupee,  Griesel,  and  J.  D.  Clark.  Se^jtember 
15,  1S79,  is  the  date  on  record  for  the  beginning  of  the  occupation  of  the 
new  court  house,  the  corner  stone  having  been  laid  in  the  presence  of  a  large 
assembly  of  citizens  September  10,  1878.     It  cost  fift}--two  thousand  dollars. 

The  year  1880  came  and  cars  began  to  run  on  a  new  road,  the  Grand 
Trunk.  This  road  gave  a  station  at  Ainsworth  \\hich  grew  into  a  small 
Tillage,  passed  through  what  became  Griffith,  and  helped  to  build  up  no 
town.  But  it  did  what  was  probably  better.  It  sent  a  morning  milk  train 
•over  its  line  of  road,  stopping  at  every  place  convenient  for  the  farmers, 
to  recei\e  their  cans  of  milk.  These  stopping  places,  called  milk  stands, 
were  very  convenient  for  the  farmers  and  their  families"  who  wished  to  spend 
the  dav  in  Chicago,  as  the  train  would  stop  in  the  evening  to  put  off  the 
■empty  cans. 

In  1880  was  erected  the  central  Crown  Point  brick  school  building  at 
a  cost  of  twenty  thousand  dollars.  In  188 1  brick  buildings  forming  a  block 
or  part  of  a  block  were  put  up  by  John  Griesel,  Conrad  Hoereth.  and  the 
National  Bank:  and  another  lirick  building  in  1882  by  J.  H.  Abrams:  and 
yet  another  in  1883  by  Warren  Cole.  The  year  1881  was  the  great  year 
for  railroad  building  in  the  county,  and  in  1882  cars  were  running  on  three 
new  roads,  called  the  Erie,  the  Xickel  Plate,  and  the  Monon.  The  Erie 
passed  through  Crown  Point  or  near  it,  and  enlarged  its  business  and  its 
bounds;  it  passed  through   Hammond  and  helped  that  to  enlarge;  it  gave 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  35 

milk  stands  along  its  line,  and  two  of  its  stations.  Palmer  and  Highland, 
are  villages.  Highland  has  a  factory  and  two  good  chnrch  luiildings.  The 
Xickel  Plate  helped  Hobart  and  Hammond.  It  did  little  good  for  Hessville. 
The  Alonon  niade  a  \-illage  of  Shelby  and  gave  to  Lowell  communication  by 
rail  and  telegraph  with  all  the  outside  world.  It  furnished  a  name  and  a 
place  for  shipment  in  a  neighborhood  no\;-  known  as  Creston,  where  descend- 
ants of  Red  Cedar  Lake  pioneers  yet  live:  and  passing  along  the  western 
shore  of  that  lake  it  made  of  it  a  great  pleasure  resort,  visited  by  thousands 
each  summer.  It  passed  northward  making  a  station  and  a  town  of  St.  John, 
and  helped  D\er  and  Hammond.  It  also  sent  through  the  county  a  morning- 
milk  train.     It  has  proved  to  be  for  many  interests  a  very  important  road. 

In  1883  -^  road  passed  across  the  south  end  of  the  county,  as  Re\-.  H. 
W'ason  said,  "came  quietlv  creeping  u])  the  Kankakee  marsh."'  commonly 
known  as  the  three  I's  (the  I.  I.  I.),  which  ])robably  added  some  business 
life  to  Shelby. 

In  1883  Decoration  day  began  to  be  publicly  observed  in  Crown  Point. 
James  H.  Ball.  Esq.,  now  Judge  Ball  of  Kansas,  delivered  the  oration.  In 
1884  Judge  E.  C.  Field,  now  of  Chicago,  gave  the  oration. 

At  the  presidential  election  in  1884,  there  were  cast  for  four  candidates 
4,145  votes,  showing  that  there  were  then,  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  the  county's 
growth,  about  forty-one  hundred  and  fifty  \'oters. 

THE  SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 

A  semi-centennial  celebration  of  the  beginning  of  permanent  settlement 
of  the  count}-  \-i'as  held  on  the  Fair  Ground  September  3d  and  4th,  1884.  Con- 
siderable preparation  was  made  for  this  event  through  the  Old  Settlers'  Asso- 
ciation, and  by  a  large  number  of  citizens  n-iuch  interest  was  taken  in  pre- 
paring for  the  proceedings  and  in  carrying  then-i  out.  A  volume  of  486 
pages  containing  a  full  account  of  the  proceedings  was  soon  afterwards 
published,  and  to  that  the  reader  is  referred  for  full  details.  It  is  called 
"Lake  County.  1884."  It  has  been  for  i-nan\-  vears  "out  of  print."  but  is  in 
the  libraries  of  many  citizens  of  the  county,  and  in  some  large  public  liliraries. 


36  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

It  will  be  sufficient,  probabh'.  to  state  bere  that  a  large  general  committee 
of  arrangements  was  appointed,  thirty  subjects  named  and  assigned  to  writers 
for  historical  papers,  and  six  special  committees  appointed.  Of  those  who 
were  on  these  tlifferent  committees  eleven  are  not  now  living.  Also,  that 
an  oration  was  delivered  by  previous  appointment,  which  by  the  special  influ- 
ence of  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  George  W'illey.  Esq.,  was  assigned  to 
T.  H.  Ball,  who  occupied  one  liour  of  time  in  its  delivery;  that  an  address 
was  given  to  the  members  of  the  Association  of  Pioneers  and  Old  Settlers 
"by  Congressman  T.  J-  ^^■  ood" ;  and  that  a  semi-centennial  poem  was  read 
comprising  twenty-five  stanzas  of  eight  lines  each.  The  oration,  address, 
also  the  poem,  can  be  found  in  full  in  "Lake  County,  1884."  Also,  that 
sevenlv-one  lelics  and  antiquities  of  various  kinds,  historic  and  prehistoric, 
were  presented  for  inspection.  Xot  numbered  among  these  were  also  twelve 
either  old  or  curious  coins,  making  the  full  number  eighty-three.  Most  of 
these  rare,  curious,  valuable  relics  and  heirlooms  are  supposed  to  be  still 
in  the  county,  and  some  of  them  can  probably  be  secured  for  the  Association 
when  a  suitable  room  is  found  in  which  they  can  be  preserved. 

Besides  the  exercises  at  the  Fair  Ground  on  the  two  days  of  W'ednesda}' 
and  Thursday,  literary  exercises  were  held  on  Wednesday  evening  at  Hoff- 
man's Opera  House  m  Crown  Point,  the  Crown  Point  Band,  that  then 
was,  furnishing  some  excellent  music:  Willie  Cole  and  Aliss  Allie  Cole  gi\'ing 
a  flute  anci  piano  duet :  singing  al&t>  by  a  cpiartette,  Benton  Wood,  Cassius 
Griffin.  Miss  Ella  Warner,  Miss  Georgie  E.  Ball.  Mrs.  Jennie  Young,  pianist. 
On  the  first  day  of  the  celebration  the  opening  hymn  was  the  well  known 
one,  "My  Country  'Tis  of  Thee."  i_in  the  second  day  the  new  hymn  was  sung 
called  "Our  Broad  Land." 

l'"urther  features  of  this  celebration  cannot  here  be  given,  but  this  writer 
ho]5es  that  thirty  years  from  now,  in  1934.  a  still  larger  gathering  will  be 
found  upon  the  Lake  County  Fair  Ground,  when  a  book  now  in  the  Recorder's 
office  is  then  to  be  opened,  a  book  presented  to  the  Association  bv  Hon. 
Joseph  A.  Little,  and  which  contains  very  many  signatures  of  persons  present 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  37 

at  Lake  County's  semi-centennial  in  1884.  A  special  committee,  to  be 
appointed  thirty  }-ears  hence,  is  to  open  that  at  present  sealed  book.  To  be 
called  for  and  to  be  opened  at  that  same  time,  by  that  same  committee,  there 
is  now  sealed  up  in  the  Recorder's  office  a  quite  large  map  of  Lake  county 
On  this  map  are  the  names  of  many  children  some  of  whom,  as  men  and 
women,  it  is  expected  will  be  ])resent  then. 

On  Saturday.  September  17.  1887.  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the 
real  work  began  of  boring  an  artesian  well  on  the  south  side  of  the  public 
square  in  Crown  Point.  One  half  of  the  cost  was  to  be  paid  by  the  town  and 
one  half  by  the  county.  The  work  was  carried  diligently  on,  into  an  immense 
mass  of  rock  which  seemed  to  underlie  the  town,  until  the  fall  of  i88cj,  when 
work  was  given  up,  as  there  was  no  reason.able  hope  of  obtaining  flowing 
water  without  an  outlay  of  more  money  than  it  was  considered  wise  to  expend. 
The  depth  reached  was  aliout  3,100  feet.  In  the  summer  of  1887  two  steam 
dredges  were  busily  at  work  cutting  ditches  in  the  Kankakee  ^Nlarsh.  .\t- 
tempts  to  drain  that  wet  land  by  ditching  had  been  made  by  state  legislation 
soon  after  1852.  some  large  ditches  had  been  dug.  but  the  methods  employed 
were  costly  and  slow  in  attaining  results.  The  newly  employed  steam 
dredges  worked  busily  in  1888  and  1889.  and  in  the  latter  year,  by  means  of 
the  ditching  through  the  marsh,  a  road  was  opened  from  the  Orchard  Grove 
postoffice  to  \\'ater  \'alley.  on  the  east  line  of  the  town  lots  laid  out  that 
year  by  the  Lake  Agricultural  Company  and  called  "the  village  of  Shelbv." 
It  was  found  that  the  sand  brought  up  by  the  dredge  made  a  good  road-betl 
and  so  bridges  were  built  across  the  ditches  that  went  westward,  and  a  bridge 
for  wagons  over  the  Kankakee  River,  and  at  last  there  was  a  good  wagon- 
road  leading  from  Lake  county  over  into  Xewton,  Soon  there  was  another 
road  passing  by  Cumberland  Lodge  in  Oak  Grove,  and  another  bridge,  and  a 
road  running  directly  south  to  Lake  Village  in  Xewton.  It  was  a  new  and 
a  pleasant  experience,  after  so  many,  many  years,  to  be  able  to  ride  in  a  car- 
riage down  to  that  long  line  of  blue  which  had  ended  the  view  southward 
in  Lake  county,  and  to  pass  that  great  barrier  of  marsh  and  river,  and  visit 


38  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

t!ie  citizens  of  Xewton  county.  \\'hile  as  to  distance  in  miles  they  had  been 
neighbors,  as  to  access  to  their  homes  they  had  been  for  more  than  fifty  years 
strangers. 

Returning  to  the  history  proper  of  the  railroad  period  in  this  Conipenchuni 
or  Outline,  five  other  roads  are  yet  to  be  noticed. 

In  1888  the  Elgin,  Joliet  &  Eastern  road  commenced  running  cars  across 
the  county  from  Dyer  to  Hobart,  but  as  a  belt  line,  a  freight  line,  adding  not 
much  to  business  or  agricultural  interests.  In  the  same  year,  1888,  several 
miles  were  built  and  used  of  a  road  called  the  Chicago  &  Calumet  Terminal. 
This  must  have  aided  much  in  building  up  a  city  the  first  family  in  which 
commenced  a  residence  in  1888.  The  name  East  Chicago  was  given  to  the 
locality,  and  the  name  of  the  first  resident  family  was  Penman.  This  locality 
was  truly  "in  the  woods"  or  the  wilderness  state  in  1888.  Sand  ridges,  and 
marshes,  long  and  narrow,  parallel  with  the  ridges,  and  thick  underbrush 
of  a  swampy  and  not  an  upland  growth,  characterize  that  strip  of  land  north 
of  the  Grand  Calumet  for  some  miles  eastward.  It  was  not  an  attractive  spot 
on  which  to  build  a  city.  But  it  was  near  a  great  city,  and  work  commenced. 
The  swampy  growth  was  cleared  out  of  the  way.  Sand  ridges  Avere  quite 
easily  transferred  into  the  low,  wet  places.  Dwelling  houses  were  erected, 
manufactured  articles  were  produced  soon  in  the  factories,  a  saw  mill  fur- 
nished a  large  cpiantity  of  lumber,  various  industries  were  soon  starting  into 
existence,  and  in  a  little  time,  almost  as  if  by  magic,  there  were  long  streets 
lined  with  city-like  buildings,  there  were  stores  filled  with  goods,  there  were 
school  buildings  and  churches  and  waterworks  and  electric  lights,  social  or- 
ganizations, clubs  and  lodges,  a  well  conducted  newspaper,  an  electric  railway 
line  passing  through,  and  the  needed  adjuncts  of  a  modern  city.  East  Chicago 
was  for  a  short  time  an  incorporated  town,  and  then,  not  waiting  long  there, 
it  became  an  incorporated  city.  The  Penman  family  of  1888  soon  had  around 
them  some  three  thousand  neighbors.  Much  was  done  in  building  up  this 
cit_\'  by  the  Terminal  railroad. 

Another  citv  S(jon  started.     There  had  been  for  se\-eral  vears  a  station 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  39 

village  called  Whiting,  on  the  Michigan  Southern  road,  which  in  187^  con- 
tained fifteen  families.  Railroad  work  was  the  main  employment.  In  1889 
some  land  was  there  hought.  according  to  popular  report,  for  one  thousand 
dollars  an  acre,  and  nine  hundred  men  were  soon  employed  in  erecting  a 
large  brick  building  for  what  it  was  claimed  would  be  the  largest  oil  refinery 
in  this  country.  The  estimate  was  for  twenty  millions  of  brick  to  be  used 
in  the  construction  of  the  first  large  building. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  work  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company  in 
Lake  county.  In  1890  about  seventy-five  votes  were  cast.  In  1895  the  town 
was  incorporated.  In  1900  about  fifteen  hundred  votes  were  cast.  The  town 
is  a  city  now. 

Starting  as  a  town  and  to  become  a  city  in  1899,  its  growth,  like  that  of 
East  Chicago,  has  been  remarkable.  It  is  located  on  quite  le\-el  land  on  the 
first  low  ridge  of  sand  that  here  skirts  Lake  Michigan,  with  no  sand  hills  east- 
ward for  several  miles  and  none  westward  lietween  it  and  Chicago.  Whiting 
has  some  fine  resident  and  business  streets,  but  not  much  roiim  for^territorial 
growth,  being  surrounded  liv  Lake  ?klichigan.  East  Chicago,  and  Hammond. 

In  the  winter  of  1890  and  1891  there  was  much  excitement  in  Lake 
county  on  account  of  a  strong  eft'urt  on  the  part  of  some  citizens  of  Hammond 
to  secure  the  passage  of  a  bill  by  the  State  Legislature  which  would  lead  to 
the  removal  of  tlie  county  seat  from  Crown  Point  to  Hammond.  For  fifty 
years  the  question  of  the  county  seat  location  had  been  at  rest:  but  this  winter 
restless  and  amhitious  men  were  determined  it  should  rest  no  longer.  The 
citizens  of  Crown  Point  and  citizens  of  other  counties  fought  against  the  bill 
and  its  passage  was  defeated. 

In  the  summer  of  1891  Main  street  and  some  other  streets  of  Crown 
Point  were  paved  with  cedar  blocks.  September  10,  1891,  at  about  6:30 
o'clock,  electric  lights  first  flashed  out  in  Crown  Point.  The  date  of  the 
first  electric  lighls  at  Hammond  is  not  at  hand.  In  fact  Hammond,  East  Chi- 
cago, and  Whiting  have  grown  sn  rapidly  from  nothing  to  cities,  that  to  keep 
trace  of  their  improvements  is  almost  bewildering. 


40  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

In  1891  was  founded  the  town  of  Griffith.  Its  location  was  excellent, 
on  the  Cut  Oft'  and  the  Belt  Line,  on  the  Erie  and  the  Grand  Trunk.  It  made 
a  promising  beginning.  In  1892  it  h.ad  four  factory  buildings,  one  church 
edifice,  two  Sabbath  congregations,  two  Sunday-schools :  and  in  these  schools 
were  eighty  members.  Two  years  liefore  the  family  of  the  station  ageiit  lived 
alone  in  tlie  woods  and  the  undergrowth.  It  is  not  yet  a  city,  bright  as  its  first 
promise  was.  It  has  two  schoolhouses,  some  stores,  and  a  good  many  dwell- 
ing houses.  It  has  an  abundance  of  room  for  growth.  It  needs  enterprise  and 
capital. 

In  1892  the  Wabash  line  of  road  was  completed  across  the  county.  It 
scarcely  touched  Tolleston,  hut  passed  through  East  Chicago  and  Hammond. 
It  added  not  much  to  the  growth  of  either  of  these  places. 

The  year  1893  '^^"''^^  "^'"^  ^^'^^'  ^'^  ''^  remembered  in  Lake  county,  as  the 
inhabitants  so  largely  had  the  opportunity  of  attending  the  Columbian  Ex- 
position at  Jackson  Park.  Their  locality  was  favorable:  the  number  of  rail- 
roads running  near  so  many  of  their  homes,  passing  in  the  morning  and  re- 
turning in  the  evening  as  the  passenger  cars  did,  gave  them  excellent  oppor- 
tunities for  spending  the  days  at  the  expositon  and  the  nights  at  home,  and 
well  ilid  thev  improve  their  opportunities.  An  effort  was  made  to  obtain  the 
■exact  nuniljer  of  school  children  that  visted  Jackson  Park,  but  only  a  part  of 
the  teachers  made  any  report.  So  the  whole  number  can  never  be  known. 
There  were  reported,  through  the  kind  consideration  of  quite  a  number  of 
teachers,  pupils  from  Hobart  graded  school  250,  from  Ross  township  47,  from 
Hanover  24,  from  Crown  Point  t,/^.  from  Eagle  Creek  township  83,  from 
Cedar  Creek  53,  from  West  Creek  township  84.  making,  with  a  few  other 
small  numbers  reported.  973.  Certainly  never  before  did  so  many  thousands 
and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  cross  Lake  county  ?s  in  that  yery 
pleasant  summer  of  1893. 

The  year  1894  w-as  a  very  different  year.  It  was  noted  for  great  stagnation 
of  business  in  mining  and  manufactures,  the  year  of  the  Pullman  Ijoycott,  the 
Debs  strikes,  and  the  miners'  strikes,  and  railroad  communication  with  Chi- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  41 

cago  for  a  time  ceased.  In  Hammond  the  civil  officers  were  unable  to  main- 
tain order  and  enforce  law  and  United  States  troops  and  about  eight  hundred 
Stale  militia  of  Indiana  were  sent  in  to  secure  railroad  transportation  and  the 
passage  of  the  mails  through  the  city.  A  gatling  gun  stood  on  the  platform 
at  the  Erie  station  and  the  passenger  room  could  be  reached  only  Ijy  passing  the 
sentry  and  the  corporal  of  the  guard.  The  tents,  the  soldiers  on  duty  with 
their  arms  gave  to  Hammond  the  appearance  of  a  city  under  real  martial  law. 
Cars  on  the  electric  railway  were  running  in  the  summer  of  1894  so  that  pas- 
sengers could  go  into  Chicago  from  Hammond  on  the  electric  and  elevated 
roads. 

The  year  in  Lowell  was  noted  for  much  building.  Thirty-one  dwelling 
houses  and  four  business  houses  were  erected  within  the  year.  Cedar-block 
pa\-ing  was  laid  on  nine  more  streets  in  Crown  Point  at  a  cost  of  over  forty- 
five  thousand  dollars. 

The  Superior  Court  at  Hammond  dates  from  1895. 

Some  interesting  figures  are  here  inserted,  obtained  from  the  County 
Auditor,  then  A.  S.  Barr.  The  valuation  of  the  taxable  property  of  the 
county  for  1895.  without  railroad,  telegraph,  and  telephone  property,  was 
$15,224,740.  The  number  of  polls  in  1895  was  in  North  township  1,929, 
and  the  number  of  men  over  twenty-one  years  of  age  was  4,309 ;  number 
of  polls  in  the  county  4.265,  and  of  men  8,216.  The  trustees  reported  for  the 
same  year  school  children  in  North  township  4,068,  and  in  the  cmintv  9.380. 
The  United  States  census  gave  the  population  of  the  countv  in  1890,  23,886. 

In  May.  1896,  was  oj^ened  for  public  use  the  electric  railwav  from 
Hammond  direct  to  South  Chicago  between  Lake  George  and  W'olf  Lake, 
thus  enabling  one  to  go  for  three  fares  only  into  the  heart  of  Chicago.  In 
August  of  this  year  the  Crown  Point  Telephone  Company  began  erecting 
poles  and  putting  up  wires.  The  road  improvement  for  the  year  was  in 
Hobart  township,  the  road  leading  from  the  south  line  of  the  township 
through  Hobart  and  Lake  to  Lake  Michigan. 

November  3d  of  tliis  year,  a  presidential  election,  there  were  votes  cast 


42  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

in  the  county,  for  Congressman.  8.300:  for  President.  8,267;  of  these  3,384 
were  for  Bryan,  4,883  for  McKinley.  Also  some  Proliibition  votes.  In 
the  county  probably  8,400  voters.  In  1884  there  were  about  4,200.  The 
numlier  of  voters  was  doubled  in  tweh-e  years.  Of  the  8.300  votes  in  Xovem- 
ber  of  1896  there  were  in  North  township  4,328;  in  Center  township  842. 

February  16.  1897.  made  the  sixtieth  year  of  the  existence  of  Lake 
as  an  independent  county,  and  it  happened  to  be  the  four  hundredth  anniver- 
sary of  the  bu'th  of  the  noted  ?\Ielancthon  of  the  Reformation. 

The  numlier  of  children  of  school  age  enumerated  this  year  was  9,834. 
Of  these,  in  North  township  were  4,512,  Hammond  having  3,106,  and  East 
Cliicago  547.  Crown  Point  had  689,  and  Lowell  356.  Hobart,  town  and 
county  together.  859.  North  township,  including  Whiting  then  and  the 
county,  had  the  same  number,  859.  These  figures  from  the  official  reports 
are  given  that  the  growth  and  the  nature  of  the  population  may  be  more 
readily  seen.  In  the  manufacturing  cities  there  will  naturalh'  be  more  men 
and  more  voters  in  proportion  to  the  children  than  in  the  country  towns. 

In  1898.  according  to  a  cpiite  careful  count,  there  were  in  the  three  older 
towns  of  the  countv  the  following  number  of  families:  In  Crown  Point 
580:  in  Lowell  290:  in  Hobart  315:  in  even  hundreds  600,  300,  300.  It 
has  been  already  stated  that  in  1850  there  were  in  all  Lake  county  715  fam- 
ilies. No  attempt  was  made  to  count  the  families  of  Hammond,  East  Chicago, 
and  Whiting. 

For  the  year  1899  the  great  improvement  going  on  in  the  county  was 
road-making.  Some  of  the  roads  were  called  gravel,  and  others  stone  roads. 
Before  this  year  eleven  miles  of  gravel  road  had  been  made  in  Hobart  town- 
ship. 

The  following  paragraph  is  quoted :  "Cost  of  different  roads :  In 
Hobart  township,  ist  gravel  road,  $36,990,  2d,  $21,990,  3d,  $36,990,  mak- 
ing in  all  for  Hobart,  $95,970.  In  North  township,  the  Bradford  roads, 
$124,500.  In  Ross.  $71,485.  In  Cedar  Creek,  $47,540.  In  Calumet,  $42,988. 
In  St.  Johns  and  Center,  $167,500.  and  in  Center,  the  Jenkins  road,  $12,900, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  43 

in  all  for  St.  Johns  and  Center  roads,  $180,400.     Grand  total  for  roads  in 
the  seven  townships,  $562,883,  or  a  little  more  than  half  a  million  of  dollars." 

These  were  not  all  completed  till  1900.  .\round  the  puhlic  square  in 
Crown  Point  was  laid  a  walk  of  sandstone,  the  stone  ten  feet  in  length,  five 
in  breadth,  and  six  inches  in  thickness,  the  walk  costing  $11,000. 

The  Nineteenth  Century  closed  upon  a  certainly  prospering,  enterprising 
CGiunumit}'  in  this  county  of  Lake. 

Li  1899  O"^  more  railroad  was  constructed  running  from  Griftith  to 
Lake  Michigan  and  then  westward,  called  the  Griffith  &  Northern.  This  is 
a  freight  road  and  made  no  towns. 

In  June,  190 1,  work  was  commenced  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  linuts 
of  East  Chicago,  miles  away  then,  however,  from  its  factories  and  stores 
and  dwellings,  for  new  industries,  especially  for  a  large,  independent  steel 
mill,  which  was  to  furnish  employment,  when  in  full  operation,  for  one  thou- 
sand men.  In  July,  when  the  locality  was  first  visited  by  this  writer,  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men  were  at  work 'grading  the  ground  for  streets  and 
for  buildings,  and  breaking  the  ground  for  a  new  city.  It  was  an  interest- 
ing sight.  This  record  was  made  in  .\ugust,  1902:  ".V  large  mill  building 
has  been  erected  called  The  Inland  Steel  ;\Iill,  and  on  Moudav,  .\ugust  11, 
1902,  'the  wheels  of  the  big  mill  were  started  to  receive  the  first  iron  of 
the  rolls."  A  well  sunk  by  the  Inland  IMill  people  276  feet  deep  will  furnish 
abundance  of  good  water.  Indiana  Harbor  is  alreadv  a  town,  almost  a 
city  of  it.self.  Its  future  none  can  foresee,  but  it  promises  now,  when  its  mill 
work  is  all  in  operation  and  its  harbor  constructed,  to  make  East  Chicago 
one  of  the  great  lake  cities  of  Indiana."' 

Indiana  Harbor,  as  this  part  of  East  Chicago  is  called,  is  rapidly  making 
good  the  pronu.se  of  1902.  Since  February  20.  1904,  electric  cars  have 
been  running  between  the  two  divisions  of  the  city.  To  one  who  saw  cities 
try  to  grow  in  northern  Indiana  sixty-seven  years  ago,  and  saw  them  fail, 
it  is  amazing  to  see  how  cities  now  .spring  up  and  grow.  Electricity  is  a 
great    agent    now.      Money   and    energy,    steam    and    electricity,    are    doing 


44  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

much  for  Lake  county  in  its  rapid  advance  among  the  counties  of  tiie  State. 

In  1903  yet  another  road  was  completed  as  far  as  Griffitli,  tlie  Chicago, 
Cincinnati  &  Louisville  road,  whicii  promises  to  be  an  imjiortant  thorough- 
fare when  its  trains  can  reach  Chicago'.  It  has  made  the  \illage  of  MerriH- 
ville,  wiiich  had  waited  long,  a  railroad  town,  and  may  yet  add  quite  a  little 
prosperity  to  Griffith. 

Besides  tiie  sixteen  roads  named,  most  of  them  important  roads  of  the 
countr}',  there  are  six  short  lines  within  the  count\'  as  given  l)v  the  State 
Board  of  Tax  Commissioners  for  1903.  These  are;  Chicago  Junction, 
length  three  miles,  fractional  parts  omitted ;  East  Chicago  Belt,  fire  miles ; 
Indiana  Harl^or,  nearly  five  miles;  Sfjuth  Chicago  &  Southern,  seven  miles; 
Standard  Oil  Company,  fnurteen  miles;  Chicago.  Lake  Shore  &  Eastern, 
eight  miles;  making,  according  to  that  report  of  the  State  Board,  miles  of 
main  track  in  Lake  county.  324.28.  and  of  side  tracks.  194.55.  Lake  county 
has  many  more  miles  of  railway  than  an}-  other  county  in  Indiana. 

According  to  the  United  States  census  the  population  of  Lake  count}' 
in  1900  was  37,892:  the  population  of  Hammond  was  12,376;  of  Whiting 
3,983;  and  of  East  Chicago,  3.411.  The  population  of  \\'hiting  may  still  be 
placed,  in  round  numljers.  at  4,000 ;  and  that  of  East  Chicago,  which  includes 
within  its  limits  that  new  locality  called  Indiana  Harbor,  may  also  be  plac'ed 
at  4,000.  It  thus  appears,  by  consulting  a  county  ma]i,  that  more  than 
twenty  thousand  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  county  live  within  h\e  miles  of 
the  southeast  limits  of  Chicago.  Acct)rding  to  a  state  authority  the  numlier 
of  voters  in  the  county  in  1901  was  11,162,  of  these  16  l>eing  colored  men. 

AN  ASSOCIATION. 

The  Old  Settlers'  Association,  of  which  mention  has  been  made,  was 
organized  at  the  court  house  in  Crown  Point,  July  24,  1875.  The  first 
public  meeting  was  held  at  what  was  the  old  Fair  Ground,  September  25, 
1875.  September  14,  1876,  the  annual  meeting  was  held  at  the  same  place. 
September  15,  1877.  on  account  of  rain,  the  meeting  was  held  in  Chesliire 
Hall.     September  10,  187S,  after  tlie  public  exercises  connected  with  laying 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  45 

the  ccirner  stone  of  the  new  court  house,  the  fourth  meeting  was  lield  at  the 
old  Fair  (iround.  hi  1879  the  Association  met  in  the  then  new  Fair  Ground. 
In  1880,  met  again  in  Clieshire  Hall.  In  188 1  and  iS8j,  met  in  Hoffman's 
Opera  House.  In  1883  and  1884  at  the  Fair  Ground.  Since  1884  the  annual 
reports  of  the  Historical  Secretary  have  heen  printed  every  five  years  for  the 
memhers  of  the  .Association  and  other  citizens  of  the  county.  Si.xteen  of 
these  reports  are  nuw  in  jirint,  four  more  will  this  year  be  in  writing,  and 
these,  if  continued  on,  will  furnish,  it  is  supposed,  quite  an  amount  of  in- 
formation for  the  historian,  whoever  he  may  be,  of  1934.  It  is  probable  that 
no  other  county  in  Indiana  has  so  full  historic  records.         , 

At  the  annual  meeting  in  August,  1903,  the  name  of  the  Association 
was  slightly  changetl.  The  "s"  was  dropped  from  the  word  "Settlers"  and 
the  word  "Historical"  was  added,  so  that  die  name  now  is  The  Old  Settler 
AND  HiSTORic.\L  .Associ.vnoN  of  Lake  County,  Indiana.  It  is  expected  that 
the  Association  will  liave  a  room  before  long  in  which  to  preser\'e  records 
and  relics. 

An  account  has  been  gi\-en  of  the  anniversary  meeting  of  1884.  ,\t  the 
annual  meeting  in  1889,  when  East  Chicago  and  Whiting,  now  thri\ing 
cities,  were  starting  into  existence,  the  following  address  was  delivered  to 
the  children  present  at  the  Fair  Ground :  and  believing  it  to  be  of  interest  to 
the  children  of  the  lamilics  where  this  book  will  come,  it  is  repeated  here: 

"Beloved  children,  representatives  of  the  descendants  of  the  ]Moneers 
of  Lake,  some  of  you  grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren  of  those  pioneer 
settlers  whose  names  have  already,  in  the  annals  of  Lake,  become  historic, — 
representatives  also  to-day  of  some  three  thottsand  children  in  our  <:ounty, — 
it  is  my  privilege  to  speak  to  yoti  for  a  few  moments  in  regard  to  the  heritage 
w-hich  those  pioneers  and  early  settlers,  with  others  who  hax'e  come  among 
us,  have  left  and  will  leave  for  you  and  those  whom  to-day  you  represent. 

"My  subject  is.  Our  Heritage  to  the  Children.  I  am  to  represent 
therefore  those  men  and  women,  venerable  in  age,  a  few  of  whom  yet  remain 
among  us,  who  ha\e  come  down  to  us  from  a  former  generation.  .\s  in 
their  name  and  in  their  behalf,  and  in  behalf  also  of  pioneer  children,  who 
are  nr.w-  between  sixty  and  seventy  years  of  age,  I  am  to-  speak  to  you  to-day. 

"We  are  leaving,  we  are  to  leave  you,  this  county  of  Lake  with  its 
present  great  resources.  We  found  it  almost  a  wild.  We  shall  leave  it  to 
you  a  wealthy  portion  of  this  great  commonwealth  of  Indiana. 


46  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

"Whether  or  not  the  Indians  succeeded  the  Mound-Builders  here,  I 
do  not  certainly  know.  But  I  do  certainly  know  that  we  took  possession  of 
Indian  hunting  grounds;  of  Indian  homes.  When  the  pioneers  came  they 
found  here  Indian  trails  and  dancing  floors,  Indian  gardens  and  burial 
grounds,  Indian  ponies  and  Indian  life.  I  have  been  in  an  Indian  canoe  on 
the  Lake  of  Red  Cedars,  have  seen  them  eat  and  trade;  and  there  are  those 
yet  among  us  who  have  seen  them  in  their  wigvvams  and  on  their  hunting 
grounds.  We  came  next  to  the  Indians  here.  And  almost  a  wild,  so  soon 
as  they  were  gone,  were  these  five  hundred  square  miles  of  land  and  water. 
We  found  here  the  prairie  and  the  woodland,  the  lakes,  the  marshes,  and 
the  streams.  These  were  then  free  and  bridgeless  streams.  We  have  put 
bridges  over  them  all.  The  only  obstructions,  the  only  dams  then  were 
made  by  the  beaver.  We  have  built  dams  and  erected  mills.  The  musk- 
rats  made  their  homes  in  the  marshes.  We  have  turned  many  of  these  into 
meadows  and  corn-fields.  On  the  southwest  of  Cedar  Lake,  where  over 
a  large  area  the  sand-hill  cranes  waded,  where  the  largest  boats  of  the  lake 
passed,  and  the  best  fishing  ground  was  found  for  the  large  pike,  we  have 
made  dry  land. 

"Through  the  great  Kankakee  Marsh,  where  lived  the  muskrats  and 
the  mink,  where  the  wild  geese  made  their  nests,  we  have  cut  long  ditches 
witJi  steam  dredges  and  have  opened  up  thousands  of  acres  for  pasturage 
and  farming.  We  have  fenced  up  all  the  once  wild  prairie,  and  now,  where 
the  deer  bounded  and  the  wolves  galloped  leisurely  along,  where  the  cranes 
'danced'  on  the  high  areas  and  the  prairie  hens  had  their  nests  undisturbed, 
where  the  wild  flowers  of  such  rich  beauty  grew,  there  are  orchards  and 
gardens  and  barnyards  and  dwelling  houses,  and  the  wild  life  of  the  prairie 
is  no  more.  We  ha\e  ]ilantevl  twenty-fi\'e  towns  and  villages  where  were 
only  Indian  wigwams  and  gardens.  A\'e  have  built  forty-eight  churches  and 
one  hun(h"ed  schoolhouses.  We  have  dug  some  three  thousand  wells  of 
water.  In  the  early  times,  in  a  dry  season,  it  became  sometimes  needful 
to  steal  water.  One  spring  on  the  west  side  of  Cedar  Lake  supplied  at  one 
time  neaily  all  the  families  around  the  lake.  What  the  Indians  did  for 
water  in  the  dry  season  I  know  not.  They  left  very  little.  We  found 
only  nature  here:  but  we  shall  leave  to  you  the  marks  of  white  men  on  this 
soil  which  no  coming  years  will  erase.  Lake  county  has  been  made  first  in 
the  state  'of  Indiana  in  railroads,  first  in  exporting  beef  to  foreign  markets, 
first  in  the  great  oil  refinery  now  in  process  of  erection  at  \\'biting,  first 
in  organized  Sunday-school  work.  And  it  has  been  placed  among  the  first 
in  exporting  hay,  raising  horses,  in  the  general  prosperity  and  intelligence 
of  the  people.  Tiiere  are  now  some  eighteen  thousand  people,  about  one-half 
living  in  the  twenty-fi\-e  towns  and  villages,  and  the  other  half,  nine  tlinusand, 
on  the  rich  and  well  cultivated  farms. 

"Xow,  all  these  farms  and  orchards  and  pasture  lands,  all  these  towns 
and  villages,  all  these  manufacturing  interests  and  industrial  pursuits,  all 
the  material  results  in  our  public  school  and  Sunday-school  work,  all  this 
civilization  and  prosperity  attained  since  the  moccasined  Indians  ceased  here 
to  tread,  we  shall  leave  as  a  heritage  to  you,  the  children  of  this  generation. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  47 

Instead  of  succeeding  Indians,  who  left  only  trails  and  dancing  floors  and 
burial  places.  }0u  will  succeed  a  generation  of  busy  workers,  of  intelligent 
white  people,  who  will  leave  you  wagon  roads  and  railroads,  bridges  and 
fences,  and  the  results  of  the  outlay  of  a  large  amount  of  money  and  labor 
making  what  we  call  fixed  capital  in  the  land.  The  property  in  Lake  county 
was  assessed  for  taxes  in  1888  at  nearly  nine  and  one-half  millions  of  dol- 
lars. Do  you  see  how  differently  you  will  enter  upon  life  compared  with 
your  pioneer  ancestry?  You  will  ha\e  no  court-house,  no  public  buildings 
to  erect,  few  churches  and  few  schoolhouses  to  build,  no  prairie  sod  to 
turn  over  and  subdue,  few  fences  to  make,  few  houses  to  build.  All  these 
things  have  been  done  for  you  by  those  who  struck  the  first  blow  here  with 
the  axe,  erected  the  first  log  cabin,  built  the  first  bridge,  constructed  the  firsi 
mill,  made  the  first  brick,  sowed  the  first  wheat  and  oats,  and  reaped  the  first 
harvest. 

"Can  you  see,  beloved  children ;  and  through  you  I  speak  as  to  the 
three  thousand,  can  you  see  how  much  has  been  done  for  you  by  the  two 
generations  that  have  gone  before  you  here?  Some  have  worked  in  one 
line,  some  in  another.  They  have  all  helped  tO'  furnish  for  you  a  rich,  a  valu- 
able, and,  as  earth  is,  even  a  glorious  inheritance.  Soon  it  will  all  be  yours, 
for  rapidly  we  are  passing  away. 

"Snow   YOURSELVES   WORTHY   OF   THIS  INHERIT.-VNCE." 

Since  this  address  was  delivered  to  the  children  in  i88g,  those  who 
have  read  a  few  preceding  pages  have  seen  that  the  heritage  for  the  children 
has  \'ery  largely  increased,  more  than  half  a  million  dollars  having  been 
invested  in  inipro\-ed  roads,  a  hundred  thousand  dollar  court  house  having 
been  built  and  furnished  at  Hammond,  the  assessed  value  of  the  property 
in  tlie  count}'  lia\-ing  reached  the  sum  of  twent};-one  and  a  half  million,  and 
the  courity  auditor's  rejjort  for  January  1st,  1904,  showing  receipts  for 
1903  with  balance  then  on  hand  of  about  one  million  dollars. 

And  now  the  ciuestion  comes  up:  ^^■ho  were  the  men  of  the  past  gen- 
eration who  se\-enty  years  ago  began  to  lay  foundations  here,  and  who  for 
twenty,  thirty,  forty  years,  toiled  on,  amid  privations  and  discouragements, 
to  furnish  for  us  the  inheritance  which  we  all  now  enjov?  Shall  we  not 
honor  their  efforts,  and  count  their  names  worthy  of  Listing  remembrance? 
For  the  names  of  some  of  these  men,  all  of  whom  have  passed  from  the 
activities  of  life,  sec  in  another  chapter  short  memorial  sketches. 


48  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

INTERESTING   ITEMS. 

Cliurches,  School  Houses,  Banks. 

The  first  church  buildings  erected  in  the  county  were  a  Methodist  church 
on  West  Creek  and  a  Roman  Catholic  chapel  near  the  present  St.  John,  date 
of  both,  1843.  In  1872  there  were  twenty-three  church  buildings,  one  only 
being  north  of  the  Calumet,  the  Lutheran  church  at  Tolleston.  There  are 
now  :  In  West  Creek  township  three ;  in  Cedar  Creek  five ;  in  Winfield  four ; 
in  Center  eight;  in  Hanover  three:  in  St.  Johns  four:  in  Ross  two:  in  Hobart 
nine:  in  Calumet  two;  and  in  Xnrth  twenty-six.     In  all  si.xty-si.x. 

Of  schoolhouses  there  are  one  hundred  and  twenty,  and  of  teachers  two 
hunf'red. 

Of  banks  there  are;  In  Crown  Point  two;  Lowell  has  two;  Dyer  one; 
Hobart  two  ;  Hammond  three ;  East  Chicago  two  :  \Vhiting  two.  Total  num- 
ber fourteen.  The  capital  inxestecl  in  most  of  these  banks  is  owned  by  resi- 
dents of  the  county. 

Of  the  Lake  County  State  Bank  of  East  Chicago.  Potter  Palmer.  Jr.,  is 
a  director,  vice  president,  and  cashier,  and  pnjljably  a  large  owner  of  the 
capital,  which  is  advertised  to  be  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

A    FEW    MORE    P.\RTICrL.\RS. 

\\'ater. 
So  far  as  surface  water  was  concerned  the  county  was  originally  well 
watered,  \\niile  not  a  region  of  rocks  and  rills,  of  springs  and  streams  of 
crystal  water,  there  were  marshes  in  abundance  and  some  flowing  springs, 
which  in  the  pioneer  days  usually  furnished  a  supply  for  all  the  domestic 
animals.  In  these  hundreds  of  marshes  usually  lived  some  nniskrats,  some 
little  fishes,  and  one  or  two  ])air  of  wild  ducks.  Shallow  wells  were  dug  near 
the  marshes  or  in  low  places  which  furnished  drinking  water  for  the  families. 
But  dry  seasons  came,  marshes  began  to  be  dry.  the  muskrats.  even,  were 
driven  by  thirst  and  hunger  to  tlie  JKiuses  and  stables  (^f  the  settlers,  and  the 
cattle  were  driven  to  the  central  lake  and  to  the  large  streams  once  a  day 
for  water.     The  surface  wells  also  gave  out.  as  drv  seasons  came  and  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  49 

draining  of  marshes  was  commenced,  and  deeper  wells  were  dug  and  walled 
uj)  with  brick:  and  at  length  wells  were  driven  or  bored,  .so  that  now  on 
everv  large  farm  there  is  a  well  of  some  depth,  a  windmill  to  work  the 
pump,  and  a  good-sized  tank  to  hold  the  water.  These  windmills  are  pic- 
turesque as  well  as  useful.  Without  them  it  would  seem  almost  impossible 
for  the  farmers  to  keep  such  large  numbers,  as  now  they  do,  of  domestic 
animals.  There  are  yet  a  few.  comparati\ely.  of  valuable  living  springs  in 
the  county,  four  or  five  of  these  furnishing  a  large  flow  of  water;  and  there 
are  a  very  few  artesian  wells.  The  cities  of  the  county  can  obtain  water 
in  pipes  from  Lake  Michigan:  and  the  larger  inland  towns  have  "water- 
works." Many  of  the  town  families  ha\e  their  own  wells  and  cisterns.  The 
water  in  every  part  of  this  county,  where  they  who  use  the  water  have  wells, 
is  generally  good. 

Li  regard  to  wells  of  water,  there  have  been  found  some  peculiar  and 
interesting  facts  in  the  county,  .^long  the  line  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Rail- 
road west  of  .\insworth  is  the  Adams'  neighborhood.  I  qu(jte  a  sentence: 
"There  is  a  strip  running  across  that  neighborhood,  about  three  miles  long  and 
eighty  rods  wide,  where  good  water  can  be  obtained  at  a  depth  of  from 
sixteen  to  eighteen  feet.  On  each  side  of  tliis  narrow  strip  it  is  needful  to 
go  about  forty  feet  to  obtain  water."     Other  peculiarities  have  been  found. 

TOW.XSHIP    ORG.\NIZ.\TIONS. 

The  county  now  known  as  Lake  was  "erected  out  of  the  counties  of  Por- 
ter and  Xewton"  January  28.  1836,  and  by  act  of  the  Legislature,  January 
18.  1837.  it  was  declared  to  be  an  independent  county  on  and  after  February 
t6.  1837.  the  day  on  which  the  writer  of  this  was  eleven  years  of  ao-e. 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  first  board  of  County  Commissioner.s  the 
county  was  divided  into  three  townships,  Xorth,  Center  and  South,  each  ex- 
tending across  the  county  from  east  to  west.  This  meeting  was  in  April, 
1837- 

May  9,  1839.  the  Commissioners  divided  the  original  south  township  into 
three  townships  called  \\'est  Creek.  Cedar  Creek,  and  Eagle  Creek  townships, 


50  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

from  tlie  names  of  the  creeks  running"  through  them  from  nortli  to  south. 

In  1S43  ^^'i^field  tuivnship  was  set  off  from  tlie  orginal  Center,  named, 
it  is  supposed,  after  General  ^^'infield  Scott. 

June  8.  1848,  tlie  Commissioners  took  olY  a  large  strip  from  the  north 
part  of  Center  township,  and  organized  St.  Johns  township  and  Ross  town- 
ship, the  latter  taking  its  name  from  our  earliest  farmer  settler,  ^^■illialn  Ross, 
a  settler  in  1833,  and  the  former,  probably,  from  John  Hack,  the  first  German 
settler. 

\\'hate\'er  may  have  been  the  boundary  lines  of  the  original  north  town- 
ship of  the  county,  boundaries  were  fixed  September  5,  1849,  for  North  town- 
ship, which  Ijoundaries  give  that  township  as  laid  down  on  the  map  oi  Herbert 
S.  Ball  in  "Lake  Countv,  1872."  That  map  shows  the  ten  townships  as  they 
were  from  1853  until  the  Calumet  township  was  organized. 

June  8,  1853,  Hanover  was  taken  off  from  Center  I;y  the  Commissioners 
and  made  a  separate  township.  The  present  Center  t(i\vnshi]i  was  therefore 
left  as  it  now  is,  in  June.  1853. 

Hobart  township  was  at  first  formed  Septemlier  5.  1849,  '^^t  its  bound- 
aries were  slightly  changed  December  6,  1853,  and  the  township  then  included 
the  sections  as  sh(_iwn  in  the  county  map  in  "Lake  County,  1872,"  the  north 
part  not  extending  beyond  the  Little  Calumet  River.  March  9,  1883.  its  terri- 
torv  was  again  changed,  sections  i  and  2  in  township  35  being  given  to  it 
from  Ross  township  and  its  west  line,  running  on  the  west  side  of  section  2. 
was  extended  up  to  Lake  Alichigan,  its  east  lx)undary  line  following  the  county 
line  up  to  the  lake.     It  was  thus  made  fixe  miles  in  width  and  eight  miles  long. 

A  strip  five  miles  in  width,  on  the  west  side  of  the  old  North  township, 
was  then  made  a  new  division  of  the  county,  called  North  township:  and  !>e- 
tv.-ccn  that  and  the  new  township  of  Hobart,  a  strip  of  territory  six  miles  in 
width  e.xtending  from  the  north  line  of  township  35  to  Lake  Michigan,  was 
made  a  new  township  and  called  Calumet.  .\s  this  took  three  sections  away 
from  Ross,  the  village  of  Ross  is  no  longer,  as  it  originally  was,  in  Ross 
township. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  51 

Tlic  three  original  townships  of  the  criunty  liave  now   hecome  ele\'en, 
there  lia\'ing  been  no  other  clianges  since  1883. 


Red  Cedar  Lake  or  tlie  Lake  of  tlie  Red  Cedars,  or  as  more  commonly 
called  in  Lake  count}'  and  Ijy  the  railroad  officials,  plain  Cedar  Lake,  has  some 
interesting  special  history.  In  its  original  wildness  it  was  beautiful.  Job 
\\'orthington  of  Massachusetts,  \\ho  spent  a  summer  and  a  winter  there  in  1837 
and  1838.  said  years  afterwards  that  he  had  thought  of  it  by  day  and  dreamed 
of  it  by  night,  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful  ])laces  that  he  had  seen;  and  as  late 
as  1879  Colonel  S.  B.  Yeoman,  of  Ohio,  who  was  deciding  ujjon  a  line  of 
railroad  to  run  across  Lake  county,  is  reported  to  ha\e  said  that  whatever 
interests  in  other  parts  of  the  county  might  be  affected  by  the  location  to  be 
made.  Cedar  Lake  was  "too  beautiful  to  be  left  out.  promising  too  much  as 
a  pleasure  resort."  So  the  proposed  road  was  laid  on  the  west  side  of  the 
lake,  adding  nothing,  however,  to  its  laeauty,  and  a  ])leasure  resort  it  did 
indeed  become. 

Solon  Robinson  spoke  of  the  lake  as  being  in  1834  very  attractive  to 
claim-seekers.  Charles  Wilson  in  tb.at  summer  laid  a  claim  on  the  west  side, 
on  section  27.  This  soon  passed  into  the  bands  of  Jacob  L.  Brown,  and  l)v 
him  the  claim  was  transferred  to  Hervey  Ball  for  S300.  So  says  the  Claim 
Register,  date  July  18,  1837.  The  family  tradition  adds,  "in  gold."  This 
was  much  more  than  the  claim  was  worth,  but  it  was  then  considered  one  of 
the  most  desirable  locations  in  the  county.  For  some  twentv-three  years  this 
place  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Ball  family  and  was  one  of  the  nrom- 
inent  religious,  educational,  and  literary  centers  until  the  pioneer  da^-s  had 
ended.  Its  church,  its  school,  its  Sunday-school,  its  two  literary  societies, 
were  second  in  influence  to  none  in  the  county,  .\fter  the  first  settlers,  the 
Brown,  Cox.  Nordyke,  and  Batton  families  sold  their  claims,  the  neighbor- 
hood which  was  to  continue  for  many  years  was  formed  in  1838  by  the  f(;ur 
families  of  H.  Ball.  H.  Sasse,  Sr..  H,  Von  Hollen,  and  Louis  Herlitz:  and  of 
these,  the  last,  of  the  older  members  of  the  households,  known  as  Mrs.  H. 


52  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

\'an  Hollen,  lias  lately  passed  away,  eighty-seven  years  of  age  and  having 
lived  in  the  old  home  for  sixty-five  years.  Younger  members  of  the  Herlitz 
familv  vet  remain  nn  what  was  at  first  the  Xordyke  claim,  bought  from  that 
genuine  pioneer  sixty-fi\e  years  ago. 

On  the  east  side  nf  this  lake  claims  were  located  and  settlements  made 
in  1836  by  memliers  of  the  large  Taylor  families,  of  whom  the  men  then  in 
active  life  were  four.  Adonijah  and  Horace  Taylor,  brothers,  and  Dr.  Calvin 
Lillev  and  Horace  Edgerton,  sons-in-law  of  the  father,  Obadiah  Taylor,  tlien 
quite  an  aged  man.  Records  of  this  family  will  be  found  among  memorial 
sketches.  These  faiuilies  gave  considerable  attention  to  saw-mill  Iniilding  and 
to  fishing. 

On  the  southwest  side  of  the  lake  were  the  two  regular  fisherman  fam- 
ilies of  Lyman  i\Iann  and  Jonathan  Gray.  They  soon  left  that  side  of  the 
lake. 

A    PLE.\SURE    RESORT. 

From  tlie  very  first  of  the  settlements  in  the  county  this  lake  had  been  a 
favorite  place  to  visit  for  fishing  and  recreation  by  small  parties  from  the 
growing  neighborhoods ;  but  after  cars  commenced  running  on  the  new  road 
in  the  spring  of  1881,  that  it  would  become  a  large  pleasure  resort  was  evident. 

In  April,  1881,  Captain  Harper,  a  Lake  county  man.  who  had  learned 
to  manage  a  boat  on  Lake  ^Michigan,  put  a  small  sailing  vessel  on  this  lake. 
It  would  carry  about  twenty  passengers.  Excursion  trains  soon  commenced 
running,  many  row  boats  were  ])ut  on  the  lake,  man\-  improvements  to  accom- 
modate pleasure  seekers  followed,  a  se\en  hundred  dollar  steamer  was  put  on 
the  lake  in  1883,  and  one  worth  twelve  hundred  dollars  in  1884.  Other  sail 
Ixjats  also  came  into  use.  As  early  as  1884  about  two  hundred  boats  of  dififerent 
kinds  were  on  the  waters  of  this  lake,  and  from  three  to  fi\e  thousand  people 
would  sometimes  be  visiting  the  lake  in  the  same  week.  Since  then  build- 
ings have  been  erected  on  both  sides  of  the  lake  and  every  summer  there  are 
thousands  of  visitors.  Almost  entirely  in  these  later  years  has  that  Lake  of  the 
Red  Cedars  been  given  up  to  the  devotees  of  pleasure  in  the  summer  time. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  56 

and  in  the  winter  to  the  ice  Inisiness  when  busy  men  fill  the  Armoiu"  and  other 
large  ice  houses. 

REM.AIXS    OF    MAN. 

Before  taking  final  leave  of  this  lake  there  is  one  more  item  of  interest 
to  be  recorded.  On  the  first  day  of  October.  1880.  two  young  men.  Orlando 
Russell  and  Frank  Russell,  Cdmmcnced  excavations  for  a  mill  foundation. 
The  spot  thev  had  selected  was  a  lieautiful  grassy  knoll,  a  very  sunny  spot,  a 
few  feet  higher  than  the  sandv  lake  lieach.  sloping  slightly  in  e\'ery  direction. 
It  had  l)een,  the  summer  before,  a  camping  ground  for  many  days  and  nights 
of  a  pleasure  party,  who  did  not  dream  as  they  reposed  upon  that  turf,  what 
dust  was  slumbering  a  very  few  feet  beneath  their  heads. 

\\'hen  on  that  Octolier  morning  the  work  of  excavation  commenced  an 
unexpected  discovery  was  made.  It  was  found  that  the  top  of  that  mound 
was  artificial,  so  soon  as  the  surface  soil  was  removed,  and  as  the  ])low- 
share  cut  into  the  second  laver  of  earth  it  struck  a  mass  of  human  bones, 
evidently  entire  skeletons,  until  the  plow  reached  them,  of  human  Ijeings  and  in 
a  good  state  of  preservation.  As  many  as  twenty  skeletons  were  taken  out 
from  a  small  space  of  ground,  and  a  tree,  under  the  \ery  roots  of  which  some  of 
them  were  found,  gave  evidence  that  they  were  buried  there,  apparentlv  in 
one  promiscuous  heap,  two  hundred  years  ago. 

L.-\RGE  LAND  HOLDERS. 

In  1872,  about  twenty  years  after  railroads  began  to  cross  Lake  county, 
the  following  areas  of  land  were  held  liy  the  following  named  persons:  Non- 
residents of  the  county:  Dorsey  &  Cline.  atout  12.000  acres;  Forsyth,  8,000; 
G.  W.  Cass,  9,577;  J.  B.  Niles,  about  1.800;  Dr.  Hittle,  1,200;  D.  C.  Sco- 
field.  i.ooo.  Residents:  A.  N.  Hart.  15.000:  J.  W.  Dinwiddie  estate,  about 
3,500;   Wellington  A.  Clark.  1.320.     In  all,  53.500  acres. 

Calling  the  area  of  the  county,  wet  land  and  all,  five  hundred  sections,  the 
Claim  Register  says :  'This  county  contains  508  sections  of  land,  about  400 
of  w'hich  are  dry,  tillable  ground" — and  considering  each  section  to  contain 
640  acres,  there  are,  then,  in  the  county  320,000  acres ;   and,  according  to  the 


54  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

figures  given  aljove.  in  1872  the  representatives  of  onlv  ten  families  held  Due- 
sixth  part  of  the  area  of  the  county.  Tliirty  years  have  made  cpiite  a  change 
in  those  ten  families,  and  all  those  tracts  of  land  have  heen  more  or  less  divided 
up.  The  Lake  Agricultural  Company.  President  W.  R.  Shelby  of  Michigan, 
still  holds  cjuite  a  portion  of  the  G.  \\'.  Cass  land,  and  William  Xiles.  Esq.,  of 
La  Porte,  still  holds  quite  a  large  amount  of  the  J.  B.  Niles  land.  The  other 
tract  of  land  now  held  by  non-residents  lies  on  Lake  ^lichigan  cornering  on 
Tolleston.  comprising  about  4,000  acres.     Real  owners  unknown. 

Soldiers  of  Lake  County. 

Some  mention  is  justly  due,  beyond  what  has  yet  been  made,  of  the  men 
and  young  men,  some  of  them  scarcely  more  than  boys,  who  so  readily  left 
their  homes, 

"To  march  o'er  field  and  to  watch  in  tent," 
to  fight  for  their  country,  and  perhaps  to  die.     But  of  the  more  than  a  thou- 
sand that  probably  went  from  the  "Homes  of  Lake,"  and  of  the  two  hundred 
or  UT  ire  that  never  returned,  of  only  a  few  can  memorials  lie  recorded  here. 

There  are  on  one  Lake  county  roll,  taken  from  Volume  VIII  of  the  Ad- 
jutant General's  Report,  the  names  of  nineteen  who  died,  members  of  Com- 
pany G  of  the  Twelfth  Cavalry,  nineteen  who  were  members  of  Company  B 
of  the  Twentieth  Regiment;  of  twenty  who  were  in  Company  A,  Seventy- 
third  Regiment:  and  t\\enty  members  of  Company  A  of  the  Xinety-ninth 
Regiment. 

The  following  are  some  records  concerning  a  few.  Were  the  material 
ample  it  is  evident  that  some  selection  must  be  made  or  the  war  record  alone 
would  make  a  quite  large  volume. 

Colonel  John  Wheeler. — Born  in  Connecticut,  February  6,  1S25, 
spending  the  years  of  youth  and  early  manhood  in  Ohio,  married  in  1846  to 
Miss  Ann  C.  Jones,  a  daughter  of  John  D.  Jones,  himself  the  son  of  Johnson 
Wheeler,  who  was  the  father  of  seven  children,  in  1847  the  ^^'heeler  and  Jones 
families  becoming  residents  in  Lake  county,  the  home  of  John  Wheeler  was 
for  about  si.x  years  in  West  Creek  township.     In   1853  he  was  appointed  or 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  55 

elected  county  surveyor,  holding  the  office  for  three  years,  l-'or  the  next  four 
years  he  was  associated  with  Zerah  F.  Summers  in  editing  and  publishing  the 
Crown  Point  Register.  In  iS6i  he  raised  a  company  of  one  hundred  men, 
was  chosen  Captain,  his  company  becoming  a  part  of  the  Twentieth  Regiment 
of  Indiana  Volunteers.  February  i6,  1862,  he  was  commissioned  Major,  and 
in  March,  1863,  Colonel.  "In  July,  as  Colonel  of  the  Twentieth  Indiana  Regi- 
ment, he  led  his  veteran  troops  on  that  bloody  and  decisive  field  of  Gettys- 
burg, and  there  fell  on  July  2d  in  the  slaughter  of  that  terrible  conflict." 

Colonel  \\'heeler's  line  of  genealogy,  traced  backward,  is  the  following: 
His  father,  Johnson  Wheeler,  who  removed  from  Connecticut  to  Ohio  in 
1824,  and  who  became  a  resident  of  Lake  county  in  1847,  was  born  in  1797, 
and  was  the  son  of  Johnson  Wheeler,  born  in  1754,  who  was  a  son  of  Samuel 
Wheeler  and  Ruth  Stiles  WHieeler.  Ijorn  in  171 2.  who  was  a  son  of  John 
Wheeler,  born  in  1684,  who  was  a  son  of  John  Wheeler,  of  Woodbury,  who 
died  in  1704,  date  of  birth  not  known,  who  was  a  son  of  John  WHieeler,  who 
settled  in  Fairfield,  Connecticut,  in  1644,  and  had  resided  in  Conc(5rd  before 
1640,     Date  of  migration  from  England  not  known. 

Ruth  Stiles,  wife  of  Samuel  \Mieeler,  and  so  the  great-grandmother  of 
Colonel  \Mieeler,  was  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  Stiles,  of  which  New  England 
Stiles  family  Dr.  Stiles  of  Yale  College  was  a  member :  and  as  Dorcas  Burt, 
of  the  noted  Burt  family  of  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  in  1658  was  married 
to  John  Stiles  of  this  same  family  of  which  Dr.  Ezra  Stiles  was  a  member, 
the  probability  is  that  Ruth  Stiles  was  a  descendent  through  Dorcas  Burt  of 
Flenry  and  Eulalia  Burt,  who  came  from  England  also  "before  1640." 

To  one  who  traces  lines  of  genealogy,  it  is  singular  how  many  of  the 
earliest  New  England  families  have  been,  in  some  generation,  connected  by 
marriage.  And  that  those  first  early  families  should  have  intermarried  is 
natural.  One  line  from  that  same  Henry  and  Eulalia  Burt  goes  down  to 
that  noted  man.  Grover  Cleveland.  It  is  certain  that  there  were  eight  Burt 
daughters  who  were  married  and  had  many  descendants,  and  it  is  claimed  that 
there  were  eleven  sons.  No  man  can  choose  his  ancestry ;  and  no  man  can  be 
sure  of  what  sort  will  be  his  descendants. 


56  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Stillmax  a.  Robbins. — In  marked  contrast  with  the  foregoing  record 
of  one  who  liad  led  veteran  troops  in  brilhant  and  bloody  battles,  is  placed  a 
memorial  of  a  soldier  youth.  It  is  copied  from  a  publication  of  1864. 
"Died.  In  Huntsville.  Alabama,  July  18.  1864,  Stillman  A.  Robbins,  of 
Company  G,  Twelfth  Indiana  Cavalry,  aged  22  years  and  8  months.  There 
are  those  who  recollect,  a  few  years  ago,  a  bright  little  bqy,  deeply  interested 
in  mastering  that  key  to  knowledge,  the  magic  alphabet:  then,  in  early  boy- 
hood, leaving  the  sports  of  other  children,  and  stealing  away  by  himself  with 
his  favorite  books,  treasuring  with  care  a  neglected  Sunday-school  library; 
then  in  the  academy  the  attenti\-e  scholar,  winning  the  love  of  teachers  and 
classmates  by  obedience  and  politeness:  and  soon  again  in  the  business  of 
life  with  a  mechanical  taste  Ijecoming  a  skillful  engineer:  and  they  saw  in  the 
child,  the  boy,  and  the  man,  a  characteristic  nobleness,  manliness,  and  energy, 
that  e\'er  attracted  attention,  and  won  respect  and  love. 

"In  November,  1863,  when  returning  after  a  five  months'  absence,  the 
3^oung  engineer  finding  a  cavalry  company  recruiting  in  his  neighliorhood, 
after  spending  but  a  few  hours  under  his  parents"  roof,  enrolled  himself  as  a 
volunteer. 

"Soon  after  the  organization  of  the  regiment  he  was  detailed  as  clerk  in 
the  adjutant's  oflice.  where  he  soon  won  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all  the 
officers  in  the  regiment  by  his  attention  to  business  and  soldierly  conduct.  At 
Huntsville  he  was  again  detailed  as  chief  clerk  in  the  provost  marshal's 
office,  which  position  he  filled  for  a  month  with  great  credit,  when  he  was 
taken  with  a  fever  from  which  he  was  just  recovering,  when  a  hemorrhage 
suddenly  closed  his  career. 

"He  sleeps  where  'southern  vines  are  dressed  above  the  noljle  slain,"  none 
the  less  a  martyr  to  his  country  than  if  he  had  wrapped  his  colors  round  his 
breast  in  some  blood-red  field  of  battle;  and  there  is  no  nobler  grave  than 
that  of  a  patriot  soldier.  His  loss  was  deeply  felt  by  all  the  regiment — 'talk 
not  of  grief  till  you  have  seen  the  tears  of  warlike  men" — but  who  shall  speak 
of  the  loss  to  those  parents  who  had  given  up  their  two  brave  boys,  their  all, 
without  a  murmur,  to  their  countrv? — C.  Ball."" 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  57 

The  writer  of  the  record  just  copied  was  Lieutenant  Charles  Ball,  him- 
self a  member  of  tlie  Twelfth  Cavalry,  who  "was  detailed  to  serve  as  a  staff 
officer,  and  was  appointed  sergeant-major."  a  position  which  "kept  him  gen- 
erally at  the  headquarters  of  the  regiment." 

He  sent  to  his  Cedar  Lake  home  very  interesting  letters,  but  they  are  too 
lengthv  to  be  reproduced  here.  Some  of  them  are  in  a  publication  called 
"The  Lake  of  the  Red  Cedars." 

One  incident  only  will  be  given  here  of  his  many  experiences.  There  was 
assigned  to  him  at  Hnntsville  a  somewhat  dangerous  duty.  He  had  taken 
from  his  home  the  best  horse  for  cavalry  service  that  he  could  find,  a  good 
and  easv  trax-eller  and  \-ery  hardy.  "Mounted  on  this  hardy  and  faithful  ani- 
mal the  sergeant-major  started  from  the  headquarters  and  passed  out  of 
Hnntsville  alone  to  carrv  orders.  He  knew  not  what  moment  the  aim  of  a 
concealed  foe  would  be  upon  him,  but  proceeding  upon  a  gentle  gallop,  he 
slacked  not  rein  nor  did  his  trusty  steed  break  his  pace,  till  a  ride  of  about 
twenty  miles  was  accomplished."  It  had  not  the  excitement  of  Sheridan's 
famous  ride,  but  perhaps  it  was  more  dangerous. 

Miles  F.  ]\IcCartv. — Another  member  of  the  Twelfth  Cavalry  was 
Miles  F..  usually  called  Franklin.  McCarty.  He  was  the  third  son  of  Judge 
Benjamin  McCarty.  of  \^'est  Point,  a  member  of  a  pioneer  family  of  La  Porte. 
of  Porter,  and  of  Lake  counties.  He  was  talented  and  ambitious.  He  had 
capabilities  which  would  have  de\-eloped  nobly  under  favorable  circumstances, 
but  by  some  means  he  was  not  in  the  line  of  promotion.  He  was  taken  sick 
at  Nashville,  or  on  the  way  there:  and  died  at  Nashville.  May  27.  1864.  His 
death  was  more  than  usually  sad.  Four  members  of  Coinpany  G  died  at 
Nashville. 

George  \\'.  Edgertox. — Of  two  members  of  Company  B  who  fell  at 
Gettysburg  with  their  Colonel  on  that  bloody  field.  Jidy  2,  1863.  one  was 
George  W.  Edgerton,  a  member  of  a  true  pioneer  family  and  a  young  patriot 
soldier.  He  was  a  son  of  Amos  Edgerton,  a  grandson  of  Horace  Edgerton, 
and  was  connected  with  the  large  Taylor  family  of  pioneers  of  East  Cedar 


58  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Lake.  He  was  a  promising  youth,  and  his  loss,  like  that  of  thousands  of 
others,  was  a  great  grief  to  a  fond  mother  who  has  herself  long  since  passed 
to  the  peaceful  shore.  Her  son  fell  in  one  of  the  greatest  decisive  battles  of 
the  world. 

M.  Gr.wes. — Another  youth  \\hose  life  was  given  for  his  country  was 
M.  Graves,  son  of  Oi-rin  W.  Gra\es,  of  West  Creek.  He  was  a  member  of 
Company  A,  Seventy-third  Regiment,  and  died  at  Nashville,  December  i6. 
1862.  He  was  a  mild  and  pleasant  boy,  too  young  to  bear  the  exposures  of  a 
soldier's  life. 

Nashville  seems  to  have  been  a  fatal  place  for  our  soldiers.  The  record 
states  that  of  the  Seventy-third  there  died  at  Nash\-ille  Lewis  Atkins,  Novem- 
ber 22,  1862;  Eli  Atwood.  November  29,  1862:  E.  Woods.  November  29, 
1862;  Albert  Nichols,  December  i,  1862:  John  Childers,  December  3.  1862; 
William  Frazier.  December  15,  1862:  A.  Lamphier.  January  7,  1863;  James 
Roney,  February  8.  1863:  L.  ^Morris.  April  30,  1863:  T.  ^^'.  Loving,  Sep- 
tember 30,  1863;  of  the  Twelfth  Cavalry,  W.  M.  Pringle.  November  4.  1864; 
\\'illiam  Harland.  January  8,  1865;  William  Stinkle.  February  i.  1865;  be- 
sides M,  F.  McCarty  and  ]\L  Graves,  specially  named. 

Captain  Alfred  Fry. — Among  those  who  returned  from  ^Mexico  in 
1848  was  Alfred  Fry  of  Crown  Point,  fifteen  years  older  than  when  he  first 
became  a  soldier,  who  enlisted  as  a  private  July  26.  1862,  and  was  mustered 
into  the  service  of  the  L'nited  States  as  Orderly  Sergeant  of  Company  A, 
Seventy-third  Regiment  of  Indiana  Volunteers,  August  16,  1862.  September 
1st  of  the  same  year  at  Lexington,  Ky..  he  was  commissioned  Second 
Lieutenant  of  Company  A.  The  regiment  returning  to  Louisville  he  was  as- 
signed to  the  position  of  Brigade  Commissary.  December  2d  be  was  com- 
missioned First  Lieutenant  and  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Stone  River.  He 
was  under  fire  for  si.x  days.  January  19.  1863.  he  was  commissioned  Cap- 
tain of  Company  A.  His  regiment  was  assigned  to  Colonel  Streight's  brig- 
ade and  surrendered  in  "May.  1863.  in  that  disastrous  attempt  of  about  fifteen 
hundred  men  to  pass  through  North  .\labama  to  Rome,  in  Georgia.     Cap- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  59 

tain  Fry"?  narrative  of  the  treatment  the  otficers  of  the  Seventy-third  Regi- 
ment received,  after  they  had  surrendered  on  lionorable  conditions,  was  pub- 
lished in  full  in  "Lake  County,  1872,"  and  presents  a  very  dark  picture  of 
man's  inlninianity  to  man. 

For  one  vear  thev  endured  the  horrors  of  Libl)}-  Prison,  and  for  about 
one  more  year  were  removed  from  one  prison  pen  to  another.  Finally  they 
were  paroled,  February  14,  1865,  and  in  ]\Lirch  entered  the  Union  lines. 
Captain  Fry  was  in  a  few  weeks  exchanged,  returned  to  his  company,  then 
in  Alabama,  was  discharged  in  the  summer  with  his  regiment,  and  became 
again  a  resident  of  Crown  Point,  where  he  continued  to  live,  engaged  in  the 
peaceful  pursuits  of  life,  until  1873. 

Captain  John  AL  Foster. — Of  Company  G,  Twelfth  Cavalry,  Juhn  M. 
Foster  became  Captain,  promoted  from  First  Lieutenant.  His  brother,  Al- 
mon  Foster,  was  the  iirst  captain.  They  were  sons  of  Frederick  Foster,  of 
Crown  Point,  and  brothers  of  ]\Irs.  John  Pearce,  of  Eagle  Creek.  Unlike 
the  infantry  regiments,  the  Twelfth  Cavalry  was  sent  into  no  great  battles 
and  the  officers  and  men  had  no  opportunity  to  gain  promotion  through 
deeds  of  valor;  but  the  regiment  performed  a  large  amount  of  cavalry  ser- 
vice. Colonel  Karge,  of  the  Second  New  Jersey,  who  commanded  in  the 
course  of  the  war  several  different  regiments,  is  reported,  in  a  letter  written 
June  II.  1865,  to  have  said  that  the  Twelfth  Indiana  was  the  best  regiment 
he  ever  commanded. 

After  the  war  closed.  Captain  Foster  returned  to  Crown  Point  and  en- 
gaged again  in  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  business  life.  Sons  and  daughters 
grew  up  in  his  home.  He  was  a  worthy  citizen:  was  quite  successful  in 
business;  and  lived  tmtil  February,  1893,  rejoicing  in  the  prosperity  of  a 
united  nation. 

As  this  cavalry  regiment  gained  no  distinguished  war  honors,  as  the  in- 
fantry regiments  did,  it  seems  just  to  quote  a  few  statements  from  the  report 
of  the  Adjutant  General  of  Indiana,  see  Vol.  Ill,  showing  that  its  members 
accomplished  a  large  amount  of  soldier  work  in  various  wavs,  in  North  Ala- 


60  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

bama.  in  Tennessee,  in  Soutli  Alabama  and  Florida,  and  (j\er  n.iany  hundreds 
of  miles  of  southern  territory.  Out  from  Hnnts\ille  as  a  center  the  men 
"were  emjiloyed  \ery  extensively  in  fighting'  and  ridding  the  country  of  guer- 
rillas and  'bushwhackers."  in  which  numerous  skirmishes  and  engagements 
were  fought."  In  September,  1864,  the  regiment  was  removed  to  Tulla- 
homa,  Tennessee,  and  there  constantly  employed  against  General  Forrest's 
forces.  They  went  to  South  Alabama  and  into  Florida,  fighting,  skirmish- 
ing, doing  different  dut_\'  from  what  infantry  could  do.  "The  regiment  was 
highly  and  specially  complimented  by  IMajor  General  Grierson,  in  a  letter  to 
Governor  Morton,  for  its  gallant  conduct  and  military  discijiline."  No  one 
reading  the  full  report  of  the  Adjutant  General  could  reasonaljly  think  that 
the  members  of  Company  G  failed  to  do  their  duty.  As  to  what  to  do  a  sol- 
dier has  little  choice. 

Captain  D.xniel  F.  Sawyer. — Officers  as  well  as  men  in  the  ranks  fell 
victims  to  the  sickness  incident  to  camp  life  and  to  climate.  Daniel  F.  Saw- 
yer, the  first  captain  of  Company  A,  of  the  Ninety-ninth,  was  taken  sick  and 
died  in  Mississippi,  and  was  succeeded  in  command  by  K.  M.  Burnham.  Cap- 
tain Sawyer  was  from  Merrilh-ille,  and  his  body  was  lirought  home  and  laid 
away  to  sleep  in  the  INIerrillville  cemetery. 

Lieutenant  John  P.  Merrill. — One  of  the  sons  of  Dudley  ^Merrill,  of 
Merrillville,  John  P.  ^ilerrill  was  born  October  13,  1843.  I"  August,  1862, 
he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  of  the  Ninety-ninth  Regiment,  and  in  October, 
1864,  was  promoted  from  the  office  of  Sergeant  to  that  of  First  Lieutenant. 
He  returned  home  in  June,  1865,  and  became  a  merchant.  In  1867  be  was 
married  to  ]\Iiss  ?ilartba  T.  Randolph.  He  was  for  many  years  Trustee  of 
Ross  township,  and  at  lenglb,  having  been  elected  County  Treasurer,  lie  re- 
moved to  Crown  Point.  Spending  several  years  of  life  as  an  active,  useful 
citizen  of  Crown  Point,  he  died  there  suddenly  "at  5  o'clock  Sunday  evening, 
February  21,"  1897. 

Immediately  following  the  record  of  his  death  is  the  following  record : 
"Ca])tain  W.  S.  Babbitt  was  liorn  in  Vermont,  December  19,  1825.     When 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  61 

eleven  years  of  age  lie  went  to  sea.  Sailed  five  times  around  Cape  Horn  and 
made  three  voyages  on  a  whaling  vessel.  Came  to  Ross  township  in  1854. 
A\'as  a  soldier  in  our  army  in  that  great  conflict,  and  died,  at  Crown  Point, 
on  the  next  daw  Fehruary  22.  one  of  our  national  anniversary  days.  .\ge,  71 
years."  The  "next  da}-"  in  the  record  here  (|uoted  means  the  day  after  the 
death  of  Lieutenant  Merrill.  Like  him  he  was  Lieutenant  in  Company  B,  of 
the  Twentieth,  Init  was  transferred  to  Company  C  and  was  promoted  Captain. 
He  also  remo\ed  to  Crown  Point,  where  he  spent  with  his  family  the  later 
years  of  his  life.  He  did  not  forget  God  in  the  days  of  peace,  of  whom  he 
could  say  as  king  Davitl  once  said,  "Thou  hast  covered  my  head  in  the  day 
of  hattle."  hut  was  an  active  member  of  the  Methodist  E])iscopal  church. 

Such  are  a  few  brief  memorials  of  our  loyal  anil  gallant  soldier  dead. 
There  were  many  others,  perhaps  not  cjuite  so  well  and  widely  kncnvn  as 
these.,  who  were  e(|ually  dear  to  their  special  kindred  and  friends,  and  of 
these  others  a  small  xdIuuic  of  memorials  might  be  collected. 

Of  the  Twelfth  Cavalry  there  fell  in  battle  or  died,  at  Xew  Orleans. 
Henry  Brockman  and  .Sidney  W.  Chapman;  at  Kendalhille,  Charles  Croth- 
ers.  l'"red  Kable,  and  .Mliert  Moore;  at  Vicksburg,  Jacob  Deeter;  at  home,  R. 
L.  Indler,  !•'.  S.  ]\Iiller,  William  Stubby,  and  Ezra  Wedge;  at  .Starkxille. 
Ephraim  \\.  (ioff;  at  Huntsxille,  M.  Hoopendall;  at  ^lichigan  City.  A.  Mc- 
Millen :  making  with  those  elsewdiere  named  sixteen  of  whom  no  memorials 
are  here  given.      But  their  names  will  live  and  their  deeds  are  on  record. 

Of  the  Twentieth.  Company  B,  there  fell  in  battle  or  died,  Horace  Ful- 
ler, Wilderness;  Lawrence  Frantz,  Spottsylvania  ;  John  ( Iriesel,  David  Island; 

3.J.    Hafey,   I^ittsburg;    C.    Hazworth,   ;    William   Johnson,   Petersburg; 

Albert  Kale,  Camp  Hampton;  William  Mutchler,  Camp  Smith;  P.  Mutch- 
ler.  Washington;    James  !\lerrill,   Wilderness;    S.  Pangburn,  Anderson\-ille; 

C.  Potter, ;    D.  Pinkerton,  ;    J.   Richmond,  Gettysburg;    John  !•". 

Farr.  Washington;  Isaac  Williams,  Charles  Winters,  City  Point.  Sexenteen 
names  without  memorials. 

Of  the  Seventy-Uiird,  Company  A,  the  names  not  already  given  in  the 


62  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Nashville  list  are  these :  John  H.  Easley,  Stone  River ;  R.  W.  Fuller,  Indi- 
anapolis :  J.  j\I.  Fuller.  Gallatin :  I.  \\'.  Moore.  ^I.  Vincent,  Gallatin ;  John 
INIaxwell,  Scottsville;   C.  Van  Burg,  Bowling  Green;   E.  \\'elch,  Stone  River: 

5.  ^^'hite,  Blount's  Farm.  Nineteen  names  in  all,  of  this  company,  with  no 
memorial  sketch. 

Of  the  Ninety-ninth,  Company  A,  the  names  are:  O.  E.  Atkins,  D.  T. 
Burnham;  J.  Bartholomew  and  H.  H.  Haskins  at  Andersonville;  J.  D. 
Clinghan  at  Huntsville :  H.  A.  Case  at  La  Grange;  James  Foster  and  James 
Horton  at  Atlanta :  R.  T.  Harris  and  T.  C.  Pinnel  at  La  Grange:  John  Lorey, 
Adam  Mock,  N.  Newman,  at  Black  River:  Corydon  Pierce  at  \^■ashington ; 
Albert  Robbins,  a  lirother  of  Stillman  Robbins  of  the  Twelfth,  dying  August 

6,  1864;  J.  Schmidt,  Indianapolis;  and  J.  Stickleman,  A.  \"andervert.  and 
M.  Vv'inand,  the  last  one  dying  "at  home,"  December  11,  1864.  Of  this  com- 
panv  are  also  nineteen  names. 

Seventy-one  names  are  thus  here  given  following  the  ele\'en  mem()rial 
sketches.     Patriot  soldiers  all. 

This  writer  gives  no  sketches  of  the  living. 

A  soldier's  monument. 

In  1903  the  citizens  of  the  three  southern  townships.  Eagle  Creek, 
Cedar  Creek,  and  \\'est  Creek,  inchuling  as  quite  central  the  town  of  Lowell, 
determined  to  erect  a  monument  to  perpetuate  on  lasting  stone  the  names,  if 
not  all  the  deeds,  of  their  brave  sons  who  engaged  in  the  great  conflict  which 
commenced  in  1861. 

It  is  understood  that  the  monument  is  to  cost  three  thousand  dollars,  tlie 
money  mostly,  perhaps  all,  raised  by  the  efforts  of  the  public-spirited  w^omen 
of  those  townships.     It  is  to  stand  on  the  public  square  at  Lowell. 


I 


--iSCW 


SOLON  ROBINSON 


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i«  il«!tod  t<r»le  offitu  of   ^^%'.   <    '-■      ///.    r^.'.-iit'      r!./,'-  I,.,  ilK   .i.ui.lj  .11      ' 

r«USJUUejt»  «.ro  n*  VE.   That  in  tht'  n;.i»<'  i^nWhr^li'    ...iIIi.imIv  nl   Ih.   ...mI    -li.lr.    I  ,l,i  hc-n-hy  colunu^'M>u  bim, 
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I.N  TESTIMONY  WlIEtKOI-,  I  h;,>.-  I„  ,.,o, i    l,.„i,l.  aad  cau.e<l  lo  bi-  affixed  | 

theaealof  th'- ilnt.'.M  lndiaiAi.l.«  tht    /  ,-    '<v.  ,  -!<vot    ,.   i^/J^, 

III  Ihf-  1.  u-  of  ..111-  Ui»d  unt.  tfti.-  mil  i  (L  If   lii.ii.liiil  im.l  Unit  v    .    .  /  /-.  tho 

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SOLON  ROBINSON'S  COMMISSION 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY, 


03 


CHAPPTER    III. 

Memorial  Sketches  of  Early  Settlers. 

Note. — I  propose  not  to  arrange  these  in  alphabetical  order,  aUhuugh  that 
order  is  very  convenient  for  a  reader  if  there  is  no  index ;  nor  yet  alto- 
gether in  chronological  order;  but  rather  in  an  order  in  which  one  name 
seems  to  suggest  another. — T.  H.  B. 

There  is  much  material  for  memorial  sketches  of  some  of  the  earl\-  resi- 
dents of  Lake  county,  those  who  are  called  its  pioneer  settlers:  there  is  scantv 
material  for  biographies  of  others.  Some  men  ha\e  written  their  names  in  a 
bold  hand,  like  the  name.  John  Hancock,  on  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
w  ithin  the  history  and  across  the  history  of  Lake  county. 

Among  these  is  the  name.  SoLox  Robinson.  He  was  born  in  Connecti- 
cut, October  21,  1803.  And  the  more  closely  one  studies  the  biographical 
history  of  Lake  county.  Indiana,  so  much  the  more  fully  he  will  see  that  Lake 
county,  like  many  other  portions  of  this  Union,  owes  verv  much,  for  its  intelli- 
gence and  enterprise,  to  New  England  blood  and  New  England  training.  Of 
the  earlier  life  of  Solon  Robinson,  of  his  education  and  his  experiences,  not 
much  is  now  known.  He  left  his  native  State  rather  early  in  life,  and  from 
which  of  the  larger  Robinson  families  he  was  descended  tloes  not  seem  to  be 
known,  but  in  May,  1828,  he  was  married  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  not  long 
after  became  a  citizen  of  Indiana,  first  at  Madison,  and  then  in  Tennings 
county,  at  a  place  called  Rock  Creek.  What  business  pursuits  he  followed 
seems  to  be  also  unknown.  In  October,  1834,  in  a  conveyance  drawn  by 
oxen,  ha\-ing  one  extra  wagon  or  more  to  convey  the  household  goods,  he 
came  with  his  wife  and  two  young  children,  and  probalily  two  young  men, 
Jerome  Curtis  and  J.  B.  Curtis,  over  that  long  line  of  road  that  was  then 
leading  up  into  Northwestern  Indiana.  The  road  way.  except  Indian  trails, 
ended  in  Porter  county ;   but  he  found  there  Jacob  Huriburt  to  guide  him  to 


64  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

tlie  newly  surveyed  land  lying"  yet  further  west.      Just  before  sunset  October 
31,  1834.  this  leader  of  migration  with  his  ])arty,  having  crossed,  what  was  to 
him  and  to  them  a  wonderful  sight,  a  beautiful  lielt  of  prairie,  reached  some 
skirting  woodland.      The  next  morning  he  concluded  to  locate  there  his  future 
home,  and  from  that  November  morning  tuitil  about  1850  his  name  is  quite 
closely  interwo\en  with  all  that  followed  in  the  settlement  and  growth.      So 
fully  was  he  concerned  in  the  afifairs  of  the  young  county  that  he  was  called 
the  Squatter  King  of  L.\ke.      He  made  a  map  of  the  cijunty,  showing,  be- 
sides other  features,  what  was  prairie  and  what  was  woodland,  he  secured  the 
organization  of  the  Squatters'  L'nion,  July  4,  1836,  and  was  elected  the  first 
Register  of  claims.      [That  old  Claim  Register  is  now  in  my  possession:   also 
a  copy  of  the  Robinson  maj),  probably  the  only  cojjy  now  in  Lake  county. — 
T.  H.  B.]      He  was  an  early  Justice  of  the  Peace,  was  the  first  postmaster  in 
the  county,  was  elected  the  first  County  Clerk,  and,    with    his    brother  Milo 
Robinson,  opened  the  first  settlers"  store  in  the  county.      He  secured  the  loca- 
tion of  the  county  seat  at  Crown  Point  in  1840.      He  was  fond  of  writing  and 
had  quite  an  agricultural  turn  of  nn'nd.      He  commenced  writing  for  tlie  Culti- 
vator, at  least  as  early  as  1837.     In  1838  he  proposed  the  organization  of  an 
"American  .Society  of  Agriculture."      In  1841  he  .sent  out  an  address  to  the 
farmers  of  the  United  States,  through  the  columns  of  the  Cultivator.      The 
journeys  wdiich  he  took  over  the  country  in  behalf  of  his  plan  cannot  be  de- 
tailed here.      His  efforts  probably  led  on  to  the  Grange  movement.     He  also 
wrote  stories,  such  as  "The  Will."  "The  Last  of  the  Bufi'aloes,"  "Hot  Corn," 
"Green  Mountain  Girls,"  and  others.     He  was  connected  for  a  time  with  the 
New  York  Tribune.     He  went  at  length  to  Florida  and  there  died  in   1880. 
His  older  daughter,  Mrs.  Strait,  grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren,  re- 
side   in    Crown    Point,    and,  like  him,  have  talent  and  intelligence,  and,  like 
him,  some  of  them  hold  otTice, 

George  Earle  was  born  in  Falmouth,  England,  date  of  birth  not 
known.  He  became  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and  came  to  the 
town  of  Liverpool,  on  Deep  Ri\er,  in  1836.      That  (ince  noted  town  was  on 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  65 

land  selected  under  an  Indian  float.  ] 'resident  Andrew  Jackson,  in  June, 
]836,  - — see  co])y  of  patent  in  tiie  county  Recorder's  office — conveyed  to  John 
B.  Chapman  one  section  of  land.  George  Earle  was  talented  like  Solon  Rob- 
inson. He  was  a  cultivated  Englishman.  He  had  means.  He  did  not  be- 
come a  squatter.  He  soon  liecame  prominent  among  the  settlers.  He  began 
to  secure  Indian  lands.  He  sought  for  the  location  of  the  county  seat  at  Liv- 
erpool in  1840,  but  in  this  was  not  successful.  After  the  location  at  what 
Solon  Robinson  had  named  Lake  Court  House,  he,  with  Solon  Robinson, 
named  the  place  Crown  Point,  a  name  which  he  evidently  suggested.  He 
was  appointed  immediately  County  Agent  and  performed  well  the  duties  as- 
signed to  him  in  that  relation.  He  continued  for  a  time  to  improve  his  town 
of  Liver[X)ol,  Ixtught  more  lancl.  securing  at  length  in  that  ])art  of  the  county 
some  ten  or  twelve  sections.  He  commenced  building  a  mill,  at  what  Ijecame 
the  town  of  Hobart,  in  1845,  removed  with  his  family,  a  wife  and  one  son,  to 
that  place  in  1847.  Laid  out  the  town  in  1848.  In  1854  he  returned  to 
Philadelphia,  leaving  his  son,  John  Earle,  now  considered  a  millionaire  in 
Chicago,  to  manage  the  interests  in  Lake  county.  He  returned  to  England, 
for  a  visit,  in  1855,  again  in  1865,  and  yet  again  in  1868.  He  caused  to  be 
erected  there  a  home  for  tiie  ])oor  and  aged  of  his  native  town,  which  cost 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  and  this  he  gave  to  the  town.  He  also  visited  Lake 
county,  erected  an  art  gallery  in  Hobart  in  1858,  and  placed  upon  the  walls 
about  three  hundred  pictures  which  he  himself  had  painted  in  Philadelphia. 
It  was  said  of  him  in  1872:  "He  is  tall  in  person,  dignified  and  courteous  in 
manners,  manifesting  the  Ijearing  of  an  American  anrl  English  gentleman." 
His  name  is  fully  written  in  the  early  history  of  the  county,  and  his  influence 
will  long  be  felt. 

Bexjamin  McCarty.  The  third  competitor  for  the  county  seat  in  1840, 
may  well  be  named  next.  His  individuality  was  as  marked  and  distinct  as  was 
that  of  the  other  two.  Like  theirs  his  family  influence  in  the  county  yet  re- 
mains. The  place  of  his  birth,  the  time  of  his  birth,  his  lineage,  are  alike  un- 
known.    He  is  first  found,  having  come  from  an  older  county  in  Indiana,  as 


66  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

■the  acting  sheriff  of  La  Porte  county  in  1832.  As  Probate  Judge  he  solem- 
nized marriages  there  in  1833  and  1834.  In  1836,  having  chosen  in  Porter 
county  a  central  position,  he  secured  there,  on  his  land,  the  location  of  the 
Porter  county  seat.  Xot  satisfied  to  remain  tliere  he  came  with  his  large  fam- 
ily into  Lake  county,  obtained  what  was  known  as  the  Lilley  place,  where  had 
been  a  hotel  and  a  store,  laid  out  a  town,  named  it  West  Point,  and,  in  1840, 
made  effort  to  secure  the  Lake  county  seat.  In  this  he  failed.  He  was  not  in 
the  geographical  center,  as,  ver_\-  nearly,  Solon  Robinson  was.  His  oldest  son, 
E.  S.  McCarty,  reopened  the  store  and  also,  in  1840.  made  brick,  putting  uji 
the  first  brick  kiln  burned  in  the  county.  Changes  in  population  took  jilace 
and  Judge  McCarty  remo\ed  to  the  prairie  a  few  miles  south,  Iiought  what  is 
now  the  Hill  place,  and  became  a  farmer.  He  had  six  sons.  E.  Smilex'.  Wil- 
liam Pleasant.  Franklin.  Fayette  .\sb.ury,  Morgan,  Jonathan,  and  two  daugh- 
ters. Hannah  and  Candace.  He  had  for  bis  older  sons  some  of  the  finest 
saddle  horses  then  in  the  county.  His  home  at  West  Point  was  a  center  in 
1840  for  religious  meetings,  and,  for  a  short  time,  for  a  literary  society. 
Some  of  bis  sons  were  teachers  in  the  jniblic  schools.  Until  bis  death  the 
family  influence  was  large,  but  after  that  the  family  scattered,  one  si_in  only 
remaining  in  the  countv.     Some  of  his  descendants  are  living  in  Creston. 

judge  McCarty  was  friendly,  intelligent,  a  man  who  knew  something  oi 
frontier  life  before  be  reached  Lake  county,  and  was  a  man  of  good  position 
in  social  life.     Of  those  who  knew  him  intimately  none  are  living  now. 

Dr.  H.  D.  Palmer  is  considered  to  ha\e  been  the  first  graduate  or  regu- 
lar physician  of  the  county.  He  was  a  graduate  of  a  medical  college  in  Fair- 
field, New  York,  in  1834,  and  in  the  winter  of  1836  he  located  as  a  physician 
two  miles  west  of  the  present  town  of  ]\Ierrill\illc.  He  also  commenced  farm- 
ing life,  combining  the  two  very  successfully.  He  did  yet  more.  He  was  elected 
Associate  Judge  in  1838.  and  held  this  office  with  Judge  Clark  and  afterward 
with  Judge  Samuel  Turner  for  about  thirteen  years.  It  is  said  that  twice  in 
this  term  of  years,  in  the  absence  of  the  presiding  judge,  he  conducted  the  en- 
tire business  of  the  court.     Ordinarily  the  associate  judges  of  those  years  did 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  67 

\ery  little  real  court  l:iisiness.  Tlic}-  were  not  expected  to  be  thor(^^lt;i^ly 
versecl  in  law.  Their  judgnient  was  consulted  on  matters  between  man  and 
man.  In  1841  Dr.  Palmer  erected  the  first  frame  dwelling  house  in  that  part 
of  the  county.  As  a  physician  his  rides  extended  from  D}-er  to  H<ibart  and 
Lake  Station.  His  most  extensixe  practice  was  in  the  years  between  1850 
and  i860.  He  continued  his  farming  life  and  in  connection  with  Solon  Rob- 
inson brought  the  first  Berkshire  pigs  to  Crown  Point. 

He  was  twice  married,  .\fter  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  who  was  the 
mother  of  one  son  and  one  daughter,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Catherine  Lender- 
wood,  a  sister  of  John  L'nderwood,  the  poet  of  Lake  county.  Miss  Hattie 
Palmer,  druggist  at  Hebron,  is  one  of  her  daughters,  and  the  other  is  Mrs. 
Alice  Feiler,  of  Winfield.  Both  share  in  the  Palmer  and  Underwood  talent. 
Mrs.  Palmer  lives  at  Hebron  with  her  daughter.  Dr.  Palmer  Iniilt  a  fine 
country  residence  on  his  farm  about  1870. 

In  this  home  of  intelligence  and  of  abundance  was  brought  up  an  ado]:)ted 
son.  Dr.  S.  W.  Johns,  the  son  of  J.  V.  Johns,  the  latter  elected  Sheriff  in 
1839,  a  young  pioneer  from  Philadelphia  as  early  as  1836,  who  possessed  an 
excellent  counting-house  education.  His  name  soon  disappears  from  the 
early  records,  and  it  is  supposed  that  he  had  Imt  little  opportunity  to  use  his 
good  abilities.  But  the  son,  S.  W.  Johns,  studied  medicine  in  Dr.  Palmer's 
office,  settled  as  a  physician  at  Dyer,  was  jirosperous  in  his  practice,  and,  in 
the  midst  of  his  life  of  usefulness,  was  unexpectedly  called  away  from  the  ac- 
ti\-ities  of  life,  leaving  a  wife.  Mrs.  Johns  of  Dyer,  and  a  young  daughter. 
Katie  Johns,  now  residents  of  Zion  City. 

John  Wood  came  into  this  region,  looked  over  the  land,  and  made  a 
claim  in  1835.  He  spent  one  night,  in  making  examination  of  land,  with  Dr. 
Ames,  of  }ilichigan  City,  and  three  or  four  others,  in  the  cabin  of  Jessie  Pierce 
on  the  bank  of  Turkey  Creek.  His  visit  thus  affording  evidence  that  Jesse 
Pierce  was  a  settler  there  as  early  as  1835.  Joh"  Wood  was  a  native  of  east- 
ern Massachusetts.  He  returned  home  and  came  with  his  family  in  1836, 
leaving  Michigan  City  on  July  4th  of  that  year.     "He  found  that  during  his 


68  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY. 

absence  General  Tipton  of  Fort  W'ayiie,  United  States  senator,  had  laid  a  float 
upon  his  claim  in  the  name  of  Indian  Ouashma."     The  land  was  suitable  for 
a  mill  seat,  and  so  according  to  law  or  usage  was  not  properly  subject  to  an 
Indian  float.     But  the  float  had  been  laid  and  laid  by  a  senator;   the  location 
was  very  much  wanted  by  the  claimant,  and  so  he  purchased  the  land  from  the 
Indian,  paving  him  for  the  quarter  section  one  thousand  dollars,  instead  of 
])aving  to  the  Governmerit.  as  he  had  exiiected,  two  hundred  dollars.     The 
deed  with  Ouashma's  signature  must  still  be  in  the  possession  of  some  of  the 
Wood  family.     In  1837  a  ^aw  mill  was  erected  there,  and  in  a  year  or  two 
more  a  grist  mill,  which  for  some  years  did  a  large  amount  of  grinding  for 
the  farmers  of  both  Lake  and  Porter  counties.     The  place  was  soon  known 
as  \\'ood"s  Mill,  but  its  proper  name  now  is  W'oodvale.     The    Wood    family 
home,  at  first  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  ( where  also  the    family    cemetery 
now  is),  but  in  a  few  years  remo\ed  to  the  west  side  of  that  river,  was  a  very 
pleasant  home  for  the  children  that  grew  up  there,  and  for  friends  who  visited 
there. 

The  fotinders  of  that  home  have  passed  away,  but  a  large  flottring  mill 
is  stifl  where  the  Indian  float  was  laid,  and  in  W'oodvale.  in  Hobart,  and  in 
Valparaiso,  are  many  descendants  to  show  the  results  in  character  and  l:)usi- 
ness  life  of  the  A\'ood  family  of  Massachusetts. 

While  genuine  pioneers  they  never  l^ecame  "squatters."  as  they  located 
in  1836.  three  years  before  the  Land  Sale,  not  on  Government  land,  but  on 
land  purchased  from  an  Indian.  Xot  man\-  "floats"  were  located  in  Lake 
county,  but  there  were  a  few  that  caused  to  white  settlers  considerable  dis- 
appointment. The  line  of  descent  of  this  family,  gnes  back  to  Moses  Wood, 
born  in  1748.  who  had  three  sons  and  eight  daughters,  the  youngest  of  the 
eleven  children  being  John  Wood,  liorn  October  28,  1800,  and  then  to 
Nathan  Wood,  born  in  1721.  and  then  to  Jacob  \\"ood,  the  date  of  whose 
birth  is  not  exactly  known.  He  was  probably  the  second  of  the  line  born  in 
America.  One  of  the  nine  children  of  Xathan  \\"ood.  son  of  Jacob  Wood, 
was   named   Sarah,  and  two   dates   are    found    for   her  birth.      The   one   is 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 


6 'J 


October  jth,  tlie  otlier  October  21st.  of  1750.  As  Xew  Style  commenced 
in  England  in  1752  tbe  3d  of  September  of  that  year  being  called  by  Act  of 
Parliament  the  14th  day,  the  change  from  Old  Style  to  New  may  have  led 
to  some  confusion  in  the  Wood  family  record.  The  7th  of  October  O.  S. 
would  properly  have  been  October  i8th  N.  S.  No  child  was  born  in  Old 
England  or  Xew  between  September  3d  and  September  14th,  in  1752,  as 
no  such  days  e.xisted  in  English  records  and  history. 


Hervey  Ball,  a  descendant  of  Francis  Ball,  of  West  Springfield,  Mas- 
sachusetts, of  Jonathan  Ball,  born  in  T645,  of  Benjamin  Ball,  1689.  of 
Charles  Ball,  1725,  of  Lieutenant  Charles  Ball.  1760,  was  born  in  the  old 
town  of  West  Springfield,  now  Holyoke,  October  16,  1794.  He  was  a 
graduate  of  Middlebury  College,  Vermont,  of  the  year  18 18,  studied  law  in 
Vermont  for  two  years,  and  in  1820  made  his  first  home  in  Columbia  county, 
Georgia,  a  member  of  what  was  called  the  Augusta  Bar.  Here  he  practiced 
law  till  1834,  and  was  for  a  time  Colonel  of  a  cavalry  compairy  and  attended 


70  HISTORY  OF  LARK  COUNTY. 

the  musters  of  tlie  Georgia  state  militia.  lia\ing  always  fine  horses  in  his 
possession. 

In  1836  he  was  at  City  West  in  Porter  county,  Indiana,  laying  out  town 
lots  as  surveyor  for  a  company  who  were  proposing  to  start  a  city.  In  the 
spring  of  1837  he  brought  his  famih-  from  Massachusetts  to  City  West; 
but  in  July  he  bought  a  claim  at  the  Red  Cedar  Lake  in  Lake  C(iunt}-,  and 
before  the  year  1S37  closed  the  family  settlement  had  there  been  fully  made. 
Through  the  remainder  oi  his  life,  now  torty-tb.ree  years  of  age  and  a  retired 
lawyer,  he  gave  much  attention  to  farming  and  to  keeping  honey  bees  and 
raising  some  choice  domestic  animals.  He  held  for  some  time  the  office 
of  County  Surveyor,  also  of  Probate  Judge,  and  in  his  later  years  was  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace.  He  was  Clerk  of  the  Cedar  Lake  Baptist  church.  Super- 
inten.dent  of  the  Sabbath  school  at  the  feke  for  many  years.  Clerk  and  also 
^Moderator  of  the  Northern  Indiana  Baptist  Association,  and  a  trustee  of 
Franklin  College.  In  his  college  and  in  his  professional  life  he  had  mingled 
to  quite  a  large  extent  with  the  gay.  and  the  busy,  and  the  culti\'ated,  was 
familiar  with  leading  men  of  Georgia,  and  knew  what  life  was  among  the 
wealthy  planters  of  that  day.  The  results  of  his  New  England  training 
and  of  his  Southern  professional  life  were  of  large  benefit  to  his  children 
and  the  young  people  connected  with  them ;  and  bis  home  became  and  con- 
tinned  to  be  for  se\'eral  vears  a  religious,  an  educational,  a  literar}-,  and  a 
social  center.  Ministers  of  different  denominations  found  there  a  welcome, 
and  the  home  was  aiwa}s  full  of  health fr.l  life.  The  Puritanic  and  the  true 
\\'estern  spirit  blended  \\eH  together.  The  family  library  was  cjuite  large, 
large  for  pioneer  days,  and  periodicals,  agricultural  and  political,  literary 
and  religions,  found  their  way  to  the  home  in  ribundance,  so  that  the  seven 
children  and  tlieir  classmates  and  visitors  all  were  readers.  Judge  Hervey 
Ball  lived  thirty  years  m  Lake  count)-,  liuilding  up  good  institutions,  and 
died  on  bis  farm  October  13.  1868. 

Lewis  \\'.\rrixi:u  was  Ixirn  in  West  Springfield,  [Massachusetts,  in  the 
south  parish,  now  the  town  of  Agawam,  in  June.  1792.     He  was  a  member 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  71 

of  an  old  and  well  established  Massachusetts  family,  the  line  running  back 
through  several  generatidus.  Coming  from  the  same  town  as  did  the  Ball 
family  and  in  die  same  year,  he  settled  on  a  claim  on  the  southeast  side  of 
the  same  beautiful  lake,  Xovember  9,  1837. 

He  had  represented  his  native  town  four  times  in  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature  and  had  filled  other  positions  of  honor  and  trust  in  his  native 
state. 

In  that  sickly  season  of  1838  much  of  the  light  and  joy  departed  from 
his  home  in  the  persons  of  his  wife  and  young  daughter;  but  the  father, 
two  sons  and  a  daughter,  older  than  the  other  yet  only  a  child  herself,  still 
kept  up  their  frontier  home  with  courage  and  with  hope.  In  this  same  year 
a  postoffice  was  established  at  this  home,  Lewis  Warriner  postmaster,  the 
second  or  third  one  in  the  county,  and  this  position  he  held  till  1849.  I" 
1852  he  was  re-appointed  and  held  the  office  till  1856.  In  1839  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Indiana  Legislature;  he  took  the  United  States 
census  of  the  county  in  1840;  and  was  again  elected  representative  in  1848. 

He  was  one  of  the  constituent  members  of  the  Cedar  Lake  Baptist 
church  in  June.  1838,  he  and  his  wife  having  both  Ijcen  members  of  the 
Agawam  Baptist  church  in  Massachusetts.  It  was  said  of  him  that  "as  a 
man  he  always  commanded  the  highest  respect  and  confidence  of  his  neigh- 
bors and  acquaintances  in  all  the  walks  of  life,  both  public  and  jirivate,  and 
was  always  ready  to  give  his  intluence  and  support  for  every  object  tend- 
ing to  benefit  or  improve  his  fellow-man;"  and  that  "as  a  Christian  he  was 
active  and  sincere,  both  in  his  church  duties  and  in  his  every-day  life  and 
examples,  the  influences  of  which  were  felt  and  acknowledged  by  bis  neigh- 
bors and  associates." 

He  lias  no  children  living,  but  some  grandchildren  and  great-grand- 
children are  yet  active  in  this  busy  world.  He  himself  died  in  .Arkansas, 
May  14,  i86g,  almost  seventy-seven  years  of  age. 

He  acted  at  one  time  as  literary  critic  of  that  once  noted  organization, 
the  Cedar  Lake  Belles  Lettres  Society,  of  wdiich  his  daughter  and  one  son 


72  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

were  members,  to  whicli  Society  Solon  Robinson  gave  one  of  his  charac- 
teristic addresses;  and  probably  no  better,  no  more  judicious  literary  critics 
have  since  been  in  the  county  than  were  Judge  Hervey  Ball  and  Hon.  Lewis 
Warriner.     Their  work  in  that  line,  as  in  many  others,  will  never  die. 

Henry  Wells  was  another  native  of  Massachusetts  who  passed  a  long 
and  active  life  m  Lake  county.  His  name  stands  among  the  earliest  inhab- 
itants of  Crown  Point.  He  held  office  as  Sheriff  for  many  years,  and  was 
for  eight  years  County  Treasurer,  and  was  also  Swamp  Land  Commissioner. 
Four  of  his  sisters  also  became  residents  of  Crown  Point,  !\lrs.  Russel  Eddy, 
Mrs.  Olive  Eddy,  Mrs.  Sanford,  and  Mrs.  Gillingham.  He  lived  to  be 
quite  an  aged  man  and  to  see  many  changes.  His  two  sons  are  Rodman 
H.  Wells  and  Homer  Wells,  and  one  daughter  is  yet  living,  Mrs.  S.  Clark. 

William  N.  Sykes  is  a  name  that  was  prominent  in  what  are  known 
sometimes  as  the  squatter  records,  as  early  as  1836.  He  who  bore  that  name 
was  a  man  "of  fine  appearance,  neat  in  dress  and  person,  gentlemanly  in 
bearing,  intelligent,  and  possessing  a  native  refinement  of  mind."  He  was 
a  descendant  of  an  ancient  English  family,  some  of  whom  had  been  Quakers 
or  Friends  since  the  days  of  that  noted  man  known  as  Fox.  He  was,  him- 
self, a  native  of  New  Jersey.  Circumstances  brought  him  at  different  times 
to  the  home  of  the  Ball  family  at  the  lake  so  that  he  became  to  them  quite 
well  known.  He  was  appointed  County  Surve}'or  in  May,  1837.  He  was 
afterward  one  of  the  County  Commissioners.  His  active  life  was  cut  short 
by  death  in  1853.  He  was  never  married.  His  burial  place  is  in  the  Merrill- 
ville  Cemetery.  There  is  one  monument  to  his  memory,  and  here  is  another ; 
that  one  erected  by  his  kindred,  this  one  written  by  his  once  young  friend. 

Samuel  Turner,  of  Scotch-L-ish  descent,  v.-as  born  in  County  Tyrone, 
Ireland,  in  March,  1782.  He  was  married  at  Gettysburg  in  18 10,  came  to 
LaPorte  county  in  1833.  selected  a  location  on  Eagle  Creek  in  1838,  and 
became  there  a  permanent  settler  of  Lake  count}-  in  1839.  Other  settlers 
near  him  at  that  time  were,  D.  Sarjeant,  John  Moore,  A.  D.  McCord,  George 
Smith,  A.  Goodrich,  Mrs.  Mary  Dilley. 


DAVID  TURNER 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  73 

Samuel  Turner  was  soon  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  about  1842 
Associate  judge.  The  following  statement  is  quoted:  "For  several  years 
there  was  no  cabinet  shop  nearer  than  Valparaiso,  and  having  learned  the 
use  of  carpenter  tools  he  was  called  on  to  make  all  the  coffins  used  in  the 
neighborhood,  frequently  taking  lumber  from  the  chamber  floor  of  his  cabin 
for  that  purpose,  and  always  without  any  charge."  His  residence  in  the 
county  was  brief.  Kind  and  obliging,  useful,  respected,  and  honored  in  the 
new  community  which  he  was  helping  to  shape,  he  died  in  1847.  His  wife 
and  children  remained  to  carry  on  the  grand  work  of  building  up  a  virtuous 
community. 

David  Turner,  a  son  of  Judge  Samuel  Turner,  having  held  several 
public  positions  in  Lake  county,  may  himself  well  be  classed  among  the  pio- 
neers. He  was  born  in  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  in  December,  1816;  came 
from  Pennsyhania  with  the  family  to  LaPorte  county;  was  one  of  the 
"young  people"  who  held  the  Eagle  Creek  claim  in  the  winter  of  1838;  and 
was  married  to  Miss  Caroline  Bissell  in  1844.  He  began  early  in  life  to 
hold  office.  He  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace  to  succeed  his  father  about 
1842.  He  was  elected  Probate  Judge  in  1849,  State  representative  in  1854, 
State  Senator  in  1858,  and  was  appointed  United  States  Assessor  by  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  in  1862.  As  would  be  expected  from  his  Scotch-Irish  lineage 
on  both  his  father  and  his  mother's  side,  he  was  a  man  of  firm  principle, 
a  member  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church,  an  earnest  supporter  of  Sun- 
day-schools, a  friend  to  all  public  virtue.  His  was  a  very  active  and  useful 
life  for  many  years  in  the  town  of  Crown  Point,  and  no  one  has  yet  come 
forward  to  make  good  his  vacant  place.  Two  sons  are  living,  and  five 
daughters,  and  several  grandchildren.  The  name  Turner  is  securely  writ- 
ten in  the  county  history. 

John  W.  Dinwiddie  was  born  in  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  October  i, 
1813,  and  the  family  tradition  is,  that,  on  the  day  of  his  i>irth,  his  father 
killed  fifteen  wild  turkey's,  four  deer,  and  one  bear.  As  that  father  was 
Thomas  Dinwiddie,  a  well  kmnvn  early  settler  in  Porter  county,  and  as  it  is 


74  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

on  a  reliable  record  that  one  of  the  Lake  county  marksmen  in  1S82  shot 
fifty-nine  wild  geese  in  one  day,  no  one  should  stop  to  question  that  family 
tradition. 

John  Wilson  Dinwiddie's  family  line  goes  l)ack  through  Thomas  Din- 
widdle, his  father,  and  Da\'id  Dinwiddie,  his  grandfather,  to  David  Din- 
w'iddie.  his  great-grandfather,  a  Scotch-Irish  settler  at  Marsh  Creek,  Penn- 
sylvania, about  I7-|0.  Alembers  of  fhe  old  Dinwiddie  family  of  Scotland 
were  pioneers  in  Pennsyb.ania,  in  Ohio,  in  LaPorte  county,  Indiana,  in 
Porter,  and  in  Lake.  J.  W.  Dinwiddie  li\"ed  for  some  tiiue  with  his  father 
and  sister  at  Indian  Town.  Ijut  afterward  made  his  home  at  Plum  Grove, 
where  he  obtaineil  quite  a  large  tract  of  land.  He  spent  a  few  years  in 
business  life  at  Crown  Point,  but  as  the  pioneer  days  closed  and  the  railroad 
period  of  new  life  commenced  he  made  his  final  home  upon  his  Plum  Grove 
farm  and  commenced  farming  work  there  on  quite  an  extensive  scale.  His 
prairie  land  ar.d  marsh  land  consisted  of  about  three  thousand  and  fi\'e  hun- 
dred acres.  He  was  married  August  19,  1844,  to  Miss  M.  J.  Perkins,  of 
Rome,  New  ^'ork.  They  had  three  sons  and  two  daughters.  Their  home 
was  well  supplied  with  material  comforts  and  with  books  and  periodicals, 
and  in  that  home  was  done  a  large  amou.nt  of  reading. 

The  father  held  for  some  time  the  ofrice  of  township  trustee,  and  built, 
for  that  day  three  large,  good  frame  schoolhouses.  It  was  said  of  him 
in  a  memorial  record :  He  "was  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  energetic, 
and  prudent,  and  thorough  business  men  and  farmers  in  the  county,  an 
excellent  manager,  firm  in  principle  and  successful  in  carrying  out  his  plans, 
and  was  ra])id!\'  advancing  in  the  accumulation  of  property,  when  sickness 
came  unexpectedly  upon  him  and  then  death.  He  died  April  12,  1861,  being 
forty-seven  years  of  age." 

The  descendants  of  his  sons  and  daughters  are  many,  and  his  influence 
through  them  will  live  long  in  northwestern  Indiana.  They  are  members, 
active  and  enterjirifing.  of  two  large  organizations,  the  Dinwiddie  Clan  of 
Lake  and  Porter  counties  and  the  Old  Settle;-  and  Historical  .\ssociation 
of  Lake  countv. 


JOHN  W.  DINWIDDIE 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  75 

Michael  Pearch,  of  Eagle  Creek  township,  was  a  quite  early  settler. 
He  located  a  claim  about  1838,  before  the  Land  Sale.  He  was  born  in  Ohio, 
February  20.  1808.  He  was  married  in  1840  to  Miss  Margaret  Jane  Din- 
widdle. He  was  a  farmer,  but  held  the  offices  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  and 
of  School  Trustee.  He  died  April  4.  i86t,  of  typhoid  pneumonia,  and  his 
death,  at  that  exciting  time  in  the  history  of  the  country,  made,  with  that 
of  his  wife's  brother,  J.  W.  Dinwiddle,  a  great  loss  to  the  community.  He 
has  three  sons  now  li\ing  and  four  daughters.     Also  many  grandchildren. 

The  attentive  reader  mav  notice  that  one  cluster  of  families  in  the 
county  have  the  name  written  Pierce;  the  other,  these  Eagle  Creek  families, 
write  Pearce. 

Ebexezer  Saxton,  a  nati\e  of  Vermont,  who  had  resided  in  Canada 
for  some  time,  in  the  year  of  the  Patriot  \A'ar,  1837,  sold  his  farm  in  Canada 
on  credit,  and  m  a  wagon  drawn  by  oxen  started  with  his  family  for  Detroit, 
distant  four  hundred  miles.  That  journey  was  safely  made.  Following 
the  westward  movement,  in  that  year  of  very  large  migration,  the  Saxton 
family  passed  onward  from  Detroit  toward  Fort  Dearborn,  or  the  young 
Chicago,  taking  no  doubt  the  then  well  traveled  stage  road,  till  they  reached 
Deep  River  at  the  new  town  of  Liverpool.  Here  they  f(jund  a  ferry  boat, 
and  eight  families,  it  is  said,  went  on  board  with  their  ox  teams.  The  boat 
sank.  The  families  were  at  length  taken  across  the  ri\-er,  the  boat  was 
raisedi,  refitted  for  service,  and  the  ox  teams  were  ferried  over. 

The  Saxton  family  started  southward  into  the  new  Lake  county,  their 
means  now  reduced  to  five  dollars  in  gold.  Reaching  Turkey  Creek  the 
oxen  for  the  first  time  on  that  long  journey  were  stuck  fast  w^th  their  load 
in  the  deep  mud.  Two  dollars  was  the  sum  of  money  paid  here  to  some 
man  for  helping  them  out.  He  ought  not  to  have  taken  anything.  [It  is 
in  the  kno^dedge  of  this  writer  that  the  streams  of  Lake  county  were  full 
of  water  and  mud,  or  perhaps  quick-sand,  in  the  spring  and  early  summer 
of  1837.     He  h.ad  abundant  reason  to  know.] 

The  Saxton   family,   with   three  dollars   remaining,  passed  on  to  wdiat 


76  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

was  the  old  McGwinn  Indian  village  and  burial  ground  and  dancing  floor, 
then  known  as  Wiggins  Point,  where  the}-  found  the  Wiggins  cabin  and 
sought  shelter  and  rest;  and  where  at  length,  for  many  years,  they  made 
their  abode. 

This  family  brought  into  the  county  a  sea  shell  called  a  conch,  which 
according  to  family  tradition  came  over  with  Ebenezer  Saxton  in  the  May- 
flower, and  has  been  handed  down  from  one  generation  of  Ebenezer  Saxtons 
to  another  till  it  reached  the  one  who  came  to  Wiggins'  Point.  He  met 
with  more  than  the  ordinary  trials  and  disappointments  of  frontier  life,  but 
passed  through  them  as  became  a  descendant  of  a  Mayflower  family,  was 
a  prominent  citizen  of  what  became  the  village  of  IMerrillville,  and  lived  to 
a  good  old  age.     He  has  left  at  Merrilhille  some  worthy  descendants. 

SiGLER. — :S.\MUEL  SiGLER  chosc,  in  1 837.  a  location,  as  some  others 
did,  on  the  sandy  soil  north  of  the  prairie  belt.  His  log  cabin  remained  for 
many  years  on  a  "sand  hill  north  of  the  Sykes"  ])lace."  He  was  another  of 
the  early  settlers  who  had  reached  middle  age.  He  had  four  sons,  Samuel. 
Eli,  Daniel,  and  William,  all  of  whom  l^iecame  merchants.  He  had  three 
daughters,  one  of  whom  became  the  wife  of  Hon.  Bartlett  ^^"oods.  The 
father  of  these  seven  children,  the  living  one  of  whom  is  aged  now,  died  at 
Hebron  about  forty  years  ago. 

WiLLi.'VM  SiGLER  was  a  merchant  for  man}-  years  at  Lowell.  He  was 
born  December  31.  1822,  in  Clarksburg,  which  is  now  in  ^^'est  ^^irginia, 
and  so  was  fifteen  years  of  age  when  the  Sigler  family  settled  in  this  county. 
In  May,  1848,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Margaret  Lee.  In  1881  he  removed 
from  Lake  county  to  Englewood  and  afterward  to  La  Grange,  where  he  died 
in  1902,  nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  • 

Of  the  nine  members  of  the  Sigler  family  of  1837  one  only  is  now 
living.  Mr.  Eh  Sigler,  of  Hebron,  for  many  years  one  of  the  principal  busi- 
ness men  of  that  town.  He  has  a  son  in  Crown  Point.  Mr.  E.  Sigler,  jeweler, 
and  a  daughter,  Mrs.  \\'.  B.  Brown:  and  William  Sigler  has  a  son  in  this 
county,  Charles  Sigler.  the  hotel  builder  at  Cedar  Lake.     Samuel  Sigler,  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  77 

pioneer,  has  ir.  the  county  other  grandchildren.     His  descendants  are  to  be 
found  in  other  family  lines. 

Belshaw. — George  Bel.sh.\\v  came  from  England,  with  quite  a  large 
family,  in  1834.  The  family  located  for  a  short  time  on  Rolling  Prairie 
in  LaPorte  county,  where  the  older  daughter.  ?klary,  was  married.  The 
family  soon  came  to  the  south,  part  of  Lake  Prairie,  that  lieauty  of  the  In- 
diana prairie  belt,  and  there  settled  on  farms  in  this  cnunty  of  Lake.  The 
sons  were  George.  William,  Henry.  Charles,  and  Samuel.  The  daughter 
wdio  came  to  Lake  Prairie  was  named  Ann.  She  died  in  1846  when  eighteen 
years  of  age.     Her  memorial  is  in  the  "Lake  of  the  Red  Cedars. '" 

This  family,  with  the  exception  of  two  sons,  remoyed  to  Oregon  in 
1853.  where  George  Belshaw,  who  had  married  the  younger  daughter  of 
Judge  McCarty,  became  a  large  and  noted  wheat-raiser. 

William  Belshaw,  who  remained  in  this  county,  had  yisited  England 
in  1846  to  see  once  more  his  birthplace,  and  in  1847  '"'''^'^^  ^^^^"  '"'ii'i'ied  to 
T\Iiss  Harriet  A.  Jones,  continuing  to  liye  on  his  Lake  Prairie  farm,  died 
there  in  Xoyember,  1884,  seyenty-one  years  of  age.  Of  his  three  sons.  one. 
Edward  Belshaw,  now  liyes  at  Lowell.  His  daughters  are,  in  number,  also 
three,  all  married  and  well  settled  in  life. 

Hexry  Belshaw.  the  <ither  son  remaining  in  this  county,  married  Miss 
Mary  Smith.  He  resided  for  many  years  on  his  pine  groye  farm  and  then 
remo\ed  to  Lowell,  where  he  died  a  few  years  ago.  He  had  two  sons  and 
fiye  daughters.  One  daughter  is  Mrs.  Simeon  Sanger,  of  Lowell,  and  the 
youngest,  Candace,  was  married.  October  22,  1884,  to  E.  W.  Dinwiddle,  of 
Plum  Groye. 

J.  D.  Jones  came  to  this  county  in  1847.  He  was  born  in  Massachu- 
setts, January  c),  1808,  was  married,  January  7,  1829,  to  Miss  Polly  Calkins, 
\yho  was  born  June  g,  1809.  This  wife  died  .\pril  10,  1856.  One  of  her 
daughters.  Aliss  Ann  C.  Jones,  was  married  in  1846  to  John  Wheeler,  after- 
ward Colonel  '\\'heeler,  who  fell  in  1)attle  on  the  bloody  but  decisi\-e  battle- 
field of  Gettysburg.     Another  of  her  daughters  was  Mrs.  Burr  Judson.  now 


78  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

li\iiig-  in  Crown  Point.    And  the  third  was  married  to  William  Clark,  grand- 
sor.  of  the  pioneer  Judge  A\"illiam  Clark. 

April  4.  1857,  one  year  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife.  J-  D.  Jones, 
then  thirty-nine  years  of  age,  was  married  to  a  widow  woman,  Mrs,  Nelson, 
who  had  two  young  sons,  one  of  whom  became  the  well  known  banker,  now 
living  at  Lowell,  Frank  Nelson.  He  is  therefore  a  step-brother  of  Mrs, 
Judson,  of  Crown  Point.  The  father  and  step-father  of  these  two  well 
known  citizens  was  a  West  Creek  farmer,  living  many  years  on  his  farm  in 
the  Belshaw  or  Pine  Grove  neighborhood  and  died  April  2;^.  1893,  eighty- 
five  years  of  age,  for  about  forty-six  years  a  citizen  of  Lake  county, 

Merrill  and  ]\Ierrillville. — In  1837,  when  according  to  the  Claim 
Register  eighty-one  men  became  settlers  in  the  newly  organized  county, 
Dudley  Merrill  bought  a  claim  which  had  been  made  by  Amsi  L,  Ball 
or  by  his  son,  John  Ball,  settlers  of  1836,  located  on  Deep  River  south  of 
"Miller's  Mill."  But  be  soon  obtaineil  land  at  \\'iggins"  Point  and  made 
there  a  permanent  home.  A\'illiam  Merrill,  his  brother,  came  with  him 
in  1837  as  a  settler.  He  also  obtained  land  at  Wiggins"  Point,  and  at  length 
erected  a  cjuite  large  frame  dwelling  house  on  the  north  side  of  the  old 
Indian  trail,  opposite  the  Indian  dancing  floor  where  the  Saxton  family  had 
located,  that  trail  becoming  the  mail  route  to  Joliet  from  LaPorte  and  a 
great  thoroughfare  for  western  tra\el. 

Soon  village  life  commenced.  A  bcjtel  was  opened  and  a  store,  and 
then  a  blacksmith  shop,  and  the  name  of  Wiggins"  Point  was  changed  to 
Centerville.  A  postoifice  was  needed  before  long,  and  the  name  was  changed 
to  Merrillville,  Both  the  brothers  had  sons,  and  around  the  Saxton  and 
Merrill  families  quite  a  community  grew  up.  Dudley  INIerrill  started  into 
operation  a  cheese  factory,  having  also  foi  a  time  the  hotel,  and  carrying 
on  a  farm.  C^nly  one  of  bis  sons,  Charles  L.  ^lerrill,  is  now  living;  Dr. 
Wallace  Merrill  is  a  son  of  William  Merrill;  and  one  of  his  daughters  be- 
came a  good  teacher.  There  were  two  other  brothers  of  this  Pennsylvania 
Merrill  family  who  settled  in  this  county.  John  Merrill  and  Lewis  Mer- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  79 

RILL,  both  of  tliese  being  for  some  time  citizens  of  Crown  Point.  Two  sis- 
ters also  became  residents  of  the  conntv :  and  of  the  descendants  of  William 
and  Dudley  and  John  and  Lewis  jMerrill,  and  of  the  sisters,  there  are  many 
to  represent  still  their  Pennsylvania  ancestors,  though  not  all  bearing  the 
Meri'ill  name. 

J.\coB  HcRLBURT  was  a  young  man  in  Porter  county  in  1834.  He  was 
with  the  Cnited  States  surveyors,  as  an  assistant  in  some  capacity,  in  the 
summer  of  that  year,  while  they  cam])ed  where  afterward  Crown  Point  grew 
up;  and  in  October  of  that  year  he  guided  Solon  Robinson  with  his  piwiv 
U<  that  same  locality.  He  at  length  settled  in  the  eastern  part  of  Lake  ci unity 
antl  gave  name  to  what  has  long  been  known  as  Hurlburt  Corners.  He  was 
a  good  citizen.  He  li\-ed  to  be  quite  an  aged  man  and  died  in  Februar}-. 
i88t. 

CvRus  M.  Mason  was  born  in  Otisco,  Onondaga  county,  New  York, 
January  27.  181 1.  He  was  the  son  of  Josiah  ALison.  When  he  was  ten 
years  of  age  the  family  remo\ed  to  Berry  township  and  there  remained  for 
some  years.  In  the  sp>ring  of  1832.  then  twenty-one  years  of  age.  he  went 
with  his  father  s  famih-  into  Michigan  Territorv.  a  member  of  a  true  pioneer 
family  in  that  newly  settled  region,  a  large  tract  of  land  in  Indiana  and 
Michigan  ha\ing  that  year  been  purchased  from  the  Pottawottamie  Indians. 
He  remained  some  time  with  his  father  in  ^Michigan  and  learned  the  art  of 
brickmaking.  In  1838.  about  December,  he  went  into  LaPorte  county, 
Indiana,  and  culti\-ate(l  a  farm  there  in  the  summer  of  1839.  In  1840  he 
came  into  Lake  county  and  settled  on  a  farm  a  mile  east  of  Crown  Point, 
where  he  lived  throagh  the  remainder  of  a  long.  acti\-e,  useful  life. 

In  1841  he  commenced  making  brick  according  to  the  slow  and  lalxiri- 
ous  process  of  those  days,  and  made  one  million  before  he  discontinued  the 
business.  He  was  a  constituent  member  of  the  Crown  Point  Presbvterian 
church,  one  of  its  first  Elders,  and  from  his  official  position  was  widely  known 
as  Deacon  Mason.  He  lived  to  be  eighty-six  and  a  half  years  of  age,  a 
highlv   valued   and   valuable  member  of   the  church   and  of  the  communitv. 


80  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

•  His  father  died  in  [Michigan  about  1850,  seventy-five  years  of  age,  and  his 
mother,  born  in  1777,  died  in  1871,  wanting  only  six  years  of  filHng  out  a 
century. 

Before  Deacon  ]\Iason's  death,  feehng  that  he  would  soon  pass  away, 
he  requested  tlie  writer  of  tin's  memorial  to  take  down  from  his  dving  lips, 
while  his  mental  faculties  were  still  good,  the  foregoing  outline  of  a  long 
life.  Surely  no  one  more  riclily  than  he  deserves  the  name  of  a  zcorthy  pio- 
neer. Such  men  lay  good  foundations  as  builders  of  states  or  counties  or 
neighborhoods :  and  many  such  helped  to  make  Lake  county  as  virtuous  as 
still  it  is.     Let  their  names  be  honored. 

John  Underwood  was  one  of  three  brothers,  Harmon  Underwood  and 
Daniel  Underwood,  the  other  two,  who  had  farms,  one,  two,  and  three  miles 
east  from  IMerrilhille.  His  sisters  now  living  are  Mrs.  Harper,  ]\Irs.  Joy, 
and  Mrs.  Palmer.  He  carried  on  a  farm  for  many  years.  He  was  County 
Commissioner  in  1858,  and  a  debt  of  gratitude  is  due  to  him  for  preventing 
by  his  tact  a  proposed  loss  of  territory  from  the  county. 

Unknown,  perhaps,  to  many  of  his  neighbors,  he  was  decidedly  a  poet. 
This  writer  calls  him  the  poet  of  Lake  county,  and  he  knows  of  nothing 
written  in  Indiana,  of  the  same  style  of  poetic  composition,  to  excel  "El 
Muza"  and  "Lindenwald"  written  b}-  the  plain  farmer.  John  L^nderwood. 
His  style  of  writing  is  very  different  from  that  of  James  W'hitcomb  Riley. 
It  is  not  humorous.  It  is  not  pathetic.  It  may  not  be  called  popular.  But 
it  shows  much  historic  reading  and  a  \-ivid  fancy,  good  descriptive  jMwers 
and  a  love  for  beauty  in  scenery  and  nobleness  and  greatness  in  human 
action. 

"El  ]\Iuza"  is  a  Spanish  tale  of  love  and  war  in  nine  cantos,  pages  148, 
and  one  who  can  read  with  interest  Sir  Walter  Scott's  "Vision  of  Don 
Roderick,"  ought  to  read  with  interest  "El  Muza." 

"Lindenv.ald"  is  a  larger  work,  pages  165,  also  nine  cantos,  and  deals 

also  with  war  and  human  love.     It  is  historic.     Is  called  a  "Tale  of  the 

"Siege  of  Vienna."     The  author  says  in  his  preface,  "The  year  1683  will  ever 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  81 

be  memorable  in  Austrian  history  as  the  last  invasion  by  the  Turks  and  the 
siege  of  Vienna.'"  That  the  author  liail  read  European  history  to  some  pur- 
pose is  evident,  and  a  cultivated  mind,  interested  in  historic  poetry  in  which 
facts  are  interwoven  with  poetic  fiction,  will  find  interest  in  this.  Lake 
county  has  no  writer  who  can  equal  these  poems  now. 

PR.MRIE    WEST    PIONEERS. 

Among  a  few  very  early  residents  who  were  considerablv  advanced  in 
life  was  one  of  the  settlers  on  Prairie  West  in  1836,  Rich.\rd  Church. 
Some  of  his  children,  even  then,  had  families  of  their  own.  He  had  lived 
in  Michigan  Territory  for  a  time,  but  before  that  became  a  state  he  made 
his  last  home  in  Lake  county.  Indiana.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneer  Baptists 
of  the  county,  taking  an  active  part  in  the  organization  of  the  first  Baptist 
church.  He  had  a  large  family  of  sons  and  daughters,  nearly  all  of  whom 
were  men  and  women  in  1837.  His  home,  the  home  of  his  son.  Darling 
Church,  those  of  his  son-in-law,  Leonard  Cutler,  of  his  near  neighbor,  W. 
Rockwell,  of  Mrs.  Owen,  a  widow  woman  from  Wales,  of  Mrs.  Leland 
with  several  sons,  of  John  Bothwell.  were  the  early  homes  of  what  was 
called  for  a  few  years  Prairie  West,  all  of  which  prairie  is  now  thickly  cov- 
ered over  with  the  homes  of  the  German  settlers  who  have  spread  out  from 
the  Hack  and  Schmal  center  at  St.  John. 

The  work  of  that  very  worthy  citizen,  Richard  Church,  was  done  more 
through  his  children  than  by  himself,  as  only  a  few  years  of  active  life  were 
assigned  to  him  here. 

Another  of  the  early  settlers  well  advanced  also  in  life,  was  William 
Rockwell,  a  near  neighbor  to  the  Church  families  of  Prairie  West,  one  of 
whose  .sons,  W  .  B.  Rockwell,  was  born  in  1813  or  1814.  and  the  other, 
T.  C.  Rockwell,  in  1817.  The  Rockwell  family  orignally  came  from  Con- 
necticut, residing  for  a  time  in  Xcw  York  state,  where  these  sons  were  born. 
The  Church  family  came  from  X'ew  York,  stopping  for  a  time  in  Michigan. 
A  son  of  the  Church  family.  Darling,  the  father  of  Edwin  Church,  had  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  the  Rockwell  family.     There  were  other  daughters  of  the 


82  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Rockwell  family.  The  father.  William  Rockwell,  was  for  some  time  Couiitv 
Commissioner.  Tlie  date  of  his  election  is  gi\-en  as  1840.  His  date  of  set- 
tlement i?  1837.  He  died  in  1855.  when  ahont  seventy-four  years  of  age. 
He  must  therefore  have  been  about  fifty-six  in  1837. 

Both  the  sons  left  the  farm  and  became  citizens  of  Crown  Point,  ^^'ill- 
iam  B.  Rockwell,  commonly  called  liy  his  familiar  friends  Commodore,  was 
twice  married.  Bcjth  his  wi\-es  died,  one  in  18G6.  the  second  in  1876,  and 
left  no  children.  He  still  kept  up  his  interest  in  life  and  in  the  town.  He 
was  for  some  time  a  town  Trustee.  Many  years  ago  he  bought  for  two 
bundled  dollars  forty  acres  of  land  which  contained  a  cranberrv  marsh. 
The  yield  that  year  proved  to  be  large,  the  price  was  high,  and  he  cleared 
on  the  one  crop  fifteen  hundred  dollars.     His  own  time  tO'  die  came  in  1896. 

T.  C.  Rockwell,  the  other  son,  was  married  in  1845  to  ^tliss  JNIalinda 
Brown.  He  bought  hotel  property  in  Crown  Point  which  was  well  known 
for  many  years  as  tiie  Rockwell  House.  He  retired  at  length  to  private  life, 
occupying  a  neat  residence  on  Court  street.  Two  daughters,  Airs.  \\'ard 
and  Mrs.  Raasch,  reside  in  Crown  Point,  and  three  sons  have  Ijeen  in  busi- 
ness life  for  many  years.  These  all  ha\'e  families,  but  not  so  large  as  was 
their  grandfather's  family  who  had  the  honor  of  being  one  of  the  last  asso- 
ciate judges  of  Lake  county,  elected  a  little  time  before  the  oflice  was  abol- 


ished in  183 1. 

[Note. — The  name  Commodore,  so  generally  given  to  ^\■illiam  B.  Rock- 
well, is  said  to  have  been  applied  to  him  from  Commodore  Perry,  who  in 
September,  1813,  achieved  so  great  a  \-ictory  on  Lake  Erie:  and  as  William 
B.  was  born  in  September,  it  seems  much  more  natural  that  the  title  of  Com- 
modore should  have  been  applied  to  tbie  babe  then  born,  than  to  one  born 
a  whole  year  after  that  noted  victory.] 

Ch.\rles  L.  Templeton  was  born  December  2,    1816,  and  became  a 

resident  of  this  county  in  1840,  and  died  Jnnuary  is,  1899.  eighty-two  years 

of  aoe.     He  was  an  active  and  useful  citizen  in  dift'erent  lines  of  effort,  as  a 

farmer  and  promoting  the  Grange  movement  and  interests,  as  a  friend  of 

Sundav-schools,    encouraging    the    early    celebrations,    and    aiding    through 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  83 

almost  sixty  active  years  tilings  that  were  good.  His  wife  was  a  daughter 
of  W.  Rockwell,  of  Prairie  West,  and  sister  of  \\'.  B.  Rockwell  and  T.  C. 
Rockwell,  of  Cro\\"n  Point. 

A.  X.  Hart,  the  large  land  owner  and  business  man  of  Dver,  came  to 
Lake  county  from  Philadelphia  about  1835.  He  had  been  interested  in  book 
publishing.  A  large  work  in  four  richl_\  bound  volumes  is  in  the  possession 
of  this  writer.  It  is  called  "The  National  Portrait  Gallery  of  Distinguished 
Americans,  with  Biographical  Sketches."  Publishers.  D.  Rice  &  A.  X. 
Hart.  1854.  It  is  a  grand  work,  massi\-ely  bound,  richlv  gikled,  v.-ith  man)- 
portraits,  and  although  it  is  fifty  years  since  these  volumes  passed  from  the 
hands  of  the  binder  they  look  as  though  just  issued  from  the  press.  \\'ith 
all  the  modern  improvements  of  the  last  fifty  years,  no  better  portraits  or 
more  substantially  bound  books  can  easily  be  found  now.  That  the  man  who 
was  engaged  in  publishing  such  books  should  come  with  his  family  to  the 
sand  ridge  of  Dyer,  and  should  accjuire  possession  of  so-  much  of  the  wet 
land  eastward  included  in  the  original  Lake  George,  is  one  more  of  the  facts 
that  show  how  fortunate  Lake  county  was  in  having  among  her  settlers  such 
capable  men  as  those  that  came  from  New  England,  Xew  York,  Ohio,  and 
Pennsylvania. 

GERMAN    PIONEERS. 

There  began  to  come,  in  the  early  period  of  the  settlement  of  this  county, 
immigrants  from  the  old  kingdom  of  Prussia,  from  Hanover,  from  Wiir- 
temberg,  and  different  principalities  now  united  in  the  great  German  Em- 
pire, to  find  homes  on  these  then  open  prairies  and  to  make  farms  in  the 
then  untenanted  woodlands. 

Since  that  early  period  tb.ere  have  followed  them  families  from  Sweden 
and  Xorway,  from  Holland  and  Poland,  from  Bohemia  and  Italv,  and  other 
European  countries,  making  a  mixture  of  languages  and  nationalities  resem- 
bling the  great  mixture  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  Some  memorials  of  German 
settlers  will  follow  here. 

John  Hack  was  born  in  1787,  in  a  Rhine  province  that  passed  from. 


84  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

France  to  Prussia,  and  came  into  this  county  with  a  quite  large  family  in 
1837.  He  was  the  first  German  settler  so  far  as  known.  He  established 
a  home  on  the  western  limit  of  what  was  called  Prairie  West. 

Receiving-  the  hospitalities  of  that  family  one  August  night  in  1838,  the 
v.-riter  of  this  memorial  made  the  following  record:  "In  the  summer  even- 
ings the  family  would  gather  around  an  out-of-doors  fire,  the  smoke  of 
which  would  keep  off  the  mosquitoes,  and  sing  the  songs  of  their  native 
Rhine  region,  presenting  a  scene  at  once  picturesque  and  impressive."  Their 
two  guests,  while  ignorant  of  the  language,  could  enjoy  the  music  of  those 
beautiful  evening  songs  of  the  "father-land."  Those  early  Germans  did 
much  singing  in  the  evening  and  when  out  from  home  in  the  still  night 
hours.  The  night  music  is  no  longer  heard.  Another  record  of  John  Hack 
is  this:  "Tall  and  dignified  in  person,  patriarchal  in  manner,  clear  and  keen 
in  intellect,  he  was  well  fitted  to  be  a  leader  and  a  pioneer."  He  had  large 
views  of  government  and  looked  closely  into  the  genius  of  our  institutions." 

In  1838  the  four  families  of  Joseph  Schmal,  Peter  Orte,  Michael  Adler, 
Matthias  Reder,  came  from  Germany  together  and  settled  near  the  Hack 
family,  and  others  soon  followed.  In  1843  on  the  Hack  land  was  erected 
and  consecrated  a  Roman  Catholic  chapel  and  regular  religious  services  were 
held.  The  founder  of  the  settlement,  near  whose  early  home  spot  is  now  the 
town  St.  John,  lived  to  see  great  changes  in  the  land  of  his  adoption.  Greater 
ones,  of  which  he  never  thought,  his  descendants  in  Crown  Point  now  behold. 
Times  Change. 

Joseph  .Schmal,  one  of  the  four  who  crossed  the  ocean  in  1838,  had 
quite  a  family  of  sons  and  tlaughters.  He  was  not  a  young  man  and  did 
not  become  very  fully  americanized ;  but  one  of  his  sons,  Ad.^m  Schmai., 
became  prominent  in  political  life,  and  held  for  two  terms  the  office  of  county 
Treasurer.  Another  son,  bearing  his  father's  name,  Joseph  Schm.-\l, 
became  a  prdminent  farmer  at  Brunswick.  One  daughter,  marrying  a  son 
of  tlie  Hack  family,  Mrs.  .Angelina  Hack,  was  for  many  years  an  active, 
energetic,   well   known,   and   much    respected   woman   in   the   life  of   Crown 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  85 

Point.  One  of  her  sons.  John  Hack,  two  miles  east  of  Crown  Point,  is 
one  of  the  noted  (lair)'men  of  Lake  c<nint}'.  George  Schmah  another  grand- 
son of  the  pioneer  of  1838,  is  a  town  officer  of  Crown  Point.  The  descend- 
ant? of  good  immigrants  become  in  two  generations,  some  e\'en  in  one,  good 
Americans.     The  descendants  of  some  foreigners  never  become  good  citizens. 

Henry  S.^sse,  Sr..  the  pioneer  of  the  Lutheran  Ciermans,  came  fmm 
Michigan  in  1838,  with  a  small  family,  and  iMTnight  the  Cox  claim  and  Chase 
claim  on  the  northwest  of  the  Red  Cedar  Lake.  He  was  a  man  of  much 
nati^■e  abilit_\',  he  had  much,  intelligence,  and  had  gained  quite  a  knowledge 
of  our  language  and  of  American  ways  after  leaving  his  native  Hano\er. 
He  came  with  means  and  accumulated  property  in  this  country.  Circum- 
stances led  him  to  \'isit  three  times  his  native  land,  sO'  that  at  least  seven  times 
lie  crossed  the  Atlantic,  Death  was  quite  a  frequent  visitor  in  his  home, 
and  few  remain  to  represent  his  early  Hanover  township  family  circle.  .\ 
granddaughter,  Mrs.  Groman,  resides  in  Crown  Point,  and  she  has  one  son' 
and  one  daughter  and  one  granddaughter.  A  son,  also  living,  Herman  E. 
Sasse.  is  now  one  of  the  prominent  business  men  of  Crown  Point.  L'nlike 
the  name  of  Hack,  there  is  little  promise  for  the  Sasse  name  to  go  into 
future  generations.  But  the  results  of  the  life  here  for  so  manv  yars  of 
Henry  Sasse,  Sr..  and  the  results  of  the  much  shorter  life  of  his  oldest  son, 
Henry  Sasse,  Junior,  will  go  on  into  future  years. 

Henry  Von  Hollen  w^as  another  of  those  very  intelligent,  energetic 
Lutheran  Gerr^ians  who  came  to  the  lake  neighborhood  in  1838.  He  had 
received  in  his  Em"opean  home  quite  a  drill  in  the  line  of  cavalry  soldiers 
and  in  the  care  of  their  equipments.  He  was  a  quite  tall,  strong  man,  one  to 
make  at  least  a  shovv-y  soldier. 

LTnlike  his  neighbor,  H.  Sasse,  he  came  with  very  little  means  with 
which  to  open  and  improve  a  farm,  but  he  soon,  purchased  some  wild  land 
on  which  liiere  h.ad  been  found  a  large  cranberry  marsh,  and  this  investment 
made  him  in  a  few  years  comparatively  rich,  so  that  when  he  died  he  left 
his  wife  in  possession  of  ample  means,  and  at  her  death  she  was  al)le  to  rank 


86  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

ns  one  of  tlie  wealtliy  women  of  Lake  connty.  She  lived  for  sixty-five  vears 
where  they  two  as  young  liousekeepers  settled  in  1838,  and  of  that  small 
household  there  is  no  descendant  left.  But  circumstances  will  cause  the  name 
Von  Hollcn,  or  Van  Hollen,  as  more  generally  called,  for  some  time  yet  in 
Hanover  township  to  continue  to  live. 

Lewis  Herlitz  was  the  third  of  that  little  band  of  Protestant  Germans 
of  1838.  He  was  a  native  of  P}'rmont,  a  part  of  the  principality  of  W'al- 
deck.  He  bought  what  was  known  as  the  Nordyke  claim  north  of  the  lake, 
his  wife  and  ]\Irs.  H.  Sasse  were  sisters.  He  built  a  new  residence  on  that 
early  claim,  secured  a  good  title  from  the  Government  for  the  land,  and  a 
pleasant  family  home  in  a  few  years  was  his.  Three  sons  and  some  daughters 
grew  up  in  that  home,  a  home  noted  for  intelligence  and  politeness,  and  in 
1869  the  father  died.  In  the  home  and  at  Crown  Point  the  children  and 
grandchildren  yet  live. 

Another  of  the  well  known  early  German  settlers  was  Herman 
DoESCHERj  who  came  into  the  west  part  of  Hanover  township  in  1842,  with 
one  son  and  some  more  than  ordinarily  fine-looking  and  polite  young  daugh- 
ters. He  died  in  December,  1886,  having  lived  in  the  county  forty-four 
years,  himself  eighty-four  years  of  age,  and  leaving  six  children,  thirty- 
seven  grandchildren,  and  twenty-one  great-grandchildren. 

J-  C.  Sauerman.  Coming  from  Bavaria  in  1846.  then  fourteen  years 
old,  J.  C.  Sauerman  had  a  home  in  Chicago  for  three  years,  he  visited  liis 
old  home  in  Europe,  returned  to  this  country,  and,  in  1S51.  became  a  resi- 
dent of  Crown  Point.  In  1853,  then  alxiut  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Strochlein,  a  daughter  of  John  Strochlein,  who  became  a 
resident  in  the  county  in  1852.  He  opened  a  harness  store  and  factorv  in 
Crown  Point,  employed  workmen  in  the  harness-making  business,  and  was 
successful  as  a  salesman  and  manufacturer.  Success  resulted  in  the  accu- 
nnilation  of  property.  z\bout  1875  he  sold  his  harness  business,  was  elected 
count}-  Treasurer,  and  at  length  retired  from  business  and  public  life.  In 
person  he  was  of  about  medium  height,  rather  slender  in  form,  quick,  active 


SS.' 


■^^  f^. 


^>t 


i 


JOHN  KROST 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  87 

in  !iis  iiio\-emenls.  In  social  i|ualitics  Ik-  was  kindly,  gentlemanly,  gen- 
erously disposed,  urbane.  He  was  a  menil)er  of  the  Lutheran  church,  a 
useful,  worthy  citizen,  a  noble  Christian  man. 

His  two  children  are  residents  of  Crown  Point,  A.  A.  Sauerman,  Cash- 
ier of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Crown  Foint,  and  Mrs.  Henry  Pettibone. 
His  grandchildren  are  in  number  four,  among  them  one  voung  man  to  bear 
and  perhaps  transmit  the  Sauerman  name  and  virtues. 

John  Krost.  One  more  of  many  citizens  of  favored  Lake  county  wdio 
by  means  of  talent  and  intelligent  effort  became  prominent  was  Ji.ihn  Krost. 
Born  in  Germany  in  1828,  he  became  a  resident  in  Hobart  in  1853,  where 
for  one  year  he  was  clerk  in  a  store :  then  for  about  six  years  a  clerk  at  j\Ier- 
rillville,  and  a  farmer  for  two  years;  and  then  lie  made  his  final  home  in 
Crown  Point. 

He  was  elected  county  Treasurer  in  1862  and  continued  in  office  till 
1867.  In  1868  he  was  elected  county  Auditor  and  held  that  office  for  eight 
years.  He  was  accommodating  and  very  coiu'teous,  he  was  kind  and  gen- 
erous to  the  poor,  the  needy,  and  the  unfortunate  or  the  unsuccessful.  He 
was  an  exemplary  member  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  He  accumulated 
quite  an  amount  of  property,  and  his  home  on  Main  street  was  one  of  com- 
forts, of  social  advantages,  of  cultivation  and  refinement. 

His  children  have  been  educated.  He  died  in  Alarch,  1890.  not  only 
one  of  the  wealthy,  but  one  of  the  most  kindly  and  gentlemanly  of  Crown 
Point's  many  cultured  citizens. 

One  of  his  sons  is  a  physician  in  Cliicago,  and  one  a  medical  student  at 
Rush.  One  is  a  dentist  in  Crown  Point,  gentlemanly  and  kindly  as  was  his 
father.  One  has  been  county  Recorder,  and  one  is  in  Germany,  learning 
the  ways  of  his  father's  nati\-e  land.  Three  daughters  are  living,  educated 
and  cultivated,  and  the  sixth  son  is  a  student  at  Notre  Dame,  South  Bend. 

The  names  of  several  early  citizens  of  Crown  Point  are  placed  in  this 
group  wiili  only  short  notices  or  brief  records,  as  of  some  their  residence 
here  was  brief,  and  of  others  not  much  is  now  fuUv  known. 


88  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

MiLO  Robinson,  a  brother  of  the  founder  of  Crown  Point,  joined  his 
brother  here  in  November,  1835.  He  came  from  New  York  city,  was  with 
his  brother  in  the  first  store,  he  kept  the  first  hotel,  was  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  and,  as  did  his  brother  Solon,  solemnized  marriage,  but  died  in  1839. 

H.  S.  Pelton,  an  early  resident,  came  into  possession  of  the  Robinson 
store  about  1840.  An  active  business  man  in  Crown  Point  for  a  few  years, 
he  died  May  26,  1847,  sri<^  his  goods  passed  into  the  ownership  of  Carter 
&  Carter  of  New  York,  and  soon  after  into  the  possession  of  J.  W.  Din- 
widdle, who  for  a  time  was  a  merchant  in  Crown  Point. 

Joseph  P.  Smith  came  from  New  York  and  "settled  July  5,"  1836, 
in  Crown  Point.  For  several  years  he  was  a  leading  business  man,  and 
also  the  principal  military  man.  He  led  a  company  of  men  to  the  Mexican 
war  and  returned  with  some  of  them.  He  was  the  second  county  Clerk 
holding  office  from  1843  to  1847.  After  some  years  he  went  into  the  then 
wild  and  yet  new  West,  and  was  shot  at  and  was  killed  by  those  noiseless 
but  often  deadly  weapons,  Indian  arrows.  Captain  once  of  the  Monroe 
Blues  in  the  city  of  New  York,  a  man  quite  fond  of  military  life,  it  seemed 
strange  that  he  should  fall  while  at  work  in  his  field  by  the  hand  of  an 
unseen  American  Indian. 

Judge  Clark.  \\'illiam  Clark  was  born  about  1788,  probably  in  New 
York  or  Nevv  England,  in  what  was  called  "the  East,""  and  became  a  quite 
early  settler  in  Jennings  county,  Indiana.  His  wife  \\as  Miss  Ann  Campbell, 
for  whom  in.quiry  was  niatle  at  Crown  Point  a  few  years  ago  in  order  to 
fill  up  a  genealogical  record.  In  February,  1835,  the  Clark  family  came 
with  ox  teams  from  Jennings  county  to  Lake  county.  They  came  with  three 
sons,  Thomas,  Alexander,  and  John  F.,  and  two  daughters.  Margaret,  who 
was  married  to  an  early  settler  at  Crown  Point,  W.  R.  \\'illiams  (a  descend- 
ant according  to  family  tradition,  of  Roger  Williams,  founder  of  Rhode 
Island),  and  Man-  M.,  who  was  married  to  Benjamin  Kellogg. 

Judge  Clark  was  active  and  prominent,  along  with  Solon  Robinson, 
as  one  of  the  proprietors  of  Crown  Point,  where  his  log  cabin  remained  for 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  S9 

some  years  near  the  present  East  and  South  streets.  He  afterward  hved 
two  miles  east  on  a  farm.  He  died  in  1869.  He  had  a  stout,  vigorous  frame, 
but  was  not  tall  in  person. 

Thomas  Clark,  his  oldest  son,  was  married  by  Judge  H.  D.  Palmer, 
January  23,  1839,  to  Miss  Harriet  Lavina  Farwell,  whose  home  was  on  the 
west  side  of  West  Creek,  south  of  the  present  village  of  Brunswick.  The 
marriage  party,  some  on  foot  and  some  on  horseback,  which  passed  up  the 
next  day  to  Lake  Court  House,  was,  for  those  days,  quite  an  event.  The 
writer  of  this  is  probably  the  only  living  witness.  They  were  active  members 
of  society  in  their  day,  keeping  for  a  time  the  hotel  known  as  tlie  Mills  and 
then  as  the  Rockwell  house,  and  for  a  time  living  on  the  farm  two  miles  east 
where  Mrs.  Farwell.  Mrs.  Clark's  mother,  died,  and  a  burial  procession  passed 
over  that  same  road  back  to  the  cemetery  south  of  Brunswick.  Both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Clark  closed  up  life  many  years  ago.  Some  of  their  descendants  yet  live 
in  Crown  Point. 

Alexander  Clark.  Judge  Clark's  second  son.  born  in  Jennings  county, 
November  4.  1822.  was  married  to  A'liss  Susan  Wells  (a  pioneer  child  of  De- 
cember, 1835).  November  5.  1848.  He  became  an  enterprising  and  prosper- 
ous farmer,  living  two  miles  east  of  Crown  Point,  where  he  died  in  1879. 
Mrs.  Susan  Clark  and  her  daughter,  now  Mrs.  John  ^L  Hack,  still  reside  on 
the  farm,  near  a  cluster  of  grand  oak  trees  which  must  ha\-e  seen  more  than 
one  generation  of  Indians  pass  away  before  the  white  settlers  came. 

HoLTON.  Associated  with  the  Clark  and  Robinson  families  in  Jennings 
county,  and  associated  with  them  here  in  starting  a  settlement  and  a  village 
and  at  length  a  town,  were  the  members  of  the  Holton  family  of  1835.  The 
two  sons  were,  J.  W.  Holton,  commonly  called  Warner  Holton.  and  W.  A. 
W.  Holton,  usually  called  \\'illiam  Holton. 

The  following  is  their  line  of  descent  from  their  English  ancestor:  i. 
William  Holton  came  from  England  in  the  ship  Francis  in  1634.  He  died  in 
1691.  2.  John  Holton,  his  son.  died  in  1712.  3.  William  Holton  of  the 
third  generation  died  in  1757.     4.     John  Holton  of  the  next  generation  died 


90  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

in  1797.  5.  Joel  Holton  was  born  in  1738.  6.  Alexander  Holton,  the 
lawyer,  the  father  of  \\'arner  and  A\"illiam.  was  born  in  1779.  7.  J.  W.  Hol- 
ton (\\'arner)  was  born  in  1807.  The  two  brothers  became,  with  their 
mother,  of  whom  in  another  chapter  a  record  will  be  found,  and  with  their 
sister,  members  of  the  little  hamlet  formed  in  the  center  of  Lake  countv  in 
1835.  They  were  connected  with  learned  and  cultivated  men  of  the  Holton 
line,  and,  of  their  mother's  seven  sisters, — that  mother  was  Harriet  Warner 
of  Xev>-  England — one  was  ^Irs.  Robinson,  wife  of  the  wealthy  governor  of 
Vermont,  one  was  Mrs.  Stuart,  wife  of  the  wealthy  Judge  Stuart  of  Vermont, 
one  was  Mrs.  Bradley,  wife  of  a  Vermont  lawyer,  one  was  ]vlrs.  Brown,  wife 
of  a  Massachusetts  lawyer,  and  yet  another,  ]Mrs.  Hitchcock,  was  also  wife  of 
a  Massachusetts  lawyer.  With  such  family  connections  and  in  such  a  line,  the 
Holtons  would  be  expected  to  be  intelligent,  if  they  were  early  Indiana 
pioneers,  and  intelligent  they  all  were. 

W.  A.  W.  Holton  was  the  first  Recorder  of  Lake  county.  He  was  also 
School  Examiner  and  could  examine  a  candidate  for  a  teacher's  license  in 
fifteen  minutes,  finding  out  very  readily  whether  one  was  intelligent  or  ig- 
norant. Prominent  and  useful  citizens  of  the  county  in  its  earlier  years, 
Warner  Holton  at  length  removed  to  Arkansas  and  there  died,  and  ^V.  A.  W. 
Holton  closed  his  quite  long  life  in  Oakland.  California.  His  father  and 
mother  both  born  and  speiiding  their  early  years  not  far  from  "the  Bay 
where  the  Mayflower  lay."  and  into  which  the  ship  Francis  sailed,  he  spent 
his  last  years  where  the  great  Pacific  dashes  its  waves  upon  our  golden  \\'est. 

Jonathan  Warner  Holton  (J.  \\'. )  vras  the  first  white  owner  of  the  land 
wdiere  is  now  the  Crown  Point  public  school  building,  making  his  claim  on 
the  southeast  quarter  of  Section  5,  Thirty  years  after  his  settlement,  in  1835. 
wdien  the  ground  was  secured  for  the  Crown  Point  Institute,  in  1865,  the  old 
orchard  was  standing. 

Richard  F.\ncher,  an  explorer  here  in  1834.  a  settler  in  1835.  lived  for 
a  short  time  on  the  bank  near  the  little  lake  where  he  first  made  his  claim,  but 
finding  an  Indian  float  on  all  of  Section  17,  he  was  soon  counted  in  with  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  91 

families  of  the  village.  He  was  boni  in  iSoo.  He  hadfive  daughters,  and 
these  became  Mrs.  J.  C.  Xiclmlson,  ]\Irs.  Alton,  Mrs.  Sanford  Clark,  ]Mrs.  J. 
Clingan.  and  I\Irs.  Harry  Church.  Excepting  himself  the  family  were  Pres- 
byterians. He  lived  to  a  good  old  age  and  died  at  the  home  of  his  daughter, 
^Irs.  Clingan.  in  1893. 

Russell  Eddy,  born  in  Pittstown,  New  York,  in  April,  1787,  son  of 
General  Gilbert  Eddy  who  commanded  some  of  the  New  York  troops  in  the 
war  of  18 12.  himself  at  the  same  time  a  paymaster  in  the  army,  afterward  a 
merchant  in  the  city  of  Troy,  married  to  Miss  Ruth  Ann  Wells,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, coming  to  Michigan  City  in  1836,  became  a  resident  of  Lake  Court 
House  in  1837.  His  was  one  of  the  first  if  not  the  ven.^  first  frame  dwelling 
house,  and  it  is  probable  that  in  his  home  was  the  first  piano  in  the  county,  one 
b.eing  there  in  1838.  He  was  for  many  years  an  influential  citizen,  the  family 
having,  for  those  years,  abundant  means,  his  wife  a  leader  in  the  Presbyterian 
church  and  her  home  a  resting  place  for  ministers,  a  home  for  some  time  for 
the  first  resident  Presbyterian  pastor.  Rev.  W.  Townley;  and  in  that  home  a 
young,  beautiful,  and  refined  daughter,  Ruth  Ann.  She  married  young  and 
died  young,  leaving  no  children.  And  neither  in  Lake  county,  nor  yet  out  of 
Lake  county,  are  there  any  bearing  the  name  of  Eddy  to  claim  descent 
through  Russell  Eddy  from  General  Gilbert  Eddy  of  New  York,  and  hold  the 
position  in  society  that  once  was  theirs.  Some  families  have  a  large  increase 
in  members  and  in  wealtl;  in  two  or  three  generations;  some  fail  to  keep  up 
their  ancestral  position :   some  lose  the  ancestral  name. 

Fowler.  Anotlier  true  j^ioneer.  and  in  fact  one  of  the  earliest  dwellers 
in  th.e  hamlet  that  grew  into  the  county  seat  was  Luman  A.  Fowler.  He 
was  born  in  Eerkslnrt  county,  ^Massachusetts,  October  i,  1809.  He  came 
with  Henry  Wells  in  the  fall  of  1834  and  spent  one  night  with  some  explorers 
on  the  wooded  bank  of  the  Lake  of  Red  Cedars.  He  returned  to  the  camp  of 
Solon  Robinson  and  with  his  small  company,  six  in  all,  himself  making  seven, 
he  spent  the  winter.  There  were  t\^■o  other  families  before  the  winter  closed, 
twenty-one  persons  in  all,  that  made  up  the  hamlet.     In  1835  Luman  A,  Eow- 


92  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

!er  went  to  Michigan,  then  a  territory,  and  in  October  was  married  to  i\Iiss 
Ehza  Cochran,  born  in  New  York  October  2-j,  1816.  In  December  they  came 
to  the  hamlet  wliere  he  had  spent  the  last  winter.  Travelling  in  those  days 
was  more  expensive  than  it  is  now,  for  the  Fowler  record  of  expenses  for  the 
first  year  has  this  item  at  the  head  of  the  list:  ".\mount  of  money  paid  out 
from  the  time  of  starting  to  the  landing  on  Robinson's  Prairie  is  $83.00." 
Their  first  child  was  born  in  October,  1836,  Harriet  Ann,  and  eight  other 
children,  four  sons  and  four  daughters,  followed  her  into  the  household. 
These  eight  all  married  and  their  descendants  are  many,  some  in  Lake  county, 
some  are  out  of  the  county. 

Luman  A.  Fowler  became  fully  a  public  man.  He  was  elected  Sheriff  of 
Lake  county  in  1837,  in  1847,  1849-  i"  1^59'  ^^^i,  thus  holding  the  office  for 
ten  years.  One  of  his  sons,  born  in  Crown  Point  and  still  residing  in  Crown 
Point,  has  held  the  office  of  town  or  city  marshal. 

A  Manufacturer. 

M.\.TOR  C.  F.\RWELL,  a  son  of  James  Farwell,  an  early  settler 
on  the  west  side  of  West  Creek,  while  not  among  the  earliest  was  quite 
an  early  settler  and  resident  of  Crown  Point.  He  had  learned  to  work  iron 
and  soon  left  his  father's  home,  went  into  School  Grove,  put  up  a  blacksmith's 
shop  and  made  plows.  In  1841  he  moved  into  Crown  Point,  then  the  new 
county  seat,  and  in  1842  built  a  hewed  log  shop,  stocked  plows,  and  began  to 
make  wagons.  He  also  made  a  few  buggies  and  some  cutters.  About  1851 
he  sold  his  establishment  and  went  "westward"  on  the  direction  which  it  is 
said  "the  star  of  empire  takes."  Somewhere  on  the  other  side  of  the  ]\Iissis- 
sippi,  it  is  probable  his  dust  is  sleeping.  He  spent  some  five  years  in  Colorado 
and  Idaho  and  Montana,  and  afterward  resided  in  Carthage,  Missouri.  He 
may  be  called  Crown  Point's  first  plow,  wagon,  and  bugg)-  maker, 

Bartlett  \\'oods.  No  history  of  Lake  county  could  lie  complete,  no 
memorial  records  of  the  founders  and  builders  of  Lake  county  would  be  suf- 
ficiently full,  without  some  mention  of  one  known  in  later  years  as  Hon. 
Bartlett  Woods.     Born  Julv  is.  1818,  in  Winchelsea,  England,  jjrougiit  up  in 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  93 

tliat  noted  cinque-town  called  Hastings,  where  his  father  was  postmaster  for 
some  forty  years,  in  1837  he  crossed  the  ocean  with  a  brother.  Charles  Woods, 
and  came  to  this  newly  organized  county,  being  then  nineteen  years  of  age. 
He  little  knew  then  what  was  liefore  him.  but  e\-ents  proved  that  until  Alay. 
1903.  his  life  was  to  be  closely  interwoven  with  the  growth  and  the  interests 
of  th.e  county  of  Lake.  He  became  a  farmer.  He  was  married  to  jMiss  Ann 
Eliza  Sigler,  who  was  born  in  1827.  and  who  died  October  6,  1900.  He  re- 
sided for  many  years  on  his  farm  between  Merrillville  and  Ross,  and  at  length 
retired  with  his  wife  and  youngest  daughter  to  Crown  Point. 

He  had  received  in  England  an  education  such  as  became  a  postmaster's 
son,  but  had  not  taken  a  Rugl-y  or  an  Oxford  course  of  study.  He  was 
through  his  life  here  a  reader  and  a  thinker,  and  became  a  public  speaker  and 
a  writer.  His  public,  political  life  commenced  in  the  fall  of  1848,  when  he 
was  thirty  years  of  age.  The  event  was  "the  first  free  soil  meeting  in  Lake 
county."  The  following  influential  and  then  active  citizens  are  named  as 
having  l^een  present:  "Judge  Clark,  Alexander  AIcDonald,  Wellington  Clark, 
Alfred  Foster,  Dr.  Pettibone.  Luman  A.  Fowler,  William  Pettibone,  John 
Wood,  of  Deep  River,  Bartlett  Woods,  Jonas  Rhodes,  Samuel  Sigler,  David 
K.  Pettibone.  and  Dr.  Wood  of  Lowell."  Besides  these  who  are  named  there 
was  an  audience  filling  the  room  of  the  Log  Court  House.  Judge  Clark  was 
chosen  to  preside  and  W.  A.  Clark  and  Bartlett  Woods  were  Secretaries. 
After  this  quite  enthusiastic  meeting  held  September  16.  1848.  ]\Ir.  Woods 
made  arrangements  to  go  out  wdth  Alexander  McDonald,  the  lawyer  of  Crown 
Point,  and  deliver  free-soil  speeches.  Lito  this  campaign  he  entered  heartilv, 
and  he  wrote  in  1884,  "From  this  time  on.  Lake  county's  free-soil  idea  grew 
in  strength.  It  was  the  germ  from  which  the  Republican  Party  sprung." 
(Lake  county  had  been  strongly  Democratic  rather  than  \Miig).  He  adds: 
"Its  large  Republican  vote  attests  this.  Its  vote  for  Fremont,  for  Lincoln,  and 
for  Grant  and  Colfax,  and  for  Colfax  all  through  his  congressional  course, 
gained  for  it  the  honor  of  being  one  of  the  banner  Republican  counties  of  the 
.State."     In  1861  and  in  1865  he  was  elected  State  Representative. 


yi  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Besides  his  interest  in  political  affairs,  he  took  a  large  interest  as  a  farmer 
in  the  Grange  movement  and  in  farmers'  institutes.  As  a  pioneer  whose  date 
of  residence  here  went  back  to  the  year  of  the  organization  of  the  countv  he 
was  thoroughly  interested  in  tlie  Association  of  the  early  settlers,  and  was  an 
officer  for  man}-  years  of  that  organization.  And  as  a  friend  of  what  he  re- 
garded as  right,  the  older  supporters  of  law  and  order  passing  one  by  one 
away,  he  came  more  and  more  to  the  front,  in  conflicts  of  opinion  or  of  inter- 
est, ready  to  confront  what  he  thought  was  wrong  and  to  advocate  what  he 
believed  was  right,  until  he  became  for  Lake  county  what  John  Ouincy 
Adams  became  for  Massachusetts,  "the  Old  Man  Eloquent."  And  not  only 
with  his  voice  but  with  his  pen.  which  he  freely  used,  he  set  forth  the  views 
which  he  held  and  advocated  until  he  was  about  eighty-four  years  of  age. 
He  has  four  sons  living  and  three  daughters,  and  a  number  of  grandchildren. 

J.\MES  H.  Luther,  ^^'hile  not  at  first  a  resilient  within  the  area  that 
liecame  Lake  county,  James  H.  Luther  passed  "back  and  forth"  along  the 
Lake  Michigan  beach  as  early  as  1835  and  1834.  his  father's  home  then  Ix-ing 
in  Porter  or  La  Porte  county,  himself  being  nineteen  years  of  age  when  he 
made  his  first  trip  around  the  south  border  of  the  great  lake.  He  came  into 
Lake  county  in  1840  and  became  a  resident  or  a  visitor  long  enough,  to  be- 
come deeply  interested  in  a  Lake  county  girl,  ^liss  P.  .\.  Flint,  a  member  of 
that  large  IMethodist  Flint  family,  yet  to  he  mentioned,  of  South  East  Grove, 
whom  he  married,  two  ^Methodi^^t  ministers  selecting  wives  also  from  that 
large  cluster  of  attractive  girls.  He  went  back  with  his  ynung  wife  to  Porter 
county  l)ut  became  a  resident  of  Crown  Point  in  1840.  That  young  wife  soon 
passed  away  from  him  and  went  o\er  the  unseen  river.  leaving  him  with 
some  young  l)ovs  that  needed  care  and  training.  About  1852  he  married  a 
widow,  Mrs.  M.  ]\I.  Mills,  and  until  1854  kept  the  hotel  then  known  as  the 
Mills  and  afterwards  as  the  Rockwell  house.  The  second  wife  proved  to  be 
a  good  mother  for  his  own  and  for  other  motherless  children. 

In  i860  he  was  elected  county  Auditor  aufl    held    the   office    for    eight 
years.    His  material  interests  prospered  year  by  year  and  he  at  length  became 


JAMES  H.  LUTHER 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  95 

one  of  the  capitalists  of  Crown  Point.  He  was  a  g-enerous.  kind-hearted  man. 
of  refined  feehngs  and  sympathies,  a  man  also  of  good  judgment,  a  man  to 
make  an  excellent  member  of  any  organization,  and  one  to  he  selected  as  a 
good  neighbor  and  friend.  For  some  reason  or  for  no  reason  that  could  be 
named,  from  the  tirst  time  that  they  met  as  strangers  to  each  other  in  1853, 
when  he  did  a  large  kiiiflness.  until  the  \ery  last  year  of  his  life  in  1803,  '^^ 
seemed  to  take,  amid  all  the  changes  of  forty  years,  a  large  and  peculiar  in- 
terest in  the  welfare  of  the  writer  of  this  memorial  record.  And  this  friend- 
ship as  marked  bv  deeds  was  the  more  singular  on  account  of  the  great  differ- 
ence between  the  two  in  their  religious  beliefs. 

An  earnest,  active  member  of  the  Old  Settler  and  Historical  A.ssocia- 
tion,  for  some  years  its  Treasurer,  James  Henry  Luther  was  in  his  eightieth 
year  when  he  passed  to  the  unseen  world.  He  has  one  son  yet  living.  John 
E.  Luther,  and  a  sister,  ]\Irs.  Allman,  both  ha^■ing•  homes  in  Crown  Point. 

Another  citizen  of  the  county,  who  like  'Mr.  James  H.  Luther,  passed 
around  the  south  shore  of  Lake  ^lichigan  in  early  days,  was  James  Adams, 
of  Rose  township.  His  name  is  gi\-en  to  a  schoolhouse  east  of  Alerrillville 
toward  Holjart.  He  was  a  stage  driver  on  the  line  from  Detroit  to  Fort 
Dearborn,  on  the  road  opened  in  1833.  He  was  liorn  in  ^Nlanlius,  Xew  "S'ork, 
September  11,  1814.  In  1837  he  was  sent  from  Detroit  to  Fort  Dearborn, 
now  Chicago,  in  the  month  of  January,  by  Governor  Mason  and  General 
Brady,  as  a  messenger  to  have  the  soldiers  from  the  fort  sent  to  Detroit.  It 
was  the  time  of  the  Patriots'  \\'ar  in  Canada.  The  sleighing  was  then  good. 
Warmly  clad,  furnished  by  General  Brady  with  good  fur  gloves,  carrying  in- 
structions to  ha\-e  the  best  horse  furnished  for  him  at  each  stage  house,  he 
was  to  make  the  distance,  284  miles,  in  twenty-four  hours  if  possible.  The 
stopping  places  where  he  could  change  horses  were  from  twelve  to  fourteen 
miles  apart.  He  ga\'e  the  attending  hostlers  onlv  a  few  moments  to  change 
horses,  requiring  each  time  the  best  horse  in  the  stable,  and  he  reached  Chicago 
or  the  fort  in  twenty-eight  hours,  leaving  Detroit  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
and  reaching  the  fort  at  8  o'clock  on  the  next  afternoon.  Ten  miles  an  hour 
for  stage  horses  was  very  good  .speed.     They  were  not  race  horses. 


96  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

In  1842  this  experienced  driver,  horse-man,  in  a  good  sense  of  the  word, 
he  quite  snrelv  was,  settled  on  a  farm  in  Ross  township,  and  there  hved  a  use- 
ful farmer  life  till  July  31,  1896,  then  nearly  eighty-two  years  of  age.  A 
daughter  with  her  mother,  her    husliand,    and    two    children,  still  hold  the 

Adams  farm. 

An  Early  Explorer. 

T.NMES  Hill,  horn  in  Kentucky,  May  29.  1810,  was  not  one 
of  the  earliest  settlers,  hut  he  was  an  early,  a  very  early  visitor  and 
explorer  in  this  region,  and  his  name  is  entitled  very  justly  to  a  place  among 
these  memorials  of  a  past  generation.  He  w'as  one  of  the  few  of  our  citizens 
born  south  of  the  Ohio  River.  His  father,  William  Hill,  was  a  Captain  of 
militia  in  the  State  of  Kentucky  and  died  in  1822.  The  young  James  Hill 
soon  after  made  his  home  with  the  family  of  James  Lloyd,  and  in  1827  they 
removed  to  Decatur  county,  Indiana.  Here,  in  1838,  James  Hill  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Mary  Skinner  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  here  he  became 
acquainted  with  William  Ross,  a  resident  in  Decatur  county. 

In  February  of  1834,  then  twenty-three  years  of  age,  four  years  before 
his  marriage.  Tames  Hill  made  an  exploring  expedition  into  the  new  Indian 
Purchase,  this  Northwestern  Indiana.  He  found  a  few  white  families,  he 
saw  tlie  Indians  in  their  wigwams,  and,  coming  into  what  became  Lake 
county,  he  found,  already  settled,  W^illiam  Ross  and  family,  who  as  early  as 
1833  left  Decatur  county  and  had  established  a  home  among  the  Indians  and 
amid  the  wild  denizens  of  the  Deep  River  woodlands  and  the  not  distant 
prairie.  But  finding  the  snow-covered  prairies  and  the  leafless  oaks  and  the 
Indian  wigwams  not  sufficiently  inviting  to  induce  a  lone  young  man  to  settle 
then,  he  returned  to  Decatur  county,  was  married,  commenced  farm  life,  and 
deferred  his  actual  settlement  in  Lake  county  till  1853,  when  the  delightful 
pioneer  years  had  passed.  In  Cedar  Creek  township,  near  what  is  now  called 
Creston,  he  bought  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  and  there  hved 
for  many  years,  a  prosperous,  useful,  faithful  citizen.  He  was  a  very  noble- 
hearted  man,  patient  amid  many  trials,  kindly  and  true  and  generous  in  the 


HISTORY  01-   LAKE  COUNTY.  97 

different  relations  of  life.  One  daughter  is  living.  Mrs.  Henry  Surprise,  a 
kindly  and  a  noble  woman,  and  two  s<ins.  William  J.  Hill  of  Oregon  for 
some  years,  a  great  wlieat-raiser,  and  now  in  the  mining  region  of  the  West, 
and  Dr.  Jesse  L.  Hill  of  Creston.  both  possessing  some  of  their  father's  excel- 
lent traits  of  character.  Of  promising  grandchildren  there  are  more  than 
a  few. 

Into  that  same  Creston  neighborhood,  then  called  Tinkerville,  a  name 
which  if  not  classic  does  not  need  to  be  forgotten,  there  came  from  the  South- 
ern part  of  Indiana,  before  the  railroad  period  began,  another  very  useful  and 
worthy  family.  Lymax  Thompson,  his  wife  Lucinda  Thompson,  a  daughter, 
Laura,  and  two  sons,  Orrin  and  Amos  Thompson.  They  came  about  1847. 
The  father  and  mother  and  daughter  were  active  and  valuable  members  of 
the  Cedar  Lake  Baptist  church,  but  the  father  did  not  live  long  enough  to  do 
a  large  work  in  building  up  the  community.  The  two  sons  yet  live,  one  at 
Lowell,  one  at  Creston,  good  and  useful  men.     Lymaii  Thompson  died  Alay 

9:    1852. 

Sherman. — William  Sherman,  who  was  married  at  Saratoga,  Xew 
York,  in  November,  1807,  to  Miss  Calista  Smith,  a  native  of  Vermont,  came 
into  Lake  county  in  1837.  He  was  evidently  an  Eastern  man,  a  native  prob- 
ably of  New  England.  He  was  the  father  of  thirteen  children  and  dierl  in 
1843.  Mrs.  Sherman,  who  will  be  elsewhere  mentioned,  lived  in  Crown 
Point  until  October,  1884.  Some  one  is  preparing  the  Sherman  Biography, 
which,  it  is  expected,  will  soon  be  published. 

The  living  descendants  of  these  Lake  county  Sherman^  numbered,  a  few 
years  ago,  tifty-two.  Some  have  gone,  some  have  come,  and  there  are  prob- 
ably more  now.  It  is  a  lesson  whicli  genealogic  records  teach  o\-er  and  over 
that  some  families  increase  and  some  become  extinct. 

Griffin.  Another  name,  although  not  of  an  early  settler,  claims  a  place 
on  this  page.  Elihu  Griffin  came  to  Crown  Point  as  a  lawyer.  He  was 
working  well  up  in  his  profession  when  the  war  of  1861  commenced.  He  en- 
tered the  Union  Army.     He  was  app(jinted  a  paymaster.     This  gave  him  the 


98  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

title  of  Major.  He  returned  to  Crown  Point,  olitained  a  lucrative  position 
in  locating  what  was  called  the  \'incennes,  Danville,  and  Chicago  Railroad. 
Disease  came  upon  him.  For  many  months  he  \\as  laid  aside  entirely  from 
the  business  affairs  of  life.  He  after  some  time  resumed  his  office  life,  but 
never  regained  health.    He  had  three  sons,  Horace,  Charles  F.,  and  Cassius. 

Charles  F.  Griffin,  brought  up  in  Crown  Point,  adopted  his  father's 
profession,  studied  law,  began  practice  in  the  office  with  his  father,  and  from 
1887  to  1891  was  at  Indianapolis  having  been  elected  Secretary  of  State. 
After  his  term  of  office  expired  he  located  as  a  lawyer  in  the  young  city  of 
Hammond,  an<l  after  a  prosperous  course  of  business  and  sharing  other  hon- 
ors, honors  connected  with  the  Sons  of  the  \'eterans,  his  life  ended  at  Ham- 
mond on  Saturday,  December  20,  1902,  while  he  was  only  in  the  prime  of  life, 
about  forty-six  years  of  age.  "Ambitious  and  successful  in  obtaining  several 
desired  positions,  never  having  vigorous  health,  he  passed  rapidly  through  a 
comparatively  short  life."  No  other  Lake  county  boy  has  j^et  reached  so  high 
a  position  in  civil  or  political  life.  His  wife,  who  was  Miss  Edith  Burhans 
of  West  Creek  township,  and  a  son  and  daughter,  still  live  in  Hammond.  His 
form  was  laid  away  in  the  Crown  Point  Cemetery.  He  had  been  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Crown  Point  Presbyterian  Sunday-school  and  was  a  member 

of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

Physicians. 

Doctor  and  Judge  H.  D.  Palmer  has  been  named  as  the  first 
or  earliest  physician  nf  the  county  who  had  graduated  from  a  medical  col- 
lege. There  was  one,  perhaps  quite  as  early,  but  who  proljably  had  no 
diploma,  who  administered  medicine  to  the  sick  in  what  is  now  Hanover 
township,  who  was  also  a  good  deer  hunter.  Dr.  Joseph  Greene.  As  a  phy- 
sician in  treating  the  ague,  called  sometimes  malarial  fever,  he  was  quite  suc- 
cessful.    His  brother,  Sylvester,  also  practiced. 

The  next  early  physician  was  Dr.  J.vme.s  A.  Wood.  His  home  was  at 
first  in  Porter  county,  but  his  rides  often  extended  into  Lake.  He  rode  a 
very  fine-looking  Indian  or  French  pony,    thick    set,    with    a    heavy    mane, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  99 

sagacious,  hardy,  an  animal  to  delight  a  frontier  lioy.  and  one  day  he  was  near 
the  Cady  ]Marsh  and  a  patient  needing  a  physician  on  the  other  side.  Dr. 
Wood  had  heen  told  that  no  white  man  hiad  ever  ridden  across.  It  was  imi)lied 
that  an  Indian  had.  Time  was  precious.  He  concluded  that  if  an  Indian  had 
crossed  he  could.  He  \'entured  and  succeeded.  A  \vagon  road  crosses  now. 
Dr.  Wood  soon  removed  fn^m  Porter  count}"  to  the  east  side  of  Cedar  Lake. 
He  had  an  extensi\-e  practice. 

With  J.  W  Johns,  Amsi  L.  Ball,  and  John  Sykes,  he  was  appointed  a 
committee  to  make  a  report  on  the  ^Michigan  Central  road  when  at  its  open- 
ing a  free  ride  was  given  from  Lake  Station  to  ^Michigan  City.  From  liim, 
without  much  douht  the  date  of  that  event  has  been  given  as  1850;  but  it 
probably  really  was  185 1. 

After  several  years  Dr.  Wood  removed  to  Lowell.  He  was  for  eighteen 
months  Regimental  Surgeon  in  the  Twelfth  Indiana  Ca\alry.  He  had  in  Lake 
county  a  long  practice.  He  was  an  excellent  singer,  a  very  pleasant,  kind 
friend. 

Dr.  S.  B.  Yeoman  is  one  other  physician  to  be  named  at  Lowell,  a  good 
physician,  an  excellent  man,  who  died  in  January,  1865. 

Among  the  physicians  at  Crown  Point  one  of  the  earliest  was  Dr.  Far- 
RiNGTON  (W.  C.  or  W.  ¥.),  from  1840  to  1856.  He  had  quite  an  extensive 
ride,  and  was  planning  as  an  enterprising  man  quite  an  improvement  to 
Crown  Point  as  then  it  was  when  death  broke  up  all  his  plans.  His  proper 
successor  was  Dr.  A.  J.  Pratt,  who  came  as  a  }-oung  practitioner  in  1854 
After  some  time  he  married  ^Vlrs.  Farrington,  who  had  two  children,  a  son 
and  a  daughter.  The  children  were  not  vigorous  and  in  young  manhood 
and  womanhood  they  passed  away,  and  the  mother  also  passed  out  from 
this  life,  lea\'ing  Dr.  Pratt  with  the  then  lonesome,  lonelv  home.  He  at 
length  again  married,  and  three  daughters,  one  after  another,  came  into  the 
home.  The  children  grew  into  womanhood,  and  one  is  the  wife  of  Dr. 
George  D.  Brannon.  Dr.  Pratt  for  many  years  had  a  large  practice.  Accu- 
mulations increased.     He  became  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  he 


100  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

was  very  kindly  in  his  ministrations  in  the  rooms  of  sickness,  he  liad  brouglit 
rehef  to  many  through  his  knowledge  of  the  healing  art,  but  in  November, 
1893,  soon  after  the  close  of  the  great  Columbian  Exposition,  his  own  time 
came  to  die.  For  nearly  forty  years  he  had  been  one  of  the  principal  phy- 
sicians of  the  county  and  had  done  much  good.     He  was  born  in  1825. 

Older  than  he  as  a  resident  physician  was  Dr.  Harvey  Pettibone, 
whose  date  of  location  at  Crown  Point  is  1847.  He  was  in  the  medical  line. 
His  father  was  a  physician  before  him  and  his  son  after  him.  The  Pettibone 
family  came  from  the  East,  the  father  and  three  sons,  Dr.  Harvey,  D.  K., 
and  \Villiam  Pettibone,  all  for  many  years  inhabitants  of  Crown  Point.  Dr. 
Pettibone  married  Mrs.  H.  S.  Pelton  and  entered  amid  favorable  circum- 
stances upon  a  long  and  successful  course  of  medical  practice.  He  entered 
into  political  life  once,  sufficiently  long  to  represent  Lake  county  in  the  State 
Legislature.  Years,  1882-1884.  He  was  born  in  Naples,  New  York,  No- 
vember 28,  1821,  he  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  there  about  1842; 
and  his  life  ended  here  August  19,  1898,  when  he  was  nearly  seventy-seven 
years  of  age,  having  been  a  physician  for  fifty-fi\-e  years. 

Dr.  Henry  Pettibone,  a  son  of  Dr.  Harvey  Pettibone,  may,  like 
Charles  F.  Griffin,  be  properly  mentioned  after  his  father.  He  was  born  in 
Crown  Point  May  31,  1850,  was  a  student  with  Henry  Johnson  at  the  Crown 
Point  Institute,  went  with  him  to  Hanover  College,  Indiana,  graduated  there 
in  the  scientific  course,  returned  to  Crown  Point,  studied  medicine,  secured 
f|uite  a  laige  practice,  his  father  gradually  retiring,  married  Miss  M.  Sauer- 
man,  antl  died  very  unexpectedly  at  a  hospital  in  Chicago,  June  26,  1902. 
He  has  two  sisters,  both  living,  and  two  daughters. 

Dr.  John  Higgins  is  the  third  of  the  physicians  of  Crown  Point  who 
were  associated  together  for  so  many  years.  He  was  born  in  Perry,  New 
York,  May  29,  1822.  He  was  a  descendant  of  Pilgrims  and  Puritans,  be- 
tween whom  some  persons  make  no  distinction.  His  Pilgrim  ancestor  was 
Richard  Higgins,  who  landed  at  Plymouth  Rock  in  1621.  His  Puritan 
ancestor  was  Simon  Sackett,  who  came  to  the  Boston  Colony  in  1632.     His 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  101 

fatlier  was  David  Higgins  and  his  mother  in  her  girlhood  was  Eunice  Sacl\ett 
from  which  family  was  named  Sackett's  Harbor  on  Lake  Ontario. 

Graduating  at  an  Lidiana  Medical  college  in  1846.  Dr.  Higgins  was 
married  in  1847  to  Miss  Diantha  Trcmper,  a  memlier  of  a  Lake  county 
famih'  of  earlv  settlers.  Dr.  Higgins  did  not  enter  fully  upon  practice  in 
Crown  Point  till  1859.  In  t86i  he  entered  the  I^nion  Army  as  a  physician 
and  surgeon,  did  much  hospital  wnrk,  became  an  ex]iert  surgeon,  and  resumed 
practice  at  Crown  Point  in  1865.  Like  his  two  contemporaries  his  practice 
extended  over  considerable  territory,  and  having  a  good  start  financially, 
like  them  he  continued  to  accumulate.  One  daughter  came  to  his  home, 
and  as  the  years  passed  on  a  son-in-law  came,  a  young  lawyer.  J.  W.  Youche. 
and  in  the  course  of  time  a  grandson  came,  and  then  for  a  few  years  the 
domestic  happiness  seemed  complete.  The  young  lawyer  rose  rapidly  in 
his  profession,  became  a  State  Senator,  a  large  dwelling  bou.se  was  erected, 
the  Higgins-Youcbe  mansion,  and  made  a  home  of  elegance  without  and 
within,  and  the  grandson  soon  became  an  intelligent,  promising  youth.  Dr. 
Higgins  was  growing  aged.  He  retired  from  practice.  He  rode  very  much 
in  his  IniggA".  having  some  fine  horses,  but  not  to  visit  patients.  Sometimes 
one  member  of  the  family  would  be  with  him.  sometimes  another.  P.ut 
changes  come  to  all.  They  came  to  him.  In  November.  1895.  the  \^"ife 
who  had  been  with  him  for  forty-eight  years  passed  away  from  earth.  In 
January.  1901.  the  son-in-law.  Hon.  J.  W.  Youche.  still  in  the  ]M-ime  of 
manhood,  was  cut  down  by  the  sharp  sickle  of  death.  .\nd  in  the  early  morn- 
ing of  April  7.  1904.  when  nearh'  eight\'-t\vo  years  of  age.  Dr.  Higgins' 
own  time  came  to  die. 

The  three  had  all  lieen  resj^ected  and  honored  as  men  and  as  ph}'sicians. 
and  all  had  met  with  hnancial  success. 

Before  lea\'ing  this  record  and  these  memorials  of  early  physicians  two 
more  names  are  placed  r.n  this  ]iage.  One  is  the  name  of  W.  E.  Vii.mer,  a 
German,  whose  dates  of  residence  are  from  1853  to  1861.  Dr.  Yilmer  mar- 
ried a  daughtei  of  Mr.  Lewis  Herlitz,  of  Cedar  Lake.     His  scho(.>l  of  medi- 


102  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

cine  was  dififerent  from  the  others  wlio  have  lieen  named.  His  professional 
Hfe  was  short.  He  fixed  up  a  pleasant  home  and  left  in  it.  when  he  went 
from  earth,  besides  his  wife,  two  sons  and  one  daughter. 

The  other  name  is  that  of  Dr.  I\I.  G.  Bliss,  coming  here  as  a  retired 
physician,  opening  and  carrying  on  for  som.e  little  time  a  drug  store  which 
was  at  length  destroyed  by  fire,  causing  to  him  a  great  loss,  and  then  taking 
a  new  course  of  lectures  in  Chicago,  opening  an  office  and  acquiring"  consid- 
erable practice  as  a  physician  of  the  Eclectic  school.  He  had  nothing  on 
which  to  start  and,  unlike  the  others,  he  did  not,  he  could  not,  accumulate; 
but  he  was  for  some  thirty  vears  here  a  kind,  good-hearted,  successful  phy- 
sician, a  very  pleasant,  kindly  man,  and  a  school  Trustee  for  many  years. 
He  has  in  Crown  Point  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 

A  Lawyer's  Record. 

The  first  lawyer  of  the  county  has  been  named  in  ditTerent  connections, 
Alex.\xder  ]\IcDox.\ld,  whose  home  for  some  years  was  on  East  street,  who 
died  in  that  home  in  1866,  one  of  whose  daughters  is  ^Irs.  Belle  Lathrop  of 
Florida,  and  one  Mrs.  H.  S.  Holton,  and  one  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Poppe,  a 
physician  settling  here  in  1870  and  after  some  }ears  removing  to  Chicago, 
all  now  living.  Lawyer  McDonald's  date  of  location  in  Crown  Point  is  1839. 
Before  that  time  he  had  a  residence  at  or  near  what  became  Lowell. 

But  the  next  lawyer,  and  the  one  whose  record  was  here  to  be  given,  was 
Martin  \\'ood.  He  was  an  earlier  resident  in  Crown  Point  than  ]\Iajor 
Grififin.  The  record  is,  "April  4,  1848,  he  came  among  us."  The  pioneer 
modes  of  living  were  soon  to  end,  but  he  was  well  adapted  to  help  on  the 
ending  and  to  press  forward  into  the  new.  As  many  a  young  man  had  done 
before  his  day  and  as  many  have  since  done,  he  taught  for  a  time  in  a  public 
school.  He  opened  a  law  office.  His  next  step  was  to  secure  a  partner,  not 
for  business  but  for  life,  and  he  wisely  selected  a  minister's  daughter.  Miss 
Susan  G.  Taylor,  of  Pleasant  Grove,  to  whom  he  was  married  August  26, 
1849.  Besides  being  a  lawyer  and  looking  after  the  interests  of  his  clients,  he 
secured  a  small  farm  of  fifty-five  acres  close  to  the  town,  having  a  taste  for 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  103 

agricultuial  or  horitculturai  pursuits.  Ten  acres  he  encldsed  with  ornaniental 
trees,  as  many  as  twenty  varieties  he  put  on  his  grounds,  some  of  tliem  quite 
rare  varieties,  and  he  set  out  about  eiglit  hundred  e\'ergreens,  inchuhng  arbor 
vitae,  red  cedar,  Norway  spruce,  Scotch  pine,  white  pine,  vellow  pine,  silver 
spruce,  Austrian  pine.  Weymoutli  pine,  Siberian  arbor  \-itae.  I>alsam  fir.  and 
juniper.  He  set  out  fruit  trees  to  bear  apples,  pears,  cpiinces,  and  peaches. 
He  gave  attention  to  small  fruit.  He  did  not  neglect  his  law-  business  nor 
political  life  while  doing  all  this.  It  will  probalily  be  long  before  Crown 
Point  has  such  another  citizen  lawyer  as  was  he.  There  was  force,  energy 
in  his  ^•oice  and  movements.  He  spread  a  quantity  of  ink  on  paper  when 
he  wrote.  His  frame,  as  to  his  body,  was  stoutly  built,  compact,  but  not 
above  medium  height,  and  his  manner,  to  a  stranger,  might  have  seemed 
slightly  brusk.  But  he  was  the  very  man  to  contend  earnestly  for  the  cause 
he  believed  to  be  right,  and  was  in  reality  of  a  kind  and  gentle  disposition. 
His  speeches  were  not  polished,  but  in  them  and  through  them  there  was 
force.  He  acquired  a  large  law  practice  and  entering  to  some  extent  into 
political  life  he  represented  Lake  county  for  two  terms  in  the  State  Legis- 
lature. 

Hon.  [Nlaitin  Wood  was  born  in  Ohio,  November  26.  1815.  He  died  at 
his  pleasant  home  Monday  morning,  September  5,  1892,  being  nearly  seventy- 
seven  years  of  age.  He  had  four  sons  and  three  daughters  who  are  all  now 
living  and  active  in  the  busy  world,  making  money,  gaining  honors,  doing 
good. 

Cleveland.  Among  the  lawyers  of  Crow-n  Point  forty  years  agO'  was 
one  wdio  came  as  a  child  into  this  county  in  1837,  a  son  of  Ephr.\im  Cleve- 
L.^ND,  wdiose  family  were  active  Methodists  and  Sunday-school  workers  at 
Pleasant  Grove  in  the  very  beginning  of  Sunday-school  organization  in  the 
county.  This  child,  Timothy  Clevel.vxd,  was  born  November  22,  1829,  in 
the  state  of  New  York,  and  so  was  about  eight  years  of  age  when  the  family 
came  to  Lake  county.  He  passed  the  years  of  boyhood  and  youth  at  Pleasant 
Grove,  settled  at  Crown  Point  as  a  lawyer  in   1863.  gave  some  attention  to 


104  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

journalism  and  some  to  farming,  published  a  paper,  the  Herald,  for  a  short 
time,  and  lived  to  be  seventy  years  of  age.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  Chris- 
tian principle,  and  manifested,  when  it  was  called  out,  a  rare  Christian  spirit. 
His  older  daughter,  Miss  Helen  Cleveland,  was  for  several  years  a  prominent 
teacher  in  the  Crown  Point  pitblic  school  and  is  now  the  wife  of  Professor 
Weems  of  Valparaiso.  The  younger  daughter.  Miss  Cynthia  E..  was  married 
July  17,  1898,  to  Mv.  Joseph  Baker,  of  Valparaiso.  One  son,  Charles  A. 
Cle\'eland,  is  carrying  on  a  printing  office  at  Hammond,  and  Walter  W. 
Cleveland  is  a  printer  in  the  Star  ofifice  at  Crown  Point.  Another  son, 
Otis  W.  Cleveland,  married  a  daughter  of  J.  S.  Holton  and  is  living  in 
Crown  Point. 

The  Cleveland  family  of  the  east  and  south  is  large,  but  where  the  Lake 
county  family  connects  back  in  the  old  ancestral  line  is  not  here  known. 

Another  genuine  Christian  lawyer  was  James  B.  Turner,  a  member 
also  of  one  of  the  true  and  substantial  pioneer  families  of  1838,  himself  then 
a  youth  .seventeen  years  of  age.  He  was  a  son  of  Judge  Samuel  Turner 
of  Eagle  Creek  and  a  brother  of  Judge  David  Turner  of  Crown  Point.  He 
left  the  Eagle  Creek  farm,  studied  law,  settled  as  a  lawyer  at  Crown  Point 
in  :86i,  established  a  reputation  as  "a  very  refined  and  a  Christian  man,"  and 
died  in  August,  1866.  He  was  married  in  1848  to  Miss  Austria  C.  Lindsley. 
They  had  no  children,  but  adopted  a  boy  who  was  called  Walter  Turner. 

Hon.  J.  W.  YoucHE.  A  later  resident  than  these  that  have  just  been 
named,  and  a  much  younger  lawyer,  was  Julius  W.  Youcue.  He  was 
born  March  4,  1848.  m  Saxony,  the  son  of  Frederick  William  and  \\'ilhel- 
mine  Pfeifer  Yonche.  He  was  brought  across  the  Atlantic  when  two  years 
of  age,  and  the  home  of  his  childhood  and  youth  was  in  the  state  of  Ohio. 
The  Youche  family  were  Lutherans.  In  that  faith  he  was  brought  up.  He 
came  into  Lidiana  and  completed  a  course  of  literary  studies  at  the  State 
University  at  Bloomington.  He  then  came  to  Crown  Point  as  a  teacher; 
was  principal  of  the  Crown  Point  public  school  in  1870.  then  twenty-two 
years  of  age.     He  went  to  Ann  Arbor  in  Michigan,  graduated  at  that  uni- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  105 

versity  as  a  law  student  in  1872.  He  returned  to  Crown  Point  and  com- 
menced the  practice  of  law.  January  i,  1873,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Eunice  Higgins,  the  only  child  of  Dr.  Higgins,  of  Crown  Point,  and  in 
that  home,  which  l^ecame  the  Higgins- Youche  mansion,  one  of  the  costly  and 
spacious  and  beautiful  residences  of  Crown  Point,  he  resided  for  twenty-eight 
years.  He  was  a  model  son-in-law;  a  good  citizen;  an  exemplary  and  devoted 
husband  and  father;  a  man  of  refined  feelings  and  of  cultivated  taste.  He 
was  scholarly  in  different  lines.  As  a  talented  young  lawyer  he  had  risen 
rapidly  in  his  profession.  He  was  a  state  senator,  was  vice  president  of  the 
Crown  Point  National  Bank,  was  a  trustee  of  the  State  University,  and  "was 
for  many  years."  as  said  one  of  the  best  and  most  cultivated  lawyers  of  the 
count)-,  "easily  the  leader  at  the  bar  of  this  county,  and  a  leader  in  north- 
western Indiana."     He  died  January  2,  1901,  nearly  fifty-three  years  of  age. 

Unlike  one  of  our  older  lawyers  he  had  not  opened  a  little  farm  and  set 
out  trees  and  shrubbery ;  but  his  love  for  nature  was  large,  and  his  enjoy- 
ment of  geologic  and  historic  research  was  keen  He  had  accumulated  in 
his  professional  life  quite  an  amount  of  prriperty.  and  had  collected  a  large 
and  valuable  library. 

He  has  left  one  son,  Julian  Higgins  Youche,  now  a  college  student, 
talented  and  ambitious,  climbing  up  toward  fame  and  success.  To  him  and 
to  his  mother,  to  Crown  Point  and  to  Lake  county,  the  loss  of  such  a  man 
and  such  a  lawyer,  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  has  been  great.  Of  him  it  was 
said  when  he  first  came  to  Crown  Point,  that  he  was  an  unusually  con- 
scientious and  inoffensive  young  man,  and  this  noble  trait,  to  avoid  giving 
ofifense,  he  retained  through  life. 

Of  those  representing  the  earliest  pioneer  times  iv>  one  retained  the 
peculiarities  of  a  few  settlers  more  fully  than  one  well  known  in  all  Old 
Settler  meetings,  Amos  Horxor. 

Ihe  Hornor  family  came  from  the  \\ ''abash  region.  In  the  eyes  of 
the  New  England  and  New  York  children  they  were  in  appearance,  in  dress, 
in  language,  genr.ine  '"Hoosiers."     Most  of  that  family  in  a  very  few  years 


106  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.     • 

returned  to  tlie  Wabash,  and  the  others  from  that  locality,  as  the  large  Xor- 
dyke  family,  Wiles,  Bond,  and  others,  returned  or  went  westward  to  other 
frontier  regions.  But  Amos  Hornor  remained.  He  was  born  ^lay  19, 
1813.  He  was  of  Quaker  descent.  His  father.  David  Hornor.  continued  to 
use  the  Quaker  forms  of  speech. 

In  1834  a  few  members  of  the  family  came  up  and  made  claims  in  Octo- 
ber and  November  on  the  west  side  of  the  Red  Cedar  Lake.  In  the  summer 
of  1S35  more  members  of  the  family  came  up.  and  Amos  Hornor.  then 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  came  with  them.  They  cut  grass  for  ha}-,  put  up 
some  cabins,  and  returned  once  more  to  Tippecanoe  county.  In  November, 
1835,  the  Hornor  and  Brown  families  removed  to  Lake  county,  and  this 
date  established  by  documentary  evidence,  the  Claim  Register,  marks  the 
commencement  of  Amos  Hornor's  residence  in  the  county.  He  was  quite 
desirous  at  one  time  of  being  considered  the  first  or  one  of  the  first  settlers 
in  the  county  only  second  to  Solon  Robinson  and  a  \ery  few  others.  But  no 
man  can  go  back  of  the  testimony  of  the  Claim  Register,  on  whatever  points 
it  gives  testimony. 

After  the  return  of  his  father's  family  to  the  Wabash  Amos  Hornor 
resided  for  some  time  at  Crown  Point.  Soon  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
White,  one  of  the  }oung  belles  of  Crown  Point,  daughter  of  ^Irs.  Sally 
Wliite.  afterward  Mrs.  \\'olf,  of  Porter  county.  The  marriage  took  place 
in  Porter  county,  July  4.  1844.  She  lived  less  than  a  year.  And  he  was 
again  married.  June  24,  1849,  to  a  widow  woman  now.  and  not  a  young  girl, 
Mrs.  Sarah  R.  Brov>n.  He  made  his  final  Imme  at  Ross,  and  with  her  he 
lived  many  peaceful  years.  They  had  two  daughters.  One  is  not  now  living. 
I\Irs.  Sarah  Horner  at  length  died,  and  a  third  wife,  Airs.  Amanda  M.  Co- 
burn,  January  10,  1892,  took  the  vacant  place. 

In  a  few  years  his  own  time  came,  and  Amos  Hornor.  of  Ross,  the  last 
representati\-e  of  the  Hornor  and  Brown  families  of  1835,  departed  from 
among  the  living  August  25,  1895,  nearly  eighty-two  years  of  age.  For  al- 
most sixty  years  he  had  trodden  the  soil  of  Lake  county  and  amid  all  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  107 

change?  of  the  last  half  of  the  Xineteenth  Century  he  retained  to  a  large 
extent  the  characteristics  of  h'S  youth.  In  all  Old  Settler  meetings  at  Crown 
Point  and  at  Hehron  he  took  a  large  interest  and  was  always  ready  to  rehearse 
tlie  experiences  of  early  years. 

B.\LL. — The  name.  .\msi  L.  Ball,  occurs  c|uite  frequently  in  the  earliest 
history  of  Lake  county.  He  was  one  of  the  more  mature  men  active  and 
prominent  in  laying  the  foundations  of  civil  and  social  institutions.  He 
came  with  his  son,  John  B.a.ll,  from  the  State  of  New  Y'ork  in  1836.  To 
which  band  of  the  large  family  of  Balls  emigrating  from  England  between 
1630  and  1640  he  belonged  is  net  known.  In  March,  1837,  an  election  was 
held  at  his  house,  also  at  the  house  of  Russell  Eddy  and  at  the  house  of 
Samuel  D.  Bryant,  at  which  election,  having  received  seventy-eight  votes 
for  county  Commissioner,  he  was  elected  for  three  years ;  but  he  resigned 
this  office  in  the  summer  in  order  to  be  a  candidate  at  the  August  election 
for  Representative  to  Indianapolis.  Lake  cixmty  voted  for  him,  l>ut  Porter 
county,  with  which  Lake  for  some  years  was  united  in  electing  a  Repre- 
sentative, did  not.  He  gave  up  a  certaintv  for  an  uncertainty  and  so  lost 
both  offices.  He  was  rather  tall  in  person,  a  fluent  speaker,  a  man  capable 
and  ambitious.  He  was,  as  the  political  parties  of  those  days  were  desig- 
nated, a  Democrat,  and  Solon  Robinson,  who  had  been  the  "Squatter  King" 
of  Lake,  was  a  strong  Whig.  Politically  these  two,  both  ambitious  men, 
were  not  friendly,  and  each  had  the  credit  in  those  days  of  defeating  to 
some  extent  the  political  aspn^ations  of  the  other.  Amsi  L.  Ball,  while  not 
holding  office,  continued  to  be  an  influential  and  prominent  citizen,  luit, 
about  185 1  or  soon  after,  he  returned  to  the  State  of  New  York  after  a  resi- 
dence here  of  about  fifteen  years.  Of  his  son's  sojourn  here  but  little  is 
known. 

Jones. — Levi  D.  Jones,  whose  name  is  on  record  as  a  grand  juror  at  the 
first  term  of  the  Lake  Circuit  Court,  in  1837,  must  have  been  an  early  settler, 
but  further  records  concerning  him  have  not  been  found. 

Damd  Tones  vv-as  an  earlv  resident  in  Porter  countv  and  then  near  the 


108  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Hurlhurt  Corners,  and,  retiring  from  his  farm  life  at  length,  he  li\-ed  for 
many  years  on  East  street  in  Crown  Poin.t,  an  exemplary  chnrch  .memher 
and  a  quiet  citizen,  where  he  died  in  1895.  He  had  se\'eral  children,  of  whom 
one  son  and  one  daughter  live  in  Crown  Point. 

W.  G.  ]\IcGl.\shon,  who  came  to  Crown  Point  in  1846,  was  very  closely 
identified  with  the  business  interests  of  the  town  for  manv  vears.  He  was 
some  of  the  tune  clerk  or  salesman,  and  his  positions  will  indicate  some  of 
the  business  houses  of  former  years.  In  1850  he  became  clerk  for  \\'illiam 
Alton,  then  a  leading  merchant.  Afterward  he  was  clerk  for  Turner  S: 
Bissel,  successors  to  J-  W.  Dinwnddie;  then  for  D.  Turner;  for  Turner  & 
Cramer :  and  for  Strait.  He  was  in  these  stores  for  four  years.  Then  he 
was  in  the  store  of  A.  H.  Merton,  successor  to  Turner  &  Cramer:  then 
clerk  for  John  G.  Hoffman.  In  these  two  stores  for  three  years.  It  was 
now  1S58  and  he  went  into  business  for  himself.  In  i860  he  bought  a  stock 
cf  goods  in  Boston  and  then  took  in  as  a> partner  M.  L.  Barber. 

He  kept  the  postoffice,  and  when  the  railroad  came  through  the  town 
he  did  the  express  business.  He  next  bought  out  M.  L.  Barber,  and  at 
length  closed  out  his  business  and  in  1867  retired  to  a  farm  about  four  miles 
south  of  town.  In  1871  he  returned  to  the  town  and  to  business  life.  He 
at  last  Avent  to  the  A^/est  and  died  there,  a  very  aged  man. 

He  was  rather  low  in  stature  and  quite  portly.  A  true  man.  He  was 
born  in  Quebec,  October  19,  1814,  was  married  in  Vermont  in  1833,  and 
lived  to  be  eighty-two  years  of  age.  That  Vermont  wife,  Mrs.  McGlashon, 
is  still  living  with  an  unmarried  daughter  in  the  West.  Her  great-grand- 
children live  at  Hammond,  the  children  of  Dr.  Turner. 

Summers. — Among  those  who  have  aided  largely  in  building  up  Crown 
Point  and  the  county  the  name  of  Zer.mi  F.  Summers  is  prominent.  He 
was  a  son  of  Judge  Benjamin  Summers,  of  Ohio,  and  was  born  in  Ver- 
milion, Erie  county,  Ohio.  July  iCi.  1829.  He  came  to  Crown  Point,  where 
he  had  several  relatives,  in  November,  1854.  He  had  received  a  good 
business    education,    which    included    also    surveying    and    civil    engineering. 


HERMAN  C.  BECKMAN 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  109 

In  1S55  and  1856  he  assisted  the  county  surveyor,  Jolm  Wheeler,  wlio  was 
one  of  his  relatives,  and  with  him  in  1857  bought  out  the  Crown  Point 
Herald  and  issued.  August  4,  1857.  the  first  number  of  the  Crown  Point 
Register.  He  was  elected  count}-  Clerk  in  1859  and  held  that  office  till 
1867.  He  also  held  other  offices,  as  school  Examiner,  town  Trustee,  and 
was  appointed  real  estate  appraiser  for  the  county.  In  18^)5  he  erected  a 
warehouse  near  the  railroad  depot  and  commenced  shipping  grain.  He  also 
erected  a  grain  building  at  Le  Roy,  then  called  Cassville.  and  bought  and 
shipped  grain.  In  this  grain  liusiness  he  continued  until  his  death  in  1879. 
He  had  spent  several  months,  probably  in  1869  and  1870,  as  surveyor  and 
civil  engineer,  on  the  line  of  what  was  then  called  the  Vincennes,  Danville, 
and  Chicago  Railroad,  a  business  for  which  he  was  well  fitted.  About  one 
half  of  his  life,  nearly  twenty-five  years,  was  given  to  different  interests  in 
Crown  Point  and  the  region  around,  and  the  results  of  his  work  and  influence 
will  long  remain. 

He  took  a  large  interest  in  the  North  Street  Baptist  church,  of  which 
he  was  a  Trustee  and  where  his  daughters  attended  Sunday  school,  and  for 
which,  had  he  continued  to  live,  he  would  have  no  doubt  done  much  more. 

Pie  came  to  Crown  Point  when  twenty-five  years  of  age.  August  2, 
i860,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Margaret  M.  Thomas,  a  daughter  of  Ambrose 
S.  Thomas,  Esq.,  of  New  York.  One  son,  an  only  son,  Wayland  Summers, 
is  living  in  the  West,  and  a  daughter,  Mrs.  Jennie  Webster,  lives  in  Chicago. 

In  a  somewhat  lengthy  memorial  in  "The  Lake  of  the  Red  Cedars"  he 
is  well  called  an  active,  upright,  useful,  honorable  citizen;  a  kind,  obliging, 
faithful  friend;  a  loving,  generous,  tender  husband  and  father;  with  a  very 
refined  and  noble  nature.  In  his  official  and  business  life  he  enjoyed  \-ery 
largely  the  confidence  of  his  fellow  citizens  throughout  the  county. 

Beckman. — The  principal  merchant  in  Hanover  tinvnship,  first  at  Han- 
over Center  and  then  at  Brunswick,  was  Herman  C.  Bfxkman.  He  was 
born  in  1822,  he  came  to  America  in  1S46,  he  was  married  in  1852,  he  com- 
mencetl  business  as  a   merchant   in    1855,   he  was   elected  countv   Commis- 


no  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

sionei"  in  1867.  he  was  postmaster  at  Brunswick  for  twenty-nine  years,  he 
accumulated  a  good  amount  of  property,  and  died  at  Brunswick  in  1894,  an 
upright,  kindly,  highly  respected  citizen.  He  had  several  children  who 
became  estimable  members  of  society  and  are  li\ing  now. 

Livingstone  or  Livingston. — Xcar  the  beginning  of  the  railroad  period 
there  came  from  Europe  to  Lake  county  S.\muel  and  Jane  Livingston. 
There  were  nine  sons,  Robert,  John,  Sam,  Joseph,  James,  \\'illiam,  Hart- 
ford. Thomas,  and  ]\Ioses.  Six  of  these  sons  went  as  soldiers  in  the  Union 
Armv.  There  were  three  daughters,  in  all  twelve  children,  making  another 
quite  fair-sized  family  in  the  county.  The  mother,  Mrs.  Jane  Livingston, 
died  in  February.  1879,  and  the  father  in  ]\Iarch  of  the  same  year. 

Robert   Livingston,  who  was  married  fifty  or  more  years  ago.  had 

ten  children,  two  sons  called  Sam  and  Moses,  and  eight  daughters,     yimiy 

of  the  daughters  became  teachers  in  the  public  schools  of  the  county,  and 

at   length   married   and  became   active  women   in   domestic   and   social   and 

religious  life.     Robert  Livingston,  living  for  many  years  on  a  farm  a  mile 

west  of  Crown  Point,  died  October  13.  1895,  nearly  eighty-six  years  of  age. 

He  was  born  near  Belfast  in  L-eland.  of  Scotch-Presbyterian  descent,  and 

was  a   member  of  the  Twentieth   Regiment  of  Indiana  Volunteers  in  our 

Civil  war. 

Family  Lines  from  Scotland. 

While  many  of  our  early  settlers  were  descendants  of  Pilgrims  and 
Puritans  and  Quakers  or  Friends,  and  of  Scotch-Irish,  who  had  lived  for 
several  generalions  m  Xew  England  and  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  there 
were  others  whose  ancestors  came  from  Scotland  but  a  few  generations  ago. 
Three  of  these  closely  connected  families  bear  the  names  of  Fisher,  Brown, 
and  \\'.\LL.\CE,  and  for  the  genealogy  here  given  I  am  much  indebted  to 
"Lake  County,  1884,"  a  book  containing  many  valuable  records,  but  now 
"out  of  print." 

Fisher. — Alexander  Fisher  was  born  in  Ayr,  Scotland,  in  1801,  and 
came  to  Montreal  in   18 18,  and  soon  after  went  into  Schenectady  county, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  Ill 


New  York,  and  there,  in  1819,  was  married  to  ^liss  Agnes  Brown,  who  was 
bom  at  Paisley,  in  Scotland,  and  was  a  danghter  of  Alexander  Brown,  who 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1S05. 

Alexander  Fisher  and  Agnes  Brown  were  commencing  American  life 
almost  in  their  youth.  They  had  eight  children.  Three  of  their  sons  and 
one  daughter  hecame  residents  of  Lake  county,  Lidiana.  One  of  these, 
William  Fisher,  born  in  1825,  is  now  living  at  Hebron  in  Porter  county. 

Thomas  Fisher  became  a  resident  here  in  1851.  He  was  married  to 
Miss  Mary  Brown,  daughter  of  another  Alexander  Brown,  a  settler  at  South- 
east Grove.  He  was  for  many  years  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  brooms 
at  Crown  Point.     He  liecame  quite  wealthy.    He  had  no  children. 

John  Fisher,  the  third  of  these  three  sons  of  Alexander  Fisher  from 
Scotland,  was  born  in  Schnectady  county,  New  York,  in  1832,  became  a 
resident  in  this  county  in  1855,  and  was  married  in  1865  to  Miss  Joanna 
\\'illey,  a  danghter  of  Mr.  George  \\'illey,  of  Hanover  township.  He  was 
a  surveyor  and  held  the  office  of  county  surveyor  for  many  years.  He  had 
many  excellent  traits  of  character.  He  was  a  generous  friend.  He  took  a 
large  interest,  as  did  the  Willey  family,  in  the  Association  of  Old  Settlers. 
He  became  a  member,  in  his  later  life,  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  He  died 
March  7,  1897,  leaving  one  son,  George  \\'.  Fisher,  to  occupy  his  place  in 
the  Masonic  lodge  and  as  county  surveyor,  in  the  activities  of  life,  and,  per- 
haps some  day,  in  the  church. 

Brown. — Alexander  Brown,  who  came  to  the  United  States  in  1805, 
has  been  already  mentioned.  Besides  his  daughter  Agnes,  who  also  has 
been  mentioned,  he  had  a  son  named  John.  This  John  Brown,  bearing  a  name 
that  is  noted  in  the  martyr  history  of  Scotland  and  England,  had  six  sons 
and  two  daughters.  One  of  his  sons,  Alexander  F.  Brown,  was  born  in 
1804,  August  25th,  Ijefore  his  grandfather.  Alexander,  came  to  America, 
was  married  in  1835.  and  became  a  resident  of  this  county,  at  Southeast 
Grove,  in  1840.  He  was  going  on  prosperously,  with  his  Scotch  enterprise 
and  industry,  when  his  life  was  unexpectedly  terminated  in   1849.     He  left 


112  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

three  sons  and  two  daughters,  two  of  the  sons  and  the  daugliters  are  now 
living  in  Crown  Point.  TItc  sons  and  one  daughter  are  among  the  wealthy 
citizens. 

There  came  also  to  Southeast  Grove  in  1840  a  brother  of  Alexander 
F.  Brown,  another  of  the  six  sons  of  John  Brown  of  Scotland,  who  was 
known  as  John  Brown,  Jr.  He  was  never  married.  He  made  his  home  for 
many  years  with  the  Crawford  family  west  of  the  Grove,  which  home  was 
near  liis  farm.     He  was  quite  a  prominent  citizen. 

Yet  another  of  those  six  sons,  William  Brown,  the  youngest  probably 
of  the  six,  also  came  to  Southeast  Grove,  but  as  he  is  still  living  his  record 
does  not  come  in  here. 

George  Brown,  the  youngest  son  of  A.  F.  Brown,  was  born  May  5, 
1849,  the  year  in  which  his  father  died.  He  was  married  in  1869  to  jNIiss 
Turner,  of  Eagle  Creek  township,  a  sister  of  ^Irs.  T.  Pearce;  he  continued 
farm  life  at  the  Grove;  became  interested  and  active  in  Sunday-school  life; 
and  died  June  21,  1878,  leaving  three  sons.  Alexander,  \\'illiam,  and  Herbert. 

The  record  of  the  two  living  sons,  John  Brown  and  William  Barringer 
Brown,  of  Crown  Point,  is  to  be  found  elsewhere. 

Wallace. — This  name,  so  fully  interwoven  in  the  history  of  Scotland, 
calls  to  mind  the  old  days  of  Robert  Bruce  and  Sir  William  Wallace  and  the 
heroes  and  patriots  of  that  age. 

Lyman  Wallace,  the  first  of  the  Lake  county  Wallace  family  in  Amer- 
ica, was  born  in  Washington  county,  New  York,  in  1800.  His  first  wife 
was  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  had  one  son,  William  Wallace,  and  three 
daughters.  Hi'-,  second  wife  was  also  a  native  of  Vermont.  She  was  burn 
May  4,  1798.  She  became  the  mother  of  five  daughters.  He  came  with  his 
wife  and  these  daughters  to  Southeast  Grove  in  1843  from  Genessee  county. 
New  York.  He  died  at  Southeast  Grove  in  185 1.  Four  of  the  daughters 
became  mistresses  of  families,  Mrs.  John  Dinwiddie,  Mrs.  Starr,  Mrs.  William 
Brown,  and  Mrs.  Parkinson. 

The  influence  of  these  closely  connected  families  has  been  large  on  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  113 

material  interests  of  Lake  county,  extending  through  more  tlian  sixty  years. 

Some  of  its  members  have  been  active  also  in  church  and  educational  lines, 

and  they  have  all  taken  a  commendalile  interest  in  the  Association  of  early 

Settlers. 

English  Settlers. 

Jonas  Rhodes  was  one  of  those  early  settlers,  the  Woods  brothers,  the 
Haywards.  the  Muzzall  family,  and  a  few  others,  who  from  among  the  "cot- 
tage homes"  and  the  "stately  homes"  of  fair  old  England,  of  which  Mrs. 
Hemans  has  so  beautifully  written,  came  to  found  for  themselves  new  homes 
as  beautiful  as  they  might  make  them,  in  this,  if  not  a  fairer,  yet  certainly 
a  broader,  a  much  more  roomy  land,  this  land  we  call  America. 

Jonas  Rhodes  made  his  settlement  in  1837.  not  on  the  border  of  one  of 
those  prairies  which  were  to  the  New  Englanders  generally  so  beautiful  and 
so  attractive,  but  on  the  sand  ridge  and  amid  the  wooded  growth  of  what 
is  now  Calumet  township ;  and  a  little  place  that  has  lately  sprung  up, 
called  Glen  Park,  is  near  what  was  his  early  home.  Without  knowing  what 
would  take  place  in  a  few  years  he  selected  a  location  near  which  more  than 
one  railroad  line  now  passes.  The  years  passed  with  him  as  with  others 
busily  and  pleasantly  engaged.  Children  grew  up  in  his  home.  He  did  his 
part  in  developing  the  resources  of  the  county,  aiding  enterprises  that  were 
good,  prospering  in  his  activities  of  life,  and  reaching  a  good  age.  He 
was  a  pleasant  man  with  whom  to  meet.  He  was  much  interested  in  the 
first  published  history  of  Lake  county,  and  once  remarked  that  he  thought 
the  weather  record  it  contained  was  worth  the  whole  price  of  the  book.  He 
has  in  this  county  a  number  of  descendants. 

H.\vw.\RD — Five  brothers  by  the  name  of  Hayward,  and  not  the  tra- 
ditional three,  came  over  from  England  and  settled,  in  1837,  i"  Lake  county, 
Indiana.  These  were  called  in  their  father's  home  Charles,  Thomas,  Henry, 
Alfred,  and  Edwin. 

Charles  Hayward  settled  a  little  distance  from  what  is  now  the  stone 
church  of  Ross  township.  His  brother,  Thomas  Hayward,  settled  not  far 
eastward  towards  Hobart.     The  other  three  brothers,  settling  in  the  same 


lU  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

part  of  the  county,  not  far  from  the  claim  of  Bartlett  \\'oods,  are  still  living  in 
the  ^^'est. 

A  son  of  Charles  Havward  is  Edwin  Hayward.  the  second  in  this 
county  to  bear  that  name,  and  two  sons,  George  Hayward  living  near  Hobart, 
and  Oliver  Hayward,  are  the  two  sons  of  Thomas  Hayward,  who  died  in 
March.  1904.  after  a  residence  in  the  county  of  sixty-six  full  years. 

Thomas  Muzzall.  also  from  England,  with  a  mother  and  two  sisters, 
residing  a  short  time  m  Canada,  became  also  a  settler  in  the  same  neighbor- 
hood in  1837.  All  these  English  families  became  good  Americans  and  valu- 
able citizens.  They  all  selected  the  same  part  of  the  county  a  little  north 
of  the  prairie  belt.  Their  descendants  are  now  among  the  prosperous  and 
enterprising  citizciis  of  Crown  Point  and  Hobart  and  the  far  ^\'est. 


Charles  M.\r\ix,  a  pioneer  of  1S36,  was  born  August  4,  181 1,  in 
Norwich,  Connecticut.  In  his  young  manhood  he  spent  about  two  years  in 
South  Carolina,  visited  Xew  Orleans,  went  up  to  Alton  and  then  to  Lock- 
port  in  Illinois,  in  1S33.  In  1835  ^^^  ^^'^^  married  to  Miss  Charlotte  Perry, 
and  with  her  mother  came  into  the  western  edge  of  Indiana  in  1836.  He  and 
Mrs.  Perrv  located  claims,  and  those  claims  were  included  in  Lake  county 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  115 

when  that  was  organized.  He  sold  his  first  farm,  now  in  Hanover,  near 
Brunswick,  to  Henry  Sasse,  Sr.,  alwut  1839.  In  1851,  then  a  widower,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Ehza  Fuller,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  H.  S.  Fuller,  of  West 
Creek.  Ahout  1881  he  sold  his  second  large  and  valuable  farm  and  bought 
the  old  Judge  \\'ilkinson  place,  where  he  built  a  stately  residence.  He  there 
died  in  1892,  nearly  eighty-one  years  of  age.  He  was  a  noble  example  of 
true  manhood  and  was  noted  among  Lake  county  pioneers  for  the  urbanity 
of  his  manners.  He  was  a  true  gentleman.  He  had  no  children.  He  had 
.some  kindred  at  L(ick])ort,  and  there  his  body  was  taken  for  burial,  although 
for  fifty-six  years  he  had  been  a  citizen  of  Lake. 

Jackson,  Farley. — Two  New  York  or  New  England  families,  that  be- 
came closely  connected  by  marriage,  came  in  the  true  pioneer  days  to  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  county,  and  helped  to  form  what  became  known 
as  the  West  Creek  neighborhood. 

Joseph  Jackson,  coming  here  from  Michigan  in  1837,  was  born  in 
1793,  probably  in  New  England,  but  lived  for  some  time  in  New  York  State, 
and  then  in  ^Michigan.  In  the  spring  of  1837  he  came  and  located  his  claim, 
in  the  summer  he  came  again  with  liis  son,  Clinton  Jackson,  and  his  son's 
family;  and  removed  with  his  own  family  in  October,  1837,  from  Monroe 
county,  ^Michigan,  to  Lake  county,  Indiana.  They  came  with  teams,  and 
were  nearly  three  weeks  on  the  way.  There  was  an  early  snow  that  fall, 
and  on  the  first  morning  of  their  journey  they  f(jund  the  ground  covered 
with  snow.  They  had  started  on  a  warm,  bright,  October  afternoon.  Mr. 
Jackson  took  with  him  some  dr\-  goods  and  groceries  and  opened  the  first 
store  in  that  part  of  the  county. 

In  1838  a  schoolhouse  was  built,  and  one  of  the  family.  Miss  Ursula 
Ann  Jackson,  became  teacher  of  the  first  school  in  what  is  now  West  Creek 
township,  .\fter  sex'cral  years  of  farm  life  the  family  removed  to  Crown 
Point,  put  up  l)uildings,  kept  hotels,  and  the  father,  J.  Jackson  was  for  one 
term  the  fir'^t  county  Auditor.  After  a  residence  in  this  county  of  nearly 
twenty  years,  an  active,  useful,  very  substantial  citizen,  in  the  spring  of  1857 


111!  HISTORY  OV  LAKE  COUXTV. 

he  rcniovecl  to  Iowa,  lie  was  lor  two  terms  of  office  Mayor  of  the  city  of 
Wapello,  and  lived  to  be  nearly  ninety-five  years  of  age. 

Benjamin  Farley  came  with  his  family  to  the  West  Creek  neighbor- 
hood also  in  1837.  He  was  born  in  1781.  in  Xew  York,  and  came  to  this 
coiintv  from  the  State  of  New  York,  and  was  when  he  settled  here  well  on 
in  middle  age.  He  had  five  sons  and  two  daughters.  He  lived  here  only  a 
few  vears.  His  tombstone  is  m  the  West  Creek  cemetery.  One  of  his  sons, 
Zebulon  Pierce  Farley,  was  married  to  jMiss  Amarilla  \^aleria  Jackson, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Jackson.  Z.  P.  Farley,  bom  April  14.  1821.  is  still 
living,  but  not  now  in  this  county.  In  our  civil  history  and  in  our  Masonic 
history  the  name  of  Farley  will  remain. 

Hatuawav.  Haydex. — Into  this  same  \\'est  Creek  neighborhood  there 
came  two  other  families  having  now  many  living  descendants  and  repre- 
sentatives. Peter  Hathaway  was  tlie  head  of  one  of  these  families  and 
Nehemiah  Hayden  of  the  other.  Peter  Hatliaway.  a  native  of  Xew  Jersey, 
was  born,  according  to  one  record,  in  March.  17S2.  was  married  in  Xew 
Jersey,  came  into  New  Y^'ork  and  about  1839  became  a  citizen  of  this  county. 
Three  sons  are  named  in  the  early  Sunday-school  history  of  the  county,  Silas, 
Abram,  and  Bethuel ;  and  there  were  probably  several  other  children.  Indeed, 
one  record  sajs  there  were  twelve  in  all.  of  sons  and  daughters.  The  mem- 
bers of  this  large,  pioneer  family  were  active  church  and  Sunday-school  work- 
ers; and  worthy  successors  of  such  a  valuable  family  reside  in  the  same 
neighborhood  now,  members  of  the  third  and  fourth  generation. 

Xehemiah  Hay'den  was  a  pioneer  settler  of  1837. 

Some  other  early  settlers  of  this  same  neighborhood  were  Henry  Tor- 
rey.  in  1837, — a  bridge  across  \\'est  Creek  in  1838  was  called  the  Torrey 
bridge:  John  Kitchel,  settling  probably  in  1836,  of  whom  not  much  is 
now  known:  AniN  Sanger,  a  settler  of  1838:  and  X^.  Spalding. 

This  West  Creek  or  Hathaway  and  Hayden  neighborhood  soon  became 
a  very  prosperous  portion  of  the  county,  and  a  flourishing  religious  center. 
Here  was  erected  one  of  the  earliest  church  buildings  of  the  county. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  117 

Spalding. — Heman  M.  Spaujinc.  .'iie  of  nine  cliiklren  of  Heinan 
Spalding  of  New  England,  settled  in  Lake  county  in  .\ugust,  1837.  in  the 
Hathaway  and  Hayden  neighlxjrhood.  He  had  five  sons  and  four  daughters. 
One  of  the  sons  is  Joshua  P.  Spalding,  of  Orchard  Grove,  and  one  is  Dr. 
Heman  Spalding,  of  Chicago.  Tiie  father  was  born  in  1809.  He  was  a  good 
citizen. 

Sanford  D.  Ci.akk. — l<"ur  many  years  one  of  the  noble,  useful,  exem- 
plary citizens  of  Crown  Point,  Sanford  D.  Clark,  was  not  a  pioneer  settler. 
In  our  earlier  years  of  settlement  he  was  a  prosperous  merchant  in  Ohio, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1839,  before  the  land  sale,  he  came  to  this  countv  on 
horseback,  and  furnished  some  relatives  and  acquaintances  with  money  for 
entering  several  claims.  For  himself,  so  far  as  land  was  concerned,  he 
seems  to  have  made  no  provision.  Near  the  beginning  of  the  railroad  period 
he  became  a  resident  of  Crown  Point:  from  1864  to  1872,  be  was  county 
Recorder;  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  war  for  the  Union,  and  especially 
in  the  discourses  of  the  three  resident  pastors,  J.  L.  Lower,  T.  C.  Stringer, 
and  T.  H.  Ball,  being  himself  what  was  called  an  "abolitionist'"  in  those 
days  of  conflict  of  opinion,  and  approving  of  "the  underground  railroad." 
thoroughly  religious,  a  member  with  his  wife  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 
very  unselfish,  true-hearted. 

He  at  length  removed  to  a  western  state  and  li\ed  to  be  ninety  or  more 
years  of  age.  Valuable  in  the  society  of  Crown  Point  was  bis  life  for  the 
many  years  while  he  remained  here,  and  in  these  memorials  of  useful  citizens 
it  well  deserves  a  place. 

Patten  or  Patton. — John  H.  Patten,  as  he  wrote  the  name,  born 
January  10.  1801,  came  to  Lake  county  from  the  East  in  fulv,  1852,  after 
the  real  ])ioneer  days  had  ended  and  much  of  tlie  foundation  work  in  building 
up  society  had  been  done,  yet  his  family  found  sufficient  work  for  them  in 
the  railroad  periofl  then  coming  on.  He  bad  nine  .sons  and  seven  daughters, 
but  only  seven  of  the  sons  became  residents  here  for  much  length  of  time 
and  five  of  the  daughters. 


lis  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Of  tlie  third  and  fourth  generations  there  are  now  many  members  of 
this  large  family  and  they  write  the  name  Patton.  The  father,  J.  H.  Patten, 
died  in  November,  1865,  and  Mrs.  Patten,  his  wife,  born  in  1799,  died  in 
May,  1867.  She  was  probably  the  mother  of  more  children  than  any  other 
woman  who  has  lived  and  died  in  tliis  county. 

Three  of  the  sons,  Seymour  Patton.  James  Patton,  and  Joseph  Patton, 
are  still  living  in  the  county,  and  one  of  the  seven  daughters,  IMrs.  Colby, 
lives  in  Crown  Point  with  her  daughter,  the  wife  of  the  lawyer,  J-  Frank 
Meeker.  The  Christmas  and  New  Year's  family  dinners  have  been  in  years 
past  large  and  interesting  gatherings. 

Bryant. — The  Bryants,  Bryant  Settlement  and  Pleasant  Grove,  have 
been  mentioned  in  the  Outline  History.  David  Bryant  made  a  settlement 
in  1835  at  Pleasant  Grove,  but  was  not  a  permanent  resident.  His  wife 
died  in  March.  1836,  and.  although  he  was  married  again,  in  the  spring  of 
1838  he  removed  to  Bureau  county,  Illinois,  and  staid  some  years.  He  then 
went  to  Missouri  and  lived  there  a  few  years,  returned  to  Illinois,  then  went 
to  Ohio,  probably  to  his  earlier  home  and  staid  five  years,  and  then  again, 
in  1853,  became  a  resident  of  this  county.  In  1854  he  brought  into  the 
county  one  thousand  and  sixty-three  sheep.  He  went  again  to  Illinois  for 
a  short  time,  and  returned,  and  again  made  visits  there.  He  made  his  last 
Lake  comity  home  with  his  daughter.  Mrs.  William  Fisher,  then  living  at 
Eagle  Creek,  now  in  Hebron.  A  younger  daughter,  a  Lake  county  girl  for 
a  number  of  years,  is  still  living  in  this  state,  Mrs.  Ora  Doddrige. 

Mr.  Brvant  was  a  very  sociable,  friendly  man.  of  religious  principle, 
and  a  church  member.  Born  about  1797.  It  was  said  of  him  when  seventy- 
five  vears  of  age,  "He  is  growing  feeble,  but  retains  the  use  of  his  mental 
faculties.'"    His  memorial  belongs  to  this  county  of  Lake. 

Of  the  five  Bryants  who  commenced  in  1835  the  Bryant  Settlement, 
and  some  of  whom  gave  to  the  grove  the  name  Pleasant,  Simeon  Bryant. 
David  Bryant,  E.  Wayne  Bryant.  Samuel  D.  Bryant,  and  Elias  Bryant,  who 
joined  the  others  in  the  fall  of  1835,  few  of  them  seem  to  have  made  it  a 
permanent  home. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  119 

Simeon  Bryant  staid  about  one  year  and  removed  to  Indian  Town, 
over  the  line  in  Porter  county,  soutli  of  the  present  town  of  Hebron,  and 
there  made  his  permanent  home  as  a  citizen  of  Porter. 

Samuel  D.  Bryant  returned  to  the  original  home  in  Ohio  and  staid 
a  few  years,  then  came  again  to  Lake  county  and  bought  at  length,  in  1854, 
a  farm  south  of  Southeast  Grove,  near  what  is  now  the  Center  School  House, 
and  there  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days,  living  to  be  more  than  eighty 
years  of  age. 

Elias  Bryant,  according  to  a  Porter  county  history,  died  on  the  Pleas- 
ant Grove  farm,  but  a  son.  Robert  Bryant,  in  1854,  settled  in  Porter  county, 
south  of  Hebron,  where  many  Bryant  families  now  reside.  They  have 
crossed  over  from  Lake  into  Porter. 

E.  Wayne  Bryant,  who  had  a  brother,  Jacob  Bryant,  living  in  LaPorte 
county,  a  pioneer  of  that  countv.  arranged  for  a  family  home  in  the  Grove. 
As  earlv  as  the  fall  of  1836  he  provided  a  room  for  a  school,  where  the 
children  of  the  Settlement  were  taught  by  Mr.  Bell  Jennings,  "a  veiw  excel- 
lent man."  He  also  aided  in  starting  a  Sunday  school  for  the  children  in 
1838  or  1839.  He  was  a  valuable  pioneer.  He  bought  some  hand  mill- 
stones of  Lyman  Wells,  another  early  settler,  and  in  the  winter  of  1836  and 
1837  had  them  arranged  to  be  run  by  horse  power,  and  ground  corn  and 
buckwheat  for  all  the  neighbors.  This  little  mill  continued  to-  grind  for  two 
or  three  years,  and  at  one  time  there  were  in  the  mill,  so^  says  one  of  the 
family,  over  three  hundred  bushels  of  grain  waiting  to  be  ground. 

Miller. — There  was  beyond  any  room  for  doubt  an  early  mill  seat 
found  and  a  mill  built  on  Deep  River.  The  Claim  Register,  which  is  author- 
ity, says :  "^\'illiam  Crooks  and  Samuel  Miller  in  Co.  Timber  and  Mill 
Seat."  Claim  made  in  June,  1835,  but  settled  in  November,  1834.  Locality, 
Section  6,  Township  35,  Range  7.  W.  Crooks  from  Alontgomery  county. 
This  William  B.  Crooks  was  elected,  in  1837,  Associate  Judge,  and  a  "Per- 
mit" v/as  granted,  July  31,  "to  Samuel  Miller  to  retail  foreign  merchandise 
at  his  store  on  Deep  River."     Tliat  he  had  a  mill  and  a  store  is  certain;  but 


120  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

of  himself  very  little  is  known.  It  is  said,  and  this  is  tradition  and  not 
history,  and  for  its  accuracy  no  good  authority  can  be  named,  that  his  wife 
was  part  Indian,  that  he  had  sold  property  at  Michigan  City  for  eighty  thou- 
sand dollars  in  gold  and  silver,  and  that  much  whiskey,  as  well  as  other 
articles  of  "foreign  merchandise,"  was  sold  at  his  store.  This  last  particular 
is  no  doubt  true.  If  the  gold  and  silver  tradition  is  true,  he  must  have  been 
the  most  wealthy  adventurer  who  came  into  the  county  in  those  early  years. 
He  made  no  long  stay  at  that  store  but  sold  it  to  A.  Hopkins,  who  soon  sold 
it  to  H.  Young,  and  he  sold  the  mill  irons  to  a  mill  builder,  and  for  himself 
opened  a  gun  shop  which  he  kept  for  several  years. 

A  gravel  road  crosses  Deep  River  now  at  this  locality  and  a  few  years 
ago  some  of  the  old  timbers  of  Miller's  mill  could  still  be  seen  in  the  waters. 
Somewhere  there  may  be  descendants  of  this  Samuel  Miller. 

Note. — Since  the  above  was  written  there  has  come  into  my  hands  a 
little  book  of  autobiography  by  Dr.  James  Crooks,  a  son  of  Judge  William 
B.  Crooks,  who  it  seems  was  also  a  physician,  and  Dr.  James  Crooks  says 
that  his  father  settled  at  Michigan  City  in  the  spring  of  1834.  This  James 
Crooks  was  then  eight  years  of  age.  He  says  that  Samuel  Miller  was  then 
the  principal  business  man  of  that  place,  that  he  "owned  considerable  real 
estate,  houses,  a  store,  warehouse,  and  a  schooner."  He  also  says  that  his 
father.  Dr.  W.  B.  Crooks,  removed  into  what  became  Lake  county  in  Novem- 
ber, 1834.  and  that  in  the  spring  of  1835  his  father  and  Samuel  Miller  com- 
menced building  a  mill  on  Deep  river.  After  narrating  many  interesting 
recollections  of  his  childhood  in  Lake  county  he  at  length  says  that  his 
father  .sold  out,  in  the  spring  of  1838,  "his  possessions  in  Lake  county  to 
Samuel  Miller  of  Michigan  City,"  for  one  thousand  dollars,  and  that  five 
hundred  dollars  was  paid  "in  gold."  So  Miller  must  have  had  some  gold. 
He  further  adds  that  "Miller  failed  a  short  time  afterwards."  In  June  of 
1838  the  Crooks  family  left  Lake  county. 

RuFUS  Hill,  an  early  resident  in  Pleasant  Grove,  perhaps  as  early  as 

1839,  is  noted  for  having  one  of  the  ^■ery  largest  families  in  the  county. 

Credible  authority  gives  the  number  of  his  children  to  be  twenty-two.    These 

were  not  all  the  children  of  one  woman.     The  names  of  six  of  his  older  sons 

were  Welcome,  William,  John,  Charles,  INIartin,  and  Richard.     There  were 

six  daughters  of  corresponding  age,  and  then  younger  sons  and  daughters 

that  made  up  the  number.     He  lived  to  be  over  eighty  years  of  age. 


JOSEPH  A.   LITTLE 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  121 

New  Hampshire  Settlement. 

Joseph  A.  Little,  son  of  Captain  Thomas  Little,  was  the  seventh  in 
descent  from  George  Little  who  came  from  London  to  Newbury,  Massa- 
chusetts, in  1640.  The  given  names  of  his  ancestors  were,  George,  Moses, 
Tristam,  Enoch,  Jesse,  Thomas.  The  names  of  sixty-five  hundred  descend- 
ants of  George  Little  have  been  collected. 

The  family  of  Thomas  Little  came  into  the  then  open  and  wild  and 
beautiful  center  of  Lake  Prairie,  and  with  the  Gerrish,  Ames,  Peach,  Plumer, 
and  Morey  families,  formed  wliat  was  known  as  the  New  Hampshire  Settle- 
ment.    The  Wason  family  was  soon  added  to  the  number. 

Joseph  A.  Little  was  torn  in  Merrimack  county.  New  Hampshire.  May 
24,  1830.  In  1859  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Gerrish.  He  became  a  suc- 
cessful farmer  and  large  wool-grower,  keeping  large  flocks  of  fine  wool  sheep. 
He  represented  Lake  county  in  the  Indiana  Legislature  in  1886  and  1887, 
secured  excellent  farms  for  his  sons  in  the  Kankakee  lowlands,  and  was  laid 
aside  from  a  life  of  acti\-ity  and  usefulness  by  the  messenger,  death,  February 
19,  1892.  In  the  records  of  the  Association  of  Old  Settlers  his  name  is  in- 
erasibly  written.     He  had  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 

Abiel  Gerrish,  one  of  those  men  of  mature  age  who  came  from  New 
Hampshire  to  Lake  county,  was  also  the  se\'enth  in  descent  from  Captain 
William  Gerrish,  who  settled  in  Newbur)-,  Massachusetts,  in  1639.  The  given 
names  of  the  men  in  this  line  are:  William.  Moses,  Joseph,  who  had  thirteen 
children,  and  who  \\'as  accustomed  to  swim  across  the  Merrimack  River  near 
its  mouth  every  year  till  he  was  over  seventy  }'ears  of  age,  Stephen,  Henry, 
Hem-y,  Jr.,  and  Abiel,  who  came  to  Lake  Prairie.  He  was  born  March  7, 
1806.  at  Boscawen,  New  Hampshire.  His  mother  was  Mary  Fo.ster,  daughter 
of  Hon.  Abiel  Foster,  of  Canterbury,  and  her  mother  was  Mary  Rogers, 
daughter  of  Rev.  Daniel  Rogers,  of  Exeter,  New  Hampsliirc.  who  was  the 
sixtli  in  descent  fnmi  jdhn  Fiogers,  of  London,  who  was  burned  at  Smithfiekl, 
Fel)ruary  14,  1535,  the  first  martyr  in  the  reign  of  the  "l)Ioody  Queen  Mary." 
The  first  was  one  of  those  ''small  childien."  as  represented  in  that  pictured 


123  HISTORY  OF  L.\KE  COUNTY. 

group  upon  which  so  many  Xew  England  children  have  looked,  who  on  that 
dark  day  in  England's  histon.-  stood  with  their  mother  near  the  nKirt\T"s  stake. 
The  seoMid  was  Rev,  John  Rogers,  of  Dedham.  who  died  in  1639.  The  third 
was  Rev.  Xathaniel  Rogers,  who  came  to  America  in  1636.  The  fourth 
was  ]tim  Rogers.  President  once  of  Har\-ard  College.  The  fifth  was  Rev. 
John  Rogers,  of  Ipswich.  The  sixth  was  Rev.  Daniel  Rogers,  of  Exeter. 
The  seventh,  in  this  line,  wiis  his  daughter  Mar\-  Rc^rs.  The  eighth  was 
Mar}-  Gerrish.  wife  of  Henr\-  Gerrish.  who  had  five  daughters  and  two  sons. 
.\nd  the  ninth  was  the  younger  of  these  sons.  Abiel  Gerrish.  who  became 
a  citiioi  of  the  county  of  Lake,  a  descendant  of  a  noted  martjT  and  also  of 
a  long  line  of  worthy  ancestors.  His  wife,  a  very  deAX»ted  Christian  woman, 
died  in  September.  iSSi.  the  two  having  celebrated  in  1880  their  golden 
wet^ '---c  "-^niversar\-.  and  he  died  in  June.   1SS4,     The\-  had  one  son  and 

five  :>,..;ers.     One  daughter  became  the  w-fe  ,^'  Hon.  Josepli  A.  Little, 

and  still  li\-es  in  the  prairie  home. 

The  head  of  another  of  these  seven  Xew  Hampshire  families  was  S.\muel 
Ames.  His  descent  is  from  Jacob  Ames,  of  Canterburj-.  Xew  Hampshire. 
His  son  was  Samuel  Ames,  bom  in  1724.  His  oldest  son  was  Joseph  Ames, 
bom  in  1771.  One  of  his  six  scxis  was  Samuel  Ames,  who  came  to  Lake 
Prairie,  who  was  bom  July  14,  1813,  in  Xew  Hampshire.  He  represented 
Lake  o^unty  in  the  Legislamre  some  years  ago.  His  scaa.  Edward  P.  Ames, 
li\-es  ir.  He  died  a  few  years  ago  at  Elkhart,  where  Mrs.  Ames 

and  his  cmiy  daugiiJer  now  reside. 

Rev.  H.  W.\sox.  who  spoit  many  acti\-e  years  in  pastoral  life  in  West 
Creek  towTiship,  after  retiring  from  the  re^)onsibilities  of  a  pastor's  duties, 
gave  quite  a  little  attenticm  to  fanning  along  w^ith  his  one  son.  and  he  too 
was  chosei  by  the  \-oters  of  the  coimt>-  ut  represent  than  at  Indianapolis.  It 
was  certainly  creditable  to  the  majorit}-  of  the  citizens  of  the  couoitj-  that 
they  sent  three  such  thorough!}.'  religious  men,  in  the  course  of  a  few  }-ear5, 
frc«i  the  same  not  large  neighborhood,  men  of  Xew  England  birth  and  Xew 
England  training-  'o  represent  them  in  the  L^slature.    Such  men  as  cit-zens 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  123 

are  everywhere  valuable.  The  readers  of  these  memorials  must  have  noticed 
how  many  of  tlie  earlier  settlers  were  of  New  England  and  so  of  English 
descent. 

WiLLEY. — Another  pioneer  from  the  State  of  New  York  was  George 
WiLi-EY.  He  was  born  in  Connecticut,  April  3,  1814,  but  when  four  years 
oi  age  his  home  was  removed  to  the  State  of  New  York.  His  father  w-as 
Jeremiah  Willey,  of  Connecticut,  born  in  1777,  and  his  grandfather  was  David 
Willey,  both  bearing  Bible  names,  as  did  so  many  of  the  children  of  New 
England. 

George  Willey,  brought  up  in  the  State  of  New  York,  receiving  the  train- 
ing of  the  N^ew  York  schools,  well  informed  in  regard  to  some  of  the  higher 
institutions  of  learning  in  that  State,  was  married  in  1835  ^  Miss  Cynthia 
Nash,  and  came  with  her  and  a  party  of  settlers  in  1838  to  the  western  limit 
of  Lake  county.  He  made  his  home  near  the  present  Klassville,  in  what 
was  West  Creek  township  but  is  now  in  Hanover.  George  Almeron  Willey, 
the  one  living  son,  has  a  home  now  in  St.  Louis.  His  oldest  daughter,  Mrs. 
Jolin  Fisher,  resides  in  Crown  Point.  Two  other  daughters  are  living,  but 
not  in  Indiana.  The  family  removed  from  the  farm  many  years  ago,  and 
Mr.  Willey  erected  a  spacious  dwelling  house  near  Crown  Point,  where  his 
life  closed  .■\pril  5,  1884,  while  he  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  .\r- 
rangements  for  the  Semi-Centennial  celebration  of  the  county.  He  was 
seventy  years  of  age.  He  had  taken  a  good  interest  in  the  jubilee  celebration, 
and  would  have  enjoyed  it  had  he  lived. 

Jeremi.\h  Wiggins  was  an  early  settler  where  is  now  Merrillville,  but 
the  exact  date  of  his  settlement  seems  not  to  he  known.  He  gave  name  to 
the  woodland  where  he  made  his  claim,  which  for  some  time  was  known  as 
Wiggins'  Point.  Southwest  from  it,  across  the  prairie,  was  Brown's  Point, 
and  at  the  south,  across  the  prairie  about  five  miles  distant  from  Wiggins' 
Point,  there  grew  up  in  the  edge  of  the  woodland,  Crown  Point. 

J.  Wiggins  probably  came  in  1836.  In  1837  his  claim  passed  into  the 
hands  of  E.  Saxton.     Fie  was  with  Mr.  Saxton  in  1838  and  soon  disappears 


124  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

from  any  of  tlie  county  records.  He  seems  to  !:a\-e  been  a  lone  man  without 
mucli  connection  with  any  one,  but  that  he  was  hving  in  1838  is  abundantly 
certain. 

Taylor,  Edgerton,  Palmer. — In  1836  a  quite  large  family  connection 
commenced  a  settlement  on  the  east  side  of  the  Red  Cedar  Lake  where  were 
then  many  cedar  trees.  The  head  of  this  family  was  Obadiah  Taylor,  born 
in  Massachusetts,  who  removed  to  New-  York,  afterward  to  Pennsylvania, 
and  came  at  last  to  Lake  county,  an  aged  man,  where  he  died  in  1839. 

A  son,  Adonijah  Taylor,  born  in  New-  York  in  1792,  was  one  of  these 
early  settlers;  PIorace  Taylor,  another  son,  born  in  1801,  was  also  one  of 
this  group :  Horace  Edgerton,  a  son-in-law,  having  lived  for  some  years 
in  Pennsylvania,  was  a  third  of  these  men;  each  of  these  having  several  chil- 
dren, and  all,  with  the  family  of  Mrs.  Miranda  Stillson,  a  daughter  of  Obadiah 
Ta\lor,  and  the  family  of  James  Palmer,  a  son-in-law,  born  in  Connecticut, 
a  soldier  in  the  ^^'ar  of  1812,  but  coming  later  than  the  others  into  this 
county,  forming  the  large  Cedar  Lake  and  then  Creston  community.  These 
who  have  been  named,  active  and  useful  in  their  day,  have  passed  away, 
and  some  of  their  children,  as  Albert  Taylor,  Obadiah  Taylor,  Amos  Edger- 
ton and  Alfred  Edgerton,  have  grown  old  in  this  county  and  followed  their 
fathers  into  the  unseen  world.  Also  DeWitt  Clinton  Taylor,  born  in  1826, 
died  some  years  ago,  not  very  aged  then.  But  there  remain  grandchildren  and 
great-grandchildren,  members  sufficient  in  these  lines  to  hand  these  names 
down  to  other  generations.  Those  who  ha\e  gone  will  be  remembered  by 
what  they  have  done.  Of  New  England  stock,  they  were  not  idlers  in  the 
world's  great  w-orkshop. 

Many  family  lines  have  been  traced  back  for  several  generations  by  the 
inhabitants  of  this  county,     .\mong  others  is  the  line  of  Wise  or  W'eise. 

Before  1750,  the  date  not  known,  the  ancestors  of  the  present  Wise  family 
came  to  Pennsylvania.  John  George  W'eise  and  his  wife,  ^Irs.  Eve  W'eise, 
were  living  in  that  State  in  Philadelphia  count}',  where  was  Ijorn,  December 
-3-   1 75 1'  '1  •'^o"'  Adam  W'eise.     For  a  given  name  his  parents  could  go  no 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  125 

further  back  in  the  -world's  history.  The  family  were  members  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  church. 

.\ilam  W'eise  was  married  February  2,  1772,  to  Margaret  Elizabeth  Win- 
gard.  February  i,  1799,  he  was  commissioned  by  the  Governor  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  one  sentence  in  the  rather  lengthy  and  peculiar  commission  being  "To 
have  and  to  hold  this  Commission,  and  the  Office  hereby  granted  unto  you  the 
said  Adam  Wise  so  long  as  you  shall  behave  yourself  well."  As  "he  remained 
in  office,"  so  the  record  says,  "thirty-four  years,  or  until  his  death  in  1833," 
it  is  evident  that  he  did  beha\e  himself  well. 

It  appears  also  that  the  Governor  gave  to  his  name  at  that  time  the 
English  form  which  most  of  the  family  have  since  retained.  Adam  \Vise 
w-as,  when  he  died,  October  5,  1833,  in  the  eighty-second  year  of  his  age, 
and  had  eleven  children,  sixty-three  grandchildren,  and  one  hundred  and 
thirty-tliree  great-grandchildren,  and  it  is  claimed  that  his  descendants  are 
now  in  nearly  every  state  of  the  Union.  The  Wise  family  is  not  one  to 
become  extinct. 

J.\coB  \\'iSE,  a  grandson  of  this  Adam  Wise,  a  son  of  John  George 
Wise,  became  a  citizen  of  this  county  in  1849.  His  father,  John  George 
Wise,  died  at  his  home  in  Winfield  township  in  1859.  John  George  was 
born  in  1786.  He  had  six  sons.  Jacob  Wise,  the  Lake  county  settler,  was 
born  January  20,  1817.  In  his  Winfield  home  he  was  a  farmer,  a  larick- 
maker,  a  teacher  of  vocal  music,  a  township  Trustee,  a  very  useful,  upright, 
valuable  citizen.  He  spent  his  last  years  as  a  retired  farmer  in  Crown  Point, 
he  and  his  wife  both  interested  in  the  Association  of  Old  Settlers,  in  the  meet- 
ings of  the  North  Street  Baptist  church,  near  which  church  building  was  his 
home,  and  in  the  general  good  of  society.  He  died  November  9,  1895,  about 
eighty  years  of  age,  and  his  wife  died  in  March,  1904,  a  very  kindly,  noble 
woman.     ]\Iany  children  and  grandchildren  are  living. 

Fuller. — Another  large  family  must  have  some  mention  here.  James 
Fuller,  with  more  means  than  many  of  the  early  settlers  had,  came  to  the 
county  about  1840.  He  had  nine  sons  and  one  rlaughter,  perhaps  more  than 
one.     The  daughter  was  married  to  Abram  Nichols. 


126  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Names  of  sons  and  numljer  of  tlieir  children  : — Oliver  Fuller,  four  sons 
four  daughters.  James  Fuller,  one  son.  Aaron  Fuller,  six  children.  Archi- 
bald Fuller,  four  sons  and  four  daughters.  Frank  Fuller,  two  sons  and  seven 
daughters.  Benjamin  Fuller,  one  son  and  two  daughters.  Richard  Fuller, 
five  sons  and  six  daughters,  ^^'oodbury  Fuller,  two  sons.  John  'SI.  Fuller, 
five  sons  and  three  daughters.     In  all  fifty-six. 

Three  of  the  nine  sons  named  above  are  now  living  in  the  county.  How 
manv  descendants  there  are  now  of  James  Fuller  of  1840  has  not  been  reck- 
oned up.     The  great-grandchildren  would  make  of  themselves  alone  quite  a 

group. 

Brief  Records. 

The  following  are  names  of  worthy  citizens  who  did  their  parts  well  in 
making  Lake  county  what  now  it  is.  but  of  whom  there  is  very  little  to  place 
on  this  page  as  memorials.  The  first  one  to  be  named  might  have  well  said, 
in  the  words  of  Dr.  Bonar's  "Everlasting  Memorial,"  a  ^■ery  different  poem 
from  Tennyson's  "In  Memoriam"  : 

"So  let  my  living  be.  so  be  my  dying: 
So  let  my  name  lie.  unblazoned  unknown : 
Lnpraised  and  unmissed,  I  shall  still  be  remembered. 
Yes — but  remembered  by  what  I  have  done.'" 

Augustine  Humphrey  settled  on  Eagle  Creek  Prairie,  now  Palmer,  as 
earlv  as  1837,  probably  in  1836.  He  was  from  New  England,  he  and  his 
wife  both  devoted  and  very  useful  members  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  his 
children  intellectual  and  well  brought  up.  his  oldest  son.  Henry  Humphrey, 
graduating  at  the  University  of  Michigan  in  185 1,  and  at  Princeton  Theo- 
logical Seminarv  in  i860,  but  dying  in  a  few  years,  other  sons  following  soon 
to  the  unseen  world,  and  then  the  noble.  Christian  mother,  and,  except  one 
daughter-in-law,  he  was  left  before  many  years  quite  alone  in  life.  He  was 
county  Commissioner  in  1847  ^"^  ^S^'^^^  i"  i^S^-  His  family  genealogic  rec- 
ord went  back  to  the  Norman  Conquest,  through,  according  to  the  family 
tradition,  the  old  Duke  Horton  of  England,  but  no  copy  of  it  was  brought  to 
this  countv.     He  died  many  years  ago,  the  last  of  his  household  except  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  127 

daughler-in-law's  family  who  remo\ed  to  Colorado,  and  the  burial  of  his  body 
was  one  of  the  most  lonely  burials  ever  in  this  county.  In  that  world,  where 
such  a  spirit  as  his  would  go,  there  is  no  lack  of  life  and  love. 

Another  of  these  names  is  John  L.  \\'orley,  born  in  Indiana  April  28, 
1820,  settling  in  Lake  county  in  1839.  President  for  nine  years  of  the  Lake 
County  Sabbath  School  Convention,  residing  south  of  Lowell,  an  active  church 
member,  who  lived  to  be  over  eighty  years  of  age. 

Another  name  is  that  of  William  Sanders,  of  West  Creek  township, 
whose  name  was  given  to  one  of  the  cemeteries  of  that  township,  the  oldest 
member  of  the  Association  of  Old  Settlers,  who  died  October  16,  1898,  nearly 
ninety-seven  years  of  age. 

And  yet  another  name  is  Hir.\m  H.  Scritch field,  another  settler  from 
the  State  of  Kentucky  probably,  as  his  wife  was  born  near  Lexington.  Ken- 
tucky, January  4,  1812,  and  he  was  born  in  181 1.  They  were  married  in 
1832.  and  were  the  parents  of  fourteen  children.  A  few  years  ago  their 
living  descendants  numbered  eighty-two,  and  would  now  quite  certainly 
number  more  than  a  hundred. 

The  last  name  in  this  group  is  that  of  David  !McKnight.  He  was  the 
father  of  six  sons  and  three  daughters.  His  first  settlement  was  at  Hickon.- 
Point  in  1845.  About  1864  the  family  removed  to  the  neighborhood  of 
LeRoy.  Four  of  the  sons  went  into  the  L'nion  Army  and  two  of  them  re- 
turned. The  father  went  to  the  ^^'est  some  years  ago  and  there  died.  The 
family  in  church  relations  were  what  is  now  called  Reformed  Presbyterians, 
valuable  members  of  any  community.  A  son,  a  daughter,  and  grandchildren 
are  still  in  the  county  working  on  the  side  of  virtue  and  righteousness. 

That  some  other  names  might  have  proi^erly  been  placed  upon  this  list  is 
certain.  There  are  limitations  to  all  human  efforts.  There  are  phvsical  im- 
possibilities, mental  impossibilities,  and  moral  impossibilities,  and  to  reach 
perfection  in  this  line  of  writing  may  well  he  called  a  mental  impossibility. 
Xo  one  could  give  of  our  most  worthy  early  settlers  a  perfect  list.  Some  names 
are  added  here  of  those  whom  a  few  mav  vet  remember.     Daniel  ]\Iav,  Peleg 


128  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

S.  Mason.  William  Hodson,  Robert  Wilkinson,  of  Deep  River.  James  West- 
brook,  Jonathan  Brown,  Royal  Benton,  Edmund  Brown,  Jabez  Rhoades,  David 
Gibson,  Jacob  Mendenhall,  S.  J.  Cady,  Horace  Wood,  John  Russell,  Peyton 
Russell,  William  Myrick,  Jesse  Pierce,  David  Pierce,  these  last  two,  accord- 
ing to  the  Claim  Register  in  December,  1834,  and  in  1836,  Jacob  Van  Volken- 
burg,  John  J.  Van  Volkenburg,  and  M.  Pierce,  from  the  State  of  New  York. 
Lorenzo  D.  Holmes  became  a  resident  about  1838  and  died  at  Ross  in  1883. 

Buildings  as  well  as  men  disappear.  About  this  time  three  old  landmarks 
in  Crown  Point  were  removed.  The  first  Methodist  church  building  was 
taken  down  in  the  fall  of  1882.  It  stood  on  East  street.  The  Crown  Point 
bakery  was  taken  down  in  July,  1883.  The  first  Baptist  church  building, 
which  was  also  on  East  street,  was  taken  down  in  August,  1883. 

And  so  with  these  twenty-one  added  names  and  the  mention  of  three 
old  buildings  this  memorial  chapter  ends. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  129 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Names  of  Women  of  Whom  Honorable  Mention   Should  Be  Made. 

Note. — In  presenting  and  recording  under  this  heading  tlie  names  of 
quite  a  numbei"  of  pioneer  women,  and  appending,  as  I  propose  to  do,  to 
some  of  them  special  statements,  I  am  well  aware  that  some  fault  may  be 
found  with  this  otherwise  interesting  and  important  chapter.  For  I  expect 
that  some  one  will  say,  after  looking  over  all  these  names,  "The  name  of 
my  mother  (or  grandmother)  is  not  here,  and  she  too  was  entitled  to  an 
honorable  mention.  Why  is  not  her  name  on  this  list?"  I  have  considered 
this  criticism,  this  question,  and  have  endeavored  to  weigh  it  well.  Of 
course  my  reply  to  the  question  would  be.  Because  the  name  of  that  mother 
or  that  grandmother  was  not  in  the  range  of  my  knowledge,  or  did  not 
come  to  mind  in  my  efiort  to  recall  the  names  of  our  pioneers :  certainly 
not  because  it  was  intentionally  omitted.  So^  now  I  ask  myself ;  Shall  I 
omit  entirely  this  list  of  names  of  so  many  of  our  noble  mothers  and  grand- 
mothers because  I  cannot  make  it  a  full  and  perfect  list?  And  I  answer. 
No.  I  will  get  what  help  I  can;  I  will  do  the  best  I  can;  (surely  no  one 
without  the  personal  knowledge  which  I  possess  could  begin  to  do  as  well 
as  this  will  be  done)  ;  and  then  I  will  trust  to  the  good  sense  of  our  citizens, 
trusting  that  very  little  fault  will  he  found.  T.  H.  B. 


Mrs.  Harriet  Warner  Holton  is  the  first  name  recorded  here.  She 
came  into  the  county  in  February,  1835,  with  her  son  W.  A.  W.  Holton, 
a  daughter,  and  with  William  Clark  and  family,  from  Jennings  county, 
Indiana.  She  was  born  in  Hard  wick,  Massachusetts,  Januarv  15,  1783,  a 
daughter  of  General  ^\'arner.  She  commenced  her  active  life  as  a  teacher  in 
the  town  of  Westminster.  She  married  a  young  lawyer,  Alexander  Holton, 
about  180^,  and  leaving  New  England  in  1816  for  what  then  were  true 
Western  wilds,  in  March,  18 17,  they  settled  at  Vevay  in  the  new  State 
of  Indiana,  four  years  after  Vevay  had  been  laid  out  as  a  town.  In  1820 
the  Holton  family  removed  to  Vernon,  in  Jennings  county,  where  Mrs.  Hol- 
ton again  became  a  teacher.  In  1823  her  husband  died  leaving  her  with  two 
sons  and  one  daughter.     In  the  early  winter  of  1834  tidings  came  to  Vernon 


130  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

from  Solon  Robinson  concerning  the  beautiful  prairie  region  he  had  found 
far  up  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the  State,  and  the  Clark  and  Holton 
families  determined  to  join  him  there.  They  started  in  midwinter  with 
ox  teams.  The  weather  in  February,  1835,  was  severely  cold,  but  they 
came  through,  crossing  the  Kankakee  Marsh  with  their  ox  teams  on  the  ice. 

In  some  respects  Mrs.  Holton  was  the  most  remarkable  woman  ever 
in  Lake  county.  She  was  Lake  county's  first  teacher.  Her  mother  lived 
to  be  about  ninety-four  years  of  age.  She  had  seven  sisters  in  New  England 
and  all  died  of  old  age,  two  while  sitting  in  their  chairs.  All  the  eight  were 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  Mrs.  Holton,  a  true  Indiana  pioneer, 
at  Vevay  and  Vernon  and  in  the  county  of  Lake,  lived  on,  active  in  church 
and  Sunday-school  and  social  life  till  old  age  came  upon  her.  She  died 
October  17,  1879,  then  nearly  ninet}'-se\'en  years  of  age.  From  a  record  in 
"The  Sunday  Schools  of  Lake"  the  following"  sentence  is  taken:  "Such  a 
woman,  in  such  a  long  life,  the  daughter  of  an  army  leader,  with  her  native 
intelligence,  her  New  England  training,  her  granite-like,  Presbyterian  prin- 
ciple, her  de\-otion.  her  meekness,  her  love,  must  in  various  ways  have  ac- 
complished no  little  good." 

Tlie  second  name  to  be  placed  on  this  list  is  that  of  Mrs.  Maria  Rob- 
inson, wife  of  Solon  Robinson,  the  first  white  woman  to  live  where  is  now 
Crown  Point.  She  came  to  the  spring  that  was,  to  the  grove  or  woodland 
that  still  is,  the  last  day  of  October,  1834.  She  was  born  November  16, 
1799,  near  Philadelphia.  She  was  married  in  Cincinnati,  May  12.  1828, 
to  Solon  Robinson,  and  in  a  few  years  they  became  residents  in  Jennings 
county,  Indiana.  In  1834  she  came  with  her  husband,  one  assistant,  and 
two  small  children,  in  a  wagon  drawn  by  oxen,  to  the  spot  where  they  settled 
November  i,  1834.  She  was  not  an  ordinary  woman,  although  very  differ- 
ent in  training  and  character  from  Mrs.  Holton.  She  had  much  "executive 
ability;"  she  is  described  by  one  who  knew  her  well  as  "always  cheerful  and 
vivacious,"  attending  to  the  needs  of  the  sick  and  the  poor,  aiding,  as  her 
means  permitted,  churches  and  Sunday  schools  and  benevolent  organizations. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  131 

Slie  died  February  i8,  1872.  Two  daughters  are  now  living,  one  of  whom, 
Dr.  L.  G.  Bedell,  is  now  a  noted  physician  of  Chicago.  Her  older  daughter, 
Mrs.  Strait,  who  has  children,  grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren,  now 
lives  in  Crown  Point,  the  oldest  resident  and  only  original  resident  of  the 
town. 

Two  names  should  follow  here  on  this  list  of  worthy  pioneer  women, 
but  of  whom  little  by  this  writer  is  known,  Mrs.  Chiklers,  the  wife  of 
Thomas  Childers,  the  first  white  woman,  so  far  as  known,  after  Mrs.  Will- 
iam Ross,  to  set'tle  in  the  county,  and  Mrs.  Clark,  wife  of  Judge  William 
Clark,  who  came  to  Lake  Court  House  in  February,  1835,  which  was  then 
known,  as  the  guide  boards  on  the  trails  testified,  simply  as  Solon  Robin- 
son's. Mrs.  Clark  had  sons  in  her  household,  two  of  whom,  Thomas  Clark 
and  Alexander  Clark,  were  for  many  years  active  citizens  in  Lake  county. 

Other  active  pioneer  women  whose  names  belong  on  this  page  were 
Mrs.  Henry  Wells,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Susan  Clark,  of  Rodman  \Ye\\s  and 
Homer  Wells;  Mrs.  Richard  Fancher,  one  of  the  first  Presbyterian  women 
in  Crown  Point,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Nicholson,  Mrs.  Clingan,  and  Mrs. 
Harry  Church,  and  the  mother  who  brought  up  such  daughters  certainly 
deserves  to  be  remembered ;  Mrs.  Russel  Eddy,  who  became  a  very  active 
Presbyterian  woman,  a  leader  for  many  years  in  that  church;  Mrs.  Luman 
A.  Fowler,  one  of  the  few  resolute  pioneer  women,  who  came  as  a  young 
wife  in  December  of  1835  to  Solon  Robinson's  hamlet,  born  in  Madison 
county.  New  York,  in  October,  1816,  married  October  18,  1835,  her  maiden 
name  Eliza  Cochran,  and  who,  as  mother  and  grandmother  led  in  Crown 
Point  a  long  and  useful  life:  and  one  more  name,  that  of  Mrs.  Henry 
Farmer,  coming  with  her  husband  from  Bartholomew  county  in  1836,  whose 
daughters  became  wives  of  well  known  citizens,  completes  this  group.  To 
nearly  all  the  women  yet  named  Crown  Point  as  now  it  is  owes  very  much. 

Another  group  of  our  noble  pioneer  women,  of  whom  Lake  county 
had  a  goodly  number  (and  few  of  their  names  have  ever  until  now  been 
on  a  printed  page),  were  these,  not  grouped  in  alphal^etical  order,   but  as 


132  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

they  are  associated  in  the  mind  of  the  writer :  Mrs.  Richard  Church,  Airs. 
Leonard  Cntler.  jNIrs.  Rockwell,  I\Irs.  Darling  Church,  mother  of  Edwin 
Church,  a  grocer  for  many  years  at  Crown  Point.  Airs.  Bothwell,  Mrs. 
Owens,  Airs.  Benjamin  Farley,  Mrs.  N.  Hayden,  an  active  Sunday-school 
woman  in  the  \\  est  Creek  neighborhood,  active  also  in  the  same  work.  Airs. 
Spalding,  mother  of  J.  P.  Spalding,  Airs.  Fisher,  and  Airs.  Cooper  Brooks; 
also  in  the  same  neighborhood,  Airs.  Peter  Hathaway,  the  mother  of  Silas, 
Abram,  and  Bethuel  Hathaway,  Airs.  Lyman  Foster,  Airs.  Jackson;  in  an- 
other neighborhood.  Airs.  Fuller,  mother  of  Airs.  Alarvin,  Airs.  Blayney, 
Airs.  Graves,  all  interested  in  Sunday-school  and  church  work,  also  Airs. 
Gordinier,  who  with  only  one  hand  accomplished  the  work  done  by  ordinary 
women  with  two  hands.  Airs.  George  A\'illey,  mother  of  Airs.  J.  Fisher,  of 
Crown  Point,  Airs.  James  Farwell,  the  first  white  woman  known  to  have 
set  foot  on  tlie  site  of  Crown  Point,  who  with  her  family  camped  there 
July  4,  1833,  a  more  than  ordinary  woman  from  Vermont,  the  mother  of 
six  sons  and  one  daughter,  that  daughter  becoming  the  wife  of  Thomas 
Clark  and  the  mother  of  Airs.  Oliver  Wheeler,  the  grandmother  of  Aliss 
Alay  Brown,  of  Crown  Point;  Airs.  Alercy  Perry,  mother  of  the  first  Airs. 
Alarvin,  and  Airs.  Solomon  Burns.  East  of  there  was  a  small  group  of 
1837  and  1838.  the  first  Airs.  Henry  Sasse,  Airs.  Herlitz,  Airs.  \'an  Hollen, 
these  by  birth  Germans  and  Lutheran  by  training,  and  Airs.  Jane  A.  H. 
Ball.  Airs.  Ball  was  from  Alassachusetts,  the  only  daughter  of  Dr.  Timothy 
Horton  of  West  Springfield,  had  been  educated  in  the  best  schools  of  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut,  and  began  as  early  as  1838  to  teach  in  the  small  neigh- 
borhood, pu]3ils  coming  from  Prairie  ^^"est,  three  miles  away.  As  early 
as  1840  she  commenced  a  boarding  and  academic  school,  the  first  in  the 
countv,  which  continued  in  some  form  for  many  years.  She  had  brought 
from  her  father's  home  c^uite  a  chest  i)f  medicines  and  some  surgical  instru- 
ments, which  she  thought  would  be  needed,  and  she  soon  became,  not  in 
name,  but  in  fact,  the  physician  and  dentist  of  the  neighborhood,  her  den- 
tistrv,  however,   extending  no   further   than   extracting  and   cleaning  teeth. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  133 

For  extracting  teetli  and  fur  medicine  she  took  some  pny.  iuit  not  any  for 
her  time,  and  she  was  called  from  home  sometimes  in  the  night  as  well  as 
in  the  day.  Besides  being  the  first  academic  teacher,  she  also  was  the  first 
who  might  be  called  a  woman  pliysician  of  the  county.  Her  own  se\-en 
children  were  all  educated  and  two  sons  and  one  daughter  yet  li\-e  to  cher- 
ish her  memory. 

In  another  group  are  placed  the  following  names :  ■Mrs.  John  \\'ood, 
also  from  Massachusetts,  a  cousin  of  the  noted  missionary,  Mrs.  Sarah  B. 
Judson,  born  October  13,  1802.  married  November  16.  1824,  the  mother 
of  eight  children,  the  oldest  of  whom,  Nathan  Wood,  is  yet  living  at  W'ood- 
\-ale.  and  dying  September  2~,  1873.  A  fine  granite  monument,  about  fifteen 
feet  in  height,  marks  the  burial  place,  on  which  is  inscribed,  "A  true,  faith- 
ful, loving  wife;  a  kind  and  affectionate  mother;  e\'er  toiling  for  the  good 
of  all;  and  this  is  her  memorial."  Mrs.  Wood  was  another  of  those  superior 
New  England  women,  like  Mrs.  Holton  and  Mrs.  Farwell  of  A'ermont,  and 
others  who  are  yet  to  be  named,  with  native  endowments  and  a  Puritanic 
training,  which  fit  their  possessors  so  well  for  frontier  life  and  for  laving 
the  right  foundations  for  an  enduring  civilization.  The  comfort  and  hos- 
pitality of  her  home  were  not  excelled  by  any  in  those  early  rears.  She 
was  one  of  oiu^  unselfish  women,  and  well  does  her  memorial  say.  "toiling 
for  the  good  of  all." 

In  this  group,  though  li\-ing  in  another  part  of  the  county,  mav  be 
fittingly  named  ^Mrs.  Augustine  Humphrey,  one  of  the  ver)-  earlv  residents 
on  Eagle  Creek  Prairie,  now  called  Palmer.  She  was  also  from  New 
England  and  besides  caring  for  her  children  and  attending  to  home  duties 
she  was  much  interested  in  church  work,  a  devoted  Presbyterian  woman. 

j\lrs.  Woodbridge  was  yet  another  of  these  well  trained  New  England- 
ers,  an  early  resident  also  at  Palmer,  the  wife  of  Rev.  George  A.  Wood- 
bridge,  and  near  neighbor  to  Mrs.  Humphrey,  the  two  families  being  con- 
nected by  ties  of  kindred  as  well  as  by  a  common  religious  faith.  At  their 
iiomes  was  Presbyterian  preaciiing  by  Rev.  J.   C.   Brown  an.d  \w   Rev.   W. 


134  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Townley.  After  some  years  the  Woodbridge  family  removed  to  Ross  and 
here  Mrs.  Woodbridge  became  the  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school. 
An  active,  truly  noble,  intelligent.  Christian  woman,  she  spent  part  of  her 
later  vears  of  life,  sometimes  with  her  son  at  Ross,  sometimes  in  Joliet.  She 
lived  on,  a  pleasant  and  peaceful  life  allotted  to  her,  until  August,  1902, 
having  reached  eighty-eight  years  of  age. 

The  name  of  Mrs.  Nancy  Agnew  may  be  placed  by  itself  here  as  be- 
longing to  a  resolute,  earnest  woman.  A  sister  of  those  Bryants  who  found, 
and  bore  Isack  to  her  m  Porter  county  for  burial,  the  body  of  her  husband 
who  perished  from  exhaustion  and  exposure  in  the  stormy  night  hours  of 
April  4,  1835,  she  did  not  yield  to  her  bitter  trial,  but  soon  came  herself  to 
the  new  settlement,  and  on  the  settler  Register  for  that  year  stands  among 
the  claimants  the  name  Nancy  Agnew,  widow.  To  her  son,  born  not  long 
after  her  husband's  death,  she  gave  his  father's  name,  David  Agnew. 

Mrs.  Margaret  Fearce,  who  was  Margaret  Jane  Dinwiddle,  sister  of 
T.  W.  Dinwiddle,  of  Plum  Grove,  manifested  some  of  her  heroic  equalities 
in  her  girlhood  in  her  experiences  with  the  Indians,  then  living  near  her 
cabin  home.  Two  of  the  young  Indians  about  her  own  age  were  sometimes 
quite  annoying.  One  day,  seizing  an  opportunity  to  frighten  her  at  least, 
they  sprang  up  and  threatened  her  with  their  tomahawks.  Instead  of  cry- 
ing out,  as  they  perhaps  expected,  or  turning  pale  with  fright,  she  simply 
stood  still  and  laughed  at  them.  Asliamed,  it  may  be  they  became,  at  the 
idea  of  injuring  that  bold,  defenseless,  laughing  white  girl,  and  let  her 
pass  on  unharmed.  Well  they  knew  that  a  blow  inflicted  upon  her  would 
bring  upon  themselves  sw'ift  punishment.  She  was  married  in  1840  to 
Michael  Pearce,  and  was  the  mother  of  ten  children.  She  was  born  June 
5,  1818,  and  died  in  1S94.  She  was  a  w'orthy  member  of  the  United  Pres- 
byterian churcii,  and  exemplified  many  excellent  qualities  besides  courage 
ni  her  long  home  life  in  Eagle  Creek  township.  A  good  likeness  of  this 
excellent  woman,  who  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Dinwiddle  Clan  Records. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  3  35 

The  name  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Jeanette  Dinwiddle  comes  next  on  this 
page.  A  member  of  the  Perkins  family,  she  was  Ijorn  near  Rome,  New 
York,  May  5.  1818,  was  married  to  J.  W.  Dinwiddie  August  19,  1844,  and 
died  March  15,  1888.  She  was  one  of  the  true  an'd  successful  Sunday- 
school  workers  of  the  county.  Educated  at  Rome,  New  York,  accustomed 
to  teaching,  an  experienced  teacher,  for  about  twenty-five  years  she  carried 
on  with  some  others  the  Plum  GroA-e  school,  herself  generally  the  Super- 
intendent. To  her  more  than  to  any  other  one  woman  in  the  county  the 
County  organization  for  twenty-five  years  was  indebted  for  its  success.  She 
was  a  member  of  the  first  Baptist  church  in  Lake  county  and  a  member  of 
the  North  Street  Baptist  church  m  Crown  Point  at  the  time  of  her  death. 
In  the  "Lake  of  the  Red  Cedars,"  and  in  the  "Sunday  Schools  of  Lake," 
may  be  found  her  memorials. 

Some  names  are  agam  grouped.  Mrs.  Sarah  Beadle,  Mrs.  Sarah 
\\'ells,  Mrs.  Sarah  Childers.  these  three  Sarahs  with  their  husbands  and  with 
J.  L.  Worley,  were  the  constituent  meml^ers  of  the  first  church  in  the  county 
called  "Christian"  or  Disciple  church  with  no  other  designation.  This 
church  is  located  now  at  Lowell,  where  there  are  three  Christian  churches, 
one  Roman  Catholic,  one  Presbyterian,  one  Methodist.  The  Methodist  pio- 
neer women  were:  Mrs.  E.  \V.  Bryant,  Mrs.  Ephraim  Cleveland,  Mrs. 
Kitchel,  Mrs.  Taylor,  mother  of  Mrs.  S.  G.  Wood,  Mrs.  Wood,  wife  of  Dr. 
James  A.  Wood,  Mrs.  Viant,  women  all  of  character  and  note. 

Other  women  among  early  and  active  and  useful  residents  in  the  county 
were,  Mrs.  Wallace,  born  in  Vermont,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  W.  Brown,  of 
Crown  Point,  Mrs.  Brown,  of  Southeast  Grove,  mother  of  John  Brown 
and  \\'.  B.  Brown,  Mrs.  Crawford,  mother  of  Mrs.  Matt.  Brown,  and  Mrs. 
E.  Hixon,  Mrs.  McCann,  of  Plum  Grove,  and  ]\Irs.  Hale,  Mrs.  E.  M.  Rob- 
ertson, mother  of  Airs.  O.  Dinwiddie,  ]\Irs.  "Ruth  Barney,  widow,"  whose 
name  stands  thus  as  a  claimant  on  the  Register  for  the  year  1836,  Mrs.  Sig- 
ler,  the  mother  (jf  se\'eral  sons,  Mrs.  Servis,  mother  of  O.  V.  Servis,  and 
Mrs.  George  Earle.  Some  of  these  women  were  Presbyterians,  most  of 
them  in  fact,  Methodists  and  Baptists  being  also  represented. 


136  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

There  are  yet  other  names.  Mrs.  Banks,  two  of  whose  sons  are  well 
known  at  Hobart  and  Crown  Point ;  Mrs.  Sykes,  mother  of  a  large  family 
of  well  known  sons  and  daughters,  a  woman  who  has  but  lately  gone  from 
among  the  living,  having  spent  in  this  county  a  large  part  of  a  long,  active, 
and  useful  life,  and  who  like  the  other  women  named  has  left  her  impress 
upon  this  generation;  Mrs.  Rhodes,  wife  of  Jonas  Rhodes,  whose  daughters 
are  active  women  now ;  Mrs.  Abraham  Muzzall :  Mrs.  Henry  Hayward, 
younger  than  some  of  the  others:  Mrs.  Bartlett  ^^'oods;  ]\Irs.  Kenney  and 
Mrs.  Woodruff,  of  Orchard  Grove ;  some  from  New  England,  some  from 
Old  England;  and  Mrs.  ^^'inslow.  mother  of  A.  A.  \Vinslow,  Consul  to 
Guatemala.     JNTrs.  J.  C.  Kinyon  and  Mrs.  Henry  Sanger  both  died  in  1881. 

There  are  yet  other  names.  Five  earnest  Christian  women  of  West 
Creek  township  for  a  time,  who  did  much  to  make  the  central  part  of  Lake 
Prairie,  that  gem  of  the  prairie  region,  "bud  and  blossom  like  the  rose," 
were  Mrs.  M.  L.  Barber,  spending  her  latest  years  in  Kansas,  her  sister, 
Mrs.  Burhans,  who  closed  her  life  in  Hammond,  Mrs.  Little,  mother  of 
Hon.  Joseph  A.  Little,  and  ]Mrs.  Gerrish,  and  Mrs.  ^^'ason;  the  last  three 
from  the  Granite  State,  and  all  five  with  granite-like  principle. 

A  little  group  comes  in  here  now  of  women  of  foreign  birth,  who  had 
crossed  the  broad  Atlantic,  who  had  much  tn  learn  in  regard  to  language 
and  institutions,  but  whose  well  trained  children  proved  them  to  be  true 
mothers,  known  years  ago  among  us  as  Mrs.  John  Hack,  Mrs.  Giesen,  Mrs. 
Dasclier,  Mrs  Beckley.  Mrs.  Hack,  so  far  as  known,  was  the  first  German 
woman  to  find  a  home  in  the  county.  The  sturdy  sons  and  tall  husband  that 
came  with  her  are  gone,  Ijut  grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren  live  at 
Crown  Point.  Mrs.  Gcisen  is  represented  at  Crown  Point  by  two  furniture 
dealers  and  undertakers,  son  and  grandson.  Mrs.  Dascher  came  from  the 
old  country  with  a  cluster  of  blooming,  well  trained  girls  around  her,  and 
one  son.  Her  descendants  yet  live  among  us.  and  some  of  them  are  bloom- 
ing girls  now.  Inulding  into  womanhood.  The  descendants  of  Mrs.  Beckley, 
that  fervent,  sensible,  courteous,  German  Methodist  woman,  are  somewhere 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  137 

in  the  world,  li\-ing  in  a  way,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  to  do  lier  memory  honor. 

Here  are  the  names  of  a  very  different  group:  Mrs.  CaHsta  Sherman, 
born  in  \'ermont,  dying  in  Crown  Point  when  more  than  ninety-five  years 
of  age,  one  of  our  oldest  women,  who  shared  largely  in  the  respect  and 
esteem  of  the  community;  and  connected  with  her  may  be  named  two 
daughters,  Mrs.  Farrington  and  Mrs.  J.  H.  Luther.  It  is  recorded  of  Mrs. 
Luther,  who  had  no  children  of  her  own,  that  she  was  "a  mother  to  some 
motherless  girls,  and  one  of  our  noblest  women  in  relieving  suffering  hu- 
manity, in  avoiding  injurious  gossip,  in  kindly  deeds  of  friendship  and 
neighborly  regard."  The  next  in  this  group  is  the  name  of  Mrs.  Rosalinda 
Helton,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Sherman,  the  youngest  of  thirteen  children  of  the 
Smith  family  of  Friends  of  Shrewsbury,  Vermont,  born  July  i8,  1795,  dying 
in  Crown  Point  when  nearly  eighty-nine  years  of  age,  at  the  home  of  Mrs. 
R.  C.  Young,  where  she  had  resided  for  many  years.  Next  to  her  name 
belongs  the  name  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  R.  Calista  Young,  mother  of  Charles 
H.  Young,  of  Chicago,  who  has  herself  closed  up  a  life  not  short,  a  life 
marked  by  large  unselfishness,  by  untiring  efforts  for  the  good  of  those  con- 
nected with  Jier,  by  a  steadfast  Christian  faith  and  hope.  Five  such  women 
are  not  found  in  e\'ery  community  as  were  tliese  twO'  aged  sisters  and  their 
daughters. 

Other  names :  Mrs.  Vinnedge,  head  of  a  large  family,  a  Methodist 
when  sixteen  years  of  age,  an  earnest  church  member  through  a  long  life; 
Mrs.  Frank  Fuller  ( Haimah  Ferguson),  mother  of  nine  children;  Mrs. 
Sarah  R.  Brown,  who  became  the  second  wife  of  Amos  Hornor;  Mrs. 
Mary  M.  Mason,  daughter  of  Henry  Farmer,  becoming  a  resident  in  1836, 
second  wife  of  Deacon  Cyrus  M.  Mason;  Mrs.  Martin  Vincent  (Mercy 
Pierce),  married  in  1837,  the  head  of  a  well-known  family,  that  is,  the 
womanly  head,  the  mother;  i\Irs.  William  Belshaw,  born  in  1824.  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Jones  family,  and  who,  then  Miss  Jones,  was  a  teacher  in  two 
of  the  early  log  schoolhouses,  one  near  Lowell,  one  near  Pine  Grove;  Mrs. 
Lucy  Taylor,  wife  of  Adonijah  Taylor,  born  in  Connecticut,  bnuight  up  in 


138  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Vermont,  born  in  1792,  the  mother  of  nine  children,  dying  in  1869.  '"a  liighly 
respected  and  estimable  Christian  woman" ;  Mrs.  Ebenezer  Saxton  of  Wig- 
gins Point  and  Merrillville.  a  woman  who  had  a  fearful  experience  with  a 
drunken  Indian  in  the  absence  of  her  husband,  the  Indian,  surly  and  cross, 
threatening  the  death  of  an  infant  in  the  cradle,  she  at  length,  when  the  In- 
dian slept,  pouring  out  the  remainder  of  the  whiskey  from  his  jug,  watching 
the  children  through  that  long  night,  relieved  at  last  of  the  presence  of 
the  Indian  hy  Dr.  Palmer,  who  came  along  some  time  in  the  morning  of 
the  next  day.  The  girls  and  the  mothers  of  that  day  had  fortitude  and 
courage. 

.\  few  more  names,  for  this  is  a  grand  list,  including  the  names  of  many 
who  were  among  the  excellent  of  the  earth.  Mrs.  ]\IcCarty,  wife  of  Judge 
Benjamin  ^^IcCarty.  the  mother  of  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  was  not  only 
an  early  settler  in  Lake  county  but  in  Porter  and  La  Porte,  having  a  home 
in  the  latter  county  in  1832,  1833,  and  1834.  She  was  not  young  when 
coming  into  Lake  county,  some  of  her  sons  were  young  men,  her  daughters 
were  young  women,  intelligent  and  cultivated  all.  and  at  Creston,  in  a 
little  pri\-ate  cemetery  her  dust  reposes. 

Mrs.  Bclshaw.  an  English  Baptist,  a  mother  of  sons  and  daughters,  also 
came  from  La  Porte  county,  in  middle  age,  to  become  an  early  resident  in 
Lake.  Hers  was  for  a  time  a  bright  home.  But  death  came,  and  her  young 
daughter,  eighteen  years  of  age,  was  taken  away  from  earth,  and  she  with 
many  of  the  large  family  found  another  home  in  the  then  distant  Oregon, 
where  one  of  her  sons,  who  had  married  Candace  McCarty,  became  a  noted 
wheat  raiser  in  that  great  wheat  state.  Other  members  of  the  Belshaw 
family  yet  remain  in  Lake  county,  and  her  name  belongs  of  right  among 
our  worthy  mothers  and  grandmothers. 

In  a  different  part  of  the  county,  in  the  woodland  north  of  Hanover 
Center,  where  was  a  great  resort  for  deer,  was  the  first  home  of  another 
worthy  woman,  a  Presbyterian  churcl:  member,  Mrs.  Hackley.  She  was  the 
mother  of  Mrs.  W.  A.  Clark  and  Mrs.  Pettibone,  of  Crown  Point,  and  at 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  139 

length  she  and  her  hushand  had  their  residence  at  Crown  Point  with  Mrs. 
Clark. 

Other  names  are:  Mrs.  Robbins.  of  Brunswick  and  Lowell,  both  of 
whose  sons  fell  as  members  of  the  Union  Army;  ^Slrs.  Dudley  Merrill,  of 
Merrillville:  ^Irs.  Krost,  of  Crown  Point,  the  mother  of  four  sons  and  two 
daughters:  Mrs.  Sohl,  of  Hammond,  an  early  resident  in  the  old  North 
township,  before  Hammontl  was:  ]\Irs.  Payne,  Mrs.  Foley,  Mrs.  Stringham, 
the  earliest  residents  on  Center  Prairie,  who  did  not  long  remain,  but  who 
helped  to  start  civilization  before  their  husbands  removed :  IMrs.  Jones,  a 
later  resident  than  they,  mother  of  Perry  Jones,  born  in  October,  1804,  who 
lived  among  us  to  be  almost  ninety-six  years  old.  One  of  our  very  aged 
women.  "She  retained  her  faculties  well,  enjoyed  reading,  and  in  her  re- 
lations in  life  was  an  estimable  woman." 

Mrs.  Allman,  the  wife  of  Rev.  AL  Allman,  spending  many  useful  years 
in  Crown  Point,  closed  her  days  in  Michigan. 

Mrs.  Mary  Hill,  mother  of  Dr.  Hill,  of  Creston,  and  of  Jvlrs.  Henry 
Surprise,  a  motherly  woman  indeed,  of  rare  patience  and  untiring  love,  lived 
to  complete  eighty-four  years  of  life. 

]\Irs.  Gibson,  an  early  resident  of  the  old  North  township  of  the  county, 
closed  her  life  in  Chicago,  eighty-seven  years  of  age. 

The  name  of  Underwood  is  prominent  in  Lake  county  and  Mrs.  LTnder- 

wood's  name  must  be  recorded  here.     She  was  the  mother  of  five  daughters, 

three  of  whom  are  yet  living;  Mrs.  Harper  and  j\Irs.  Joy,  of  Hobart,  and 

Mrs.  Palmer,  of  Hebron.     She  was  also  the  mother  of  several  sons,  of  whom 

one  is  living  east  of  Merrillville.     She  died  many  years  ago  at  the  home  of 

her  daughter.  Airs.  Palmer,  wife  of  Dr.  Palmer,  and  was  over  ninety  years 

of  age. 

Three  Later  Residents,  Not  Pioneers. 

-Another  of  our  excellent  women  was  Mrs.  Reuben  Fancher,  who  was  in 

girlhood  and  young  womanhood  Mary  Elizabeth   Hawkins.     She  was  born 

in  Genoa,  Cayuga  county.   New   York,   March  4,    1835.      She  was  baptized 


140  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

February  17,  1856.  and  became  a  member  of  the  ^Methodist  Episcopal  church 
September  28,  1856.  She  spent  several  years  of  hfe  in  Buffalo,  and  was 
active  there  in  Sunday-school  work,  ha\-ing  charge  of  a  mission  class  num- 
bering from  fifty  to  one  hundred  members,  which  she  taught  for  several 
years,  thus  gaining  much  experience  in  that  grand  work. 

August  17-,  1859,  she  was  married  in  Buffalo  to  Reuben  Fancher,  and 
they  soon  after  came  as  permanent  residents  to  Lake  county.  Lidiana.  She 
became  before  long  a  teacher  in  the  Methodist  Sunday-school,  and  her  Chris- 
tian character  and  rich  experience  in  that  work  made  her  a  very  valuable 
teacher  to  whom  that  school  is  largely  indebted  for  the  good  done  in  the 
past.  She  was  in  Buffalo  and  Crown  Point  engaged  in  that  work  for  about 
tw'enty-five  years.  She  kept  a  diary  as  some  others  in  the  county  have  done. 
January  11,  1897,  when  nearly  sixty-two  years  of  age,  she  passed  from 
earth,  leaving  two  daughters  to  follow  in  her  footsteps  and  do  good. 

The  following  is  one  of  the  resolutions  adopted  by  Lake  Lodge,  of 
which  her  husband  and  son  were  members :  "Resolved,  That  by  her  death 
Crown  Point  has  been  deprived  of  a  highly  respected  Christian  woman, 
whose  character  was  beautiful,  sincere,  and  pure,  and  whose  home  influence 
merited  the  emulation  of  all."  Signed,  James  C.  Gibbs,  Edward  A.  Krost, 
Herman   J.    Lehman,    Committee. 

Mrs.  Lydia  F.  Flint,  a  member  in  girlhood  of  the  large  Smith  family, 
w^as  born  July  16,  1825,  in  Franklin  county.  New  York.  She  was  married 
in  Delaware  county.  Ohio,  August  5,  1846,  to  William  Flint.  A  son, 
James,  was  born  December  15,  1847.  In  the  fall  of  1859  the  family  came 
into  Lake  count\-,  Indiana,  where  in  1862  her  husband  and  son  both  died, 
leaving  her  a  chiklless  widow.  She  died  I\Iay  22,  1903,  having  had  a  home 
for  thirtv  years  with  her  sister.  ]\Irs.  C.  X.  Morton.  \\"ith  no  descendants 
to  perpetuate  her  name  and  cherish  her  memory,  as  a  good  and  true  Chris- 
tian woman,  her  name  deserves  a  place  among  our  honored  women. 

A  third  one  of  these  later  residents  was  ]\Irs.  Hart,  wife  of  A.  X.  Hart, 
of    Dver.    mother    of    ]Malcolm    and    Milton    Hart    and    ^Nlrs.    Biggs,    of 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  141 

Crown  Point,  the  family  coming  from  Philadelphia  about  1855.  and  settling 
on  the  State  Line  at  Dyer,  while  that  part  of  the  county  was  still  quite  new 
and  wild.  ]Mrs.  Hart  was  not  a  frontier  woman.  Accustomed  to  the  life 
of  a  city,  she  was  retiring  in  her  habits,  and  did  not  feel  the  necessity  that 
women  who  had  very  young  children  did  feel  to  enter  \-ery  actively  into 
the  work  of  building  up  society  around  her.  To  her  three  sons  and  one 
daughter  she  gave  much  care,  and  to  her  diligent  training  they  were  much 
indebted.  She  had  a  strc^ng  nati\-e  sense  of  justice,  wishing  to  see  all  per- 
sons treated  justly,  without  partiality.  She  loved  beauty,  and,  brought  up 
as  she  had  been,  she  prized  the  true  refinements  of  life. 

She  spent  the  later  years  of  her  life  at  Crown  Point,  where  she  had  an 
elegant  residence  built  to  suit  her  taste  for  beauty  in  architecture,  now  the 
residence  of  ]\Irs.  jMalcolm  Hart.  While  not  so  widely  known  as  were  many 
other  mothers  the  name  of  INIrs.  A.  X.  Hart  (one  sun  and  her  one  daughter, 
Mrs.  F.  X.  Biggs,  and  some  intimate  friends  yet  living  to  cherish  her 
memory)  will  stand  here  to  represent  a  very  cultivated,  refined,  and  worthy 

woman. 

".Aunt  Susan."' 

The  next  name  to  be  recorded  here  is  the  name  of  a  verv  motherly 
woman,  who  was  not  herself  a  mother,  who  was  never  married,  but  of  whom, 
as  doing  a  mother's  part,  it  may  truthfully  be  said,  that  many  would  rise 
up  to  do  her  honor.  Susan  Patterson  Turner  was  born  in  Pennsylvania, 
February  27,  18 13.  Her  father's  family  were  genuine  pioneers.  As  the 
oldest  child  and  the  only  daughter  of  the  family  of  Samuel  Turner  of  Eagle 
Creek,  she  was  left  in  charge  of  the  household  through  the  winter  of  1838, 
while  the  father  and  mother  returned  to  La  Porte  county  to  find  a  more  com- 
fortable winter  abode.  She  and  her  l^rothers  passed  safely  and  well  through 
the  privations  of  that  winter;  and  when,  in  1871,  her  aged  mother  died,  the 
care  of  the  household,  in  which  she  as  an  only  daughter  had  large  experience, 
devolved  very  fully  upon  her.  To  her  brothers'  children,  who  delighted  to 
visit  the  old  homestead,  she  was  Aunt  Susan,  and  as  vears  came  on,  and  her 


142  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

motherly  capabilities  and  excellent  qualities  continued  to  be  brought  out 
she  was  known  as  "Aunt  Susan"  by  a  large  community  who  highly  appre- 
ciated her  nobility  of  character.     She  died  Juh"  24.  1899. 

Mrs.  Higgins.  coming  into  Lake  county  as  DiaiTtha  Tremper  in  1844, 
was  born  near  Niagara  Falls  in  1824.  She  became  well  accjuainted  witli 
the  families  of  the  early  settlers  in  both  Lake  and  Porter  counties.  In  1847 
she  was  married  to  Dr.  J.  Higgins.  who  in  1859  settled  as  a  physician  in 
Crown  Point.  In  the  earlier  years  of  her  life  in  Crown  Point  she  was  an 
active  woman  in  the  life  around  her.  She  trained  up  carefully  her  only 
child,  now  Mrs.  Youche.  and  her  one  grandson,  but  in  later  years  impaired 
health  kept  her  more  closely  in  her  home.  As  a  Christian  woman  her 
examples  and  influence  were  for  good  on  those  around  her.  She  died  in 
1895.  In  a  printed  memorial  of  her  it  was  said :  "A  woman  broad-minded, 
not  taking  narrow  views  in  the  great  interests  of  humanity,  cherishing 
warmly  the  domestic  virtues,  she  will  have  a  right  to  be  remembered  as  one 
of  those  connected  with  our  many  pioneer  women  who  have  finished  up  their 
threescore  years  and  ten  of  life,  and  have  passed  on  before  to  the  rest 
and  the  activities  of  the  unseen  world." 

And  here  may  be  added  the  names  of  faithful  mothers  who  have  lately 
passed  from  among  us,  Mrs.  Jacob  \\'ise  and  Mrs.  Seymour  Patton,  both 
quite  aged  women,  faithful  to  duties  in  their  generation,  lx)th  members  of 
well  known  and  substantial  families.  Grouped  with  these  also  may  be  th.e 
name  of  Mrs.  James  Patton,  of  Winfield,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Vansciver,  of 
Crown  Point. 

Mothers  of  Many  Children. 
Among  the  mothers  of  large  Lake  county  families  must  be  placed,  first, 
the  name  of  Mrs.  Flint,  of  Southeast  Grove.  Among  the  first  settlers  of 
that  beautiful  Grove  were  the  members  of  this  noted  Methodist  family.  One 
daugliter  was  the  first  wife  of  James  H.  Luther,  one  became  the  wife  of 
Rev.  D.  Crumpacker,  and  one,  the  eighth  child,  Olive  L.,  was  the  v  ife  of 
Rev.  Robert  Hyde.     There  were,  in  all,  fifteen  children,  and  Mrs.  Hyde  en- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  Ii3 

joyed  the  distinction  of  having  seven  brothers  and  sisters  older  and  seven 
younger  tlian  herself.  Airs.  Hyde  died  in  Chicago,  September  3.  1901, 
about  seventv-five  years  of  age.  Of  her  mother,  )*Irs.  Flint,  not  much  is 
now  known,  but  it  is  enough  for  this  record  that  she  brought  up  so  large 
a  family  on  firm  religious  principles,  fitting  them  for  stations  of  usefulness 
and  honor. 

As  the  second  among  these  mothers  may  be  placed  the  name  of  J\Trs. 
Scritchfield,  of  Creston,  the  mother  of  thirteen  children,  having  very  many 
giandchildren  and  great-grandchildren  yet  living. 

The  third  of  these  mothers  is  Mrs.  Julius  Demnion,  in  girlhood  Xancy 
Wilcox,  member  of  a  pioneer  family,  married  in  1850,  the  mother  of  six  sons, 
and  six  daughters,  and  who  in  less  than  fifty  years  had  sixty-one  living 
grandchildren  in  Lake  county. 

The  attentive  reader  has  noticed  that  many  of  the  earlier  mothers  had 
from  six  to  eight  or  ten  children,  and  it  was  a  pleasant  thing  to  find  in  those 
cabin  homes  wide-awake  boys,  and  cheerful,  li\-ely  girls.  Each  of  those 
large  homes  was  a  little  world  of  itself.  Home  then  was  more  like  the  old 
patriarchal  times  than  is  much  of  what  is  called  home  life  now.  Some  be- 
lieve it  was  richer,  purer,  better  than  now. 

A  place  must  be  found  on  this  roll  of  honor  for  the  name  of  Mrs. 
Samuel  Turner,  of  Eagle  Creek,  who  was  Jane  Dinwiddle,  born  January  19, 
1783,  a  woman  of  Scotch-Irish  blood,  of  Scotch  Presbyterian  principle,  who 
was  married  to  Samuel  Turner  at  Gettysburg,  Pennsylvania,  in  February, 
1810,  and  with  him  came  to  a  choice  location  on  Eagle  Creek,  in  Lake 
county,  in  1838,  becoming  a  permanent  resident  in  1839,  then  fifty-six  years 
of  age.  Not  many  now  live  who  knew  her  in  the  home  circle,  but  her  like- 
ness in  the  "Dinwiddle  Clan  Records"  shows  her  to  have  been  an  estimable 
woman,  and  her  grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren  in  Iowa  and  In- 
diana show  that  through  her  they  inherited  the  blessing  of  having  been  "well 
born,"  a  pri\ilege  to  which  it  has  been  saiil  all  children  have  a  right. 

The  very  close  observer  may  notice  that  the  first  woman  whose  name 


lU  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

is  on  this  list  was  born  January  15,  1783,  and  that  tlie  last  one  was  born 
January  19,  1783,  both  born  in  the  year  that  gave  peace  after  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution.  They  were  our  oldest  pioneers.  For  the  most  part  the 
women,  as  well  as  the  men,  who  came  to  share  privations  here  and  lay 
foundations  were  rather  young,  or  in  the  prime  of  life. 

It  is  claimed  as  a  saying  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  that  what  France 
most  needed  was  mothers.  That  the  mothers  have  much  to  do  with  what 
the  children  are  and  what  they  became  is  a  well  accepted  fact.  Mothers 
that  were  mothers  had  homes  in  Lake  county  two  generations  ago.  And  the 
names  of  at  least  some  of  them  have  been  placed  upon  these  pages. 

They  could  make  bread  and  butter  and  cheese :  they  could  wash  and 
iron ;  they  could  sew  and  knit  and  spin  wool  into  yarn,  and  some  of  them 
could  weave  that  yarn  into  cloth ;  they  had  spinning  wheels  and  looms :  they 
could  mold  and  dip  candles;  they  could  cut  out  garments  and  make  them 
up;  they  could  keep  domestics,  girls  and  women  to  help  them  in  their  work, 
having  no  trouble  in  trying  to  reduce  them  to  the  position  of  "servants," 
for  they  gave  them  seats  at  the  family  table  and  places  around  the  fireside, 
treating  them  as  they  would  wish  their  own  daughters  to  be  treated;  they 
were  mothers  indeed,  and  looked  well  after  all  the  wants  of  their  households, 
carrying  out  well  in  their  living  the  instructions  given  to  women,  and  imi- 
tating well  the  model  placed  before  women,  in  the  Bible. 

They  were  not  what  is  called  in  this  day  "society  women" ;  they  were 
not  members  of  any  Clubs  or  of  Secret  Orders;  they  knew  nothing  of  mod- 
ern "functions."  They  made  visits  and  had  dinners  together  and  some- 
times suppers ;  they  had  apple-paring  bees,  and  quilting  bees,  and  donation 
parties;  they  had  much  social  life,  attending  camp-meetings  and  associations 
and  other  religious  meetings.  They  were  largely  keepers  at  home,  yet 
were  they  sociable,  friendly,  hospitable.  Such  were  our  mothers  and  grand- 
mothers, the  early  settlers  here  sixty  years  ago.  And  when  the  time  came 
for  a  thousand  of  the  sons  of  Lake  to  go  forth,  from  eighteen  hundred  homes, 
containing  about  nine  thousand  people,  to  join  the  mighty  American  Army 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  145 

in  fighting  for  tlie  lite  of  the  nation,  tliis  thousand  went  from  homes  where 
there  were  mothers  with  loyal  as  well  as  loving  hearts. 

Of  our  little  army  of  noble  pioneer  women,  probably  three  or  four  hun- 
dred in  number,  there  are  living  descendants  now  in  the  county  to  carry  out 
in  the  life  of  this  generation  the  rich  results  of  their  influence  and  their 
virtues. 

I  am  not  claiming  for  any  of  them,  those  named  and  those  not  named, 
great  brilliancy  of  intellect,  fascinating  social  endowments,  or  remarkable 
talents,  but  I  do  claim  that  so  long  as  there  is  a  county  of  Lake,  so  long 
the  influence  of  our  noble  women  will  endure. 

That  women  have  done  a  large  work  in  the  county  in  promoting  educa- 
tion is  beyond  any  question.  A  deep  and  lasting  impression  on  education 
and  literature,  in  this  county  and  outside  of  its  borders,  was  made  by  the 
scho<jl  carried  on  for  so  many  years  by  Mrs.  J.  A.  H.  Ball.  And  from  the 
day  that  Miss  Ursula  Ann  Jackson,  of  West  Creek,  commenced  to  teach  a 
public  school  in  Pleasant  Grove  the  first  Monday  of  May,  1838.  until  this 
present  time,  women,  and  even  quite  young  girls,  have  done  a  large  part 
of  the  teaching  in  the  public  schools.  Rev.  ]\Ir.  Townley,  who  conducted  a 
large  school  in  Crown  Point  from  about  1848  till  1856,  speaking  of  his 
school  which  furnished  many  teachers  for  the  public  schools,  stated  in 
November,  1852,  that  he  had  had  up  to  that  time  nearly  five  hundred  scholars, 
and  that  not  five  young  men  had  gone  out  as  teachers.  In  later  years  teach- 
ers have  received  higher  wages  anil  more  young  men  have  accordingly  been 
willing  to  engage  in  teaching.  The  women  in  all  these  years  have  been 
prominent  in  church  work,  in  temperance  work,  in  mission  work ;  and  when 
the  time  came  in  1861  and  in  the  following  years  to  provide  relief  and  com- 
forts for  sick  and  suffering  soldiers,  then  the  homekeeping  women  imme- 
diately formed  aid  societies  and  sent  relief  to  the  hospitals  and  camps.  Two 
of  their  number,  of  pioneer  families,  Mrs.  Sarah  Robinson  and  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Hodson,  went  forth  from  their  homes  in  Lake  to  the  hospitals  at  Mem- 
phis, and  there  helped  to  care  for  the  sick,  the  wounded,  the  dying.  It  is 
10 


140  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

no  more  than  justice,  it  is  not  courtesy,  that  the  names,  the  deeds,  the 
memorials,  of  our  pioneer  women  should  find  some  room  and  place  along 
with  the  memorials  of  their  husbands  and  their  sons. 

Lake  county  has  been  represented  by  one  Christian  missionary  in  dis- 
tant Lidia.  Mrs.  Annie  Morgan,  a  daughter  of  Judge  Turner  of  Crown 
Point,  a  member  in  her  childhood  of  the  Crown  Point  Presbyterian  Sunday 
school,  becoming  a  Baptist  and  having  been  married  to  Rev.  Freeman  Mor- 
gan, a  Baptist  minister,  left  her  native  land  with  him  in  October,  1879, 
bound  for  Southei-n  Asia,  and  there  both  entered  upon  mission  work  among 

the  Telugus. 

Lake  County  Miscellany. 

By  T.  H.  Ball. 

THE   PIONEER   CHILDREN   AND   NATURE. 

Each  generation  has,  to  some  extent,  privileges,  opportunities,  and  ad- 
vantages, not  b"'estowed,  in  the  same  degree,  on  other  generations. 

In  this  short  paper  the  writer  proposes  to  notice  the  superior  advantages 
which  the  pioneer  children  enjoyed  in  beholding  natural  beauty,  and  so,  if 
their  opportunities  were  improved,  in  securing  the  two  great  benefits  to  be 
deri\-ed  from  the  cultivation  of  a  love  for  nature,  the  refinement  of  the  dis- 
position, and  the  increase  of  the  means  of  happiness. 

That  a  true  love  for  natural  beauty,  as  seen  on  the  earth  and  in  the  sky, 
is  refining  and  mav  increase  largely  life's  enjoyment,  will  be  taken  at  present 
as  granted.  The  proofs,  if  needed,  are  to  be  found  abundantly  in  human 
observation  and  experience.  And  so,  realizing  and  recognizing  that  some 
beautiful  landscape  views  may  yet  be  seen  in  this  county,  especially  in  the 
southern  townships,  some  beauties  peculiar  to  the  pioneer  times  will  now  be 
named. 

First  of  all  among  these  were  the  wild  prairies,  the  prairies  with  their 
native  vegetation  and  their  nati\e  inhabitants.  Before  a  furrow  had  been 
turned,  a  shrub  or  tree  planted,  a  house  or  fence  constructed,  in  the  spring 
and  early  summer  the  carpet  of  green  grass,  with  a  few  early  flowers  scattered 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  UT 

here  and  there,  was  charming  to  the  eye :  hut  wlien  the  warm  summer  came, 
witli  its  ever  glorious  sunshine,  and  the  polar  plant,  which  the  children  called 
rosin-weed,  attained  the  height  of  six  or  seven  feet,  the  grass  then  thick 
and  tall,  the  beds  of  phlox,  as  rich  as  in  an  Eastern  garden,  covering  large 
areas,  the  meadow  lilies  open  to  the  sunshine,  the  broad  leaves  of  the  prairie 
dock  having  attained  full  growth,  and  rich  colored,  true  prairie  flowers  in 
great  abundance,  of  many  varieties,  open  on  e\-ery  side, — then  vras  the  beauty 
of  the  prairie  enchanting.  There  were  no  real  weeds  till  man's  plowshare 
turned  over  the  prairie  sod,  and  richer  in  color,  greater  in  variety,  more 
abundant  even  to  profusion  the  flowers  became  as  the  summer  approached  the 
golden  autumn.  Then,  as  one  would  be  riding  on  horseback  amid  the  green 
verdure  and  tall  polar  plants,  for  roads  and  buggies  were  not  ilien,  and  only 
a  few  venturesome  children  went  out  any  distance  on  foot  into  the  wilder- 
ness of  beauty  that  lay  in  its  bewildering  extent  of  area  before  them :  here 
and  there  would  suddenly  start  up,  as  from  under  the  very  feet  of  the  horse, 
the  pinnated  grouse,  the  chickens  of  the  prairie,  the  true  denizens  of  all  this 
prairie  region,  and  both  horse  and  rider  would  be  startled  as  one  after  another, 
in  quick  succession,  from  ten  to  twenty  of  those  beautiful  wild  fowls  would 
fly  up  on  every  side  and  sail  away  and  soon  sink  down  out  of  sight  in  that 
abundant  verdure,  amid  which  for  many  and  many  a  summer  their  progenitors 
had  been  so  secure.  In  that  thick,  rank,  tall  vegetation,  no  eye  was  likely  to 
see  them. 

Again,  sometimes  the  rider  would  see  not  far  away  some  of  those  other 
true  tenants  of  the  wilds,  perhaps  two  or  three  prairie  wolves,  or  one  alone, 
seldom  only  one,  on  that  apparently  slow  lope  or  gallop,  which  ne\-ertheless 
took  them  through  the  grass  and  over  the  flower  beds  quite  rapidly,  ami  soon 
they  too  would  be  out  of  sight.  Perhaps,  again,  the  horseback  rider  would 
see,  on  some  distant  grass  covered  eminence,  forty  or  more  sandhill  cranes 
going  through  some  kind  of  evolution  which  the  pioneers  called  a  dance. 

None  of  these  beautiful  and  entertaining  sights  which  delighted  the 
pioneer  children  can  the  children  of  this  generation  behold.  All  that  rich 
beauty  and  wild  life  from  our  prairies  has  forever  gone. 


14S  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Tlien  there  were  other  sights  not  peciiHar  to  the  prairies,  the  bounding 
red-deer  of  the  woodlands  and  the  wild  pigions  in  prodigious  numbers,  which 
the  children  of  Lake  can  here  never  more  see.  Those  pigeons,  perhaps,  gone 
forever  from  all  our  land,  were,  in  form,  in  color,  in  motion,  rich  embodied 
beauty.  The  eyes  of  none  of  us  will  see  those  thousands  of  wild  pigeons 
again  as  once  they  were  in  these  woodlands,  on  our  few  grain  fields,  and  some- 
times passing,  by  hundreds  of  thousands,  in  the  sky  above  us. 

And  yet  again,  the  children  of  those  days  saw  natural  streams  of  water. 
Cedar  Creek  and  Eagle  Creek,  winding  amid  their  grassy  banks  along  narrow 
valleys,  were  then  beautiful  streams.  They  ha\e  been  turned  into  ditches 
now.  And  so  have  West  Creek  and  Turkey  Creek,  and  other  once  pretty 
water  courses,  and  who  ever  saw  much  beauty  in  a  ditch  ?  Doubtless  there 
are  children  in  this  county  now  who  never  saw  one  of  those  ever  beautiful 
olijects  in  nature,  a  real,  purling  brook.  And  how  can  they  appreciate  such 
gems  of  poetry  as  this :  "The  noise  as  of  a  running  brook  in  the  leafy 
month  of  June,  Which  to  the  sleeping  woods  all  night  singeth  a  quiet 
tune."  Instead  of  winding  brooks,  of  which  at  Plum  Grove  a  part  of  one 
is  left,  our  water  courses,  like  our  roads  and  railroads,  must  now  be  made, 
as  far  as  practicable,  to  go  in  straight  lines.    Utility  takes  the  place  of  beauty. 

There  is  beauty  yet  left  on  the  clouds,  and  on  the  morning  and  evening 
sky.  but  houses  and  barns  and  orchards  and  shade  trees  and  shrubbery  so 
obstruct  the  views  that  few  children  now  observe  or  have  a  chance  to  see  a 
fair,  clear  sunrise  gilding  the  prairie  and  the  woodlands  with  its  rich  hues 
of  ruby  or  of  gold:  or  those  magnificent  sunsets  which  some  of  us  as  children 
were  jirivileged  to  enjoy,  when  huge  masses  of  vapor  like  distant  moun- 
tains seemed  to  be  piled  up  in  the  west,  and  the  setting  sun.  seeming  to  sink 
down  into  their  fleecy  folds,  painted  on  them  for  a  time  golden,  or  purple, 
or  crimson  hues,  or  violet  and  ruby,  the  richest  coloring, — unless  some- 
times, once  or  twice  in  a  lifetime  the  same  may  be  seen  at  night  on  the 
northern  sky, — that  nature  ever  presents  to  our  view.  Such  sunsets  as  were 
seen  in  this  county  in  the  years  long  past  no  artist  can  paint.     Such  coloring 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  Ii9 

man  does  not  mix.  But  sometimes,  with  all  the  western  horizon  and  blue  sky 
cloudless,  the  sun  would  seem  to  touch  the  edge  of  the  horizon,  and  on 
the  line  of  prairie  or  behind  a  few  trees,  like  a  large  red  or  golden  globe  of 
fire,  almost  too  bright  even  then  for  the  eye  steadily  to  rest  upon,  would  slowly 
yet  soon  disappear  from  sight,  seeming  to  leave  an  open  doorway  into  a  world 
of  dazzling  glory.  The  rich  Lieauty  of  pure,  unstained  light,  could  at  such 
times  be  felt. 

And  there  was  more,  much  more  of  animated  nature  full  of  beauty  then, 
at  which  there  is  no  time  now  to  glance.  The  children  of  the  pioneer  days 
did  see  what  our  eyes  never  can  behold. 

Even  the  prairie  fires,  too  grand,  too  magnificent,  and  sometimes  too  de- 
structive, to  give  that  sense  of  delight  which  beauty  gives,  were  sometimes 
very  pleasing  to  the  eyes  of  childhood.  Into  the  mouth  of  one  of  Ossian's 
heroes  these  words  are  put:  "The  columns  of  smoke  pleased  well  mine  eyes: 
I  knew  not  then  wherefore  the  maidens  wept."  And  when  there  was  no 
feeling  of  destruction  children  saw  with  delight  the  long  lines  of  flame  and 
the  columns  of  smoke  when  after  sweeping  through  the  tall  grass  of  the 
Kankakee  Marsh  the  flames  spread  northward  upon  the  prairie. 

Truly,  the  children  of  the  pioneer  years  saw  earth  and  sky  with  little 
to  obstruct  their  range  of  vision. 

And  this  region  was  then,  amid  all  its  wild  beauty  a  very  fitting  great 
temple  in  which  to  worship  God. 

In  these  our  days,  much  is  said  of  art,  something  is  taught  of  art.  An 
e\-ening  lecture  was  gi\en  not  long  ago  to  the  assembled  teachers  of  Lake 
county  and  the  subject  was.  Art  in  familiar  things.  And  that  was  well. 
But  who  teaches  the  children  to  love  natural  beauty  ?  \\'ho  teaches,  "There's 
beauty  all  around  our  paths,  if  but  our  watchful  eyes  ccnild  trace  it  mid 
familiar  things,  and  through  their  lowly  guise?"  Who  teaches  the  children 
now,  as  many  pioneer  children  learned,  amid  the  delightful  opportunities 
and  privileges  which  they  enjoyed,  to  look  through  nature  up  to  nature's 
God?    To  many  of  the  pioneer  children,  in  their  great  wilds  of  nature,  before 


150  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

tliere  were   cities   or  towns,   or   temples    for   worship   as  made   with    men's 
hands,  God  was  very  near. 

LANDSCAPES. 

I  am  unwilhng  that  this  large  volume  of  biographical  sketches  should 
go  out  among  the  later  inhabitants  of  the  county,  (a  county  now  containing 
a  population  of  about  forty  thousand,  many  more  than  half  of  them  residing 
in  cities  and  towns  or  in  villages),  without  some  mention  being  made  in 
it  of  our  beautiful  country  views.  And  so  in  this  chapter  headed  "Miscel- 
lany," is  placed  a  paper  concerning  our  landscapes. 

Webster  gives  as  his  first  definition  of  the  word  landscape,  "A  portion 
of  land  or  territory  which  the  eye  can  comprehend  in  a  single  view,  including 
all  the  objects  it  contains."  Of  course  a  prairie  region,  a  moderately  level 
region  such  as  is  Lake  county,  can  have  nothing  of  the  grandeur  of  moun- 
tain scenery.  The  writer  of  this  has  stood  on  the  summit  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire IMount  W'ashington ;  has  passed  through  Dixville  Notch:  has  crossed 
the  Cumberland  and  the  Alleghany  Mountains ;  and  he  knows  and  admires 
mountain  scenery.  But  he  is  sure  there  have  been  beautiful  views  in  this 
sand  ridge  and  woodland,  prairie  and  marsh  region  of  Lake.  Some  of 
these  he  will  name. 

Near  the  village  of  Lake  Station,  from  the  top  of  a  large  sand  hill, 
the  northward  view,  on  a  clear  summer  afternoon,  is  full  of  interest  to  a 
lover  of  natural  scenery.  "The  eye  rests  upon  a  part  of  the  valley  of  Deep 
River;  and  just  beyond  is  the  village  of  Lake,  surrounded  by  hills  and  woods, 
the  fans  for  raising  water  reminding  one  of  Don  Quixote's  windmills,  and 
the  vegetation  gi^  ing  evidence  of  the  beds  of  sand  from  which  it  derives  its 
nourishment."  The  railroad  grounds  in  this  village  are  large  and  neat, 
the  finest  in  the  county,  and  the  distance  is  sufficient  to  give  to  the  buildings 
a  fine  effect. 

From  various  hill  tops  in  the  north  part  of  the  county  beautiful  views 
could  be  enjoyed  a  few  years  ago,  "the  sweep  of  vision  from  these  taking 
in  a  portion  of  Lake  ^Michigan's  blue  waters,  and  the  pines,  and  sand  hills, 
and  valleys  of  the  shore. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  151 

Some  very  pretty  \-ie\vs  are  foinid  along  a  ridge  of  land  which  separates 
the  Turkey  Creek  and  Deep  River  localities  and  valleys,  and  especially  near 
the  once  Red  School-house  or  Vincent  neighborhood.  Looking  northward 
one  can  see  the  woodland  ridges  which  nui  parallel  with  the  Little  Calu- 
met River,  and  southward  and  westward  one  can  look  over  a  broad  area  of 
undulating  prairie,  the  first  breadth  of  prairie  upon  wdiich  Solon  Robinson 
and  his  party  looked,  October  31,  1834,  the  emotions  produced  by  which  he 
called  "indescribable." 

From  this  ridge  also,  looking  across  the  prairie  and  Deep  River  valley, 
Crown  Point  presents,  at  the  right  time  of  day.  a  very  pretty  picture  standing 
forth  in  the  sunlight  on  its  prairie  eminences  with  the  woodland  height  for  a 
rich  background.  Another  fine  view  of  the  town  may  also  be  obtained 
from  an  eminence  near  the  eastern  limit  of  the  county,  the  distance  being 
sufificient  to  give  to  the  woodland  on  the  west  that  beautiful  hue  of  blue. 

The  main  prairie  portion  of  Lake  county  is  in  two  divisions.  Tlie  one 
south  of  Crown  Point  is  Robinson  Prairie ;  the  one  in  Hanover  and  West 
Creek  townships  is  Lake  Prairie.  The  small  ones  have  borne  the  names 
of  Eagle  Creek,  Bostwick,  Prairie  West,  and  Center.  On  Robinson  Prairie, 
south  of  Crown  Point,  are  eminences  from  which  one  can  look  over  some 
miles  of  prairie,  then  across  five  or  six  miles  of  Kankakee  valley  land,  once 
called  marsh,  and  at  length  the  vision  ends  along  a  line  of  blue  which  marks 
the  course  of  the  Ivankakee  River,  beyond  which  from  no  prairie  height 
can  the  eye  see  over  into  Jasper  and  Newton  counties,  unless  sometimes 
the  steam  from  an  engine  may  be  seen  far  down  on  the  JMonon  Railroad. 

There  is  yet  left  a  beautiful  landscape  which  one  beholds  when  coming 
northward  from  the  Lowell  and  Hebron  road,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Eagle  Creek  valley,  when  emerging  from  the  shrubbery  and  the  grove,  sud- 
denly there  spreads  out  before  one  the  prairie  and  valley  courses  of  Deep 
River  and  Eagle  Creek  as  once  these  were,  and  the  village  of  Le  Roy  as 
now  it  is,  and  the  open  view  far  northward,  once  a  green  prairie  in  sum- 
mer, but  now  dotted  over  with  fields,  and  houses,  and  barns,  and  orchards. 


152  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

But  the  landscape  is  beautiful  still,  and  it  comes  so  unexpectedl}-  upon  one 
who  has  not  gone  that  way  before. 

L.\KE    PR.\IRIE   VIEWS. 

Mrs.  Nannie  W.  Ames,  a  daughter  of  Rev.  H.  Wason,  of  New  Eng- 
land descent  and  training,  a  culti\ated  woman,  wrote  the  following  at  the 
time  of  Lake  County's  Semi-Centennial : 

"Lake  Prairie  has  been  called  the  'Gem  of  the  county,'  and  certainly 
it  well  deserves  the  fair  name.  Twenty-five  years  ago,  Professor  Mills,  of 
Wabash  College,  stood  on  a  knoll  on  Mr.  Peach's  farm,  and  looking  around 
till  his  eye  met  the  woods  that  encircle  the  gently  rolling  land,  said :  T 
have  been  thirty  years  in  the  \^'est  and  have  been  in  every  county  in  the 
State,  and  never  but  once  have  I  seen  so  beautiful  a  view."  Other  strangers 
from  the  East,  South,  and  \\'est  have  said  the  same  thing."  Mrs.  Ames 
continues :  "The  scene  has  changed  in  this  c|uarter  of  a  century  but  has 
only  gained  in  beauty.  Now,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  may  be  seen  com- 
fortable houses  and  farm  buildings,  orchards  and  shade  trees,  with  here  and 
there  a  bordering  of  deep  green  osage :  while  still  farther  in  the  distance  the 
tall  windmills  point  out  the  homes  Ijeyond  the  range  of  vision."  This  writer 
may  be  more  than  commonly  fond  of  the  wildness  of  nature,  and,  perhaps, 
partial  to  Lake  Prairie  as  once  it  was,  and  so  he  will  only  add  here,  that  he 
prefers  the  beauty  of  sixty  years  ago,  \^hich  he  knew  so  well,  to  the  more 
improved  beauty  of  the  present. 

Also  it  may  he  added,  that  from  other  eminences,  further  north  than 
the  one  mentioned  by  Mrs.  Ames,  some  beautiful  views  may  be  obtained,  the 
range  of  vision  taking  in  all  of  that  rich  prairie,  about  ten  miles  from  north 
to  south,  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  West  Creek  woodlands,  by  the  Cedar 
Creek  woods  on  the  east,  on  the  south,  five  miles  beyond  the  prairie  limit, 
extending  over  groves  and  marshland,  reaching  to  the  long  line  of  blue  that 
marks  the  course  of  the  Kankakee  River. 

LAKE   COL'NTV    CROW    ROOSTS. 

The  early  settlers  of  Lake  county.  Indiana,  found  crows  here,  and  they 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  153 

have  been  here  ever  since.  They  are  probably  more  numerous  now  than 
they  were  in  1837.  for  they  can  now  find  a  greater  variety  of  food  and  they 
find  it  in  greater  abundance.  The  Indians  no  doubt  helped  them  to  some 
food,  but  the  whites  help  them  to  nnich  more. 

Among  our  black-birds  there  has  been  seen  a  real  white  one,  a  true 
Candida  mcnila,  but  so  far  as  known  all  our  crows  have  been  black,  like  those 
of  whom  that  poem  was  written  called  "The  Three  Black  Crows."  The 
main  roosting  places  of  our  crows  in  these  latter  years  have  been,  in  num- 
ber, two.  One  of  these  is  nine  miles  northwest  from  Crown  Point;  the  other 
is  five  miles  south. 

The  one  south  is  in  an  evergreen  grove  which  co\-ers  an  area  of  about 
four  acres,  set  out  for  a  wind-breaker  in  the  center  of  the  broad  Robinson 
Prairie  many  years  ago,  the  trees  Scotch  pine,  Austrian  pine,  and  some 
larch.  This  grove,  the  trees  being  very  close  together,  makes  a  grand  shelter 
for  any  of  our  birds,  and  the  crows  gather  there  at  night  by  the  hundreds, 
and  have  been  estimated  at  fully  one  thousand. 

The  roosting  place,  nortliwest  of  Crown  Point,  is  by  the  side  of  the 
Pan  Handle  Railroad,  on  land  formerly  owned  by  ^Ir.  A.  N.  Hart,  who 
would  not  allow  the  first  crows  that  came  there  to  be  disturbed.  They  sought 
near  him  a  cjuiet  resting  place  and  they  found  it.  He  allowed  no  shooting 
near  them.  The  tract  of  land  came  next  into  the  possession  of  Mr.  Malcolm 
T.  Hart,  one  of  the  wealthy  men  of  the  county,  and  he  followed  his  father's 
example,  and  the  number  of  the  trusting  crows  increased. 

That  large  estate  is  now  in  the  hands  of  Mrs.  M.  T.  Hart  and  her  daugh- 
ter. Marguerite  M.  Hart,  and  they  also  are  friendly  toward  the  crows.  Those 
that  come  here  for  night  shelter  and  rest  probably  number  thousands.  They 
leave  in  the  early  morning,  going  westward  and  southward  and  return  from 
their  Illinois  foraging  grounds  from  sunset  time  till  quite  late  in  the  evening. 
Ever  since  the  raven  went  out  from  Noah's  ark  the  black-feathered  birds 
of  the  raven  and  crow  kinds  seem  to  have  been  successful  in  procuring  food. 


154  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

AN     OLD    LANDMARK. 

As  the  month  of  October,  1902,  was  drawing  to  a  close  an  old  land- 
mark in  Crown  Point  began  to  disappear.  A  building  on  Court  Street, 
northwest  of  the  northwest  corner  of  the  present  public  square,  had  been 
standing  on  that  spot  of  ground  beyond  the  reach  of  memory  of  most  of 
the  present  inhabitants  of  the  town.  The  oldest  locust  tree  of  the  town  stood 
in  front  of  it.  back  of  it  was  in  1834  an  Indian  garden  spot,  and  near  by  was 
then  a  spring  of  water.  There.  October  31.  1834.  Solon  Robinson  and 
family  pitched  their  tent,  the  Robinson  record  says,  "by  the  side  of  a  spring." 

The  next  day,  November  i,  1834,  work  commenced  with  axes  for  erect- 
ing a  log  cabin,  and  in  four  days  the  family  left  the  tent  and  moved  into 
what  they  called  their  new  house.  New  it  certainly  was,  made  of  the  logs 
of  trees  that  were  standing  in  that  grove  or  woodland  four  days  before. 
Additions  to  that  first  cabin  were  evidently  made  in  1835,  but  whether  any 
portion  of  the  log  structure  which  was  afterwards  covered  with  siding  and 
which  had  been  on  that  spot,  in  1902,  more  than  sixty  years,  contained  the 
first  pile  of  logs  is  somewhat  imcertain.  Perhaps  the  south  part  of  the  entire 
structure,  which  was  removed  in  November,  1902,  to  make  room  for  a 
large  livery  barn,  was  the  cabin  of  1834,  and,  if  so,  had  been  standing  for 
sixty-eight  years.  Of  the  part  that  for  a  time  was  left  standing,  a  two- 
story  building,  the  lower  part  of  logs,  the  upper  story  of  frame  work,  no  one 
now  living  can  tell  when  it  was  erected.  Probably  not,  at  least  not  com- 
pleted, till  after  the  log  court  house  was  built  in  1837,  certainly  not  till  after 
some  sawed  lumber  could  be  obtained  and  nails  came  into  use.  In  the  con- 
struction of  Lake  county's  first  buildings  no  nails  were  used. 

Two  only  are  living  who  were  residents  in  Crown  Point  in  1837,  and 
thev  were  then  girls  too  young  to  know  about  the  building  of  the  Robinson 
home  or  the  log  court  house.  Three  are  yet  living,  who  may  have  seen  those 
buildings  in  1837.  ]\Ir.  \\'illiam  A.  Taylor,  'Sir.  Nathan  Wood,  and  Mr.  J- 
Kenney;  and  one  other  is  living,  the  writer  of  this,  who  was  in  what  is 
now  Crown  Point,  five  or  six  times  in  1837.     He  probably  knows  as  much 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  155 

about  the  buildings  of  that  year  as  any  one  now  Hving.  But  whenever 
built,  this  oldest  house  in  Crown  Point  when  1902  closed,  some  part  of 
the  tenement  as  it  was  November  5.  1902.  dating  back  to  1835.  possibly  to 
1834,  it  has  an  interesting  history.  And  as  the  home  of  the  founder  of 
Crown  Point  that  history  should  be  preserved. 

At  this  home  spot,  quite  certainly  not  inside  of  the  log  walls,  was 
organized  "The  Squatters'  Union  of  Lake  County."  the  first  action  here  of 
American  citizens  in  exercising  their  right  of  governing  themselves.  Tlie 
record  which  is  beyond  ciuestion  as  to  its  accuracy  says,  this  was  done  ''at  a 
meeting  of  a  majority  of  the  citizens  of  Lake  county  held  at  the  house  of 
Solon  Robinson  on  the  fourth  of  July,  1836."  The  record  says  at  the  house, 
but  it  does  not  say  in  the  house,  and  one  who  was  present  said  the  meeting 
was  in  the  open  air,  in  the  grove. 

In  1837  this  home  was  opened  several  times  by  its  hospitable  owners 
for  religious  worship,  probably  the  first  dwelling  thus  used  in  Crown  Point, 
among  the  first  thus  used  in  all  of  Lake  county. 

Th.is  building  was  for  many  years  the  bright  home  of  the  Robinson 
family,  where  were  born  Dr.  L.  G.  Bedell,  now  a  noted  physician  of  Chicago, 
and  her  brother  Charles,  and  where  with  these  an  older  brother  and  sister 
spent  the  sunny  years  of  childhood  and  of  youth ;  and  where  sometimes 
for  visiting,  sometimes  for  dancing,  would  meet  the  youth  and  beauty  of 
Crown  Point.  They  who  still  dance  among  the  young  ladies  of  Crown 
Point  (lance  in  larger  rooms  now  and  not  on  puncheon  floors. 

Marriages  and  changes  took  place  and  the  next  of  our  historic  families 
to  make  that  house  a  bright  living  home  was  a  member  of  the  Holton  family, 
Mrs.  Calista  Young,  where  her  son  Charles  Young,  now  of  Chicago,  grew 
up  to  manhood:  where,  in  1884,  her  aged  riiother  died,  and  in  the  same 
year,  after  a  residence  in  Crown  Point  of  about  five  years,  her  mother's  sis- 
ter's son,  Air.  Clement  Brown:  and  where  Solon  Robinson,  with  his  Florida 
wife,  made  a  short  sojourn  on  his  last  visit  to  Crown  Point. 

After  Mrs.  Young  went  to  Indianapolis  to  live  with  her  son,  then  Deputy 


156  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Secretary  of  State,  one  more  representative  of  one  of  our  historic  families 
found  there  a  home.  Mr.  \\'illiam  Clark,  a  grandson  of  judge  \Mlliam 
Clark,  the  Clark  family  having  been  intimately  associated  with  the  Robinson 
family  in  the  pioneer  days.  j\Irs.  William  Clark  opened  a  millinery  store  in 
the  log  building,  which  was  then  becoming  old.  Some  tenants  occasionally 
occupied  it  afterwards. 

Tlius  it  has  gone  through  its  changes.  An  inviting  home  place  for  one 
connected  family  for  more  than  half  a  century:  at  last  furnishing  an  office 
room  for  ]\Ir.  J-  S.  Holton  in  a  part  of  the  year  1902.  Before  that  year 
closed  the  south  part,  the  logs  eighteen  feet  long  (in  one  room  of  wdiich 
this  writer,  then  a  youth,  remembers  to  have  slept  as  one  of  the  guests  of 
the  Robinson  family),  -was  all  removed,  the  north  part,  the  logs  also  eighteen 
feet  long,  and  apparently  all  solid,  then  left  standing. 

One  only  is  known  to  be  living  who  was  in  the  log  cabin  of  1834.  and  she 
was  too  young  to  know  much  difference  between  a  cabin  or  a  palace. 
It  was  enough  for  her  that  it  was  home. 

The  next  record  for  this  page  is :  ^larch  2.  1903.  Monday.  To-day 
the  remaining  portion  of  the  Robinson  house  was  removed  to  make  way 
for  the  printing  office  soon  to  be  erected  on  this  spot  by  J.  J.  Wheeler,  whose 
wife  is  a  granddaughter  of  the  old  log  house  builder.  And  so  the  spot 
where  for  many  years  was  a  pioneer  home,  where  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
have  preached,  where  young  people  ha\e  often  met,  where  births  and  deaths 
have  been,  is  soon  to  be,  probably  ior  many  years  to  come,  the  home  of 
journalism,  the  aliode  of  printing  presses,  and  the  day  home  for  those  who 
do  type  setting  and  press  work,  and  who  thus  will  help  to  enrich  with 
printed  thought  thousands  of  living  homes.  But  for  the  historic  page,  few 
would  know,  in  the  years  that  are  expected  to  come,  that  in  this  locality 
was  erected  one  of  Lake  county's  earliest  log  cabins. 

1843.       A    GOLDEN    WEDDING.       1893. 

Fifty  years,  as  we  forward  look. 

Seem  as  years  slow  moving  and  long; 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  157 

Fifty  years,  as  we  backward  look, 

From  grayhaired  age  to  childhood's  song, 
Seem  only  as  yesterdays  gone  far  by. 

Yesterday  !  Yesterday !  How  the  days  fly  ! 

Fifty  fnll  years  ha\-e  passed  away  since  that  marriage  ceremony  took 
place  in  the  northwestern  hiime  of  the  Cedar  Lake  community  whose  golden 
anniversary  brings  us  together  to-day. 

It  will  be  fitting  for  me,  a  youth  at  Cedar  Lake  then,  an  inhabitant  here 
now,  and  having  for  many  years  been  giving  some  close  attention  to  the 
times  that  go  over  us,  to  the  history  which  we  are  making,  to  the  changes 
wh.ich  every  year  brings,  to  place  before  you,  among  the  thoughts  of  this 
hour,  some  facts  connected  with  that  locality  and  the  half  century  now  past. 

Then,  fifty  years  ago,  in  this  northwestern  corner  of  Indiana,  across 
which  so  many  thousands  have  this  year  passed,  this  year  of  1893,  going  in 
crowded  cars  to  reach  the  White  City,  settlements,  homes,  institutions,  as 
established  by  descendants  of  Europeans,  were  not  only  comparati\'eIy  but 
actually  new.  Nine  years  had  seen  quite  a  number  of  families  making  homes 
in  the  woodlands  on  lands  which  the  Pottawatomie  Indians  had  but  lately 
vacated. 

In  1843  ^"^'S  li3*^'  '"  ''ll  Lake  county  about  as  many  inhabitants  as  are 
now  in  St.  John  township  alone,  or  about  sixteen  or  se\-enteen  hundred; 
we  had  a  few  schoolhouses,  mostly  built  of  logs :  there  was  a  Catholic  chapel 
on  the  Hack  place  and  a  Methodist  church  building  in  the  Hayden  and 
Hathaway  neighborhood ;  there  were  three  or  four  postoftices ;  there  were  a 
few  stores,  a  few  frame  luiildings,  and  one  piano. 

Pioneer  families  had  erected  cabins  and  made  homes  from  the  Ijorder 
of  the  Kankakee  marsh  northward,  in  the  edge  of  what  became  known  as  the 
West  Creek  woods,  extending  to  the  head  waters  of  that  little  stream  known 
as  West  Creek.  Landmarks  along  that  line  of  settlements  were  the  pioneer 
homes  that  bore  the  names  of  Torrey,  Wilkinson,  Wiles,  Bond,  Hornor,  and 
Greene.     That  West  Creek  stream  was  just  called  little,  but  it  formed,  be- 


158  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

cause  of  the  wide  marshy  valley  through  which  it  flowed  and  the  quick- 
sands along  its  course,  an  impassable  barrier  between  the  families  on  the 
west  side  and  those  on  the  east.  As  a  necessity  for  tra\el  the  Torrey  bridge 
was  built,  and  afterward  the  bridge  on  the  road  running  west  from  Cedar 
Lake. 

Of  about  a  dozen  pioneer  families  forming  the  Cedar  Lake  neighbor- 
hood of  the  west  side  of  the  lake,  already,  in  1843,  some  had  returned  to  the 
Wabash,  some  had  gone  westward  to  the  new  frontier. — it  was  becominar 
too  thickly  settled  for  them, — and  some  had  changed  their  localities.  Of 
these  the  Greene  family,  consisting  of  Dr.  Joseph  Greene,  the  early  physician 
of  the  neighborhood  and  an  expert  deer  hunter,  Sylvester  Greene  and  his 
wife  and  children,  and  a  young  brother,  Edward  Greene,  had  left  their  home 
near  the  head  waters  of  the  eastern  branch  of  \\'est  Creek,  and  had  settled 
on  the  north  bank  of  Cedar  Lake:  and  in  their  place  had  come  into  the 
woodland,  to  a  cabin  home,  roswell  hackley,  then  in  middle  age,  with  his 
wife,  his  son,  Edwin,  and  two  daughters,  then  entering"  womanhood,  Miss 
Mary  and  Miss  Eliza,  healthy,  vigorous,  enterprising,  entering  heartily  into 
the  few  varieties  of  social  life  which  were  enjoyed  by  that  little  neighbor- 
hood of  resolute  pioneers. 

At  that  time  the  \\'est  Creek  woods  were  alive  with  deer,  beautiful 
American  red  deer,  browsing  in  the  winter  and  then  lying  down  on  their- 
snowy  beds  in  the  rich,  sheltered  hazel  copses,  finding  water  in  those  ever 
flowing  springs  that  helped  to  feed  the  marshy  stream,  and  in  the  summer 
enjoying  the  fine  pasture  range  of  twelve  miles  of  woodland  valleys  and 
ravines,  of  sunny  glades  and  sheltered  nooks.  Fifty  years  ago  those  woods 
were  beautiful,  well  fitted  to  be  the  home  of  the  red  deer,  the  scjuirrels,  the 
rabbits,  and  the  quails,  or  of  wood  nymphs  and  fairies  of  the  older  days. 
At  that  time  also,  while  all  our  nati\-e  wild  game  was  abundant,  civilization 
was  advancing  and  the  conveniences  of  life  were  on  the  increase.  Oxen 
were  still  largely  used  as  domestic  animals,  and  sometimes  the  ox  teams 
would  convey  the  families  to  the  places  of  Sabi^ath  worship.  Carriages,  cov- 
ered buggies,  or  buggies  without  covers,  were  few  indeed. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  159 

The  members  of  the  Ball  and  Hackley  families  would  sometimes  go 
up  to  Crown  Point  to  church  together,  the  place  of  meeting  being  then  and 
for  years  afterwards  the  log  court  house. 

The  winter  of  1842  and  1843  was  a  severe  one  and  was  called  the  "hard 
winter."  It  commenced  in  the  middle  of  November  and  on  the  eighth  of 
the  next  JNIay  cattle  barely  found  sufficient  grass  on  which  to  live.  Many  had 
perished  for  want  of  food. 

In  the  spring  of  1843  the  scarlet  fever  in  a  malignant  form  \'isited 
Crown  Point,  and  for  the  first  time  the  inhabitants  found  it  needful  to  select 
a  place  for  the  burial  of  their  dead. 

Fifty  years,  therefore,  takes  us  far  back  in  our  life  upon  this  soil  as  a 
civilized  community  of  white  settlers. 

So  far  as  appears  in  any  of  our  records  we  celebrate  to-day.  of  those 
married  in  Lake  county,  the  first  Golden  Wedding. 

In  the  summer  of  1843,  o^''  the  east  side  of  Cedar  Lake,  on  Cedar  Point 
bluff,  a  campmeeting  was  held.  Then,  how  many  times  before  I  know  not, 
Mr.  Wellington  A.  Clark  met  Miss  ]\Iary  Hackle}-.  He  met  her  several 
times  afterwards.     And  December  7,  1843.  they  were  married. 

Judge  Wilkinson,  the  first  probate  judge  of  Lake  county  (around  whom 
had  been,  not  helping  but  laughing  Indians,  when  in  raising  the  logs  for 
his  cabin  walls  a  heavy  one  would  slide  back  upon  his  wife  and  son  and 
himself),  came  up  along  that  belt  of  woodland  to  the  northern  home,  to  con- 
duct the  ceremon)-,  "to  solemnize"  the  marriage.  He  took  his  rifle  along 
with  him,  and  shot  one  of  those  red  deer  before  he  reached  the  Hackley 
home.  Besides  the  family  of  five  and  the  bridegroom  and  the  Judge,  there 
were  present  three  guests,  making  ten  in  all  that  day  within  the  cabin  walls. 

Over  the  fifty  years  of  sacred  family  history  between  then  and  now, 
with  its  lights  and  its  shadows,  its  joys  and  its  griefs,  its  successes  and  re- 
verses, I  am  not  to  glance.  But  I  may  safely  and  appropriately  say  that 
the  difference  is  very  great  in  this  county  of  ours,  with  its  more  than  one 
hundred  schools,   its  sixty  churches,   its  dozen   railroads,   its  manufacturing 


160  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

establishments,  its  many  towns  and  villages,  its  twenty-five  thousand  in- 
habitants, between  this  ^^'orld"s  Fair  year  of  1893  and  that  year  of  1843  to 
whicli  we  have  cast  a  glance  backward  to-day.  Xot  only  is  the  difference 
very  great  here,  but  great  over  all  the  civilized  and  all  the  savage  world. 

Golden  weddings  should  remind  us  of  securing  a  home  in  the  Golden 
City. 

HUNTING   WILD    HOGS. 

How  deer  were  hunted  is  quite  well  understood,  but  not  many  now  in 
Lake  county  know  anything  about  lumting  up  wild  hogs.  A  very  short  ac- 
count of  how  this  was  done  ought  to  be  of  interest  to  the  boys  of  the 
county  who  may  have  some  of  the  hunter  instincts  but  have  little  game  to 
hunt  except  wild  rabbits. 

The  word  "up,"  used  above,  was  inserted  for  a  purpose.  Wild  hogs,  as 
this  writer  knew  them,  were  not  hunted  like  deer,  to  be  shot  and  killed ;  but 
were  hunted  up  when  autumn  came,  by  those  who  claimed  them,  that  they 
might  have  food  and  care  in  the  winter.  It  will  appear  at  once  that  these 
hogs  were  not  wild  in  the  same  sense  in  which  the  deer  were  wild,  for  they 
had  claimers,  they  liad  nominal  owners. 

In  those  early  years  of  the  settlement  of  this  county  all  domestic  animals 
were  allowed  a  free  range  in  the  woodlands  and  on  the  prairies.  They  had 
no  right  to  go  into  the  settler's  gardens  and  small  grain  fields,  but  some- 
times they  would  do  even  that.  Hogs  were  to  be  marked,  and  this  was 
done  by  clippings  in  their  ears,  and  each  owner's  mark  was  to  be  recorded  in 
a  book  kept  at  the  county  seat.  \MiiIe  a  hog  had  only  two  ears  it  was 
curious  how  many  marks,  all  different  of  course,  could  be  made  on  the 
ears,  some  marking  the  right  ear.  some  the  left,  some  markin.g  both  ears, 
perhaps  one  unlike  the  other,  some  cutting  a  little  notch,  some  making  a 
slit,  some  marking  on  the  top  with  a  little  notch  cut  off  and  some  marking  at 
the  bottom,  and  so  in  various  ways  that  each  man  might  prove  his  own.  If 
one  hungry  family  stole  a  hog  the  first  tiling  to  do  was  to  dispose  of  the 
ears.     Having  this  matter  understood,  that  hogs  going  out  from  their  win- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  161 

ter  homes,  some  of  tliem  not  to  be  seen  again  till  the  next  winter  was  near 
at  hand,  carried  their  marks  with  them,  the  readers  of  this  are  better  pre- 
pared to  understand  what  is  meant  by  hunting  them  up. 

The  readers  should  also  recall  to  mind  the  fact  that  the  hogs  of  those 
days  were  not  Berkshires,  nor  Poland  China,  nor  any  of  the  modern  im- 
proved breeds;  but  the  long  bodied,  long  limbed  racers,  that  could  run 
rapidly,  turn  on  their  sides  and  go  through  a  small  opening  in  a  worm  fence, 
and.  that  knew  well  how  to  look  out  for  themselves. 

One  illustration  now  of  hunting:  A  colony  of  these  had  lived  on  the 
Bond  place,  in  what  in  different  connections  has  been  called  the  West  Creek 
woods.  Some  of  these  were  transferred  liy  purchase  to  the  west  side  of  Cedar 
Lake.  They  spent  the  winter  contentedly  at  their  new  home.  In  the  spring 
they  left,  and  there  was  no  doubt  in  the  owner's  mind  that  they  hatl  crossed 
Lake  Prairie  and  had  gone  back  to  their  old  haunts  in  the  woods  of  West 
Creek.  Autumn  came.  It  was  now  1840,  and  the  owner,  with  a  young 
man  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  a  youth  of  fourteen,  proposed  to  hunt 
them  up,  those  runaway  hogs,  and  luring  them  back  to  their  new  home. 
Each  hunter  was  cjuite  well  mounted.  They  were  all  Xew  Englanders  and 
had  little  experience  with  such  animals.  They  took  corn  in  their  saddle 
bags  with  their  lunch.  The  weather  was  then  delightful  and  to  them  all. 
those  woods,  so  new  to  them  and  wild,  were  charming.  Along  in  the 
afternoon,  after  a  quite  long  search,  some  hogs  were  seen.  The  horses  were 
tied.  The  young  man  and  the  youth  were  instructed  to  keep  hid.  that  is, 
behind  trees  out  of  sight,  and  the  owner,  taking  some  ears  of  corn,  advanced 
cautiously  towards  the  acorn  eating  hogs,  keeping  as  much  as  possible  a  row 
of  trees  between  him  and  them.  At  length  he  threw  part  of  an  ear  of  corn. 
The  hogs  looked  up.  It  was  evident  that  besides  those  that  had  gone  away 
in  the  spring  were  many  young  animals  with  unmarked  ears  that  had  never 
tasted  corn  nor  seen  a  man.  And  they  were  wild.  \\'ild  as  young  deer  or 
wolves.  The  older  ones  were  wild  too  now,  so  far  as  coming  near  to  a 
man.     Some  more  corn  was  thrown.     The  younger  ones  tasted  it.     They 


162  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

seemed  to  like  it  well.  Slowly  the  man  came  out  from  behind  his  tree. 
The  young  animals  were  very  wary,  but  they  continued  to  eat  corn  while 
the  man  who  threw  it  to  them  drew  quite  near.  Then,  unfortunately,  the 
young  man  thought  he  could  safely  come  out  from  behind  his  tree.  The 
young  hogs  saw  him,  they  gave  a  peculiar  sound,  it  was  not  ?  squeal  nor  a 
grunt,  it  was  more  like  a  liark,  there  may  be  some  yet  li\-ing  who  ha\'e  heard 
such  a  sound,  and  immediately,  not  in  a  minute  but  almost  in  a  second, 
there  was  no  hog,  no  pig  in  sight.  They  were  seen  no  more  that  day,  and 
the  disappointed  hunters  mounted  their  horses  and  went  home,  being  sure 
that  they  had  learned  some  lessons  in  hunting  and  treating  wild  hogs. 

It  was  not  considered  needful  to  give  up  that  fine  drove  of  pigs  and 
hogs,  for  one  failure.  It  would  not  be  good  stock-raising.  So  another  visit 
to  the  woods  was  made  by  the  same  three  hunters.  In  the  course  of  the 
day  the  drove  was  again  found.  The  same  caution  and  extra  caution  was 
used  in  feeding  them.  They  were  more  bungrv  and  they  liked  the  corn. 
They  at  length  came  up  close  to  the  one  who  fed  them.  He  reached  and  at 
length  mounted  his  horse  and  kept  feeding  those  young,  now  :rusting  shoats, 
starting  eastward  for  the  prairie.  The  drove  followed  quite  close  to  the 
heels  of  the  horse.  They  went  out  of  the  woods,  crossed  the  prairie  quite 
rapidly,  the  two  young  hunters  on  their  horses  bringing  up  the  rear.  They 
reached  their  home  before  nightfall,  gave  the  trusting  animals  that  followed 
the  corn  a  good  place  for  sleeping  and  for  winter  quarters,  and  the  three  all 
felt  that  they  knew  something  about  hunting  up  wild  hogs. 

SOME  CED.\R  L.\KE  INCIDENTS. 

About  1680  the  first  white  man  of  whom  any  trace  has  been  found  near 
the  shore  of  this  once  Ijeautiful  lake,  stood  upon  the  well  wooded  height  of 
the  northeastern  bank.  It  is  high  and  wooded  now.  It  must  have  been  high 
and  wooded  then.  How  is  it  known  that  a  white  man  was  there  then? 
for  of  his  presence  there  are  no  written  records.  Who  was  he?  \\'hat  could 
he  have  been  doing  there,  only  some  sixty  years  after  the  landing  of  the 
Mayflower  at  Plymouth  Rock?    One  question  at  a  time,  please,  and  listen  to 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  163 

the  answers.  We  know  a  man  was  there  at  some  time  because  he  left 
his  mark. 

A  man  sinks  into  the  great  ocean  and  leaves  no  trace.  A  man,  espe- 
cially a  white  man,  steps  into  one  of  our  forests  called  primeval,  and  he 
mav  onlv  sink  his  sharp  axe  an  inch  or  two  into  a  tree  and  for  years  its  im- 
press is  left.  He  camps  for  a  night  upon  the  wide  prairie  and  he  may  lea\-e 
there  a  tin  dish  or  a  tent-pin  made  of  iron,  and  years  afterwards  the  ob- 
servant pioneer  says,  as  his  plowshare  touches  it,  this  is  not  an  Indian  relic. 
A  white  man  made  it  and  no  doubt  a  white  man  left  it  here.  And  so  we 
read  in  the  forest  or  on  the  prairie  the  presence  once  of  a  white  man. 

The  historic  fact  is  this:  About  1850  a  large  oak  tree  was  cut  down 
which  had  grown  upon  that  wooded  height,  and  near  the  very  heart  of  the 
tree  was  found  a  piece  of  steel,  a  little  instrument  an  inch  and  a  cjuarter  in 
length,  with  a  round  shaft  the  size  of  a  clay  pipe  stem,  the  head,  on  the  top 
flat  and  very  smooth,  and  having  twelve  sides  each  smooth  and  well  wrought, 
and  the  point  end  not  a  point  but  having  an  edge  like  an  axe.  For  what 
use  this  was  made  no  one  knows,  but  that  it  did  not  grow  of  itself  in  the 
tree  is  very  certain.  Even  an  evolutionist  could  not  believe  that.  Some 
one  drove  it  into  an  oak  sapling  and  the  wood  and  bark  formed  year  by 
year,  and  as  the  wood  could  not  crowd  the  steel  out  it  grew  over  it,  covered 
it  from  human  view,  protected  it  from  rain  and  frost,  and  there  at  length 
it  was  found  in  the  heart  of  a  majestic  oak.  According  to  the  woodmen 
count  and  estimate,  that  tree  had  been  growing  nearly  two  hundred  years. 
The  instrument  itself,  now  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  M.  J.  Cutler,  a  sister 
of  T.  H.  Ball,  shows  that  it  was  not  the  work  of  an  Indian.  It  came  most 
probably  from  some  European  workshop.  And  almost  surelv  a  white  man, 
himself  from  Europe,  placed  it,  for  some  purpose,  in  that  young  oak.  Who 
was  that  white  man?  Knowledge  on  that  point  there  is  none:  Init  con- 
jectures may  lawfully  be  offered. 

About  the  time  when  that  large  Cedar  Lake  oak  was  young  and  thrifty, 
men  from  France  were  in  this  then  tlioroughly  wild  region,  the  first  white 


164  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

men,  so  far  as  is  known,  that  ever  were  here.  Tlie  names  of  two  of  these 
are  well  known  in  early  American  history.  One  was  called  Hennepin  and  the 
other  La  Salle. 

Louis  Hennepin  was  not  a  Jesuit  but  a  Franciscan.  He  accompanied 
La  Salle's  expedition  of  1679.  Passing  through  the  lakes  Erie,  Huron,  and 
Michigan,  these  with  the  men  who  were  with  them  passed  in  canoes  up  to 
a  portage  on  the  St.  Joseph  River,  then  across  to  the  Kankakee  River,  and 
down  that  ri\-er  to  the  Illinois  River,  and  down  that  river  to  a  place  near  the 
present  Peoria. 

In  Februan,'  of  1680  Hennepin,  as  instructed  by  La  Salle,  started  in  a 
canoe  on  a  voyage  of  discovery.  He  made  an  eventful  voyage.  Returned  to 
France,  and  published  in  1683  an  account  of  his  explorations.  There  is  no 
probability  that  he  ever  saw  the  Red  Cedar  Lake.  But  there  is  a  record  that 
La  Salle  started  on  foot  with  three  Frenchmen  and  an  Indian  hunter,  March 
2.  1680.  to  return  to  his  fort  on  Lake  Ontario,  distant  about  twelve  hun- 
dred miles.  He  had  gone  down  the  Kankakee  in  December,  1679,  with 
thirty-two  men  and  eight  canoes.  He  was  now  returning  on  foot  with 
four  companions.  If  there  is  any  record  of  that  land  journey  this  writer 
has  not  found  it.  and  so  he  conjectures  that  La  Salle  and  his  four  com- 
panions passed  between  the  Kankakee  River  and  Lake  Michigan  and  camped 
for  a  night  on  that  wooded  high  bank  of  the  Red  Cedar  Lake.  It  is  recorded 
that  iiefore  leaving  the  portage  in  December  of  1679  La  Salle  caused  some 
letters  to  be  fastened  to  trees  to  convey  information  to  others  who  might 
pass  that  way.  Possibly  then,  probably,  one  might  almost  say,  this  little  in- 
strument of  steel,  now  in  the  possession  of  one  who  was  born  at  Cedar 
Lake,  was  used  by  La  Salle  to  fasten  a  letter  high  up  on  the  little  oak. 

The  incident,  in  connection  with  which  the  foregoing  was  written,  was 
the  finding  of  a  curious  little  steel  instrument,  Ijy  Mr.  Ames  of  Lake 
Prairie,  in  the  heart  of  a  large  oak  tree,  and  his  giving  it  to  a  teacher  of  the 
Lake  Prairie  school.   Miss  Mary  Jane  Ball. 

In  the  winter  of  1837  and  1838,  cjuite  certainly  in  the  latter  year,  a  wild 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  165 

animal  of  the  cat  family  was  chased  into  a  swamp  whicli  was  then  at  the 
head  of  Cedar  Lake.  There  were  no  real  trees  in  the  swamp,  luit  an  almost 
impenetrable  mass  of  what  was  called  black  alder  bushes,  the  water  being 
two  or  three  feet  in  depth.  Li  the  summer  these  bushes  would  be  covered 
luxuriantly  with  wild  roses.  The  swamp  was  many  years  ago  cleared  out  and 
drained,  until  which  time  it  was  known  as  the  wildcat  thicket.  It  took  its 
name  from  the  wild  animal  that  Job  W'orthington  of  Massachusetts,  then  a 
memljer  of  the  Ball  family,  succeeded  in  capturing  and  killing,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  others,  in  January  probably  of  1838.  Of  its  dimensions  there 
are  no  records.  Imt  in  the  eyes  of  children  it  was  large,  and  was  surely  a 
savage  looking  animal.  There  were  reports  in  those  early  years  of  other 
animals  of  this  family,  catamounts,  perhaps,  having  been  heard  at  night,  mak- 
ing their  peculiar  cry :  but  there  are  no  records  as  yet  found  of  any  other 
having  been  killed  in  the  county. 

Two  black  bears  were  seen  in  Lake  county  in  early  times,  stragglers 
from  the  thick  woods  of  La  Porte  and  Porter  counties,  and  in  the  southeast 
part  of  this  county  have  been  some  large  timber  wolves :  but  the  native  ani- 
mals of  Lake  county  were  seldom  dangerous. 

The  bald  eagles  often  visited  the  Lake  of  Cedars,  and  they  were  grand 
birds :  but  they  were  looking  for  tish,  and  not  for  little  children  nor  for  lambs. 

One  lake  incident,  probably  known  now,  only  to  this  writer,  illustrates 
well  the  power  of  imagination.  To  enable  the  reader  to  understand  it  better 
it  may  be  needful  to  state  that  in  1837  the  iiionts  iniilticoiilus  or  mulljerry 
speculation  was  at  its  height  in  ^Massachusetts,  and  that  ]\Ir.  Lewis  W'aniner 
brought  some  plants  or  cuttings  with  him.  Cuttings  would  grow,  but  needed 
protection  in  the  winter. 

Two  of  the  quite  young  men  of  East  Cedar  Lake  found  one  day  a 
little  mound  of  sand  at  the  south  end,  called  the  foot,  of  the  lake.  They  said 
to  themselves,  a  little  Indian  has  been  buried  here.  Their  curiosity  was  ex- 
cited. Rather  strangely  they  jM-oposed  to  dig  into  it  and  see.  They  went 
to  work,  digging  down  int(.j  the  sand,  and  my  informant  reported  that  soon 


166  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

one  of  them  grew  sick.  The  nearness  of  the  decaying  body  was  too  much 
for  him  to  endure.  He  quit  work  and  retired  to  breathe  some  fresh  air.  The 
other  young  man  said  he  perceived  nothing,  and  kept  at  work.  Soon  he 
reached,  buried  in  the  sand  for  protection  from  the  cold  of  winter,  a  launch 
of  ]\Ir.  W'aniner's  mulberry  cuttings.  The  other  youth  soon  recovered  from 
his  nausea.  This  incident  came  to  the  writer  so  direct  that  he  does  not  like 
to  question  it,  knowing  as  he  did  so  well  the  actors  and  the  informant,  and 
knowing  that  one  of  them  had  a  strong  emotional  nature. 

One  more  incident,  slight  in  itself  and  yet  instructi\e.  presses  itself  for- 
ward for  some  notice.  It  is  connected  with  that  Cedar  Lake  Belles  Lettres 
Society  which  has  been  named,  which  Solon  Robinson  visited,  quite  sur- 
prised to  find  there  some  of  what  Sprague  calls  "the  anointed  children  of 
education,"  instead  of  the  Indians  whom  not  long  before  he  had  met  there 
in  a  conference. 

There  was  a  youth  of  the  community,  somewhat  older  than  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Society  who  had  shown  a  disposition  to  make  light  of  their 
writing  everything  out,  even  their  discussions  and  addresses.  He  did  not 
think  he  had  any  need  of  writing  in  order  to  present  his  thoughts  to  others. 
So  they  invited  him  to  give  them  an  address.  He  came  prompt  to  the 
hour,  as  he  no  doubt  supposed  well  prepared.  He  had  done  no  writing.  At 
least  he  had  no  manuscript  before  him.  He  took  his  place  gracefully  upon 
the  floor  and  opened  his  address  nicely.  He  proceeded  about  as  far  as  the 
off-hand  young  lawyer  who  was  invited  to  speak  at  the  opening  of  a  bridge, 
about  two  sentences,  and  then,  while  all  were  giving  a  respectful  attention, 
expecting  to  hear  some  oratory,  he  hesitated,  he  stopped,  he  thought,  and 
finallv,  after  one  desperate  effort,  he  concluded  that  undelivered  address  with 
the  lirief  peroration.  "My  thoughts  have  flown,"  and  sat  down.  The  mem- 
bers were  too  polite  and  considerate  to  show  their  amusement  while  he 
was  present,  their  usual  exercises  went  on,  and  he  made  no  more  fun  of 
those  young  writers. 

An  attorney-general  of  the  United  States  once  said :     "There  is  no  ex- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  J  67 

cellence  without  great  labor.  It  is  the  fiat  of  fate  from  which  no  power 
of  genius  can  absolve  you."  Children  learn  to  skate  by  trying  to  skate; 
they  learn  to  swim  by  trying  to  swim :  and  they  learn  to  speak  and  write  by 
trying  to  speak  and  write.  The  power  to  do  any  of  these  things  well  is  worth 
an  efifort.  A  man.  now  no  longer  living,  who  was  a  power  for  good  in 
Chicago  a  few  years  ago.  said  in  sul^stance,  that  to  appreciate  beautiful  lan- 
guage was  partly  to  command  it.  and  that  to  command  beautiful  and  forcible 
language  was  to  have  a  key.  with  which  no  man  who  wished  to  rule  through 
opinion  could  dispense,  to  the  mind  and  to  the  heart  of  man. 

The  Bible  itself  says.  "Words  fitly  spoken  are  like  apples  of  gold  in 
pictures  of  silver." 

The  after  life  of  my  young  friend,  whose  thoughts  forsook  him  in  his 
hour  of  need,  was  not  wdiat  man  calls  a  success.  And  his  death,  some  forty 
years  ago,  was  peculiarly  sad. 

He  had  good  capabilities,  but  in  times  of  need  they  seemed  to  be  of 
no  avail.  I  certainly  will  not  disclose  his  name,  through  my  regard  for 
what  is  due  to  the  living  and  the  dead,  but  I  would  here  tenderly  lay  a 
wreath  of  mingled  respect  and  grief  upon  his  nameless  grave. 


168  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

JOHN  BROWN. 

John  Brown,  for  many  years  one  of  the  forceful  and  honored  factors 
in  financial  circles  in  Lake  county  and  one  whose  influence  has  not  been  a 
minor  element  among  the  financiers  of  northwestern  Indiana,  has  attained  to 
prominence  through  the  inherent  force  of  his  character,  the  exercise  of  his 
native  talent  and  the  utilization  of  surrounding  opportunities.  He  has 
become  a  capitalist  whose  business  career  excites  the  admiration  and  has  won 
the  respect  of  his  contemporaries,  yet  it  is  not  this  alone  that  entitles  him  to 
rank  as  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  his  day  in  Lake  county.  His  connection 
with  the  public  interests  of  Crown  Point  is  far-reaching  and  beneficial,  and 
he  has  aided  largely  in  promoting  community  affairs  which  have  for  their 
object  the  welfare  of  the  general  public.  He  is  now  the  president  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Crown  Point  and  he  has  extensive  landed  possessions,  his 
realty  holdings  comprising  six  thousand  acres. 

Moreover,  Mr.  Brown  is  entitled  to  mention  in  this  volume  from  the 
fact  that  he  is  one  of  the  nati\e  sons  of  Lake  county,  his  birth  having  occurred 
in  Eagle  Creek  township,  on  the  7th  of  October,  1840.  The  family  is  of 
Scotch  lineage,  and  the  grandfather,  John  Brown,  was  a  native  of  New  York 
and  took  a  very  active  and  prominent  part  in  public  affairs.  He  served  as 
a  major  in  the  war  of  1812  and  lived  to  the  very  advanced  age  of  ninety- 
three  years.  Alexander  F.  Brown,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was  born  in 
Schenectady  county.  New  York,  in  1804,  and  there  remained  until  1837, 
when  he  removed  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  settling  in  Eagle  Creek  township. 
There  he  secured  land  from  the  government  and  developed  and  improved  a 
farm.  He  was  widely  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  and  influential  residents 
of  this  county,  and  his  influence  was  a  marked  element  in  shaping  the  public 
policy.  He  became  a  recognized  leader  in  forming  public  thought  and  opin- 
ion, and  all  who  knew  him  respected  him  for  his  loyalty  to  his  honest  con- 
victions and  his  devotion  to  the  general  welfare.  In  his  political  views  he 
was  a  stanch  Whig  and  he  held  membership  in  the  Presbyterian  church.,  hold- 
ing office  th.erein,  taking  a  very  helpful  part  in  its  work  and  contributing 
liberally  and  generously  of  his  time  and  means  to  \-arious  church  activities. 
He  was  killed  in  a  runaway  accident  in  1849  ^\'hen  forty-five  years  of  age. 
His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Eliza  M.  Barringer,  was  a  native  of 


-6^^^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  169 

Schenectady  county,  New  York,  and  there  spent  the  days  of  her  girlhood. 
She  hved  to  be  seventy-three  years  of  age  and  died  in  Lake  county,  Indiana. 
On  her  husband's  death  she  was  left  to  care  for  a  family  of  five  children,  one 
of  whom  was  born  after  his  demise.  The  eldest,  a  daughter.  Mary,  now  the 
deceased  wife  of  Thomas  Fisher,  was  but  twelve  years  of  age  at  the  time  of 
the  runaway  accident  which  terminated  the  active  and  useful  career  of  the 
husband  antl  father.  John  was  the  second  of  the  family.  William  B.,  the 
third,  is  a  resident  of  Crown  Point.  Anna  is  the  wife  of  William  C.  Nichol- 
son, of  Crown  Point.  George,  the  youngest,  died  when  twenty-nine  years  of 
age.  leaving  a  widow  and  three  sons.  Mrs.  Alexander  Brown  reared  her 
family  of  five  children  and  much  credit  is  due  her  for  their  success  in  life. 
She  desired  that  they  should  have  good  educational  privileges  and  thus  be 
well  fitted  to  meet  life's  practical  and  responsible  duties,  and  she  put  forth 
every  effort  in  her  power  to  thus  qualify  them.  She  was  one  of  the  noble 
pioneer  women  of  Lake  county  and  all  praise  is  due  her  from  her  children 
and  friends. 

John  Brown  remained  with  his  mother  assisting  her  in  the  work  of  the 
home  farm  until,  feeling  that  his  first  duty  was  to  his  country,  he  enlisted  as 
a  member  of  Company  I,  Fifth  Indiana  Cavalry.  He  joined  the  army  as  a 
private  in  1861,  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  sergeant  and  was  captured  with 
his  regiment  at  Sunshine  church  in  Georgia  when  on  the  Stoneman  raid.  He 
was  held  a  prisoner  for  seven  months.  He  was  in  many  hard-fought  battles. 
He  took  part  in  the  entire  Atlanta  campaign  until  captured  with  Stoneman  at 
Sunshine  church,  near  Macon,  Georgia.  At  Indianapolis,  June  2"],  1865,  he 
was  mustered  out.  having  served  for  three  years,  during  which  time  he  was 
ever  faithful  to  his  duty,  following  the  old  flag  in  many  a  hotly  contested  battle. 
where  he  displayed  marked  valor  and  loyalty. 

Mr.  Brown  at  the  close  of  the  war  retiu-ned  to  Lake  county,  where  he 
began  farming,  following  that  occupation  until  1870,  when  he  was  elected 
county  treasurer  upon  the  Republican  ticket.  He  discharged  the  duties  of  the 
position  so  faithfully  that  in  1872  he  was  reelected,  and  in  1876 
he  was  chosen  for  the  office  of  county  auditor.  In  1S80  he 
was  once  more  elected  to  that  position  and  served  for  eight  years, 
retiring  from  the  office  as  he  had  entered  it — with  the  confidence 
and  good  will  of  all  concerned.    He  served  for  four  years  as  county  treasurer 


170  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

and  was  township  treasurer  for  a  number  of  years,  and  in  all  these  ditiferent 
public  positions  he  displayed  marked  business  and  executive  ability  as  well 
as  unfaltering  fidelity  to  the  trust  reposed  in  him.  In  the  meantime  he  had 
become  actively  identified  with  financial  interests  of  the  county,  having  in 
1874  established  the  First  National  Bank  at  Crown  Point.  He  was  one  of  the 
charter  members  and  stockholders  of  this  institution,  which  was  capitalized 
for  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Its  first  president  was  James  Burge,  who  was 
succeeded  by  David  Turner,  and  Mr.  Brown  became  the  third  president  and 
is  now  acting  in  that  capacity'.  He  also  has  other  business  interests  in  the 
county,  including  a  fine  stock  farm  of  about  six  thousand  acres  located  in  Eagle 
Creek  and  Cedar  Creek  townships.  On  this  place  he  keeps  about  one  thousand 
head  of  cattle  and  his  annual  sales  of  stock  are  very  extensive  and  add  materi- 
ally to  his  income.  In  business  aflfairs  he  is  far-sighted  and  energetic,  his 
judgment  is  correct  and  his  plans  are  carried  forward  to  successful  comple- 
tion. 

Mr.  Brown  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Almira  Clark,  and  there 
were  three  children,  a  son  and  two  daughters,  born  to  them :  Neil,  who  is  now 
residing  upon  his  father's  extensive  ranch:  Mary  Alice;  and  Grace  Almira, 
who  is  the  wife  of  E.  S.  Davis,  of  Chicago.  For  his  second  wife  Mr.  Brown 
chose  Myrtle  E.  Ashton,  and  his  present  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Jennie 
E.  Northrup. 

^Ir.  Brown  is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  identified 
with  John  Wheeler  Post  No.  149.  He  is  also  cormected  with  the  Masonic 
fraternit}-  of  Crown  Point  and  holds  membership  with  the  Knights  Templar 
at  \'alparaiso.  In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  it  was  upon  that 
ticket  that  he  was  elected  to  the  different  positions  which  he  has  so  capably 
filled.  He  has  indeed  been  a  prominent  factor  in  community  interests,  and 
although  he  has  conducted  important  and  extensive  business  affairs  he  has 
never  been  remiss  in  citizenship,  but  on  the  contrary  has  contributed  in  large 
degree  to  the  general  welfare  and  progress. 

GOTFRIED  ^V.   \\'AGONBLAST. 

G.  W.  Wagonblast,  who  is  now  living  a  retired  life  ni  Center  township, 
is  numbered  among  those  who  have  long  been  residents  of  Lake  county,  and, 
moreover,  is  entitled  to  mention  in  this  volume  because  he  was  one  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  171 

"boys  in  blue"  of  the  Civil  war.  His  life  history  began  in  Germany  more 
than  seventy  years  ago,  his  natal  day  being  the  nth  of  November,  1833. 
He  acquired  his  education  in  the  fatherland  and  remained  a  resident  of  that 
country  until  eighteen  years  of  age,  when,  hoping  to  enjoy  better  business 
opportunities  than  were  afforded  in  his  own  country,  he  made  arrangements 
to  come  to  .America.  Bidding  adieu  to  home,  family  and  friends,  he  crossed 
the  .\tlantic  and  went  iirst  to  Crawford  county,  Ohio,  where  he  remained 
for  about  two  months.  He  then  came  to  Lake  county,  Lidiana,  in  1853, 
and  worked  by  the  month  as  a  farm  hand  for  six  dollars  per  month.  When 
he  had  become  acquainted  with  the  English  language  and  was  able  to  make 
his  service  of  more  value,  his  wages  were  correspondingly  increased,  and  he 
thereby  laid  the  foundation  for  his  later  success. 

Mr.  ^Vagonblast  was  employed  as  a  farm  laborer  until  1S63,  when  he 
left  the  plow  and  shouldered  the  musket  in  order  to  protect  the  Union  cause, 
enlisting  as  a  member  of  Company  G,  Twelfth  Lidiana  Cavalry.  He  became 
a  private  and  thus  served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  taking  part  in  many 
engagements,  including  the  battle  of  Stone  River  and  others  in  that  part  of 
the  country.  He  sustained  an  injurv  bv  falling  on  a  rock,  which  broke  some 
of  the  ribs  on  the  left  side,  and  from  this  he  has  never  fully  recovered.  He 
was  in  the  hospital  for  about  eight  months  and  afterward  received  an  hon- 
orable discharge  and  returned  to  his  home.  He  then  resumed  farming  in 
Lake  county,  and  has  since  been  identified  with  its  agricultural  interests. 

Li  1867  Mr.  Wagonblast  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Victoria 
Schuster,  and  to  them  have  been  born  tweh-e  children :  John,  Cynthia,  Sophia, 
Rose,  Mary  and  Lizzie  are  living,  John,  at  home  with  his  parents  and  a 
practical  farmer  and  stockman,  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  is 
a  member  of  the  Foresters,  Court  No.  4,  at  Cnjwn  Point ;  Cynth.ia  was 
educated  in  the  common  schools  and  is  at  home;  Sophia  is  the  wife  of  John 
Rettig.  a  farmer  in  Center  township;  Rose  is  the  wife  of  Joseph  Walz,  a 
farmer  of  Ross  township;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Peter  Mitch,  of  Center  town- 
ship :  and  Lizzie  is  at  home. 

Mr.  Wagonblast  owns  one  hundred  and  ten  acres  of  rich  land,  which 
he  has  acquired  through  his  own  labors.  His  son  John  now  carries  on  the 
home  farm,  while  he  is  largely  living  a  retired  life,  merely  giving  his  atten- 
tion to  the  supervision  of  the  farm.     His  life  has  been  a  busy  and  useful 


172  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

one,  and  energy  forms  the  keynote  of  his  character.  He  realized  in  youth 
that  labor  is  tlie  basis  of  all  success,  and.  working  indefatigably.  he  accumu- 
lated the  capital  that  enabled  him  to  in\-est  in  land,  which  he  developed  into 
one  of  the  fine  farms  of  his  adopted  county  and  equipped  with  modern 
improvements.  Prior  to  the  Civil  war  he  was  deeply  interested  in  the  ques- 
tion of  slavery,  and  when  the  Republican  party  was  formed  he  joined  its 
ranks  and  voted  for  John  C.  Fremont,  its  first  candidate.  He  has  since  sup- 
ported its  standard  bearers  and  is  deeply  interested  in  its  success,  but  has 
never  wanted  office  for  himself.  He  belongs  to  John  ^^'h.eeler  Post, 
G.  A.  R..  at  Crown  Point  and  is  well  known  in  the  county  as  a  man  of  worth. 
His  life  stands  in  exemplification  of  the  phrase  the  "dignity  of  labor."  and 
he  has  never  had  occasion  to  regret  his  determination  to  make  the  United 

States  his  home. 

WILLIAM    F.    HALE. 

William  F.  Hale,  for  a  number  of' years  one  of  the  forceful  and  honored 
factors  in  commercial  circles  in  East  Chicago  and  one  whose  influence  has 
not  1)een  a  minor  element  among  the  business  men  of  his  portion  of  the  state, 
has  attained  to  prominence  through  the  inherent  force  of  his  character,  the 
exercise  of  his  native  talent  and  the  utilization  of  surrounding  opportunities. 
His  business  career  excites  the  admiration  and  has  won  the  respect  of  his 
contemporaries,  yet  'it  is  not  this  alone  that  entitles  him  to  rank  among  the 
foremost  men  of  his  adopted  city.  His  connection  with  the  public  interests 
here  has  been  far-reaching  and  beneficial,  for  he  has  aided  in  shaping  the 
municipal  policy  and  in  promoting  many  interests  for  the  general  good.  His 
patriotic  citizenship  and  his  interest  in  community  affairs  has  taken  tangible 
form  in  his  zealous  labors  for  the  improvements  instituted  through  aldermanic 
measures,  and  as  mayor  of  the  city  be  is  giving  a  practical,  business-like 
administration  that  is  of  marked  benefit. 

Mr.  Hale  was  born  in  London,  Canada,  March  i,  1866,  and  is  a  son  of 
Levi  and  Roteia  (Robertson)  Hale.  In  the  paternal  line  he  is  a  representa- 
tive of  a  New  England  family.  His  grandfather,  William  Hale,  a  native  of 
Vermont,  was  a  contractor  engaged  in  the  building  of  railroads  and  public 
works.  Leaving  his  native  state  he  removed  to  London,  Canada,  where  he 
died  when  more  than  sixty  years  of  age.     He  wedded  Mary  Robinson  and 


y7Cc-.^-cc^^z,,<i.c..^^.  ^. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  173 

they  reared  a  large  family,  including  Levi  Hale,  who  was  also  born  in  Ver- 
mont. He  became  a  farmer  by  occupation  and  removed  from  the  Green 
Mountain  state  to  Canatla,  but  in  1877  returned  to  his  native  country,  residing 
for  a  time  in  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Subsequently  he  went  to  Missouri,  settling  at 
Columbia,  that  state,  but  later  he  returned  to  Cleveland  and  afterward  estab- 
lished his  home  at  Lima,  Ohio.  He  next  took  up  his  abode  at  North  Balti- 
more, that  state,  and  thence  came  to  East  Chicago  in  the  summer  of  1903, 
living  now  a  retired  life  at  this  place.  He  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Robena  Robertson,  who  was  born  in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
James  Robertson,  also  a  native  of  the  land  of  the  hills  and  heather.  He  was 
a  \'ery  religious  man  and  a  colporteur.  He  owned  a  farm  i:ear  London, 
Canada,  and  there  spent  his  remaining  days,  dying  at  an  advanced  age.  His 
wife,  Mrs.  Jane  Robertson,  has  also  passed  away.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Levi 
Hale  were  bom  seven  children,  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom  six 
are  now  living:  William  F. :  James  R.,  of  Hallsville,  Missouri;  Margaret, 
who  died  aged  twenty-three  years;  Charles  L.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Aurilla, 
the  wife  of  Samuel  Henderson,  of  Cygnet,  Ohio;  Rolla  P.,  of  East  Chicago, 
Lidiana ;  and  Miss  Hallie  Hale,  of  East  Chicago.  Indiana. 

William  F.  Hale  was  a  young  lad  when  taken  by  his  parents  from  Canada 
to  Cleveland,  Ohio.  He  attended  the  public  schools  of  that  city  and  after 
putting  aside  his  text  books  he  learned  and  followed  the  hammersmith."s  trade, 
devoting  several  years  to  that  business.  He  afterward  entered  the  employ  of 
the  Brownell  Improvement  Company  in  Lake  county,  Illinois,  in  the  capacity 
of  superintendent,  and  in  1900  he  entered  into  partnership  with  C.  D.  ]Moon, 
of  East  Chicago,  as  dealers  in  wood,  coal,  ice  and  building  materials.  They 
still  conduct  the  business  under  the  firm  style  of  Moon  &  Hale,  and  have 
established  a  leading  commercial  enteqirise  of  the  town,  securing  a  good 
patronage  which  is  constantly  growing  in  volume  and  importance.  Their 
business  methods  are  found  to  be  thoroughly  reliable,  and  they  have  never 
been  known  to  take  advantage  of  the  necessities  of  their  fellow  men  in  any 
trade  transactions. 

On  the  I2th  of  Octolaer,  1891,  Air.  Hale  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  \\'illiams.  a  daughter  of  James  and  Jane  \\'illiams.  The  circle  of 
their  friends  in  East  Chicago  is  almost  co-extensive  with  the  circle  of  their 
acquaintances.    ]\Ir.  Hale  is  a  valued  representative  of  the  Masonic  fraternity. 


17i  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

holding  membership  in  East  Chicago  Lodge  No.  595,  F.  &  A.  M. ;  Hammond 
Chapter,  R.  A.  M.;  and  Hammond  Commandery  No.  41.  K.  T.  He  is  also 
connected  with  the  Benevolent  and  Protecti\-e  Order  of  Elks,  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America  and  the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees. 

Politically  he  has  ahvays  been  a  Republican,  unswerving  in  his  advocacy 
of  the  principles  of  the  party.  He  was  first  called  to  public  office  to  serve  as 
clerk  of  East  Chicago,  which  position  he  filled  for  twO'  years,  and  then  in 
May,  1898,  he  was  elected  mayor  and  by  re-election  has  since  been  continued 
in  the  office.  Li  May,  1904,  he  was  again  elected  mayor  for  a  term  of  two 
years.  No  citizen  of  East  Chicago  is  more  thoroughly  representative  or  more 
devoted  to  the  promotion  of  her  welfare  than  Mr.  Hale,  whose  name  is  widely 
known  for  the  prominent  part  he  has  taken  in  local  affairs.  Without  doubt, 
he  is  one  of  the  most  progressive  and  public-spirited  men  of  Lake  county,  and 
his  means  and  influence  have  been  used  unsparingly  in  advancing  enterprises, 
industries  and  improvements  in  this  place,  now  one  of  the  most  flourishing 

towns  in  Indiana. 

\MLLIAM    COCHRAN. 

William  Cochran,  who,  with  his  brother  Henry,  carries  on  successful 
farming  operations  at  Section  2  of  Eagle  Creek  township,  is  to  be  counted 
among  the  oldest  of  tlie  native  sons  of  Lake  county,  for  the  births  of  sixty 
years  ago  in  this  county  were  very  few  in  number  and  the  country  was 
sparsely  settled  as  compared  with  its  present  populousness.  Mr.  William 
Cochran  followed  the  flag  of  an  Indiana  regiment  during  the  Civil  war,  but 
otherwise  his  life  pursued  the  cpu'et  walks  of  peace  in  the  occupation  of 
farming  in  Lake  county,  and  he  has  never  married.  He  and  his  brother 
have  conducted  their  farm  together,  and  are  among  the  progressive  and 
public-spirited  men  of  their  township,  esteemed  and  honored  in  all  their 
relations  with  their  fellows.  Henry  is  a  man  of  family,  and  is  likewise  a 
veteran  of  the  great  rebellion. 

Mr.  William  Cochran  was  born  at  Crown  Point,  Indiana.  December  31, 
1845,  a  son  of  John  and  ^Nlary  Ann  (Fisher)  Cochran.  His  father  was 
born  in  either  New  York  or  Connecticut,  and  came  to  Lake  county,  Indiana, 
about  1840,  locating  first  at  Crown  Point,  but  in  1847  nioved  to  Southeast 
Grove,  where  he  improved  a  farm  and  lived  till  his  death,  in  his  eighty-first 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  175 

year.  During  his  residence  at  Crown  Point  he  served  as  city  councihnan, 
and  he  was  a  life-long  Republican.  His  wife  was  born  in  London,  England, 
and  her  first  marriage  was  with  George  Fry,  by  whom  she  had  two  children, 
and  William  and  Henry  Cochran  were  the  issue  of  the  second  marriage.  She 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-four. 

William  Cochran,  who  is  the  younger  of  the  two  sons,  was  about  three 
years  old  when  his  father  moved  to  Southeast  Grove,  and  he  was  reared  on 
the  farm  in  Eagle  Creek  township.  In  August,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany I,  Fifth  Indiana  Cavalry,  being  a  boy  of  sixteen  at  the  time  and  the 
youngest  member  of  the  regiment.  He  served  three  years  as  a  private,  and 
participated  in  several  hard  battles  during  the  campaigns  through  Tennessee, 
Georgia  and  other  states.  He  was  captured  at  the  battle  of  Resaca,  Georgia, 
and  then  spent  four  and  a  half  months  in  the  prison  pen  of  Andersonville, 
after  which  he  was  confined  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  for  a  month,  and 
for  two  months  at  Florence,  South  Carolina,  where  he  was  finally  paroled. 
On  account  of  disability  he  received  his  honorable  discharge  at  Camp  Chase, 
Ohio,  in  1865,  and  then  returned  home  to  Lake  county  and  engaged  in 
farming.  He  and  his  brother  conduct  a  well  unproved  farm  of  two  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  in  Eagle  Creek  township,  and  have  always  enjoyed  their 
share  of  prosperity. 

Mr.  Cochran  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  on  that  ticket  was  elected 

township  trustee  in  1890,  taking  office  November  19,  and  has  held  it  to  the 

present  time.     He  is  a  member  of  the  John  Wheeler  Post  No.  161,  G.  A.  R., 

at  Crown  Point. 

HENRY  COCHRAN. 

Henry  Cochran,  brother  of  \\'illiam,  was  born  in  Crown  Point, 
February  25,  1844,  being  the  elder  son  of  John  and  Mary  Ann  Cochran. 
He  was  reared  and  educated  in  Eagle  Creek  township,  and  during  the  first 
part  of  the  Civil  war  he  remained  with  his  parents  while  his  brother  was 
away.  In  November,  1864,  he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  Seventeenth  Indiana 
Mounted  Infantry,  and  served  as  a  private  till  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was 
under  General  Wilson  most  of  the  time.  He  received  his  honorable  discharge 
at  Indianapolis  in  1865,  and  then  returned  to  Lake  county  and  took  up  the 
farming  pursuits  with  his  brother  which  have  been  continued  so  successfully 


176  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

to  the  present  time.     They  do  general  farming  and  stock-raising,  and  are 

industrious  and  excellent  managers. 

Mr.  Henry  Cochran  is  also  a  stanch  Republican,  and  is  a  member  of 

the  John  Wheeler  Post  No.  i6i.  G.  A.  R..  at  Crown  Point.     He  was  married, 

December  5,  1873,  to  Miss  Mary  George,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Thomas 

George,  and  who  was  born  in  Cornwall,  England,  and  at  the  age  of  seven 

years  came  to  America  with  her  parents.     Four  children  have  been  born  to 

this  marriage:    Adell,  single  and  at  home;  Frank,  at  home;  Myrtle,  wife  of 

Ernest    Dickinson,    of    Lowell,    Lidiana ;    Alma,    attending    high    school    at 

Crown  Point. 

JAMES    M.    BRADFORD. 

James  M.  Bradford  has  been  prominently  identified  with  the  business 
interests  and  public  afifairs  of  Hammond.  Indiana,  for  over  twenty-frve  years, 
and  is  thus  one  of  the  old  settlers,  having  come  here  when  the  town  was  in 
its  early  stages  of  development  and  progress,  which  it  has  been  his  privilege 
and  lot  to  further  and  advance  in  many  ways.  He  is  everywhere  recognized 
as  a  man  of  great  public  spirit  and  enterprise,  ecjually  energetic  in  private  and 
public  afifairs,  and  willing  to  sacrifice  time  and  money  for  the  betterment  of 
the  civic  welfare  and  the  institutions  of  the  city  which  has  for  so  many  years 
Ijeen  the  center  of  his  activity. 

Mr.  Bradford  was  born  in  Bradford  county,  Pennsylvania,  July  6,  1852, 
being  a  son  of  William  T.  anil  Sarah  (Gardner)  Bradford,  natives,  re- 
spectively, of  Bradford  county  and  of  Scranton,  Pennsylvania.  The  Bradford 
family  goes  back  to  the  famous  ^^'illiam  Bradford  who  came  over  in  the  May- 
flower. \^'illiam  T.  Bradford,  the  grandfather  of  James  M.  Bradford,  was 
a  native  of  Connecticut,  but  settled  in  Pennsylvania  at  an  early  day.  He  ran 
sawmills  in  Bradford  county.     He  had  four  children. 

William  T.  Bradford.  Jr.,  was  a  millwright,  and  moved  from  Bradford 
county  to  Tonijikins  county.  New  York,  where  he  followed  his  trade  for 
some  years,  and  then  moved  to  Wheeling.  West  Virginia,  where  he  entered 
the  regular  army  and  served  five  years,  and  for  two  years  in  the  home  guard. 
He  was  state  major  drummer  for  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  about  1834.  He 
died  at  Blair,  Ohio,  on  Christmas  day,  1888,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years, 
and  his  wife  died  in  1885,  aged  seventy-eight  years  six  months  and  twenty 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  177 

days.  Both  were  Methodists.  Tlie  father  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Bradford  was 
Abraham  Gardner,  who  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  his  father  having  come 
there  from  Massachusetts.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  afterward  moved  to  New 
York,  wliere  lie  iHed,  in  Danln-,  Tompkins  county.  He  was  poormaster  of 
the  county  for  a  number  of  years,  and  was  also  justice  of  the  peace  and  held 
other  public  offices.  He  was  eighty-seven  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
and  had  been  twice  married  and  had  seven  children.  The  name  was  originally 
spelled  Gardiner,  and  the  family  record  goes  back  to  Richard  Gardiner,  who 
came  to  Massachusetts  with  the  Pilgrims.  William  T.  and  Sarah  Bradford 
had  ten  children,  five  sons  and  five  daughters,  and  the  fi\e  nc^w  lix'ing  are: 
Lydia  Ann.  widow  of  Thomas  Geddis,  of  Diyden.  New  York;  John  F..  of 
Cortland,  New  York;  Charles  E.,  of  Harvey,  Illinois;  Delphine,  wife  of  Orn 
S.  Cornelious  of  Dryden,  New  York;  and  James  M.,  of  Hammond. 

Mr.  James  M.  Bradford  lived  in  Tompkins  county.  New  York,  from  the 
age  of  two  till  twenty-seven.  He  attended  the  public  schools  of  Danby,  and 
in  the  interims  worked  on  a  farm.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  began  learning 
the  painter's  trade,  which  he  followed  as  a  journeyman  until  he  was  twenty- 
one,  and  then  began  doing  contract  painting.  In  1878  he  came  to  Hammond, 
and  from  then  until  igoi  did  contract  work  and  at  the  same  time  conducted  a 
general  merchandise  store.  He  owns  city  property  in  addition  to  his  nice 
home  at  358  South  Hohman  street. 

December  31,  1879,  Mr.  Bradford  married  Miss  Martha  Jane  Watts,  a 
daughter  of  James  and  ]\lary  Watts.  There  are  three  children  of  this  union, 
Anna  May,  James  Franklin  and  Pearl.  Anna  May  is  the  wife  of  Ray  Wells. 
Mrs.  Bradford  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  church.  Mr.  Bradford  affiliates 
with  Garfield  Lodge  No.  569,  F.  &  A.  M..  and  with  Calumet  Lodge  No.  601, 
I.  O.  O  F.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  A  number  of  years  ago  he  served 
the  city  as  water  trustee.  He  was  afterward  appointed  city  commissioner  by 
the  circuit  judge,  and  was  elected  county  commissioner  in  1894.  and  re-elected 
in  1896,  serving  six  years  in  all,  during  which  time  he  originated  the  move- 
ment for  putting  the  new  court  house  in  Hammond  and  was  very  instru- 
mental in  the  successful  outcome  of  that  movement.  He  was  also  at  the  head 
of  the  movement  for  securing  the  splendid  gravel  and  stone  roads  of  the 
county,  and  has  always  been  willing  to  give  his  assistance  to  any  like  enter- 
prises for  the  benefit  of  town  or  county. 


12 


178  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

WILLARD    B.    VAN    HORNE. 

Among  the  enterprising  and  ambitious  young  men  of  Indiana  Harbor 
who  have  already  attained  creditable  and  gratifying  success  is  Willard  B. 
Van  Home,  who  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  and  has  secured  a  clientage 
which  many  an  older  practitioner  at  the  bar  might  well  envy.  He  is  a  native 
of  Illinois,  his  l)irth  having  occurred  at  his  parents'  home  in  Grant  Park, 
on  the  4th  of  June,  1879.  He  is  a  son  of  Dr.  George  Washington  and  Sarah 
(Mather)  Van  Home,  who  were  also  natives  of  Illinois.  His  paternal 
grandfather,  Matthew  Van  Home,  born  in  York  state,  was  of  Dutch  descent 
and  as  a  means  of  livelihood  followed  the  occupation  of  farming.  He  and 
his  wife  reached  an  advanced  age  and  they  reared  a  large  family.  The 
maternal  grandfather  of  Mr.  Van  Home  was  Samuel  Mather,  viho  was  born 
in  the  state  of  New  York  and  was  of  English  lineage.  He,  too,  followed 
agricultural  pursuits  and  had  passed  many  milestones  on  life's  journey  ere 
he  was  called  to  his  final  rest.  He  wedded  Mary  Snapp,  for  his  second  wife, 
and  they  had  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  one  of  whom  was  Mrs.  Sarah 
Van  Home.     By  a  former  marriage  he  liad  one  daughter. 

Dr.  George  Washington  \'an  Home  is  now  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
medicine  and  surgery  at  Grant  Park,  Illinois,  where  he  has  lived  for  many 
years,  and  he  has  not  only  been  a  leader  in  his  ])rofession  there  but  has  also 
been  an  active  factor  in  community  interests  and  has  exerted  considerable 
influence  in  molding  public  policy,  thought  and  opinion  in  his  town.  He 
has  been  mayor  of  the  village  and  was  also  township  treasurer  for  several 
years.  In  1886  he  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of  his  first  wife,  who 
died  in  ]\Iarch  of  that  year,  when  thirty-one  years  of  age.  She  was  a  devoted 
member  of  the  Methodist  church.  By  her  marriage  she  had  one  son  and 
two  daughters:  Mabel,  the  wife  of  George  McGoveny,  of  Mokena,  Illinois; 
Willard  B.,  of  Indiana  Harbor;  and  Delia.  After  the  death  of  his  first 
wife  Dr.  Van  Home  married  Miss  Cora  Parish,  of  Kentucky,  and  they  had 
one  .son  and  two  daughters:  Robert  R..  now  deceased;  Agnes,  who  has  also 
passed  away ;  and  Zella  Estelle. 

Willard  B.  Van  Home  spent  his  boyhood  days  in  his  father's  home, 
attending  the  public  schools  there,  and  when  he  had  completed  his  preliminary 
education  he  entered  Greer  College  at  Hoopeston,  Illinois.  In  1897  he 
engaged  in  teaching  school  and  the  following  year  resumed  his  studies  in 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  179 

the  Valparaiso  College  at  Valparaiso,  Indiana,  where  he  was  graduated  with 
the  class  of  1899,  on  the  completion  of  the  scientific  course.  He  was  thus 
well  equipped  by  a  more  specifically  literary  training  to  enter  upon  the  study 
of  law,  which  be  began  in  the  law  department  nf  the  Valparaiso  College, 
completing  the  course  by  graduation  in  1901.  In  June  of  that  year  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  supreme  court  of  Indiana  and  also  to  the  United 
States  circuit  court  for  Indiana  He  then  went  to  Chicago,  where  be  accepted 
a  position  requiring  his  services  through  the  day,  and  in  the  evenings  he 
pursued  post-graduate  work  at  the  night  sessions  of  Kent  College  of  Law, 
a  department  of  Lake  Forest  University,  being  graduated  from  that  institu- 
tion in  June,  1902.  He  came  to  Indiana  Harbor  in  the  following  Septem- 
ber, and  has  since  been  engaged  in  practice  here.  In  December  of  that  year 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  state  of  Illinois.  In  bis  practice  he  has 
won  very  gratifying  success,  ha\ing  already  gained  a  good  clientage,  and 
his  business  is  continually  growing  in  volume  and  importance.  He  is  a 
young  man  of  strong  mentality,  laudable  ambition  and  firm  determination,  and 
his  success  will  undoubtedly  increase  as  the  years  pass  by.  He  belongs  to 
the  Knights  of  the  ]Maccabees,  Knights  of  Pythias  and  Royal  League,  and  in 
bis  political  views  is  a  Republican. 

He   married,   April   i-j.    1904,   Miss   Laura    E.    Winslow,    of   Whiting, 

Indiana. 

JOHN    BLAKEMAX. 

John  Blakenian  is  an  old  settler  of  \\'infield  township,  and  is  still  resid- 
ing on  the  place  which  he  bought  over  fifty  years  ago.  when  he  was  still 
struggling  to  get  a  foothold  in  life  in  order  to  reach  a  substantial  and  com- 
fortable position  in  material  circumstances.  He  has  gained  unusual  success 
in  his  life  endeavors,  has  prospered  by  his  constant  industry,  and  among  the 
citizens  with  whom  he  has  been  associated  so  many  years  he  bears  a  reputa- 
tion for  sterling  worth  and  personal  integrity  that  are  in  themselves  ample 
rewards  for  a  long  career  of  daily  toil  and  high  purposes. 

Mr.  Blakeman  is  a  native  of  England  and  was  born  in  old  Warwick- 
shire. November  12,  1824,  being  a  son  of  Job  Blakeman,  who  lived  and  died 
in  the  same  shire  and  same  house.  John  was  reared  and  recei\-ed  a  \-ery  little 
school  training  in  his  native  place  and  worked  at  day  labor  there  until  he 


180  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

was  twenty-three  years  old.  He  tlien  came  to  America,  and  worked  for 
monthly  wages  on  a  farm  in  W'yandotte  county,  Ohio,  until  1851.  when  he 
came  to  Lake  county,  Lidiana,  wliich.  has  been  the  central  field  of  his 
endeavors  ever  since.  He  bought  eighty  acres  of  the  farm  where  he  still 
resides,  and  gave  his  unstinted  efforts  to  its  improvement  and  cultivation. 
He  has  added  to  this  original  tract  until  he  now  owns  two  hundred  and  ten 
acres,  and  all  the  well-kept  fences,  barns  and  countless  other  conveniences 
which  mark  the  farm  out  as  a  model  have  been  placed  there  by  himself.  He 
has  been  a  resident  on  the  same  place  so  long  that  no  other  place  could  seem 
like  home,  and  now  that  he  has  reached  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years  he 
intends  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  peaceful  days  on  the  homestead  which  his  early 
labors  made  and  adorned. 

Mr.  Blakeman  is  a  believer  in  the  political  faith  of  the  old  Greenback 
party,  and  he  has  always  given  a  proper  share  of  his  attention  to  the  affairs 
of  the  world  and  his  locality.  He  has  been  married  twice.  His  first  wife, 
whom  he  married  in  Ohio,  was  Roxie  L.  Williams,  and  she  died  having  been 
the  mother  of  five  children,  three  of  whom  are  living :  Caroline,  Olive  and 
Charles.  Mr.  Blakeman  was  married  in  1866  to  his  present  wife,  Hannah 
J.  Miller,  and  they  had  one  daughter,  Amanda,  who  is  the  Avife  of  Jacob 
Steinhilber.     The  latter  is  a  farmer,  and  manages  Mr.  Blakeman's  farm. 

JOHN    BLACK. 

John  Black,  a  retired  farmer  and  an  old  settler  of  Lake  county,  now 
residing  in  Crown  Point,  has  had  a  career  to  wdiich  he  may  point  with  justi- 
fiable pride.  He  landed,  a  stranger,  in  America  fifty  years  ago,  fifty  dollars 
in  debt,  and  with  only  a  vigorous  manhood  and  determined  will  for  capital. 
Nearly  all  these  subsequent  years  have  been  spent  in  Lake  county,  and  his 
early  labors  caused  steady  material  progress  until  he  is  now  the  owner  of 
one  of  the  best  farming  estates  of  the  county,  besides  much  other  property  and 
business  interests.  He  is  an  ex-county  commissioner  and  in  other  wa3's  has 
shown  his  public-spirited  interest  in  the  development  and  welfare  of  the 
county  where  he  has  so  long  made  his  home  and  built  his  own  substantial  and 
prosperous  career. 

]\Ir.  Black  was  born  in  Saxony,  Germany,  July  24,  1832,  and  lived  there 
the  first  twenty-two  years  of  his  life.     He  attended  the  public  schools  during 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  l^^^ 

the  required  period  to  fourteen  years  of  age.  an.l  the  other  years  spent  in 
the  fatherland  were  devoted  to  farm  work,  where  frugalness  and  thrift  in 
management  were  virtues  so  inculcated  as  to  be  a  permanent  part  of  his 
character  and  to  be  responsible  for  much  of  his  future  success.  He  came 
to  America  in  1834.  After  a  short  time  spent  in  Buffalo.  New  York,  he 
came  to  Chicago  and  at  Blue  Island  did  railroad  work  for  the  Grand  Trunk 
for  about  a  year  aild  a  half.  He  was  in  Porter  county,  Indiana,  for  aljout 
six  months,  and  then  located  permanently  in  Lake  county,  where  he  began 
his  career  by  working  by  the  month.  After  getting  considerable  saved  up 
he  bought  land  in  Eagle  Creek  township,  and  subsequent  additions  and  con- 
tinued prosperity  have  caused  his  landed  possessions  to  swell  to  the  amount 
of  five  hundred  and  eighty  acres.  He  was  a  resident  of  Eagle  Creek  town- 
ship until  1894,  in  which  year  he  retired  and  moved  into  Crown  Point,  where 
he  built  his  present  fine  residence.  He  is  a  director  of  the  Commercial  Bank 
of  Crown  Point,  and  owns  considerable  property  in  the  city. 

Mr.  Black  has  never  voted  for  any  but  Repuljlican  principles  and  candi- 
dates, and  he  has  taken  as  much  interest  in  public  matters  as  his  busy  life 
would  permit.  He  was  elected  and  filled  the  office  of  county  commissioner 
for  five  years,  and  his  administration  was  so  satisfactory  that  he  might  have 
retained  the  office  longer  had  he  been  willing  to  serve.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Lutheran  church. 

Mr.   Black  was  married  in    1859  to  Miss  Caroline   Beaders.   and   they 

ha\e  seven  children  living :    Plenry.   ^^'il!iam.   Anna.   Ella,    Eddie.   Hannah 

and  John. 

GEORGE    B.    SHEERER. 

George  B.  Sheerer,  a  prominent  attorney-at-law  of  Hammond.  Indiana. 
has  gained  a  successful  position  in  the  legal  profession  by  his  own  merits. 
He  is  of  the  type  of  self-made  men  of  whom  this  C(juntry  is  so  proud.  It 
is  certainly  no  mean  achievement  for  a  bo}'  to  start  to  earning  his  own 
way  at  the  age  of  eleven,  afterwards  as  a  result  of  his  labor  attend  school 
and  make  up  in  an  educational  way  what  he  had  been  retarded  in  getting 
when  a  boy.  take  a  law  course  and  gain  admission  to  the  bar.  and  then  rise 
to  a  place  of  prominence  among  his  fellow-practitioners  in  the  great  profession 
of  law.  Mr.  Sheerer  has  Ijeen  engaged  in  practice  in  Hammond  since  1892, 
and  is  held  in  high  esteem  in  the  citv  and  surrounding  country. 


182  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Sheerer  was  born  in  Shickshinny,  Pennsylvania,  December  24, 
1866.  a  .son  of  Benjamin  F.  and  Ebzabeth  (Fritz)  Sheerer.  His  paternal 
grandfather,  John  M.  Sheerer,  was  the  original  Sheerer  who  came  from 
southern  Scotland  to  America,  locating  in  \\'ayne  county,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  spent  most  of  his  life.  He  was  a  canal  and  railroad  contractor, 
and  was  a  very  wealthy  man,  at  one  time  owning  all  the  land  on  which  the 
present  city  of  Scranton  stands.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1S12. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years,  having  been  a  man  of  remarkable 
constitution  and  manly  vigor.  He  was  never  sick  a  day  in  his  life,  never 
took  a  dose  of  medicine.  \Mien  he  was  eighty-four  years  old  he  was  physi- 
cally very  active.  He  died  from  the  result  of  an  injury,  his  l>ack  having 
been  wrenched  while  he  was  mowing.  His  wife  lived  still  longer,  passing 
away  at  the  age  of  ninety-two  years.  Her  maiden  name  was  Susan  Stitely. 
They  had  a  large  family. 

Benjamin  F.  Sheerer,  the  father  of  George  B.  Sheerer,  was  a  Baptist 
minister,  and  has  made  home  missionary  work  the  principal  object  of  his 
endeavors  all  his  life.  He  came  out  west  to  Illinois  in  an  early  day,  and 
bought  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land  where  the  Chicago  business  center 
now  is,  but  he  afterwards  sold  out  and  went  back  east.  He  is  now  li\-ing 
at  Waterton,  Luzerne  county,  Pennsyh-ania,  being  in  his  eighty-eighth  year. 
His  wife.  Elizabeth  (Fritz)  Sheerer,  is  in  her  seventy-ninth  year.  Her 
father,  Lucius  Fritz,  came  from  Germany  when  a  young  man  and  located 
in  Pennsylvania,  where  he  was  a  farmer.  He  had  been  a  soldier  in  a 
German  war,  and  was  also  in  the  war  of  1812.  He  married  Miss  Mary 
Gorman,  and  they  had  eleven  children.  He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven, 
and  she  when  about  seventy-three. 

Eight  children  were  born  to  Benjamin  F.  and  Elizabeth  Sheerer,  and 
the  six  now  living  are:  Friend  B.,  of  Town  Hill,  Pennsylvania;  Alfred  N., 
of  Burwick,  Pennsylvania;  Marion  ^l..  of  Fond  du  Lac,  Wisconsin; 
George  B.,  of  Hammond;  Matilda,  the  wife  of  R,  Gregory,  of  Muhlenberg, 
Pennsylvania ;  and  Millard,  of  Miners  Mills,  Pennsylvania.  The  two  deceased 
children  were  Layton  L.,  who  was  president  of  the  Colfax  Seminary,  at 
Colfax,  Washington;  and  Celinda,  the  wife  of  Rev.  James  R.  Wilson,  of 
Svracuse,  Xew  York. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  183 

George  B.  Sheerer  lived  at  home  in  W'aterton.  Pennsyhania,  until 
eleven  years  of  age.  and  received  his  first  schooling  there.  He  then  started 
out  to  make  his  own  way,  working  during  the  summer  at  three  dollars  a 
month  and  board,  and  going  to  school  during  the  winter.  He  taught  school 
in  the  east  for  some  time,  beginning  when  he  was  seventeen  years  old.  In 
1884  he  came  west  to  Indiana  and  entered  the  normal  school  at  Valparaiso, 
where  he  was  graduated  in  the  law  department  in  1889.  In  the  same  year 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  state.  After  his  graduation  he  at  once 
set  to  work  to  pay  up  his  debts  contracted  in  his  efforts  to  school  himself. 
In  the  fall  of  1892  he  opened  his  ot^ce  for  practice  in  Hammond,  and  has 
enjoyed  an  increasing  patronage  to  the  present  time. 

November  16,  1892,  Mr.  Sheerer  married  Miss  May  E.  Wertman,  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Wertman.  They  have  two  children,  Ger- 
trude and  Mildred.  Mrs.  Sheerer  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church.  They 
reside  at  50  Warren  a\enue.  where  he  built  a  good  home  in  1900.  Mr. 
Sheerer  affiliates  with  the  Calumet  Lodge  No.  601,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  with 
Hammond  Lodge  No.  210,  K.  of  P.  He  is  independent  in  voting,  but  his 
general  political  cleavage  is  Democratic.  He  is  treasurer  of  the  board  of 
education,  and  has  been  a  member  of  the  board  for  the  past  six  years. 

CHRISTIAN   FILLER. 

Christian  Fieler,  a  prominent  and  well-known  farmer  of  Center  town- 
ship. Lake  county,  is  a  natixe  son  and  a  life-long  resident  of  the  county, 
and  has  enjoyed  a  prosperous  career  devoted  to  the  agricultural  interests  in 
this  fine  farming  section.  He  is  likewise  one  of  the  public-spirited  men  of 
this  part  of  the  county,  performing  his  share  of  the  duties  of  society,  and  is 
held  in  high  esteem  both  for  his  own  personal  character  and  for  wdiat  he  has 
accomplished  in  the  world  of  material  things. 

Mr.  Fieler  was  born  in  Hobart  townsliip.  Lake  county,  Indiana,  July  10, 
1861  His  father,  Jacolj  Fieler,  was  a  native  of  Wiirtemberg.  Germany, 
and  came  to  America  and  to  Lake  county  in  the  year  1854.  He  was  one  of 
the  early  settlers  and  bought  a  farm  in  Ross  township,  where  he  continued 
his  vocation  of  farmer  until  his  death  in  1877.  when  in  his  fifty-eighth  year. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  German  Methodist  church,  and  a  well-known  and 
representative   citizen   of   the   county.     His    wife    was    Catharine    Kelver,    a 


ISi  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

native  of  the  same  province  of  Germany  from  which  he  came,  and  she  died 
at  tlie  age  of  sixty-nine  years,  liaving  been  tlie  mother  of  five  children. 

Mr.  Christian  Fieler  was  the  only  son  and  the  youngest  child.  He 
was  reared  in  Hohart  township,  and  was  educated  in  the  puhlic  schools  of 
Ross  township  and  also  of  Chicago.  He  \\as  sixteen  years  old  wlien  his 
father  died,  and  he  then  took  the  mantle  of  manly  responsibility  and  carried 
on  the  w'ork  of  the  farm,  in  which  his  father  had  trained  him.  His  mother 
died  in  1884,  and  he  then  bought  the  interest  of  the  other  heirs  in  the  old 
homestead  and  continued  his  farming  there  until  1898.  He  then  sold  and 
moved  to  Center  township,  where  he  bought  his  present  place  on  Section  3, 
consisting  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  fertile,  well  improved  and  highly 
cultivated.  He  also  has  sixty-three  acres  in  \A'infield  township  and  two 
hundred  in  Ross  township,  so  that  altogether  he  is  the  possessor  of  three 
hundred  and  eighty-three  acres  of  first-class  Lake  county  soil.  Besides  his 
general  farming  work  he  buys  and  ships  stock,  and  has  carried  on  his  exten- 
sive concerns  with  much  individual  success  and  profit. 

Mr.  Fieler  was  married  in  iqoi  to  Miss  Alice  Palmer,  a  daughter  of 
H.  D.  and  Catherine  (Underwood)  Palmer,  one  of  the  prominent  families 
of  Lake  county.  Mrs.  Fieler  was  born  and  reared  in  Ross  township,  and 
was  educated  in  the  Crown  Point  schools.  '  Mr.  Fieler  has  always  been  a 
stanch  Republican  since  casting  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Blaine  in  1884, 

GEORGE    H.    HOSKINS,    M.    D. 

Dr.  George  H.  Hoskins,  who  has  attained  prominence  as  a  representa- 
tive of  the  medical  fraternity  and  is  now  ser\-ing  as  coroner  of  Lake  county, 
making  his  home  in  \\'hiting,  is  a  native  of  New  York,  his  birth  having 
occurred  in  Essex,  Esse.x  county,  on  the  i8th  of  October,  1872.  His  father 
was  Henry  E.  Hoskins,  a  native  of  Montreal,  Canada.  In  early  life,  how- 
ever, he  was  taken  to  New  York,  was  reared  in  the  Empire  state  and  there 
spent  his  remaining  days,  but  died  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  the  west 
in  the  year  1875.  His  widow  then  came  with  her  two  children,  a  son  and 
daughter,  to  the  Mississippi  valley,  locating  at  Grant  Park.  Illinois.  She  had 
previously  learned  the  milliner's  trade,  and  for  about  fifteen  years  was  engaged 
in  that  business  at  Grant  Park,  Illinois,  thus  providing  for  her  children.     She 


^;^^^Wu.M%S, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  3  85 

was  quite  successful  in  the  conduct  of  her  business  enterprise  and  secured  a 
liberal  patronage. 

Dr.  Hoskins  was  Inil  four  years  of  age  when  he  arrived  in  Grant  Park, 
and  there  he  acquired  his  early  education  which  was  supplemented  liy  one 
year  of  study  at  Valparaiso,  Indiana.  In  1894  he  took  up  the  study  of  medi- 
cine in  Northwestern  University  at  Chicago,  Illinois,  and  was  there  graduated 
in  June,  1898.  In  July  of  the  same  year  he  located  at  Whiting,  where  he  has 
since  been  in  constant  practice.  He  was  the  first  health  officer  here,  and  in 
1902  he  was  elected  county  coroner,  entering  upon  the  duties  of  the  office  in 
lanuarv,  1903.  He  has  secured  a  large  private  practice  which  is  indicative 
of  the  confidence  and  trust  reposed  in  him  by  the  public.  He  is  a  thorough 
and  discriminating  student,  constantly  broadening  his  knowledge  and  pro- 
moting his  efficiency  by  investigation  and  research.  He  is  thoroughly  in 
touch  with  modern  ideas  concerning  medical  science  and  practice,  and  his 
professional  duties  make  hea\'y  demands  upon  his  time  and  energies. 

On  the  24th  of  October.  1900.  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of  Dr.  George 
H.  Hoskins  and  Miss  Bertha  E.  Dewey,  a  daughter  of  George  H.  and  Celesta 
L.  Dewey.  They  now  have  two  interesting  little  sons.  George  H.  and 
Harley  D.  Socially  Dr.  Hoskins  is  connected  with  the  Masonic  fraternity  at 
Whiting,  and  he  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Grant  Park.  He 
belongs  to  the  Lake  County  [Medical  Society,  and  his  attention  is  chiefly  de- 
voted to  his  profession,  wherein  he  has  won  a  creditable  name.  He  closely 
follows  the  ethics  of  the  medical  fraternity  and  enjoys  the  entire  confidence 
and  esteem  of  his  professional  brethren  as  well  as  of  the  general  public.  As 
a  citizen,  too,  he  is  progressive  and  has  been  a  co-operant  factor  in  many 
movements  for  the  general  good.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  in 
March,  1904,  he  was  nouiinated  by  that  party  for  his  second  term  as  coroner 
of  Lake  county.  He  completed  his  new  residence  on  Sheridan  a\enue.  near 
One  Hundred  and  Nineteenth  street,  in  the  fall  of  1903.  For  1903  Dr.  Hos- 
kins was  worshipful  master  of  Whiting  Lodge  No.  613.  F.  &  A.  M.  He  is 
also  a  m.ember  of  the  Owls  Club. 

JOHN    S.    REILAND. 

In  an  analvzation  of  the  character  and  life  work  of  John  S.  Reiland 
we  notice  manv  of  the  salient  traits  which  have  marked  the  German  nation 


186  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

for  many  centuries,  the  perseverance,  reliability,  energy  and  unconquerable 
determination  to  pursue  a  course  that  has  been  marked  out,  and  it  is  these 
sterling  qualities  which  have  gained  to  Mr.  Reiland  success  in  life  and  made 
him  one  of  the  substantial  and  valued  citizens  of  East  Chicago.  He  is  now 
living  a  retired  life,  for  through  his  energy  and  capable  management  in 
former  years  he  gained  a  comfortable  competence  that  now  enables  him  to 
put  aside  further  business  cares  and  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  former  toil. 

Mr.  Reiland  was  born  in  Prussia.  Germany,  on  the  17th  of  March,  1834. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  Dominicus  Reiland,  was  long  in  public  life,  holding 
office  for  twenty-four  years  in  the  city  of  Berlin  and  discharging  his  duties 
with  a  promptness  and  fidelity  that  won  him  the  highest  commendation  and 
respect.  His  death  occurred  when  he  had  attained  an  advanced  age.  His 
family  numljered  four  children,  including  John  Reiland,  the  father  of  our 
subject.  He,  too.  was  born  in  Germany,  became  a  trader  of  that  country 
and  died  in  the  fatherland  at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years.  He  had  wedded 
Miss  Mary  Thomas,  also  a  native  of  Germany  and  a  daughter  of  Stephen 
Tiiomas,  who  was  an  active  factor  in  industrial  circles  in  the  community  in 
which  he  made  his  home,  operating  a  distillery  and  twenty-four  lime  kilns. 
He  died  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-two  years.  In  his  family  were  four 
children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  yir.  and  I\Irs.  John  Reiland  became 
the  parents  of  five  children,  four  sons  and  one  daughter,  but  only  two  are 
now  living,  the  sister  of  John  S.  being  Annie,  who  is  the  widow  of  Mathias 
Jones  and  is  living  on  the  old  Reiland  homestead  in  Germany.  The  father 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years,  while  his  wife  passed  away  at  the 
age  of  eighty-nine  years.     Both  were  communicants  in  the  Catholic  church. 

John  S.  Reiland  spent  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  in  Germany, 
continuing  a  resident  of  that  country  until  nineteen  years  of  age,  during 
which  time  he  acquired  a  good  practical  education  in  the  public  schools.  He 
also  learned  the  carpenter's  trade  and  was  thus  (|ualifien  to  earn  his  living 
as  an  artisan.  In  the  year  1854  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  America,  having 
heard  very  favorable  reports  concerning  the  new  world  and  its  business  oppor- 
tunities. He  located  in  W'illiamsport,  Pennsylvania,  and  there  took  out  his 
naturalization  papers,  for  he  had  made  his  way  to  this  country  to  become 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  Believing  that  he  might  have  still  better 
business  privileges  and  advantages  in  the  middle  west,  he  luade  his  way  to 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  1S7 

Illinois  in  1861,  settling  in  Peru,  that  state,  in  the  month  of  October.  There 
he  lived  for  about  five  years  or  until  1866,  since  which  time  he  has  made 
his  home  in  Lake  county,  Indiana.  On  removing  to  this  locality  he  secured 
a  tract  of  land  and  was  engaged  in  farming  until  1872,  after  which  he  became 
proprietor  of  a  hotel  in  South  Chicago,  conducting  the  same  until  1888. 
Since  that  time  he  has  lived  in  East  Chicago  and  is  now  enjoying  a  well 
merited  rest  from  further  business  cares. 

On  the  6th  of  August,  1856,  Mr.  Reiland  was  married,  the  lady  of  his 
choice  being  Miss  Henrietta  Meisenbach.  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Margaret 
Meisenbach.  They  became  the  parents  of  the  following  children :  Jacob  C, 
born  September  8,  1857:  John,  born  August  2-j,  1859;  Mary,  deceased,  born 
January  17,  1862;  Lena,  born  October  17,  1864:  Antony,  born  February  17, 
1866;  Nicholas,  torn  January  2-j,  1868;  William,  born  November  i,  1869; 
Frank,  born  October  30,  1872:  George,  born  August  18,  1876:  Carrie,  born 
August  6,  1881;  Albert,  born  October  31,  1883.  Of  these  Jacob  i.s  street 
commissioner  and  water  inspector  in  East  Chicago.  He  married  Mis=  Mar>' 
Mahr,  and  they  have  three  children.  William,  John  and  ]\Iollie.  John,  who 
is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  is  following  his  vocation  in  East  Chicago,  married 
Lena  Smith  and  has  one  daughter.  Pearlie.  Mary  died  Januan,-  10,  1893, 
was  the  wife  of  John  D.  Williams  and  had  one  daughter.  Pearl.  Lena  is 
the  present  wife  of  John  D.  Williams  and  they  make  their  home  in  East 
Chicago.  Antony,  who  is  a  bricklayer,  is  married  and  has  three  children, 
Grace,  George  and  Henry.  Nicholas  follows  the  pursuit  of  boiler-making. 
William  is  serving  as  city  judge  of  East  Chicago.  Frank  is  an  electrical 
engineer  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  is  married.  George  is  an  attorney  of  East 
Chicago.  Carrie  is  the  wife  of  A.  C.  Huber.  and  they  have  a  daughter. 
Helen  Ruth.  Albert  is  now  a  student  in  the  University  of  Michigan  at 
Ann  Arbor. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reiland  and  their  family  are  members  of  the  Catholic 
church,  and  politically  he  is  a  Republican,  deeply  interested  in  the  success  of 
his  party.  He  served  as  alderman  for  several  years,  and  during  that  time 
exercised  his  official  prerogatives  in  support  of  every  measure  that  he  be- 
lieved would  contribute  to  the  general  improvement  and  upbuilding.  In 
1903  he  built  a  beautiful  home  in  East  Chicago  at  the  corner  of  One  Hundred 
and  Fortv-eighth  street  and  \\'hiteoak  avenue,  where  he  is  now  living'  retired. 


188  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

The  liope  that  led  him  to  leave  his  r.ative  land  and  seek  a  home  in  .\merica 
has  been  more  than  realized.  He  found  the  opportunities  he  sought,  which, 
1)y  the  way,  are  always  open  to  the  ambitious,  energetic  man,  and  making  the 
best  of  these  Mr.  Reiland  has  steadily  worked  his  way  upward.  He  pos- 
sessed the  resolution,  perseverance  and  reliability  so  characteristic  of  people 
of  the  fatherland,  and  his  name  is  now  enrolled  among  the  best  citizens  of 

East  Chicago. 

ANDREW    A.     SAUERMAN. 

Andrew  A.  Sauerman,  whose  interests  are  thoroughly  identified  with 
those  of  Lake  county  so  that  he  is  at  all  times  ready  to  lend  his  aid  and 
co-operation  to  any  movement  calculated  to  benefit  this  section  of  the  state 
or  advance  its  substantial  development,  is  a  native  son  of  Crown  Point,  his 
l)irth  ha\ing  occurred  on  the  22(\  of  February,  1838.  The  family  comes  of 
German  lineage  and  was  founded  in  America  bv  Nichols  Sauernian,  the 
grandfather  of  our  subject,  who  was  born  in  Germany  and  crossed  the  Atlantic 
to  America.  He  possessed  strong  purpose  and  laudable  ambition,  and  as  the 
years  progressed  won  a  fair  measure  of  prosperity.  His  son,  John  C.  Sauer- 
man, was  born  in  Bavaria,  Germany,  and  when  fourteen  years  of  age  crossed 
the  .\tlantic,  locating  in  Chicago.  There  he  learned  the  harness-maker's 
trade,  and  in  185 1  he  remo\'ed  to  Crown  Point,  where  he  engaged  in  business 
as  a  manufacturer  of  harness,  continuing  in  that  line  for  about  twenty-four 
years  or  until  1875,  when  he  put  aside  private  business  interests  in  order  to 
perform  public  service,  having  been  elected  county  treasurer  of  Lake  county. 
He  filled  the  office  for  four  years  and  then  retired  to  private  life.  ^:pending 
his  remaining  da}s  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  well-earned  and  richly  merited  rest. 
He  died  in  the  year  1886.  at  the  age  of  fifty-four  years,  and  his  value  as  a 
citizen  and  friend  made  his  death  the  cause  of  general  sorrow  in  his  com- 
munity. He  was  a  life-long  Republican,  ever  active  in  the  local  circles  of 
the  party,  and  in  religious  faith  was  a  Lutheran.  His  wife  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Pauline  Stroehlein  and  was  likewise  a  native  of  Bavaria,  Germany, 
where  she  was  reared.  She  came  to  America  in  early  womanhood  and  for 
many  years  she  traveled  life's  journey  as  the  wife  of  John  C.  Sauerman. 
Her  death  occurred  in  1900,  when  she  was  seventy-one  years  of  age.  This 
worthy  couple  were  the  parents  of  four  children,  one  of  whom  died  when 
only  a  year  old,  wdiile  Flora  died  in  1888.  Margaret  T.  is  the  widow  of 
Dr.  Llenry  Pettibone,  of  Crown  Point. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  189 

Andrew  A.  Saiierman,  the  second  in  order  of  birtli  of  this  family,  was 
reared  at  Crown  Point,  attended  the  pnbHc  schools  there  and  after  acquiring 
his  elementary  education  attended  college  at  Valparaiso,  Indiana,  the  insti- 
tution being  known  as  the  Northern  Indiana  Normal  School.  He  was  grad- 
uated in  the  business  department  and  after  returning  to  his  home  he  fol- 
lowed the  harness-maker's  trade,  which  he  had  previously  learned,  following 
that  pursuit  until  1876.  In  that  year  he  entered  the  office  of  the  county 
recorder  as  deputy,  acting  in  that  capacity  for  two  years,  and  in  1878  he 
became  assistant  cashier  of  the  First  National  Bank,  which  position  he 
filled  until  January,  1896,  when  he  was  elected  cashier  of  the  bank.  This 
has  been  his  connection  with  the  institution  to  the  present  time,  and  the 
success  of  the  bank  is  attributable  in  no  small  degree  to  his  efficiency  and 
fidelity.  He  is  a  popular  cashier,  his  obliging  manner  and  unf:dtering 
courtesy  being  greatly  appreciated  by  the  patrons  of  the  institution,  while  at 
the  same  time  he  is  most  loyal  to  the  interests  of  the  corporation  which  he 
represents.  Since  1884  Mr.  Sauerman  has  been  a  member  of  the  board  of 
directors  of  the  First  National  Bank. 

In  1880  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Sauerman  and  Miss  An- 
toinette Aurich.  of  Hancock,  Michigan,  a  daughter  of  Michael  and  Mag- 
dalena  (Diem)  Aurich.  She  was  born  in  Sheliovgsn.  W^isconsin,  and  was 
reared  in  Hancock,  Michigan,  and  she  died  on  the  loth  of  March.  1903. 
leaving  two  children :  Harvey  A.,  who  is  engaged  in  the  drug  business  at 
Valparaiso;  and  Pauline  M.,  who  is  attending  school  at  Crown  Point.  Mr. 
Sauerman  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  church,  of  which  he  is  serving  as  a 
trustee,  and  he  is  well  known  throughout  the  county  as  a  stanch  Reimblican, 
having  considerable  influence  in  local  political  circles.  He  is  a  rein'esenta- 
UvQ  of  our  best  type  of  /\merican  manhood  and  chi\alry.  By  perseverance, 
determination  and  honorable  effort  he  has  overthrown  the  obstacles  which 
barred  his  path  to  success  and  reached  the  goal  of  prosperity,  while  his 
genuine  worth,  broad  mind  and  public-spirited  interest  have  made  him  a 
director  of  public  thought  and  action. 

JOHN    BUCZKO\\SKI. 

The  prosperity  and  progress  of  every  community  depend  upon  its  busi- 
ness activity,  its  commercial  interests  and  industrial  development,  and  those 


190  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

who  are  foremost  in  the  public  h'fe  are  the  men  who  are  controlHng  the 
veins  and  arteries  of  traffic.  Mr.  Buczkowski  has  become  well  known  in 
connection  with  mercantile  circles  in  Whiting,  where  he  is  now  conducting 
a  grocery  and  confectionery  establishment.  He  deserves  great  credit  for  the 
success  he  has  attained  as  it  has  been  won  entirely  through  his  own  well 
directed  efforts  guided  by  sound  business  judgment  and  permeated  bv  trust- 
worthy methods. 

Mr.  Buczkowski  is  a  native  of  Germany,  his  birth  having  occurred  on 
the  14th  of  June,  1857.  He  was  but  a  small  boy  when  he  came  to  America 
with  his  parents,  the  family  home  being  first  established  in  LaPorte  county, 
Indiana,  near  Westville.  The  father  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  John 
Buczkowski  was  reared  upon  the  home  farm,  early  becoming  familiar  with 
the  duties  and  labors  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  agriculturist,  in  connection 
with  the  cultivation  of  the  fields.  He  remained  a  resident  of  LaPorte  county 
until  about  thirty-three  years  of  age,  and  in  his  boyhood  days  attended  the 
common  schools,  thus  becoming  equipped  for  life's  practical  and  responsible 
duties.  After  entering  upon  his  business  career  he  had  charge  of  a  depart- 
ment for  the  street  car  company  for  a  time  and  later  was  in  charge  of  the 
convicts  of  the  state  prison  at  Michigan  City  for  one  year.  In  1889  he 
came  to  Whiting,  where  he  opened  a  saloon,  which  he  conducted  for  five 
years  at  one  location.  He  then  removed  to  Robertsdale  or  North  Ham- 
mond, where  he  continued  in  the  same  business  for  about  five  years.  He 
then  retired  from  active  business  for  a  time,  but  indolence  and  idleness  are 
utterly  foreign  to  his  nature  and  he  afterward  entered  trade  circles.  He 
erected  three  buildings  in  North  Hammond,  and  he  now  owns  four  buildings 
there.  He  also  bought  and  sold  land  and  speculated  to  a  considerable  extent 
in  real  estate,  doing  a  business  which  has  resulted  profitably.  He  is  now 
connected  with  the  firm  of  Smith  &  Bader  in  the  real  estate  business,  oper- 
ating under  the  name  of  the  W'hiting  Land  Company.  He  has  assisted 
materiallv  in  the  upbuilding  and  improvement  of  North  Hammond  and  of 
\\'hiting,  having  erected  two  houses  here,  and  he  is  known  as  one  of  the 
most  enterprising  and  progressive  men  of  the  town.  As  proprietor  of  a 
grocery  and  confectionery  store  he  is  conducting  a  large  and  growing  busi- 
nesS;  and  in  the  different  fields  of  trade  with  which  he  has  been  connected 
he  has  met  with  creditable  success. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  191 

^Ir.  Buczkowski  was  elected  justice  of  tlie  peace  at  the  same  time  that 
Judge  Jones  was  elected  to  represent  North  Hammond,  W'hiting  and  East 
Chicago  in  North  township.  Mr.  Buczkowski  has  taken  quite  an  acti^•e  part 
in  public  affairs,  and  is  a  Democrat  in  his  political  views  where  national 
questions  are  involved,  but  at  local  elections  casts  his  ballot  independently  of 
party  ties,  supporting  the  candidates  whom  he  thinks  best  qualified  for  office. 
May  17.  1904,  he  was  appointed  by  the  council  as  street  commissioner  of 
Whiting. 

In  1881  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of  John  Buczkowski  and  IMiss 
Mary  Przyblinski,  and  they  now  have  three  children,  two  sons  and  a  daughter, 
namely :  Harry.  Frank  and  Vangeline.  Mr.  Buczkowski  is  well  known  in 
Lake  and  LaPorte  counties,  where  he  has  many  friends,  and  his  consecutive 
endeavor,  strong  purpose  and  laudable  ambition  have  formed  the  foundation 
upon  which  he  has  builded  liis  business  success.  As  the  architect  of  his 
own  fortunes  he  has  builded  wisely  and  well,  and  may  justly  be  called  by 
the  somewhat  hackneyed  but  very  expressive  title  of  a  "self-made  man." 

JOHN    L.    KEILMAN. 

John  L.  Keilman.  general  merchant  and  a  director  in  the  First  National 
Bank  at  Dyer,  is  an  influential  and  progressive  young  business  man  of  Lake 
county,  where  he  has  had  his  life-long  residence.  He  early  marked  out 
business  pursuits  as  the  object  of  his  career,  and  he  has  been  steadily  advanc- 
ing to  greater  success  in  his  enterprises  since  he  took  up  active  life  some 
fifteen  years  ago.  He  is  well  known  throughout  the  county,  not  only  for  his 
connection  with  commercial  and  financial  affairs  but  also  as  the  bearer  of  a 
famil}-  name  that  will  always  be  entitled  to  honor  and  esteem  in  Lake  county, 
with  whose  growth  and  material  development  the  first  American  Keilman 
became  identified  in  the  pioneer  epoch,  and  the  family  influence  and  resources 
have  been  increasing  to  the  present  time. 

Mr.  Keilman  is  the  youngest  son  of  Leonard  and  Lena  (Austgen) 
Keilman,  who  have  lived  in  Lake  county  for  sixty  years  and  whose  history, 
together  with  other  facts  concerning  this  prominent  family,  will  be  found  on 
other  pages  of  this  volume.  John  L.  Keilman  was  born  in  St.  John  town- 
ship, Lake  county,  August  21,  1867,  and  was  reared  in  his  native  place. 
After  receiving  a  common  school  training  he  spent  two  years  at  the  Catholic 


15*2  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

seminary  at  St.  Francis,  near  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  where  he  took  a  busi- 
ness course.  After  his  return  home  he  engaged  in  the  general  mercantile 
business,  in  1890,  in  partnership  with  his  father.  In  1892  he  sold  out  his 
interest  to  his  father,  and  spent  the  following  nine  months  sight-seeing  in 
California  and  the  Pacific  coast.  He  returned  once  more  to  engage  in  busi- 
ness with  his  father,  under  the  name  of  L.  Keilman  &  Son,  and  this  firm  is 
still  doing  business  at  the  old  stand  which  was  established  nearly  fifty  years 
ago.  They  have  a  large  stock  of  general  merchandise  and  do  a  large  busi- 
ness with  the  surrounding  district.  Mr.  Keilman  was  one  of  the  men  who 
organized  the  First  National  Bank  in  Dyer,  in  1903.  and  is  now  one  of  its 
directors. 

Mr.  Keilman  married,  October  3,  1895,  Miss  Emma  Schaefer,  who  was 
born  October  3,  1871,  and  is  also  a  native  of  Dyer,  St.  John  township,  a 
daughter  of  Jacob  Schaefer.     They  have  no  children. 

JOHN   J.    BRENNAN. 

For  ten  years  John  J.  Brennan  has  been  a  resident  of  Roby,  where  he 
has  large  property  interests  and  where  in  public  circles  he  is  well  known,  his 
influence  having  been  a  strong  element  in  shaping  public  policy  here  during 
the  decade  in  which  he  has  been  identified  with  the  city.  He  is  a  typical  busi- 
ness man  of  the  present  time,  energetic  and  enterprising,  who  quickly  recog- 
nizes business  possibilities  and  also  is  cognizant  of  the  fact  that  the  present 
and  not  the  future  holds  his  opportunity.  He  knows  that  the  moment  for 
action  is  not  to  come,  but  uses  his  powers  daily  to  the  best  advantage,  and  his 
life,  therefore,  has  been  crowned  with  successful  accomplishment. 

Mr.  Brennan  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  his  birth  ha\-ing  occurred  in  Urbana, 
Champaign  county,  on  the  8th  of  August,  i860.  He  is  a  son  of  Edward  and 
Bridget  (Ryan)  Brennan  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Ireland,  and  having 
crossed  the  Atlantic  to  America  they  became  residents  of  the  Buckeye  state. 
Mr.  John  J.  Brennan  was  reared  in  the  city  of  his  nativity,  and  pursued  his 
education  in  the  public  schools.  After  putting  aside  his  text  books  he  en- 
tered upon  his  business  career  in  a  grocery  store  in  the  capacity  of  a  shipping 
clerk  and  for  about  a  year  he  remained  in  that  establishment,  which  business 
was  carried  on  along  both  wholesale  and  retail  lines.  In  1876  he  went  south 
and  completed  his  education  in  the  Southwestern   Presbyterian  University. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  193 

He  afterward  became  registered  letter  and  money  order  clerk  in  the  postot^ice 
at  Clarivsviile,  Tennessee,  where  he  remained  for  four  years.  He  then  re- 
turned to  Ohio,  again  locating  in  his  native  city,  and  was  engaged  in  the  coal 
business  with  his  father  for  about  two  years.  In  1887  he  removed  to  Chicago, 
where  he  accepted  the  position  of  bookkeeper  with  the  United  States  Rolling 
Stock  Company,  doing  business  at  Hegewisch,  Illinois.  He  continued  as 
accountant  with  that  company  for  seven  years  and  came  to  Roby  in  1894, 
since  which  time  he  has  been  a  resident  of  this  city.  Here  he  is  engaged  in 
the  saloon  and  restaurant  business.  He  is  also  one  of  the  principal  land- 
holders of  Roby,  and  likewise  owns  property  in  Illinois. 

Mr.  Brennan  has  been  very  active  and  influential  in  politics  and  is  a 
stanch  supporter  of  the  Democratic  party,  believing  that  its  principles  contain 
the  best  elements  of  good  government.  In  1901  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Hammond  city  council  from  the  Fourth  ward.  He  is  one  of  the  active 
members  of  that  body,  progressive  and  public-spirited  in  his  citizenship  and 
taking  an  active  and  helpful  interest  in  everything  that  pertains  to  the  general 
welfare.  Viewed  in  a  personal  light,  he  is  a  man  of  excellent  judgment, 
fair  in  his  views  and  highly  honorable  in  his  relations  with  his  fellow  men. 
His  life  has  been  kindly,  his  actions  sincere,  his  manner  unaffected,  and  his 
example  is  well  worthy  of  emulation. 

^IICHAEL    GRIMMER. 

iMichael  Grimmer,  who  is  serving  for  the  second  term  as  county  auditor 
of  Lake  county  and  is  a  resident  of  CrovvU  Point,  was  born  in  Ross  township, 
this  county,  on  the  i8th  of  July,  1853,  and  his  entire  career  has  been  such 
as  to  command  the  confidence,  good  will  and  respect  of  his  fellow-citizens. 
His  father,  ^lichael  Grimmer,  made  his  way  to  Chicago  in  1841,  and  after 
residing  in  the  embryo  city  for  a  number  of  years  took  up  his  abode  in  Lake 
county,  Indiana,  in  1849.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  section  of  the 
state,  and  he  devoted  his  energies  to  agricultural  pursuits  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1853.  when  h.is  son  Michael  was  but  eight  weeks  old. 
He  left  beside  his  widow  four  children,  two  daughters  and  two  sons,  the 
eldest  being  then  but  little  more  than  twelve  years  of  age.  The  mother 
afterward  married  again,  and  Michael  Grimmer  remained  at  home  with  his 
step-father  until  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  assisting  in  the  operation  of  the 


lt»4:  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

home  farm.  He  then  started  out  in  hfe  on  his  own  account,  and  though 
he  had  but  hniited  school  privileges  to  equip  liim  for  the  duties  of  the  business 
world  he  possessed  energy  and  determination,  and  resolved  to  win  advance- 
ment. By  working  as  a  farm  hand  he  earned  the  money  that  enabled  him 
to  attend  school  in  the  winter  months,  and  later  he  began  teaching  in  the 
district  schools,  being  connected  with  that  profession  for  ten  years.  In  1880 
he  embarked  in  general  merchandising  at  Schererville.  where  he  continued 
for  seventeen  years.  His  business  was  capably  conducted,  and  his  enter- 
prise and  fair  dealing  formed  the  substantial  foundation  upon  which  he 
budded  his  success. 

In  the  meantime  ]\Ir.  Grimmer  had  been  called  to  public  office.  He  is 
a  .stanch  Republican  in  his  political  views  and  has  taken  an  active  interest  in 
the  work  of  the  party  throughout  the  period  of  his  majority.  While  engaged 
in  merchandising  at  Schererville  he  served  for  eight  years  as  trustee  of 
St.  John  township,  and  in  1897  he  was  elected  auditor  of  Lake  county,  serving 
so  faithfully  during  the  succeeding  three  years  that  in  1900  he  was  re-elected 
and  is  now  the  incumbent  in  that  office.  He  discharges  his  duties  with, 
marked  promptness  and  fidelity,  arid  his  public  career  is  one  which  has  gained 
for  him  unabating  confidence  and  respect. 

In  1879  ^Ir.  Grimmer  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Lena  Newman, 
a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Newman,  and  thev  have  two  children : 
Frances,  who  is  in  the  office  with  her  father:  and  Fred,  who  is  attending 
school.  ]\Ir.  Grimmer  is  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Lake  county,  where 
he  has  spent  his  entire  life.  He  is  a  self-educated  as  well  as  a  self-made  man. 
Starting  out  in  life  for  himself  ere  he  had  attended  school  to  any  e.xtent.  he 
became  imbued  with  a  laudable  ambition  to  attain  something  better,  and  has 
steadily  advanced  in  those  walks  of  life  demanding  intellectuality,  business 
ability  and  fidelitv.  To-day  he  commands  the  respect  and  esteem  not  only 
of  his  communit\-  but  of  peojjle  throughout  the  state.  Over  the  record  of  his 
public  career  and  his  private  life  there  falls  no  shadow  of  wrong,  for  he  has 
ever  been  most  loyal  to  the  duties  of  friendship  and  of  citizenship,  and  his 
history  well  deserves  a  place  in  the  annals  of  his  nati\-e  county. 

JOHN    G.    BOHLING. 

John  G.  Bohling,  a  prominent  farmer  of  St.  John  township,  has  resided 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  195 

in  this  part  of  Lake  county  all  his  life  an.d  carries  on  his  extensive  agricult- 
ural operations  on  the  same  farm  on  which,  he  was  born,  and  which  his 
father  settled  in  the  early  days  of  the  county's  existence.  He  has  always 
been  known  among  his  neighbors  and  fellow-citizens  as  a  man  of  ability 
and  energy  and  progressive  spirit,  and  he  has  so  managed  his  afifairs  as  to 
gain  a  substantial  place  in  the  world  and  surround  himself  with  comfortable 
circumstances. 

]\Ir.  Bohling  was  born  in  St.  John  township.  Lake  county,  October  ii, 
1855,  a  grandson  of  Andrew  and  a  son  of  John  Bohling,  both  well  known 
men  in  the  early  settlement  of  Lake  county.  His  father  was  born  in  Ger- 
many, November  26,  1823,  and  was  reared  there  to  the  age  of  fifteen,  when 
he  was  brought  by  his  father  to  America.  They  lived  in  Joliet,  Illinois,  for 
two  years,  and  in  1841  came  to  Lake  county,  Lidiana.  Here  John  Bohling 
married,  in  1843,  Anna  Mary  Shillo,  who  was  -also  born  in  Germany  and 
came  to  America  in  1842.  She  died  at  the  age  of  seventy  years  After  their 
marriage  they  located  on  a  tract  of  unimproved  land  in  St.  Joh.n  township, 
and  he  gave  his  attention  to  its  improvement  and  cultivation  for  many  years, 
and  still  resides  on  it.  with  his  son  John.  He  is  now  past  eighty  years  of 
age,  and  is  revered  as  one  of  the  sterling  pioneers  of  Lake  county.  Of  his 
seven  children  only  four  are  now  living,  as  follows :  ^lagdalen,  wife  of  Bart 
Schaefer,  of  Center  township,  Lake  county ;  Susanna,  wife  of  Nick  Alaginot, 
of  St.  John  township;  Joseph  P.,  of  Hammond;  and  John  G. 

Mr.  Bohling,  the  youngest  of  the  family,  was  reared  on  the  farm  where 
he  still  lives,  and  received  his  early  education  in  the  schools  of  St.  John 
township.  On  his  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  si.xty  acres  he  raises  general 
crops  and  stock,  and  has  been  able  to  extract  more  than  a  good  livirig  from 
his  fertile  soil,  so  that  he  ranks  among  the  progressive  and  representative 
farmers  of  the  township.  Li  national  afifairs  he  has  always  given  his  alle- 
giance to  the  Democratic  party,  but  \-otes  for  the  man  in  local  afifaiis.  He 
and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Catholic  church  in  St.  John,  the  patron 
saint  St.  John's. 

April  2/.  1880.  Mr.  Bohling  married  Miss  Lillosa  Schmal.  who  was 
born  in  the  village  of  St.  John,  Lake  county.  February  4,  1857,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  .\dam  Schmal.  Five  children  have  been  lx)rn  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bohling:  Clara,  the  wife  of  Frank  A.  Beiker,  of  Crown  Point:  William,  at 
home;  Eleanor;  Norbert;  and  Joseph  A.,  deceased. 


U>C  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

LEVI   E.    BAILEY. 

On  the  roster  of  county  officials  of  Lake  county  appears  the  name  of 
Levi  E.  Bailey,  who  is  the  present  treasurer  and  is  a  most  faithful  custodian 
of  the  public  exchequer.  He  is  living  at  present  in  Crown  Point,  and  through- 
out this  portion  of  the  state  he  is  widely  and  favorably  known.  By  birth, 
training  and  preference  he  is  a  western  man,  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  enter- 
prise and  advancement  which  is  characteristic  of  the  middle  west  and  has 
led  to  its  rapid  growth  and  development. 

Mr.  Bailey  was  born  in  A^ellowhead  township,  Kankakee  county,  Illi- 
nois, Tanuarv  9,  1858.  It  is  known  that  his  ancestors  lived  at  one  time  in 
North  Carolina,  afterward  in  Pennsylvania  and  still  later  in  Ohio.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  John  Bailey,  became  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
LaPorte  county,  Indiana,  locating  there  during  tlie  early  boyhood  of  Josiah 
B.  Bailev.  On  leaving  LaPorte  county  Josiah  B.  Bailey  took  up  his  abode 
in  Lake  county  with  his  parents,  and  was  here  reared.  He  was  also  married 
here,  the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Miss  N'ancy  Kile,  who  was  born  in  Lake 
countv,  Indiana.  Immediately  after  their  marriage  they  removed  to  Kanka- 
kee countv,  Illinois,  where  the  father  followed  the  occupation  of  farming  until 
1866  He  then  returned  with  his  family  to  Lake  county,  locating  in  West 
Creek  township,  where  he  spent  his  remaining  days,  his  death  occurring  when 
he  was  sixtj^-seven  years  of  age.  He  was  a  verA-  public-spirited  man,  took 
an  active  and  helpful  interest  in  the  building  of  roads  and  gave  a  generous 
and  zealous  support  to  the  measures  for  the  public  good.  In  politics  he  was 
a  verv  stanch  Republican.  His  wife  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight  years. 
In  the  family  were  four  children,  three  sons  and  a  daughter,  all  of  whom  are 
now  residents  of  W^est  Creek  township.  Lake  county. 

Levi  E.  Bailey  is  the  eldest  and  was  but  si.x  years  of  age  when  the  family 
returned  to  Lake  count}-,  so  that  he  was  reared  here.  He  attended  the  com- 
mon schools,  worked  on  the  home  farm  and  remained  under  the  parental  roof 
until  twenty-two  years  of  age,  when  he  started  out  in  life  on  his  own  account. 
He  engaged  in  farming  in  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  for 
three  years,  and  then  again  came  to  Lake  county,  settling  in  ^^"est  Creek  town- 
ship. There  he  carried  on  general  agricultural  pursuits  until  November.  1902, 
when  he  was  elected  county  treasurer.     On  the  ist  of  September,   1903,  he 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  I'JT 

took  up  his  abode  in  Crown  Point.  He  took  possession  of  the  office  on  tlie 
1st  of  January,  1903,  and  is  now  capably  discharging  the  duties  thereof.  He 
owns  a  farm  of  four  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  West  Creek  township,  which 
is  now  rented.  He  is  also  a  stockholder  in  the  Lowell  National  Bank.  ]\Iarch 
19,  1904,  Mr.  Bailey  was  re-nominated  for  a  second  term  as  treasurer. 

In  1880  occurred  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Bailey  and  ]Miss  Emma  Hayden, 
a  native  of  ^\'est  Creek  township.  Lake  county,  and  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and 
Louisa  Hayden,  who  were  pioneer  settlers  of  this  county.  Four  children 
graced  this  marriage :  Nancy,  the  wife  of  Loren  Love,  of  West  Creek  town- 
ship ;  Murray ;  Merritt ;  and  Bennett. 

Mr.  Bailey  takes  a  veiy  active  interest  in  local  political  affairs  and  is  an 
unfaltering  advocate  of  Republican  principles,  believing  firmly  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  party  and  endorsing  the  \'arious  planks  of  its  platform.  He  is 
identified  with  the  Knights  of  P}'thias  fraternity  and  the  Independent  Order 
of  Foresters,  at  Lowell,  and  he  is  well  known  in  fraternal,  political  and  agri- 
cultural circles  throughout  the  county. 

RICHARD    FULLER. 

Richard  Fuller  was  for  some  years  one  of  the  extensive  farmers  of 
Lake  county,  operating  one  thousand  acres,  and  his  name  has  been  a  prom- 
inent and  honored  one  in  connection  with  agricultural  interests  and  with 
the  dealing  in  hay,  grain  and  stock.  He  is  now  proprietor  of  the  Fuller  House 
at  Shelby,  and  few  men  of  this  part  of  the  state  have  a  wider  or  more  fa\-orable 
acquaintance  than  has  Richard  Fuller.  Moreover,  he  is  entitled  to  distinc- 
tion as  a  self-made  man,  whose  success  is  attributable  directly  to  his  own 
efforts 

Mr.  Fuller  was  born  in  Athens  county,  Ohio,  February  12,  1829,  and 
has,  therefore,  passed  the  seventy-fifth  milestone  on  life's  journey.  His 
parents  were  James  and  Lydia  (Dodge)  Fuller,  both  of  whom  were  natives 
of  Maine.  His  maternal  grandmother,  however,  was  born  in  Scotland  and 
w'as  brought  to  America  when  a  little  maiden  of  seven  summers.  The 
paternal  grandfather  was  born  in  Maine  and  was  of  English  descent,  the 
family  having  Ijeen  founded  in  America  in  early  colonial  days.  When  the 
colonists  attempted  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  British  oiipression  he  joined 
the  continental  army  and  fought  for  the  independence  of  the  nation.     Both 


15^  HISTORY  OF  L.\KE  COUXTV, 

Mr,  «ii>d  Mirsi.  Janies  Faller  wiene  reareti  aixi  evtwcAted  ia  ibc  Piii*  Tre«  state, 
*«ihJ  irt>«r  nwrriAg*  \x-«s  tliene  cfk^iratied  They  becanie  the  parents  of  ek>«n 
chiktjwiv,  ot  wiboaii'i  RiohsTd  Frailer  is  tihe  tentli  chiM  asud  nijwh  5icvn, 

"Rk-hainJ  F-nl)er  was  rn  ihi*  wmth  vear  wihen  be  ounw  to  Labe  oowmy, 

:'^  'hi?  fatheir  .     '         Vr,     The  tami'h-  K-nnie  wa?  established  in 

^v\,.. .   V   vViv  toAVTJsMjv  >>i......      ,^  tAther  entered  land  tTiMM  the  giweTmiiem 

ATK^  iwfvrox'ed  a  tamv  spendii^  hfe  TonaTiiiT^  tiays  tlwreoni,  hts  death  oc- 
oaTrir^  when  be  xirjis  m  M$  ssex^wy-^first  year,  Hfe  xriie  passed  ai«ra}i  when 
AKvnt  the  satne  «§«,  They  were  pJcsneer  settters  ■of  La^  coflsmty  air>d  »mv«3y 
assisted  m  the  eariy  dex^'kipniient  awd  progiwss  isf  tihi?  piimoin  of  the  sstaite. 

R-Jchard  "~  ".         ^      "  "  -  ,  ■      ;x-«n  m  one  of  the  old  leg  schcol  hoiases 

.  ■  of  the  war  he  *ssl^  .  ,  -      —,       ■  -.    ^  vlaTid 

aith?  i^A^lopa-r^  the  homw  tawix     He  gave  hts  father  iflne  heiiefit  of  his  semces 
he  ha».l  attained  his  Tfja^^^iW",  aand  dnen  er^^ged  in  farmrr^  •im  ihss  tmn 
aocowiift  in  Ce<3aT  Cwek  towsusJinip,    He  later  j«niioved  t©  West  Oree?^  towtf- 
>'  '.,'.,         ,  "        "  tS:^^ 'wheal  he  came  to  5', "  ',  .  r       ed 

^.    .  -.  -      ^       ^"      -r  trme  he  oipcw;.*;..  v  .<    ,  -    ■■d 

...  -  ...  .  -    ,  -         .  H-as  extensiivieJy  er^jaged         .      ig 

iw  hay,  ^jrai-n  atid  iJtodc  tnwil  aibowt  iten  y«ars  .^a  when  he  iparchased  9ns 
present  place,  the  FnTler  Hoiose,  which  he  is  mow  <-i.tnd«criT^. 

1*1  11S54  Mr,  Fualer  'w^s  minmed  wu  wjanrii^  ito  Miss  IDehorah  Hale,  a 
natix*  of  M/  .  "\-  x^:as  T«aTetl  hcw^'ver,  in  iLake  ooimty,  iTidiana.  She 
'd?ei9  m  1^5.  vv. V  .:g  ele^ien  chi"".""^-  '"  '  -"--—  -^-y--;-. '  -  ■-■•  -_-^  -.-,j 
inwie  ai*  h%-hi^- at  this '»Tfl»r^>     1-       -  -  .•    _  -      i;h 

school  coarse,  is  wjatried  asid  a  faraier  at  iRose  in  WV^io^scm  coanty,  KaTJsas. 
OsTa  A'deha  was  ie<ftoca*ed  in  ithe  ^rrsnomaT  schooJs  5fJ»d  is  ucwr  a  ir«B<3enii  of 
Shefhy,  tiJtis  >cciorfly,  Jtow^  Pra-nltlm,  a  <;or.«r»c»csr  aind  ImJIiSer  -of  Oamvcm 
City,  OoiJorado.  is  a  -        -      '  '  '    -      .    ,  '  -  .  ^     "      S"? 

-     -    of  Xe\'  ...  -  :ist  !lrr  proiiess?on  and 

was  edncated  in  ibe  <3ty  ^tdhere  ^  uowr  Tendes.  Richard  Edwin  is  wjamiwd 
atjd  is  «  swcccssfdl  t«staTfra*enr  at  MonoTi,  IndJaafia,  Ha-nn^  Ann  is  at 
s   -1-      -^  V-  .  -   -,  farmer  at  SbeillM-,  was  «ednca!ted  in 

ir>e  commor.  scho^.s  ,'::;..  ;s  .r.  ^^'cm^xrat  to  pdBncs,    Laxrra  Jeafmene  is  ^dic 


I  lis  Tom'  ()!•■  I.AKI'.  (YHJNTY.  199 

will"  (if  J:iiiu's  I'llink,  .1  pri  is]ii'ri 'lis  slucl^  I'.irn'cr  I'l'  (  Jicli.iicl  (irn\i\  liulimia. 
A.qncs  I  )clii  ii  ;ili,  ilic  xmmqi'sl  nl  llic  rliiMicn.  is  llic  wile  ol  Jnlin  l'>'>ri;',  who 
is  fililni  (i|   llic  AVvi'.v  /\'rr7(Ti"  :il    I  li:i\i'r.   Iiiili;iii;i. 

\l  ilu-  iiiiic  (il  llic  (nil  will  Mr.  I'lillcr  scrxcii  for  six  nmntlis  as  a 
iiiciiiIht  111  (  iiiii|i:iii\  I''.  I'lfu  liflli  liiilianii  NUIiiiilccr  liifaiilrv.  and  was 
tlicii  lMiii(iiaM\  (liscliaiLM'il  li\'  rcasmi  of  tin-  cossalicni  nf  linsiilitics,  July  27, 
liSf)5.  I U'  is  a  hciiHH'ial  ill  Ills  |i(i|iiu'al  \  icw  s  aiiil  a  suppdrUT  (il  W.  J. 
llryaii.  Me  lias  lu'cii  a  usulciil  nl  I  .akc  ocuiiiU-  fur  si\ly-li\o  years,  and  few 
iif  ils  citi/ciis  lia\i'  lcinL;i'r  witnessed  its  prDi^rcss  and  iinprdvement.  His 
llic  has  hccii  cliaiaclci  i/cd  h\-  nnliiini;  aeii\it\'  ;uid  perseverance  and  he  is 
well    l^iiKwii    and    hij^iily    respcelcd    hecaiise    nf    iiis    many    sterling    traits    of 

clinracter. 

OKI    \\i>()    W     Si''K\iS. 

(>ilaiidii  \.  Ser\  is.  a  piiiniiiu'iit  ami  wcilkn.iwn  lainier  of  Section  J5, 
Entile  Creek  low  iisliiii.  has  made  1  .ake  county  the  scene  of  his  (juiet  and 
siiccessfnl  i-iide,i\i>rs  ever  since  lietiinnin_t;'  his  active  career,  and  tlie  township 
wliere  he  now  resides  is  also  his  hirthplace.  so  that  sixty  odd  _\ears  of  resi- 
dence h.is  made  Lake  conniy  the  most  paiticiilar  and  dearest  spot  of  the  inhab- 
ited ijlohe  to  him.  The  most  strenuous  p.art  of  Mr.  Servis's  Hfe.  Iiowever, 
was  jiassed  aw.iv  from  ilie  peaceful  limits  of  1  .ake  county,  in  the  daily  marches 
and  h.itllcs  i^i  the  i;real  Kehcllion.  in  which  he  was  one  of  the  faithful  soldiers 
of  llic  I'lnoii  .md  i;a\c  oxer  four  \cars'  of  conscientious  service  for  its 
intCL;!  ily. 

riiis  Nctcr.in  soldier  and  successful  farmer  was  horn  in  luigle  Creek 
township.  Lake  conniy.  Seincmher  u,  184,^,  heing  the  sixth  of  the  eight 
children,  four  sons  aiu!  four  daughters,  horn  to  Orlando  \'.  and  I'diza  (hdint) 
Servis,  hoth  natives  oi  \ew  N'orU  state.  Iiis  father  came  ti>  Lake  county 
in  llic  ihirlies.  and  l<H'ated  on  a  tract  of  land  near  Southeast  Grove  in  Eagle 
I  reek  township,  where  he  improved  aucl  developed  a  line  tarni.  He  died 
al  llehrou.  in  Torter  county,  when  about  sevenly-fnc  years  old.  He  was 
a  prominent  meinlKM-  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  clnirch,  tor  some  years  being 
llic  niosi  iulUiential  supporter  of  his  church,  lie  was  a  Whig  and  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  and  held  various  local  ollices.  such  as  township  trustee,  etc. 
His  wife  also  died  at  Hebron  at  the  age  of  seventy-live.  Four  of  their  chil- 
d,reu  died  when  voung. 


200  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Servis  Avas  reared  in  his  native  township,  receiving  his  schooling 
at  Southeast  Grove.  In  1861  he  enhsted  in  Company  E.  Ninth  Indiana 
Infantry,  and  served  two  years  as  private  and  was  then  made  first  duty 
sergeant  of  his  company.  At  the  end  of  his  first  term  of  three  years'  enHst- 
ment  he  re-enHsted  in  the  same  company  and  served  till  the  end  of  the  war. 
He  participated  at  the  siege  of  Corinth,  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  Stone  River 
and  Chickamauga,  and  was  with  Sherman  until  wounded  at  Pine  Mountain, 
Georgia,  a  gunshot  wound  keeping  him  in  Hospital  No.  i  at  Nashville  for 
three  months,  after  which  he  was  sent  home  for  thirty  days,  and  rejomed  his 
regiment  at  Pulaski,  Tennessee.  He  was  under  Thomas  at  the  battles  of 
Nashville  and  Franklin.  He  had  also  been  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Resaca, 
a  cannon  ball  passing  between  his  knees  and  inflicting  a  severe  injury  to  his 
left  knee.  In  all  he  served  four  years  and  two  months,  and  received  his 
honorable  discharge  at  Camp  Stanley.  Texas,  and  was  mustered  out  at 
Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

On  his  return  from  the  army  he  bought  the  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  where  he  now  resides,  and  where  he  carries  on  general  farming, 
being  one  of  the  most  progressive  and  successful  men  of  his  class  in  the 
vicinity.  He  affiliates  with  Burnham  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  at  Lowell,  and  is  a 
stanch  Republican,  although  he  never  allows  his  name  to  be  presented  for 
office.  He  married,  in  1870,  Miss  Nancy  A.  Pearce,  a  daughter  of  Michael 
and  Mary  J.  Pearce,  extended  mention  of  which  worthy  couple  will  be  found 
in  the  biography  of  their  son,  John  Pearce.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Servis  have  one 
child,  Mabel,  at  home,  who  has  completed  the  eighth  grade  of  the  public 
schools  and  has  taken  instruction  in  music. 

FRED   J.    SMITH. 

Varied  and  extensive  business  interests  have  claimed  the  attention,  en- 
crg\'  and  business  foresight  of  Fred  J.  Smith,  who  is  now  the  senior  member 
of  the  firm  of  Smith  &  Bader.  real  estate  and  land  agents  of  \\'hiting.  He  is 
also  identified  with  other  financial  and  commercial  interests  here,  and  his 
labors  have  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  town,  for 
the  advancement  of  any  community  is  dependent  in  large  measure  upon  its 
business  men.  Mr.  Smith  is  a  native  son  of  Indiana,  his  birth  having  occurred 
in  LaPorte  county  on  the  25th  of  March,  1S62. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  201 

His  father,  Louis  Smith,  was  born  in  Europe,  and  when  a  young  man 
crossed  the  Atlantic  to  the  new  world.  He  married  Miss  Sophia  Hider,  who 
was  also  of  European  birth,  but  was  brought  to  the  new  world  when  but  two 
years  old.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Louis  Smith  became  residents  of  LaPorte  county, 
Indiana,  at  an  early  period  in  the  development  of  that  portion  of  the  state, 
and  the  subject  of  this  review  is  their  eldest  son  and  second  child.  He  was 
reared  under  the  parental  roof  and  is  indebted  to  the  public  schools  of  LaPorte, 
Indiana,  for  the  educational  privileges  he  enjoyed.  After  putting  aside  his 
text  books  he  learned  the  baker's  trade  and  subsequently,  in  1890.  he  cai.ie  to 
Whiting,  where  he  became  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Smith  &  Bader  as  pro- 
prietors of  a  bakery  and  restaurant.  While  in  that  business  they  began  pur- 
chasing real  estate  and  laid  out  several  additions  to  the  town,  the  fiist  being 
what  is  known  as  the  Smith  &  Bader  Addition.  They  afterward  laid  out  the 
Sheridan  Park  addition,  and  in  this  way  lia\'e  contributed  much  to  the  im- 
provement and  substantial  ui)building  of  the  place.  They  organized  the 
Whiting  Land  Company,  formed  under  the  state  laws  of  Indiana,  Mr.  Smith 
becoming  its  president.  This  company  now  owns  and  controls  much  of  the 
best  residence  property  of  \\'hiting  in  the  western  part  of  the  city.  This  has 
been  greatly  improved,  involving  the  investment  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  The  first  addition  has  all  been  sold.  Sheridan  Park  has 
also  been  improved,  some  of  the  best  streets  of  the  city  ha\-e  been  laid,  there 
and  many  of  the  finest  residences  have  been  there  built.  The  lots  are  forty 
feet  front,  and  some  of  the  houses  have  been  erected  at  a  cost  of  forty-five 
hundred  dollars.  Mr.  Smith  has  perhaps  been  more  closely  identified  with 
the  upbuilding  and  improvement  of  \Miiting  than  any  other  man.  ami  while 
conducting  his  private  business  afl'airs  he  has  also  contributed  in  full  measure 
to  the  general  welfare.  He  is  one  of  the  directors  of  the  First  National  Bank 
and  is  now  treasurer  of  the  Petrolene,  Paint  &  Roofing  Company  of  \\'hiting. 
He  is  continually  studying  so  as  to  introduce  improved  methods  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  town,  and  is  now  president  of  the  Business  ]\Ien's  Association. 

In  1888  Mr.  Smith  was  united  in  marriage  to  ]\Iiss  Helen  ^laas.  and  to 
them  have  been  born  three  sons.  Russell.  Walter  and  Lawrence.  In  his  i?(^litical 
views  ]\Ir.  Smith  is  a  Democrat  and  was  one  of  the  first  aldermen  of  Whiting 
and  one  of  the  first  trustees  of  the  town  after  its  organization.  He  has  also 
been  president  of  the  board  of  education,  and  he  is  a  trustee  of  the  Lutheran 


202  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

cluirch,  in  which  he  holds  membership.  He  belongs  to  the  little  group  of 
distinctively  representative  business  men  who  have  been  the  pioneers  m  inau- 
gurating and  building  up  the  chief  industries  of  this  section  of  the  country. 
He  early  had  the  sagacity  and  prescience  to  discern  the  eminence  which  the 
future  had  in  store  for  this  great  and  growing  city,  and,  acting  in  accordance 
with  the  dictates  of  his  faith  and  judgment,  he  has  garnered  in  the  fulhiess  of 
time  the  generous  harvest  which  is  the  just  recompense  of  indomitable  indus- 
try, spotless  integrity  and  marvelous  enterprise.  He  is  now  connected  with 
many  extensive  and  important  business  interests. 

ArATHE\\'    J.    BROWN. 

Mathew  J.  Brown,  who  is  popularly  and  extensively  known  throughout 
Lake  and  Porter  counties  as  "Matt"  Brown,  has  agricultural,  live-stock  and 
commercial  interests  perhaps  as  important  as  those  of  any  other  man  in  the 
county  of  Lake.  He  resides  on  section  ig  of  Eagle  Creek  township,  where 
he  has  one  of  the  beautiful  homes  of  the  vicinity.  He  has  spent  his  life  smce 
birth  mainly  in  this  township,  and  has  made  himself  by  capacity  for  business 
transactions  and  integrity  of  personal  character  one  of  the  influential  factors 
of  industrial  and  social  activity. 

^Ir.  Brown  was  born  in  Eagle  Creek  township.  October  31.  1857,  being 
the  third  child  of  William  and  ^lary  J.  (Wallace)  Brown,  whose  individual 
history  will  be  found  on  other  pages  of  this  work.  He  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  his  native  township,  attending  first  the  country  schools  and  after- 
ward the  Northern  Lidiana  Normal  School  at  Valparaiso.  He  began  his 
career  of  activity  by  teaching  in  the  winter  and  farming  in  the  summer, 
continuing  this  manner  of  living  until  he  was  twenty-nine  years  old  and 
meanwhile  making  his  home  with  his  father.  At  that  time  he  took  unto 
himself  a  wife,  and  then  located  on  a  farm  about  one  mile  east  of  his  present 
residence.  He  rented  eleven  hundred  and  twenty  acres  for  ten  years,  and 
carried  on  very  extensive  operations  in  general  farming  and  stock-raising.  At 
the  same  time  he  liought  and  sold  much  land,  his  transactions  involving  over 
two  thousand  acres  altogether.  At  one  time  in  his  career  he  was  engaged 
in  farming  two  thousand  acres.  In  1900  he  built  his  present  residence  at  a 
cost  of  about  eight  thousand  dollars,  it  being  one  of  the  model  country  homes 
of  Lake  countv.     He  owns  about  a  thousand  acres,  not  a  foot  of  which  does 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  2C3 

he  rent  out  tn  other  parties.  He  pays  out  thousands  of  dollars  for  help  and 
carries  on  all  his  extensive  operations  under  his  own  direct  supervision.  He 
also  has  an  extensive  mercantile  husiness  at  Hebron,  in  Porter  county,  and  at 
one  time  he  was  a  merchant  of  Lowell.  He  has  a  general  store  of  his  own 
at  Hebron  and  also  a  half  interest  in  a  store  with  his  brother.  He  has  spent 
nearly  all  of  the  years  of  his  active  career  in  the  hay  and  grain  and  live-stock 
business,  and  in  fact  will  deal  in  nearly  everything  subject  to  barter,  e.Kchange 
or  purchase.  He  is  also  senior  member  of  the  Hebron  Lumber  and  Coal 
Company,  which  has  extensive  trade  in  its  lines.  ]Mr.  Brown,  on  his  farm, 
makes  a  specialty  of  raising  fine  Hereford  cattle,  and  keeps  about  one  hun- 
dred head  of  this  beautiful  stock.  He  has  been  highly  prospered  in  all  his 
enterprises,  and  for  about  twenty  years  has  been  recognized  as  one  of  the 
men  of  power  and  ability  in  trade  and  agricultural  circles  of  eastern  Lake 
countv.  Besides  the  multifarious  duties  and  business  interests  of  j\lr.  Brown, 
we  may  add  that  he  has  been  extensively  engaged  as  a  tb.resher  for  twenty- 
five  years  in  Eagle  Creek  and  adjacent  territory,  and  has  met  with  'lis  usual 
degree  of  success.  He  introduced  the  first  steam  thresher  in  Eagle  Creek 
township  and  even  at  the  present  time  (1904)  has  two  or  three  outfits 
at  work. 

He  has  been  a  stanch  Repulilican  since  casting  his  first  presidential 
ballot,  and  has  not  been  content  to  sit  idle  while  others  performed  the  duties 
of  citizenship.  He  was  elected  to  the  office  of  county  commissioner  in  1902, 
and  is  the  nominee  for  a  second  term.  He  was  serxing  as  township  trustee 
just  before  election  to  his  present  office.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
order  at  Hebron,  Lodge  No.  502,  and  also  of  the  Ivnights  of  Pythias,  Lodge 
No.  405.  at  the  same  place. 

March  31,  1886,  Mr.  Brown  married  Aliss  ^lary  A.  Crawford,  who  was 
born  in  Eagle  Creek  township  of  Lake  county,  being  a  daughter  of  John 
and  Adaline  (Staley)  Crawford.  She  was  educated  in  the  home  schools 
and  at  the  Female  Seminary  at  Oxford,  Ohio.  There  were  eight  children 
born  of  this  union  :  Joseph  E.,  who  is  attending  the  Crown  Point  high  school; 
Harry  also  in  the  Crown  Point  high  school;  \\'illiam  Jay.  John  Crawford, 
Rubv  A.,  Kenneth  D.,  Bessie  and  Marv  H. 


204  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

D.  H.  THOMPSON. 

D.  H.  Thompson,  of  section  26,  Center  township,  has  been  a  prominent 
Lake  county  farmer  for  the  past  t\venty-fi\e  years,  lias  done  his  share  in  the 
work  of  progress  and  development  of  tlie  county's  material,  social",  intehectual 
and  moral  affairs,  and  in  all  the  relations  of  a  very  busy  and  successful  life 
has  been  found  true  to  his  best  ideals  and  lias  retained  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  his  fellow  citizens. 

Mr.  Thompson  was  born  in  fiercer  countv,  Pennsylvania,  August  4, 
1846.  His  father,  Anthony  Thompson,  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  but  his  grand- 
parents were  born  in  .Scotland.  He  came  over  to  America  when  seventeen 
years  old  and  followed  the  occupation  of  farming  in  Pennsylvania  during  the 
rest  of  his  life.  He  was  married  in  the  same  state  to  Reljecca  McClure,  whose 
father  v.'as  one  of  the  first  school  teachers  in  western  Pennsylvania.  She  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-seven,  having  been  the  mother  of  twelve  children,  of  whom 
D.  H.  is  the  youngest,  and  his  oldest  brother  is  still  living  in  Lawrence 
count}'.  Pennsylvania,  past  the  age  of  eighty. 

]\Ir.  D.  H.  Thompson  was  reared  in  his  native  county,  and  obtained  his 
early  literary  training  in  the  country  schools,  completing  his  education  in  the 
Iron  City  School  at  Pittsburg.  In  1863,  when  seventeen  years  old,  he  enlisted 
in  Company  D,  Fifty-fifth  Pennsylvania  Militia,  and  served  as  a  private  for 
sixty  days  during  the  invasion  of  the  southern  forces  into  the  state.  He  then 
returned  home  and  fur  a  number  of  years  followed  the  occupations  of  farm- 
ing, carpentering  and  bridge-building  in  Pennsylvania.  In  i\Iarcli,  1879,  he 
came  out  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  and  entered  upon  his  career  as  farmer  in 
Center  township.  He  has  a  fine  farm  of  one  liundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  its 
well  improved  and  highly  cultivated  acres  are  valuable  in  themselves  and 
return  large  profits  from  their  skilful  culture  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Thoni])son. 

He  is  a  firm  adherent  of  the  Republican  party  in  matters  of  national 
inipiirtance,  Imt  pays  little  attention  to  the  party  tag  aflixed  to  the  candidate 
for  local  office.  He  is  a  member  of  the  United  Presbyterian  cliurch  and  is 
serving  as  treasurer  of  the  same. 

March  25,  1879,  Mr.  Thompson  married  ]\liss  Margaret  A.  McKnight, 
who  was  born  December  11,  1847.  '"  Porter  county.  Indiana,  near  the  Lake 


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^-A-V-x-i  , 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  205 

county  line,  and  was  reared  for  the  most  part  in  Lake  county.  She  liad  four 
brothers  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  one  of  whom  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Kenesaw  Mountain  and  another  died  in  the  hospital.  Mr.  Thompson  also 
had  a  brother  John,  who  served  in  the  Seventh  Kansas  Regiment  during  the 
war.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thompson  have  three  children  living;  Samuel  A.,  James 
\\'.  and  \\"illiam  R.  Samuel  resides  with  his  parents  and  is  an  agriculturist. 
James  W'.,  at  Charlottsville,  Indiana,  and  a  telegrapher  on  the  Pan  Handle 
Railroad,  was  educated  in  the  normal  college  at  Valparaiso.  William  R.,  the 
youngest,  is  at  home. 

]Mrs.  Thompson's  parents  are  both  deceased :  her  lather  died  aged  eighty- 
three,  and  mother  about  seventy-five.  They  were  members  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  church.  Mrs.  Thompson  is  a  memlier  of  the  L'niteil  Pres- 
byterian church.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thompson  are  citizens  who  are  held  in  high 

esteem. 

\V.\LTER    L.    ALLi\L\N. 

Walter  L.  Allman,  vice-president  of  the  Commercial  Bank  and  senior 
partner  of  the  abstract  firm  of  Allman  Brothers,  figures  prominently  in  busi- 
ness circles  in  Crown  Point,  and  whde  his  life  history  contains  no  exciting 
chapters  it  yet  demonstrates  the  force  of  consecutive  endeavor,  guided  by 
sound  business  principles  and  supiilemented  liy  laudable  aml)ition. 

Mr.  Allman  is  a  native  son  of  Crown  Point,  where  his  birth  occurred 
on  the  6th  of  October.  1861.  He  is  the  eldest  son  of  Amos  and  Mary  A. 
(Luther)  Allman,  and  is  of  English  lineage.  His  grandfather,  Major 
Allman.  was  the  first  Methodist  minister  at  Crown  Point  and  was  closely 
identified  with  the  early  de\'elo])ment  and  moral  advancement  of  the  county. 
The  name  of  Allman  has  since  been  closeh'  associated  with  the  history  of 
Lake  county,  and  its  various  representati\'es  ha\'e  been  worthy  and  valuable 
citizens.  Amos  Allman  was  but  an  infant  wdien  brought  to  the  county  and 
he  spent  almost  his  entire  life  here.  For  a  long  period  he  was  engaged  in 
the  abstract  business. 

In  taking  up  the  personal  history  of  \\'alter  L.  Allman  we  present  to 
our  readers  the  life  record  of  one  who  is  widely  and  favorably  known  in 
Lake  county,  where  his  business  activity  has  led  to  success  and  prominence. 
He  has  always  lived  in  Lake  county  with  the  exception  of  about  a  year  spent 
with  his  parents  in  Niles,  Michigan.     The  greater  part  of  his  education  was 


206  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

obtained  in  the  select  school  taught  by  the  Misses  Knight.  At  the  age  of 
eleven  years  he  began  to  learn  the  trade  of  typesetting  in  the  office  of  the 
Crown  Point  Herald,  and  devoted  about  two  years  to  that  occupation.  When 
about  fifteen  years  of  age  he  entered  his  father's  abstract  business,  and  when 
twenty-one  years  of  age  he  was  admitted  to  a  partnership.  Upon  his  father's 
death  he  became  the  senior  partner  in  the  business,  in  which  he  is  associated 
with  his  brother,  and  they  have  a  good  clientage  in  this  regard.  Walter  L. 
Allman  also  became  cashier  of  the  Commercial  Bank  of  Crown  Point  upon 
its  organization  in  1895  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  1904,  when  he  was 
elected  vice-president  of  said  bank.  He  is  therefore  well  known  in  financial 
circles,  and  his  business  ability  and  executive  force  have  contributed  in  large 
measure  to  the  successful  conduct  of  the  l)ank,  which  has  become  recognized 
as  one  of  the  strong,  safe  and  relialile  financial  institutions  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Allman  has  been  married  twice.  In  1892  he  wedded  Miss  Arvilla 
E.  Sings,  who  died  in  1894,  and  in  1900  he  was  again  married,  his  second 
union  being  with  Miss  Eva  Dyer,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Henry  and  Alta 
(Smith)  Dyer,  of  Kankakee,  Illinois.  Mrs.  .\llman  was  Ixirn  in  Kankakee 
county,  Illinois,  but  acquired  her  ijreliminary  education  in  the  public:  schools 
of  Crown  Point  and  was  graduated  in  the  Chicago  Female  College,  at 
Morgan  Park,  Illinois.  She  afterward  engaged  in  teaching  school  for  several 
years,  and  is  a  lady  of  superior  culture  and  refinement,  presiding  with  gracious 
hospitality  over  her  pleasant  home,  which  has  been  blessed  w'ith  one  son, 
Amos  Dyer,  born  April  8,  1901. 

In  his  fraternal  relations  Mr.  Allman  is  a  Knight  of  Pythias,  and  politi- 
cally is  a  Republican  who  keeps  well  informed  on  the  questions  and  issues 
of  the  day  and  gives  earnest  support  to  the  principles  and  candidates  of  the 
partv.  His  life  history  is  as  an  open  book  to  his  fellow-townsmen,  who 
have  had  intimate  knowledge  of  his  career  from  his  early  lx)yhood.  His 
has  been  an  honorable  career,  in  which  he  has  been  active  in  business,  loyal  in 
citizenship,  faithful  in  friendship,  and  as  a  representative  of  one  of  the  most 
prominent  pioneer  families  of  the  county  and  as  a  business  man  whose  record 
will  l)ear  the  closest  investigation,  he  well  deserves  mention  in  this  volume. 

HUGH    F.    MEIKLE. 

Hush  F.  Meikle,  dealer  in  coal,  brick,  wood,  lime  and  cement,  at  Ham- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  207 

niond.  has  been  well  known  in  the  business  circles  of  this  city  for  the  past 
seven  or  eight  years,  and  for  the  past  fi\-e  years  has  been  established  in  his 
present  business,  which  he  conducts  with  satisfactory  success,  and  with  such 
fair  and  square  dealing  and  enterprise  that  he  enjoys  a  good  patronage.  He 
is  a  man  of  proved  ability,  having  been  a  salesman  and  in  business  for  him- 
self for  a  number  of  years,  and  has  long  since  found  his  proper  sphere  of 
usefulness  in  the  world. 

He  was  born  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  October  17,  1863,  being  now 
the  only  survivor  of  two  sons  and  one  daughter  born  to  Thomas  and  Mar- 
garet (Fulton)  Meikle,  both  natives  of  Scotland.  Mr.  Meikle's  forefathers 
have  resided  for  generations  in  Scotland.  His  great-grandparents  were 
James  and  Elizabeth  Meikle.  His  grandfather,  also  James  Meikle,  was  a 
contractor  of  Scotland  and  was  also  ma}'or  of  Muir  Kirk.  He  died  in 
Scotland  when  about  seventy-two  years  old,  and  his  wife.  Mary  (Brown) 
]\Ieikle.  was  also  past  seventy  at  the  time  of  her  death.  They  had  a  large 
family  of  children. 

Thomas  Meikle  was  a  blacksmith,  learning  the  trade  in  his  native 
country.  He  came  to  America  about  1858.  locating  in  Louisville,  Kentuckv. 
where  he  began  the  manufacture  of  agricultural  implements.  He  died  in 
Chicago  while  on  a  visit  to  his  son  Hugh  F.,  in  1897,  at  the  age  of  seventy. 
He  and  his  wife  were  Presbyterians,  and  the  latter  still  survives,  making  her 
home  in  Louisville.  She  was  one  of  a  large  family  of  children  born  to  Hugh 
and  Agnes  (Stuart)  Fulton,  both  natives  of  Scotland,  and  the  former  a 
shoe  merchant  of  Kilmarnock.  Hugh  Fulton  was  eighty-four  years  old 
when  he  died,  anrl  his  wife  lived  to  the  patriarchal  age  of  ninety-six,  so  it 
seems  that  all  branches  of  the  family  have  been  very  long-lived  and  endowed 
with  Scotch  hardihood  and  strength. 

Hugh  F.  Meikle  was  reared  in  Louisville.  He  liad  a  good  public  school 
course,  graduating  from  the  high  school  in  1880.  He  then  began  work  in 
his  father's  plow  factory  and  afterward  was  advanced  to  the  superintendency 
of  the  factory.  He  held  this  position  until  1888.  and  from  then  until  1896 
was  on  the  road  as  a  plow  expert.  He  was  called  to  Hammond  in  the  latter 
year  in  order  to  install  the  machinery  for  what  was  known  as  the  Chicago 
Ax  Company's  plant.  After  that  was  accomplished  he  was  on  the  road  for 
eighteen  months  longer,  and  in  May,   1899,  engaged  in  the  wood  and  coal 


208  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

business  in  Hammond,  which  enterprise  lie  lias  continued,  with  enlarged  facil- 
ities, to  the  present  time. 

July  22,  1885,  Mr.  Meikle  married  Miss  Emma  E.  Korb.  a  daughter  of 
Jacob  and  Caroline  (Steinage)  Korb.  Two  daughters  have  been  born  of 
this  marriage,  Agnes  and  Eunice.  Mr.  Meilcle  is  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian church,  and  is  also  a  Mason  of  high  standing.  He  is  master  of  Gar- 
field Lodge  No.  569,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  a  member  of  Hammond  Chapter  No. 
117,  R.  A.  M.,  and  Hammond  Commandery  No  41,  K.  T.  He  also  has 
fraternal  membership  with  the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  He  is  prominent  and  well  known  in  the 
business  and  social  circles  of  his  city.  He  was  elected  president  of  the 
Hammond  school  board,  February  26,  1904. 

JERRY    M.    KENNEY. 

For  eighty-one  years  Jerry  M.  Kenney  has  traveled  life's  journey,  and 
through  a  long-  period  has  been  a  resident  of  Lake  county.  He  came  here 
when  this  was  a  pioneer  section,  the  work  of  progress  and  improvement  hav- 
ing been  scarcely  begun,  and  through  the  intervening  years  he  has  watched 
with  interest  the  advancement  that  has  here  been  made  and  has  given  his 
co-operation  to  many  mo\-ements  for  the  public  good.  He  is  a  native  of  the 
Pine  Tree  state,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  the  town  of  Hollowell.  Kennebec 
county,  IMaine,  on  the  loth  of  November,  1823. 

The  family  is  of  Scotch  lineage  and  was  founded  in  America  in  colonial 
days.  Charles  Kenney,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was  a  native  of  Maine  and 
was  there  reared  and  married.  By  occupation  he  was  a  luniberman  in  early 
life.  In  1807  he  removed  to  Ohio,  where  he  remained  for  three  years,  and 
then  returned  to  Maine,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  1837,  when  he  came 
to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  establishing  liis  home  in  Eagle  Creek  township.  He 
cast  in  his  lot  with  its  early  settlers  and  bore  his  full  share  in  the  work  of 
reclaiming  the  wild  land  for  the  purposes  of  civilization.  There  he  made  his 
home  throughout  his  remaining  days,  passing  away  at  the  age  of  sixty-six 
years.  His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Deborah  Rollins,  was  also  a 
native  of  Maine  and  died  in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  when  more  than  seventy 
years  of  age,  To  this  worthy  couple  were  born  four  sons  and  a  daughter,  all 
of  whom  reached  adult  age,  but  Mr.  Kenney,  who  was  the  fourth  child,  is  now 
the  only  one  living. 


(?/juey3^       ^n^yi^c€^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  209 

Jerry  M.  Kenney  spent  the  first  fourteen  years  of  his  hfe  in  the  state  of 
liis  nativity  and  then  accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal  to  Lake  county, 
Indiana.  He  had  previously  attended  the  pubhc  schools  of  Maine  and  after 
coming  to  this  state  he  assisted  in  opening'  up  a  new  farm,  the  family  being 
the  first  to  settle  on  the  prairie  in  Eagle  Creek  township.  He  performed  much  of 
the  arduous  tasks  incident  to  the  development  of  a  new  farm,  and  to  his  father 
gave  the  benefit  of  his  services  until  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  then  went 
to  Door  Prairie,  where  he  worked  for  two  years  as  a  farm  hand  at  ten  dollars 
per  month.  On  the  expiration  of  that  period  he  rented  land  of  his  father  for 
two  years,  and  then  with  the  capital  which  he  had  acquired  through  his  own 
energy,  perseverance  and  economy  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  and  began 
its  improvement.  He  broke  the  sod,  planted  crops,  set  out  an  orchartl  and 
made  other  substantial  improvements  until  his  highly  cultivated  farm  bore 
little  resemblance  to  the  wild  tract  which  had  come  into  his  possession.  He 
added  to  his  land  from  time  to  time  until  he  is  now  the  owner  of  about  five 
hundred  acres,  and  he  \\as  successfully  engaged  in  general  farming  until 
1854,  when  he  purchased  a  store  at  what  is  called  Orchard  Grove.  There  he 
carried  on  general  merchandising  for  twenty-seven  years  in  connection  with 
agricultural  pursuits.  In  1900  he  sold  his  store  and  retired  from  business, 
to  enjoy  a  rest  which  he  had  truly  earned  and  richly  deserves. 

In  1848  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Kenney  and  Miss  Phoebe 
Woodruff,  a  native  of  Ohio,  who  was  brought  to  Lake  county  by  her  parents 
when  a  maiden  of  ten  years,  the  family  being  early  settlers  of  this  portion  of 
the  state.  They  became  the  parents  of  six  children,  four  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters :  George  W.,  Lucinda,  J.  C,  Joseph  D.,  Schuyler  C.  and  Effie  L.  All 
were  born  in  Lake  county  and  are  yet  living,  with  the  exception  of  Joseph  D. 
Kenney. 

In  early  life  Mr.  Kenney  was  a  stanch  advocate  of  Whig  principles  and 
at  the  dissolution  of  that  party  he  became  a  stalwart  Republican,  and  has  since 
voted  the  ticket  of  that  party  organization,  where  state  and  national  ques- 
tions are  involved.  At  local  elections,  however,  he  votes  independently,  sup- 
porting the  candidate  whom  he  thinks  best  qualified  for  office.  He  served  for 
twenty-seven  consecutive  years  as  postmaster  at  Orchard  Grove,  and  he  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  since  twenty-five  years  of 
age,  while  his  wife  united  with  the  same  denomination  at  the  age  of  sixteen. 
11 


210  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

They  have  taken  a  \evy  active  and  lielpful  part  in  church  work,  and  Mr. 
Kenney  has  served  as  class  leader  and  as  Sunday-school  superintendent.  As 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  county  he  has  witnessed  its  development  from  an 
early  day  and  has  borne  his  full  share  in  the  work  of  progress  and  improve- 
ment. At  the  same  time  he  has  carved  out  a  fortune  for  himself.  He  started 
out  in  life  empty-handed,  but  he  possessed  strong  determination  and  by  his 
imfaltering  lator  and  honorable  dealing  he  has  gained  a  handsome  property 
and  is  justly  accounted  one  of  the  self-made  men  of  Lake  county. 

Mrs.  Kenney  was  born  June  26,  1830,  and  she  was  educated  in  the  com- 
m.on  schools.  For  fifty-six  years  or  over  a  half  century  have  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kenney  traveled  the  journey  of  life,  sharing  alike  the  joys  and  sorrows.  She 
is  the  onlv  survivor  of  the  Woodruff  family.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kenney  attended 
the  pioneer  school  of  the  early  day  when  the  window  was  of  greased  paper, 
and  the  house  was  heated  by  the  old-fashioned  fireplace.  The  roof  was  of 
"shakes."  He  has  swung  the  old-fashioned  cradle  in  the  harvest  field  many 
a  day.  Mr.  Kenney's  grandfathers  were  lioth  in  the  Revolutionary  war  and 
figured  in  different  battles,  and  Mr.  Kenney's  grandfather's  wife  was  killed 
by  the  Indians  when  in  a  block  house,  through  the  port  hole :  this  was  in  the 
war  of  1S12. 

?\Ir.  and  ]Mrs.  Kenney  have  one  of  the  old  deeds  which  was  executed 
April  10,  1843,  '^''"^1  signed  by  President  John  Tyler,  the  eighth  deed  of  the 
kind  found  in  Lake  county.  They  have  three  other  of  these  documents  dated 
June  25,  1 841,  and  April  10,  1843,  by  President  Tyler,  and  another  dated 
April  10,  1848,  and  signed  by  President  James  K.  Polk, — four  of  tliesc  deeds 
in  this  one  household.  It  was  as  late  as  1848  when  Mr.  Kenney's  father  went 
to  Wabash,  Indiana,  to  get  supplies,  such  as  meat  and  flour,  and  took  two 
four-horse  teams.  He  has  seen  Chicago  when  most  all  of  the  business  was 
done  on  Lake  street  and  the  ox  teams  were  turned  loose  in  Lhe  common. 

Mr.  Kenney  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  the  old  settlers'  meeting, 
at  Crown  Point.  When  he  first  knew  Lake  county  there  was  not  a  railroad 
in  the  entire  county,  where  now  fourteen  or  fifteen  great  trunk  lines  cross  the 
county.  The  first  railroad  built  in  the  county  was  the  ^Michigan  Central. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kenney  have  seen  many  of  the  Indians  in  their  vicinity,  and 
Mr.  Kenney  says  he  has  played  with  the  Indians,  and  at  one  time  thei^e  were 
about  five  hundred  camped  near  Shelby,  in  Cedar  Creek  township. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  211 

LEVI    HUTTON. 

Levi  Hutton,  a  prominent  and  successful  farmer  of  Winfielcl  township, 
is  a  business  man  and  agriculturist  of  broad  experience  and  training,  and  has 
done  well  at  A-arious  occupations  in  the  course  of  his  fifty-eight  years  of  life. 
He  began  early  to  achieve  a  place  in  the  world,  and  from  early  years  spent 
in  an  industrial  establishment  of  the  east  he  later  branched  out  into  farming 
and  commercial  pursuits  in  the  middle  west.  He  is  held  in  high  esteem 
throughout  A\'infield  townshi])  and  Lake  county,  and  is  reliable  and  sub- 
stantial in  all  his  dealings. 

Mr.  Hutton  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  part  of  the 
city  now  known  as  Fairmount  Park,  on  July  26,  1846.  His  father,  also 
named  Levi,  was  born  in  Delaware,  and  began  his  career  to  success  bv  work- 
ing as  a  driver  on  the  Susequehanna  canal,  and  also  acted  as  cook  on  a  passen- 
ger boat.  He  afterward  worked  in  a  mill  m  Philadelphia,  and  finally  began 
the  manufacture  of  carpets.  He  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  first  man  to  suc- 
ceed in  making  a  shoddy  ingrain  carpet.  He  was  in  the  carpet  manufactur- 
ing business  at  Philadelphia  for  some  time,  and  then  engaged  in  the  same 
line  and  also  in  farming  in  Maryland,  and  in  1861  returned  to  Philadelphia, 
where  he  was  superintendent  of  a  woolen  factory  for  four  years.  In  March, 
1865.  he  moved  out  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  and  began  fanifing  near  Hobart, 
where  he  remained  until  his  death,  in  March,  1872,  at  the  age  of  forty-five. 
His  wife  was  Maria  Lord,  a  native  of  England.  Init  who  was  reared  in 
America,  coming  to  this  country  at  the  age  of  seven  years.  She  died  in  Lake 
county  at  the  age  of  forty-five.  She  was  of  a  Quaker  family.  She  and  her 
husband  had  six  children  that  grew  up,  their  son  Levi  being  the  eldest. 

Mr.  Levi  Hutton  was  reared  and  educated  in  Philadelphia  for  the  most 
part,  and  in  1865  came  out  to  Lake  county,  where  he  remained  with  his 
parents  until  he  was  of  age.  He  then  returned  to  Philadelphia  and  became 
foreman  in  a  bobbin  room  of  a  cotton  factory,  in  the  "Good  Intent  ?>Iills." 
He  had  begun  in  this  factory  at  an  early  age,  at  wages  of  six  dollars  a  week, 
and  had  steadily  advanced  to  a  foremanship  in  another  department,  learning 
every  detail  of  the  business.  He  was  receiving  a  salary  of  eighty-five  dollars 
a  month  when  he  left.  On  his  return  to  Lake  county  he  began  farming  near 
Hobart,  but  in  1871  sold  out  and  went  to  Chicago,  where  he  was  employed  as 


212  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

a  helper  in  the  carpenter  trade.  At  his  father's  death  he  returned  to  Hobart 
and  was  appointed  administrator  to  settle  up  the  estate,  after  the  completion 
of  which  task  he  returned  to  Chicago  and  engaged  in  the  saloon  business, 
continuing  it  for  eight  months.  His  next  enterprise  was  the  buying  of  milch 
cows  and  disposing  of  them  in  Chicago,  being  thus  engaged  for  two  years. 
He  then  rented  a  farm  near  Hobart  for  two  years,  and  in  1877  bought  a  small 
farm  in  Winfield  township.  In  1886  he  bought  the  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  where  he  still  resides,  and  all  the  fine  improvements  and  excellent 
features  of  this  farmstead  are  the  result  of  Mr.  Hutton's  own  industry  and 
management.  From  1894  to  1901  he  was  engaged  in  the  grocery  business 
at  East  Chicago,  in  partnership  witli  \Y.  R.  Diamond,  and  their  monthly 
sales  ran  up  to  a  high  figure. 

Mr.  Hutton  is  one  of  the  influential  Repuljlicans  of  his  township,  and  is 
the  present  nominee  for  the  trusteeship  of  \Vinfield  township.  He  has  served 
as  road  supervisor  of  this  township.  He  was  treasurer  of  the  East  Chicago 
Republican  committee,  and  has  been  delegate  to  various  Republican  conven- 
tions. 

Mr.  Hutton  married,  in  1868,  Miss  Gertrude  R.  Fieler,  a  daughter  of 
Jacob  and  Catherine  (Schrage)  Fieler.  She  was  born  in  Germany  and  came 
to  America  when  seven  3'ears  old.  Her  brother,  Christian  Fieler,  is  sketched 
elsewhere  in  this  work.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hutton  lost  three  children  in  child- 
hood, and  the  three  living  are :  Ida  C,  wife  of  L.  A.  Phillips,  of  Porter 
county,   Indiana ;  Lydia  M.,  wife  of  Albert  Lewis,   of   East   Chicago ;   and 

Tames  P.,  at  home. 

WALTER   H.    HAMMOND. 

\\'alter  H.  Hammond,  who  is  one  of  the  prominent  real  estate  an  1  insur- 
ance men  of  Hammond,  has  spent  almost  his  entire  life  in  this  city,  and  has 
for  several  years  been  accounted  one  of  its  most  progressive  and  enlightened 
business  men.  He  is  a  son  of  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  city,  and  is  con- 
nected with  the  family  which  gave  Hammond  its  name  and  its  greatest  in- 
dustry. 

Mr,  Hammond  was  born  in  Detroit,  Michigan,  October  26,  1873,  being 
a  son  of  Thomas  and  Helen  (Potter)  Hammond,  natives  of  Massachusetts. 
His  paternal  grandfather  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  of  English  descent, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  213 

and  had  a  large  family.  His  maternal  grandfather  was  a  nati\'e  of  the  same 
state.  Thomas  Hammond  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  followed  that  pnr- 
suit  in  the  east.  He  came  to  Detroit,  Michigan,  when  a  yonng  man,  and  was 
engaged  in  the  meat  business  there  until  1875,  '"  which  year  he  came  to 
Hammond,  Indiana,  and  became  connected  with  George  H.  Hammond 
&  Company.  This  well-known  packing  company  at  the  beginning  employed. 
a  force  of  about  fifty  men,  but  later  increased  it  to  nearly  two  thousand.  The 
business  was  carried  on  in  Hammond  until  May,  1903,  when  it  was  moved 
to  Chicago.  Thomas  Hammond  is  now  president  or  the  Commercial  Bank 
of  Hammond,  and  is  also  engaged  in  the  real  estate  Inisiness.  He  was  con- 
gressman from  this  district  for  one  term  dinging  the  Cle\-eland  reginicn,  and 
also  served  as  mayor  of  Hammond  for  six  years  and  as  alderman  for  four 
years.  He  was  originally  a  Methodist,  and  his  wife  is  a  Baptist.  They  had 
five  children,  two  sons  and  three  daughters:  Elizabeth  E.,  deceased;  Carrie, 
wife  of  W.  A.  Hill,  of  Hammond;  \A''alter  H. ;  Frank;  and  Edith. 

Mr.  Walter  H.  Hammond  was  about  four  years  old  A\hen  he  came  to 
Hammond,  and  has  lived  here  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  graduated  from  the 
high  school  in  1892,  after  which  he  attended  Oberlin  College.  He  then  took 
a  business  course  in  the  Metropolitan  Business  College  in  Chicago,  and 
shortly  afterward  engaged  in  the  real  estate  and  insurance  Ijgsiness.  which 
he  has  continued  with  increasing  success  to  the  present  time.  He  is  president 
of  the  Home  Building  and  Loan  and  Savings  ^Association  of  Lake  county, 
and  is  the  owner  of  considerable  city  property  in  addition  t(^  his  nice  resi- 
dence at  704  South  Hohman  street,  wdiich  he  built  in  1902. 

June  17,  1896,  Mr.  Hammond  married  Miss  Miami  J.  Laws,  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Eliza  Laws.  They  have  three  children,  Harold  W.,  Florence  E. 
and  Kenneth  H.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hammond  are  members  of  the  First  Baptist 
church,  and  he  is  a  church  trustee.  He  affiliates  with  Garfield  Lodge  No.  569, 
F.  &  A.  ]M.,  with  Hammond  Cha]5ter  No.  117,  R.  A.  M.,  and  with  Hamninnd 
Commandery.  K.  T.     In  politic^  h.e  is  a  Democrat. 

HERBERT    S.    BARR. 

The  true  measure  of  success  is  determined  liy  what  one  has  accom- 
plished, and,  as  taken  in  ciintradistinction  to  the  old  adage  that  a  prophet  is 
not   without   honor   save    in    his   o\\n    cnuntry,    th.ere    is     pai'licnlar     interest 


214  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

attaching  to  the  career  of  the  subject  of  this  review,  since  he  is  a  native  son 
of  the  place  where  he  has  passed  his  acti\-e  life,  and  has  so  directed  his  ability 
and  efforts  as  to  gain  recognition  as  one  of  the  representative  citizens  of  Lake 
county.  He  is  actively  connected  with  a  profession  which  has  important 
bearing  upon  the  progress  and  stable  prosperity  of  any  section  or  community, 
and  one  which  has  long  been  considered  as  conserving  the  public  welfare  by 
furthering  the  ends  of  justice  and  maintaining  individual  rights. 

Mr.  Barr  was  born  in  Crown  Point,  March  4,  1865.  His  paternal  grand- 
father w-as  Samuel  Barr  and  his  father  S.  A.  Barr.  The  latter,  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  came  to  Lake  county  in  1866,  was  prominent  and  influential 
in  public  afifairs  and  was  widely  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading,  honored 
and  respected  citizens  of  his  community.  He  served  his  country  as  a  soldier 
of  the  Civil  war  and  was  wounded  at  the  Isattle  of  Peach  Tree  Creek  by  a 
minie  ball,  and  the  injury  that  he  there  sustained  caused  his  death  thirty- 
four  years  later.  In  politics  he  was  a  stanch  Democrat  and  filled  the  oitice 
of  county  auditor  for  four  years.  He  was  likewise  a  worthy  representative 
of  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and 
in  all  life's  relations  was  found  true  and  loyal  to  every  trust  reposed  in  him 
and  to  high  ideals.  He  married  Miss  Emma  Standish,  a  direct  descendant  of 
Miles  Standish.  'Mr.  S.  A.  Barr  passed  away  in  1898.  but  his  widow  stil! 
survives.    They  were  the  parents  of  five  children,  all  of  whom  are  yet  living. 

Mr.  H.  S.  Barr  was  the  second  child  of  the  family,  and  in  his  early 
youth  attended  the  public  schools  of  Crown  Point.  He  afterward  became  a 
student  in  the  Northwestern  Law  School,  and  his  reading  for  his  profession 
was  also  directed  by  J.  \\'.  Youche  for  several  years.  Later  he  was  asso- 
ciated in  practice  with  IMr.  Youche  for  about  seven  years,  and  since  1893  he 
has  been  successfully  prosecuting  his  profession  at  Crown  Point.  He  lived 
for  about  one  year  in  Chicago,  but  with  this  exception  has  remained  continu- 
ously in  his  native  city,  where  he  is  now  numliered  among  the  leading  law- 
yers. 

In  1899  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Barr  and  ]\Iiss  Jessie  Hill,  a 
daughter  of  Charles  J.  Hill,  and  they  h.a\-e  two  children,  Harold  and  Ruth. 
Mr.  Barr  affiliates  with  the  ]\Iasonic  fraternity  and  the  Independent  Order  of 
Foresters,  and  in  politics  is  a  supporter  of  Democratic  principles.  His  life 
has  been  one  of  untiring  activitv  crowned  with  success,  vet  he  is  not  less 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  215 

esteemed  as  a  citizen  than  as  a  la\v}-er,  and  his  kindly  impulses  and  charm- 
ing cordiality  of  manner  have  rendered  him  exceedingly  popular  among  all 

classes. 

LA\\'RENCE    COX. 

Lawrence  Cox,  superintendent  of  the  Tdetropolitan  police  of  Hammond, 
has  been  connected  with  the  public  life  and  business  interests  and  as  a  private 
citizen  of  Hammond  for  over  fifteen  years,  and  there  is  perhaps  no  better 
know'n  resident  of  the  city  nor  any  more  interested  in  the  welfare  and  gen- 
eral development  of  both  city  and  county.  He  has  been  in  some  important 
official  position  for  the  past  seven  years,  and  has  been  found  efficient,  ener- 
getic and  painstaking  in  all  his  performances. 

^Ir.  Cox  was  born  in  the  province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  near  Kingston, 
June  i6,  1866,  a  son  of  John  and  Mary  (Kane)  Cox,  both  natives  of  Canada. 
His  paternal  grandfather  was  the  founder  of  the  family  in  America.  He 
was  born  in  Ireland,  and  about  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  he 
and  his  wife  Isabella  emigrated  to  Canada,  and  their  four  daughters  and  one 
son  were  all  born  on  this  side  of  the  waters. 

John  Cox  has  been  a  life-long  and  prominent  farmer  of  Canada,  and 
now  resides  on  Howe  Island,  in  Ontario.  He  has  been  prominent  in  the 
public  affairs  of  his  community,  being  now  county  commissioner  of  Fron- 
tenac  county.  He  was  reeve  of  his  township  for  a  number  of  years,  nnd  was 
fishery  overseer  for  some  years  under  Sir  John  McDonald.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Catholic  church,  as  was  also  his  wife.  She  died  in  1894,  at  the  age 
of  fifty-one  years.  Her  father  was  Thomas  Kane,  a  native  of  county  Water- 
ford,  Ireland,  and  who  emigrated  to  Canada  about  1836,  settling  on  Howe 
Island,  where  he  was  a  farmer.  His  wife  was  Catharine  (Powers)  Kane, 
and  they  had  a  family  of  twelve  children. 

John  and  Mary  Cox  had  thirteen  children  in  their  family,  and  nine  are 
still  living,  as  follows :  Kate,  the  wife  of  \V.  J.  Collins,  of  Hillsville,  Penn- 
sylvania:  Lawrence,  of  Hammond:  Maggie,  the  wife  of  R.  J.  Patterson,  of 
Danville,  Connecticut;  ^latthew  J.,  of  Ontario,  Canada;  Miss  Marian,  a 
teacher  of  Howe  Island.  Ontario ;  John,  of  Scranton,  Pennsyhania :  Miss 
Lillian,  of  ^Montreal,  Quebec;  Agnes,  the  wife  of  William  Beaubien,  of 
Howe  Island ;  and  \'incent,  of  Hillsville,  Pennsvlvania. 


216  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

IMr.  Lawrence  Cox  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  to  the  age  of  four- 
teen years.  He  received  his  education  in  the  district  schools,  the  Kingston 
Collegiate  Institute,  and  also  in  the  night  school  of  the  Dominion  Business 
College  at  Kingston.  He  was  a  bookkeeper  for  a  time,  and  in  1884  made  a 
trip  to  the  Lhiited  States.  In  188S  he  came  to  Hammond  as  his  permanent 
location.  He  was  first  emplo}-ed  with  the  G.  H.  Hammond  &  Company  for 
two  years,  and  from  1891  to  February,  1897,  was  in  the  fire  and  life  insur- 
ance business.  At  the  latter  date  he  became  deputy  sheriff  under  B.  F. 
Hayes,  and  then  held  the  same  position  under  the  latter's  successor  until  May 
I,  1901,  which  was  the  date  of  his  appointment  to  the  ofifice  of  superintendent 
of  the  Metropolitan  police,  which  ofiice  he  has  filled  to  the  eminent  .-.atisfac- 
tion  of  all  concerned  for  the  past  three  vears. 

Aug-ust  8,  1899,  ^Ir.  Cox  married  Mrs.  Mary  Nelson,  the  widow  of 
R.  H.  Nelson  and  a  daughter  of  William  W.  Reece  and  Anna  E.  (Dowdi- 
gan)  Reece.  Her  parents  were  pioneers  of  the  Calumet  river  region,  and 
for  many  years  were  the  only  residents  between  the  Indiana  state  line  and 
South  Chicago.  Mrs.  Cox  is  their  only  child,  and  her  father  died  when  she 
was  about  three  years  old,  but  her  mother  still  lives  and  makes  her  home 
with  Mrs.  Cox.  She  has  considerable  propertv  interests  in  Chicago.  Mrs. 
Cox  had  two  children  by  her  former  marriage,  Alfaretta  and  Mae.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Cox  are  members  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  he  afiiliates  with  the 
Knights  of  Pythias  and  the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks,  and  is 
also  a  charter  member  of  the  Hammond  Club.  His  politics  are  Republican. 
He  owns  his  nice  home  at  517  South  Hohman  street,  and  he  and  his  wife 
have  hosts  of  friends  in  the  city  and  vicinity. 

CALLUS   J.    BADER. 

Gallus  J.  Bader,  prominent  as  a  representative  of  tlie  business  and  finan- 
cial interests  of  Whiting,  is  now  the  president  of  the  First  National  Bank  at 
tliat  place.  A  man  of  great  natural  ability,  his  success  in  business  from  the 
beginning  of  his  residence  in  ^^'hiting  has  been  uniform  and  rapid.  As  has 
been  truly  remarked,  after  all  that  may  be  done  for  a  man  in  the  way  of  giving 
him  early  opportunities  for  obtaining  the  advantages  which  are  found  in  the 
schools  and  in  books,  he  must  essentially  formulate,  determine  and  give  shape 
to  his  own  character,  and  this  is  what  Mr.  Bader  has  done.     He  has  perse- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  217 

vered  in  the  pursuit  of  a  persistent  purpose  and  has  gained  the  most  satisfac- 
tory reward,  and  his  name  is  a  strong  one  on  commercial  paper  and  an  honored 
one  in  all  business  transactions. 

Mr.  Bader  was  born  in  LaPorte,  Indiana,  on  the  2d  of  November,  1864, 
and  is  a  son  of  Callus  J.  and  Magdalene  (Mantel)  Bader,  both  of  whom  were 
natives  of  Baden,  Germany,  whence  they  emigrated  to  America,  settling  in 
LaPorte  county,  Indiana,  at  an  early  period  in  the  development  and  upbuild- 
ing of  this  portion  of  the  state.  The  father  was  engaged  in  the  hotel  business 
and  conducted  what  was  called  the  Washington  House. 

Callus  J.  Bader.  his  namesake  and  the  immediate  subject  of  this  review, 
is  the  voungest  in  a  family  of  six  children,  all  of  whom  reached  adult  age. 
His  education  was  acquired  in  the  public  schools  of  LaPorte,  and  his  boyhood 
days  were  spent  under  the  parental  roof.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  he 
began  business  as  a  dry-goods  merchant  of  LaPorte,  where  he  continued  until 
1890,  when  he  came  to  Whiting  and  entered  into  partnership  with  Fred  J. 
Smith  in  the  conduct  of  a  bakery  and  restaurant.  Subsequently  he  turned  his 
attention  to  the  electric  light  business,  and  in  this  enterprise  was  associated 
with  James  A.  Gill.  They  organized  a  company  and  erected  a  plant,  of  which 
Mr.  Gill  was  the  president,  while  Air.  Bader  was  the  secretary  and  treasurer. 
This  enterprise  prospered  and  enabled  him  at  a  later  date  to  extend  hi^  labors 
into  financial  circles.  The  First  National  Bank  of  Whiting  was  organized  on 
the  1st  of  December,  1902,  and  capitalized  for  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Mr. 
Bader  is  now  president,  while  John  M.  Thiele  is  the  cashier  and  W.  E.  War- 
wick is  vice-president.  These  gentlemen  are  members  of  the  board  of  di- 
rectors together  with  James  A.  Gill,  Richard  F.  Schaaf  and  Frank  H.  Morri- 
son, the  last  named  of  LaPorte,  and  F.  J.  Smith,  of  Whiting. 

In  1893  occurred  the  marriage  of  Callus  J.  Bader  and  Miss  Elizabeth 
Wagner,  who  was  born  in  1870  and  was  reared  in  Michigan  City,  LaPorte 
county.  This  marriage  has  been  blessed  with  one  child,  a  son,  Clarence. 
Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bader  are  well  known  in  Whiting  and  this  portion  of 
Indiana,  and  have  gained  many  warm  friends  who  entertain  for  them  high 
regard  and  extend  to  them  the  hospitality  of  the  best  homes  of  Whiting. 

In  his  political  views  Mr.  Bader  is  a  Republican,  having  joined  the  ranks 
of  the  party  in  1896  on  account  of  the  money  question.  He  had  formerly 
supported   the  Democracy,   but   could   not  endorse  the   "free  and   unlimited 


218  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

coinage  of  silver  at  the  ratio  of  i6  to  i."  Fraternally  he  is  connected  with  the 
Knights  of  Columbus.  He  has  been  a  ver\'  successful  business  man  and  one 
whose  life  history  should  serve  as  a  source  of  encouragement  and  inspiration 
to  others,  showing  what  may  be  accomplished  by  determined  purpose  and 
capable  management.  He  began  with  a  very  small  amount  of  money.  His 
father  died  when  the  son  was  but  thirteen  years  of  age,  and  from  that  time 
forward  the  boy  had  to  depend  upon  his  own  resources  for  a  living.  He 
entered  upon  his  business  career  as  a  salesman  in  a  dry-goods  store,  and  in 
order  to  perfect  his  education  attended  night  school  for  two  winter  seasons. 
He  remained  for  two  years  in  the  employ  of  the  man  whose  service  he  had 
first  entered,  and  then  went  to  Chicago,  where  he  became  an  employe  of  the 
Crane  Elevator  Company,  continuing  for  three  years  in  the  machinist  depart- 
ment. He  then  returned  to  LaPorte  and  engaged  in  business  for  himself, 
and  for  five  years  he  was  numbered  among  the  merchants  of  that  place.  On 
the  expiration  of  that  period  he  sold  his  business  there  in  order  to  remove  to 
Whiting,  where  he  has  since  been  located  and  where  he  has  made  for  himself 
an  honored  name,  gaining  at  the  same  time  a  very  creditable  success. 

Since  1900,  the  firm  of  Smith  &  Bader  have  been  engaged  extensively  in 
the  real  estate  business,  after  having  been  in  the  bakery  business  for  ten  years. 

Mr.  Bader  possesses  untiring  energy,  is  quick  of  perception,  forms  his 
plans  readily  and  is  determined  in  their  execution,  and  his  close  application  to 
business  and  his  excellent  management  have  brought  to  him  the  high  degree 
of  prosperity  which  is  to-day  his.  He  thoroughly  enjoys  home  life  and  takes 
great  pleasure  in  the  midst  of  his  family  and  friends,  to  whom  he  is  always 
courteous,  kindly  and  affable,  and  those  who  know  him  personally  entertain 
for  him  warm  regard. 

MARION    F.    PIERCE. 

Marion  F.  Pierce,  merchant  and  well-known  business  man  of  Alerrill- 
ville,  Ross  township,  is  one  of  the  oldest  native  sons  of  Lake  county  still 
engaged  in  the  active  pursuits  of  life.  Three  generations  of  the  Pierce 
family  have  been  identified  with  the  industrial  and  commercial  affairs  of  the 
county,  covering  a  period  of  seventy  years,  and  extending  from  the  time 
when  the  alternate  stretches  of  woodland  and  prairie  in  Lake  county  offered 
habitation  to  few  white  men,  until  now  there  is  not  a  square  foot  anywhere 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  219 

not  in  private  possession  or  devoted  to  public  use.  ]\Iyiel  Pierce,  the  grand- 
fatlier;  Marion  Pierce,  the  father:  and  Floyd  AI.  Pierce,  the  son,  are  the  three 
men  wlio  have  wrought  out  tlieir  success  and  advanced  the  welfare  of  the 
county  during  the  years  of  their  lives  spent  here,  and  to  the  second  of  the 
three  is  due  the  distinction  of  sixty-three  years  of  residence  in  the  township 
where  his  business  interests  are  still  located. 

Mr.  M.  F.  Pierce  was  born  in  Ross  township.  Lake  county,  August  i, 
1841.  His  father,  Myiel  Pierce,  was  born  about  1800  in  Erie  county,  New 
York,  and  as  a  pioneer  among  the  pioneers  arrived  in  Lake  county,  Indiana, 
June  25,  1835.  He  was  a  farmer  and  hotel-keeper  and  in  September,  1842, 
erected  the  old  and  well-known  Mcrrillville  Hotel,  which  after  sixty-two 
years  of  use  still  stands  as  a  monument  to  its  founder  and  builder.  He  sold 
this  hotel  property  after  running  it  two  years,  and  then  bought  the  farm  on 
which  he  died  in  1847.  He  was  county  assessor  for  a  time,  and  was  well 
known  throughout  the  surrounding  country.  His  wife  was  Marcia  Ann 
Crawford,  a  native  of  Erie  county.  New  York,  and  who  died  in  January, 
1897.  in  her  seventy-eighth  year.  There  were  six  children  in  their  family: 
Corydon,  Angelina,  Sidney,  Marion  F.,  ]\Iyiel,  and  Myron,  who  died  about 
1848. 

Clarion  F.  Pierce  was  about  six  years  old  when  his  father  died,  and 
he  never  enjoyed  many  days  of  pleasant  boyish  recreation,  nor  yet  had  he  his 
full  complement  of  schooling.  His  mother  was  compelled  to  go  into  the 
hayfield  and  do  a  man's  labor  in  order  to  maintain  her  family  and  home, 
and  Marion  was  never  behindhand  in  assisting  her,  and  in  each  succeeding 
year  did  a  larger  share  of  the  farm  duties.  He  thus  remained  on  the  home 
farm  until  he  was  twenty-one,  and  on  .-\ugust  9,  1862,  enlisted  in  Company 
A,  Ninety-ninth  Indiana  Infantry,  serving  in  the  ranks  for  nearly  three 
years,  until  his  discharge  after  the  close  of  the  war,  on  June  16,  1865.  He 
was  in  thirty  battles  altogether,  taking  part  at  Vicksburg,  Jackson,  Resaca, 
Lookout  Mountain,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro,  Fort  McAllister,  was  all  through 
the  campaign  to  the  sea,  and  thence  to  Washington,  where  he  participated 
in  the  grand  review.  He  returned  to  Ross  township  and  resumed  farm  work, 
remaining  at  home  till  his  marriage,  in  1867.  In  1873  he  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business  at  Merrillville,  and  has  been  in  that  for  over  twenty  years, 
now  ranking  as  the  premier  merchant  and  business  man  of  the  town. 


220  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Pierce  is  one  of  the  influential  Democrats  of  the  county,  and  has 
taken  an  active  part  in  local  affairs.  He  was  trustee  of  Ross  township  for 
nine  years,  served  as  postmaster  of  Merrillville  four  years,  and  was  in  the 
internal  revenue  service  five  years  under  Cleveland's  administration.  He 
affiliates  with  the  John  Wheeler  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  at  Crown  Point,  and  in  the 
Masonic  Lodge  No.  551,  at  Merrillville,  has  filled  all  the  chairs  but  one, 
senior  deacon. 

He  was  married,  October  27,  1867,  to  Miss  Maggie  B.  Randolph, 
daughter  of  Cyrus  and  Allie  (Meade)  Randolph.  They  are  the  parents  of 
three  children:  Floyd  M.,  Cora  B.  and  Ralph  M. 

JOHN   FISHER. 

John  Fisher,  now  deceased,  was  a  respected  and  honored  resident  of 
Crown  Point,  who  had  many  friends  in  Lake  county,  and  whose  death,  there- 
fore, was  deeply  regretted.  He  was  born  in  Schenectady  county,  Nev,'  York, 
September  7,  1832.  and  was  of  Scotch  parentage  and  ancestry.  His  father, 
Alexander  Fisher,  was  born  in  Ayr,  Scotland,  and  in  1818  crossed  the  At- 
lantic to  the  new  world,  settling  first  in  Montreal,  Canada.  The  following 
year,  however,  he  removed  to  Schenectady,  New  York,  where  he  spent  his 
remaining  days.  He  was  a  millwright  and  farmer,  following  the  dual  pur- 
suits as  a  life  work. 

In  his  native  county  John  Fisher  was  reared,  spending  his  boyhood  days 
under  the  parental  roof,  where  he  was  trained  to  habits  of  industry  and 
economy.  The  west,  with  its  business  possibilities,  attracted  him,  and  in  1855 
he  came  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  locating  at  Southeast  Grove  in  Eagle  Creek 
township.  There  he  was  engaged  in  the  broom  manufacturing  business  and 
soon  after  his  arrival  in  Lake  coun.tv  he  was  elected  county  surveyor,  which 
position  he  filled  for  many  years.  He  knew  every  foot  of  the  county,  his 
business  making  him  thoroughly  familiar  with  every  locality.  It  also  brought 
to  him  a  wide  acquaintance,  and  he  became  one  of  the  most  prominent  and 
influential  men  in  this  part  of  the  state,  taking  an  active  and  helpful  interest 
in  public  affairs.  He  was  one  of  the  civil  engineers  who  worked  on  the  con- 
struction of  the  Panhandle  Railroad,  assisting  in  the  survey  of  the  road  from 
Columbus,  Ohio,  to  Chicago.  This  work  was  done  about  1864.  Mr.  Fisher 
also  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits,  owning  a  farm  two  miles  southeast  of 


HISTORY  OJ-  LAKE  COUNTY.  5^21 

Crown  i'oint,  and  he  thoroughly  understood  the  best  methods  of  caring  for 
the  fields  and  producing  good  crojjs.  Whatever  he  undertook  he  carried  for- 
ward to  successful  completion,  for  he  was  a  man  of  unfaltering  energy  and 
strong  purpose. 

Mr.  J"'isher  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Amelia  J.  VVilley,  who  was 
lx.irn  in  Lake  county.  The  VVilley  family  is  of  English  lineage  and  was  estal>- 
lished  in  America  in  early  colonial  days  by  David  VVilley,  the  great-grand- 
father of  -Mrs.  l-'ishcr.  His  son,  Jermiah  VVilley,  was  Ix^rn  in  Connecticut, 
July  28,  1777,  and  there  resided  for  many  years,  Imt  eventually  removed  to 
the  Empire  state.  Her  father,  Cer>rge  Willey,  was  born  in  Connecticut  and 
was  four  years  of  age  when  he  removed  to  Madison  county.  New  York,  with 
his  parents.  In  August,  J838,  he  arrived  in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  locating  in 
Hanover  township.  He  removed  to  a  farm  alxjut  a  mile  east  of  Crown  Point 
in  1865,  and  there  he  spent  his  remaining  days,  devoting  his  energies  to  agri- 
cultural jmrsuits  until  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  5th  of  April,  1884. 
He  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  county  and  did  much  for  its  early  develop- 
ment and  improvement.  He  was  ever  actively  interested  in  public  affairs, 
was  zealous  in  his  advocacy  <>i  all  measures  that  tended  to  prrjmrjte  the  gen- 
eral welfare  arul  was  widely  known  as  an  influential  anfl  valued  citizen.  His 
wife  Ijorc  the  maiden  name  of  Clynthia  Nash  and  was  a  native  of  Madison 
county,  New  York,  and  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Nash,  Mr,  anrl  Mrs,  Willey 
became  the  jjarcnts  of  seven  children,  four  .Sfjns  and  three  daughters,  but 
three  of  the  sons  died  in  infancy.  The  only  surviving  son  is  George  A,  Willey, 
a  resident  of  St,  L^juis,  Missfjuri,  The  sisters  are  Mrs,  Alice  Granger,  of 
I''ort  Dodge,  Iowa,  and  Mrs,  Adella  C,  Griffin,  of  Oklahoma,  Mrs,  l''isher  is 
the  eldest  of  the  seven  children  and  was  born  in  Hanover  t^nvnship.  Lake 
Cfmvty,  Indiana,  April  30,  iH^i.  She  pursued  her  early  education  in  the 
district  schools  and  afterward  continued  her  education  in  Crown  Point.  She 
gave  her  haml  in  marriage  to  Mr.  I-'isher  on  the  7th  of  November,  1865,  and 
Ijy  this  marriage  there  have  )>cen  born  two  children,  Agnes  May,  who  died 
when  twenty  months  old,  and  George  W,,  who  is  now  a  resident  of  Crown 
Point, 

In  his  political  views  John  Fj.sher  was  a  life-long  Kq^ublican,  and  polit- 
ical questions  had  for  him  great  interest.  He  was  a  Koyal  Arch  Mason  and 
was  a  amsJstent  and  faithful  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church.     He  died 


222  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

March  7,  1897,  and  because  of  his  honoraljle,  upright  hfe  he  left  to  his  family 

an  untarnished  name  as  well  as  a  comfortable  competence.     He  gained  the 

respect  of  all  with  whom  he  had  been  associated,  and  his  loss  was  therefore 

deeply  deplored  by  his  many  friends  as  well  as  by  his  widow  and  son.     Mrs. 

Fisher  has  spent  her  entire  life  in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  and  is  well  known. 

She  has  been  a  resident  of  Crown  Point  for  ten  years,  where  she  has  a  wide 

circle  of  friends.     For  many  years  she  has  been  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 

church. 

BALZER    FRANZ. 

Balzer  Franz,  of  section  8,  Ross  township,  came  to  this  township  as  a 
boy  of  twelve,  some  fifty-frve  years  ago,  and  when  he  began  doing  for  !iim- 
self  he  had  only  his  industry  and  strong  constitution  for  his  capital  stock. 
He  has  been  a  hard  worker  and  good  manager  all  his  life,  and  does  not  even 
now  remit  much  of  his  former  diligence,  although  the  success  that  he  has 
won  gives  him  freedom  from  care  and  necessary  business  activity.  He  has 
proved  himself  an  influential  factor  in  the  development  of  the  agricultural 
interests  of  Lake  county,  and  through  his  o\\n  material  prosperity  and  good 
citizenship  has  enriched  the  community  in  which  he  has  passed  so  many 
years  of  his  life.  When  he  was  a  boy  in  the  county  there  was  not  a  railroad 
in  operation  through  the  county,  from  which  fact  it  is  evident  that  he  has 
been  a  personal  witness  of  all  the  great  development  that  has  resulted  in 
making  Lake  county  a  network  of  railroad  lines,  and  six  acres  from  his  own 
farm  have  been  taken  for  railroad  rights  of  way. 

Mr.  Franz  was  born  in  Bavaria,  Germany,  March  21,  1836,  so  that 
he  is  now  within  the  shadow  of  the  age  of  threescore  and  ten.  He  remained 
in  the  old  country  until  he  was  twelve  years  old,  and  then  accompanied  his 
mother  and  step-father  to  America,  the  family  coming  directly  to  Ross  town- 
ship. Lake  county.  He  was  reared  and  has  spent  all  his  subsequent  years  in 
tliis  countv,  and  during  his  boyhood  attended  for  several  years  the  township 
schools.  Fie  remained  at  home  and  worked  for  his  mother  and  step-father 
until  he  was  twenty-three  years  old,  and  for  several  years  thereafter  was 
engaged  in  various  pursuits  connected  with  farming,  working  en  farms  by 
the  month,  driving  cattle  to  Chicago  markets,  hauling  cord  wood,  etc.  He 
was  all  the  time  getting  a  more  substantial  vantage  ground  in  material  worth, 
and  was  soon  engaged  ir.  the  operation  of  his  own  farm,  from  which  time 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  223 

he  has  continued  with  increasing  success  in  agricultural  pursuits  until  he  is 
now  the  owner  of  a  fine  farm  of  five  hundred  acres,  well  improved,  highly 
cultivated  and  productive  of  as  good  all-around  crops  as  are  raised  anywhere 
in  Ross  township. 

Mr.  Franz  has  been  married  twice.  In  1865  he  wedded  Miss  Elizabeth 
Geibe,  who  died  without  issue.  He  then  married  Anna  Shello,  and  they 
have  nine  children :  George,  Helen,  Nora,  Maggie,  Elizabeth,  Cecilia,  Grace, 
Marv  and  Balzer.  They  were  all  born  in  Ross  township,  and  all  are  well 
educated,  Cecilia  and  Grace  having  finished  the  country  schools  and  being 
now  students  in  Merrillville. 

CHARLES  W.  FRIEDRICH. 

Charles  ^^^  Friedrich,  the  miller  at  Dyer,  has  been  successfully  con- 
ducting the  mill  at  this  place  for  the  past  ten  years,  and  has  followed  that 
line  of  business  almost  continuousl}-  since  he  was  fifteen  years  old,  when  he 
became  an  apprentice  to  the  trade  in  his  native  Germany,  r.nd  where  he 
learned  all  the  details  of  the  work  in  the  thorough  manner  so  mucti  in 
vogue  in  the  fatherland.  He  came  to  America  during  his  young  man- 
hood, and  has  had  a  very  successful  career  in  different  parts  of  the  middle 
west  since  that  time.  He  is  counted  among  the  influential  citizens  at  Dyer, 
and  is  enterprising  and  public-spirited  in  all  that  he  undertakes,  whether 
for  personal  advantage  or  for  community  interest. 

Mr.  Friedrich  was  born  in  Germany,  December  24,  1846,  and  was 
reared  and  educated  in  his  native  country.  He  attended  the  public  schools 
during  the  required  limit  up  to  his  fourteenth  year,  and  then  became  a 
miller's  apprentice,  continuing  his  work  faithfully  for  three  years  and  gradu- 
ating as  a  master  at  the  trade.  He  followed  his  chosen  occupation  in  Ger- 
many until  1872,  when  he  embarked  and  crossed  the  ocean  to  America.  For 
some  time  he  was  engaged  in  the  express,  grocery  and  saloon  business  in 
Oak  Park.  Illinois.  In  1881  he  moved  to  North  Judson,  Starke  county, 
Indiana,  and  bought  a  mill,  which  he  operated  until  1893.  He  then  sold 
out,  and  in  the  following  year  came  to  Dyer  and  bought  the  flouring  mill  at 
this  place.  He  has  improved  the  plant  in  many  ways,  and  increased  its  pro- 
ductive capacity  to  fifty  liarrels  a  day  besides  adding  to  the  quality  of  its 
output  and  building  up  an  extensive  trade  and  demand  for  all  his  products. 


224:  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Friedrich  has  been  a  Democrat  ever  since  entering  the  ranks  of 
American  citizenship,  and  is  loyal  and  pnblic-spirited  in  his  attachment  to 
his  adopted  land.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  church,  and  also  af- 
filiates with  the  ^fasonic  fraternity  at  Hammond. 

He  was  married  in  1870  to  Miss  Mary  H.  Ness,  also  a  native  of  Ger- 
many. They  are  the  parents  of  three  children:  William  H..  wlio  is  at 
home,  and  who  married  Miss  Ida  Ross,  of  North  Judson;  Dr.  L.  M.,  of 
Hobart :  and  Jacob  O.,  of  Berwyn,   Illinois. 

GEORGE   W.   YOUNG. 

George  W.  Young,  a  prominent  farmer  on  section  32,  Ross  township, 
has  lived  in  Lake  county  most  of  his  life.  He  is  almost  a  native  son  of  the 
county  since  he  was  born  very  close  to  the  line  between  this  and  Porter 
county.  Outside  of  eleven  years  spent  in  business  in  Chicago,  he  has  devoted 
most  of  his  active  years  to  farming,  with  such  success  that  he  is  numbered 
among  the  representative  men  of  that  class  in  this  section  of  Lake  county. 
He  is  a  man  of  ability  in  whatever  enterprise  he  undertakes,  and  has  more 
than  once  been  influential  in  community  affairs,  having  a  public-spirited  de- 
sire to  further  the  material  and  social  welfare  of  the  county  which  has  so 
long  been  his  home. 

He  was  born  just  across  the  line  in  Porter  county,  Indiana,  February 
25,  1852,  a  son  of  D.  L.  and  Lovina  (Guernsey)  Young,  the  former  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania  and  the  latter  of  Canada,  whence  she  came  to  Lake  county 
in  young"  womanhood.  His  father  came  to  Lake  county  about  1850,  and  died 
here  in  his  sixty-second  year.  He  followed  the  occupations  of  farming. 
carrying  the  mail  and  keeping  hotel  in  Hobart.  He  was  a  well  known  old 
citizen,  both  of  Lake  and  Porter  counties,  owning  land  in  both  counties.  He 
carried  the  mail  between  Lake  station  and  Crown  Point.  He  was  a  life-long 
Republican.  His  ancestors  were  German.  Flis  first  wife  died  at  the  age  of 
thirty,  having  been  the  mother  of  two  daughters  and  four  sons,  of  whom  four 
died  young.  George  ^^^.  the  only  living  son,  has  a  sister,  Emma  L.,  wife  of 
Henry  Cunningham.  Mr.  D.  L.  Young,  by  his  second  marriage,  had  three 
children,  and  the  two  living  are  D.  L.  and  Malida,  the  latter  the  wife  of 
Charles  Miller. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  225 

Mr.  Young  \vas  reared  and  educated  in  Lake  and  Porter  counties,  and  for 
several  years  after  taking  up  active  work  remained  at  home  assisting  his 
father  on  the  farm.  Li  1876,  after  his  marriage,  he  went  to  Chicago,  wliere 
for  eleven  years  he  was  engaged  in  the  ice  business,  being  located  on  Twelfth 
street  near  L^nion.  He  sold  out  in  1887  and  returned  to  Lake  county, 
where  he  has  since  followed  farming.  He  has  a  well-imi^roved  farm  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  acres,  and  he  raises  general  products,  stock,  and  does  dairy- 
ing, making  it  all  a  very  profitable  enterprise. 

Mr.  Young  has  been  a  life-long  Republican  and  cast  his  vote  for  Hayes, 
and  at  one  time  held  the  office  of  supervisor  of  the  township.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber, at  Hobart.  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  No.  2i33-  and  the 
Independent  Order  of  Foresters,  No.   141,  at  Holiart. 

He  married,  in  1876,  Miss  Susan  S.  Cunninghan.:,  who  died  October  3, 
1890,  having  been  the  mother  of  six  children :  Carrie  L. :  George  A. ;  Del- 
bert  E. ;  Han-y  L. ;  Louie  L. ;  and  Joseph  W.,  deceased.  The  three  eldest 
were  born  in  Chicago,  and  the  others  in  Lake  county.  Mr.  Young  was  mar- 
ried in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  in  1892,  to  Mrs.  O.  M.  Young,  and  one  son 
was  born,  Isaac  Lane,  aged  eleven,  in  the  foiu"th  grade.  Mrs.  Young  is  a 
native  of  Ohio,  born  in  1855  and  was  reared  in  Ohio  and  Indiana  and  edu- 
cated in  the  latter  state. 

HON.    JOHANNES    KOPELKE. 

Hon.  Johannes  Kopelke,  of  Crown  Point,  is  a  lawyer  of  established 
reputation  for  ability  and  legal  learning  in  northwestern  Indiana,  is  an  ex- 
senator  of  the  state  and  has  taken  a  prominent  part  in  local  and  state  politics, 
and  throughout  his  career  in  this  city  of  nearly  thirty  years  has  been  a  leader 
of  public  opinion  and  progress  and  more  than  once  has  been  the  aggressive 
spirit  in  carrying  out  reforms  and  suppressing  abuses  and  in  promoting  and 
supporting  the  highest  interests  of  social  and  institutional  life. 

He  was  torn  at  Buchwald,  near  Neustettin,  Prussia,  June  14,  18^4. 
His  father,  Ferdinand  Kopelke,  was  an  Evangelical  Lutheran  minister.  His 
mother  was  Sophia  Erbguth,  and  her  grandmother  was  a  sister  of  the  famous 
Prussian  General  York,  who  took  the  first  step  leading  to  the  final  overthrow 
of  Napoleon  in  181 3,  and  was  afterward  made  a  count  and  field  marshal  by 
the  king  of  Prussia. 


226  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

J\Ir.  Kopelke  gained  his  early  education  in  the  people's  schools  of 
German}^  and  from  these  entered  a  gymnasium,  wher  he  continued  the 
education  which  in  America  is  offered  by  the  high  schools  and  colleges. 
From  1865  to  1871  he  had  a  thorough  grounding  in  the  literary  branches, 
especially  the  languages,  in  this  typical  German  educational  institution,  and 
in  the  latter  year,  when  se^-enteen  years  old,  he  came  to  the  United  States. 
He  obtained  his  professional  training  in  the  law  at  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, wljich  he  attended  from  1874  to  1876,  graduating  in  the  spring  of  the 
latter  year.  He  has  been  fond  of  study  from  his  toyhood  days  to  the 
present,  and  while  in  the  gymnasium  he  gained  many  prizes  for  scholarship, 
and  was  also  a  member  of  the  society  called  "Thought  Chips."  composed  of 
the  members  of  the  first  class  or  "Prima." 

In  April,  1876,  3ilr.  Kopelke  came  to  Crown  Point  and  entered  upon 
the  career  which  has  since  been  productive  of  so  much  honor  to  himself 
and  benefit  to  the  community.  His  German  scholarship  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  Hon.  Thaddeus  S.  Fancher,  a  distinguished  memljer  of  the  bar  at 
Crown  Point,  wlio  ofifered  young  Kopelke  a  partnership  in  his  large  practice, 
which  the  latter  accepted  and  continued  until  1879,  and  since  then  he  has 
managed  his  increasing  legal  interests  alone.  He  has  enjoyed  a  large  private 
practice,  and  his  connection  with  litigation  of  a  public  nature  has  won  him 
no  small  degree  of  fame  in  this  part  of  the  state.  One  of  his  cases  to  attract 
the  most  attention  was  the  one  involving  the  constitutionality  of  the  fee  and 
salarv  law.  in  1891.  He  was  also,  as  the  assistant  of  Attorney  General 
Ketcham,  connected  with  the  famous  fight  made  to  suppress  racing  and 
gambling  institutions  at  Robey.  For  a  number  of  years  he  has  had  all  the 
professional  business  he  could  well  manage,  and  his  time  and  energies  have 
often  been  called  to  other  matters.  For  a  tiiue  he  held  the  rank  of  major 
on  the  stafif  of  Governor  Gray. 

Mr.  Kopelke  allied  himself  with  the  Rqxiblican  party  when  he  first 
beo-an  casting  his  vote,  but  in  1882  he  found  his  opinions  to  consist  more 
harmoniously  with  those  of  the  Democracy,  and  he  has  been  a  stanch  advo- 
cate of  that  party  ever  since.  In  1884  he  was  chosen  presidential  elector 
from  the  Tenth  Indiana  district,  and  thus  cast  one  of  the  votes  which  placed 
Grover  Cleveland  in  the  presidential  office.  In  1891  he  was  elected  to 
represent  Lake  and  Porter  counties  in  the  state  senate,  and  his  career  as  a 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  227 

legislator  was  especially  noteworthy  in  its  results.  He  served  on  the 
judiciary  and  other  important  committees  during  both  sessions  of  his  term 
of  office.  He  became  prominent  as  the  originator  and  promoter  of  measures 
for  the  welfare  of  the  state,  and  he  also  carried  through  some  remedial  legis- 
lation regarding  matters  of  practice  and  procedure.  He  was  active  in  pro- 
curing the  new  charter  for  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  and  his  influence  was 
strongly  felt  in  behalf  of  the  tax  law  which  redeemed  the  state  from  Ijank- 
ruptcy.  Senator  Kopelke  was  the  Democratic  nominee  for  the  office  of 
appellate  judge  in  1898,  but  the  state  went  strongly  Republican  that  year. 

Mr.  Kopelke  is  an  Episcopalian  in  religious  faith.  He  has  never  mar- 
ried. His  long  identification  with  Crown  Point  makes  him  one  of  the  most 
highly  esteemed  citizens,  and  his  life  has  been  praiseworthy  and  fruitful  in 
good  results  from  whatever  standpoint  it  is  regarded. 

HENRY    P.    SWARTZ,    M.    D. 

For  thirty-three  years  Dr.  Henry  P.  Swartz  was  engaged  in  the  practice 
of  medicine  and  the  conduct  of  a  drug  store  at  Crown  Point,  and  is  now 
closely  and  actively  identified  with  business  interests  as  president  of  the 
Commercial  Bank.  Thus,  for  many  years  he  has  been  one  of  the  forceful 
and  honored  factors  in  professional  and  financial  circles,  and  his  influence 
has  not  been  a  minor  element  in  public  affairs  in  northwestern  Indiana.  He 
has  attained  to  prominence  through  the  inherent  force  of  his  character,  tlie 
exercise  of  his  native  talent  and  the  utilization  of  surrounding  opportunities, 
and  he  has  become  a  capitalist  whose  business  career  has  excited  the  admira- 
tion and  won  the  respect  of  his  contemporaries. 

Dr.  Swartz  was  born  at  Spring  yUWs.  Center  county,  Pennsvlvania, 
July  12,  1841.  The  family  is  of  German  lineage  and  was  founded  in 
America  by  the  grandfatlier  of  Dr.  Swartz,  who  settled  in  the  Kevstone 
state.  There  the  father,  Jacob  Swartz,  was  born  and  reared,  and  by  occupa- 
tion he  became  a  stonemason.  He  also  followed  farming  and  on  lea\-ing 
the  east  he  removed  to  DeKalb  county,  Illinois,  where  he  worked  at  farming. 
He  also  became  the  owner  of  a  tract  of  land  and  carried  on  general  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  Politically  he  was  a  Democrat,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  church.  His  death  occurred  when  he  was  sixty-three  years  of 
age.     His  wife,  who  tore  the  maiden  name  of  Catherine  Mosser,  was  also  a 


22S  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

native  of  Pennsylvania  and  died  in  Freeport,  Illinois,  in  Januarv',  1903,  in 
her  eighty-eighth  year.  They  were  the  parents  of  ten  children,  three  daugh- 
ters and  seven  sons,  all  of  whom  reached  adult  age,  and  with  the  exception  of 
the  eldest,  who  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years,  all  are  yet  living. 

Dr.  Swartz  is  the  third  child  and.  third  son  of  the  family,  and  was 
reared  in  the  place  of  his  nativity  until  thirteen  years  of  age,  during  which 
time  he  attended  the  public  schools  of  Pennsylvania.  On  going  to  Illinois 
he  became  a  student  in  the  public  schools  of  that  state  and  assisted  his  father 
in  farm  work  until  twenty  years  of  age.  August  4.  1861,  he  enlisted  as  a 
memlier  of  Company  A,  Fifty-second  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  becoming 
a  private  in  the  ranks  of  the  Union  army,  with  which  he  served  until  the 
close  of  the  war.  In  the  meantime  he  re-enlisted  in  the  same  company  and 
regiment  in  1863,  and  thus  as  an  honored  veteran  he  continued  with  the 
Ixiys  in  blue.  He  was  promoted  to  the  position  of  commissary  sergeant  of 
his  regiment,  and  after  his  re-enlistment  he  was  made  quartermaster,  but 
this  position  was  conferred  upon  him  so  near  the  close  of  the  war  that  he 
was  mustered  out  as  commissary  sergeant.  He  participated  in  all  of  the 
battles  with  Sherman's  forces  and  also  made  the  celebrated  march  to  the 
sea.  His  regiment  brought  the  prisoners  from  Ft.  Donelson  to  Chicago  and 
returned  by  way  of  Paducah,  Kentucky,  and  Shiloh.  Mr.  Swartz  was  with 
the  regiment  at  the  grand  review  in  Washington,  D.  C,  the  most  celebrated 
military  pageant  ever  seen  on  the  western  hemisphere,  and  in  July,  1865, 
he  received  an  honorable  discharge.  At  the  battle  of  Shiloh  Dr.  Swartz 
was  severely  wounded,  being  shot  through  the  body  by  a  minie  ball.  This 
occurred  in  April,  1862,  and  October  had  arrived  ere  he  was  able  to  rejoin 
his  regiment  at  Corinth.  The  succeeding  morning  he  entered  the  battle  at 
that  place  and  was  slightly  wounded  on  the  right  side,  which  caused  him 
to  remain  for  four  weeks  longer  in  the  hospital. 

When  the  country  no  longer  needed  his  services  Dr.  Swartz  took  up  his 
residence  in  Freeport.  Illinois,  and  pursued  a  two  years'  course  of  study  in 
Rush  Medical  College  of  Chicago.  He  then  engaged  in  the  drug  business 
as  a  clerk  for  his  brother  in  Freeport.  Illinois,  where  he  remained  until  1871, 
when  in  the  month  of  December  of  that  year  he  located  in  Crown  Point, 
Indiana.  Here  he  established  a  drug  store,  which  he  conducted  in  connec- 
tion with  the  practice  of  medicine.     He  has  here  been  engaged  in  practice 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  229 

for  more  than  thirty-two  years  and  has  always  maintained  a  position  in  the 
foremost  ranks  of  the  representatives  of  the  medical  fraternity  in  this  portion 
of  the  state.  Reading,  experience  and  ohservation  have  continually  broad- 
ened his  Iniowledge  and  kept  him  in  touch  with  the  progress  of  the  times. 
Dr.  Swartz  is  also  president  of  the  Commercial  Bank  of  Crown  Point,  and 
as  chief  executive  oflicer  of  the  institution  his  sound  judgment  and  business 
ability  are  frequently  called  into  use  and  have  contributed  in  large  measure 
to  the  successful  conduct  of  the  institution. 

In  1868  Dr.  Swartz  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Mary  Frances  Bell, 
a  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  (Atkins)  Bell.  She  was  born  in  Ehnira. 
New  York,  and  during  her  infancy  her  mother  died  so  that  she  was  reared 
by  an  aunt,  ^Irs.  Kimball,  of  Freeport.  Illinois.  She  was  a  graduate  of 
the  high  school  there  and  pursued  a  literary  course  at  Aurora,  Illinois.  She 
was  afterward  employed  in  the  postoffice  department  at  Freeport,  Illinois, 
by  her  uncle.  General  S.  T.  Atkins.  To  ^Ir.  and  'Sirs.  Swartz  have  been 
torn  four  children:  Carrie  Belle,  at  home:  Harry  D.,  who  is  assisting  his 
father  in  the  drug  store;  Mamie  G.,  the  wife  of  Walter  I.  Coljle,  of  Chicago; 
and  Catherine  C.  the  wife  of  Alonzo  D.  Shoup,  of  Chicago. 

Dr.  Swartz  is  a  charter  member  of  Lake  Lodge  No.  152.  F.  &  A.  ^l.. 
and  has  been  a  life-long  Republican.  He  served  as  township  trustee  for  a 
number  of  vears.  was  president  of  the  Commercial  Club  for  two  years  and 
has  taken  an  acti\-e  interest  in  all  public  matters — social,  political  and  educa- 
tional. He  is  a  man  of  distinct  and  forceful  individuality,  of  broad  men- 
tality and  most  mature  judgment,  and  has  left  and  is  leaving  his  impress 
upon  professional  and  financial  interests  in  northwestern  Indiana.  He  lias 
contributed  to  the  advancement  of  the  general  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the. 
city  in  which  he  makes  his  home,  and  at  the  same  time  has  so  conducted  his 
private  business  interests  as  to  win  gratifying  success. 

DAVID    C.    ATKINSON. 

David  Clarence  Atkinson,  attorney-at-law  at  Hammond,  is  one  of  the 
young  members  of  the  bar  of  Lake  county,  and  during  his  five  years"  practice 
in  Hammond  has  gained  a  most  creditable  degree  of  success.  He  has  also 
some  business  interests  in.  the  city  and  various  properties  in  the  county.     He 


230  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

is  a  public-spirited  man,  capalile  and  stanch  in  his  citizenship,  and  thoroughly 
representative  of  the  best  interests  of  his  city. 

^Ir.  Atkinson  was  bom  near  Oxford.  Benton  county,  Indiana,  April  8, 
1870,  a  son  of  Robert  M.  and  Xancy  E.  (McClimans)  Atkinson,  lx)th 
natives  of  Ohio.  The  family  history  goes  back  to  the  English  Quaker 
settlement  of  Pennsylvania  in  1682,  -when  the  first  Atkinson  ancestors  settled 
there.  Of  such  forefathers  were  Joseph  and  Susanna  (Mills)  Atkinson,  both 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  who  were  married  there,  becoming  the  parents 
of  eleven  children.  They  were  the  great-grandparents  of  David  C.  Atkin- 
son. Joseph  was  a  wea\'er  by  trade,  but  later  came  to  Ohio  and  took  up 
farming.  He  bought  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Clinton  county,  but 
fifteen  years  later,  through  a  defective  title,  lost  his  purchase  money  and  all 
his  effects,  and  after  that  farmed  the  place  on  the  shares  until  his  death  in 
1830.     He  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  state. 

Thomas  M.  Atkinson,  the  tenth  child  in  the  family  of  Joseph  and 
Susanna  Atkinson,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  but  came  to  Ohio  in  early 
youth.  He  was  educated  in  a  log  schoolhouse,  and  mainly  by  his  own 
efforts  secured  a  good  education.  He  was  an  eager  and  intelligent  reader, 
and  possessed  a  fine  library.  At  the  age  of  twenty  years  he  married  Miss 
Frances  Head,  and  then  moved  to  Greene  county,  Ohio,  where  he  bought 
two  hundred  acres  of  military  land  and  engaged  in  farming.  He  afterwards 
became  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Benton  county,  Indiana,  where  he  herded 
cattle,  and  drove  them  to  market  at  Philadelphia.  He  was  a  vigorous  and 
active  man.  and  when  he  had  already  rounded  the  sixtieth  turn  on  life's 
journe}-  he  walked  all  the  way  from  Benton  county  to  Philadelphia  to  attend 
the  Centennial  celebration  of  1876.  He  had  also  planned  to  walk  to  the 
World's  Fair  in  Chicago  in  1893,  l^'-'t  died  the  preceding  winter  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  eighty-three.  He  was  first  a  Quaker  in  religious  faith  btit 
later  espoused  the  Spiritualistic  faith.  He  was  a  prominent  man  in  his 
community.  He  was  one  of  the  first  commissioners  of  Benton  county,  and 
in  1865  he  represented  Benton  and  \\niite  counties  in  the  lower  house  of 
the  Indiana  legislature.  He  was  an  abolitionist  and  later  a  Republican.  In 
1830  he  traded  a  horse  worth  fifty  dollars  to  Luke  Conner  for  two  thousand 
acres  of  what  were  known  as  the  "lost  lands"  in  the  south  part  of  Benton 
county.     He  soon  afterward  sold  this  claim   for  one  hundred   dollars,  but 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  231 

in  1848  purchased  part  of  it  back  at  thirteen  dollars  an  acre,  and  moved  his 
family  to  the  land,  on  which  he  lived  until  a  few  years  before  his  death. 
The  land  became  very  valuable  and  most  productive  farming  property.  He 
and  his  sons  subsequentlv  biiugbt  up  nearly  all  the  original  two  thousand 
acres,  and  also  owned  twelve  himdred  acres  besides.  His  wife  also  lived  to 
a  good  old  age,  passing  away  when  eighty-one  years  old,  and  they  were 
the  parents  of  twelve  children,  six  sons  and  six  daughters.  Nine  of  these 
sons  and  daughters  likewise  attained  to  length  of  years,  and  they  were  all 
farmers  or  farmers'  wives. 

Robert  M.  Atkinson,  the  son  of  Thomas  M.  Atkinson,  was  a  farmer 
and  stock-raiser  in  Benton  county,  and  one  of  the  county's  most  highly 
esteemed  citizens.  He  ser\-ed  several  terms  as  commissioner  of  Benton 
county.  He  died  there  in  February,  1881,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years. 
His  wife  survived  him  until  August,  1889,  at  which  time  she  was  fifty-five 
years  old.  She  was  a  Methodist.  They  were  the  parents  of  six  children, 
five  sons  and  one  daughter,  as  follows :  Morton  C,  of  Oxford,  Indiana ; 
Thomas  L.,  of  Toledo,  Ohio;  ^^'ilbert  M.,  of  Benton  county;  David  C, 
of  Hammond;  Alice,  wife  of  William  Forsythe,  of  Indianapolis;  and  Curtis, 
of  Oxford,  Indiana.  Nancy  E.  Atkinson,  the  mother  of  these  children, 
was  a  daughter  of  William  and  Nancy  (Pearson)  McClimans,  who  were 
parents  of  twelve  children.  Her  father  was  of  Irish  descent,  and  her  mother 
of  German  ancestry.  Her  father  li\-ed  in  Ohio,  and  died  there  past  middle 
life,  in   1840. 

David  C.  Atkinson  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  in  Benton  county. 
He  received  his  early  education  in  the  district  schools  and  then  at  the 
Oxford,  Indiana,  high  school.  He  later  entered  the  preparatory  department 
of  the  State  University,  took  the  regular  course  in  the  university,  graduating 
in  1893.  In  the  following  year  he  was  a  student  in  the  University  of 
Chicago,  and  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Philosophy.  His  law  studies 
were  pursued  at  the  Northwestern  University  Law  School,  where  he  was 
graduated  in  1896  with  the  degree  of  LL.  B.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
of  the  supreme  court  of  Illinois,  and  on  mo\ing  to  Indianapolis  was  admitted 
to  the  Indiana  bar  in  September,  1896.  He  carried  on  active  practice  in 
Indianapolis  until  March,  1899,  and  then  opened  his  office  in  Hammond, 
which  he  has  made  the  scene  of  his  activities  ever  since. 


232  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Atkinson  is  a  member  of  Hammond  Lodge  No.  210,  K.  of  P.,  also 
of  Royal  League  Council  No.  38.  He  is  a  member  of  tbe  Hammond  Club. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  he  and  his  wife  have  church  membership 
with  the  Plymouth  Congregational  church  at  Indianapolis.  In  addition  to 
his  pleasant  home  at  368  South  Hohman  street,  he  is  interested  in  farm 
property.  He  is  secretary  of  the  Dermicilia  Manufacturing  Company.  Mr. 
Atlcinson  married,  in  June,  1895.  Miss  Lillian  Knipp,  a  daughter  of  Fred 
and  Pauline  (Youche)  Knipp.     They  have  one  daughter.  Helen. 

HIRA^^I    H.    MEEKER. 

Hiram  H.  Meeker,  the  well  known  nurseryman  and  fruit  grower  of 
Crown  Point,  has  been  identified  with  this  town  for  thirty-five  years,  com- 
prising the  latter  half  of  a  very  Ijusy  and  useful  life,  and  his  energies  have 
been  directed  along  several  different  lines  of  activity.  He  is  one  of  the  sur- 
viving veterans  of  the  Civil  war,  in  which  he  served  until  he  was  disabled, 
and  it  was  only  a  few  years  after  that  contlict  that  he  took  up  his  residence  in 
Crown  Point,  where  mercantile  interests,  farming  and  tree  culture  and  small 
fruit  growing  have  at  various  times  taken  up  his  attention. 

Mr.  Meeker  was  born  in  Wyoming  county,  Pennsylvania.  IMarch  10. 
1835.  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Anna  (Bronson)  Meeker,  the  former  a  native  of 
New  Jersey  and  the  latter  of  Connecticut.  He  is  the  third  child  and  second 
son  of  the  family  of  six  children,  all  of  whom  grew  to  adult  years. 

Mr.  Meeker  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  his  native  place  and  was  educated 
in  the  common  schools,  remaining  with  his  father  until  the  outbreak  of  the 
Rebellion.  In  October,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  Company  A.  Fifty-seventh  Penn- 
sylvania Infantry,  as  a  private,  and  serxed  until  he  was  disabled  during  a 
forced  march,  near  Poolville,  Maryland.  During  the  battle  of  Fredericks- 
burg he  was  acting  steward  in  the  hospital.  He  received  his  honorable  dis- 
charge in  the  spring  of  1863,  having  served  for  nearly  two  years.  He  re- 
turned home  and  remained  in  his  native  state  for  a  few  months  and  then  came 
to  Indiana  and  located  in  Carroll  county.  In  i860  he  came  to  Crown  Point 
and  for  two  years  was  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business,  after  which  for  the 
same  period  he  followed  farming.  He  then  bought  the  stock  in  the  same 
store  and  continued  merchandising  for  several  years,  when  he  sold  out  anr.: 
has  since  then  conducted  a  nursery  which  has  become  one  of  the  important 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  233 

institutions  of  Crown  Point  and  has  maintained  a  reputation  for  the  quaHty 
of  its  products.  He  makes  a  specialty  of  growing  small  fruit  for  the  market, 
most  of  it  being  consumed  in  town.  He  has  about  seven  acres  within  the  city 
limits,  and  also  forty  acres  near  by,  and  also  owns  one  of  the  nice  residences 
of  Crown  Point.  Mr.  Meeker  is  one  of  the  best  posted  men  in  Indiana  on 
the  subjects  of  the  growth  of  small  fruits,  shrubbery,  shade  trees  and  all 
nursery  stock. 

Mr.  Meeker  is  a  member  of  the  John  Wheeler  Post  No.  i6i,  G.  A.  R., 
and  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity.  He  has  been  a  life-long  Republican 
in  politics.  He  was  married  January  7,  1864.  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Bryant, 
who  was  born  in  Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  September  3,  1837,  being  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Susan  (Graves)  Bryant,  of  the  William  Cullen  Bryant 
branch.  There  were  three  daughters  born  of  this  union :  Addie  is  the  wife 
of  Julius  Rockwell,  of  Crown  Point ;  Alta  is  the  wife  of  William  Thompson, 
of  South  Chicago ;  and  Josephine  is  a  popular  teacher  in  the  public  schools 
of  Crown  Point.  Mrs.  Meeker  and  her  daughter  Josephine  are  leading 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

FRANCIS  P.  KEILMANN. 

Francis  P.  Keilmann,  of  St.  John,  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  longest 
established  merchant  of  Lake  county.  He  began  business  in  St.  John  nearly 
fifty-five  years  ago,  and  a  continued  record  of  success  has  been  his  lot  to 
the  present  time,  when,  as  the  dean  of  Lake  county  business  men,  he  enjoys 
along  with  his  material  prosperity  the  esteem  and  thorough  confidence  of 
all  his  old  friends  and  associates.  He  and  the  family  of  which  he  is  a  member 
have  been  identified  with  Lake  county  and  St.  John  township  since  pioneer 
times,  for  a  period  of  sixty  years,  and  their  enterprise  and  personal  influence 
have  always  been  reckoned  as  important  factors  in  the  various  affairs  of 
the  county. 

Mr.  Keilmann  was  born  in  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany,  November  23, 
183 1.  His  father  was  Henry  Keilmann,  a  native  of  the  same  place.  He 
left  the  fatherland  and  brought  his  family  to  America  in  1840,  his  first  loca- 
tion being  in  Portage  county,  Ohio,  but  in  1844  he  moved  to  Lake  county. 
Indiana,  and  settled  on  a  farm  in  St.  John  township.  His  life  occupation 
was  farming.     He  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-five  years.     His  wife 


234  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

was  Mary  Elizabeth  Ofenloch,  who  was  Ijorn  in  the  same  province  of  Ger- 
many as  he,  and  died  in  Portage  county,  Ohio,  wlien  thirty-eight  years  old. 
They  were  parents  of  seven  children,  and  all  reached  maturity. 

Mr.  F.  P.  Keilmann,  the  fourth  son  and  the  fifth  child  of  the  family,  was 
nine  years  old  when  he  landed  on  American  soil,  and  had  already  begun  his 
education  iu  his  native  land.  He  remained  with  the  family  in  Portage  county 
for  two  years,  and  then,  at  the  age  of  eleven,  went  to  Chicago  with  his 
older  brother,  Henry.  He  attended  school  in  that  city  for  some  time,  and 
then  joined  his  father  on  the  latter's  removal  to  Lake  county.  Two  years 
later,  however,  he  returned  to  Chicago  and  clerked  in  a  store  for  four 
years.  He  then  came  to  St.  John  township  and  became  a  clerk  in  his  brother 
Henry's  store  at  St.  John.  The  brothers  soon  formed  a  partnership,  and 
the  firm  of  Henry  and  F.  P.  Keilmann  continued  to  do  business  in  St.  John 
until  1865,  having  the  premier  mercantile  establishment  of  the  village.  In 
1865,  after  fifteen  years'  connection,  Francis  bought  the  interest  of  his 
brother,  and  then  took  George  F.  Gerlach,  another  well  known  merchant 
of  St.  John,  into  partnership,  continuing  thus  until  1885.  Since  that  time 
Mr.  Keilmann  has  carried  on  his  business  alone,  and  no  other  man  in  the 
county  has  a  record  for  such  long  connection  with  mercantile  enterprises. 
He  has  a  large  store  and  a  fine  general  stock  valued  at  about  ten  thousand 
dollars.  He  owns  Lake  county  real  estate  to  the  amount  of  over  a  thou- 
sand acres,  and  also  has  property  in  other  places.  He  has  always  affiliated 
with  the  Democratic  party,  and  from  1856  to  1885  was  postmaster  of 
St.  John. 

In  1857  Mr.  Keilmann  married  Margaret  Schaefer,  who  was  born  in 
Germany  and  came  to  America  in  childhood  with  her  parents.  There  are 
nine  living  children  of  this  marriage:  Susan,  who  is  the  wife  of  Joseph 
H.  Gerlach,  of  Chicago;  Francis  B.,  of  Chicago;  John,  of  Crown  Point; 
William  F.,  of  St.  John;  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Edward  Schmal.  of  Chicago; 
Margaret,  unmarried;  George:  Lena,  wife  of  Frank  Thiel.  of  St.  John;  and 
Peter.  All  these  children  were  born  in  the  same  house  and  in  St.  John  town- 
ship, and  they  are  now  all  capable  and  worthy  men  and  women. 

JOHN  M.  THIEL. 

John  M.  Thiel,  the  genial  old  "village  blacksmith"'  of  St.  John,  came  to 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  235 

Lake  county  as  a  German  lad  of  ten  years  old,  and  has  been  numbered  among 
the  citizens  of  the  county  for  all  the  subsequent  sixty  odd  years.  He 
learned  his  trade  in  the  county,  and  established  his  shop  in  St.  John  forty- 
seven  vears  ago,  so  that  his  place  of  business  is  the  oldest  of  its  kind  in  the 
county,  and  he  himself  holds  the  palm  for  long  continuance  at  his  trade. 
At  the  age  of  seventy-three,  he  is  still  hearty  and  strong,  does  a  day's  work 
that  he  need  not  be  ashamed  of,  and  is  respected  and  honored  through- 
out the  township  not  only  because  he  has  so  long  been  a  factor  of  its  in- 
dustrial enterprise  but  also  because  of  his  personal  character  and  genmne 
worth  of  citizenship. 

Mr.  Thiel  was  born  in  Prussia,  Germany,  ^Nlay  15,  1832,  a  son  of  John 
and  Marv  (  Klassen)  Thiel,  who  emigrated  from  their  German  fatherland 
in  1842  and  settled  in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
St.  John.  His  father  devoted  himself  to  the  improvement  and  cultivation 
of  a  farm,  and  lived  there  till  his  death,  when  he  was  aliout  eighty-two 
years  of  age,  and  his  wife  died  in  the  same  place  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven. 
They  were  jiarents  of  twelve  children,  and  seven  of  them  grew  to  man- 
hood and  womanhood. 

John  ^I.  Thiel  is  the  fourth  son.  He  was  ten  years  old  when  he  came 
to  Lake  county,  where  he  was  reared  and  received  his  English  education. 
At  the  age  of  twenty  he  left  his  parents"  home  and  went  to  Crown  Point, 
where  he  served  his  time  at  learning  the  blacksmith  trade.  After  his  ap- 
prenticeship of  two  years  he  worked  at  his  trade  in  Crown  Point  for  three 
years,  and  in  1857  came  to  St.  John  and  opened  his  own  shop,  which  he  has 
conducted  from  that  year  to  this,  always  giving  satisfaction  to  his  large 
patronage  and  at  the  same  time  being  on  good  terms  with  every  person 
in  the  community.  Besides  this  business,  which  he  still  carries  on,  he  owns 
a  fifty-acre  farm  in  the  town  of  St.  John,  and  this  is  managed  bv  his  son 
Joe.  In  politics  Mr.  Thiel  has  always  been  a  Democrat,  and  he  and  his 
family  are  all  members  of  the  Catholic  church  in  St.  John. 

In  1857,  the  same  year  in  which  he  located  in  St.  John,  Air.  Thiel  mar- 
ried Miss  Susan  Davis,  who  was  born  in  the  same  prcjvince  of  Germany 
as  Mr.  Tliiel,  but  preceded  him  to  America  by  two  years.  They  are  the 
parents  of  seven  children,  all  of  whom  were  born  in  St.  John:  Jacob  mar- 
ried Lena  Thiesen,  who  died,  and  he  now   lives  in  Whiting;  George  mar- 


236  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

ried  Flora  Sneider  and  lives  in  Chicago;  Elierhard  married  ]\Iary  Scheidt, 
and  works  in  the  shop  with  his  father;  Joe.  mentioned  ahove,  is  the  only 
one  of  the  children  who  has  not  married ;  Frances,  who  married  John  Dietz, 
died  in  1894;  Clara,  also  deceased,  was  the  wife  of  Jacob  Keilmann;  Thresia, 
wife  of  Henry  Neibling,  resides  in  St.  John. 

J.  FRANK  MEEKER. 

J.  Frank  Meeker,  county  attorney  of  Lake  county,  is  one  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  bar  at  Crown  Point,  but  during  the  twelve  years  of  his 
practice  he  has  acquired  an  extensive  clientage  and  in  the  later  years  found 
himself  in  possession  of  as  much  business  as  he  can  consistently  manage.  He 
is  thoroughly  identified  with  the  interests  of  Lake  count}-,  having  known 
it  all  his  life,  and  he  has  the  distinction  of  being  one  of  the  youngest  of  the 
log-cabin  children  of  northwestern  Lidiana,  to  which  favored  class  some  of 
the  most  prominent  men  of  the  present  belong,  but  whose  day  and  genera- 
tion are  of  the  past  in  the  populous  and  highly  developed  state  of  Indiana. 

Mr.  Meeker  was  born  December  11,  186S,  and  his  birthplace  was  in 
Center  township,  fi\-e  miles  east  of  Crown  Point,  in  the  primitive  and  pioneer 
log  caljin  that  his  father  had  made  his  home  place  on  first  coming  to  the 
county.  His  parents  are  Sherman  B.  and  Elizabeth  (Cress)  Meeker,  both 
natives  of  Pennsylvania  and  now  living  retired  from  the  active  duties  of  life 
at  Crown  Point.  His  father,  on  emigrating  to  the  west,  first  established  his 
home  in  Illinois,  afterwards  located  in  Michigan,  and  in  1866  came  to  Lake 
county,  Indiana,  settling  in  Center  township,  where  he  followed  the  occupa- 
tion of  farming"  for  a  number  of  years.  He  and  his  wife  were  the  parents 
of  four  children :  Nathan  Brewster,  who  is  engaged  in  farming  on  the 
old  homestead ;  Charles  H.,  conducting  an  implement  business  at  Crown 
Point;  Henrietta,  the  deceased  wife  of  Elliott  Bibler;  and  J.  Frank. 

Mr.  J.  Frank  Meeker,  the  youngest  of  the  family,  spent  his  early  boy- 
hood da}s  upon  the  old  homestead  in  Center  township,  attending  the  dis- 
trict schools.  He  came  to  Crown  Point  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  and  con- 
tinued his  education  here  until  graduated  from  the  high  school.  Later  he 
took  up  the  study  of  law  with  Mr.  Peterson,  under  whose  direction  he  con- 
tinued his  reading  for  about  two  years,  and  he  afterward  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of   Michigan,   at  Ann   Arbor,   where  he   was  graduated  in   the  law 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  237 

department  with  the  class  of  189J.  In  the  same  year  lie  made  the  beginnings 
of  his  practice  at  Crown  Point,  was  then  at  Hammond  for  one  year,  after 
which  he  returned  to  Cro\\n  Point,  which  has  been  the  center  of  his  activity 
ever  since.  He  was  in  partnership  with  Judge  McMahan  for  two  years,  but 
since  then  has  practiced  alone  and  built  up  a  very  fine  patronage.  He  served 
as  deputy  prosecuting  attorney  for  two  terms,  covering  four  years,  and  in 
February,  igoi,  was  appointed  county  attorney,  which  office  he  still  fills. 

Mr.  Meeker  since  taking  his  place  among  the  legal  fraternity  at  Crown 
Point  has  taken  considerable  interest  in  Republican  politics,  and  has  done 
much  for  the  organization  and  influence  of  that  party  in  Lake  county.  He 
is  vice  chairman  of  the  county  central  committee.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity  at  Crown  Point,  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Foresters  and  the  North  American  Union. 

On  March  24,  1894,  Mr.  Meeker  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Stella  S.  Colby,  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Catherine  Colby.  She  is  also  a  native 
of  Lake  county,  and  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  only  w'oman  who  has 
qualified  and  obtained  admission  to  the  bar  of  Lake  countv.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Meeker  have  one  daughter,  Stella. 

CHARLES    E.    GREEN WALD. 

Endowed  by  nature  with  peculiar  qualifications  that  comliine  to  make 
a  successful  lawyer  and  possessing  the  energy  and  determination  without 
which  advancement  at  the  bar  can  never  be  secured,  Charles  E.  Greenwald 
has  won  for  himself  a  prominent  position  as  a  representative  of  the  legal 
fraternity  in  Lake  county.  Patiently  persevering,  possessed  of  an  analvtical 
mind  and  one  that  is  readily  recepti\'e  and  retenti\-e  of  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples and  intricacies  of  the  law,  gifted  wkh  a  spirited  de\-iition  ti:)  wearisiime 
details,  quick  to  comprehend  the  most  subtle  problems  and  logical  in  his 
conclusions,  fearless  in  the  advocacy  of  any  cause  he  may  espouse  and  the 
soul  of  honor  and  integrity,  Mr.  Greenwald  has  achieved  a  position  of  prom- 
inence that  is  most  creditalile  and  is  a  recognized  leader  of  public  thought 
and  opinion  in  the  communit\-  in  which  he  resides. 

A  native  of  Ohio,  his  birth  occurred  in  the  citv  of  Cleveland  on  the 
2ist  of  January,  1876.  He  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  (Mack)  Green- 
wald, and  he  began  his  education   in   the   public   schools  of  Cle\-eland   and 


238  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

afterward  continued  his  studies  in  the  high  school  of  South  Chicago.  He 
took  up  the  study  of  law  in  1895,  having  determined  to  make  its  practice 
his  life  work,  and  was  graduated  from  the  law  department  of  the  University 
of  Michigan  at  Ann  Arbor  with  the  class  of  1898.  He  then  located  for 
practice  at  Whiting,  opening  an  office  here.  Although  professional  advance- 
ment is  proverbially  slow  and  he  had  to  demonstrate  bis  skill  in  handling 
intricate  legal  problems,  he  won  a  good  clientage  in  a  comparatively  short 
space  of  time,  and  in  1902  he  was  elected  city  attorney  of  Whiting.  He  has 
been  deputy  prosecuting  attorney  since  1898,  and  is  now  the  candidate  on 
the  Republican  ticket  for  prosecuting  attorney  of  the  district  composed  of 
Lake  and  Porter  counties.  In  this  connection  one  of  the  Republican  papers 
of  Whiting  said : 

"Attorney  Charles  E.  Greenwald  of  our  city  has  announced  himself  as 
a  candidate  for  the  Republican  nomination  for  prosecuting  attorney.  For 
months  many  influential  lawyers  and  politicians  have  insisted  that  he  should 
be  a  candidate,  but  until  this  week  failed  to  get  his  consent  that  his  name 
might  be  used.  Mr.  Greenwald  has  served  six  years  as  deputy  prosecuting 
attornev  here,  and  his  conduct  of  the  office  during  this  time  justifies  his 
friends  in  their  claim  that  he  has  shown  himself  well  qualified  to  fill  the  posi- 
tion. He  is  regarded  by  the  lawyers  as  one  of  the  most  promising  young- 
men  at  the  bar,  and  the  number  of  lawyers  who  are  supporting  him  is  the 
best  possible  evidence  of  his  ability  to  fill  the  position.  He  is  a  'Strong  favorite 
with  the  politicians  and  other  men  interested  in  the  success  of  tlie  Republican 
party  in  this  county,  recognizing  the  loyal  services  rendered  for  his  partv  in 
previous  campaigns.  The  active  Republicans  of  Lake  county  are  fjuick  to 
remember  and  repay  those  who  have  rendered  valiant  service  to  the  party, 
and  this  sentiment  will  enure  to  Mr.  Greenwald's  advantage  as  against  any 
opponent  who  may  contest  with  him  for  the  nomination." 

In  his  private  practice  Mr.  Greenwald  has  shown  great  care  in  the 
preparation  of  his  cases,  and  as  a  ]niblic  official  in  courtroom  he  has  been 
unfaltering  in  the  performance  of  his  duty  in  furthering  the  ends  of  justice 
and  right.  He  is  one  of  the  stockholders  of  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Whiting. 

In  the  year  1900  Mr.  Greenwald  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Christine 
Michaely  of  Michigan  City  and  they  have  on  little  daughter,  Dorothy.     Tliey 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  239 

are  well  known  in  Whiting  and  have  gained  a  wide  circle  of  warm  friends. 
Mr.  Greenwald  is  a  scholarly  gentleman  who  speaks  four  dififerent  languages 
— the  Polish,  Slavonian,  Bohemian  and  English.  In  politics  he  is  a  stanch 
Republican,  and  has  taken  a  very  active  and  influential  part  in  the  work  of 
the  organization,  doing  all  in  his  power  to  promote  its  growth  and  insure 
its  success.  He  organized  the  National  Slavonian  Political  Club,  which  has 
been  in  existence  for  two  years  and  is  now  one  of  the  prominent  organiza- 
tions in  this  part  of  Indiana,  composed  of  about  two  hundred  men.  The 
object  of  the  club  is  to  teach  political  economy  and  civil  government.  He 
is  well  fitted  for  leadership  and  his  opinions  carry  weight  and  influence  in 
political  and  other  circles  in  Whiting. 

CHARLES    H.    MEEKER. 

Charles  H.  Meeker,  who  is  energetic  and  notably  reliable  in  business 
afifairs,  is  now  dealing  in  agricultural  implements  in  Crown  Point.  He  has 
never  sought  to  figure  before  the  public  in  any  light  save  that  of  a  business 
man  and  in  his  chosen  field  of  labor  he  has  won  confidence  and  respect  and 
at  the  same  time  has  gained  a  fair  measure  of  success.  He  was  born  in 
Calhoun  county,  Michigan,  on  the  2d  of  November,  1857,  and  is  the  second 
son  and  third  child  of  Sherman  and  Elizabeth  A.  (Cress)  Meeker.  His 
father  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  and  on  emigrating  westward  established 
his  home  in  Illinois.  He  afterward  located  in  Michigan  and  in  1867  came 
to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  settling  in  Center  township,  where  he  followed  the 
occupation  of  farming  for  a  number  of  years.  He  now  lives  retired  in  Crown 
Point.  His  wife  tore  the  maiden  name  of  Elizabeth  Cress,  who  is  also  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  a  resident  of  Crown  Point.  They  are  the  parents 
of  four  children :  Nathan  Brewster,  who  is  engaged  in  farming  on  the  old 
homestead;  Charles  H.,  who  is  conducting  an  implement  business  at  Crown 
Point:  Henrietta,  the  deceased  wife  of  Elliott  Bibler:  and  J.  Frank,  an 
attorney  of  Crown  Point. 

\\'hen  only  about  a  year  old  Charles  H.  Meeker  was  taken  by  his 
parents  to  White  county.  Indiana,  while  the  family  home  was  afterward 
established  in  Carroll  county  when  he  was  six  years  of  age.  In  the  fall  of 
1867  he  removed  to  Lake  county,  where  he  attended  the  district  schools  of 
Center  township.     He  was  reared  in  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads,  early 


240  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

becoming  familiar  with  the  duties  and  labors  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  agri- 
culturist, and  he  continued  to  assist  his  father  up  to  the  time  of  his  marriage. 

It  was  on  the  22d  of  September,  1880,  that  ]\Ir.  Meeker  was  joined  in 
wedlock  to  Aliss  Rose  A.  Sweeney,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Elizabeth 
(Johnson)  Sweeney,  who  was  born  in  Center  township,  Lake  county, 
Indiana,  and  was  educated  in  the  same  school  that  her  husband  attended. 
The  young  couple  located  on  a  farm  lying  in  Center  and  Ross  townships, 
and  there  ]Mr.  ^Meeker  engaged  in  farming  for  ten  years.  In  1891,  how- 
ever, he  retired  from  that  department  of  labor  and  established  an  agricultural 
implement  business  in  Crown  Point,  since  which  time  he  has  dealt  in  farm 
machinery  of  all  kinds.  He  also  handles  buggies  and  wagons,  and  he  draws 
his  patronage  from  almost  every  section  of  the  county.  He  is  one  of  the  best 
known  men  in  this  line  of  business,  and  has  secured  a  liberal  patronage  which 
is  constantly  growing.  His  Ijusiness  methods  are  such  as  will  liear  the  closest 
investigation  and  scrutiny,  and  his  earnest  desire  to  please  his  patrons  com- 
binetl  with  strong  and  honorable  purpose  has  been  the  foundation  upon 
which  he  has  builded  his  prosperity. 

Mr.  Meeker  keeps  well  informed  on  the  cjuestions  and  issues  of  the 
day  and  gives  a  stalwart  support  to  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party. 
In  1904  ]\Ir.  Aleeker  was  nominated  for  the  ofifice  of  township  trustee  of 
Center  township.  He  belongs  to  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters  and  to 
the  fire  company  at  Crown  Point.  He  is  well  known  throughout  this  por- 
tion of  the  state,  his  business  taking  him  to  all  parts  of  the  count}-,  and  he 
has  thus  formed  a  wide  acciuaintance  and  gained  the  warm  regard  of  many 
friends.  His  residence  in  Lake  county  covers  thirty-seven  years  and  there- 
fore he  has  been  a  witness  of  much  of  its  development,  progress  and  ad- 
vancement. 

GEORGE   M.    HORNECKER. 

George  M.  Hornecker  is  the  proprietor  of  the  Fair,  a  general  department 
store  at  ^^'hiting"  and  in  this  connection  has  met  with  very  creditable  success. 
In  viewing  the  mass  of  mankind  in  the  varied  occupations  of  life,  the  con- 
clusion is  forced  upon  the  observer  that  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  men 
have  sought  employment  not  in  the  line  of  their  peculiar  fitness,  but  in  those 
fields  where  caprice  or  circumstances  have  placed  them,  thus  explaining  the 
reason  of  the  failure  of  ninetv-five  Der  cent  of  those  who  enter  commercial 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  241 

and  professional  circles.  In  a  few  cases  it  seems  that  men  with  a  pecuhar 
fitness  for  a  certain  line  have  tal<en  it  np.  and  marked  success  has  followed. 
Such  is  the  fact  in  the  case  of  the  suhject  of  this  liiography. 

Mr.  Hornecker  is  a  native  son  of  Illinois,  his  hirth  having  occurred  in 
Henry  county,  that  state,  on  the  3d  of  October,  1873.  He  is  a  son  of  G.  J. 
and  Catherine  (Ernst)  Hornecker,  who  were  natives  of  Germany,  whence 
they  came  to  America  in  earh-  life.  Here  they  were  married  and  established 
their  home  in  Illinois.  They  l:ecanie  the  parents  of  nine  children,  of  wliom 
George  M.  Hornecker  is  the  fifth  in  nrtler  of  liirth.  He  was  reared  and 
educated  in  his  native  county,  attending  the  public  schools,  and  ^\■hen  not 
engaged  with  the  duties  of  the  schoolroom  he  devoted  his  attention  to  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  After  putting  aside  his  text-books  he  followed  farming 
until  1896,  when  he  came  to  Whiting  and  began  wc^rking  for  the  Standard 
Oil  Company.  He  also  engaged  in  clerking  in  a  hardware  store  for  about 
two  years,  and  on  the  8th  of  August,  iSt)/.  he  began  business  on  his  own 
account  by  purchasing  and  opening  up  a  small  stock  of  hardware.  He 
received  a  good  patronage  and  within  a  short  time  was  enabled  to  extend 
the  scope  of  his  business  by  adding  other  departments.  His  trade  has 
rapidly  increased  along  substantial  lines,  and  he  now  has  the  largest  store 
in  Whiting.  It  is  called  the  Fair  and  is  a  credit  to  the  town.  He  makes 
careful  selection  of  his  goods,  sells  at  prices  which  are  fair  alike  to  pur- 
chaser and  to  merchant  and  by  his  honorable  dealing  has  won  the  unqualified 
confidence  of  the  public.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Telephone 
Company  at  Whiting  and  the  ofifice  of  this  company  is  in  his  building.  He 
is  likewise  a  stockholder  in  the  First  National  Bank,  and  his  influence  has 
been  a  potent  factor  in  commercial  and  financial  circles  of  this  city. 

In  1897  :\Ir.  Hornecker  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Clara  IM.  S. 
Wille,  and  to  them  have  been  born  three  children  who  are  yet  living,  while 
their  second  child.  Gertrude  .\..,  is  deceased.  Those  who  snr\i\e  are 
Laura  C,  Martin  G.  and  Robert  A.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hornecker  are  repre- 
sentati\e  meniiers  of  the  German  Lutheran  church,  of  which  her  father, 
Rev.  H.  Ph.  Wille,  is  now  minister. 

Through  his  business  interests  Mr.  Hornecker  has  contributed  in  no 
small  degree  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  town.  He  erected  his  first  business 
building  in  1901,  and  has  also  added  another  of  the  same  size — twentv-five 

16 


242  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

by  seventy-five  feet.  In  the  second  building  he  occupies  three  floors  with 
his  large  line  of  general  merchandise.  He  is  treasurer  of  the  Whiting  volun- 
teer fire  department.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and,  May  2,  1904,  he  was 
elected  to  represent  the  Second  ward  in  the  City  Council  of  Whiting.  He 
is  a  member  of  some  of  the  most  important  committees.  Mr.  Hornecker 
entered  upon  his  business  career  with  very  limited  capital,  yet  his  efforts 
have  been  so  discerningly  directed  along  well  defined  lines  of  labor  that  he 
seems  to  have  realized  at  any  one  point  of  progress  the  full  measure  of  his 
possibilities  for  accomplishment  at  that  point.  A  man  of  distinct  and  forceful 
individuality,  broad  mentality  and  most  mature  judgment,  he  has  left  and 
is  leaving  his  impress  upon  the  mercantile  world,  and  at  the  same  time  his 
business  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  promotes  the  commercial  prosperity  of 
the  town  and  thus  contributes  to  its  general  benefit  and  growth. 

FRANK    HESS. 

Frank  Hess,  treasurer  of  the  city  of  Hammond  and  otherwise  prominent 
in  the  public  and  Ijusiness  life  of  his  city  and  county,  is  a  native  son  of 
Lake  county  and  has  lived  here  all  his  life,  for  over  half  a  century.  For 
fifteen  years  he  has  taken  a  leading  part  in  the  official  matters  of  his  county, 
has  been  the  incumbent  of  some  place  of  trust  during  this  time,  and  in  what- 
ever relation  he  has  met  his  fellow-citizens  has  won  their  entire  confidence 
and  esteem. 

Mr.  Hess  was  burn  in  Xorth  township.  Lake  county.  Indiana,  Novem- 
ber 17.  1853,  being  the  only  son  and  child  of  Joseph  and  Marv  Ann  (Sack- 
ley)  Hess.  His  mother  was  a  native  of  Canada  and  a  daughter  of  William 
Sackley.  She  died  in  i860,  when  Frank  was  seven  years  old.  Joseph  Hess 
\vas  a  native  of  France,  and  was  one  of  three  sons  and  one  daughter,  children 
of  a  life-long  resident  of  France.*  Joseph  Hess  was  a  baker  Iiy  trade.  He 
came  to  America  aliout  1846,  and  worked  at  his  trade  in  Syracuse,  New 
York,  for  a  time,  and  in  184S  moved  west  to  Chicago.  About  1852  he 
settled  at  West  Point,  or  Gibson  station,  in  Lake  county.  Indiana,  having 
come  to  North  township.  Lake  county,  in  1850.  That  place  was  then  the 
■western  end  of  the  Michigan  Central  line  of  railroad,  passengers  being  carried 
by  stage  from  there  into  Chicago.  He  conducted  an  eating  house  there  for 
a  short  time,  and  then  mo\-ed  to  the  place  which  was  named  in  his  honor. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  243 

-  Hessville.  He  was  in  the  cattle  and  stock  Ijusiness  there  for  a  time,  and  tlien 
condncted  a  general  store.  He  held  the  office  of  trustee  of  North  township 
for  twenty-two  years,  and  was  also  postmaster  of  Hessville  for  nearly  forty 
years,  his  second  wife  having  the  place  after  his  death.  He  died  in  August, 
1895,  past  seventy-one  years  of  age.  He  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  most 
prominent  citizens  of  that  part  of  Lake  county,  and  in  many  ways  was  identi- 
fied with  the  progress  and  development  of  the  community.  He  was  a  devoted 
member  of  the  Catholic  church.  He  married  for  his  second  wife  Elizabeth 
Natke,  and  they  had  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  are  now  living:  Edward; 
Alice,  deceased,  who  was  the  wife  of  Fred  Scheuneman,  dlso  deceased; 
George;  William;  Julius;  Gustave,  deceased;  Albert;  Joseph;  Emma,  who 
was  the  second  wife  of  Fred  Scheuneman,  and  after  his  death  married 
William  Bundy ;  John,  and  Lydia. 

]\Ir.  Frank  Hess  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  Lake  county,  and  secured 
his  education  by  attendance  at  the  district  schools.  He  remained  with  his 
father  and  assistetl  in  his  business  until  he  was  married  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
six.  He  early  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  public  affairs  of  his  township, 
and  served  as  assessor  of  North  township  for  thirteen  years.  He  was  city 
councilman  of  Hammond  for  three  years,  was  city  clerk  for  four  years,  and 
in' 1892  was  elected  city  treasurer,  which  position  he  has  held  and  whose 
responsible  duties  he  has  discharged  most  faithfully  to  the  present  time.  He 
has  always  been  an  advocate  of  the  principles  and  policies  of  the  Republican 
party.  He  is  vice-president  and  also  a  director  of  the  Lake  County  Trust 
and  Savings  Bank.  He  built  his  good  home  at  443  North  Hohman  street 
in  1886.  and  besides  has  other  business  interests  and  property  in  the  city 
and  county. 

Mr.  Hess  married.  May  24,  1879,  Misss  Emma  Haselbach,  a  daughter 
of  August  and  Mary  (Grabo)  Haselbach.  Ten  children  were  born  of  their 
union,  but  all  died  when  young.  Mrs.  Hess  died  February  12,  1894.  On 
October  10,  1895,  ^Ir.  Hess  married  Miss  Martha  Karsten,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  ALary  Karsten.  They  have  one  claughter,  Emma  C.  Mrs.  Hess  is  a 
member  of  the  Lutheran  church.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hess  ha\-e  an  adopted 
daughter,  Lydia  Hess,  bom  ]\Iay  13,  1895. 


244  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

JOHN    P.    SCHAEFER. 

John  P.  Scliaefer,  of  Section  33,  St.  John  township,  is  a  Hfe-long 
resident  of  Lake  connty,  and  for  many  years  has  been  one  of  its  prominent 
farmers  and  representative  citizens.  He  has  been  frugal,  industrious  and 
a  good  manager  all  through  his  career,  and  at  the  prime  of  his  years  has 
acquired  a  competence  in  a  fine  landed  estate.  He  farms  the  small  place 
where  he  resides,  and  rents  out  most  of  his  other  property.  He  has  also 
identified  himself  with  various  community  interests,  and  as  an  all-round 
successful  man  is  a  fine  example  of  sterling  American  citizenship. 

Mr.  Schaefer  was  born  in  Center  township  of  Lake  county,  on  October 
9,  1854.  His  father,  Jacob  Schaefer,  a  native  of  Germany,  is  counted  among 
the  early  settlers  of  Lake  county,  and  lived  to  be  eighty-three  years  old,  having 
spent  his  life  as  a  farmer.  His  wife  was  Maggie  Willem,  also  a  native  of 
German}',  and  she  died  at  about  the  age  of  sixty-fi\'e  years.  There  were 
nine  children  in  the  family  and  all  of  them  reached  manhood  and  womanhood. 

Mr.  John  P.  Schaefer  was  the  youngest  of  the  family.  He  was  nine 
years  old  when  the  family  moved  o\-er  into  St.  John  townsliip,  and  he  was 
reared  and  received  most  of  his  education  here.  He  remained  at  home  and 
assisted  his  father  in  the  cultivation  of  the  farm  until  the  'after'?  death, 
and  he  has  continued  farming  to  the  present,  gradually  adding  to  his  estate 
interests  as  he  was  prospered.  He  now  owns  four  hundred  acres  where  the 
old  homestead  is  situated,  and  seventy-three  acres  where  his  present  resi- 
dence is  located.  He  does  general  farming  and  stock-raising.  He  located 
on  his  present  farm  in  1901.  having  lived  in  section  35  previous  thereto, 
and  gives  most  of  his  own  labors  and  attention  to  the  seventv-three  acres 
at  his  home,  renting  nearly  all  the  rest  of  his  land. 

Mr.  Schaefer  is  a  Democrat  as  far  as  concerns  national  jiolitics.  but  in 
local  affairs  tries  to  vote  for  the  liest  man.  regardless  of  what  party  tag  he 
bears.  He  has  church  membership  w  ith  the  St.  John's  Catholic  church. 
He  was  married  in  1883  to  Miss  Susan  Jordan,  who  was  born  in  St.  John 
township,  Lake  county.  October  5,  1864.  a  daughter  cf  John  A.  and  Johanna 
(Klassen)  Jordan,  old  settlers  of  Lake  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schaefer  have 
six  children :    Maggie,  Edward,  Carrie,  Zelie,  Mary  and  John  A. 


•t 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  245 

FLOYD    M.    PIERCE. 

Floyd  M.  Pierce  is  the  eldest  child  of  Marion  F.  and  Maggie  (Ran- 
dolph J  Pierce,  whose  biographies  as  prominent  citizens  of  Lake  county  are 
given  on  other  pages  of  this  history.  The  son  has  himself  found  a  broad 
field  of  usefulness  in  his  native  county,  and  Ross  township  has  especial  reason 
to  be  proud  and  grateful  for  his  sterling  and  public-spirited  citizenship  and 
his  loyalty  to  all  that  concerns  the  general  welfare.  Both  now  and  in  later 
years  his  work  for  the  educational  interests  of  the  township  will  be  cherished 
and  held  up  as  one  of  his  most  important  achievements.  As  trustee  of  the 
township  he  has  given  a  far  more  than  ordinary  or  perfunctory  attention  to 
the  practical  matters  of  education,  and  every  child  of  school  age  is  receiving 
more  or  less  benefit  from  the  enlarged  educational  opportunities  which  have 
been  so  largely  the  result  of  his  endeavor  and  ambition  along  these  lines. 

This  leading  young  business  man  and  pulilic  official  of  Ross  township 
was  born  in  the  township  and  county  of  his  present  residence,  on  May  25. 
1S73.  He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  the  Northern  Indiana 
Normal  School  at  Valparaiso,  after  which  he  taught  school  for  two  years, 
from  which  experience  his  later  work  for  the  schools  has  received  the  greater 
stamp  of  practicality  and  effective  direction.  He  was  also  appointed  to  the 
office  of  postmaster  of  Merrilhille  for  a  term  of  four  years,  and  at  the  present 
time  is  successfully  engaged  in  the  coal  Ijusiness  at  this  town. 

Politically  Mr.  Pierce  follows  his  father  in  adhering  stanchly  to  Demo- 
cratic principles.  He  was  elected  to  the  office  of  trustee  of  Ross  township 
in  1900,  and  still  holds  that  important  office.  During  his  term  he  has  had 
the  oversight  of  the  construction  of  three  schoolhouses  and  has  otherwise 
been  a  leader  in  l()ca!  affairs.  He  was  directly  concerned  with  the  erection 
of  the  beautiful  high  school  building  at  Merrillville.  which  is  an  honor  to  the 
town,  the  township  and  county,  and  shows  how  thoroughly  this  section  of 
northwestern  Indiana  is  living  up  to  the  reputation  for  high  educational 
ideals  established  for  the  entire  state  of  Indiana.  The  high  school  is  seventy- 
four  feet  front  and  thirty-six  feet  wide,  has  two  stories  and  a  seven-foot 
basement,  is  built  of  stone  and  pressed  brick,  is  heated  by  two  furnaces,  con- 
tains four  large  rooms,  and  is  finished  throughout  after  the  most  modern 
style  of  school  architecture  and  educational  equipments.     The  total  cost  of 


246  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

tliis  permanent  and  model  structure  was  seven  thousand  dollars,  and  its  dura- 
bility and  thoroughness  of  construction  are  its  chief  points  of  economy,  and 
it  is  altogether  a  credit  to  the  taxpayers  of  the  community.     The  rooms  are 
seated   with   desks  of   tlie   most   approved   and   hygienic   pattern,    there   are 
genuine  slate  blackboards,  speaking  tubes,  and  many  other  points  of  equip- 
ment which  would  astonish  the  old-time  educator  of  half  a  century  ago.     In 
1903  the  Merrillville  high  school  held  an  exhibition  of  the  work  done  by  the 
pupils  of  the  manual  training  department,  and  the  products  of  their  youthful 
skill  and  handiwork  were  of  such  high  grade  that  the  photos  of  the  different 
articles  have  been  sent  to  St.  Louis  and  are  now  on  exhibition  there  at  the 
World's  Fair.     Prior  to  the  erection  of  the  high  school  building  the  school 
contained  only  eight  grades,  but  since  'Sir.   Pierce's  administration  the  full 
twelve  grades   have  heen   instituted   and   now   afford  the  children   of   Ross 
township  unecjualled  opportunities  for  public  school  education.     Another  act 
of  his  administration  has  been  the  discontinuing  of  three  small  rural  schools 
and  their  consolidation  with  the  central  school,  the  pupils  being  transported 
at  the  public  expense  to  the  school  daily,  and  this  has  been  done  with  de- 
creased expenditure  for  maintenance  and  with  much  increased  efficiency  in 
the  character  of  work  accomplished. 

Mr.  Pierce  has  fraternal  affiliations  with  the  ^Masonic  lodge  No.  551 
and  with  Hobart  Tent  No.  65  of  the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees.  He  was 
married,  February  16,  1895,  to  Miss  Lillie  M.  Niksch,  and  they  have  three 
children.  Vida,  Myra  and  the  baby.  \^ida  is  now  in  the  second  grade  of  her 
school  work.  Mrs.  Pierce  was  bom  January  25,  1876,  and  was  reared  in 
this  county  and  educated  in  the  common  schools.  Her  father  passed  away 
March  2,  1903,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  but  her  mother  is  still  li\-ing  at 
the  age  of  seventv-two. 


-*& 


JOSEPH    PATTON. 

Joseph  Patton,  who  for  some  years  has  been  living  retired  from  active 
life  at  Crown  Point,  is  a  pioneer  farmer  and  settler  of  Lake  county,  with  over 
fifty  years  of  continuous  residence  to  his  credit.  During  most  of  this  long 
period  he  has  made  farming  his  vocation,  and  still  retains  the  farm  on  which 
he  laid  the  basis  of  his  prosperity.     He  has  also  given  time  and  energv  to  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  24  7 

promotion  of  the  general  welfare  of  his  community,  and  now  at  the  age  of 
three  score  and  ten  ranks  among  the  men  of  influence  and  ability  and  excel- 
lent personal  character  and  reputation  in  this  part  of  Lake  county. 

Mr.  Patton  was  born  in  Trumbull  county,  Ohio.  October  17,  1834.  His 
father,  John  H.  Patton,  was  born  in  Mercer  county.  Pennsylvania,  and  came 
to  Lake  county  in  1852  from  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  locating  and  improving 
a  farm  in  \\'infield  township,  where  he  died  in  1865  at  the  age  of  sixty-five 
years.  He  married  Eliza  Jane  Dixon,  who  was  born  in  Ireland  and  came  to 
America  when  about  fourteen  years  old.  and  who  died  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
seven  years.  They  were  the  parents  of  sixteen  children,  and  all  of  these  grew 
up  and  married  (except  the  oldest,  who  never  married)  and  lived  to  be  past 
thirty-five  years  of  age.  Some  of  them  still  live,  being  from  seventy  to 
eighty  years  old. 

Mr.  Joseph  Patton.  the  seventh  son  and  twelfth  child,  was  reared  in 
Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  up  to  his  eighteenth  year,  receiving  most  of  his 
education  in  the  old-time  log  schoolhouse,  and  in  1852  he  accompanied  his 
parents  to  Lake  county.  That  was  an  early  year  in  the  history  of  Lake  county, 
and  there  were  but  three  stores  in  Crown  Point  at  the  time.  In  1855,  after 
he  had  married,  he  located  on  land  of  his  own  in  W'infield  township,  where 
he  cleared  and  improved  a  good  farmstead  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
building  the  houses  and  barns  and  completing  the  last  of  the  important  im- 
provements in  1882.  This  is  one  of  the  model  places  of  the  township,  and 
he  still  owns  it  and  finds  it  a  steady  source  of  revenue,  although  in  1882  he 
retired  from  its  active  and  personal  management  and  moved  into  Crown 
Point,  where  he  also  has  a  fine  property.  He  deserves  the  comforts  of 
retired  life,  and  as  one  of  the  old  settlers  has  reaped  his  share  of  the  profits 
accruing  to  those  who  place  themselves  in  the  van  of  progress  and  help 
develop  a  new  country  for  the  uses  of  civilization. 

He  has  also  been  identified  with  the  public  life  of  Lake  county,  and  is 
one  of  the  life-long  and  influential  Republicans  of  the  county.  During  the 
Civil  war  he  enlisted  and  served  as  a  member  of  Company  E,  One  Hundred 
and  Fifty-first  Indiana  Infantry,  his  record  to  the  end  of  the  war  having  been 
most  creditable.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the  John  Wheeler  Post,  G.  A.  R., 
at  Crown  Point.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  ]\Iethodist  Episcopal  church 
for  forty-five  years,  and  has  filled  all  the  offices  and  is  devoted  to  its  work. 


248  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

He  was  trustee  for  about  twenty  years  and  is  now  class  leader  and  also  treas- 
urer. He  has  handled  all  the  money  for  the  erection  of  the  church  at  Crown 
Point,  and  has  contributed  much  of  his  own  to  the  various  departments  of 
church  work. 

Mr.  Patton  married,  in  1854,  Miss  Phebe  Folsom,  who  was  born  in 
Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  and  who  became  the  mother  of  two  daughters : 
Olive,  the  wife  of  ^^'illiam  Pardington,  of  Chicago ;  and  Ida  May,  the  widow 
of  Lincoln  S.  Blakman.  In  1867  Mr.  Patton  married  his  present  wife,  Mrs. 
Eliza  (Foster)  Patton,  who  also  had  two  daughters:  Hattie,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  one  and  a  half  years;  and  Jennie,  the  wife  of  Edward  Muzzall,  and 

they  have  four  children. 

REUBEN    FIIPSLEY. 

Reuben  Hipsley,  retired  farmer  and  ex-county  commissioner,  residing 
at  Palmer,  Winfield  township,  has  lived  in  Lake  county  for  over  fifty  years, 
and  most  of  that  time  has  been  spent  in  farming  He  retired  a  few  years 
ago  and  moved  into  Palmer,  but  still  supervises  his  farming  operations  and 
takes  active  part  in  Ijusiness  affairs.  His  career  throughout  has  been  one 
of  integrity  and  upright  dealings,  and  besides  being  successful  in  his  life 
work  he  has  found  time  to  devote  to  public  affairs  and  has  been  honored  with 
the  most  important  county  office. 

Mr.  Hipsley  was  l:)orn  in  Knox  county,  Ohio,  August  22,  1846.  His 
grandfather,  Joshua  Hipsley,  was  born  in  Maryland,  of  German  descent, 
followed  for  a  life  occupation  farn.iing,  and  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Knox 
county,  Ohio.  Jonathan  Lewis  Hipsley,  the  father  of  Reuben,  was  born 
twenty  miles  from  Baltimore,  Maryland,  March  4,  1820,  and  died  January  2, 
1S95.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Knox  county, 
Ohio,  and  was  reared  and  lived  there  until  1853,  when  he  located  in  Lake 
county,  Indiana,  and  bought  and  improved  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres  in 
\\'infiel(I  township,  on  winch  he  was  living  at  the  time  of  his  death..  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  was  a  stanch  \\'hig  during 
the  existence  of  that  party,  and  afterward  became  an  equally  ardent  Repub- 
lican. He  married  Eliza  Phillips,  who  was  born  in  Jefferson  county.  Ohio, 
was  reared  in- Knox  county  of  the  same  state,  and  now  makes  her  home  at 
Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio.  She  is  eighty  years  old,  having  been  born  August  i, 
1824.     Her    father    was    Reuben    Phillips,    probably    born    in    Pennsylvania. 


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HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  '2i9 

Jonathan  Hipslev  and  his  wife  had  fi\'e  chikh"en  :  John,  deceased;  Reuhen ; 
Charles,  of  Broken  Bow,  Nehraska :  Sarah,  wife  of  J.  J.  Stoffer,  of  Knox 
county,  Oliio;  and  Phebe,  deceased. 

Mr.  Reuben  Hipslev  was  about  six  years  old  when  he  moved  with  the 
family  from  Knox  county,  Ohio,  to  Lake  county,  so  that  his  schooling  was 
received  in  this  county.  He  remained  at  home  and  assisted  his  father  until 
his  marriage,  in  1870,  and  he  then  located  in  Winfield  township  on  a  farm 
that  he  still  owns.  He  was  engaged  in  farming  there  until  1900,  when  he 
built  a  residence  in  Palmer  and  moved  to  town.  He  has  one  of  the  nicest 
residences  in  this  part  of  the  county.  He  owns  about  three  hundred  acres 
of  land,  and  still  does  farming  on  one  hundred  acres  comprising  the  home 
place. 

Mr.  Hipsle}-  has  been  a  life-long  Republican  and  voted  for  Grant,  and 
has  done  much  local  work  for  the  party.  He  was  elected  to  the  office  of 
county  commissioner  in  1894  and  was  re-elected  in  1898,  so  that  he  was  in 
office  for  six  years  altogether.  All  the  gravel  roads  of  the  county,  costing 
in  the  aggregate  six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  were  constructed  during  his 
administration.  He  is  a  stockholder  in  the  Commercial  Bank  of  Crown 
Point.     He  affiliates  with  the  Masonic  Lodge  No.  502  at  Hebron. 

Mr.  Hipsley  married.  December  18,  1870,  Miss  Marilda  Dittrick,  who 
was  born  in  Lapeer  county,  ■Michigan,  October  12,  1849,  '^  daughter  of 
Walton  and  Sarah  (Wells)  Dittrick.  Six  children  ha\"e  been  born  to  them: 
Carrie  D.,  deceased;  Alice  A.,  deceased;  Sherman  J.,  deceased;  Ida  F.,  at 
home;  and  Lucile  M.  and  Rillia  Blanche.  Ida  was  educated  in  the  Con- 
servatory of  Music  at  \'alparaiso.  Lucile  is  in  the  eighth  grade,  Blanche  in 
the  sixth.  Mrs.  Hipsle}-  was  four  years  of  age  when  she  came  with  her 
parents  to  Marshall  county,  Indiana,  and  was  reared  and  educated  in  that 
county.  Her  parents  are  both  deceased,  and  she  is  the  only  survixor.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hipsley  have  in  their  possession  an  old  parchment  deed  dated 
August  I,  1844.  and  executed  under  the  hand  of  President  John  Tyler.  This 
is  the  eleventh  deed  of  the  kind  found  in  the  county  of  Lake. 

CHARLES    KEILMANN. 

Charles  Keilmann  of  St.  John  township  is  one  of  the  oldest  living  mem- 
bers of  a  family  which  has  been  prominently  identified  with  the  agricultural 


250  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

and  business  affairs  of  Lake  county  since  pioneer  times.  He  has  himself 
always  followed  farming,  and  is  still  residing  on  and  operating  a  farm  which 
he  located  upon  after  his  marriage,  over  a  half  century  ago.  Lie  has  been  a 
man  of  industry  and  good  business  habits,  has  now.  at  the  age  of  seventy-five, 
a  successful  career  behind  him  and  much  to  show  for  his  past  efforts,  and  at 
all  times  and  in  all  circumstances  has  enjoyed  the  respect  and  high  esteem 
of  his  friends  and  neighbors. 

Mr.  Keilmann  was  born  in  Hesse-Darmstadt.  Germany,  August  29, 
1829,  being  the  fourth  child  of  Henr\'  and  Elizabeth  Keilmann,  who  in  1845 
left  their  native  fatherland  and  came  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  becoming  early 
settlers  in  this  portion  of  northern  Indiana.  Charles  was  about  sixteen  years 
old  when  he  came  to  this  county.  He  was  reared  to  farm  work,  and  re- 
mained at  home  and  assisted  his  father  until  several  years  after  he  was 
grown.  He  was  married  in  1852,  and  in  the  same  year  located  on  his  present 
farm.  He  now  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  has  had  a  long  and 
continued  record  of  success  in  his  operations  at  farming.  He  is  well  known 
throughout  the  county,  and  is  a  truly  representative  citizen.  He  is  a  Demo- 
crat in  politics,  and  served  as  road  commissioner  for  three  terms.  He  and 
his  family  are  members  of  the  Catholic  church  in  St.  John. 

In  1852  Mr.  Keilmann  married  Miss  Anna  Mary  Orr,  who  was  born  in 
Germany  and  was  a  young  girl  when  she  came  to  Lake  county.  She  died  in 
1884,  having  been  the  mother  of  twelve  children,  ten  of  whom  are  living: 
George,  deceased;  Susanna,  wife  of  Adam  Bohling;  Frank,  of  Chicago 
Heights,  Illinois;  Phillip,  of  Nebraska;  Henry,  of  Lowell,  Indiana;  Leonard, 
of  Hammond;  Michael,  who  lives  at  home  and  married  May  Dalilkamp; 
Charles,  of  Dyer,  Lake  county;  John,  who  died  aged  fi\-e  years;  ]\Iary,  wife 
of  Jacob  Spanier,  of  St.  John ;  Peter,  of  Hammond ;  and  Jacob,  of  Chicago 
Heights.     All  these  children  were  born  and  reared  in  St.  John  township. 

LEONARD     KEILMAN. 

Leonard  Keilman,  agriculturist,  merchant  and  general  business  man  of 
Dyer,  St.  John  township,  is  the  foremost  man  of  affairs  in  this  town,  and 
has  been  identified  with  its  commercial  prosperity  and  general  development 
for  over  forty-five  years.  He  belongs  to  the  family  which  is  perhaps  the 
most  prominent  in  the  industrial  and  commercial  history  of  St.  John  town- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  251 

ship,  ami  its  members  have  played  their  \arious  parts  in  Lake  county  for 
tlie  past  sixty  years,  from  tlie  primitive  pioneer  times  to  the  progressive 
present.  INIr.  Keihnan  has  numerous  interests,  from  those  purely  agricuh- 
ural  to  financiering  and  banking,  and  throughout  his  career  he  has  been  to  a 
high  degree  successful  and  at  the  same  time  has  used  his  influence  and 
efforts  for  the  advancement  of  the  community  along  lines  of  material,  social 
and  intellectual  good. 

As  were  the  rest  of  the  family,  he  was  born  in  Hesse-Darmstadt.  Ger- 
many, on  May  4,  1833,  being  the  youngest  of  the  seven  children  of  Henry 
and  Elizabeth  Keiliuan,  further  mention  of  which  worthy  pioneer  couple 
will  be  found  in  the  sketches  of  the  \-arious  other  members  of  the  family 
appearing  in  this  work.  When  Leonard  was  seven  years  old  the  family 
came  to  America,  and  for  a  little  more  than  four  years  lived  in  Portage 
county,  Ohio,  coming  to  Lake  county  in  1844.  He  was  between  ele\-en  and 
twelve  years  of  age  when  he  arrived  in  this  county,  and  for  se\-eral  years 
more  attended  the  early  schools  of  the  county.  He  remained  at  home  with 
his  parents  until  twenty  years  of  age,  and  then  started  out  for  himself  by 
engaging  in  farming.  Li  1854  he  was  luarried,  and  then  at  once  located 
on  the  farm  where  he  has  ever  since  made  his  home,  and  where  he  continued 
his  farm  operations  exclusively  for  several  years.  In  1858  he  branched  out 
into  the  mercantile  enterprises  which  have  since  occupied  so  much  of  his 
attention.  He  established  a  store  in  Dyer  and  at  the  same  time  added  a 
lumber  yard.  About  i860  he  began  the  buying  and  shipping  of  hay  and 
grain,  and  later  took  up  the  milling  business  at  Lowell,  where  he  still  owns 
the  mill  and  also  the  lumber  and  grain  yards  and  elevators.  In  1903  he  was 
one  of  the  organizers  of  the  First  National  Bank  at  Dyer,  and  is  one  of  its 
stockholders.  His  son  Henry  is  its  president  and  a  director,  and  John  L. 
Keilman  is  also  a  director.  Henry  Batterman  is  a  director  and  vice-presi- 
dent. William  F.  Keilman  and  John  A.  Kimmet  are  the  other  directors,  and 
Augustus  Stumel  is  cashier.  The  capital  stock  is  twenty-fi\-e  thousand 
dollars,  and  it  is  already  one  of  the  important  financial  institutions  of  this 
part  of  the  county.  Besides  all  the  enterprises  just  mentioned,  Mr.  Keilman 
owns  about  seven  hundred  acres  of  Lake  county  land.  He  has  taken  a  good 
citizen's  part  in  the  public  affairs  of  his  community,  and  in  national  affairs 
has  always  \-oted  the  Democratic  ticket.  He  and  bis  family  are  members 
of  the  Catholic  church. 


252  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

In  1854  Air.  Keilmaii  married  Miss  Lena  Austgen,  who  was  born  in 
Germany  and  came  to  America  when  about  twelve  years  old,  locating  with 
her  family  in  Lake  county  during  the  same  year.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Keilman 
are  the  parents  of  eight  children  :  Henry,  who  is  a  farmer  and  also  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  bank ;  Margaret,  wife  of  J.  A.  Kimmet.  of 
Lowell :  Catherine,  Mary,  both  single :  Frank,  a  farmer ;  Ellen,  a  sister  in 
St.  Joseph's  order:  John  L..  a  merchant  and  in  partnership  witli  his  father; 
and  Lizzie,  single.     All  the  children  were  Ix^rn  in  Dyer. 

HAROLD    H.    WHEELER. 

Pi  aminent  among  th.e  energetic  and  capable  young  men  of  Lake  county 
is  numbered  Harold  H.  W'heeler,  who  is  now  clerk  of  the  circuit  court  and 
a  resident  of  Crown  Point.  This  is  his  native  city,  his  birth  having  occurred 
on  the  28th  of  December,  1871.  He  is  the  great-grandson  of  Solon  Rol> 
inson,  who  was  the  first  county  clerk  of  Lake  county  and  was  the  founder  of 
Crown  Point.  He  became  one  of  the  veiy  earliest  settlers  of  this  portion  of 
the  state,  locating  here  when  much  of  the  land  was  still  in  its  primitive  con- 
dition, when  the  forests  \\ere  uncut,  the  prairies  uncultivated. 

John  J.  ^^'heeler,  the  father  of  our  subject,  is  represented  elsewhere  in 
this  work.  In  his  family  were  four  children,  of  whom  Harold  H.  Wheeler 
is  the  eldest  son.  The  latter  was  educated  in  the  high  school  of  Crown 
Point  and  immediately  after  leaving  school  he  accepted  the  position  of 
deputy  clerk  under  George  I.  Maillet,  under  whom  he  served  for  three  years. 
He  was  then  deput}-  clerk  for  George  M.  Eder  for  eight  years  and  at  the  end 
of  that  time  was  nominated  without  opposition  at  the  Republican  ])rimaries 
for  the  position  of  clerk  of  the  circuit  court,  in  1900.  His  election  followed 
and  he  discharged  the  duties  so  acceptably  that  in  1902  he  was  re-nominated, 
and  he  now  has  five  years  to  serve.  His  second  term  began  in  January,  1904. 
His  connection  w'ith  the  office  has  been  of  long  duration,  so  that  he  is  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  the  business  transactions  therein  and  he  has  instituted 
many  reforms  and  improvements,  which  have  been  of  value  in  the  system 
of  conducting  the  work  of  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  circuit  court. 

Mr.  \\'heeler  is  identified  with  several  fraternal  organizations.  He 
belongs  to  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters,  the  Benevolent  and  Protect- 
ive Ordef  of  Elks,  the  Knights  of   Pythias   fraternity  and  is  a  prominent 


yjLAr 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  253 

Mason,  always  true  and  loyal  to  the  teachings  of  the  craft.  He  belongs 
to  the  lilue  lodge,  chapter,  council  and  commandery,  also  to  the  lodge  of 
Perfection  of  the  Rose  Croix  and  has  attained  the  thirty-second  degree  of 
the  Scottish  Rite.  He  is  likewise  identified  with  the  Mystic  Shrine,  and  is 
very  active  in  the  work  of  the  fraternity,  while  in  his  life  he  exemplifies  the 
beneficent  spirit  of  the  craft. 

In  1891  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  ]\Iiss  Jennie  \\'ard,  a  daughter 
of  Henry  P.  Ward,  and  they  h.ave  one  son,  John  Ward  Wheeler.  Mr. 
Wheeler  has  a  very  wide  acquaintance  throughout  the  county  in  which  his 
entire  life  has  been  passed,  and  his  election  to  ottice  was  a  tribute  to  liis  per- 
sonal worth  as  well  as  to  his  business  ability. 

WILLIA^I   H.   VANSCIVER. 

^^'illiam  H.  Vansciver,  a  retired  farmer  residing  in  Crown  Point,  was 
born  at  Beverly,  New  Jersey,  December  25,  1852,  and  is  of  Holland  lineage. 
His  paternal  grandfather  was  \\'illiam  Vansciver,  his  father,  Barnet  Van- 
sciver. The  latter  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  acquired  his  education  in  the 
schools  of  that  state  and  was  married  there  to  Miss  Anna  Horner,  who  was 
born  and  reared  in  Pennsylvania.  Their  only  child,  William  H.  Vansciver, 
was  a  year  old  when  in  1S53  they  came  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  settling  on 
a  farm  in  Winfield  township,  where  the  father  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits 
until  sixty-eight  years  of  age,  when  his  life's  labors  were  ended  in  death. 

Upon  the  old  family  homestead  William  H.  \'ansciver  spent  the  days 
of  his  boyhood  and  youth,  and  his  education  was  acquired  in  the  common 
schools.  As  soon  as  old  enough  he  assisted  in  the  work  of  field  and  meadow, 
and  later  he  took  charge  of  the  home  farm,  continuing  its  cultivation  and 
management  for  many  years.  In  fact,  throughout  his  entire  Lousiness  career 
he  has  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits,  and  he  is  now  the  owner  (jf  two  hun- 
dred and  twentj^-eight  acres  of  valuable  land  in  Winfield  townsiiip.  which  he 
rents,  this  bringing  to  him  a  good  income.  He  is  now  practically  living 
retired  from  active  business  life,  although  occasionally  he  assists  in  selling 
agricultural  implements. 

Mr.  Vansciver  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Kate  Patton,  who  was 
born  in  Ohio  and  was  a  daughter  of  James  Patton.  She  was  reared  in  Lake 
county,    Indiana,   and    by   this   marriage    there   were    four   children.    Init    two 


254  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

died  in  early  life.  The  others  are  Delia  and  Dana.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Van- 
sciver  are  well  known  in  this  county  and  have  a  large  circle  of  warm  friends. 
He  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in  support  of  the  men  and  measures  of 
the  Republican  party,  has  taken  an  active  interest  in  political  work  in  his 
locality  and  keeps  well  informed  on  the  questions  and  issues  of  the  day.  He 
served  as  township  trustee  of  Winfield  township  for  nine  years,  and  he  has 
always  been  interested  in  public  progress  and  improvement.  He  is  identified 
with  the  Masonic  lodge  and  with  the  Foresters  at  Crown  Point,  and  he  con- 
tributes generously  to  different  churches,  although  he  is  not  identified  with 
any  denomination  through  membership  relations.  His  life  has  been  quietly 
passed,  yet  it  contains  many  elements  that  are  well  worthy  of  emulation,  for 
he  has  always  been  active  and  honorable  in  business,  loyal  in  citizenship  and 
faithful  in  friendship. 

DAVID    A.    FISHER. 

David  A.  Fisher,  of  Section  29,  Eagle  Creek  township,  has  been  among 
the  leading  farmers  of  this  part  of  Lake  county  for  the  past  twenty  years,  and 
carries  on  his  operations  on  an  unusually  extensive  scale.  He  is  a  native  son 
of  the  county  and  township,  arid  most  of  the  years  of  a  very  busy  and  suc- 
cessful business  career  have  been  spent  here.  Besides  farming,  he  has  at 
\'arious  times  branched  nut  into  commercial  lines,  where  he  has  likewise  lieen 
prosperous,  and  in  citizenship  and  matters  of  community  interest  he  performs 
his  part  in  a  public-spirited  and  generous  manner. 

^Ir.  Fisher  was  born  in  Eagle  Creek  township,  Lake  county,  March  13, 
1855,  and  was  reared  and  educated  in  the  county.  From  the  public  schools 
he  went  to  Valparaiso  and  took  a  course  in  the  Northern  Indiana  Normal 
School.  For  two  years  he  was  engaged  in  the  hardware  and  implement  busi- 
ness at  Hebron,  during  1882-83.  In  1884  he  returned  to  the  farm,  where 
he  has  found  his  pleasantest  and  most  profitable  scene  of  work.  He  has  done 
general  farming  and  stock-raising,  and  has  the  management  of  five  hundred 
and  ninety-five  acres,  with  four  men  in  his  employ.  During  1902  and  1903 
he  was  once  more  in  the  implement  business,  selling  binders,  mowers  and 
other  farm  machinery  manufactured  liy  the  Piano  Company.  For  some 
months  in  1879-80  he  was  in  Colorado  for  his  health,  and  during  the  winter 
was  engaged  in  freighting  from  Colorado  Springs  and  Leadville,  and  he  also 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  255 

spent  a  part  of  the  same  winter  in  New  ^Mexico.  Mr.  Fisher  is  one  of  the 
influential  Republicans  in  local  affairs,  and  served  his  townsliip  as  trustee 
from  1886  to  1890.  He  affiliates  with  the  Masonic  lodge  No.  502  at  Hebron 
and  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters  at  Hebron. 

In  1876  jNIr.  Fisher  married  Aliss  Elizalieth  Bliss,  and  for  their  wedding 
journev  thev  attended  the  Centennial  at  Philadelphia.  ]\Irs.  Fisher  was  Ijorn 
in  New-  York  state  and  was  reared  in  Pulaski  county,  Indiana.  They  are  the 
parents  of  two  sons:  Kenneth  ^^'illiam  and  ^^'inford  B.  Kcnnetli  has  re- 
ceived his  diploma  from  the  public  schools  in  the  class  of  1902  and  will  take 
an  extended  course  in  schools  of  higher  instruction.  Winford  married,  June 
II,  1903,  I\Iiss  Lilly  B.  Volkee,  of  Eagle  Creek  township. 

AUGUST  KOEHLE. 

August  Koehle,  proprietor  of  the  Spring  Hill  resort  at  St.  John,  was 
Ixjrn  in  Germany  on  the  3d  of  October,  1853,  and  came  to  America  in  1871, 
being  at  that  time  eighteen  years  of  age.  He  settled  first  in  Cliicago,  where 
he  W'as  employed  by  a  brewing  company,  remaining  in  that  city  for  about 
five  years  or  until  1876,  when  he  went  to  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  There 
he  visited  the  Centennial  Exposition  and  later  returned  to  Chicago,  Init  the 
same  year  came  to  Lake  county,  settling  first  at  Crown  Point.  There  he 
worked  for  the  Crown  Point  Brewing  Company  and  was  made  foreman  of 
the  plant,  for  his  previous  experience  and  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the 
business  well  qualified  him  for  this  position,  which  he  filled  in  an  acceptable 
manner  for  about  four  years.  On  the  expiration  of  that  period,  wdth  the 
money  which  he  had  saved  from  his  earnings,  he  established  a  saloon  in 
Crown  Point,  conducting  it  for  six  months.  On  the  expiration  of  that 
period  he  came  to  St.  John,  where  be  erected  a  building  and  carried  on  a 
saloon  for  some  time.  Later,  however,  he  sold  out  and  established  iiis 
present  resort  called  the  Spring  Hill  Grove.  This  is  a  summer  resort,  con- 
tains fine  buildings  and  all  modern  equipments  to  promote  the  pleasure  of  the 
general  public.  Everything  is  in  first-class  condition  and  the  place  was 
buih  at  a  great  expense.  He  has  good  bowling  alleys  here  and  has  a  resort 
which  is  well  patronized  and  brings  to  him  a  good  financial  return  ujjon  liis 
investment. 


256  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

On  the  13th  of  June,  1878,  Mr.  Koehle  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Anna  Smith,  and  to  them  has  been  born  a  son,  \\'iniam.  In  his  pohtical 
affiHations  Mr.  Koehle  is  a  Democrat,  active  in  support  of  die  party,  and  he 
now  has  charge  of  the  stone  roads  in  St.  John  township.  He  is  well  known 
in  this  part  of  the  county  and  is  deeply  interested  in  its  welfare  and  sub- 
stantial upbuilding.  He  and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Catholic  church 
of  St.  John.  He  has  never  had  occasion  to  regret  his  determination  to  seek 
a  home  in  America,  for  here  he  has  found  the  business  opportunities  which 
he  sought,  and  through  close  application,  energy  and  untiring  efifort  he  has 
passed  from  humble  surroundings  and  has  become  one  of  the  well-to-do 
citizens  of  his  community. 

HERBERT    E.    JOXES. 

Herbert  E.  Jones,  who  is  serving  for  the  third  term  as  city  clerk  of 
East  Chicago,  was  born  in  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  on  the  23d  of  July,  1866, 
his  parents  being  John  T.  and  Mary  (Jones)  Jones,  both  of  v.hom  were 
natives  of  Wales.  The  paternal  grandfather,  John  Jones,  was  also  born  in 
Wales,  was  an  iron  worker  by  trade  and  coming  to  America  was  identified 
with  the  iron  industry  of  Pennsylvania.  He  died  in  Pittsburg,  that  state, 
when  more  than  eighty  years  of  age.  The  maternal  grandfather  of  Mr. 
Jones,  also  a  native  of  \\'ales,  spent  his  entire  life  in  that  little  rock-ribbed 
country,  dying  in  middle  life.  He  had  made  farming  his  occupation.  His 
widow  married  again,  becoming"  the  wife  of  a  minister. 

John  T.  Jones  followed  in  the  business  footsteps  of  his  father  and 
became  an  iron  worker.  He  emigrated  to  .America  about  185 1  and  located 
in  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  making  his  home  in  that  state  until  1866.  when 
he  went  to  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  continuing  to  reside  there  and  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Chattanooga  until  1873,  when  he  removed  to  Portland, 
Maine.  .Vtout  seven  years  were  passed  in  that  city,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  period  he  took  up  his  abode  in  Chicago,  Illinois,  where  he  continued 
until  1889,  when  he  removed  to  East  Chicago.  Here  he  spent  his  remaining 
days,  passing  away  in  1897,  when  seventy-one  years  of  age.  His  wife  had 
departed  this  life  about  six  months  before,  in  July,  1896,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
nine  years.  They  were  members  of  the  Congregational  church.  Their 
family  numbered  ten  children,  five  sons  and  five  daughters,  of  whom  four 


(5NN.3-^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  257 

are  now  living:  John  A.,  a  resident  of  East  Cliicago ;  Mary,  the  wife  of 
John  P.  Hickman,  of  Milwankee,  Wisconsin;  Herbert  E.,  of  East  Chicago; 
Daniel,  who  is  also  living  in  East  Chicago. 

In  taking  up  the  personal  history  of  Herbert  E.  Jones  we  present  to 
our  readers  the  life  record  of  one  who  is  now  widely  and  fax'orably  known  in 
East  Chicago.  Born  soon  after  the  removal  of  his  parents  to  Knoxville, 
Tennessee,  he  spent  the  first  seven  j-ears  of  his  life  in  that  state  and  then 
accompanied  his  parents  to  Portland,  Maine.  His  education  was  acquired 
in  the  public  schools.  \\'lien  lie  was  thirteen  years  of  age  he  began  to  earn 
his  own  living  by  working  in  a  rolling  mill,  thus  following  the  occupation 
which  had  iDeen  the  life  labor  of  his  ancestors  through  several  generations. 
He  continued  in  that  pursuit  for  a  number  of  years,  and  in  the  meantime 
had  become  a  resident,  first  of  Chicago  and  then  of  East  Chicago.  Finally, 
however,  he  abandoned  the  iron  industry  to  accept  the  position  of  city  clerk, 
in  1898,  and  by  popular  franchise  he  has  been  continued  in  the  office  for 
three  terms.  His  re-elections  are  certainly  indicative  of  his  methodical, 
systematic  and  accurate  work  in  the  oftice  and  of  his  unfaltering  fidelity  to 
duty.  In  March,  1904,  he  was  nominated  for  the  office  of  recorder  of  Lake 
county. 

On  the  1st  of  September,  1S96,  occurred  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Jones 
and  Miss  Mary  Jenkins,  a  daughter  of  Richard  and  Mary  Jenkins,  and  they 
are  now  the  parents  of  two  children — Agnes  and  Herbert.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Jones  are  consistent  members  of  the  Congregational  church.  They  reside 
at  4222  Magoun  avenue,  where  he  has  recently  erected  a  comfortable  home. 
Fraternally  he  is  connected  with  East  Chicago  Lodge  No.  595,  F.  &  A.  M., 
was  formerly  its  master  and  is  now  filling  the  position  of  secretary.  He 
also  belongs  to  East  Chicago  Lodge  No.  677,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  to  the  Benevolent 
Protective  Order  of  Elks,  the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees  and  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America.  His  political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Republican 
partv.  his  study  of  the  questions  and  issues  of  the  day  and  of  the  attitude  of 
the  two  parties  respecting  these  leading  him  to  give  a  loyal  support  to  Repub- 
lican principles,  and  it  was  upon  the  ticket  of  tliat  party  that  he  has  been 
three  times  chosen  to  the  position  of  city  clerk. 


25S  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

FREDERICK    LASH. 

Frederick  Lash,  the  popular  and  successful  proprietor  of  the  Erie  Hotel 
and  Restaurant  at  Hammond,  Indiana,  has  been  numbered  among  the  busi- 
ness men  of  this  city  since  1890.  He  has  lived  in  the  state  of  Indiana  since 
the  late  sixties,  taking  up  his  residence  here  after  a  brilliant  record  as  a 
soldier  in  both  the  volunteer  and  regular  forces  of  the  United  States,  and  in 
his  private  career  since  that  time  he  has  been  as  successful,  as  enterprising 
and  public-spirited  as  when  he  followed  the  flag  of  the  nation.  He  has  a 
permanent  place  in  the  regard  of  the  citizens  of  Hammond,  and  has  ne\'er 
been  known  to  shirk  the  responsibilities  of  private,  social  or  pulilic  life. 

]\Ir.  Lash  was  born  in  Berks  county,  Pennsylvania,  December  19,  1843, 
being  the  only  son  of  Benjamin  and  Elizabeth  (Hummel)  Lash,  natives  of 
Germany.  His  paternal  grandfather,  John  Lash,  was  a  native  of  Germany, 
was  a  baker  by  trade  and  also  served  in  the  regular  army,  and  died  in  that 
country  at  the  age  of  ninety-five  years,  having  been  the  father  of  a  good-sized 
family,  mostly  sons.  Benjamin  Lash  was  also  a  baker  by  trade,  and  followed 
that  pursuit  after  emigrating  to  America  and  taking  up  his  residence  in 
Berks  county,  Pennsylvania.  FIc  died  there  in  1849,  aged  seventy-five  years. 
His  wife's  father  Hummel  died  in  Germany,  and  that  part  of  the  family 
history  is  lost. 

]\Ir.  Frederick  Lash  was  reared  in  Berks  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  a 
farm,  and  the  school  which  he  remembers  having  attended  was  in  a  log  cabin. 
He  was  at  home  until  the  summons  of  war  went  out  through  the  land,  and 
as  a  boy  of  about  seventeen  he  enlisted,  in  1861,  in  the  First  New  York 
Artillery.  He  was  in  the  conflict  from  almost  the  very  beginning  to  the 
end,  and  entered  as  a  private  and  was  gradually  promoted  to  the  captaincy 
of  his  company,  being  of  that  rank  at  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  in  the 
battles  of  Lookout  Mountain,  Fredericksburg,  Vicksburg,  Missionary  Ridge 
and  the  Wilderness,  and  was  all  through  the  Atlanta  campaign.  He  was 
slightly  wounded  at  \'icksburg.  After  the  war  he  ser\-ed  three  years  in  the 
regular  army,  being  stationed  most  of  the  time  in  the  eastern  states,  princi- 
pally in  New  York. 

Following  his  army  service,  he  came  to  Indiana  and  engaged  in  the 
restaurant  busines  in  Lafayette  for  some  years.     He  conducted  a  restaurant, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  259 

bakery  and  confectionery  establishment  at  Attica,  Indiana,  until  1890.  and 
in  that  year  came  to  Hammond,  where  he  has  been  in  the  restaurant  and 
hotel  business  ever  since,  for  the  past  twelve  years  having  had  charge  of  the 
Erie  Hotel,  one  of  the  most  popular  public  liouses  of  the  city,  owing  all  its 
prosperity  to  the  excellent  management  of  Mr.  Lash. 

Mr.  Lash  was  married  in  March,  1869,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Lahr,  a 
daughter  of  Ulrich  and  Julia  Lahr.  There  were  two  children  of  this  union, 
William  and  Frederick,  the  former  being  a  clerk  in  Hammond  and  a  married 
man.  while  the  latter  is  single.  Airs.  Elizabetli  Lash  died  April  8.  1899.  On 
May  2,  1900,  Mr.  Lash  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Mclntyre,  a  daughter  of 
James  P.  and  Eliza  Jane  (Forrest)  Mclntyre.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nash  are  Epis- 
copalians in  faith,  although  not  identified  with  any  church.  He  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  and  is  alderman  from  the  Third  ward.  He  afifiliates  with 
Garfield  Lodge  No.  569,  F.  &  A.  Yi..  with  Hammond  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  and 
Bethlehem  Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine  in  Chicago,  and  he  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Eastern  Star.  He  also  belongs  to  Moltke  Lodge. 
I.  O.  O.  F..  and  to  the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  William  H.  Calkins  Post  No.  549,  G.  A.  R.  For  ten  years  he  was 
commander  of  the  Indiana  State  Guard,  and  was  elected  colonel  of  the  Lake 
County  Brigade,  G.  A.  R.,  in  1900.  He  is  the  owner  of  several  houses  and 
lots  in  Hammond,  and  his  material  prosperity  has  come  to  him  as  the  results 
of  his  own  efforts.  He  is  a  self-made  man,  and  well  deserves  the  place  of 
esteem  which  he  has  gained  by  a  life  of  endeavor. 

Mrs.  Lash's  grandfather,  James  Mclntyre,  was  of  Irish  lineage,  but 
was  born  in  the  north  of  Scotland.  He  married  Mary  Booth,  of  pure  Eng- 
lish stock,  and  they  had  eleven  children.  He  came  to  America  in  young  man- 
hood and  settled  in  Vermont,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years. 
His  fatlier,  also  named  James,  died  in  Ireland.  Mary  (Booth)  Mclntyre  died 
in  Vermont  at  the  age  of  seventy  years. 

The  parents  of  Mrs.  Lash  were  natives  of  Vermont,  and  lived  at  St. 
Albans  Bay.  They  had  two  children :  Elizabeth  and  Edgar  Forrest  Mc- 
lntyre. James  P.  Mclntyre,  her  father,  was  a  molder  by  trade,  and  had  a 
business  of  his  own.  He  settled  in  Jackson,  IMichigan,  at  an  early  dav,  and 
thence  moved  to  Athens,  and  from  there  to  Three  Rivers,  in  the  same  state, 
where  he  had  a  large  plow  factoiy.     He  returned  to  \'ermont,  but  later  came 


260  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

to  Baldwin,  Wisconsin,  and  from  there  to  Stillwater,  and  thence  to  Eau 
Claire,  Wisconsin,  where  he  had  extensi\'e  plow  works.  He  later  took  up 
his  residence  in  Chicago,  which  is  his  present  home.  His  wife  died  in  1869. 
She  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  church.  Her  father,  William  Forrest, 
came  to  Vermont  from  Canada,  and  he  and  his  wife  Eliza  had  a  large  family. 
Mr.  Mclntyre  was  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  war,  belonging  to  Company  I,  Ver- 
mont Infantry,  and  served  four  years,  having  been  enlisted  as  a  private  and 
mustered  out  a.s  a  colonel.  He  was  once  woundefl  in  the  forehead  liy  a  shell. 
He  married  for  his  second  wife  Louisa  Amelia  Stannard,  and  they  had  nine 
children,  five  sons  and  four  daughters,  the  five  now  living  beirig  Frank  E., 
James  H.,  Archie  R.,  Sarah  J.  and  Belle,  all  of  Chicago. 

JOHN    STEPHENS. 

John  Stephens,  as  superintendent  of  the  Inland  Steel  Company  at  Indiana 
Harbor,  is  a  prominent  factor  in  the  industrial  development  an.d  substantial 
growth  of  northwestern  Indiana,  and  his  career  is  one  which  excites  the 
admiration  and  awakens  the  respect  of  all  who  know  aught  of  his  life  history. 
To  a  student  of  biography  there  is  nothing  more  interesting  than  to  examine 
the  life  history  of  a  self-made  man,  and  to  detect  the  elements  of  character 
which  have  enabled  him  to  pass  on  the  highway  of  life  man>'  of  the  com- 
panions of  his  youth  who  at  the  outset  of  their  careers  were  more  advan- 
tageously equipped  or  endowed.  Mr.  Stephens  has  through  his  own  exertions 
attained  an  honorable  position  and  marked  prestige  among  the  representative 
men  of  this  state,  and  with  signal  consistency  it  may  be  said  that  he  is  the 
architect  of  his  own  fortunes,  and  one  whose  success  amply  justifies  the 
application  of  the  somewhat  hackneyed  but  most  expressive  title  of  "a  self- 
made  man." 

Mr.  Stephens  was  born  in  Lydney,  Gloucestershire,  England,  December 
2,  1844,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Charlotte  (Hawkens)  Stephens,  both  of 
whom  were  natives  of  Lydney.  The  paternal  grandfather  also  i)ore  the  name 
of  John  Stephens,  and  he  too  was  born  in  Lydney.  He  was  a  mill  worker, 
connected  with  the  tin  industry,  and  he  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety- 
two  years,  while  his  wife,  Mrs.  Hannah  Stephens,  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
four  years.  Tiiey  were  the  parents  of  three  sons  and  four  daughters.  The 
maternal  grandparents  of  our  subject  were  Samuel  and  Sarah  Hawkens,  and 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  261 

were  native  residents  of  Lydney,  where  the  latter  died  at  the  age  of  forty-two 
years,  while  the  former  reached  the  \enerahle  age  of  eighty-nine  years.  He 
was  a  shipping  contractor,  loading  and  unloading  vessels  as  they  came  into 
the  canal  and  dock,  or  preparing  them  for  passage  at  sea.  To  him  and  his 
wife  were  born  a  son  and  a  daughter,  the  latter  becoming  the  wife  of  John 
Stephens,  the  father  of  Mr.  Stephens  of  this  review.  John  Stephens,  2d, 
was  a  hammerman  and  lived"  and  died  in  his  native  town  of  Lydney,  where 
his  death  occurred  in  1899,  wben  he  was  seventy-seven  years  of  'jge.  His  wife 
departed  this  life  in  J\Larch,  1902,  when  se\'enty-six  years  of  age.  Both  were 
members  of  the  Methodist  church.  They  had  hut  two  children,  the  daughter, 
Sarah,  being  the  wife  of  Lot  Malsom,  of  Sharon,  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  John  Stephens  spent  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  in  Lydney, 
England,  and  accjuired  his  education  in  the  public  schools  there.  \Mien  six- 
teen years  of  age  he  became  identified  with  the  industry  wdiich  he  has  made 
his  life  work,  securing  employment  in  an  iron  foundry.  There  he  became 
familiar  with  the  business  in  every  department,  and  in  detail  as  well  as  prin- 
ciple. He  worked  in  both  the  tin  and  sheet-iron  departments,  gaining  a  most 
practical  and  comprehensive  knowdedge  of  the  trade,  and  thus  he  was  well 
ecjuipped  for  advancement  along  that  line  when  he  came  to  America. 

Believing  that  the  new  world  offered  better  business  advantages,  Mr. 
Stephens,  on  the  22d  of  February,  1872,  left  England  for  America,  landing 
in  New  York  city  on  the  9th  of  March.  The  same  day  he  went  to  Oxford. 
New  Jersey,  arriving  there  at  half  past  six  o'clock  in  the  evening.  He  ciin- 
tinued  in  Oxford  until  the  following  August,  when  he  removed  10  Catasaucjua, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  remained  for  ten  months,  and  then  located  at  Sharon, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  resided  for  eleven  years,  actively  connected  with  the 
iron  industry  at  that  place.  His  next  home  was  in  Greenville,  Pennsylvania, 
and  two  years  later  he  went  to  Newcastle,  in  the  same  state,  where  he  lived 
for  five  years.  On  the  expiration  of  that  period  he  returned  to  Sharon,  where 
he  remained  for  seven  years  longer.  For  eighteen  years  he  was  in  the 
employ  of  P.  L.  Kimberly  &  Company,  and  during  tlie  last  seven  years  with 
the  Sharon  Iron  Company,  being  its  superintendent.  On  leaving  Pennsvl- 
vania.  he  removed  to  iNIuncie,  Indiana,  where  he  took  charge  of  the  plant  of 
the  Midland  Steel  Company,  with  which  he  was  connected  for  six  and  a  half 
years.    From  ]Muncie  he  came  to  Indiana  Harbor,  on  the  ist  of  March,  1902, 


262  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

and  in  company  with  R.  J.  Beatty.  John  McGrath,  John  G.  Dauks,  R.  W. 
Wick  and  some  Chicago  capitaHsts,  including  L.  E.  Block,  P.  D.  Block  and 
others,  built  the  Inland  Steel  Mill,  which  now  employs  alxjut  nine  hundred 
and  fifty  men.  and  this  number  will  be  increased  as  the  work  progresses. 
The  output  of  the  plan^t  has  reached  very  extensive  proportions  and  it  is 
destined  to  become  one  of  the  leading  industrial  concerns  of  the  middle  west. 
Throughout  his  business  career  Mr.  Stephens  has  been  connected  with  great 
productive  industries,  in  which  he  has  gradually  worked  his  way  upward 
through  efficiency,  skill  and  practical  knowledge,  until  he  stands  today  as 
one  of  the  foremost  representatives  of  the  iron  industry  in  Indiana.  More- 
over, throughout  the  entire  period  of  his  business  career  he  has  ever  sus- 
tained a  reputation  which  is  unassailable,  and  while  fully  guarding  the  inter- 
ests of  his  company  he  has  also  been  most  just  and  fair  in  his  dealings  with 
those  who  have  worked  under  him,  and  no  better  proof  of  both  statements 
can  be  given  than  the  fact  that  he  has  received  from  both  employers  and 
fellow-employes  substantial  tokens  of  their  trust  and  esteem  for  him. 

When  Mr.  Stephens  left  Newcastle.  Pennsylvania,  the  employes  of  the 
mill  there  made  him  a  present  of  a  handsome  gold  watch  and  chain,  a  set  of 
gold  cuff  buttons  and  a  pair  of  fancy  slippers,  while  the  company  gave  him 
a  purse  of  twenty-seven  dollars  and  a  rocking  chair.  \Mien  he  left  Sharon, 
Pennsylvania,  the  employes  gave  him  a  full  set  of  the  Encyclopedia  Britan- 
nica  and  a  rocking  chair  for  himself  and  one  for  his  wife.  When  he  left 
Muncie  the  employes  gave  him  a  three-hundred-dollar  silver  set,  and  these 
tokens  of  kindly  regard  and  good  will  he  justly  prizes  highly. 

On  the  14th  of  October,  1865.  Mr.  Stephens  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Hannah  Jones,  a  daughter  of  Herbert  and  Hannah  Jones,  and  to 
them  have  been  born  the  following  children,  five  sons  and  five  daughters : 
Emily.  Caroline  Charlotte.  Frederick  J.  H..  Lillie  Hannah,  Minnie  Maude, 
William  Charles,  Francis  Eusebius.  Mabel.  Harold  and  Clairmont.  Emily 
is  now  the  wife  of  Edwin  Hoke,  of  Lidiana  Harbor,  and  they  have  two  cliil- 
dren,  Emma  and  Beulah.  Frederick  J.  H.  Stephens  married  Miss  Laura 
Halstock,  of  Muncie,  Indiana.  Lillie  Hannah  is  the  wife  of  Walter  Dang, 
of  Indiana  Harbor. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stephens  arc  jjrominent.  influential  and  active  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  he  is  serving  as  a  member  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  263 

board  of  trustees  and  also  as  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school.  He  is  a 
local  minister.  lia\-ing  lieen  licensed  to  preach  thirty-four  years  ago.  Politi- 
cally he  is  a  Republican.  He  built  in  1902  the  largest  residence  in  Indiana 
Harlxjr,  on  the  lake  front.  Possessing  strong  domestic  tastes,  his  interest 
largely  centers  in  his  family,  and  he  counts  no  sacrifice  on  his  part  too  great 
that  will  enhance  the  welfare  or  promote  the  happiness  of  his  wife  and 
children.  The  church,  too,  claims  considerable  of  his  attention,  and  while  in 
his  business  career  he  has  steadily  advanced,  he  has  always  found  time  to 
discharge  his  duties  to  his  fellow-men  and  his  obligations  of  citizenship. 

CHARLES    M.     BAKER. 

Charles  M.  Baker,  who  is  proprietor  and  successfully  conducts  a  large 
livery,  feed  and  sales  stable  at  Crown  Point,  is  a  business  man  who  can 
point  with  much  pride  and  satisfaction  to  his  career  of  self-achievement  cul- 
minating in  a  sulistantial  place  in  the  business  circles  of  Crown  Point  and 
in  the  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens  and  associates.  He  has  practically  hewn 
out  his  own  destiny  and  been  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune  since  he  was 
a  lad  of  few  years  and  with  little  preparation  such  as  most  boys  enjoy.  From 
various  experiences  in  varied  lines  of  activity  he  has  progressed  gradually 
but  surely,  and  is  now  able  to  claim  one  of  the  very  best  establishments  of 
its  kind  in  Lake  county,  with  a  constantly  growing  patronage  as  evidence  of 
the  excellence  of  his  teams  and  equipments  and  methods  of  doing  business. 

Mr.  Baker  was  born  in  Porter  county,  Indiana,  March  26,  1866,  a  son 
of  Justice  and  Eunice  (Allen)  Baker,  the  former  a  native  of  New  York 
state.  He  was  four  years  old  when  he  lost  his  mother,  and  fi\-e  years  old 
when  he  lost  his  father,  and  their  individual  histories  are  not  easily  recalled. 
Mr.  Baker  has  one  brother,  George,  of  Boone  Grove,  Porter  county,  and 
three  sisters:  Lydia,  wife  of  Noah  Merriman,  of  ]\Iarion,  Indiana;  Jennie, 
wife  of  James  Lewis,  of  Champaign,  Illinois:  and  Emma,  who  is  the  widow 
of  Alfred  T.  Cofifin  and  lives  in  Crown  Point. 

Mr.  Baker,  thus  left  an  orphan  before  he  was  of  an  age  to  attend  school, 
was  deprived  of  many  circumstances  of  rearing  that  most  children  have.  At 
the  age  of  nine  he  was  bound  out  to  a  man  with  whom  he  remained  three 
years,  and  then  started  out  on  bis  individual  career.  He  worked  by  the  day 
and  month  at  anything  he  could  find.     He  clerked  in  a  store  in  Crown  Point 


264  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

for  some  time,  and  also  spent  two  years  as  a  clerk  for  the  H.  P.  Stanley- 
Fruit  Company  in  Chicago.  For  se\eral  years  after  that  he  was  engaged 
in  various  lines  of  enterprise  in  Crown  Point,  which  has  been  the  scene  of 
most  of  his  efforts  since  arriving  at  years  of  manhood.  In  1900  he  bought 
the  livery  stock  of  Charles  Wilson,  and  in  1903  he  built  his  present  barn, 
thirty-eight  by  one  hundred  and  forty  feet.  He  keeps  twenty-six  head  of 
good  horses,  and  has  the  reputation  of  sending  out  the  best  rigs  in  town. 

Mr.  Baker  is  one  of  the  public-spirited  citizens  of  Crown  Point,  and 
has  served  on  the  town  board  and  as  one  of  the  trustees  of  Crown  Point. 
He  is  stanch  in  his  adherence  to  the  Republican  party.  He  affiliates  with  the 
Independent  Order  of  Foresters.  In  connection  with  the  livery  business  he 
also  buys  and  sells  horses,  and  up  to  1902  he  was  engaged  in  the  hay  business. 

Mr.  Baker  married,  in  1887,  Miss  Adah  Holton,  the  daughter  of  Janna 
S.  and  Catherine  J.  (Eddy)  Holton,  who  were  Lake  county  pioneers.  Mrs. 
Baker  was  born  in  this  count}-,  September  14.  1867,  and  was  educated  at 
Crown  Point,  finishing  in  the  high  school.  She  died  February  16,  1904, 
when  in  her  thirtv-seventh  vear.  There  are  three  sons  and  one  daup-hter 
of  the  family:  Harry  ]..  Ijorn  in  1889:  Fay  M.,  born  in  1892:  Lewis  C,  bom 
in  1895 ;  and  Howard  H.,  born  in  1897. 

F.    RICHARD    SCHAAF,  Jr. 

F.  Richard  Schaaf,  Jr.,  is  filling  the  position  of  bookkeeper  with  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  and  is  an  expert  accountant.  He  also  owns  valuable 
real  estate  in  Robertsdale,  and  is  a  director  of  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Whiting.  While  his  life  histoi-y  is  characterized  by  no  exciting  incidents,  it, 
nevertheless,  proves  the  value  of  activity,  energy  and  reliability  in  the  affairs 
of  life  and  shows  that  the  young  man  may  occupy  positions  of  great  trust 
and  responsibility. 

Mr.  Schaaf  was  born  on  the  15th  of  April,  1878,  in  Hamburg,  Ger- 
many. His  father,  F.  Richard  Schaaf,  Sr.,  was  a  native  of  Saxony,  Ger- 
many, was  reared  and  married  there.  Miss  Catherine  Schlueter  becoming  his 
wife.  Her  birth  occurred  near  Hamburg.  In  the  year  1880  thev  left  the 
fatherland  and  with  their  family  sailed  for  the  new  world,  taking  up  their 
abode  in  Chicago.  Mr.  Schaaf,  Sr.,  is  a  I)!acksmith  by  trade,  but  in  Chicago 
engaged  in  the  hotel  business.     In  1890  he  removed  to  Whiting,  where  he 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  265 

also  established  a  hotel,  which  he  conducted  for  about  five  years.  On  tlie 
expiration  of  that  period  he  went  to  Robertsdale,  a  suburb  of  Hammond, 
Indiana,  where  he  engaged  in  the  grocery  business  and  also  became  a  real 
estate  and  insurance  agent.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  still  living  in  North 
Hammond  and  are  well  known  there.  They  are  the  parents  of  seven  chil- 
dren and  with  one  exception  all  are  yet  living. 

F.  Richard  Schaaf,  Jr.,  is  the  eldest  child  and  was  only  about  two  years 
of  age  when  brought  to  the  United  States.  His  education  was  acquired  in 
the  public  schools  of  Chicago  and  in  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Business  College 
of  that  city.  In  1898  he  became  an  employe  of  the  Western  Newspaper 
Syndicate  of  Chicago,  continuing  in  that  service  for  about  seven  months, 
when  he  was  offered  the  position  as  bookkeeper  by  the  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany at  Whiting.  His  efficiency  won  him  promotion  to  the  position  of  head 
bookkeeper  of  the  parafiin  department  si.x  months  after  he  had  become  an 
employe  of  the  corporation.  He  is  likewise  a  director  of  the  First  National 
Bank  at  Whiting  and  he  owns  a  large  amount  of  real  estate  in  Robertsdale, 
having  made  judicious  investments  in  property,  from  which  he  has  already 
realized  good  returns. 

Mr.  Schaaf  is  well  known  in  political  circles  in  northwestern  Indiana, 
and  when  he  was  but  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  was  elected  a  delegate  to 
the  Republican  state  con\'ention  held  at  Indianapolis  in  1900.  He  was  also 
elected  a  member  of  the  county  central  committee  and  made  vice  chairman 
of  the  city  central  committee  of  Hammond,  Indiana.  In  the  spring  of  1904 
he  was  nominated  for  trustee  of  North  township.  He  is  also  president  of 
the  Robertsdale  fire  department,  having  filled  this  position  for  six  years. 

On  the  1 2th  of  June,  1901.  Mr.  Schaaf  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Mary  A.  Roberts,  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Agnes  Roberts  of  Robertsdale,  and 
they  are  well  known  in  Lake  county,  where  tliey  have  many  friends.  Fra- 
ternally Mr.  Schaaf  is  connected  with  the  Masons,  belonging  to  Whiting 
Lodge  No.  613,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  which  he  is  now  treasurer.  He  is  also  a 
member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  He  is  a  man  of  considerable 
influence,  aiding  in  molding  public  thought,  action  and  opinion.  The  inter- 
ests which  liave  made  claim  iqion  his  time  and  attention  ha\'e  lieen  such  as 
tend  to  the  betterment  of  the  conditions  of  mankind  and  for  the  stimulus 
of  material  progress  or  the  inipro\'ement  of  the  city. 


266  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

ROBERT    SPEAR.    M.    D. 

During  the  seven  years  which  mark  the  period  of  liis  professional  career 
Dr.  Robert  Spear  has  met  with  gratifying  success.  Throughout  this  time  he 
has  made  his  home  in  East  Chicago,  wliere  he  has  won  the  good  will  and 
patronage  of  many  of  the  best  citizens.  He  is  a  thorough  student  and 
endeavors  to  keep  abreast  of  the  times  in  everything  relating  to  the  dis- 
coveries in  medical  science.  Progressive  in  his  ideas  and  favoring  modern 
methods  as  a  whole,  he  does  not  dispense  with  the  time-tried  systems  whose 
value  has  stood  the  test  of  years. 

Dr.  Spear  was  born  in  Cobourg,  Ontario,  Canada,  January  23,  1868, 
and  is  of  Scotch  lineage.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Thomas  Spear,  was 
a  native  of  Scotland  and  thence  emigrated  to  Canada,  where  he  followed  the 
carpenter's  trade.  He  was  twice  married  and  by  the  first  imion  had  one  son,. 
\\'illiam,  who  reached  mature  years,  while  the  three  other  children  died  in 
their  teens.  For  his  second  wife  he  chose  Miss  McComb,  and  they  had  one 
daughter  who  died  in  childhood.  William  Spear,  a  native  of  Ontario,  Canada, 
learned  and  followed  the  wagon-builder's  trade  in  early  manhood  and  after- 
ward turned  his  attention  to  farming.  He,  too,  was  twice  married,  first 
wedding  Miss  Sarah  Davidson,  by  whom  he  had  four  children,  of  whom 
three  are  now  living,  namely:  Thomas,  of  Cobourg,  Canada:  \\'illiam  K., 
also  of  Cobourg:  and  David,  of  Pipestone,  Manitoba.  Their  daughter, 
Elizabeth,  is  deceased.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife  William  Spear 
married  Miss  Margaret  Brown,  also  a  native  of  Ontario,  and  they  became 
the  parents  of  nine  children,  three  sons  and  six  daughters,  of  whom  eight 
are  now  living,  as  follows:  James,  of  Cobourg:  Annie,  also  of  Cobourg; 
Agnes,  of  Virden,  Manitoba:  Dr.  Robert  Spear:  Andrew,  of  Cobourg; 
Margaret,  of  Rochester,  New  York:  Christina,  of  Cobourg;  a:id  Isabell,  of 
Wilton,  North  Dakota.  Jennie  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years.  The 
father  of  this  family  passed  away  at  Cobourg,  Canada,  in  1901,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-five  years,  and  is  still  survived  by  his  widow,  who  is  a  devoted  Chris- 
tian woman,  holding  membership  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  to  which  her 
husband  also  belonged.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Robert  Brown,  a  native  of 
Scotland,  who  crossing  the  Atlantic  took  up  his  abode  in  Canada,  where  he 
followed  the  occupation  of  farming.     He  married  a  ]\Iiss  IMiller.  and  they 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  267 

reared  a  large  family  of  nine  children.  His  death  occurred  when  he  was  ahout 
eighty  years  of  age. 

Dr.  Robert  Spear  spent  his  boyhood  days  in  the  usual  manner  of  farmer 
lads,  remaining  under  the  parental  roof  near  Cobourg.  In  the  summer 
months  he  assisted  in  the  work  of  the  fields  and  in  the  winter  seasons  attended 
the  district  school.  Later  he  continued  his  education  in  the  collegiate  insti- 
tute at  Cobourg,  and  subsequently  entered  Queen's  University  at  Kingston. 
In  order  to  prepare  for  the  practice  of  medicine  he  became  a  student  in  the 
Trinity  Medical  College,  of  Toronto,  from  which  institution  he  was  grad- 
uated W'ith  the  class  of  1897.  He  then  began  practice  in  East  Cliicago,  estab- 
lishing his  home  in  this  city  on  the  ist  of  May  of  that  year.  Here  he  has 
remained  continuously  since,  and  his  skill  and  ability  are  indicated  by  the 
patronage  which  is  accorded  him.  He  has  always  been  a  close  and  earnest 
student  of  hi.-;  pmfession  and  his  efforts  are  beneficially  put  forth  for  the 
alleviation  of  human  suffering. 

On  the  6tli  of  October,  1897,  Dr.  Spear  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Minnie  Cook,  a  daughter  of  John  and  ]^Iartha  (Sykes)  Cook.  Two  children 
have  been  born  of  this  union.  \\'ilfred  Garnet  and  Helen  Gladys.  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Spear  are  Presbyterians  in  their  religious  faith,  and  in  politics  he  is 
somewhat  independent.  In  May,  1904.  he  was  elected  to  represent  the  First 
ward  in  the  City  Council  of  the  city  of  East  Chicago.  His  professional  con- 
nection is  with  the  Lake  County  Medical  Society,  the  Kankakee  Valley 
Medical  Society,  the  Indiana  State  Medical  Association  and  the  American 
Medical  Association.  He  resides  at  No.  4530  Forsyth  street,  where  he 
erected  a  good  home  in  1901. 

GEORGE    M.    EDER. 

George  M.  Eder,  cigar  manufacturer  at  J05  South  Hohmar.  street,  Ham- 
mond, has  been  a  successful  business  man  in  Lake  county  for  a  number  of 
years,  having  learned  his  trade  when  a  boy  and  having  begun  the  manu- 
facture of  cigars  in  Crown  Point  about  thirty  years  ago.  There  is  a  large 
and  steady  demand  for  all  the  goods  that  he  can  produce,  and  his  output  has 
gained  him  Cjuite  a  reputation.  Before  coming  to  Hammond  he  held  a  numljer 
of  important  local  ofifices,  and  his  public-spirited  interest  in  general  affairs 
and  his  loyalty  to  home,  city  and   state  mark  him   out  as  a   representative 


268  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

citizen  as  he  is  also  a  man  of  highest  integrity  and  sterhng  personal  worth. 

^Ir.  Eder  was  born  in  Landau,  Bavaria,  German)',  April  22,  1855.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  IMartin  Eder.  was  a  farmer  and  died  in  Germany  when 
an  old  man.  By  his  wife.  Mary  Eder.  he  had  seven  sons  and  one  daughter. 
Mr.  Eder's  maternal  grandfather  died  in  Germany  during  middle  life,  and 
his  wife,  Theressa  Huber,  lived  to  the  great  age  of  ninety-six  years,  they 
having  been  the  parents  of  only  one  child,  the  mother  of  Mr.  Eder. 

Mr.  Eder's  parents  were  John  B.  and  Theressa  (Huber)  Eder,  both 
natives  of  Germany.  His  father  was  a  laborer  in  the  fatherland,  and  later 
served  for  twelve  years  in  the  Bavarian  army.  He  came  to  America  in  1855. 
locating  in  Chicago,  where  he  followed  various  pursuits.  He  was  burned  out 
at  the  Chicago  fire  in  1871,  and  in  1873  moved  to  Crown  Point,  Indiana, 
where  he  died  February  3,  1877,  aged  sixty-nine  years.  His  wife  survived 
him  and  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-two.  They  were  both  Catholics.  There 
were  three  sons  and  one  daughter  in  their  family,  and  the  two  !iow  living  are 
Joseph,  of  Crown  Point,  and  George  M.,  of  Hammond. 

Mr.  George  M.  Eder  was  in  infancy  when  his  parents  crossed  the  ocean 
to  America.  He  was  reared  in  Chicago,  where  he  attended  the  public  and 
parochial  schools  and  learned  the  cigarmaker's  trade,  and  lived  there  until 
1873,  ■^vhen  he  accompanied  the  rest  of  the  family  to  Crown  Point.  He 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cigars  at  the  county  seat  until  his  election, 
in  1890,  to  the  office  of  county  clerk,  which  position  he  occupied  for  two 
terms,  or  eight  years.  In  May,  1903,  he  moved  to  Hammond  and  resumed 
the  manufacture  of  cigars.  He  owns  his  nice  home  at  205  South  Hohman 
street,  where  is  also  located  his  factory.  ^Mr.  Eder  is  a  stockholder  in  the 
Commercial  Bank  of  Crown  Point,  and  for  five  years  was  vice-president 
of  the  bank. 

I\lr.  Eder  was  town  clerk  and  treasurer  of  Crown  Point  lor  six  3-ears, 
and  was  twice  elected  township  trustee,  resigning  that  office  after  three  years 
in  order  to  accept  the  county  clerkship.  He  has  fraternal  affiliations  with 
the  Catholic  Order  of  Foresters  and  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters. 
He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Catholic  church. 

September  24,  1878,  Air.  Eder  married  l\Iiss  Frances  M.  Scherer,  a 
daughter  of  Peter  and  Catherine  (Young)  Scherer.  There  are  seven  chil- 
dren of  this  union,  George  J.,  Edward  J.,  Clarence  AI.,  Louis  G.,  Rose  M.. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  69 

Daniel  and  Florence.  George  J-  is  in  the  employ  of  the  American  Express 
Company;  Edward  J-  is  a  lawyer  in  Hammond;  Clarence  Xi.  clerks  in  a 
grocery  store  in  East  Chicago ;  Louis  G.  is  attending  college  in  Chicago ; 
and  the  other  three  are  in  the  public  schools  of  Hammond. 

CLARENCE    C.    SMITH. 

Clarence  C.  Smith  is  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Smith  &  Clapper  Brothers, 
liven-men  at  East  Chicago,  Indiana,  and  was  born  in  [Mason,  ^Michigan,  on 
the  5th  of  October,  1863.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  a  native  of  New 
York  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  but  aside  from  that  little  is  known 
concerning  the  ancestn.^  of  the  house  in  the  paternal  line.  Gideon  Smith, 
the  father  of  C.  C.  Smith,  was  born  in  the  Empire  state  and  became  a  boot 
and  shoe  maker.  He  followed  that  occupation  in  the  east  for  a  time  and 
then  abandoned  it  and  removed  to  the  middle  west,  locating  in  Michigan 
about  1862.  He  took  up  his  abode  at  Mason,  that  state,  where  he  remained 
until  1864,  when  he  came  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  and  settled  one  mile  west 
of  Deep  River  postofiice,  where  he  purchased  what  was  known  as  the  Ed 
Chase  farm  There  he  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  and  also  worked  at 
his  trade  to  some  extent.  He  lived  a  life  of  untiring  activity  and  industry, 
and  whatever  success  he  achieved  was  due  solely  to  his  own  labors.  He 
married  Airs.  Anna  L.  Hanna,  ncc  Marble,  who  was  the  widow  of  Thomas 
Hanna  and  a  daughter  of  Simeon  Marble,  who  was  born  in  Vermont,  which 
was  also  her  birthplace.  Mr.  Marble  followed  the  occupation  of  farming  in 
New  England  and  on  emigrating  w^tward  about  1858  he  IvKated  a  mile 
and  a  half  west  of  Deep  Ri\'er  postoffice,  where  he  purchased  what  was 
known  as  the  Booth  farm.  There  he  carried  on  the  work  of  tilling  the  soil 
throughout  his  remaining  days,  and  his  death  occurred  when  he  was  seventv- 
five  years  of  age.  He  was  married  five  times,  his  first  union  being  with  a 
Miss  Imes.  He  had  but  three  children,  all  born  by  his  first  wife:  Ann  L.. 
who  became  Mrs.  Smith :  Horace  Marble,  who  is  living  at  Crown  Point  and 
Wheatfield,  Indiana:  and  one  that  has  now  departed  this  life.  Both  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Gideon  Smith  were  members  of  the  Methodist  church  and  lived 
earnest,  consistent  Christian  lives.  Her  death  occurred  in  Hobart.  Indiana, 
about  1880.  when  she  was  thirty-nine  years  of  age,  and  Mr.  Gideon  Smith 
passed  away  in  December,   igo2,  in  East  Chicago,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two 


270  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gideon  Smith  were  the  parents  of  six  children,  three 
sons  and  three  daughters,  of  wliom  five  are  now  Hving:  Eva.  the  wife  of 
Henry  Hanson,  of  Chicago:  Clarence  C.  who  is  living  in  East  Chicago; 
Flora,  the  wife  of  George  Green,  also  of  East  Chicago:  Simeon,  who  makes 
his  home  in  Hammond,  Indiana :  and  Alice,  the  wife  of  S.  G.  Carley,  of 
Hammond. 

Clarence  C.  Smith  was  reared  in  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads,  partly 
spending  his  boyhood  days  on  the  old  homestead  place  west  of  Deep  River. 
As  soon  as  old  enough  to  handle  the  plow  he  took  his  place  in  the  fields  and 
assisted  in  their  culti\'ation  from  the  time  of  early  spring  planting  until 
crops  were  harvested  in  the  late  autumn.  His  education  was  acquired  in  the 
district  schools,  which  he  attended  mostly  through  the  winter  months.  When 
he  was  quite  young  his  parents  removed  to  Jasper  county,  where  he  remained 
until  he  was  nine  years  of  age,  when  he  returned  to  Lake  county  and  lived 
with  his  grandfather  until  he  started  out  upon  an  independent  business 
career.  He  was  first  employed  as  a  farm-hand  by  the  month  and  continued 
thus  to  serve  until  twenty-one  years  of  age.  At  that  time  he  took  up  the 
study  of  telegraphy,  and  in  1885  entered  the  employ  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  Company,  working  as  telegraph  operator  until  1888.  In  that  year 
he  came  to  East  Chicago  as  assistant  station  agent,  and  in  March,  1889.  he 
was  appointed  agent  at  Hammond,  Indiana.  On  the  27th  of  January,  i8gi, 
he  was  appointed  agent  at  East  Chicago  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  the 
29th  of  December,  1903,  when  he  resigned  in  order  to  engage  in  business  for 
himself.  He  then  joined  the  Clapper  'Brothers  in  forming  the  present  firm 
of  Smith  &  Clapper  Brothers,  liverymen,  of  East  Chicago.  They  have  a 
well  equipped  barn  and  do  a  good  business,  which  is  constantly  increasing. 
Mr.  Smith  is  also  agent  for  the  East  Chicago  Company,  a  real  estate  firm 
which  is  developing  one  of  the  good  sections  of  the  city,  and  he  also  owns 
three  valuable  properties  there,  his  home  being  located  at  4414  Magoun 
avenue.  In  March,  1904,  Mr.  Smith  was  appointed  agent  for  the  United 
States  Express  Company  at  East  Chicago. 

On  the  2ist  of  May,  1893,  Mr.  Smith  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Maude  Holmes,  a  daughter  of  ]\Iilton  D.  and  Helen  (Turner)  Holmes. 
Four  children  have  been  born  of  this  union:  Leonard  C.  (deceased),  Beulah, 
Irene  and  Rolland.     Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  hold  membership  in  the  Con- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  271 

gregational  church  and  take  an  active  part  in  its  work  and  contribute  liber- 
ally to  its  support.  He  is  now  serving  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  church 
trustees.  He  is  also  deeply  interested  in  the  cause  of  education  and  is  serving 
his  second  term  as  treasurer  of  the  city  scliool  board.  Politically  he  is  a 
Republican,  and  is  a  progressive  and  public-spirited  man  and  takes  an  active 
and  helpful  interest  in  every  movement  that  he  believes  will  contriliute  to  the 
general  progress  and  improvement. 

CHARLES   C.   BOTHWELL. 

Charles  C.  Bijthwell,  stock  farmer,  buyer  and  shipper,  of  Section  5, 
Ross  township,  has  spent  his  life  of  successful  effort  in  Lake  county,  and  is 
numbered  among  the  highly  esteemed  and  prosperous  citizens  of  the  county. 
He  lias  given  the  best  in  him  to  his  life  work,  which  occoimts  for  the  results 
he  has  gained,  but  he  has  also  performed  his  share  of  public  duties  and 
responsibilities  as  a  friend  and  neighbor  and  a  citizen  of  the  community. 

Mr.  Bothwell  was  born  in  Ross  township.  Lake  county,  June  11,  1852, 
being  a  son  of  John  A.  and  Nancy  (Button)  Bothwell,  the  former  a  native 
of  Vermont  and  the  latter  of  New  York.  His  father  came  to  Lake  county  in 
1839.  thus  being  one  of  the  earliest  settlers,  and  located  first  in  St.  John's 
to\vnship,  later  in  Ross  township,  and  for  about  five  years  lived  in  Porter 
county,  after  which  he  returned  to  Lake  county  and  lived  here  till  his  death, 
at  the  advanced  and  venerable  age  of  eighty-three  years.  He  followed  farm- 
ing all  his  life.  He  and  his  wife  are  both  buried  in  Ross  township.  They 
were  the  parents  of  eight  children,  of  whom  Charles  was  the  third. 

]\Ir.  C.  C.  Bothwell  was  reared  in  Ross  township  with  the  exception  of 
the  five  years  spent  in  Porter  county,  and  he  finished  the  education  begun  in 
the  common  schools  at  the  Crown  Point  high  school.  As  soon  as  his  school 
days  were  ended  he  engaged  in  farming  and  the  buying  and  shipping  of 
cattle,  which  he  has  made  the  chief  lines  of  his  pursuit  ever  since.  He  has  a 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-three  acres  with  excellent  unprovements. 
and  besides  the  large  crops  of  hay  and  grain,  he  keeps  and  feeds  a  large 
number  of  cattle  and  hogs.     He  also  carries  on  a  considerable  dairy  business. 

Mr.  Bothwell  is  one  of  the  influential  Republicans  of  his  township.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  He  was  married,  October 
26,   1884,  to  Miss  Anettie  Stone,  who  was  born  in  Elkhart.   Lidiana.  Sep- 


27-2  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

teml>er  i6,  1857.  They  have  had  five  children:  Cora;  WaUer;  Charles 
Benjamin;  Lillie  May;  and  Lottie,  who  died  in  infancy.  Airs.  Bothwell 
was  reared  and  educated  in  Elkhart,  Indiana,  and  she  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  and  then  a  course  in  the  Elkhart  high  school,  after  which 
she  obtained  her  teacher's  certificate,  having  attended  the  Valparaiso  Normal 
and  taken  the  teachers'  course.  She  taught  five  terms  in  Lake  and  Porter 
counties.  Her  father  was  a  native  of  Vermont  and  was  reared  as  an 
agriculturist.  He  was  well  educated.  He  was  a  Republican  in  politics. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years  in  Elkhart.  Mother  .Stone  was 
reared  in  Vermont  and  she  died  in  Elkhart  county,  aged  about  forty  years. 
There  are  four  of  the  Stone  family  yet  living:  Benjamin  Stone,  a  resident  of 
Elkhart  county:  Amanda,  widow  of  Richard  Berritt,  of  Hartline,  Wash- 
ington: Hubert  .Stone,  a  resident  of  Elkhart:  and  Mrs.  Bothwell.  The 
children  of  Mr.  and  I\Irs.  Bothwell  have  recei^-ed  good  educational  training. 
Cora  received  her  diploma  in  the  class  of  1903,  and  she  was  a  student  at  the 
Valparaiso  Normal  School.  She  has  taken  music  and  also  elocution. 
^Valter  is  in  the  fourth  grade,  Benjamin  is  in  the  eighth  grade  of  the  public 
schools.  He  is  a  gifted  penman  and  he  is  taking  up  the  art  of  photography. 
He  also  takes  music.     Lillie  May  is  in  the  sixth  grade,  and  has  taken  music. 

JACOB    RIMBACH. 

Jacob  Rimbach,  a  prominent  retired  citizen  of  Hammond  residing  at 
78  West  Sibley  street,  has  been  a  resident  in  the  vicinity  of  Hammond  for  a 
longer  period  perhaps  than  any  other  present  inhabitant  of  the  city.  In 
fact,  when  he  first  came  here,  a  half  century  ago,  no  town  was  here,  and  the 
name  and  the  town  did  not  come  into  existence  until  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century  later.  He  has  lived  a  life  of  industry,  good  business  management 
and  foresight,  and  high  and  noble  integrity,  and  is  esteemed  at  the  present 
not  only  because  he  is  one  of  the  largest  property  owners  of  the  city,  but 
also  because  of  his  own  personal  worth  and  character  and  for  the  part  he  has 
played  in  advancing  the  progress  and  welfare  of  his  adopted  city.  What  he 
has  accumulated  in  the  way  of  worldly  wealth  has  been  done  so  by  diligence 
and  sagacity  in  investment,  and  he  deserves  the  credit  of  having  achieved  his 
own  success  and  of  being  a  self-made  man. 

Mr.  Rimbach  was  born  in  the  province  of  Eisenach,  Germany,  December 


.^at&i  (JIj(^}z£3u^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  273 

■3,  1832,  being  one  of  two  sons  and  tlie  only  one  now  living  born  to  Christopber 
and  Elizabeth  (Hassar)  Rinibacb.  His  mother's  father  lived  and  died  in 
Germany,  and  his  histor_v  is  lost  in  conseqnence  of  his  having  died  when  his 
children  were  small.  Christopber  Rimbach's  parents  were  Jacob  and  Chris- 
tina Rimbach,  both  of  uhom  died  in  Germany,  and  they  bad  one  son  and  two 
daughters.  Christopher  Rinibacb  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  and  died  in 
Germany  about  1835.  ^^^  wife  survived  him  till  1893,  and  was  about 
seyenty-two  years  old  at  the  time  of  her  death.  They  were  Lutherans.  She 
w'as  married  a  second  time,  her  husband  lieing  b'rederick  Schroeder,  and 
their  two  daughters  are  now  both  deceased. 

Mr.  Jacob  Rimbach  was  reared  in  the  land  of  his  foref.ithers,  receiving 
a  common  school  education.  He  had  a  farm  training,  and  knew  the  \'alue 
of  honest  endea\'or  long  before  he  came  to  this  country.  In  1834  he  accom- 
panied bis  mother  to  America  and  settled  on  the  jjresent  site  of  Hammond, 
before  the  town  had  been  started.  He  and  his  brother  Frederick  began  work 
on  the  Michigan  Central  Railroad,  which  road  bad  lieer:  built  through  the 
county  only  three  years  before.  Two  years  later  he  was  made  foreman  of  a 
section,  and  continued  in  the  employ  of  that  company  for  twenty-four  years, 
filling  the  position  of  foreman  for  twenty-two.  After  leaving  the  service  of 
the  railroad  he  started  the  M.  M.  Towle  lumber  yard  in  Hammond,  being 
its  manager  for  two  years.  He  owned  ten  acres  of  land  within  the  present 
confines  of  Hammond,  and  when  he  Cjuit  the  lumber  business  he  devoted  his 
time  to  flower  gardening.  He  divided  bis  land  into  town  lots  and  gradually 
sold  them  off,  and  also  built  a  number  of  cottages  on  them.  He  now  owns, 
in  addition  to  his  good  home  at  78  West  Sibley  street,  a  block  of  business 
buildings,  including  the  Lion  Store  building,  and  also  about  fifteen  tenant 
cottages.  He  is  now  living  retired  in  the  main,  l)eing  occupied  only  by  the 
oversight  of  his  extensive  property  interests. 

In  1858  Mr.  Rimbach  married  Miss  Mary  Hillman,  and  they  have  four 
daughters :  Emma,  who  married  Morris  Cbami^aign,  and  has  two  daughters, 
May  and  Emma;  Henrietta,  who  married  Fred  Champaign,  and  has  two 
children.  Myrtle  and  Fred :  Francisca,  who  married  Frank  lianson.  and  has 
two  children,  Jacob  and  May;  and  Louise,  who  wedded  Otto  Marback,  and 
has  a  daughter,  Anna.  Mrs.  Rimbach's  parents,  August  and  Christina 
(Feidel)  Hillman,  were  natives  of  Germany  and  came  to  America  in  Decem- 

18 


274  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

ber,  1854,  settling  at  Xew  Buffalo,  Michigan.  Her  father  followed  various 
occupations.  He  died  in  Chicago  in  January,  1898,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four 
years,  followed  in  death  a  week  later  by  his  wife,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one. 
They  were  both  Lutherans  in  religion.  They  were  the  parents  of  four  chil- 
dren :  Mrs.  Mary  Rimbach ;  Caroline,  deceased,  who  was  the  wife  of  Andrew 
Burman;  Sophia,  the  wife  of  Adolph  Foin,  of  Los  Angeles,  California;  and 
August,  of  Hammond. 

]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Rimbach  are  members  of  the  Lutheran  church.  At  the 
time  of  the  Civil  war  he  paid  fourteen  hundred  dollars  for  a  substitute  in  the 
army.     He  is  a  stanch  Republican  in  politics,  and  is  a  member  of  the  county 

council. 

HENRY   SCHR.\GE. 

Honored  and  respected  by  all,  there  is  no  resident  of  Whiting  who  occu- 
pies a  more  enviable  position  in  public  regard  than  does  Henry  .Schrage.  the 
president  of  the  Whiting  Bank  and  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Lake  county. 
His  position  of  influence  is  not  due  alone  to  his  success,  but  is  the  result  of 
the  honorable,  straightforward  business  policy  be  has  ever  followed,  his  entire 
career  being  such  as  will  bear  the  closest  investigation  and  scrutiny.  More- 
over, he  is  an  active  factor  in  public  life  and  one  whose  influence  has  been 
exerted  toward  general  progress,  reform  and  improvement. 

Mr.  Schrage  is  a  native  of  Germany,  his  liirtli  having  occurred  in 
Auhgen,  Hessen,  on  the  21st  of  January.  1844.  The  first  ten  years  of  his 
life  were  spent  in  the  fatherland,  and  he  then  came  to  America  with  his 
parents.  Chris  and  Fredericka  Schrage,  who  on  crossing  the  Atlantic  took 
lip  their  abode  in  Chicago,  whence  they  removed  to  Lake  county  in  October. 
185J.  The  subject  of  this  review  was  reared  where  the  to^vn  of  \\'hiting 
now  stands.  He  attended  the  public  schools  of  Chicago  and  remained  at 
home  until  aliotit  twenty  years  of  age,  when  in  response  to  the  call  of  his 
adopted  country  he  enlisted  in  1863  as  a  member  of  Company  K.  Thirteenth 
Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  as  a  private.  He  thus  served  until  the  close  of 
the  war  and  diil  active  duty  with  his  regiment,  which  was  assigned  to  the 
Seventeenth  .\rmy  Corps  under  the  command  of  General  Sherman.  When 
hostilities  had  ceased  and  his  aid  was  no  longer  needed  to  defend  the  Union, 
the  preservation  of  which  was  an  established  fact,  he  received  an  honorable 
discharge,  in  July,  1865. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  275 

Mr.  Sclirage  then  returned  to  \\'liiting  and  entered  the  railroad  service 
as  a  section  hand,  being  thus  employed  until  1868.  The  following  year  he 
engaged  in  business  on  his  own  account,  opening  a  small  general  store,  which 
he  continued  to  conduct  with  fair  success  until  about  1890.  He  then  retired 
from  active  business  and  enjoyed  a  brief  period  of  rest,  but  in  1895  he 
opened  the  Whiting  Bank,  a  private  banking  institution.  He  also  owns  the 
East  Chicago  Bank,  which  he  purchased  in  1902.  and  he  is  tlierefore  well 
known  in  financial  circles  in  Lake  county.  These  institutions  have  become 
recognized  as  strong  financial  concerns,  and  he  is  now  conducting  a  large 
and  prosperous  banking  business.  He  is  at  the  same  time  a  representative  of 
that  class  of  American  citizens  who,  while  promoting  individual  success, 
also  advance  the  general  welfare  and  prosperity.  As  his  financial  resources 
have  increased  he  has  made  judicious  investments  in  real  estate,  and  he  now 
owns  much  property  in  Whiting,  in  East  Chicago,  Hammond,  South  Chicago 
and  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  He  has  been  identified  in  large  measure  with 
the  upbuilding  of  Lake  county,  few  men  having  contributed  in  greater  degree 
to  the  substantial  progress  and  upbuilding  of  his  section  of  the  state,  in  which 
he  has  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Schrage  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Caroline  W'ustenfelt.  who 
was  born  in  the  province  of  Hessen,  Germany.  This  marriage  was  cele- 
brated in  1868,  and  has  been  blessed  with  six  children:  Harry  C.  who  is 
cashier  of  the  Whiting  Bank;  Mary,  the  wife  of  August  Tresen :  William  C. 
who  is  cashier  of  the  East  Chicago  Bank;  Herman;  Sophia  C.  at  home;  and 
Walter  E..  who  is  employed  in  the  bank  in  Whiting.  The  family  is  well 
known  in  that  city  and  its  members  are  prominent  in  local  circles  there.  In 
the  front  rank  of  the  columns  which  have  advanced  civilization  and  improve- 
ment in  this  portion  of  Lake  county  stands  Mr.  Schrage,  and  has  been  among 
those  who  have  led  the  way  to  the  substantial  development  and  progress  of 
Whiting,  being  particularly  active  in  the  growth  of  the  city,  in  which  he 
still  makes  his  home.  His  memory  goes  back  to  the  time  when  this  was  an 
undeveloped  region.  Init  when  the  town  was  founded  he  had  the  business 
foresight  to  recognize  possibilities  here  and  to  utilize  them  for  the  benefit  of 
the  public  as  well  as  his  individual  interests.  As  a  business  man  he  has  been 
conspicuous  among  his  associates  not  only  for  his  success,  but  for  his  probity, 
fairness  and  honorable  methods.     In  everything  he  has  been  eminently  prac- 


27(i  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

tical.  and  this  has  been  manifested  not  only  in  his  business  undertakings,  but 
also  in  social  and  private  life. 

JOHN    E.    LUTHER. 

John  E.  Luther,  who  has  been  a  resident  of  Lake  county  since  seven 
years  of  age  and  has  a  wide  acquaintance  within  its  borders,  the  ^ice-presi- 
dent  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Crown  Point,  is  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  war 
and  a  citizen  whose  active  co-operation  in  public  affairs  has  led  to  substantial 
improvement  in  northwestern  Lidiana.  He  is  a  native  son  of  this  state,  his 
birth  having  occurred  in  Porter  county  three  miles  from  Valparaiso  on  the 
22d  of  November,  1840.     His  paternal  grandfather  was  James  Luther. 

His  father,  James  H.  Luther,  was  born  in  Chazy,  New  York,  in  1814. 
and  when  eighteen  years  of  age  went  to  the  west.  A  j^ear  later  he  became  a 
resident  of  Porter  county,  Lidiana,  where  he  followed  farming  until  1849. 
In  that  year  he  arrived  in  Lake  county,  locating  at  Crown  Point,  and  he 
carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  on  a  tract  of  land  that  embraces  the  site  of 
the  two  railroad  depots  and  the  public-school  building  of  this  city.  He  was 
honored  with  public  olifice,  being  chosen  county  auditor  for  two  terms  or 
eight  years.  He  carried  on  merchandising  from  1855  until  1859  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Luther,  Holton  &  Company,  and  the  firm  then  became 
Luther  &  Farley,  while  subsequently  John  G.  Hoftman  succeeded  the  firm  of 
Luther  &  Farley.  Prominent  and  influential,  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  his  com- 
munity were  effective,  and  he  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  men  of 
Lake  county.  His  aid  in  behalf  of  general  progress  was  never  sought  in  vain, 
but  was  given  with  a  cheerfulness  that  made  his  work  of  much  value  in  public 
affairs.  He  was  a  Whig  until  the  dissolution  of  the  party,  when  he  became 
a  stanch  Republican  and  continued  to  march  under  the  banners  of  that  party 
until  his  demise.  During  the  period  of  the  Civil  war  all  of  the  nioiiev  that 
came  to  the  county  from  the  government  was  given  to  him  for  distribution 
among  the  families  of  the  soldiers.  He  was  reared  in  the  Presbyterian  doc- 
trine, but  for  many  years  was  a  spiritualist.  He  died  at  the  advanced  age  of 
seventy-nine  years  and  five  days.  His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
Phoebe  Ann  Flint,  was  a  natixe  of  X'ermcint  and  lived  to  be  about  twenty- 
seven  years  of  age.  They  were  the  parents  of  four  sons,  all  of  whom  reached 
manhood,  namelv :  John  E.,  AniiiS  O.,  Albert  W.  and  Henrv  E. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  277 

Jolm  E.  Lutlier,  the  eldest  son,  is  now  tlie  only  living  representative  of 
the  family.  He  was  but  eight  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  Lake  county, 
and  here  he  attended  the  district  schools,  his  first  teacher  being  Martin  ^^'ood. 
When  about  nine  years  of  age  he  went  to  Valparaiso,  where  he  worked  for 
fi\'e  vears  in  the  printing  office  with  his  uncle.  Judge  \\".  C.  Talcott.  On  the 
expiration  of  that  period  he  came  to  Crown  Point,  and  later  he  went  to  Min- 
nesota with  a  drove  of  cattle,  walking  all  the  wa}'.  He  was  ele\'en  weeks  on 
the  road,  receiving  ten  dollars  for  the  trip.  Mr.  Luther  remained  in  Minne- 
sota for  about  two  years,  driving  a  stage  for  a  year  and  a  half  and  during 
the  remainder  of  the  time  working  in  a  livery  stable.  On  the  expiration  of 
that  period  he  returned  to  Crown  Point  and  accepted  a  clerkship  in  a  store 
owned  by  John  G.  Hofifman.  When  a  little  more  than  a  year  had  passed  he 
offered  his  services  to  the  governm.ent,  enlisting  April  19,  1861,  under  Alark 
L.  Demotte,  being  the  first  man  to  enlist  from  Crown  Point.  He  became  a 
mem1>er  of  Company  B,  Twentieth  Luliana  Volunteer  Lifantry,  and  after 
serving  for  two  years  as  a  private  he  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant  and 
adjutant,  continuing  in  that  rank  until  October  10,  1864,  when  he  was  mus- 
tered out  as  a  supernumerary  officer.  He  took  part  in  twentv-seven  inqiortant 
engagements  and  was  three  times  wounded,  but  he  has  never  appliet'  for  a 
pension.  He  was  mustered  out  because  of  the  consolidation  of  tb.e  Seventh, 
Fourteenth  and  Nineteenth  regiments  with  the  Twentieth  Lidiana  Regiment, 
and  as  all  of  the  officers  could  not  be  retained  in  their  rank  Mr.  Luther  was 
among  those  who  was  retired,  for  he  had  already  served  for  three  years  and 
a  half.     He  is  life  president  of  his  regimental  association. 

Li  November,  1864,  Air.  Luther  returned  to  Crown  Point,  and  on  the 
28th  of  December  following  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  ]\Iiss  Addie  \\'ells, 
a  daughter  of  Henry  Wells.  She  was  torn  in  Crown  Point,  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools  there  and  was  well  known  in  the  city.  Her  death  occurred 
August  25,  1875.  at  Indianapolis,  and  she  left  one  son,  Harry  W.,  who  died 
in  San  Francisco  of  blood  poisoning,  July  15,  1896. 

In  1868  Mr.  Luther  entered  the  employ  of  the  McCormick  Reaper  Com- 
pany and  went  to  Galesburg,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  through  that  season. 
He  afterward  continued  with  the  company  as  bookkeeper  and  travelirig  sales- 
man until  1879,  when  he  removed  from  Indianapolis  to  Troy,  Ohio,  where 
he  was  engaged  as  bookkeeper  for  the  firm  of  Beadle  &  Kelly.     He  spent 


278  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

several  years  in  Ohio,  and  in  1S82  went  to  California,  where  he  remained 
for  one  year,  and  since  1886  he  has  resided  continuously  in  Crown  Point. 
He  has  been  vice-president  of  the  First  National  Bank  since  1900  and  is  one 
of  the  oldest  stockholders  of  that  institution.  He  also  owns  a  farm  of  about 
three  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  and  has  valuable  city  property.  He  is 
now  living  retired  from  active  business,  giving  supervision  merely  to  his 
invested  interests. 

Mr.  Luther  is  a  member  of  John  Wheeler  Post  No.  161,  G.  A.  R.,  of 
which  he  is  a  past  commander.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Lfnion  Veteran 
Legion,  Encampment  No.  84,  of  Indianapolis.  He  did  his  duty  to  his  coun- 
try willingly  and  with  marked  loyalty  because  of  his  love  for  the  L'nion,  and 
he  does  not  ask  to  be  reimbursed  for  the  sacrifice  \\hicli  he  made  in  behalf  of 
the  stars  and  stripes.  In  politics  he  has  been  a  life-long  Republican.  He 
certainly  deserves  great  credit  for  what  he  has  accomplished,  as  he  started 
out  in  life  in  early  boyhood  without  capital.  As  a  business  man  he  has  teen 
conspicuous  among  his  associates  not  only  for  his  success  but  for  his  probity, 
fairness  and  honorable  methods.  In  everything  he  has  been  eminently  prac- 
tical, has  discharged  every  public  duty  with  ability  and  fairness. 

WILLIAM  F.  BRIDGE. 

^^'iIliam  F.  Bridge,  city  engineer  of  Hammond  and  county  surveyor  of 
Lake  county,  has  lived  in  Hammond  since  1890  and  is  a  proficient  member  of 
the  civil  engineering  profession  and  is  popular  in  both  business  and  social 
circles. 

Mr.  Bridge  was  born  at  Delphi.  Indiana,  April  11.  1864,  being  the  only 
son  and  child  of  Jacob  C.  and  Emma  (Witberow)  Bridge,  both  natives  of 
Indiana.  His  paternal  grandfather,  John  Bridge,  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  was 
a  farmer  there,  and  afterwards  came  to  Carroll  county,  Indiana,  at  an  early 
(lay,  where  he  Ixiught  land  of  the  government  and  improved  it  and  added  to 
his  property  until  he  had  a  large  estate  of  five  hundred  acres.  He  was  of 
Scotch  descent.  He  died  in  Carroll  county  when  about  seventy  years  old. 
His  wife,  Rosanna  Carr  by  maiden  name,  died  at  about  the  same  age,  and 
they  had  two  children.  Mr.  Bridge's  maternal  grandfather,  James  Witberow. 
married  a  Miss  Filson,  and  they  were  early  settlers  of  Carroll  county.  He 
was  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  died  in  middle  age,  having  had 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  279 

four  cliildren.  Jacob  C.  Bridge  was  a  bookkeeper  for  many  years.  He  lived 
in  Deipbi.  Incbana,  until  i8S6.  was  tben  in  Colorado  for  four  years,  and 
since  tben  be  and  bis  wife  bave  been  residents  in  Hammond.  His  wife 
is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  cburcb. 

Mr.  William  F.  Bridge  was  reared  at  Deipbi,  Indiana,  graduating  from 
the  high  school  there  in  1884,  and  later  took  a  special  course  in  Wabash 
College.  He  tben  took  up  the  study  of  civil  engineering,  and  has  followed 
that  profession  ever  since,  having  gained  a  most  creditable  position  in  its 
ranks.  He  spent  the  years  from  1886  to  1890  in  Colorado,  and  since  then 
has  been  a  resident  of  Hammond.  He  was  elected  city  engineer  of  Ham- 
mond in  1893,  and,  with  the  exception  of  four  years,  has  been  in  that  office 
since.  He  was  elected  county  surveyor  of  Lake  county  in  1902,  and  assumed 
the  duties  of  that  office  in  January,  1903.  He  has  given  entire  satisfaction 
in  both  offices.  In  the  spring  of  1904  Mr.  Bridge  was  nominated  for  a 
second  time  as  surveyor  of  Lake  county. 

Mr.  Bridge  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  bis  wife  is  a 
Baptist.  He  affiliates  with  Garfield  Lodge  No.  569,  F.  &  A.  M.,  with  Ham- 
mond Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  and  with  Hammond  Commandery,  K.  T.,  and  is 
also  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  the  Benevolent  and  Protective 
Order  of  Elks.  He  belongs  to  the  Sigma  Chi  college  fraternity.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Republican,  and  is  city  chairman  of  the  Republican  committee. 

December  23,  1885,  Mr.  Bridge  married  Miss  Lillian  Sharrer,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  Wilbur  and  Catharine  (Moore)  Sharrer.  Four  children  were 
born  of  this  union,  Edgar,  Grace,  Norman  and  Helen.  Mrs.  Lillian  Bridge 
died  in  January,  1900.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  cburcb.  On 
August  19,  1903,  ^Ir.  Bridge  married  Miss  Bertha  C.  Watkins,  a  daughter 
of  Rev.  W.  G.  and  Ruth  (Evans)  Watkins,  the  former  a  native  of  Wales 
and  the  latter  of  Pennsylvania. 

Mrs.  Bridge's  paternal  grandfather,  William  Watkins,  was  a  native  of 
Wales,  whence  be  came  to  the  LTnited  States  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania. 
He  was  a  Baptist  minister,  and  died  in  middle  life.  His  wife  was  named 
Mary.  The  maternal  grandparents  of  Mrs.  Bridge  were  Robert  and  Susan 
(Todd)  Evans:  the  former  was  a  son  of  Da\-id  Evans  and  was  a  native  of 
Wales,  and  died  when  a  young  man :  the  latter  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  and 
was  the  mother  of  four  children.     'Mrs.  Bridge's  father  was  a  Baptist  minis- 


280  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

ter,  a  graduate  of  Bucknell  University,  of  whicli  she  is  also  a  grafliiate,  and 
he  now  Hves  in  Scranton,  Pennsylvania,  in  which  state  he  has  done  most 
of  his  ministerial  work.  He  has  always  heen  in  public  life,  and  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  taught  music.  He  and  his  wife  were  the  parents  of  six  children, 
one  son  and  five  daughters:     Bertha  C.  (Mrs.  Bridge).  Susie.  Lillian.  Ethel. 

Earl  and  Ruth. 

HENRY    CHESTER. 

Henry  Chester,  of  section  17,  Ross  township,  is  one  of  the  well  known 
old  settlers  and  prominent  agriculturists  of  Lake  county,  having  spent  over  a 
half  century  in  his  one  township.  He  spent  his  youthful  days  among  the 
rather  crude  and  primitive  conditions  of  that  time,  and  has  ever  since  been 
identified  with  the  progress  and  advancement  that  have  raised  Lake  county 
from  an  unprofitable  wilderness  to  one  of  the  banner  sections  of  the  state. 
He  recalls  many  of  the  interesting  experiences  of  that  earh'  day.  His  oppor- 
tunities for  literarv'  accomplishment  were  meager,  and  as  he  had  to  work 
during  the  daylight  hours  he  did  his  reading  by  the  light  of  a  rag  dipped  in 
a  saucer  of  grease  or  by  the  flickering  firelight  of  the  old-fashioned  hearth 
and  chimney.  And  when  he  clad  himself  in  his  best  and  went  forth  to  attend 
one  of  the  balls  of  the  countryside,  he  and  his  best  girl  rode  in  a  wagon  drawn 
by  an  ox  team.  From  this  primitive  conveyance  to  the  modern  automobile 
graphically  represents  the  progress  of  Lake  county  and  the  world  in  general 
since  Air.  Chester  was  a  carefree  boy  on  his  father's  Lake  county  farm. 

Mr.  Chester  was  born  in  Columbia  county,  Pennsylvania,  Octoloer  15, 
1834.  His  grandfather.  John  Chester,  was  a  native  of  England,  whence  he 
came  at  an  early  day  to  Pennsylvania,  and  for  seven  years  fought  in  the  ranks 
of  the  patriots  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  becoming  an  officer  in  the  Con- 
tinental army.-  He  saw  and  talked  with  Genera!  Washington  and  was  a 
prominent  man.  His  son  Charles,  father  of  Henry,  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
A'ania,  and  came  out  to  Lake  county,  Lidiana,  as  a  pioneer  in  1847.  living 
here  until  his  death  in  1874.  He  married  Mary  E.  Price,  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  of  German  descent,  and  they  were  the  parents  of  two  daug"hters 
and  one  son  that  reached  maturity. 

Mr.  Henry  Chester  was  aly)Ut  twelve  years  old  when  he  came  to  Lake 
county  with  his  parents,  and  his  subsequent  rearing  and  early  traim'ng  was 
in  Ross  township,  where,  indeed,  he  has  spent  the  rest  of  his  life.     When  the 


H 


'JyTlA^ 


CyhJ^^aAl\ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  281 

war  came  on  he  enlisted  on  September  lo,  1861.  in  Company  G,  Ninth  IHi- 
nois  Cavalry,  and  served  until  his  honorable  discharge,  Octoljer  31,  1865. 
after  giving  four  years  and  three  months  of  his  youth  and  strength  to  the 
defense  of  the  Union  cause.  From  choice  he  remained  a  private  through  all 
this  time.  He  was  in  many  battles  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee.  Mississippi,  and 
the  various  campaigns  of  the  middle  west.  He  returned  home  to  engage  in 
the  farming  pursuits  which  have  ever  since  employed  him  so  profitably.  He 
operates  over  a  thousand  acres  of  as  fine  land  as  lies  in  Lake  county,  and  his 
agricultural  enterprises  mark  him  as  one  of  the  most  progressive  and  success- 
ful farmers  of  his  vicinity.  He  has  also  taken  part  in  local  affairs,  and  is 
well  known  throughout  the  county  as  a  representati\e  and  public-spirited 
citizen. 

Mr.  Chester  was  first  married,  in  1859,  to  Miss  Harriet  Perry,  who  was 
born  in  I^orter  county,  Indiana,  a  daugliter  of  Ezekiel  Perry.  They  had  one 
child,  ]\Iary,  wife  of  Henry  Merchant.  Mr.  Chester's  second  wife  was  Har- 
riet L.  Hanks,  of  New  York  state,  and  at  her  death  she  left  five  children: 
Ella,  wife  of  Charles  Olson;  Lovisa,  wife  of  Charles  Nelson;  Carrie,  wife  of 
William  Raschka,  a  merchant  of  Ainsworth,  Lidiana;  and  Charles  E.  and 
James  H.  Mr.  Chester  married  for  his  present  wife  Mary  E.  Baird.  and  they 
have  three  children:  Jerome,  John  and  Daisy.  The  children  ha\'e  received 
good  and  practical  educations,  and  Miss  Daisy  has  taken  instruction  in  music. 
Mrs.  Chester  was  born  in  Westmoreland  county,  P'ennsylvania,  November 
8,  1854,  being  the  eldest  of  the  ten  children,  four  sons  and  six  daughters, 
born  to  Samuel  and  Jane  (Oakes)  Baird.  When  she  was  a  girl  of  twelve 
years  her  parents  moved  west  to  Bureau  county,  Illinois,  where  she  com- 
pleted the  education  begun  in  her  native  state. 

!\Tr.  Chester  is  a  member  of  Earl  Lodge  No.  ^t,^,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  at  Hol,art, 
and  his  wife  belongs  to  the  Rebekahs  at  the  same  place.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Chester  are  both  church  members,  their  respective  denomin;itions  bemg  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  and  the  Baptist. 

From  this  brief  review  of  the  main  facts  of  his  career,  is  indicated  the 
prominent  position  that  Mr.  Chester  IkiIcIs  in  his  community  and  in  Lake 
county.  His  individual  enterprise  and  success  and  his  strength  of  character 
are  marked  in  still  bolder  outlines  when  it  is  remembered  how  he  has  hcen 
the  architect  of  his  own   fortunes,  and   is  a  trulv  self-made   man.     At   tlie 


232  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

beginning  of  his  active  career  lie  worked  for  wages,  receiving  only  thirteen 
dollars  a  month.  Yet  with  this  seemingly  scant  hold  on  prosperity's  coign 
of  vantage  he  continued  to  climb  higher  to  success,  and  during  his  useful 
career  has  accumulated  a  large  estate  and  made  his  life  a  factor  for  good 
throughout  Lake  county. 

ANDREW    KAMMER. 

Andrew  Kammer,  postmaster  at  St.  John,  has  been  a  well  known  man 
of  affairs  in  this  town  for  a  number  of  years.  He  has  held  his  present  office 
almost  continuously  for  seventeen  years,  which  in  itself  shows  his  popularity 
with  the  community  and  his  prestige  as  a  public-spirited  and  energetic 
citizen.  The  first  few  years  of  his  life  were  passed  in  his  native  land  of 
Germany,  but  he  was  practically  reared  and  has  been  identified  with  Amer- 
ican institutions  all  his  life.  He  has  followed  various  lines  of  business,  and 
during  his  connection  with  Lake  county  affairs  has  accjuired  property  interests 
in  several  places.  He  is  an  influential  citizen,  and  a  hearty  worker  in  any 
cause  that  he  takes  up  and  believes  to  be  for  the  general  welfare  of  the 
community. 

\lr.  Kammer  was  born  in  Hesse-Darnstadt,  Germany,  September  2, 
1838.  and  at  the  age  of  eight  years  accompanied  his  parents  to  America, 
landing  at  Baltimore.  He  remained  in  that  city  until  i860,  gaining  his 
education  and  learning  the  tailor's  trade.  He  followed  that  business  in 
Cumberland.  IMaryland,  until  1868,  and  then  returned  to  Baltimore,  where 
he  continued  in  business  for  a  year.  In  1869  he  came  out  to  Lake  county, 
Indiana,  locating  at  St.  John,  and  for  the  first  six  years  taught  school  during 
the  winter  seasons.  For  ten  years  he  was  traveling  in  the  interests  of  the 
Catholic  V olkszeihmg,  Baltimore,  Maryland,  and  did  much  business  for  that 
paper.  He  was  also  on  the  road  eight  years  as  the  representative  of  a  liquor 
house.  In  December,  1887,  ^^^  ^^'^s  appointed  to  the  office  of  postmaster  of 
St.  John,  and  with  the  exception  of  eight  months  has  held  the  office  con- 
tinuously to  tlie  present  time.  Some  years  ago  he  built  three  tenant  houses 
in  \\'hiting,  being  one  of  the  first  to  make  that  kind  of  investment  in  that 
town,  and  he  still  owns  this  property  and  rents  it. 

May  3,  i860,  Mr.  Kammer  married  Miss  Katherine  Wagner,  who  was 
born  in  Germanv  and  came  as  a  girl  to  America,  having  lived  in  this  country 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  283 

since  she  was  fourteen  years  old.  ]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Kammer  have  seven  children 
living:  Elizabeth;  Mary;  Nicholas;  Michael;  Theodore  A.,  a  teacher  in 
the  public  schools  of  St.  John ;  Andixw ;  and  Catherine.  The  family  are 
members  of  the  St.  John  Catholic  church. 

ADAM  J.  GERLACH. 

Adam  J.  Gerlach.  with  residence  and  farm  on  section  30,  Center  town- 
ship, has  been  identified  with  the  most  important  interests  of  Lake  county 
for  over  forty  years.  He  passed  part  of  his  boyhood  in  this  county,  after 
which  he  was  one  of  the  popular  and  leading  workers  along  educational  lines 
for  many  years,  and  the  latter  part  of  his  career  has  been  devoted  most  suc- 
cessfully to  the  life  insurance  business  and  to  farming,  so  that  his  years  have 
been  both  varied  in  their  activity  and  prosperous  in  their  fruits. 

Mr.  Gerlach  was  born  at  Harper's  Ferry,  Virginia,  March  8,  1848, 
being  a  son  of  Michael  and  Catherine  (Wirtheim)  Gerlach,  both  natives  of 
Bavaria,  Germany.  His  father,  on  coming  to  America,  located  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  and  in  1857  brought  his  family  to  Lake  county,  Lidiana,  settling  in 
St.  John  township.  He  improved  his  first  farm  and  also  was  the  owner  of 
two  other  farms,  being  during  his  lifetime  one  of  the  leading  citizens.  He 
taught  school  for  some  time  and  for  many  years  was  assessor  of  his  township. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-five,  and  his  wife  in  her  seventy-sixth  year. 
They  were  the  parents  of  seven  children,  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  and 
all  but  one  are  living  and  married  at  the  present  time. 

Mr.  Adam  J.  Gerlach,  who  is  the  third  child  and  third  son,  was  about 
nine  years  old  when  he  came  to  Lake  county,  where  he  continued  the  educa- 
tion he  had  l>egun  in  Virginia.  He  graduated  from  the  Crown  Point  high 
school,  and  from  that  time  has  made  his  own  way  in  the  world.  He  began 
by  clerking  in  a  store,  but  at  the  age  of  seventeen  entered  upon  his  career 
as  school  teacher,  which  he  continued,  altogether,  for  twenty-one  years.  One 
term  was  in  Cook  county,  Illinois,  but  all  the  rest  was  in  Lake  county.  He 
taught  different  branches,  English  and  German  being  favorites,  and  he  also 
made  a  specialty  of  musical  instruction,  both  vocal  and  instrumental.  He 
is  an  accomplished  musician,  and  at  the  present  time  is  organist  in  St.  Mary's 
Catholic  church  at  Crown  Point. 

He  now  resides  on  his  farm  of  two  hundred  and  fortv-fi\-e  acres  situated 


284  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

three  and  a  half  miles  south  of  Crown  Point,  where  he  owns  one  of  the  fine 
farmsteads  of  this  part  of  the  county.  But  he  devotes  most  of  his  time  to 
soliciting  life  insurance  for  the  Aetna  Life  of  Hartford,  having  been  agent 
in  this  business  for  twenty-one  years.  He  has  written  many  thousands  of 
dollars  in  this  time,  and  his  work  has  extended  to  all  parts  of  the  county. 
One  of  his  chief  industries  on  the  farm  is  a  large  dairy,  and  in  this  connec- 
tion he  has  become  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Chicago  Milk  Shippers'  Union, 
which  comprises  man}-  thousand  dairies  of  Lidiana.  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 
He  is  also  interested  in  a  company  organizing,  at  Crown  Point,  a  jelly  manu- 
facturing business.  About  eighteen  farmers  of  the  surrounding  country  will 
raise  currents  for  this  enterprise. 

]\Ir.  Gerlach  is  one  of  the  well  known  Democrats  of  Lake  county,  and 
for  some  years  served  as  justice  of  the  peace.  He  is  a  member  and  a  trustee 
of  the  Catholic  church  at  Crown  Point.  He  was  married,  August  lo,  1S74, 
to  Miss  Margaret  Scherer,  the  daughter  of  Nicholas  and  Frances  Scherer, 
who  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Lake  county,  where  Mrs.  Gerlach  was 
born.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gerlach  ha\"e  had  thirteen  children,  and  all  are  living 
but  one,  who  died  in  1903,  the  others  being  as  follows  :  Adam  ]M. :  Amelia, 
wife  of  Theodore  Stech ;  George  F. :  Frances :  Agnes ;  Michael :  Joseph ; 
Richard;  Philip;  Susan;  Josephine;  and  Lillie.  Adam  and  Agnes  graduated 
in  the  Crown  Point  public  schools,  and  the  former  and  George  F.  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Crown  Point  brass  band.  Mr.  Gerlach,  being  so  proficient  in 
music,  has  given  his  children  fine  instruction  in  music,  and  at  gatherings, 
assemblies  and  farm  institutes  they  take  a  prominent  part. 

JUDGE  GEORGE  \^^  JONES. 

Active  in  community  affairs  which  have  had  important  bearing  upon 
public  progress  and  improvement.  Judge  G.  W.  Jones  is  numbered  among  the 
leading  and  representative  men  of  ^^'hiting,  Indiana,  where  he  is  now  filling 
the  oiifice  of  justice  of  the  peace.  He  has  also  been  closely  associated  with 
educational  affairs  there  and  has  done  much  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  schools. 
In  an  official  connection  he  has  Ijeen  largely  instrumental  in  securing  the 
attendance  at  school  of  a  greater  percent  of  pupils  than  had  hitherto  been 
enrolled.  His  labors  have  always  been  of  a  practical  character,  attended  by 
results  that  are  far-reaching  and  beneficial. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  285 

Judge  Jones  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  liis  l^n-th  having  occurred  in  Butler 
county  on  the  Jjd  of  May.  1844.  He  is  a  son  of  Dr.  Caleb  H.  and  Beulah 
(Staggs)  Jones,  the  former  of  Welsh  descent  and  the  latter  of  English 
lineage.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Jonas  Jones,  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey, 
and  was  a  civil  engineer  by  profession.  Removing  westward  he  surveyed 
a  large  part  of  southern  Ohio  and  was  one  of  the  promoters  of  pioneer  devel- 
opment in  that  portion  of  Ohio.  His  son.  Dr.  Caleb  H.  Jones,  was  also  a 
native  of  Butler  county,  Ohio,  prepared  for  the  practice  (if  medicine  in  early 
life  and  continued  active  in  the  prosecution  of  his  profession  up  to  the  time 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1848.  His  wife  was  a  native  of  North  Caro- 
lina. On  her  father's  side  she  was  of  English  lineage  and  on  the  maternal 
line  her  ancestry  could  be  traced  back  to  John  Smith,  whose  life  was  saved 
by  the  Indian  maiden  Pocahontas. 

Judge  Jones  was  the  seventh  in  a  family  of  nine  children  born  to  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Jones.  He  spent  his  youth  in  the  county  of  his  nati\'ity,  and  his 
early  boyhood  was  a  period  of  earnest  and  unremitting  toil,  for  when  he  was 
only  four  years  of  age  he  was  left  an  orphan.  He  earned  his  living  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  time  until  he  had  attained  the  age  of  sixteen  years, 
but  the  elemental  strength  of  his  character  was  thereby  developed  and  he  be- 
came a  self-reliant,  courageous  young  man  who  bravely  faced  life's  duties 
and  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities.  In  1861  he  offered  his  services  to 
the  government  as  a  defender  of  the  Union,  enlisting  in  Company  D,  Fifth 
Regiment  of  Ohio  Cavalry.  He  served  for  three  years  and  seven  months  in 
the  army  as  a  private,  but  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  sergeant.  He  took 
part  in  the  battles  of  Shiloh,  the  siege  of  Corinth  and  the  liattle  at  that  city, 
the  siege  of  \'icksburg  and  the  engagement  at  Lookout  JNIountain,  where  was 
displayed  on.e  of  the  most  daring  military  feats  of  the  great  war.  He  was 
also  with  Sherman  on  the  celebrated  march  to  the  sea. 

When  the  war  was  over  and  he  was  mustered  out  of  service.  Judge 
Jones  returned  to  his  native  county  in  Ohio  and  there  served  a  lerm  of 
apprenticeship  as  a  machinist.  In  1867  he  made  a  business  trip  to  Europe, 
being  gone  about  si.x  weeks,  during  which  time  he  \isited  Li\'erpoi:)l  and 
other  points  in  England,  beside  going  to  France.  After  his  return  to  his 
native  land  he  remo\-ed  to  ^liddletown.  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until  1869, 
and  in  the  fall  of  that  vear  he  came  to  Indiana,  locating  at  Kentland.     He 


286  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

afterward  removed  to  Sheldon,  Illinois,  \\here  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  carriages  and  wagons  for  a  short  time.  He  next  went  to  California, 
afterward  to  Australia  and  subsequently  to  Japan  and  China,  looking  for  a 
location  and  a  better  country  than  America.  He  remained  in  Australia  for 
three  months  and  visited  Hongkong,  China,  and  Yokohama,  Japan.  His 
travels,  however,  convinced  him  that  there  was  no  better  country  on  the 
face  of  the  globe  than  his  own  United  States,  and  upon  once  more  reaching 
this  country  he  located  in  Sheldon,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  for  two  years. 
During  that  time  he  was  married  and  later  he  went  to  Nebraska,  settling  at 
Lone  Tree.  There  he  secured  a  homestead  claim  and  continued  its  cultiva- 
tion and  development  until  the  grasshoppers  entirely  destroyed  his  crops.  He 
next  returned  to  Iroquois,  Illinois,  and  afterward  went  to  Sheldon,  while  in 
January,  1SS4,  he  located  in  Hammond,  Indian.a,  where  he  entered  the  emplo)- 
of  the  Tuthill  Spring  Company  and  the  Chicago  Carriage  Company,  being 
thus  engaged  until  he  entered  the  services  of  the  Hammond  Packing  Com- 
pany as  a  machinist,  filling  that  position  until  1890,  when  he  came  to  Whiting. 
Here  Judge  Jones  entered  the  employ  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company  as  a 
machinist  and  foreman  of  the  compound  press  house,  and  later  was  sent  to 
the  round  house  in  the  switching  department.  During  the  last  four  years  of 
his  connection  with  the  Standard  Oil  Company  he  had  charge  of  the  repairs 
on  locomotives,  and  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  capable  and  trusted 
representatives  of  the  corporation  in  \\'hiting. 

In  the  meantime  J\Ir.  Jones  had  become  recognized  as  a  prominent  and 
influential  factor  in  pubHc  life,  e.xerting  strong  influence  in  Iiehalf  of  measures 
for  the  general  good.  In  1898  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  of  Whiting 
and  has  served  in  that  capacity  continuously  since,  discharging' his  duties 
in  a  prompt  and  able  manner,  his  decisions  l>eing  strictly  fair  and  impartial. 
He  was  also  elected  city  clerk  of  Whiting  and  is  now  filling  that  office.  He  is 
likewise  engaged  in  the  insurance  business,  ha\-ing  lime  to  devote  to  these 
interests  as  well  as  his  official  duties.  He  is  now  vice-president  of  the  board 
of  children's  guardians  of  Lake  county,  In(liana,  and  since  taking  his  place 
as  a  member  of  the  board  he  has  made  strenuous  and  effective  eft'orts  to  keep 
children  out  of  the  saloons,  and  more  children  are  now  attending  school  than 
ever  before  in  Whiting.  He  is  the  only  Democrat  that  has  been  elected  to 
public  office  in  the  town,  and  this  fact  is  indicative  of  the  confidence  and  trust 


**  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  287 

reposed  in  him  by  his  fehow  citizens.  He  is  not  bitterly  aggressive  in  politics, 
for  while  he  believes  in  Democratic  principles  he  casts  his  ballot  inclepen- 
dently  at  local  elections  where  no  issue  is  in\-olved.  Since  1867  Judge  Jones 
has  been  an  exemplary  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  has  nITed  all 
the  chairs  in  the  local  lodge.  He  is  also  a  Knight  of  Pythias,  holds  mem- 
bership relations  with  the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees  and  Colonel  Robert 
Heath  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Hammond,  in  which  he  has  tilled  all  of  the  posi- 
tions with  the  exception  of  that  of  quartemiaster. 

In  1870,  while  living  in  Sheldon,  Illinois,  Judge  Jones  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Margaret  Markley,  and  to  them  were  born  two  sons  and 
one  daughter:  Harry,  wdio  is  an  engineer  for  the  Standard  Oil  Company; 
Guy,  a  switchman  in  the  employ  of  the  same  company :  and  Ann.ie,  at  home. 
The  Judge  and  his  family  are  well  known  in  A\'hiting.  wdiere  they  occupy  an 
enviable  position  in  social  circles  and  have  many  warm  friends.  He  has  taken 
a  very  active  and  helpful  part  in  public  affairs,  and  in  his  life  record  has  dis- 
played many  commendable  characteristics.  His  benevolent  spirit  has 
prompted  generous  assistance  to  the  borough,  and  he  has  the  reputation  of 
giving  more  liberally  than  any  other  man  in  \Miiting  according  to  his  means. 
No  one  in  need  seeking  his  aid  is  turned  away  from  his  door  empty-handed, 
and  while  he  does  not  believe  in  the  indiscriminate  giving  that  fosters  \a- 
grancy  and  idleness,  he  does  everything  in  his  power  to  help  those  who  are 
willing  to  help  themselves.  Judg'e  Jones  attended  school  for  only  aI;out  ten 
months,  and  his  knowledge  has  all  been  acquired  through  practical  experience 
and  by  reading  and  study  at  night.  He  has  made  the  most  of  his  oppor- 
tunities as  the  years  have  advanced,  and  to-day  he  is  a  well-informed  man, 
widely  and  favorably  known  throughout  the  community,  his  abilities  well 
fitting  him  for  leadership  in  political,  business  and  social  life.  The  terms 
progress  and  patriotism  may  be  considered  the  keynotes  of  his  character,  for 
throughout  his  career  he  has  labored  for  the  improvement  of  every  line  of 
business  or  public  interest  with  which  he  has  been  associated  and  at  all  times 
has  been  actuated  by  a  fidelity  to  his  country  and  her  welfare.  • 


288  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

JUDGE  W.  C.  McMAHAN. 

Judge  W.  C.  McMahan.  in  igo2  elected  to  liis  present  office  of  circuit 
judge,  has  been  one  of  tlie  leading  members  of  the  bar  at  Crown  Point  for  the 
past  twenty  years,  and  liis  legal  talent  and  learning,  his  wholesome  and 
genial  personality,  and  his  loyalty  to  the  public  welfare  have  been  recognized 
in  an  extensive  law  practice  and  a  large  personal  and  party  following  who 
have  honored  him  with  various  public  offices,  the  last  being  the  circuit  judge- 
ship. Since  taking  his  seat  on  the  l^ench  he  has  fully  preserved  the  judicial 
dignity  of  the  office  and  has  made  a  most  commendable  record  by  his  ex- 
peditious yet  thorough  handling  of  the  numerous  cases  on  his  docket.  His 
career  has  been  typical  of  those  of  many  successful  law^yers,  he  having  entered 
upon  the  law  after  a  period  of  experience  in  school  teaching  and  having 
passed  the  usual  novitiate  of  hard  study  and  early  trials  in  gaining  recogni- 
tion from  the  people.  His  past  record  proves  his  success,  and  he  has  reached 
his  present  prominence  at  the  bar  and  bench  while  in  the  prime  of  manhood, 
being  a  man  of  forty-six  and  with  many  years  of  useful  work  before  him. 

Judge  McMahan  was  born  in  Carroll  county.  Indiana,  August  2,  1858, 
being  of  Scotch-Irish  lineage.  His  grandfather,  Rolaert  Mc]\Iahan,  was  an 
Indian  trader,  and  served  as  aide-de-camp  to  General  Washington.  He  was 
later  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  old  town  of  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  \\here  he 
located  during  the  Indian  wars.  During  the  pioneer  epoch  of  Ohio  history 
and  throughout  the  remainder  of  his  life  he  was  actively  identified  \,ith  the 
development  and  upbuilding  of  that  state  and  of  Indiana. 

Judge  McMahan's  father  is  Robert  ^McMahan,  who  was  born  in  Darke 
county,  Ohio,  and  when  a  small  boy  went  with  bis  parents  to  Tippecanoe 
county,  Indiana,  where  he  was  reared  to  the  occupation  of  farming,  passing 
his  youth  among  frontier  scenes.  He  Ijecame  a  farmer  of  Carroll  county, 
where  he  has  devoted  his  energies  to  agricultural  i)ursuits  to  the  present 
time,  although  he  is  now  seventy-nine  years  old  and  one  of  the  honored 
patriarchs  of  his  community.  By  his  first  wife  he  had  one  son.  He  was 
afterward  married  in  Carroll  county  to  Miss  Martha  White,  who  was  born 
in  Ohio  and  is  still  living.  Her  father,  Zenas  White,  was  a  native  of  Ohio, 
and  settled  in  Carnll  county,  Indiana,  in  1832.  Of  this  second  union  six 
children  were  born,  four  sons  and  two  daughters. 


^^»p? 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  289 

Judge  McMalian.  the  eldest  of  liis  lirotliers  and  sisters,  was  reared  in 
Carroll  county.  Indiana,  dlitaining  his  early  education  in  the  country  and 
village  schools.  He  later  attended  the  normal  school  at  Ladoga.  Indiana, 
and  for  four  years  engaged  in  teaching  school.  With  his  amhition  set  for 
the  profession  of  law.  he  entered  the  L^nix-ersity  of  Michigan  at  Ann  Arbor, 
and  studied  there  one  year.  He  spent  amither  year  in  reading  law  with  a 
firm  in  Logansport.  and  in  18(83  ^^''^s  admitted  to  the  liar  at  Delphi  Carroll 
county,  Indiana.  In  A]M-il  of  the  following  year  he  located  in  Crown  Point 
and  began  the  practice  which  he  has  continued  with  so  much  success  during 
the  last  twenty  years.  He  has  almost  continuously  been  in  some  office  de- 
manding his  professional  services.  He  was  town  attorney  for  sixteen  years, 
was  prosecuting  attorney  of  the  county  from  1890  to  1894.  and  in  lanuary, 
1902.  was  appointed  to  the  position  of  circuit  judge  and  in  the  fall  of  the 
same  year  was  elected  to  that  office.  He  has  for  a  number  of  years  been  one 
of  the  influential  Republicans  of  this  part  of  the  state,  and  as  far  as  his  duties 
permit  he  takes  an  active  part  in  politics.  His  only  fraternal  affiliations  are 
with  the  Knights  of  Pythias. 

In    1888  Jude   McMahan   married   Miss   Irene   Allman.   a    daughter   of 

Amos  and  Mary  (Luther)   Allman.     She  was  born  in  Crown  Point,  and  by 

her  marriage  became  the  mother  of  three    children :    Claudia,    Mary    and 

Maurine. 

SETH  L.  PEARCE. 

Seth  L.  Pearce,  of  section  19,  Eagle  Creek  township,  is  a  life-long  resi- 
dent of  this  fertile  portion  of  Lake  county,  and  has  been  prominently  identi- 
fied with  its  farming  and  stock-raising  interests  during  nearly  all  his  years 
since  attaining  manhood.  Very  little  time  has  been  spent  away  from  the 
scene  of  his  childhood  joys,  and  his  career  has  been  worked  out  to  a  suc- 
cessful degree  of  fulness  among  the  people  and  in  the  environments  that 
he  has  known  since  he  first  became  conscious  of  the  great  world  about  him 
As  the  head  of  a  happy  home  and  as  a  factor  in  the  social  and  business  life 
of  his  community  he  has  borne  his  share  of  responsibilities  and  become 
known  everywhere  in  his  township  as  a  man  of  integrity  and  industrious 
habits. 

Mr.  Pearce  was  born  in  Eagle  Creek  township.  Lake  county,  July  29, 
1854,  being  the  eighth  child  and  the  third  son  of  Michael  and  Margaret  J., 


290  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

(Dinwiddie)  Pearce.  His  father,  who  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
Lake  connty,  was  horn  in  1808  and  died  in  1861,  and  his  mother  was  torn 
in  1818  and  died  Augnst  8,  1894.  Besides  Seth  L.,  there  are  six  children 
living :  John,  in  whose  biography  on  another  page  further  details  of  family 
history  will  be  found;  Harriet,  wife  of  Isaac  Bryant,  of  Hebron,  Indiana; 
Nancy  Ann.  wife  of  O.  V.  Servis,  also  written  of  in  this  volume;  Alary  J.. 
-wife  of  W.  T.  Buchanan,  of  Eagle  Creek  township;  Susanna,  wife  of  G.  H. 
Stahl.  of  Eagle  Creek  township;  and  Thomas,  on  the  old  homestead. 

Mr.  Seth  L.  Pearce  was  reared  in  his  native  township,  and  after  attend- 
ing the  local  schools  went  to  the  Crown  Point  high  school  and  then  to 
the  Northern  Indiana  Normal  School  at  Valparaiso.  He  spent  a  year  and 
a  half  in  Oregon  and  California,  but  returned  to  his  native  township  to 
take  up  the  agricultural  pursuits  which  have  ever  since  formed  his  chief 
occupation  and  given  him  his  liveliho(.Kl.  After  his  marriage  he  located 
on  the  farm  where  he  still  resides,  consisting  of  one  hundred  and  sixteen 
acres,  well  improved  and  under  his  cajiable  management  producing  good 
general  crops  and  stock.  Mr.  Pearce  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  in  church 
matters  is  a  member  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church  at  Hebron,  taking  a 
useful  part  in  its  work. 

March  16,  1886,  Mr.  Pearce  married  Miss  Sarah  G.  Patterson,  a  native 
of  Kosciusko  county.  Indiana,  wliere  she  was  born  July  16,  1859,  the  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Alargaret  ( Kirkpatrick )  Patterson.  Her  father  was  born 
in  Pennsylvania.  September  15,  1799,  and  died  April  7,  1864,  and  her  mother 
in  Ohio.  August  21.  1819.  and  died  December  12,  1900.  She  is  the  only 
■child  of  their  marriage.  She  was  reared  and  educated  in  her  native  county. 
Father  Patterson  was  reared  as  an  agriculturist  in  Pennsylvania,  and  edu- 
cated in  the  log-cabin  school  of  "ye  olden  days."  In  his  early  life  he  was 
a  Whig,  and  at  the  birth  of  the  Republican  party  took  up  its  principles.  He 
came  to  Ohio  from  Pennsylvania  and  afterwards  to  Kosciusko  county.  In- 
diana, in  1843.  ^"<^'-  tliere  had  purchased  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land  in  Plain  township.  He  and  wife  were  memtors  of  the  United  Pres- 
byterian church.  Mother  Patterson  was  born  in  Clarke  county.  Ohio,  and 
was  seventeen  when  she  became  a  resident  of  Indiana.  Mrs.  Pearce  was 
educated  in  the  common  schools,  was  also  a  student  in  the  Warsaw  high 
school  three  years.     She  is  a  lady  of  genial,  cordial  bearing,  and  her  cosy. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  291 

hospitable  home  is  a  ha\-en  for  friend  or  stranger.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pearce 
have  one  daughter,  Margaret  E.,  born  March  6.  1887,  and  who  graduated 
from  the  Crown  Point  high  school  in  1904.  She  expects  to  enter  a  universitN 
of  high  rank,  and  take  the  classical  course. 

JAMES  MONTGOMERY  HALSTED. 

James  Montgomery  Halsted,  of  section  11,  Ross  township,  is  a  life- 
long resident  of  Lake  count}-,  and  has  found  in  agricultural  pursuits  the 
best  employment  for  his  energies  and  a  means  of  gaining  a  comfortable 
hvehhood  and  a  substantial  place  in  the  world  of  material  circumstances. 
He  is  a  son  of  one  of  the  very  earliest  pioneers  to  the  county,  so  that  the 
Halsted  family  has  figured  in  the  industrial  and  social  life  of  Lake  county 
from  its  earliest  years  to  the  present,  and,  furthermore,  have  always  retained 
the  esteem  and  high  regard  of  their  fellow  citizens  and  business  associates. 

Mr.  Halsted  was  born  in  Ross  township,  September  12,  1852.  His 
father.  James  Halsted,  was  a  native  of  Oneida  county,  New  York,  and  about 
1838  came  out  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  locating  in  a  very  sparsely  settled 
community  and  playing  the  part  of  the  doughty  pioneer  in  clearing  the 
ground  and  making  way  for  civilization.  He  was  a  farmer  all  his  life,  and 
lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  eightv-seven  years.  He  was  a  member  of  an.d 
helped  to  build  the  Unitarian  church  at  Hobart.  In  politics  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat from  the  time  of  casting  his  first  vote  to  the  last.  His  wife  was  Mary 
Woodhouse,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  New  York  city,  a  daughter  of 
Edwin  Woodhouse.  She  is  still  living  at  the  age  of  seventy-six,  and  has 
been  the  mother  of  six  children,  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  all  of  whom 
grew  up  and  married,  and  five  are  living  at  the  present  writing. 

Mr.  James  M.  Halsted  is  the  eldest  son  and  the  second  child.  He  was 
reared  in  Ross  township,  being  educated  in  the  puljlic  schools,  and  he 
remained  at  home  and  assisted  his  parents  until  his  marriage,  in  1877.  In 
the  same  year  he  located  on  the  farm  where  he  has  since  made  his  home. 
This  consists  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  acres  of  well  improved  and 
highly  cultivated  land,  and  is  devoted,  under  his  skillful  management,  to 
general  farming  and  stock-raising.  Mr.  Halsted  is  also  interested  in  public 
afifairs,  and  ni  1904  was  the  Democratic  candidate  for  the  office  of  trustee  of 
Ross  township. 


292  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

He  married,  in  1877,  Miss  Emma  Brown,  the  daughter  of  James  and 
Jane  Brown.  She  was  Ixirn  in  Michigan  City,  LaPorte  county,  Indiana, 
.ind  was  reared  there.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Halsted  have  five  children:  Albert, 
Ura,  Roy,  Mamie  and  Ethel. 

CAPTAIN  C.  A.  FRIEDRICH. 

Captain  Charles  A.  Friedrich  is  the  proprietor  of  the  Harbor  riotel  at 
Indiana  Harbor  and  is  one  of  the  upbuilders  of  the  town,  which  has  had  an 
existence  of  but  a  very  few  years,  but  in  this  brief  space  of  time  has  made 
rapid  strides,  enjoying  a  marvelous  yet  substantial  growth.  The  hostelry 
of  which  Captain  Friedrich  is  projirietor  is  the  leading  one  of  the  town,  and 
in  addition  to  its  conduct  be  is  also  engaged  in  real  estate  operations. 

The  Captain  is  descended  from  a  distinguished  family  of  Germany, 
prominent  in  public  life  there.  His  grandfather  Friedrich  was  commander 
of  and  had  supervision  over  all  the  fortifications  in  central  Gemiany,  and  at 
his  death  was  buried  under  the  monument  which  he  had  erected  at  Coburg, 
Germany.  He  married  a  Miss  Demuth,  and  among  their  children  was 
Charles  E.  Friedrich,  the  father  of  Captain  Friedrich.  He,  too,  was  a  native 
of  Germany,  and  was  in  the  government  service  throughout  his  entire  life. 
He  lived  for  a  time  in  Saerbricken.  He  became  a  prominent  officer,  and  the 
emperor  voluntarily  placed  a  medal  upon  his  breast — the  medal  of  the  order 
of  the  Red  Eagle.  He  was  twice  married,  his  first  union  being  with  Miss 
Leopoltina  Miller,  also  a  native  of  Germany  and  whose  father  spent  his  entire 
life  in  that  country,  where  he  conducted  a  hotel.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  E, 
Friedrich  were  born  three  children,  who  are  still  living :  Charles  A. ;  Emelia, 
the  wife  of  Ernst  Gross,  of  Rheinholz,  Germany:  and  Julius,  of  New  York, 
.\fter  the  death  of  his  first  wife  the  father  married  Katharina  Dawald.  and 
thej^  had  four  sons — Ernst,  Robert,  Rudolph  and  Carl,  all  in  Germany. 
Charles  E.  Friedrich  died  in  the  year  1899.  ^^  the  advanced  age  of  seventy- 
nine  years,  while  the  mother  of  (lur  subject  died  of  cholera  in  1866,  Both 
were  consistent  members  of  the  Lutheran  church. 

Captain  Charles  A.  Friedrich  was  reared  in  the  fatherland  and  acquired 
his  education  in  that  country.  When  he  had  completed  the  high  school 
course  he  attended  college  and  afterward  entered  a  sailors'  school  at  Ham- 
burg. Germany,  known  as  the  German  Seamen's  School,  v.here  he  pursued  a 


if^^^  ^^  ^^^.^^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  293 

tliorough  course.  Subsequenth-  he  entered  tlie  merchant  marine  service, 
wliicli  claimed  liis  time  and  energies  until  1901.  His  first  trip  to  America 
was  made  in  1865.  he  landing  at  Xew  York  in  April  on  the  dav  that  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  was  assassinated.  He  continued  to  follow  the  ocean  until  1869, 
when  he  began  sailing  on  the  Great  Lakes,  and  was  captain  of  \arious  ves- 
sels until  1 90 1,  when  he  determined  to  abandon  the  vocation  which  had  so 
long  occupied  his  attention,  and  came  to  Lidiana  Harbor. 

Captain  Friedrich  was  the  first  nian  who  slept  in  his  own  bed  in  the 
town.  He  opened  the  Harbor  Hotel,  renting  the  building  when  it  was  Init 
partially  finished,  and  the  first  night  he  had  sixty-six  boarders.  There  was 
not  a  bedstead  in  the  house  at  the  time,  although  he  had  four  thousand  dollars' 
worth  of  furniture  upon  the  way,  it  being  almost  impossible  to  get  the  furni- 
'ure  from  the  cars  by  wagon,  because  of  the  swampy  and  stumpy  condition 
of  the  ground,  almost  making  hauling  impossible.  As  rapidly  as  possible. 
howe\-er,  he  providetl  for  the  comfort  of  his  guests,  and  the  Harbor  Hotel 
has  ever  maintained  the  first  place  among  the  leading  hostelries  of  the  town. 
He  has  a  good  patronage  and  his  success  is  assured  because  of  the  enter- 
prising" methods  he  follows,  and  his  earnest  and  untiring  efforts  to  please 
his  patrons.  He  is  also  interested  in  the  real  estate  business  and  has  handled 
considerable  property  here. 

The  condition  of  Indiana  Harbor  at  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  hotel, 
contrasted  with  its  present  condition,  indicates  the  rapid  growth  of  the  town, 
which  now  contains  a  population  of  three  thousand  and  is  still  rapidly  grow- 
ing. The  wise  system  of  industrial  economics  which  has  been  brought  to 
bear  in  the  development  of  Indiana  Harbor  has  challenged  luiiform  admira- 
tion, for  while  there  has  been  steady  advancement  in  material  lines  there 
has  been  an  entire  absence  of  that  inflation  of  \-alues  and  that  erratic  "boom- 
ing" which  ha\'e  in  the  past  proved  the  eventual  death  knell  to  many  of  tlie 
localities  in  the  central  west,  where  "mushroom  towns"  ha\e  one  day  smiled 
forth  with  "all  modern  improvements"  and  practical!}-  on  the  next  ha\'c  been 
shorn  of  their  glories  and  of  their  possibilities  of  stable  prosperity  until  the 
existing  order  of  things  shall  ha\'e  radically  changed.  In  Indiana  Harbor 
progress  has  been  made  continuously  and  in'safe  lines,  and  in  the  healthful 
growth  and  advancement  of  the  town  Mr.  Friedrich  has  taken  an  acti\e  part. 

On  the   14th  of  May,    1898.   Captain   b'riedrich   was  united  in  marriage 


294  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

to  Miss  Xellie  T.  Burke,  a  daughter  of  Jt>lin  and  Tlieressa  Burke.  He  belongs 
to  several  fraternal  organizations,  including  the  Odd  Fellows,  the  Knights  of 
Pythias  and  the  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men,  and  lia^  attained  the  uniformed 
rank  in  the  K.  of  P.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Indiana  HarlKir.  Columbia  and 
Jackson  Park  Yacht  clubs.  Politically  he  is  a  Republican,  but  his  attention 
has  never  been  directed  tOAvard  oiTice-holding.  as  he  prefers  to  perform  his 
duties  of  citizenship  in  other  ways.  While  on  the  water  he  had  some  thrilling 
experiences,  and  now  he  is  living  the  more  cjuiet  life  of  a  hotel  proprietor, 
ably  ministering  to  the  wants  of  the  traveling  public  and  by  his  genial,  oblig- 
ing manner  making  many  friends. 

SEYMORE  PATTON. 

Seymore  Patton  is  one  of  the  oldest  citizens  of  Lake  county,  both  in 
years  of  his  age  and  in  length  of  residence,  and  his  honorable  and  active 
career  as  a  fanner  here  for  over  forty-five  years  is  one  of  the  important 
items  of  the  histon,'  of  Center  township.  He  came  here  in  the  strength  and 
vigor  of  his  young  manhood  and  settled  on  the  land  which  has  ever  since 
formed  part  of  his  homestead,  and  from  the  wild  prairie  and  woodland  he 
developed  a  farm  whose  continued  cultivation  has  afforded  him  a  most  honor- 
able occupation  and  a  means  of  livelihood,  resulting  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances for  his  old  age  and  in  grateful  esteem  and  regard  from  all  his  fellow 
citizens  and  associates. 

Mr.  Patton  was  born  in  Trumbull  county.  Ohio.  December  i8,  1828, 
a  son  of  John  and  Eliza  Jane  (Dixon)  Patton.  the  former  a  native  of  Butler 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  latter  of  Ireland,  whence  she  came  to  America 
at  the  age  of  fourteen.  His  parents  were  married  in  Butler  county,  Penn- 
syhania,  where  his  father  followed  the  occupation  of  farming,  but  spent  his 
last  years  in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  where  his  death  occurred  at  the  age  of 
sixty-four  years.  His  mother  died  in  this  county  at  the  age  of  sixty.  There 
were  sixteen  children  in  the  family,  and  all  but  one  grew  up  and  married 
and  reared  families. 

Mr.  Patton,  the  fifth  child  of  the  family,  was  reared  in  Trumbull  countv, 
Ohio,  and  was  educated  in  that  county's  public  schools.  He  was  married 
there  in  1852,  and  in  the  same  year  he  came  to  Indiana,  for  the  first  two  vears 
being  located  in  the  south  part  of  the  state,  in  ^Morgan  county.     In  185^  he 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  295 

came  to  Lake  county,  but  two  years  later  moved  to  LaPorte  county,  whence 
two  years  later  he  moved  back  to  Lake  county.  He  then  bought  the  farm 
where  he  now  lives,  and  has  continued  his  home  and  habitation  thereon 
during  ail  the  subsequent  \ears.  He  found  the  place  a  raw  prairie,  but  he 
has  placed  and  replaced  many  improvements  since  the  day  of  his  arrival. 
The  present  home  place  consists  of  eighty  acres  besides  fifteen  acres  of  tim- 
ber tract. 

In  1852  Mr.  Patton  married  Miss  Sarah  Ann  Beber,  who  was  born 
near  Allentown,  Pennsylvania,  and  died  May  8,  1904.  Five  children  were 
bom  of  this  union  of  over  fifty  years,  and  four  are  now  living:  Anna  M., 
the  wife  of  Freelaird  Price,  of  Norton  county,  Kansas;  Sarah,  unmarried; 
William  H.,  at  home  and  performing  most  of  the  active  work  of  the  farm; 
and  Vina,  at  home.  Anna  was  a  successful  teacher  in  Lake  county  and  also 
in  Kansas.  Mr.  Patton  has  long  been  one  of  the  Democratic  voters  of  the 
county,  and  has  always  given  his  influence  to  the  work  of  progress  and  devel- 
opment of  his  community. 

JAMES    PATTON. 

James  Patton,  retired  farmer  of  Winfield  township,  is  a  representative 
citizen  of  Lake  county,  entirely  deserving  of  the  substantial  place  he  has 
gained  in  the  esteem  and  high  regard  of  his  fellow  citizens.  His  life  of 
more  than  threescore  and  ten  years  has  been  fruitful  in  many  ways.  From 
early  years  he  devoted  himself  industriously  to  his  duties  as  a  farmer,  and 
only  within  the  last  few  years  has  he  remitted  the  diligence  and  constant 
effort  which  gained  him  prosperity  in  material  circumstances  and  influence 
in  affairs  of  citizenship.  He  made  his  first  acquaintance  with  Lake  county 
over  fifty-five  years  ago,  and  some  fifteen  years  later  returned  to  this  fertile 
agricultural  section  of  northern  Indiana  and  made  it  the  field  of  his 
endeavors  for  his  subsequent  active  career.  He  is  accordingly  well  informed 
as  to  the  various  epochs  in  Lake  county's  industrial  and  political  history, 
and  is  one  of  the  honored  old-timers. 

Mr.  Patton  was  born  in  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  April  26,  1831,  being  a 
son  of  John  and  Eliza  Jane  (Dixon)  Patton,  the  former  a  native  of  Butler 
county,  Pennsylvania,  anti  the  latter  of  Ireland,  whence  she  came  to  America 
at  the  age  of  fourteen.  His  parents  were  married  in  Butler  county,  Penn- 
sylvania,  where  his   father   followed   the  occupation   of   farming,   but   spent 


296  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

his  last  years  in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  where  his  death  occurred  at  the  age 
of  sixty-five.  There  were  sixteen  children  in  the  family,  and  all  but  one 
grew  up  and  married  and  reared  families. 

Mr.  James  Patton,  the  eighth  of  this  large  family,  was  reared  in  Trum- 
bull county,  and  during  his  boyhood  attended  a  log-cabin  school  for  several 
years,  drinking  in  such  knowledge  as  this  primitive  fountain  of  learning 
afforded.  In  1848,  when  aged  seventeen,  he  started  out  in  life  for  himself, 
coming  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  where  he  remained  and  gained  a  good 
acquaintance  with  the  country  for  three  years.  He  returned  to  Trumbull 
county,  where  he  was  married,  and  remained  in  his  native  county  until  1864, 
when  he  went  to  Williams  county,  Ohio,  and  in  1868  came  and  took  up  his 
residence  in  Winfield  township  of  Lake  county,  where  he  continued  his  suc- 
cessful larming  operations  until  1901,  when  he  moved  to  his  present  resi- 
dence in  the  same  township  and  resigned  most  of  his  former  business  cares. 
Mr.  Patton  has  always  adhered  to  the  Democracy  in  his  political  views. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  He  married,  in  1858, 
Miss  Mary  Earl,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  and 
died  in  Lake  county,  April  9,  1894.  There  were  eleven  children  born  of 
this  marriage,  but  six  are  deceased.  Those  living  are :  Euthema,  the  wife 
of  David  Booth,  of  Chicago;  Kittie,  wife  of  William  Vansciver,  of  Crown 
Point;  Orwillie,  wife  of  Michael  Hefron,  of  Chicago  Heights,  Illinois:  Flora 
Unora,  at  home;  and  James,  unmarried. 

AMOS   ALLMAN. 

Amos  Allman  is  numbered  among  the  honored  dead  of  Lake  county, 
whose  memory  is  yet  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  many  of  those  who  enjoyed 
his  friendship.  His  life  was  so  straightforward,  his  conduct  so  manly  and 
his  actions  so  sincere  and  unaffected  that  he  won  the  warm  regard  of  all  with 
whom  he  was  associated  and  he  left  behind  him  an  untarnished  name, 

Mr.  Allman  was  born  at  Alwick,  in  Yorkshire,  England,  Fel^ruarv  17, 
1825.  His  parents  were  Major  and  Margaret  (  Haxby)  Allman,  who  were 
also  natives  of  England,  and  there  the  mother  spent  her  entire  life.  She 
passed  away  in  1826,  leaving  six  children,  of  whom  Amos  was  the  youngest. 
Four  years  later,  in  1830,  the  father  bade  adieu  to  friends  and  native  country 
and  ■with  his  children  sailed  for  the  new  world,  at  first  settling  in  Canada.  In 
1843  lis  became  a  resident  of  Crown  Point. 


/^:^^^f-;T        ^4^5 


;^^--e^   ^ii^^/- 1^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  297 

Amos  Allman  accom])anie(l  his  father  on  the  emigration  to  the  new- 
world  wlien  but  five  years  of  age  and  hved  in  Toronto  and  \\'hitby,  Canada, 
residing  with  liis  eldest  sister.  In  1842  when  about  seventeen  years  of  age 
he  entered  upon  an  apprenticeshi])  to  the  tailor's  trade  in  Stnrgis,  Michigan, 
and  the  following  year  he  removed  to  Crown  Point,  where  he  worked  at  his 
trade,  but  was  soon  obliged  to  abandon  this  vocation  because  of  the  partial 
failure  of  his  eyesight.  Several  years  later  he  returned  to  Sturgis,  Michigan, 
and  there  embarked  in  merchandising,  continuing  in  business  at  that  place 
until  1855.  In  the  latter  year  he  once  more  came  to  Lake  county  to  look 
after  his  father's  business  and  with  the  exception  of  one  year  spent  in  Niles, 
Michigan,  he  remained  continuously  a  resident  of  Crown  Point  from  1855 
until  his  death.  His  father  had  served  as  county  recorder  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death  in  1856  and  in  that  year  Amos  Allman  was  elected  to  the  position, 
which  he  filled  for  eight  consecutive  j'ears,  having  been  re-elected.  He  was 
also  for  eighteen  months,  beginning'  in  1856,  deputy  revenue  collector  at  this 
pert.  After  his  retirement  from  office  Mr.  Allman  turned  his  attention  to 
the  abstract  and  real  estate  business,  in  which  he  continued  for  a  long  period, 
becoming  widely  known  in  that  way.  He  handled  much  valuable  property, 
negotiated  many  important  real  estate  transfers  and  did  a  large  abstract  busi- 
ness, so  that  his  clientage  in  both  departments  brought  to  him  a  good  financial 
return  and  as  he  carefully  husbanded  his  resources  he  was  eventually  enabled 
to  retire  frcjm  active  busiriess  life  and  spend  his  remaining  days  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  a  well-earned  rest.  He  erected  a  number  of  buildings  in  Crown 
Point,  including  his  own  beautiful  home,  and  tlius  he  contributed  in  sub- 
stantial measure  to  the  improvement  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Allman  was  twice  married.  On  the  26th  of  November,  1857,  he 
was  joined  in  wedlock  to  Miss  Olive  Wilcox,  who  died  on  the  ist  of  June, 
1859.  On  the  22(1  of  March,  i860,  he  was  again  married,  his  second  union 
being  \\  ith  ]\Iiss  Mary  A.  Luther,  and  they  became  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren, who  survi\e  the  father,  whose  death  occurred  at  his  home  in  Crown 
Point  January  14,  1897,  when  he  was  nearly  seventy-three  years  of  age. 
Mr.  Allman  held  membership  with  no  church,  but  lived  a  most  uprig'ht,  hon- 
orable life,  was  always  temperate  in  his  habits  and  generous  in  his  support 
of  religious  and  benevolent  enterprises.  Indeed  his  career  was  in  manv 
respects  most  exemplary.     He  was  always  deeply  interested  in  the  growth  and 


298  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

progress  of  the  city  and  his  co-operation  could  always  he  counted  upon  to  aid 
in  the  advancement  of  any  movement  which  promised  to  be  of  lasting  benefit 
to  Crown  Point.  He  possessed  a  strong  love  of  nature  and  was  never  happier 
than  when  he  could  find  time  to  get  away  from  his  office  and  spend  some 
hours  nearer  to  nature.  He  was  a  man  whom  to  know  was  to  respect  and 
honor.  Numbred  among  Crown  Point's  pioneers  his  entire  life  to  his  fellow 
townsmen  was  as  an  open  book  which  all  might  read.  He  possessed  strongly 
domestic  tastes  and  while  he  accomplishetl  much  in  the  business  world  and 
ratified  his  friendships  by  kindly  sympathy  and  thoughtful  consideration  for 
others,  his  greatest  depth  of  love  was  reserved  for  his  family. 

MRS.  MARY  ALLMAN. 

Mrs.  Mary  Allman.  the  widow  of  Amos  Allman,  of  Crown  Point,  whose 
sketch  is  given  above,  was  born  in  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  October  i8, 
1832,  and  is  a  daughter  of  James  and  Irena  (Ransom)  Luther.  Her  father 
was  also  a  native  of  the  old  Granite  state  and  in  the  year  1834  he  emigrated 
westward  to  Indiana,  becoming  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  state.  He 
took  up  his  abode  in  Porter  county  and  there  secured  a  tract  of  wild  and  unim- 
proved land,  which  he  transformed  into  a  good  farm,  carrying  on  agricult- 
ural pursuits  on  that  property  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
when  he  was  in  his  sixty-second  year.  His  wife  survived  him,  for  some  time 
and  passed  away  in  her  sixty-ninth  year.  This  worthy  couple  were  the  parents 
of  ten  children,  seven  sons  and  three  daughters,  all  of  whom  reached  years 
of  maturity,  but  Henry,  Maria,  John,  Amos,  Caleb,  Charles  and  ]\Iartha  A. 
are  all  now  deceased.  Those  still  living  are  Martin,  who  makes  his  home  in 
Colorado,  and  Mary  A. 

Mary  Luther  was  but  two  years  old  when  brought  by  her  parents  to 
Indiana.  She  was  reared  in  Porter  county  and  after  attending  the  common 
schools  of  those  early  days  she  became  a  student  in  Valparaiso.  When  about 
sixteen  years  of  age  she  began  teaching  and  was  thus  engaged  until  twenty 
years  of  age.  On  the  22d  of  March,  i860,  she  ga\e  her  hand  in  marriage  to 
Amos  Allman,  whose  life  record  is  given  above.  By  her  marriage  she  be- 
came the  mother  of  two  sons  and  three  daughters:  \\'alter  L..  who  is  repre- 
sented elsewhere  in  this  volume;  IMary  I.,  the  wife  of  Judge  McMahan, 
whose  life  historv  is  also  given  in  this  work;  Claude  W'..  who  is  with  his 


^piPoAAA  a,  aUr. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  299 

brother  Walter  in  business:  Jessie  May.  at  homie:  and  Xellie  L..  the  wife  of 

J.  B.  Neal.  of  Joliet.  Ilhnois.     All  were  born  in  Crown  Point.     Mrs.  Allman 

has  spent  almost  her  entire  life  in  Indiana  and  has  long  been  a  resident  of 

Crown  Point.     She  is  one  of  the  pioneer  women  of  this  portion  of  the  state 

and  has  witnessed  the  wonderful  transformation  that  has  occurred  as  Lake 

and  Porter  counties  have  emerged  from  frontier  conditions  into  a  high  state 

of  civilization.     She  has  a  wide  accpiaintance  in  northwestern  Indiana  and 

to-day  many  friends  entertain  for  her  the  warmest  regard.     Mrs.  Allman  is 

a  lover  of  flowers  and  among  the  beauties  of  nature  she  enjoys  many  happy 

hours. 

CARL    EDWARD    BAUER. 

Carl  Edward  Bauer,  secretary  of  the  Simplex  Railway  Appliance  Com- 
pany at  Hammond,  is  one  of  the  practical  and  progressive  business  men  of 
the  city.  As  a  mechanical  expert  and  contriver  he  is  especially  proficient, 
and  as  such  has  been  a  valuable  mernber  of  his  company.  He  has  been  an 
American  citizen  for  over  twenty  years,  and  owing  to  his  ability  he  has 
been  constantly  engaged  in  useful  activity  and  has  filled  a  worthy  niche  in 
the  world  of  industry.  Pie  is  one  of  the  highly  esteemed  citizens  of  Ham- 
mond, where  he  has  lived  for  the  past  six  years,  and  in  both  business  and 
social  and  civic  affairs  his  personal  integrity  and  worth  of  character  have 
made  him  a  man  of  influence. 

Mr.  Bauer  was  born  in  the  village  of  Langenholzhausen,  province  of 
Lippe-Detmold,  Germany,  on  November  5,  1857,  being  a  son  of  Ferdinand 
E.  and  Minna  (Bock)  Bauer,  both  natives  of  the  fatherland.  His  mother 
was  a  daughter  of  Christian  Bock,  who  was  a  farmer  and  brewer  and  also 
ran  a  bakery  at  Varenholz,  in  the  province  of  Lippe-Detmold.  He  had  an  inn 
in  that  place,  and  was  a  prominent  burger  of  the  town,  serving  as  its  mayor. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years,  and  his  wife  surAived  him  a  number 
of  years.     They  had  three  children. 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  Mr.  Bauer  was  Frederick  E.  Bauer,  who 
was  a  German  miller,  and  was  also  mayor  of  his  home  ^■illage.  He  lived 
to  be  about  seventy  years  of  age.  His  wife,  who  attained  the  age  of  seventv- 
six,  was  named  W^ilhelmina  Alello,  whose  father  was  a  Hollander  and  later 
a  German  settler. 

Ferdinand  E.  Bauer  was  one  of  a  good-sized  familv.     Pie  followed  in 


300  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

the  footsteps  of  his  father  and  made  niilHng  his  occupation  until  veiy 
recently.  He  is  now  living  retired  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-seven 
years,  being  one  of  those  sturdy  Teutons  who  never  grow  old  and  -who  retain 
their  vitality  to  the  last.  He  resides  in  his  old  home  at  Langenliolzhausen. 
He  is  still  able  to  read  without  glasses.  He  has  been  a  prominent  man  in 
his  community,  having  been  mayor  of  the  village  a  number  of  times,  and 
also  a  deputy  to  the  provincial  diet.  In  his  younger  days  he  traveled  all 
over  Europe,  and  is  a  well-informed  and  most  intelligent  old  gentleman. 
His  wife  is  also  living,  and  well  and  liearty  at  the  age  of  eighty-three.  They 
belong  to  the  Reformed  church.  They  were  the  parents  of  four  sons  and 
two  daughters:  Leopold;  August;  Johanna,  wife  of  Rev.  Koriif;  Emil; 
Carl  E. ;  and  Helen,  who  died  at  the  age  of  six  years. 

Mr.  Carl  E.  Bauer  was  reared  and  educated  in  Germany,  and  served 
his  full  time  in  the  cavalry  branch  of  the  regular  army,  being  a  non-com- 
missioned officer  during  his  service,  and  at  the  time  of  his  departure  from 
the  country  he  was  a  lieutenant  of  the  army  reserve.  His  education  was 
received  in  the  gymnasium  and  his  technical  training  at  the  polytechnic 
school,  so  that  he  had  the  thorough  and  careful  German  equipment  for  life's 
duties. 

He  came  to  America  in  18S2,  locating  first  at  Terre  Haute.  Indiana, 
where  he  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Terre  Haute  Car  ^Manufacturing  Com- 
pany as  a  mechanical  engineer.  He  was  there  until  1887,  and  then  took  a 
similar  position  at  Muskegon.  Michigan,  with  the  Muskegon  Car  Company, 
with  whom  he  remained  until  1892.  From  that  time  until  1895  he  was  in 
the  employ  of  the  Indiana  Car  and  Foundry  Company  at  Indianapolis,  and 
for  the  following  two  years  was  with  the  Illinois  Car  and  Equipment  Com- 
pany. In  1897  he  began  his  connection  with  the  Simplex  Railway  Appliance 
Company,  which  in  the  following  year  located  its  shops  at  Hammond.  He 
is  now  secretary  of  the  company.  From  three  to  four  hundred  persons  are 
employed  by  this  concern,  and  their  large  annual  product  consists  of  various 
kinds  of  car  and  railway  appliances. 

Mr.  Bauer  has  fraternal  affiliations  with  Hegewisch  Lodge  Xo.  766, 
I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  also  with  Crystal  Lodge  No.  258,  K.  of  P.  His  politics 
are  Republican.  He  has  a  nice  home  on  Hohman  street,  and  he  and  his 
family  .stand  high  in  the  social  circles  of  the  city.     He  was  married  in  April, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  301 

1887,  to  Miss  Olga  Wittenberg,  a  daughter  of  Otto  and  Charlotte  (Sachs) 
Wittenberg.  There  were  four  sons  and  two  daughters  born  of  their  union : 
Walter;  Gretchen;  Carl;  Minnie,  who  died  at  the  age  of  six  years;  Ernest, 
who  lived  only  a  little  over  a  year;  and  Emil. 

NATHAN  B.   MEEKER. 

Nathan  B.  Meeker,  who  has  been  a  well-known  and  prosperous  farmer 
of  Center  township  on  the  old  Meeker  homestead  for  over  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  is  a  member  of  an  influential  and  long  established  family  of  Lake 
county,  his  brothers,  J.  Frank  and  Charles  H.,  being  worthy  and  successful 
representatives  of  the  professional  and  business  life  of  the  county  as  he  him- 
self is  of  the  agricultural  interests.  He  has  devoted  his  best  efforts  and 
endeavors  tO'  farming  since  arriving  at  years  of  manhood,  and  these  thirty 
odd  years  have  l^een  prosperous  from  a  material  and  individual  standpoint 
and  of  eminent  usefulness  to  the  social  and  industrial  development  and 
progress  of  the  community  in  general. 

Mr.  Meeker  was  born  in  Wyoming  county,  Pennsylvania,  November  4, 
1850,  being  the  eldest  son  of  Sherman  B.  and  Elizabeth  (Gress)  Meeker, 
whose  history  is  furtlier  detailed  in  the  sketches  of  their  above  mentioned 
sons,  to  be  found  on  other  pages  of  this  work. 

Mr.  Meeker,  when  four  years  old,  was  brought  from  his  native  place  to 
Illinois,  about  a  year  later  to  Calhoun  county.  Michigan,  at  the  age  of  nine 
to  White  county,  Indiana,  and  thence  to  Carroll  county,  and  in  1865  to  Lake 
county,  where  his  home  has  been  ever  since.  He  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  last  three  mentioned  counties,  and  was  reared  to  farm  life 
and  remained  at  home  assisting  his  parents  until  his  marriage  in  1873. 

Mr.  Meeker  married,  April  29,  1873,  Miss  Isadore  Craft,  and  they 
have  one  son,  Thomas  C,  who  is  studying  in  the  pharmacy  department  of 
the  Northern  Indiana  Normal  at  Valparaiso.  Mrs.  Meeker  was  born  in 
Ohio,  .\pril  23,  185 1,  and  came  with  her  parents,  Thomas  and  Lucinda 
(Forsha)  Craft,  to  Lake  county  when  she  was  about  two  years  old,  and  she 
was  reared  and  educated  at  Orchard  Grove,  Cedar  Creek  township.  There 
were  twelve  children  in  the  Craft  family,  seven  sons  and  five  daughters,  and 
there  are  seven  now  living:  Morgan,  who  is  married  and  is  engaged  in  the 
furniture  and    undertaking   business   in    Monon,    White   countv,    this    state; 


302  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Cassander.  who  is  married  and  is  a  farmer  at  Momence,  Kankakee  county, 
Illinois;  Mrs.  Meeker;  James,  a  farmer  of  Lake  county;  Jennie,  who  was  a 
Lake  coimty  teacher  and  is  now  the  wife  of  George  Norton,  a  farmer  of 
Lake  county ;  Adelbert,  who  is  married  and  is  farming  at  Lowell ;  and  Elza, 
a  farmer  in  this  county. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Meeker  began  their  married  life  as  renters  in  Kankakee 
county.  Illinois.  They  located  in  Center  township  in  1878,  on  the  homestead 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixt)'  acres,  where  they  have  resided  ever  since 
and  conducted  a  farming  and  stock-raising  business.  They  are  citizens  of 
high  standing  socially  and  personally,  and  are  held  in  high  esteem  throughout 
their  home  township. 

Mr.  Meeker  has  been  a  life-long  Republican  and  first  voted  for  General 
Grant.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Grange,  and  he  has  fraternal 
affiliations  with  the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees  at  Crown  Point. 

]\Irs.  Meeker's  parents  are  both  deceased,  and  the  following  paragraphs, 
taken  from  the  local  press,  give  the  details  of  their  useful  and  well-spent  lives 
and  add  to  the  completeness  of  this  biography : 

"Thomas  Craft,  the  subject  of  this  week's  half-tone  illustration,  is  now 
a  resident  of  Lowell,  where  he  moved  a  short  time  ago  to  spend  his  remain- 
ing years. 

"He  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  on  July  24.  1826.  At  the  age  of  five 
years  he  moved  with  his  parents  to  Ohio,  in  which  state  he  received  his  early 
education  in  a  day  when  school  facilities  were  not  of  the  best  and  school 
hours  few  and  far  between.  On  arriving  at  manhood  he  first  started  to 
work  for  his  father  at  one  hundred  dollars  per  year,  but  at  the  end  of  the 
first  year  found  tliat  this  was  earning  money  too  slow,  so  he  cleared  about 
four  acres  of  timber  land  and  started  into  the  cultivation  of  tobacco  and 
made  considerable  money  ni  raising  and  handling  this  product. 

"He  was  married  November  30,  1848,  to  Lucinda  Forsha,  with  whom 
he  lived  happily  for  forty  5'ears,  when  death  claimed  her  in  1888.  In  1854 
he  moved  with  his  family  to  Orchard  Grove,  where  he  first  purchased  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land,  to  which  he  added  other  purchases  from  time 
to  time  until  at  last  his  total  holdings  were  over  four  hundred  acres  of  well 
improved  real  estate. 

"He  has  eight  children,   all   of  whom   with   the  exception  of  one  are 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  303 

married  and  living  upon  farms,  with  the  exception  of  the  oldest  son,  Morgan, 
who  is  in  business  at  Monon,  Indiana. 

"He  was  married  again  in  1894. 

"He  has  recently  sold  his  entire  farm  to  James  Black,  of  Momence, 
for  sixty  dollars  per  acre,  the  tract  bringing  him  twenty-four  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  a  public  sale  of  his  personal  property  netted  him  two  thousand 
dollars,  thus  leaving  him  sufficient  means  to  provide  for  his  welfare  in  his 
old  age  and  enable  him  to  live  in  peace  and  comfort." 

"Passed  Away — Mrs.  Lucinda  (Forsha)  Craft  was  born  in  Marietta, 
Monroe  county,  Ohio.  January  16,  1830.  Died  at  her  residence  in  Orchard 
Grove,  Indiana,  January  31,  1888,  aged  fifty-eight  years  and  sixteen  days. 
She  was  married  to  Thomas  Craft,  November  30,  1848,  in  Fredericktown, 
Ohio.  In  the  fall  of  1854  she  with  her  husband  moved  to  Lake  county,  In- 
diana, where  she  lived  till  her  death,  then  crossing  the  bright  river.  She 
was  the  mother  of  twelve  children,  three  in  their  heavenly  home,  nine  on  earth. 
She  lived  happily  forty  years  with  her  husband.  January  25  she  was  taken 
very  ill,  and  after  six  days  of  intense  suffering,  she  gave  up  life  on  earth  for 
a  brighter  home  above.  She  has  passed  away  and  left  us  with  nothing  but  a 
pleasant  memory.  A  break  has  been  made  in  our  hearts  by  that  casket,  open 
grave  and  silent  mound,  which  can  never  lae  healed. 

"Dearest  mother,  thou  hast  left  us. 
And  gone  to  that  better  land ; 
Would  that  you  could  have  remained  with  us 
But  the  voice  of  God  you  heard. 

"Oh !  mother,  thou  hast  left  us. 
To  jom  that  heavenly  band. 
Nevermore  to  return  to  your  lo\'ed  ones — 
Lefl  us  here,  on  this  desolate  plain." 

HEIXRICH  C.  SCHRAGE. 

Heinrich  C.  Schrage  is  filling  the  position  of  teller  in  the  Bank  of 
Whiting  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  Schrage,  the  president  of  the  institution, 
wild  is  mentioned  on  another  page  of  this  work.  Heinrich  C.  Schrage  was 
born  (in  the  2d  of  July,   1869,  pursued  his  education   in  the  public  schools 


304  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

here  and  in  the  Lutheran  school  at  Coleliour,  IHinois,  where  lie  spent  one 
year.  He  entered  upon  his  business  career  as  a  clerk  in  the  general  store 
owned  by  his  father  at  Whiting,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  he  took 
charge  of  the  postoffice  in  1892.  He  remained  there  until  1896,  since  which 
time  he  has  been  largely  connected  with  banking  interests.  He  was.  how- 
ever, appointed  postmaster  in  January,  1899.  and  filled  that  position  for  two 
and  a  half  years,  when  he  resigned  in  order  to  accept  the  position  of  teller 
in  the  Whiting  Bank.  In  this  capacity  he  is  now  serving,  and  he  has  thor- 
ough and  practical  knowledge  of  the  banking  business  that  has  resulted 
in  making  him  one  of  the  strong  and  influential  representatives  of  financial 
interests  in  Lake  county.  The  bank  has  a  capital  and  a  surplus  of  sixty 
thousand  dollars  and  a  large  business  is  conducted.  The  management  of 
the  institution  devolves  in  marked  measure  upon  INIr.  Schrage,  who  is  well 
qualified  for  the  onerous  duties. 

Mr,  Schrage  has  spent  most  of  his  life  in  W'hiting  and  is  well  known 
here.  He  is  the  owner  of  considerable  real  estate  in  Schrage  avenue,  having 
houses  there  which  be  rents,  and  these  bring  to  him  a  good  income.  In  politics 
be  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  he  belongs  to  the  Lutheran  church.  In  \Mnt- 
ing  he  is  well  known,  and  bis  social  qualities  have  made  bim  popular  with 
a  large  circle  of  friends,  and  the  fact  that  many  of  his  stancbest  friends  are 
those  who  have  known  bim  from  early  boyhood  is  an  indication  that  his 
salient    characteristics    are    those    which    command    respect,  confidence    and 

good  will. 

CHARLES  A.  JOHNSON. 

Charles  A.  Johnson,  nominee  for  c(iunty  auditor  and  who  is  engaged  in 
the  undertaking  business  in  Whiting  and  is  also  agent  for  the  Adams  Express 
Company,  was  born  in  Chicago,  Illinois,  June  5,  1866,  his  parents  being 
Andrew  M.  and  Margaret  Johnson,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Sweden 
and  who  on  emigrating  to  the  new  world  established  their  home  in  Chicago. 
On  the  18th  of  July,  1866,  Andrew  M.  Johnson  removed  with  his  family 
from  that  citv  to  Lake  count)-.  Indiana,  his  son  Charles  being  then  nnh-  but 
six  weeks  old.  The  bo}'  was  reared  in  this  county,  pursued  his  early  education 
in  the  public  schools  and  afterward  attended  Augustana  College  at  Rock 
Island,  Illinois,  where  he  completed  his  school  work.  He  then  returned  to 
his  father's  farm  and  for  some  four  or  fi\e  years  remained  with  his  parents. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  305 

Being  the  youngest  of  the  family  he  assumed  cliarge  of  the  home  farm  after 
the  others  had  left  and  continued  its  management  up  to  the  time  of  liis  mar- 
riage. He  had  early  been  trained  to  habits  of  industry  and  economy  upon  the 
old  homestead  place,  and  was  familiar  with  the  work  of  field  and  meadow 
when  he  relieved  his  father  of  the  care  and  lalior  of  the  farm. 

In  1888  Charles  A.  Johnson  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Matilda 
Wild,  who  died  April  19,  1894.  She  was  the  mother  of  four  children,  of 
whom  two  are  now  living:  Charles  E.  and  Herbert  T.  On  the  3d  of  March, 
1899,  Mr.  Johnson  was  again  married,  his  second  union  being  with  Mrs. 
Charlotte  Beck,  and  they  are  now  well  knuwn  in  Whiting,  where  they  have 
an  extensive  circle  of  friends. 

Mr.  Johnson  took  up  his  abode  in  this  city  on  the  5th  of  March,  1892, 
and  embarked  in  the  undertaking  business.  He  also  established  a  livery 
stable  and  has  continued  in  both  lines  to  the  present  time.  He  holds  three 
diplomas  for  efficiency  in  embalming,  having  attended  and  graduated  from 
the  United  States  School  of  Embalming  at  St.  Louis,  conducted  by  Professor 
Sullivan;  the  Boston  School  of  Embalming,  under  Professor  Dodge,  and 
the  Embalming  School  of  Professor  Myers  at  Springfield,  Ohio.  He  has  a 
well  equipped  undertaking  establishment,  carrying  everything  in  his  line, 
and  he  is  also  receiving  a  liberal  patronage  in  the  livery  business.  He  is  like- 
wise agent  for  the  Adams  Express  Company  and  is  thus  well  known  in  the 
business  circles  of  Whiting. 

Mr.  Johnson  is  quite  active  and  influential  in  local  political  circles  and 
has  been  chosen  for  a  number  of  public  offices.  He  served  as  trustee  of  his 
town  for  two  years,  has  been  president  of  the  town  board,  and,  March  19, 
1904,  received  the  nomination  for  county  auditor  of  Lake  county  on  the  Re- 
publican ticket.  For  many  years  Mr.  Johnson  has  taken  a  leading"  part  in 
Republican  politics  of  Lake  county,  and  ever  since  he  gamed  his  majority  he 
has  earnestly  supported  the  principles  and  policies  of  that  party  and  without 
question  has  fully  earned  the  nomination  for  the  office  of  county  auditor. 
Socially  he  is  connected  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias  fraternity,  the  Benevolent 
and  Protective  Order  of  Elks  and  with  the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees. 
Almost  his  entire  life  has  been  passed  in  Lake  county,  and  the  circle  of  his 
acquaintances  has  continually  grown.  By  perse\-erance.  determination  and 
honoraljle  eft'ort  he  has  overthrown  the  obstacles  which  barred  his  path  to 
20 


306  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

success,  and  through  untiring  activity  has  reached  the  goal  of  prosperity.  He 
is  recognized  in  his  comanunity  as  a  man  of  broad  mind  and  pubHc  spirit. 
and  his  genuine  worth  has  won  liim  high  esteem. 

MARCUS   M.    TOWLE. 

Marcus  M.  Towle,  the  well-known  business  man  of  Hammond,  has  the 
distinction  of  being  one  of  the  founders  of  this  now  thriving  city  in  extreme 
northwest  Indiana.  Hammond  is  best  known  to  the  outside  world  for  its 
dressed  beef  industries,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  history  that  Mr.  Towle  took  part 
in  the  establishment  of  the  first  packing  house  in  this  place,  as  it  was  one 
of  the  first  in  the  country,  and  was  one  of  the  energetic  and  enterprising, 
members  of  the  firm  that  sent  some  of  the  first  consignments  of  beef  abroad. 
He  was  not  only  thus  active  in  giving  birth  tO'  the  city,  but  has  since  been 
vitally  interested  in  the  material  development  and  progress  of  the  city. 
While  he  has  been  successful  in  his  own  affairs,  he  has  never  neglected  the 
welfare  of  his  city,  and  with  unselfish  devotion  to  its  good  has  participated 
in  many  enterprises,  both  in  the  capacity  of  an  ofticial  and  as  a  private  citizen, 
and  for  that  reason  is  regarded  by  his  fellow  citizens  as  one  of  the  most 
public-spirited  and  progressive  of  men. 

Mr.  Towle  was  born  in  Danville,  New  Hampshire,  January  14,  1843, 
a  son  of  Amos  G.  and  Mary  P.  (Page)  Towle.  His  grandfather,  Nehemiah 
Towle,  was  a  native  New  Hampshire  farmer,  and  died  when  aljout  eighty 
jears  old.  His  wife  survived  him  some  years,  and  they  had  only  one  son, 
Amos  G.  The  latter  was  also  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  and  was  a  mer- 
chant, first  in  Danville  and  then  in  Haverhill,  Massachusetts,  where  he  re- 
mained up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  in  i860,  when  forty-four  years  old.  He 
was  postmaster  at  Danville  under  President  Taylor,  having  been  one  of  the 
eight  men  of  the  town  who  voted  for  Taylor.  He  and  his  wife  were  both 
Universalists.  His  wife,  Mary  (Page)  Towle,  who  sur\-ived  him  until 
1900,  being  seventy-six  years  of  age,  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire  and 
a  daughter  of  Thomas  Page,  who  was  a  New  Hampshire  farmer,  a  soldier 
in  the  war  of  18 12,  was  the  recipient  of  several  offices  in  his  township  and 
the  owner  of  considerable  property,  and  lived  to  be  a  very  old  man,  having 
been  the  lather  of  several  sons  and  daughters.  Amos  and  Marv  Towle  were 
ihe  parents  of  sixteen  children,  seven  sons  and  nine  daughters,  nine  of  whom 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  307 

are  living  now:  Marcus  RI.;  Mrs.  Mary  Flanders,  of  Haverhill,  Massachu- 
setts; Charles,  of  Haverhill;  Porter,  of  Hammond,  Indiana;  Amos,  of  Ham- 
mond; Olive,  of  Haverhill:  Mrs.  Henrietta  Ladd,  of  Haverhill;  Elizabeth; 
and  Clara. 

Mr.  Marcus  M.  Towle  lived  in  Dan\-ille  until  the  age  of  twelve,  and 
then  moved  with  the  family  to  Haverhill,  in  which  two  towns  he  received 
most  of  his  education.  He  learned  the  butclier"s  trade,  and  followed  it  for 
many  years.  He  was  in  Boston  for  some  time,  and  then  came  to  Detroit, 
Alichigan,  where  he  lived  for  six  years,  and  then  returned  to  Boston.  In 
1869  he  came  out  to  where  the  present  city  of  Hammond  is  situated,  for 
there  was  no  town  there  at  the  time.  In  partnership  with  George  H.  Ham- 
mond, Caleb  Ives  and  George  W.  Plumer,  he  established  the  dressed  beef 
business,  which  was  the  real  foundation  of  the  town.  He  also  laid  out  the 
town  and  named  it  in  honor  of  Mr.  Hammond.  The  beef  business  was 
started  as  the  Hammond,  Plumer  &  Company,  and  at  the  death  of  Mr. 
Plumer  in  1874  the  business  was  incorporated  as  the  George  H.  Hammond 
&  Company,  with  Mr.  Hammond  as  president  and  Mr.  Towle  as  vice-presi- 
dent. Mr.  Towle  continued  his  connection  with  the  company  until  1884. 
They  originated  the  dressed  beef  business  in  this  country,  and  shipped  the  first 
cargo  of  dressed  beef  to  England,  Mr.  Towle  .going  on  the  first  trip  and 
making  arrangements  in  England  for  the  handling  of  the  product.  The 
enterprise  was  started  on  a  small  scale,  but  eventually  employed  two  thousand 
men.    The  firm  has  recently  been  removed  to  Chicago. 

On  withdrawing  from  the  meat  business  Mr.  Towle  engaged  in  various 
enterprises  in  the  city.  He  organized  the  First  National  Bank  in  1886.  In 
1902-3  he  built  the  fine  new  opera  house  known  as  the  Towle  Opera  House, 
with  a  seating  capacity  of  fourteen  hundred  persons.  For  the  past  ten  years 
he  has  given  his  attention  to  the  greenhouse  and  florist  business,  having 
now  an  area  of  twenty-five  thousand  square  feet  under  glass,  and  carrying  on 
an  extensive  trade  in  this  and  surrounding  cities. 

December  25,  1865,  Mr.  Towle  married  Miss  Irena  Dow,  a  daughter 
of  Jacob  and  Mrs.  (Stevens)  Dow.  They  have  six  children:  Marcus  M., 
jr.,  wdio  is  a  clerk  in  the  First  National  Bank,  and  who  married  Miss 
Matilda  Gherke;  George  Hammond,  who  is  assistant  manager  of  the  opera 
house;  Fred  Cheney,  who  is  a  locomotive  engineer  on  the  Erie   Railroad; 


308  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Annie  i\Iay;  Birdie;  and  Ida  Mary.  Mrs.  Towle  is  a  member  of  tlie  Meth- 
odist church.  Mr.  Towle  affiliates  with  Garfield  Lodge  No.  569,  F.  &  A.  M., 
and  was  the  first  master  of  the  lodge;  also  with  Hammond  Chapter,  R.  A.  M., 
and  Hammond  Commandery,  K.  T.  In  politics  Mr.  Towle  is  a  Republican, 
l)ut  has  been  interested  in  party  affairs  only  so  far  as  it  would  help  his  city. 
He  was  the  first  mayor  of  Hammond,  serving  for  two  terms,  and  was  town- 
ship trustee  two  terms,  and  has  also  been  a  delegate  to  several  state  con- 
ventions. He  owns  a  beautiful  residence,  which  he  erected  in  1885,  and  also 
has  other  city  property. 

HON.    NICHOLS    SCHERER. 

Hon.  Nichols  Scherer  has  for  many  years  figured  prominently  in  pul^Iic 
afi'airs  and  business  circles  in  northwestern  Indiana,  and  his  history  is  a 
notable  one  in  that  he  came  to  this  state  empty-handed  and  in  humble  capacity 
entered  business  life.  If  those  who  claim  that  fortune  favors  certain  indi- 
viduals will  but  examine  into  the  life  record  of  such  men  as  Mr.  Scherer 
they  will  learn  that  it  is  not  circumstance  or  environment,  but  indefatigable 
energy  and  industry  that  form  the  basis  of  all  success.  Mr.  Scherer,  recog- 
nizing that  each  day  held  its  duty  and  its  opportunity,  worked  on  steadily, 
performing  to  the  best  of  his  ability  each  task  that  came  to  him,  and  now 
after  many  years  of  residence  in  Indiana  he  is  numlaered  among  the  sub- 
stantial citizens  and  leaders  in  Lake  county.  He  makes  his  home  at  Scherer- 
ville,  which  was  named  in  his  honor,  and  of  which  town  he  is  the  founder 
and  promoter. 

Mr.  Scherer  was  born  in  Prussia,  Germany,  on  the  29th  of  June,  1830, 
and  came  to  America  with  his  parents.  John  and  ]\Iary  Scherer,  in  1846. 
They  landed  at  New  York  city,  where  they  remained  for  about  four  weeks, 
and  thence  proceeded  westward  by  steamer  and  canal  boat  to  Chicago,  and 
on  to  St.  John  township.  Lake  county,  settling  in  the  town  of  St.  John. 
The  father  died  about  1865,  aged  one  hundred  and  three  years  and  the  mother 
died  about  1870,  aged  ninety-nine  years.  The  father  died  in  Dyer  and  the 
mother  died  in  Schererville,  and  both  parents  are  interred  in  St.  John's  cem- 
etery in  one  grave. 

Mr.  Scherer  began  working  for  the  state  of  Indiana  as  swamp-land 
ditcher  and  was  afterward  appointed  land  commissioner,  which  position  he 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  309 

held  until  he  became  ccnnected  with  raih'oad  interests.  He  went  from  St. 
John  to  Dyer  in  the  capacity  of  landlord,  and  in  the  latter  place  was  engaged 
in  the  hotel  business,  as  well  as  railroading.  He  remained  there  for  aljout 
nine  years,  or'  the  expiration  of  which  period  he  was  engaged  on  the  con- 
struction of  the  Panhandle  Railroad,  then  called  the  Chicago  &  Great  East- 
ern. He  was  head  boss  on  the  road  from  Richmond,  Indiana,  to  Chicago, 
having  charge  of  the  building  and  the  repairing  and  also  running  all  kinds  of 
trains.  He  located  at  what  is  now  Schererville  in  1865,  being  at  that  time 
connected  with  the  Great  Eastern  Railroad,  and  he  remained  with  the  com- 
pany for  twelve  years. 

In  the  meantime  he  purchased  the  land  upon  which  Scherer\'ille  now 
stands,  laid  out  the  town,  and  it  was  named  in  his  honor.  He  has  been  a 
resident  here  for  almost  forty  years.  He  was  with  the  Pan  Handle  Railroad, 
which  is  now  a  part  of  the  Pennsyh'ania  Railroad  system,  and  during  that 
time  he  als(T  built  a  part  of  the  Michigan  Central  Raih-oad  at  Union  City, 
Michigan,  and  a  part  of  the  Eastern  Illinois  Railroad,  of  the  Waliash  Rail- 
rod,  and  the  ]\Iil\vaukee  «S:  St.  Paul  Railroad,  also  constructing  what  is  knov.-n 
as  the  Joliet  cutoff,  now  a  part  of  the  Michigan  Central  Railroad.  .\t  the 
same  time  he  was  engaged  in  the  sand  business,  shipping  sand  from  Scherer- 
ville, and  in  this  he  still  continues.  He  likewise  dealt  in  real  estate,  and  car- 
ried on  farming,  and  thus  extending  his  energies  to  many  lines  of  Iiusiness 
acti\-ity  he  conducted  important  interests,  which  pro\-ed  to  him  lucrative  and 
made  him  one  of  the  substantial  citizens  of  northwestern  Indiana. 

Mr.*  Scherer  has  been  a  resident  of  Lake  county  for  fifty-eight  vears. 
and  is  \\ell  known  in  this  part  of  the  state,  his  labors  being  of  a  character  that 
ha\'e  contriljuted  to  the  dex'elopment  and  improvement  of  the  state,  as  well  as 
to  his  individual  prosperity.  Outside  of  the  strict  path  of  business  he  has 
also  jiroved  a  helpful  factor  in  interests  for  the  general  good,  and  has  co- 
operated in  many  movements  which  have  for  their  object  the  welfare  of  the 
general  public.  His  political  allegiance  has  always  been  given  to  the  Democ- 
racy, and  he  has  served  as  road  superintendent  and  as  constable.  He  was 
also  swampland  commissioner  and  for  one  term  represented  his  district  in 
the  state  legislature,  where  he  gave  loyal  support  to  all  bills  which  he  be- 
lieved contained  measures  for  benefit  to  the  comnmnwealth. 

\\'hile  residing  in  St.  John  Mr.  Scherer  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 


310  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Francisco  Ulilenl3rock,  wlio  was  Ixirn  in  Germany  October  lo,  1833.  They 
became  the  parents  of  seven  chilihxn.  but  only  tliree  are  now  hving:  .\nna. 
tlie  wife  of  Nicholas  Schaefer;  Maggie,  the  wife  of  Adam  Gerlach.  who  is 
mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  volume:  and  Teressa,  the  widow  of  Jacob  Aust- 
gen.  There  are  now  thirty-three  grandchildren  and  two  gieat-grandchil- 
dren.  Mr.  Scherer  and  his  family  are  members  of  the  St.  ^Michael's  Catho- 
lic church.  No  history  of  this  community  would  be  complete  without  men- 
tion of  Mr.  Scherer,  for,  coming  to  this  section  of  the  state  at  an  early 
period  in  its  development,  he  is  now  numbered  among  the  honored  pioneers, 
his  mind  bearing  the  impress  of  the  historic  annals  of  the  county.  He  can 
relate  many  interesting  incidents  of  those  primitive  times  as  well  as  of  the 
later-day  progress  and  improvement,  and  moreover  he  has  played  so  prom.- 
inent  and  helpful  a  part  in  the  substantial  upbuilding  of  the  county  that  his 
name  is  inseparably  interwoven  with  its  history. 

DR.  SAMUEL  R.  TURNER. 

Dr.  Samuel  R.  Turner,  a  leading  physician  and  surgeon  at  107  First 
National  Bank  Building,  Hammond,  has  gained  a  good  practice  and  taken 
a  foremost  position  among  the  medical  fraternity  of  this  city  and  Lake 
county  since  taking  up  his  residence  here  about  three  years  ago.  He  is  a 
man  of  ability  both  in  his  profession  and  in  the  performance  of  his  duties 
as  a  man  and  citizen,  and  his  career  has  been  most  creditable  from  his  early 
years,  during  which  he  had  to  make  his  own  way  and  earn  the  means  for 
his  professional  education. 

Dr.  Turner  was  born  in  Stephenson  county,  Illinois,  near  Freeport,  May 
13,  1858,  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Jane  E.  (McGlashon)  Turner,  natives,  re- 
specti\-ely,  of  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  and  of  the  state  of  Vermont.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  Samuel  Turner,  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  though  of 
Scotch  descent,  and  a  son  of  a  life-long  Irish  citizen.  He  came  to  America 
about  1797  and  located  near  Gettysburg,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  carpen- 
ter and  cabinet-maker  b}'  trade.  He  came  to  Indiana  about  1833  and  set- 
tled in  LaPorte  county,  and  four  years  later  came  to  Lake  county,  where 
he  settled  on  a  land  claim  and  to  which  he  brought  his  family  in  1838.  He 
improved  a  farm,  and  was  both  a  prosperous  and  influential  citizen.  He  died 
there  in  1846  at  the  age  of  sixty-four.     His  wife  was  Jane  Dinwiddie,  who 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  311 

\vas  born  in  Gettysburg,  Pennsylvania.  January  i8,  1783.  and  died  in  1870, 
aged  eighty-seven  years.     Tliey  had  seven  chihh'en  who  grew  to  maturity. 

Samuel  Turner,  the  father  of  Dr.  Turner,  was  a  farmer  liy  occupation, 
and  was  a  young  man  at  the  time  of  his  removal  to  Indiana  in  1833.  He 
followed  farming  there  up  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  Mexican  war,  and  then 
enlisted  and  served  as  quartermaster  in  the  American  army.  He  returned 
to  his  Indiana  farm,  then  moved  to  Illinois  and  lived  in  Stephenson  county 
for  a  few  years.  In  January  or  February  of  1859  he  returned  to  Lake  county, 
and  lived  on  a  farm  in  Eagle  Creek  township  from  then  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  April  24,  1864,  when  he  was  forty-six  years  old.  His  wife 
survived  him  until  October,  1884,  when  she  was  fifty  years  old.  They  were 
members  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church.  They  had  two  sons,  Dr.  Turner, 
and  William  M.,  of  Denver.  Colorado.  Mrs.  Jane  E.  Turner's  father  was 
W.  G.  McGlashon,  a  native  of  Canada  and  of  Scotch  parents  who  moved  to 
Vermont  from  Canada.  He  was  a  tailor  in  his  younger  years,  and  after 
coming  to  Indiana  among  the  early  settlers  engaged  in  merchandising  in 
Crown  Point  for  se^•eral  years.  He  afterward  lived  on  a  farm  near  Crown 
Point.  In  1876  he  moved  to  Ottumwa,  Iowa,  and  died  there  in 
1897,  when  eighty-one  years  old.  His  wife  was  Ann  Duffy,  a  native  of 
Ireland  and  still  living.     They  had  five  children. 

Dr.  Samuel  R.  Turner  was  brought  to  Lake  county  when  alx)ut  a  year 
old,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  Eagle  Creek  township.  He  attended  the 
district  school,  and  later  the  high  school  in  Hebron,  Porter  county.  For 
several  years  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  during  the  winter  and  farming 
during  the  rest  of  the  year.  He  then  took  up  the  study  of  medicine,  and  in 
1888  graduated  from  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky.  He  has  since  been  engaged  in  practice  for  varying  periods 
of  time  at  Dyer,  Hobart,  in  Lake  county,  in  Wheatfield,  Jasper  county,  in 
Lansing,  Illinois,  and  about  three  years  ago  took  up  his  residence  in  Ham- 
mond, where  he  has  enjoyed  an  increasing  practice  to  the  present  time. 

December  13,  1883.  Dr.  Turner  married  Miss  Henrietta  Burgess,  a 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Eliza  (McCay)  Burgess.  Six  children  have  been 
born  of  this  union,  three  sons  and  three  daughters :  Albert,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  two  years  and  three  months :  Susan  E. ;  Mary  Edna ;  Harold  B. ; 
James  Samuel,  who  died  aged  five  years  nine  months:  and  W'ilma  Jane. 


312  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Dr.  Turner  affiliates  with  Garfield  Lodge  No.  569.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  also 
with  the  Maccabees  and  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Lake  County  Medical  Society,  the  Lidiana  State  ^Medical  Society, 
the  Kankakee  Valley  Medical  Society  and  the  American  Medical  Association. 
He  is  a  stanch  Republican  in  politics,  and  has  served  four  years  as  county 
coroner,  his  term  expiring  January  i,  1904. 

COLONEL  REDMOND  D.   ^^^\LSH. 

Canada  has  furnished  to  the  L'nited  States  many  bright,  enterprising 
young  men,  who  have  left  that  country  to  enter  the  business  circles  of  the 
United  States  with  its  more  progressive  methods,  livelier  competition  and 
advancement  more  quickly  secured.  Among  this  number  is  Colonel  Walsh. 
He  has  somewhat  of  the  strong,  rugged  and  persevering  characteristics  de- 
veloped by  his  earlier  environments,  which,  coupled  with  the  livelier  impulses 
of  the  Celtic  blood  of  his  ancestors,  made  him  at  an  early  day  to  seek  wider 
fields  in  which  to  give  full  scope  to  his  ambition  and  industr}- — his  dominant 
qualities.  He  found  the  opportunities  he  sought  in  the  freedom  and  appre- 
ciation of  the  growing  western  portion  of  this  country.  Though  born  across 
the  border  he  is  thoroughly  American  in  thought  and  feeling,  and  is  patriotic 
and  sincere  in  his  love  for  the  stars  and  stripes.  His  career  is  largely  identified 
with  the  history  of  railroad  building  in  the  middle  west,  and  in  more  recent 
years  he  has  been  a  prominent  and  influential  citizen  of  East  Chicago,  where 
he  is  now  engaged  in  real  estate  operations. 

Colonel  Walsh  was  born  in  the  county  of  Peterboro,  Ontario,  Canada, 
and  is  of  Irish  descent.  His  paternal  grandfather,  William  \\'alsh,  was  born 
on  the  Emerald  Isle  and  died  there  at  an  advanced  age.  He  married  a  Miss 
INIurphy  and  they  had  a  large  family,  including  Richard  Walsh,  whose  birth 
occurred  in  county  Cork,  Ireland.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation  and  in 
1818  he  emigrated  to  Canada,  spending  his  remaining  days  in  that  country 
with  the  exception  of  a  brief  period  which  was  passed  in  the  United  States. 
He  always  engaged  in  the  tilling  of  the  soil,  making  that  a  source  of  income 
whereby  he  provided  for  his  family.  He  served  in  the  Patriot  war  in  Canada 
in  1837  and  died  there  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years.  In  early  manhood  he 
had  married  Elizabeth  Ford,  likewise  a  native  of  county  Cork,  Ireland.  Her 
father,  Dennis  Ford,  was  born  in  Ireland  and  died  in  that  country  at  an 


^^  ^l^KZ^^y^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  313 

advanced  age.  He  reared  a  large  faniih-  upon  his  home  farm,  where  his 
industry  and  enterprise  in  the  cultivation  of  the  fields  brought  to  him  a  com- 
fortable living.  His  grandson,  Ted  Ford,  now  lives  upon  the  old  home  place, 
which  comprises  two  hundred  acres  of  rich  land  and  which  has  continuously 
been  in  possession  of  the  family  from  the  eleventh  century.  It  was  at  one 
time  a  very  extensive  tract,  but  during  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  it  was 
confiscated,  although  two  hundred  acres  were  afterward  restored  to  the 
family.  By  the  marriage  of  Richard  Walsh  and  Elizabeth  Ford  thirteen 
children  were  born,  twelve  of  whomi  reached  adult  age,  while  six  are  now 
living:  Colonel  Redmond  D. :  Richard,  of  the  Soldiers"  Home;  Bridget  L.. 
the  widow  of  James  Haynes,  of  Corry,  Pennsylvania:  John,  who  lives  on  the 
old  homestead  in  Ontario:  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  James  Fyfe,  also  of  On- 
tario ;  and  Ann,  the  wife  of  David  Kelley,  of  the  same  place. 

Colonel  Walsh  was  reared  on  the  old  homestead  farm  in  Canada  and  also 
followed  lumbering  in  his  early  life.  His  business  career  has  teen  charac- 
terized by  intelligent  and  well-directed  efforts,  and  he  may  well  be  called  a 
self-made  man,  a  representative  of  the  progress  and  ad\'ancement  which  have 
been  a  manifest  factor  in  the  history  of  .\merica  in  the  nineteenth  centnr^^ 
His  success  has  not  been  the  result  of  genius  l^ut  of  individual  and  continued 
effort.  He  acquired  a  common  school  education  and  also  received  instruction 
from  a  private  teacher  for  some  time.  WHiile  in  Canada  he  followed  lum- 
bering, taking  his  timber  to  the  Quebec  market.  He  made  several  trips  to 
the  United  States  in  search  of  a  location  which  he  regarded  as  favorable, 
and  in  1862,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  he  went  to  Corry,  Pennsylvania. 
There  he  entered  upon  a  contract  to  build  the  Oil  Creek  Railroad,  which  he 
completed  in  1862,  and  afterward  entered  the  services  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  Company,  assisting  in  the  construction  of  its  line  from  Franklin  to 
Meadville,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  superintendent  of  construction  and  for 
some  time  held  that  position  after  the  completion  of  the  road.  Subsequently 
he  built  the  Allegheny  Valley  Railroad  from  Warren  to  Pittsburg,  and  was 
thus  engaged  in  railroad  construction  work  at  the  time  the  Confederate  army 
made  its  way  into  Pennsylvania.  He  then  enlisted  in  order  to  defend  this 
state  and  after  participating  in  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  follovving  which 
time  the  rebels  were  forced  to  retreat,  he  resumed  the  pursuits  of  private  life. 

In   1865   Mr.   Walsh  took  a  prominent  part   in   organizing  the  Fenian 


314  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Brotherhood.  The  following  year  he  went  west  and  was  engaged  as  a  con- 
tractor and  superintendent  of  work  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  his  time 
being  thus  occupied  until  the  completion  of  the  line  in  i86q.  In  1870  he 
entered  into  business  relations  with  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Company, 
with  which  he  continued  for  a  year,  after  which  he  went  to  Kansas,  where 
he  was  superintendent  of  the  work  for  the  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  Rail- 
road. The  period  of  his  connection  with  that  company  covered  three  years, 
during  which  time  the  line  was  constructed  to  connect  with  the  Houston  & 
Texas  Central  road.  He  afterward  became  associated  with  the  latter  com- 
pany, with  which  he  continued  for  three  years,  and  then  he  returned  to  Penn- 
sylvania, where  he  built  a  coal  road  from  Larabee  to  Bunker  Hill.  Subse- 
quently he  went  to  the  Buckeye  state,  where  he  assisted  in  the  building  of 
the  Scioto  Valley  Railroad  and  later  he  was  engaged  in  the  construction  work 
of  the  Springfield,  Jacksonville  &  Pomeroy  Railroad,  then  the  St.  Clairsville 
&  Bellaire  Railroad,  and  afterwards  a  railroad  extending  from'  Youngstown, 
Ohio,  to  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania.  Returning  to  Ohio  he  built  the  valley 
railroad  from  Canton  to  Cleveland,  and  then  went  to  Colorado,  where  he 
engaged  in  the  construction  of  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  Railroad  over  Mar- 
shall Pass,  connecting  it  with  the  Denver,  Rio  Grande  &  Western  Railroad 
at  Junction  City.  Another  important  contract  which  was  awarded  him  and 
which  he  faithfully  and  capably  executed  was  the  building  of  the  Alpine 
tunnel,  a  work  which  covered  two  years.  He  then  embarked  in  mining  in 
Colorado,  being  interested  in  several  diggings.  Returning  to  St.  Louis  he 
was  associated  with  a  partner,  ^Michael  Coffey,  in  the  construction  of  the 
standard  gauge  road  from  East  St.  Louis  to  Cairo,  and  later  he  went  to 
Nebraska  and  built  the  approach  to  the  United  Railroad  bridge  at  Rulo, 
Nebraska.  There  he  moved  more  dirt  than  any  other  contractor  in  the  same 
length  of  time,  three  hundred  thousand  yards  being  taken  away  in  ninety 
days.  His  next  work  was  the  construction  of  twenty  miles  of  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railroad  from  Galesburg  west.  He  built  the  Elgin, 
Joliet  &  Eastern  Railroad,  and  then  came  to  East  Chicago,  Indiana,  where 
he  built  the  Chicago,  Calumet  &  Terminal  Railroad,  the  contract  being 
awarded  him  by  General  Joseph  T.  Torrence,  now  deceased.  At  that  time 
General  Torrence  promised  to  make  a  present  of  a  town  lot  to  the  first  child 
born  in  the  town.     Not  long  afterward  there  were  born  to  Mr.  and  j\Irs. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  315 

R.  W.  O'Brien,  the  former  a  nephew  of  Colonel  Walsh,  twin  lioys.  It  seemed 
r.ecessary  that  two  lots  should  be  given,  one  to  each  child,  and  General  Tor- 
rence  gave  one  lot,  while  Colonel  Walsh  gave  the  other.  The  boys  are  now 
young  men. 

During  his  railroad  construction  work  on  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
East  Chicago  Colonel  Walsh  became  convinced  of  the  advantages  which 
might  be  derived  from  establishing  a  home  here,  and  he  took  up  his  abode 
here  in  1888.  It  was  he  who  first  used  an  ax  in  cutting  down  a  tree  on  the 
present  site  of  the  city.  He  assisted  in  laying  out  the  town,  being  the  con- 
tractor for  all  the  street  work.  He  also  erected  ten  of  the  first  buildings  of 
this  city,  and  he  has  continued  an  active  factor  in  the  work  of  improvement 
and  progress  to  the  present  time. 

In  the  year  1893  East  Chicago  was  changed  from  town  to  a  city 
government.  The  city  council  of  that  date  made  a  contract  with  a  contract- 
ing company  to  build  water  and  light  plants.  The  city  council  accepted  the 
plants  before  they  were  half  completed  and  issued  the  city  bonds  for  the  full 
amount  of  the  contract.  The  water  works  were  useless  and  cost  more  to  keep 
it  in  repair  than  it  was  worth.  Three  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  dollars 
of  bonds  were  turned  over  by  the  city  council  to  the  company.  R.  D.  Walsh 
took  the  company  into  the  courts  and  knocked  out  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
six  thousand  dollars  of  bonds,  and  the  supreme  court  of  the  state  of  Indiana 
granted  a  perpetual  injunction  against  ever  collecting  either  interest  or  prin- 
cipal on  these  two  hundred  and  ninety-six  thousand  dollars  of  bonds.  Then 
the  city  council  sold,  or  rather  gave  the  plants  back  to  the  bogus  bondholders. 
R.  D.  Walsh  again  went  into  court  and  took  the  plants  away  from  the  bond- 
holders for  the  city.  All  this  at  his  own  expense.  The  plants  are  now  in  the 
city's  possession. 

In  1889  the  residents  of  the  town  had  an  election  and  incorporated  East 
Chicago,  and  Colonel  \\"alsh  at  that  time  was  elected  the  first  president  of  the 
town  board.  He  has  also  been  treasurer  of  the  city  and  trustee,  and  he  is 
a  well  known  and  representative  resident  of  this  thriving  place.  Perhaps  no 
man  is  better  known  in  the  county  than  he,  because  of  his  great  activity  in 
business.  By  his  strength  of  character  and  mental  power  he  has  accjuired  a 
handsome  competence  and  by  his  genial  social  manner  has  \\on  many  warm 
friends. 


316  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Colonel  Walsh  was  married  in  Ontaiio,  Canada,  to  Miss  Hanna  Curtain, 
who  died  in  1871.  They  hecame  the  parents  of  eight  children,  hut  all  have 
passed  away. 

Many  and  eventful  have  l>een  the  experiences  which  have  come  to  Mr. 
Walsh  in  the  course  of  his  active  business  career.  While  executing  iiis  con- 
tract in  connection  with  the  building  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  he  at  one 
time  became  engaged  in  battle  with  the  Indians  on  Rock  Creek,  Wyoming, 
and  sustained  a  gunshot  wound  in  the  instep,  which  forced  him  to  go  upon 
crutches  for  two  years.  He  is  now  living  a  retired  life  in  East  Chicago.  To 
him  there  has  come  the  attainment  of  a  distinguished  position  in  connection 
with  the  great  material  industries  of  the  country,  especially  in  the  line  of  rail- 
road construction — a  work  the  value  of  which  cannot  be  over-estimated.  He 
is  a  man  of  distinct  and  forceful  individuality,  of  broad  mentality  and  mature 
judgment,  and  he  has  left  an  impress  for  good  upon  the  industrial  world. 
He  earned  for  himself  an  envialile  reputation  as  a  careful  man  of  business 
and  in  his  dealings  became  known  for  his  prompt  and  honorable  methods, 
which  win  for  him  the  deserved  and  unbounded  confidence  of  his  fellow  men. 
For  the  entire  length  of  his  life  he  has  been  in  sympathy  with  the  indepen- 
dence of  Ireland  and  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  all  movements  tend- 
ing toward  lessening  the  oppressed  sons  of  Erin. 

IMICHAEL  KOZACIK. 

Michael  Kozacik  is  a  self-made  man  who  is  now  the  possessor  of  valu- 
able propert}'  interests  and  who  at  the  outset  of  his  business  career  was 
empty-handed.  He  had  no  inheritance  or  influential  friends  to  aid  him,  but 
by  determined  purpose  and  perseverance  he  has  gradually  accumulated  a 
handsome  competence.  He  is  now  engaged  in  business  as  a  retail  liquor 
dealer  at  W'hiting.  A  native  of  Austria,  he  was  tern  on  the  29th  of  Sep- . 
tember,  1873,  and  was  reared  in  his  native  country  until  more  than  eigh- 
teen years  of  age,  during  which  period  he  acquired  his  education  in  attend- 
ance at  the  public  schools.  He  entered  upon  his  business  career  as  a  day 
laborer  in  Austria,  receiving  but  t\\enty-five  cents  per  day.  Not  content 
with  business  conditions.  howe\'er,  in  that  country,  he  resolved  to  test  the 
fa\-orable  reports  which  he  had  heard  concerning  opportunities  in  the  new 
world,  and  making  arrangements  to  leave  Europe  when  about  eighteen  years 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  317 

of  age  he  sailed  for  America  and  came  from  the  Atlantic  coast  to  the 
Mississippi  valley,  establishing  his  home  at  Blue  Island,  Illinois.  There  he 
remained  for  but  two  months,  but  not  succeeding  in  finding  work  there  he 
removed  to  Whiting  and  entered  the  employ  of  the  Knickerbocker  Ice  Com- 
pany. His  position  necessitated  his  working  ten  hours  per  day  at  a  salary  of 
one  dollar  and  a  quarter.  Strong  resolution  and  untiring  purpose,  however, 
were  numberetl  among  his  salient  characteristics,  and  he  continued  to  work 
through  the  ice-cutting  period.  He  afterward  entered  the  employ  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  at  a  salary  of  one  dollar  and  a  half  per  day,  and 
continued  in  the  service  of  that  corporation  for  seven  and  a  half  years.  He 
was  fireman  and  did  various  other  kinds  of  work,  and  during  the  period 
of  his  service  with  the  company  he  managed  to  save  from  his  earnings  the 
sum  of  thirteen  hundred  dollars.  In  the  meantime  he  had  also  married 
and  furnished  his  home.  With  the  capital  he  had  acquired  through  his  labor 
and  economy  he  invested  his  money  in  Whiting  property  and  also  established 
a  small  saloon  in  a  little  frame  building,  where  he  conducted  a  retail  liquor 
business  for  a  few  years.  During  that  period  he  erected  a  l:)nilding  at  In- 
diana Harbor  at  a  cost  of  six  thousand  dollars,  but  becoming  convinced  of 
the  fact  that  Indiana  Hartor  was  not  a  desirable  place  he  sold  his  property 
there,  and  erected  the  building  in  ^^■hiting  that  he  now  occupies,  at  a  cost  of 
ten  thousand  dollars. 

Altliijugh  Mr.  Kozacik  had  but  six  dollars  when  he  landed  m  the  United 
States  he  is  to-da)-  in  good  circumstances.  He  is  a  liberal  man,  who  h.as 
given  generous  assistance  to  the  poor,  and  he  is  a  public-spirited  citizen, 
who  takes  a  deep  and  active  interest  in  general  progress  and  in  the  material 
development  of  Whiting.  The  hope  that  led  him  to  leave  his  native  country  has 
I)een  more  than  realized  for  in  the  new  world  he  has  won  prosperity,  gained 
a  comfortable  home  and  has  also  found  many  friends.  In  politics,  he  is  a 
strong  Democrat  and  always  does  all  in  his  power  for  the  interests  of  that 
party,  and.  May  3rd,  1904,  he  was  elected  to  represent  the  first  ward  in  the 
Whiting  city  council. 

To  the  union  of  Mr.  Kozacik  and  wife  have  been  born  four  sons,  viz: 
Michael.  Peter.  John  and  Paul. 

ELI  M.  BOYD. 

Eli  M.  Boyd,  prominent  farmer  of  Ross  township,  is  one  of  the  very 


318  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

oldest  living  settlers  of  Lake  county,  where  he  and  his  well  known  twin  brother 
located  over  fifty-five  years  ago,  when  the  country  was  largely  wild  and 
much  of  it  still  belonging  to  the  government.  Their  subsequent  career  is 
a  part  of  the  agricultural  history  of  the  county,  for  in  time  they  became 
and  still  are  ranked  among  the  largest  farmers  of  the  county.  Furthermore. 
they  are  men  of  eminent  public  spirit,  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  county, 
and  their  efiforts  and  influence  have  been  felt  in  diverse  ways  for  the  benefit 
and  unbuilding  of  industrial  and  social  institutions. 

Mr.  E.  M.  Boyd  was  born  in  Lucus  county,  Ohio,  September  lo,  1837, 
so  that  he  is  now  near  the  limit  of  threescore  and  ten.  His  father,  Alexander 
Boyd,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  died  when  Eli  was  seven  years  old,  and  little 
is  known  of  his  history.  He  married  Elizabeth  Kelley,  a  nati\e  of  ^^'est- 
moreland  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  she  lived  to  be  seventy-six  years  old 
and  was  married  a  second  time.  They  had  three  children,  a  daughter  and 
the  twin  sons,  Eli  'SI.  and  Levi,  who  are  the  principal  characters  with  whom 
this  sketch  is  concerned. 

Mr.  Boyd  and  his  brother  made  their  own  way  from  an  early  age,  al- 
though they  lived  with  their  mother  and  step-father  for  some  time.  They 
came  out  to  Michigan  and  thence  settled  in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  in  1848, 
working  on  their  step-father's  farm  about  nine  months  of  the  year  and  at- 
tending school  for  three  months.  They  were  industrious  and  frugal  and 
enterprising  in  their  habits  and  methods  of  management,  and  were  not 
long  in  getting  started  in  the  world.  Farming  has  always  been  the  work 
in  which  they  have  found  the  best  field  for  their  endeavor,  and  they  are 
now  the  owners  of  six  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Ross  and  Hobart  townships, 
containing  some  of  as  good  soil  as  is  to  be  found  in  the  county.  Mr.  E.  M. 
Boyd  is  a  member  of  the  advisory  board. 

Mr.  E.  M.  Boyd  was  married,  January  6,  1874,  to  Miss  Agnes  Hyde, 
and  five  children  were  born  to  them :  George,  who  is  married  and  lives  on 
one  of  his  father's  farms :  Alexander,  single :  Warren,  who  is  married  and 
follows  farming;  Charles,  at  home;  Alice,  aged  fifteen,  at  home.  Warren 
was  a  student  at  Valparaiso  normal.  Alice  is  in  the  eighth  grade  in  the 
public  school  and  has  taken  musical  instructions.  Mrs.  Boyd  was  born  on 
Wabash  avenue,  Chicago,  September  8,  1850,  a  daughter  of  Michael  and 
Mai"y  (Mclntoller)  Hyde.  Her  parents  are  dead.  There  are  six  sisters  liv- 
ing at  present,  of  her  family.     She  was  educated  in  the  common  schools. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  319 

The  Boyd  brothers  are  ardent  supporters  of  the  Repubhcan  party,  and 
ha\'e  always  advocated  strongly  the  principles  of  the  platform.  The  first 
presidential  vote  they  cast  was  for  Lincoln,  and  they  cast  their  votes  for 
Grant,  Garfield,  Blaine  and  McKinley.  Mr.  Eli  Boyd  has  yet  in  his  pos- 
session a  vest  made  in  the  year  1856,  the  year  that  General  Fremont  was 
the  first  nominee  of  the  Republican  party.  The  Boyd  brothers  and  wives  are 
attendants  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  give  to  the  benevolences, 
and  all  needy  are  well  remembered. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boyd  are  among  the  leading  people  of  Ross  township,  and 
we  are  pleased  to  present  this  sketch. 

DR.  H.  L.  IDDIXGS. 

Dr.  H.  L.  Iddings,  of  [Merrillville,  Ross  township,  has  been  the  leading 
medical  practitioner  of  ihis  town  for  the  past  twenty  years.  He  had  already 
attained  to  considerable  prominence  in  his  profession  before  locating  here, 
and  since  then  he  has  not  only  found  in  Jilerrillville  and  the  surrounding 
country  a  large  field  for  his  life  work,  but  has  also  taken  an  active  part  in 
various  matters  pertaining  to  the  general  welfare  of  the  community,  filling  in 
all  respects  the  niche  of  a  broad-minded,  public-spirited  and  enterprising 
citizen. 

Dr.  Iddings  was  born  in  Ivendalh'ille,  Noble  county,  Indiana,  January 
22,  1852,  being  the  eldest  of  the  seven  children,  four  of  whom  are  now  de- 
ceased, born  to  ^^'arren  and  Hester  (Newman)  Iddings.  Warren  Iddings 
was  a  son  of  Henry  Iddings,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  of  Scotch  and 
Welsh  descent.  He  was  born  in  Summit  county,  Ohio,  where  he  remained 
till  he  was  eleven  years  old,  and  during  the  rest  of  his  life  followed  agri- 
cultural pursuits  mainly  in  Nolile  county,  Indiana,  where  his  death  occurred 
in  his  seventy-ninth  year.  His  wife  was  also  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  of  Irish 
and  German  descent. 

Dr.  Iddings  was  a  student  in  the  high  school  at  Kendallville,  Indiana, 
spent  one  year  in  the  Fort  Wayne  Methodist  Episcopal  College  and  one 
year  at  Ann  Arbor  in  the  State  University.  He  gained  his  early  training 
mostly  by  his  own  efiforts,  and  before  taking  up  the  study  of  medicine  taught 
school  for  three  years.  He  read  medicine  with  Dr.  Gunder  Erickson  at 
Kendallville,  and  in   1876  graduated  from  the  Detroit  College  of  Medicine, 


320  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

at  Detroit.  For  four  years  he  was  located  in  practice  at  Swan,  Xoble  county, 
Indiana,  and  was  then  appointed  to  tlie  office  of  physician  to  the  state  peni- 
tentiary at  Michigan  City,  discharging  the  duties  of  that  position  for  two 
years.  He  came  to  Merrillville  in  1883,  and  has  been  in  constant  and  suc- 
cessful practice  here  ever  since.  He  is  examining  surgeon  for  the  New  York 
Life  Insurance  Company,  the  Equitable  Life  Insurance  Company,  and  is 
district  examiner  for  the  Catholic  Order  of  Foresters. 

Dr.  Iddings  affiliates  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias  at  Crown  Point.  He 
is  a  strong  Republican  in  politics,  and  on  the  ticket  of  that  party  was  elected 
to  the  trusteeship  of  Ross  township,  which  office  he  held  for  seven  years 
and  a  half. 

Dr.  Iddings  married,  in  1878,  Miss  Mary  E.  Clark,  the  fourth  in  num- 
ber of  the  seven  children  of  Jonathan  and  Polly  (Skinner)  Clark.  She  was 
born  in  Xoble  county.  Indiana.  There  are  six  children  of  this  marriage: 
John,  who  is  a  student  in  the  medical  department  of  Northwestern  Lini- 
versity  at  Chicago:  Harold  and  Harry,  twins:  Morris,  Eva  and  Fred. 

JOSEPH   A.    BEATTIE. 

Joseph  A.  Beattie,  who  resides  on  section  34.  Center  township,  and  is 
filling  the  position  of  township  trustee,  was  born  in  Winfield  township,  Lake 
county,  Indiana,  July  5,  1862.  His  father  was  \\'illiam  Beattie,  a  native  of 
Ireland,  in  which  country  he  was  reared  and  married.  His  wife  bore  the 
maiden  name  of  Rebecca  Ross  and  was  also  a  native  of  the  Emerald  Isle. 
Crossing  the  Atlantic,  they  became  residents  of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania, 
and  thence  removed  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  locating  in  Winfield  township, 
where  Mr.  ^^'illiam  Beattie  carried  on  agriculttu-al  pursuits  throughout  his 
remaining  days.  He  passed  away  April  9,  1899,  ^"<1  ^""is  ^'^'ife  ^'so  died  in 
Lake  county,  the  date  of  her  death  being  June  i,  1899.  In  their  famdy  were 
nine  children,  three  sons  and  six  daughters,  of  whom  three  died  in  infancy, 
while  six  reached  years  of  maturity  and  four  are  now  living. 

Joseph  A.  Beattie,  the  eighth  member  of  the  family  and  the  onlv  sur- 
viving son,  was  reared  on  the  old  family  homestead  and  is  indebted  to  the 
district  schools  for  the  early  educational  privileges  he  enjoved.  He  after- 
ward attended  the  high  school  at  Crown  Point,  and  when  not  engaged  with 
the  duties  of  the  schoolroom  he  gave  his  father  the  benefit  of  his  services  by 


Ot/^cuXCJi, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  321 

assisting  in  the  culti\'ati(in  and  iniproxenient  uf  the  home  farm.  He  remained 
under  the  parental  roof  until  his  marriage,  which  important  event  in  his  life 
occurred  on  the  27th  of  No\'ember.  1890,  the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Miss 
Gertrude  C.  Holton.  a  daughter  of  Charles  V.  and  Margaret  Jane  (Cochran) 
Helton,  who  were  early  settlers  of  Lake  county.  Mrs.  Beattie  was  born  in 
this  county  and  was  here  reared  and  educated.  At  the  time  of  his  marriage 
Mr.  Beattie  became  a  resident  of  Crown  Point,  but  in  1891  he  took  charge 
of  the  Willowdale  stock  farm,  coiuprising  four  hundred  and  twenty  acres. 
He  has  since  remained  as  its  superintendent,  filling  the  position  for  twelve 
years  in  a  most  acceptable  manner.  This  is  the  property  of  William  |.  Davis, 
of  Chicago.  In  1892,  in  connection  with  Mr.  Davis,  Mr.  Beattie  purchased 
three  hundred  acres  of  land  on  section  18,  Center  township,  and  this  farm  is 
also  conducted  by  Mr.  Beattie,  it  being  de\ott(l  to  pasturage  and  to  the  rais- 
ing of  hay  for  the  stock.  He  handles  about  one  hundred  and  fiftv  'lead  of 
cattle  and  horses  and  feeds  all  of  the  grain  raised.  There  is  a  fine  creamery 
upon  the  place  and  the  cream  is  shipped  principally  to  the  \\'ellington  and 
the  Stratford  hotels  and  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Railway  for  use  on  diiu'ng 
cars.  Mr.  Beattie  is  recognized  as  a  most  enterprising  and  progressive  busi- 
ness man,  conducting  his  farming  interests  along  modern  lines,  and  his 
capable  direction  of  his  business  affairs  and  untiring  energy  have  brought  to 
him  a  creditable  and  gratifying  measure  of  success. 

In  his  political  views  Mr.  Beattie  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  in  1900 
he  was  elected  upon  that  ticket  to  the  position  of  township  trustee  of  Center 
township  for  a  term  of  four  years,  receiving  a  majority  of  more  than  two 
hundred,  and  recei\'ed  sixty-six  more  votes  in  the  township  than  were  cast 
for  the  presidential  ticket,  a  fact  which  indicates  his  personal  popularity 
among  the  people  with  whom  he  has  been  acquainted  from  early  boyhood. 
He  has  been  the  president  of  the  Lake  County  Agricultural  Society  for  six 
years  and  was  re-elected  in  1903.  His  efforts  as  the  head  of  this  organization 
have  been  effective  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  farming  class  of  this 
county.  He  has  taken  an  active  part  in  all  public  measures  contributing  to 
the  general  good,  and  is  a  most  progressive  and  enterprising  citizen.  Fra- 
ternally he  is  connected  with  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters.  He  has  never 
lived  outside  the  borders  of  Lake  county,  his  interests  centering  here,  and 
among  the  residents  of  this  portion  of  the  state  he  has  many  warm  friends. 
He  is  one  of  the  leading  and  popular  men  of  Lake  county. 
21 


322  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

HON.    WILLIAM    E.    WARWICK. 

Hon.  William  E.  Warwick,  who  for  a  number  of  years  has  been  one 
of  the  forceful  and  honored  factors  in  public  life  and  business  circles  in 
Whiting,  has  attained  to  prominence  through  force  of  his  character,  the 
exercise  of  his  talent  and  the  utilization  of  opportunities.  By  education  and 
training  he  was  well  qualified  for  the  important  position  which  he  is  now 
filling,  that  of  first  assistant  superintendent  for  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  at 
\Miiting,  where  is  located  the  largest  plant  of  the  kind  in  the  world.  He  is 
also  the  vice-president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  \^'hiting.  and  his  busi- 
ness career  has  won  the  respect  of  his  contemporaries  and  excited  their  warm 
admiration.  It  is  not  this  alone,  however,  that  entitles  him  to  rank  as  one 
of  the  foremost  men  of  his  city,  for  his  connection  with  its  public  interests 
has  been  far-reaching  and  beneficial.  He  has  aided  in  shaping  the  municipal 
policy,  and  his  patriotic  citizenship  has  taken  tangible  form  in  his  zealous 
labors  for  the  improvements  instituted  through  aldermanic  measures.  He  is 
now  the  mayor  of  Whiting,  and  as  its  chief  executive  is  giving  an  admin- 
istration characterized  by  a  Inisiness-like  spirit  and  by  substantial  upbuilding 
and  progress. 

Mr.  Warwick  was  born  in  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin,  on  the  13th  of  January, 
1862.  His  father,  William  P.  Warwick,  was  born  in  Dahlonega,  Georgia, 
but  was  partially  reared  in  New  York  city.  He  became  a  lumberman  of 
Wisconsin,  where  he  has  resided  for  many  years,  still  making  his  home  in 
that  state.  He  wedded  Miss  Mary  Palmer,  a  native  of  \\'aukegan.  Illinois, 
but  her  death  occurred  when  she  was  thirty-five  years  of  age.  In  the  family 
were  two  daughters,  but  one  is  now  deceased. 

Hon.  William  E.  Warwick,  the  only  son,  was  reared  in  the  place  of  his 
nativity  until  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  from  the  age  of  six  years  he 
attended  the  public  schools,  thus  acquiring  a  good  practical  education.  On 
leaving  Wisconsin  he  went  to  Bedford,  Iowa,  where  he  lived  two  years  with 
an  uncle,  who  was  engaged  in  farming  there.  Then  he  began  teaching  in  the 
country  schools  of  Iowa,  and  in  the  meantime  he  had  begim  preparation  for 
college,  wish.ing  to  gain  a  more  advanced  education,  the  value  of  which  he 
realized.  He  attended  the  Iowa  State  Agricultural  College,  and  during  the 
periods  of  vacation  engaged  in  teaching  school  in  order  to  meet  the  expenses 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  323 

of  his  college  course.  He  was  graduated  in  1888,  and  the  following  year  he 
came  to  Whiting,  where  he  accepted  the  position  of  mechanical  draftsman 
for  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  acting  in  that  capacity  for  about  two  years. 
He  was  then  made  assistant  master  mechanic,  and  thus  served  until  the  ist 
of  December,  1893,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  paraffine  department  as 
its  superintendent.  For  almost  ten  years  he  acted  in  that  capacity,  and  in 
November,  1903,  he  was  made  first  assistant  superintendent  of  the  works, 
which  position  he  is  now  filling.  This  plant  is  the  largest  in  the  world  of 
its  kind,  two  thousand  men  being  employed,  and  the  position  of  I\Ir.  War- 
wick is  therefore  a  most  important  and  responsible  one.  He  is  yet  a  com- 
paratively young  man,  his  thorough  practical  training,  his  close  application 
and  his  sound  business  judgment  well  qualify  him  for  the  onerous  duties 
that  devolve  upon  him.  He  is  likewise  the  vice-president  of  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Whiting. 

In  October,  1902,  Mr.  Warwick  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Ella 
Fredenberg.  They  have  a  pleasant  home  in  Wheeling  which  is  noted  for  its 
gracious  and  warm-hearted  hospitality.  Fraternally  he  is  a  Mason,  having 
taken  the  three  degrees  of  the  blue  lodge.  In  his  political  views  Mr.  War- 
wick is  a  gold  Democrat,  and  after  the  incorporation  of  Whiting  as  a  city 
in  1903  he  was  elected  its  first  mayor  and  is  still  its  chief  executive.  He  came 
to  W^hiting  when  the  town  was  being  laid  out  by  the  Standard  Oil  Company, 
which  built  its  extensive  works  here,  and  with  the  growth  and  progress  of  the 
place  he  has  since  been  identified,  doing  all  in  his  power  for  its  substantial 
improvement  and  upbuilding.  He  is  a  public-spirited  citizen,  has  wrought 
along  modern  lines  of  progress,  both  in  his  business  and  his  public  life,  and  in 
Whiting  he  commands  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  great  majoritv  of 
those  with  whom  he  has  come  in  contact. 

CYRUS  E.  SMITH. 

Cyrus  E.  Smith,  a  pronnnent  farmer  on  section  18.  Ross  township,  and 
e.x-county  commissioner,  has  been  identified  with  the  various  interests  of 
Lake  county  for  over  forty  years,  and  is  a  representative  citizen  in  every 
sense  of  the  ^\  ord.  He  has  found  in  farming  a  profitable  and  pleasant  vocation, 
which  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  has  surrounded  him  with  comfortable  circum- 
stances for  approaching  old  age,  and  his  interest  and  work  for  the  public 


324  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

welfare  and  his  high  personal  integrity  and  character  have  gained  him  the 
esteem  and  well  thinking  of  his  fellow  citizens  and  business  associates 
throughout  the  county. 

Mr.  Smith  was  liorn  September  29,  1839,  in  Springfield  township,  Erie 
county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  farm  \Ahich  his  grandfather  settled  in  1801, 
and  on  which  his  father,  Amos  Smith,  was  also  born  and  reared.  His  father 
followed  farming,  and  dies  at  a  young  age,  in  1852.  He  married  Harriet 
Ellis,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  who  died  in  1858,  leaving  four  children, 
one  daughter  and  three  sons. 

^Ir.  Smith,  the  eldest  of  the  children,  was  reared  and  educated  in  his 
native  place,  growing  up  on  the  old  liomestead  farm.  He  continued  farming 
in  Pennsylvania  for  two  years  after  his  marriage,  and  in  1863  came  out  to 
Lake  county  and  located  on  the  farm  which  he  has  ever  since  cultivated  and 
owned.  Pie  placed  countless  improvements  on  the  place  during  the  subse- 
quent years,  and  his  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  acres  will  now  com- 
pare favorably  with  any  in  the  township.  He  carries  on  a  general  farming, 
stock-raising  and  dairy  business,  and  has  made  his  operations  pay  steady 
profits.  For  about  eight  years  he  taught  school  during  the  winter  seasons 
in  Ross  township. 

Mr.  Smith  was  married  in  Erie  county,  Pennsylvania,  October  6,  1861, 
to  Miss  Ellen  Harper,  a  native  of  Ashtabula  county,  Ohio,  and  a. daughter  of 
Benjamin  and  Ruth  (LTnderwood)  Harper.  The  son  born  of  this  marriage 
is  deceased,  and  they  have  an  adopted  daughter,  Pearl.  Mr.  Smith,  as  a 
stanch  Repu1)lican,  first  voted  for  Lincoln,  and  has  taken  an  active  part  in 
public  affairs.  He  was  elected  county  commissioner  in  1884  and  held  that 
important  county  office  from  1885  to  1891.  He  was  also  appointed  trustee 
of  Ross  township  to  fill  out  a  vacancy. 

ARTHUR    T.    COX. 

Arthur  T.  Cox,  treasurer  and  manager  of  the  Wisconsin  Lumber  and 
Coal  Company,  at  East  Chicago,  is  an  enterprising  young  man  who  in  his 
active  career  has  followed  modern  business  methods  and  wrought  along  lines 
which  have  resulted  in  gaining  for  him  a  very  desirable  position  in  the  busi- 
ness world,  one  that  brings  to  him  a  good  financial  return 

He  was  born  near  Westfield   in   Hamilton  cou^t^■.    Indiana,   December 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  325 

9,  1863.  and  is  the  oldest  of  four  living  children  of  Stephen  and  Julia  A. 
(Rich)  Cox.  In  the  family,  however,  were  seven  children,  four  sons  and 
three  daughters.  The  family  was  established  in  the  south  at  an  early  day, 
and  the  grandfather,  Hugh  Cox,  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  where  he 
always  made  his  home,  passing  away  in  that  state  when  in  middle  life. 
Through  his  business  career  he  followed  the  occupations  of  farming  and  mill- 
ing. His  wife,  ]Mrs.  Rebecca  Co.x,  has  also  been  called  to  her  final  rest.  They 
were  the  parents  of  two  sons  and  four  daughters.  They  held  membership  in 
the  Friends  church,  and  their  lives  were  in  harmony  with  their  religious  faith. 

Stephen  Cox,  father  of  Mr.  Cox,  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  was  reared 
to  the  occupation  of  farming  and  followed  that  pursuit  throughout  his  acti\'e 
business  career.  He  came  to  Indiana  in  the  spring  of  1861  and  settled  near 
Westfield,  where  he  continued  to  engage  in  the  tilling  of  the  soil  until  igoi.  In 
that  year  he  retired  from  liusiness  life  and  is  now  enjoying  a  well-earned 
rest  in  Westfield.  He  married  Miss  Julia  A.  Rich,  who  was  born  in  Indiana 
and  was  a  daughter  of  Peter  Rich,  also  a  native  of  this  state.  Her  father 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  li\-ed  at  Westfield,  where  he  died  at  a  ripe 
old  age.  He  was  very  prominent  and  influential  in  his  communitv,  and 
various  local  positions  were  conferred  upon  him.  His  wife,  who  hnre  the 
maiden  name  of  Amy  Jessup,  also  died  at  an  advanced  age.  In  their  family 
were  a  son  and  three  daughters.  Mr.  Rich  was  a  most  earnest  and  untiring 
worker  in  the  Friends  church,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  recognized  as  leaders 
in  the  congregation  of  their  home  locality.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stephen  Co.x 
were  also  ardent  workers  in  the  Friends  clnuxh.  likewise  took  an  acti\-e 
interest  in  the  temperance  cause  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  ]3romote  tem- 
perance legislation.  In  the  year  1899  Stephen  Cox  was  called  upon  to  mourn 
the  loss  of  his  wife,  who  flied  in  the  month  of  July  when  about  si.xty  years 
of  age.  Of  their  family  of  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  those  now  living 
are  Arthur  T. :  Erwin.  who  makes  his  home  near  Westfield,  Indiana:  Nietha, 
the  wife  of  E.  L.  Foulke.  of  Kansas  City,  Missouri:  and  Elsie,  who  is  the 
wife  of  Charles  Baldwin,  of  W^estfield. 

In  retrospect  one  can  see  .\rthur  T.  Cox  as  a  farm  boy,  working  in  the 
fields  as  he  assisted  his  father  in  the  cultivation  of  the  crops,  or  attending  the 
district  schools.  After  he  had  largely  mastered  the  branches  of  study  taught 
in  the  local  school  he  entered  the  Union  high  school,  and  subsequently  pur- 


326  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

sued  a  collegiate  course  and  was  graduated  on  the  completion  c.f  the  scien- 
tific course  in  Earlham  College,  at  Richmond,  Indiana,  with  the  class  of  1890, 
at  which  time  the  Bachelor  of  Science  degree  was  conferred  upon  him.  The 
following  year  he  entered  upon  his  husiness  career  in  connection  with  the 
lumber  tratle.  He  was  employed  first  in  his  home  town  and  after\\-ards  in 
the  county  seat  at  Noblesville,  Indiana,  where  he  remained  for  two  years. 
On  the  expiration  of  that  period  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Nordyke  and 
Marmon  Company,  of  Indianapolis,  being  in  their  office  for  a  few  months. 
Later  he  was  sent  out  by  the  firm  as  collector  to  different  towms  in  Indiana. 
A  year  later  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Paxton  Lumber  Company  of  Ham- 
mond, in  1894,  and  was  located  there  until  1897,  when  he  went  to  Rensselaer. 
where  he  continued  for  about  a  year.  He  next  secured  a  position  in  Morocco, 
Indiana,  and  afterwards  went  to  Lowell,  where  he  accepted  the  management 
of  the  Wilbur  Lumber  Company,  of  Milwaukee,  filling  that  position  in  a 
manner  entirely  satisfactory  to  the  company  for  three  years.  He  was  next 
offered  and  accepted  the  position  with  the  Greer-Wilkinson  Company  at 
Russellville,  Indiana,  and  in  February,  1903,  he  came  to  East  Chicago  to  act 
as  manager  of  the  luml>er  yards  of  the  same  company  at  this  place.  In 
February,  1904,  the  Greer-Wilkinson  Lumber  Company  sold  its  interests 
in  East  Chicago  to  the  Wisconsin  Lumber  and  Coal  Company,  of  which 
concern  Mr.  Cox  became  treasurer  and  manager  and  one  of  the  stockholders 
and  has  continued  in  these  relationships  up  to  the  present  time.  In  1904  the 
company  erected  a  two-story  lumber  warehouse,  sixty  by  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet,  in  which  is  carried  an  extensive  and  varied  line  of  building  ma- 
terials, and  the  establishment  is  one  of  the  flourishing  business  enterprises 
of  East  Chicago. 

June  20,  1901,  occurred  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Cox  and  Miss  Laura  LuEUa 
Fuller.  Mr.  Cox  is  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  while  his  wife  is 
identified  through  membership  relations  with  the  IMethodist  Episcopal 
church.  Fraternally  he  is  connected  with  Colfax  Lodge  No.  378,  F.  &  A.  M., 
at  Lowell,  Indiana,  and  belongs  to  Renssalaer  Lodge  No.  82,  Knights  of 
Pythias.  His  political  endorsement  is  given  to  the  Republican  party,  but 
the  honors  and  emoluments  of  office  have  had  no  attraction  for  him,  as  he 
has  preferred  to  give  his  time  and  attention  to  his  business  interests  and  to 
the  enjoyment  of  home  life.     The  Co.x  household  is  noted  for  its  hospitality.. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  327 

which  is  generous  and  cordial,  and  Ijotli  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cox  have  won  many 
friends  during  tlieir  residence  in  East  Chicago. 

GEORGE    F.    GERLACH. 

George  F.  Gerlacii,  the  prominent  and  well-known  merchant  of  St.  John, 
Lake  county,  is  a  self-made  and  successful  business  man.  He  began  life  for 
himself  at  an  early  age,  finding  in  school  teaching  the  first  stepping  stone  of 
progress,  and  at  the  same  time  acquainted  himself  with  the  details  of  mer- 
cantile affairs.  He  is  and  has  been  for  some  years  an  important  factor  in 
business  circles  of  St.  John  township,  and  is  always  found  identified  with 
the  side  of  progress  and  general  advancement  in  material,  social  and  educa- 
tional movements. 

Mr.  Gerlach  was  born  in  Bavaria,  Germany,  January  24,  1841.  His 
father,  Michael  Gerlach,  was  a  native  of  the  same  country,  and  in  1846 
emigrated  with  his  family  to  America.  He  settled  at  Harper's  Ferry,  West 
Virginia,  where  he  followed  his  trade  of  carpenter  for  about  eleven  years. 
In  1857  he  emigrated  further  west,  locating  in  St.  John  township.  Lake 
county,  Indiana,  where  he  turned  his  attention  to  farming  pursuits.  He 
bought  eighty  acres  of  land,  improved  it,  and  for  the  remainder  of  his  life 
made  fanning  a  successful  enterprise.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-four 
years.  Flis  wife  was  Agnes  Catherine  Wartheim,  a  native  of  Germany,  and 
who  also  attained  the  age  of  seventy-four  years.  They  were  highly  respected 
in  Lake  county,  and  are  to  be  counted  among  the  early  settlers  who  opened 
up  and  developed  the  farming  regions.  They  were  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  one  of  whom  died  young,  but  the  others,  four  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, are  still  living. 

Air.  George  F.  Gerlach,  the  eldest  of  the  family,  was  about  five  years 
old  when  he  crossed  the  ocean  to  America,  and  about  sixteen  when  the 
family  came  to  Lake  county.  He  began  his  education  in  Virginia,  and  later 
attended  the  St.  Vincent's  College  in  Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania. 
After  coming  to  Lake  county  he  began  his  independent  career  by  teaching 
school,  beginning  at  the  age  of  seventeen  and  continuing  the  profession  for 
about  three  months  of  the  year  during  the  following  ten  vears,  in  St.  John 
and  Hanover  townships.  What  time  he  was  not  teaching  he  employed  by 
acting  as  clerk  in  the  store  of  Henrv  and  F.  P.  Keilmann,  at  St.  Tohn.     In 


328  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

1867  he  married  and  in  the  same  year  began  business  in  partnership  with  Mr. 
F.  P.  Keihnann.  They  carried  on  a  general  merchandise  business  until 
1885,  when  the  partnership  was  dissolved,  and  since  then  Mr.  Gerlach  has 
been  conducting  his  store  alone  and  at  his  present  location.  He  has  a  long 
established  and  prosperous  business,  carrying  a  stock  valued  at  about  sixteen 
thousand  dollars,  and  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  foremost  business  men  of 
the  county.  He  also  buys  and  ships  grain  and  live-stock.  This  position  in 
the  world  of  affairs  is  the  more  creditable  when  it  is  remembered  that  Mr. 
Gerlach  commenced  his  career  with  nothin.g  except  his  own  ambition  and 
industrious  habits. 

Fie  has  also  performed  his  part  in  public  affairs.  He  has  been  a  Demo- 
crat since  the  casting  of  his  first  vote,  but  maintains  an  independent  attitude 
in  local  affairs,  voting  for  the  best  man.  He  has  been  a  justice  of  the  peace, 
and  is  now  a  notary  public.  He  is  also  interested  in  the  agricultural  develop- 
ment of  Lake  county,  for  he  owns  about  nine  hundred  acres  of  land  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Gerlach  married,  in  1867.  Miss  Margaret  Keilmann.  and  they  are 
the  parents  of  nine  children:  Katie,  wife  of  Peter  Schmidt:  Frank,  in  his 
father's  store:  Joseph  M..  also  in  the  store;  Maggie,  wife  of  John  Stoltz, 
who  is  employed  in  Mr.  Gerlach's  store;  Lizzie,  wife  of  Michael  Weis.  of 
Ross  tow-nship ;  George  and  Charles,  who  are  in  their  father's  store ;  and 
Lena  and  Clara,  who  are  still  in  school.  The  children  were  all  born  in  St. 
John  township.  Lake  county. 

WILLIAM    J.    GLOVER. 

William  J.  Glover  has  almost  completed  his  second  term  as  recorder  of 
Lake  county,  and  during  an  eight  years'  incumbency  of  that  office  has  set  a 
standard  of  efficiency  and  administrative  ability  which  is  a  matter  for  pride 
to  himself  and  for  profit  and  good  to  the  county.  Like  most  of  the  worthy 
citizens  of  Lake  county,  Mr.  Glover  has  spent  his  years  in  labor  providing 
for  the  material  wants  of  himself  and  family,  and  is  therefore  a  popular  man 
in  the  true  sense  of  that  word.  He  first  became  known  to  Lake  county  as  an 
employe  of  the  iron  mills  of  East  Chicago,  and  for  the  past  fifteen  or  more 
years  has  been  an  upright,  puljlic-spirited  and  hard-working  citizen,  always 
steadily  progressing  toward  a  higher  goal  of  endeavor.     As  a  public  official 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  329 

in  varicius  places  of  trust  he  has  sliown  himself  worthy  of  honor  and  con- 
fidence and  an  excellent  depositary  of  the  county's  administrative  afTairs. 

Mr.  Glover  is  a  Pennsylvanian  hy  birth  and  rearing.  He  was  born  at 
Bolivar,  January  26.  1856,  and  is  of  Scotch  lineage  in  only  the  third  genera- 
tion from  the  original  American  progenitor.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
James  Glover,  was  born  in  the  city  of  Edinburg,  Scotland,  and  came  to  the 
United  States  something  over  seventy  years  ago.  He  settled  in  Maryland, 
and  died  at  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  at  ninety-two  years  of  age.  Rolaert 
Glover,  the  father  of  the  Lake  county  recorder,  was  born  in  Mandand,  and 
is  now  seventy-one  years  old,  residing  in  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania.  He  has 
been  a  stationary  engineer  nearly  all  his  life.  His  wife  is  also  living  at  the 
age  of  sixty-seven,  and  her  maiden  name  was  Clara  Corsin. 

Mr.  William  J.  Glover  was  taken  to  Pittsburg  in  childhood,  and  was- 
educated  there  in  the  public  schools.  He  found  employment  at  different 
lines  of  work  before  he  entered  the  iron  mills,  and  for  some  twenty-two  years 
he  was  employed  in  the  iron  mills  in  Pittsburg  and  in  East  Chicago.  He  came 
to  Chicago,  Illinois,  in  1882,  and  in  1888  settled  at  East  Chicago.  The  latter 
was  a  mere  town  at  that  time,  and  he  was  one  of  the  first  settlers.  In  addi- 
tion to  his  daily  work  he  became  identified  with  the  public  life  of  the  place, 
and  before  long  was  taking  an  active  part  in  Republican  politics.  He  was 
elected  and  served  one  term  as  treasurer  of  East  Chicago,  and  was  elected 
to  the  city  council  for  two  terms.  While  serving  in  the  latter  position  he  was 
elected,  in  1896.  to  the  office  of  recorder  of  Lake  county,  and  then  severed 
his  connection  with  affairs  in  East  Chicago  and  mo\'ed  to  Crown  Point,  where 
he  has  since  made  his  home.  He  was  chosen  for  a  second  term  as  recorder 
in  1900,  so  that  he  has  ser\ed  nearly  eight  years.  He  has  always  been  a 
Republican,  and  is  a  man  of  popular  and  genial  manners,  just  such  a  one  as 
the  people  of  a  community  pick  out  as  a  representative  citizen  and  choose  for 
their  various  administrative  offices. 

Mr.  Glover  has  affiliations  with  the  Masons,  the  Elks,  the  Foresters,  the 
Maccabees,  and  the  Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron,  Steel  and  Tin  Work- 
ers. He  was  married  in  June.  1881.  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Owens,  of  Pittsburg. 
Pennsylvania.  They  have  fi\'e  children:  Robert  S..  Edward  C.  Florence  M., 
William  J..  Jr.,  and  Helen. 


330  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

\\ILLIAM   HENRY   WOOD. 

William  Henry  Wood,  general  merchant  at  Deep  River,  has  been  the 
leader  m  the  business  affairs  of  this  community  for  many  years.  In  fact, 
the  Wood  family,  grandfather,  father  and  sons,  have  been  closely  identified 
with  industrial  and  commercial  interests  of  Ross  township  as  long  as  any 
other  family  still  existing  in  the  county,  and  they  have  kept  fully  abreast 
of  the  tide  of  progress  and  development  which  has  advanced  Lake  county 
from  a  wilderness  to  one  of  the  richest  and  most  prosperous  counties  of  the 
state. 

The  pioneer  of  the  family  was  John  Wood,  grandfather  of  the  above 
named,  whO'  came  out  from  the  east  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  before  the 
official  separation  and  organization  of  the  counties  of  Porter  and  Lake.  He 
was  a  miller  by  occupation,  and  by  building  and  operating  the  old  grist  and 
saw  mill  at  Deep  River  supplied  the  early  settlers  with  commodities  abso- 
lutely essential  to  civilization  and  modest  comfort.  His  mill  was  one  of  the 
first  in  the  county,  and  he  carried  on  his  business  here  for  many  years.  He 
was  of  English  and  Scotch  descent. 

George  Wood,  the  father  of  William  H.  Wood,  was  born  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  in  boyhood  came  out  to  Lake  county  with  his  parents,  being 
reared,  educated  and  married  in  this  county.  He  engaged  in  general  mer- 
chandising and  milling  at  Deep  River  during  most  of  his  active  career,  and 
was  a  prominent  and  influential  man  in  the  surrounding  country.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Unitarian  church  at  Hobart.  His  death  occurred  when  he 
was  fifly-nine  years  old.  He  married  Mary  J.  Digerd,  who  was  born  in 
Buffalo,  New  York,  of  Irish  descent,  and  is  still  living.  They  were  the 
parents  of  six  children,  four  of  whom  reached  adult  age. 

W^illiam  Henry  Wood,  the  fourth  child  and  third  son  of  this  family, 
was  born  in  Deep  River,  Lake  county,  July  2,  1865,  and  was  reared  and  has 
spent  all  his  life  at  this  place.  After  attending  the  common  schools  he 
entered  the  business  department  of  the  Northern  Indiana  Normal  School  at 
Valparaiso,  where  he  was  graduated  in  two  years,  and  then  returned  to  Deep 
River.  He  was  with  his  father  in  the  creamery  business  for  two  years,  and 
then  he  and  his  brother  Eugene  bought  out  their  father  and  carried  on  the 
general  store  and  creamery  in  partnership  for  six  years.     Mr.  Wood  then 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  331 

bought  out  his  brother,  and  lias  been  very  successfully  conducting  the  mer- 
cantile business  ever  since.  He  is  also  vice-president  of  the  Ohio  Standard 
Oil  Company,  at  Amsterdam,  Ohio,  and  has  various  other  business  interests. 

As  a  life-long  Republican  he  has  taken  much  interest  in  public  affairs. 
He  is  now  candidate  for  tOAvnship  trustee,  and  was  at  one  time  on  the  ad- 
visory board.  He  has  been  the  postmaster  of  Deep  River  for  the  past  ten 
years,  the  office  being  located  in  his  store.  He  is  a  Mason  affiliating  with 
Hobart  Lxidge  No.  357.  He  is  well  known  in  business  and  social  circles,  and 
his  store  is  up  to  date  and  a  large  one  for  a  place  the  size  of  Deep  River.  He 
carries  about  four  thousand  dollars'  stock,  and  has  a  large  trade  from  all  the 
surrounding  country.  , 

Mr.  Wood  married,  in  1894,  Miss  Martha  Battia,  of  Middle  Falls,  New 
York.     They  have  two  children,  Olive  and  Raymond. 

HENRY    C.    BATTERMAN. 

Henry  C.  Batterman,  prominent  in  the  industrial,  mercantile  and  finan- 
cial affairs  of  Dyer,  St.  John  township,  began  his  career  at  this  place  some 
thirty  years  ago,  with  his  trade  and  his  character  as  his  principal  capital, 
and  during  the  intervening  period  has  come  to  be  one  of  the  most  influential 
business  men  of  this  part  of  Lake  county.  He  has  been  prominently  identi- 
fied with  nearly  all  the  affairs  of  Dyer,  whether  of  a  business,  social  or  polit- 
ical or  whatsoe\'er  nature,  and  is  an  all-round  worthy  citizen  whom  all 
esteem  and  hold  in  highest  regard. 

Mr.  Batterman  is  a  brother  of  Edward  Batterman,  the  well  known 
business  man  of  Hobart,  and  in  whose  personal  history  on  other  pages  of 
this  work  will  be  found  the  parental  and  ancestral  records.  Mr.  H.  C.  Batter- 
man was  born  in  Vv'ill  county,  Illinois,  October  10,  1855,  ^"^  was  reared 
and  educated  there.  He  learned  the  harness-making  business,  and  at  the 
age  of  twenty,  in  1875,  came  to  Lake  county,  where  he  continued  to  work  at 
his  trade,  following  it  altogether  for  twenty-two  years.  He  prospered  from 
the  first,  and  has  been  on  the  up-grade  ever  since  he  started  oiit  on  his  own 
hook.  In  1894  he  established  a  livery  business  in  Dyer,  and  has  carried  it  on 
very  successfully  to  the  present  time.  In  1900  he  opened  his  machine  and 
blacksmith  shops  and  agricultural  implement  house,  and  in  these  lines  does 
a   large  and   steadily   increasing  business.     He  took  a   leading   part  at  the 


332  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

organization  of  the  First  National  Bank  at  Dyer,  and  is  a  director  and  the 
vice-president  of  that  substantial  financial  institution.  He  also  owns  stock 
in  the  creamery  at  Dyer,  and  is  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Horse  Breed- 
ers' Association  at  Dyer.  He  has  had  an  annual  trade  in  his  implement  arid 
shops  enterprise  amounting  to  over  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  his  Ijusiness 
push  and  energy  are  continually  increasing  his  hold  on  the  commercial  and 
mdustrial  affairs  of  the  county.  In  public  matters  and  political  questions  be 
has  always  adhered  to  the  principles  and  policies  of  the  Republican  party. 
He  has  served  as  superintendent  of  roads  and  was  on  the  township  advisory 
board.  Tie  has  also  been  active  in  religious  afifairs,  and  is  an  official  member 
of  the  Dyer  Union  church. 

Mr.  Batterman  has  been  married  three  tunes.  His  first  wife  was  Mary 
Richart,  by  whom  he  had  one  son,  Joe  B.  The  second  marriage  was  with 
Maggie  Young,  and  his  present  wife  was  Miss  Helen  Richart,  a  sister  of  his 
first  w'ife.  They  have  two  living  children,  Carrie  and  Johanna.  Fraternally 
lie  is  a  member  of  the  Order  of  the  Foresters  of  America.  Council  No.  i6, 
at  Dyer,  and  he  was  a  member  of  the  High  Order  of  Foresters. 

JAMES    A.    PATTERSON. 

James  A.  Patterson,  an  attorney  at  law  engaged  in  practice  in  Indiana 
Harbor  since  the  summer  of  1902,  was  born  in  Sharon,  Pennsylvania,  on  the 
31st  of  August,  1867,  and  is  one  of  a  family  of  eight  children,  four  sons  and 
four  daughters,  whose  parents  are  William  and  Mary  (McAlpin)  Patterson. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  William  Patterson,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Scotland, 
belonging  to  one  of  the  old  families  of  that  country.  Emigrating  to  America, 
he  spent  his  last  days  in  Canada,  where  he  died  at  the  very  advanced  age  of 
ninety-two  years.  He  had  long  devoted  his  energies  to  agricultural  pursuits 
and  in  that  way  had  provided  for  his  family,  numbering  his  wife  and  four  or 
five  children. 

William  Patterson,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Catron,  Scotland,  and  after  arriving 
at  years  of  maturity  he  married  Miss  Mary  McAlpin,  a  native  of  Kilmarnock, 
Ayr.sbire.  She  belonged  to  a  family  numbering  several  daughters  and  her 
father  died  in  Scotland  when  he  had  attained  a  venerable  age.  William 
Patterson  followed  mining  during  much  of  his  life.  \M:en  a  young  man  he 
left  Scotland  and  went  to  Australia,  where  he  was  engaged  in  mining  gold. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  333 

He  afterward  emigrated  to  Canada,  locating  in  a  pioneer  district,  and  there 
he  carried  on  farming  for  three  or  four  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he 
went  to  Pennsylvania.  On  leaving  that  state  about  1876  he  journeyed  west- 
ward to  Illinois,  settling"  at  Coal  City,  where  he  engaged  in  mining  coal,  but 
his  last  vears  were  spent  in  the  Indian  Territor}',  where  he  died  in  1885,  ''■^ 
the  age  of  fift}--eight  years.  His  wife  still  survives  him  and  is  now  seventy- 
six  years  of  age.  Like  her  husband  she  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  through  many  years  has  shaped  her  life  by  its  teachings  and 
precepts.  To  this  worthy  couple  w"ere  born  four  sons  and  four  daughters, 
and  six  are  yet  living:  Margaret,  who  is  the  wife  of  D.  W.  Frye,  of  Coal 
City.  Illinois;  Helen,  the  wife  of  David  H.  \\^ilson,  also  a  resident  of  Coal 
City;  \\'illiam  M.,  who  is  living  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri;  Robert  J.,  a  resident 
of  Moberly,  Missouri ;  James  A. ;  and  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  Cornelius  Clark, 
of  Coal  City,  Illinois. 

James  A.  Patterson  was  a  lad  of  about  nine  years  when  with  his  parents 
he  removed  to  Coal  City,  Illinois,  where  the  days  of  his  youth  were  passed 
and  his  early  education  was  acquired.  He  afterward  pursued  a  liusiness 
course  in  a  commercial  college  at  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  and  later  he  occupied 
a  position  as  bookkeeper  for  four  or  five  years.  He  then  went  to  Valparaiso 
College  and  was  graduated  from  the  scientific  and  literary  departments,  so 
that  he  gained  a  broad  general  knowledge  to  serve  as  an  excellent  foundation 
upon  which  to  rear  the  superstructure  of  professional  learning.  Following 
the  completion  of  his  normal  work  at  Valparais(T.  he  took  vi\i  the  study  of  law 
in  the  Chicago  Law  School  of  Chicago,  from  which  he  was  gradtiated  in 
1898,  and  the  same  year  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  has  since  engoged  in 
practice,  covering  a  period  of  six  years,  and  on  the  ist  of  April.  1902,  he 
opened  an  office  in  Indiana  Harljor,  where  he  has  since  been  located.  His 
clientage  is  continually  growing  and  has  connected  him  with  much  of  the  im- 
portant litigation  tried  here.  He  is  thorough  and  painstaking  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  a  case,  clear  and  concise  in  argument,  cogent  and  logical  in  his  reason- 
ing, and  has  attained  a  creditable  position  among  the  younger  members  of 
the  Lake  county  bar. 

On  the  24th  of  June,  1898,  occurred  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Patterson  and 
Miss  May  A.  Wiles,  a  daughter  of  Truman  B.  and  Abigail  E.  Wiles.  Abigail 
E.  Wiles  died  June   17.   1904,  at   Mabel,  Minnesota.     They  reside  at  3729 


?34  HESTORY  OF  LAS;^  'J 

^_ :i   -  ^  :  .    _  ^-  , '.15 ot  Fydiias 

ami  Modem  Waotituet  firstsmrtiesw  ami  bis  wxtee  is  GomaBEtef  wi&  tfte  laiiies" 

3ri3ilraiies  '^f  bcjtfe.    Sfe.  too^  is  a  graifcale  nE  TalpsE^so  Ccllege.  ami  t&ef 

befttt  Gccapr  an  etrria&Ie  posEteJn;  in.  t5e  scctaE  circies-  wBaaie  cdirEre  ami  nrfgi'- 

IrgfeEice  pre&nifnaDe. 

GOTHJEB  MUESIC^ 

,- — -. ,:,   -,-..._.,•_  ffee^Tcs  33  6e  — —"■----■    :niciig:  tie  cM.  aeEsSes  q£ 

tSfi  CL     -^  -;^_.„ ._  tor  Ere  oas  res:  '  cwenrr-iore  years.  wMca 

tase  c»rve3  afiiH^c  iSs£  ercire  gecictt  ot  tiiE  c3?"'s  growtfe.  ami  dev^cpineit  tn 
its  preait  rFn.Fvutg:  giogcirtToiis-  Ai:  t&e  age  e£  neatEy-  ^jbty  jkears.  &e  s 
aisc-  one  m  t&e-  ^tranfe  Gt  tfee  c&»:.  ami  Ms  diaractsr  ami  perscit  are  weie-- 
a&fe  ami  respectm  irt  tfee  eyes  at  aE  cmzsas  oz  HsxmisomL  wfe  esDeem  Frim 
Betfii  ECT  Ms  Lengrft  oc  yeir=  "'  '   "'  -^   "        " '    "  =   """     ■■"  iie  Ml?  ~>—  e 

afeirs  a£  cit?ir.  ccfunrr.  scl.-  _:  -   ._-  -.  - .-- ^  a.  natui" — : -i: 

nirwards  of  llkLv  yeairs  agp^ 

He  was-  6csgi  m  tfee  pEowmce  ax  Bramferrfna^^  Geinai^.  in.  sS-.^  ami  is 
now  ifte  enty  atrororg^  oik  '3*  iSe  khit  cfrrTrfrgL  che  snt  ami  tfiree  dangficers. 
ficni  tD  nrrrstranr  anmf  CfeistiaEna:  (Hamie:-  — idL  tfre  ssonie-  oi  wMmt 

was  a  'JesLiiau  fiirmer  ami  ifed  M  tfte  f.  '■oit  tS<:r     "  ''    -eti  x 

sr'  ■"    •"■•?  anET  trv  Ms  wtk.     Tliev-  wer'i    .._-  trTmrg      _„c    .^;a"rraf 

g^  -g-  c?r  Mir-  M-mB3ic5i  ifed  in  Gerrnany  wfigt  cibse  to  ssty-agM  jeirs 

oM.  ami  tfee  miai  *■«  nali  gcamiatfi^  was  a  feuauKL  ami  (ffiesi  irt  Gaaaamr. 

GcfttHsis  Mtteirc&i  was  r^areti  he  Cesinairr  ami  receiweii  a  g^od!  esfmmicit 
in.  tfte  conmicit  sc&ccls.     He  tsjck  op  Mes  tfatfes;  by  ferMmg  t&e  wensers 
trajfe    He  was  a  scjiiiie"  M  t&e  rcj^i^  armies  &ir  foe  v^irs.  beng:  a.  jtaacmC 
ami  also  fiir  sevoral  yeais  was  ovorsee:  ■^nnf   t^-t— '     i^^  i  large  escit&     He 
was  mamxef  freSTre  leivMg  t&e-  clti  e:^mLLy.    -  lycrtam:  niC've  of  Ms 

Efe  lie  maiie  m  fi^JT-    ^^r  tire  fest  year  lie  I&resf  iir  Ctecagc?.  ami  t&er  were 
tD  HJessscflle.  rmfrana.  wfe:E-  &e  btmsfe  a  soesK  Sirm  ami  tSewotm  MmseEf 
t       _        ■  "  :  "5.     Iir     '  ■        •   jeft  tie  amr  tr> 

ti.. -  _..   -:.-:  :-;.-._._-  _..  ,^_^....._.. -.     .....-.:  was  tfiti:.    ..     ._-  sages  of  begiit- 

rrfng  ami  grrjgxess  toward  a  grosperars  cry.  He  has  Irveti  Lnae  ev^  arrce. 
Hs  &^c  hmJt  a  large  LsLaime  Mmse  'Jil  Somir  HcMnait  scree:  admrnrng  Ms 
ptesem.  resdemre.  amt  sSkt  Irving  litH^  se^foraL  years  soM  3:  to  Ms  son 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  335 

Gustav.    In  1897  he  built  his  present  substantial  brick  residence  at  216  South 
Hohman  street. 

Mr.  Muenich  is  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  war  in  this  country,  having  en- 
listed in  1S62  in  Company  I,  Seventy-second  Illinois  Infantry,  and  served 
about  a  year,  after  which  he  returned  to  his  home  at  Hessville.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Muenich  are  both  members  of  the  Lutheran  church,  and  in  politics  he  has 
always  adhered  to  Republican  principles  and  policies. 

August  8,  1853.  Mr.  Muenich  was  married  to  Miss  Anna  Xatke,  a 
daughter  of  Christian  and  Maria  (Wannock)  Xatke.  Both  her  paternal  and 
her  maternal  grandfathers  died  so  long  ago  that  no  knowledge  of  their  his- 
tor}'  is  obtainable,  but  the  name  of  the  former's  wife  was  Maria  (Rockhill) 
Natke,  and  that  of  the  latter's  Katharina  ^Vannock.  Mrs.  Muenich's  father 
was  a  farmer,  and  in  1857  he  emigrated  with  his  wife  and  family  from  Ger- 
many to  America,  and  after  a  short  residence  in  Chicago  located  at  Hessville, 
where  he  remained  till  his  death,  in  1887,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one.  His 
wife  died  in  1877,  aged  seventy-four.  They  had  three  children :  Anna,  the 
wife  of  Mr.  !Muenich ;  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Joseph  Hess ;  and  Martin  Natke. 

Four  sons  and  one  daughter  were  born  to  ^Ir.  and  Mrs.  IMuenich :  Carl 

Gustav  is  a  contractor  in  Hammond :  he  married  ]\Iiss  ^laria  Bellof .  and  the}' 

have  one  daughter,  Etta.     Gustav  Adolph  Muenich  died  at  the  age  of  five 

and  a  half  years.     Rudolph  is  a  paperhanger:  he  married  Alvina  Zachholz, 

and  their  three  children  are  George,  Ida  Anna  Alvina  and  Bertha.     ]\Iaria 

married  Henr\-  Huehn,  now  deceased,  and  they  had  five  children.   Emma, 

^^'illiam.  Henry.  ]\Iyrtle  and  Arthur.     Edw-ard  Muenich  follows  the  trade  of 

carpenter:  b}'  his  wife,  Alice  Benedict,  he  has  five  children,  Rebecca,  Elmer, 

Lola.  Roy  and  Arthur. 

HENRY  L.  KEILMAN. 

Henrj-  L.  Keilman,  president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Dyer  and  a 
prominent  farmer  of  St.  John  township,  has  spent  all  his  life  in  Lake  county 
and  is  of  the  third  generation  of  the  well  known  family  who  located  in  this 
count}-  sixty  years  ago.  He  has  spent  most  of  his  active  years  in  farming 
pursuits,  which  he  has  followed  for  over  thirtv-  years,  and  he  has  resided 
on  his  present  fine  farmstead  for  twenty-five  years.  Outside  of  his  financial 
and  agricultural  interests  he  has  concerned  himself  in  a  public-spirited  manner 
with  the  administrative  affairs  of  his  county  and  township,  and  is  everywhere 


336  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

known  as  a  good  citizen,  a  good  neiglilx)i'  and  a  man  of  unusual  energy 
and  business  capacity. 

Mr.  Keilman  was  born  in  St.  Jobn  township,  September  22,  1856,  being 
the  eldest  son  of  Leonard  and  Lena  (Austgen)  Keilman,  who  in  childhood 
cnme  from  their  native  land  of  Germany.  His  father,  who  is  still  among 
the  active  and  enterprising  business  men  of  St.  John  township,  is  written  of 
elsewhere  in  this  work,  and  various  details  of  family  history  are  to  be  found 
under  the  name  Keilman  in  various  portions  of  the  history. 

Mr.  Keilman  was  reared  in  his  native  township,  and  was  educated  in 
the  district  school  and  then  attended,  in  1872,  Pionono  College,  near  Mil- 
waukee, Wisconsin.  On  his  return  home  he  at  once  took  up  farming,  and 
after  his  marriage,  in  1879,  located  on  the  farm  where  he  still  resides.  He 
owns  three  hundred  acres,  and  does  general  farming,  stock-raising  and 
dairving.  At  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  First  National  Bank  in 
Dyer,  in  1903,  he  was  elected  its  president,  which  ot^ce  he  still  holds,  and 
his  direction  of  the  bank's  affairs  has  been  most  satisfactory  to  the  stock- 
holders and  is  resulting  in  giving  the  institution  considerable  prestige  among 
the  business  interests  of  St.  John  township. 

Mr.  Keilman  was  elected,  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  to  the  office  of 
trustee  of  St.  John  township,  in  1894,  and  he  held  that  office  for  five  years 
and  three  months.  He  and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Catholic  church, 
St.  Joseph's  church  at  Dyer. 

Lt  1879  Mr.  Keilman  married  Miss  Maggie  Schaefer,  who  is  also  a 
native  of  St.  John  township.  They  have  eight  children,  all  born  on  the 
old  homestead  farm  in  St.  John  township,  as  follows:  William  H.,  Frank 
L.,  Emma,  Frances,  Raymond,  Leonard,  Verna  and  Helen. 

DENNIS    PALMER. 

Dennis  Palmer,  old  settler  and  man  of  affairs  of  Lake  county,  has  been 
for  many  years  a  leading  spirit  in  the  commercial  and  industrial  development 
of  Lake  county  and  particularly  of  that  portion  where  the  town  of  Palmer 
is  situated,  which  was  founded  on  his  land  and  named  as  a  lasting  memorial 
to  his  life  and  services  in  behalf  of  the  community.  He  was  one  of  the  influ- 
ential residents  who  contributed  of  their  own  means  and  lent  their  vigorous 
efforts    for   railroad   building   in   this   county.      Many   enterprises   of   private 


^^99UJi      ^yi^^^^^^A^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  337 

business  and  public  nature  liave  engaged  bis  attention  during  a  long  life  of 
over  seventy  years,  and  bis  place  in  tbe  county  is  one  of  bonor,  bigb  esteem 
and  most  public-spirited  and  useful  performance  of  bis  part   in  life. 

Mr.  Palmer  was  liorn  in  Lorain  county.  Obio,  August  21,  1830.  His 
fatber,  also  named  Dennis,  was  born  in  Massacbusetts.  wbence  be  moved  to 
New  York  state,  and  from  tbere  to  Obio.  settling  first  in  Lorain  county,  tben 
in  Crawford  county,  and  aliout  1854  came  to  Lake  county.  Indiana,  wbere 
he  passed  his  declining  years  and  died  at  tbe  age  of  eighty-two  years.  His 
wife,  Olive  Terril,  was  a  nati\'e  of  Connecticut,  Init  was  reared  in  tbe  early 
times  of  Lorain  county,  Ohio,  and  died  in  that  state  at  tbe  age  of  eighty. 

Mr,  Palmer  was  tbe  only  son  of  his  parents"  five  children.  He  was  seven 
years  old  when  be  moved  to  Crawford  county,  Ohio,  where  be  was  reared. 
His  education  was  accjuired  in  one  of  tbe  primitive  old  log-cabin  schools.  He 
remained  in  that  county  for  two  years  after  bis  marriage,  and  in  1854  moved 
to  Mason  county,  Illinois,  but  after  six  months  came  to  Lake  county  and  took 
up  his  first  residence  in  W^infield,  W'infield  township.  He  was  tbere  six  years 
and  then  came  to  tbe  place  wbere  he  has  ever  since  made  bis  place  of- residence, 
for  over  forty  years.  During  his  more  active  career  he  engaged  in  various 
kinds  of  business,  in  the  raising  and  shipping  of  stock,  merchandising  and 
farming.  A  town  was  laid  out  on  his  land  in  1882  and  named  in  his 
honor.  At  present  he  owns  only  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres  in  this 
vicinity,  but  once  was  possessor  of  six  bun(h-ed.  Much  of  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  this  region  is  due  to  bis  active  eft'orts.  He  has  one  son,  Richard, 
who  is  in  the  real  estate  business  in  Kansas  City,  Missouri.  He  owns  lands 
in  Kansas,  but  these  are  under  the  control  of  this  son  and  his  grandson. 

Mr.  Palmer  started  out  in  life  without  a  dollar,  and  the  story  of  bis  life 
is  one  of  self-achievement,  industry  and  capable  business  management.  He 
therefore  deserves  tbe  esteem  which  is  accorded  him  in  Lake  county,  and  tbe 
weight  of  bis  opinions  has  in  many  ways  been  felt  throughout  tbe  county. 
He  has  in  the  main  retired  from  active  pursuits,  and  confines  most  of  his 
attention  to  lending  money  and  dealing  in  securities.  He  has  been  a  strong 
Republican  since  the  organization  of  tbe  party,  and  has  served  as  township 
trustee  one  term,  and  was  justice  of  tbe  peace  for  twenty  years.  He  was  an 
old-line  Whig  and  at  tbe  birth  of  tbe  Republican  party  espoused  its  prin- 
ciples and  voted  for  Fremont,  then  Lincoln,  Garfield,  Blaine  and  McKinley. 


338  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

He  helped  in  getting  the  hnes  of  the  Pennsyl\-ania  and  the  Erie  raih-oads  run 
through  Crown  Point,  wliich  resulted  in  much  of  the  subsequent  prosperity 
of  that  town  as  a  commercial  center.  He  was  the  first  man  to  sign  the  right 
of  way  and  give  a  mile  of  his  own  land  to  the  Erie  road,  doing  this  with  the 
understanding  that  the  line  should  be  constructed  through  Crown  Point.  He 
also  assisted  in  taking  up  subscriptions  for  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  signing 
his  own  name  for  one  hundred  dollars.  Through  many  such  enterprises  he 
has  made  his  influence  felt  for  good  in  Lake  county,  and  is  one  of  the  best 
known  and  truly  successful  men  of  the  county. 

Air.  Palmer  was  married,  May  12,  1852,  to  ]\Iiss  ]\Iary  Wilson,  and  of 
the  two  children,  both  sons,  born  to  them,  one  is  living,  Richard,  also  men- 
tioned above.  Richard  Palmer  was  born  February  17.  1853.  and  was  reared 
in  this  county,  being  educated  in  the  common  schools.  He  has  been  engaged 
in  the  stock,  real  estate  and  the  banking  lines  of  business,  and  for  some  time 
he  resided  in  Monona  county,  Iowa,  and  carried  on  stock,  banking  and  mer- 
cantile enterprises.  He  marriefl.  November  4.  1875.  Miss  !Mary  E.  Fargo, 
bv  wliiim  he  had  one  son,  ]\Iark  S.  D..  \vho  was  educated  in  tlie  common 
schools  and  at  the  Valparaiso  College,  and  is  now  postmaster  at  Eskridge, 
Kansas ;  at  the  time  of  recei\'ing  his  official  notice  he  was  the  youngest  post- 
master in  the  United  States.  This  grandson  of  ]\Ir.  Palmer  was  married  on 
August  I,  1899,  to  Miss  May  E.  F.  Parsonage,  who  was  born  in  Wabaunsee 
county,  Kansas,  June  17,  1879,  '"'^r  parents  being  still  living  and  farmers  in 
Wabaunsee  county,  and  she  received  a  high  school  education  and  for  some 
time  was  a  teacher.  The  one  daughter  of  this  marriage.  Lois  Z(ie.  is  thus 
a  great-grandchild  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Palmer,  so  that  there  are  four  genera- 
tions alive  at  the  present  time.  Mark  S.  D.  Palmer  is  a  Republican.  ha\-ing 
cast  his  first  vote  for  McKinley,  and  fraternally  he  is  associated  with  Tent 
No.  79,  of  the  Maccabees,  at  Eskridge,  and  with  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen  No.  165. 

Mr.  Richard  Palmer's  first  wife  died  Deceml;er  10,  1880.  and  i)y  his 
second  wife  he  has  six  children,  as  follows:  John  R. :  Alice,  who  is  in  the 
high  school :  Maude,  in  school ;  Fayette.  Lucile  and  Katie  On  February  27, 
1902.  Mr.  Richard  Palmer  married  Mrs.  ]Mary  E.  (Hatterly)  Luth,  who  was 
])orn  in  Harrison  county,  Iowa,  November  5,  1866,  being  a  daugliter  of 
Tames  and   Flannah   Hatterly.      She  was  educated  in  the  common   schools, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  339 

finishing  at  the  Shenandoah  high  school,  and  she  taught  in  Iowa  for  a  year 
and  a  half.  By  her  marriage  to  Henry  Luth  one  son,  Leslie  E.,  was  horn, 
he  being  now  fifteen  years  old  and  a  student  in  the  public  schools  of  Kansas 
City,  where  his  parents  reside.  Richard  Palmer  moved  to  Kansas  City  in 
June,  1903,  and  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business.  He  is  a  Republican, 
having  cast  his  first  vote  for  Hayes,  and  he  has  always  supported  those  prin- 
ciples. His  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  church,  and  they  are  generous 
in  regard  to  the  benevolences. 

Mrs.  Dennis  Palmer  was  born  in  Wyandotte  county,  Ohio,  Feljruary 
1*9,  1833,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Sarah  (Taylor)  Wilson.  She 
was  one  of  thirteen  children,  and  six  are  yet  living.  She  was  reared  in  her 
native  state,  and  her  first  school  was  a  log  cabin,  with  a  mud  and  stick  chim- 
ney, with  benches  of  slabs  resting  on  four  pins  for  legs,  and  the  desk  for  the 
older  scholars  a  long  board  resting  on  pins  driven  into  the  wall.  She  used 
the  goosequill  pen,  usually  fashioned  out  with  the  knife  of  the  master,  who, 
for  a  portion  of  her  school  days,  was  none  other  than  her  future  husband. 
Mr.  Palmer.     Much  more  might  be  related  of  those  early  pioneer  days. 

For  half  a  century  have  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Palmer  traveled  the  journey  of  life 
together,  sharing  the  joys  and  sorrows  as  the}-  have  followed  one  close  on  the 
other.  And  now  at  the  eventide  of  life,  when  the  sun  of  their  careers  is  fast 
setting,  thev  can  look  back  over  the  past  years  as  over  a  golden  harvest  field 
where  the  garnered  sheaves  of  golden  deeds  lie  before  God  and  man  as  proofs 
of  their  noble  characters  and  generous  endeavors,  so  that  all — son,  grand- 
children and  all  who  come  after  them — may  rise  up  and  call  them  blessed. 

REV.  H.  PH.  WILLE. 

Rev.  H.  Ph.  W'ille  has  l.ieen  pastor  of  the  First  Lutheran  church  of 
Whiting  since  1891  and  was  the  first  minister  regularly  located  here.  Dur- 
ing the  years  which  have  since  come  and  gone  he  has  succet^ded  in  build- 
ing up  a  strong  religious  organization  and  one  which  has  had  potent  and 
far-reaching  effect  in  the  moral  development  and  progress  of  this  part  of 
the  state.  \Mdelv  known  and  resijected  by  all  with  whom  he  has  come  in 
contact,  the  life  record  of  Re\'.  W'ille  cannot  fail  to  prove  of  deep  interest  to 
many  of  our  readers.  He  was  born  in  Hamburg,  Germany,  on  the  18th 
of  December,  1843,  when  his  parents  were  en  route  for  America.     His  father. 


340  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Philip  W'ille,  was  a  native  of  Prussia  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He 
came  to  tlie  United  States  in  tlie  spring  of  1844,  locating  near  }vlil\vaukee 
Wisconsin,  and  he  lived  to  enjoy  the  privileges  and  opportunities  of  the  new 
world  for  forty  years,  passing  away  in  1884,  when  seventy-four  years  of 
age.  His  -wife,  who  Ixire  the  maiden  name  of  Charlotte  Tews,  was  abo  a 
native  of  Prussia  and  is  still  living  at  the  very  advanced  age  of  eighty- 
eight  years.  They  became  the  parents  of  nineteen  children,  but  only  six 
reached  adult  age. 

Rev.  PI.  Ph.  W'ille  is  the  only  surx'iving  son,  and  was  but  three  months 
old  when  his  parents  arrived  in  America.  He  was  educated  in  the  public 
and  parochial  schools  near  ^Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  and  in  Martin  Luther 
College  at  Buffalo,  New  York.  He  also  attended  Concordia  Seminary  at 
St.  Louis,  Missouri,  where  he  was  graduated  with  the  class  of  1870  on  the 
completion  of  a  theological  course  which  prepared  him  for  the  active  work  of 
the  ministry.  His  first  charge  was  at  California,  Missouri,  where  he  re- 
mained for  about  four  years.  He  then  removed  to  Concordia,  Missouri, 
where  he  acted  as  pastor  of  the  Lutheran  church  for  twelve  years,  and  on  the 
expiration  of  that  period  he  accepted  a  call  for  the  church  at  Geneseo,  Illinois, 
w'here  he  continued  his  ministerial  labors  for  five  years.  In  1891  he  arrived 
in  Whiting.  It  was  then  but  a  mere  village  and  he  became  the  first  regular 
pastor  in  this  place.  He  began  here  with  a  membership  of  only  forty,  but 
his  labors  have  resulted  in  great  and  substantial  growth  in  the  church,  which 
now  has  an  enrolled  membership  of  over  three  hundred.  He  is  also  inter- 
ested in  the  building  up  of  a  congregation  at  Indiana  Harbor.  His  active 
connection  with  the  ministry  covers  thirty-four  years,  during  which  time  he 
has  not  been  denied  the  full  harvest  nor  the  aftermath.  \\'ith  conscientious 
zeal  he  has  devoted  his  time  and  energies  to  his  holy  calling,  and  his  pulpit 
addresses,  his  pastoral  labors  and  his  personal  influence  and  example  have 
been  strong  and  forceful  elements  for  the  betterment  of  mankind  and  the 
upbuilding  of  the  church  in  the  various  localities  in  which  he  has  resided. 

On  the  1st  of  September,  1864.  Rev.  Wille  was  united  in  the  holy  bonds 
of  matrimony  to  Miss  Minnie  Plenning.  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Buf- 
falo, New  York,  and  is  a  daughter  of  G.  and  ^linnie  (Voelker)  Henning. 
The}''  have  become  the  parents  of  ten  children,  five  sons  and  five  daughters : 
Edward,  a  farmer  now  residing  in  Nebraska;  Lillie.  the  wife  of  Paul  A. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  341 

Scliolz.  who  follows  farming  near  La  Porte,  Indiana;  Hernian  C,  who  is 
proprietor  of  a  grocery  store  in  Chicago:  Emma,  wlio  is  engaged  in  (h-ess- 
making  in  Whiting;  Otto,  wlio  died  at  the  age  of  thirty  years:  Clara,  the 
wife  of  George  Hornecker:  Julius,  who  is  engaged  in  the  tinner's  husiness  in 
^\'hiting;  Ella,  the  wife  of  William  Clock,  of  Whiting:  Rudolph,  who  is 
employed  as  a  salesman  in  a  grocery  store  in  Chicago :  and  Mollie,  at  home. 
The  family  is  well  known  in  \Miiting,  where  they  have  resided  for  twelve 
years,  and  the  hospitality  of  the  best  homes  is  very  cordially  extended  to 
them.  Mr.  \^"ille  commands  the  respect  of  people  of  all  denominations,  and 
while  he  is  firm  in  his  advocacy  of  what  he  believes  to  be  right  he  is  also 
charitable  in  his  opinions  and  of  kindly,  generous  spirit. 

A.   MURRAY  TURXER. 

A.  Murray  Turner,  president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Hammond, 
is  a  life-long  resident  of  Lake  county,  and  for  some  years  has  been  prom- 
inently identified  with  its  business  and  financial  affairs.  He  has  shown  great 
ability  in  promoting  and  organizing  enterprises  whose  results  are  for  the 
welfare  of  the  community  and  people  at  large,  and  his  influence  and  work 
in  this  direction  have  been  of  great  benefit  to  Lake  county.  He  is  essentially 
a  business  man,  but  has  also  directed  some  of  his  energies  tc  politics  and 
social  matters,  and  is  a  representatixe  citizen  of  the  city  of  Hammond. 

He  was  born  in  Crown  Point,  Indiana,  October  3,  1859,  being  a  son  of 
David  and  Caroline  (Bissell)  Turner,  The  family  is  one  of  the  oldest  of 
Lake  county,  and  the  business  and  agricultural  interests  of  the  county  have 
felt  the  stimulating  control  of  three  generations  of  the  name.  Grandfather 
Turner  was  a  native  of  the  north  of  Ireland,  whence  as  a  small  boy  be 
came  to  America  with  a  family  to  whom  he  had  been  bijund  out  for  a  term 
of  years.  He  grew  to  manhood  in  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  and  in  1837 
came  to  Lake  county.  Indiana,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  sixty 
years  in  farming  pursuits.  His  wife,  named  Patterson,  died  in  Eagle  Creek 
town.ship.  Lake  county,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years,  and  they  had  a 
large  family. 

David  Turner,  the  father  of  the  Hammond  banker,  was  born  in  Ohio, 
and  during  the  early  years  of  his  manhood  followed  farming.  He  came  to 
Lake  county  in  1837.     For  some  years  he  was  the  only  merchant  in  the  town 


342  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

of  Crown  Point.  He  served  as  state  senator  from  1858  to  1862,  and  was 
then  appointed  United  States  assessor  by  President  Lincoln,  holding  that 
office  until  its  abolishment.  He  was  president  of  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Crown  Point  for  a  number  of  years  and  died  in  February,  1890,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-three  years.  He  was  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  a  Pres- 
bvterian.  His  wife,  who  still  survives  and  resides  with  her  son,  A.  Mur- 
ray, is  a  native  of  Ohio.  Mrs.  Mary  Brunot,  of  Greensburg,  Pennsylvania, 
is  a  sister  of  Mrs.  David  Turner,  and  they  two  are  the  only  survivors  of 
the  family.  David  Turner  and  wife  had  seven  children,  all  of  whom  are 
still  living:  John  Bissell  Turner,  of  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa:  Sarah  J.,  wife 
of  Thomas  W.  Monteith,  of  Port  Huron,  Michigan:  Emma,  wife  of  I.  C. 
Emory,  of  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa;  Annie  T.,  widow  of  Freeman  Morgan,  of 
Chicago;  Mary  T.,  widow  of  Charles  A.  Holm,  of  Hammond.  Indiana:  A. 
IMurrav:  and  Austria  T..  wife  of  Charles  A.  Ross,  of  Austin,  Illinois. 

Mr.  A.  Murray  Turner  was  reared  in  Lake  county,  and  received  his 
education  in  the  Crown  Point  schools.  He  was  engaged  in  farming  and 
stock-raising  until  1888,  at  which  time  he  was  elected  sheriff,  and  sen'ed 
four  years.  He  came  to  Hammond  in  1893  and  joined  a  syndicate  formed 
to  build  the  first  street  railway  of  the  city.  He  was  president  of  this  com- 
pany until  1900.  He  was  engaged  in  various  other  enterprises,  and  in 
1901  organized  the  First  National  Bank  of  Hammond,  becoming  its  presi- 
dent, in  which  office  he  has  effected  much  in  making  the  First  National  one 
of  the  soundest  and  most  reliable  financial  institutions  of  the  county.  Mr. 
Turner  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  was  a  delegate  to  the  national  conven- 
tion that  nominated  McKinley  for  president  in   1900. 

December  31,  1890,  Mr.  Turner  married  Miss  E.  Lillian  Blackstone. 
Thev  enjoyed  a  most  happy  marital  union  for  ten  years,  during  which  one 
daughter  was  born,  Margaret  Caroline  Turner.  ]\Irs.  Turner  passed  away 
in  November,  1900,  at  the  age  of  thirty  years.  She  was  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  and  a  woman  of  many  social  graces  and  accomplish- 
ments, tboroughlv  devoted  to  her  home  interests  antl  thoughtful  and  careful 
of  her  husband's  best  interests. 

She  was  a  daughter  of  Dr.  John  K.  and  Margaret  J.  (Bryant)  Black- 
stone,  of  Heljron,  Indiana.  Her  paternal  grandfather  was  also  a  physician, 
and   her  maternal  grandfather,   Simeon  Bryant,   was  a  native  of  Ohio  and 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  343 

a  farmer.  She  had  three  brothers  and  was  the  only  daughter.  Her  mother 
was  a  native  of  Hebron,  and  lier  father  of  Athens,  Ohio.  Her  father  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Mexican  war,  being  the  youngest  commissioned  officer  in 
that  conflict,  and  in  the  Ci\il  war  he  served  as  surgeon  with  the  rank-  of  major. 

WILLIAM  J.  McALEER. 

William  J.  McAleer,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Hammond  and  prosecuting 
attorney  of  the  thirty-first  judicial  circuit  of  the  state  of  Indiana,  has  had 
seven  years  of  creditable  and  successful  practice  at  the  law,  all  in  Hammond, 
and  his  popularity  in  the  city  and  county  is  shown  by  his  election  and  re- 
election to  the  important  administrative  office  which  he  now  holds.  He 
was  a  teacher  a  number  of  years,  and  also  followed  other  occupations  before 
taking  up  the  law,  and  all  in  all  he  has  had  a  career  of  which  he  may  well 
be  proud. 

Mr.  McAleer  was  born  in  Gray  county,  Ontario,  Canada,  July  31,  1867, 
a  son  of  John  and  Frances  (Burchill)  McAleer,  both  natives  of  Canada. 
His  mother  was  one  of  the  fourteen  children  born  to  Jason  Burchill,  a 
native  of  Ireland  and  a  Methodist  preacher,  who  emigrated  to  Canada  about 
1840,  and  died  there  when  eighty-four  years  of  age;  his  wife  was  Isabell 
Brown,  and  she  li\-ed  to  be  eighty-three  years  old.  The  father  of  John  McAleer 
was  William  McAleer,  who  was  born  in  Ireland  and  emigrated  thence  to  Can- 
ada, where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  long  life  of  ninety-seven  years,  being  a 
farmer  by  occupation.  His  wife,  Nancy  (Brown)  McAleer.  attained  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  eighty-six  years. 

John  McAleer,  the  father  of  William  J.  McAleer,  was  a  Canadian 
farmer  all  his  life.  He  lieM  the  office  of  reeve  for  many  years,  and  also  other 
minor  offices.  He  died  in  1901,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two  years.  His  wife 
survives  him,  and  is  now  sixty-three  years  old.  They  were  both  Methodists. 
Thev  were  the  parents  of  five  children :  Edith,  the  wife  of  R.  T.  McGirr,  of 
Maford,  Canada;  William  J.;  Martha,  the  wife  of  David  Berridge  of  Tlies- 
salon.  Algoma,  Canada:  Annie,  the  wife  of  Thomas  Brooks,  of  Thessalon; 
and  Robert,  of  Thessalon. 

Mr.  William  J.  McAleer  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  Canada,  and  after 
a  course  in  the  district  schools  graduated  from  the  Owen  Sound  Business 
College,  in   1886.     He  then  came  over  into  the  L^nited  States,  and   for  six 


344  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

years  was  engaged  in  teaching  in  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  Michigan.  From  there 
he  went  west  to  the  state  of  Washington,  and  was  employed  by  the  govern- 
ment in  the  Indian  service  for  two  years  at  Granville,  Chehalis  county.  He 
resigned  his  position  and  came  to  Valparaiso.  Indiana,  and  entered  the  col- 
lege there.  In  1897  he  graduated  with  the  degrees  of  B.  S.  and  LL.  B.,  and 
in  the  same  year  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  commenced  the  practice  of 
law  at  Hammond.  In  November,  1900.  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of 
prosecuting  attorney,  leading  the  Republican  ticket  in  that  election,  as  he 
also  did  in  the  election  of  1902.  He  is  one  of  the  professors  in  the  law  de- 
partment of  the  Valparaiso  Normal  College. 

Mr.  McAleer  has  been  in  the  Republican  ranks  ever  since  attaining  man- 
hood, and  is  an  interested  political  worker.  He  affiliates  with  Garfield  Lodge 
No.  569,  F.  &.  A.  M..  and  also  with  the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of 
Elks.  His  residence  is  at  368  State  street.  He  was  married  May  21,  1892. 
to  Miss  Ethelia  Hembroff,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Harriet  (Grady)  Hemb- 
roff.     They  have  two  children,  Leoda  and  Verna. 

JOHN    HIGGINS,  M.  D. 

Dr.  John  Higgins,  who  for  some  time  before  his  death,  on  April  7, 
1904.  li\ed  as  a  retired  physician,  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Crown 
Point,  and  in  community  afifairs  was  prominent  and  influential,  so  that  his 
life  record  forms  an  important  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  city  in  \v-hich  he 
made  his  home.  He  was  born  in  Perry,  Wyoming  county.  New  York,  May 
28,  1822.  Ebenezer  Higgins,  his  grand  fatlier.  was  born  in  Connecticut,  the 
familv  having  continuously  remained  in  that  portion  of  the  country.  David 
Higgins,  the  father,  was  also  born  in  Connecticut  and  became  a  civil  en- 
gineer. He  married  Miss  Eunice  Sackett,  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  bis  death 
occurred  in  New  York.  In  their  family  were  ten  children,  of  whom  Dr. 
Higgins  was  the  seventh  in  order  of  liirth  He  was  only  about  four  years 
old  when  his  parents  remo^•ed  from  Wyoming  county  to  Osborn.  New  York, 
where  he  remained  until  fourteen  years  of  age.  The  family  home  was  then 
established  at  Seneca  Falls,  where  he  remained  until  sixteen  years  old.  when  he 
came  with  his  mother  to  the  west,  arriving  at  Chicago,  Illinois,  on  the  2d  of 
July,  1838.  After  a  brief  period  passed  in  that  city  he  removed  to  Vermilion 
county,   Illinois,   where   the   following   winter  he   was  engaged   in    reaching 


cJir^^^^ 


/  / 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  345 

school  He  afterward  worked  on  a  farm  tlirough  the  summer  months  and 
in  the  winter  seasons  continued  teaching  until  1843,  when  he  took  up  the 
study  of  medicine.  In  the  winter  of  1843-44  he  came  to  Lake  county,  In- 
diana, and  in  May  of  the  latter  year  established  his  home  at  Crown  Point, 
where  he  began  studying  medicine  \\ith  Dr.  \\\  C.  Farrington,  who  directed 
his  reading  for  about  two  years. 

In  the  year  1850  he  went  to  California,  crossing  the  plains  to  Sacra- 
mento, and  spent  a  year  in  the  mountains.  On  the  expiration  of  that 
period  he  returned  to  Frankfort,  Illinois,  and  in  February,  1859,  he  estab- 
lished his  home  at  Crown  Point,  Indiana.  There  he  continued  in  practice 
until  1861,  when  he  was  appointed  surgeon  of  the  Twelfth  Illinois  Cavalry, 
but  was  employed  mainly  as  a  brigade  surgeon  and  in  general  hospitals  in 
Chicago  and  \\'ashington,  where  he  remained  tor  three  years  and  four  months, 
rendering  active  and  efficient  aid  to  the  wounded  soldiers.  He  made  a  most 
creditable  record  as  an  army  surgeon,  his  aid  being  of  great  value  to  those 
who  needed  professional  services. 

In  1865  Dr.  Higgins  returned  to  Crown  Point  and  located  where  he  now 
lives.  He  was  in  active  and  continuous  practice  until  1900,  and  he  had  a 
large  patronage,  his  efforts  being  very  effective  in  alleviating  human  suffer- 
ing. He  kept  in  touch  with  modern  progress  in  the  line  of  his  profession 
and  through  broad  study  maintained  a  foremost  position  among  the  repre- 
sentatives of  his  calling.  He  was  examiner  for  different  life  insurance  com- 
panies, and  in  the  earl}'  days  of  his  practice  he  rode  for  long  distances  across 
the  country,  even  traveling  from  twenty-five  to  forty  miles  to  attend  a 
patient,  his  practice  extending  into  Porter  county,  Indiana,  and  into  Illinois. 

In  1847  Dr.  Higgins  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Diantha  Tremper, 
who  was  born  in  Lewiston  county.  New  York,  and  died  in  1898.  They 
had  one  daughter,  Eunice  A.,  who  is  now  the  widow  of  Julius  \V.  Youche. 
Dr.  Higgins  was  a  Mason  for  many  years  and  in  early  life  was  a  Whig, 
casting  his  ballot  for  William  Henry  Harrison,  although  he  had  not  then 
attained  the  age  of  twenty-one  years.  He  continued  to  affiliate  with  the 
Whig  party  until  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party,  after  wh.ich  time 
he  was  one  of  its  stalwart  advocates.  He  was  at  the  time  of  his  death  the 
only  sun-iving  member  of  his  father's  family  of  ten  children,  one  of  whom 
died  when  forty-four  years  of  age,  three  between  the  age  of  sixty  and  seventy, 


3'i6  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

two  between  seventy  and  eighty  and  two  lietween  tlie  asres  of  eiehty  and 
ninety.  In  his  practice  he  was  connected  with  tlie  hnhana  Medical  Society, 
and  was  at  one  time  a  delegate  to  the  .\nierican  Medical  Association.  He 
long  maintained  .h  creditable  position  as  a  leading  representatiye  of  the 
medical  fraternity  of  northwestern  Indiana,  and  his  prominence  in  his  pro- 
fession was  well  dcseryed  and  his  .succcess  was  justly  merited.  He  was 
yery  widely  kunwn  throughout  this  portion  of  the  state  because  of  his  active 
connection  with  the  profession,  which  is  of  the  greatest  possible  value  to 
humanity,  and  was  ever  accounted  one  of  its  foremost  members  on  account 
of  his  skill  and  also  because  of  his  fidelity  to  the  ethic?  of  the  profession. 

DAVID    D.  GRIFFITH. 

David  D.  Criffilh  is  filling  the  position  of  city  treasurer  of  \\"hiting, 
and  is  one  in  whom  iiis  fellow  townsmen  have  had  confidence  because  his 
ability  and  fidelity  have  been  tested  in  business  and  social  life.  He  was  born 
in  South  Wales  on  the  20th  of  March,  1844,  and  is  a  son  of  David  and  Ann 
(Jenkins)  Griffith.  The  days  of  his  childhood  and  youth  were  passed  in 
his  native  country  and  his  education  was  acquired  in  the  schools  there.  He 
came  to  .\merica  m  1870,  when  about  twenty-six  years  of  age,  attracted  to 
the  new  world  by  the  hope  that  he  might  find  improved  business  conditions 
and  greater  opportunities  here.  He  located  first  in  Hubbard,  Ohio,  but 
soon  removed  to  Pennsylvania,  establishing  his  home  in  Oak  Hill,  that 
state,  where  he  remained  for  about  three  years.  On  the  expiration  of  that 
period  he  removed  to  Churchill,  Ohio,  near  Youngstown,  and  subsequently 
he  resided  at  New  Straitsville,  Ohio.  On  leaving  there  he  came  to  Whiting, 
Indiana,  in  1895.  and  entered  the  employ  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  with 
which  he  was  connected  continuously  for  eight  years  or  until  1903,  when, 
following  the  incorporation  of  Whiting  as  a  city,  he  was  elected  the  first  city 
treasurer  and  is  now  acting  in  that  capacity.  He  was  chosen  to  this  position 
on  the  Republican  ticket  and  since  coming  to  America  he  has  been  a  stanch 
advocate  of  Republican  principles.  He  keeps  well  informed  on  the  questions 
and  issues  of  the  day  and  warmly  espouses  the  party  by  which  he  was  chosen 
10  office. 

In  1865  Mr.  Giitfith  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Annie  Owens,  a 
native  of  South  Wales,  and  they  are  now  the  parents  of  six  living  children, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  347 

three  soit?  and  three  daugliters,  namely :  William,  Sarah.  Thomas.  Gomer, 
Margaret  and  .Amelia.  They  also  lost  one  son.  David,  who  was  killed  by  an 
explosion  in  a  mine  in  British  Columbia,  and  was  under  ground  for  five 
months  before  discovered. 

Mr.  Griffith  is  quite  well  known  in  fraternal  circles,  being  a  member  of 
tiie  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the  Knights  of  Pythias  Lodge,  of 
which  he  is  now  financial  secretary;  the  Whiting  Mutual  Benefit  Association, 
of  which  he  is  secretary,  and  Ivorites  Lodge,  a  Welsh  organization.  He  is 
a  very  public-spirited  man  and  takes  an  active  interest  in  all  things  pertain- 
ing to  the  w-elfare  and  upbuilding  of  his  community.  No  citizen  of  Whiting 
is  more  thoroughly  representative  or  more  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  her 
welfare  than  Mr.  Griffith,  whose  name  is  widely  known  for  the  prominent 
part  he  has  taken  in  local  mterests.  He  has  never  regretted  the  step  which 
he  took  when  he  left  his  native  country  and  came  to  the  new  world,  for  he 
has  thorough  sympathy  with  the  free  institutions  and  the  governmental  policy 
of  the  United  States  and  there  is  no  more  loyal  American  than  this  adopted 
son.  Fie  has  been  connected  with  the  Baptist  denomination  the  most  of 
his  days,  in  this  and  the  old  country. 

WILLIAM  E.  SMITH. 

William  E.  Smith,  present  incumbent  of  the  office  of  assessor  of  Ross 
township,  has  been  identified  with  the  farming  interests  of  Lake  county  and 
at  present  owns  a  farm  on  section  i8.  He  has  lived  in  this  county  for  over 
forty  years,  so  that  he  is  familiar  with  most  of  its  history  subsequent  to 
the  real  pioneer  epoch.  During  all  this  time  he  has  had  a  busy  career,  devoted 
mainly  to  agriculture,  but  has  also  found  time  to  give  to  the  management 
of  the  affairs  of  his  community,  in  which  he  has  heen  esteemed  and  honored 
throughout  his  life. 

Mr.  Smith  was  born  in  Erie  county.  Pennsylvania.  June  6,  1847,  ^n 
the  old  homestead  where  his  father,  Amos  Smith,  was  born,  and  where  he 
followed  farming  until  his  death  in  young  manhood,  in  1852.  Mr.  Smith's 
mother  was  Harriet  (Ellis)  Smith,  who  died  in  1858,  leaving  four  oriihaned 
children. 

Mr.  Smith  has  a  l.rother,  Cyrus,  who  is  a  prominent  farmer  also  in 
section  18  of  Ross  township,  and  whose  life  history  is  given  on  other  pages. 


348  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  \\".  E.  Smitli  was  reared  on  tlie  old  Penns^dvania  homesteafl  to  llie  age 
of  sixteen,  receiving"  his  education  in  the  puljh'c  schools.  He  came  to  Lake 
county.  Indiana,  in  1863,  and  for  a  time  also  attended  the  public  schools 
here.  Farming  has  been  his  principal  occupation  since  arriving  at  man- 
hood, and  his  nice  farm  of  fifty  acres  is  well  improved  and  highly  cultivated. 

Mr.  Smith  is  a  steadfast  Republican,  and  takes  considerable  interest  in 
local  politics.  He  -was  appointed  to  the  office  of  assessor,  holding  it  four 
years  by  appointment,  and  was  then  elected  for  one  year,  and  in  1900  was 
re-elected  for  a  full  term,  discharging  its  duties  at  the  present  time  and  hav- 
ing given  a  most  painstaking  and  satisfactory  administration  for  nine  years. 
For  se\'eral  years  he  also  held  the  ofifice  of  township  supervisor. 

He  was  first  married  in  1870,  to  Miss  Cassie  Booth,  who  had  one  daugh- 
ter, Mabel,  now  the  wife  of  Frank  F.  Peterson,  a  farmer  of  Ross  township. 
Mrs.  Smith  died  in  1874.  and  in  1881  Mr.  Smith  married  Miss  Caroline 
Harper,  a  native  of  Ashtabula  county,  Ohio.     There  are  no  children  bv  this 

marriage. 

D.    M.    VANLOON. 

D.  M.  Vanloon  is  one  of  the  revered  patriarchs  of  Hobart,  who  has 
attained  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years  and  who  for  fifty-seven  years  has 
been  a  resident  of  this  part  of  the  state.  For  a  long  period  he  was  identified 
with  building  interests,  and  has  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  the  progress 
and  improvement  of  the  community.  He  is  now  living  retired,  and  he 
enjoys  in  high  measure  the  respect  and  good  wnll  of  his  fellow  men,  who 
have  long  been  familiar  with  the  history  of  his  upright  career. 

Mr.  Vanloon  was  born  in  Bradford  county,  Pennsyhania,  December 
18,  1827,  his  parents  being  Everett  and  Elizabeth  S.  (Miller)  X'anloon,  who 
were  natives  of  Pennsylvania.  He  remained  at  home  until  about  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  assistnig  in  the  work  of  the  home  farm.  In  the  year  1846  he 
became  a  resident  of  LaPorte  county,  Indiana,  and  the  following  year  arrived 
in  Lake  county,  settling  about  three  miles  south  of  Hobart.  where  he  devoted 
his  energies  to  agricultural  pursuits.  When  twenty-five  years  of  age,  how- 
ever, he  began  learning  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  followed  for  a  long 
period,  being  closely  identified  with  building  interests  in  this  portion  of  the 
state. 

In    1861    Mr.   Vanloon   responded   to  his  country's  call,   enlisting  as  a 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  349 

member  of  Company  H,  Ninth  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry,  witli  which  lie 
served  for  three  months.  He  was  then  honorably  discharged  on  account  of 
disability.  He  was  one  of  the  first  men  to  enlist  from  Lake  county,  but  was 
unable  to  endure  the  hardships  and  rigors  of  war.  He  then  returned  to 
Hobart  and  again  took  up  work  at  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  followed 
continuously  until  1896.  In  that  year  he  retired  from  active  business  life 
and  is  now  enjoying  a  well  merited  rest. 

In  1864  Mr.  Vanloon  was  united  in  marriage  to  Aliss  Johanna  Switzer, 
and  they  ha\-e  become  the  parents  of  four  children,  of  whom  two  are  now 
deceased,  Elizabeth  and  James  Justin.  Those  still  living  are  Rudolph  D.  and 
Lawrence  F. 

Mr.  Vanloon  holds  membership  with  the  Holjart  Post  No.  411,  G.  A.  R., 
and  in  politics  he  is  an  earnest  Republican  and  is  now  filling  the  ofifice  of 
justice  of  the  peace,  being  strictly  fair  and  impartial  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties.  A  review  of  his  life  record  shows  that  at  all  times  he  has  Ijeen  loyal 
to  principle,  faithful  in  the  performance  of  every  task  assigned  him,  honor- 
able in  his  business  relations  and  straightforward  in  all  his  dealings  with  his 
fellow  men.  Moreover,  he  is  entitled  to  distinction  as  a  pioneer  settler  of 
Lake  county,  having  been  an  interested  witness  of  its  growth  and  develop- 
ment for  fifty-seven  years.  Great  changes  have  occurred  in  that  time,  and 
Mr.  Vanluon  has  endorsed  every  measure  which  he  lielieved  would  contribute 
to  the  county's  progress,  and  in  his  community  has  aided  materially  in  ad- 
vancing the  substantial  upbuilding  and  development  of  Hobart. 

JOHN    L.    FIESTER. 

The  business  interests  of  Hobart  find  a  worth)-  representati\-e  in  John 
L.  Fiester,  a  general  mercliant  of  the  town.  He  has  always  lived  in  this  sec- 
tion of  the  country,  and  early  became  imbued  with  the  enterprising  spirit 
which  has  been  the  dominant  factor  in  producing  the  wonderful  and  sub- 
stantial development  of  the  middle  west.  His  birth  occurred  in  Chicago  on 
the  28th  of  Noveml^er,  1858,  his  parents  being  Jacob  and  Mary  (Thering) 
Fiester,  both  of  whom  were  born  in  Switzerland.  Coming  to  America  in 
early  life  ihey  were  married  in  this  country.  The  father  was  employed  as  a 
fireman  in  steamboats  on  the  Mississippi  river  for  about  ten  years,  and  in 
1854  he  went  to  Chicago,  where  he  secured  employment  in  a  rolling  mill. 


350  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

His  last  cla}s.  liowever,  were  passed  in  Hobart,  where  he  died  in  1900  and 
where  his  widow  is  still  living.  They  were  the  parents  of  thirteen  children, 
six  of  whom  yet  survive,  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 

John  L.  Fiester,  the  third  of  the  living  children,  was  reared  and  educated 
in  the  city  of  his  nativity,  where  he  ranained  until  eighteen  years  of  age. 
when  he  secured  employment  on  a  farm  in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  being  thus 
employed  for  five  years.  He  came  to  Hobart  in  1883,  and  was  engaged  in 
the  butcliering  business  for  five  years  in  partnership  with  James  Roper.  He 
then  sold  out  and  formed  a  partnership  with  Lewis  Passow,  this  relation 
being  maintained  for  two  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  Mr.  Passow  died. 
Mr.  Fiester  then  took  entire  charge  of  the  business,  but  a  year  later  admitted 
John  Killigrew,  and  they  were  together  in  business  for  ele\-en  \-ears,  when 
Mr.  Fiester  sold  out.  He  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  hardware  trade, 
conducting  a  store  for  about  six  months,  and  his  next  venture  was  in  the 
line  of  jewelry  merchandising,  becoming  proprietor  of  the  store  which  he 
now  owns.  He  carries  a  well  selected  line  of  general  merchandise,  and  by 
reason  of  his  earnest  efforts  to  please  his  patrons,  his  reasonable  prices  and 
his  straightforward  dealing,  he  has  secured  a  patronage  that  is  constantly 
growing  and  has  assumed  profitable  proportions. 

The  home  life  of  Mr.  Fiester  is  very  pleasant.  He  was  married  June  28, 
1883.  to  Miss  Amanda  Passow,  a  daughter  of  Ernst  and  Mamie  Passow. 
This  union  has  been  blessed  with  three  sons :  Frank,  Edward  and  ^^^alter. 
Mr.  Fiester  is  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters,  and  politic- 
ally is  a  Democrat.  He  has  been  a  representative  of  Hobart's  business  inter- 
ests for  twenty-one  years,  and  his  enterprise  has  contributed  to  the  com- 
mercial activity  of  the  town  and  at  the  same  time  has  ujade  his  own  career 
one  of  signal  success,  in  which  he  has  risen  from  a  humble  financial  position 

to  one  of  aiTiuence. 

\\".    B.   OWEN. 

W.  B.  Owen,  superintendent  o'"  the  National  Fire  Roofing  Companv  at 
Hobart,  Indiana,  is  a  young  man  whose  responsible  business  position  indi- 
cates his  marked  capabilit}'  and  enterprising  spirit.  He  is  numbered  among 
Indiana's  native  sons,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  Porter  countv  on  the 
31st  of  October.  1882.  His  father.  \\'i]liam  B.  Owen,  was  born  in  Crown 
Point,   New  York,   in    1835,   and  about    1878  became  a   resident  of   Porter 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  351 

count\".  Indiana.  He  was  a  prominent  Ijrick  manufacturer  of  Porter  and 
Lake  counties,  establishing  his  liome  in  the  latter  about  1886.  There  he 
founded  a  brick  manufacturing  plant,  which  he  conducted  until  his  death  in 
1901.  This  became  a  leading  industrial  enterprise  of  the  county  and  was  a 
factor  in  the  business  prosperity  of  the  communit}-  in  which  it  was  located. 
jMr.  Owen's  father  was  well  known  in  temperance  circles,  took  an  active  part 
in  the  work  of  suppressing  the  liquor  traffic  and  gave  his  political  allegiance 
to  the  Prohibition  party.  He  served  as  town  trustee  of  Hobart  for  about 
twelve  years  and  was  greatly  interested  in  the  development  and  progress  of 
the  town.  He  was  also  a  prominent  Mason  and  was  an  active  and  zealous 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  his  life  being  in  consistent 
harmony  with  his  professions.  He  married  Miss  Annie  Pride,  a  native  of 
Glasgow.  Scotland,  who  came  to  America  with  her  parents  when  but  six 
years  old.  She  was  a  resident  of  Chicago  for  some  years,  and  she  died  in 
Lake  county.  Indiana,  in  November.  1897.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  \\'illiam  B.  Owen, 
Sr..  were  the  parents  of  four  children,  three  sons  and  a  daughter :  \\'i]liam 
L.,  who  is  studying  medicine  in  Chicago;  Jessie  and  Robert,  who  are  de- 
ceased ;  and  W.  B. 

W.  B.  Owen,  the  youngest  of  the  family,  pursued  his  early  education 
m  tlie  iHiblic  schools  of  Plobart  and  afterward  attended  the  Chicago  Manual 
Training  school  for  three  vears.  He  was  then  associated  with  his  father  in 
business,  and  in  1902  was  made  superintendent  of  the  National  Fire  Roofing 
Company,  which  position  he  now  holds.  He  has  a  thorough  and  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  business  in  both  principle  and  detail,  and  combined  with  his 
executive  force  and  keen  discernment  he  has  been  enabled  to  so  control  the 
affairs  of  the  company  as  to  make  its  interests  ^'ery  profitable.  He  now  has 
in  his  employ  one  hundred  and  five  men.  and  the  enterprise  of  which  he  is 
the  head  is  one  of  the  most  important  productive  industries  of  the  county. 
Fifteen  hundred  car-loads  of  the  products  were  shipped  in  the  year  1903. 
The  company  also  owns  a  large  plant  at  Twin  Bluff.  Illinois,  near  Ottawa,  of 
which  Mr.  Owen  is  superintendent,  and  there  they  do  about  one-half  the 
amount  of  business  transacted  at  Hobart. 

In  1902  yir.  Owen  was  joined  in  wedlock  to  Miss  Eva  May  Kitchem. 
a  daughter  of  Albert  Kitchem.  The}-  have  one  child,  Jessie.  Like  his  father, 
Mr.  Owen  is  a  most  stalwart  advocate  of  temperance  principles  and  gives  his 


35-2  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

political  allegiance  Lo  the  party  which  embraces  his  views  on  this  question. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  his  has  been  an 
upright  and  honorable  career.  In  all  of  his  business  life  he  has  never  been 
known  to  take  advantage  of  the  necessities  of  his  fellow  men,  but  places  his 
dependence  upon  the  sure  and  safe  qualities  of  energy,  good  workmanship 
and  honorable  dealing — which  always  prove  an  excellent  foundation  upon 
whicli  to  rear  the  superstructure  of  prosperity. 

FRED    CASTLE,  M.    D. 

Dr.  Fred  Castle,  who  was  formerly  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine, 
enjoying  a  large  and  lucrative  practice  and  rendering  valuable  assistance  to 
his  fellow-men,  is  now  living  retired  in  Lowell.  He  is  a  native  of  Franklin, 
Franklin  county,  Vermont,  his  natal  day  being  August  9,  1840.  His  father, 
Stanley  Castle,  was  also  born  there  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He 
left  New  England,  however,  in  1847,  ^"^  made  his  way  westward  to  Lake 
count}^  Indiana,  locating  in  Cedar  Creek  township,  where  he  secured  a  tract 
of  land,  which  he  developed  into  a  rich  and  productive  farm.  Prospering 
in  his  undertakings,  he  added  to  his  possessions  from  time  to  time  until  his 
realty  holdings  aggregated  about  seven  hundred  acres. 

Dr.  Castle  is  the  elder  of  two  children,  and  was  a  lad  of  seven,  summers 
when  brought  by  his  parents  to  Lake  county.  His  early  education  was  ac- 
quired in  an  old  log  schoolhouse,  such  as  was  common  in  pioneer  days  of 
this  portion  of  the  state.  He  afterward  attended  Valparaiso  College,  and, 
while  there  pursuing  his  study,  enlisted  in  response  to  the  country's  call, 
becoming  a  member  of  Company  G,  Twelfth  Indiana  Cavalry,  in  1863.  He 
joined  the  army  as  a  private,  but  was  made  orderly  sergeant  and  did  active 
service  until  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  received  an  honorable  discharge 
from  the  hospital  in  which  be  had  been  for  six  months  on  account  of 
rheumatism. 

When  the  country  no  longer  needed  his  services  Dr.  Castle  returned 
to  Lowell,  where  he  remained  for  a  year  and  a  half,  ere  he  had  sufficiently 
recovered  his  health  to  engage  in  active  business.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
he  began  teaching  in  the  public  schools  and  also  taught  vocal  and  instrumental 
music.  Later  he  retired  from  the  field  of  public-school  education  in  order 
to  devote  more  time  and  attention  to  music.     He  also  took  up  the  study  of 


e^fm  (^^/2^:£/^^u/    "^^^a^k^^ 


FRED  CASTLE 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  353 

medicine,  ami  alter  pursuing  his  reading  for  five  years  he  was  graduated 
from  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of  Michigan  at  Ann  Arhor 
with  the  class  of  1869.  He  practiced  medicine  for  ten  years  in  Minnesota., 
being  located  at  Caledonia.  Houston  county.  He  was  forced  to  abandon 
the  practice,  however,  on  account  of  rheumatism,  and  then  returned  to  In- 
diana, after  which  he  devoted  his  time  to  farming  for  a  number  of  years. 
At  length  he  divided  his  land  among  his  children,  but  still  continues  the 
supervision  of  the  property.  Dr.  Castle  owned  at  one  lime  about  three 
hundred  and  fifty  acres,  and  he  still  has  control  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  acres. 

He  was  married  to  his  present  wife  in  1878.  She  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Rachel  Ellingsen,  and  to  them  have  been  born  three  children : 
Carrie  M.,  who  is  now  the  wife  of  Cecil  M.  Johnson,  who  resides  upon  one 
of  her  father's  farms:  John;  and  Nellie  M. 

Prior  to  the  Civil  war  Dr.  Castle  was  a  Democrat,  but  at  that  time  he 
joined  the  Republican  party  and  has  since  been  unfaltering  in  support  of 
the  party  and  its  platform.  He  is  a  member  of  Burnham  Post,  G.  A.  R., 
and  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason.  Coming  to  Lake  county  in  early  boyhood  days, 
he  has  witnesed  the  greater  part  of  its  growth  and  improvement  as  it  has 
emerged  from  pioneer  conditions  to  take  its  place  among  the  leading  counties 
of  this  great  commonwealth.  Whatever  has  been  accomplished  here  in  the 
way  of  progress  and  improvement  has  been  to  him  a  matter  of  deep  interest, 
and  inasfar  as  possible  he  has  co-operated  in  the  work  for  the  general  good. 

WILLIAM   M.   FOSTER. 

William  M.  Foster  is  the  efficient  and  popular  agent  of  the  Pittsburg, 
Fort  Wayne  and  Cliicago  Railroad  at  Hobart,  and  his  relations  in  a  business 
and  personal  way  with  this  city  have  been  most  pleasant  and  profitable.  He 
was  born  in  Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania,  September  16,  1861.  His 
father,  James  Foster,  was  a  native  of  Allegheny  comity,  Pennsylvania,  and 
was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  He  followed  the  occupation  of  farming  in  early 
life,  and  at  one  time  was  engaged  in  the  operation  of  a  sawmill  and  the  manu- 
facture of  lumber.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  however,  he  was  connected  with 
the  steel  industry  in  Pittsburg,  where  he  died  in  1880.  His  wife  and  the 
mother  of  Mr.  Foster  was  Charlotte  Benton,  also  a  native  of  the  Keystone 

23 


354  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

state,  where  imicli  of  lier  life  has  been  passed,  but  she  is  now  Hving  in  Hobart, 
Indiana,  at  tlie  age  of  seventy-five  years.  Her  parents  were  EngHsh  born, 
and  some  of  their  children  were  also  born  in  England.  James  and  Charlotte 
Foster  had  five  sons  and  two  daughters :  Sarah  Antoinette,  who  died  in 
December,  1897;  John  Benton,  who  is  a  foreman  in  the  Edgar  Thompson 
Steel  Works  at  Braddock,  Pennsyh'ania ;  Henry  Albert,  who  was  engaged 
with  a  pulilishing  company  at  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  formerly 
train  dispatclier  at  Fort  Wayne  for  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago 
Railroad;  William  M.,  -who  is  the  fourth  child  and  third  son;  Marian  A., 
who  died  in  infancy;  James  Alexander,  who  is  a  foreman  in  the  machine 
shops  of  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  anil  Chicago  Raihva)-,  at  Fort  Wayne, 
Indiana,  where  he  entered  as  an  apprentice,  in  1886,  and  has  occupied  posi- 
tions in  several  other  machine  shops  since  then,  returning  to  the  Pennsyh'ania 
Company's  shops  in  1901,  and  was  promoted  to  his  present  position  of  fore- 
man in  1903;  and  Richard  Franklin,  a  telegraph  operator  at  Liverpool,  In- 
diana, with  the  Pennsylvania  S3'stem,  who  was  born  in  Westmoreland  county, 
Pennsylvania,  July  2S.  187 1.  This  son.  the  youngest  of  the  family,  is  an 
especially  proficient  musician  and  performer  on  the  mandolin,  possessed  of 
much  artistic  skill,  besides  being  so  capable  in  his  serious  line  of  work. 

j\Ir.  William  M.  Foster  was  reared  and  educated  in  Pennsylvania,  at- 
tending school  at  Pittsburg  for  one  year.  He  was  a  traveling  man  for  four 
years,  representing  different  lines  of  business.  In  1887  he  took  up  the  study 
of  telegraphy  at  Fort  Wayne  in  the  office  of  the  Pittsburg.  Fort  Wayne  and 
Chicago  Railroad.  He  had  completed  his  term  of  apprenticeship  in  one  year, 
and  then  served  a  year  as  extra  operator.  In  Decemlier.  1889.  he  was  given 
a  regular  position,  and  in  1892  was  appointed  relief  agent.  In  1895  he  was 
transferred  from  the  latter  capacity  to  the  post  of  station  agent  at  Hobart, 
which  position  he  is  still  filling  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  his  companv. 
He  is  a  very  capable  man.  and  his  courtesy  in  the  treatment  of  the  |iatrons 
of  the  road  has  won  him  high  commendation  and  been  a  chief  factor  in  his 
success.  Mr.  Foster  is  a  true-blue  Republican,  and  fraternally  is  affiliated 
with  Camp  No.  5202,  M.  W.  A.,  and  with  the  M.  L.  McClelland  Lodge 
No.  357,  of  the  Masonic  order  at  Flobart.  He  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Unitarian  church  at  Hobart. 

Mr.   Foster's  wife,   to  whom   lie  was  married  on  June  24,    1896,   was 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  355 

I\Iiss  Julia  C.  Butler,  a  daughter  of  William  M.  and  Elizabeth  (Johnson) 
Butler.  The  history  of  her  father,  a  pioneer  of  Chicago  and  of  Lake  county, 
is  detailed  below.  Mrs.  Foster  was  born  in  Chicago,  July  4,  1871,  and  she 
spent  some  of  her  girlhood  days  in  Holiart.  She  received  her  education  in 
the  grammar  schools  and  in  the  Hobart  high  school,  antl  she  completed  her 
education  in  the  Valparaiso  Normal  College.  Her  own  educational  qualifica- 
tions led  her  into  teaching,  and  before  her  marriage  she  was  known  as  one 
of  the  successful  teachers  in  the  public  schools  of  Hobart  and  Liverpool. 
Her  interests  are  still  afforded  as  far  as  possible  to  literary  affairs,  and  she 
is  a  member  of  the  \Voman"s  Reading  Club  of  Hobart.  She  is  among  the 
most  highly  esteemed  ladies  of  Hobart,  and  her  social  relations  are  with  the 
best  people  of  the  city.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foster  have  two  children :  The  son, 
James  Moulton.  was  born  July  8,  1897,  and  Helen  Virginia  was  born 
April  30,   1900. 

Shortly  after  their  marriage  Mr.  Foster  purchased  a  comfortable  and 
commodious  modern  residence  on  Cleveland  avenue  in  Hobart,  really  ex- 
changing for  it  his  residence  property  in  Fort  Wayne.  ]\Ir.  Foster  takes 
great  pride  in  his  nice  home,  and  gives  attention  to  the  adornment  of  the 
nice  grounds  about  the  house,  while  Mrs.  Foster  does  her  part  so  well  fcjr 
interior  comfort  and  beauty. 

There  follows  the  obituary  of  Mrs.  Foster's  father,  as  clipped  from  an 
issue  of  the  local  press  dated  in  December,  1895. 

Died,  December  i,  ^\'illiam  M.  Butler,  Sr.,  one  of  Hobart's  oldest 
residents.  He  was  a  native  of  Watertown,  New  York,  where  he  was  born 
Jannarv  22.  1824.  He  came  to  Chicago  in  1837,  and  was  one  of  the  far- 
sighted  pioneers  who  watched  the  frontier  trading  post  de\'elop,  like  the 
fairy  castles  of  a  single  night,  mto  the  representative  commercial  metropolis 
of  a  continent.  Mr.  Butler  was  engaged  in  the  hardware  business  there 
until  the  great  fire.  He  then  mo\-ed  to  Hobart,  where  he  has  ever  since 
resided.  He  lea\-es  a  wife  and  ten  children,  an  interesting  fa'nily,  to  whom 
the  sincere  sympathy  of  this  community  is  extended  in  their  bereavement. 
The  funeral  services  were  held  Wednesday  forenoon  from  the  home. 

"We  see  but  dimly  through  the  mists  and  vapors." — And  perhaps  most 
dimly  on  this  earth  can  we  penetrate  the  \'eil  which  co\ers  the  inmost  heart 
and  impulses  of  our  fello^^•  men.     We  see  the  puppets  play  upon  the  boards ; 


356  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

1)iit  of  the  hand  beliind  the  curtain  which  controls  and  impels  them,  we  know- 
nothing. 

Mr.  Butler's  was  a  unique  character— rugged,  and  strong  of  purpose 
and  will.  All-sufficient  unto  himself,  he  possessed  his  hopes  and  his  ambi- 
tions, and  he  fought  and  struggled  for  them  with  a  silent  determination 
which  was  only  the  stronger  because  its  ordinary  indications  were  repressed. 
He  b.ac!  many  acquaintances,  yet  the  number  of  men  who  really  knew  him 
was  very  few.  Those  who  were  permitted  to  see  beneath  the  stern  and 
rugged  exterior  found  something,  within  the  inner  self  of  the  man,  to  under- 
stand and  look  upon  with  no  little  admiration.  He  had  had  his  troubles 
and  his  disappointments :  and  out  of  them  he  had  brought  one  strong  desire 
to  provide  for  the  children  whose  happiness  and  worldly  welfare  was.  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  his  highest  wish.  Taciturn  he  was.  and  not  given  to  revealing 
his  inner  emotions  to  those  about  him.  And  yet  he  had  moments  when  lie 
unbent,  when  his  grim  silence  seemed  to  relax ;  and  in  those  moments,  \\hich 
were  seldom  seen  by  any  except  his  family,  there  could  be  read  the  better 
nature  which  dominated  his  life's  hard  and  really  unselfish  struggle. 

He  possessed  in  an  exceptional  degree  the  refined  education  and  deep 
mental  grasp  which  might  have  made  him  a  highly  known  student  and  thinker 
had  he  chosen.  His  ideal  of  life  was  a  plain  and  far  from  idyllic  one.  He 
was  faithful  to  his  religious  tenets  to  the  end,  and  in  accordance  with  a 
prevouslv  expressed  desire,  the  funeral  address  was  made  by  the  eloquent 
Cora  L.  V.  Richmond,  of  Chicago,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  leaders  of  the 
Spiritualistic  exponents  in  America.  Appropriate  music  was  pleasingly  ren- 
dered by  the  quartette  choir  of  the  Unitarian  church. 

AUGUST    CONRAD. 

Perhaps  no  one  business  enterprise  or  industry  indicates  more  clearly 
the  commercial  and  social  status  of  a  town  than  its  hotels.  The  wide-awake, 
enterprising  villages  and  cities  must  have  pleasant  accommodations  for  vis- 
itors and  traveling  men,  and  the  foreign  public  judges  of  a  community  by  the 
entertainment  afforded  to  the  strangers.  In  this  regard  the  Conrad  Hotel. 
of  which  Mr.  Conrad  is  proprietor,  is  an  index  of  the  character  and  advan- 
tages of  Tolleston,  for  the  hostelrv  will  rank  favorablv  with  those  of  manv  a 
larger  place,  and  its  genial  proprietor  neglects  nothing  that  can  add  to  the 
comfort  of  his  guests. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  357 

Mr.  Conratl  is  a  native  of  Germany,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  tlie 
fatherland  on  the  9th  of  September.  1841.  He  was  tliere  reared,  his  boyhood 
days  being  quietly  passed,  and  the  pubHc  schools  of  Germany  afforded  him 
his  educational  privileges.  After  putting  aside  his  text-books  he  began 
preparation  for  life's  practical  duties  by  serving  an  ajiprenticeship  to  the 
cabinet-maker's  trade.  He  began  when  fourteen  years  of  age  and  worked  on 
that  way  until  twenty  years  of  age,  when,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the 
fatherland  demanding  military  service  from  every  able-bodied  son.  he  joined, 
the  German  army  and  served  for  three  years. 

Desirous  of  benefiting-  his  financial  condition  Mr.  Conrad  resolved  to 
come  to  America,  having  heard  much  of  its  superior  fiusiness  opportunities 
and  possibilities.  Accordingly  he  bade  adieu  to  home  and  friends  and  in 
1866  sailed  for  the  new  world,  landing  eventually  at  New  York.  He  did 
not  tarry  in  the  eastern  metropolis,  however,  liut  made  his  way  at  once  into 
the  interior  of  the  country,  locating  in  Chicago,  where  he  followed  his  trade 
as  an  employe  until  1870.  In  that  year  he  removed  to  Clarke  Station,  where 
he  entered  the  emplo}'  of  the  Washington  Ice  Company,  but  later  returned 
to  Chicago,  although  he  still  remained  in  the  service  of  the  \\'ashington  Ice 
Company.  In  1879  he  came  to  Tolleston,  where  he  embarkctl  in  the  hotel 
business,  in  which  he  has  continued  to  the  present  time,  co\"ering  a  period 
of  twenty-five  consecutive  years.  As  hotel  proprietor  he  is  well  known, 
being  a  genial  landlord,  and  has  made  it  his  study  to  understand  the  needs 
and  wishes  of  his  guests  and  to  meet  these  inasfar  as  is  possible.  He  has 
obtained  a  good  patronage  and  has  made  the  Conrad  Hotel  a  credit  to  the 
town. 

In  1870  was  celeljrated  the  marriage  of  August  Conrad  and  Miss 
Harmena  Ratzlow,  who  died  in  1S98  leaving  four  children,  namely:  Otto. 
Emma,  Minnie  and  Paul,  all  of  whom  are  yet  under  the  parental  roof. 

^Ir.  Conrad  has  been  quite  active  and  influential  in  public  affairs  in  his 
community  and  is  a  recognized  leader  of  public  thought  and  action  in  Tolles- 
ton, where  his  worth  and  .ability  have  been  recognized  by  election  to  public 
office.  In  1892  he  was  chosen  by  popular  suffrage  to  the  position  of  town- 
ship trustee,  in  which  capacity  he  served  in  a  most  acceptable  manner  for 
four  years.  He  then  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death 
of  Henry  Seegers  in  the  office  of  trustee.     He  was  also  supervisor  for  two 


358  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

terms,  or  four  years.  Mr.  Conrad  cast  liis  first  presidential  vote  for  General 
Grant,  but  since  that  time  has  been  a  Democrat  and  is  a  stanch  advocate 
of  the  ])arty,  bielieving  that  its  platform  contains  the  best  elements  of  good 
government.  Air.  Conrad  is  well  known  in  his  part  of  the  county  and  has 
been  identified  with  its  upbuilding  aufl  progress  through  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  In  every  ofiice  that  he  has  been  called  upon  to  fill  he  has  discharged 
his  duties  with  promptness  and  fidelity  so  that  over  the  record  of  his  public 
career  as  well  as  his  private  life  there  falls  no  shadow  of  wrong  or  suspicion 
of  evil.  He  came  to  America  empty-handed,  but  the  strong  and  salient 
cliaracteristics  of  the  German  people  have  been  manifested  in  liis  career,  and 
the  hope  that  led  him  to  come  to  the  United  States  has  theref'ire  been  more 
than  realized.  As  time  has  passed  he  has  made  financial  progress  and  has 
also  gained  in  addition  to  his  material  success  the  good  will  and  confidence 
of  those  with  whom  he  has  been  associated. 

ALEXANDER   C.    THOMPSON. 

Alexander  C.  Thompson,  formerly  identified  with  agricultural  interests 
in  Hobart  and  now  living  a  retired  life,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Streetsboro, 
Portage  county,  Ohio,  on  the  loth  of  July,  1838,  and  is  the  third  son  in  a 
family  of  eleven  children,  whose  parents  were  John  and  Elizabeth  (Cock- 
burn)  Thompson.  The  father  was  a  native  of  Edinburg.  Scotland,  and  the 
mother  was  born  in  Dalkeith,  Scotland.  They  were  married  in  that  country, 
and  two  of  their  children  were  born  there,  but  the  others  were  born  in  Ohio. 

Alexander  C.  Thompson  was  reared  in  the  county  of  his  nativity,  pur- 
sued a  common  school  education,  and  afterward  spent  one  year  in  Hiram 
College  when  General  James  A.  Garfield  was  a  teacher  there.  He  wgs  reared 
to  farm  labor  and  continued  upon  the  old  homestead  until  1861,  when  he  left 
the  plow  and  donned  the  blue  uniform  in  defense  of  the  stars  and  stripes. 
He  enlisted  in  Company  E,  First  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  as  a  private,  in 
response  to  President  Lincoln's  first  call  for  troops.  He  served  for  one  year 
and  then  returned  to  Portage  county,  Ohio.  Later  he  visited  different  states 
of  the  Union  and  finally  located  in  Ford  county,  Illinois,  at  Paxton.  There 
he  was  engaged  in  farming  for  four  years,  after  which  he  came  to  Lake 
county,  Indiana,  in  1865.  He  then  bought  a  farm  in  Ross  township  of 
partly  impro\'ed  land,  and  devoted  his  attention  to  its  further  cultivation  and 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  350 

development  until  iSgy.  He  placed  the  fields  in  excellent  condition  so  that 
they  returned  to  him  large  crops.  He  made  substantial  improvements  upon 
his  land  and  conductetl  his  farm  interests  according  to  the  most  approved 
plans  and  progressive  ideas.  Year  by  year  his  financial  resources  were  in- 
creased through  the  sale  of  his  harvests,  and  in  1897,  with  a  \-ery  desirable 
competence,  he  retired  from  business  life  and  took  up  his  abode  in  Hobart. 

In  1862  Mr.  Th.ompson  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Mary  J.  Wat- 
son, a  native  of  Lorain  county,  Ohio,  and  a  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
Watson.  This  marriage  has  been  blessed  with  three  children:  Frederick, 
William  and  Hugh.  The  family  is  widely  and  favorably  known  in  Hobart. 
and  their  circle  of  friends  is  extensive.  ]\Ir. "Thompson  has  figured  quite 
prominentl}'  in  public  affairs,  and  his  worth  and  ability  have  lieen  recognized 
by  his  fellow  citizens,  who  have  frequently  called  upon  him  to  serve  in  public 
office.  He  was  county  assessor  for  two  years,  previously  he  was  assessor  of 
Ross  township  for  eighteen  years,  and  in  all  matters  of  citizenship  has  been 
progressive  and  helpful.  His  political  allegiance  is  given  the  Democracy, 
and  he  is  a  Mason,  lielonging  to  the  Hobart  Lodge.  He  has  a  pleasant  home 
in  Hobart  ami  other  property  there,  and  in  addition  he  owns  his  valuable 
farm  of  two  hundred  acres  in  Ross  township,  which  he  now  rents.  He  has 
one  of  the  old  deeds  executed  bv  President  Fillmore,  which  is  a  rare  docu- 
ment. 

JOHN    HILLMAN. 

In  the  field  of  political  and  commercial  life  in  Hobart  John  Hillman 
is  well  known  and  is  nunil)ered  among  the  leading  and  influential  citizens  of 
the  town.  A  young  man.  he  possesses  the  enterprising  spirit  of  the  west, 
which  has  been  the  dominant  factor  in  producing  the  wonderful  development 
of  this  section  of  the  country.  He  is  the  chief  executive  officer  of  Hobart 
and  is  giving  to  the  town  a  progressive  and  business-like  administration. 

Mr.  Hillman  was  born  in  Elgin,  Illinois,  on  the  7th  of  May,  1870,  and 
is  a  son  of  Frederick  and  Hannah  (Moss)  Hillman,  both  of  whom  were 
natives  of  Germanv,  where  they  spent  their  childhood  days  and  were  mar- 
ried. John  Hillman  is  their  youngest  son.  His  mother  was  twice  married 
and  has  one  daughter  and  two  sons  by  her  last  marriage. 

In  his  early  boyhood  Mr.  Hillman  was  brought  to  Lake  county  and  was 
reared  upon  the  home  farm  in  Hobart  township,  pursuing  his  education  in  the 


3(!0  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

common  schools.  He  remained  with  his  step-father  nnti!  he  started  out  in 
life  on  his  own  account,  and  then  engaged  in  the  saloon  business,  which  he 
conducted  continuously  since  1889.  He  is  also  a  stockholder  and  director  in 
the  First  State  Bank  of  Hobart,  and  is  thus  connected  with  financial  in- 
terests in  his  part  of  the  county.  He  has  also  taken  an  active  part  in  public 
affairs,  and,  is  now  serving  for  the  third  year  as  a  member  of  the  town  board 
and  at  this  writing  is  president  of  that  body.  In  fact,  he  has  continued  as  its 
chief  executive  officer  throughout  his  connection  therewith,  and  his  efforts 
in  behalf  of  Hobart  have  been  practical,  effective  and  far-reaching.  He  is 
chairman  of  the  township  central  committee  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
does  all  in  his  power  to  secute  Republican  successes.  Fraternally  he  is  con- 
nected with  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters  of  America.  September  27, 
1889,  Mr.  Hillman  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  ]Mary  Neiman,  and  to 
them  has  been  born  a  son,  Fred.  They  have  many  warm  friends  in  Hobart 
and  throughout  the  surrounding  district,  and  their  own  home  is  noted  for 

its  gracious  hospitality. 

JAMES    BRANNON. 

James  Brannon,  now  deceased,  was  a  well-known  and  highly  respected 
citizen  of  Lake  county,  and  his  life  record  should  form  a  place  in  the  history 
of  this  section  of  the  state.  He  was  born  in  Boston,  Summit  county,  Ohio, 
July  3T,  18 19,  and  was  a  son  of  William  Brannon,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania 
and  of  Irish  descent.  The  father  died  in  Boston,  Summit  county,  Ohio, 
when  his  son  James  was  but  nine  years  of  age.  The  boy  afterward  lived 
with  an  uncle  until  sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he  started  out  in  life  on  his 
own  account.  He  worked  by  the  month  for  two  years  and  never  lost  a  day 
during  that  time.  A\nien  living  in  Ohio  he  belonged  to  an  independent  mili- 
tary company  and  took  part  in  the  drills  which  were  common  at  that  time. 
Although  he  earned  but  eight  dollars  per  month  at  farm  labor,  he  managed 
to  save  most  of  the  amount,  and  with  the  money  which  he  had  acquired  he 
came  to  Indiana  in  1843,  establishing  bis  home  in  Lake  county.  Here  he 
preempted  a  tract  of  land,  first  owning  a  farm  of  eighty  acres,  to  \\hich  he 
afterward  added  forty  acres.  Later  he  sold  that  property  and  bought  a 
soldier's  land  warrant,  wherewith  he  secured  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land  in  West  Creek  township,  becoming  owner  of  this  property  in  1850. 
As  a  farmer  he  was  energetic,  practical  and  progressive.     He  worked  hard 


c* 


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HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  361 

year  after  year,  and  as  his  financial  resources  increased  he  extended  the 
boundaries  of  his  farm  by  additional  purchases  until  at  the  time  of  his  death 
in  1898  he  was  the  owner  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  very  valuable 
land,  which  had  been  accumulated  through  his  own  industry,  perseverance 
and  capable  management. 

Mr.  Brannon  was  ^ery  well  known  in  the  county  as  an  honored  pioneer 
settler  and  enterprising  agricultiu'ist,  and  as  a  citizen  he  favored  public 
progress  and  improvement  along  material,  social,  intellectual  and  moral  lines. 
He  served  as  a  trustee  of  West  Creek  township  for  twenty  years,  and  was  a 
life-long  Republican,  heartily  endorsing  the  principles  of  the  party.  He 
held  membership  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  in  which  he  ser\'ed  as  an  elder 
for  a  number  of  years  and  he  was  very  liberal  in  his  contributions  to  the 
cause  of  Christianity.  His  life  was  at  all  times  actuated  by  honorable  and 
manly  principles. 

Mr.  Brannon  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Eleanor  Foster,  on  the 
17th  of  May,  1851.  She  was  born  in  Bradford  county,  Pennsylvania,  March 
25,  1832,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Elijah  D.  and  Jemima  (Nichols)  Foster. 
Her  father  was  born  in  Brookfield,  Massachusetts,  and  came  to  Lake  county 
in  1843,  locating  on  a  tract  of  land  in  West  Creek  township,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  general  farming"  throughout  his  business  career.  He  passed  away 
at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-three  years  and  his  wife  lived  to  be  fifty-six 
years  of  age.  Both  parents  of  Mrs.  Brannon  had  been  married  before,  and 
the  father  had  two  sons  by  his  former  marriage,  who  were  early  settlers  of 
T>ake  county,  A.  D.  Foster  coming  to  Indiana  in  1837,  while  George  S. 
Foster  arrived  in  1838.  There  were  but  two  white  families  in  this  part  of  the 
county  at  that  time.  The  mother  of  Mrs.  James  Brannon  was  Jemima 
Nichols,  and  she  was  born  near  Chelsea,  Orange  county,  Vermont,  February 
7,  1792.  She  married  first  Amos  Loveland.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolutionary  war,  entering  the  ranks  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  He  was  pres- 
ent at  the  execution  of  Major  Andre.  His  occupation  was  that  of  an  agri- 
culturist. He  was  a  Democrat  in  his  political  afiiliations.  The  grandfather 
Nichols  was  also  a  si)ldier  in  the  Re\T)lutionary  war.  Mrs.  Brannon's  grand- 
mother was  a  niece  nf  the  celebrated  Cotton  Mather  of  historic  fame.  The 
parents  of  Mrs.  Brannon  had  ten  children,  and  she  was  Iiut  eleven  years  of 
age  at  the  time  of  the  remo'val  of  the  familv  to  this  state.     .She  has  since 


3«2  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

lived  in  Lake  county,  making  her  home  here  from  a  time  in  \\hich  there 
were  no  frame  houses  in  the  county,  all  the  dwellings  being  built  of  logs. 
She  has.  therefore,  witnessed  the  greater  part  of  the  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  this  portion  of  the  state  and  can  relate  many  interesting  incidents 
concerning  pioneer  life  and  experience  here.  To  'Sir.  and  Airs.  Brannon 
were  liorn  five  children:  Lucina,  the  wife  of  AI.  E.  Belshaw :  Julia,  the  de- 
ceased wife  of  T.  A.  ^^'ason:  Perry,  who  lives  in  Xorth  Dakota:  George  D., 
who  is  a  practicing  physician  at  Crown  Point :  and  Melvin.  \\  ho  has  charge 
of  the  Biology  Department  in  the  State  L'niversity  at  Grand  Forks.  North 
Dakota. 

Airs.  Brannon  is  the  owner  of  a  valuable  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-one  acres,  which  she  rents.  She  holds  membership  in  the  Presby- 
terian church  at  Lowell  and  is  well  known  throughout  the  county,  being  a 
representative  of  one  of  the  honored  pioneer  families. 

HON.  THADDEUS  S.  FANCHER. 

Hon.  Thaddeus  S.  Fancher  has  been  an  attorney  at  Crown  Point.  In- 
diana, for  over  thirty  years,  and  has  been  interested  in  the  draining  and  im- 
provement of  the  swamp  land  of  southern  Lake  county.  He  has  depended 
on  his  own  efforts  for  the  advancement  made  in  his  profession,  ha\ing  de- 
frayed his  early  expenses  for  education  by  teaching  school.  He  has  had  a 
very  successful  career,  both  from  his  individual  standpoint  and  for  the  gen- 
eral welfare,  and  his  services  to  the  county  and  state  as  a  legislator  and 
promoter  of  public  improvements  indicate  his  worth  as  a  citizen. 

His  grandfather,  Thaddeus  S.  Fancher.  was  of  French  descent,  a  native 
of  Connecticut,  and  was  a  pioneer  to  Huron  county.  Ohio,  where  his  son, 
T.  S.  Fancher,  was  born  in  1809.  The  latter  lived  all  his  life  on  one  farm 
in  Greenwich  township.  Huron  county,  and  was  a  prosperous  farmer,  living 
to  be  eighty-four  years  old.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Aletbodist  church. 
He  married  Amy  Chapman,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Richland  county, 
Ohio,  and  is  now  living  in  Huron  county  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven.  Her 
father.  Cyrus  Chapman,  was  of  Scotch  descent  and  a  pioneer  of  Richland 
county.  These  parents  had  ten  children,  eight  sons  and  two  daughters,  and 
five  are  living  at  present. 

Hon.   Thaddeus  S.   Fancher,  who  is  the  seventh  child  and  fourth  son. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  363 

was  born  in  Huron  county,  Ohio,  August  31,  1848.  and  was  reared  there. 
His  schooling  was  received  in  tlie  faniihar  little  red  schoolhouse,  which  was 
situated  a  mile  from  his  home,  and  which  contained  the  primitive  equip- 
ment of  the  temples  of  learning  of  that  day,  such  as  hard  slab  seats,  board 
writing  desk,  etc.  After  leaving  the  district  school  Mr.  Fancher  began  at- 
tending Oberlin  College,  teaching  school  during  the  winter  to  pay  expenses. 
He  came  to  Crown  Point  in  1868,  and  for  the  following  two  years  read  law 
with  Major  Griffin  and  taught  school.  In  1870  he  went  to  the  Michigan 
State  Uni\-ersity  at  .\nn  Arbor,  and  in  1871  graduated  in  the  law  depart- 
ment. He  had  been  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Crown  Point  in  1870,  and  im- 
mediately on  his  return  from  Ann  Arbor  took  up  practice.  He  lost  no  time 
in  gaining  a  client  or  patronage  of  some  kind,  for  eighty  cents  was  the  entire 
capital  to  tide  him  over  the  initiatory  stages  of  practice.  In  the  same  year 
he  was  married  and  settled  down  to  the  career  of  usefulness  which  has 
been  continued  to  the  present.  In  1873  he  was  elected  county  superintendent 
of  schools  for  a  term  of  two  years,  and  was  re-elected,  but  served  only  a  short 
part  of  this  term,  resigning  to  lake  up  practice.  He  was  prosecuting  attorney 
of  the  county  for  four  years,  and  in  1879  ^^''S  elected  to  the  state  legislature 
by  the  Republican  party.  In  1881  he  was  returned  to  his  seat  by  the  largest 
majority  ever  given  any  candidate  in  the  county  up  to  that  time.  He  was 
eighty-one  days  in  the  first  session  and  one  hundred  and  one  in  the  second, 
two  of  the  longest  sessions  on  record.  The  state  statutes  were  revised  at  the 
time,  and  he  was  one  of  the  revision  committee.  Since  1881  he  has  been  con- 
tinuously engaged  in  practice  and  also  in  dealing  in  land. 

Mr.  Fancher  owns  a  large  tract  of  land  in  Lake  county,  and  for  the 
past  fifteen  years  has  made  a  specialty  of  constructing  ditches  and  draining 
marsh  land.  He  has  had  the  legal  business  invoI\-ed  in  the  construction  of 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  ditching,  authorized  under  the  law  of 
1881  passed  while  he  was  a  member  of  the  legislature,  and  which  has  cost 
the  landowners  up  to  this  time  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  has  re- 
sulted in  untold  benefit  to  the  citizens  of  Lake  county.  This  land  in  the  Calu- 
met district  was  formerly  worth  comparati\eIy  nothing,  but  now  sells  for 
sixty,  seventy  and  eighty  dollars  per  acre.  The  first  ditch  uhich  he  con- 
structed in  the  Kankakee  marsh  in  1885  is  known  as  the  Singleton  ditch,  and 
is  seventeen  miles  long  and  cost  se\'enteen  thousand  dollars. 


364  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Fanclier  married,  in   1871.  Miss  Ardelle  W'ashloorn.  a  daughter  of 

Charles  A.  and  Marietta    (Griffin)   W'asliborn.     Tliey  have  one  son.  Thad- 

deus  ]Milton  Fanclier.  who  is  attending-  the  schools  of  Crown   Point.     Mr. 

Fancher  is  a  memher  of  the  Masonic  order  and  the  Independent  Order  of 

Odd  Fellows. 

CHARLES    E.    NICHOLS. 

Charles  E.  Nichols,  a  representative  of  the  business  life  of  Lowell,  is 
engaged  in  dealing  in  hay.  grain  and  seeds.  He  has  lived  in  Lake  county 
throughout  his  entire  life,  his  birth  ha\-ing  occurred  in  \\'est  Creek  township, 
on  the  14th  of  December,  1861.  His  grandfather.  William  Nichols,  was 
born  in  New  York  and  was  of  French  and  English  descent.  His  father. 
H.  R.  Nichols,  was  born  in  Madison  county,  New  York,  and  came  to  Lake 
county  in  1836,  casting  in  his  lot  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  this  portion 
of  the  state.  He  first  located  in  Crown  Point,  afterward  lived  in  Cedar 
Creek  township,  and  subsequently  in  \\'est  Creek  township.  Lake  county ; 
he  entered  land  from  the  government  and  developed  the  wild  tract  into  richlv 
cultivated  fields,  continuing  his  active  connection  with  farming  interests 
throughout  the  period  of  his  business  career.  He  lived  to  be  seventy-nine 
years  of  age  and  spent  sixty-two  years  of  that  time  in  Lake  county.  His 
early  political  allegiance  was  given  to  the  Whig  party,  and  upon  its  dissolu- 
tion he  joined  the  ranks  of  the  new  Republican  party,  with  which  he  con- 
tinued to  affiliate  until  his  death.  He  was  well  known  in  this  portion  of 
Indiana,  and  as  a  pioneer  settler  he  aided  in  laying  broad  and  deep  the 
foundation  for  the  present  development  and  progress  of  the  state.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Phoebe  Eliza  Kenyon.  and 
was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  whence  she  was  brought  to  Lake  county, 
Indiana,  in  1838,  when  but  twelve  years  of  age.  Her  father.  John  C.  Kenyon, 
was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Lake  county  and  made  his  home  at  Pleasant 
Grove  from  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  this  state  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  1888.  Mrs.  Nichols  still  survives  her  husband,  and  now  resides  in  Lowell 
in  her  seventy-eighth  year.  She  has  been  a  resident  of  Lake  county  for  sixty- 
five  years,  and  has,  therefore,  been  a  witness  of  the  greater  part  of  its 
growth,  development  and  upbuilding.  She  can  relate  many  interesting  inci- 
dents of  pioneer  days  and  is  familiar  with  its  history  from  the  period  of 
early  ^ettlement  here  down  to  the  present  time.     To  ]\Ir.   and  Mrs.   H.   R. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  365 

Nicliols  were  Ijorn  six  children,  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  all  of  \vlu)m 
were  natives  of  Lake  county,  while  tive  are  still  living,  namely:  William  C, 
a  resident  of  Lowell ;  Irving,  who  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-one  years ; 
Hannah  N.,  the  wife  of  JMortimer  Gragg,  of  Topeka,  Kansas;  Ella  JM.,  the 
wife  of  Cyrus  Dickenson,  of  Lowell :  and  Alma,  the  wife  of  Edson  Foster, 
of  Chicago  Heights,  Illinois. 

Charles  E.  Nichols,  the  youngest  member  of  the  family,  was  but  six 
years  of  age  when  his  parents  removed  from  the  farm  to  L(3well  and  there 
he  began  his  education  in  the  public  schools.  No  event  of  special  importance 
occurred  to  vary  the  routine  of  life  for  him  in  his  boyhood.  When  nineteen 
years  of  age  he  entered  business  life  as  a  dealer  in  hay  and  grain,  being  asso- 
ciated with  his  father  and  brother  from  1880  until  1886.  In  the  latter  year 
he  went  to  Chicago,  where  he  was  engaged  in  the  same  line  of  business  for 
about  seven  months,  and  from  1887  until  i8go  he  was  a  grain  dealer  of 
Crown  Point.  He  again  went  to  Chicago,  in  1890,  where  he  remained 
for  about  a  year  and  while  there  was  a  member  of  the  board  of  trade.  In 
1891  he  returned  to  Lowell,  since  which  time  he  has  engaged  in  dealing  in 
hay,  grain  and  seeds  at  this  place.  He  makes  large  purchases  and  sales,  and 
his  well  conducted  business  interests  have  brought  to  him  very  gratifying 
success.  He  has  now  a  very  large  patronage,  and  his  annual  sales  reach 
an  extensive  figure.  He  is  a  stockholder  and  director  in  the  Lowell  National 
Bank  and  is  well  known  in  business  circles  as  one  whose  success  is  the 
legitimate  outcome  of  his  energ\\  determination  and  honorable  dealing. 

In  1888  Mr.  Nichols  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Edna  May  Smith, 
a  daughter  of  T.  M.  Smith,  of  Hammond,  Indiana,  and  they  have  one  child, 
Stella.  Mr.  Nichols  belongs  to  Colfax  Lodge  No.  378,  F.  &  A.  M..  and  to 
Lowell  Lodge  No.  300,  K.  of  P.  In  politics  he  has  ever  been  a  stanch 
Republican,  has  served  as  a  member  of  the  school  board,  and  takes  an  active 
interest  in  the  cause  of  education  and  in  everything  pertaining  to  the  welfare 
and  upbuilding  of  his  native  county.  With  the  exception  of  the  brief  inter- 
vals passed  in  Chicago,  he  has  always  resided  within  the  borders  of  Lake 
county,  and  his  life  record  is  therefore  well  known  to  his  fellow-citizens  here. 
while  the  fact  that  many  of  his  stanchest  friends  are  numliered  among  those 
with  whom  he  has  been  acquainted  from  boyhood  is  indicative  of  the  fact 
that  his  career  has  ever  been  such  as  to  command  respect  and  confidence. 


3(56  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

In  July,  1904.  Mr.  Nichols  was  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  National 
Hay  Association,  chairman  of  the  Arbitration  National  Committee.  At  the 
ronvention  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  Mr.  Nichols  attended  and  it  was  subse- 
(juently  that  he  was  appointed  to  this  responsible  position. 

HORATIO    R.    NICHOLS. 

Horatio  R.  Nichols  was  born  in  Fenner,  Madison  county.  New  York, 
January  25,  181S,  and  died  in  Lowell,  April  13,  1897,  leaving  to  mourn  him 
a  devoted  wife,  five  children,  four  sisters  and  one  brother,  one  son,  three 
sisters,  and  one  brother  having  preceded  him  to  the  Spirit  Land.  His  age 
at  the  time  of  death  was  seventy-nine  years,  two  months  and  seventeen  davs. 

Mr.  Nichols  worked  upon  his  father's  farm,  following  the  usual  routine 
of  a  farmer  boy's  life:  that  is,  laboring  on  the  farm  during  the  summer, 
attending  the  district  school  in  winter,  until  he  had  reached  his  eighteenth 
year.  At  this  time  a  tide  of  emigration  set  in  towards  the  great  and  grow- 
ing west.  .\  strong  desire  took  possession  of  Mr.  Nichols  to  see  the  western 
country,  and,  although  }-et  in  his  feens,  he,  in  company  with  his  brother, 
bade  adieu  to  the  old  homestead  and  set  upon  their  journey  townrds  the 
setting  sun.  They  reached  LaPorte,  Indiana,  June  2.  1836.  Plere  he  sought 
and  obtained  work  on  a  farm,  where  he  remained  until  December  following, 
when  he  again  started  west,  arriving  in  this  county  the  same  month.  Liking 
the  appearance  of  this  part  of  the  country  he  concluded  to  settle  here.  .\ 
man  by  the  name  of  Nolan  who  preceded  Mr.  Nichols  about  two  years  to 
this  county,  lived  in  a  little  cal;in  near  where  the  lirickyard  of  H.  J.  Nichols 
was.  which  is  unw  Washington  street  on  the  west  side.  The  Nichols  brothers 
])u.rchased  Nolan's  claim,  which  then  included  a  large  share  of  the  site  of 
Lowell,  for  which  they  paid  two  liundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Mr.  Nolan  moved 
farther  west.  In  the  following  May  Mr.  Nichols  moved  onto  his  claim, 
where  he  and  his  brother  continued  to  !i\e  alone  for  several  years.  Tb.ey 
were  known  by  tlie  neighbors  as  "the  nld  Ijachelors."  After  iKuing  "batched 
it"  for  fi\-c  years  Mr.  Nichols  concluded  it  was  not  "good  for  man  to  be 
alone."  So  he  wooed,  won  and  wedded  JMiss  Phoebe  E.  Kenyon.  January 
23,  1845.  Fifty  years  from  that  date  a  golden  wedding  was  given  in  their 
capacious  west  side  home.  Mr.  Nichols  was  converted  and  united  with 
the  Methodist   Episcopal  church  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years  and   reuniteil 


JUj  ^jt^RJ/fu^ 


/^/l  .A^'&yt^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  367 

witl'i  the  church  in  Lowell  under  the  ministr^•  of  J.  F.  McDaniel.  His  first 
vote  tor  president  was  cast  for  Alartin  V^an  Burcn  in  1840.  Thus  you  see 
he  identified  himself  with  the  Democratic  party,  but  being  of  philanthropic 
turn  of  mini!  and  believing  that  all  men  should  be  free  he  became  a  Free 
Soiler.  Since  1856  he  has  voted  with  the  Republican  party.  At  the  time 
Mr.  Nichols  settled  here  his  nearest  neighbor  on  the  west  was  Robert 
Wilkinson,  who  li\ed  wdiere  Mrs.  Marvin  now  lives.  Jacob  Mendinthall 
lived  where  Captain  J.  L.  Manning  now  lives:  Samuel  Bryant,  Duane 
Bryant  and  Elias  Bryan  lived  on  the  Perry  Jones  farm,  Ross  Sanger  farm, 
and  John  Nichols  farm,  respectively.  Although  Mr.  Nichols  was  not  one  of 
the  oldest  settlers  here  he  lived  to  see  this  part  of  the  country  reclaimed  and 
made  to  blossom  and  bloom  as  the  rose. 

Funeral  services,  which  were  attended  by  a  large  concourse  of  sorrow- 
ing friends,  were  held  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  the  Rev.  J.  B. 
Sites,  assisted  by  Rev.  E.  P.  Bennett,  ofificiating,  after  which  the  mortal 
remains  of  the  beloved  man  were  interred  in  the  Lowell  cemeter\',  there  to 
rest  until  the  great  judgment  day  comes. 

WILLL\M  SCHARBACH,  SR. 

Numliered  among  the  leading  business  men  of  Hobart  is  William  Schar- 
bach.  a  dealer  in  lumber  and  building  materials.  He  is  a  nati\e  son  of  Ger- 
many, and  in  his  career  has  manifested  many  of  the  strong  and  sterling  traits 
of  the  people  of  the  fatherland.  His  birth  occurred  in  Sophienhofi'  bei- 
Demmin.  Stettin,  October  15,  1843,  l''S  parents  being  William  and  Marv 
(Stoll)  Scharbach,  both  of  whom  are  now  deceased.  His  father  came  to  the 
United  States  in   1867,   locating  in  Chicago. 

In  taking  up  the  personal  history  of  William  Scharbach  we  present  to 
our  readers  the  life  record  of  one  who  is  widel)-  and  favorably  known  in 
Hobart  and  Lake  county.  His  education  was  acquired  in  Germany,  and  he 
remained  there  until  after  he  had  attained  his  majority.  He  was  but  twentv- 
four  years  of  age,  when  in  1867  he  bade  adieu  to  friends  and  native  land  and 
sailed  for  the  United  States,  hoping  that  he  might  find  better  business  oppor- 
tunities in  the  new  world.  He  did  not  tarry  long  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  but 
made  his  way  at  once  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  locating  in  Chicago, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  the  lumber  business.     He  came  to  Hobart  in  1893 


368  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

and  established  the  lumber  yard  whicii  he  is  now  conducting.  He  deals  in 
all  kinds  of  lumber  and  building  materials,  and  has  tleveloped  an  enterprise 
which  has  reached  extensive  and  profitable  proportions.  Ernestly  desiring 
to  please  his  patrons,  he  has  through  his  obliging  manner,  honorable  dealing 
and  reasonable  prices  won  a  large  share  of  the  public  trade.  He  also  con- 
ducts a  planing  mill  in  connection  with  the  lumber  trade. 

In  1868  Mr.  Scharbach  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Minnie  Hagen, 
who  was  born  in  Germany  and  came  to  America  in  1867.  They  have  five 
children :     Frank,  William,  Emil,  Bernhard  and  Frederick. 

Mr.  Scharbach  is  recognized  as  a  stalwart  Republican  and  has  been 
town  trustee  for  one  term,  but  his  time  and  attention  are  chiefly  devoted  to 
his  business  interests,  in  which  he  has  met  with  signal  success. 

Frank  C.  Scharbach,  the  eldest  son  of  William  Scharbach,  was  born  in 
Chicago,  January  31,  1873,  and  was  largely  reared  in  that  city,  attending 
German  schools.  He  was  also  a  student  in  Concordia  College  at  Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin,  for  three  years,  during  which  time  he  made  a  special  study  of 
languages.  After  completing  his  education  he  joined  his  father  in  the  lum- 
ber business.  He  was  twenty  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  Hobart,  and 
he  is  now  a  well  known  factor  in  commercial  circles.  He,  too,  is  a  stanch 
Republican  and  is  very  active  in  the  work  of  his  party,  serving  as  chairman 
of  the  township  central  committee.  He  is  now  precinct  committeeman  of  the 
second  precinct  of  Hobart  township.  On  the  jqth  of  September,  1895,  ^''^ 
wedded  Miss  Mary  Schumacher,  a  daughter  of  John  Jeremiah  Schumacher, 
and  they  have  one  daughter,  Gertrude.  Both  Mr.  Scharbach  and  his  son 
are  well  known,  and  the  business  enterprise  and  laudable  amljition  of  the 
young  man,  supplementing  the  sound  judgment  of  the  senior  ])artner.  render 
this  firm  a  very  strong  one  in  Hobart. 

WILLIAM    EDWARD    BELSHAW. 

William  Edward  Belshaw,  formerly  identified  with  agricultural  and 
horticultural  interests  in  Lake  county  and  now  lix'ing  a  retired  life  in  Lowell, 
manifested  throughout  his  business  career  those  sterling  traits  of  character 
which  lead  to  honorable  and  satisfactory  success.  He  was  resolute  and 
energetic  and  these  qualities  were  resultant  factors  in  winning  him  the  pros- 
perity that  he  now  enjoys.     He  was  born  in   West  Creek  township.   Lake 


yZ'*-<i--'v>T_tf<-/ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  369 

county,  September  28,  1848.  His  father,  William  Belshaw,  was  a  native 
of  England  and  when  a  young  man  came  to  America,  locating  at  Dot)r 
Prairie,  LaPorte  county,  Indiana,  whence  he  came  to  Lake  county  about 
1836.  Few  settlements  had  been  made  within  the  borders  of  this  county 
at  that  time.  Much  of  the  land  was  still  in  possession  of  the  government, 
and  in  consequence  was  uncidtivated  and  unimproved.  The  streams  had 
not  been  bridged  and  the  forests  were  uncut,  and  it  remained  to  such  enter- 
prising and  progressi\-e  citizens  as  Mv.  Belsliaw  to  reclaim  tlie  wild  district 
for  the  purposes  of  ci\-ilization..  He  secured  a  tract  of  land  from  the  gov- 
ernment and  developed  a  good  farm  in  West  Creek  township,  whereon  he 
spent  his  remaining  days,  his  life  labors  being  ended  in  death  when  he  was 
seventv-one  years  of  age.  His  religious  views  were  in  harmony  with  the 
doctrines  of  what  is  known  as  the  Church  of  God.  He  married  Harriet 
Jones,  a  nati\-e  of  Ohio,  in  which  state  she  was  reared  until  eight  years  of 
age,  when  she  came  to  Lake  county.  Indiana,  with  her  father,  Harr\-  Jones, 
the  family  home  being  fstablished  in  ^^'est  Creek  township  amid  the  condi- 
tions of  frontier  life.  Mrs.  Belshaw  lived  to  be  about  sixty-eight  years  of 
age.  By  her  marriage  she  became  the  mother  of  seven  children,  three  sons 
and  four  daughters,  of  whom  one  daughter  died  in  infancy.  The  others  are 
all  living,  as  follows :  William  Edward,  of  this  review ;  Mrs.  Mary  Cath- 
cart.  of  LaPorte,  Indiana:  Florence,  the  wife  of  James  Chitwood,  of  Lowell; 
Charles,  who  is  a  resident  of  Oregon ;  Lucy,  the  wife  of  Sherman  Hayden, 
of  Los  Angeles,  California;  and  John,  a  farmer,  of  Eugene,  Oregon. 

W'illiam  Edward  Belshaw  was  reared  under  the  parental  roof  upon  the 
old  homestead  farm  in  \A'est  Creek  township.  His  education  was  acquired 
by  attenrling  the  common  schools  for  about  two  months  in  the  winter  season, 
and  throughout  the  remainder  of  tiie  year  he  worked  upon  the  home  farm, 
doing  such  service  as  his  age  and  strength  permitted.  As  the  years  ad,- 
vanced  he  gained  in  proficiency  and  he  continued  to  assist  his  father  until 
twenty-four  years  of  age. 

On  Christmas  day  of  1874  Mr.  Belshaw  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Lucina  Brannon.  daug^hter  of  James  and  Eleanor  (Foster)  Brannon, 
who  are  mentioned  on  another  page  of  this  work.  Mrs.  Belshaw  is  their 
oldest  child  and  was  born  and  reared  in  West  Creek  township.  Lake  county. 
Mrs.   Belshaw   received  her   primary  education    in   the   district    schools   and 

24 


370  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Lowell  high  school  and  then  she  was  a  student  in  the  Western  Female  Sem- 
inary at  Oxford,  Ohio,  for  two  years.  She  was  a  successful  teacher  in  her 
native  county  for  six  years.  Religiously  she  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  was  also  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday  schools. 

She  is  the  mother  of  six  children,  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  and 
five  are  living,  as  follows :  J.  W.  Belshaw  is  a  scccessful  attorney-at-law  in 
Lov/ell;  he  graduated  in  the  class  of  1892  in  the  Lowell  high  school  and 
afterwards  was  a  student  in  the  Normal  at  Valparaiso.  He  was  a  teacher 
one  year  in  the  Lowell  high  school  and  a  number  of  years  in  his  native 
county.  He  read  law  with  Attorney  R.  C.  \\'ood  and  upon  his  being  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Lowell.  He 
wedded  Miss  Maud  Holshaw,  in  July,  1898,  and  one  little  ilaughter  graces 
this  union,  by  name  Ernestine.  He  has  an  attractive  residence  in  Lowell, 
and  is  one  of  the  representative  citizens  of  the  village.  Lewis  D..  a  resident 
of  West  Creek  township  and  a  farmer,  wedded  Miss  Emma  Stuppy.  and  has 
two  daughters,  Mabel  and  Edith.  Lewis  graduated  from  the  teachers'  course 
in  Valparaiso  Normal  and  taught  four  years  in  Lake  county.  His  wife  was 
also  a  teacher  in  the  same  county.  Albert  B..  also  a  resident  of  West  Creek 
township  and  a  practical  farmer,  wedding  Miss  Alatilda  Hadders.  Julia, 
at  home  with  her  parents,  was  educated  in  Lowell  high  school,  but  her 
chosen  profession  is  music.  She  was  educated  in  music  at  Steinway  Hall  at 
Chicago,  and  is  a  successful  teacher  in  west  Lake  county.  She  is  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  church.  Edith,  the  youngest,  is  in  the  fourth  grade  of 
the  public  schools.  Mrs.  Belshaw's  progenitors  were  heroes  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war  and  the  direct  descendants  are  eligible  to  become  members  of 
the  society  of  Sons  and  Daughters  of  the  Revolution.  Mrs.  Belshaw  went 
with  her  husband  as  a  bride  to  a  part  of  the  old  Belshaw  homestead  in  West 
Creek  township,  and  there  Mr.  Belshaw  was  engaged  in  general  farming 
until  1895.  In  that  year  he  built  his  present  brick  residence  in  Lowe'l,  took 
up  his  abode  thereon  and  is  now  engaged  in  fruit-growing.  His  life  has 
been  characterized  by  unfaltering  industry  and  good  management,  and  suc- 
cess has  attended  his  efforts.  He  is  now  the  owner  of  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-six  acres,  on  which  his  son  resides.  He  is  also  a  stockholder 
in  the  State  National  Bank,  of  Lowell,  and  his  wife  is  the  owner  of  a  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres  in  West  Creek  township,  to  which  Mr. 
Belshaw  gives  his  personal  supervision. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  371 

yiv.  Belsliaw  gives  his  political  allegiance  to  the  Democracy  and  has 
been  chairman  of  the  township  central  committee.  He  takes  an  acti\-c  interest 
in  the  work  of  the  party,  and  his  efforts  in  its  behalf  have  been  effective  and 
far-reaching  in  the  locality  where  he  resides.  He  is  at  the  present  writing 
nominee  for  county  treasurer  on  the  Democratic  ticket.  He  keeps  well 
informed  on  the  questions  and  issues  of  the  day  and  also  has  a  broad  general 
knowledge  of  matters  touching  the  general  interests  of  society  and  the 
welfare  of  the  country.  Having  spent  his  entire  life  in  Lake  county,  he  is 
well  known  to  its  citizens,  and  the  fact  that  many  of  his  friends  are  num- 
bered among  those  who  ha\-e  known  him  from  boyhood  is  an  indication  that 
his  career  has  been  honoraI:)le,  straightforward  and  worthy  of  respect. 

\\-ESLEY  PATTEE. 

Wesley  Pattee,  of  ^\■est  Creek  township,  Ijelongs  to  thai  better  class 
of  citizens  whose  li\'es  form  the  truest  history  of  an}-  portion  of  country, 
national  or  local,  and  his  genealogical  and  personal  recon.l  has  many  points 
of  interest  and  worth  to  add  to  the  value  of  this  history  of  Lake  county. 

He  is  a  nati^•e  of  northwestern  Indiana,  having  been  born  in  the  county 
of  LaPorte,  l\Iay  22,  1836.  He  was  the  fifth  of  a  family  of  eight  children, 
six  sons  and  two  daughters,  whose  parents  were  Le\vis  and  Susan  (Mun- 
ger)  Pattee,  and  he  is  the  youngest  of  the  three  yet  living,  the  other  two 
being:  Cyrus,  married  and  a  retired  farmer  of  Lowell;  and  Sophronia,  wife 
of  \^olney  Dickey,  of  Grant  Park,  Illinois.  Two  of  the  son.s  were  in  the 
Civil  war  as  members  of  Company  B,  Twentieth  Indiana  Infantry,  and  w'ere 
taken  prisoners  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  and  starved  in  the  prison  pens  of 
Libby  and  Belle  Isle.  Mr.  Pattee's  father  was  liorn  in  Montreal,  Canada,  in 
1803,  and  died  aged  seventy-three  in  1876,  He  lived  in  Canada  until  he  was 
of  age,  then  came  to  Huron  county,  Ohio,  where  be  remained  till  after  his 
marriage,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  LaPorte  county.  Indiana,  at  the  lirst 
years  of  that  county's  history.  From  there,  after  a  few  years'  residence,  he 
moved  over  to  West  Creek  township  in  this  county,  and  twenty  years  later 
became  a  resident  of  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  where  he  passed  the  rest 
of  his  life.  He  purchased  four  hundred  acres  of  land  in  this  latter  county, 
and  in  his  later  years  enjoyed  very  comfortable  circumstances.  He  was  a 
successful  man  in  business  affairs,  was  known   for  his  decided  and  strong 


372  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

character,  and  made  his  influence  felt  wherever  he  lived.  His  ancestry  was 
traced  back  to  France,  while  his  wife  was  of  Scotch  lineage.  '  His  wife, 
Susan  ]Munger  by  maiden  name,  was  born  in  Seneca  county.  New  York,  in 
1803,  and  she  attained  the  great  age  of  ninety-two  years.  She  was  a  Pres- 
byterian in  faitli. 

Mr.  Pattee  was  reared  in  LaPorte  county  during  the  first  twelve  years 
of  his  life,  and  then  in  Lake  and  Kankakee  counties.  He  is  one  of  the  men 
of  the  present  who  can  look  back  to  a  log  cabin  school  as  the  scene  of  their 
first  educational  experiences.  The  building  which  he  recalls  having  attended 
in  ^^'est  Creek  township  was  constructed  of  hewn  logs  and  was  about  twelve 
by  twenty  feet  in  dimensions.  He  did  his  writing  on  a  long  Ixmrd  placed 
aslant  on  pins  driven  into  the  wall,  and  he  sat  on  a  rough  bench  with  no 
back.  The  teacher's  place  of  honor  was  a  mere  stool.  Light  and  ventilation 
came  through  the  apertures  left  by  the  removal  of  two  logs,  filled  in  with 
panes  of  glass.  He  studied  the  elementary  spelling  book  and  Smith's  arith- 
metic, while  seated  around  the  big  box  stove  that  occupied  the  center  of 
the  room.  Subscription  schools  were  the  only  kind  known  at  that  time,  and 
twenty  dollars  was  looked  upon  as  a  munificent  salary  to  pay  a  teacher  each 
month.  During  his  own  lifetime  and  in  this  very  township  of  West  Creek 
Mr.  Pattee  has  witnessed  a  progression  and  even  revolution  of  educational 
methods  and  equipment  such  as  were  not  brought  about  in  all  the  centuries 
before  the  time  of  his  youth.  And  not  alone  in  education  has  Mr.  Pattee 
seen  and  been  a  part  of  progress.  He  and  his  wife  well  rememlier  when 
not  a  railroad  crossed  the  bounds  of  Lake  county,  while  now  fifteen  lines 
network  the  county  in  every  direction.  He  has  been  in  Chicago  when  the 
teams  would  mire  down  on  the  State  street  thoroughfare :  Lowell  was  not 
thought  of  in  his  youth,  and  while  he  was  growing  up  the  now  rich  agri- 
cultural region  of  West  Creek  township  was  mainly  a  marsh. 

When  Mr.  Pattee  was  twenty-six  years  old,  on  December  13.  1862,  he 
married  Miss  Elizabeth  Pattee,  and  they  have  lived  and  plied  their  daily 
tasks  side  by  side  now  for  over  forty  years.  During  this  time  six  children, 
three  sons  and  three  daughters,  were  born  to  them,  and  three  are  living. 
Hattie  is  the  wife  of  Richard  Sailor,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Eagle  Creek 
township,  this  county,  and  they  have  seven  children,  all  living,  Walter,  Mun- 
ger,  Elmer,  Chester,  Mabel,  Cirilla  and  Mildred,  of  whom  Walter  and  Mun- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  373 

ger  ha\-e  reached  the  eighth  grade  in  school :  Mrs.  Sailor  was  a  teaclier  for  two 
years  in  her  home  county.  Miss  Cora,  who  was  educated  in  tlie  Lowell 
high  school,  is  noted  for  her  special  proficiency  as  an  artist  in  crayon  and 
oil,  and  some  of  her  finely  wrought  crayon  pieces  hang  on  the  walls  of  the 
Lowell  National  Bank  and  attract  attention  from  all  \-isitors,  while  her 
exhiliits  at  the  county  fair  ha\'e  always  won  the  rihlions.  C\'rus,  the  only 
son  living  of  Mr.  and  ih^s.  Pattee,  took  two  years"  work  in  the  Lowell  high 
school  and  completed  the  course  in  the  Vories  Business  College  at  Lidian- 
apolis  in  1902.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Lowell  band,  affiliates  with  the 
Knights  of  Pythias,  lodge  No.  300,  at  Lowell,  and  with  the  Knights  of 
Columbia  Council  No.  37.  and  is  a  stanch  Republican  and  an  ardent  supporter 
of  "Teddy"   and  his  party. 

Mrs.  Pattee  was  born  on  Door  prairie,  Scipio  township,  LaPorte  county, 
February  13.  1837,  and  was  the  second  in  a  family  of  twelve  children,  six 
sons  and  six  daughters,  she  being  the  oldest  of  the  five  survivors ;  Melvina 
is  the  wife  of  C.  C.  Pattee,  a  retired  farmer  of  Lowell;  Emily  is  the  widow 
of  Israel  Koplin,  of  Kansas ;  George  is  married  and  farming  in  LaPorte 
county :  and  James  is  married  and  residing  on  the  old  homestead  in  LaPorte 
county.  Mrs.  Pattee's  father  was  born  in  Canada  and  came  to  Fluron  county, 
Ohio,  at  the  age  of  twelve,  growing  to  manhood  there.  He  was  a  carpen- 
ter and  joiner  by  trade,  and  was  also  a  sailor  on  the  great  lakes,  having  put 
into  the  port  of  Chicago  when  there  were  but  two  houses  there.  He  came 
to  LaPorte  county  and  purchased  land  of  the  government,  being  among  the 
very  earlv  settlers  of  that  county,  and  his  son  James  has  in  his  possession 
the  parchment  deed  to  the  land.  He  was  an  old-line  Whig  and  later  a 
Republican.  He  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Door 
Village,  and  he  helped  erect  the  edifice  there.  His  wife  was  born  in  Huron 
county,  Ohio,  and  was  seventy  years  old  at  the  time  of  her  death. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pattee  began  their  domestic  life  in  Yellowhead  township 
in  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  and  lived  for  a  time  in  a  little  log  cabin  home, 
but  prosperity  soon  came  to  them  and  gave  them  a  good  home  and  com- 
fortable circumstances.  They  resided  in  Kankakee  county  until  1882,  when 
they  took  up  their  home  a  half  a  mile  from  the  postoftice  of  Lowell  in  West 
Creek  township.  They  remodeled  the  house  into  a  pretty  country  residence, 
put  up  various  good  buildings  on  the  farm,  and  their  estate  is  now  known 


374  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

as  one  of  the  valuable  and  model  farm  properties  of  the  township.  They 
ha^■e  one  hundred  and  six  acres  lying  in  West  Creek  and  Cedar  Creek  town- 
ships, and  of  this  twenty-six  acres  lie  within  the  corporation  of  Lowell. 
One  of  their  valued  possessions  is  a  parchment  deed  executed  April  i,  1848, 
under  the  signature  of  President  Polk,  and  this  is  one  of  the  few  docu- 
ments of  the  kind  in  west  Lake  county. 

Mr.  Pattee  is  a  Reptiblican.  having  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for  the 
first  Republican  nominee,  General  Fremont,  and  he  has  never  deviated  in  his 
support  of  the  Grand  Old  Party.     Airs.   Pattee  is  a  meml>er  of  the  Chri.s- 

tian  church. 

DANIEL  BEAUMAN  STURTEVANT. 

Daniel  Beauman  Sturtevant,  of  section  28,  Ross  townshi]),  has  lived  in 
this  vicinity  all  his  life,  and  from  his  boyhood  days  of  sixty  years  ago  to 
the  present  almost  the  entire  development  of  Lake  county  has  taken  place,  so 
that  few  men  are  better  informed  by  actual  personal  experience  of  the  ma- 
terial history  of  this  portion  of  the  county.  He  has  lived  continuously  on 
one  farm  for  over  fifty-five  years,  and  all  the  associations  and  interests  of  his 
life  are  bound  up  with  it,  and  there  it  is  his  good  pleasure  to  pass  tlie  re- 
maining days  of  his  busy  and  prosperous  career  and  await  the  summons 
from  an  activity  that  has  borne  much  fruit  and  been  worthy  and  beneficial 
to  the  community  in  general. 

Mr.  Sturtevant  was  born  in  Porter  county,  Indiana,  just  three  miles 
east  of  the  farm  where  he  has  lived  so  long,  on  April  jj,  1840.  His  father, 
John  Sturtevant,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Barton,  Vermont,  in  1806,  and 
was  reared,  educated  and  married  there.  He  came  to  LaPorte  county,  In- 
diana, in  1833,  being  one  of  the  first  carpenters  to  follow  his  craft  in  that 
now  populous  county.  In  1836  he  moved  to  Porter  county,  locating  on 
the  farm  where  he  remained  until  1848,  when  he  settled  on  the  old  farm 
in  Lake  county  now  owned  by  his  son,  and  where  he  died  on  January  i, 
1858.  lie  belongs  to  the  list  of  early  settlers  of  the  county,  and  was  also 
successful  in  his  general  career.  He  married  Miss  Louise  Cass,  who  was  a 
native  of  New  Hampshire  and  a  cousin  of  Dr.  Lewis  Cass,  who  was  one  of 
the  pioneers  and  foremost  men  of  Lake  county.  She  died  at  the  age  of 
thirty-eight  years,  having  been  the  mother  of  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 

Mr.  D.   B.   Sturtevant.  who  was  the  second  child  and  eldest  son,   was 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  375 

eight  years  old  wlieii  lie  went  witli  his  parents  to  Lal<e  county,  so  that  most 
of  his  boyhood  was  spent  on  tlie  farm  whicii  as  a  man  he  lias  tilled  and  made 
the  source  of  his  livelihood.  He  is  now  the  owner  of  about  fi\-e  hundred 
acres,  some  of  it  in  Porter  count}-,  and  on  this  he  is  still  actively  engaged  in 
general  farming  and  stock-raising.  He  has  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  head 
of  cattle  and  a  good  lot  of  hogs.  His  farm  is  one  of  the  model  places  of  the 
township,  and  he  has  made  it  so  mainly  by  his  own  labors  and  most  efficient 
management.  Mr.  Sturtevant  was  a  raiser  of  the  registered  Herefords  for 
a  number  of  years,  but  has  now  retired  from  that  business.  He  has  given 
his  best  years  and  efforts  to  this  life  work,  but  lias  also  taken  an  intelligent 
interest  in  the  world  about  him,  co-operating  in  community  affairs  and  regu- 
larly casting  his  ballot  at  national  elections  for  Democratic  principles. 

Mr.  Sturtevant  was  married  in  1866  to  Miss  Eugenie  Wood,  who  was 
born  in  Iowa,  but  came  to  Lake  county  in  girlhood.  They  are  the  parents 
of  four  chiklren,  John,  Judson,  Flora  and  Carrie.  John  was  a  student  of 
Valparaiso  College.  Mrs.  Sturtevant  was  born  in  Keosauqua,  Iowa,  Octo- 
ber 31,  1844.  a  daughter  of  John  and  Caroline  (Brown)  Wood.  Her  father 
was  a  native  of  Vermont  and  her  mother  of  Virginia.  Her  great-grand- 
father, David  Wood,  was  a  hero  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  the  gun  he 
carried  in  the  war  is    yet  in  the  family  as  a  souvenir. 

Mrs.  Sturtevant  was  reared  and  educated  in  Ohio.     She  came  from  a 
family  of  teachers.     Mrs.  Sturtevant  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  church  of 

Deep  River.  Indiana. 

EDWIN    MICHAEL. 

Edwin  Michael  is  one  of  the  native  born  citizens  of  Lake  county  and 
one  who  has  an  honored  place  in  the  county  as  an  upright  man  and  citizen. 
He  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  those  still  living  w'ho  were  born  in  this  county  of 
Lake.  He  was  born  September  17,  1S40,  being  the  older  of  the  only  two 
living  chiklren  of  John  J.  and  ^^'ealthy  Ann  (Green)  Michael,  his  brother 
being  \\'illiam  H.  Michael,  who  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in  this  county  and 
a  raiser  of  blooded  Durham  cattle,  and  whose  personal  history  will  be  found 
on  other  pages  of  this  work. 

His  father  was  a  native  of  New  York  state,  was  born  March  22,  181 1, 
and  died  about  1898.  He  was  a  carpenter  and  joiner  by  trade,  and  in  the 
after  years  of  his  career  followed   farming.     He  was  reared  to  the  age  of 


376  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

twenty-eight  in  New  York  state,  receiving  his  education  in  the  old-fashioned 
pubhc  schools  of  that  early  epoch.  About  1839  he  came  to  Lake  county, 
Indiana,  having  been  married  to  Miss  Green  in  the  state  of  Michigan.  He 
was  a  poor  man  when  he  came  to  this  county,  and  his  first  purchase  of  real 
estate  was  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  state  land,  at  a  cost  of  about  a 
dollar  and  a  half  an  acre.  His  first  habitation  was  a  litle  log  cabin,  in  which 
his  son  Edwin  and  the  other  children  were  born.  He  added  to  his  land  until 
his  estate  at  one  time  comprised  three  hundred  acres  of  choice  land.  He 
was  in  politics  an  old-line  Whig,  merging  later  into  a  Republican,  the  cardinal 
tenets  of  which  party  he  advocated  all  his  life.  He  and  his  wife  were  Bap- 
tists. His  wife,  who  was  a  native  of  Michigan,  died  at  the  age  of  about 
twenty-si.x  years,  when  her  son  Edwin  was  about  six  years  old. 

Mr.  Edwin  Michael  was  reared  in  Lake  county,  with  the  exception  of 
four  years  spent  in  Westville,  LaPorte  county.  He  received  a  good  com- 
mon school  education  and  had  the  benefit  of  attendance  at  the  well-known 
Westville  high  school.  He  also  took  the  literary  course  at  the  old  University 
of  Chicago,  when  that  institution  was  located  on  Cottage  Grove  avenue.  He 
taught  school  for  two  years  in  Haskell  station  in  LaPorte  county,  and  for 
two  years  in  Lake  county.  He  is  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  intellectual 
attainments,  and  as  a  farmer  and  as  a  business  man  has  been  noted  for  his 
progressive  ideas  and  energetic  activity. 

When  this  country  was  in  the  throes  of  war  and  civil  strife  he  bravely 
offered  his  services,  and  his  life  if  need  be,  to  the  L'nion  and  the  honor  of 
the  old  flag.  He  enlisted  at  Lowell,  August  12,  1862,  in  Company  A, 
Ninety-ninth  Indiana  Infantry,  and  his  regiment  rendezvoused  at  South 
Bend.  The  first  captain  w^as  Daniel  F.  Sawyer,  but  before  the  companv  re- 
turned from  the  front  there  were  three  other  captains,  namely,  K.  M.  Burn- 
ham,  R.  H.  Wells  and  Alfred  H.  Heath.  His  regiment  was  assigned  to  the 
western  department  under  General  Sherman,  and  he  was  with  this  intrepid 
commander  on  his  most  memorable  campaign.  He  participated  at  the  siege 
and  capture  of  Vicksburg,  was  at  the  battles  of  Lookout  Mountain,  Chatta- 
nooga and  Missionary  Ridge,  being  in  the  charge  up  the  east  end  of  Mission- 
ary Ridge.  Then  he  was  under  fire  for  one  hundred  continuous  days  during 
the  Atlanta  campaign.  At  the  battle  of  Resaca  he  was  in  the  hottest  fight  of 
his  career,  one  of  his  comrades  being  shot  down  at  bis  side  and  he  himself 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  377 

narrowly  escaping  tlie  storm  of  death.  He  was  on  tlie  skirmish  Hue  at  the 
fierce  engagemiCnt  at  Dallas.  He  made  the  famous  march  to  the  sea  across 
the  state  of  Georgia,  in  which  Sherman's  men  cut  a  swath  sixty  miles  wide. 
From  the  sea  he  was  on  the  long  march  up  through  the  Carolinas  on  to 
Washington  city.  Two  dates  in  his  soldier's  life  he  will  never  forget — the 
surrender  of  Lee  and  the  assassination  of  Lincoln.  He  w-as  at  Raleigh, 
North  Carolina,  when  the  glad  intelligence  of  the  former  reached  the  tired 
arm\-.  bringing  joy  and  hope  of  home  and  friends  to  the  poor  soldiers.  And 
five  days  later  the  death  of  the  martyr  president  cast  a  gloom  over  the  entire 
army  previously  so  happy.  On  reaching  Washington  he  participated  in  the 
grand  review  of  Sherman's  battle-scarred  and  tattered  veterans,  and  on  June 
5,  1865.  he  received  his  honorable  discharge,  after  having  served  his  country 
faithfully  for  three  years.  He  then  went  home  and  donned  the  peaceful  garb 
of  a  civilian,  to  participate  for  the  re.<^t  of  his  life  in  the  work  and  public 
activity  of  his  home  community. 

Mr.  Michael  married,  January  i,  1866,  Miss  Thirza  H.  Dyer,  and  five 
children,  a  son  and  four  daughters,  have  graced  this  union:  Margaret  A.  is 
the  wife  of  H.  D.  Gerrish,  who  is  engaged  m  mining  in  Bay  Horse,  Idaho, 
and  they  have  one  child.  Karlton.  Earl  J.,  who  is  a  general  merchant  and 
dealer  in  mining  supplies  in  the  same  locality  of  Idaho,  married  Miss  Roles 
and  has  one  daughter.  Miss  Ida  L.,  who  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  and  at  the  Valparaiso  Normal,  has  been  a  successful  teacher  in  the 
city  schools  of  Hammond  for  the  past  three  years,  and  also  taught  four  years 
in  her  home  township.  Miss  Julia  M.,  who  was  educated  in  the  Hammond 
high  school  and  at  \"alparaiso,  is  at  home  w'ith  her  father ;  is  a  teacher  in  her 
home  township,  and  taught  for  two  years  in  Idalio.  Miss  Edna  R.  was 
educated  in  the  Hammond  high  school  and  is  a  teacher  in  Bay  Horse,  Idaho. 
Mr.  Michael  m.ay  well  feel  a  large  degree  of  pride  in  his  children's  enviable 
record  in  the  field  of  active  life. 

Mrs.  Michael  was  born  in.  W'heaton,  Illinois,  February  4,  1844.  and  for 
some  time  was  a  successful  teacher  in  that  state.     She  is  now  an  in\-alid. 

Mr.  Michael  was  old  enough  to  cast  a  vote  for  Lincoln's  second  election, 
but  was  not  permitted  to  vote  Ijecause  of  being  in  the  ranks.  However,  he 
has  actively  supported  every  candidate  of  the  Grand  Old  Party  ever  since. 
He  was  elected  in   1888  to  the  office  of  trustee  of  his  township,  this  being 


378  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

the  most  onerous  public  office  in  the  county.  During  his  incumbency  he 
supervised  the  erection  of  three  schoolhouses  and  had  to  look  after  the  wel- 
fare of  twelve  schools.  He  is  a  man  well  fitted  by  intelliger.ee,  experience 
and  personal  integrity  to  fill  any  office  his  fellow-citizens  may  give  him,  and 
he  is  public-spirited  and  thoroughly  interested  in  everything  pertaining  to 
the  growth  and  advancement  of  the  county.  His  farm  comprises  one  hundred 
and  seventy-four  acres  of  fine  land  all  in  West  Creek  township,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1903  he  erected  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  modern  residences 
in  the  township.  Fraternally  Mr.  Michael  is  a  member  of  Burnham  Post 
No.  276,  G.  A.  R..  he  being  past  commander.  There  are  aT)Out  sixty-five 
active  members  of  the  post  at  this  writing,  which  is  a  large  body  considering 
the  fact  that  the  Grand  Army  is  the  only  organization  which  never  increases 

in  number. 

FRANK  P.  SHERART. 

When  the  tocsin  of  war  sounded  in  1861  and  men  from  all  stations  and 
walks  of  life  flocked  to  the  standard  of  the  country  to  uphold  the  Union 
cause.  Frank  P.  Sherart  was  among  the  number  who  donned  the  blue  uni- 
form and  went  to  the  south  in  defense  of  the  nation's  starry  banner,  and  in 
all  matters  of  citizenship  he  has  lieen  equally  loyal  even  though  he  has  not 
worn  the  dress  of  the  soldier.  A  native  of  Erie  county,  Ohio,  he  was  born 
on  the  28th  of  December,  1836,  and  is  a  representative  of  an  old  Pennsyl- 
vania family  of  German  lineage.  His  father,  George  Sherart,  was  born  in 
Pennsylvania  in  1800  and  in  1809  accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal 
to  Erie  county,  Ohio,  where  he  was  reared,  educated  and  married.  He  then 
located  on  a  farm,  removing  afterward  to  Allegan  county,  Michigan,  where 
he  lived  until  1853,  when  he  came  to  Lake  county,  Lidiana.  He  located  in 
the  southern  part  of  this  county  and  spent  his  remaining  days  upon  his  farm 
in  \\'est  Creek  township,  where  lie  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years.  He 
was  a  Whig  in  his  political  affiliation  in  early  manhood,  and  upon  the  dis- 
solution of  that  party  he  joined  the  ranks  of  the  new  Republican  party.  His 
religious  faith  was  indicated  by  his  membership  in  the  Presbyterian  church. 
His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  ]\Iary  Cuddeback,  was  born  in  New 
York  in  1799  and  died  in  1892  at  the  very  advanced  age  of  ninety-three 
years.     She  was  of  Holland  descent.     In  the  family  of  I\Ir.  and  ^Irs.  George 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  379 

Sherart  were  seven  cliildren,  three  sons  and  four  daugliters.  all  of  whom 
reached  adult  age. 

I^'rank  P.  Sherart,  now  well  known  in  Lowell  and  Lake  county,  was 
the  fifth  child  and  third  son  of  that  family.  He  came  to  Lake  county  in 
1854.  when  but  se\"enteen  or  eighteen  years  of  age.  His  education  was 
acquired  in  the  public  schools  of  Michigan,  Ohio  and  Lidiana,  and  about 
1858  he  went  from  the  last  named  state  to  Caldwell  county,  Missouri,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  teaching  in  the  district  schools  for  four  terms.  About 
1861  he  returned  to  Lake  county  and  began  farming  in  West  Creek  town- 
ship, but  the  same  year  he  responded  to  his  country's  call  for  aid  to  preserve 
the  L'nion,  enlisting  as  a  member  of  Company  B.  Twentieth  Indiana  \^olun- 
teer  Infantry.  He  served  as  a  pri\ate  of  that  company  for  two  years  and 
was  then  honorably  discharged  on  account  of  physical  disability.  He  re- 
turned to  his  home,  but  as  soon  as  he  had  sufficiently  recovered  his  health  he 
re-enlisted,  this  time  becoming  a  member  of  Company  C,  One  Hundred  and 
Thirty-eighth  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  joined  the  regiment  as  a 
private  and  was  afterward  commissioned  second  lieutenant  of  Company  C, 
with  which  he  served  for  three  months,  after  which  he  returned  to  Indian- 
apolis, Indiana.  His  next  enlistment  made  him  a  member  of  Company  K, 
One  Hundred  and  Forty-second  Indiana  Infantry,  but  though  he  joined  this 
command  as  a  private  he  was  soon  made  second  lieutenant  and  was  afterward 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  adjutant  of  the  regiment.  He  served  until  after  the 
close  of  the  war  when,  in  July,  1865,  he  was  honorably  discharged.  He  was 
a  brave  and  loyal  soldier  and  gallant  officer  and  he  never  faltered  in  the 
performance  of  any  duty  throughout  his  military  experience. 

On  returning  to  private  life  ]\Ir.  Sherart  engaged  in  farming  in  West 
Creek  township.  Lake  county,  but  in  1865  removed  to  Lowell,  where  he 
began  merchandizing,  carrying  on  that  pursuit  for  a  number  of  years.  He 
was  also  for  several  years  engaged  in  contracting  and  bridge  building,  but 
is  now  living  retired,  having  acquired  a  competence  which  enables  him  to  put 
aside  his  business  cares  and  spend  his  remaining  days  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
fruits  of  his  former  toil. 

On  the  23d  of  September,  1868,  ]Mr.  Sherart  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Sarah  Craft,  a  daughter  of  H.  W.  and  Mary  R.  (Beach)  Craft, 
who  came  from  Fredericktown,  Knox  county,  Ohio,  to  Lake  county,  Indiana, 


380  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

in  March.  if^^J-  They  settled  at  Crown  Point.  The  Craft  family  traces  its 
ancestry  back  to  1050.  About  that  time  the  spelling  of  the  name  was  changed 
from  Croft  to  its  present  form.  H.  W.  Craft,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Sherart. 
was  a  miller  and  millwright  by  trade  and  built  a  mill  at  Crown  Point  and 
also  one  at  Lowell.  He  also  became  a  large  landowner  and  was  prominent 
and  influential  in  industrial  circles  in  this  part  of  the  state.  To  him  and 
his  wife  were  born  seven  children,  two  sons  and  five  daughters,  of  whom 
Mrs.  Sherart  is  the  third  child  and  third  daughter.  By  her  marriage  she 
has  become  the  mother  of  two  children:  Maude,  the  elder,  is  the  wife  of 
Theodore  Henry,  who  is  assistant  manager  of  the  Denver  Republic,  pub- 
lished at  Denver.  Colorado,  and  they  have  one  son.  Sherart.  who  is  now 
four  months  old.  Charles,  the  younger  child,  is  an  electrician  located  at 
Hammond.  Lidiana. 

Mr.  Sherart  has  voted  for  each  presidential  candidate  (jf  the  Repub- 
lican party  since  casting  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln  in 
i860.  He  has  been  a  trustee  of  the  town  of  Lowell,  but  has  never  been  very 
active  in  seeking  public  office,  preferring  to  do  his  duty  as  a  private  citizen. 
His  business  interests  have  largely  claimed  his  time  and  attention,  and 
through    their   careful    conduct    he   has    e^'entually    won    a    very    gratifving 

measure  of  prosperity. 

FRED    L.    SUNDERMAN. 

Fred  L.  Sunderman  is  one  of  the  representative  citizens  and  agri- 
culturists of  West  Creek  township,  and  a  man  who,  by  his  industry,  honest}' 
and  integrity,  has  proved  himself  worthy  of  the  confidence  of  the  public. 
He  is  a  fine  type  of  the  young  and  progressive  farmer,  and  has  lieen  very 
successful  in  this  line  of  work,  but  he  is  also  well  remembered  in  the  township 
for  his  excellent  work  as  an  educator,  and  his  influence  and  efforts  are  still 
cast  strenuously  for  higher  ideals  in  all  departments  of  civilization. 

He  is  a  native  son  of  the  township  in  which  he  has  played  so  important 
a  part  since  arriving  at  manhood.  He  was  born  April  9.  1866,  and  is  the 
third  of  the  eight  children,  three  sons  and  fi\"e  daughters,  born  to  Simon  and 
Lena  (Moeller)  Sunderman.  Seven  of  the  children  are  yet  living,  three  in 
West  Creek  township,  and  the  others  are  as  follows:  Simon  is  a  farmer  of 
Vinemont,  Alabama,  and  is  married ;  August,  who  is  a  successful  rancher 
at  Pilot  Rock,  Oregon,  ha\ing  a  wife  and  family,  is  also  a  minister  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  381 

Christian  church,  and  after  Ills  education  in  the  public  schools  he  took  a 
theological  course  at  Berea  College ;  Margaret,  who  is  a  resident  of  Chicago, 
is  a  successful  teacher  in  the  city  schools;  Lena  is  a  resident  of  Lowell,  and 
wife  of  Peter  Danstroni. 

The  history  of  father  Sunderman  is  most  edifying  to  this  generation, 
and  shows  what  German  pluck  and  perseverance  can  do  in  this  country. 
He  was  born  in  Lippe-Detmold,  Germany,  in  1831,  and  is  still  living  in 
West  Creek  township,  being  the  owner  of  the  estate  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four  acres  which  his  son  Fred  now  conducts  for  him.  He  was  reared 
and  educated  in  his  native  land,  and  was  there  married  to  the  good  woman 
who  so  nobly  assisted  him  through  many  subsequent  years.  While  in  young 
manhood  he  emigrated  to  America,  embarking  on  a  sailing  vessel  at  Bremer- 
haven,  and  being  on  the  ocean  six  weeks  before  he  landed  at  New  York. 
He  came  at  once  to  Lake  county.  Lrdiana.  and  about  forty  dollars  in  cash  was 
all  the  worldly  possessions  he  had  at  the  outset  of  his  career.  He  began 
wage-earning  at  thirteen  dollars  a  month,  and  after  continuing  this  for  a 
year  came  to  W^est  Creek  township,  where  for  three  years  he  worked  on  the 
shares.  He  finally  purchased  eighty  acres,  going  in  debt  for  it,  but  by  indus- 
try lie  cancelled  the  indebtedness  and  continued  adding  to  his  landed  estate 
until  he  now  has  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  acres,  with  all  its  excellent 
improvements,  forming  a  monument  to  his  former  diligence  and  prosperity 
from  small  beginnings.  He  has  never  aspired  to  office,  but  is  a  stanch 
Republican  and  supports  the  doctrines  of  his  party.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
German  Methodist  denomination  at  Cedar  Lake.  His  good  wife,  who  was 
born  in  the  same  part  of  Germany  as  he,  died  in  1890,  and  she  was  an  indus- 
trious and  frugal  woman.  While  in  Germany  she  worked  for  a  money  con- 
sideration of  four  dollars  per  year,  which  in  itself  is  a  graphic  illustration  of 
the  difference  in  economic  conditions  on  the  two  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 

Mr.  Fred  L.  Sunderman  was  reared  in  his  home  township.  After  he 
had  completed  his  training  in  the  common  schools,  in  the  fall  of  1885  he 
entered  the  Valparaiso  Normal,  where  he  took  the  teachers"  course,  and 
came  home  from  there  to  engage  in  the  teaching  profession,  which  he  fol- 
lowed in  his  Iiome  township  with  great  success  for  eight  years.  Besides  his 
work  in  the  teachers"  course  at  Valparaiso,  he  also  graduated  in  the  iiharmacy, 
scientific   and    classical    departments    of   this    well-known    school.      He    still 


382  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

retains  his  enthusiasm  for  the  education  of  tlie  masses  and  tlie  increasing  and 
broadening  of  the  individuahty  of  every  girl  and  boy  in  America. 

May  12,  1898,  Mr.  Sunderman  married  Miss  AngeHne  Fleming,  and 
a  son  and  a  daughter  ha^'e  been  born  to  them,  named  Ruth  Bernice  and 
Charles  Fleming.  Mrs.  Sunderman  was  born  in  Tazewell  county,  Illinois, 
December  12,  1868.  Her  father,  William  Fleming,  is  still  iiving,  being  a 
prosperous  retired  farmer  residing  in  Delavan,  Illinois.  Mrs.  Sunderman 
was  reared  in  Illinois,  and  received  a  fine  higher  training  at  the  Normal 
University  of  Illinois,  also  at  a  normal  in  Ohio,  and  finished  the  scientific 
course  at  the  Valparaiso  Normal  in  the  class  of  1896.  She  was  a  very  suc- 
cessful teacher  for  ten  years  before  her  marriage,  one  year  of  the  time  being 
spent  at  Geneva,  Indiana,  and  the  other  years  in  Illinois.  Both  ]Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Sunderman  are  lovers  of  good  literature,  and  in  the  busy  activity  of  life 
have  not  forgotten  how  to  study  and  apply  their  minds  and  thoughts  to  the 
things  of  the  mental  and  the  spiritual  domains.  They  are  both  attendants 
of  the  Lake  Prairie  Presbyterian  church,  and  contribute  in  accordance  with 
their  means  to  the  benevolences.  Mr.  Sundemian  by  his  uprightness  in 
conduct  and  integrity  in  all  of  life's  relations  has  gained  the  confidence  of 
his  fellow-citizens  to  an  un\isual  degree,  as  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  he 
received  the  nomination  for  trustee  of  West  Creek  township  and,  at  the 
present   writing,    is   a   candidate   with   absolute  certainty   of    success   at    the 

hustings. 

EDWARD    BATTERMAN. 

E.  Batterman,  proprietor  of  a  blacksmith  and  machine  shop  at  Hobart, 
was  born  in  Will  county.  Illinois,  March  5,  1858,  and  is  a  son  of  Charles 
and  Johanna  (Dasher)  Batterman.  both  of  whom  were  nati\es  of  Germany, 
the  father  having  been  born  in  Hanover  and  the  mother  in  Hamburg.  They 
came  to  America,  establishing  their  home  in  Illinois,  aufl  there  the  subject  of 
this  review  was  reared,  pursuing  his  education  in  the  common  schools  of 
Will  county.  After  putting  aside  his  text-books  he  learned  the  trade  of  a 
blacksmith,  serving  a  two  years'  apprenticeship  in  Hobart,  Indiana.  He 
began  work  in  this  line  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years,  an^l  on  th.e  com- 
pletion of  his  apprenticeship  was  employed  in  the  railroad  shops  of  the 
Nickle  Plate  road  for  about  six  months.  In  1880  he  opened  a  shop  of  his 
own  at  Hobart,  this  establishment  being  only  sixteen  by  twenty  feet.     Here 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  3S3 

he  has  since  remained,  and  has  huih  one  of  the  finest  blacksmith  and  machine 
shops  in  the  county.  The  buiUhng  is  forty  by  one  hundred  feet,  two  stories 
in  height,  and  is  constructed  of  brick.  There  is  a  wagon  shop,  twenty-four 
by  forty  feet,  in  addition  to  the  other  department.  He  is  now  recognized 
as  one  of  the  leading  business  men  of  the  town,  a  prominent  representative 
of  its  industrial  interests.  In  his  chosen  field  of  labor  he  has  become  an 
excellent  workman,  and  his  capability  and  relial)le  business  methods  have 
formed  the  strong  elements  in  hi-s  successful  career. 

In  1882  Mr.  Batterman  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Carrie  Richards, 
and  they  have  one  daughter,  Lena,  who  is  now  the  wife  of  Plin  Trusdale,  of 
Chicago.  Mr.  Batterman  has  been  a  life-long  Republican,  and  upon  the  ticket 
of  that  party  was  elected  town  treasurer,  which  position  he  now  holds.  He 
belongs  to  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters,  Lodge  No.  141,  and  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  Lodge  No.  144.  and  in  the  latter  has 
taken  the  degrees  of  the  encampment.  He  is  well  known  in  northwestern 
Indiana,  his  business  extending  largely  over  Lake  and  adjoining  counties. 
His  shop  is  one  of  the  leading  industries  of  the  kind  in  this  part  of  the  state, 
and  in  addition  to  the  work  which  he  does  as  an  artisan  he  handles  all  kinds 
of  agricultural  implements  and  sells  directly  to  the  farmers.  As  a  citizen 
he  has  contriliuted  in  no  small  degree  to  the  upbuilding  and  development  of 
Hobart,  and  whatever  tends  to  benefit  the  community  receives  his  endorse- 
ment and  co-operation. 

CHARLES    GRUEL. 

The  German-American  element  in  our  citizenship  has  long  been  recog- 
nized as  an  important  one,  for  from  an  early  age  the  Teutonic  race  has 
carried  civilization  into  pioneer  districts  of  the  world  and  has  introduced  the 
progress  made  in  the  fatherland.  i\Ir.  Gruel  is  a  worthy  representative  of  the 
German  people,  and  in  his  life  record  has  shown  many  of  the  commendable 
traits  of  the  men  of  his  nationality.  He  was  born  in  Pomerania,  Germany, 
October  9,  i860,  and  when  eleven  years  of  age  was  brought  to  America,  be- 
coming a  resident  of  Chicago.  He  attended  school  there  during  the  two 
years  of  his  residence  in  that  city,  and  in  1873  he  came  to  Hobart.  Here  he 
worked  in  a  brickyard  for  a  time,  and  was  afterward  engaged  in  the  saloon 
business  there  for  about  ten  years.  In  1893  he  established  a  meat  market 
and  also  began  dealing  in  live-stock.     He  feeds,  sells  and  ships  stock,  and 


384  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

operates  quite  extensively  in  this  line  at  the  present  date.  He  has  also  built 
some  business  blocks  in  Hobart  and  has  thus  contributed  in  appreciable 
manner  to  the  substantial  development  of  the  town. 

Tn  1884  Mr.  Gruel  was  united  in  marriage  with  ]\Iiss  Emma  Krieger,  a 
native  of  Porter  county,  whence  she  remo\'ed  to  Lake  county,  Indiana. 
Her  father  was  Frederick  Krieger,  an  early  settler  of  Porter  county  and  of 
German  lineage.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gruel  have  one  daughter,  Matilda.  Mr. 
Gruel  is  one  of  the  leading  business  men  of  Hobart,  and  his  private  afifairs 
are  capably  and  successfully  conducted,  while  his  co-operation  in  public 
measures  has  been  a  factor  in  the  development  and  improvement  of  the  town. 
He  is  a  most  earnest  and  stah^■art  Republican,  and  he  belongs  to  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  the  Knights  of  Pythias  fraternity.  He 
was  reared  in  the  Lutheran  faith,  and  at  all  times  his  life  has  been  actuated  by 
honorable  principles,  which  lia\-e  formed  the  basic  element  in  his  success. 

ANDREW    J.    SMITH. 

Andrew  J.  Smith,  editor  of  the  Hobart  Gazette,  at  Hobart,  Indiana, 
has  been  numbered  among  the  enterprising  citizens  of  this  Lake  county 
town  for  nearly  twenty  years,  and  for  the  past  fifteen  years  has  been  identified 
with  the  Gazette.  This  is  the  only  newspaper  of  the  town,  having  always 
maintained  its  own  against  several  ephemeral  rivals  that  have  for  varying 
periods  set  up  and  then  struck  their  editorial  tents  in  this  town.  Like  all 
newspapers,  the  Gazette  has  not  traveled  a  continuous  "primrose  path,"  nor 
vet  h.as  it  had  many  vicissitudes  or  crises  in  its  e.xistence,  but  under  the  con- 
servative and  business-like  management  of  its  publishers,  who  have  always 
given  the  people  a  sheet  worth  reading,  it  has  enjoyed  a  continually  increas- 
ing success,  and  is  now  numl)ered  among  the  substantial,  permanent  and 
prosperous  institutions  of  Hobart.  The  Gazette  was  founded  in  Hobart  in 
August,  1889,  by  George  Narpass  and  G.  Bender,  and  under  foreclosure 
sale  and  at  the  instance  of  a  number  of  citizens  was  bought  by  Mr.  Smith 
in  the  following  December.  The  plant  is  up-to-date  and  complete  for  a  town 
of  the  size,  having  a  large  power  cylinder  press,  and  in  circulation  and  gen- 
eral patronage  the  paper  ranks  among  the  foremost  of  the  county.  The 
Gazette  is  conducted  on  independent  lines,  the  two  publishers  being  of 
opposite  political  tendencies,  and  thus  their  paper  is  unbiassed  and  practical 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  385 

in  treating"  all  questions  and  problems  of  community  and  county  concern. 
While  their  endeavors  are  most  successfully  directed  toward  making  their 
publication  a  weathervane  to  indicate  the  direction  of  public  opinion  and  a 
mirror  of  current  e\ents,  their  Cdlumns  also  always  show  a  public-spirited 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  town  and  county  and  their  editorial  iniluence  is 
ever  for  the  progress  and  upbuilding  of  the  community's  institutions  and 
interests. 

Mr.  Smith,  most  of  whose  adult  life  has  thus  been  identified  with 
Hobart,  was  born  at  Mottville.  St.  Joseph  county,  Michigan,  March  20, 
i86t,  being  one  of  five  children,  two  boys  and  three  girls,  born  to  John  A. 
and  Emeline  (Shellenberger)  Smith.  His  father  died  in  February,  1900, 
but  his  mother  is  still  living  on  the  home  farm  of  three  hundred  acres  in 
Elkhart  county,   Indiana. 

Mr.  Smith  had  the  wholesome  rearing  and  training  of  a  farmer  boy, 
living  from  the  age  of  five  to  eighteen  on  the  farm  in  Elkhart  county.  He 
had  taught  one  term  of  school  before  he  was  eighteen,  and  from  the  time 
he  attained  that  age  until  he  entered  newspaper  work  in  1890  he  was  almost 
continuously  engaged  in  that  profession,  the  last  four  years  of  the  time 
having  been  spent  as  principal  of  the  Hobart  schools,  so  that  iiis  residence  in 
this  town  dates  from  August,  1886.  In  the  interims  of  his  teaching  he 
studied  at  the  Northern  Indiana  Normal  School  at  Valparaiso,  and  in  1885 
graduated  in  the  scientific  class  of  that  institution.  During  three  summers 
before  1890  he  conducted  normal  classes  in  Elkhart  county,  and  had  a 
reputation  in  that  county  as  one  of  the  best  instructors  engaged  "in  that  line 
of  work.  By  his  purchase  of  the  Ga::cfte  plant  late  in  1889  his  energies  were 
directed  to  newspaper  work,  and  he  has  made  that  his  principal  vocation  to 
the  present.  He  was  sole  owner  of  the  plant  until  the  fall  of  1891,  when 
he  sold  a  half  interest  to  Mr.  Nevin  B.  White,  and  the  firmi  has  since  been 
Smith  &  White.  They  also  carry  on  a  general  real  estate,  loan  and  insur- 
ance business. 

July  7.  1884,  ]\Ir.  Smitli  married  Miss  Elva  L.  Stiwaid,  of  Lorain 
county,  Ohio.  There  are  no  children  of  this  marriage,  and  after  twenty 
years  of  happy  wedded  life  Mr.  Smith  lost  his  wife  on  February  2,  1904. 

Mr.  Smith  has  never  held  office,  but  has  been  nominated  for  county 
auditor  of  Lake  county  in  1904  on  the  Democratic  ticket.     He  has  at  various 

25 


386  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

times  had  nominations  to  local  offices  urged  upon  him.     In  his   individual 

political  beliefs  he  is  a  Democrat  of  the  old-time,  conservative,  sound-money 

stamp,  and  as  a  private  citizen  is  interested  in  the  success  and  growth  of  his 

party.     He  has  been  a  Mason  for  the  past  seventeen  years,  was  master  of  his 

lodge    for   seven   years,   and   has    since   been    secretary.      He   affiliates   with 

M.   L.    McClelland   Lodge   No.    357,    F.   &  A.    M.,   at    Hobart ;    Valparaiso 

Chapter  No.  79,  R.  A.  M.,- at  Valparaiso;  Valparaiso  Commandery  No  28, 

K.  T.,  at  Valparaiso;  is  a  member  and  past  chancellor  commander  of  Hobart 

Lodge  No.  458,   Knights  of  Pythias ;   a  member  of  Hobart  Tent   No.  65, 

K.  O.  T.  M.     He  is  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Hobart  Gun  Club,  and 

is  an  active  member  of  various  social  organizations.     He  was  christened  anrl 

reared  in   the   faith  of  the  Dutch   Reformed  church,   of   whicli   his   mother 

is  still  a  member. 

MRS.  ELIZA  L.  MARVIN. 

Mrs.  Eliza  L.  Marvin,  who  passed  from  among  the  living  July  31.  1904, 
was  a  foremost  representative  of  the  remarkable  pioneer  women  so  few  of 
whom  remain  in  Lake  county  from  the  days  gone  by.  All  history  shows  how 
conspicuous  a  part  the  wives  and  daughters  ha\e  played  in  the  national 
development  and  material,  social  and  intellectual  welfare  of  the  country,  and 
the  pioneer  class  to  which  Mrs.  Marvin  belonged  is  especially  worthy  of 
honor  when  the  annals  of  a  section  of  country  like  Lake  county  are  under 
consideration,  as  in  this  volume  of  historical  and  biographical  narrative. 
The  women  were  often  no  less  forward  than  the  men  in  blazing  the  way  of 
civilization  and  making  the  wild  country  produce  of  the  fruits  necessary  to 
mankind.  Mrs.  Marvin  had  been  a  resident  'of  Lake  county  since  1847,  ^"'' 
she  could  look  back  to  the  time  when  this  part  of  Indiana  was  in  its  vir- 
ginity, and  she  had  witnessed  the  wonderful  development  which  has  trans- 
formed a  profitless  section  of  country  into  as  rich  an  agricultural  and  indus- 
trial community  as  can  be  found  anywhere  in  the  state.  In  her  time  the 
p-reat  trunk  lines  of  railroad  have  been  thrown  across  the  county,  the  manu- 
facturing plants  of  colossal  size  and  imijortance  ha\e  Iieen  established  in  the 
Lake  cities,  and   all   the   institutions  of   learning,    religion   and   charity   have 

grown  up. 

Mrs.  Marvin  was  born  in  Wayne  county,  Michigan,  Augiist  13,  1827, 
so  that  her  life  has  spanned,  with  its  seventy-seven  years,  the  gulf  from  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  387 

most  primiti\-e  times  of  the  middle  west  to  tlie  present  phenomenal  develop- 
ment of  civilization  in  the  same  territory.  She  was  the  eldest  of  seven  chil- 
dren, four  sons  and  three  daughters,  born  to  Hiram  S.  and  Mary  W. 
(Holley)  Fuller,  and  of  these  she  had  just  one  brother  living,  Charles  Fuller, 
who  is  married  and  resides  at  Salida,  California.  Hiram  Fuller  was  born  in 
the  old  Green  [Mountain  state  of  \^ermont  in  1801,  and  died  in  Julv.  1878. 
He  was  reared  in  his  native  state  till  he  had  almost  reached  manhood,  and 
his  common  school  education  was  finished  off  at  a  seminary.  His  parents 
moved  to  Whitehall,  New  York,  and  he  resided  there  for  eight  en"  ten  years. 
From  New  York  he  came  west  to  Michigan  and  settled  at  Northville,  in  the 
pioneer  days,  and  purchased  some  timber  land  and  began  his  career  as  a 
farmer.  In  those  early  days  he  often  drove  an  ox  team  to  Detroit  for  pro- 
visions. He  sold  his  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  the  fruit  belt  of  Michi- 
gan and  in  1847  came  to  Lake  county.  Indiana,  and  located  on  a  pre\-ious 
purchase  of  four  hundred  acres  of  wild  land  in  West  Creek  township.  Their 
settlement  in  the  county  was  at  an  early  enough  date  that  the  deer  were  still 
plentiful,  and  Mrs.  Mar\-in  remembers  hax'ing  seen  as  many  as  ninety  at  a 
time  in  the  vicinity  of  the  homestead.  Mr.  Fuller  was  for  man)'  years  a 
Whig  in  politics,  but  from  the  birth  of  the  Republican  party  espoused  its 
principles  till  his  death.  He  was  a  man  of  much  decision  of  character,  was 
a  friend  of  education  and  all  interests  conducive  to  the  welfare  of  his  com- 
munity, was  domestic  in  his  tastes  and  a  lo\-er  of  home  and  children,  and 
his  beneficent  influence  continued  to  live  in  the  noble  womanhood  of  his 
daughter.  He  and  his  wife  were  memliers  of  the  Presbyterian  cb.urch. 
and  he  lielped  found  the  church  in  West  Creek  tovvuship  and  assisted  in  the 
building  of  the  church  edifice.  Mrs.  Marvin's  mother  was  a  native  of  York 
state,  and  was  born  in  the  Genesee  valley  iri  September.  1808,  and  died  in 
1878.  having  been  reared  and  educated  in  New  York  state.  She  was  a  kind 
and  affectionate  mother,  and  the  spirit  of  her  teachings  and  her  character  is 
still  potent  in  the  world. 

Mrs.  Marvin  was  a  young  lady  of  about  twenty-one  years  when  she 
came  to  Lake  county,  and  her  education  had  already  lieen  completed  in  the 
common  schools  and  an  academy  in  Michigan.  She  was  an  assistant  in  the 
Northville  public  schools  for  about  two  years  and  also  followed  the  profes- 
sion of  teaching  after  she  came  to  Indiana. 


388  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

On  December  6,  1851,  she  was  united  in  marriage  with  Mr.  Charles 
Marvin.  He  was  born  in  the  state  of  Connecticut,  and  died  June  16,  1892. 
He  was  reared  by  his  uncle  and  aunt  and  received  a  good  education.  His 
younger  years  were  spent  in  the  capacity  of  a  salesman  in  the  south,  being  in 
New  Orleans  for  six  months,  after  which  he  came  north.  Much  of  his  life 
was  spent  as  a  merchant,  but  after  his  marriage  he  became  an  agriculturist. 
He  was  thrifty  and  a  good  financial  manager,  and  at  the  time  of  his  mar- 
riage he  owned  about  six  hundred  acres  of  land  in  West  Creek  township.  He 
was  a  strong  anti-slavery  advocate,  and  followed  the  banner  of  the  Republican 
party  until  his  death.  He  was  a  very  successful  stock-raiser  and  farmer, 
and  was  known  and  admired  throughout  Lake  county  for  his  firm  integrity 
and  prominence  in  the  affairs  of  citizenship.  He  was  reared  in  tlie  Pres- 
byterian faith. 

At  her  husband's  .death  Mrs.  Marvin  had  to  assume  a  large  business 
responsibility  in  the  management  of  the  estate  left  her,  and  during  the  sub- 
sequent years  she  displayed  an  acumen  and  sagacity  rarely  found  in  those 
of  the  gentler  sex.  She  was  a  genial  and  cordial  lady,  and  had  many  friends. 
Her  bright  mind  delighted  to  wander  among  the  scenes  of  early  days,  and  on 
the  page  of  her  memory  was  written  a  record  of  many  events  and  scenes  of 
the  first  half  of  the  past  century.  She  had  seen  the  city  of  Chicago  when 
teams  were  stalled  along  the  business  thoroughfares  of  Lake  street  on  account 
of  the  mud  and  mire,  and  she  also  knew  the  city  with  its  population  of 
nearly  two  millions.  She  was  a  woman  of  charitable  and  generous  instincts, 
and  never  failed  to  respond  to  benevolent  causes  worthy  of  her  consideration. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marvin  had  no  children  of  their  own,  but  in  the  goodness 
of  their  hearts  they  adopted  a  boy  and  a  girl,  named  Edward  Prosser  and 
Ellen  Rollins,  and  reared  and  educated  them,  surrounding  them  with  the 
best  of  influences  and  comforts.  The  former  died  after  reaching  young 
manhood,  and  the  latter  married  Philip  Stuppy,  a  farmer  of  West  Creek 
township.  Mrs.  Marvin  retained  until  the  last  the  active  management  and 
oversight  of  the  estate  of  three  hundred  acres,  part  of  which  is  located  in 
Illinois,  and  she  had  a  beautiful  home  in  which  to  pass  the  final  years  of  so 
useful  and  noble  a  career  as  had  been  vouchsafed  to  her. 

N.  P.  BANKS. 

N.   P.  Banks,  one  of  the  practical  and  progressive  farmers  of  Hobart 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  389 

township,  resides  on  Section  6,  and  for  many  years  has  been  a  resident  of  the 
county.  He  was  born  in  Lake  county,  Ohio,  September  25.  1845.  '^"^  '''' 
the  paternal  line  is'  of  Holland-Dutch  lineage.  His  great-great-grandfather 
was  born  in  Holland  and,  coming  to  America,  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolutionary  war.  Oriii  Banks,  the  father  iif  X.  P.  Banks,  was  born  in 
New  York  and  was  reared  and  married  there,  the  lady  of  his  choice  being- 
Miss  Olive  Brown,  whose  birth  occurred  in  the  Empire  state  and  who  was 
of  English  descent.  He  emigrated  to  Ohio  in  an  early  day,  settling  in  Lake 
county,  w'hence  in  1845  he  removed  to  LaPorte  county,  Indiana,  establishing 
his  home  just  within  the  boundary  limits  of  LaPorte  city.  He  afterward 
lived  in  Scipio  township,  that  county,  and  iri  1852  he  came  to  Lake  county, 
settling  in  Ross  townshii),  where  he  carried  on  farming.  His  last  days,  how- 
ever, were  passed  in  Hobart  township,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven  years.  He  was  a  very  public-spirited  man,  and  was  justice  of  the 
peace  for  a  number  of  years.  He  also  belonged  to  the  Baptist  church,  was 
very  active  and  zealous  in  its  work,  filled  the  office  of  deacon  and  did  e\'ery- 
thing  in  his  power  to  advance  the  cause  of  Christianity  in  his  community. 
His  life  was  honorable,  his  actions  manly  and  sincere  and  he  left  to  his  family 
the  priceless  heritage  of  an  untarnished  name.  His  wife,  a  most  estimable 
lady,  lived  to  be  about  seventy-two  years  of  age.  In  their  family  were 
twelve  children,  of  whom  two  died  in  infancy,  while  ten  reached  manhood 
or  womanhood  and  eight  are  now  living. 

N.  P.  Banks  is  the  youngest  son  and  eleventh  child  of  the  family.  anf1 
was  but  six  weeks  old  when  he  landed  in  LaPorte  count}-.  Indiana,  with  his 
parents.  Seven  years  later  he  came  with  them  to  Lake  county,  and  was 
largely  reared  in  Hobart  township,  acquiring  his  education  in  the  pul.ilic 
schools.  He  was  but  sixteen  years  of  age  when  in  1862  he  enlisted  in 
Miller's  Chicago  Battery  for  three  years'  service.  He  was  No.  4  on  the  gun, 
and  was  afterward  corporal  chief  of  the  caisson  and  gunner.  During  the 
last  year  of  his  service  he  held  the  rank  of  sergeant  and  received  an  hon- 
orable discharge  in  1865,  after  having  been  a  member  of  the  army  for  almost 
three  years.  He  was  the  youngest  n-ian  in  his  company,  and  he  took  part  in 
seventeen  important  battles  and  thirty-four  skirmishes,  including  many  of  the 
most  hotly  contested  engagements  of  the  war.  Among  the  number  were  the 
battles  of  the  Atlanta  campaign,  and  though  he  was  often  in  the  thickest  of 


390  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

the  figlit  he  did  not  receive  even  a  scratch  in  all  of  his  service.  \\'hen  the 
country  no  longer  needed  his  aid  he  was  honorably  discharged  at  Chicago 
in  1865.  and  returned  to  his  home  in  Lake  county  with  a  most  creditable 
military  record. 

Desirous  of  enjoying  better  school  advantages  Mr.  Banks  then  attended 
high  school  for  one  term,  and  later  he  engaged  in  teaching  school  through 
four  winter  seasons,  while  in  the  summer  months  he  worked  for  wages  on 
the  farm. 

On  the  14th  of  February,  1869,  occurred  the  marriage  of  ^Ir.  Bank.- 
and  ]\Iiss  Clara  E.  Chandler,  a  daughter  of  T.  P.  and  Betsey  (W'oodmanseel 
Chandler.  The  parents  were  nati\-es  of  \^ermont  and  in  their  family  were 
four  children,  of  whom  ]\Irs.  Banks  is  the  youngest.  Her  birth  occurred 
in  the  Green  Mountain  state  January  i.  1850.  and  by  her  marriage  she  has 
become  the  mother  of  six  children :  Mary,  the  wife  of  J.  ^I.  Sholl ;  Carrie  E., 
who  is  attending  college  at  Oberlin.  Ohio:  Myrtle  L.,  who  is  engaged  in 
teaching  in  the  schools  of  Hobart ;  Bessie,  the  wife  of  Rev.  Dunning  Idle,  a 
celebrated  minister  of  the  JMethodist  Episcopal  church ;  Flora,  who  is  attend- 
ing school  in  Hobart:  and  ]\Iarian,  deceased. 

After  his  marriage  I\Ir.  Banks  located  upon  a  farm  in  Hobart  township 
and  has  since  been  engaged  in  general  agricultural  pursuits.  He  now  has 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  which  is  a  well  developed  property,  the 
fields  being  highly  cultivated,  while  upon  the  farm  are  good  buildings  and 
all  modern  ecjuipments.  This  constitutes  one  of  the  attractive  features  in 
the  landscape,  and  a  glance  indicates  to  the  passer-liy  the  care  and  super- 
\-ision  of  an  enterprising.  progressi\-e  owner.  ]Mr.  Banks  is  a  stockholder 
and  also  a  director  in  the  First  State  Bank  of  Hobart.  Mr.  Banks  is  a 
director  of  the  Lake  County  Farmers'  ^^lutual  Insurance  Company,  tjrgan- 
ized  some  years  ago  on  a  small  scale,  and  now  embracing  the  whole  county. 
There  are  1,310  policies  and  the  insurance  in  force  is  about  $2,150,000.00, 
which  exists  amongst  the  best  farmers  of  the  county.  There  are  fi\'e  direct- 
ors, four  of  them  being  X.  P.  Banks,  Albert  Foster,  Star  A.  Brownell  and 
John  Borger.  In  public  affairs  he  has  also  been  prominent  and  influential, 
and  his  influence  is  always  given  on  the  side  of  right,  reform  and  improve- 
ment. He  was  township  trustee  of  Hobart  for  five  years,  and  he  has  always 
been  a  stanch  Republican,  putting   forth   strenuous   effort   in  behalf  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  391 

party.     He  maintains  pleasant  relations  with  liis  old  army  comrades  through 

his  membership  in  Hobart  Post  Xo.  411,  G.  A.  R.,  and  he  also  belongs  to  the 

Odd  Fellows  society,  Xo.  t,t,^.  at  that  place.     In  matters  of  citizenship  he  is 

as  true  and  loyal  as  when  he  followed  the  nation's  stari^y  baiiner  upon  the 

battlefields  of  the  south. 

AUGUST   VOLTMER. 

August  Voltmer  is  a  representative  of  that  fine  class  of  German-Ameri- 
can citizens  who  have  been  such  an  important  factor  in  the  development  of 
th.e  material  resources  and  in  the  social  and  intellectual  life  of  Lake  county. 
He  is  himself  still  a  young  man  in  point  of  years  and  vigor,  but  for  the  past 
twenty  or  more  years  has  been  making  his  influence  felt  for  good  and  ad- 
vancement in  this  county,  and  is  also  prosperous  to  an  unusual  degree  in  his 
own  affairs. 

He  is  a  nati\'e  of  Will  count}-.  Illinois,  where  he  was  born  October  28, 
1861,  being  the  fifth  in  a  family  of  seven  children,  three  sons  and  four 
daughters,  born  to  Henry  and  Mary  (Rabe)  Voltmer.  These  children  are 
all  living,  and  there  are  three  others  who  are  residents  of  Lake  county, 
namely:  Henry.  Lizzie,  and  ^lary,  who  is  the  wife  of  William  Neidert,  a 
farmer  of  \\'est  Creek  township.  The  father  of  the  family  was  born  in 
Germany,  in  the  province  of  Hano\-er,  and  he  is  still  living  at  the  age  of 
eighty  years.  He  was  a  mechanic  until  he  came  to  America,  and  since  then 
he  has  given  his  attention  to  farming.  He  emigrated  to  this  country  when 
a  young  man.  and  fn/mi  Xew  York  came  to  Will  county,  Illinois,  being  a 
poor  but  honest  and  industrious  man,  and  in  the  course  of  his  active  career 
he  accumulated  one  himdred  and  sixty  acres  in  W"\\\  county,  and  also  pur- 
chased two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  in  \\'est  Creek  township  of  this  county, 
where  he  still  makes  his  home.  He  receixed  his  education  in  both  the 
German  and  English  tongues.  He  is  a  Republican,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  church,  as  also  was  his  good  wife,  who  died  about  1896. 

]\Ir.  August  Voltmer  was  reared  and  educated  in  W'ill  county,  Illinois, 
and  by  early  training  is  familiar  with  both  the  German  and  the  English  lan- 
guages. He  was  reared  to  farming  life,  and  has  given  principal  attention 
to  stock-raising.  He  has  a  number  of  pure-Iiloodetl  Chester  White  swine, 
and  his  cattle  are  of  high-grade  Durhams. 

He  was  married,  May  2.   1897,  to  Miss  Lena  Balgemann.  and  of  this 


392  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

union  three  children  have  been  born.  Martha,  Hilda  and  Lydia.  Mrs.  Volt- 
mer  was  torn  in  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  and  was  reared  in  that  state,  her 
parents  both  being  alive  and  residents  of  the  county  of  Kankakee. 

Mr.  Voltmer  and  his  brothers  own  two  hundred  and  seventy-nine  acres 
of  good  land  in  \\'est  Creek  township,  and  he  is  classed  as  a  prosperous 
agriculturist  and  a  stable  citizen  of  the  county,  being  always  interested  in 
anything  that  will  advance  the  interests  of  Lake  county.  He  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  and  cast  his  first  vote  for  James  G.  Blaine,  since  which  time  he 
has  zealously  upheld  the  principles  of  his  party.  He  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  German  Lutheran  church  in  Kankakee  county.  Illinois,  and  con- 
tribute of  tlieir  lueans  to  all  benevolences  worthy  of  their  consideration. 

JOHN    BRYANT. 

Numbered  amorig  the  early  settlers  and  prominent  farmers  of  Lake 
county,  John  Bryant  well  deserves  representation  in  this  volume,  for  in 
business  life  he  has  been  active,  diligent  and  trustworthy,  and  in  citizenship 
has  championed  the  various  measures  which  have  led  to  the  substantial  ini- 
provement  and  upbuilding  of  this  portion  of  the  state.  He  was  born  in  Rich- 
land county,  Ohio,  July  20,  1833,  ^"f^  comes  of  the  same  family  to  which 
William  Cullen  Bryant,  the  poet,  belonged.  His  grandfather  was  David 
Bryant,  a  native  of  New  Jersey.  His  father,  Elias  Brv'ant,  also  a  native  of 
New  Jersey,  accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal  to  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania,  when  he  was  twelve  years  of  age,  and  there  he  was 
reared  and  educated.  He  was  also  married  in  that  county,  and  afterward 
removed  to  Knox  county,  Ohio,  about  1820.  He  followed  farming  in  the 
Buckeye  state  until  the  fall  of  1835,  when  he  came  to  Lake  county,  Indiana, 
.settling  at  Pleasant  Grove,  in  Cedar  Creek  township.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers  here,  and  he  entered  land  from  the  government  for  which  he 
paid  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre.  This  he  placed  under  the  plow,  trans- 
forming the  raw  tract  into  richly  culti\'atefl  fields,  and  there  he  carried  on 
general  farming  until  his  death,  which  occurred  September  10,  1850,  when 
he  was  sixty-six  years  of  age.  He  was  a  zealous  and  active  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  in  which  he  served  as  a  deacon.  He  gave  his  political 
support  to  the  Whig  party  and  during  the  early  years  of  his  residence  in 
Lake  county  was  a  school  director.     He  contributed  to  the  pioneer  progress 


J^Jti^    y  /iyiy^^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  393 

of  tb.e  county,  and  liis  enterprise  and  energy  made  liini  a  \'a'iued  citizen  of 
the  frontier  district.  He  married  Miss  Ann  Vance,  who  was  ijorn  in  Wash- 
ington county,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Robert  Vance,  one  of 
the  pioneer  settlers  of  that  state  and  a  native  of  Ireland.  Mrs.  Bryant  died 
in  Take  county,  Indiana,  February  6,  1847,  when  fifty-five  years  of  age.  By 
her  marriage  she  became  the  mother  of  six  sons,  of  whom  four  grew  to 
manhood,  while  one  died  in  infancv  in  Ohio  and  the  other  was  killed  by 
a  rattlesnake  bite  when  thirteen  years  of  age.  Arthur  V.,  now  m  his  eighty- 
second  year,  resides  in  Tafayette,  Indiana.  Da\'id  died  in  1900,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-six  years.  Robert,  seventy-se\'en  years  of  age,  is  extensively 
engaged  in  farming  in  Porter  county,  Indiana. 

John  Br}-ant  is  the  youngest  of  the  family.  He  pursued  his  education 
in  one  of  the  primiti\-e  log  schoolhouses  found  in  the  frontier  settlements, 
attending  through  the  winter  months  until  eighteen  years  of  age.  In  the 
summer  seasons  he  worked  upon  the  home  farm,  gaining  practical  knowl- 
edge and  broad  experience  concerning  the  best  methods  of  promoting  agri- 
cultural interests.  In  1852  he  crossed  the  plains  to  California  with  a  horse 
team,  traveling  north  of  Salt  Lake  City  on  the  old  Kit  Carson  route.  He 
went  first  to  Grizzly  Flats,  in  Eldorado  county,  and  there  on  the  15th  of 
August,  1852,  he  was  taken  ill.  The  only  shelter  he  had  until  the  following 
December  was  a  pine  tree,  and  he  was  not  able  to  do  any  work  until  the 
following  March,  when  he  took  a  contract  to  build  a  ditch  to  lead  the  water 
to  what  was  called  the  dry  diggings.  After  executing  this  contract  he  began 
prospecting  and  was  engaged  in  prospecting  and  mining  until  Decemljer, 
1S56,  when  he  went  into  the  valleys,  where  he  remained  until  1857.  He 
then  returned  to  the  east  by  way  of  the  Panama  and  Aspinwall  route  to 
New  York,  spending  two  days  on  the  island  of  Cuba  while  en  route. 

Mr.  Bryant  continued  his  journey  to  Lake  county.  He  went  to  Hebron 
to  visit  his  brothers  David  and  Robert,  and  afterward  engaged  in  farming 
until  1858,  also  bought  and  sold  stock.  In  January,  1859,  he  came  to  Lowell, 
where  he  engaged  in  merchandising  with  his  brother,  Arthur  V.,  this  part- 
nership continuing  for  two  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  John  Bryant 
purchased  his  brother's  interest,  and  soon  afterward  traded  the  store  for 
eighty  acres  of  land  in  Cedar  Creek  township.  He  removed  to  the  farm 
and  continued  the  work  of  cultivation  and  improvement  there  until    1865, 


394  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

when  he  sold  that  property  and  bouglit  another  farm,  whereon  lie  carried 
on  general  agricultural  pursuits  until  1869.  In  that  year  he  purchased 
a  stock  of  merchandise  at  Hebron,  where  he  remained  in  business  until  1874, 
v\'hen  he  sold  his  property  there  and  returned  to  his  farm  in  Cedar  Creek 
townsliip,  making  it  his  home  until  1880,  when  he  also  sold  there.  He 
located  then  upon  tlie  farm  which  is  now  his  home.  In  February,  1882,  he 
again  went  to  California,  this  time  making  the  journey  by  rail,  to  visit  his 
relatives  who  had  crossed  the  plains  with  him  in  1852 — thirty  years  before. 
He  remained  in  tlie  Golden  state  until  April,  when  he  returned  to  Lowell, 
and  in  Ma}-  of  the  same  year  he  removed  to  South  Chicago  and  engaged  in 
the  grocery  business,  in  which  he  continued  for  about  three  years.  On  the 
expiration  of  that  period  he  again  came  to  Lowell  and  resumed  farming, 
which  he  has  since  followed.  He  has  a  \^aluable  tract  of  land  of  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  acres,  and  the  land  is  arable  and  highly  cultivated,  while 
man\'  substantial  improvements  liave  been  made  on  the  farm  and  indicate 
his  enterprising,  progressive  spirit. 

On  the  2ist  of  February,  i860,  ^Ir.  Bryant  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Alary  A.  Lawrence,  a  daughter  of  George  \\'.  and  Julia  C.  (Haskins) 
Lawrence.  Airs.  Bryant  was  born  in  Michigan,  December  28,  1840,  and 
was  brought  to  Lake  county  when  only  two  years  old.  She  died  September 
25,  1893,  and  her  many  excellent  traits  of  character  caused  her  death  to  be 
deeply  regretted  by  many  friends  as  well  as  her  immediate  family.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bryant  had  been  born  six  children :  Bertha  A.,  born  February  20, 
1861,  is  the  widow  of  C.  C.  Phelps,  and  has  lieen  for  a  number  of  years  a 
clerk  in  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  office  at  South  Chicago.  Luella  C, 
born  .\ugust  22.  1862.  also  resides  at  South  Chicago.  Marie  Vance,  born 
July  21.  1867.  is  now  filling  the  position  of  stenographer  with  the  Baltimore 
&  Ohio  Railroad  at  South  Chicago.  John  D.,  born  at  Hebron,  April  13, 
187 1,  died  March  6,  1874.  W'inefred  Clair,  born  in  Lowell,  January  17, 
1875,  died  on  the  6th  of  September  of  that  year.  Julia  A.,  Ijorn  September 
17,  1876.  is  the  wife  of  Ernest  Hummel,  a  son  of  Ernest  Hummel,  Sr.,  city 
treasurer  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Bryant  has  been  a  life-long  Republican,  active  in  the  work  of  his 
party  and  deeply  interested  in  its  success,  yet  never  seeking  or  desiring  office 
as  a  reward  for  party  fealty.      He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  at 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  395 

Lowell.  Lodge  Xo.  378,  and  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  at 
South  Chicago,  Lodge  No.  245.  and  he  belongs  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  His  has  been  an  eventful,  useful  and  interesting  life  history,  for 
he  has  been  familiar  with  pioneer  experiences  in  Indiana  and  in  the  far  west, 
and  his  mind  is  stored  with  manv  interesting  reminiscences  of  his  sojourn  in 
the  Golden  state  during  the  early  days  of  its  mining  development. 

WTLLIA-M   \\'ALLACE   ACKERMAN. 

\\'illiam  \\'allace  Ackerman,  whose  farming  interests,  capably  managed 
and  carefully  conducted,  result  in  bringing  to  him  splendid  success,  is  now 
living  retired  in  Lowell.  He  has  attained  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-seven 
years  and  in  the  evening  of  life  is  enabled  to  enjoy  a  comfortable  com- 
petence won  through  his  diligence  and  honorable  dealing.  He  was  born  in 
Oakland  county,  Michigan,  February  24,  1827,  and  represents  an  old  family 
of  Holland-Dutch  ancestry  that  was  established  in  New  York  in  colonial 
days.  His  paternal  grandfather.  James  Ackerman.  was  Iiorn  in  Truxton, 
New  York,  and  became  one  of  the  pi(ineer  residents  of  ^Michigan.  John 
H.  Ackerman,  the  father,  was  a  native  of  Dutchess  county.  New  York,  and 
there  spent  his  early  boyhood  days.  He,  too,  was  one  of  those  who  li\'ed  in 
Oakland  when  it  was  a  frontier  district,  accompanying  his  parents  on  their 
removal  to  the  west.  After  arriving  at  years  of  maturity  he  married  Ann 
Wallace,  who  was  born  in  New  York  and  was  a  daughter  of  W'illiam  Wal- 
lace, a  native  of  Connecticut.  The  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  H. 
Ackerman  was  celebrated  in  the  Empire  state,  and  they  located  in  Oakland 
county,  Michigan,  about  1822,  spending  their  remaining  days  there.  His 
first  home  was  a  typical  pioneer  house  in  the  midst  of  an  undeveloped  region, 
where  the  work  of  progress  and  improvement  had  scarcely  been  begun,  and 
J.  H.  Ackerman  did  his  full  share  in  paving  the  way  for  the  further  develop- 
ment of  the  county.  He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years,  having  long 
survived  his  wife,  who  passed  away  in  1829.  He  was  twice  married,  his 
second  union  b'eing  with  Miss  Amelia  Kyes,  and  to  this  marriage  were  l^orn 
seven  children,  while  of  the  first  marriage  there  were  three  children. 

William  \\'allace  Ackerman  is  the  youngest  and  the  only  one  living  of 
the  famil}-  liorn  to  John  H.  and  Ann  (Wallace)  Ackerman.  He  was  but  a 
year  and  a  half  old  when  his  mother  died.     He  started  out  in  life  for  himself 


396        ■  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

at  the  age  of  e]e\'en  years,  going  to  Erie  county.  Ohio,  where  lie  worked  at 
any  employment  that  he  could  secure.  There  he  remained  until  his  nine- 
teenth year,  when  his  patriotic  spirit  was  aroused  and  he  offered  his  services 
to  the  country  then  engaged  in  war  with  Mexico.  He  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany G,  Third  Ohio  Regiment,  under  Colonel  Samuel  R.  Curtis,  and  was 
with  the  C(^mmand  for  fourteen  months  as  a  private.  On  the  ex])iration  of 
that  period,  as  the  country  no  longer  needed  his  aid,  he  returned  to  his 
home  in  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until  the  fall  of  184S,  when  he  came  to 
Lake  county.  Indiana. 

Here  Mr.  Ackerman  located  a  land  warrant  in  \A'est  Creek  township  and 
began  the  development  and  improvement  of  a  farm.  Later  he  sold  that 
property  and  bought  another  farm  in  the  same  township.  L'pon  the  second 
place  he  made  excellent  improvements,  but  eventually  he  sold  that  and  again 
purchased  a  farm  in  West  Creek  township,  which  he  still  owns.  Thus  he 
has  improved  three  farm.s  in  the  township,  and  his  labors  have  resulted 
beneficially  in  the  agricultural  development  and  progress  of  this  portion 
of  the  state. 

Mr.  Ackerman  was  united  in  marriage  in  April,  1853,  to  Miss  Mary 
Pulver,  who  died  leaving  a  family  of  seven  children:  John  H.  and  Alonzo  D., 
both  deceased ;  Theodore  L. ;  William  H.,  who  has  also  passed  away :  Ida 
Ann;  Jasper  L. ;  and  Charles  D.  On  the  9th  of  November,  1867,  INIr. 
Ackerman  was  again  married,  his  second  union  being  with  Betsey  Sanders 
Graves,  the  widow  of  AA'illiam  F.  Graves  and  the  daughter  of  William  and, 
Emma  (Harris)  Sanders.  She  was  born  in  AA'est  Creek  township,  Lake 
county,  Indiana.  May  8,  1844,  and  her  parents  were  pioneer  settlers  of  Lalce 
county,  coming  to  this  state  from  Erie  county,  Ohio,  in  1838.  They  settled 
in  West  Creek  township,  where  they  reared  their  family  of  twelve  children, 
three  of  whom  were  born  in  this  county.  Mrs.  Ackerman  is  the  tenth  child 
and  third  daughter,  and  was  reared  in  the  place  of  her  nativity  and  has  spent 
her  entire  life  in  Lake  county.  She  had  one  son  by  her  first  marriage, 
William  M.  Graves,  and  liy  the  second  marriage  there  are  four  children  : 
Linden  S.,  now  deceased:  Yessie  E. :  Zada  M.:  and  Zella  A.  Zada  is  a 
graduate  of  the  high  school  and  has  engaged  in  teaching  for  over  three  years. 
Vessie  E.  is  the  wife  of  S.  A.  Mulliken,  of  Chicago.  Zella  is  also  a  graduate 
of  the  Ixnvell  high  school,  was  a  student  in  Valparaiso  College  and  was  a 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  397 

teacher  in  the  Valparaiso  kindergarten,  and  on  June  15,  1904,  was  married 
to  Otto  DeRoy  Mitchell,  a  druggist  in  Eaton,  Indiana.  The  following  chil- 
dren are  of  the  first  marriage  of  Mr.  Ackerman :  Theodore  S.  is  extensively 
engaged  in  the  raising  of  cattle  in  South  Dakota,  where  he  owns  a  large 
ranch ;  Jasper  is  filling  the  position  of  auditor  in  White  county,  Indiana ; 
Charles  D.  is  a  builder  and  contractor  of  Los  Angeles,  California ;  and  Ida 
is  the  wife  of  S.  S.  Brandon,  of  Mobile,  Alabama;  while  William  il.  Graves, 
the  son  of  ^Irs.  Ackerman,  is  a  resident  of  Lowell. 

^h.  Ackerman  is  the  owner  of  four  hundred  acres  in  West  Creek  town- 
ship and  also  has  property  in  Lowell.  The  farm  is  well  improved,  and  he 
continued  its  cultivation  until  1881,  when  he  removed  to  Lowell  and  engaged 
in  the  agricultural  implement  business,  continuing  in  commercial  pursuits 
for  eight  years.  In  1889  he  was  appointed  postmaster  under  President 
Harrison,  and  filled  that  position  for  four  years.  Since  the  expiration  of 
his  term  he  has  lived  retired  from  active  business,  save  the  supervision  of 
his  property.  Mr.  Ackerman  has  always  been  a  supporter  of  the  Republican 
party  since  its  organization,  and  was  county  ditch  commissioner  for  several 
years,  during  which  time  he  did  much  toward  improving  the  county  through 
the  extension  of  its  ditches.  This  drained  the  land  and,  therefore,  greatly 
increased  its  value.  He  takes  an  active  and  helpful  part  in  all  measures 
which  are  of  practical  benefit  in  the  community,  and  is  widely  and  favorably 
known  throughout  the  county.  He  and  his  wife  and  children  belong  to  the 
Christian  church.  His  career  has  ever  been  honorable  and  straightforward, 
so    that    he    enjoys    in    large    measure    the    respect    and    confidence    of    his 

fellow-men. 

MRS.    SUSANN    MOREY. 

The  ladies  of  the  nation  play  a  most  conspicuous  part  in  the  true, 
authentic  record  of  a  state  and  county  as  well  as  nation,  and  in  the  leading 
records  of  the  citizens  of  West  Creek  township  none  is  more  worthy  of 
representation  that  Mrs.  Morey.  She  was  born  in  Boscawen,  New  Hamp- 
shire, March  2,  1826.  the  third  in  a  family  of  four  children,  one  son  and  three 
daughters,  born  to  Dr.  Thomas  and  Sukey  (Gerrish)  Peach.  Mrs.  Morey 
is  the  only  survivor.  Her  father.  Dr.  Thomas  Peach,  who  was  a  physician 
and  surgeon,  was  a  native  of  the  old  Bay  state,  Massachusetts,  and  was  born 
in   1784,   fifteen  years  before  the  death   of  General   Washington,   and   died 


398  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

February  8,  1882.  During  the  early  years  of  his  life  he  resided  and  was 
reared  on  a  farm.  He  received  a  good  practical  education  for  those  times, 
and  between  the  years  of  twenty  and  thirty  of  his  life  he  sought  the  medical 
profession.  He  studied  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  McKinster,  of  Newbury, 
Vermont,  where  his  parents  had  nun-ed  when  he  was  about  seven  years  of 
age.  He  practiced  according  to  the  allopathic  school,  and  was  reasonably 
successful,  most  of  his  practice  being  in  New  Hampshire.  He  was  a  surgeon 
in  the  war  of  1812. 

It  was  about  1858  when  he  emigrated  to  West  Creek  township,  and  here 
he  resided  till  his  death.  Politically  he  was  a  Republican,  and  in  a  religious 
sense  be  and  bis  wife  were  members  of  the  Congregational  church  and  ardent 
supporters  of  the  doctrines  of  bis  church.  He  was  very  emphatic  in  his 
advocacy  of  temperance,  and  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the  great  tem- 
perance reform.  His  remains  are  interred  in  the  Lake  Prairie  cemetery, 
where  a  beautiful  stone  marks  his  last  resting  place.  His  wife  was  a  native 
of  Boscawen,  New  Hampshire,  and  born  June  15,  1797,  and  died  December 
6,  1871.     She  traced  her  ancestry  to  England,  as  Gerrish  is  an  English  name. 

Mrs.  Susann  Morey  was  born,  reared  and  educated  at  Boscavi'en,  New 
Hampshire.  Her  home  was  contiguous  to  the  home  of  the  celebrated  Daniel 
Webster.  She  attended  the  academy  at  Boscawen  and  was  a  teacher  in  her 
native  state.  She  wedded  Ephraim  Noyes  Morey,  November  26,  1846,  and 
four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  were  born,  and  three  are  lix'ing 
at  present.  The  eldest  is  Thomas  Morey,  a  resident  and  farmer  of  Moun- 
tain View.  Missouri,  who  received  a  common  school  education,  and  married 
Miss  Eliza  Ann  Peach,  by  whom  he  has  five  living  children.  Mary  is  the 
wife  of  W.  H.  Michael,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  West  Creek  township,  and 
whose  personal  history  also  appears  in  these  pages.  William  H.  Morey,  the 
third  living  child,  is  principal  of  the  Lowell  high  school.  Lie  received  his 
primary  training  in  the  common  scIkioIs  and  was  a  student  at  the  normal  at 
Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  after  which  be  took  a  course  in  law  personally  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  his  nati\e  county  of  Lake.  He  graduated  in  the 
teachers'  and  scientific  course  at  Valparaiso.  He  is  well  known  as  an  edu- 
cator of  this  county.  He  married,  December  27,  1898,  Miss  Rhoda  L.  Smith, 
and  two  daughters  were  bom  to  this  marriage,  Emeline  Gertnide  and  Helen 
Alice.     Mrs.  William  Morey  was  born  in  Greenville,   Illinois,  January    18, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  399 

1870,  and  is  a  daughter  of  T.  Newton  and  Eineline  (Castle)  Smith,  her 
father  stih  hving.  Her  motlier  was  a  nati\e  of  Darke  county.  Oliio.  ]\Ir«. 
W.  H.  Morey  was  educated  in  the  common  schools,  and  she  and  her  hushand 
reside  on  the  old  hijmestead  with  his  mother,  and  they  are  memhers  of  the 
Lake  Prairie  Presbyterian  church  and  he  has  been  chosen  superintendent  of 
the  Sunday  school  at  different  times. 

Mr.  Morey,  the  deceased  husband  of  Mrs.  Susann  Morey,  was  born  in 
Lisbon,  New  Hampshire,  June  6,  1819,  and  died  March  9.  ic)02.  He  was 
reared  in  the  early  part  of  his  life  as  an  agriculturist,  but  was  afterwards 
engaged  in  construction  work  for  different  railroads  in  the  states  of  Rh.ode 
Island  and  New  Hampshire,  and  then  on  the  Pittsburg  and  Fort  \\'ayne 
Railroad  as  far  as  Crestline.  Ohio,  and  was  reasonably  successful.  He 
located  in  Dubuque,  Iowa,  in  1857,  and  was  there  till  the  war  opened.  Fie 
purchased  one  hundred  and  forty-fi\-e  acres  of  rather  wild  land  in  West 
Creek  township  when  thus  county  was  in  its  virgin  condition.  There  was 
hardly  a  fence  to  lie  seen,  and  Lowell  was  a  mere  hamlet.  He  erected  all 
the  luiildings  on  the  farm,  and  the  lumber  from  which  the  house  was  built 
was  hauled  from  Michigan.  Politically  he  was  a  stalwart  Republican,  and 
he  and  his  wife  were  devout  members  of  the  Congregational  church.  When 
Mr.  Morey  died  the  township  of  ^^'est  Creek  lost  a  valuable  citizen  and  an 
upright  and  honorable  man. 

Mrs.  Morey  yet  resides  en  her  homestead,  aged  more  than  tliree- 
fjuarters  of  a  century,  and  her  mental  faculties  are  still  clear  anrl  bright. 
She  is  known  in  her  communitv  as  a  kind  and  warm-hearted  mother  and 
friend,  and  her  cordial  and  genial  manner  of  greeting  the  stranger  and 
friend  makes  her  home  a  welcome  haven  of  rest.  She  is  possibly  the  oldest 
living  citizen  in  West  Creek  township  to-day.  This  authentic  review  of 
father  and  mother  Morey  will  be  read  and  cherished  bv  many  hundreds  of 
the  people  of  Lake  county,  and  will  lie  held  sacred  by  their  children  when 
they  themselves  ha\'e  passed  to  the  great  beyond. 

JAMES    GUYER. 

Among  her  native  sons  that  Pennsylvania  has  furnished  to  Lake  county 
is  numbered  James  Guyer,  now  engaged  in  the  livery  business  in  Hobart. 
He  was  born  in  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania,  his  natal  day  being  Decern- 


4C0  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

ber  30,  1841.  and  he  is  the  eldest  son  of  Andrew  and  Mary  Ann  (Royce) 
Guyer,  who  came  to  the  west  when  James  was  but  eight  years  of  age.  They 
settled  in  Calhoun  county,  Michigan,  and  he  was  reared  upon  the  home  farm, 
working  in  the  fields  during  the  summer  months,  while  in  the  winter  seasons 
he  attended  the  public  schools.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  left  the  parental 
roof,  in  order  that  he  might  earn  his  own  living  and  went  to  Branch  county, 
Michigan,  where  he  learned  the  trade  of  brick-making.  He  was  there  em- 
ployed at  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war  in  186 1.  He  had  watched 
with  interest  the  progress  of  events  in  the  south,  and  when  an  attempt  was 
made  to  overthrow  the  Union  his  patriotic  spirit  was  aroused  and  he  enlisted 
as  a  member  of  Company  H,  Eleventh  Michigan  Volunteer  Infantry,  as  a 
private.  He  thus  served  for  about  two  years,  and  was  then  honorably  dis- 
charged on  account  of  disability,  but  in  the  meantime  he  had  participated  in 
some  important  battles. 

After  being  mustered  out  Mr.  Guyer  returned  to  Branch  county,  ]\Iich- 
igan,  where  he  remained  for  about  six  months,  and  then  went  to  Na.shville, 
Tennessee,  where  he  was  employed  by  the  government  as  a  painter,  working 
in  that  way  until  1865.  He  then  again  came  to  the  north,  locating  at  Cold- 
water,  Michigan,  where  he  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  brick  for 
about  two  years.  He  next  located  at  LaPorte,  Indiana,  where  he  conducted 
a  similar  industry,  and  since  that  time  he  has  traveled  quite  extensively, 
visiting  Iowa,  Texas,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Illinois  and  various  parts  of  In- 
diana. He  came  to  Hobart  in  1872  and  established  a  brick  manuafcturing 
industry,  doing  the  first  work  vihere  the  National  Fire  Proofing  Company 
plant  is  now  located.  He  was  there  for  about  four  years,  after  which  he 
went  to  Lowell,  Indiana,  and  afterward  to  Michigan.  Later  lie  returned  to 
this  state  and  in  1893  he  again  came  to  Hobart,  where  he  established  the 
livery  barn  that  he  now  conducts. 

In  1869  Mr.  Guyer  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Ann  Hutchins,  who  was 
born  in  Ohio,  and  there  are  four  children  of  this  union:  Mnry.  deceased; 
Burton ;  William ;  and  Philip,  who  has  also  passed  away.  Air.  Guyer  is  con- 
nected with  Hobart  Post  No.  411,  G.  A.  R.,  of  which  he  is  now  commander, 
and  he  is  likewise  a  faithful  follower  of  the  teachings  of  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity, belonging  to  Earl  Lodge  No.  357,  F.  &  A.  M.  In  his  political  views 
he  is  a  Democrat.     He  is  quite  well  known  in  this  county,  and  he  possesses 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  401 

many  traits  of  character  which  have  gained  for  him  the  regard  and  friendship 

of  his  fellow-men. 

GEORGE   BOYD. 

George  Boyd,  of  Ross  townsliip.  is  of  the  second  generation  of  the 
family  who  have  heen  so  conspicuous  in  the  agricultural  history  of  Lake 
county  from  its  early  history  to  the  present.  He  is  himself  one  of  the  younger 
class  of  farmers  of  his  township,  and  is  of  the  energetic  and  progressive  sort 
that  takes  farming  out  of  its  ruts  and  empirical  methods  of  the  past  and 
furnishes  it  a  smooth  course  and  adapts  scientific  processes  to  soil  culture. 
Mr.  Boyd  has  also  taken  his  place  among  the  public-spirited  citizenship  of 
the  county,  and  to  social,  material  and  intellectual  progress  gives  his  interest 
and  co-operation. 

Mr.  George  Boyd  is  the  eldest  son  of  Eli  'Si.  and  Agnes  ( Hyde)  Boyd, 
the  former  of  whom  has  lived  in  Lake  county  ever  since  1S48  and  is  one  of 
the  old  and  well  known  farmers  and  useful  citizens,  having  been  identified 
with  the  making  of  Lake  county  in  many  of  its  present  essential  features. 
The  son  George  was  born  in  Ross  township,  Lake  county,  October  g,  1877. 
He  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  of  Ross  township  and  at  the  Northern 
Indiana  Normal  College  at  Valparaiso,  finishing  his  literary  training  at 
Northwestern  University,  at  Evanston.  He  then  engaged  in  farming  in  his 
native  township,  and  has  continued  at  it  with  great  success  to  the  present 
time.  He  does  general  farming  and  stockraising,  operating  a  farm  of  three 
hundred  acres,  a  part  of  the  large  estates  of  the  Boyd  brothers. 

Mr.  Boyd  is  a  leading  young  Republican  of  his  township,  and  as  far 

as  his  business  interests  permit  concerns  himself  with  public  affairs  both  of 

national  and  local  importance.     He  was  married,  Februarv'  5,  1901,  to  Miss 

Addie  Guernsey,  the  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  Guernsey,  well-known 

citizens   of   this   county.      Two   children   have   been   born   to    them.    Lenore 

and  Lucile. 

JOHN    STARK. 

Lake  county  can  boast  of  no  finer  class  of  citizens  than  the  German- 
Americans  who  have  settled  in  such  number  within  its  boundaries,  and, 
whether  born  in  the  fatherland  or  children  of  German-born  parents,  these 
men  and  women  have  proved  their  substantial  and  solid  qualities  in  all  the 
relations  of  life.   The   farming  communities   have   been   especially   benefited 

26 


402  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

by  them,  and  without  their  industry  and  excellent  management  it  is  doubtful 
if  this  count)'  could  so  rapidly  have  progressed  to  a  front  rank  in  the  agri- 
cultural communities  of  the  state.  One  of  the  most  representative  of  the 
men  with  the  blood  of  German  parents  coursing  in  their  veins  is  Mr.  John 
Stark,  of  West  Creek  township,  who  belongs  to  a  family  which  has  been 
identified  with  Lake  county  since  its  pioneer  epoch.  His  father  and  mother, 
like  so  many  others,  came  to  the  count}'  years  ago,  poor  but  honest,  and 
with  their  industry  accumulated  a  good  estate  before  their  years  of  activity 
were  past. 

Mr.  John  Stark  was  born  in  St.  John  township.  Lake  county,  Septem- 
ber 30.  1855,  and  is  the  third  in  age  of  the  eleven  children  born  to  Joseph 
and  Mary  Ann  (Merrick)  Stark.  A  more  detailed  history  of  this  worthy 
couple  and  family  will  be  found  in  the  sketch  of  their  son  Josepli,  who  is 
represented  elsewhere  in  this  work. 

Mr.  Stark  was  reared  on  a  farm  and  spent  fourteen  years  of  his  life  in 
the  threshing  industry.  He  received  both  an  English  and  a  German  educa- 
tion, and  in  all  the  essential  successes  of  his  life  he  has  been  the  architect 
of  his  own  fortunes.  He  began  life  for  himself  at  the  age  of  twenty-six, 
when  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Susan  Portz,  on  April  26,  1881, 
in  St.  John  township.  Ten  children  have  been  born  of  this  happy  union,  and 
all  are  living  at  the  present  writing :  Rosa,  at  home,  who  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools ;  Emil  J.,  v.'ho  went  through  the  common  schools  and  is 
fond  of  farming  and  all  kinds  of  mechanical  work:  ^la.ry  E.,  who  after  the 
common  schools  attended  the  Lowell  and  Crown  Point  high  schools ; 
Minnie  E.,  who  is  in  the  eighth  grade  of  school  work:  Adeline  B.,  also 
in  the  eighth  grade;  Martha,  in  the  sixth  grade  of  the  St.  John  schools; 
Anna  M.,  in  the  fourth  grade;  Frankie,  who  has  been  to  school  one  year 
and  has  never  missed  a  day  nor  once  been  tardy;  Leonora  M.  and  Johnnie, 
who  are  the  youngest  of  the  family. 

Mrs.  Stark  was  born  in  St.  Jolm  township.  Lake  county,  May  2,  1859, 
and  was  one  of  the  ten  children  of  Peter  and  Susan  (Kraus)  Portz.  Seven 
of  her  brothers  and  sisters  are  living,  as  follows :  Katie  is  the  wife  of  Jacob 
Schercr.  a  carpenter  of  St.  John,  and  has  six  children  living ;  Peter,  proprietor 
of  the  St.  John's  Hotel  at  St.  John,  married  Miss  Susan  Bohr  and  has  five 
children  living;  John,  a  prosperous  resident  of  Flammond  and  for  eighteen 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  403 

years  in  the  packing  houses  of  that  city,  married  Susan  Giehring,  who  died 
July  II,  1904,  and  has  four  hving  children;  Joseph,  who  resides  with  his 
mother  at  St.  John,  was  educated  in  the  high  school  at  ]MiIwaukee,  \\'iscon- 
sin,  and  for  fourteen  years  was  a  teacher  in  his  home  school ;  Barbara  is 
the  wife  of  Joseph  Jeurgens,  a  farmer  of  Juniata,  Adams  county,  Nebraska, 
and  has  five  children  living;  jMrs.  Stark  is  the  next  in  order  of  age;  Lizzie  is 
the  widow  of  Jacob  Lauermann,  of  St.  John,  and  has  five  living  children ; 
Leo,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Adams  county,  Nebraska,  married  Miss  Anna 
Beiriger  and  has  nine  living  children.  All  the  children  of  this  family  were 
bright  and  intelligent  in  the  work  of  the  schools  as  well  as  in  after  life. 

Peter  Portz,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Stark,  was  born  near  the  beautiful  Rhine 
ri\er  in  Germany,  in  1S19,  and  died  in  1885.  He  was  reared  and  well  edu- 
cated in  his  native  land,  and  was  a  teacher  for  some  time  after  coming  to 
America.  By  trade  he  was  a  miller.  He  was  married  in  Germany,  and 
after  living  there  for  some  years  he  emigrated  across  the  Atlantic  with  the 
intention  of  bettering  himself  financially.  When  he  landed  m  New  York 
he  had  almost  no  money,  and  he  came  out  to  Lake  county  and  liy  a  life  of 
industry  and  good  management  accumulated  an  estate  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  fine  land.  He  and  his  wife  were  devout  members  of  the 
Catholic  church  at  St.  John,  and  all  the  children  were  confirmed  in  the 
church.  Mrs.  Stark's  mother  was  born  in  182 1  and  is  still  living  at  this 
writing,  eighty-three  years  of  age,  and  bright  and  healthy  for  one  so  old. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stark  purchased  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land  in 
West  Creek  township,  and  two  years  later  added  forty  acres  more.  Their 
present  home  estate  consists  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  on  which  thev 
have  erected  a  nice  country  residence,  and  the  entire  beautiful  farmstead 
is  a  monument  to  their  lives  of  industry  and  worth.  Mr.  Stark  is  a  lover  of 
fine  stock,  and  finds  the  best  grades  to  be  the  most  profitable,  his  favorite 
grade  of  hogs  lieing  the  Chester  Whites.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and 
has  voted  the  ticket  since  the  candidacy  of  S.  J.  Tilden.  He  and  his  wife 
and  some  of  the  children  are  members  of  St.  Edward's  Catholic  church  at 
Lowell,  of  which  Father  F.  Koenig  is  pastor,  and  Mrs.  Stark  is  a  member 
of  the  married  ladies'  sodality  and  the  girls  are  members  of  the  young  ladies' 
sodality  of  St.  Mary's. 


404  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

HoBART  Public  Schools. 

Twelve  teacliers  are  employed  in  the  Hobart  Public  Schools,  including 
a  superintendent  and  supervisor  of  music.  Of  these,  two  besides  the  super- 
intendent are  engaged  in  high  school  work.  The  remainder  give  their  entire 
time  to  work  in  the  grades,  one  teacher  being  assigned  to  each  grade. 

The  course  of  study  includes  eight  years'  work  in  the  elementary  branches, 
reading,  writing,  number,  spelling,  language,  geography,  English  history, 
American  history,  physiology  and  drawing — the  first  five  subjects  being 
studied  during  the  entire  eight  years,  except  number,  which  is  not  begun 
until  the  second  year,  and  four  years'  work  in  secondary  branches.  Special 
work  in  music  under  a  special  teacher  is  carried  on  througliout  the  entire 
tW'Clve  years.  Special  work  in  manual  training  is  done  during  the  first  six 
years  of  the  course. 

The  present  system  of  schools  is  the  result  of  a  gradual  growth  extend- 
ing over  a  period  of  many  years.  The  development  of  the  schools  has  kept 
pace  with  the  best  educational  thought  of  the  times :  while  the  school  policy 
of  the  community  has  been  conservative  enough  to  insure  thoroughness  and 
avoid  waste  of  time  and  money,  the  school  authorities  have  always  been  eager 
to  introduce  methods  and  make  changes  which  were  prompted  by  progressive 
thought  in  educational  matters.  Because  of  the  demonstrated  importance 
and  value  of  construction  work  in  elementary  education  a  course  in  manual 
training  has  lately  been  introduced  and  plans  are  tmder  contemplation  for 
the  further  elaboration  and  organization  of  this  work  into  the  curriculum. 

The  present  school  building  is  a  commodious  structure  erected  at  a  total 
cost  of  about  thirty  thousand  dollars,  which  contains  eleven  classrooms 
besides  a  laboratory  in  the  basement.  The  building  has  been  built  in  sections, 
two  additions  having  been  erected  since  the  original  structure  was  built. 
The  original  building,  built  in  1S77  by  Trustee  M.  J.  Cook,  contained  but 
four  rooms.  In  1892  the  increased  school  population  made  it  necessary  to 
erect  an  addition  of  two  rooms,  and  another  addition  of  five  rooms  became 
necessary  in  1894. 

The  high  school  was  first  established  by  Superintendent  A.  J.  Smith 
during  the  administration  of  Trustee  James  Reper,  Jr.,  by  introducing  two 
years'  work  in  general  history  and  advanced  work  in  the  common  branches. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  4U5 

This  course  was  lengthened  to  three  years  and  enriched  during  the  admin- 
istration of  Trustee  Seward  Ligliter,  while  P.  J.  Gristy  was  superintendent. 
In  1896  the  course  was  further  enriched  and  lengthened  to  four  years,  and 
in  1898  it  was  e.xaminecl  and  commissioned  liy  the  State  Board  of  Educa- 
tion in  the  name  of  A.  R.  Hardesty,  who  was  superintendent  at  that  time. 
The  high  school  was  re-examined  and  re-commissioned  in  190 1  in  the  name 
of  the  present  superintendent.  ^\'.  R.  Curtis,  who  was  first  elected  in  1901. 
In  the  last  three  years  much  attention  has  been  given  to  enriching  the  high 
school  life.  The  course  has  been  made  flexible,  athletic  and  oratorical  organ- 
izations have  been  carefully  encouraged,  and  the  equipment  has  been  greatly 
increased.  The  first  material  equipment  for  high-class  high  school  work, 
which  was  purchased  by  Trustee  X.  P.  Banks  in  i8c)8.  has  been  nearly 
doubled  by  the  present  incumbent,  Trustee  A.  J.  Swanson. 

A  special  supervisor  of  music  was  employed  for  the  first  time  in  1903. 
This  step  has  proved  to  be  so  satisfactory  that  special  work  in  music  is 
assured  for  the  future. 

The  schools  are  a  part  of  the  township  system  and  the  high  school  is, 
therefore,  a  township  high  school.  Pupils  from  outlying  districts  are  trans- 
ported to  the  high  school  at  public  expense;  also  transportation  is  furnished 
for  children  in  the  elementary  schools  who  live  in  districts  where  the  paucity 
of  population  renders  the  maintenance  of  a  separate  school  impracticable. 

Since  the  high  school  was  first  commissioned  in  1898  the  enrollment 
has  increased  from  about  60  to  82.  The  fact  that  the  percentage  of  pupils 
enrolled  in  the  high  school  is  now  larger  than  ever  before  as  compared  with 
the  total  enrollment  in  the  school  is  especially  interesting  because  it  shows 
that  an  increasing  number  of  citizens  are  realizing  the  importance  of  better 
education  for  their  children. 

For  years  it  has  been  the  will  of  th.e  taxpayers  and  the  ambition   of 

trustees  to  add  something  each  year  to  the  equipment  of  the  schools.     This 

policy  is  a  safeguard  and  a  security  of  the  future  social  condition  of  the 

communitv. 

JOSEPH    B.    BERG. 

Joseph  B.  Berg  is  one  of  the  stanch  German-Americans  who  stand  so 
high  in  the  ranks  of  citizenship  in  Lake  county,  and  who  are  known  for 
their  energy,  honesty  and  efficiency  in  all  of  life's  relations.     Industry  is  a 


406  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

keynote  in  his  succesful  career,  and  as  he  has  accompHshecl  much  for  himself 
so  likewise  has  he  done  his  share  in  the  upbuilding  and  development  of  the 
county.  To  no  one  class  of  citizens  does  Lake  county  owe  more  of  its  sub- 
stantial progress  and  prosperity  than  to  the  fine  German-American  element 
which  will  be  found  there  in  such  numbers. 

Mr.  Berg  was  born  in  West  Creek  township,  Lake  county,  December  22, 
1862,  and  is  the  third  in  a  family  of  four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, born  to  Bernhard  and  Katharine  (Lang)  Berg.  He  has  a  sister  older 
than  himself,  named  Elizabeth,  who  is  the  wife  of  Anton  Huseman,  a  pros- 
perous farmer  of  West  Creek  township ;  and  a  younger  sister,  Mary,  who  is 
the  wife  of  Philip  Fetsch.  a  resident  of  Chicago.  His  only  brother  is  de- 
ceased. Bernhard  Berg,  the  father,  was  born  in  Westphalia,  Germany,  in 
1834,  and  died  in  Crown  Point  in  1889.  He  received  his  education  in  the 
German  language,  but  also  learned  English  after  coming  to  America.  He 
was  a  young  and  comparatively  poor  man  when  he  took  passage  on  a  sailing 
vessel  and  made  the  long  and  tedious  voyage  of  weeks'  duration  to  reach  this 
land  of  opportunity  and  freedom.  He  came  to  Lake  county  and  began  as  a 
wage-earner.  He  later  purchased  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  in 
West  Creek  to%\'nship,  going  in  debt  for  most  of  it,  but  before  his  useful 
career  came  to  a  close  he  had  been  the  possessor  of  six  hundred  acres  of  the 
fine  land  of  Lake  county,  which  indicates  how  successful  was  his  work.  He 
was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  Catholics,  with  mem- 
bership in  the  St.  Anthony's  church,  which  he  had  helped  :o  build.  His 
wife  was  also  a  native  of  Germany,  and  at  the  present  writing  makes  her 
residence  in  Crown  Point,  being  a  bright  and  vigorous  old  lady  of  sixty- 
four  years. 

Mr.  Joseph  B.  Berg  spent  his  youth  as  well  as  his  later  career  in  West 
Creek  township,  and  his  early  education  was  obtained  in  the  parochial 
schools.  He  was  confirmed  in  the  Catholic  church  at  the  age  of  thirteen. 
He  is  a  practical  farmer  and  stockman,  and  has  given  his  best  efforts  and 
years  to  that  honorable  industry.  He  spent  one  year  in  Kankakee  and 
Will  counties,  Illinois,  engaged  in  the  grain  and  live-stock  business,  but  after 
that  returned  to  his  estate. 

March  4,  1889,  he  was  married  to  ]\Iiss  Louisa  Cloidt  (but  the  original 
spelling  of  the  name  in  Germany  was  Kloht).     Three  children  have  been 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  407 

born  to  this  happy  union,  and  all  are  living:  Fred  Joseph,  who  is  in  the  sixth 
grade  of  school  work  and  last  year  attended  the  parochial  school  of  Crown 
Point,  his  intellectual  fondness  being  especially  for  arithmetic;  Elizabeth  T. 
and  Clara  jNI..  both  in  school,  and  the  former  in  the  fourth  grade.  ^Irs.  Berg 
was  torn  in  Kankakee,  Illinois,  November  2,  1866,  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Louisa  (Klein)  Cloidt,  and  she  was  educated  in  the  English  schools. 
Both  her  parents  were  natives  of  Germany,  and  after  coming  to  this  country 
her  father  participated  in  the  Civil  war.  He  was  wounded  in  the  hip  at  the 
Ijattle  of  Gettysburg,  and  he  cut  out  the  bullet  with  his  own  pocket-knife 
and  still  preserves  the  shot  as  a  memorial  of  his  brave  soldier  life.  He  had 
a  brother  Anton  who  was  killed  in  the  war.  For  a  long  time  he  was  in 
the  grain  business  at  Beecher.  Illinois,  but  is  now  living  retired  at  Sollitt, 
Illinois.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics.  His  wife  was  born  in  Westphalia, 
Germany,  and  there  were  nine  children,  two  sons  and  seven  daughters,  in 
their  family,  five  of  whom  are  living  and  all  in  Illinois  except  Mrs.  Berg. 
Mrs.  Berg  is  a  quick,  smart  and  energetic  woman,  an  able  assistant  to  her 
husband,  and  an  esteemed  member  of  the  social  circles  of  this  community. 

r^lr.  and  Mrs.  Berg  have  five  hundred  and  sixty-seven  acres  of  good 
land  in  ^^'est  Creek  township,  and  in  1893  they  erected  their  beautiful  resi- 
dence, followed  in  the  next  year  by  a  commodious  new  barn.  Their  farm- 
stead is  a  model  in  appearance  and  productivity,  and  there  is  not  a  better 
one  in  the  township.  They  have  a  fine  lot  of  Hereford  cattle,  besides  some 
excellent  horses,  and  Mr.  Berg  is  known  throughout  this  part  of  the  county 
for  his  excellent  judgment  on  the  points  of  stock.  He  owns  stock  in  a  brick 
and  tile  company  at  Eagle  Lake,  Illinois.  Mr.  Berg  is  a  Democrat,  but  has 
usuallv  cast  his  vote  according  to  his  independent  opinions.  He  and  his  wife 
and  eldest  children  are  members  of  St.  Anthony's  Catholic  church  at  Klaas- 
ville.  Indiana.  Mr.  Berg  is  a  stockholder  and  the  vice-president  of  the  Crown 
Point  Pure  Food  Company,  which  was  incorporated  to  raise  currants  and 
manufacture  iellies  and  preserves,  this  being  an  enterprise  of  much  value 
to  the  farming  district  of  Lake  county. 

ERNEST  TRAPTOW. 

Ernest  Traptow  is  filling  the  position  of  township  trustee  in  Calumet 
township,  and  no  more  capable  official  can  be  found  in  Lake  county  or  one 


408  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

who  is  more  loyal  to  the  public  interests  and  welfare.  He  resides  in  Tolles- 
ton  and  he  has  a  wide  acquaintance  in  this  portion  of  the  state,  for  he  is  a 
native  son  of  Lake  county,  his  birth  having  occurred  at  Clarke  on  the  29th 
of  December,  1863.  His-  parents,  Frederick  and  Caroline  (Kurth)  Trap- 
tow,  were  natives  of  Germany  and  on  crossing  the  Atlantic  to  ihe  new  world 
they  made  their  way  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  settling  in  this  county 
about  1861.  They  established  their  home  in  Calumet  township,  where  the 
father  spent  his  remaining  days,  his  death  occurring  in  1897.  His  widow 
still  survives.  Their  family  numbered  five  children,  three  sons  and  two 
daughters,  and  those  still  living  are  Ernest,  Reinhart  and  Bertha. 

Mr.  Traptow  is  the  second  child.  He  was  reared  on  the  old  home  farm 
in  Calumet  township  and  pursued  his  education  in  the  schools  of  Tolleston 
and  in  the  district  schools.  When  he  had  put  aside  his  text  books  he  learned 
the  carpenter's  trade  under  the  direction  of  his  father,  who  was  a  carpenter 
and  joiner  as  well  as  an  agriculturist  and  built  most  of  the  houses  in  Tolles- 
ton. After  the  death  of  his  father  Mr.  Traptow  continued  to  engage  in 
carpentering,  and  has  erected  many  of  the  houses  in  Tolleston  and  Clarke. 
He  continued  to  engage  in  contracting  and  building  until  he  was  elected  trus- 
tee of  Calumet  township  in  1900,  since  which  time  he  has  given  his  full  at- 
tention to  the  duties  of  the  office  and  has  thus  largely  promoted  the  welfare 
of  his  community.  He  was  elected  to  this  position  on  the  Democratic  ticket, 
and  he  has  always  been  found  as  a  stalwart  advocate  of  Democratic  prin- 
ciples, keeping  well  informed  on  the  questions  and  issues  of  the  day  and  doing 
all  in  his  power  to  advance  the  interests  of  his  party  in  this  community. 

With  the  exception  of  two  and  a  half  years  spent  in  Minnesota  Mr. 
Traptow  has  passed  his  entire  life  in  Lake  county  and  is  well  known  as  a 
leading  and  influential  citizen  here,  whose  worth  is  widely  acknowledged  in 
public  affairs  and  in  private  life. 

FESTUS    P.    SUTTON. 

Festus  P.  Sutton  is  a  prominent  and  well  known  agriculturist  in  West 
Creek  township,  where  he  has  a  nice  homestead  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres.  He  is  the  oldest  child  of  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  worthy  fam- 
ilies in  the  western  portion  of  Lake  county,  a  family  which  has  always  been 


"Ttt^n^i     TT    fjil.>^XX^i 


Crt-^l^. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  409 

recognized  for  its  integrity  and  the  personal  excellence  of  its  individual 
members.  The  Snttons  are  of  English  origin,  and  those  of  the  name  have 
the  advantage  of  a  well  knit  and  wholesome  ancestry,  with  reputation 
throughout  for  substantiality  and  solidit3^ 

Mr.  Sutton  was  born  in  Rush  county.  Indiana.  October  9,  1846.  There 
were  eight  children  in  the  family,  four  sons  and  four  daughters,  seven  of 
whom  are  living,  and  more  detailed  mention  is  made  of  them  in  the  history 
of  Mr.  Otto  Sutton  to  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  \'olume.  The  parents  were 
Gabriel  F.  and  Almeda  THall)  Sutton.  The  father  was  a  man  who  stood 
four-square  to  the  world,  and  is  one  of  the  most  worthy  characters  that 
figure  in  the  history  of  Lake  county.  He  was  an  exemplary  citizen,  and  set 
a  good  example  to  his  children  and  family,  who  in  turn  have  honored  him. 
He  began  life  as  a  poor  man  in  Rush  county  of  this  state,  and  when  he  died 
a  few  years  ago  in  Lake  county  he  was  reckoned  as  a  man  of  affluence,  and 
left  a  fine  property  to  his  children,  besides  the  rich  heritage  of  his  own  name. 
He  was  a  lover  of  relics  and  antiquities,  and  had  in  his  possession  many 
articles  and  papers  connected  with  the  earlier  history  of  the  Sutton  family. 
His  aged  widow  is  still  living  a  contented  and  peaceful  life  on  the  old  home- 
stead not  far  from  her  children. 

Mr.  Festus  Sutton  was  reared  in  his  native  county  of  Rush  until  he  was 
about  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  old,  and  since  then  he  has  been  a  resident  of 
Lake  county.  He  !iad  already  gained  most  of  his  education  before  coming 
to  Lake  county,  but  also  here  continued  his  schooling  for  a  time  in  the  public 
institutions  of  learning  of  the  county.  Self-application  has  been  the  ground 
for  most  of  his  success  in  life,  and  in  his  life  work  of  farming  he  has  made 
a  very  creditable  success.  He  has  also  been  engaged  for  the  past  thirty 
years  in  grain-threshing  in  northwest  Indiana,  and  is  one  of  the  best  known 
men  in  this  part  of  the  state  in  this  line  of  industr}'. 

Mr.  Sutton  lived  at  home  with  his  parents  until  he  was  over  forty  years 
old.  On  June  20.  18S9.  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Altie  L.  Cover, 
and  since  then  they  have  resided  on  their  pleasant  and  profitable  homestead 
in  West  Creek  township.  Mrs.  Sutton  was  born  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio. 
June  28,  1868,  being  a  daughter  of  George  N.  and  Harriett  (Jarvis)  Cover. 
When  she  was  four  years  old  she  came  to  Jasper  county,  Indiana,  where  she 


410  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

was  reared  and  received  her  education  in  the  public  schools.  She  is  very 
fond  of  good  literature  as  of  all  other  things  that  enhance  the  beauty,  coin- 
fort  and  pleasure  of  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sutton  have  one  daughter,  Altie 
Almeda. 

Mrs.  Sutton's  father  still  lives  in  Jasper  county,  where  he  is  a  well 
known  farmer.  She  was  one  of  eleven  children,  five  sons  and  six  daughters,, 
and  in  this  family  there  were  four  pairs  of  twins.  Ten  of  these  children  are 
living-,  and  ]\Irs.  Sutton  is  the  only  one  in  Lake  county;  two  are  residents 
of  Oklahoma,  and  the  rest  of  Jasper  county.  The  following  is  the  obituary 
of  Mrs.  Sutton's  mother : 

Harriett  (Jarvis)  Cover  was  born  in  Noble  county.  Ohio.  June  25,  1839; 
died  at  her  home  in  Union  township,  Jasper  county,  Indiana,  January  10, 
1890,  aged  fifty  years,  six  months,  and  sixteen  days.  ]\Ioved  with  her  parents 
when  three  years  old.  to  Belmont  county.  Ohio,  and  was  there  married  to 
George  N.  Cover,  December  15,  1859.  She  was  the  mother  of  eleven  chil- 
dren, six  girls  and  five  boys,  all  of  whom  survive  her.  Among  these  eleven 
children  are  four  pairs  of  twins.  She  was  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools  for 
eleven  terms,  and  a  teacher  and  worker  in  the  Sunday  schools  for  many  years. 
She  joined  the  Christian  church  in  1853  and  was  a  faithful  and  zealous 
member  until  the  end.  Her  husband  and  all  her  children  were  present  at 
the  funeral,  and  also  Mrs.  Sarah  E.  Johnson,  a  sister,  from  Belmont  county, 
Ohio.  The  funeral  was  held  Sunday,  January  12,  and  was  conducted  by 
Elder  E.  D.  Pierson.     The  interment  was  in  Prater  graveyard. 

The  sorrowing  husband  and  children  desire  to  express,  through  these 

columns,  their  smcere  thanks  to  the  many  friends  for  aid  and  sympathy  in 

iheir  affliction. 

"A  precious  one  from  us  has  gone, 

A  voice  we  loved  is  stilled; 
A  place  is  vacant  in  our  home, 

W^hich  never  can  be  filled. 
God  in  His  wisdom  has  recalled 

The  boon  His  love  had  given ; 
And   though  the  body  moulders  here, 

The  soul  is  safe  in  heaven.'' 

Mr.  Sutton  cast  his  first  vote  for  General  Grant,  and  as  far  as  consistent 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  411 

witli  Iiis  personal  activity  has  never  failed  to  support  with  enthusiasm  the 
principles  of  the  Grand  Old  Party.  He  has  been  selected  as  a  delegate  to 
the  district  and  county  conventions  at  various  times.  Fraternally  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias.  Lodge  No.  300,  at  Lowell,  and  Mrs. 
Sutton  is  a  charter  member  of  the  Rathbone  Sisters  at  the  same  place.  Mr. 
and  Airs.  Sutton  are  both  adherents  of  the  Christian  church,  and  contribute 
according  to  their  means  to  the  benevolences. 


'& 


FREDERICK  H.  EINSPAHR. 

Frederick  H.  Einspahr,  of  \\'est  Creek  township,  is  an  enterprising, 
energetic,  public-spirited  agriculturist  and  citizen,  and  his  career  and  achieve- 
ments in  every  department  of  life  are  an  honor  and  credit  to  his  county. 
Lake  county  as  much  as  any  comity  in  the  state  is  indebted  to  the  fine  class 
of  German-Americans  who  have  taken  up  their  abode  within  its  boundaries 
and.  devoted  themselves  to  the  development  of  its  interests.  Wherever  this 
class  of  citizens  have  settled  there  one  may  look  for  the  highest  degree  of 
agricultural  enterprise,  as  would  be  apparent  to  even  a  casual  observer  or 
traveler  in  Lake  county.  As  a  rule  these  settlers  came  to  America  poor  but 
honest  and  industrious,  and  these  qualities  of  character  pro^•el  to  be  among 
the  most  important  factors  in  the  improvement  of  the  great  west  and  also 
resulted  in  individual  prosperity  and  influence.  As  a  class  they  also  believe 
in  the  education  of  their  children  and  the  training  of  them  in  proper  habits 
of  living  and  morality,  so  that  all  institutions  of  society  have  profited  and 
been  elevated  by  the  coming  of  the  men  of  the  Teutonic  race. 

Mr.  Einspahr  was  born  in  Schleswig-Holstein,  Germany,  August  25, 
1852,  a  son  of  Frederick  and  Anna  Kathrine  (Claussen)  Einspahr.  He 
was  the  fourth  of  their  seven  children,  five  sons  and  two  daughters,  and  five 
are  yet  living :  Lizzie,  who  is  the  wife  of  Jacob  Buehler,  a  farmer  of  Ode- 
bolt,  Iowa;  Anna,  wife  of  Adolph  Kuehl,  a  prosperous  farmer  at  Crown 
Point;  Mr.  Einspahr;  Martin,  married  and  a  farmer  of  ^\'est  Creek  town- 
ship; and  John  E.,  who  is  married  and  is  a  wagon-maker  at  Odebolt,  Iowa. 

Frederick  Einspahr,  the  father,  was  born  in  the  same  part  of  the  fatb.er- 
land  as  his  son,  on  ]\Iarch  13,  1816,  and  died  October  29,  1875.  He  was  a 
tailor  by  trade.  He  was  educated  in  the  German  language,  and  was  a  man 
of  more  than  ordinary   intelligence.      As   a   journeyman   tailor  he   traveled 


412  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

tliroughout  ("lerniany.  and  cimtinued  that  business  in  his  nati\e  land  for  a 
number  of  years.  He  finally  concluded  to  leave  his  fatherland  and  find  in 
America  a  place  for  his  family  and  better  opportunities  for  gaining  a  for- 
tune. In  the  spring  of  1853  he  embarked  his  little  family  on  a  sailing  vessel 
at  Hamljurg  and  thence  by  way  of  England  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  after 
a  long  voyage  of  ninety  days  landed  in  Quebec.  Canada,  being  there  amid 
a  strange  people  and  in  a  foreign  land.  Blue  Island,  Illinois,  was  their  first 
permanent  destination,  and  the  father  remained  there  some  years,  following 
his  trade  in  the  winter  and  farming  in  the  summer.  In  1867  he  brought  his 
family  to  West  Creek  township  and  purchased  eighty-five  acres  of  land.  The 
little  log  cabin  which  ser\-ed  as  their  bumble  habitation  for  the  first  few  years 
still  stands  on  the  farm,  as  a  memorial  of  the  past  with  its  pri\'ations  and 
primitive  ways.  He  ^^•ent  in  debt  for  his  property,  but  his  diligence  and 
good  management  paid  for  it  and  also  enabled  him  to  buy  eighty  acres  more. 
He  was  a  man  of  honest  and  upright  character,  was  a  stanch  Republican  in 
political  beliefs,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  reared  in  the  faith  of  the  German 
Lutheran  church  and  after  coming  to  Indiana  became  German  Methodists. 

Mr.  Einspahr's  mother  survived  her  husband  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, and  passed  away  at  the  home  of  her  son  Fred,  February  8,  1903,  aged 
eighty-five  years  eleven  months  and  six  days.  She  was  born  at  Xeuminster, 
Schleswig-Holstein,  March  2,  1817.  June  7.  1842,  she  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Frederick  Einspahr,  and  at  her  death,  besides  her  own  five  children, 
there  were  forty-eight  grandchildren  and  twenty-one  great-grandchildren  and 
a  large  circle  of  relatives  and  friends  to  mourn  her  loss.  Funeral  services 
were  held  at  the  German  Methodist  church  February  10,  1903,  Rev.  Dis- 
myer  conducting  the  obsequies,  after  which  her  remains  were  laid  to  rest  in 
the  cemetery  adjoining  the  church.  She  had  resided  in  America  for  nearly 
half  a  century,  and  for  the  last  forty-five  years  had  been  a  faithful  member 
of  the  German  Methodist  church  and  always  lived  a  true  and  Christian  life. 
She  was  always  a  true  and  loving  mother,  a  good  friend  and  obliging- 
neighbor. 

Mr.  Einspahr  was  not  a  year  old  when  the  voyage  to  the  new  world 
was  undertaken,  and  he  was  about  fourteen  or  fifteen  when  he  became  a  resi- 
dent of  West  Creek  township.  During  his  active  lifetime  he  has  witnessed 
this  beautiful  agricultural  region  improved  from  a  bare  prairie  or  marsh  into 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  413 

the  most  productive  part  of  the  county.  Within  his  remembrance  the  couii- 
tr}-  was  largely  unfenced,  and  Lowell,  now  a  beautiful  town  of  sixteen  hun- 
dred, contained  only  two  stores.  Wolves  were  also  plentiful  during  his  boy- 
hood. Every  two  weeks  during  the  season  it  was  the  custom  to  haul  their 
grain  to  tlie  Chicago  market,  and  Fred  always  accompanied  tlie  wagon  each 
time.  ]Mr.  Einspahr  is  a  more  than  ordinarily  well  educated  man,  having 
been  trained  in  both  the  German  and  English  languages.  He  began  earning 
wages  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  giving  the  money  to  his  parents.  And 
when  he  started  out  for  himself  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  had  not  five 
dollars  to  his  name.  He  went  to  Chicago  and  was  a  coachman  for  two  years, 
and  then  in  the  ice  business  one  year,  after  which  he  returned  to  Lake  countv 
and  took  up  his  permanent  career  as  a  farmer. 

November  17.  1878,  he  married  Miss  Dorathea  Frederick,  and  during 
their  felicitous  marriage  union,  lasting  twenty-two  years,  nine  children  were 
born,  all  of  whom  are  li\ing  at  the  present  time,  as  follows :  Christena, 
who  finished  the  eighth  grade  of  school  and  can  read  and  speak  the  German 
language,  has,  since  her  mother's  death,  taken  full  charge  of  the  home,  and 
is  a  young"  lady  who  has  many  friends  and  acquaintances  throughout  the 
township:  Peter  F.,  who  finished  the  eighth  grade  and  is  a  farmer  in  West 
Creek  township,  married  ]Miss  Lottie  B.  Flayden  and  has  a  little  daughter, 
Mabel  Lucy;  Wilhelmina,  who  is  in  the  eighth  grade  of  school:  Frederick 
J.,  in  the  eighth  grade;  Laura,  who  graduated  in  1902  from  the  grammer 
schools  at  the  age  of  thirteen:  Anna,  in  the  sixth  grade:  Clara,  in  the  fourth; 
L'vin,  in  the  first;  and  ]\Iartha,  who  is  the  baby  of  the  home. 

The  full  review  of  the  life  of  ]Mrs.  Einspahr  is  gi\-en  in  the  following 
published  obituar}- ;  Dorathea  Frederick  was  born  near  Blue  Island,  Illinois. 
August  17,  1859,  and  died  at  her  home  in  ^^'■est  Creek  township  after  a 
brief  illness,  December  17,  1900,  at  the  age  of  forty-one  years  and  four 
months.  In  infancy  she  came  with  her  parents  from  Blue  Islanrl  to  Dyer, 
Indiana.  November  17,  1878,  she  \\as  united  in  marriage  to  Frederick 
Einspahr.  To  this  union  nine  children,  three  boys  and  six  girls,  were  born; 
all  of  which  sur\-i\-e  their  mother,  their  dearest  and  truest  friend  on  earth. 
At  the  age  of  fifteen  years  she  joined  the  Lutheran  church,  and  ever  lived  the 
life  of  the  true  Christian ;  being  ever  ready  to  assist  in  any  good  work,  ever 
thinking  more  of  the  happiness  of  others  than  of  her  own.     She  was  a  true 


4U  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

and  faithful  wife;  a  kind  and  indulgent  mother  and  an  obliging  neighlx)r, 
and  will  be  greatly  missed  and  sincerely  mourned  bj^  the  whole  community 
in  which  she  lived.  The  seventeenth  day  of  the  month  seemed  to  be  the  day 
upon  which  the  epochs  in  her  life  were  to  occur,  for  upon  that  day  of  the 
month  she  was  born,  married  and  died :  rather  a  strange  fatality.  She  leaves 
her  husband,  nine  children,  two  brothers :  John  Frederick,  of  D}-er,  Indiana, 
and  Peter  Frederick,  of  Lowell,  Indiana ;  and  four  sisters :  Mrs.  Joseph  Sons, 
of  Dyer,  Indiana,  Mrs.  John  Harms,  of  Dalton,  Illinois,  Mrs.  Albert  Ger- 
ritsen,  of  Fernwood,  Illinois,  and  Mrs.  William  Einspahr,  of  West  Creek, 
Indiana;  an  aged  mother-in-law,  together  with  a  large  circle  of  friends,  to 
mourn  the  departure  of  a  true,  noble  and  loving  wife,  mother  and  friend, 
to  that  higher  sphere  of  life.  Her  funeral  occurred  from  the  German  ■Metho- 
dist church  in  \\'est  Creek  township,  Thursday,  December  20,  at  2  p.  m. 
Rev.  Dismyer,  of  Crown  Point,  preached  the  funeral  discourse.  She  was 
laid  away  in  the  cemetery  near  the  church,  there  to  rest  in  cjuiet  slumber 
until  the  morning  of  the  first  resurrection,  then  to  come  forth  into  immortal 
life  to  enjoy  the  companionship  of  the  dear  friends  she  has  left  Iiehind 
throughout  an  endless  eternity.  To  the  sorely  berea\-ed  family  the  Tribune 
extends  its  sincere  sympathy. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Einspahr  began  on  the  old  homestead,  which  he  had 
purchased  from  the  other  heirs.  He  went  in  debt,  but  by  industry  and  honest 
toil  and  careful  economy  cleared  off  all  incumbrances  and  gained  a  com- 
fortable and  valuable  estate.  His  farm  of  eighty-fi\-e  acres  lies  in.  \\'est 
Creek  township,  and  he  is  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  most  progressive  farmers 
of  the  community.  By  his  upright  life  1:)efore  God  and  man  he  has  won 
the  respect  and  confidence  of  all  who  know  him,  and  can  bear  his  part  with 
dignity  and  honor  wherever  he  goes.  As  a  Republican  voter  he  cast  his 
first  ballot  for  R.  B.  Hayes.  He  has  represented  his  township  in  the  county 
conventions  of  the  party  at  various  times.  He  has  been  road  superintendent 
time  and  again  for  twenty  years.  He  fraternizes  with  Council  No.  13  of  the 
Order  of  Foresters  at  Lowell,  and  he  and   the   family  attend   the  German 

Methodist  church. 

JAMES  J.  KELSEY. 

The  pioneers  of  the  country,  those  who  blazed  the  way  to  civilization 
and  made  the  wilderness  to  bloom  and  blossom  like  the  rose,  are  as  a  class 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  415 

rapitlly  passing  a\Yay,  and  it  is  a  pleasure  to  be  able  to  record  while  some 
of  them  are  yet  living  their  achievements  and  their  place  in  society  and  the 
world.  Mr.  Kelsey  is  one  of  this  worthy  class  of  citizens  in  northwestern 
Indiana,  and  has  passed  many  years  in  this  vicinity  and  in  eastern  Illinois. 

He  was  born  in  Tioga  county,  Pennsyhania,  February  25,  1842,  and 
is  the  second  of  the  three  children,  being  the  only  son,  of  John  D.  and 
Eunice  (Johnson)  Kelsey.  His  sister  Mary  is  still  living,  being  the  widow 
of  Otis  Townsend  and  a  resident  of  Duluth,  Minnesota.  John  D.  Kelsey  was 
born  in  Vermont  about  1809,  and  died  in  1876.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion He  was  reared  to  young  manhood  in  Vermont,  thence  nio\"ed  to  Penn- 
sylvania, some  years  later  to  New  York,  and  then  to  Lake  county,  Lidiana, 
where  he  passed  away.  He  had  enjoyed  a  common  school  education  in  his 
youth,  and  was  a  man  of  superior  intelligence  and  capability.  In  politics 
he  was  a  Whig  and  then  a  stalwart  Republican,  with  pronounced  anti-slavery 
sentiments.  Fraternally  he  was  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Christian  church.  His 
remains  are  Imried  in  the  L(.iwell  cemetery. 

Mr.  Kelsey  lost  his  mother  when  he  was  three  years  of  age,  and  it  was 
about  the  same  time  when  the  family  moved  to  New  York  state,  where  he 
was  reared  to  the  age  of  eighteen.  Part  of  his  education  was  obtained  in  an 
old-fashioned  hewn-log  cabin  school  with  slab  seats  resting  on  four  wooden 
pins,  and  with  the  desk  for  the  big  boys  and  girls  a  broad  board  running  part 
way  round  the  room  and  resting  on  pins  driven  into  the  wall.  The  room  was 
heated  by  a  box  stove,  for  which  the  big  boys  by  turn  cut  the  wood  used  as 
fuel.  His  pen  was  a  goosequill,  and  he  conned  his  lessons  from  Davies 
arithmetic,  the  Rhetorical  reader,  and  the  Sanders  speller,  and  the  school 
was  supported  on  the  subscription  plan.  From  these  facts  it  will  be  seen 
what  a  change  has  been  wrought  in  educational  matters  since  Mr.  Kelsey's 
youth. 

Mr.  Kelsey  began  life  at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder.  He  worked  out  at 
nine  dollars  per  month  in  order  to  earn  money  with  which  to  liring  his  par- 
ents to  Indiana.  And  when  they  arrived  at  Cedar  Lake  in  this  county  they 
had  twenty  dollars  only.  He  began  working  at  wages  as  low  as  fifty  cents 
a  day,  from  which  it  is  seen  that  he  has  made  great  progress  in  this  county. 
His  father  rented  a  farm  in  West  Creek  township  in  the  spring  of  i860,  and 


416  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

the  son  began  witli  liiin  and  remained  tliere  two  years,  and  then  his  father 
gave  him  his  time.  He  did  not  liave  enough  to  buy  his  winter  clothing,  and 
he  began  to  earn  wages  by  chopping  wood.  From  Lake  county  he  went  to 
Momence,  Illinois,  where  he  found  employment  in  a  distillery,  and  then  hired 
out  to  a  farmer  at  thirteen  dollars  a  month.  This  continued  until  August. 
1862.  at  which  date  he  joined  Company  K,  One  Hundred  and  Thirteenth 
Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  in  ser\-ice  as  a  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
until  February,  1863.  Part  of  the  time  he  served  as  guard  for  the  provision 
train,  and  for  about  a  month  was  in  the  hospital  at  Keokuk,  Iowa.  On  re- 
ceiving his  honorable  discharge  he  returned  home  and  resumed  his  farming 
operations. 

September  18,  1863,  'i^  married  Miss  Nancy  J.  Kile,  and  their  three 
children,  two  sons  and  one  daughter,  are  all  living,  as  follows :  Laura  E. 
is  the  wife  of  A.  B.  Chipman,  whose  history  is  given  elsewhere  in  this 
volume.  Merritt,  the  elder  son,  is  the  popular  liveryman  at  Lowell,  where 
he  has  a  splendid  business  and  a  pretty  home;  by  his  wife,  Catherine  Stubbs, 
he  has  two  daughters,  Vernal  Nancy,  in  the  seventh  grade  of  the  public 
schools,  and  Ethel  Pauline.  Leroy  Elkin,  the  younger  son,  is  a  machinist, 
residing  in  Lowell,  and  he  married  Miss  Mary  Ponto,  by  whom  there  is  a 
son.   Cecil  Glenn. 

Mrs.  Kelsey  was  born  in  Yellowhead  township,  Kankakee  county, 
Illinois,  January  3,  1842,  being  a  daughter  of  Reason  C.  and  Nancy  Jane 
(Hayden)  Kile,  and  she  was  reared  and  educated  in  that  county.  She  is  a 
kind  and  loving  wife  and  mother  and  has  always  stood  by  her  husband  in 
liis  life  work.  The  first  land  that  they  purchased  was  one  hundred  and  forty 
acres  in  Yellowhead  township,  and  Mr.  Kelsey  went  in  debt  for  it.  Init  with 
characteristic  energy  and  with  the  aid  of  his  good  wife  and  children  paid 
off  every  dollar.  And  to  that  original  tract  he  has  subsequently  added,  first 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  then  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  acres, 
all  of  which  lies  in  Yellowhead  township,  and  the  improvements  on  the  old 
homestead  are  of  the  very  best.  This  is  an  admirable  record  for  a  man  who 
began  life  without  twenty  dollars  to  his  name,  and  he  has  prospered  de- 
servedly. At  one  time  he  was  paying  as  high  as  sixteen  per  cent  interest  on 
his  indebtedness. 

Mr.  Kelsey  and  his  wife  came  to  Lowell  in  1899  and  purchased  a  pretty 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  417 

and  comfortable  residence  where  they  are  li\ing  a  retired  hfe.  He  is  a  Re- 
publican in  politics,  and  cast  his  lirst  vote  for  the  Rail-Splitter  President 
Abe  Lincoln,  since  which  time  he  has  always  supported  that  party's  prin- 
ciples. For  twelve  years  he  served  as  a  public  school  director  in  Kankakee 
county.  Fraternally  lie  is  a  member  of  Burnham  Post  No.  226.  G.  A.  R.  He 
and  his  wife  are  kind,  lining  people,  respecters  of  Christianity,  and  have 
many  friends  in  Lowell  and  in  Kankakee  county. 

The  following  paragraphs,  which  appeared  in  the  local  jiress.  indicate 
further  facts  anent  the  life  and  character  of  ]Mrs.   Kelsey's  parents : 

Reason  C.  Kile  died  at  his  home  one  and  one-half  miles  northeast  of 
Sherbnrnville.  on  Friday,  February  10.  1899.  The  funeral  was  held  at  the 
residence  on  Sunday,  and  interment  took  place  at  \\'est  Creek.  Mr.  Kile 
was  born  August  10,  1S17,  in  Knox  county,  Ohio.  He  came  to  Kankakee 
county  in  1837,  and  located  on  section  36.  Yellowhead  township,  where  he 
cleared  a  farm,  and  remained  there  about  seven  years.  He  then  remo\'ed 
to  the  location  wdiich  was  his  home  when  he  died.  He  -was  married  in  1840 
to  Miss  Nancy  Hayden,  daughter  of  Nehemiah  Hayden,  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Lake  county,  Lidiana.  Five  children  came  from  this  union,  three 
of  whom  are  still  living — Nancy,  wife  of  James  J.  Kelsey;  Mary  Ellen,  wife 
of  George  W.  VanAlstine;  and  Flora,  wife  of  William  Hatton.  Mr.  Kile 
commenced  for  himself  without  anything,  but  through  industry  and  economy 
has  accjuired  a  competency. 

Mrs.  Nancy  Jane  Kile  died  at  her  home  in  Yellowhead  township,  Kan- 
kakee county,  Illinois,  last  Sunday  morning,  after  a  prolonged  illness  of 
about  four  years,  her  malady  being  in  the  form  of  a  gradual  decline,  but  for 
the  past  four  weeks  before  her  death  she  was  confined  to  her  bed  and  was 
as  helpless  as  a  babe.  The  best  of  care  and  attention  was  bestowed  upon 
her  by  relatives  and  friends  during  her  long  period  as  an  invalid.  The  fun- 
eral services  were  held  from  the  \\'est  Creek  Methodist  church  Mondav  fore- 
noon at  10  o'clock,  at  which  services  a  very  large  concourse  of  relatives  and 
friends  were  in  attendance,  and  the  expressions  of  sorrow  and  sympathy 
were  sincere  and  heartfelt  for  the  bereaved.  The  services  were  conducted 
by  Elder  John  Bruce.  The  remains  were  laid  to  rest  in  the  West  Creek 
cemetery.    Funeral    Director   Clifford   Stowell    conducting   this    part   of   the 


b 


418  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

service.     Edgar,  Jake,  Lute.  John.  Cyrus  and  William  Hayden,  brothers  of 
the  deceased,  acted  as  pall-bearers. 

Nancy  Jane  Hayden  was  born  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  April  27, 
1823,  and  when  but  a  child  her  parents,  Nehemiah  and  Harriet  Hayden, 
moved  to  Knox  county,  Ohio,  where  she  spent  her  early  childhood.  In 
1836  she  came  with  her  parents  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  they  being  among 
the  first  pioneer  settlers  of  this  county.  She  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Reason  C.  Kile.  To  this  union  five  children  were  born,  three  of  whom 
are  living,  namely:  Nancy,  wife  of  James  Kelsey,  Mary  E.,  wife  of  George 
VanAlstine,  and  Flora,  wife  of  A\'illiam  Hatton.  After  her  marriage  to 
Mr.  Kile  in  1841  they  settled  on  the  farm  near  Sherburnville,  which  has 
been  the  home  of  the  deceased  until  death,  preceded  by  a  long  and  severe  ill- 
ness, took  her  away  on  October  19,  1902,  at  the  age  of  79  years,  5  months 
and  22  days.  Mrs.  Kile  was  well  known  and  highly  esteemed  by  all.  Her 
many  relatives  and  friends  mourn  her  loss. 

CHARLES  A.  BORGER. 

Prominent  and  influential  in  the  business  and  public  life  of  Hobart. 
Charles  A.  Borger  is  now  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  harness  there,  and 
is  also  a  member  of  the  town  board,  and  while  successfully  conducting  his 
private  business  affairs  he  is  at  the  same  time  ably  assisting  in  getting  com- 
miuiity  interests  which  affect  the  entire  town.  His  wide  acquaintance  and  the 
esteem  in  which  he  is  uniformly  held  renders  it  imperative  that  his  life  his- 
tory be  given  a  place  in  this  volume. 

He  was  born  in  Hanover  township.  Lake  county,  October  5,  i860,  and 
is  a  son  of  John  and  Metta  (Meyer)  Borger,  the  former  born  in  Hanover. 
Germany,  and  the  latter  in  Bremen.  Germany.  It  was  after  their  emigra- 
tion to  the  new  world  that  they  were  married,  the  wedding  ceremony  being 
performed  in  Lake  county.  They  then  took  up  their  al»de  in  Flanover  town- 
ship, and  the  father  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  until  his  life's  labors 
Avere  ended  in  death,  when  he  was  but  fifty-six  years  of  age.  He  had  been 
a  resident  of  the  county  since  1842  and  during  the  greater  part  of  that  period 
was  a  factor  in  agricultural  circles.  His  wife  died  when  but  fifty-four  years 
■of  age.     They  were  the  parents  of  nine  children,  all  born  in  Lake  county. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  419 

and  eight  of  tlie  number  are  still  living,  Mr.  C.  A.  Borger  being  the  fourth 
son  and  fifth  child. 

Upon  the  home  farm  in  Hano\er  township,  Charles  A.  Borger  spent  the 
davs  of  his  boyhood,  remaining  with  his  mother  until  nineteen  years  of  age, 
when  he  entered  upon  an  apprenticeship  to  the  harness-maker's  trade  in 
Dyer,  Indiana.  He  served  for  a  term  of  fiiur  years  and  then  went  to  Chi- 
cago, where  he  worked  for  one  year.  On  the  expiration  of  that  period  he 
came  to  Hobart  in  1885  and  here  began  the  manufacture  of  harness.  He 
received  a  little  aid  from  his  parents  in  the  beginning  of  his  business  career. 
In  1893  ^"1^  bnilt  his  present  place  of  business,  which  is  a  two-story  brick 
structure,  in  which  he  is  now  conducting  one  of  the  leading  productive  in- 
dustries of  the  city.  He  has  secured  a  lilieral  patronage,  owing  to  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  goods  which  he  manufactures  and  to  his  honorable  treatment 
of  his  patrons. 

]\Ir.  Borger  was  married  in  October,  1885.  the  lady  of  his  choice  being 
Miss  Henrietta  Batterman,  who  was  born  January  3,  1864,  in  Will  county, 
Illinois,  being  a  sister  of  E.  Batterman,  who  is  represented  elsewhere  in  this 
work.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  daughters.  Sena  and  Edna.  Sena  was 
born  July  3.  1886:  she  graduated  in  the  class  of  1903  in  the  Hobart  township 
high  school,  and  is  now  one  of  Lake  county's  successful  teachers,  at  Miller's 
Station.  Edna  was  born  INIarch  15,  1893,  ''"'^'  is  in  the  sixth  grade  of  the 
Hobart  schools.  Mr.  Borger  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in  support  of 
the  men  and  measures  of  the  Republican  part^•  and  has  firm  faith  in  its  prin- 
ciples and  in  their  ultimate  triumph.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the  town  board. 
Fraternally  he  is  connected  with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows, 
^'o.  33,.^-  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias  Lodge,  No.  458,  and  with  the  Knights 
of  the  Maccabees,  Tent  No.  65,  and  also  a  member  of  the  ^Masonic  fraternity, 
^"o.  357.  He  enjoys  the  warm  esteem  of  his  brethren  of  these  orders,  for  he 
is  true  to  their  teaching  and  the  beneficent  principles  upon  v.'hich  they  are 
founded.  He  has  in  his  business  career  made  consecutive  progress,  and  his 
course  has  been  marked  by  desirable  accomplishment,  but  when  he  started 
out  in  life  for  himself  he  possessed  little  capital,  nor  did  he  recei\'e  any  ad- 
vantages from  influential  family  connection.  He  has  worked  ;)ersistently  and 
has  gained  prosperity  as  the  result  of  earnest  labor,  in  wdiich  keen  discrimina- 
tion and  sound  business  judgment  have  formed  a  part. 


420  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

MRS.  K.VTHARINA  EINSPAHR. 

The  women  of  a  community  are  ofttimes  the  most  enterprising  factors 
in  its  activity,  and  extend  their  influence  far  beyond  their  supposedly  legiti- 
mate sphere  of  work.  There  is  no  citizen  of  West  Creek  township  more 
highly  esteemed  for  enterprise  and  worth  in  the  business  and  industrial  de- 
partments of  Lake  county  as  well  as  for  large  qualities  of  heart  and  mind, 
than  Mrs.  Einspahr,  who  resides  on  the  fine  estate  in  this  township  which 
she  and  her  husband  by  indefatigable  labor  and  honest  industry  and  wise 
management  built  up  to  extensive  and  valuable  proportions. 

This  worthy  representative  of  the  ladies  of  West  Creek  township  was 
born  in  Hesse-Darmstadt.  Germany.  June  26,  1852,  being  the  eldest  of  three 
children,  all  daughters,  and  her  two  sisters  being :  Christine,  wife  of  George 
W^alker,  a  retired  resident  of  Chicago,  and  who  has  one  child :  and  Mary, 
wife  of  James  Nott,  engaged  in  real  estate  business  in  Chicago.  The  par- 
ents of  these  three  daughters  were  T.  Baldanzer  and  Maggie  (Albus)  Frank. 
Her  father  was  born  in  Frankfort  on  the  Rhine  in  1823,  and  died  in  1887. 
He  was  educated  in  the  German  tongue,  and  followed  farming  throughout 
life.  Li  1857  he  set  sail  from  Germany  with  his  family,  the  port  of  departure 
being  Bremen,  and,  on  account  of  the  heavy  storms  which  the  sailing  vessel 
encountered,  they  were  three  months  and  nine  days  in  reaching  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic.  He  at  once  brought  the  family  out  to  Blue  Island,  Illinois, 
W'here  he  began  his  active  career  as  a  farmer,  poor  but  honest,  and  at  his 
death  could  say  that  he  had  always  made  his  own  way  and  had  enjoyed  the 
high  regard  of  his  neighbors  and  friends.  For  a  time  he  was  a  watchman 
in  the  Union  Depot  at  Chicago,  and  he  died  in  that  city.  He  was  a  Republi- 
can in  politics,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Lutheran  church. 
His  wife  was  born  in  Nassau,  Germany,  in  1817,  and  died  in  1895,  having 
lived,  after  her  husband's  death,  with  her  daughter. 

September  20,  1871,  Miss  Katharina  Frank  was  married  to  Mr.  August 
Einspahr,  and  the  ten  children  born  of  this  union  are  all  living  at  the  present 
writing,  as  follows :  Fred,  who  is  a  farmer  of  Odebolt,  Iowa,  and  is  mar- 
ried :  \\'illiam,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  West  Creek  township,  and  a  married 
man;  August,  a  farmer  of  the  same  township;  Maggie,  wife  of  Otto  Sutton, 
one  of  the  prosperous  men  of  West  Creek  township  whose  histories  appear 
in  this  volume ;  Martin,  who  resides  with  his  mother  and  conducts  the  farm ; 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUxXTY.  4:^1 

Emil,  wlio  is  a  farmer  of  the  same  township;  Emma,  wife  of  Joseph  Carl, 
who  is  in  a  grcenhonse  at  Crown  Point ;  Walker,  a  farmer  of  \\'est  Creek 
township:  Alfred,  who  makes  his  home  with  his  mother;  and  Katie,  the 
youngest,  who  is  in  the  sixth  grade  of  school. 

Mr.  Einspahr  was  horn  in  Schleswig-Holstein,  Germany,  May  2,  1S43. 
and  died  February  11,  1894.  He  was  ten  years  old  when  he  accompanied 
his  parents  to  America,  their  residence  from  the  first  being  at  Blue  Island. 
Illinois.  He  was  thus  trained  and  educated  in  both  the  German  and  Eng- 
lish languages.  His  parents  were  Frederick  and  Anna  K.  Einspahr.  both 
deceased.  Mr.  Einspahr  gave  almost  a  year  of  loyal  service  as  a  soldier 
to  the  Union  during  the  Civil  war.  and  then  received  his  honorable  discharge. 
After  his  marriage  he  and  his  wife  began  life  on  eighty  acres  of  land  in  \\^est 
Creek  township,  the  property  being  incumbered  with  twenty-two  hundred 
dollars'  debt.  But  they  were  indtistrious,  shrewd  managers,  and  had  early 
learned  the  lesson  of  making  both  ends  meet,  so  that  it  was  not  long  before 
the  indebtedness  was  cleared  off  and  they  were  free  to  add  more  to  their 
estate. 

Mr.  Einsphar  was  a  stanch  Republican,  and  all  his  sons  follow  his  ex- 
ample. He  was  a  solid  man.  reliable  and  of  unflinching  integrity,  and  all 
men  respected  him  for  his  sterling  worth.  He  and  his  wife  were  both  mem- 
bers of  the  German  Methodist  church.  Since  her  husband's  death  Mrs.  Ein- 
spahr has  erected  her  comfortable  residence  in  the  township,  and  has  super- 
vised the  placing  of  the  many  improvements  and  the  tiling  of  the  land.  She 
is  a  lady  who  is  held  in  tlie  highest  esteem  liy  all  her  acquaintances,  and  her 
hospitable  home  is  a  place  of  rest  and  comfort  for  all  who  entei''  therein. 

HENRY'  BRANDT. 

Henry  Brandt,  the  prosperous  and  well  known  farmer  and  stockman  of 
West  Creek  township,  belongs  to  that  fine  class  of  German-American  citizens 
who  have  been  such  praiseworthy  factors  in  the  upbuilding"  of  the  material  and 
intellectual  resources  of  Lake  county.  He  is  a  native  son  and  a  life-long 
resident  of  the  county,  and  therefore  his  interest  in  the  county  is  deep-rooted 
and  sincere.  The  history  of  his  career  shows  that  he  has  accomplished  a 
more  than  ordinary  success,  and  it  may  be  said  that  in  ever}-  relation  of  life 
he  has  merited  the  esteem  of  his  fellow  citizens. 


422  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Brandt  was  born  in  Lake  county,  April  2,  1856,  and  is  the  fifth  in 
a  family  of  nine  children,  four  sons  and  five  daughters,  born  to  Dietrich  and 
Anna  (Bischop)  Brandt.  Eight  of  this  family  of  sons  and  daughters  are 
still  living,  as  follows :  John,  who  is  a  farmer  of  Benton  county,  Iowa ; 
Mary,  wife  of  David  Locker,  a  fanner  of  Greeley  county,  Nebraska ;  Will- 
iam, a  farmer  of  Lyon  county,  Iowa,  and  married ;  Henry ;  Anna,  wife  of 
George  Sautter,  a  Nebraska  farmer;  Lena,  wife  of  William  Bahr,  a  farmer 
of  Lyon  county,  Iowa :  Emma,  wife  of  Casper  Gross,  a  tile  manufacturer  of 
Benton  county,  Iowa ;  and  Herman,  a  farmer  of  Lyon  county,  Iowa. 

Dietrich  Brandt,  the  father  of  these  children,  was  born  near  the  free 
city  of  Bremen,  in  Hanover,  Germany,  was  educated  in  the  German  lan- 
guage, and  followed  farming  pursuits  throughout  the  active  part  of  his  life. 
He  was  married  in  Germany,  and  three  of  their  children  were  born  in  the 
fatherland.  About  the  year  1848  he  decided  to  come  to  America  to  seek  his 
fortune,  and  he  accordingly  embarked  his  own  on  board  a  sailing  vessel  at 
Bremen,  and  after  thirty-six  days  arrived  in  New  York.  He  came  out  to 
Lake  county,  thus  being  among  the  early  settlers,  and  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  rather  wild  land.  The  first  home  was  a  log  cabin, 
and  the  hazel  bushes  were  standing  thick  around  and  over  the  present  highly 
cultivated  place.  He  w-as  a  successful  man  in  his  work,  and  besides  provid- 
ing well  for  his  family  he  accumulated  two  hundred  and  ninety  acres  in  West 
Creek  township,  his  estate  containing  some  of  the  choicest  land  in  the  com- 
munity. He  was  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  members 
of  the  Evangelical  church  in  West  Creek  township,  he  having  assisted  in 
the  building  of  the  church  edifice.  His  death  occurred  about  1880,  and  his 
wife,  who  was  also  born  in  the  vicinity  of  Bremen,  passed  away  in  1893. 

Mr.  Henry  Brandt  received  an  education  in  the  English  public  schools 
of  West  Creek  township,  and  from  his  earliest  years  of  active  labor  to  the 
present  time  has  been  identified  successfully  with  farming  and  stock-raising 
pursuits.  He  remained  at  home  with  his  parents  until  he  had  reached  his 
majority,  and  when  he  started  out  independently  he  was  possessed  of  a  capi- 
tal of  fifteen  hundred  dollars. 

January  18,  1882,  he  married  ^liss  Emma  Sastrow,  and  of  this  happy 
marriage  eight  children  have  been  born,  seven  of  whom  are  H\ing.  Ernest, 
the  eldest,  received  his  diploma  for  completion  of  the  common  school  course 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  423 

in  1900,  and  is  at  lionie;  Elsie,  a  graduate  of  tlie  class  of  1902,  has  also 
taken  music:  George  is  a  graduate  in  1903;  Dora  is  in  the  fifth  grade;  and 
Harry,  the  youngest,  is  in  the  second  grade  of  school.  Mrs.  Brandt  was 
born  in  Cook  county,  Illinois,  June  28,  i860,  being  a  daughter  of  Charles 
and  Henrietta  ( Steiner)  Sastrow.  She  has  one  sister,  Carrie,  wife  of  Will- 
iam Brandt.  Her  parents  came  from  Prussia,  her  father  being  a  native  of 
Pomerania  and  her  mother  of  Holstein.  and  her  father  is  still  living,  being 
a  resident  of  Lyon  county,  Iowa. 

After  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brandt  settled  on  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  within  half  a  mile  of  their  present  homestead.  They 
have  been  thrifty  and  good  managers,  and  as  the  years  have  gone  by  their 
prosperity  has  manifested  itself  by  an  accumulated  estate  of  three  hundred 
and  ninety-nine  acres,  all  finely  cultivated  and  as  good  land  as  lies  within  the 
confines  of  West  Creek  township.  They  also  own  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  in  South  Dakota,  near  Salem,  the  county  seat  of  McCook  county.  Mr. 
Brandt  is  a  good  judge  of  fine  stock,  and  keeps  good  grades  of  Norman 
horses,  Durham  cattle  and  Chester  White  hogs.  He  has  the  best  of  improve- 
ments on  the  farm,  consisting  of  large  and  commodious  barns,  granaries  and 
other  outbuildings,  and  in  1896  he  erected  a  comfortable  country  residence 
which  is  a  credit  to  the  community.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and, 
from  the  time  of  casting  his  first  presidential  vote  for  James  A.  Garfield,  he 
has  been  a  loyal  upholder  of  Republican  principles.  Fraternally  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Lodge  No.  14.  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters  at  Brunswick. 

Indiana. 

LOUIS   LARSON. 

Louis  Larson  is  a  prominent  and  enter]M"ising  farmer  of  Lake  county, 
residing  on  section  17.  Ross  township,  where  he  has  a  well  improved  property 
that  in  its  beautiful  appearance  indicates  his  careful  supervision.  A  native 
of  Sweden,  he  was  born  on  the  20th  of  November,  i860,  and  was  a  son  of 
John  Larson,  who  was  also  born  in  that  country,  whence  he  came  to  America, 
landing  in  New  York  in  1866,  and  then  spent  two  years  in  Chicago.  Two 
years  afterward  he  came  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  establishing  his  home  in 
Hobart  township  in  1868.  There  he  remained  for  seven  years  and  then 
removed  to  Ross  township,  but  later  he  returned  to  Hobart  township,  where 
his  death  occurred  in  1898,  when  he  was  in  his  sixty-sixth  year.  He  was  a 
life-long  Republican,   having  firm   faith   in  the  principles  of  the  party  and 


424  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

giving  to  it  his  stalwart  support.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Swedish  Lutheran  church  at  Hobart,  and  he  was  deeply  interested  in  all  that 
pertained  to  the  moral  and  educational  advancement  as  well  as  to  the  material 
upbuilding  of  his  community.  His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Ellen 
Olson,  is  also  a  native  of  Sweden.  She  still  survives  her  husband  and  now 
makes  her  home  with  her  son  Louis.  She  has  been  twice  married,  and  by  the 
first  union  she  had  two  daughters,  while  the  children  of  the  second  marriage 
are  two  sons. 

Louis  Larson,  the  younger  son,  was  but  five  years  of  age  when  his 
parents  left  Sweden  and  came  to  the  new  world,  while  since  seven  years  of 
age  he  has  made  his  home  in  Lake  county.  Indiana.  Here  he  was  reared  and 
educated,  attending  the  Hobart  schools  and  also  the  Ainsworth  school  in 
Ross  township.  To  his  father  he  gave  the  benefit  of  his  services  through 
the  period  of  his  minority,  working  in  the  fields  throughout  the  summer 
months  or  from  the  time  of  early  spring  planting  until  crops  were  har- 
vested in  the  late  autumn.  He  remained  at  home  to  the  time  of  his  mar- 
riage, which  occurred  on  the  3d  of  January,  1885.  the  lady  of  his  choice 
being  Miss  Hilda  Strom,  a  native  of  Sweden,  who  came  to  the  United  States 
when  fourteen  years  of  age.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Larson  have  been  born  three 
children :  William,  Edwin  and  Herbert. 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Larson  rented  his  father's  farm  for  about  four 
years  and  then  purchased  the  place  upon  which  he  has  since  carried  on 
general  agricultural  pursuits  and  stock-raising.  He  now  has  eighty  acres 
of  good  land  here,  well  improved  with  substantial  buildings.  There  is  a 
comfortable  house  and  large  bam,  and  other  modern  improvements  which 
indicate  the  owner  to  be  a  man  of  progressive  and  practical  spirit.  His  land 
is  arable,  and  the  well-tilled  fields  yield  to  him  a  good  return  for  his  labor. 
In  his  political  views  he  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  his  religious  faith  is 
indicated  by  his  membership  in  the  Swedish  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at 
Hobart.  Almost  his  entire  life  has  been  passed  in  Lake  county,  and  those 
who  have  known  him  from  boyhood  esteem  him  highly  because  his  life  has 
been  honorable  and  upright. 

THOMAS  GRANT. 

Thomas  Grant,  numbered  among  the  wide-awake  and  progressive  busi- 
ness  men  of   Lake  county,    Indiana,    is   now   engaged   in   merchandising   in 


/.^^n^^^T^yi^^^--^^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  425 

Lowell  and  is  also  filling  the  position  of  township  trustee,  heing  active  and  in- 
fluential in  community  affairs.  He  was  born  in  Lowell  on  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember. 1865,  and  is  a  son  of  Thomas  Grant,  who  was  born  in  Scotland  and 
came  to  America  when  a  yotmg  man,  locating  in  Chicago.  Subseciuently 
he  removed  to  this  county,  settling  in  Lriwell  in  186(3.  He  assisted  in  build- 
ing the  mill  here,  but  his  business  career  was  early  terminated  by  death. 
He  died  in  the  south  when  his  son  Thomas  was  but  nine  months  old. 

Thomas  Grant  was  early  thrown  upon  his  own  resources,  for  when  a 
youth  of  only  nine  years  he  began  working  by  the  month  as  a  farm  hand. 
He  also  worked  as  a  section  hand  for  three  years  on  the  Monon  Railroad, 
after  which  he  learned,  the  carpenter's  trade  and  followed  that  pursuit  for  ten 
years.  As  time  pass"ed  he  prospered  in  his  undertaking  because  of  his 
economy  and  diligence,  and  on  retiring  from  active  connection  with  carpen- 
tering he  invested  the  capital  he  had  acquired  in  a  mercantile  enterprise  in 
Lowell,  becoming  a  partner  of  his  brother  Jarnes.  This  business  connec- 
tion was  formed  in  1900,  and  they  now  carry  a  large  and  well  selected  line  of 
general  merchandise.  Mr.  Grant  of  this  review  is  also  a  stockholder  in  the 
Lowell  National  Bank  and  his  efforts  are  an  important  factor  in  promoting 
commercial  activity  and  prosperity  in  his  town. 

In  1893  Mr.  Grant  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Gracie  Nichols,  a 
daughter  of  W.  C.  and  Mary  Nichols.  They  have  one  son,  Byrl.  Mr.  Grant 
is  a  stanch  Republican,  taking  an  acti^•e  interest  in  the  work  .-uul  success  of 
his  party,  and  in  1900  he  was  elected  township  trustee,  which  position  he 
is  now  filling.  Fraternally  he  is  connected  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias 
lodge  No.  300,  at  Lowell,  and  with  the  Masonic  order.  Having  spent  his 
entire  life  in  Lowell  he  is  well  known  in  this  portion  of  the  county,  and  his 
life  history  is  as  an  open  book  wdiich  all  may  read.  His  friends  entertain 
for  liim  warm  regard,  for  he  has  ever  commanded  their  respect  and  confi- 
dence, and  because  of  his  prominence  in  public  and  business  affairs  he  well 
deserves  mention  as  one  of  the  representative  citizens  of  this  pari  of  the  state. 

ALBERT  FOSTER. 

Albert  Foster,  ex-trustee  of  West  Creek  township,  for  many  years 
actively  engaged  in  agricultural  affairs  and  now  a  resident  of  Lowell,  belongs 
to  the  well-known   Foster  family   which   for  two-thirds  of  a   century   have 


426  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

been  conspicuous  in  the  development  of  the  county's  material  resources. 
The  landed  possessions  in  the  Foster  name  are  among  the  largest  single 
estates  in  the  county.  Besides  being  accumulators  of  property,  they  have 
been  producers  of  wealth,  and  from  the  time  of  the  father  who  located  here 
during  the  pioneer  days  the  influence  and  works  of  the  family  members  have 
alwaj's  been  on  the  side  of  progress  in  social,  intellectual  and  institutional 
affairs.  What  has  been  accomplished  by  this  family  will  always  remain 
as  a  test  and  mark  of  their  merit  and  worth  as  citizens,  and  Mr.  Albert 
Foster  has  not  been  one  of  the  least  of  the  name  in  conferring  great  good 
upon  the  county  of  his  nativity. 

Mr.  Foster  was  born  in  W^est  Creek  'township  on  Christmas  day  of 
1856.  His  parents  were  George  L.  and  Lucy  Jane  (Hathaway)  Foster, 
and  he  was  the  fifth  of  their  ten  children,  five  sons  and  five  daughters,  nine 
of  whom  are  still  living,  as  follows :  Edwin  L.,  who  is  married  and  engaged 
in  the  oil  business  at  Jacksonville,  Illinois ;  Volney,  married  and  a  farmer 
in  prosperous  circumstances  in  West  Creek  township;  Edson,  married  and  a 
resident  of  Chicago  Heights,  Illinois;  Albert;  Eliza,  wife  of  Arthur  Farley, 
a  farmer  of  Lowell;  Emeline,  wife  of  F.  E.  Nelson,  the  banker  at  Lowell; 
Martha,  wife  of  Frank  L.  Smart,  who  is  principal  of  the  Dubuque,  Iowa, 
high  school,  and  who  was  educated  at  Valparaiso  and  in  Harvard  College; 
Mariilia,  wife  of  S.  A.  Richards,  of  Valparaiso;  and  Julia,  wife  of  George 
Bailey. 

George  L.  Foster  was  born  in  Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania,  April  10, 
1 82 1,  and  died  in  Kansas,  May  12,  1877.  He  was  a  farmer  and  stockman 
and  for  some  time  was  a  cattle  drover.  He  was  a  self-educated  man,  gifted 
with  a  retentive  memory,  and  had  great  individuality  and  force  of  charac- 
ter. His  active  career  began  at  the  early  age  of  fifteen,  when  he  left  his 
father's  home  and  went  to  work  on  the  Erie  canal.  He  came  home  at  the 
end  of  nine  months  and  gave  bis  parents,  in  addition  to  his  regular  wages, 
twenty  dollars  that  he  had  picked  up  as  extras.  His  father  returned  to  him 
this  twenty  dollars,  and  thus  capitalized  he  started  out  on  foot  for  the  distant 
destination  of  Lalve  county,  Indiana.  When  he  arrived  in  this  county,  in 
1836  or  't,",  he  had  eleven  dollars  in  cash,  so  that  he  began  at  the  foot  of 
life's  ladder.  For  ten  years  he  was  a  wage  earner.  About  1841  he  entered 
a  tract  of  eighty  acres  in  section  7,  West  Creek  township,  consisting  of  pure 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  427 

virgin  soil,  and  liis  first  domicilium  was  a  log  cabin,  the  material  for  which 
was  cut  from  the  Kankakee  swamp  trees.  Not  to  enter  into  details,  he  pros- 
pered to  the  extent  that  he  owned  over  one  thousand  acres  of  land  in  this 
count}-,  all  in  one  body,  besides  eleven  hundred  acres  in  Kansas.  This  land 
has  never  passed  from  the  family,  and  the  descendants  instead  of  selling 
any  of  it  have  added  much  more  to  it. 

Mr.  George  L.  Foster  was  a  very  remarkable  man  in  many  ways,  and  he 
was  uniformly  successful  in  all  his  undertakings.  During  the  California 
gold  excitement  he  started  for  the  Eldorado,  but  got  only  as  far  as  Pike's 
Peak.  Later,  howe^•er,  he  went  on  to  the  coast,  returning"  by  way  of  the 
Isthmus.  Politically  he  was  an  old-line  Whig  and  then  joined  the  Re- 
publican party  at  its  birth,  being  a  warm  admirer  of  Abe  Lincoln.  In  official 
capacities  he  served  as  county  commissioner  of  Lake  county  during  the  war, 
1861-65,  and  was  a  strong  supporter  of  the  Union.  He  had  a  decision  of 
character  and  a  firmness  that  elevated  him  above  the  rank  and  file  and  gave 
a  distinctive  stamp  to  both  word  and  action.  He  and  his  wife  were  both 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  he  assisted  in  the  erection 
of  both  houses  of  worship  of  that  denomination  in  West  Creek  township, 
the  last  one  being  built  in  1867.  His  wife,  Lucy  (Hathaway)  Foster,  was 
born  in  the  Hudson  river  valley  of  New  York,  April  20,  1828,  and  she  died 
November  30,  1876.  Both  the  Foster  and  Hathaway  families  were  of  pure 
English  stock,  and  grandfather  EHjah  Dwight  Foster  was  one  of  the  famous 
minute-men  of  the  Revolution. 

Albert  Foster  was  reared  in  western  Lake  county,  and  his  early  educa- 
tion stopped  with  the  common  schools,  after  which  he  trained  himself  .mainly 
by  personal  application.  He  was  only  twelve  years  old  when  he  left  the 
parent  nest  and  tried  his  young  wings  in  independent  flight.  He  was  im- 
bued with  the  desire  that  comes  to  all  vigorous-minded  boys,  to  travel  and 
see  the  world.  As  he  says,  when  he  should  have  been  at  home  under  his 
mother's  care,  he  was  far  in  the  west  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  and 
spending  two  years  in  the  silver  mines  of  Colorado.  He  later  returned  and 
had  already  got  quite  a  start  in  life  by  the  time  he  reached  his  majority  and 
was  in  the  mind  of  settling  down  in  life. 

On  December  30,  1877,  just  after  he  had  passed  his  twenty-first  birth- 
day, he  was  married  to  IMiss  Mary  E.  Sponslor.     They  have  been  happily 


428  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

wedded  for  more  than  twenty-five  }-ears,  and  six  children,  three  sons  and 
three  danghters,  have  been  born  to  them.  Clyde  D.,  the  eldest,  graduated  in 
the  class  of  1896  from  the  Lowell  high  school,  secured  his  teacher's  cer- 
tificate, taught  in  his  home  township  two  years,  was  principal  at  Shelby  one 
year,  principal  of  the  Franklin  school  at  Hammond  two  years,  and  then 
entered  the  literary  department  of  Northwestern  University  and  is  still 
carrying  on  his  studies ;  he  is  a  niem!)er  of  the  Sigma  Alpha  Epsilon  fra- 
ternity and  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  lodge  at  Lowell ;  during  the  present 
scholastic  year  of  the  universit)-  he  was  unanimously  elected  president  of  the 
class,  which  honor  conferred  on  him  was  graciously  yet  modestly  received. 
Emma  Stella  graduated  in  1901  from  the  Lowell  high  school  and  is  now 
taking  the  teacher's  course  at  the  Ypsilanti  (Michigan)  Normal,  being  espe- 
ciall}-  interested  in  elocution.  Hattie  L.,  a  graduate  from  the  high  school 
in  1903,  is  also  at  Ypsilanti.  Artlnn^  Lyman  graduated  from  the  Lowell 
high  school  in  1904  and  pursuing  normal  studies  at  the  Valparaiso  College 
is  now  a  teacher  in  Lake  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foster  have  not  spared 
means  or  efl:ort  in  giving  their  children  the  best  of  training  and  educational 
advantages,  and  they  should  be  congratulated  on  the  excellent  results  already 
apparent. 

Mrs.  Foster  was  born  in  Hardin  county,  Ohio,  December  29,  1852, 
and  was  reared  in  that  state  and  educated  in  the  ladies'  seminary  at  \Vest 
Geneva.  She  was  a  teacher  for  a  number  of  years  in  her  native  state  and 
also  in  Kansas.  Her  parents,  both  now  deceased,  were  Jacob  and  Mar- 
garet  (Slonacker)   Sponslor,  and  she  has  five  brothers  living. 

For  twenty-one  years  after  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foster  resided 
upon  their  homestead  in  West  Creek  township,  where  they  liave  a  fine  estate 
of  three  hundred  and  ten  acres,  besides  some  property  that  Mrs.  Foster  owns 
in  Ohio.  In  1898  they  moved  into  Lowell,  where  they  erected  one  of  the 
most  pretentious  homes  of  the  town,  and  have  been  citizens  there  ever  since. 
Their  home  is  finished  in  hardwood  and  Georgia  pine,  is  heated  by  furnace, 
is  prettily  furnished,  and,  best  of  all  and  its  chief  charm,  is  the  abode  of 
hospitality  and  a  place  of  welcome  for  their  many  friends. 

Mr.  Foster  has  been  prominent  in  civic  affairs  in  his  township,  and  is 
one  of  the  leaders  in  matters  pertaining  to  the  general  welfare.  He  is  a 
stalwart   Republican,   having  cast   his   first   vote   for   Garfield.      In   August, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  429 

1895,  he  accepted  tlie  office  of  trustee  of  West  Creek  township,  and  during 
the  five  years  and  three  months  of  his  tenure  of  this  office  many  of  the  most 
important  puhlit  improvements  effecting  the  people  and  material  progress 
were  brought  about.  Me  caused  the  erection  of  several  of  the  fine  modern 
school  buildings  in  the  township,  which  would  be  a  credit  to  any  community, 
and  during  his  official  career,  also,  the  West  Creek  high  school  was  organ- 
ized, and  education  in  general  received  a  most  stimulating  influence  in  all 
directions.  In  1900  he  was  appointed  by  Judge  Gillette  as  drainage  commis- 
sioner in  Lake  county.  He  has  often  been  selected  as  delegate  to  his  party's 
county,  district  and  state  conventions.  Fraternally  he  affiliates  w'ith  Colfax 
Lodge  No.  378,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  served  as  worshipful  master  one  }ear.  He 
is  also  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  No.  300,  at  Low^ell,  and  belongs 
to  the  uniform  rank  of  that  order. 

THOMAS  J.  STEARNS. 

From  an  early  period  in  the  development  of  Lake  county  Thomas  J. 
Stearns  has  resided  in  this  portion  of  the  state  and  is  now  living  at  Lake 
Station.  His  interest  in  public  affairs  has  been  manifested  in  active  co-oper- 
ation in  all  movements  for  the  general  good  and  he  has  long  been  a  witness 
of  wdiat  has  been  accomplished  in  this  county  as  it  has  emerged  from  pioneer 
conditions  to  take  its  place  with  the  leading  counties  of  the  commonwealth. 

Mr.  Stearns  was  born  February  28,  1842,  upon  a  farm  in  Porter  county, 
Indiana,  about  six  miles  west  of  Valparaiso.  His  father,  Joseph  Stearns, 
was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island  and  was  reared  in  New  York,  wdience  he  went 
to  Porter  county,  Indiana,  about  1838.  In  1852  he  came  to  Lake  county, 
casting  in  his  lot  with  the  early  settlers  of  Hobart  township,  where  he  per- 
formed the  arduous  task  of  developing  a  new  farm  from  wild  and  unbroken 
land.  He  served  for  several  terms  as  trustee  of  Hobart  township  and  in 
public  affairs  took  an  actix'e  and  helpful  part.  He  w-as  also  an  interested  and 
zealous  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  his  labors  promoted 
the  cause  of  Christianity  in  his  neighborhood.  He  died  when  in  his  seventy- 
ninth  year  and  left  behind  an  untarnished  name  and  a  most  honorable  record. 
His  wife,  wdio  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Rhoda  Wilson,  was  a  native  of  Ohio 
and  was  of  Irish  descent,  while  Mr.  Stearns  was  of  English  lineage.  She 
was  reared  in  the  Buckeye  state  and  lived  to  be  about  sixty-nine  years  of 


430  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

age.  To  tliem  were  born  tliirteen  children,  nine  of  whom  reached  years  of 
maturity,  while  two  are  yet  living,  Thomas  J-,  and  j\Irs.  Rhoda  Toothel, 
of  Hobart. 

Thomas  J.  Stearns  was  the  next  to  the  youngest  in  the  family,  and  he 
w-as  brought  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  when  but  ten  years  of  age.  His  edu- 
cation was  acquired  in  the  old  time  district  schools,  and  in  the  summer  months 
he  worked  at  farm  labor  until  he  had  gained  broad  and  practical  knowledge 
concerning  every  department  of  agricultural  work.  He  continued  at  home 
with  his  parents  until  1861,  when,  feeling  that  his  first  duty  was  to  his 
country,  he  donned  the  blue  uniform  and  enlisted  in  the  Fourth  Indiana 
Battery  as  a  private.  He  served  for  three  years  and  one  month,  and  six 
months  of  that  time  was  spent  in  a  rebel  prison.  He  was  first  incarcerated 
at  Libby  and  afterw-ard  at  Belle  Isle.  He  took  part  in  the  battles  of  Shiloh, 
Stone  River,  Lookout  Mountain,  Perryville  and  many  other  engagements, 
but  never  received  a  wound,  although  he  was  often  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight. 

After  being  honorably  discharged  at  Indianapolis.  Indiana,  Mr.  Stearns 
returned  to  Hobart,  Lake  county,  since  which  time  he  has  continuously  re- 
sided in  this  part  of  the  state,  living  a  part  of  the  time  in  Hobart,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  conducting  a  hotel  and  also  in  the  grocery  business.  He  has 
likewise  followed  farming,  and  he  was  a  guard  in  the  Northern  prison  for 
a  year.  He  has  manifested  energy  and  enterprise  in  every  work  that  he  has 
undertaken,  and  he  is  now  engaged  in  the  real  estate  and  insurance  business 
at  Lake  Station. 

In  1864  ^Ir.  Stearns  was  united  in  marriage  to  ?^liss  Elizabeth 
Crowthers.  They  became  the  parents  of  two  children,  but  Ijotli  are  now  de- 
ceased. In  1871  Mr.  Stearns  married  his  present  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Ella  Stillwell,  and  was  a  native  nf  New  York.  Her  birth  occurred 
in  Schoharie  county,  August  3,  1845,  ^"<-l  she  is  a  daughter  of  Smith  T.  and 
Hannah  (Banks)  Stillwell.  She  was  nineteen  years  of  age  when  she  came  to 
Lake  county  and  here  she  has  since  resided.  Mr.  Stearns  has  firm  faith  in 
the  principles  of  the  Republican  party  and  is  a  recognized  leader  in  its  local 
ranks.  He  is  now  serving  as  township  assessor,  and  for  twelve  years  he  was 
justice  of  the  peace.  He  is  also  notary  public  and  has  acted  in  that  capacity 
for  twelve  years.  He  belongs  to  Hobart  Post,  No.  411,  G.  A.  R.,  and  to 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows.     During  fifty-one  years  he  has  made 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  431 

his  home  in  Lake  count}-,  so  that  he  is  very  famihar  with  its  liistorv  and  has 
been  a  witness  of  nearly  all  of  its  growth  and  development. 

CHARLES  C.  GIBSON. 

Charles  C.  Gibson,  who  is  acting  postmaster  of  Tollestcn  and  is  pro- 
prietor of  the  Hotel  Gibson,  was  born  in  Chicago.  September  25,  1835.  His 
father,  Thomas  Gibson,  was  a  native  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  became  a  resi- 
dent of  Chicago  in  1834.  three  years  before  the  incorporation  of  the  city. 
It  was  then  but  an  embryo  village,  and  the  most  farsighted  could  not  have 
dreamed  of  the  man'elous  development  and  growth  which  awaited  it. 
Thomas  Gibson  conducted  a  hotel  on  the  beach  called  the  Lake  House.  He 
remained  there  until  1838.  when  lie  removed  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  and 
here  again  engaged  in  the  hotel  business  at  what  was  then  known  as  Grass 
Ridge.  He  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  that  place  and  kept  a  stage  house, 
for  there  was  no  railroad  through  this  part  of  the  country  at  that  time  and, 
in  fact,  few  wagon  roads  had  been  laid  out.  'Sir.  Thomas  Gibson  afterward 
opened  a  hotel  one  mile  east  of  where  Tolleston  now  stands,  and  he  there  re- 
mained until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the  year  1850.  His  widow  after- 
ward conducted  the  hotel  until  i860,  when  she  opened  the  first  iiotel  at  Tolles- 
ton. In  1879  she  sold  that  property  and  enjoyed  a  well  merited  rest  up  to 
the  time  of  her  death,  which  occurred  in  1900.  Mrs.  Thomas  Gibson  bore 
the  maiden  name  of  Maria  Neil,  and  was  born  in  Ireland,  whence  she  came 
to  the  United  States  as  a  maiden  of  thirteen  summers.  By  her  marriage 
she  had  six  children,  two  sons  and  four  daughters,  all  of  whom  reached 
mature  years.  Init  onl}-  three  are  now  living,  the  sisters  of  our  subject  being 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Baird.  who  resides  at  Hunnewell.  Shelby  county,  Missouri : 
and  Mrs.  Julia  B.  Follette,  who  is  living  in  Chicago. 

Charles  C.  Gibson,  the  eldest  of  the  children  and  the  only  one  now  liv- 
ing, was  reared  under  the  parental  roof  and  was  but  three  years  old  when 
brought  by  his  parents  to  Lake  county.  After  his  father's  death  he  assisted 
his  mother  in  the  hotel  business  and  later  entered  the  service  of  the  Pittsburg, 
Fort  Wayne  &  Chicago  Railroad  Company,  with  which  he  was  connected 
for  about  seventeen  years.  He  entered  the  service  as  a  brakeman  and  was 
afterward  promoted  to  the  position  of  conductor.  He  was  also  for  a  time 
with   the   Michigan   Central   Railroad   Company   and   also   with   the   North- 


432  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

western  Railroad  Company,  and  throughout  his  railroad  service  proved  him- 
self a  most  capable,  efficient  and  faithful  employe.  Mr.  Gibson  is  also  en- 
gaged in  farming,  having  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  in  Lake  county 
for  about  six  years  or  until  1900,  when  he  opened  Hotel  Gibson,  at  Tolles- 
ton.  He  has  since  conducted  this  hostelry  and  has  made  it  one  which  is 
creditable  to  the  town.  He  has  a  thorough  and  practical  training  concern- 
ing the  best  methods  of  carrying  on  the  hotel  business,  and  his  earnest  desire 
to  please  his  patrons  has  secured  him  a  continuance  of  a  liberal  patronage. 

On  the  2d  of  September,  i860,  Mr.  Gibson  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Henrietta  Combs,  a  native  of  Canada,  who  was  born  in  Hamilton  on 
the  i8th  of  September,  1844.  She  is  a  daughter  of  David  and  Eliza  (Wood- 
ruff) Combs.  ]\Irs.  Gibson  was  reared  in  Chicago,  to  which  city  she  was 
taken  by  her  parents  in  her  early  girlhood  days.  By  her  marriage  she  has 
become  the  mother  of  three  children,  two  sons  and  a  daughter :  Walter,  who 
follows  farming  in  Lake  county,  Indiana ;  Florence,  who  is  the  wife  of  Harry 
Miles,  of  Michigan  City,  Indiana ;  and  George,  a  blacksmith  liy  trade,  who 
is  now  engaged  in  business  along  that  line  in  California. 

Mr.  Gibson  has  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  this  county  and  is 
the  oldest  living  resident  of  his  portion  of  the  county,  his  connection  there- 
with covering  sixty-seven  years.  He  is  therefore  well  known,  and  the  circle 
of  his  friendship  has  broadened  as  the  circle  of  his  accjuaintance  has  been 
extended.  He  is  a  man  of  many  strong  characteristics,  and  his  good  qualities 
have  won  for  him  the  regard  of  his  fellow  men.  His  political  allegiance  is 
given  to  the  Democracy,  but  he  has  never  bad  time  nor  inclination  to  seek 

public  office. 

STEPHEN  MEYERS. 

A  native  of  Germany,  'Sir.  Meyers  was  born  in  Prussia,  on  the  22d  of 
June,  1842,  a  son  of  Mathias  and  Elizabeth  INIeyers,  both  of  whom  were 
natives  of  Germany,  where  tliey  resided  until  1858,  when  they  crossed  the 
Atlantic  and  established  their  home  upon  a  farm  in  Hanover  township,  Lake 
county,  Indiana,  the  father  there  carrying  on  agricultural  pursuits  for  a 
number  of  years. 

In  the  public  schools  of  Germany  Stephen  IMeyers  acquired  his  educa- 
tion and  when  sixteen  years  of  age  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  the  new 
world.     The  remainder  of  his  minority  was  spent  on  the  old  homestead  farm 


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HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  433 

in  Hanover  township,  and  practical  business  methods  became  famihar  to  him 
through  the  assistance  which  he  rendered  his  father  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
fields  and  the  sale  of  the  crops.  In  1886  he  engaged  in  the  saloon  business 
at  Hanover  Center,  and  for  thirty-two  years  he  actively  cnntinuecl  that  busi- 
ness in  Hanover  townshi]).  He  also  became  the  owner  of  a  farm.  .\s  the 
years  passed  he  added  to  In's  financial  resources  and  he  is  now  loaning  money 
and  buying  commercial  paper. 

On  the  28th  of  August,  1866,  Air.  Meyers  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Catherine  BechtlofT,  a  native  of  Germany,  who  came  to  America  in 
April,  1866.  They  hare  four  living  children :  Mathias.  Stephen,  Katie 
and  Frank. 

Mr.  Meyers  has  been  somewhat  prominent  in  community  ai¥airs.  He 
was  elected  assessor  of  Hanover  township  and  filled  the  position  for  five 
years.  He  was  also  chosen  by  popular  sufifrage  to  the  office  of  trustee  and 
served  for  six  years.  He  has  been  a  resident  of  Lake  county  for  forty-six 
years,  his  family  locating  here  in  pioneer  times.  He  and  his  family  are 
members  of  the  Catholic  church  and  are  well  known  in  the  county.  Leav- 
ing Hanover  Center,  Mr.  Meyers  established  his  home  in  Crown  Point,  and 
is  well  known  in  the  city  and  throughout  this  portion  of  the  state  where  he 

has  so  long  resided. 

ALBERT    J.    SWANSON. 

Albert  J.  Swanson.  who  is  filling  the  office  of  township  trustee  and  is 
engaged  in  the  hardware  business  at  Hobart,  Indiana,  is  a  worthy  citizen 
that  Sweden  has  furnished  to  Lake  county  and  in  his  Inisiness  career  and 
private  life  he  displays  many  of  the  strong  and  commendable  qualities  of  the 
Swedish  race.  He  was  born  April  6,  1868,  a  son  of  John  and  Beatrice  Swan- 
son.  He  was  only  two  years  old  when  his  parents  crossed  the  Atlantic  to 
America,  establishing  their  home  in  Moline,  Illinois,  whence  they  came  to 
Lake  county,  Indiana,  in  October,  1871.  Air.  Swanson  was  then  only  three 
vears  of  age.  He  pursued  his  education  in  the  puldic  schools  of  Hobart  and 
in  a  Swedish  school  at  that  place,  and  when  fifteen  years  of  age  he  started  out 
to  earn  his  own  li\ing.  working"  for  George  Stoker  in  a  general  store  in 
Hobart.  There  he  remained  for  two  years,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  ac- 
cepted a  clerkship  in  the  store  of  J.  E.  Mander,  with  whom  he  continued  for 
three  months.     His  ne.xt  employer  was  J.  J.  Wood,  a  general  merchant  of 

28 


434  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Hobart.  with  whom  he  continued  lor  two  years,  and  later  he  was  a  salesman 
in  the  genera!  store  of  B.  W.  Stratton.  In  1891  he  embarked  in  merchandis- 
ing on  his  own  account  in  partnership  with  his  brother.  F.  P.  Swanson.  They 
purchased  the  grocery  department  in  the  store  of  B.  \\'.  Stratton,  and  after  a 
partnership  of  three  years  Albert  J.  Swanson  bought  his  brother's  interest 
and  continued  in  the  grocery  trade  until  1900.  He  then  sold  out  and  pur- 
chased the  hardware  store  of  A.  Mealin.  He  has  since  added  to-  his  stock 
•  and  is  now  conducting  a  well  equipped  hardware,  tin  shop,  and  plumbing 
establishment.  He  has  secured  a  good  patronage,  and  his  constantly  grow- 
ing trade  is  now  bringing  to  him  a  very  desirable  financial  return.  He  is 
also  engaged  in  dealing  in  coal  in  jiartnership  with  William  Jahnke,  their 
yards  being  situated  along  the  line  of  the  Nickle  Plate  Railroad  track. 

In  1891  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Swanson  and  Miss  Mar- 
garet Cooke,  a  daughter  of  M.  J.  and  Elizabeth  Cooke.  They  have  four 
children :  Beth,  Margaret,  Geraldine  and  Pliny.  Beth  is  in  the  seventh  grade, 
Margaret  in  the  si.xth.  Geraldine  in  the  third,  and  Pliny  in  the  second. 
Both  of  the  two  elder  children  have  taken  music. 

Mr.  Swanson  is  a  public-spirited  citizen  who  has  manifested  an  active 
interest  in  many  measures  pertaining  to  general  progress.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Republican,  and  in  Noveml)er,  1900,  was  elected  town.ship  trustee,  which 
position  he  is  now  filling.  He  is  the  youngest  trustee  that  has  ever  served  in 
Lake  county,  and  lie  was  chosen  to  the  office  by  one  of  the  largest  majorities 
ever  given  a  candidate  for  the  position.  Mr.  Swanson  is  the  only 
trustee  in  the  county  of  Lake  who  lias  introduced  a  special  teacher  of  music 
for  the  schools  of  the  to\\nshii),  which  is  Ifighly  commendable,  as  an  educa- 
tive element.  The  teacher  in  charge.  Miss  CleO'  Z.  Barnes,  visits  each  school 
each  week.  Mr.  Swanson  has  also  introduced  typewiiting  in  the  public 
schools  of  Hobart,  and  it  proves  a  successful  venture. 

Fraternally  he  is  connected  with  the  Masonic  lodge,  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  No.  333,  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  No.  458,  and  the 
Knights  of  the  Maccabees,  Tent  No.  65,  and  he  iias  filled  all  the  offices  in 
these  various  lodges  with  the  exception  of  the  Masonic.  He  is  well  known  in 
the  countv  for  his  business  ability  and  political  activity,  and  he  has  made  for 
himself  a  most  creditable  record.  He  started  out  in  life  empty-handed,  and 
all  that  he  possesses  has  been  accumulated  through  his  own  nersistent  pur- 
pose, capable  management  and  progressive  business  methods. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  135 

GEORGE  L.  CASTLE. 

George  L.  Castle,  now  deceased,  wlio  was  well  known  in  Lake  county, 
was  born  in  Florence.  Hiumii  county,  Oliio.  Feliruary  i8,  iSy).  His  father, 
Scjuire  Castle,  was  a  nati\e  of  Vermont,  whence  he  removed  to  Berrien 
county,  Michigan,  from  Ohio,  in  1850.  Two  years  later  he  came  to  West 
Creek  township.  Lake  county,  Indiana,  arriving  here  in  185J.  George  L. 
Castle  was  then  Init  thirteen  years  of  age,  and  he  continued  his  education  in 
the  district  schools  of  West  Creek  township,  while  with  farm  work  he  be- 
came very  familiar,  gaining  a  broad  practical  experience  as  he  assisted  in 
the  labors  ot  iield  and  meadow  and  in  all  departments  of  farm  work.  When 
the  country  became  involved  in  Ci\il  war,  4iowever.  he  put  aside  all  busi- 
ness and  personal  considerations,  for  his  patriotic  spirit  was  aroused  and  he 
determined  to  aid  his  country  in  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  Accordingly 
he  enlisted  in  1861,  becoming  a  member  of  Company  B,  Twentieth  Intliana 
^'olunteer  Infantry,  with  which  he  served  until  1864.  He  was  orderly 
sergeant  and  took  part  in  many  hotly  contested  battles,  displaying  marked 
valor  and  loyalty  upon  the  field.  After  being  honorably  discharged  he  re- 
turned to  Lowell  and  took  up  the  work  of  contracting,  which  he  followed 
continuously  in  this  county  until  June,  1882,  when  he  removed  to  Chicago. 
There  he  engaged  in  dealmg  in  sand,  graxel.  brick  and  hnnlicr.  and  for 
twenty  years  was  an  active  and  enterprising  business  man  of  that  cit\'.  his 
death  occurring  on  the  12th  of  October,  1902.  in  Lowell,  Indiana.  In  his 
political  views  he  was  a  Democrat,  but  the  honors  and  enmluments  of  office 
had  little  attraction  for  him. 

On  the  18th  of  December,  1866,  Mr.  Castle  was  united  m  marriage  to 
Miss  Laura  P.  Hull,  who  was  born  in  Franklin  county,  Vermont,  rjn  the 
nth  of  February,  1847.  Her  father.  Samuel  P.  Hull,  was  also  a  native  of 
Franklin  county  and  on  eiuigrating  westward  estaljlished  his  home  in  Illinois, 
\\here  he  remained  for  two  years.  In  1867  he  came  to  Lake  count v,  In- 
diana, locating  at  Lowell,  where  h.e  followed  the  occupation  of  farming.  His 
death  occurred  February  3,  1898.  Mrs.  Castle's  mother,  Emeline  Castle, 
was  likewise  a  native  of  Franklin  county,  Vermont,  and  it  was  in  the  Green 
Mountain  state  that  she  was  married.  Mr.  Hull  was  at  one  time  the  owner 
of  the  land  on  which  occurred  the  birth  of  the  late  President  Arthur.     To 


43fi  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  and  Airs.  Hull  were  born  seven  children,  two  sons  and  five  daughters, 
namely:  Jasper,  Airs.  Alary  Edmonds,  Mrs.  Joseph  A.  Clark,  Mrs.  Laura 
Castle,  Albert,  Airs.  William  Sigler,  and  Airs.  Stanley  Babcock.  who  is  now^ 
deceased. 

Mrs.  Castle  is  the  fourth  child  in  tlie  family,  and  was  the  mother  of  one 
daughter.  Airs.  Jessie  B.  C.  Riggs,  who  died  February  13,  1893,  leaving 
a  daughter,  Laura  AI.  Riggs,  whose  birth  occurred  August  2S>,  1889.  (See 
obituary.)  Airs.  Castle  still  carries  on  the  business  at  Chicago  which  was 
established  by  her  husband,  and  in  this  enterprise  has  the  assistance  of  the 
secretary  of  the  firm.  She  also  owns  a  farm  in  West  Creek  township.  Lake 
county,  to  which  she  gives  her  personal  supervision.  She  is  a  woman  of 
luisiness  ability,  keen  foresight  and  marked  enterprise  and  is  capably  con- 
ducting her  \aried  business  interests. 

The  following  obituaries,  while  covering  the  main  points  sketched  above, 
also  further  indicate  the  character  and  life  of  Air.  Castle  and  his  only  daugh- 
ter and  child : 

George  L.  Castle  was  born  in  tlie  town  of  Florence.  Huron  county, 
Ohio,  February  18,  1839,  and  died  at  his  home  in  Lowell,  Indiana,  October 
12,  1902,  at  the  age  of  63  years,  7  months  and  24  days.  His  sickness  dates 
back  nearly  two  years,  in  which  time  he  has  been  attended  by  the  best  medi- 
cal skill,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  In  hopes  of  regaining  his  health  he  went 
to  Florida  last  winter,  but  was  forced  to  return  without  obtaining  the  de- 
sired benefit.  Since  his  return  from  the  south  his  disease  has  been  of  a 
dropsical   nature  and  that  was  probably  the  immediate  cause  of  his  death. 

\\'hen  a  lad  of  ten  or  twehe  he  moved  with  his  parents  to  Alichigan., 
remaining  there  about  two  years,  when  they  again  moved,  coming  to  Lake 
county,  Indiana,  arriving  here  February  18,  1852.  since  A\hich  time  Air. 
Castle  has  resided  in  or  near  Lowell,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  years  in 
Chicago.  He  was  among  our  best  citizens ;  a  man  possessed  of  many  noble 
traits  of  character,  chief  among  which  \\as  his  open-heartedness ;  no  one 
ever  applying  to  him  for  assistance  was  turned  away  empty  handed,  if  within 
his  power  to  prevent.  He  was  a  man  ver_\-  highly  respected  by  all  who  knew 
him  for  his  honorable,  upright  ways.  \Mien  his  country  was  in  distress  and 
needed  his  services  he  offered  himself  as  a  soldier,  enlisting  in  Company  B, 
20th  I.  V.  V.  I.,  lulv  22,  1861,  and  from  which  he  was  discharged  as  cor- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  437 

poral,  July  29,  1864,  after  a  faithful  service  of  a  little  over  three  years. 

December  18,  1866.  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Laura  P.  Hull. 
To  this  union  was  bom  one  daughter.  Jessie,  who  liecame  the  wife  of 
Howard  E.  Riggs.  She  died  February  13,  1893.  leaving  a  little  daughter, 
Laura  J\I. 

The  funeral,  which  was  largely  attended,  occur'red  from  his  late  home 
at  2  p.  m.,  October  15.  Ekler  John  Bruce  assisted  by  Rev.  D.  D.  Hoagland; 
pastor  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  officiated.  Funeral  Director  Clif- 
ford Stowell  had  charge  of  the  burial  service.  Literment  was  made  in  the 
Lowell  cemetery. 

He  leaves  his  wife,  three  brothers:  John  M.  and  Mortimer,  of  Lowell, 
and  Charles  E.  of  DeBorgia.  Montana,  one  grand-daughter,  Laura  M.  Riggs, 
together  with  a  large  number  of  relatives  to  mourn  his  death,  to  whom  the 
Tribune  extends  sincere  sympathy  in  their  darkest  hour  of  sorrow. 

Died,  at  her  home  in  Englewood,  February  13,  1893,  Jessie  Bell  (Castle) 
Riggs,  aged  24  years,  4  months  and  24  days,  Jessie  Bell  was  born  in  Kan- 
sas City,  Missouri,  September  20,  1868.  She  was  the  only  child  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  George  L.  Castle,  of  South  Chicago,  and  wife  of  Howard  Riggs.  She 
came  with  her  parents  to  Lowell,  Indiana,  when  about  three  months  old, 
where  she  resided  till  she  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  from  whence  she  moved 
with  her  parents  to  South  Chicago,  Illinois.  She  was  married  to  Howard 
Riggs,  of  Cambridge,  Ohio,  September  20.  1888.  To  this  union  two  children 
were  born,  a  daughter  and  a  son.  The  son  preceded  its  mother  to  the  Spirit 
Land  about  two  years  ago.  Her  funeral  took  place  from  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  Thursday,  Rev,  Bird,  of  South  Chicago,  officiating,  as- 
sisted by  Rev,  Bruce,  of  Lowell,  where  a  large  concourse  of  relatives  and 
friends  gathered  to  pay  the  last  sad  tribute  of  respect  to  one  v.-ho  was  loved 
and  held  in  high  esteem  by  all  who  knew  her.  Her  remains  were  laid  in  the 
Lowell  cemetery,  there  to  rest  until  the  morn  of  resurrection,  from  whence 
she  will  come  forth  and  her  garments  shall  be  white.  She  leaves  a  husband 
and  daughter,   and   father  and   mother,   and  other   relati\'es   a.nd   friends   to 

moiu^n  her  loss. 

JOHN  DWYER. 

John  Dwyer,  whose  intense  and  well  directed  activity  in  business  af- 
fairs has  won  him  success,  is  now  living  a  retired  life  in  Lowell  and  enjoys 


438  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

in  high  measure  tlie  respect  and  esteem  of  tlie  community.  He  is  an  honored 
veteran  of  the  Ci\il  war,  has  served  as  auditor  of  Lake  county  and  in  all 
relations  of  life  has  been  found  trustworthy  and  loyal.  .\  native  of  Knox 
county,  Ohio,  his  birth  occurred  on  the  26th  of  June.  1834.  His  grand- 
father, James  Dwyer,  was  born  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  on  coming  to 
America  settled  in  ^Maryland.  His  father,  John  Dwyer,  was  a  native  of 
Marvland  and  settled  in  Knox  county,  Ohio,  in  180S,  becoming  one  of  the 
pioneer  residents  of  that  portion  of  the  state.  He  was  a  carpenter  and  joiner 
and  also  a  cabinet-maker,  and  he  carried  on  business  at  ]Mount  Vernon,  Ohio, 
along  those  lines.  His  remaining  days  were  spent  in  the  Buckeye  state, 
where  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years.  His  political  allegiance  was 
given  to  the  Democracy  in  early  manhood,  liut  in  1856  he  joined  the  ranks  of 
the  new  Republican  party  and  voted  for  John  C.  Fremont.  His  religious 
faith  was  indicated  by  his  memliership  in  the  Baptist  churcli.  His  wife 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Sarah  Martin  and  was  a  native  of  Huntingdon 
county,  Pennsylvania,  where  she  was  reared.  She,  too,  spent  her  last  days 
at  Mount  Vernon,  Ohio,  and  passed  away  at  the  very  advanced  age  of  sev- 
enty-seven years,  there  being  only  a  week's  difference  in  the  date  of  hers 
and  her  husband's  death.  This  worthy  couple  were  the  parents  of  three  sons 
and  eight  daughters,  all  of  whom  reached  years  of  maturity. 

John  Dwyer,  the  ninth  child  and  second  son  of  the  family,  was  reared 
in  Knox  county,  Ohio,  and  pursued  his  education  in  Frederickton  Academy 
and  in  Oberlin  College.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a  millwright  m  the  county 
of  his  nativity,  serving  a  full  term  of  apprenticeship,  but  siion  afterward 
gave  up  the  liusiness.  He  followed  that  pursuit  for  nine  months  in  Iowa. 
In  1854  he  removed  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  settling  at  Crown 'Point,  and 
engaged  in  farming  one  mile  east  of  the  city,  carrying  on  that  pursuit  for 
about  three  years. 

In  the  meantime  'Slv.  Dwyer  was  married  on  the  28th  of  December, 
1856,  the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Aliss  Cornelia  A.  Clark,  a  daughter  of 
Tabez  and  ^Marrelle  E.  (Burrows)  Clark,  in  whose  family  were  seven  chil- 
dren, two  daughters  and  fi\-e  sons.  ]\Irs.  Dwyer,  the  second  in  order  of 
birth,  was  born  m  Tompkins  county,  Xew  York,  June  2y.  1837,  and  was 
but  seven  months  old  when  she  was  brought  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  b}-  her 
parents,  who   located  at  Lowell.     The   father  was  a   farmer  by  occupation 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  439 

and,  securing  land  from  the  government,  at  nnce  liegan  its  cultix-atinn  and 
development,  transforming  the  wild  tract  into  richly  cultivated  fields.  He 
continued  to  carry  en  farming'  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  1876,  when  he  was  sixty-eight  years  of  age.  His  wife  died  in  her  eighty- 
eighth  year.     Mrs.  Dwyer  has  one  living  brother.  Perry  D.  Clark,  of  Lowell. 

In  the  year  1857  Air.  and  ]Mrs.  Dwyer  took  up  theii-  abode  upon  a 
farm  a  half  mile  south  of  Lowell,  and  there  he  de\oted  his  energies  to  gen- 
eral agricultural  pursuits  for  about  a  year  and  a  half.  At  that  time  they 
removed  to  a  farm  two  and  a  half  miles  northwest  of  Lowell,  wdiere  he  was 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  until  1861.  Feeling  then  that  his  first  duty 
was  to  his  country  he  joined  the  bo}s  in  blue,  enlisting  as  a  member  of  Com- 
pany B,  Twentieth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  joined  the  armv  as  a 
private,  but  was  soon  afterward  made  corporal,  and  he  ser\ed  from  June, 
1861,  until  ]May  5,  1864.  He  took  part  in  a  number  of  the  leading  battles 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  was  wounded  in  the  shoulder  at  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg  by  a  minie  ball.  He  was  again  wounded  at  the  battle  of  the 
Wilderness  on  the  5th  of  ]\Iay,  1864,  being  struck  in  the  knee  by  a  minie 
ball.  This  necessitated  the  amputation  of  the  left  leg  above  the  knee,  and 
on  account  of  bis  severe  injuries  he  was  honorably  discharged  September 
25,   1864. 

Mr.  Dwyer  then  returned  to  Lowell.  He  certainly  made  great  sacri- 
fices for  his  country  and  yet  he  lias  never  regretted  the  part  which  he  per- 
formed in  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  On  again  reaching  Lake  county 
he  took  up  the  work  of  school  teaching,  but  after  he  had  spent  a  month  in 
that  way  he  was  appointed  by  Schuyler  Colfax  to  a  clerical  position  in  the 
war  department  of  Washington.  Removing  to  that  city  he  remained  for 
seven  \'ears  in  that  department,  on  the  expiration  of  which  perio<I  he  resigned 
and  returned  to  his  old  home  in  Lake  county  in  187 1.  In  the  same  vear  he 
was  made  a  candidate  for  the  position  of  county  recorder  and  was  elected 
the  following  fall  for  a  term  of  four  years.  During  that  period  he  made  his 
home  in  Crown  Point,  and  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  office  he  was 
found  most  capable,  efficient,  prompt  and  faithful.  On  his  retirement  from 
official  service  he  returned  to  Lowell  and  located  on  a  farm  a  half  mile  south- 
west of  the  town,  there  remaining  until  1882,  when  he  sold  his  farm  property 
an<l  remo\'ed  to  Greencastle,  Indiana,  in  order  to  educate  his   familv.     Not 


440  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

long  after  his  removal  to  that  place  he  was  re-appointed  to  a  position  in  the 
war  department  at  Washington  and  remained  as  a  clerk  there  until  1890,  when 
he  again  resigned  and  returned  to  Lowell,  where  his  family  had  previously 
located.  He  has  since  lived  retired  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  rest  which  he  has 
truly  earned. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dwyer  are  the  parents  of  seven  children,  but  John  Byron 
died  at  the  age  of  three  years  and  twins  died  in  infanc}'.  while  Bessie  Eliza 
died  at  the  age  of  seventeen  months.  The  others  are  Cassius  C.  Schuyler 
C,  who  is  an  attorney  at  Lowell ;  and  Sylvia  May.  the  wife  of  Roy  I\I. 
Abrams,  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

Mr.  Dwyer  has  been  a  life-long  Republican,  nex'er  faltering  in  his  al- 
legiance to  the  party,  which  stood  as  the  defender  of  the  L'nion  in  the  dark 
days  of  the  Civil  v.-ar  and  which  has  ever  been  the  champion  of  progress, 
reform  and  improvement.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  post  at 
Lowell,  and  thus  maintains  pleasant  relations  with  his  old  army  comrades. 
He  has  a  wide  and  favorable  acquaintance  in  Lake  county,  and  during  his 
residence  elsewhere  he  has  felt  the  keenest  interest  in  the  development  of 
this  portion  of  the  state.  In  all  life's  relations  he  has  been  true  to  duty  and 
in  matters  of  citizenship  is  as  loyal  to-day  as  when  he  followed  the  old 
flag  upon  battlefields  of  the  south. 

iMAHLON  HATHAWAY. 

Mahlon  Hathaway  is  one  of  the  representative  agriculturists  and  stock- 
raisers  of  ^\'est  Creek  township,  and  is  a  man  whose  success  in  life  and 
prominence  as  a  citizen  well  deserve  mention  in  such  a  historical  record  as 
this  present  \olume.  He  is  a  native  of  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  where  he 
v.'as  born  November  17,  1856.  He  is  the  eldest  of  the  three  children,  two 
sons  and  one  daughter,  born  to  Bethuel  and  Lucinda  (Hayden)  Hathaway. 
His  brother  Henry,  next  to  him  in  age.  is  an  agriculturist  of  \\'est  Creek 
to\\'nship,  a  successful  man.  and  is  married  and  has  a  family.  Janie,  the  sis- 
ter, is  the  wife  of  Charles  Belshaw.  a  farmer  at  Lowell.  The  father  of  this 
family  was  born  in  New  York  state  about  1818.  and  died  in  Lake  county, 
Indiana,  when  about  seventy  years  old.  He  was  reared  to  manhood  in  his 
native  state,  and  received  his  public  school  education  there.  He  ^^■as  a  pioneer 
of  Lake  county,  being  among  those  who  came  in  1843,  '^"d  he  purchased  a 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  HI 

hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  West  Creek  tuwnsliip  and  was  a  suc- 
cessful farmer  during  the  remainder  of  his  active  career.  He  acquired  an 
estate  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres,  all  situated  in  West  Creek  town- 
ship. He  was  an  energetic  personality,  and  in  business  affairs  was  aggres- 
siA-e  and  prosperous.  He  was  an  out  and  out  Republican  in  politics,  and  he 
and  his  wife  were  memliers  of  the  Methodist  church. 

Mr.  Hathaway  was  reared  to  the  age  of  ten  years  in  Kankakee  county, 
and  since  then  has  been  a  resident  of  Lake  county.  He  was  educated  in 
the  common  schools,  and  gained  much  of  life's  training  by  personal  appli- 
cation. He  had  only  a  small  capital  when  he  arrived  at  majority,  and  his 
subsequent  success  has  been  almost  entirely  by  his  own  efforts.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Julia  Smith,  by  whom  he  had  three  children,  two  living:  Blanche 
completed  the  eighth  grade  of  school,  and  Carrie  is  at  home  and  in  the  ninth 
grade  of  the  Lowell  high  school.  The  mother  of  these  children  died  in  1886, 
and  f(.)r  his  second  wife  ^Nlr.  Hathaway  married  Miss  Barbara  Grimes,  who 
is  the  mother  of  four  children,  as  follows :  Leslie,  who  is  in  the  eighth 
grade  in  school,  and  a  bright  lad  in  his  studies ;  Gladys,  in  the  fifth  grade ; 
Lucille ;  and  Archie,  the  youngest. 

Mrs.  Hathaway  was  born  in  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  in  1866,  and 
was  reared  and  educated  in  her  native  county.  She  was  a  rtudent  of  the 
Valparaiso  College,  and  was  also  engaged  in  teaching  for  several  years. 
Mr.  Hathaway  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  cast  his  first  vote  for  the  lamented 
Garfield.  He  has  been  chosen  as  a  delegate  to  the  county  conventions,  and 
has  in  various  ways  been  active  in  practical  politics  in  this  county.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hathaway  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  in 
A\'est  Creek  township.  Their  homestead  is  in  this  same  township,  where 
they  possess  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  good  land.  The  buildings  about 
this  farm  are  first  class,  and  in  1898  he  erected  a  modern  residence  and  one 
t.f  the  most  charming  homes  in  the  neighborhood.  He  was  fonnerly  engaged 
in  the  milk  business,  shipping  all  his  product,  but  he  has  of  late  years  bought 
a  De  La\-al  separator  and  begun  the  making  of  butter  at  home,  which  he 
finds  a  more  satisfactorj-  enterprise.  Mr.  Hathaway  is  one  of  the  success- 
ful men  of  the  county,  and  has  won  a  large  degree  of  material  prosperity  and 
attained  the  recognition  and  esteem  of  his  fellow  citizens  through  his  well 
directed  eft'orts  and  honest  endeavor. 


442  !;:STORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

A.MOS  BRAXNON. 

Amos  Erannon,  a  retired  iarmer  of  Lowell,  who  was  dependent  upon 
his  own  resources  for  a  li\ing  from  an  early  age.  is  a  self-made  man.  whose 
record  is  creditable  and  well  worthy  of  emulation.  He  started  out  in  life 
empty-handed,  and,  realizing  that  labor  is  the  basis  of  all  success,  he  worked 
diligently  and  persistently  for  many  years  and  is  now  the  possessor  of  a 
very  comfortable  competence.  Moreover,  he  has  advanced  far  on  life's 
journey,  reaching  a  stage  in  which  nature  seems  to  have  intcided  that  man 
should  put  aside  active  business  cares  and  spend  the  evening  of  life  in  quiet. 

]\Ir.  Brannon  was  born  in  Summit  county.  Ohjo,  on  the  4th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1821.  His  father  was  William  Brannon,  whose  parents  were  natives 
of  Ireland.  The  mother  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Lucina  Loveland.  and  was 
born  in  Vermont.  William  Brannon  died  in  Ohio  in  1828  when  his  son 
Amos  was  but  seven  years  of  age.  but  the  mother  lived  to  be  more  than 
eighty  years  of  age.  In  their  family  were  eight  children,  seven  of  whom 
reached  mature  years.  Of  this  number  Amos  Brannon  was  tiie  third  child 
and  second  son.  After  his  father's  death  he  remained  with  his  mother,  but 
worked  out  for  a  living  until  twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  then  came  to 
Indiana,  locating  in  Porter  county  in  the  spring  of  1843,  ^'""^^  '"  the  fall  of 
the  same  year  he  came  to  Lake  county.  Here  he  engaged  in  farming,  pur- 
chasing a  small  tract  of  land  in  ^^'est  Creek  township.  This  was  wild  and 
unimproved  and  covered  eighty  acres.  \\'ith  characteristic  energy  he  began 
its  development  and  continued  the  work  of  improvement  until  he  sold  the 
property  and  purchased  an  adjoining  farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres. 
This  he  also  improved,  breaking  the  prairie  and  transforming  wild  land 
into  rich  and  productive  fields.  He  continued  agricultural  imrsuits  there 
until  1885.  when  he  retired  and  removed  to  Lowell.  He  has  since  built  a 
good  residence  in  the  town  and  is  now  comfortably  situated  in  life.  During 
the  early  years  of  his  residence  in  Indiana  he  bravely  faced  all  the  hard- 
ships and  dangers  of  frontier  life  and  performed  the  arduous  task  of  de- 
veloping two  new  farms,  but  as  the  years  passed  by  excellent  results  at- 
tended his  efforts,  making  him  one  of  the  substantial  farmers  of  the  com- 
munity. 

On  the  18th  of  September,  1844,  Mr.  Brannon  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Sallie  Taylor,  who  was  born  in  Erie  county,  Pennsyh-ania,  April  6, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  443 

iSj",  and  is  a  daughter  of  CaUin  and  Mary  Ann  (  Xugant )  Taylor.  They 
came  to  LaPorte  C(iunt\-,  Imhana,  in  1S34.  casting  in  their  lot  ^xith  the  early 
pioneer  settlers.  Subsequently  they  removed  to  Porter  county.  Indiana, 
where  the  mother  died,  while  the  father's  death  occurred  in  Lockport.  Illi- 
nois. In  their  family  were  five  children,  of  whom  ^Irs.  Brannon  is  the 
eldest.  She  came  to  Lake  county  when  but  fourteen  )'ears  of  age,  and  has 
lived  here  continuously  since.  The  home  of  Air.  and  Mrs.  Brannon  has 
been  blessed  with  ele\en  children,  seven  of  whom  }'et  siu'\i\e,  while  four 
have  passed  away,  namely:  W'illia,  Ahkis.  Cal\-in  and  James  M.  Those 
still  li\'ing  are  Mary  Ann.  Amelia.  Ida,  Milo,  William  J.  and  Lucian  and 
Lucina.  twins.  All  were  born  in  West  Creek  township.  Lake  cijunty.  and  the 
living  children  are  married  and  ha\-e  established  comfortable  homes  of  their 
own.  Both  Mr.  and  Airs.  Brannon  hold  membership  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  and  take  zealous  and  acti\'e  interest  in  its  wcrk.  He  has 
long  been  a  Republican,  voting  for  Fremont  on  the  organization  of  the 
party,  and  twice  supporting  Aljraham  Lincoln  for  the  presidency.  Mr.  Bran- 
non has  tra\-eled  far  on  life's  journe}'  and  can  look  back  over  the  past 
without  regret  and  forward  to  the  future  without  fear,  for  his  has  been  an 
honorable,  active  antl  useful  career.  He  has  never  lieen  known  to  take 
ad\-antage  of  the  necessities  of  his  fellow  men  in  any  trade  transactions, 
but  has  beeii  just  and  considerate  of  others,  and  in  his  business  life  as 
well  as  in  social  circles  has  gained  warm  personal  regard  and  respect. 

HENRY  SUPRISE. 

From  an  early  period  in  the  de\-elopment  of  Lake  county  Henry  Suprise 
has  been  numbered  among  its  residents,  and  is  now  a  prominent  old  set- 
tler well  deser\"ing  of  mention  in  this  volume.  He  lives  on  section  18, 
Cedar  Creek  township.  A  native  of  New  York,  he  was  born  on  the  ist  of 
December,  1830,  and  is  of  French  lineage.  His  father,  Peter  Suprise,  was 
born  in  France  and  came  to  America  when  about  thirty-fi\-e  years  old.  He 
located  in  Lake  county  among  its  pioneer  residents,  being  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Cedar  Creek  township,  and  there  he  li\'ed  to  the  very  ad\-anced 
age  of  about  one  hundred  and  nine  years.  In  early  manhood  he  married 
Rosina  Taylor,  who  was  born  in  Canada  and  was  reared  and  married  there. 
Thev  removed  to  New  York,  wh.ere  thev  remained  one  vear,  and  then  came 


444  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  where  Mrs.  Suprise  died  when  about  eighty-three 
years  of  age.  They  were  the  parents  of  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  who 
are  now  hving. 

Henry  Suprise.  the  third  child  of  the  family,  was  only  six  months  old 
when  brought  to  Lake  county.  Indiana.  His  educational  privileges  were 
extremely  meager,  for  he  began  to  work  as  soon  as  old  enough  and  as- 
sisted his  father  in  the  arduous  task  of  developing  a  new  farm  and  continu- 
ing its  cultivation.  He  became  familiar  with  every  department  of  farm 
labor  and  continued  to  aid  his  father  on  the  old  homestead  vmtil  he  had 
attained  his  majority  and  afterward  cared  for  his  father  until  the  latter's 
death. 

In  1833  occurred  the  marriage  of  Heniw  Suprise  and  ^liss  Elizabeth 
Hill,  a  daughter  of  James  and  ]NTary  (  Skinner)  Hill.  She  was  born  in 
Decatur  county,  Indiana,  near  Greensburg,  July  12.  1841.  The  young  couple 
began  their  domestic  life  in  Cedar  Creek  township,  where  Air.  Suprise  en- 
gaged in  general  farming,  and  he  has  since  followed  that  pursuit.  In  the 
winter  he  buvs  and  sells  cattle,  and  he  is  widely  recognized  as  one  of  the 
most  successful  farmers  in  the  county  and  one  of  the  most  extensive  land- 
owners, his  realty  possessions  now  aggregating  about  one  thousand  acres. 
He  worked  hard  and  persistently  in  the  early  years  of  his  married  life,  and 
as  liis  financial  resources  increased  he  made  judicious  investment  in  property 
until  to-day  he  is  one  of  the  leading  land-holders  of  this  portion  of  the 
state.  He  also  owns  stock  in  the  Lowell  National  Bank  at  Lowell,  and  is 
one  of  its  directors,  and  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  he  has  engaged  in  loan- 
ing money  in  Lake  county. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Suprise  have  been  born  three  children  who  are  yet 
living:  Jasper,  Albert  and  William,  all  residents  of  Lake  county.  They 
also  lost  one  child.  Since  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party  Mr. 
Suprise  has  given  to  it  a  stalwart  and  unfaltering  support,  where  matters  of 
state  and  national  interest  are  involved,  but  at  local  elections  he  votes  in- 
dependently, giving  his  ballot  for  men  and  measures  rather  than  for  party. 
In  matters  of  citizenship  he  is  public-spirited  and  progressive,  and  his  pa- 
triotism stands  as  an  unquestioned  fact  in  his  career.  He  has,  therefore, 
co-operated  in  many  movements  for  the  general  good  and  has  been  particu- 
larly active  in  the  agricultural  development  and  progress  of  northwestern 
Indiana. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  445 

AIRS.  SARAH  E.  NICHOLS. 

The  ladies  of  our  state  and  nation  play  a  most  conspicuous  part  in  the 
affairs  of  home  and  community,  although  "the  liappiest  women,  like  the 
happiest  nations,  have  no  history,"  their  li\-es  and  influence  being  among 
the  "silent  forces"  which  effect  great  works  without  display  or  heralding 
abroad.  .Among  the  worthy,  noble  and  esteemed  wnmen  of  Lowell  is  to  be 
numbered  Airs.  Sarah  E.  Xichols,  who  has  lived  in  this  county  a  number  of 
years  and  has  made  her  influence  felt  through  her  family  and  in  whatever 
relation  she  has  touched  the  society  about  her. 

Mrs.  Nichols  was  born  in  Barnston  Corner,  Lower  Canada,  February 
24,  1845,  being  the  third  of  four  children,  one  son  and  three  daughters, 
born  to  Hiram  and  Elvira  (Sprague)  Wheeler.  Her  two  sisters  are  still 
living,  Matilda,  a  widow,  being  a  resident  of  Arkansas  City,  Kansas,  and 
Laura  the  wife  of  Alexander  McNay,  of  Lowell,  Indiana.  Her  father  was 
born  in  Canada  about  1818,  and  followed  the  occupation  of  farming.  Mrs. 
Nichols'  mother  was  also  a  native  of  Canada,  and  her  death  occurred  when 
the  former  was  about  seven  years  old. 

Mrs.  Nichols  being  left  an  orphan  was  reared  by  her  grandmother  until 
she  was  fourteen  years  old,  and  her  education  was  received  in  the  common 
schools.  Alarch  29,  1862,  she  married  Horatio  J.  Nichols,  in  this  county. 
They  became  the  parents  of  ten  children,  four  sons  and  six  daughters,  and 
six  of  them  are  still  living :  Laura  was  educated  in  the  Lowell  schools  and 
still  resides  in  this  town:  she  wedded  Sigel  Hayden,  and  has  two  children: 
Harry  S.,  in  the  second  year  of  high  school,  and  Harold  J.,  in  the  sixth 
year  of  Lowell  schools.  Wheeler  J.,  a  stock  buyer  and  farmer  at  Lowell, 
married  Miss  Cora  Davis  and  has  three  children,  Dilwyn  and  Ruth  and  Ruby, 
twins;  his  wife  was  educated  in  the  Crown  Point  high  school  and  was  a 
successful  Lake  county  teacher :  he  is  the  owner  of  a  nice  farm  in  this  county 
and  also  of  real  estate  in  Lowell,  and  in  politics  is  a  Republican.  Sadie 
Nichols  is  a  successful  teacher,  and  has  studied  music.  Pearl,  who  graduated 
from  the  Lowell  high  school  in.  1896  and  has  shown  considerable  abilitv  as 
an  artist  in  crayons,  is  now  the  wife  of  Emil  Ruge,  who  was  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business  at  Lowell.  Calhoun,  one  of  the  popular  young  Repub- 
♦    licans  of  Lowell,  married  Miss  Lona  Flynn,  who  is  a  daughter  of  an  ex- 


•i46  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

soldier  of  the  Civil  war  and  who  spent  three  years  in  the  high  school  at 
Rensselaer,  Indiana;  they  have  two  children,  Halhert  and  Vilmer.  Huron, 
the  youngest,  is  a  brigh.t  pupil  in  the  eighth  grade  of  the  Lowell  schools. 
JMrs.  Nichols"  deceased  children  ha\e  the  following  record :  Edna,  who 
died  in  1S94,  was  the  wife  of  William  Bruce  and  had  two  children,  Carrie 
and  Bertie.  Albert,  who  was  killed  by  lightning  in  June,  1896,  had  by  his 
wife,  Amma  Pinkerton,  now  a  resident  of  Lowell,  four  children.  Fern,  Guy, 
Beulah  and  Bertie.  Jessie,  deceased  wife  of  Bert  Holshaw,  passed  away 
February  i,  1897,  she  being  a  well  educated  and  most  lovable  young  woman. 
The  boy  Fay  is  in  the  third  grade. 

Horatio  J.  Nichols  was  a  nati\e  of  Lake  county,  born  January  4,  1841. 
and  his  death  occurred  September  12.  1898.  He  was  reared  and  educated  in 
this  county,  and  being  trained  on  his  father's  farm  he  early  took  to  farm- 
ing pursuits,  and  be  followed  that  occupation  and  dealing  in  stock  f<ir  his 
career.  He  lost  his  father  when  he  was  young,  and  he  remamed  with  his 
mother  and  was  her  mainstay  and  ])rincipal  support  for  many  years.  He 
was  a  student  in  a  log-caliin  school,  and  his  early  life  in  Lake  county  was 
spent  among  pioneer  conditions.  He  and  his  wife  began  their  married  life 
without  nnich  cajiital.  and  their  success  was  due  to  their  happy  combination 
of  energy  and  good  management.  The  first  land  he  bought  was  forty  acres 
in  Cedar  Creek  township,  and  he  went  in  debt  for  part  of  it,  but  their  dili- 
gence soon  paid  off  all  the  incumbrance,  and  after  selling  it  they  bought  land 
in  Cedar  Creek  and  West  Creek  townships,  and  at  his  deatii  he  was  the 
possessor  of  o\'er  four  lumdred  acres  of  land,  an  estate  which  is  still  held 
hv  the  family  entire.  It  was  in  1887  that  thev  erected  their  pretty  residence 
in  the  western  part  of  Lowell,  on  Cummercial  avenue,  and  it  still  retains  its 
reputation  as  a  home  of  genuine  hospitality  and  good  cheer. 

Mr.  Nichols  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  Republican  jiartx'.  and  his 
first  presidential  \'ote  was  cast  for  .\be  Lincoln,  and  he  continued  to  up- 
hold the  party  doctrines  and  candidates  from  that  time  till  his  death.  He 
was  a  man  of  generous  nature,  offering  his  philanthropy  to  those  in  need; 
and  being  a  man  of  the  strictest  honor  and  integrity,  his  word  was  always 
considered  as  good  as  his  bond.  In  his  death  the  community  lost  a  most 
worthy  citizen,  and  his  family  lost  their  best  friend,  for  he  was  a  lover 
of  home  and  fireside  and  found  his  chief  delight  when  among  his   family. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  447 

In  1895  he  and  his  wife  made  an  extended  trip  to  the  east,  to  Boston,  and  on 
the  return  visiting  Mrs.  Nichols"  old  home  in  Canada.  His  remains  rest 
in  the  Lowell  cemetery,  and  a  lieautiful  monument  stands  sacred  to  his 
memory.  'Mrs.  Nichols  resides  in  her  pleasant  Lowell  home,  surrounded 
by  children  and  friends,  and  her  famil}"  record  forms  a  most  important  addi- 
tion to  this  history  and  genealogy  of  Lake  county. 

JOHN  G.  ROBINSON. 

The  Sage  of  Concord.  Emerson,  has  said  "there  is  no  liistory :  onlv 
biography."'  and  in  the  detailed  life  sketches  that  apfiear  in  this  work  will 
be  f(_Huid  the  most  authentic  facts  concerning  the  life  and  growth  of  Lake 
county  as  a  social,  industrial  and  political  organization  of  the  state  of  In- 
diana. The  life  of  Mr.  Robinson,  of  West  Creek  township,  for  long  one  of 
the  foremost  citizens  and  representative  men,  adds  additional  facts  to  the 
completeness  of  this  work,  for  most  of  his  active  career  has  been  passed  in 
this  county. 

He  was  born  in  the  old  Bay  state  of  Massachusetts,  Aprii  12,  1846,  a 
son  of  John  G.  and  .Vdeline  (Thayer)  Robinson.  There  were  six  children, 
four  sons  and  two  daughters,  in  the  family,  and  he  is  the  second  oldest  of 
the  five  now  living,  the  others  being  as  follows:  Sumner  T.,  now  residing 
in  Sac  City.  Iowa,  was  formerly  a  farmer  and  later  a  minister  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church,  and  during  the  Ci\i]  war  was  a  member  of  the  Seventh 
Indiana  Cavalry,  as  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  during  a  skirmish 
was  shot  through  the  shoulder.  Ellen,  who  was  a  successful  teacher  in 
Porter  county  for  a  number  of  years,  is  now  the  widow  of  Anthnnv  Smith 
and  resides  in  Valparaiso.  Emily,  who  also  taught  for  some  years,  is  the 
wife  of  Lemmon  Cain,  a  farmer  of  Porter  county.  William  is  an  agri- 
culturist of  St.  Joseph  county,  Indiana. 

Mr.  Robinson's  father  was  also  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  had  a  com- 
mon school  education,  and  followed  the  vocations  of  shoemaking  and  farm- 
ing. For  three  years  he  followed  the  L'nion  flag  as  a  member  of  Com- 
pany H,  Twentieth  Indiana  Infantry,  and  at  the  terrible  battle  of  the  Wilder- 
ness, on  May  12,  1864,  gave  up  his  life  for  his  countiy.  Of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  one  men  of  his  company  who  went  into  that  memorable  engage- 
ment, only  four  came  out  unscathed,  the  dead  and  wounded  being  piled  up 


448  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Aac  tiers  deep.  He  had  been  an  ardent  Republican  and  an  admirer  of  Lin- 
coln. He  had  come  to  Porter  county.  Indiana,  in  1854.  and  purchased  land 
on  which  he  made  his  home  until  going  to  the  war.  His  wife  was  also  born 
in  Massachusetts,  and  the  Robinsons  and  Thayers  were  both  of  English 
origin. 

I\Ir.  Roliinson  was  eighteen  years  old  when  his  father  died,  and  he  lost 
his  mother  also  when  he  was  a  boy.  Even  while  his  father  was  away  in 
defense  of  the  flag  the  care  and  responsibility  of  the  home  devolved  in  great 
measure  upon  him,  so  that  he  has  been  serious-minded  and  practical  from 
an  early  age.  He  has  made  farming  his  life  vocation,  and  his  early  educa- 
tion was  obtained  in  the  common  schools.  He  is  of  the  constantly  decreasing 
number  who  can  look  back  to  a  log-cabin  school  as  the  scene  of  schoolboy- 
days.  Over  in  Porter  county  he  daily  for  several  months  in  the  year 
attended  a  school  held  in  a  sixteen  by  sixteen  foot,  round-log  building,  with 
roof  of  shakes,  and  furnished  inside  and  out  in  the  most  primitive  pioneer 
plainness.  Ray's  arithmetic  and  the  elementary  spelling  Ixjok  formed  his 
intellectual  pabulum,  and  from  these  facts  it  may  be  understood  how  far 
education  has  ad\-anced  since  the  youth  of  Mr.  Robinson. 

On  Christmas  day  of  the  year  1869  Mr.  Robinson  married  Miss  Sarah 
J.  Evans,  who  became  the  mother  of  seven  children,  four  sons  and  three 
daughters,  five  of  whom  are  living:  James  W'..  a  farmer  residing  east  of 
Crown  Point  in  Center  township,  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and 
by  hip  marriage  to  Miss  Laura  Kobelin  had  two  children.  John  L.  Hannon 
anfi  Victor  William.  John  Mehin.  who  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  and  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in  West  Creek  township,  married  Miss 
Ella  Surprise.  Kittie  is  the  wife  of  ^^'i^iam  Futhey,  who  is  a  practical 
farmer  and  also  managed  the  construction  of  the  water-works  systems  in 
\\'isconsin.  Illinois  and  Indiana.  Frank  Evans,  now  of  Lowell,  was  edu- 
cated in  the  common  schools,  a  graduate  of  the  township  high  school  in  the 
class  of  1900.  took  the  teacher's  course  at  the  \'alparaiso  normal,  and  was 
a  successful  teacher  in  ^\'est  Creek  township  for  four  years :  he  wedded 
Miss  Ina  Klein,  daughter  of  John  Klein.  Louisa,  the  youngest  of  the  fam- 
ilv,  completed  the  eleventh  grade  in  the  high  school,  graduating  from  com- 
mon school  in  1899,  taught  for  two  years,  part  of  the  time  in  Kankakee 
county,  Illinois,  took  her  second  term  in  the  Valparaiso  normal,  and  is  now 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  449 

teaching  in  her  home  district.  The  daughter  Nellie  died  at  two  years  of 
age,  and  Charhe  died  when  one  year  old. 

Mrs.  Robinson  was  born  in  Miami  county,  Ohio,  December  29,  1848, 
being  the  fourth  of  seven  chilth'en,  two  sons  an<l  five  daughters,  born  to 
James  and  Mary  (Wait)  Evans.  She  has  a  brother  and  a  sister  still  living; 
Robert  Evans,  who  has  been  employed  in  the  Chicago'  city  postofiice  for  the 
past  eight  years,  and  was  a  teacher  in  Lake  county  eight  years,  finished  his 
education  at  Valparaiso,  and  is  a  married  man;  her  sister  Mary  is  the  wife 
of  Oscar  Kitcheil,  a  mechanic  residing  in  Englewood,  Chicago,  and  she 
taught  successfully  in  Porter  and  Lake  counties.  James  Evans,  her  father, 
was  a  native  of  Ohio,  of  Welsh  origin.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  about  1849 
settled  in  LaPorle  county.  He  was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  he  and  his 
w-ife  were  members  of  the  Baptist  church.  He  died  in  West  Creek  town- 
ship of  this  county  September  21,  1877,  and  his  wife  in  Porter  county  August 
II,  1886.  Mrs.  Robinson's  great-grandfather  Wait  was  a  hero  in  the  Rev- 
olutionary war,  and  her  grandmother's  name  was  Goble.  Mrs.  Robinson  has 
spent  most  of  her  life  in  Porter  and  Lake  counties,  and  her  education  was 
received  in  the  common  schools. 

For  the  first  five  years  of  their  wedded  life  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robinson 
resided  in  Porter  county,  and  then  came  to  Cedar  Creek  township,  Lake 
county,  which  was  their  home  for  thirteen  years,  and  in  1888  they  took  up 
their  residence  in  \\'est  Creek  township.  They  have  friends  throughout  the 
count}',  and  are  universally  esteemed  for  their  worth  and  upright  lives.  Mr. 
Robinson  is  a  Republican.  ha\-ing  cast  bis  first  vote  for  General  Grant.  He 
and  his  good  wife  were  formerly  members  of  the  Baptist  church  denomina- 
tion, Ijut  now  belong  to  the  Christian  church  at  Lowell,  and  contribute  to  all 
worthy  benevolences  according  to  their  means. 

JOHN  SPRY. 

John  Spry,  of  West  Creek  township,  is  a  progressive  and  prosperous 
farmer  of  this  part  of  the  county,  and  during  the  years  of  his  residence  has 
commended  himself  to  his  fellow  citizens  by  his  capable  industry  and  integ- 
rity of  character.  .\s  a  tiller  of  the  soil  he  is  one  of  the  solid  and  substantial 
units  from  which  the  strength  of  the  nation  is  formed,  and  he  is  the  more 

29 


450  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

highly  esteemed  as  a  citizen  and  a  man  because  he  has  gained  his  own  suc- 
cess in  the  world,  being  both  a  self-educated  and  a  self-made  man. 

Mr.  Spry  is  a  native  of  the  old  blue-grass  state  of  Kentucky,  and  was 
born  August  7,  1846,  being  the  seventh  in  order  of  birth  of  the  nine  children, 
four  sons  and  five  daughters,  born  to  John  and  Melvina  (Kimbrell)  Spr^-. 
He  has  two  brothers  living,  Enoch,  a  farmer  at  Momence,  Illinois,  and 
Green,  a  farmer  of  old  Kentucky,  both  these  brothers  being  older  than  ]\Ir. 
John  Spry.  The  father  of  the  family  was  born  in  South  Carolina  in  1807 
and  died  about  1856,  when  John  was  ten  years  old.  He  was  by  occupation 
a  farmer,  and  adhered  to  the  Democratic  party.  His  wife  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky about  181 1,  and  died  in  1865.  Both  were  members  of  the  Methodist 
church. 

Mr.  John  Spry  was  reared  in  his  native  state,  and  he  is  one  of  the  men 
yet  living  who  passed  their  school  days  in  the  now  out-of-date  log-cabin 
schoolhouse.  The  one  he  attended  was  about  twenty  by  forty  feet  in  size, 
was  heated  by  a  fireplace,  and  had  one  long  window  in  the  end.  And  the 
text-books  were  Webster's  speller  and  McGuffey's  well  known  readers, 
grammar  and  geography.  He  has  also  used  the  goosequill  pen,  and  seen  it 
fashioned  out  by  the  master's  hand.  \Mien  he  entered  u])on  his  career  of 
independent  activity  at  the  age  of  eighteen  his  material  capital  consisted  of  a 
liorse,  a  cow  and  one  bed,  but  he  had  plenty  of  energy  and  determination, 
"which  are,  after  all,  the  principal  factors  in  acquiring  success,  as  he  has  ex- 
perienced it. 

On  October  zy,  1864,  he  married  ^Nliss  Catharine  White,  and  eight  chil- 
dren were  born  of  this  union,  seven  of  them  now  li\ing:  Bessie  is  the  wife 
of  James  Little,  a  prosperous  Lake  county  farmer  whose  history  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  work;  Sadie  is  the  wife  of  Don  Cadwell,  a  barber  of  Crown 
Point;  Mollie  is  the  wife  of  Emil  Larrison,  a  farmer  of  W^est  Creek  town- 
ship; William  C,  a  farmer  of  Cedar  Creek  township,  is  married  and  has 
two  children;  Solomon  is  a  farmer  of  W'est  Creek  township  and  is  married; 
Clarence,  of  W'est  Creek  township,  is  a  farmer  and  married :  Earnie  is  at 
home  with  his  parents.  Mrs.  Spry  was  born  in  Clarke  county,  Kentucky, 
in  1847,  and  six  of  her  children  were  born  in  that  state. 

About  the  year  1879  Mr.  Spry  brought  his  family  to  Kankakee  county, 
Illinois,  and   followed  farming  there  as  a  renter  for  six  years,  after  which 


15 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  iol 

lie  located  in  \\'e?t  Creek  township,  this  county,  and  continued  tenant  farm- 
ing for  some  }-ears.  He  was  prosperous  and  a  good  manager  of  his  affairs, 
and  in  1894  he  purchased  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  acres  in  West  Creek 
township.  At  the  present  writing  he  lives  on  and  farms  his  nice  estate  of 
eighty  acres,  and  lie  has  surrounded  Iiimsclf  with  many  of  tlie  comforts  of 
life,  besides  doing  his  full  duty  by  his  children  and  seeing  them  all  well 
started  in  the  world.  He  is  a  Republican  and  has  supported  the  principles 
of  his  party  since  casting  his  first  vote.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Christian  church,  and  are  generous  of  their  means  and  efforts  in  ad- 
vancing any  worthy  cause. 

A.  B.  CHIPMAN. 

The  enterprising  agriculturist  is  the  factor  wlio  plays  the  most  con- 
spicuous part  in  the  records  of  a  state  or  nation,  and  really  furnishes  the 
groundwork  upon  which  all  other  classes  of  citizens  stand.  West  Creek 
township  of  Lake  county  has  long  been  noted  for  the  excellence  of  its  soil 
and  the  worth  of  its  farm  lands  when  properly  cultivated,  and  one  might 
travel  all  through  the  township  and  not  find  a  farmstead  which  he  could  more 
easily  pronounce  a  model  in  all  respects  than  that  owned  by  Mr.  A.  B.  Chip- 
man.  He  is  not  an  old  resident  of  Lake  county,  but  makes  up  in  enterprise 
and  public-spirited  interest  in  local  aft'airs  Vihat  he  lacks  in  length  of  citizen- 
ship, so  that  he  and  his  worthy  family  hold  high  rank  in  the  esteem  of  their 
friends  and  associates. 

I\Ir.  Chipman  was  born  in  Kankakee  county.  Illinois.  November  20, 
1867.  being  a  son  of  Ansel  B.  and  Laura  (Sanger)  Chipman,  six  of  whose 
children  are  still  living.  His  fatlier  was  a  native  of  Canada  and  of  English 
descent.  He  was  born  about  1820,  and  died  when  sixty-eight  years  old, 
having  spent  his  active  life  in  farming  pursuits.  He  left  Canada  when  a 
young  man  and  came  to  the  United  States,  where  he  was  married.  He 
owned  a  farm  in  Yellowliead  township.  Kankakee  county,  and  he  passed 
away  in  that  township.  In  politics  he  was  a  stanch  Republican.  His  wife 
was  born  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  and  is  still  living  at  the  age  of  seventy-one 
years,  bearing  th.e  weight  of  years  with  singular  brightness.  She  makes  her 
home  with  her  cb.ildren,  whose  homes,  are  always  open  with  filial  love  to 
receive  her. 

Mr.  A.  B.  Chij^man  made  the  beginning  of  his  acti\-e  career  with  very 


452  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

little  capital.  He  received  a  common  school  education,  but  is  in  the  main  a 
self-educated  and  self-trained  man.  From  his  own  early  experience  it  has 
become  his  ambition  to  give  his  own  children  as  good  an  education  as  is 
possible. 

He  made  his  home  with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old. 
and  on  December  29.  1888,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Laura  E.  Kelsey.  Of 
this  happy  marriage  there  are  three  children,  one  son  and  two  daughters : 
Mildred  has  received  her  diploma  for  completing  the  eighth  grade  of  school 
and  has  taken  instrumental  music;  Edith  has  also  completed  the  eighth 
grade  and  has  taken  musical  instruction ;  and  Albert,  the  son,  has  reached 
the  fifth  grade  of  school.  The  children  are  very  bright  in  their  studies,  and 
their  parents  may  be  \-ery  proud  of  their  auspicious  start  in  life.  Mrs.  Chip- 
man  is  a  native  of  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  and  was  born  October  27, 
1864.  She  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  was  a  teacher  in  Illinois 
for  one  term.  She  also  had  an  excellent  training  in  music  and  taught  that 
art  for  some  time. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chipman  began  their  married  life  as  renters  in  Kankakee 
county,  where  they  remained  some  four  or  five  years.  Mrs.  Chipman  had 
forty  acres  in  her  own  right,  and  they  afterward  purchased  eighty  acres. 
They  continued  with  increasing  success  in  Kankakee  county  for  four  years. 
In  1900  they  purchased  the  beautiful  farm  known  as  the  A.  Brannon  estate, 
from  William  Brannon,  located  just  two  miles  from  the  prosperous  town 
of  Lowell,  and  the  farm  is  convenient  to  business,  markets  and  the  schools. 
The  farm  contains  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  as  fine  land  as  there 
is  in  West  Creek  township.  The  cosy  and  comfortable  residence  and  the 
convenient  outbuildings  are  also  among  the  best  to  be  found  in  the  town- 
ship. The  land  is  fairly  well  tiled,  and  this  work  of  improvement  is  still 
progressing,  Mr.  Chipman  having  placed  about  ten  thousand  tiles  during 
1903  and  1904.  Mr.  Chipman  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  cast  his  first  vote 
for  Benjamin  Harrison.  He  has  been  selected  as  a  delegate  from  his  town- 
ship to  represent  his  party. 


F.  RICHARD  SCHAAF,  SR. 

nents   of   success    in    life   are   ir 
individual,  or  whether  they  are  quickened  by  a  process  of  circumstantial  de- 


Whether  the  elements  of   success   in   life  are   innate  attributes   of   the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  .    453 

velopment,  it  is  impossible  to  clearly  determine.  Yet  the  study  of  a  suc- 
cessful life  is  none  the  less  profitable  by  reason  of  the  existence  of  this  un- 
certainty, and  in  the  majority  of  cases  it  is  found  that  exceptional  ability, 
amounting  to  genius,  perhaps,  was  the  real  secret  of  the  pre-eminence  which 
many  envied.  Thus  it  appears  to  the  student  of  human  nature  who  seeks 
to  trace  the  history  of  the  rise  of  F.  Richard  Schaaf,  Sr.,  a  typical  German- 
American  of  the  best  class. 

Mr.  Schaaf  was  born  in  Saxony,  Germany,  on  the  26th  of  March,  1857. 
and  is  a  son  of  Ferdinand  and  Catherine  Schaaf,  who  were  also  natives  of 
the  same  country.  The  son  was  reared  in  that  land  and  pursued  his  educa- 
tion in  the  pulilic  schools  of  Germany.  He  also  attended  college  there  and 
was  educated  for  the  army  in  order  to  enter  military  ser\'ice  .'is  a  \'eterinar\- 
surgeon  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant.  He  volunteered  to  enter  the  army  and 
by  reason  of  this  he  was  honorably  discharged  after  two  years  six  months. 
It  was  his  desire  to  come  to  America,  and  for  that  reason  he  secured  his 
release  from  the  army. 

]\Ir.  Schaaf  was  but  fourteen  years  of  age  when  left  an  orphan  by  the 
death  of  his  parents,  and  when  about  twenty  years  of  age  he  was  married 
in  the  fatherland.  He  came  to  America  about  1880  and  the  same  year 
located  in  Chicago,  where  he  became  an  employe  in  the  tool  department  of 
the  Electric  Construction  Company.  He  was  a  representative  of  that  house 
for  five  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  rented  the  American  House, 
which  was  located  at  the  corner  of  Twenty-second  street  and  Archer  avenue. 
This  he  conducted  until  1889,  when  he  came  to  Whiting  and  built  the  Berry 
Lake  hotel.  He  continued  as  its  manager  and  proprietor  until  1893,  when 
he  sold  out  and  removed  to  Robertsdale,  where  he  established  a  grocery 
store.  Later  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  insurance  business,  and  he  now 
represents  the  Queen  of  America,  the  Hamburg,  Bremen,  the  Norwich  Union, 
the  Hanover  and  the  Scottish  Union  &  National  insurance  companies ;  also 
is  notary  public.  His  policies  represent  a  large  amount  of  msurance  each 
year,  and  his  business  has  grown  to  profitable  proportions.  Li  his  political 
allegiance  Mr.  Schaaf  is  a  Democrat,  and  has  been  a  member  of  the  Ham- 
mond city  council  since  1894,  covering  a  period  of  ten  consecutive  years. 
He  has  been  verj-  active  as  a  representative  of  this  body,  has  taken  a  deep 
interest  in  the  city's  welfare,  has  exercised  his  official  prerogatives  for  the 


454  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

general  progress  and  imjimvement  and  has  done  mucli  in  this  way  for  the 
npbuilding  of  the  city.  He  has  been  particularly  active  in  locating  school- 
houses,  in  opening  and  improving  streets  and  he  advocated  the  opening  of 
W'oli  river  for  harbor  purposes ;  and  located  Lake  Front  Park  in  Roberts- 
dale,  Hammond.  He  is  a  strong  believer  in  this  harbor  measure,  and  if  it 
is  carried  into  effect  it  will  undoubtedly  prove  of  great  value  in  community 
interests.     ]\Ir.  Schaaf  is  also  deputy  assessor  of  North  township. 

Jn  1877  occurred  the  marriage  of  F.  Richard  Schaaf  and  INIiss  Catherine 
Schlueter,  a  native  of  Germany,  and  they  have  become  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  namely :  F.  Richard,  who  is  mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  volume, 
being  well  known  in  business  circles  in  Whiting ;  Clara ;  George ;  Elizabeth ; 
Catherine:  Martha:  and  Edward.  Socially  Mr.  Schaaf  is  connected  with  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  belonging  to  Waldeck  Lodge  No.  674,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of 
Chicago.  He  is  likewise  a  member  of  Moltke  Lodge,  L  O.  O.  F.,  of  Ham- 
mond. A  public-spirited  citizen,  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  Lake  county  have 
been  far-reaching  and  beneficial.  He  is  one  of  the  best  known  men  of  his 
locality,  having  resided  here  since  the  establishment  of  the  towns  of  Whit- 
ing and  Robertsdale.  Recognizing  the  possibilities  of  these  places  he  has 
contributed  to  general  progress  and  improvement,  and  no  man  is  more  loyal 
to  the  best  interests  of  this  portion  of  the  state.  In  his  business  career,  too, 
he  has  made  for  himself  an  enviable  name,  and  his  life  history  shows  what 
can  be  accomplished  by  determined  effort   and   strong  purpose. 

WILLIAM  CHARLES  BELMAN. 

William  Charles  Belman,  cashier  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Ham- 
mond, is  one  of  the  leaders  in  business  and  financial  affairs  of  this  city. 
He  is  a  self-made  man,  and  has  been  dependent  on  his  own  exertions  since 
he  was  fourteen  years  old.  By  hard  labor  and  diligent  application  he  be- 
came a  successful  teacher,  and  for  many  years  was  at  the  head  of  the  Ham- 
mond public  schools.  From  that  profession  he  entered  business,  and  for  sev- 
eral years  has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  financial  matters  of  Hammond. 

Mr.  Belman  was  born  in  Detroit,  Michigan,  Alay  i,  1S60,  a  son  of 
William  F.  and  Matilda  H.  (Sabine)  Belman,  the  former  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  the  latter  of  Detroit.  There  was  one  other  child  of  these  par- 
ents, Lettie,  wife  of  C.  E.  Cummins,  of  Putney,  South  Dakota.     Mrs.  Ma- 


lilSTORV  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  455 

tikla  Belman  died  in  Detroit  in  iS66.  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  years.  Slie 
was  a  member  of  tlie  ^Methodist  church.  Her  father  was  John  Sabine,  a 
son  of  Jolin  and  a  nati\e  of  England.  He  came  to  America  about  1827 
and  settled  in  Detroit,  where  he  followed  his  trade  of  harness-maker.  He 
is  still  lix'ing  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years.  By  his  wife.  Maria  Hagell, 
he  had  nine  children.  The  father  of  William  F.  Belman.  John  Belman,  was. 
also  a  native  of  England,  whence  he  became  an  early  settler  of  Pennsylvania 
and  later  of  Detroit,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  dying  at  the 
age  of  seventy  years.  He  was  a  shoemaker.  His  wife  was  Hannah  Creigh- 
ton.  and  the_\-  had  nine  children.  William  F.  Belman  learned  the  trade  of 
harness-maker,  and  when  a  young  man  moved  to  Detroit,  where  he  lived 
for  many  years  and  plied  his  craft.  In  1869  he  moved  to  Perry,  Michigan, 
and  bought  a  farm,  on  which  he  still  resides.  He  married  for  his  second 
wife  Amanda  Rowell,  who  died  the  following  year.  His  present  wife  was 
Miss  Elizabeth  Gibbs.  who  is  the  mother  of  six  children :  Stella,  wife  of 
W.  A.  Tucker,  of  Des  Aloines,  Iowa;  Vidi,  of  Perry,  Michigan;  Burchel, 
of  Perry:  Sarah,  of  Perry;  Job,  of  Perry;  and  Bessie,  of  Perry.  The  par- 
ents of  this  famih'  are  both  Methodists,  and  the  father  is  a  Republican. 

Mr.  ^^"illiam  C.  Belman  lived  in  Detroit  until  he  was  ten  years  old, 
receiving  his  first  schooling  there.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  left  his  father's 
farm  and  came  out  to  Indiana,  where  for  several  years  he  was  engaged  in 
hard  manual  labor  on  farms  during  most  of  each  year,  and  at  intervals  attended 
the  Valparaiso  College.  He  became  a  successful  teacher,  anil  for  eighteen 
years  previous  to  accepting  the  position  of  cashier  of  the  First  National 
Bank  he  was  superintendent  of  the  public  schools  of  Hammond.  He  has 
held  his  present  position  for  the  past  three  years.  He  is  also  secretary- 
treasurer  of  the  Lake  County  Savings  and  Trust  Company  and  is  president 
of  the  Hammond  Building  and  Loan  and  Savings  Association. 

yiv.  Belman  is  a  Republican  in  politics.  He  is  a  Master  Mason  of  Gar- 
field Lodge.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  also  afiihates  with  Hammond  Lodge  No.  210, 
Knights  of  Pythias,  and  with  the  National  Union  and  Royal  League  so- 
cieties. He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  ^lethodist  church,  and  he  is  a 
church  trustee  and  steward  and  for  a  number  of  years  served  as  superin- 
tendent of  the  Sunday  school.  He  resides  at  130  Ogden  a\-enue,  where 
he  built  his  pleasant  home  in  1889. 


456  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

June  25,  1884,  he  married  Miss  Nettie  Sinitli,  a  daughicr  of  Thomas 
W.  and  Sarah  (McCabe)  Smith.  Mrs.  Behnan  was  also  a  Methodist.  She 
died  in  July.  1897,  at  the  age  of  thirty-three,  leaving  two  children,  Charles 
and  Edna.  On  August  10,  1899,  Mr.  Belman  married  Miss  Emma  Rork. 
a  daughter  of  William  Rork.  They  have  a  son.  Creighton,  and  lost  a  daugh- 
ter in  infancy. 

MRS.  JOHANNA  MEYER. 

Mrs.  Johanna  Meyer,  of  ^^'est  Creek  township,  has,  since  the  recent 
death  of  her  husband,  managed  with  fine  executive  ability  the  ai^airs  of  her 
fine  homestead  and  farm,  and  has  again  illustrated  woman's  capacity  for 
controlling  the  weightier  matters  of  the  world  when  such  burden  devolves 
upon  her.  The  Meyer  family  belong  to  the  thrifty  and  esteemed  class  of 
German-American  citizens  who  have  prospered  so  well  in  this  country  and  at 
the  same  time  have  added  so  largely  to  its  resources  and  high  grade  of  citi- 
zenship. 

Mrs.  Meyer  was  born  in  Westphalia,  Germany,  September  29.  1855, 
being  the  oldest  in  a  family  of  six  children,  three  sons  and  three  daughters, 
born  to  Herman  and  Ann  E.  (Wilke)  Krudup.  Four  of  the  children  are 
still  living,  Mrs.  Meyer  being  the  oldest.  Her  brother,  Herman  C.  is  mar- 
ried and  resides  in  Englewood,  Chicago,  where  he  is  a  salesman  in  a  whole- 
sale grocery  establishment:  William  F.,  married,  is  a  harness-maker  in  Gibson 
Citv.  Illinois :  and  John,  who  has  a  mercantile  business  in  Brunswick,  resides 
on  the  old  homestead  in  Lake  county,  and  is  married.  The  two  oldest  of  the 
children,  both  daughters,  were  born  in  Germany,  while  the  others,  four  sons 
and  one  daughter,  were  born  in  tliis  country.  Their  father  was  born,  reared, 
and  married  in  Germany,  and  was  trained  to  the  life  and  pursuits  of  farming. 
He  brought  his  family  to  America  about  1859,  coming  in  a  sailing  vessel  from 
Bremen,  and  it  was  nine  weeks  before  they  landed  in  New  Orleans.  Will 
county,  Illinois,  was  their  first  destination,  and  from  there  they  came  to  Lake 
countv,  where  the  father  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  which  remained  his 
home  till  his  death,  although  he  had  increased  his  estate  to  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres.  The  farm  was  virgin  soil  when  he  first  took  hold  of  it,  and  all 
the  improvements  and  sjstem  of  cultivation  he  brought  about  by  his  own 
efforts.    He  was  a  Republican,  and  the  family  religion  was  German  Lutheran. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  457 

The  mother  was  horn  in  the  same  part  of  Germany  as  lier  husband,  and  she 
preceded  him  in  death. 

Mrs.  Meyer  has  spent  ah  hut  the  tirst  four  years  of  her  hfe  in  Lake 
county,  and  she  was  educated  in  the  common  schools.  October  26,  1871,  she 
was  united  in  marriage  with  John  H.  Meyer,  and  they  had  a  happy  union  of 
nrany  years,  during  whicli  time  seven  children,  tliree  sons  and  four  daughters, 
were  born  into  their  household,  six  of  them  being  still  living,  as  follows: 
Henry  D.,  who  was  educated  in  the  common  schools,  is  a  practical  farmer 
and  stockman  and  conducts  the  home  farm,  and  is  a  Republican  in  political 
faith.  Anna  M.,  who  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  also  in  music, 
resides  at  home.  Emma  J\L.  a  graduate  in  1903  and  also  trained  in  music, 
is  at  home,  as  is  also  the  daughter  Ida  C,  who  graduated  in  1904  and  a 
student  in  Lowell  High  School.  Herman  C.  is  in  the  eighth  grade  of  school, 
and  Bertha,  the  youngest,  is  in  the  fifth  grade.  All  the  daughters  have  re- 
ceived musical  instruction,  and  are  bright  and  intelligent  young  ladies  and 
are  being  well  trained  by  their  practical  mother  for  the  serious  matters  of  the 
world. 

Mr.  John  H.  Meyer,  the  father  of  happy  memory,  by  whose  death  on 
April  16,  1900,  the  entire  community  as  well  as  the  family  suffered  a  positive 
loss  in  character  and  worth  of  manhood,  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany, 
November  23,  1849.  He  was  educated  in  the  fatherland  and  was  about 
twenty  years  old  when  he  came  to  America  with  his  father.  In  time  he  be- 
came recognized  as  one  of  the  first-class  farmers  of  West  Creek  township, 
although  he  began  humbly  and  with  little  in  the  way  of  capital.  He  and  his 
wife,  after  their  marriage,  made  their  beginning  on  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  his  father's  estate,  and  by  industry  and  frugality  and  good  manage- 
ment between  them  they  were  enabled  to  build  up  a  fine  estate.  They  later  pur- 
chased the  tightv  acres  where  the  home  residence  is  now  located.  This  land 
had  for  some  years  previous  been  rented  out,  and  was  badly  run  down.  He 
went  to  work  fertilizing  and  increasing  the  productivity  of  the  S(.)il  and  also 
improving  the  land  Iiy  buildings  and  the  many  facilities  that  marked  the  first- 
class  agricultural  property.  The  Meyer  farm  is  now  known  as  one  of  the 
model  places  of  West  Creek  township,  and  one  that  any  family  might  be 
proud  to  own.  Since  her  husband's  death  Mrs.  Meyer  has  for  four  years 
given  her  attention  equally  well  to  both  household  and  outdoor  duties  of  farm 


ioS  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

management,  and  with  llie  assistance  ot  her  noble  children  has  succeeded 
remarkably  well  in  her  enterprise.  She  is  deserving  of  all  credit  for  her 
capable  direction  of  the  farm  as  also  for  rearing  such  useful  and  worthy  sons 
and  daughters  and  providing  well  for  their  education  and  training  in  youth. 
Mr.  Aleyer  enjoyed  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  in  the  circle  of  his  acquaint- 
ance, and  was  a  man  of  excellent  abilitv  and  integrity  of  character.  He  was 
an  ardent  Republican.  He  and  his  wife  were  confirmed  in  the  German 
Lutheran  church  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  the  family  house  of  worship  is 
at  Eagle  Lake,  Illinois. 

MILES  C.  FRYSINGER. 

Miles  C.  Frysinger.  attorney  at  law  of  Indiana  Harbor,  has  established 
himself  in  this  town  at  the  beginning  of  his  career,  and  as  a  talented  young 
professional  man  is  making  his  influence  felt  in  its  development  and  general 
progress.  He  has  shown  much  ability  and  conscientious  effort  at  the  out- 
set of  his  own  career  as  a  lawyer,  and  his  thorough  training  and  personal 
worth  are  sure  to  be  determining  factors  in  his  success  and  progress  to 
prominence  at  the  bar  of  the  state  and  county. 

Mr.  Frysinger  was  born  in  Adams  county,  Indiana,  March  17,  1871,  a 
son  of  Andrew  J.  and  Phoebe  (Cause)  Frysinger.  His  paternal  grand- 
father. Peter  Frysinger,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  and  was  an  early  set- 
tler of  Van  Wert  county,  Ohio,  where  he  followed  the  occupation  of  farm- 
ing and  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years.  He  held  various  county  offices. 
He  was  of  Pennsyl\-ania  Dutch  stock.  His  wife  was  Catharine  Bodey.  and 
they  had  fourteen  children.  Grandfather  Cause  was  a  native  of  Virginia, 
whence  he  moved  to  Pennsylvania  and  later  to  Ohio,  and  died  in  Van  Wert 
county  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years.  He  was  also  a  farmer.  He  had 
eleven  children. 

iKndrew  J.  bVysinger,  the  father  of  Miles  C,  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  and 
throughout  his  active  career  followed  farming.  He  came  to  Indiana  about 
i860,  settling  in  Adams  county.  He  bought  and  improved  a  farm,  and  died 
there  in  1885  at  the  age  of  forty-four.  He  saw  active  service  as  a  soldier 
during  the  last  three  months  of  the  Civil  war.  His  wife,  also  a  native  of 
Ohio,  died  in  1892,  at  the  age  of  forty-three.  They  belonged  to  the  United 
Brethren  church,  that  denomination  having  the  only  church  in  their  vicinity. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  459 

Tlicv  weve  tlic  parents  of  fourteen  children,  as  follows:  Grant  M.,  of  Ca- 
hool,  Missouri;  Klell,  deceased:  Laura  B.,  wife  of  William  TI.  W'inans,  of 
Fort  Wayne,  Indiana:  May  R.,  deceased;  Miles  C,  of  Indiana  Harbor;  Audie, 
of  Angola,  Indiana;  David  F.,  of  Van  W^ert,  Ohio;  Katy  E.  and  Minta  M., 
twins,  deceased:  Eva  and  Effie,  twins,  the  former  the  wife  of  a  Mr.  Davis 
of  I'Virt  \\"ayne.  and  the  latter  also  living  in  l-'ort  Wayne;  Maggie:  and 
Ivn,  the  wife  of  ^^'alker  H.  .Spayd  of  Van  Wert.  Ohio;  Bertha  L.,  deceased. 

Mr.  Miles  C.  Frysinger  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  in  Adams 
county.  Indiana,  securing  his  first  education  in  the  district  schools.  He  later 
attended  the  normal  school  at  Middlepoint,  Ohio,  and  Valparaiso  College,  at 
Valparaiso,  Indiana,  and  in  1902  graduated  from  the  Indiana  State  University 
with  the  degree  of  .\.  B..  and  in  1903  graduated  from  the  law  department 
with  the  degree  of  LL.  B.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1903,  and  in  No- 
vember of  the  same  year  establi,shed  his  office  at  Indiana  Harbor,  where  he 
has  already  gained  considerable  clientage  and  become  identified  with  the  pro- 
gressive interests  of  the  town.  Mr.  Frysinger  is  a  Republican  in  politics. 
He  has  fraternal  affiliations  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias. 

He  was  married  to  Miss  Flora  Wilmer,  of  Ironton,  Ohio,  October 
10.  1904. 

JOHN  K.   HAYDEN. 

John  K.  Hayden  was  a  resident  of  Lake  county  in  early  pioneer  days 
and  is  numbered  among  the  county's  honored  dead.  He  bore  his  full  share 
in  the  work  of  early  progress  and  improvement  and  was  known  as  a  re- 
liable business  man  who  never  took  advantage  of  the  necessities  of  his  fellow 
men  in  any  trade  transaction,  but  won  success  through  unflagging  industry, 
strong  and  commendable  purpose  and  honorable  effort.  His  birth  occurred 
in  Knox  county,  Ohio,  on  the  23d  of  October,  1835,  and  he  was  one  of 
the  thirteen  children  born  to  Nehemiah  and  Harriet  (Kitchell)  Hayden.  He 
was  only  about  a  year  old  wdien  brought  to  Lake  county,  and  his  boyhood 
days  were  passed  in  West  Creek  township.  There  he  was  reared  in  the 
usual  manner  of  farmer  lads,  attending  the  district  schools  through  the  win- 
ter months,  while  in  the  summer  seasons  he  worked  at  the  plow  or  in  the 
harvest  field.  To  his  father  he  gave  the  benefit  of  his  serx'ices  up  to  the 
time  of  his  marriage,  which  important  e\-ent  in  his  life  was  celebrated  on 
the  3d  of  March,  1859.    He  then  located  in  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  near 


460  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

the  boundary  line  of  Lake  county,  and  was  there  engaged  in  farming  until 
1896,  when  he  removed  to  Lowell  and  retired  from  active  business  life. 
He  was  well  known  as  an  agriculturist  who  conducted  his  farm  along  mod- 
ern and  progressive  lines,  placing  his  fields  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation 
and  equipping  the  farm  with  all  improvements  and  accessories  that  facilitated 
its  work  and  rendered  his  labor  of  greater  value  in  the  acquirement  of  a 
competence.  As  his  financial  resources  increased  he  added  to  h.is  landed  pos- 
sessions, and  at  one  time  he  owned  in  the  neighborhood  of  six  hundred 
and  thirty  acres  of  valuable  land.  The  homestead  farm  comprised  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres,  and  he  afterward  divided  some  of  his  property 
among  his  children. 

Mr.  Hayden  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Rachel  Dodge,  who  was 
born  in  West  Creek  township,  Lake  county,  Lidiana,  June  6,  1840.  Her 
father,  Henry  Dodge,  was  a  native  of  Vermont  and  died  in  Michigan 
in  1S79.  He  had  removed  to  the  west  in  1837  and  was  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  northwestern  Indiana,  establishing  his  home  in  West  Creek  town- 
ship, Lake  county.  He  removed  to  Oceana  county,  Michigan,  in  1871,  and 
there  passed  away  in  1879.  His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Lucretia  De 
Gau,  and  was  born  in  Canada.  Her  death  occurred  in  ^Michigan  in  1879. 
This  worthy  couple  were  the  parents  of  twelve  children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Hay- 
den was  the  second  in  order  of  birth.  She  has  spent  her  entire  life  in  Lake 
county,  Indiana,  and  in  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  the  district  separated  only 
by  the  boundary  line  of  the  states.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hayden  Iiave  been  born 
eight  children,  of  whom  George  and  Willis  A.  are  now  deceased.  The 
others  are  Robert,  who  is  a  resident  of  Virginia;  Mary,  the  wife  of  Will- 
iam Beeman,  who  resides  in  Monticello,  Indiana ;  Lizzie,  the  wife  of  E.  N. 
Hayhurst,  of  West  Creek  township;  Alva,  who  is  married  and  lives  near 
Roanoke,  Indiana;  Ella,  the  wife  of  J.  W.  Diss,  of  Sherburnville,  Illinois; 
and  Jesse,  of  Kankakee  township,  Kankakee  county,  Illinois. 

Mr.  Hayden  continued  to  make  his  home  in  Lowell  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  6th  of  October,  1903.  He  was  very  well  known  in 
the  county  as  the  champion  of  all  measures  for  general  progress  and  im- 
provement. His  political  allegiance  was  given  to  the  Republican  party,  and 
th.e  cause  of  education  found  in  him  a  warm  friend.  He  took  a  deep  interest 
in   the   schools  and  served   as   school   director   for   about   nine   vears.      Mr. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  461 

Hayden  spent  almost  his  entire  life  in  this  portion  of  the  country  and  he 
possessed  many  sterling  traits  of  character  which  gained  for  him  warm 
personal  regard  and  friendship.  He  was  a  devoted  husband  and  father,  a 
progressive  and  public-spirited  citizen  and  one  whose  loss  was  deeply 
mourned  throughout  the  community. 

REUBEN  FANCHER. 

For  a  half  centur}'  Reuben  Fancher  has  made  his  home  in  Lake  county 
and  is  now  living  a  retired  life  at  Crown  Point.  He  was  for  many  years 
actively  identified  with  agricultural  interests,  but  now  is  enjoying  a  well 
earned  rest.  His  birth  occurred  in  Huron  county,  Ohio,  on  the  28th  of 
April.  1834,  and  he  comes  of  English  ancestry.  His  grandfather  and  his 
father  both  bore  the  name  of  Thaddeus  Fancher,  and  his  mother  bore 
the  maiden  name  of  Amy  Chapman.  She  was  born  in  Connecticut  and 
was  a  daughter  of  Cyrus  Chapman,  who  was  also  of  English  lineage.  To 
these  parents  were  born  twelve  children,  of  whom  seven  are  yet  living. 

Reuben  Fancher,  the  eldest  of  the  family,  was  reared  in  Huron  county, 
Ohio,  until  twenty  years  of  age,  when  he  started  out  in  life  on  his  own  ac- 
count and,  believing  that  he  might  have  better  business  opportunities  in  a 
less  thickly  settled  district,  he  went  to  Michigan,  where  he  attended  the 
public  school  during  the  winter  months.  March  20,  1855,  he  came  to  Crown 
Point,  and  at  that  time  his  capital  consisted  of  only  forty  dollars  in  gold, 
but  he  possessed  a  resolute  and  determined  spirit,  renting  a  tract  of  land  on 
which  he  began  farming.  He  also  bought  stock,  and  when  his  financial  re- 
sources had  increased  to  a  sufficient  extent  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of 
land,  to  which  he  added  until  his  farm  comprised  one  hundred  and  sixtv 
acres.  Subsequently  he  traded  that  for  property  in  Crown  Point  and  took 
up  his  abode  in  the  city.  For  three  years  he  served  as  deputy  sheriff.  He 
has,  however,  been  largely  engaged  in  dealing  in  farm  machinery  and  live 
stock,  but  is  now  living  a  retired  life,  for  through  his  perseverance  and 
energy  he  accumulated  a  handsome  competence  that  now  supplies  him  with 
all  of  the  necessities  and  many  of  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  life. 

In  August,  1857,  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Fancher  and  Miss 
Mary  Hawkins,  who  was  born  in  New  York  and  died  in  Lake  county,  Indi- 
ana, in  1895.     They  were  the  parents  of  four  children,  the  eldest  of  whom 


462  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

died  in  infancy.  The  others  are  Wilham;  IMary,  the  wife  of  E.  H.  Crowell; 
and  Grace,  at  home. 

Mr.  Fancher  is  a  Repubhcan,  and  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for 
Fremont  and  afterward  supported  Lincoln  in  i860  and  again  in  1864.  He 
has  never  wavered  in  his  allegiance  to  the  party,  but  has  always  voted  for 
its  presidential  candidates  and  has  put  forth  every  effort  in  his  power  to 
promote  its  growth  and  secure  its  success.  For  thirty-five  years  he  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  has  been  identified  with  the  Lide- 
pendent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  for  about  the  same  length  of  time.  For 
half  a  century  he  has  li\'ed  in  Lake  county,  spending  much  of  the  time  in 
Crown  Point,  and  his  life  record  is  thus  closely  identified  with  the  history  of 
this  portion  of  the  state.  He  has  watched  the  development  of  the  county  as 
it  has  emerged  from  pioneer  conditions  and  has  advanced  toward  its  pres- 
ent progress  and  prosperity.  His  mind  bears  the  impress  of  the  early  his- 
toric annals  of  northv.estern  Indiana,  and  what  to  many  others  are  matters 
of  record  are  to  him  atifairs  of  intimate  knowledge  if  not  of  personal  ex- 
perience. 

Many  years  ago  he  established  the  important  business,  with  its  adjuncts, 
of  putting  down  wells;  an  occupation  still  carried  on  by  his  son:  and 
although  nominally  retired  from  business  life,  being  now  seventy  years  of 
age,  he  may  be  found  quite  regularly  in  their  office  on  Main  street,  looking 
after  the  interests  of  their  lousiness.  The  wells  which  they  put  down  are 
known  as  tubular  walls.  They  go  down  to  various  depths.  Furnishing 
windmills  and  pumps  is  one  of  the  adjuncts  of  this  lousiness. 

Mr.  Fancher  is  a  believer  in  Christianity,  a  friend  to  Sunday  schools 
and  churches,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
many  years  ago. 

The  fuller  genealogic  record,  which  in  such  a  work  as  this  it  is  desirable 
to  preserve,  is  the  following: 

1.  Thaddeus  Fancher  was  born  in  England  in  1777.  He  was  by  trade 
a  harness-maker.  When  a  young  man  he  came  to  the  L^nited  States  and 
settled  in  Connecticut.  He  there  married  Sally  Mead,  ''a  daughter  of  Gen- 
eral Mead  of  Revolutionary  fame."  There  were  of  this  family  twelve 
children. 

2.  Thaddeus  S.   Fancher  was  born  in  Ulster  county,  New  York    (to 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  463 

which  state  his  father  had  removed  in  1808),  April  8,  1809.  His  father 
was  a  soldier  in  the  American  army  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  in  1815  visited 
the  then  new  and  truly  wild  region  of  Huron  county,  Ohio,  to  which  state 
he  removed  with  his  family  in  Xoxemher  and  December  of  1820,  when 
Thaddeus  S.  was  clc\en  _\ears  of  age.  The  Fancher  famil\-  therefore  were 
true  pioneers  of  Huron  county,  Ohio,  knowing  well  the  experiences  of  a 
frontier  life.  Thaddeus  S.  Fancher  was  married  tO'  Annie  M.  Chapman, 
September  8,  1833.  In  1894  they  were  "the  oldest  married  couple  in  Huron 
county." 

3.  Reuben  Fancher.  the  oldest  of  twelve  children,  of  whom  the  fore- 
going sketch  iias  been  written,  it  thus  appears,  is  a  descendant  of  soldiers 
of  the  war  of  the  Re\-olution  and  the  war  of  181 2,  and  of  resolute  and  suc- 
cessful pioneers  of  the  state  of  Ohio. 

P.  J.  KELLY. 

P.  J.  Kelly,  who  is  engaged  in  the  real  estate  and  insurance  business  at 
Hobart  and  is  also  notary  public,  is  a  type  of  the  representative  business  man 
whose  life  contains  no  exciting  chapter  or  incidents,  but  whose  record  shows 
the  force  of  consecutive  endeavors  supplemented  by  laudable  ambition  and 
guided  b}-  sound  and  reliable  judgment.  He  was  Iwrn  in  New  York  city 
March  4,  1841,  and  when  but  four  years  of  age  was  taken  to  England  by  his 
parents,  where  he  remained  until  1864.  He  then  returned  to  his  native  land, 
locating  in  Chicago,  where  he  engaged  in  the  grocery  business  at  the  corner 
of  Randolph  and  State  streets.  In  1871  he  suffered  severe  losses  in  the 
great  fire  which  swept  o\-er  the  city.  He  had  nothing  left  but  a  horse  and 
wagon.  He  lemained  in  Chicago,  however,  for  about  a  year  or  until  he 
had  managed  to  earn  a  little  money,  when  he  again  engaged  in  business  as 
a  partner  of  James  Casey  under  the  firm  style  of  Kelly  &  Casey,  at  the  cor- 
ner of  State  and  Fourteenth,  streets.  There  he  remained  until  he  came  to 
Hobart,  Indiana,  where  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  school  for  four  years, 
and  was  also  justice  of  the  peace  and  filled  that  position  for  eight  years.  He 
was  also  a  railroad  postal  agent  for  eight  years,  running  between  New  York 
and  Buffalo,  and  during  that  time  he  maintained  his  residence  in  Hobart. 
He  was  known  as  one  of  the  "short  stops"  of  the  postal  service.  He  made 
the  trip  between  New  York  and  Buffalo  three  times  a  week,  distributing  the 


46i  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

mail  from  the  former  city  west  to  Buffalo.  The  mail  was  distributed  on 
the  cars,  a  regular  postofifice  being  maintained  on  the  mail  train.  His  con- 
tinuance in  that  position  was  from  1881  until  1889,  and  he  never  missed  a 
day's  service  during  ail  that  time  and  many  times  he  substituted  for  others. 
Formerly  he  conducted  a  newspaper  in  Hobart  for  two  and  a  half  years,  this 
being  the  first  Republican  journal  of  the  town.  When  he  left  the  mail  ser- 
vice he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  of  Hobart  and  filled  the  office  for 
eight  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  declined  a  renomination.  He  is 
now  notary  public  and  is  also  engaged  in  the  real  estate  and  insurance  busi- 
ness. He  is  doing  well  in  both  branches  and  has  handled  many  important 
real  estate  transfers  since  beginning  in  this  line. 

In  1866  occurred  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Kelly  and  Miss  Mary  E.  Wilbur, 
a  native  of  Compton.  Rhode  Island.  They  were  married  in  Chicago,  and 
traveled  life's  journey  happily  together  for  more  than  a  third  of  a  century. 
when  in  December,  1901,  Mrs.  Kelly  was  called  to  her  final  rest.  In  the  fol- 
lowing July  Mr.  Kelly  was  again  married,  his  second  union  being  with  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Butts,  the  widow  of  Frank  Butts,  who  was  formerly  a  prominent 
contractor  and  builder  of  Lake  county,  Indiana.  Mr.  Kelly  owns  his  own 
residence,  which  is  one  of  the  attractive  homes  of  Hobart.  He  is  numbered 
among  the  representative  citizens  of  Lake  county,  and  is  a  stanch  Republi- 
can, while  socially  he  is  connected  with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  B'el- 
lows.  He  has  been  grand  master,  district  deputy  and  chief  patriarch  of  the 
grand  encampment.  For  thirty-two  years  he  has  maintained  his  residence  in 
Hobart,  and  throughout  this  period  he  has  been  noted  for  his  reliability  in 
every  relation  of  life  in  which  he  has  l^een  found,  whether  in  the  govern- 
menr  service  or  conducting  private  business  affairs. 

EMERSOX  OTTO  SUTTOX. 

Emerson  Otto  Sutton  is  a  representati\-e  of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
representati\'e  families  of  west  Lake  county,  and  in  his  life  vocation  of  agri- 
culture and  in  the  discharge  of  those  responsibilities  which  fall  to  the  lot 
of  every  substantial  and  public-spirited  American  he  has  shown  himself  a 
man  of  perfect  integrity  and  solidity  of  character  well  befitting  one  of  his 
family  name. 

He  was  born  in  Rush  county,   Indiana.  December  6,    1B59,  and  is  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  465 

sixth  in  a  family  of  eight  children,  four  sons  and  four  daughters,  born  to 
Gabriel  F.  and  Almeda  (Hall)  Sutton.  Seven  of  these  children  are  still 
living,  named  as  follows :  Festus,  who  is  a  jirosperous  farmer  and  stock- 
man of  West  Creek  township,  and  whose  biography  will  Ije  found  on  other 
pages  of  this  history;  Maggie,  wife  of  William  Smith,  a  retired  farmer  of 
Lowell :  Mary,  wife  of  Frank  A.  Hayden,  a  resident  of  Kankakee  county. 
Illinois;  John,  a  farmer  of  West  Creek  township;  Emerson  O. ;  Grant,  a 
farmer  of  Jasper  count}-;  and  May,  who  resides  on  the  old  home  with  her 
mother  and  brother  Otto. 

Mr.  Gabriel  F.  Sutton,  the  father  of  this  family,  was  a  factor  of  great 
importance  in  the  life  of  Lake  county  and  a  man  whose  influence  will  not 
soon  be  lost  to  the  world  in  which  he  lived.  He  was  born  near  Conners- 
ville,  Indiana,  and  was  reared  to  farming  life  and  educated  in  the  common 
schools.  He  was  throughout  life  a  man  of  sound  judgment  and  substantial 
characTer,  and  was  successful  in  whatever  he  undertook.  He  followed  teach- 
ing in  this  state  for  a  number  of  years.  He  was  an  old-line  ^^'hig  during 
the  early  part  of  his  political  career,  and  later  upheld  the  banner  of  true 
Republicanism.  He  died  about  1900,  and  his  remains  are  interred  in  the 
Lowell  cemetery,  \\here  his  devoted  wife  and  children  have  erected  a  beau- 
tiful monument  sacred  to  his  memor}-.  He  and  his  Avife  were  members  of 
the  Christian  church  at  Lowell.  He  had  begun  life  in  Rush  county  with 
verv  little  capital,  and  at  his  death  his  estate  comprised  three  hundred  and 
twenty-five  acres  in  Lake  county  and  six  acres  in  the  village  of  Lowell,  witli 
one  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Jasper  county,  besides  personal  effects,  and 
was  valued  at  forty  thousand  dollars.  The  ancestry  of  this  honored  citizen  is 
traced  back  to  old  England. 

Mr.  Otto  Sutton  was  reared  in  Lake  county,  receiving  his  education  in 
the  public  schools,  although  he  is  indebted  mainly  to  his  own  efforts  and 
personal  application  for  the  training  and  insight  into  practical  affairs  of  the 
world.  He  has  always  resided  on  the  parental  homestead,  and  since  his 
father's  death  his  mother  and  sister  have  continued  to  live  with  him.  He 
was  happily  u'.arried  on  Christmas  day  of  1903  to  Aliss  Maggie  Einspahr. 
She  is  a  native  of  \\"est  Creek  township,  and  comes  from  one  of  the  prom- 
inent German-American  families  of  the  township,  being  a  lady  who  stands 
high  in  the  social  scale.  She  was  educated  in  both  the  German  and  the  Eng- 
lish languages. 


46t;  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Sutton  is  ji  stanch  Repuljlican,  cast  liis  first  vote  for  James  A.  Gar- 
field, since  which  time  he  has  never  faltered  in  his  allegiance  to  the  party. 
He  has  been  selected  as  a  delegate  to  the  county  conventions,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber oi  the  district  committee.  He  affiliates  \vith  Castle  Hall  Lodge  No.  300, 
Knights  of  Pythias,  at  Lowell. 

GABRIEL  F.  SUTTON. 

Gabriel  F.  Sutton,  deceased,  was  born  October  27,  1822,  in  the  vicinity 
-of  Connersville,  Fayette  county.  Indiana.  \\'hile  he  was  yet  in  his  infancy 
his  parents  moved  to  Rush  countv.  Indiana,  where  he  grew  to  manhood.  On 
January  i,  1846,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Almeda  Hall,  who  survives 
him.  To  this  union  were  born  eight  children :  Festus  P.,  !\iaggie  J.,  Mary 
A.,  John  H.,  Henry  M.,  Emerson  O.,  Elsworth  G.,  and  Viola  i\I.  With 
the  exception  of  Henry  M.,  who  died  in  his  infancy,  all  remain  to  mourn 
the  father's  loss.  Brother  Sutton  came  to  Lake  county.  Indiana,  in  the  year 
1862,  and  from  that  time  until  his  death  evinced  the  true  spirit  of  citizen- 
ship in  every  detail.  He  united  with  the  Christian  church  in  early  man- 
hood, and  filled  its  pulpit  very  acceptably  many  times.  He  was  a  loving  hus- 
band, a  kind  and  indulgent  father,  a  true  friend  and  neighbor,  a  stanch 
believer  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  died  in  peace  with  God,  December  17, 
1899,  ^t  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years,  one  month  and  twenty  days.  His 
funeral  occurred  from  the  Christian  church  at  Rensselaer  at  11  a.  m.,  Wed- 
nesday, December  20,  1899,  Rev.  A.  L.  Ward,  pastor  of  the  Christian 
church  at  Rensselaer,  officiating.  His  mortal  remains  were  laid  away  in  the 
Lowell  cemetery,  there  to  rest  in  c|uiet  slumber  until  the  morning  of  the  great 
resurrection. 

"Through   all    pain    at   times   he'd   smile. 

A  smile  of  Heavenly  birth, 
And   when  the  angels  called  him   home. 

He  smiled  farewell  to  earth. 
Heaven  retaineth  now,  our  treasure ; 

Earth  the  lonely  casket  kee])s, 
And  the  sunbeams  love  to  linger 

Where  our  sainted  father  sleeps." 


,,#, 


..4iiti\l 


GABRIEL  F.  SUTTON 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  4G7 

JAMES  H.  LITTLE. 

James  H.  Little  is  a  member  of  a  very  prominent  family  in  the  annals 
of  Lake  county,  and  is  the  second  son  of  the  third  successive  generation  that 
has  found  lodgment  and  prosperous  position  in  this  county.  He  is  a  pros- 
perous agriculturist  of  West  Creek  township,  in  which  same  township  he 
was  born  on  February  27,  1863,  being  a  son  of  Joseph  A.  Little.  His 
father  was  one  of  the  true,  broad-minded  and  successful  men  of  this  county, 
and  the  following  account  gi\-es  the  outline  of  his  worthy  career : 

"There  was  joy  in  the  home  of  Thomas  Little  on  the  24th  of  May,  1830, 
that  came  not  alone  from  the  beauty  of  the  season,  but  more  largely  from 
the  fact  that  on  that  day  a  male  child  came  to  add  the  blessings  of  its  presence 
to  the  family  circle.  The  family  at  that  time  lived  in  \Vebster  township, 
iierrimac  county.  New  Hampshire.  In  accordance  with  the  faith  of  the 
parents  the  child  recei\'ed  its  name  in  connection  with  the  ordinance  of 
baptism,  and  for  nearly  two  generations  the  name  of  Joseph  Ames  Little 
has  been  a  synonym  for  industry,  integrity  and  kindness.  The  young  man 
came  west  with  his  parents  in  1855.  From  that  time  until  his  death  his 
home  was  mostly  in  West  Creek  township,  Lake  county.  He  united  with 
the  Presbyterian  church  at  Lake  Prairie  in  1839.  He  was  not  profuse  iri 
profession,  but  those  who  knew  him  best  had  strongest  trust  in  his  Chris- 
tian character.  In  1859  he  married  !Miss  Mary  Gerrish.  Six  of  their  chil- 
dren sur\ive  him.  During  the  years  1886-7  '1^  ^^"'^s  ^  member  of  the  legis- 
lature of  Indiana. 

"On  the  morning  of  February  19.  1892.  the  angel  of  death  entered 
this  home.  At  the  call  of  that  imperious  visitor  the  soul  that  through  years 
of  constant  suffering  had  grown  weary  of  earth's  sorrows  left  its  pilgrimage 
to  the  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God.  On  February  22,  1892,  the 
deceased  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  Lake  Prairie  cemetery." 

Mr.  James  H.  Little  is  classed  as  one  of  the  leading  agriculturists  and 
stock-raisers  of  \\'est  Creek  township,  and  he  makes  a  specialty  of  Dur- 
ham cattle.  He  received  his  education  in  the  common  schools,  and  was  also 
a  student  for  a  short  time  in  \\'abash  College.  He  graduated  from  the 
school  of  agriculture  in  Purdue  University  in  the  class  of  1890,  and  has 
ever  since  devoted  himself  enthusiastically   and  profitably  to   the   practical 


468  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

work  of  farming.  He  is  one  of  tlie  few  men  Avho  ha\e  received  special  train- 
ing for  the  science  of  agricultnre,  and  in  proportion  to  his  advantages  he  has 
made  his  pnrsuits  a  means  of  success  and  profitable  endeavor.  His  stock 
farm  is  a  model  of  its  kind  and  size. 

In  June,  1894,  he  married  Miss  Bessie  Spry,  and  three  children,  two 
sons  and  one  daughter,  have  been  born  to  them,  all  living,  as  follows :  Joseph 
A.  and  Seth  S.,  of  school  age,  and  Hester  E..  the  youngest  of  the  house- 
hold. Mrs.  Little  was  a  native  of  the  Bluegrass  state  of  Kentucky,  and  was 
reared  for  the  most  part  in  Illinois  and  Indiana.  She  attended  the  State 
Normal  School  at  Terre  Haute,  and  for  five  years  before  marriage  was  a 
successful  teacher,  and  since  entering  upon  her  domestic  duties  she  has 
proved  an  equally  able  and  worthy  helpmeet  to  her  husband.  Mr.  Little  is 
a  stalwart  Republican,  and  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Benjamin  Har- 
rison and  has  always  supported  the  principles  of  Republicanism.  Both  he 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Lake  Prairie  Presbyterian  churcli  in  West 
Creek  township,  and  he  has  been  one  of  the  elders  and  also  superintendent  of 
the  Simday  school.  His  wife  has  also  taken  an  active  part  in  church  and 
Sup.day  school  work  in  different  places,  and  was  superintendent  and  a  teacher 
in  the  Pine  Grove  Sunday  school.  Mr.  Little  owns  four  hundred  acres  of 
land  all  in  West  Creek  township,  and  his  residence  and  buildings  are  a 
credit  to  the  entire  township.  He  and  his  brothers,  Lewis  and  Jesse,  are 
among  the  foremost  and  most  influential  citizens  of  this  county,  and  these 
annals  would  be  incomplete  without  mention  of  their  life  and  work. 

\MLLIAM   N.   HAYDEN. 

Emerson  has  said  tiiat  the  true  history  of  a  nation  is  best  told  in  the 
lives  of  its  most  prominent  citizens  and  residents,  and  in  Mr.  William  N. 
Hayden,  the  trustee  of  West  Creek  township  and  a  prosperous  farmer,  we 
have  a  representative  of  one  of  the  most  prominent  families  of  the  county 
of  Lake.  He  is  a  native  of  Lake  county,  was  born  May  24,  1855,  and  is 
the  youngest  of  the  fourteen  children  born  to  his  father  by  two  marriages, 
he  being  the  only  son  and  child  of  the  second  union.  His  parents  are  Ne- 
hemiah  and  Sarah  (Smith)  Hayden,  and  the  full  record  of  this  worthy 
family  in  the  earlier  generations  is  given  in  connection  with  the  biography 
of  the  elder  Hayden  in  another  portion  of  this  volume. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  169 

Mr.  Hayden  was  reared  in  Lake  county  and  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools.  He  was  brought  up  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and  in  the  con- 
tinuation of  these  has  made  his  Ijest  success.  His  commencement  in  life 
was  not  remarkably  auspicious,  and  possibly  he  and  his  wife  had  not  more 
than  four  hundred  dollars  cash  capital  wdien  they  set  their  feet  upon  the 
highroad  of  life  and  began  to  tread  their  way  through  circumstance  and 
earnest  endeavor  and  useful  purpose  to  a  worthy  and  successful  goal.  He 
was  married  to  Miss  Maria  J-  Edmonds,  on  August  21,  1876,  in  Crown 
Point.  They  began  as  renters,  and  continued  in  that  way  until  they  had  a 
secure  start,  which  was  not  long.  They  then  located  on  eight}-  acres  which 
they  had  purchased,  going  in  delit  for  most  of  it,  but  their  frugal  industry 
and  enterprise  more  than  offset  the  debt.  They  thus  began  life  happy  but 
not  full-handed,  and  by  their  continued  co-operation  and  faithful  toil  from 
year  to  year  they  added  to  their  possessions  until  now  they  own  in  fee  simple 
two  hundred  and  seventeen  acres  of  fine  land,  all  in  West  Creek  township. 
And  the  best  part  of  the  record  is  that  they  have  gained  this  property  by 
their  own  industry  and  efTorts. 

Mrs.  Hayden  was  born  in  Lake  county,  March  13,  1858,  the  youngest 
of  the  six  children  of  Melvin  and  Sarah  (Leffler)  Edmonds.  Her  brothers 
and  sisters  are :  Nelson,  a  resident  and  retired  farmer  of  Lowell,  and 
married;  Nancy,  who  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Morgan,  a  farmer  and  resident 
of  West  Creek  township ;  Charles,  who  was  a  soldier  and  an  active  par- 
ticipant in  the  battles  of  the  Civil  war,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Kansas; 
Mary,  who  is  the  wife  of  Wallace  Hayden,  a  resident  and  retired  farmer 
of  Lowell ;  Eli,  who  for  many  years  followed  farming  and  is  now  a  resi- 
dent of  West  Creek  township,  and  is  married.  Mrs.  Hayden's  father  was 
a  native  of  Canada,  and  died  in  1874  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years.  He 
followed  farming,  and  in  ]iolitics  was  a  Republican.  Mrs.  Hayden  was 
reared  in  Lake  county  and  received  her  education  in  the  common  schools. 

To  the  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hayden  have  been  born  two  children, 
a  son  and  a  daughter,  both  living.  Jodie  M.  is  a  citizen  of  West  Creek  town- 
ship and  a  prosperous  young  farmer.  He  married  Miss  Lura  Pulver.  He 
completed  his  education  in  the  common  schools  of  this  county,  had  two 
years'  work  in  the  Lowell  high  school,  and  also  took  a  business 
course  in  the  Dixon  Business  College  at  Dixon,  Illinois.     For  two  vears  he 


470  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

was  telegraph  operator  at  Lowell  for  the  Monon  Railroad.  Edna  S..  the 
daughter,  is  at  home.  She  finished  two  years  of  high  school  work,  and  at 
the  age  of  seventeen  she  took  the  teachers'  examination  and  passed  creditably. 
But  on  account  of  being  so  young  she  did  not  begin  active  work  in  the  teach- 
ing profession  until  she  was  eighteen.  She  has  taught  three  years  in  her 
home  township,  and  has  been  very  successful  in  her  work.  She  has  also 
studied  music. 

Mr.  Hayden  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Hayes, 
having  upheld  his  party's  principles  ever  since.  In  1899  he  was  elected  town- 
ship trustee  of  West  Creek  township.  He  has  the  supervision  of  fourteen 
schools  in  addition  to  the  numerous  other  duties  of  this  important  office.  He 
has  aljout  seventy-five  scjuare  miles  of  territory  to  cover  in  this  township, 
and  he  devotes  himself  assiduously  to  his  administrative  duties.  He  is  a 
member  of  Cedar  Camp  No.  5155,  Modern  Woodmen,  and  has  held  office 
in  this  order.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  at  Lowell.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hayden  are  citizens  of  high  social  stand- 
ing, and  it  is  with  pleasure  that  this  brief  history  of  their  lives  can  be  placed 
in  this  genealogical  record  of  Lake  county. 

CHESTER  P.  PIXLEY. 

Chester  P.  Pixley  is  a  member  of  a  prominent  family  of  the  name  who 
have  resided  in  Lake  county  sirice  the  middle  of  last  century,  and  whose 
identification  with  its  industrial,  social  and  intellectual  interests  has  been  a 
factor  for  progress  and  improvement  along  all  lines.  Mr.  Pixley  belongs  to 
the  younger  class  of  men  who  have  so  energetically  taken  hold  of  afifairs  in 
West  Creek  township  and  increased  its  reputation  as  the  banner  township  of 
the  county,  and  his  energy  and  fine  management  have  given  him  a  large 
amrmnt  of  success  in  life. 

^Ir.  Pixley  was  born  on  the  old  homestead  in  this  county  where  he  still 
resides,  on  October  9,  1863.  His  parents  were  ^Villiam  H.  and  Nancy  Ann 
( Scritchfield)  Pixley,  and  he  was  the  third  in  their  family  of  ten  children, 
six  sons  and  four  daughters,  eight  of  whom  are  still  lix'ing.  as  follows : 
.Alice,  the  wife  of  Charles  A.  Taylor,  a  prosperous  farmer  in  West  Creek 
township;  Chester  P.;  Mar_\-,  the  wife  of  C.  P.  Edgerton,  a  farmer  of  Cen- 
ter township;    Edwin,  married,  and  a  jeweler  of  Lowell:    ]\Iartha,  wife  of 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  iTl 

Obediah  \'innedge,  of  Creston.  Indiana;  Calvin.  ;i  jeweler  of  Lowell;  Clara, 
who  was  educated  in  the  Lowell  high  school  and  is  a  teacher  in  West  Creek 
township;    and  Aliio  ]M..  a  salesman  in  F.  E.  Nelson's  store  in  Lowell. 

William  FI.  Pixie)-,  the  father,  was  born  in  Lake  county,  Ohio.  October 
lo,  1824.  and  died  January  6.  1897.  He  was  reared  in  his  native  state,. 
graduated  from  Allegheny  College  in  Meadville,  Pennsylvania,  w-as  a  teacher 
during  his  youth,  and  spent  most  of  his  life  in  farming  and  stock-raising. 
During  the  fifties  he  and  his  father  came  to  Lake  county,  and  he  and  his 
father  laid  claim  to  over  seven  hundred  acres  of  government  land.  He 
erected  his  home  on  the  very  farm  where  his  son  Chester  now  resides,  and 
he  lived  there  until  his  death.  He  was  a  prominent  and  well  known  man 
in  the  ci^mmunit}'.  was  noted  for  his  fairness  in  all  business  transactions,  and 
honored  for  his  judgment  and  worth.  He  adhered  to  the  Whig  party  till  its 
dissolution,  and  from  then  on  till  his  death  voted  mainly  with  the  Demo- 
crats, although  he  supported  Lincoln,  and  was  later  a  warm  advocate  of  the 
greenback  principles  and  a  great  admirer  of  Peter  Cooper.  He  was  a  prom- 
inent official  in  the  ^Masonic  fraternity  at  Lowell.  His  wife  was  a  native  of 
Kentuck}-  and  came  to  this  county  from  her  native  state  when  about  thirteen 
years  old.  She  was  one  of  thirteen  children  in  the  Scritchfield  family,  and 
one  died  recently  at  the  age  of  seventy  and  ele\en  are  yet  living,  making  a 
remarkable  record  for  longevity.  Both  father  and  mother  Pixley  are  in- 
terred in  the  Creston  cemetery,  where  a  monument  stands  sacred  to  their 
memory. 

Mr.  Chester  P.  Pixley  was  reared  in  West  Creek  township  and  was 
educated  in  the  common  schools,  and  has  made  the  tilling  of  the  soil  his 
chief  occupation.  He  remained  at  home  with  his  parents  for  some  years  after 
reaching  his  majority,  and  on  December  6.  1899,  was  married  to  Miss  Lydia 
A.  Taylor.  They  have  one  little  daughter,  Mae  Belle  by  name.  Mrs.  Pixley 
w'as  born  in  Crown  Point,  Indiana,  February  9.  1873.  being  the  eldest  of  six 
children,  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  John  R.  and  Susan  (Strong) 
Taylor.  She  has  four  brothers  and  sisters  living :  Hamlet,  a  farmer  of 
West  Creek  township,  and  married;  Maude,  wife  of  John  Wheeler,  of  the 
same  township;  John  A.,  a  farmer  of  West  Creek  township;  and  Cora  E., 
who  married  William  E.  Schofield.  of  Grifiith,  this  county.  Mrs.  Pixley's 
father  was  born  in  this  county  March  13.  1846,  was  reared  as  a  farmer  and 


472  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

educated  in  the  common  schools,  and  is  still  living  in  the  county.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Twelfth  Indiana  Cavalry,  enlisting  from  Crown  Point  for 
three  years,  and  was  in  various  battles  and  received  some  wounds  during 
the  war,  being  honorably  discharged  November  lo,  1865.  He  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics  and  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  at  Crown 
Point.  Mrs.  Pixley  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  took  three 
years  in  the  Crown  Point  high  school,  after  which  she  was  one  of  the  success- 
ful teachers  of  Lake  county  for  six  years,  being  a  teacher  in  one  school  for 
five  years.     She  has  also  taken  work  in  music. 

After  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pixley  settled  on  the  old  Pixley 
homestead  and  ha\-e  since  made  this  their  happy  home,  where  they  are  held 
in  high  esteem  for  their  social  and  individual  worth  and  where  they  have  a 
large  circle  of  friends  around  them.  They  have  one  hundred  acres  of  the 
choice  land  of  the  township.  Mr.  Pixley  is  an  enthusiastic  stock  farmer, 
and  raises  som.e  fine  Norman  Percheron  horses  and  Poland  China  hogs,  and 
is  doing  his  share  toward  bringing  the  stock  of  the  county  up  to  higher 
standards.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  has  been  a  delegate  to  the  state 
conventions,  and  has  loyally  supported  the  party  at  all  times. 

JESSE  LITTLE. 

Jesse  Little  is  a  scion  of  one  of  the  most  prominent  families  of  West 
Creek  township,  and  he  has  himself  in  a  most  commendable  manner  carried 
out  the  traditions  of  the  family  history  and  made  his  own  career  in  the  town- 
ship a  conspicuous  example  of  industry  and  sagacious  business  management 
as  well  as  public-.spirited  citizenship. 

'Mv.  Little  was  born  on  the  old  homestead  on  which  he  still  resides,  in 
West  Creek  township,  January  17,  1868,  and  was  the  fourth  in  the  family 
of  children  born  to  Joseph  and  Mary  (Gerrish)  Little,  whose  history  in 
detail  \Aill  be  found  rm  other  pages  of  this  work.  Mv.  Little  was  reared  in 
his  home  township,  with  lus  early  education  acquired  in  the  common  schools, 
and  he  afterward  entered  Purdue  University  and  in  1894  graduated  from 
the  agricultural  department.  He  is  thus  a  twent'eth-century  farmer,  one  who 
believes  in  making  the  tilling  of  the  soil  a  science  just  as  the  pursuit  of  any 
other  profession,  and  he  combines  with  the  necessary  practical  experience 
and  good  common  sense  of  the  old-time  husbandman  the  skill  and  experi- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  473 

mental  knowledge  derived  from  thorough  study  of  all  the  conditions  tending 
to  retard  or  promote  the  success  of  farming.  While  in  college  he  took  a 
foremost  part  in  athletics,  and  plaj-ed  tackle  on  tlie  Purdue  football  team, 
being  so  vigorous  and  well  trained  that  he  always  escaped  injury. 

August  28,  1898,  he  was  married  to  ]\Iiss  iNIartha  Buchanan,  and  the 
two  children  of  this  marriage  are  Mary  and  Earl  B.  Mrs.  Little  was  born 
in  Porter  county,  Indiana,  was  educated  in  the  high  schools  at  Hebron  and 
Crown  Point,  and  was  then  a  student  for  two  years  at  the  ladies'  seminary 
at  Oxford,  Ohio.  She  was  a  successful  teacher  in  Port-er  and  Lake  coimties, 
and  for  two  years  taught  in  the  city  schools  of  Hammond.  Her  father  is 
now  deceased,  and  her  mother  is  a  resident  of  Hebron. 

Mr.  Little  is  a  stanch  Republican,  having  cast  his  first  presidential  vote 
for  Harrison.  He  has  also  served  as  a  delegate  from  his  township  to  the 
district  convention.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Lake  Prairie  Pres- 
byterian church,  and  have  always  contributed  to  the  benevolences  worthy  their 
consideration.  He  and  his  brother  James  have  about  one  thousand  acres  of 
the  fine  bottom  land  of  West  Creek  township,  and  he  resides  on  and  owns  his 
interest  in  the  old  homestead  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres.  He  has  been 
unusually  successful  in  raising  stock,  and  in  whatever  enterprise  of  the  char- 
acter that  he  has  undertaken  he  has  achieved  a  large  measure  of  prosperity. 

T.  A.  WASON. 

T.  A.  W^ason  is  one  of  the  prosperous  farmers  and  stoclcnien  of  West 
Creek  tow-nship.  and  during  the  nearly  sixty  years  since  he  came  into  the 
world  he  has  gained  a  most  creditable  success,  has  lived  uprightly  and  on 
good  terms  with  his  fellow  men,  and  while  industriously  and  faithfully 
performing  the  duties  of  life  he  has  also  enjoyed  the  comforts  and  content- 
ment of  a  worthily  lived  career. 

He  was  born  at  Vevay,  in  Switzerland  county.  Indiana,  September  23, 
1845,  ^'id  is  the  eldest  and  the  only  one  surviving  of  the  three  children 
born  to  Hiram  and  Elizabeth  (Abbott)  W'ason.  His  parents  both  passed 
av,-ay  in  Lake  county  in  the  same  year,  1898.  His  father  was  born  in  Hills- 
boro  county.  New  Hampshire,  and  was  educated  for  the  Presbyterian  min- 
istry. He  was  the  first  pastor  of  the  Lake  Prairie  Presbyterian  church  in 
West   Creek   township.      He   was  a    strong  Republican,    and    \oted    for   the 


474  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

first  presidential  candidate  of  that  party.  His  wife  was  also  a  native  of  the 
same  locality  of  New  Hampshire. 

yiv.  T.  A.  W'ason  came  with  his  parents  to  Lake  county  in  1857,  his 
father  purchasing  eighty  acres  of  land  in  ^^'est  Creek  township.  He  was 
educated  in  the  common  schools  of  the  township,  and  was  a  student  ni 
Wabash  College  in  Crawfordsville  for  three  years.  He  taught  for  two  win- 
ters in  West  Creek  township,  and  also  passed  one  season  in  the  employ  of 
the  Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois  Railroad  Company.  He  entered  into  part- 
nership with  his  father  in  farming  and  stock-raising,  and  at  the  present 
time  he  owns  two  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  the  fine  land  of  Lake  county^ 
In  1899  he  erected  a  beautiful  brick  residence  on  his  estate,  one  that  is  a 
credit  to  his  individual  enterprise  and  to  the  entire  township. 

Mr.  Wason  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Miss  Julia 
Brannan.  and  they  had  one  daughter,  Julia  B.,  who  resides  at  home,  and  who 
has  completed  the  common  school  course  and  was  a  student  in  the  high 
school  at  Crown  Point.  Mr.  Wason  was  bereaved  of  his  first  wife,  July  17, 
1S76,  and  was  afterward  married  to  Miss  Emma  S.  Peach,  who  was  born 
in  New  H'ampshire  but  was  reared  in  Lake  county.  She  was  a  successful 
teacher  in  Eagle  Creek  township  for  a  number  of  years.  To  this  marriage 
have  1>een  born  three  children:  Henry  Boyd  has  finished  the  eighth  grade 
and  is  about  to  take  up  high  school  work,  and  he  is  very  fond  of  literature  as 
well  as  of  athletics;  Isabelle  is  also  ready  for  high  school  and  is  also  a 
student  of  instrumental  music:  Faith  is  in  the  seventh  grade.  Mrs.  Wason, 
the  mother  of  these  children,  died  in  May,  1894.  She  was  a  lover  of  home 
and  a  good  and  faithful  wife,  and  her  memory  is  still  sacred  in  the  hearts 
of  those  who  were  closest  in  friendship  and  ties  of  kindred.  She  was  a 
member  of  the  Lake  Prairie  Presbyterian  church. 

]\Ir.  Wason  is  a  stanch  Repulilican,  and  cast  his  first  presidential  vote 
for  General  Grant.  He  has  had  no  time  to  accept  public  or  official  responsi- 
bilities, as  his  business  interests  have  absorbed  all  his  time.  He  affiliates 
with  Colfa.x  Lodge  No.  378,  of  the  Masons,  at  Lowell,  and  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  lodge  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias  at  the  same  place.  He  and  his 
family  are  all  members  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  West  Creek  town- 
ship. He  has  traveled  about  the  country  a  good  deal,  and  has  visited  both 
the  New  England  states  and  the  northwest. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  475 

FRANK  RICHARDS. 

In  the  tillers  of  the  soil  and  the  garnerers  of  the  crops  have  always  rested 
the  main  strength  and  hope  of  a  nation,  and  the  substantial  character  of 
any  community  is  best  judged  by  the  personnel  of  its  farming  population. 
Lake  county  is  particularly  well  favored  in  this  class  of  men,  and  among 
the  more  recent  arrivals  to  swell  the  enterprising  agricultural  element  is  the 
solid  and  substantial  citizen  ]\Ir.  Frank  Richards,  who  is  now  one  of  the 
most  active  and  intelligent  farmers  and  stockmen  of  ^Vest  Creek  township. 

Mr.  Richards  was  born  in  Kankakee  county,  Ilhnois,  March  12,  1856, 
being  the  eldest  of  six  children,  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  born  to  Will- 
iam C.  and  Mary  (Campbell)  Richards.  He  has  just  one  brother  living, 
Samuel,  a  resident  of  Valparaiso.  His  father  was  born  in  Onondaga  county, 
New  York,  in  1822,  and  died  in  1875.  He  was  a  surveyor  l?y  profession, 
and  was  educated  at  Elbridge  .Academy.  Fle  also  folbiwed  the  \'ocati<)n 
of  teaching  in  New  York,  Iniliana  and  Illinois,  and  was  always  known  for 
his  superior  intelligence  and  Iireadth  of  mind.  He  was  a  Republican  in 
politics.     His  wife  was  a  natix-e  r,f  Ohio,  and  she  jjassed  away  in  1899. 

Mr.  Frank  Richards  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  his  education  has  been 
mainly  self-acquired,  and  he  has  been  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune.  He 
remained  with  his  parents,  giving  them  his  time  and  wages,  and  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one  he  had  just  a  team  of  horses  and  a  plow  as  capital  for  his  life 
career,  so  that  what  he  has  since  made  is  the  result  of  his  own  diligence  and 
prudence.  He  has  had  full  regard  throughout  life  for  the  principles  of  in- 
tegrity and  rectitude,  and  he  is  amply  rewarded  in  the  confidence  and  trust 
in  which  he  is  held  by  friends  and  business  associates.  He  began  his  farm- 
ing career  as  a  renter,  and  continued  so  for  twenty-one  years  in  the  states 
of  Illinois  and  Indiana,  and  during  tin's  time  he  lived  comfortalilv,  provided 
well  for  his  family,  and  increased  his  store  of  world's  profits.  In  1901  he 
purchased  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  acres  in  West  Creek  and  Cedar 
Creek  townships,  and  went  in  debt  for  a  large  amount  of  the  juirchase  price. 
During  the  first  year  he  paid  fourteen  hundred  dollars  on  the  place  in  addi- 
tion to  the  interest,  and  in  a  short  time  will  own  his  fine  propert}'  free  of 
incumbrance,  and  its  possession  will  be  a  fine  reward  for  his  life  of  careful 


iTG  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

August  i8.  1880,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Alice  Ballou,  and  one  daugh- 
ter, Mary  Ballou,  has  been  born  to  them,  she  now  being  a  student  in  the 
Lowell  high  school  and  having  taken  also  instrumental  music.  Mrs.  Rich- 
ards was  born  in  Janesville,  Wisconsin,  November  2.  1861,  being  a  daugh- 
ter of  Davillo  and  ]Mary  (Cutler)  Ballou.  She  was  reared  for  the  greater 
part  of  her  early  years  in  Galesburg,  Illinois,  and  received  her  education  in 
the  city  schools. 

^Ir.  and  Mrs.  Richards  located  as  renters  in  Lake  county  in  1888,  and 
have  made  their  home  in  the  county  ever  since.  The  Richards  family  traces 
its  ancestr}-  back  to  the  Plymouth  Rock  Pilgrims.  ^Ir.  Richards"  father 
was  an  important  personage,  and  was  appointed  by  old  Governor  Richard  Yates 
as  a  ditch  or  swamp  land  commissioner  in  Illinois.  He  was  the  oldest  in 
a  famil}^  of  eighteen  children,  and  was  the  best  educated  of  them  all. 

Mr.  Richards  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  has  had  no  cause  to  falter 
in  his  allegiance  to  the  party  since  casting  his  first  presidential  vote  for 
Garfield.  Fraternal!}-  he  is  a  member  of  the  camp  of  the  Modern  \\'ood- 
men  of  America  at  Lowell. 

CHARLES  A.  TAYLOR. 

"Biography  is  the  only  true  history,"  says  Carlyle,  and  ihen  the  ]ihi- 
losopher  Emerson  further  asserts  that  the  true  history  of  a  nation  is  best 
told  in  the  lives  of  its  representative  men  and  women,  so  that  in  detailing 
the  careers  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Lake  county  its  own  history  is  like- 
wise being  written.  One  i-ecord  that  will  add  to  the  completeness  of  this 
work  on  Lake  county  is  that  of  Mr.  C.  A.  Taylor  and  wife,  who  belong  to 
the  younger  class  of  citizens  of  West  Creek  township  and  whose  success  in 
their  life  work  gives  them  high  place  in  the  estimation  of  their  fellow  citizens. 

Mr.  Taylor  is  a  native  son  of  this  county,  and  was  born  July  16,  1857. 
being  the  second  in  a  family  of  five  children,  three  sons  and  two  daughters, 
born  to  DeWitt  Clinton  and  Emma  L.  (Palmer)  Taylor.  He  is  the  oldest 
of  those  living;  his  brother  Frank  J.,  now  married  and  engaged  in  stock- 
raising  at  Hiawatha,  Nebraska,  received  a  college  education  at  Valparaiso 
and  taught  school  in  Lake  county  three  or  four  years ;  Emma,  the  wife  of 
Martin  D.  Palmer,  a  farmer  of  Jennings  county,  Indiana,  received  her  edu- 
cation in  the  Lowell  high  school :  \\'illiam.  who  was  educated  in  th.e  public 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  477 

schools  and  at  college,  is  married  and  is  a  farmer  and  butcher  at  Lowell. 

De^^'itt  C.  Taylor  was  horn  in  1826  and  died  in  January,  1888.  He 
was  reared  to  farm  life,  and  his  education  was  mainly  self-acquired.  He 
was  a  successful  man,  being  so  through  the  energy  and  forcefulness  of  his 
own  character.  During  his  boyhood  he  had  attended  the  old  log-cabin 
school.  He  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Lake  county,  and  was  here  before 
the  Indians  had  left  their  ancestral  haunts.  His  first  home  was  on  the 
east  side  of  Cedar  lake,  where  he  was  domiciled  in  a  log  cabin  for  a  time, 
then  sold  that  and  moved  to  Cedar  Creek  tow^nship,  and  afterward  became 
a  pioneer  settler  of  West  Creek  township.  He  accumulated  c.-er  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  fine  land,  and  did  well  by  his  family.  He  cast  his  early  votes 
for  the  \\'hig  party,  and  later  became  one  of  the  stanchest  supporters  of 
Republican  principles,  being  a  warm  admirer  of  Lincoln.  He  was 
one  of  Indiana's  brave  men  who  went  to  the  front  during  the  Civil  war, 
enlisting  at  Crown  Point  in  the  Sixty-third  Indiana  Infantry,  along  at  the 
first  of  the  war.  He  was  first  assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and 
later  to  the  Trans-Mississippi  department,  and  he  wore  the  blue  uniform  and 
continued  in  service  until  the  end  of  the  war,  when  he  returned  to  peace  and 
quiet  labor  on  his  own  farm.  His  wife  was  born  in  St.  Joseph  county  of 
this  state,  in  1831,  and  died  in  March,  1903.  Her  ancestors  were  early  New 
Englanders,  some  of  whom  were  soldiers  in  the  Revolution,  which  entitles 
the  Taylor  family  to  membership  in  the  patriotic  orders  of  the  Sons  and 
Daughters  of  the  Revolution.  Both  parents  of  Mr.  Taylor  are  interred  in 
the  Creston  cemetery,  where  suitable  monuments  mark  their  final  resting 
places.  , 

Mr.  Charles  A.  Taylor  was  reared  and  educated  in  this  county,  and 
from  his  earliest  years  his  training  and  piirsuits  have  been  in  farming  and 
stock-raising.  When  he  was  twenty-three  years  old,  on  August  19,  1880,  he 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Alice  E.  Pixley.  They  have  one  son,  Edson 
M.,  who  received  his  diploma  from  the  grammar  schools  in  1903  and  has 
taken  one  year's  work  in  the  Lowell  high  school.  Mrs.  Taylor  was  born 
January  20,  1861,  a  daughter  of  William  H.  and  Nancy  Ann  (Scritchfield) 
Pixley,  whose  history  will  be  found  in  connection  with  their  son  Chester 
Pixley.  Mrs.  Taylor  was  reared  in  this  county  and  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools.     She  is  a  memljer  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  Creston. 


478  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

After  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  began  as  renters  in  West 
Creek  township,  but  a  year  later  purchased  sixty  acres  of  land  where  they 
now  Ii\'e.  They  went  in  delit  for  practically  all  of  this,  but  their  combined 
industry,  economy  and  capaljle  management  have  given  them  a  beautiful 
estate  in  their  own  name,  improved  it  immeasurably  above  its  first  condition, 
and  made  the  Taylor  farm  a  model  of  thrifty  and  progressive  agricultural 
enterprise.  They  have  since  added  forty  acres  to  their  first  farm,  and  also 
twenty  acres  inherited  by  Mrs.  Taylor.  Besides  their  country  farmstead 
they  own  a  pretty  residence  property  on  the  west  limits  of  Lowell,  and  this 
they  contemplate  making  their  home. 

Mr.  Ta}lor  has  been  lo}-al  and  efficient  in  supporting  the  Republican 
party  e\er  since  casting  his  first  vote  for  Garfield,  and  has  served  as  a  dele- 
gate to  the  county  conventions.  As  a  resident  of  the  banner  township  of  the 
county  he  has  done  his  share  in  all  public  works  and  enterprises  and  made 
his  influence  felt  on  the  side  of  progress  in  social,  moral  and  intellectual 
afifairs. 

\MLLIA:M    H.    MICHAEL. 

William  H.  Michael  is  one  of  the  oldest  living  native  citizens  of  Lake 
county,  but  also  has  many  other  claims  to  distinction  in  connection  with  his 
residence  here.  He  is  a  man  of  much  ability  in  the  various  affairs  of  life, 
has  been  prosperous  in  his  agricultural  and  stock-raising  enterprises,  gives 
attention  to  religion  and  education  in  his  community,  and  is  altogether  a  type 
of  the  true  American  citizen,  self-reliant  and  upright. 

He  was  born  March  23,  1S47.  ^"'^'  ^^^  '^"*^'  '"i'^  brother  Edwin  are  the 
only  survivors  of  a  family  of  five  children,  four  sons  and  one»daughter,  born 
to  John  J.  and  Wealthy  Ann  (Green)  Michael.  He  was  reared  to  man- 
hood in  this  county,  and  his  education  was  received  in  the  country  schools 
and  in  the  excellent  high  school  at  Westville.  He  has  always  taken  much 
interest  in  good  literature,  and  in  his  home  some  good  books  will  always 
be  found  handy  with  their  information  and  culture.  He  was  reared  to  farm- 
ing pursuits,  and  has  gi\-en  liis  best  years  and  efforts  to  that  line  of  industry, 
with  the  result  that  he  is  one  of  the  prosperous  farmers  of  this  rich  agri- 
cultural county.  .\s  a  stockman  he  makes  a  specialty  of  shorthorn  cattle, 
and  he  justly  takes  much  pride  in  his  herd,  which  at  present  numbers  fifty- 
five  head  of  registered  animals.     This  stock  is  of  such  high  grade  that  a 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  479 

demand  comes  tor  tliem  from  every  part  of  the  country,  and  he  has  shipped 
bv  express  cattle  as  far  west  as  CaHfornia  and  as  far  east  as  Maryland.  His 
estate  comjjrises  one  iiundred  and  sixty-six  acres  of  fine  land  in  West  Creek 
township,  and  he  has  a  nice  residence  and  delightful  home,  with  all  the  as- 
S(xiations  and  surroundings  capable  of  making  him  happy  and  contented 
with  what  the  good  world  has  given. 

He  was  with  his  parents  until  attaining  his  majority,  and  in  Xo\-ember, 
1872,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  S.  Morey.  Five  children, 
three  sons  and  two  daughters,  were  born  to  them,  and  the  three  now  living 
are  as  follows :  Loren  P.  is  a  mechanical  engineer  and  foreman  in  the  Big 
Four  shops  at  ]\lount  Carmel.  Illinois:  he  was  a  graduate  in  the  class  of 
1896  from  the  engineering  department  of  Purdue  University:  he  is  married 
and  has  a  son,  William  Conrad.  The  second  son,  Herbert,  graduated  with 
the  class  of  "04  in  the  classical  course  at  Butler  University  at  Indianapolis, 
/essie  M.,  the  daughter,  is  at  home,  and  has  received,  besides  a  public  school 
training,  a  musical  education  in  a  conservatory  at  Chicago  and  in  Indianapo- 
lis. From  this  it  is  evident  that  IMr.  and  ]Mrs.  Michael  believe  in  gi\-ing  their 
children  the  best  of  equipment  for  life,  and  the  children,  in  turn,  have  proved 
the  wisdom  of  this  course  liy  the  honorable  part  they  have  already  taken  in 
life's  activity. 

]\Ir3.  Michael  was  born  in  New  Hampshire,  in  March,  1850.  being  a 
daughter  of  Epliraim  and  Susan  (Peach)  Morey,  the  former  deceased  and 
the  latter  still  li\ing  in  West  Creek  township.  The  father  of  Mr.  ]\Iichael 
was  born  in  Orleans  count}'.  New  York,  in  181 1,  and  died  in  1897.  He  was 
a  carpenter  by  trade,  which  he  followed  in  the  early  part  of  his  life,  and  later 
gave  his  attention  to  farming.  He  was  an  old-line  Whig',  and  later  a  Repub- 
lican, and  served  as  justice  of  the  peace  for  a  number  of  years  during  the 
early  history  of  Lake  county.  He  came  to  Lake  county  as  a  pioneer  in  1838, 
and  his  first  habitation  was  a  log  house,  in  which  his  children  were  also  born. 
He  and  his  wife  were  Baptists. 

Mr.  ^Michael  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  since  casting  his  first  ballot 
for  General  Grant,  the  soldier  president,  he  has  been  an  unfaltering  advo- 
cate of  true  Republicanism.  At  various  times  he  has  been  selected  as  a  dele- 
gate to  district  conventions  of  his  party.  He  and  his  family  are  members  of 
the  Lake   Prairie   Presbvterian  church,   and   he  has  aided  bv  his  means   in 


480  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

the  erection  and  support  of  the  church.  He  is  a  trustee  and  also  treasurer  of 
the  official  board.  The  society  is  in  a  flourishing  condition,  and  there  is  a 
Sunday  school  with  a  regular  attendance  of  forty. 

PHILIP  STUPPY. 

German- American  citizens  have  contributed  more  largely  than  any 
otiier  race  to  the  material  development  and  progress  of  Lake  county,  and  the 
thrift,  honest  industry  and  integrity  which  are  the  characteristics  of  the 
people  as  a  class  can  nowhere  be  better  proved  than  in  this  county.  Among 
these  practical  and  enterprising  men  in  West  Creek  township  should  be  men- 
tioned Mr.  Philip  Stuppy,  who  has  lived  in  the  county  for  something  over  a 
third  of  a  century  and  from  small  beginnings  advanced  to  a  place  of  esteem 
and  affluence  among  all  his  fellow  men. 

He  was  born  in  Bavaria,  Germany,  April  20,  1845,  being  the  second 
child  of  Adam  and  Elizabeth  (Lindemer)  Stupp}'.  There  were  seven  chil- 
dren, four  sons  and  three  daughters,  and  four  others  are  still  living 
and  all  residents  of  Germany,  as  follows:  Mary  E.,  wife  of  Mr.  Kaufman, 
of  Bonn,  Germany,  a  farmer;  Magdalene,  wife  of  a  Mr.  Guider;  Amelia, 
vidio  is  married :  and  Adam.  The  father  of  this  family  was  also  a  native  of 
Bavaria,  was  born  in  1819  and  died  in  1862,  and  followed  farming  most  of 
his  life.  He  v.as  a  man  of  superior  education,  having  been  trained  for  the 
priesthood.  His  wife  was  also  born  in  the  same  locality,  and  died  when 
her  son  Philip  was  an  infant. 

'Siv.  Philip  Stuppy  was  reared  to  farm  life,  and  received  his  education 
in  tlie  German  tongue.  He  is  the  only  one  of  the  family  who  decided  to 
leave  his  fatherland  and  seek  better  opportunities  in  the  Occident,  and  he 
was  twenty-one  when  he  crossed  the  ocean.  He  left  the  fatherland  in  com- 
pany with  one  of  his  comrades,  on  June  28,  1866,  and  sailed  from  Havre, 
France,  and  landed  in  New  York.  For  the  first  four  years  he  employed  him- 
self at  Scranton.  Pennsylvania,  accepting  any  work  which  would  give  him 
an  honest  dollar.  He  finally  bought  a  piece  of  land  in  Wyoming  county, 
but  after  a  year  sold  and  came  to  Lake  county,  arriving  here  in  1871.  He 
purchased  forty  acres  of  land  with  a  little  house  and  stable  and  with  few 
improvements.  He  has  since  added  to  his  possessions  till  he  is  now  the 
owner  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  acres  of  choice  land,  and  has  one  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  481 

model  farmsteads  of  the  entire  township  of  West  Creek.  He  came  here 
early  enough  that  much  of  the  land  was  unimproved,  and  has  thus  witnessed 
most  of  the  agricultural  de\-elopment  and  material  progress. 

On  February  12.  1867,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Rodel.  who 
became  the  mother  of  two  children,  a  son  and  a  daughter,  the  latter  dying 
in  infancy.  The  son.  Philip  P..  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in  \Vest  Creek  town- 
ship. 'Sir.  Stuppy  lost  his  first  wife  in  Pennsylvania,  in  September,  1870, 
and  on  March  i.  187 1,  married  Miss  Bridget  Murphy.  Three  sons  and 
two  daughters  came  to  this  second  union,  and  four  are  living:  John  A., 
a  farmer  on  his  father's  place,  completed  the  common  schools  and  took  the 
teacher's  course  in  Valparaiso:  Emma  L..  who  attended  high  school  and 
was  a  teacher  in  her  home  township  six  years,  is  the  wife  of  Lewis  Belshaw, 
of  \A''est  Creek  township:  Frank  M.  graduated  from  the  Lowell  high  school 
in  1898,  attended  the  University  of  Lidiana  and  took  a  business  course  at 
the  \'alparaiso  normal,  and  is  now  a  practicing  attorney  at  Crown  Point : 
Edgar  T.,  the  }oungest.  was  educated  in  the  Lowell  high  school  and  is  now 
a  practical  farmer  and  stockman.  ^Irs.  Stuppv  was  born  in  countv  ]\Iayo, 
Ireland. 

Mr.  Stuppy  is  a  Democrat,  but  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Grant, 
although  he  has  since  upheld  the  principles  of  the  Democracy.  He  was 
selected  as  a  delegate  to  the  state  convention  of  the  party  in  1896.  and  at 
various  times  has  been  sent  to  the  county  conventions.  He  was  once  can- 
didate for  the  office  of  county  commissioner.  He  has  always  performed  his 
share  of  the  ci\'ic  duties  devolving  upon  the  public-spirited  man.  and  the 
general  welfare  of  his  community  finds  in  him  a  loyal  advocate.  He  aided 
in  the  erection  of  the  JNIetliodist  Episcopal  church  at  Creston,  and  has  duly 
proportioned  his  time  and  energies  toward  all  proper  enterprises,  social, 
intellectual  and  personal. 

CYRUS     HAYDEX. 

Cyrus  Hayden  was  born  in  Lake  county  over  sixty  years  ago.  to  be 
exact,  on  the  24th  of  September,  1843,  ^o  that  he  is  among  the  oldest  of  the 
native  born  citizens  of  the  county.  He  has  spent  the  adult  years  of  his  life 
in  useful  activity  in  farming  pursuits,  and  from  an  impecunious  beginning 
has.  by  his  constant  industry  and  sagacious  management,  acquired  a  measure 

31 


482  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY. 

of  success  such  as  to  place  him  among  the  truly  representative  men  of  the 
county. 

He  was  the  youngest  of  thirteen  children,  eight  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters, whose  parents  were  Nehemiah  and  Harriett  (Kitchell)  Hayden.  Six 
of  this  family  are  still  living,  and  all  residents  of  Lake  count}'.  The  Hay- 
den family  long  since  gained  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  most  pro- 
gressive in  the  w^est  part  of  the  county.  The  parents  migrated  out  to  this 
part  of  northwest  Indiana  when  the  country  was  all  a  wilderness,  without 
railroads,  and  everything  in  the  primitive  condition  of  unsettled  regions. 

Mr.  Cyrus  Hayden  was  reared  to  farm  life,  and  has  from  boyhood 
known  the  details  of  farming  and  stock-raising.  He  is  one  of  the  citizens 
of  West  Creek  township  who  in  their  childhood  attended  the  old  log-cabin 
school-house.  The  school  was  located  a  little  north  of  the  Hayden  home- 
stead, on  section  12  of  West  Creek  township,  and  the  size  of  the  building 
was  about  fourteen  by  sixteen  feet,  with  one  or  two  rough  windows,  and  a 
wood-stove  to  furnish  heat.  He  sat  on  a  slab  seat  supported  by  wooden 
legs,  and  when  he  became  classed  with  the  older  boys  and  girls  he  used 
as  a  desk  the  slanting  board  that  ran  nearly  around  the  room  and  rested 
on  pins  driven  into  the  wall.  His  pen  was  a  gooseciuill,  fashioned  into  the 
necessary  shape  by  the  schoolmaster.  From  the  conditions  of  which  this 
school  was  a  representative  Mr.  Hayden  has  seen  Lake  county  pass  through 
a  most  wonderful  period  of  development,  witnessing  when  a  email  boy  the 
advent  of  the  railroad  and  then  the  many  other  concomitants  of  rising  civiliza- 
tion, until  be  now  lives  in  a  county  that  is  among  the  most  highly  im- 
proved of  the  middle  west  and  contains  all  the  arts  and  indu?tries  and  in- 
stitutions of  twentieth  century  life. 

He  remained  at  home  until  he  was  fifteen  years  old,  when  his  father 
died,  and  he  then  lived  with  his  brothers  for  three  years.  When  he  was 
ready  to  begin  on  his  own  account  all  he  had  was  a  team,  so  that  he  has 
risen  from  the  very  bottom  of  the  ladder.  In  his  early  days  he  has  raked 
the  grain  after  the  old-fashioned  cradle,  and  has  seen  the  hay  cut  down 
with  a  scythe.  It  is  a  well  remembered  event  when  the  first  reaper  came 
into  liis  neighborhood,  and  with  that  machine  it  was  necessan-  to  rake  the 
"•rain  bv  hand  off  the  platform,  and  the  reaper  could  also  be  used  as  a  mower. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  483 

He  has  thus  been  intimately  acquainted  with  all  the  improvements  in  agri- 
cultural processes  as  they  ha\-e  been  introduced. 

During  the  war  ]\Ir.  Hayden  offered  his  services  to  the  Union  cause, 
enlisting  in  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  in  Company  K,  One  Hundred  and 
Thirteenth  Illinois  Infantry.  He  joined  his  regiment  at  Memphis,  and  was 
then  assigned  to  duty  in  the  trans-Mississippi  department.  He  did  guard 
and  patrol  duty,  and  got  as  far  south  as  New  Orleans.  He  was  still  in  the 
service  when  the  glad  news  of  Lee's  surrender  came,  followed  five  days  later 
by  the  distressing  tidings  of  Lincoln's  assassination.  He  received  his  honor- 
able discharge  at  Chicago,  and  then  returned  home  to  take  up  his  duties  as 
a  peaceful  citizen. 

September  i,  1864,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Caroline  Cleaver,  and  five 
children,  two  sons  and  three  daughters,  were  born  to  them,  three  of  the 
children  being  stiU  living:  Myrtie,  the  wife  of  William  Einspahr.  a  farmer 
of  West  Creek  township,  finished  the  public  school  work  and  took  instruc- 
tion in  music.  Thuel  A.  was  educated  in  the  country  schools  and  the  Lowell 
high  school,  and  prepared  himself  for  teaching,  which  profession  he  followed 
verv  successfully  in  this  county,  having  taught  in  his  home  township  for 
four  years;  he  is  now  a  successful  farmer  of  West  Creek  township,  and 
married  Miss  Minnie  Shirley,  an  old  soldier's  daughter,  and  they  have  a  son, 
Hugh.  ]Mamie,  the  youngest,  is  at  home,  and  she  graduated  f!(jm  the  public 
schools  in  1904  and  has  also  taken  music.  Mrs.  Hayden  was  born  in  Yel- 
lowhead  township,  Kankakee  countv,  Illinois,  June  15,  1846,  and  was  the 
second  of  five  children  born  to  W'oster  D.  and  Eliza  A.  (Sargeant)  Cleaver, 
four  of  the  family  being  alive  at  the  present  writing  and  residents  of  Lake 
county.  Mrs.  Hayden  was  reared  and  educated  in  Illinois  and  was  a  teacher 
in  her  nati\e  county  for  three  years.  Her  father  was  born  in  Connecticut. 
April  7,  1816,  and  died  November  2S.  1867.  He  was  a  carpenter  and  joiner 
by  trade.  In  young  manhood  he  came  to  Illinois,  where  he  resided  till  his 
death.  He  was  a  strong  Republican  in  politics.  He  and  his  wife  were 
members  of  the  Christian  church.  His  wife  was  born  in  Fotmtain  county. 
Indiana,  December  31,  1825,  and  passed  away  August  14,  1897. 

During  the  first  year  of  their  married  life  Mr.  and  ]\Irs.  Hayden  were 
tenant  farmers  in  Yellowhead  township  of  Kankakee  county.  He  then 
purchased  eighty   acres   in   West   Creek   township  of   this   county,    and   this 


484  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

land  was  the  nucleus  around  which  they  liave  since  built  up  their  fine  estate. 
Their  first  eighty  was  in  the  condition  of  nature,  and  it  was  by  his  persever- 
ing labor  that  it  became  such  a  profitable  piece  of  agricultural  land.  There 
was  a  lone  burr-oak  tree  on  the  place,  and  it  stood  for  many  years  as  a  natural 
guide-post  to  the  traveler  across  the  prairie,  being  finally  cut  down  by  Mr. 
Havden  in  the  spring  of  1904.  His  first  home  was  a  little  frame  building, 
and  the  barn  was  small  and  roofed  with  hay.  But  the  days  of  early  struggle 
and  hard  labor  have  given  place  to  comfortable  circumstances,  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hayden  now  look  out  upon  a  beautiful  estate  of  three  hundred  and 
forty  acres,  all  of  which  is  in  \\'est  Creek  township  with  the  exception  of 
five  acres  in  Cedar  Creek.  They  have  a  nice  country  residence,  and  they  take 
much  satisfaction  in  the  knowledge  that  their  possessions  are  the  result  of 
their  own  Avork.  Mr.  Hayden  is  a  Simon-pure  Republican,  and  has  cast  his 
ballot   for  the  presidential   candidates   from  Lincoln  down. 

BENJAMIN  L.  P.  BELL. 

Benjamin  L.  P.  Bell,  chief  of  the  Hammond  fire  department,  has  had  a 
career  in  this  important  branch  of  public  service  lasting  over  fifteen  years, 
both  in  the  employ  of  a  private  concern  and  with  the  municipality.  The  fire- 
man does  more  for  the  conservation  of  property  than  any  other  individual, 
and  he  has  a  proportionately  high  regard  in  the  public  favor  and  esteem. 
Heroes  are  discovered  every  day  in  this  liranch  of  municipal  service,  yet  their 
quiet  performance  of  duty  goes  on  without  interruption  and  their  deeds  often 
fail  of  casual  mention  in  the  press.  The  Hammond  fire  department  has 
developed  and  maintains  as  high  a  state  of  efficiency  as  that  of  the  near-by 
city  of  Chicago,  and  takes  rank  among  the  best  of  the  state,  so  that  Mr. 
Bell  occupies  both  an  honorable  and  a  responsible  position  in  the  city  of 
his  choice. 

Chief  Bell  was  born  in  Chicago,  Illinois,  No\-eml)er  14,  1849,  a  son  of 
Joshua  and  Hannah  (Weaver)  Bell,  the  former  a  native  of  Ireland  and  the 
latter  of  New  York  state.  His  grandfather,  also  Joshua  Bell,  was  of  Scotch 
ancestry,  but  was  born,  lived  and  died  in  Ireland,  having  been  the  father  of 
several  children.  The  younger  Joshua  Bell  emigrated  from  Ireland  in  1819, 
and  became  a  shoe  merchant  in  Montreal,  Canada,  where  he  lived  until  the 
rebellion  in    1836.     He  then  came  to  Chicago,   in  the  early  period  of  th.at 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  485 

city"';  liistory.  and  remained  there  till  his  death  in  1875.  when  he  was  eighty- 
four  years  old.  His  wife.  Hannah  Bell,  was  one  of  a  good-sized  family  of 
children  born  to  Benjamin  and  Phoebe  (Paddock)  Weaver,  the  former  of 
whom  was  a  native  of  Onondaga  county,  New  York,  was  a  farmer,  and 
lived  to  be  over  ninety  years  old.  Mrs.  Hannah  Bell  survived  her  hus- 
band until  1883,  being  sixty-three  years  old  at  the  time  of  her  death.  She 
had  come  to  Chicago  in  1833,  when  the  Indians  still  made  it  their  haunt. 
Both  she  and  her  husband  were  Protestants.  They  had  four  children,  three 
sons  and  one  daughter:  Joshua,  of  Chicago:  Kossuth  H.,  of  Chicago:  Ben- 
jamin, of  Hammond:  and  Grace,  deceased,  who  was  the  wife  of  Henrv  F. 
Schiefer,  who  is  also  deceased. 

!Mr.  Benjamin  L.  P.  Bell  was  reared  in  Chicago,  attending  the  public 
schools,  and  later  took  a  course  in  Bryant  and  Stratton"s  Business  College. 
He  learned  the  plumber's  trade,  and  followed  that  for  a  number  of  years 
in  Chicago.  Fie  came  to  Hammond  in  1889  to  take  the  position  of  fire  mar- 
shal for  the  Hammond  Packing  Company,  and  two  years  ago  was  appointed 
to  the  office  of  fire  chief  of  the  city  fire  department. 

Mr.  Bell  was  married  August  6,  1890,  to  Miss  Agnes  Henrietta  Hob- 
man,  a  daughter  of  Ernest  W.  and  Caroline  (Sibley)  Hohman.  who  were 
the  first  settlers  of  the  original  town  of  Hammond,  and  whose  six  children 
are  still  living.  Four  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bell,  Fred  J.. 
Grace  Lena,  Alice  and  Gladys  Hohman  Bell.  Fred  J.  and  Alice  both  died 
when  about  a  year  old,-  and  the  other  two  are  in  school.  They  reside  at  2']() 
South  Hohman  street,  where  Mr.  Bell  built  a  good  home  in  1898.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bell  are  members  of  the  Episcopal  church,  and  he  affiliates  with 
Garfield  Lodge  No.  569,  F,  &  A.  ]M..  and  with  Hammond  Commandery 
No.  41,  K.  T.     He  is  a  strong  Republican  in  politics. 

\\TLLIA^I  T.  DICKINSON. 

\\'illiam  T.  Dickinson  is  so  well  known  as  a  worthy  citizen  of  West 
Creek  townsliip  as  to  need  hardly  any  introduction  to  the  readers  of  this 
volume.  He  has  spent  all  his  life  in  the  count}-,  antl  in  farming  and  stock- 
raising  has  found  the  proper  sphere  for  the  successful  direction  of  his  ener- 
gies, but  in  addition  is  also  a  public-spirited  man  and  willing  to  serve  the 
common  weal  wherever  possible. 


486  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

He  was  born  in  Lake  county,  July  26,  i860,  and  is  the  sixth  of  nine 
children,  six  sons  and  three  daughters,  born  to  Thomas  and  Rachel  (Miller) 
Dickinson.  Of  this  family  the  six  yet  living  are  as  follows :  Minerva,  wife 
of  E.  L.  Watson,  a  farmer  of  Cedar  Creek  township ;  Susie,  widow  of  G.  H. 
Baker  and  a  resident  of  Lowell;  William  T. ;  S.  E.,  a  farmer  of  Cedar  Creek 
township,  and  married;  P.  B.  and  E.  G.,  residents  also  of  Cedar  Creek 
township. 

Thomas  Dickinson,  the  father,  was  born  in  Yorkshire,  England,  De- 
cember 30,  182 1,  and  died  December  16,  1892,  and  followed  farming  during 
most  of  his  career.  When  about  eight  years  old  he  accompanied  his  mother 
to  America,  the  voyage  being  made  on  a  sailing  vessel  and  being  protracted 
forty  days  on  account  of  storms.  For  three  years  he  and  his  mother  lived 
in  Philadelphia,  and  then  moved  to  Ohio,  where  he  lived  until  the  spring 
of  1 86c,  when  he  came  to  Lake  county  and  took  up  his  residence  on  a  tract 
of  land  two  miles  south  of  Lowell.  He  was  reasonably  successful  in  his 
life  work,  and  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  his  fellow  men.  He  always  sup- 
ported the  Republican  party  until  his  death.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Odd 
Fellows  lodge  at  Lowell  for  many  years  before  his  demise.  He  was  bap- 
tized in  the  Established  Church  of  England.  Rachel,  his  wife,  was  born  in 
Ohio  in  February,  1825,  and  is  now  living  at  a  very  advanced  age  in  Cedar 
Creek  township,  being  a  ver\-  bright  old  lady. 

TMr.  William  T.  Dickinson  was  reared  to  the  life  of  farming.  After 
completing  the  work  of  the  common  schools  he  took  a  literary  course  at 
Valparaiso  College,  and  also  taught  a  year  in  West  Creek  township.  His 
first  purchase  of  land  was  eighty-six  acres  at  his  present  place,  which  he  has 
since  increased  to  ninety-four  acres.  He  keeps  his  farm  in  fine  condition, 
and  has  a  \'ery  comfortable  residence  and  all  necessary  improvements. 

October  3,  1881,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Lida  Miller,  and  three  sons 
were  born  to  them,  one  of  them  now  being  deceased.  Thomas  A.  is  a  boy 
who  has  shown  unusual  talent  in  school  work  and  made  remarkable  advance- 
ment. He  completed  the  common  school  course  of  study  on  April  29.  1898, 
when  he  was  twelve  years  old,  then  took  three  years'  high  school  work  in 
the  Lake  Prairie  high  school,  and  in  1902  graduated  fn^m  the  Lowell  high 
school,  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  He  entered  Purdue  L'niversity  as  a  student, 
but  after  two  months  was  compelled  to  forego  his  further  education  for  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  487 

present  on  account  of  failing  health.  The  younger  son,  Qiarles  E.,  gradu- 
ated from  the  common  schools  May  9,  lyoi,  and  is  now  a  student  in  the 
LoA:"ell  high  school.  The  parents  may  be  very  proud  of  what  these  youths 
have  accomplished  in  their  preparation  for  life's  duties,  for  they  have  shown 
capacity  and  industry  which  will  at  some  day  rank  them  among  the  suc- 
cessful men  of  the  world. 

Mrs.  Dickinson  v>-as  born  in  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  April  10,  1863, 
and  was  reared  in  that  county  and  in  Iroquois  county.  Her  parents  were 
Uriah  and  Catharine  (Jones)  Miller,  and  of  the  four  children  in  the  fam- 
ily, ilrs.  Dickinson  has  two  brothers  living:  John  A..  whO'  is  a  generai 
merchant  at  Pittwood,  Illinois,  and  Charles  U.,  a  resident  of  Lowell, 
Indiana. 

Mr.  Dickinson  and  his  wife  spent  the  first  two  years  of  their  married 
life  on  his  father's  farm  in  Cedar  Creek  township,  and  lie  then  located  on  his 
present  place.  He  had  to  begin  in  the  world  without  capital,  and  it  has  been 
through  industry,  careful  economy  and  wise  management  that  he  and  his 
wife  have  made  for  themselves  a  comfortable  home  and  pleasant  surround- 
ings. Mr.  Dickinson  has  supported  the  Republican  party  since  his  first 
vote  went  for  Blaine,  and  he  has  at  various  times  been  selected  as  a  delegate 
to  county  and  district  conventions  of  his  party.  He  has  fraternal  relations 
with  the  Masonic  lodge  No.  378,  at  Lowell,  and  with  Camp  No.  5500  of 
the  Modern  \\'oodnien  at  the  same  place.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Christian  church  at  Lowell. 

FRANK  B.  PLUMMER. 

Frank  B.  Plummer  conies  from  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  prom- 
inent families  identified  with  the  business  and  agricultural  industries  of 
Lake  county.  He  has  spent  practically  all  his  acti\e  career  in  this  county, 
and  in  connection  with  farming,  and  has  been  prosperous  in  material  afifairs 
and  a  leading  and  influential  spirit  in  civic  and  social  matters. 

He  was  born  in  this  county  January  16,  1857,  and  is  the  eldest  of  three 
children  born  to  Abiel  and  Kate  (Baughman)  Plummer,  a  detailed  history 
of  the  father  beirig  given  place  on  other  pages  of  this  volume.  He  has  one 
brother  living,  Edwin,  who  is  a  resident  of  Chicago'  and  employed  in  the 
iMasonic  Temple. 


488  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

j\[r.  Plumnier  passed  his  early  }-ears  in  Lake  county,  and  in  addition 
to  the  course  at  the  common  schools  he  attended  the  high  school  at  Fisher- 
ville,  New  Hampshire.  All  his  active  career  has  been  spent  as  a  farmer  and 
stockman,  and  with  the  exception  of  two  years  in  Kansas  his  work  has  been 
con.lned  to  this  county,  ^^'hen  he  made  his  start  in  Kansas  he  had  very 
little  capital,  and  his  own  intelligent  management  and  industry  have  been 
the  principal  factors  in  bringing  him  success. 

In  September,  1881.  he  was  married  to  Miss  Lizzie  Alexander,  and  of 
this  happy  marriage  two  daughters  have  been  born.  Blanche,  the  elder,  is 
in  the  eighth  grade  of  school  and  has  also  taken  music :  Beulah  will  graduate 
with  the  class  of  1905  from  the  Lowell  high  school.  Mrs.  "Plummer  was 
born  in  Mifflin  county,  Pennsyh'ania,  in  September.  1867.  and  was  reared 
and  educatetl  in  her  native  state.  Her  mother  is  still  living  in  Pennsylvania, 
but  her  father  is  deceased.  She  has  been  a  true  and  worthy  helpmate  of  her 
husband,  and  is  a  lady  of  many  social  attractions  and  gracious  and  kind- 
hearted  at  home  and  abroad. 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Plummer  located  in  Lake  county  and  began 
farming".  He  now  has  charge  of  about  a  section  of  fine  land  in  West  Creek 
township,  and  in  i8g6  he  erected  a  beautiful  country  residence  cin  the  estate. 
He  gives  especial  attention  to  the  raising  of  stock,  and  has  some  fine  regis- 
tered Galloway  cattle  and  Poland  China  hogs.  He  has  voted  for  Republican 
principles  and  candidates  since  the  time  of  Garfield.  He  and  his  wife  are 
adherents  of  the  Lake  Prairie  Presbyterian  church,  and  stand  high  in  the 
social  circles  of  the  township. 

ARIEL  G.  PLUMMER. 

Abiel  G.  Plummer  has  been  a  citizen  of  Lake  county  since  the  years 
1852,  for  over  half  a  century,  and  he  thus  belongs  to  the  pioneer  class  of  the 
citizens  of  the  county  and  state.  It  was  a  matter  of  great  pleasure  to  his 
manv  friends  throughout  tlie  countv  that  he  was  able  recentlv  to  celebrate 
his  eightieth  birthday,  and  be  has  li\-ed  this  long  life  so  usefully  and  worthily 
that  he  is  venerated  and  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  all  who  know  him. 

He  is  a  native  of  New  England,  and  was  born  in  the  state  of  New 
Hampshire,  May  24,  1824.  He  is  of  true  colonial  stock,  and  it  is  related  that 
the  earliest  progenitor  of  the  Plummer  family  was  Francis  Plummer,  who 


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HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  489 

came  from  England  in  the  year  1633.  only  thirteen  years  after  the  advent  of 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  upon  the  shores  of  Xew  England.  Abiel  G.  is  the  only 
son  and  the  second  of  the  five  children  born  to  Ephraim  and  Lucy  (Gerrish) 
Plummer.  His  sisters  are  all  living.  ^lary,  the  oldest,  is  the  widow  of  Henrj' 
Docige,  a  former  agriculturist  at  Webster.  Xew  Hampshire,  and  she  has  three 
daughters  living:  Priscilla,  the  widow  of  Luther  Gage,  is  a  resident  of  Pen- 
nicoke.  Xew  Hampshire.  Helen  is  also  a  resident  of  Pennicoke;  and  Frances, 
widow  of  Albert  Reed,  lives  in  Jersey  City. 

Ephraim  Plummer.  the  father  of  this  long-lived  family  of  children, 
was  bom  in  Boscawen.  Xew  Hampshire.  August  29.  1793.  and  died 
July  20.  1872.  his  birth  ha\"ing  occurred  six  years  before  the  death  of 
George  Washington.  He  was  a  farmer  and  received  a  meager  education. 
His  home  was  near  that  of  the  celebrated  Daniel  Webster.  He  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  ^^'hig  party  until  it  was  merged  with  the  stronger  Republican 
organization,  which  he  supported  until  his  death.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were 
members  of  the  Congregational  society  of  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  W'ood  was 
pastor  for  half  a  century.  His  wife  was  also  a  native  of  the  same  part  of 
X'ew  Hampshire  as  her  husband,  and  at  her  death  on  March  29,  1879,  she 
was  seventy-five  years  and  six  months  old. 

Mr.  Abiel  G.  Plummer  was  reared  in  his  native  state  and  had  only  a 
common  school  education,  which  was  much  supplemented  and  rounded  ofif 
by  the  subsequent  practical  experience  of  life.  He  had  early  become  ac- 
quainted with  farming  in  all  its  phases,  and  when  he  reached  his  majority  he 
began  on  his  own  account  with  only  his  energy  and  industry  as  his  capital. 
^^'hen  he  was  twenty-four  years  old  he  concluded  to  come  west  and  lay  the 
foundation  of  his  substantial  career,  and  he  made  the  journey  to  Niles.  Michi- 
gan, partly  by  rail,  partly  through  the  Erie  canal  and  partly  by  the  lakes.  His 
first  wages  in  Michigan  were  a  dollar  a  day  for  hard  manual  labor,  and  while 
he  was  getting  started  he  was  always  willing  to  do  any  work  that  would 
afford  him  an  honest  living.  Li  1852  he  came  to  locate  permanently  in  ^^'est 
Creek  township.  Lake  count}-.  In  the  preceding  year  he  had  bargained  for 
three  quarter  sections  of  land  in  this  township,  and  this  was  the  land  upon 
which  he  worked  and  wrought  so  as  to  bring  him  his  present  easy  circum- 
stances. 

;Mr.   Plummer  has  some  old  parchment  deeds  which  are  valuable  sou- 


490  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

venirs  in  his  liousehold  and  interesting  relics  of  the  past.  One  was  executed 
April  I,  1843,  and  signed  by  President  Tyler,  another  was  signed  by  President 
Polk  and  executed  December  i,  1848,  and  of  the  same  date  and  signature  are 
two  others.  There  are  only  a  few  of  these  documents  in  the  county,  and 
they  are  therefore  the  more  precious  as  heirlooms  and  antiquities. 

When  Mr.  Plummer  came  to  this  township  Lowell  contained  but  two 
houses,  and  there  was  not  a  railroad  in  the  entire  county,  now  so  crossed 
and  recrossed  by  great  trunk  lines.  His  first  home  was  a  little  plank  house, 
and  in  the  early  days  he  has  seen  as  many  as  fifteen  deer  at  one  time  on  his 
premises.  The  old  Indian  trail  led  across  his  land,  and  wolves  were  still 
plentiful.  He  has  thus  witnessed  all  the  great  development  that  has  trans- 
formed this  countrv  so  wondrously  in  the  past  half  century.  He  used  to 
drive  into  the  city  of  Chicago  when  the  stockyards  were  located  on  the  Lake 
shore.  One  of  his  greatest  pioneer  accomplishments  in  this  county  was  the 
breaking  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  virgin  prairie  with  ox  teams. 

June  5,  1855,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Kate  Baughman,  and 
three  sons  were  born  to  them,  Frank  and  Edwin  living  at  the  present  time, 
and  elsewhere  in  these  pages  will  be  found  the  personal  history  of  Mr.  Frank 
Plummer,  who  manages  the  old  homestead.  Mrs.  Plummer  was  born  in  New 
Philadelphia,  Ohio,  June  9,  1832,  being  one  of  the  ten  children,  five  sons  and 
five  daughters,  born  to  Jacob  and  Sallie  (Ritter)  Baughman.  She  has  a 
sister  and  three  brothers  still  living :  Barbara,  who  is  the  widow  of  Edward 
Kniselv,  of  Lowell;  John,  who  is  a  carpenter  and  joiner  by  occupation  and  a 
resident  of  Arlington,  Washington;  Jacob,  a  retired  farmer  of  Lowell;  and 
Jav  D.,  who  is  a  farmer  at  Jackson,  Minnesota.  Jacob  Baughman,  Mrs. 
Plummer's  father,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  of  old  Pennsylvania  German 
stock,  on  February  9,  1798,  and  died  October  4,  1853,  in  Lake  Prairie,  this 
county.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  His  wife  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, April  30,  1799,  and  died  in  West  Creek  township  of  this  county.  She 
was  a  memljer  of  the  Evangelical  church.  Mrs.  Plummer  was  reared  in 
Ohio  until  she  was  seventeen  years  old,  and  received  her  education  in  that 
state.  She  came  with  her  parents  to  Porter  county,  Indiana,  in  1849.  She 
is  a  kind-hearted  and  genial  lady,  and  in  many  ways  has  smoothed  out  the 
rough  places  where  family  and  friends  were  treading.  She  and  her  husband 
have  together  traveled  life's  journey  for  forty-nine  years,  and  it  is  the  hope 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  491 

of  all  their  numerous  friends  that  they  will  the  next  year  celehrate  their  golden 
wedding. 

Mr.  and  ^Irs.  Plunimer  hegan  their  wedded  life  in  West  Creek  town- 
ship and  continued  in  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  there  for  many  years.  In 
1901  they  moved  into  the  town  of  Lowell,  and  there  live  a  retired  and  peace- 
ful life.  Mr.  Plummer  owns  about  seven  hundred  acres  of  land  in  West 
Creek  township,  and  his  career  of  industry  and  honest  dealing  has  brought 
him  comfortable  circumstances.  He  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  began  casting 
his  ballot  for  president  when  the  Whig  candidate,  Zachary  Taylor,  ran  for  the 
ofifice.  He  has  voted  for  all  the  Republican  nominees  from  Lincoln  down, 
and  has  served  as  a  delegate  to  the  county  convention.  Mrs.  Plummer  is  a 
member  of  the  Evangelical  church. 

JOHX  E.  LOVE. 

John  E.  Love,  cashier  of  the  State  National  Bank  at  Lowell,  has  also 
been  identified  with  farming  interests,  with  educational  work  and  with  hay 
and  grain  dealing  in  this  place,  and  is  a  successful  business  man  of  marked 
enteriirise  and  energy,  whose  ready  recognition  of  opportunity  has  l^een  one  of 
the  salient  features  m  his  successful  career.  He  was  born  in  Detroit,  Michi- 
gan, April  16,  1854,  and  is  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Ellen  J.  (Mundall)  Love, 
both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Belfast,  Ireland.  The  father  was  reared  in  the 
place  of  his  birth  and  became  a  weaver.  In  1852,  however,  attracted  by  the 
business  possibilities  of  the  new  world,  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  America  and 
located  at  Washington  Island,  W'isconsin.  He  came  to  Lake  county  in  1870, 
and  his  last  davs  were  spent  in  Leroy,  Indiana,  wdiere  he  died  in  1902,  when 
about  seventy-one  years  of  age,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  1831.  His 
widow-  still  survdves  him  and  now  resides  in  Leroy,  Winfield  township. 

John  E.  Love  was  the  second  child  and  eldest  son  in  their  family  of  eight 
children.  He  was  born  in  April,  1854,  and  in  1854  his  parents  removed  to 
Washington  Island,  Wisconsin,  where  he  was  reared,  pursuing  his  education 
in  the  public  schools.  He  remained  at  home  until  twenty-four  years  of  age, 
and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years  he  began  teaching  school,  which  profession 
he  followed  through  the  winter  months,  while  in  the  summer  seasons  he 
assisted  his  father  in  the  work  of  the  home  farm.  In  1870  he  came  to  Lake 
county,   Indiana,  and  here  engaged  in   farming  and  in  teaching  school   for 


492  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

about  ten  years.  In  1880  he  built  a  bay  barn  and  elevator  at  Creston,  Lake 
county,  wbicb  be  .still  operates.  In  1893,  bowever.  be  remo\-ed  to  Lowell  and 
was  engaged  in  dealing  in  hay  alone  in  this  place  until  1900,  when  he  ad- 
mitted A.  S.  Hull  to  a  partnership  under  the  firm  style  of  LoA-e  &  Hull,  a 
relation  that  is  still  maintained.  The  firm  does  an  excellent  business,  making 
large  purchases  and  sales  and  their  enterprise  has  l)ecome  a  profitable  one. 
In  February,  1903,  Mr.  Love  was  elected  cashier  of  the  State  National  Bank 
and  is  thus  actively  connected  with  financial  interests  of  the  county.  He  also 
has  valuable  real  estate  in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  and  Fayette  and  Clayton 
counties,  Iowa.  His  business  interests  and  his  property  holdings  are  the  visi- 
ble evidence  of  his  life  of  thrift  and  industn,-. 

On  the  19th  of  June,  1878,  Mr.  Love  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Martha  E.  Jones,  a  daughter  of  Perry  and  Mary  (Gilson)  Jones,  who  were 
early  settlers  of  Lake  county,  prominent  and  influential  here.  Mrs.  Love 
was  born  in  Cedar  Creek  township,  February  22.  1862,  attended  the  iiublic 
schools  of  the  county,  and  also  continued  her  studies  in  a  private  school  at 
Crown  Point  under  the  management  of  Miss  Martha  Knight.  Five  dauglv 
ters  ha\-e  Ijeen  liorn  of  this  marriage,  but  the  eldest,  Rosa,  is  now  deceased. 
The  others  are:     Mollie,  Ina,  Grace,  Mal>el.  Bessie  May  and  Alice  Edith. 

In  his  political  views  INIr.  Love  is  an  earnest  Republican,  keeping  well 
informed  on  the  questions  and  issues  of  the  day  and  giving  unfaltering  sup- 
port to  the  principles  of  the  party.  He  served  as  township  trustee  from  1S95 
until  1900  in  Cedar  Creek  township.  He  is  also  well  known  in  ^Masonic 
circles,  belonging  to  Colfax  Lodge  No.  378,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  which  he  has 
been  secretary  for  twenty  years.  He  is  likewise  a  member  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias  Lodge  No.  300,  at  Lowell,  Indiana,  of  which  be  is  one  of  the  trustees, 
and  he  holds  membership  relation  with  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters 
of  America.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  in  which 
he  has  filled  various  ofiices.  His  nature  is  kindly,  his  temperament  jovial 
and  genial,  and  his  manner  courteous.  He  has  steadily  advanced  in  those 
walks  of  life  demanding  intellectuality,  business  ability  and  fidelity,  and  to-day 
be  commands  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  of  those  with  whom  be  has  been 
associated  in  liusiness  or  social  relations. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  493 

ALEXANDER  E.  AYERS. 

Alexander  E.  Avers  is  a  recent  addition  to  the  already  fine  personnel 
of  Lake  county  citizens,  and  his  energetic  character  and  successful  prosecu- 
tion of  his  husiness  aflairs  make  him  a  valued  factor  in  the  material  and 
civic  progress  and  prosperity  of  the  county.  He  has  been  in  the  county  for 
the  past  three  years,  and  is  already  well  known  throughout  the  township  of 
West  Creek. 

He  was  born  in  Shelby  county.  Ohio,  December  15,  1847,  '^''"^1  is  the 
seventh  of  eight  children,  four  sons  and  four  daughters,  born  to  Alexander  H. 
and  Julia  (House)  Avers.  He  has  two  brothers  still  li\-ing.  Michael,  now 
a  resident  of  Lake  county,  was  a  soldier  for  four  years  in  the  Civil  war,  was 
under  fire  for  one  hundred  days  during  the  Atlanta  campaign  imder  Sherman, 
then  was  on  the  march  to  the  sea,  was  wounded  at  Stone  River.  December 
31,  1862,  being  struck  in  the  hips:  at  Marietta,  Georgia,  was  struck  on  the 
head  by  a  piece  of  shell,  and  received  his  honorable  discharge  at  Louisville, 
July  17,  1865.  Samuel  is  a  retired  farmer  of  Heyworth,  Illinois,  and  is  a 
man  of  family. 

The  father  of  this  family  was  born  in  Butler  county,  Ohio,  December 
12,  1812,  and  died  December  20,  1885.  He  was  reared  and  educated  in  his 
native  county,  and  throughout  life  was  a  great  reader  and  profound  thinker. 
He  was  an  active  Whig  and  later  an  ecjually  ardent  Republican,  and  cast 
his  votes  for  the  candidates  of  the  party  from  Fremont  until  his  death.  He 
canie  out  to  Woodford  county,  Illinois,  in  1865,  and  lived  there  the  greater 
part  of  his  remaining  years.  He  was  a  Universalist  in  religion,  and  his  wife 
was  inclined  to  the  Methodist  faith.  The  ancestry  of  the  Ayers  family  is 
traced  to  the  French.  Julia  Ayers,  the  mother  of  Mr.  Ayers,  was  born  in 
Butler  county.  Ohio,  September  15,  1810,  and  died  in  1897,  December  21, 
being  then  eighty-seven  years  of  age. 

Mr.  Alexander  E.  Ayers  accompanied  his  parents  to  Woodford  county. 
Illinois,  in  1865.  He  is  in  the  main  a  self-educated  man.  He  lived  with  and 
took  care  of  his  parents  for  many  years.  He  has  been  married  twice.  His 
first  wife  died  without  issue,  and  on  February  25.  1885,  he  married  Miss  Alice 
V.  DeBolt,  who  became  the  mother  of  eight  children,  si.x  of  whom  are  still 
living:  Arthur  H..  who  has  reached  the  eighth  grade  in  his  school  work;  J. 
Emerson,  who  is  a  bright  lad  in  the  eighth  grade  of  school,  with  an  especial 


49i  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

fondness  for  mathematics  and  history:  N.  Gny.  who  has  received  his  diploma 
from  the  eighth  grade:  Ava  Ray:  H.  Bernard,  wlio  is  in  the  fifth  grade:  and 
Frank  Leslie,  the  baby  of  the  family.  Mrs.  Ayers  was  born  in  Woodford 
county.  Illinois,  October  5.  i860,  and  is  the  oldest  of  the  three  children  and 
the  only  daughter  born  to  John  and  Eliza  J.  (Drake)  DeBolt.  One  brother 
is  living.  John  jNL.  a  successful  grain  merchant  at  El  Paso.  Illinois.  Her 
father  was  born  in  Greene  county.  Pennsylvania,  Januar\'  i.  1830,  and  died 
July  28.  1898,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight.  He  was  a  farmer  and  went  from 
Pennsylvania  to  Virginia,  where  he  was  reared.  In  1857  he  located  and  pur- 
chased land  in  Woodford  county.  Illinois,  near  El  Paso.  He  was  a  strenuous 
Jackson  Democrat  in  politics,  and  was  a  man  of  broad  intelligence  and  ability. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Christian  church  at  the  time  of  his  death.  His  wife 
was  a  strong  Methodist,  and  she  was  a  bright  and  intelligent  lady.  Mrs. 
Ayers  is  a  lover  of  the  choicest  literature,  and  she  finds  books  to  be  her  best 
companions.  She  is  an  ardent  Methodist,  antl  joined  a  class  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-one  under  Rev.  Milsap. 

Mr.  Ayers  owned  fifty  acres  of  excellent  land  in  Woodford  county,  and 
resided  there  until  March  i.  1902.  when  he  purchased  and  removed  to  his 
fine  estate  of  bottom  land  in  \\'est  Creek  township,  consisting  of  four  hundred 
and  fifty-five  acres,  on  which  he  has  already  placed  many  valuable  improve- 
ments and  which  in  time  will  lie  one  of  the  model  farms  of  the  county.  He 
is  very  much  interested  in  stock-raising,  and  keeps  some  fine  grades  on  his 
place.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  has  supported  the  candidates  since 
casting  his  first  vote  for  General  Grant.  He  holds  in  the  highest  respect  the 
tenets  of  Christianity,  and  for  himself  has  tried  to  guide  his  path  according 
to  the  golden  rule.  Durin.g  their  short  residence  he  and  his  wife  ha\e  gained 
the  confidence  and  high  regard  of  all  with  whom  they  have  become  asso- 
ciated in  Lake  county,  and  are  people  of  the  best  personal  worth  and  char- 
acter. 

HON.  WILLIAISI  H.   RIFENBURG. 

Hon.  \^■illiam  H.  Rifenburg,  so  prominent  in  the  ranks  of  the  citizens 
of  Hobart,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Summit.  Schoharie  county,  New  York, 
October  22,  1834.  His  grandfather,  Henry  Rifenburg,  was  born  in  Columbia 
county.  New  York,  near  Poughkeepsie,  and  was  a  farmer  and  a  contractor 
by  occupation,  having  assisted  in  the  building  of  the  Erie  canal.     His  father, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  495 

also  named  Heniy,  was  born  along  the  Hudson,  and  was  the  son  of  an  emi- 
grant from  Holland,  the  family  being  a  sturdy  New  York  Dutch  stock. 
Aaron  Rifenburg,  the  father  of  our  Hobart  citizen,  was  a  nati\e  of  Schoharie 
county,  and  was  reared  and  educated  there  and  became  a  farmer.  He  passed 
away  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-eight  years.  His  wife  was  Mary  Banks, 
and  she  died  when  about  forty-five  years  of  age.  Her  father,  William  Banks, 
was  a  native  of  the  same  portion  of  New  York  state  as  the  other  members  of 
the  family,  and  was  of  Holland  Dutch  descent.  Aaron  Rifenburg  and  wife 
had  seven  children,  and  all  reached  adult  age  except  one. 

Hon.  William  H.  Rifenburg.  the  eldest  of  the  family,  was  reared  in 
New  York,  received  his  education  in  the  common  schools,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty  went  west  to  Allegan  county,  Michigan,  where  he  spent  one  year.  He 
came  to  Lake  county  in  1856,  among  the  early  settlers,  and  for  a  while  clerked 
in  a  store.  He  bought  a  farm  in  Hobart  township,  and  was  engaged  in  farm- 
ing until  the  Ci\'il  war.  In  1861  he  enlisted  in  Company  E  of  the  famous  old 
Ninth  Indiana  Infantry,  and  served  as  a  private  and  second  sergeant.  At  the 
battle  of  Shiloh  he  was  wounded  in  the  shoulder,  and  in  the  following  August 
received  his  honorable  discharge.  On  returning  to  Hobart  he  embarked  in 
the  mercantile  business,  and  from  then  until  1892  was  concerned  in  various 
enterprises.  In  the  latter  year  he  began  contracting,  and  did  some  important 
work  in  that  line.  In  1897  he  was  elected  to  the  state  legislature  from  Lake 
county,  and  his  Republican  constituents  returned  him  for  two  years,  his  record 
at  the  state  capital  being  in  every  way  creditable.  He  served  as  trustee  of  his 
township  for  two  years,  1864-65,  and  held  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace 
from  1864  to  1868.  He  is  a  charter  member  and  was  the  first  commander 
of  Hobart  Post  No.  411.  G.  A.  R.  During  his  legislative  career  he  was  chair- 
man of  the  prison  committee  north,  and  it  was  largely  due  to  his  influence 
that  the  Michigan  City  penitentiary  was  rebuilt,  the  contract  system  of  prison 
labor  abolished,  and  the  indeterminate  sentence  law  passed.  He  is  also  recog- 
nized as  the  father  of  the  present  gravel  road  system  of  Indiana. 

In  1859  ^Ir.  Rifenburg  married  Rebecca  Stearns,  and  of  this  marriage 
there  is  one  daughter,  Mary,  now  the  wife  of  John  J.  W'ood.  In  1866  Mr. 
Rifenburg  was  married  to  Anna  Howe,  by  whom  there  are  no  children  living, 
and  in  1869  he  married  Miss  Sabrina  Sawyer.  They  ha\e  three  li^•ing  chil- 
ren:  Grace,  the  wife  of  Joseph  H.  Conroy,  whose  history  is  given  on  another 


490  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

page:   Alaude,   the  wife  of  Elmer  Armet,  an  official  at  the  Alichigan  City 
prison  :  anil  Ruth,  single. 

Mr.  Rifenbnrg  affiliates  with  the  ]\I.  L.  McClellan  Lodge  No.  357,  of 
the  Masonic  Order,  at  Hobart,  and  is  a  member  and  a  trustee  of  the  L^nitarian 
church. 

EDGAR  HAYDEN. 

Edgar  Hayden,  after  long  years  of  active  connection  with  agricultural 
interests,  is  now  living  a  retired  life  in  Lowell  and  belongs  to  a  family  of 
prominence  in  the  county — a  family  that  has  taken  a  very  active  and  helpful 
]:)art  in  the  work  of  public  progress  and  impro\'ement.  He  was  born  in  ^^'est 
Creek  town.ship.  October  16,  1840,  and  in  a  family  of  thirteen  children  is  the 
eleventh  in  order  of  birth.  His  parents  are  Nehemiah  and  Harriet  (Kitchell) 
Hayden,  and  the  family  history  is  given  in  connection  with  the  sketch  of 
Joseph  Hayden  on  another  page  of  this  volume. 

No  event  of  special  importance  occurred  to  vary  the  routine  of  farm  life 
for  Mr.  Hayden  in  his  youth.  In  his  boyhood  he  pursued  his  education  in  a 
log  schoolhouse,  which  had  a  puncheon  floor  and  was  seated  with  slab  benches. 
Lie  attended  through  the  winter  months,  and  when  spring  came  he  assisted 
in  the  work  of  plowing  and  planting  in  the  fields,  continuing  their  cultivation 
until  after  crops  were  harvested  in  the  late  autumn.  He  started  out  to  earn 
his  own  living  when  a  mere  boy,  working  by  the  month  as  a  farm  hand,  and 
thus  he  was  employed  until  1861,  when  he  was  married  and  began  farming 
on  his  own  account.  He  secured  as  a  companion  and  helpmate  for  life's 
journey  Miss  Rachel  Knisely,  a  sister  of  the  wives  of  Jacob  and  Lewis 
Hayden.  She  was  born  in  New  Philadelphia,  Tuscarawas  county.  Ohio. 
February  16,  1841,  and  is  the  third  in  a  family  of  five  daughters. 

The  young  couple  began  their  domestic  life  in  Yellowhead  township, 
Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  just  across  the  state  line  that  divides  Illinois  and 
Indiana.  His  barn,  however,  was  located  in  Lake  county,  while  the  house 
stood  in  Kankakee  county.  Mr.  Hayden  was  there  engaged  in  farming  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  and  during  that  period  he  transformed  his  land  into 
very  arable  and  productive  fields,  making  his  property  one  of  value  and  also 
of  attractive  appearance.  When  twenty-five  years  had  passed  he  put  aside 
farm  labor  and  took  up  his  abode  in  Lowell.  He  at  one  time  had  two  hundred 
and  sixtv  acres  of  land,  but  lias  since  sold  one  hundred  acres,  and  he  now 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  497 

rents  the  remainint^-  quarter  section.  His  first  purchase  of  land  comprised 
sixty-five  acres,  for  wiiich  he  paid  fifteen  dollars  per  acre,  and  the  greatest 
price  which  he  ever  paid  was  thirty-se\-en  dollars  per  acre.  He  sold  one  hun- 
dred acres  in  October,  1903.  for  one  hundred  dollars  per  acre,  a  fact  which 
indicates  how  well  he  had  improved  the  property.  He  began  life  a  poor  man, 
but  by  his  own  energy  and  unflagging  perseverance,  supplemented  by  the 
assistance  of  his  estimable  wife,  he  has  become  the  owner  of  a  valuable  farm 
and  is  to-day  enjoying  the  fruits  of  his  former  toil  in  a  comfortajjle  home  in 
Lowell,  his  competence  being  sufficient  to  enalile  him  to  surround  himself  and 
family  with  the  necessities  and  many  of  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  life. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hayden  have  been  born  two  children,  Nellie,  who  is  now 
the  wife  of  Charles  Beebe,  who  is  living  a  half  mile  west  of  Lowell  upon  a 
farm  in  West  Creek  township;  and  Seigel,  who  resides  in  Lowell. 

Mr.  Hayden  is  numbered  among  the  honored  pioneer  settlers  of  Lake 
county.  The  family  was  established  here  in  1837,  and  since  that  time  has 
been  closely  identified  with  the  improvement  and  upbuilding  of  the  county. 
In  tlie  family  were  eight  sons  and  five  daughters,  most  of  whom  have  remained 
residents  of  this  county.  When  a  boy  Edgar  Hayden  drove  ox  teams  to 
Chicago,  taking  grain  and  hogs  to  the  city  market  in  that  way.  There  were 
no  railroads  at  that  time  and  he  did  teaming  to  the  city  even  after  his  mar- 
riage. His  political  \'iews  have  ever  been  in  harmony  with  the  principles  of 
the  Republican  party,  liut  he  has  never  sought  or  desired  the  honors  or  emolu- 
ments of  public  office.  He  has  endeavored  to  live  peaceably  with  all  men,  and 
has  himself  been  engaged  in  no  lawsuit.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the  town 
council  of  Lowell  and  is  deeply  interested  in  everything  pertaining  to  its 
progress  and  upbuilding. 

JOSEPH  HAYDEN. 

Joseph  Hayden,  now  deceased,  was  a  prominent  old  settler  of  Lake 
county  and  a  man  whom  to  know  was  to  respect  and  honor.  He  lived  here 
for  many  years  and  because  of  his  upright  life,  his  activity  and  relial:)ility  in 
business  and  his  fidelity  in  matters  of  citizenship  he  won  the  respect,  con- 
fidence and  friendship  of  the  large  majority  of  those  with  whom  he  came  in 
contact.  He  claimed  Ohio  as  the  state  of  his  nativity,  his  birth  having 
occurred  in  Knox  county,  July  7,  1832.  He  was  a  son  of  Nehemiah  Hayden, 
who  removed  with  his  family  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  during  the  early  boy- 

32 


498  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

hood  of  liis  son  Joseph,  who  was  reared  in  West  Creek  township  upon  the 
old  homestead.  He  endured  tlie  hardsliips  and  trials  incident  to  pioneer  life 
and  assisted  in  the  arduous  task  of  developing  his  father's  farm.  Outside  of 
this  no  special  event  occurred  to  vary  the  routine  of  his  life  in  his  youth. 

He  remained  at  home  with  his  parents  uj)  to  the  time  of  his  marriage, 
which  was  celebrated  on  the  loth  of  October,  1854.  the  lady  of  his  choice 
being  Miss  Maria  P.  Green,  who  was  born  in  Michigan,  March  13,  1836, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  John  and  Phebe  Green.  The  mother  died  when  Mrs. 
Hayden  was  but  a  week  old,  and  she  was  reared  by  her  sister,  j\Irs.  Michaels. 
She  was  brought  to  Lake  county  when  but  three  years  old  and  pursued  her 
education  in  one  of  the  old-time  log  schoolhouses  common  in  all  frontier 
settlements  in  the  middle  west.  By  her  marriage  she  became  the  mother  of 
nine  children :  Lester,  who  is  living  in  Topeka,  Lidiana ;  Sidney,  who  follows 
farming  in  \\'est  Creek  township;  Williur.  who  carries  on  agricultural  pur- 
suits near  Alomence.  Illinois:  Anna,  the  wife  of  Elias  Bryant,  of  Lafayette, 
Indiana ;  Hilton,  who  makes  his  home  in  Chicago :  Clarence,  who  follows 
farming  near  Momence,  Illinois;  Cass  J.,  a  banker  of  Grant  Park,  Illinois; 
Merritt,  who  follows  farming  on  the  old  homestead;  and  Ralph,  who  is  a 
phvsician  of  Chicago  and  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Fosmer  &  Hayden,  dealers 
in  farm  lands  and  investments.     All  of  the  children  are  married. 

Joseph  Havden  was  a  life-long  Republican  and  as  a  citizen  was  deeply 
interested  in  everything  pertaining  to  public  progress  and  improvement.  He 
was  honorable  in  all  business  transactions,  faithful  to  his  friends  and  family, 
and  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1898,  was  therefore  the  occasion  of  deep  and 
tmiform  regret  throughout  the  community  in  which  he  had  so  long  lived. 
After  her  husband's  demise  Mrs.  Hayden  came  to  live  in  Lowell  in  1899. 
She  attends  the  services  of  the  Christian  church,  lieing  a  devout  member,  and 
is  well  known  in  Lake  county,  where  almost  her  entire  life  has  been  passed. 

GEORGE  B.  BAILEY. 

George  B.  Bailey  comes  from  one  of  the  old  families  of  Lake  county, 
of  which  he  is  a  representative  agriculturist  and  a  man  whose  standing  as  a 
stanch  business  man  is  unquestioned.  He  is  a  native  of  \\'est  Creek  town- 
ship, of  Lake  county,  and  was  born  March  26.  1870,  being  the  youngest  of 
the  four  children,  three  sons  and  one  daughter,  born  to  Josiah  and  Nancy 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  499 

(Kyle)  Bailey.  All  the  children  are  living:  Leroy  is  the  efficient  treasurer 
of  Lake  comity,  and  whose  hiography  appears  on  other  pages  of  this  volume ; 
Charles  is  a  progressive  farmer  of  West  Creek  toxAuship:  Grace  M.  is  the 
wife  of  F.  T.  Buse,  also  of  West  Creek  township. 

Mr.  George  B.  Bailey  was  reared  and  educated  in  Lake  county.  His 
advanced  training  was  accjuired  in  the  Valparaiso  College,  where  he  was  a 
student  during  the  years  1887-88-89  and  took  the  teacher's  course.  His 
active  career  has  been  spent  as  an  agriculturist  and  stiickman.  and  his  active, 
aggressive  alid  business  nature  causes  him  never  to  stop  short  of  real  attain- 
ment in  wh*ate\'er  Ire  undertakes.  After  his  return  from  college,  being  the 
youngest  child,  he  remained  at  home  and  soon  l^ecame  a  partner  with  his 
father.  For  the  past  thirteen  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  business  of 
buying  and  feeding  cattle,  being"  with  his  father  for  seven  years. 

No\-ember  16,  1891,  he  married  Miss  Julia  Foster,  and  one  son  has  been 
born  to  them.  Leon  L..  who  is  in  the  fourth  grade  of  the  public  schools  and 
thus  early  in  life  seems  to  be  inclined  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father. 
Mrs.  Bailey  was  born  in  Parker.  Kansas,  November  16.  1872,  and  is  the 
tenth  and  youngest  of  a  family  of  ten  children,  five  sons  and  five  daughters, 
born  to  George  Lyman  and  Lucy  J-  (Hathaway)  Foster.  There  are  nine  of 
her  brothers  and  sisters  li\ing.  and  five  are  in  Lake  county.  She  was  about 
four  years  old  when  the  family  came  to  Lake  county.  Her  early  education 
was  obtained  in  the  public  schools,  and  then  for  two  years  she  took  the 
teacher's  course  in  Valparaiso  College. 

Mr.  Bailey  is  a  strong  Republican,  and  was  a  stanch  supporter  of  the 
administration  of  Benjamin  Harrison,  for  whom  he  cast  his  first  presidential 
vote,  and  during  every  subsequent  administration  he  has  upheld  Republican- 
ism in  doctrine  and  practice.  He  has  served  as  a  delegate  to  the  county  con- 
ventions. Mr.  and  ]\Irs.  Bailey  are  peiiple  who  respect  true  Christian  prin- 
ciples and  the  church  institution,  and  they  are  attendants  of  the  West  Creek 
Methodist  church.  The  Lowell  National  Bank,  detailed  mention  of  which  is 
made  on  other  pages,  was  organized  on  May  13,  1903,  with  a  full  roster  of 
solid  financial  men  at  its  head,  and  Mr.  Bailey  is  \-ice-president  of  its  official 
board. 

Mr.  and  !Mrs.  Bailey's  beautiful  country  seat,  known  as  the  "Diamond 
Farm."  comprises  five  hundred  and  ninety  acres,  all  in  \\'est  Creek  township. 


500  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Tlieir  comfortable  and  cosy  residence  was  erected  in  1897,  and  during  several 
subsequent  years  excellent  improvements  and  outbuildings  were  constructed, 
so  that  as  concerns  general  appearance  and  profitable  usefulness  there  is  hardly 
a  place  in  the  township  more  deserving"  of  the  reputation  of  "a  model  farm- 
stead." Cleanliness  and  order  are  cardinal  points  in  the  management  of  this 
farm,  and  the  passer-by  cannot  but  pause  and  admire  the  entire  farm  as  one 
of  the  bright  and  high-class  agricultural  enterprises  of  Lake  county.  Mr. 
Bailey  lielongs  to  the  young  and  substantial  business  men  upon  whom  the 
responsibility  for  the  welfare  of  a  community  will  in  the  main  always  rest. 
While  enthusiastic  and  aggressive,  he  possesses  also  a  due  amount  of  con- 
servatism and  finely  balanced  judgment,  and  these  excellent  qualities  are  to 
determine  his  success  in  the  future  as  they  have  in  the  past  and  give  him  his 
due  meed  of  prominence  in  the  substantial  industrial  enterprise  of  Lake 
county. 

MRS.  ELIZABETH  HARRISON. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Harrison,  well  known  in  Lowell,  was  born  in  Center 
township.  Lake  county,  Indiana,  on  the  17th  of  August.  1840.  Her  father. 
Dr.  James  A.  Wood,  was  a  native  of  Medina  county,  Ohio,  and  when  a  young 
man  came  to  Indiana.  He  was  married  in  the  former  state  to  Miss  Anna 
Jacobs,  whose  birth  occurred  in  New  York,  on  the  7th  of  January.  1818.  It 
was  in  the  year  1838  that  they  removed  to  this  state,  settling  in  Porter  county, 
and  soon  afterward  they  came  to  Lake  county,  taking  up  their  abode  in  Cen- 
ter Prairie.  Dr.  Wood  was  a  well-known  physician  and  practiced  for  many 
years  in  Lake  county,  carrying  professional  assistance  and  relief  into  many 
of  the  households,  where  his  labors  proved  of  great  value  in  the  alleviation  of 
human  suffering.  At  the  time  of  the  Civil  war  he  served  as  assistant  surgeon 
in  the  First  Indiana  Volunteer  Cavahy,  and  then  returned  to  his  practice  in 
Lake  county.  He  followed  his  profession  here  in  the  early  days  when  the 
work  of  a  physician  demanded  that  he  take  long  rides  across  the  countr\-,  for 
the  homes  were  widely  scattered.  This  involved  many  personal  sacrifices  and 
hardships,  but  Dr.  ^^'ood  faithfullv  performed  his  duties  as  a  physician  and 
frequently  responded  to  a  professional  call  when  he  knew  tliat  he  would  re- 
ceive no  remuneration  for  his  services.  He  became  very  widely  known 
through  Lake  and  adjoining  counties,  and  his  professional  skill,  combined 
with  his  broad  humanitarian  principles  and  kindly  spirit,  won  for  him  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  501 

respect  and  love  of  the  great  majority  with  whom  he  was  associated.  He  died 
only  twenty-six  days  before  the  eighty-fourth  anniversary  of  his  birth,  and 
his  wife  passed  away  in  her  eightieth  year.  They  were  the  parents  of  eleven 
children,  of  whom  two  died  in  infancy,  while  three  died  in  childhood. 

]\Irs.  Harrison,  the  third  child  of  this  family,  was  reared  in  Lake  county 
and  began  her  education  in  the  common  schools.  She  afterward  continued 
her  studies  in  Crown  P(nnt,  Indiana,  and  in  \'alparaiso.  She  afterward  en- 
gaged in  teaching  school  in  Indiana.  Illinois  and  Kansas.  In  1873  she  went 
to  Jewell  county,  Kansas,  where  she  took  up  a  claim  on  which  she  remained 
for  about  two  years,  and  during  that  period  she  continued  teaching.  She  then 
returned  to  Lake  count}'  to  take  care  of  her  parents,  and  remained  with  them 
until  their  death. 

On  the  nth  of  November,  1878,  Miss  Elizabeth  Wood  gave  her  hand 
in  marriage  to  John  Harrison,  who  was  born  in  Dorchester,  England,  and 
died  on  the  ist  of  January,  1884.  Soon  after  her  husband's  death  Mrs.  Har- 
rison returned  to  Lowell,  where  she  has  since  resided.  With  the  exception 
of  two  years  spent  in  the  Sunflower  state  her  entire  life  has  been  passed  in 
Lake  county,  and  she  is  numbered  among  the  worthy  pioneer  women  of  this 
part  of  the  state.  She  belongs  to  the  Christian  church,  is  a  ^-ery  active  worker 
therein,  has  long  been  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday-school  and  is  now  a  teacher  of 
the  old  i^eople's  Bible  class.  She  is  well  known  throughout  Lake  county,  and 
her  Christian  character,  her  many  kindly  traits  and  good  deeds  have  won  for 
her  the  love  and  good  will  of  those  with  whom  she  has  been  associated. 

JOSEPH   H.   COXROY. 

Joseph  H.  Conroy,  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  at  Hobart,  Indiana, 
was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  January  20.  1872,  a  son  of  Thomas 
and  Kate  (Musser)  Conroy,  the  former  a  native  of  New  York  and  the  latter 
of  .Sacramento,  California.  Thomas  Conroy  removed  from  the  Empire  state 
to  Pennsylvania  in  early  manhood,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  war  he  re- 
sponded to  the  country's  call  for  aid,  enlisting  in  the  Ninety-first  Pennsyl- 
vania Infantry  as  a  private.  He  served  for  four  years,  doing  valiant  duty 
as  a  defender  of  the  Union  cause.  Removing  westward  he  spent  his  last  days 
in  Allen  county,  Indiana,  where  he  died  in  1883.  His  wife  was  born  in 
Sacramento,  her  parents  having  removed  to  California  at  an  early  period  in 


502  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

the  development  of  that  state.  She  is  a  graduate  of  the  Northern  Indiana 
Normal  School  at  Valparaiso,  and  is  now  a  teacher  in  the  puhlic  schools  of 
Hobart. 

Joseph  H.  Conroy,  the  only  child  born  to  his  parents,  was  reared  in 
Allen  and  in  Adams  counties  of  Indiana,  having  been  brought  to  this  state 
when  only  a  year  old.  His  education  was  acquired  in  Valparaiso,  where 
he  was  graduated  in  1890,  completing  the  course  in  the  scientific  department 
of  the  Northern  Indiana  Normal  School.  In  early  life  he  had  attended  the 
common  schools  of  Adams  county.  In  August,  1890,  he  came  to  Hobart 
and  was  principal  of  the  Miller  puhlic  school  for  two  years,  while  for  three 
years  he  engaged  in  teaching  in  the  high  school  at  Hobart.  During  this 
time  he  took  up  the  study  of  law,  devoting  all  his  leisure  hours  to  the  mastery 
of  the  principles  of  jurisprudence.  He  read  alone  for  a  time  and  afterward 
under  the  direction  of  George  W.  Musser,  an  uncle,  who  is  now  a  prominent 
attorney  of  Colorado  Springs,  Colorado.  In  1895  he  retired  from  the  field 
of  educational  labor  and  opened  a  law  office  at  Hobart,  where  he  has  since 
engaged  in  practice,  and  during  the  nine  years  which  have  since  elapsed  he 
has  secured  a  larg-e  and  gratifying"  clientage,  connecting  him  with  mucli  im- 
portant litigation  tried  in  the  courts  of  this  district. 

Mr.  Conroy  was  married  in  1895  to  Miss  Grace  Rifenburg,  a  daughter 
of  Hon.  W.  H.  Rifenburg.  There  were  born  to  Mr.  and  ]\Irs.  Conroy  three 
children,  one  son  and  two  daughters:  Elliott  R.,  in  the  fifth  grade;  Kathryn 
S.,  who  died  at  three  years  of  age:  Mary  J.,  died  in  infancy.  Mv.  Conroy 
is  quite  prominent  in  fraternal  circles,  belonging  to  the  Indejiendent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows,  Earl  Lodge  No.  333,  the  Knights  of  Pythias  fraternity  No. 
458,  the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees,  Tent  No.  65.  the  Modern  ^Voodmen, 
Camp  No.  5202,  and  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters  of  Indiana,  Court 
No.  3.  He  has  been  city  attorney  for  five  years.  Since  attaining  his  majority 
he  has  been  recognized  as  a  stanch  advocate  of  the  Democracy.  He  has 
taken  a  very  active  interest  in  public  affairs  in  Hobart,  and  his  labors  and 
influence  have  been  effective  in  promoting  general  progress  and  improve- 
ment He  has  made  for  himself  an  en\-iable  reputation  as  a  lawyer  through 
earnest  effort,  close  study  and  untiring  devotion  to  his  clients'  interests. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  603 

F.  E.  NELSON. 

Few  men  are  more  prominent  or  more  widely  known  in  the  enter- 
prising city  of  Lowell  than  F.  E.  Nelson,  the  president  of  the  Lowell  Na- 
tional Bank.  His  success  in  all  his  undertakings  has  been  so  marked  that 
his  methods  are  of  interest  to  the  commercial  world.  He  has  based  his 
business  principles  and  actions  upon  strict  adherence  to  the  rules  whicli 
govern  industry,  economy,  and  strict,  unswerving  integrity.  His  enterprise 
and  progressive  spirit  ha\-e  made  hini  a  typical  American  in  every  sense  of 
the  word,  and  he  well  deser\-es  mention  in  history.  What  he  is  to-day  lie 
has  made  himself,  for  he  began  in  the  world  with  nuthing  but  his  own  energy 
and  willing  hands  to  aid  him.  By  constant  e.xertion,  associated  with  good 
judgment,  he  has  raised  himself  to  the  prominent  position  which  he  now 
holds,  having  the  friendship  of  many  and  the  respect  of  all  who  know  him. 

Mr.  Nelson  is  a  native  son  of  Lake  county,  his  birth  ha\ing  occurred  in 
West  Creek  township,  February  4,  1855.  His  father,  Truman  Nelson,  wa.s 
born  in  Oswego  county.  New  York,  came  to  Lake  county,  Lidiana,  in  1850, 
and  after  about  six  years'  residence  here  was  called  to  his  final  rest,  his 
death  occurring  in  1856.  His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Sena 
French,  was  a  native  of  Ohio  and  died  in  Lake  county,  Lidiana,  in  1879. 
They  were  the  parents  of  seven  children,  two  daughters  and  five  sons,  of 
whom  F.  E.  Nelson  was  the  sixth  child  and  fifth  son. 

Reared  in  his  native  township,  Mr.  Nelson  acquired  bis' education  in 
the  common  schools  and  in  Valparaiso,  where  he  studied  f(5r  two  years.  He 
also  engaged  in  teaching,  first  having  charge  of  a  school  when  eighteen  years 
of  age.  He  continued  in  educational  work  until  twenty-five  years  of  age, 
spending  two  years  as  principal  of  the  schools  of  Lowell.  He  was  very  capable 
in  his  work  in  the  schoolroom,  being  an  excellent  disciplinarian  and  at  the 
same  time  having  the  ability  to  impart  clearly  and  readily  to  others  the  knowl- 
edge that  he  had  acquired.  Wlien  twenty-five  years  of  age  he  began  farm- 
ing in  the  souihwestern  ]jart  of  \Vest  Creek  towaiship,  where  he  remained 
for  eleven  years.  On  the  expiration  of  that  period  he  removed  to  Lowell  and 
was  chosen  cashier  of  the  State  Bank  in  1S93,  filling  that  position  in  an  ac- 
ceptable manner  until  1900,  when  the  institution  became  the  State  National 
Bank  of  Lowell.  He  was  retained  as  cashier  until  1903,  when  he  resigned 
his  position,  and  in  May  of  the  same  year  joined  other  prominent  business 


504  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

men  in  the  organization  of  the  Lowell  National  Bank,  of  which  he  was 
chosen  president.  He  has  since  remained  at  the  head  of  this  institution, 
which  is  capitalized  for  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  The  other  officers 
are  George  B.  Bailey,  vice  president,  and  P.  A.  Berg,  cashier,  and  the  directors 
are  Frank  E.  Nelson,  George  B.  Bailey,  C.  E.  Nichols,  George  M.  Death  and 
Henry  Suprise.  In  addition  to  his  financial  interests  Mr.  Nelson  has  farm- 
ing property  in  West  Creek  township.  Lake  county,  and  in  Monroe  county, 
Indiana. 

In  1879  ■^'^'^s  celebrated  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Nelson  and  Miss  Emeline 
Foster,  a  daughter  of  Liman  and  Lucy  Foster,  early  settlers  of  West  Creek 
township,  where  Mrs.  Nelson  was  born  and  reared.  Six  children  graced 
this  union,  two  sons  and  four  daughters,  namely,  Raymond  L.,  Bernice 
S.,  Ned  E.,  Julia  F.,  Emily  and  INIarion,  all  of  whom  are  natives  of  Lake 
county,  Indiana. 

Mr.  Nelson  has  been  a  life-long  Republican  and  for  five  years  served  as 
trustee  of  West  Creek  township.  He  is  a  member  of  Colfax  Lodge.  F.  &  A. 
M..  also  of  Lowell  Lodge  No.  300,  K.  of  P.,  and  is  true  and  loyal  to  the 
teachings  of  these  fraternities.  He  has  been  an  important  factor  in  educa- 
tional and  financial  circles  in  Lake  county,  and  his  popularity  is  well  deserved, 
as  in  him  are  embraced  the  characteristics  of  an  unbending  integrity,  unabat- 
ing  energ)^  and  industry  that  never  flags. 

DANIEL  LYNCH. 

Daniel  Lynch  is  an  honored  veteran  of  the  Civil  war  and  is  now  filling 
the  position  of  postmaster  at  Lowell.  He  was  born  in  Cedar  Creek  town- 
ship. Lake  count}',  Indiana,  on  the  6tli  of  July,  1843,  and  is  a  son  of  Daniel 
and  Mary  Lynch,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Ireland  and  became  resi- 
dents of  Lake  county  during  the  pioneer  epoch  in  its  history.  The  father  was 
identified  with  the  early  progress  and  development  of  this  portion  of  the  state. 
He  died  in  the  month  of  February,  1843.  and  it  was  not  until  July  following 
that  the  birth  of  the  son  Daniel  occurred.  The  mother  afterward  married 
again,  and  Daniel  Lynch,  remained  at  home  -with  his  step-father  until  aliout 
fourteen  years  of  age  and  during  that  period  attended  the  common  schools 
through  the  winter  months.  He  afterward  started  out  in  life  on  his  own 
account  and  worked  by  the  month  as  a  farm  hand,  thus  earning  his  living 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  505 

until  after  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war.  He  watched  with  interest  the 
progress  of  events  in  the  south,  and  in  1861  he  enlisted  as  a  member  of 
Company  H,  Ninth  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry,  of  which  he  became  a  pri- 
vate. He  served  in  this  regiment  for  about  a  year  and  a  half.  He  was 
wounded  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  after  which  he  received  an  honorable  dis- 
charge on  account  of  his  disability.  Later,  wlien  he  had  recovered  his  health, 
he  once  more  offered  his  services  to  the  government  and  this  time  became  a 
member  of  Company  A,  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-sixth  Illinois  Infantry,  with 
which  he  served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  promoted  from  the  ranks 
to  the  position  of  orderly  serg^eant  and  was  then  discharged.  He  participated 
in  a  number  of  important  engagements,  and  was  always  a  loyal  defender  of 
the  L^nion  cause,  faithfully  performing  his  duty,  whether  it  led  him  into  the 
thickest  of  the  fight  or  stationed  him  on  the  lonely  picket  line. 

When  the  war  was  over  and  the  preservation  of  the  L'nion  was  assured 
Daniel  Lynch  located  in  Hebron,  Porter  county,  Indiana,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  livery  business  for  two  years.  On  the  expiration  of  that  period 
he  removed  to  Lowell,  where  he  conducted  a  similar  business  for  about  twelve 
years,  when  he  traded  his  liverv'  stable  for  a  farm  in  Center  township.  There 
he  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  for  seven  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
he  sold  his  property  and  bought  a  farm  in  Cedar  Creek  tow-nship,  one  mile 
from  Lowell.  This  he  continued  to  cultivate  and  improve  for  about  twelve 
years,  when  he  again  sold  out  and  once  more  took  up  his  abode  in  Lowell.  He 
was  appointed  postmaster  under  President  McKinley  in  1897  and  was  re- 
appointed in  1902  by  President  Roosevelt,  so  that  he  is  now  filling  the  posi- 
tion. As  a  public  official  he  is  capable  and  loyal,  his  administration  being 
characterized  by  business-like  manner,  and  the  patrons  of  the  office  have  for 
him  high  words  of  commendation.  In  politics  he  has  ever  been  a  stanch 
Republican,  having  firm  faith  in  the  principles  of  the  party. 

In  1S69  was- celebrated  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Lynch  and  ^liss  Ada  Starr, 
and  to  them  have  been  born  five  children:  Fred  J..  Alva,  Daniel,  Benjamin 
L.  and  Ruby.  Mr.  Lynch  is  a  member  of  Burnham  Post  No.  256.  at  Lowell, 
in  which  he  has  filled  some  of  the  offices.  He  is  likewise  a  member  of  Colfax 
Lodge  No.  356,  F.  &  A.  M.  Mr.  Lynch  is  a  self-made  man,  who  without 
extraordinary  family  or  pecuniary  advantages  at  the  commencement  of  life 
has  labored  earnestly  and  energetically  and  by  indomitable  courage  and  in- 


506  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

tegrity  has  achieved  both  character  and  a  fair  measure  of  success  By  sheer 
force  of  will  and  untiring  effort  he  has  worked  his  way  upward  and  is  num- 
bered among  the  respected  and  leading  citizens  of  Lowell. 

H.  F.  C.  jMILLER.  ^^r.  D. 

Dr.  Miller,  who  recently  passed  away,  was  a  native  of  New  York  city, 
born  on  the  15th  of  September,  1850.  His  father,  Augustus  Miller,  was 
born  in  Westchester  county,  New  York,  and  was  a  son  of  Daniel  Miller, 
whose  birth  occurred  in  the  eastern  part  of  this  country.  The  family  is  of 
German  lineage  and  was  established  in  America  in  colonial  days.  Augustus 
Miller  was  reared  in  the  county  of  his  nativity.  He  was  reared  by  a  carriage 
manufacturer  of  Bedford  and  he  spent  his  entire  life  in  Westchester  county, 
residing  upon  a  farm  until  called  to  his  final  rest  at  the  age  of  sixty-four 
years.  He  married  Miss  Emily  Baker,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  or  of  New- 
York.  She  is  still  living  in  the  Empire  state  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- 
five  years,  and  she  is  of  Scotch  descent.  Bv  her  marriage  she  became  the 
mother  of  seven  children,  all  of  whom  have  passed  away  with  the  exception 
of  one  daughter  and  Horace  B.  Miller,  of  New  York, 

Dr.  ;\Iiller,  the  fourth  child  of  the  family,  was  reared  in  New  York,  while 
his  education  was  accpiired  in  the  jniblic  schools  and  in  the  academy  at  Bed- 
ford, that  state.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  years  he  started  out  to  make  his  own 
way  in  the  world  and  secured  a  clerkship  in  the  wholesale  and  retail  jewelry 
store  of  Brown,  Spalding  &  Company,  of  New  York  city.  There  he  remained 
for  about  four  years  and  was  afterward  for  two  years  with  the  firm  of  Sco- 
ville.  Gray  &  Company,  also  jewelry  merchants  of  that  city.  Desiring, 
however,  to  leave  mercantile  circles  and  enter  professional  life,  he  took  up 
the  study  of  medicine,  and  from  1872  until  1877  was  a  student  in  Rush 
Medical  College  of  Chicago,  being  graduated  in  the  latter  year.  ]Most  of 
the  money  needed  to  pay  his  college  expenses  was  earned  by  him.  and  he 
certainlv  deserved  great  credit  for  thus  acquiring  his  education  as  well  as  for 
the  success  which  he  gained  since  his  graduation. 

Dr.  Miller  located  for  practice  at  Salem  Crossing  in  LaPorte  county, 
Lidiana,  where  be  remained  for  about  two  years,  and  then  came  to  Hobart 
in   1879.     Here  he  was  in  active  practice  until   1890,  when  he  removed  to 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  507 

Chicago,  where  he  remained  for  five  years,  but  in   1895  returned  to  Hobart. 
He  enjoyed  a  large  and  growing  patronage. 

In  July,  1874,  Dr.  Miller  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Deetta  Van 
Horn,  who  was  born  in  Herkimer  county.  New  York,  and  in  childhood  came 
to  Indiana,  where  she  was  reared  and  educated.  It  was  in  1857  that  her 
parents,  Jake  and  Elizabeth  (Brown)  Van  Horn,  came  to  this  state.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Miller  had  two  sons  and  twn  daughters.  Spencer  A. ;  Jennie  D., 
who  is  the  wife  of  Ed  Tibbits,  of  Urbana,  Illinois ;  Hosea  Mortimer ;  and 
Julia  E.,  at  home.     They  also  lost  one  daughter.   Emily  E. 

Dr.  Miller  was  an  exemplary  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  at 
one  time  took  a  very  active  part  in  other  fraternal  organizations,  but  the 
demands  of  his  practice  left  him  little  time  for  such  work.  He  was  a  Demo- 
crat in  his  political  views.  He  had  a  large  patronage,  which  extended  to 
Valparaiso,  South  Chicago  and  even  to  the  city  of  Chicago.  The  resolution 
which  he  showed  in  acquiring  an  education  was  proof  of  the  elemental 
strength  of  his  character,  and.  his  latent  resources  and  powers  were  developed 
as  the  years  passed  until  he  stood  as  one  of  the  strongest  representatives 
of  !i;s  profession. 

JOHN   A.   KIMMET. 

One  of  the  most  prominent  and  energetic  Inisiness  men  of  Lowell  and 
Lake  county  is  John  A.  Kinimet,  the  \ice  president  of  the  State  National 
Bank  at  Ldwell,  a  director  of  the  First  National  Bank  at  Dyer,  and  a  dealer 
in  grain,  lumber  and  building  materials.  His  business  career  has  been  char- 
acterized by  consecutive  advancement  along  modern  lines  of  progress,  and 
his  ready  recognition  and  utilization  of  opportunity  have  formed  the  basis 
of  his  present  success.  His  activity  touches  so  many  lines  of  business  that 
he  has  become  a  most  important  factor  in  commercial  and  financial  circles, 
and  while  promoting  his  individual  success  he  has  at  the  same  time  contrib- 
uted to  the  general  prosperity.  He  is  a  self-made  man.  and  one  who  deserves 
great  credit  for  what  he  has  accomplished,  since  he  started  out  in  life  empty- 
handed,  but,  brooking  no  obstacles  that  could  be  overcome  by  determined 
purpose  and  honorable  effort,  has  steadily  worked  his  way  upward. 

Mr.  Kimmet  was  lx)rn  in  a  log  stable  in  Seneca  county,  Ohio,  on  the 
25th  of  April,  1856.  His  father,  Jacob  Kimmet,  was  born  in  Bavaria, 
Germany,    near   the    river    Rhine.      After  establishing   his   home    in    Seneca 


508  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

county.  Ohio,  he  became  prominent  and  inflnential  there,  and  although  he  was 
in  very  hmited  financial  circumstances  during  the  period  of  his  early  residence 
in  that  portion  of  the  Buckeye  state,  he  improved  his  opportunities  and 
through  earnest  labor  won  a  comfortable  competence.  His  ability  and  loy- 
alty to  the  general  good  made  him  a  recognized  leader  in  public  affairs,  and 
one  who  aided  in  shaping  public  thought  and  action.  In  political  circles 
he  was  particularly  influential,  and  he  delivered  campaign  addresses  through- 
out the  state  in  connection  with  Charles  Foster.  He  also  held  local  positions 
in  Seneca  county.  His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Catherine  Scheiber, 
and  was  born  in  France.  She  came  to  America  when  six  years  of  age,  and 
was  reared  among  the  Indians  v/ho  lived  in  Seneca  county,  Ohio.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Scheiber,  the  maternal  grandparents  of  Mr.  Kimmet,  lived  for  the 
first  six  months  of  their  residence  in  this  countrv  in  a  house  liuilt  with  only 
four  posts,  and  later  used  to  shelter  cattle.  "Sirs.  Catherine  Kimmet 
made  all  the  clothes  for  her  children  from  raw  wool,  which  she  spun  and 
wove,  and  from  the  cloth  she  manufactured  coats,  pants  and  even  hats  and 
caps.  Like  her  hu.sband.  she  bravely  met  the  conditions  of  pioneer  life,  but 
as  the  years  advanced  all  the  comforts  of  civilization  were  introduced  and 
the  family  were  enabled  to  enjoy  better  privileges  and  come  into  possession 
of  many  of  the  luxuries  of  life.  Mr.  John  A.  Kimmet  has  eight  living 
brothers,  all  of  whom  voted  for  William  McKinley  as  the  presidential  can- 
didate of  the  Republican  party.  Seven  of  the  number  are  residents  of  Ohio, 
and  one,  George  Kimmet,  is  now  a  merchant  of  Lowell,  Indiana.  The  only 
sister.  Tillie,  is  the  wife  of  Anthony  Deponet,  of  Seneca  county,  Ohio, 

John  A.  Kimmet  was  but  seven  years  of  age  when  his  father  removed 
from  the  log  stable  in  which  the  son  had  been  born  into  a  house  built  after 
more  modern  plans.  His  early  education  was  acquired  in  the  com.mon 
schools,  but  afterwards  he  enjoyed  excellent  school  privileges,  attending 
Heidelberg  College  at  Tiffin,  Ohio:  St.  Vincent  College  in  Westmoreland 
county,  Pennsylvania :  and  St,  Francis  College  near  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin. 
It  was  his  intention  to  prepare  for  the  ministry  of  the  Catholic  church,  and 
he  studied  Latin,  English  and  German,  devoting  five  years  to  the  mastery  of 
the  first  named  language.  When  but  sixteen  years  of  age  he  began  teaching, 
and  followed  that  profession  for  five  years  in  Ohio,  He  was  also  principal 
of  the  Dyer  school  in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  for  three  years.     In  the  mean- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  509 

time  he  abandoned  his  intention  of  becoming  a  member  of  the  priesthood, 
and  on  the  loth  of  July,  i8Si.  he  removed  to  Lowell,  where  he  has  since 
been  an  active  business  man.  He  assisted  in  building  the  elevator  here,  and 
is  now  well  known  as  a  grain  merchant  at  this  place.  He  was  the  business 
manager  for  the  Du  Breuil  and  Keilman  firm  from  1881  to  1892.  When 
the  senior  partner  of  that  firm  died  ]\[r.  Kimmet  purchased  a  half  interest 
in  the  firm,  which  is  now  conducted  under  the  firm  style  of  L.  Keilman  & 
Company,  the  partners  being  L.  Keilman  and  John  A.  Kimmet.  Mr.  Kim- 
met also  owns  a  farm  of  twenty  acres,  on  which  he  resides  and  which  is 
located  within  the  city  limits  of  Lowell. 

In  1893  '"'^  became  a  director  of  the  State  Bank  of  Lowell,  and  later, 
upon  the  consolidation  of  the  State  Bank  with  the  First  National  Bank, 
the  name  of  State  National  Bank  was  chosen.  Upon  the  death  of  A.  A. 
Gerish,  vice  president,  Mr.  Kimmet  was  appointed  vice  president,  and  holds 
said  position  now.  He  is  also  a  director  of  the  First  National  Bank  at  Dyer, 
is  engaged  in  the  milling  business,  and  is  dealing  in  grain,  lumber  and 
building  materials.  His  business  interests  have  assumed  extensive  and  profit- 
able proportions,  and  his  activity  has  reached  out  to  many  lines  of  trade 
that  affect  general  progress. 

On  the  24th  of  June,  1880,  occurred  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Kimmet  and 
Miss  Maggie  Keilman,  a  daughter  of  Leonard  and  Magdalena  (Austgen) 
Keilman.  Mrs.  Kimmet  was  born  and  reared  at  Dyer,  and  by  her  marriage 
has  become  the  mother  of  eleven  children,  seven  of  whom  are  yet  living : 
M.  Tillie.  M.  Lena.  Rose,  Charles  F.,  Ida  V.,  Celia  M.  and  Hilda.  Those 
who  have  passed  away  are  Elizabeth,  Rose,  Leonard,  and  one  that  died  in 
infancy. 

Mr.  Kimmet  is  a  gold  Democrat,  and  cast  his  ballot  for  William  Mc- 
Kinley  in  order  that  he  might  support  the  gold  standard,  the  money  question 
being  at  that  time  the  paramount  issue  before  the  people.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Catholic  church,  and  was  active  in  the  building  of  the  house  of  wor- 
ship at  Lowell  in  1897,  contributing  more  largely  to  this  undertaking  than 
any  other  resident  of  the  community.  In  public  affairs  he  is  very  prominent, 
and  his  aid  and  co-operation  might  l^e  counted  upon  for  all  measures  that 
have  for  their  object  the  public  welfare  and  general  advancement.  He  is 
now   treasurer   of   the   Three    Creek    Monument    Association,    a    monument 


510  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

being  erected  at  Lowell  in  memory  of  the  soldiers  of  the  three  townships  of 
West  Creek,  Eagle  Creek  and  Cedar  Creek.  He  is  also  a  trustee  of  the  high 
school  at  Lowell.  He  possesses  untiring  energy,  is  quick  of  perception, 
forms  his  plans  readily  and  is  determined  in  their  execution.  His  close 
application  to  business  and  his  excellent  management  have  brought  to  him 
the  high  degree  of  prosperity  which  is  to-day  his,  but  while  he  has  gained 
wealth  it  has  not  been  alone  the  goal  for  which  he  is  striving,  for  he  belongs 
to  that  class  of  representative  American  citizens  who  promote  the  general 
prosperity  while  advancing  individual  interests. 

NICKOLAS  SCHAFER. 

Nickolas  Schafer,  of  West  Creek  township,  is  a  leading  and  prosperous 
farmer  of  this  section  of  Lake  county.  He  is  of  German  birth  and  parentage, 
although  he  has  spent  all  the  years  of  his  life  since  early  boyhood  in  this 
country.  It  is  to  the  lasting  credit  of  the  sterling  ability  and  wortli  of  the 
German- American  citizens  that  such  l.ieautiful  agricultural  sections  as  that 
comprised  in  West  Creek  township  have  been  largely  developed  and  brought 
to  their  present  value  and  richness  through  the  painstaking  efforts  and 
intelligent  direction  of  men  of  this  nationality,  among  whom  Mr.  Schafer 
is  one  of  the  most  influential  and  progressive. 

His  birthplace  was  along  the  lieautiful  and  historic  Rhine  river,  at  the 
village  of  Alflen,  in  Prussia,  where  he  first  saw  the  light  of  day  on  January 
12.  1846.  He  was  the  second  in  age  of  a  family  of  ten  children,  six  sons 
and  four  daughters,  and  he  and  his  brother  Edward  are  the  only  survivors, 
the  latter  being  a  resident  of  Chicago  and  an  engineer  on  a  lake  steamer. 
His  parents  were  Jacob  and  Anna  Mary  (Schoenerock)  Schafer.  His  father 
was  born  in  the  same  part  of  Germany,  June  13,  1817,  and  died  July  2^, 
1880.  He  was  educated  in  Germany  and  reared  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
and  about  1855  embarked  his  family  and  sailed  down  the  Rhine  to  the  North 
sea,  thence  to  London,  where  he  set  out  for  the  new  world  in  a  sailing  vessel 
which  was  seven  weeks  before  reaching  the  port  of  New  York.  Storms 
and  heavy  seas  beset  the  ship,  and  the  passengers  were  compelled  to  cook 
their  own  meals  and  endure  many  other  hardships  before  blessed  land  finally 
hove  in  sight,  many  times  it  seeming  as  if  the  craft  would  go  to  the  bottom. 
From  New  York  city  the  family  went  to  Springfield  Hollow,  in  New  York, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  511 

and  remainetl  there  a  year  and  a  half,  and  thence  made  tlie  once  more  stormy 
and  perilous  voyage  by  the  great  lakes  to  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin.  This 
German  family  landed  in  the  new  world  with  only  two  dollars  in  cash,  and 
a  friend  afforded  them  free  transportation  to  the  village  of  Springfield  Hol- 
low. From  this  state  of  povert}'  of  material  resources,  when  they  were  in  a 
strange  country  and  unahle  to  speak  the  English  tongue,  handicapped  in 
countless  ways,  their  honest  industry  and  persevering  labors  effected,  in  the 
end,  a  substantial  and  honorable  place  in  the  world's  activity.  The  father 
Jacob  got  work  in  the  erection  of  the  custom  house  at  Milwaukee,  at  a  dollar 
and  twelve  cents  a  day,  and  was  thus  employed  for  three  years.  He  then 
m.oved  to  Dodge  county,  Wisconsin,  near  Beaver  Dam,  and  purchased  forty 
acres  of  land  and  engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising.  He  finally  sold 
this  and  came  to  Ch.icago,  where  he  was  in  the  lumber  yards  for  a  year,  and 
then  arrived  in  West  Creek  township  of  Lake  county.  Here  he  purchased 
one  hundred  acres  of  land,  going  in  debt  nine  hundred  dollars  for  it,  and  by 
industry  and  good  management  paid  off  the  entire  indebtedness  and  resided 
on  this  good  home  until  his  death.  He  was  entirely  independent  in  political 
sentiments,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  Catholics  and  members  of  the  St. 
Martin's  church  at  Hano\'er  Center.  His  wife  was  also  born  near  the  river 
Rhine,  August  i,  1821,  and  she  died  December  13,  1898.  She  was  a  kind 
and  good  mother,  and  a  good  disciplinarian  in  her  home. 

Mr.  Schafer  was  nine  years  old  when  the  eventful  journey  was  made 
to  this  country,  and  he  was  educated  mainly  in  the  English  tongue,  although 
he  can  read  the  German  te.xt.  His  life  has  been  throughout  devoted  to  farm- 
ing pursuits,  and  he  was  no  more  than  twelve  years  old  when  he  began  adding 
his  share  of  labor  to  the  family  establishment,  and  he  remained  with  his 
parents  until  he  was  grown  to  manhood.  .\t  the  age  of  twelve  he  began 
working  for  wages,  four  dollars  and  a  cjuarter  per  month,  and  the  first  cow 
and  the  first  pair  of  steers  owned  by  the  family  were  purchased  from  his 
wages.  With  the  exception  of  one  year  in  Chicago  he  has  spent  all  his  active 
life  on  the  farm. 

October  9,  1883,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Massoth,  and  it  is  to 
their  combined  industry  and  management  that  their  success  has  been  mainly 
due.  They  have  been  the  parents  of  nine  children,  and  happily  the  family 
circle  has  never  been  broken  bv  the  hand  of  death.     The  children  are  as  fol- 


512  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

lows:  John  Adam,  who  is  in  the  eighth  grade  and  already  a  practical  farmer; 
Henry,  who  is  in  the  seventh  grade;  Cecelia  M.,  who  has  passed  the  eighth 
grade;  Katrina,  in  the  seventh  grade;  and  Ida  E.,  John  J.,  Marie,  Mar- 
guerite and  Frank  Nicholas.  The  first  three  children  have  been  confirmed, 
the  two  sons  by  Bishop  Radamacher,  and  Cecelia  by  Bishop  Allerding,  of 
the  North  Bishopric  of  Indiana. 

Mrs.  Schafer  was  born  in  Hanover  township,  Lake  county,  May  5, 
1863,  and  is  the  second  and  the  only  survivor  of  the  three  children,  all  daugh- 
ters, born  to  Adam  and  Johanna  (Hack)  Massoth.  Her  father  was  born  in 
Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany,  September  8,  1833,  and  died  September  2,  1899. 
He  came  to  America  when  a  young  man,  and  with  his  mother  purchased 
forty  acres  of  land  just  north  of  pretty  Cedar  Lake  in  Lake  county.  He 
was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  he  and  his  wife  Catholics.  Mrs.  Schafer's 
mother  was  a  native  of  St.  John  township  in  this  county,  and  was  the  first 
white  child  born  in  the  township.  She  was  educated  in  the  German  lan- 
guage. Mrs.  Schafer  was  born  and  reared  in  this  county,  and  was  con- 
firmed at  the  age  of  thirteen  by  Bishop  Twenger  of  St.  Martin's. 

After  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schafer  began  life  on  the  farm 
where  they  still  reside.  Their  first  estate  consisted  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  acres,  and  most  of  the  improvements  have  been  placed  there 
by  their  own  efforts.  Their  home  is  a  large  and  comfortable  country  resi- 
dence, and  their  farm,  now  comprising  twd  hundred  and  forty-four  acres 
in  Center,  Hanover  and  West  Creek  townships,  is  among  the  best  land  in 
the  county.  And  they  have  especial  reason  to  be  proud  that  there  is  not  a 
dollar  against  the  entire  estate. 

Mr.  Schafer  is,  like  his  father,  entirely  independent  as  to  politics,  and 
casts  his  vote  according  to  his  best  judgment  and  where  he  thinks  it  will  do 
the  most  good.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  St.  Martin's  church,  and 
Mrs.  Schafer  is  a  member  of  the  Rosary  sodality  and  Cecelia  a  member  of 
the  young  ladies'   sodality. 

CHARLEY   T.    BAILEY. 

Industry  and  enterprise  coupled  with  a  disposition  of  sagacity  culminate 
in  the  sucessful  man  of  the  day.  The  truth  of  this  aphorism  is  especially 
manifest  in  the  case  of  Charley  T.  Bailey,  who  comes  from  one  of  the  most 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  513 

prominent  families  in  the  west  part  of  Lake  county.  He  is  a  native  of  Illi- 
nois, was  born  in  Kankakee  county,  April  12,  1862,  being  the  second  of  a 
family  of  four  children,  three  sons  and  one  daughter,  the  oldest  of  whom  is 
Levi  E.,  the  county  treasurer  of  Lake  county,  who  is  represented  elsewhere 
in  this  volume;  the  daughter  Grace  is  the  wife  of  Fred  T.  Buse,  a  prosperous 
agi-iculturist  of  W'est  Creek  township  (see  their  sketch)  ;  and  George,  an- 
other leading  farmer  of  West  Creek  township.  The  father  of  this  family 
is  biographed  in  full  on  another  page,  and  mother  Bailey  is  deceased. 

Mr.  Charley  T.  Bailey  was  an  infant  when  he  became  a  resident  of 
Lake  county,  and  consecjuently  he  has  been  reared  in  this  county.  He  is  a 
practical  agriculturist  and  stock  farmer,  and  in  the  latter  department  of  his 
business  has  gained  more  than  ordinary  reputation.  He  makes  a  specialty 
of  Hereford  cattle  and  coach  horses.  He  has  one  of  the  finest  Hereford 
bulls  to  be  found  in  northern  Indiana,  having  purchased  it  from  the  well 
known  stockman,  Tom  Clarke,  of  Beecher,  Illinois.  He  is  making  a  great 
success  in  the  breeding  of  this  fine  stock,  and  his  long  experience  of  sixteen 
years  has  given  him  a  big  leverage  for  causing  a  happy  culmination  of  all 
his  enterprises.  He  has  devoted  much  time  and  money  to  raising  the  grade 
of  cattle  to  a  high  standard  in  this  county.  He  has  also  bred  coach  horses 
for  a  number  of  years. 

j\Ir.  Bailey  is  what  may  be  termed  a  self-made  man,  having  in  a  scholas- 
tic sense  received  only  a  common  school  education  and  one  term  in  high 
school.  He  remained  at  home  till  the  age  of  twenty-six,  when  he  married 
for  his  first  wife  ^liss  Tillie  E.  Grimes,  on  April  23,  1888.  Four  children, 
two  sons  and  two  daughters,  were  born  of  this  union,  and  all  are  living. 
The  eldest  is  Alay,  who  graduated  from  the  eighth  grade  as  salutatorian  of 
her  class  and  has  also  taken  instrumental  music :  Ray  is  in  the  seventh  grade 
of  school :  and  Earl  and  Hilda  are  both  at  the  sixth  grade  in  their  school 
work.  All  the  children  are  bright  and  progressing  rapidly  in  their  prepara- 
tion for  life's  larger  duties.  Mrs.  Bailey,  the  mother  of  this  family,  died  on 
January  3,  1897.  On  September  4.  1899,  Mr.  Bailey  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Aliss  Esther  Starkweather,  who  was  born  in  Michigan  and  was  reared 
and  educated  in  that  state,  graduating  from  the  Romeo  schools.  She  is  a 
woman  of  more  than  ordinary  business  ability  and  acumen,  and  has  been  able 

to  assist  her  husband  in  many  ways. 
33 


514  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

After  his  first  marriage  \Iy.  Bailey  located  on  one  hundred  and  forty- 
acres  in  section  7  of  ^^'est  Creek  township,  and  he  has  made  his  home  here 
ever  since,  although  his  first  tract  of  land  was  but  the  nucleus  of  his  present 
fine  large  estate.  He  has  erected  a  modern  country  residence  and  excellent 
barns  and  outbuildings,  and  now  owns  four  hundrd  and  fifty-three  acres  of 
land  in  this  township.  His  farm  is  known  as  the  Lanthus  stock  farm,  which 
name  was  given  by  the  government  when  it  established  the  postoffice  which 
at  one  time  existed  on  this  farm.  Mr.  Bailey  is  classed  among  the  young 
and  successful  and  progressi\'e  farmers  of  this  township,  and  coming  from 
such  a  prominent  family  as  the  Baileys  are  in  Lake  county  it  is  a  pleasure  to 
be  able  to  record  his  biography  in  this  handsome  work. 

Mr.  Bailey  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  cast  his  first  presidential  vote 
for  James  G.  Blaine,  the  "plumed  knight."  He  has  ever  since  strenuously 
upheld  the  banner  of  Republicanism  during  each  administration.  He  has 
been  chosen  as  a  delegate  to  the  county  and  district  conventions,  but  as  to 
ofiice-seeking  has  never  had  any  aspirations  at  all.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bailey  at- 
tend the  West  Creek  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  contriluite  their  share 
of  the  benevolences.  Their  beautiful  estate  lies  entirely  in  West  Creek  town- 
ship, and  they  stand  high  in  the  estimation  of  all  who  know  them.  ^Ir. 
Eailey  has  traveled  cpiite  extensively  in  the  jNIississippi  valley  and  also  in  the 
east,  and  is  a  well  informed  man  both  as  to  his  business  and  concerning  the 
outside  world  and  its  important  happenings. 

LEWIS   G.   LITTLE. 

Among  the  many  names  known  for  integrity  of  character  and  honesty 
of  purpose  in  West  Creek  township  of  Lake  county  we  find  that  of  Little 
to  hold  no  inconspicuous  place,  and  it  is  with  modest  courtesy  that  we  present 
a  review  of  Mr.  Lewis  G.  Little,  a  scion  of  this  well  known  family.  He  is 
a  product  of  this  locality  of  Lake  county  and  was  born  February  21,  1861, 
being  the  eldest  of  the  seven  children,  three  sons  and  four  daughters,  born 
to  Joseph  .\.  and  ]\Iary  (Gerrish)  Little.  Six  of  the  children  are  still  liv- 
ing, and  in  order  of  birth  from  Lewis  they  are:  James  H.,  \\ho  is  a  pros- 
perous agriculturist  and  stockman  of  West  Creek  township,  and  whose  per- 
sonal sketch  will  be  found  in  this  work;  Ellen,  who  is  now  the  wife  of  the 
Rev.  John  C.  Wilson,  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Willow  City, 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  615 

North  Dakota,  b}-  whom  she  has  three  children,  was  formerly  a  successful 
teacher  in  the  schools  of  Lake  county,  and  was  educated  at  the  Oxford  Fe- 
male Seminary  at  Oxford,  Ohio ;  Jesse,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  West  Creek 
township,  resides  on  the  old  homestead  with  his  mother,  and  his  history 
will  also  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  volume;  Myra  is  the  wife  of  Solomon 
Spry,  of  West  Creek  township;  J\L  Emma,  wife  of  Claire  Landis,  a  resident 
of  Montreal,  Canada,  and  a  mechanical  draftsman  for  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad,  lias  one  son,  Chester  G.  by  name. 

The  father  of  this  family  was  born  in  the  Granite  state  of  New  FTamp- 
shire  in  1830,  and  died  February  ig.  1892.  By  occupation  he  was  a  farmer. 
He  was  reared  in  his  nati\'e  state,  and  about  1856  he  migrated  to  Lake 
county.  Indiana,  where  he  purchased  some  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of 
land  in  West  Creek  township.  He  traced  his  lineage  to  the  English,  and 
some  of  his  ancestors  figured  as  soldiers  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  There 
was  a  Benjamin  Little  who  bore  arms  against  the  British  and  who  himself 
weighed  by  ninety-six  pounds  and  carried  an  old  flint-lock  or  Queen  Ann's 
gun  that  itself  weighed  twelve  pounds.  The  Little  family  are  of  most  hon- 
orable birth  and  lineage.  Joseph  A.  Little,  the  father,  was  an  old-line  Whig 
in  politics,  Init  at  the  birth  of  the  Republican  ])arty  he  ardently  espoused  its 
political  and  moral  principles,  and  continued  so  until  his  death.  He  repre- 
sented his  district  most  worthily  in  the  Indiana  state  legislature  in  1886  and 
1S87.  While  residents  of  the  east  he  and  his  good  wife  were  members  of  the 
Congregational  church,  but  in  West  Creek  township  they  became  members 
and  devoted  adherents  of  the  Lake  Prairie  Presljyterian  church.  His  wife 
was  also  a  native  of  Nev.'  Hampshire,  and  is  still  living. 

Mr.  Lewis  G.  Little  was  reared  in  his  native  county,  and  after  finishing 
the  common  schools  he  took  a  course  of  study  at  \Vabash  College  in  Craw- 
fordsville.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  modest  and  unassuming  disposition,  avoid- 
ing aught  that  savors  of  display  or  ostentation.  June  12,  1900,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Efiie  G.  Kearney,  who  was  born  in  Will  county,  Illinois. 
She  followed  the  profession  of  teacher  before  her  marriage.  Politically 
Mr.  Little  is  a  Republican,  and  began  his  active  advocacy  of  the  principles  of 
that  party  by  casting  his  first  presidential  vote  for  James  G.  Blaine,  the 
Plumed  Knight.  He  anrl  his  wife  are  member  of  the  Lake  Prairie  Presby- 
terian church.     He  and  his  wife  enjoy  the  comforts  of  a  happy  and  cosy 


510  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

farm  residence,  where  they  meet  and  welcome  their  many  friends  from  the 
community. 

JACOB  HAYDEN. 

Jacob  Hayden,  a  retired  farmer  and  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Lake 
county  now  living  in  Lowell,  was  born  in  Knox  county.  Ohio,  March  ii, 
1 83 1.  His  parents  were  Nehemiah  and  Harriet  (Kitchell)  Hayden,  both  of 
whom  were  natives  of  New  Jersey  and  became  pioneer  settlers  of  Knox 
county,  Ohio,  where  they  were  married.  Li  March,  1837,  they  removed  to 
Lake  county.  Indiana,  casting  in  their  lot  with  its  pioneer  residents.  They 
settled  in  West  Creek  township,  where  Nehemiah  Hayden  developed 
a  new  farm,  continuing  the  work  of  improvement  and  culti^•ation  there 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  when  he  was  but  fifty-eight  years  of  age. 
His  wife  died  at  the  age  of  forty-two  years.  In  their  family  were  thirteen 
children,  of  whom  Jacob  Hayden  was  the  sixth  in  order  of  birth,  and  he  was 
but  six  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  removal  to  Lake  county. 

In  a  log  schoolhouse  near  his  father's  home  Jacob  Hayden  pursued 
his  education.  His  training  at  farm  labor  was  not  as  meager  as  his  school 
privileges,  for  at  an  early  age  he  began  to  assist  in  the  cultivation  and  de- 
velopment of  the  home  farm  and  continued  to  follow-  agricultural  pursuits 
for  many  years.  He  was  married  December  10,  1854,  to  Miss  Sarah  M. 
Knisely,  a  daughter  of  Edwin  and  Barbara  (Baughman)  Knisely,  both  of 
whom  were  natives  of  Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio,  where  they  were  reared  and 
married.  They  came  to  Lake  county  in  1837,  and  the  father,  who  was  born 
in  18 1 4,  passed  away  in  1886  when  about  seventy-two  years  of  age.  The 
mother,  who  was  born  in  October,  1819,  is  still  living,  having  reached  the  very 
venerable  age  of  eighty-five  years.  In  their  family  were  eleven  children, 
of  wdiom  Mrs.  Hayden  is  the  eldest,  and  she  was  a  maiden  of  fourteen 
summers  when  she  came  to  Lake  county.  Her  birth  occurred  in  Tuscarawas 
county.  Ohio,  August  7.  1837. 

At  the  time  of  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hayden  began  their  domes- 
tic life  in  West  Creek  township,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farming,  and 
there  they  lived  for  more  than  forty-four  years.  He  devoted  his  energies 
to  the  improvement  and  cultivation  of  his  fields  and  annually  gathered  rich 
harvests  as  a  reward  for  his  labors.  He  now  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,   hut  at  one  time  the  old   family  homestead  comprised   more 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  517 

than  four  Inmdred  acres,  but  lie  has  I)een  very  generous  with  his  children, 
dividing"  his  landed  possessions  with  them.  He  was  in  very  limited  circum- 
stances when  he  started  out  in  life  on  his  own  account,  possessing  only 
two  steers.  In  the  early  days  he  hauled  wheat  to  Chicago  with  an  ox  team, 
and  sold  the  grain  for  thirty-five  cents  per  bushel.  He  went  through  all  the 
hardships  and  experiences  of  pioneer  life,  and  carried  on  farming  at  a  time 
when  much  of  the  work  was  done  by  hand,  before  the  introduction  of  the 
modern  machinery'  which  is  to-day  in  use  and  has  rendered  labor  much  less 
difficult  than  it  was  in  former  years.  He  is  now  living  retired  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  a  well  earned  rest,  his  capital  having  been  acquired  entirely  through 
his  own  labors. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hayden  have  been  born  nine  children :  Elmer,  Lerov, 
Alice,  Fred,  Bertha,  Martha,  George,  Jessie  and  Grace.  George  and  Grace 
are  now  deceased,  and  the  others  are  all  married.  One  son  now  lives  in 
Bloomington,  Indiana,  one  daughter  in  Billings,  Montana,  while  |he  others 
are  residents  of  West  Creek  township.  Lake  county,  and  with  the  exception 
of  the  eldest  son,  who  was  born  in  Illinois,  all  are  natives  of  Lake  county, 
Indiana.  Mr.  Hayden  has  given  his  political  allegiance  to  the  Republican 
party  since  its  organization,  and  prior  to  that  time  he  was  a  Whig.  He 
voted  for  Fremont  in  1856  and  for  Lincoln  in  i860  and  1864,  and  since 
that  time  he  has  supported  each  presidential  candidate  of  the  party.  At  one 
time  he  served  as  assessor  of  \^^est  Creek  township,  but  has  never  sought  or 
desired  political  preferment.  On  the  contrary,  he  has  felt  that  his  business 
affairs  claimed  his  entire  time  and  attention,  and  in  the  careful  conduct  of 
his  agricultural  interests  he  has  won  the  prosperity  that  now  enables  him  to 
live  a  retired  life. 

ELDON  N.   HAYHURST. 

Eldon  N.  Hayhurst  is  representati\-e  of  the  best  interests  of  western 
Lake  county,  whether  in  industrial,  social,  intellectual  or  moral  affairs.  Em- 
erson has  said  that  the  true  history  of  a  nation  is  best  told  in  the  lives  of  its 
progressive  citizens,  and  in  presenting  the  biographies  of  the  foremost  men 
of  this  county  there  is  necessarily  and  at  the  same  time  a  recording  of  the 
most  authentic  annals  of  Lake  county's  history. 

Mr.  Hayhurst  was  born  May  16,  1867,  in  Momence  township,  Kankakee 
county,  Illinois,  being  the  fourth  in  a  family  of  six  chililren,  four  sons  and 


51S  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

two  daughters,  born  to  Benjamin  Perry  and  Juliet  (  Farrington )  Ha}iuu"st. 
There  are  four  of  his  brotiiers  and  sisters  still  living:  Isadora  is  the  wife  of 
Hubert  C.  Libheart,  of  Woodstock,  Illinois;  Alvin  is  a  barber  of  Chicago; 
Ellsworth  is  a  barber  in  Kankakee,  Illinois,  and  is  married :  Alletha  is  the 
wife  of  John   Hart,   a  carriage-maker   of   Connersville,    Indiana. 

Mr.  Hayhurst's  father  was  born  in  Yellowhead  township.  Kankakee 
county,  Illinois,  in  December,  1838,  and  died  in  March,  1883,  being  of  Eng- 
lish lineage.  He  was  reared  to  farm  pursuits  and  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools.  He  enlisted  as  a  Union  soldier  in  Company  K,  Seventy-sixth  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  and  was  at  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  and  with  Sherman  on  the 
march  to  the  sea.  He  served  as  a  boy  in  blue  for  two  years,  and  then 
received  an  honorable  discharge.  He  was  a  Republican  in  politics.  His 
wife  survives  him  and  is  a  resident  of  Attica,  Indiana,  being  sixty  years  of 
age. 

Mr.  Eldon  N.  Hayhurst  lived  the  first  seventeen  years  of  his  life  in  Illi- 
nois, and  received  his  education  in  the  common  schools.  He  has  depended  on 
his  own  energy  and  resources  for  success  in  life,  and  is  truly  a  self-made  man. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  hired  out  for  a  wage  of  sixteen  dollars  a  month,  and 
when  he  began  life  on  his  own  account  at  the  age  of  majority  he  had  a  small 
capital. 

On  December  22.  1886,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Lizzie  Hayden.  and 
five  children  have  been  born  to  them,  all  but  one  living  at  the  present  time. 
Lyrrel,  the  eldest,  received  her  diploma  from  the  schools  in  1902,  and  has 
also  taken  a  year  of  high  school  work,  being  especially  fond  of  the  sciences; 
she  has  taken  about  five  years  of  piano  instruction  and  is  a  lover  of  music 
and  accomplished  in  the  art  beyond  the  average  of  young  ladies.  Kitchell, 
who  is  in  the  eighth  grade  of  school,  has  also  taken  some  music  instruction. 
Eleanor  is  in  the  third  grade,  and  the  youngest  of  the  family  is  Ruby.  Mrs. 
Hayhurst  was  born  December  30,  1866.  in  Kankakee  county,  and  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Rachel  (Dodge)  Hayden.  whose  histories  are  told  on  other 
pages  of  this  volume.  The  Hayden  family  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
progressive  in  Lake  county,  and  its  \arious  members  have  taken  a  prominent 
part  in  developing  its  resources.  The  lineage  of  the  family  is  English.  Mrs. 
Havhurst  was  reared  in  her  native  county  until  her  marriage. 

Mr.  and  ]\Irs.  Hayhurst  began  domestic  life  as  tenant  farmers  on  eighty 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  519 

acres  of  land  in  \\'est  Creek  township,  and  continued  as  renters  until  1896. 
They  tlien  purchased  one  liundred  and  thirty-three  acres  of  good  land  with 
modern  improvements,  and  as  they  were  continually  prospered  in  their  en- 
deavors, in  igoi  they  hought  eighty  acres  just  east  of  their  original  estate. 
On  April  7,  1904,  they  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Hand  county, 
Soutli  Dakota,  near  Wessington,  and  they  now  ha\'e  fine  property  holdings 
and  are  in  comfortable  circumstances  as  a  re\\ard  of  past  industry  and  effect- 
ive management.  Air.  Hayhurst  takes  much  pride  in  his  Percheron  horses, 
and  raises  only  good  grades  of  live-stock.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and 
his  active  participation  in  public  affairs  as  a  voter  began  with  the  campaign 
of  Benjamin  Harrison.  He  has  served  as  a  delegate  to  the  county  con- 
ventions at  various  times.  Fraternallv  he  affiliates  with  Lodge  No.  300  of 
the  Knights  of  Pythias  at  Lowell,  and  the  choice  of  himself  and  wife  as  to 
churches  has  favored  the  Christian  den(imination. 

ALBERT  L.  HAYDEN. 

The  student  of  history  does  not  have  to  carrv  his  investigations  far  into 
the  annals  of  this  section  of  the  country  without  learning  of  the  important 
part  which  the  Hay  den  family  have  played  in  the  agricultural  development 
and  progress  of  western  Lidiana  and  eastern  Illinois.  Air.  Hayden  of  this 
review  was  for  many  years  closely  identified  with  agricultural  interests,  and 
is  now  enjoying  a  well  earned  rest  in  Lowell.  He  was  Irorn  in  Kankakee 
county,  Illinois,  about  seven  rods  from  the  boundary  line  of  Lake  county, 
Lidiana,  on  the  ist  of  March,  1849.  His  father,  Daniel  Hayden,  was  a  native 
of  Knox  county,  Ohio,  and  was  the  eldest  S(in  in  a  family  of  thirteen  children. 
He  came  to  Lake  count}'  in  1837,  locating  in  West  Creek  township  near  the 
state  boundary  line.  Soon  afterward,  however,  he  crossed  the  boundary 
line  into  Kankakee  county,  Illinois.  Ijut  he  ever  maintained  his  association 
with  the  public  interests  and  with  the  -people  of  Lake  county.  His  death 
occurred  w  hen  he  was  sixty-nine  years  of  age.  In  early  manhood  he  married 
Louisa  Hill,  a  native  of  Connecticut  and  who  lived  to  be  sixty-five  years  of 
age.  They  were  the  parents  of  thirteen  children,  all  of  whom  reached  adult 
age  and  are  still  lix'ing.  All  are  married  and  most  of  the  number  reside  in 
Lake  county. 

Albert  L.  Havden,  the  second  child  and  eldest  son,  was  but  twelve  years 


520  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

of  age  when  his  father  luiilt  a  home  in  \Vest  Creek  township.  Lake  county, 
just  across  the  horcler  Hne  from  Illinois.  He  was  reared  in  that  township 
and  began  his  education  in  a  log  schoolhouse,  where  he  mastered  the  elemen- 
tary branches  of  English  learning.  He  attended  school  only  through  the 
winter  months,  while  in  the  summer  seasons  his  time  and  energies  were  de- 
voted to  farm  work.  He  remained  at  home  until  he  had  attained  his  ma- 
jority, assisting  in  the  development  of  his  father's  farm  and  thus  gaining 
the  practical  knowledge  and  experience  which  enaliled  him  to  successfully 
carry  on  agricultural  pursuits  in  later  years. 

On  the  26th  of  January,  1872,  Mr.  Hayden  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Julia  Clement,  a  daughter  of  H,  V.  and  L}'dia  (DeA\'itt)  Clement, 
who  became  pioneer  residents  of  Lake  county  and  were  here  married.  ]\Irs. 
Hayden  was  born  in  Fulton  county,  Ohio,  and  was  only  about  a  year  old 
when  brought  to  Lake  county,  her  girlhood  days  being  passed  in  Cedar 
Creek  township.  She  attended  the  common  schools  and  was  also  trained 
in  the  work  of  the  household  so  that  she  was  well  qualified  to  take  up  the 
cares  of  her  own  home  at  the  time  of  her  marriage.  By  this  union  have 
been  born  three  children :  Amenzo,  who  is  a  resident  farmer  of  Lake  county ; 
Albert  D.,  who  follows  agricultural  pursuits  in  West  Creek  township;  and 
Lydia,  at  home. 

At  the  time  of  his  marriage  Albert  L.  Hayden  located  on  a  farm  in 
West  Creek  township,  where  he  remained  for  three  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  he  removed  to  Cass  county,  Iowa,  where  he  spent  about  seven 
years.  He  then  again  took  up  his  abode  in  ^^^est  Creek  township,  where  he 
carried  on  general  farming  until  1902,  since  which  time  he  has  lived  retired. 
He  owns,  however,  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixt}'  acres,  which  is  well 
improved  and  is  equipped  with  all  modern  conveniences.  The  improvements 
upon  this  property  he  made  himself,  and  the  farm  is,  therefore,  a  monument 
to  his  capable  management,  unflagging  energy  and  business  capacity.  No 
one  need  remain  in  doubt  as  to  his  political  \iews.  for  he  is  fearless  and  out- 
spoken in  his  advocacy  of  the  princijilcs  of  the  Republican  party,  believing 
that  its  platform  contains  the  best  elements  of  good  government.  He  is  now 
enjoying  a  well  earned  rest  at  his  pleasant  home  in  Lowell,  ha\-ing  won  the 
competence  that  enables  him  to  li\e  retired. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  521 

\\TLLL\M   BUCKLEY. 

William  Buckle}',  who  was  formerly  ideiitifietl  with  agricultural  inter- 
ests in  Lake  county,  but  has  put  aside  business  cares  and  is  now  resting  in 
the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  his  former  toil  at  his  pleasant  home  in  Lowell, 
is  numbered  among  the  worthy  citizens  that  Ireland  has  furnished  to  Indiana. 
He  was  born  in  county  Cork,  Ireland,  in  1831.  His  father,  Dennis  Buckley, 
was  also  a  native  of  that  count}',  and  in  the  green  isle  of  Erin  carried  on 
agricultural  pursuits,  making  his  home  there  until  1849.  when  he  came  to 
Lake  county,  Indiana.  He  settled  in  Cedar  Creek  township,  about  a  half 
mile  from  the  present  site  of  Lowell,  but  he  was  not  long  permitted  to  enjoy 
his  new  home,  his  death  occurring  in  1851.  His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Catherine  Fleming,  was  born  in  county  Cork,  Ireland,  and  died 
in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  in  1858.  Their  family  numbered  five  children,  four 
sons  and  a  daughter,  and  William  Buckley  is  the  eldest.  John  is  a  resident 
of  Lowell ;  and  Patrick  makes  his  home  in  Cedar  Creek  township,  where 
he  follows  agricultural  pursuits.  The  sister,  Julia,  is  the  wife  of  Patrick 
Feley,  a  leading  farmer  of  Cedar  Creek  township.  She  is  the  only  sister  of 
Mr.  Buckley. 

The  first  eighteen  years  of  his  life  William  Buckley  passed  in  Ireland, 
and  then  came  to  America,  hoping  that  he  might  have  better  business  oppor- 
tunities in  the  new  world.  He  made  his  way  direct  to  Lake  county,  where 
he  began  working  by  the  month  as  a  farm  hand,  and  following  any  employ- 
ment that  would  yield  him  an  honest  living.  He  assisted  in  building  the 
first  brick  house  in  Lowell  and  for  some  time  worked  for  Mr.  Halsted,  the 
founder  of  the  town.  He  was  employed  by  the  month  for  about  five  years, 
and  then  began  buying  small  tracts  of  land.  He  soon  located  on  one  of 
these  and  improved  the  place.  In  partnership  with  his  brothers,  John  and 
Patrick,  he  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  for  several  years.  He  after- 
ward engaged  in  farming  alone  until  about  seven  years  ago,  when  he  retired 
from  active  connection  with  agricultural  pursuits  and  took  up  his  abode  in 
Lowell.  His  progress  has  been  consecutive  and  enviable.  He  has  worked 
on  year  after  year,  and  as  his  financial  resources  have  increased  he  has 
become  the  owner  of  valuable  realty  holdings.  To-day  he  owns  four  hundred 
acres  of  good  farming  land  in  Lake  county,  all  of  which  has  been  accumulated 
through  his  capable  management. 


n22  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Buckley  has  been  twice  married.  He  first  wedded  ]\Iiss  Elizabetli 
Darst.  who  died  leaving  nine  children,  namely :  Kate,  Franklin  D.,  Dennis 
P.,  Addie.  Julia  ]\I.,  John  P.,  Joseph  L..  Fred  W.  and  Raymond.  John  P. 
is  a  finely  educated  man.  He  graduated  at  Valparaiso  College,  .and  is  a 
professor  of  chemistry  in  a  college  in  Chicago.  He  received  his  education 
by  his  own  ambition.  On  the  3d  ot  June,  1901,  Air.  Buckley  was  again 
married,  his  second  union  being  with  a  Airs.  Louisa  Comeford.  who  was  born 
in  Vermilion  county.  Illinois,  June  11,  1851.  but  was  reared  in  Dwight,  Illi- 
nois. She  is  a  daughter  of  Reuten  and  Lovina  (Kuntz)  Comeford,  both 
of  whom  are  now  deceased.  Airs.  Buckley  is  the  mother  of  nine  children 
by  a  former  marriage:  John  F.,  Fred  \\'.,  Alary  A.,  Thomas  P.,  Daniel  A., 
Joseph  E..  Rosa  E.,  Ella  L.  and  Lizzie  L.  Comeford. 

Air.  Buckley  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic  cluirch  and  in  politics  is  a 
Democrat,  where  state  and  national  issues  are  involved,  but  at  local  elections 
he  votes  independently.  He  has  never  had  occasion  to  regret  his  determina- 
tion to  seek  a  home  in  the  new  world.  He  found  the  opportunities  he  sought, 
— which,  by  the  way,  are  always  open  t(3  the  ambitious,  energetic  man, — 
and,  making  the  best  of  these,  he  has  steadily  worked  his  way  upward.  He 
possessed  the  resolution,  perseverance  and  reliability  so  characteristic  of  peo- 
ple of  his  nation,  and  his  name  is  now  enrolled  among  the  best  citizens  of 
Lake  county. 

LEWIS  HAYDEN. 

Lewis  Hayden  is  numbered  among  the  early  settlers  of  Lake  county 
and  is  a  retired  farmer  now  living  in  Lowell.  In  fact,  he  is  one  of  the  native 
sons  of  this  portion  of  the  state,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  W'est  Creek 
township,  March  12,  1838.  He  is  the  eleventh  of  a  family  of  thirteen  chil- 
dren whose  parents  were  Nehemiah  and  Harriet  (Kitchell)  Hayden.  men- 
tion of  whom  is  made  on  another  page  of  this  work  in  connection  with  the 
sketch  of  Jacob  Hayden.  Amid  the  wihl  scenes  of  frontier  life  Lewis  Hay- 
den was  reared  upon  the  old  family  homestead  in  \\'est  Creek  township. 
The  settlements  in  northwestern  Indiana  were  then  widely  scattered,  and 
much  of  the  land  was  still  unimproved.  Crude  farm  machinery  was  used 
in  developing  the  fields,  for  the  era  of  modern  invention  had  not  yet  dawned 
resulting  in  the  production  of  the  modern  agricultural  implements  that  are 
to-day  in  use.     Lewis  Hayden  performed  his  full  share  of  the  work  on  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  523 

home  farm,  clearing  the  fields,  planting  the  seed  and  harvesting  the  crops. 
He  hauled  wheat  to  Chicago  with  ox  teams  before  there  was  any  railroad, 
and  he  remained  upon  the  home  farm  until  the  death  of  his  father,  when  he 
started  out  in  life  on  his  own  account.  His  educational  privileges  were  such  as 
were  afforded  in  a  log  schoolhouse  of  that  period. 

Mr.  Hayden  was  united  in  marriage  to  jMiss  Lucinda  Knisely,  and  to 
them  were  Ixjrn  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  Sherman,  Grant  and  Addie,  but 
the  last  named  is  now  deceased.  The  mother  passed  away  January  5,  1867, 
and  !Mr.  Hayden  afterward  wedded  Almeda  Knisel}',  a  sister  of  his  first 
wife.  She  was  born  in  New  Philadelphia,  Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio,  Oc- 
tober 16,  1846,  and  by  her  marriage  she  became  the  mother  of  ten  children: 
Judson;  Edward:  Sylvia:  Albert  and  .\lma  twins:  and  Carrie,  Mark,  Bruce, 
Ruble  and  Blanche,  all  of  whom  are  now  deceased.  .All  were  born  in  West 
Creek  township  and  the  living  children  are  ail  married  with  the  exception  of 
Albert. 

Mr.  Hayden  has  spent  his  entire  life  in  Lake  county  and  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  time  has  engaged  in  farming.  He  now  owns  two  valuable 
farms  comprising  rich  and  productive  land,  one  of  which  is  two  hundred  and 
seventy-two  acres  in  extent  and  the  other  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres. 
This  land  he  rents,  and  it  brings  to  him  a  good  annual  income.  He  him- 
self was  actively  engaged  in  farming  until  1899,  when  he  retired  from  busi- 
ness life  and  removed  to  Lowell.  He  had  been  very  successful  as  an  agri- 
culturist, had  placed  his  fields  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  had  an- 
nually garnered  rich  crops  which  found  a  ready  sale  on  the  market.  He 
improved  his  farm  by  building  fences  and  erecting  a  large  modern  residence, 
substantial  barns  and  other  outbuildings :  in  fact  he  added  all  modern  ecjuip- 
ments  and  accessories  to  his  place  and  his  property  is  now  very  valuable. 
His  political  allegiance  has  ever  been  given  to  the  Republican  party,  and 
upon  that  ticket  he  has  been  chosen  for  a  number  of  local  positions.  He 
belongs  to  a  family  of  nine  brothers,  who  have  contributed  in  large  measure 
toward  the  improvement  and  progress  of  the  southwestern  part  of  Lake 
county.  They  own  adjoining  farming  property  in  \\'est  Creek  township,  and 
contril:iute  in  large  measure  to  the  agricultural  interests  of  this  portion  of 
the  state.  They  always  favor  general  progress  and  improvement  touching 
the  interests  of  society  at  large,  and  Mr.  Hayden  has  given  his  hearty  co-op- 


52i  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

eration  to  many  movements  that  have  been  of  direct  benefit  to  this  portion 
of  the  state. 

OTTO  C.  BORMAN. 

Otto  C.  Borman,  active  and  energetic  in  business  affairs,  has  until  re- 
cently been  engaged  in  general  merchandising  and  in  milling  at  Tolieston. 
He  is  a  young  man  who  jMSsesses  the  enterprising  spirit  of  the  age,  his 
birth  having  occurred  in  Tolieston  on  March  3,  1877.  He  is  the  fourth  son 
of  Christopher  and  Wilhelmina  (Kurth)  Borman,  who  were  early  residents 
of  Lake  county,  coming  here  when  this  was  largely  a  frontier  district 
Otto  C.  Borman  is  indebted  to  the  public  school  system  for  the  educational 
advantages  which  he  enjoyed,  and  he  entered  business  life  as  a  clerk  in  his 
father's  store  when  a  mere  boy.  He  afterward  went  to  Chicago,  where  he 
W'Orked  for  one  year,  and  spent  a  similar  period  in  Hammond.  In  1898  he 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Mrs.  IT.  F.  Seegers,  the  widow  of  the  late  Henry 
F.  Seegers,  who  was  at  that  time  engaged  in  business  in  Tolieston.  Mr. 
Borman  then  conducted  the  business  and  developed  this  enterprise  to  good 
proportions,  a  large  line  of  general  merchandise  being  carried  and  a  liberal 
patronage  won  through  honorable  methods  and  straightforward  dealing.  Mr. 
Borman  was  also  engaged  in  conducting  a  flour  and  feed  store,  and  was  the 
leading  real  estate  man  of  the  town. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Borman  has  been  born  a  daughter,  Caroline,  and 
there  are  three  children  by  Mrs.  Borman's  former  marriage,  Laura,  Renata 
and  Hertha.  In  his  political  views  Mr.  Borman  is  a  Democrat  and  is  deeply 
interested  in  the  success  and  growth  of  his  party.  He  belongs  to  the  German 
Lutheran  church,  and  does  everything  in  his  power  to  promote  general 
progress  and  improvement  along  material,  social,  intellectual  and  moral  lines. 
He  has  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  county  for  a  quarter  of 
a  centiu-y  or  during  the  entire  period  of  his  life,  and  he  is  widely  and  favorably 
known  in  Tolieston  and  the  surrounding  districts. 

FRED  T.  BUSE. 

Energy  and  enterprise  coupled  with  sagacity  have  made  the  successful 
business  man  Fred  T.  Buse  and  brought  him  to  prominent  rank  among  the 
citizens  of  Lake  county  as  well  as  in  the  other  places  where  his  life  of  activity 
has  been  passed.     He  is  now  classed  among  the  progressive  and  prosperous 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  525 

agriculturists  of  \\'est  Creek  tcwuship,  and  stands  high  in  the  estimation  of 
all  who  know  him. 

He  is  a  native  of  Dubuque,  Iowa,  where  he  was  born  September  13, 
1863,  being  the  fifth  in  a  fanu'ly  of  seven  children,  five  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, born  to  Christian  and  Hannah  (Ponta)  Buse.  Five  of  these  children 
are  yet  li\ing:  William,  who  is  connected  with  the  commercial  activity  of 
Dubuque,  and  is  a  man  of  family;  Sena,  wife  of  Henry  Ehlers,  who  is  con- 
nected with  the  police  force  in  W'ashington,  D.  C. :  Charles,  a  saleman  in  a 
hardware  establishment  at  Dubuque,  and  also  married :  Fred  T. ;  and  Ida  K., 
wife  of  Robert  Knoll,  a  machinist  of  Dubuque.  The  father  and  mother  of 
this  fa.mil}-  were  natives  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  Germany,  and  the  former 
was  born  May  9,  1826,  and  died  July  4,  1900.  He  learned  the  trade  of 
mechanic,  and  remained  in  his  fatherland  until  he  was  a  grown  man.  He 
served  for  four  years  in  the  German  army.  He  came  across  the  Atlantic  in 
a  sailing  vessel,  and  from  New  York  went  to  Cleveland,  and  thence  to  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky,  and  then  followed  the  Mississippi  as  far  north  as  Dubuque, 
where  he  permanently  established  himself.  He  was  a  stanch  Republican,  and 
he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  German  Lutheran  church.  His  wife, 
Mrs.  Hannah  Buse,  was  born  April  11,  1827,  and  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven 
enjoys  fine  health. 

Mr.  Fred  T.  Buse  spent  the  early  years  of  his  life  in  Dubuque,  and 
received  his  education  in  the  city  schools.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  began  his 
career  by  working  for  wages,  and  from  a  beginning  without  any  money 
capital  nor  with  any  subsequent  material  assistance,  he  has  attained  by  his 
own  efforts  an  honorable  and  comfortable  position  in  the  world  of  affairs. 
He  was  in  Dubuque  until  1886,  and  then  for  two  years  he  was  employed  as 
a  brakeman  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad,  his  run  being 
from  Savannah,  Illinois,  to  La  Crosse,  Wisconsin.  He  was  next  a  baggage 
master  and  express  messenger  for  the  same  road  until  1893,  running  from 
McGregor,  Iowa,  to  La  Crosse.  Then  for  a  year  he  was  baggage  master 
from  Savannah  to  La  Crosse,  and  during  1894  he  weighed  United  States 
mail  on  the  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  road  from  McGregor  to  Chicago.  He  was 
then  on  a  way-freight  of  the  same  road  during  a  part  of  1895-96. 

October  2.  1895.  he  married  Mrs.  Grace  M.  (Bailey)  Barhite.  They 
have  one  son,  Elliott  E.,  born  in  Dubucjue,  October  20,   1896,  and  who  is 


526  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY. 

now  in  the  second  grade  of  school.  Mrs.  Buse  was  born  Jnne  5,  1867.  being 
a  daughter  of  Josiah  B.  and  Nancy  E.  (Kile)  Bailey — one  of  the  oldest  and 
most  prominent  families  of  Lake  county  and  whose  history  appears  on 
other  pages  of  this  work.  Mrs.  Buse  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
of  this  county,  and  on  December  21.  1887,  was  married  to  Adelbert  Bar- 
hite.  from  which  union  there  was  one  son,  Ceylon  A.,  who  was  born  October 
18,  1888,  and  who  recently  graduated  from  the  graded  school  of  the  town- 
ship and  in   1904  entered  the  Lowell  high  school. 

After  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buse  were  located  in  Dubuque  for  a 
time,  and  he  was  then  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  harness  at  West 
Salem.  Wisconsin,  in  the  firm  of  Wakefield  &  Buse.  He  was  also  interested 
in  the  La  Crosse  Leather  Company,  and  for  a  time  was  on  the  road  for  that 
concern,  his  territory  fieing  South  Dakota,  southern  Minnesota  and  central 
Wisconsin.  After  about  a  year  in  this  latter  business  he  sold  out  his  interests, 
and  he  and  his  wife  then  came  to  Lake  county  and  located  on  the  old  Bailey 
homestead  in  West  Creek  township.  This  place  is  known  as  the  Hickorj'^ 
Grove  farm,  and  contains  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  as  fine  soil  as  can 
be  found  in  Lake  county.  Not  only  the  entire  farmstead  is  a  beautiful  and 
profitable  estate,  but  the  home  is  one  of  comfort  and  cheer  such  as  is  not  met 
with  at  every  turn  of  the  road.  Mr.  Buse  is  devoting  much  of  his  time  and 
attention  to  the  raising  of  Hereford  cattle.  He  is  an  enthusiastic  and  pro- 
gressive agriculturist  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  and  is  interested  not  only 
in  making  his  farm  a  source  of  profit  but  in  causing  it  to  be  a  property  of 
beauty  such  as  he  or  anyone  might  take  pride  to  call  his  own.  He  has  re- 
cently built  a  fine  modern  granary,  forty  by  thirty-six  feet,  and  twenty  feet 
high,  with  concrete  walls  and  floor,  and  also  in  the  same  style  of  construction 
is  his  tool  shed,  sixteen  by  forty  feet. 

Mr.  Buse  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for 
James  G.  Blaine.  He  fraternizes  with  Lodge  No.  300  of  the  Ivnights  of 
Pythias  at  Lowell. 

JOSLAH   B.  BAILEY. 

In  the  death  of  Josiah  B.  Bailey,  on  November  25,  1902,  the  community 
of  West  Creek  township  lost  one  of  its  most  esteemed  and  worthy  citizens,  a 
man  of  unimpeachable  character,  of  serious  mind  and  worth,  and  with  an 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  527 

influence  emanating"  from  liis  personality  tliat  affected  not  alone  his  own 
family  and  circle  of  friends  but  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  throughout 
his  career. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  sixty-seven  years,  one  month  and  two 
days  old.  He  was  horn  at  Door  \'illage,  LaPorte  county.  Indiana,  October 
23,  1835.  When  he  was  a  child  he  lost  his  father,  and  tlien  went  to  make 
his  home  with  his  grandfather  in  Pulaski  county,  and  some  time  later  he 
accompanied  his  grandfather  to  Lake  county  and  made  this  his  home  through- 
out the  rest  of  his  life,  \\  ith  the  exception  of  two  years  spent  in  Kankakee 
county.  Illinois. 

March  ig,  1857,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Nancy  E.  Kile,  who  died 
April  18,  1876.  There  were  four  children  liorn  of  this  union,  three  sons 
and  one  daughter,  as  follows:  Levi  E.,  Charles  T.,  George  B.,  and  Grace, 
who  is  the  wife  of  Mr.  Fred  T.  Buse,  whose  history  is  given  above.  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1877,  ]Mr.  Bailey  married  ]\Irs.  Amelia  Sanger,  who  is  still  living. 
Mr.  Bailey  was  also  survived  by  a  sister.  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Hamiltnn,  of  Minne- 
apolis, and  by  two  brothers,  S.  T.  Bailey,  of  Battle  Grounds,  Indiana,  and 
O.  L.  Chapman  of  Coyville,  Kansas. 

Mr  Bailey's  life  was  of  tliat  sturdy,  upright  character  such  as  stands  as 
its  own  justification  and  is  the  mark  of  the  career  of  a  good  citizen.  He  had 
an  inquiring  and  adaptive  mind,  and  his  constant  desire  to  progress  made 
him  more  than  ordinarily  successful  as  a  farmer.  His  advice  and  opinion 
in  matters  of  practical  concern  were  often  sought,  and  freely  given.  He 
was  public-spirited  in  everything  that  concerned  the  welfare  of  his  com- 
munity of  \\^est  Creek  township,  and  his  good  citizenship  here  made  him 
also  a  valuable  unit  and  factor  in  the  makeup  of  the  state  and  nation.  He 
served  as  supervisor  of  his  township  for  some  time,  and  during  that  time 
urged  with  all  his  power  and  official  authority  the  building  of  gravel  roads. 
He  was  of  a  sympathetic  nature  and  was  always  ready  to  help  those  really 
in  need.  While  not  a  memlier  of  any  church,  he  was  free  an.d  open-handed 
in  his  giving  to  the  cause  of  Christianity.  He  was  an  attendant  of  the 
West  Creek  Methodist  church,  and  the  last  rites  were  performed  in  that 
church.  He  was  well  known  in  the  county  and  had  many  friends,  and  his 
death  meant  a  personal  loss  to  many  outside  the  family  circle  that  loved  him 
so  well. 


528  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

E.  R.  BACON,  M.  D. 

During  the  years  which  marked  the  period  of  Dr.  Bacon's  professional 
career  he  has  met  with  gratifying  success,  and  while  a  resident  of  Lake  county 
he  has  won  the  good  will  and  patronage  of  many  of  the  best  citizens  of  Lowell 
and  the  surrounding  districts.  He  is  a  thorough  student,  and  endea\'ors  to 
keep  abreast  of  the  times  in  everything  relating  to  the  discoveries  in  medical 
science.  Progressive  in  his  ideas  and  favoring  modern  methods  as  a  whole, 
he  does  not,  however,  dispense  with  the  time-tried  systems  whose  value  has 
stood  the  test  of  years.  He  has  a  large  practice,  which  is  indicative  of  the 
Irust  reposed  in  his  professional  skill,  and  so  widely  and  favorably  is  he 
known  that  no  history  of  the  county  would  be  complete  withotit  a  record  of 
his  life. 

Dr.  Bacon  was  born  in  Orleans  county,  New  York,  February  22,  1840. 
His  father.  Benjamin  Bacon,  was  a  native  of  Washington  county.  New  York, 
and  was  a  farmer  ]>y  occupation.  He  died  in  the  Empire  state  in  his  seventy- 
fifth  year.  His  wife  died  when  the  Doctor  was  only  three  years  of  age,  and 
the  boy  was  reared  by  B.  G.  Merrick.  He  pursued  a  common-school  educa- 
tion and  started  out  in  life  for  himself  at  a  very  early  age.  When  a  young 
man  of  twenty-one  years  he  responded  to  his  country's  call  for  troops,  enlist- 
ing on  the  24th  of  April,  1861,  as  a  member  of  Company  G,  Second  Michigan 
Vohuiteer  Lifantry.  He  was  a  private  and  whh  that  command  served  for 
three  n:onths.  Li  1862  he  re-enlisted  in  the  One  Hundredth  Illinois  Volun- 
teer Regiment  and  served  for  three  years.  In  1864  he  was  transferred  to 
the  regular  army  as  ho-spital  steward,  and  thus  continued  his  connection  with 
the  Union  troops  until  the  fall  of  1865,  when  he  was  discharged  on  a  general 
war  order.  His  clothing  was  pierced  by  five  bullets  at  the  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga,  but  he  sustained  no  personal  injury.  Diu'ing  the  years  of  his  active 
service  he  was  in  many  important  ]:)att]es,  and  never  faltered  in  the  perform- 
ance of  duty  or  in  his  allegiance  to  the  old  flag  and  the  cause  it  represented. 

In  May,  1866,  Dr.  Bacon  came  to  Lowell,  and  here  took  up  the  study 
and  practice  of  medicine.  He  had  attended  lectures  at  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
during  the  war  and  had  begun  practice  on  his  arrival  in  Lowell,  at  the  same 
time  continuing  his  reading  in  order  to  perfect  his  knowledge  of  the  healing 
art.  He  is  a  graduate  of  the  Chicago  Medical  College  of  the  class  of  1873, 
and  has  been  in  constant  practice  in  Lowell  for  thirty-five  years,  during  which 


/^   {S  e^eed 


'CLG,<r-Z^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  529 

time  iie  has  enjoyed  a  large  patronage,  and  is  now  an  extremely  bnsv  man. 
He  is  widely  known  as  an  industrious  and  ambitious  student,  and  his  profes- 
sional career  has  been  marked  by  continuous  advancement.  He  also  has  other 
interests  in  Lake  county,  being  one  of  the  directors  of  the  State  National 
Bank,  of  Lowell.    He  likewise  owns  farm  property  and  real  estate  in  Chicago. 

Oji  the  3d  of  June.  1868,  Dr.  Bacon  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Martha  B.  Sanger,  a  daughter  of  James  H.  and  Martha  (Cleve.land)  Sanger. 
Mrs.  Bacon  was  born  in  Lake  county  and  by  her  marriage  has  become  the 
mother  of  two  children  :  Sylvia  L.,  who  is  the  wife  of  S.  C.  Dwyer,  an  attorney 
at  law  of  Lowell;  and  Grace  M.,  the  wife  of  Dr.  A.  L.  Spindler,  a  dentist  of 
Chicago  Heights. 

Dr.  Bacon  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pvthias  fraternit^•,  the  IMasonic 
lodge  and  the  Lidependent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  is  now  one  of  the 
trustees  of  the  first  named.  He  has  been  active  and  influential  in  community 
affairs,  was  a  school  director  for  eleven  years  and  is  now  president  of  the 
pension  board,  of  which  he  has  been  a  member  for  thirteen  years.  His  first 
presidential  vote  was  proudly  cast  for  Abraham  Lincoln  in  i860,  and  since 
that  time  he  has  supported  each  presidential  candidate  of  the  Republican  party. 
He  belongs  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  takes  a  very  active  and  helpful 
p:irt  in  its  work  and  has  served  as  one  of  the  church  trustees  for  thirteen 
years.  Dr.  Bacon  has  been  the  builder  of  his  own  character  as  well  as  his  owr 
fortune.  He  started  out  in  life  for  himself  at  an  early  age,  and  is  a  self- 
educated  as  well  as  self-made  man.  In  his  profession  he  has  gained  prom- 
inence and  success  and  in  private  life  he  has  won  that  warm  personal  regard 
which  is  the  evidence  of  many  sterling  traits  of  character. 

BERNARD  F.  CARLIN. 

Emerson,  the  Sage  of  Concord,  has  said  that  the  true  history  of  a  nation 
is  best  told  in  the  lives  .of  its  aggressive  and  progressive  citizens,  and  what 
is  true  of  a  nation  is  likewise  true  of  the  units  of  a  nation,  the  county  and 
township.  Lake  county  has  reason  to  congratulate  herself  because  of  a  man 
of  this  type  who  has  recently  located  within  the  county  boundaries,  for  in 
Mr.  Bernard  F.  Carlin  are  found  the  qualities  which  make  for  success  per- 
sonally and  collectively  and  which  are  beneficial  to  the  general  tone  and 
standard  of  any  community.  Coming  as  he  does  from  the  great  agricultural 
34 


530  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

state  of  Illinois,  Mr.  Carlin  will  l^e  in  his  proper  element  as  a  factor  in  the 
rich  agricultural  enterprises  of  Lake  county,  and  will  make  his  influence  felt 
not  only  in  a  personal  way  and  as  a  public-spirited  citizen  but  as  a  power  and 
producer  of  wealth  in  the  material  affairs  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Carlin  was  born  in  Lexington,  IMcLean  county,  Illinois,  May  8, 
1869,  and  is  the  fifth  in  a  family  of  eight  children,  four  sons  and  four  daugli- 
ters,  born  to  Bernard  and  Bridget  (Murray)  Carlin.  Si.x  of  this  family  are 
still  living:  Anna  is  the  wife  of  P.  H.  O'Neill,  a  wealthy  stockman  of 
Faulkton,  South  Dakota,  and  they  have  five  children ;  Patrick  J.  is  in  the 
real  estate  and  insurance  business  at  Kankakee,  Illinois,  and  he  married 
Miss  Carrie  Klein;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  J.  E.  Herrington,  a  farmer  at  Fair- 
^'iiry,  Illinois,  and  has  three  daughters ;  Bernard  and  Katie  are  twins,  and 
Ihe  latter  is  the  wife  of  John  P.  Degnan,  of  West  Creek  township,  and  has 
two  children ;  John,  the  youngest,  is  also  in  the  real  estate  and  insurance  busi- 
ness at  Kankakee. 

The  life  of  Mr.  Carlin's  father  is  an  interesting  narrati\-e  of  self-achieved 
success.  The  senior  Bernard  Carlin  was  born  in  county  Mayo,  Ireland,  in 
1830,  and  is  now  living  in  advanced  age  in  Fairbury,  Illinois.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-two  he  set  sail  from  his  native  land  and  landed  in  New  York,  a 
stranger  in  a  foreign  land,  with  less  than  twenty-five  dollars  in  his  pocket. 
For  a  time  he  was  a  wage-earner  in  Philadelphia  at  fifty-five  cents  a  day. 
In  1854  he  came  to  Chicago,  when  that  then  small  city  lacked  fifty  years 
of  growth  before  it  should  become  the  present-day  metropolis.  From  there 
he  sought  employment  in  New'  Orleans,  and  after  eight  months  arrived  in 
Bloomington,  Illinois,  in  1855,  where  he  remained  until  1862.  In  the  latter 
year  he  came  to  Lexington,  Illinois,  and  began  saw  ing  wood  for  the  Chicago 
&  Alton  Railroad.  He  was  always  willing  to  accept  any  labor  that  would 
earn  an  honest  dollar,  and  his  industr\'  and  perseverance  are  the  grounds 
for  his  success.  He  lived  at  Lexington  until  1870,-  and  during  four  years 
of  this  time  he  was  engaged  in  farming.  In  1859  he  had  married  Miss 
Bridget  Murray,  who  was  born  in  Gahvay,  Ireland,  and  who  died  October 
3,  1894,  when  nearly  sixty  years  tild.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were  devout 
Catholics,  and  he  assisted  in  the  buikling  of  St.  Joseph's  church  at  Chenoa, 
Illinois,  where  he  lived  so  many  years.  In  politics  he  still  casts  his  vote  for 
the  Democratic  candidates. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  '  531 

Mr.  Bernard  F.  Carlin  was  reared  in  Chenoa,  Illinois,  and  besides  a  good 
practical  education  in  the  public  schools  he  took  the  teacher's  course  at  Val- 
paraiso College  for  two  years.  In  1895  lie  and  his  brother  Patrick  began 
dealing  in  live  stock  and  in  the  butcher  business  at  Chenoa,  and  continued  that 
with  success  beyond  their  expectations  until  1899.  In  No\'ember,  1899,  Mr. 
Carlin  embarked  in  the  grocery  business  at  Fairbury.  with  his  brother  John, 
and  continued  this  line  of  enterprise  also  \ery  successfully  for  three  years. 
While  in  this  business  he  and  his  brother  purchased  seven  hundred  acres  of 
land  in  \\'est  Creek  township,  Lake  county,  antl  it  is  to  a  part  of  this  that  Mr. 
Carlin  has  recently  decided  to  devote  his  attention  as  a  practical  farmer. 
Prior  to  this  purchase  of  Lake  county  land  he  and  his  brother  had  bought 
out  the  interests  of  the  other  heirs  in  the  old  homestead  in  Li\ingston  county. 
Illinois,  but  they  have  since  disposed  of  this  property. 

September  5,  1899,  Mr.  Carlin  married  Miss  Katie  F.  White,  and  the}- 
are  the  parents  of  three  children,  Katherine,  John  B.  and  Walter  P.  Mrs. 
Carlin  was  born  in  Lexington,  Illinois,  June  26,  1873,  being  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Katherine  (Doody)  White.  There  were  four  daughters  in  the 
family,  and  two  besides  Mrs.  Carlin  are  living :  Anna,  who  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools,  is  a  resident  of  Lexington,  Illinois ;  Mary,  who  was  edu- 
cated in  the  Lexington  high  school  and  completed  all  but  three  months  of  the 
course  at  the  Illinois  State  Normal  University,  is  a  resident  of  Lexington, 
and  is  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools  of  Pontiac.  Mrs.  Carlin  was  reared  in 
the  vicinity  of  Lexington,  receiving  her  educatimi  in  the  schools  of  that  citv, 
and  for  seven  years  was  a  teacher  in  the  McLean  county  schools.  Her 
father,  John  White,  was  born  in  county  Tipperary,  Ireland,  in  1821,  and  is 
living  at  the  present  writing  in  Lexington,  being  eighty-three  years  old.  He 
came  to  America  in  young  manhood,  landing  in  this  country  with  but  a 
shilling  to  his  name,  and  the  greater  part  of  his  life  has  been  spent  in  the 
employ  of  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad.  He  has  also  followed  farming, 
and  has  been  very  successful  in  his  life  work.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics. 
His  wife  was  born  in  Queen's  county,  Ireland,  in  1844,  and  came  to  America 
when  she  was  two  years  old.     She  died  June  i,  1904. 

Just  before  disposing  of  his  business  interests  in  Fairbury,  Mr.  Carlin 
was  appointed  joint  agent  of  the  Pacific  and  the  Adams  express  companies 
at  that  place,  and  remained  in  that  capacity  one  year.     He  resigned  April  16, 


532  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

1903,  and  took  a  district  agency  for  the  Continental  Insurance  Company,  and 
continued  in  this  husiness  until  November,  1903.  At  the  latter  date  he  and 
his  family  located  in  West  Creek  township.  Lake  county,  and  during  the  past 
year  he  has  been  devoting  his  time  and  attention  to  farming  and  stock-raising, 
which  pursuits  he  intends  to  carry  on  perhaps  permanently.  His  favorite 
stock  are  the  Durham  cattle  and  the  Poland  China  hogs.  He  has  already 
shown  great  sagacity  in  the  management  of  his  enterprises,  and  is  taking  full 
advantage  of  the  great  opportunities  offered  to  the  stockman  and  farmer  of 
Lake  county. 

Mr.  Carlin  is  inde]iendent  in  politics,  r.nd  usually  scratches  his  ballot 
according  to  his  own  best  judgment  of  the  men  and  principles  at  stake. 
Fraternally  he  is  a  member  of  the  Court  of  Honor  No.  206,  at  Fairbury,  and 
the  Yeomen  of  America  in  the  same  place.  He  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Catholic  church  at  Lowell. 

DAVID    C.    PULVER. 

There  are  few  living  Lake  county  citizens  who  can  claim  their  birth  as 
having  taken  place  in  this  county  over  sixty  vears  ago,  and  among  that  few 
is  Mr.  D.  C.  Puher.  He  and  his  noble  wife  are  held  in  the  highest  esteem 
by  all  who  know  them,  and  they  have  made  themselves  factors  of  influence 
and  worth  ever  since  entering  upon  their  active  careers  in  this  county. 

Mr.  Pulver  was  born  May  21,  1842,  and  is  the  youngest  of  the  seven 
children,  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  born  to  David  and  Mercy  (Tobias) 
Pulver.  Besides  himself,  there  are  two  of  the  children  still  living,  as  follows : 
Eunice,  the  wife  of  Edward  Ashton,  of  Lowell;  and  Lodemia,  wife  of  Henry 
Farrington,  of  Wessington,  South  Dakota.  The  father  of  the  family  w-as 
born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1795,  four  years  tefore  the  death  of  General  Wash- 
ington, and  died  December  27.  1843.  He  was  reared  to  farming  pursuits, 
and  educated  in  the  old-time  schools  existing  during  the  earliest  years  of  the 
past  century.  His  death  occurred  when  his  son  David  was  Ijut  six  months 
old,  so  that  the  latter  never  knew  the  energizing  influence  of  his  father.  The 
mother  of  Mr.  D.  C.  Pulver,  also  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  was  born  Sep- 
tember 2,  1805.  and  died  October  24,  1881.  she  and  her  husband  being  married 
on  November  5,  1826.  In  the  year  184T  this  worthy  couple  came  west  and 
took  up  their  residence  in  Lake  county,  at  a  time  when  the  country  hereabout 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTV.  533 

was  practically  a  wilderness.  David  Pulver  bought  one  hundred  and  ten 
acres  of  raw  land  in  West  Creek  township,  and  the  first  home  that  sheltered 
the  family  was  a  log  cabin.  In  those  early  days,  about  the  time  when  David  C. 
was  a  baby,  the  Indians  were  still  roaming  freely  over  this  part  of  north- 
western Indiana,  and  one  day  the  red  men  came  to  the  Puh'er  home  and  stole 
the  daughter  Eunice,  keeping  her  in  their  possession  for  two  or  three  hours 
before  she  could  be  rescued.  Deer  often  fled  across  the  premises,  and  the 
howl  of  the  wolf  could  be  heard  for  many  years  after  their  settlement.  The 
town  of  Lowell  had  not  yet  been  founded,  and  while  there  are  now  nearly 
twenty  important  railroads  through  the  county,  the  boy  David  had  attained 
the  age  of  eight  or  nine  years  before  the  wild  shriek  of  the  ]ocomoti\'e  roused 
the  echoes  with  its  unwonted  soimd. 

Mr,  Pulver  was  thus  born  and  reared  in  Lake  county  and  has  made  his 
home  in  West  Creek  township  all  his  life.  He  was  educated  in  such  schools 
as  were  common  in  this  county  during  his  youth,  and  he  still  distinctly  recalls 
the  little  log  cabin  school  which  stood  half  a  mile  from  the  old  homestead.  It 
was  about  fourteen  by  eighteen  feet  in  size,  was  roofed  over  with  the  pioneer 
"shakes"  as  the  rough  predecessor  of  shingles.  The  seats  were  rough  slabs 
supported  by  four  legs,  and  the  desk  for  the  larger  pupils  was  a  board  extend- 
ing around  tb.e  room.  The  Inn'lding  was  heated  with  a  cast-iron  stove.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pulver  have  used  the  old-fashioned  goosequill  pens,  and  tb.eir 
lives  are  a  strange  blending  of  the  pioneer  experiences  with  twentieth  century 
prosperity  and  convenience. 

]\Ir.  Pulver  remained  at  home  and  cared  for  his  mother  until  her  death. 
On  Februarv  2t,.  i86y,  he  vv-as  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Ursula  Vandecar, 
and  the  li\-e  children  born  to  tliis  union  are  as  follows :  Cora,  who  was  edu- 
cated in  the  common  schools  and  was  a  teacher  for  three  years  in  Lake 
county,  is  the  wife  of  E.  Van  Alstine,  a  fanner  of  Roanoke,  Huntington 
county,  Indiana,  and  they  have  three  children,  Oakes.  Ursula  and  Elton. 
Charles  W.,  who  after  the  public  school  education  took  the  normal  course  at 
Valparaiso  College,  learned  the  jeweler's  trade  at  the  big  watch  factory  al 
Elgin..  Illinois,  and  is  now  a  successful  merchant  of  Lowell :  he  married  Miss 
Edith  Hull.  Lura  completed  the  eighth  grade  of  school  work  and  is  now 
the  wife  of  Jodie  Hayden,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  West  Creek  township. 
Earle.  at  home,  has  also  completed  the  eighth  grade.     Jessie,  at  home,  did. 


534  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

in  addition  to  tlie  work  of  the  common  schools,  one  year's  work  in  the  Lowell 
high  school.  Mrs.  Pulver  was  born  in  Cedar  Creek  township,  Lake  county, 
June  15.  1847,  heing  a  daughter  of  Peter  and  Wealthy  (Clark)  Vandecar. 
There  were  just  two  children,  and  her  sister  is  Lovisa,  wife  of  William  Hal- 
stead,  a  farmer  at  Topeka,  Kansas.  Mrs.  Pulver  was  reared  and  has  spent  all 
her  life  in  this  county.  She  is  a  lady  of  cordial  greeting  and  accomplished 
in  the  best  activities  of  the  world,  and  has  been  an  able  helpmate  to  her 
husband. 

Mr.  Pulver  was  among  the  Lake  county  citizens  who  offered  their  serv- 
ices during  the  great  rebellion.  August  9,  1862,  he  enlisted  at  Lowell,  in 
Company  A,  Seventy-third  Indiana  Volunteers,  under  Captain  Fry.  The 
regiment  was  organized  at  South  Bend,  and  was  sent  to  Louisville,  Kentucky. 
He  was  under  the  command  of  General  Sherman  during  his  army  career.  He 
was  taken  sick  at  Siloam  Springs,  Tennessee,  and  was  forced  to  lea\e  the 
service  permanently,  being  finally  discharged  March  9,  1863. 

Mr.  Pulver  is  a  stalwart  Republican,  and  since  casting  his  first  ])resi- 
dential  vote  for  Lincoln  has  supported  every  candidate  of  the  Grand  Old 
Party.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  post  at  Lowell.  Mrs.  Pulver  is 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  he  has  contributed  his 
share  to  the  benevolences  and  charity.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pulver  have  lived  in 
this  county  so  long  that  not  only  have  they  been  witnesses  to  its  growth  and 
development  from  a  wild  country,  Imt  they  themselves  are  well  known  and 
held  in  highest  esteem  throughout  the  county.  They  have  a  most  hospitable 
home,  and  it  is  ever  open  to  their  many  friends.  They  have  in  their  possession 
one  of  the  oldest  Bibles  in  the  county,  one  that  was  published  in  181 7. 
Another  valuable  heirloom  from  the  preceding  generation  is  one  of  the  old 
double  coverlets,  woven  by  his  mother  fully  three  quarters  of  a  century  ago. 
Mrs.  Pulver  has  a  silver  cup  that  has  been  handed  down  from  generation  to 
generation,  it  having  been  made  in  Sweden  as  far  back  as  the  seven- 
teenth century. 

SAMUEL    A.    LOVE. 

Samuel  A.  Love,  of  the  well-known  firm  of  Love  Brothers  (Samuel  A. 
and  James  H.)  at  Leroy,  belongs  to  the  representative  class  of  citizens  in 
whose  personal  histories,  as  the  sage  of  Concord  has  said,  lies  the  truest 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  535 

history  of  community,  state  or  nation.  IMr.  Love  has  passed  so  many  years 
in  Lake  county,  lias  enjoyed  such  a  high  reputation  as  citizen  and  business 
man.  and  become  so  well  known  to  all  that  no  introduction  is  necessary  to 
place  his  real  character  before  the  mind  of  Lake  county  people. 

He  was  born  on  St.  Martin's  island  in  Lake  Michigan,  on  ALarch  17. 
1859,  and  is  the  fourth  in  the  family  of  eight  children,  five  sons  and  three 
daughters,  born  to  Samuel  and  Ellen  Jane  (Mundall)  Love.  J.  E.  Love, 
of  Lowell,  who  is  represented  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  is  the  eldest  of  the 
six  living  children;  ^\'illiam  is  a  hay  merchant  at  Lowell:  Samuel  A.  is  the 
next  oldest;  ]\lary  A.  is  the  wife  of  A.  M.  Phillips,  a  farmer  of  Winfiekl 
township;  James  H..  the  other  member  of  the  firm  of  Love  Brothers,  and 
present  trustee  of  Winfield  township,  is  also  given  place  in  this  history;  and 
Peter  K..  the  youngest,  is  a  farmer  of  Winfield  township. 

The  father  oi  the  family,  Samuel  Love,  was  a  Scotch-L'ishman,  born 
in  Ireland  about  1830,  and  he  lived  to  be  seventy-two  years  of  age.  He 
was  reared  in  his  native  land  and  before  coming  to  America  followed  the 
trade  of  weaver.  When  he  came  to  this  country  he  was  without  money,  but 
with  a  large  stock  of  honest  industry,  and  he  maintained  an  honorable  posi- 
tion in  the  world.  He  came  west  and  made  his  home  in  Detroit  for  a  time, 
and  was  a  sailor  on  the  great  lakes  and  also  a  fisherman.  He  located  in 
Cedar  Creek  township.  Lake  county,  about  1868,  purchasing  real  estate  near 
Creston,  and  he  resided  there  five  or  six  years  before  making  his  final  abode 
in  \\'infield  township,  where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  was  an  ardent 
Republican  in  politics,  and  had  formerly  been  a  Whig.  He  supported  all 
enterprises  for  the  public  welfare,  and  was  especially  interested  in  the  promo- 
tion of  temperance.  He  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  aiding  in  the  erection  of  their  local  edifice.  I\Irs.  Love, 
the  mother,  was  born  in  the  same  part  of  Ireland  as  was  her  husband,  also 
about  1830,  and  is  now  living  at  Leroy  at  the  age  of  seventy-four  years. 

Mr.  Love  became  a  resident  of  Lake  county  when  about  ten  years  old, 
so  that  his  entire  active  career  has  been  spent  in  the  county.  He  was  brought 
up  and  remained  on  the  farm  until  he  was  seventeen  years  old.  and  since 
then  has  been  engaged  continuously  in  the  mercantile  business.  His  educa- 
tion was  obtained  in  the  local  schools,  and  personal  application  was  the  source 
of  his  best  advancement.     At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  became  associated  in 


536  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

business  with  his  father,  and  continued  so  until  he  was  thirty-one  years  old. 
In  1890  he  and  his  brothers  James  H.  and  P.  K.  formed  a  partnership  and 
went  into  the  hay  and  grain  business,  and  the  style  of  the  firm  has  since  been 
known  as  Love  Brothers,  although  P.  K.  has  since  retired.  The  people  of 
Leroy  and  surrounding  country  appreciated  the  fair  dealing  and  the  enter- 
prising spirit  of  the  brothers,  and  their  business  has  been  throughout  large 
and  successful.     In  recent  years  they  also  buy  and  sell  live  stock. 

Mr.  Love's  wife  was  Miss  Matilda  J.  Stewart,  and  they  had  three 
children,  the  two  now  living  being  Marguerite,  who  is  in  the  fifth  grade  of 
school  and  has  taken  music,  and  Samuel  A.,  Jr.  ;\Irs.  Love  is  a  native  of 
Lake  county,  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  the  Crown  Point  high 
school,  and  for  some  years  before  her  marriage  was  a  successful  teacher  in 
the  county.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Charles  and  Rebecca  (Simpson)  Stewart, 
her  father  being  deceased  and  her  mother  a  resident  of  Leroy. 

Mr.  Love  is  a  Repulilican,  and  has  supported  true  Republicanism  since 
casting  his  first  vote  for  Garfield  and  has  been  active  in  local  party  and 
public  affairs.  He  was  elected  to  the  office  of  township  assessor,  and  before 
his  term  expired,  in  1887,  he  was  elected  trustee,  holding  that  office  seven 
years  and  five  months.  In  1900  he  was  elected  county  commissioner,  which 
is  the  most  responsible  office  in  the  county.  During  his  term  of  office  he  was 
a  moving  spirit  in  the  erection  of  the  one  hundred  thousand  dollar  court 
house  at  Hammond,  also  in  effecting  many  repairs  and  improvements  to  the 
county  building  at  Crown  Point.  The  county  affairs,  both  fiscal  and  admin- 
istrative, are  in  the  best  condition  of  their  history,  and,  with  the  Hammond 
court  house  finished  and  out  of  debt,  the  county  levy  has  been  reduced  from 
twenty-five  and  a  quarter  to  si.xteen  and  a  quarter  cents  on  the  hundred 
dollars,  wliich  is  certainly  a  good  showing  for  Lake  county.  INIr.  Love 
fraternizes  with  the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  Lodge  No.  195,  at  Crown  Point,  and  with 
Court  No.  17  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters  at  Leroy.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  he  is  a  steward 
and  also  the  present  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school. 

JAMES    H.    LOVE. 

In  the  various  members  of  the  Love  family  Lake  county  has  found 
during  the  last  thirty-fi\-e  or   forty  years  some  of  its  most  excellent  types 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  537 

of  citizenship  and  manhood,  and  one  of  ihe  most  progressive  of  these  is 
Mr.  James  H.  Love,  of  the  firm  of  Love  Brotliers.  dealers  in  hay,  grain  and 
Vixe  stock  at  Leroy.  Mr.  Love  lias  lived  in  this  county  practically  all  his 
life,  and  besides  proving  his  ability  and  enterprise  as  a  business  man  has 
also  made  himself  especially  useful  to  his  township  in  the  office  of  trustee, 
whicli  position  he  holds  at  the  present  writing. 

Mr.  Love  was  born  at  Washington  Harbor,  Michigan,  August  27,  1864, 
and  is  the  sixth  of  the  eight  children  born  to  Samuel  and  Ellen  Jane 
(Mundall)  Love.  In  the  life  history  of  the  uther  member  of  Love  Brothers, 
namely,  Samuel  A.,  will  be  found  further  particulars  concerning  this  family, 
of  which  both  parents  and  children  have  played  such  useful  parts  in  the 
affairs  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Love  was  about  six  years  old  when  his  father  and  mother  moved 
from  Michigan  and  took  up  their  residence  on  a  farm  near  Creston  in  Cedar 
Creek  township,  this  county,  whence  later  they  moved  to  Winfield  township. 
James  H.  Love  received  a  practical  training  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
country  and  at  Crown  Point,  and  as  he  was  reared  on  a  farm  he  gained 
experience  in  agricultural  affairs.  Like  his  brother  Samuel  he  was  asso- 
ciated in  business  with  his  father  for  a  time,  and  when  he  was  twenty-six 
years  old  he  entered  into  business  with  his  brothers  Samuel  and  Peter. 
Peter  has  since  left  the  firm,  and  the  extensive  trade  is  now  carried  on  as 
Love  Brothers.  Theirs  is  one  of  the  foremost  enterprises  of  the  kind  in  the 
east  part  of  the  countv.  and  the  annual  volume  of  business  transacted  is  a 
credit  to  the  enterprising  brothers,  who  have  built  up  a  substantial  success 
by  their  own  well  directed  endeavors.  Besides  his  connection  with  the 
business  Mr.  Love  owns  a  good  residence  in  the  town  of  Leroy  and  also  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  excellent  land  in  Eagle  Creek  township. 

March  29,  1888.  Mr.  Love  married  Miss  Sallie  B.  McKnight.  and  three 
children  were  born  to  them,  the  two  living  being:  Rosa  E.,  who  is  in  the 
eighth  grade  of  school  and  has  taken  music:  and  Mary  Ellen,  who  is  the 
baby  of  the  household.  Mrs.  Love  was  born  in  Lake  county  and  was  reared 
and  educated  here,  and  her  parents,  James  and  Belle  (Stewart)  McKnight, 
are  still  li\ing  and  residents  of  Leroy.  Her  father  was  liorn  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  famous  old  Ninth  Indiana  Regiment  during  the 


538  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Civil  war,  having  veteranized  and  served  till  the  close  of  hostilities.     He  is 
a  Republican  in  politics. 

Mr.  Love  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  tor  Benjamin  Harrison,  and 
has  stanchl)^  upheld  the  principles  of  the  Grand  Old  Party  ever  since.  He 
was  elected  a  trustee  of  Winfield  township  in  1900,  and  is  the  present 
incumbent  of  that  office.  He  has  erected  two  new  schoolhouses,  has  put  in 
six  stone  arches  for  bridges  besides  two  wooden  bridges,  and  has  handled 
the  administrative  affairs  of  his  township  in  a  way  to  reflect  o-reatest  credit 
upon  his  official  term.  The  finances  of  both  township  and  county  are  now 
in  excellent  shape,  and  through  the  loyal  efforts  of  such  officials  as  Mr.  Love 
Lake  county  presents  a  history  of  sound  and  substantial  public  administra- 
tion. Mr.  Love  affiliates  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  Castle  Hall  No.  405, 
at  Hebron,  and  is  one  of  the  trustees.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Foresters,  being  on  the  high  board  of  directors  for  the  state  of 
Indiana.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lo\-e  are  both  worthy  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  at  Leroy. 

WELLINGTON    A.    CLARK. 

Among  the  real  pioneers  of  Lake  county — that  is,  those  settlers  who 
were  twenty-one  years  old  before  1840 — so  far  as  is  known  to  the  Historical 
Association  of  Old  Settlers,  one  only  is  now  living,  Mr.  Wellington  A. 
Clark.  A  descendant  of  pioneers  from  Berkshire,  Massachusetts,  who 
formed  in  Ontario  county.  New  York,  the  settlement  that  became  Naples  *" 
in  New  York,  a  company  of  sixty  New  Englanders  making  that  settlement 
in  J  789.  it  was  very  appropriate  that  \\'.  .\.  Clark  should  become  a  pioneer 
in   Indiana. 

W.  A.  Clark  was  born  in  Naples,  New  A'urk.  Septemljer  j,  181 5.  Fie 
was  a  son  of  Benjamin  Clark  and  Thankful  Watkins,  whose  marriage  was 
the  first  to  take  place  in  that  early  settlement  which  is  now  Naples,  his  father 
erecting  the  first  grist  mill  there  in  1795  or  1796.  The  tradition  is  that  his 
mother's  ancestors  came  over  in  the  Mayflower,  but  the  full  line  has  not  been 
made  out.  His  father  vvas  a  soldier  and  became  an  officer  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.  He  is  of  good  New  England  Puritan,  perhaps  Pilgrim, 
descent.  He  entered  luisiness  life  as  a  clerk  in  a  wholesale  grocery  store  in 
Albanv.     An  older  brother.  Sanford  D.  Clark,  was  then  a  thrixing  merchant 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  639 

in  Ohio,  and  as  the  result  of  a  visit  to  that  brother  in  1837  or  more  probably 
in  1838;  W.  A.  Clark  made  a  lake  \-oyage  to  Chicago,  and  tlien  made  a  trip 
into  the  new  Lake  county,  where  he  found  some  accjuaintances  and  relatives, 
especially  Adin  Sanger,  also  Ephraim  Cleveland,  and  others.  Arrange- 
ments were  made  for  a  claim  to  be  entered  and  bought  in  his  name.  He 
returned  to  the  east,  and  among  the  names  of  settlers  in  West  Creek  town- 
ship for  1839  is  found  the  name  Wellington  A.  Clark.  He  came  through 
from  the  east  this  time  across  the  country  in  a  buggy,  and  commenced  in 
the  fall  of  1839  to  improve  his  West  Creek  farm  where  had  been  entered 
for  him  at  the  land  sale  "three  hundred  and  eight-four  acres."  In  Decem- 
ber, 1843,  he  was  married  to  an  estimable  young  woman.  Miss  Mary  C. 
Hackley,  a  member  of  a  family  of  early  settlers  residing  a  little  north  of  the 
present  village  of  Hanover  Center.  This  marriage  was  solemnized  by 
Judge  Robert  Wilkinson,  a  settler  on  West  Creek  in  1835,  and  who,  in 
true  pioneer  style,  took  his  rifle  v.ith  him  to  go  up  through  the  woodland 
that  skirted  the  west  border  of  Lake  Prairie,  and  with  it  shot  a  fine  deer 
when  near  the  home  of  the  bride. 

.■\bout  1846,  leaving  farming  for  a  time,  W.  A.  Clark  removed  with  his 
then  young  wife  to  Crown  Point,  became  agent  for  some  large  eastern 
houses,  especially  Ayers  of  Lowell,  traveled  considerably  over  the  state,  and 
made  money. 

The  following  paragraph  is  quoted  from  a  record  made  in  1872  and 
is  believed  to  be  thoroughly  correct :  "At  Crown  Point  he  built  a  good 
dwelling  house:  returned  to  his  farm  and  built  an  excellent  farmhouse:  spent 
again  a  few  years,  including  1864  and  1865,  at  Crown  Point:  and  once  more 
returned  to  the  West  Creek  home.  In  1867  he  erected  and  started  the  first 
cheese  factory  in  the  county :  kept,  some  of  the  time,  one  hundred  cows ; 
became  owner  of  a  thousand  acres  north  of  Crciwn  Point,  and  made  improve- 
ments at  the  home  place.  In  1869  or  1870  he  disposed  of  the  thousand  acres 
near  Crown  Point  and  now  holds  (1872)  his  West  Creek  lands,  in  amount 
thirteen  hundred  and  twenty  acres."  At  this  time  he  was  considered  to  be 
one  of  the  wealthiest  citizens  of  the  county  and  his  property,  accumulated 
in  some  thirty  years,  was  considered  to  be  worth  fifty  thousand  dollars.  He 
at  length  ga\'e  up  dair^-ing  and  farming,  and  returned  to  his  Crown  Point 
home.     He  was  at  this  time,  1875,  sixty  years  of  age,  and  for  the  last  period 


540  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

of  his  life,  now  almost  thirty  years,  he  has  heen  a  constant  resident  in  Crown 
Point.  He  has  been  content  to  remain  in  that  "good  dwelling  house,"  one 
of  the  best  in  the  town  when  it  was  erected,  while  many  quite  costly  men- 
sions  of  wood  and  brick  have  in  these  later  years  gone  up  around  him.  His 
home  is  a  landmark  of  the  earlier  years. 

In  all  this  period  of  retirement  from  farming  he  has  been  an  active 
busines,';  man,  having  an  office  where  he  may  be  found  almost  every  day.  a 
dealer  in  real  estate,  selling  farms  and  town  property,  and  negotiating  loans. 
During  his  earlier  residence  in  Crown  Point  he  took  large  interest  in  church 
and  school  matters,  as  one  of  New  England  descent  might  be  expected  to  do : 
and  in  1875  he  was  largely  instrumental  in  the  organization  of  an  associa- 
tion for  the  pioneers  and  early  settlers  of  the  county.  Of  this  organization, 
now  called  the  Old  Settler  and  Historical  Association,  he  was  the  first  presi- 
dent, delivered  the  inaugural  address  at  what  was  then  the  fair  ground, 
September  25,  1875,  at  the  first  annual  gathering  of  the  pioneers,  and  has 
held  the  same  office  for  twenty  years.  He  has  done  much  to  keep  ali\e  the 
interest  in  the  organization.  He  has  done  quite  an  amount  of  writing  for 
the  pa]iers  of  Crown  Point,  dealing,  not  with  the  political  and  social  ques- 
tions of  the  day,  but  rather  with  early  American  history,  Spanish  and  French 
explorers  and  missionaries,  and  their  early  voyages,  travels,  and  settlements. 
Manv  of  these  articles  may  be  found  in  the  Crown  Point  Register  as  late  as 
in  the  year  1904.  Few  men  in  their  eighty-ninth  year  do  such  writing. 
In  1876  he  visited  Philadelphia  and  on  his  return  wrote  quite  a  description 
of  that  Centennial.  As  a  political  newspaper  correspondent  may  te  placed 
first.  Hon.  Bartlett  Woods:  for  a  writer  of  long  poems.  John  Underwood: 
but  as  a  historical  newspaper  writer  of  Lake  county,  W.  A.  Clark  stands  first. 

A  semi-centennial  celebration  of  the  first  Masonic  lodge  of  Lake  county 
was  held  in  May.  1904.  and  he  was  found  to  be  one  of  two  survivors  of  the 
charter  members.  In  1889  a  centennial  celebration  was  held  in  Naples. 
New  York,  and  he  was  named  as  one  of  three  then  known  to  be  living  of 
the  children  of  the  first  settlers  of  Naples.  He  is  quite  surely  the  only  one 
now.  According  to  the  dates  given  in  the  records,  it  was  fifty  years  liefore 
that  centennial,  and  so  fifty  years  from  the  time  of  his  father's  settlement 
at  Naples,  when,  in  1839.  he  became  a  pioneer  settler  in  Lake  county.     .\nd 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  541 

now,  of  all  his  fellow-pioneers,  he  is  left  alone.     Mr.  Clark  is  honorary  vice 
president  of  the  Sons  of  American  Revolntion  for  Indiana. 

A  few  particulars  in  regard  to  his  family  may  be  added  to  this  sketch. 
Mrs.  Mary  Hackley  Clark  still  li\-es,  sixty  years  older  than  she  was  in  1843, 
but  still  cheerful  and  cheery,  sprightly  in  mind,  a  noble-heartecl  and  a  devoted 
Christian  woman.  Two  sons  were  given  to  them.  The  older  one,  Henry 
Clark,  married,  commenced  business  in  South  Chicago,  and  soon  died,  leaving 
two  children,  of  whom  one  is  now  Mrs.  Claribelle  Rockwell,  of  Crown  Point, 
and  the  other,  a  son,  is  not  in  this  county.  The  younger  of  the  two  sons 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark,  known  as  Fred  Clark,  a  promising  youth,  died  of 
typhoid  fever  while  studying  the  science  of  medicine.  They  have  one 
daughter.  Helen,  a  charming,  intelligent,  lovely  girl,  who  married,  and  has 
three  daughters  and  one  son,  all  married  and  settled  in  life,  and  she  herself 
has  returned  to  the  Crown  Point  home  to  care,  as  a  dutiful  daughter,  for 
her  aged  father  and  mother.  The  family  attend  and  help  to  keep  up  the 
Presbyterian  church. 

Note. — December  7,  1893,  soon  after  the  close  of  the  Columbian  Exposi- 
tion, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark  celebrated  the  golden  anniversary  of  their  mar- 
riage, when,  among  other  exercises,  a  paper  was  read  by  their  friend,  T.  H. 
Ball,  an  acquaintance  and  friend  for  fifty  years,  that  paper  consisting  of  ten 
quite  closely  written  manuscript  pages,  descriptive  and  historical,  that  cele- 
bration being  then  considered,  as  it  most  probably  was,  the  first  "golden 
wedding"    of   Lake   county. 

EDWIN  S.  GILBERT. 

Edwin  S.  Gilbert,  postmaster,  editor  and  business  man  of  Indiana  Har- 
bor, is  one  of  the  enterprising  citizens  of  this  most  enterprising  town.  When 
Indiana  Harbor  began  to  come  into  prominence  as  a  commercial  center  he 
recognized  its  opportunities  and  advantages,  and  has  been  identified  with  its 
progress  ever  since.  He  has  been  in  charge  of  the  postoffice  since  its  estab- 
lishment, and  he  issued  the  first  paper  in  the  place.  He  is  eminently  [lublic- 
spirited  and  truly  representative  of  the  energy  and  business  push  which  are 
going  to  make  this  young  trade  center  of  northern  Lake  county  one  of  the 
foremost  harbor  cities  about  Lake  Michigan. 

Mr.  Gilbert  was  born  in  Ash  Grove,  Iroquois  county,  Illinois,  February 


642  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

5,  1862,  a  son  of  Theodore  ilonroe  and  Hannah  (McDonough)  Gilbert,  the 
former  a  native  of  Connecticut  and  the  latter  of  Delaware.  His  paternal 
grandfather  was  Asa  Gilbert,  a  native  of  Connecticut  and  of  English  descent. 
He  came  west  to  Michigan  and  owned  and  operated  lumber  mills,  and  in 
Ohio  had  some  flouring  mills  and  in  1830  built  a  canal  in  that  state.  He 
rafted  the  first  cargo  of  lumber  from  ^lichigan  to  Chicago.  He  later  moved 
to  Illinois,  and  died  while  on  a  visit  to  one  of  his  children  in  Indiana,  when 
upward  of  sixty  years  of  age.  His  wife  was  named  Abigail,  and  they  had 
five  sons  and  one  daughter.  Mr.  Gilbert's  maternal  grandfather  was  John 
Stidham,  a  native  of  Maryland.  He  was  an  early  settler  in  Iroquois  county, 
Illinois,  where  he  owned  six  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  he  died  there  well 
advanced  in  years.  He  was  one  of  the  prominent  men  of  the  county.  His 
first  wife  was  named  Pennington  and  his  second  Bonebrake. 

Theodore  M.  Gilbert,  the  father  of  Edwin  S.,  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion. He  emigrated  to  Illinois  some  time  in  the  fifties,  and  settled  at  Ash 
Grove,  where  he  improved  and  lived  on  a  farm  for  a  time,  but  later  sold  and 
moved  into  Onarga,  where  he  was  engaged  in  the  grocery  business  for  a 
number  of  years.  He  died  at  Onarga  in  1896,  aged  seventy-two  years.  He 
held  the  office  of  assessor  of  his  county  for  a  number  of  terms.  His  wife  still 
survives  him.  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  years.  She.  as  was  her  husband,  is  a 
member  of  the  ^Methodist  church.  They  were  the  parents  of  ten  children, 
five  sons  and  five  daughters,  eight  of  whom  are  now  living:  John  S..  of 
Onarga,  Illinois;  Erastus  P..  of  the  state  of  Washington;  Evaline.  wife  of 
Charles  H.  Pusey,  of  Oberlin,  Kansas;  Miss  Jennie,  of  Onarga;  Abigail, 
wife  of  John  K.  Judy,  of  Goodwin,  Illinois:  Alice,  wife  of  A\^esley  Harris, 
of  Oberlin,  Kansas:  Dwight  !\1..  of  W'ashir.gton  state:  and  Edwin  S. 

Mr.  Edwin  S.  Gilbert  lived  on  his  father's  farm  until  he  was  fourteen 
years  old.  getting  his  schooling  in  the  district  schools.  He  then  went  to 
school  in  Onarga  for  a  time,  after  which  he  learned  the  printer's  trade,  which 
with  its  allied  profession  has  been  his  principal  occupation  throughout  his 
active  career.  For  one  year  he  published  the  Onarga  Rcviczi.'.  and  for  the 
following  three  years  conducted  a  paper  in  North  Dakota.  On  his  return 
to  Onarga  he  established  the  Leader  and  published  it  for  three  years.  After 
his  marriage,  in  1888.  he  lived  in  the  Dakotas  for  several  years,  and  on 
January  17,  1891,  established  the  Globe  at  East  Chicago,  Indiana.     He  con- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  543 

ducted  tliis  paper  until  August,  1899,  when  he  sold  the  plant  to  the  present 
owner.  A.  P.  Brown.  For  a  short  time  following  he  was  employed  at  his 
printing  trade,  and  then  bought  the  \Miiting  Xczcs,  which  he  still  publishes 
in  addition  to  the  Saturday  issue  of  the  Indiana  Harbor  AVics".  the  first  jour- 
nal to  make  its  appearance  in  this  town. 

^\'hen  the  postoffice  was  established  at  Indiana  Harbor  on  February  17, 
1902,  ]\Ir.  Gilbert  became  the  first  postmaster,  and  on  its  becoming  a  presi- 
dential office,  January  i.  1904,  he  was  reappointed  postmaster.  He  was 
city  clerk  of  East  Chicago  for  two  terms.  He  owns  a  residence  in  East 
Chicago,  and  is  now  building  a  double  store  building  with  five  flats  in  Indiana 
Harbor.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics.  He  affiliates  with  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  and  has  been  keeper  of  records  and  seals  since  the  lodge  was  insti- 
tuted in  East  Chicago  four  years  ago.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
ilethodist  Episcopal  church. 

June  21.  1888.  ]\Ir.  Gilbert  married  Miss  Kate  A.  Lowe,  a  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Eliza  (Beattie)   Lowe. 

DR.  ROBERT  AUSLEY. 

Dr.  Robert  Ausley,  physician  and  surgeon  of  Indiana  Harbor,  has  been 
there  almost  as  long  as  the  town  itself,  and  besides  taking  a  foremost  position 
in  his  professional  work  is  also  a  man  of  influence  in  all  that  pertains  to 
the  development  and  welfare  of  this  harbor  city  of  Lake  county.  His  life 
of  less  than  a  third  of  a  century  has  lieen  filled  with  activity,  and  besides 
the  full  complement  of  school  days  and  the  last  two  or  three  years  devoted 
to  his  profession  he  had  much  experience  in  different  parts  of  the  country  en- 
gaged in  civil  engineering,  and  is  also  one  of  the  veterans  of  the  Spanish- 
American  war. 

Dr.  Ausley  was  born  in  W'aldron,  Illinois,  November  4,  1S72,  a  son  of 
Elmon  and  Elizabeth  (Kibbons)  Ausley,  the  former  a  native  of  Michigan 
and  the  latter  of  Illinois.  He  has  two  brothers.  Howard  and  Charles,  the 
latter  of  Valparaiso,  Indiana.  He  is  descended  on  his  paternal  side  from 
one  of  three  brothers  who  came  from  Scotland  to  America  many  years  ago. 
His  grandfather  was  a  native  of  New  York  state,  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and 
died  in  middle  life,  having  been  the  father  of  two  children.  Dr.  Ausley's 
father  was  a  soldier  during  the  Civil  war,  enlisting  from  Alichigan.  and  after 


544  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

the  war  he  settled  near  Waldroii,  Ilhnois,  and  later  in  Westville,  LaPorte 
county,  Indiana.  He  now  spends  his  winters  in  the  south  and  the  summers 
in  the  north.  He  is  a  Mason  and  in  politics  a  Republican,  and  his  wife  is 
a  Methodist.  His  wife's  father  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  settled  in 
Illinois  in  183 1,  dying  in  that  state  at  the  age  of  sixty  years.  He  was  a 
prominent  farmer  and  justice  of  the  peace.  By  his  wife,  Catherine  Custer, 
he  had  a  large  family. 

Dr.  Ausley  spent  his  boyhood  days  in  Westville,  Indiana,  where  he 
attended  the  public  schools  and  graduated  from  the  well  known  high  school 
in  1887.  He  then  entered  Valparaiso  College,  from  which  he  graduated  in 
1889.  For  about  a  year  he  was  in  Wyoming  as  civil  engineer  for  the  B.  &  M. 
Railroad.  He  returned  home  in  1890  and  obtained  election  as  county  sur- 
veyor and  drainage  commissioner  of  LaPorte  county,  being  elected  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years  to  that  important  office,  and  he  was  re-elected  and  served 
in  all  four  years.  Pie  then  entered  Rush  Medical  College  at  Chicago,  but 
before  he  had  completed  his  course  the  war  with  Spain  broke  out,  and  he  at 
once  enlisted.  He  was  made  quartermaster  sergeant  of  Company  L,  One 
Hundred  and  Sixty-first  Indiana  Infantry,  was  sent  to  Cuba,  and  remained 
in  the  service  till  the  close  of  the  war.  On  his  return  he  resumed  his  studies 
at  Rush  Medical  College,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  the  spring  of 
1902.  In  th'e  following  fall  he  established  his  office  and  practice  in  Indiana 
Harbor,  and  has  built  up  a  very  satisfactory  and  profitalile  patronage  in  town 
and  the  surrounding  country. 

Dr.  Ausley  is  a  member  of  the  Lake  County  Medical  Society,  the  Indiana 
State  Medical  Association,  the  Kankakee  Valley  Medical  Association  and  the 
American  Medical  Association.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  his  fra- 
ternal affiliations  are  with  the  Masons,  the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees  and  the 
Independent  Order  of  Foresters.  He  resides  and  owns  a  good  home  at  3515 
Grapevine  street.  December  28,  1897,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Pearl  Gardner, 
a  daughter  of  Jared  Gardner. 

OZRO    METCALF. 

Ozro  Metcalf,  now  deceased,  was  born  ni  Cataraugus  county,  New  York, 
and  when  sixteen  years  of  age  came  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  being  among  its 
early  settlers.     He  found  that  pioneer  conditions  existed  here  at  the  time  of 


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HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  545 

his  arrival,  for  much  of  tiie  land  was  still  unclaimed  and  uncultivated,  and  the 
homes  of  the  settlers  were  widely  scattered,  save  that  here  and  there  a  little 
village  had  sprung  up  and  population  was  more  congested  in  those  districts. 
Mr.  Metcalf  came  to  Indiana  with  his  uncle  and  settled  in  Eagle  Creek  town- 
ship. In  1855  he  removed  to  Cedar  Creek  township,  where  he  was  continu- 
ously engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  covering  a 
period  of  forty-fi\e  years. 

l\lv.  ^letcalf  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Clarissa  M.  Haskin,  who 
was  born  in  Geauga  county,  Ohio,  May  22,  1837.  Her  father,  Abile  Haskin, 
was  a  native  of  New  York,  and  became  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  Buck- 
eye state.  His  last  days,  however,  were  passed  in  Michigan,  \\here  he  died 
at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years.  He  had  married  Clarissa  Custer,  a  native  of 
New  York,  who  died  in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  in  her  seventy-seventh  year. 
They  were  the  parents  of  six  children,  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  all  of 
whom  reached  mature  }'ears,  while  only  two  of  the  family  are  now  living,  the 
brother  of  Mrs.  Metcalf  being  Nichols  Haskin,  who  resides  in  Kansas.  Mrs. 
Metcalf  was  the  youngest  of  these  children,  and  came  to  Lake  county  when 
but  five  years  old,  with  her  mother.  Here  she  has  since  lived.  She  was 
married  in  1855,  anil  this  union  has  been  blessed  with  two  daughters  and  twc 

sons:  Clarissa  L.  is  now  the  wife  of  William  Northrup,  their  marriage  being 
celebrated  Fel)ruary  14,  1S78,  and  their  children  are  Loris;  Morton  O.,  who 
died  October  29,  1889;  Ora;  Lulu:  and  John  O.  Byron  Metcalf  is  a  resident 
farmer  of  Center  Creek  township.  Lottie  is  the  deceased  wife  of  Fred  M. 
Buckley.     Ordel  died  in  infancy. 

Politically  Mr.  Metcalf  was  a  life-long  Republican,  and  belonged  to  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  churcl^  exemplifying  in  his  life  its  teachings  and  belief. 
He  was  long  a  resident  of  Lake  county,  and  was  widely  known  as  a  man  of 
unfaltering  honor  and  inflexible  integrity.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
one  years,  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  Mrs.  Metcalf  still  owns  a  farm  of 
thirtv-two  acres  in  Cedar  Creek  township,  also  another  tract  containing  forty- 
three  acres.  She  likewise  has  fifteen  acres  at  Lowell.  In  the  management 
of  her  property  she  displays  good  business  ability,  and  it  returns  to  her  a 
gratifying  income.  Her  father  was  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  in  that  faith  she  was  reared.  She  has  long  been  identified  with 
the  denomination  and  is  a  most  earnest  Christian  woman,  whose  many  excel- 

35 


546  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

lent  traits  of  cliaracter  !ia\-e  won   for  lier  the  esteem  and  friendshii)  of  all 
"with  whom  she  has  been  associated. 

DR.  HARRY  E.  SHARRER. 

Dr.  Harry  E.  Sharrer,  for  nearly  a  decade  a  leading  physician  and  sur- 
geon of  Hammond,  Indiana,  is  a  man  of  striking  personality  and  high  profes- 
sional ability,  and  has  made  his  inark  in  this  thriving  Lake  county  town  in 
many  different  ways.  He  took  up  the  practice  oi  medicine  in  Hammond 
almost  immediately  after  his  graduation  at  an  earlv  age  fri:)m  college,  and 
in  the  few  years  that  have  since  elapsed  has  risen  to  a  foremost  jilace  in  the 
ranks  of  the  medical  fraternity.  Dr.  Sharrer  is  a  young  man  of  great  versa- 
tility of  talents,  and  while  he  has  done  well  to  reach  his  present  prominence 
as  a  physician  and  surgeon,  his  accomplishments  and  value  as  a  citizen  are 
not  measured  by  his  professional  skill  and  ability.  He  is  a  popular  member 
of  social  and  fraternal  circles,  and  a  leader  in  many  of  the  social  functions 
and  entertainments.  He  takes  an  active  part  in  practical  politics,  especially 
those  of  his  town  and  county,  and  in  many  ways  has  served  his  fellow  citizens 
and  his  fellow  partisans.  He  is  also  a  talented  musician.  He  is  highly  deserv- 
ing of  honor  for  his  true  manhood  and  many-sided  and  upright  character. 
While  giving  a  due  share  of  his  energies  and  enthusiasm  to  the  life  work 
whereby  he  intends  to  prove  his  greatest  usefulness  in  the  world  and  pro\-ide 
for  his  own  material  needs,  he  has  also  recognized  the  nuiltifarious  interests 
which  engage  human  society  on  every  hand  and  which  likev.ise  lay  claim 
to  man's  endeavor,  and  thus  has  arrived  at  the  happy  mean  in  which  he  can 
best  serve  himself  and  his  fellow  men. 

Dr.  Sharrer  was  born  in  Bowen,  Illinois,  June  ii,  1873,  ''"'1  ^'^^'^Y  '^^ 
said  to  have  inherited  the  profession  of  medicine  from  his  father.  He  is  a 
grandson  of  an  early  Illinois  pioneer,  who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  and. 
Avas  a  general  merchant  in  Bowen,  Illinois,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty 
years ;  his  wife  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years,  and  they  were  the  parents 
of  three  daughters  and  two  sons. 

Dr.  Wilbur  F.  Sharrer,  the  father  of  Dr.  Sharrer,  was  born  in  Juniata 
county,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  living  in  that  state  at  the  time  of  the  Civil 
war,  and  during  that  conflict  served  in  both  the  cavalry  and  infantry  arms 
of  the  military,  being  in  the  Twenty-second  and  Seventy-seventh  Pennsylvania 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  .  547 

regiments.  He  was  twice  wounded,  and  entered  as  a  private  and  was  pro- 
moted through  the  different  grades  to  Heutenant.  Right  after  tlie  war  he 
moved  to  Bowen,  Ihinois,  and  taught  school,  and  also  studied  medicine  in 
the  Keokuk  (Iowa)  Medical  College.  He  began  practice  in  Bowen,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1874  came  to  Indiana  and  located  at  Rocktield,  where  he  re- 
mained until  188 1,  when  he  moved  to  Delphi,  where  he  has  practiced  ever 
since.  He  has  been  on  the  pension  examining  board  for  about  twenty  years. 
He  and  his  wife  are  Presbyterians,  and  are  both  of  Scotch-Irish  stock.  He 
married  Catharine  E.  Moore,  a  native  of  Juniata  county,  Pennsylvania,  and 
one  oi  the  two  sons  and  three  daughters  of  a  native  farmer  of  Juniata  county, 
who  died  when  about  sixty-six  years  old.  Five  children  were  iKjrn  to  \\'illHU' 
F.  and  Catharine  Sharrer,  two  sons  and  three  daughters,  and  the  two  now 
living  are  Ella  B.  and  Dr.  Sharrer. 

Harry  E.  Sharrer  was  reared  in  Rockfield  and  Delijhi.  Indiana,  and 
attended  the  pulilic  schools  of  tliose  places.  In  1888  he  entered  Purdue  Uni- 
versity, and  was  graduated  from  the  School  of  Pharmacy  in  1891.  For 
a  time  he  held  the  position  of  manager  and  chemist  of  the  Hoyt  Chemical 
Company  at  Terre  Haute,  but  in  the  same  year  entered  the  drug  business 
at  Delphi  in  partnership  with  M.  M.  Murphy,  which  they  carried  on  for 
several  years.  In  1894  Mr.  Sharrer  entered  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio, 
at  Cincinnati,  and  remained  until  his  graduation  on  .\pril  g,  1896.  On  the 
I2th  of  the  same  month  he  opened  his  office  in  Hammond,  and  has  been 
engaged  in  successful  practice  exes  since. 

April  12,  1898,  Dr.  Sharrer  was  married  to  Miss  Lottie  M.  Weaver, 
of  Burr  Oak,  Michigan,  a  daughter  of  Edward  M.  and  Mabel  Weaver.  One 
daughter  was  born  of  this  marriage,  Anna  Kathryn.  Mrs.  Sharrer  died 
November  25,  1901,  aged  twenty-six  years.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church.  On  June  16,  1903,  Dr.  Sharrer  married  Miss  Katharine 
Tracy,  of  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  They  are  both  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
church. 

Dr.  Sharrer  affiliates  with  Garfield  Lodge  No.  569.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and 
was  made  a  Mason  in  Delphi  Lodge  No.  516.  He  also  belongs  to  Ham- 
mond Chapter  No.  117,  R.  A.  M.,  and  Hammond  Commandeiy  No.  41, 
K.  T.  His  further  fraternal  connections  are  with  Hammond  Lodge  No. 
210,  K.  of  P.,  and  with  the  Royal  League  and  the  Knights  of  Khorassan.     He 


548  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

is  a  member  and  secretary  of  the  Lake  County  Medical  Society,  is  a  member 
of  tlie  Kankakee  Valley  Medical  Society,  the  Lidiana  State  Medical  Associa- 
tion and  the  -American  Medical  Association,  and  is  also  a  member  of  the 
executive  committee  of  the  National  Association  of  Pension  Examining 
Surgeons.  He  is  president  of  the  Hammond  Club  and  a  member  of  the 
Commercial  Club  of  Hammond.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Hammond  Saenger- 
liund,  a  German  singing  society,  and  an  lionorary  member  of  Barnie  G. 
Young's  Concert  Band  of  Hammond. 

A  stanch  Repulilican  in  politics.  Dr.  Sharrer  has  been  precinct  com- 
mitteeman, and  is  now  a  member  of  the  county  executive  committee;  is 
treasurer  of  the  city  Republican  committee  and  president  of  the  Hammond 
Young  Men's  Republican  Club.  He  has  been  a  delegate  to  the  state  Repub- 
lican conventions  for  the  past  eight  years.  He  also  belongs  to  the  Chicago 
Lidiana  Club.  Lie  lives  at  the  corner  of  Hohman  and  Doty  streets,  where 
in  1897.  1898  and  1899  be  built  three  residences,  which  be  still  owns.  He 
is  surgeon  for  f\ye  factories  in  the  city  of  Hammond  and  is  surgeon  for  the 
Monon  Railroad. 

RODMAN    H.    WELLS. 

Rodman  H.  ^^'ells,  a  prominent  resident  of  Crown  Point,  is  senior 
member  of  the  well  known  firm  of  R.  LI.  Wells  and  Son.  proprietors  of  the 
large  livery,  sale  and  boarding  stables  at  240  Truman  a\'enue  in  Hammond. 
He  is  one  of  the  oldest  native  sons  of  Crown  Point,  and  has  made  that  his 
home  throughout  the  sixty-five  and  more  years  of  his  life.  He  has  thus 
known  the  county  from  its  earliest  times,  has  at  various  periods  held  impor- 
tant county  and  other  local  ofifices,  and  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  had  the 
leading  livery  establishment  of  Crown  Point.  He  is  a  fine  type  of  business 
man  and  citizen,  energetic,  progressive  and  public-spirited,  and  has  lived  in 
the  enjovment  of  esteem  from  his  fellow  men  during  all  his  career  in  Lake 
county. 

Mr.  Wells  was  born  in  Crown  Point,  June  6,  1838,  a  son  of  Henry 
and  Adaline  (Witherell)  Wells,  natives  of  Massachusetts.  Both  his  grand- 
fathers were  natives  of  tliat  state,  and  both  served  in  the  war  of  1812. 
Plenrv  Wells  followed  farming  in  early  life.  In  1836  he  moved  from  Michi- 
gan to   Indiana,  taking  up  land  at   Crown   Point  and   following  farming  in 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  549 

that  vicinit_v  for  the  remainder  of  liis  life.  He  was  one  of  the  first  sheriffs 
of  Lake  cotinty,  and  afterward  filled  tlie  office  of  county  treasurer.  ?Ie 
always  retained  and  resided  on  his  farm  just  south  of  Crown  Point,  where 
he  died.  His  wife  died  ahout  1861.  They  both  attended  the  Presbyterian 
churcli.  There  were  five  children  in  their  family :  Susan,  widow  of  Alex- 
ander Clark,  of  Crown  Point :  Rodman  H. ;  Eliza,  deceased  wife  of  Samuel 
R.  Pratt:  Homer  \\'..  of  Crown  Point:  and  Adaline.  deceased,  who  was  the 
wife  of  John  E.  Luther. 

^ilr.  Rodman  H.  Wells  was  reared  on  the  homestead  farm  at  Crown 
Point  and  attended  the  public  schools  of  the  town.  Farming  was  his  vocation 
until  some  years  after  the  war.  In  August,  1862,  he  raised  Company  A. 
of  the  Xinety-ninth  Indiana  Infantry,  and  enlisted  in  the  company  as  a 
private,  although  he  was  offered  the  second  lieutenancy.  He  served  nearly 
three  years,  and  was  compelled  to  come  home  on  account  of  ill  health.  He 
participated  throughout  the  Vicksburg  campaign.  After  the  war  he  worked 
his  father's  place  for  several  years,  and  at  the  same  time  did  considerable 
stock-buying,  in  one  season  purchasing  eight  hvmdred  head  of  milch  cows 
for  the  Western  Reserve.  On  leaving  the  farm  he  entered  the  livery  business 
at  Crown  Point  and  carried  it  on  most  successfullv  for  twentv-five  years.  In 
1899  he  sold  out  his  establishment  at  the  county  seat  and  in  partnership  with 
his  son.  Rodman  B..  opened  the  large  stables  at  Hammond.  Their  outfits 
have  a  uniformly  excellent  reputation  throughout  the  city  and  county,  and 
their  patronage  has  been  built  up  to  large  and  profitable  proportions. 

Mr.  Wells  is  an  influential  Republican,  and  has  always  taken  an  active 
part  in  public  affairs.  Before  the  war  he  was  deputy  sheriff,  and  after  the 
Rebellion  was  deputy  sheriff  under  Sheriff  Marble  for  four  years.  In  1882 
he  was  elected  sheriff  and  served  in  that  office  for  two  terms,  or  four 
years.  He  has  also  served  as  chairman  of  the  county  central  committee  and 
a  number  of  times  as  precinct  committeeman,  and  has  been  sent  as  delegate 
to  a  number  of  state  conventions.  Mrs.  A\'ells  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church. 

In  i860  Mr.  Wells  married  Miss  Xancy  J.  Van  Houten.  a  daughter  of 
James  and  Sallie  Ann  \"an  Houten.  ^Irs.  Wells  died  in  187 1.  leaving  no 
children.  In  1872  Mr.  \\'ells  married  Miss  Emily  W.  Van  Houten,  a  sister 
of  his  first  wife.     Thev  have  two  children.   Tennie  il.  and  Rodman  B.,  the 


550  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

latter  being  unmarried  and  in  partnersliip  with  his  lather.  Jennie  M.  married 
Herman  J.  Leliman,  and  tliey  Hve  at  Crown  Point  and  have  two  children. 
Hermina  and  Rodman  J. 

BENJAMIN   F.   HAYES. 

Benjamin  l\  Hayes,  of  206  Hohman  street,  Hammond,  has  been  con- 
nected with  business  and  public  affairs  in  Lake  county  for  a  numkier  of  years, 
and  is  a  man  of  recognized  ability  and  sterling  integrity,  with  an  excellent 
record  of  successful  effort  since  taking  up  the  active  duties  of  life. 

He  was  born  at  Muscatine,  Iowa,  April  4,  1859,  a  son  of  Maurice  and 
Julia  (Guinea)  Hayes,  natives  of  Ireland.  His  great-grandfather  lived  to 
be  nearly  a  hundred  years  old,  and  his  grandfather  also  died  when  well  ad- 
vanced in  years.  The  latter  came  to  America  and  settled  in  Connecticut. 
Maurice  Hayes  learned  the  tailor's  trade,  and  from  Connecticut  moved,  about 
1856,  to  Muscatine,  Iowa,  where  he  died,  when  still  a  young  man,  in  i860. 
His  wife  survived  him  until  1872,  when  she  w-as  thirtj'-eight  years  old,  and 
by  her  second  husband,  Philip  Myers,  she  had  three  children.  The  family 
were  all  Catholics  in  religious  faith.  Maurice  and  Julia  Hayes  had  two  sons 
and  two  daughters :  John,  of  Sulphur  Springs,  Ohio ;  Ella,  wife  of  Edward 
Rader,  of  Rapid  City,  Michigan:  Beulah,  wife  of  William  J.  Wallace,  of 
Chicago  Heights,  Illinois;  and  Benjamin  F.,  of  Hammond. 

When  Mr.  B.  F.  Hayes  was  three  years  old  his  mother  moved  to  Chi- 
cago, and  he  remained  there  and  received  his  education  until  after  the  great 
fire  of  1871.  He  then  went  to  Crown  Point,  Indiana,  and  attended  the 
public  schools  for  a  year  or  so,  and  that  was  his  principal  home  for  twenty- 
five  years.  He  learned  the  butcher's  trade  and  followed  it  for  some  years.  In 
1894  he  was  elected  sheriff  of  Lake  county,  being  re-elected  in  1896,  and 
gave  a  most  efficient  administration  of  that  office  for  four  years.  Since  then 
his  health  has  been  rather  poor,  and  he  has  traveled  a  good  deal,  and  in  busi- 
ness his  attention  has  been  confined  mainly  to  real  estate  dealings,  he  having 
transacted  a  number  of  important  transfers  in  this  county.  He  took  up 
his  residence  in  Hammond  in  the  spring  of  1903.  He  owns  property  here 
and  also  near  Crown  Point. 

Mr.  Hayes  affiliates  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  the  Benevolent 
and   Protective  Order  of   Elks.      His  wife   is  a   member  of  the   Methodist 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  651 

church.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  has  served  in  the  township 
council,  as  road  supervisor  and  constable,  and  for  two  terms  was  marshal 
of  Crown  Point. 

On  Christmas  day  of  1877  he  married  Miss  Xettie  L.  Maxwell,  a 
daughter  of  William  and  Roxanna  (Jarvis)  Maxwell.  Her  father  was  a 
native  of  Ireland  and  her  mother  of  New  York.  There  were  eight  children 
in  the  famih',  two  sons  and  six  daughters,  and  six  are  now  living:  Carrie 
Adell,  the  deceased  wife  of  Samuel  R.  Smith;  Nettie  L.,  Mrs.  Hayes;  Emma 
F.,  wife  of  William  Birkley.  of  Crown  Point :  Douglas,  of  Deep  River,  Lake 
county;  Edith  M.:  Lewis  E.,  of  this  county;  Georgia  B.,  wife  of  Lafay 
\\'ilkie,  of  Buffalo,  New  A'ork ;  and  Jennie,  deceased.  Mrs.  Hayes"  father, 
was  a  farmer,  coming  from  Irelanrl  and  settling  at  Westville,  New  York, 
when  a  young  man,  thence  came  west  and  lived  in  Wisconsin  eight  years, 
moved  from  there  to  Illinois,  and  in  1865  to  Indiana.  He  died  in  1876,  aged 
forty-eight  years.  His  father,  also  William,  died  in  Lake  county  well  ad- 
vanced in  years,  having  been  the  father  of  a  good-sized  family.  The  maternal 
grandfather  of  Mrs.  Hayes  was  Alexander  Jar\'is,  a  nati\'e  of  Ireland,  whence 
he  came  to  the  United  States  about  1834  and  located  at  West\-ille,  New 
York.  He  was  a  farmer.  His  wife  was  Margaret  Henry,  and  they  had 
eleven  children.     His  father,  Joseph  Jarvis,  died  in  Ireland. 

WILLIAM  C.  SMITH. 

William  C.  Smith,  superintendent  of  the  city  schools  of  East  Chicago, 
has  been  engaged  in  educational  work  during  most  of  his  active  career,  and 
is  a  man  of  exceptional  fitness  for  his  calling  and  of  recognized  ability  in 
both  the  instructional  and  administrative  fields  of  his  profession.  During  the 
past  three  years  he  has  done  excellent  work  in  raising  the  standard  and  creat- 
ing an  educational  efficiency  in  the  school  system  of  East  Chicago,  and  is 
held  in  high  esteem  among  all  the  patrons  of  the  public  schools. 

Mr.  Smith  was  born  in  New  York  city,  February  2,  1869,  a  son  of 
John  G.  and  Sarah  E.  (Chandler)  Smith,  both  natives  of  Massachusetts.  He 
is  of  one  of  the  oldest  American  families,  dating  back  for  seven  genera- 
tions. His  paternal  grandfather,  Jcihn  G.  .Smith,  was  shoemaker  of  Beverly, 
Massachusetts,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  His  wife  was  Hannah 
Cross,  and  they  had  a  large  family.     The  maternal  grandfather  of  Superin- 


652  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

tendent  Smith  was  Holbrook  Chandler,  a  native  of  Massachusetts  and  also 
of  an  old  American  family.  He  was  custodian  of  buildings  of  the  Phillips 
Acadamy  at  Andover.  He  attained  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-seven  years. 
By  his  wife  Frances  Kimliall  he  had  a  good-sized  family.  John  G.  Smith, 
the  father  of  William  C,  was  a  traveling  salesman  for  thirty-five  years.  In 
1879  he  left  New  York  and  located  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  where  he  made 
his  home  till  his  death,  in  i8g6,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  years.  His  wife 
is  still  living.  They  both  had  membership  in  the  Second  Baptist  church  of 
St.  Louis.  He  had  been  a  soldier  during  the  Civil  war,  serving  in  the  Thirty- 
fifth  Massachusetts  Infantry,  of  the  Ninth  Army  Corps.  He  was  wounded 
at  the  battle  of  Antietam,  and  was  at  the  siege  of  Knox\'ille  and  in  many 
battles  under  Sherman.  He  served  as  a  private  for  two  and  a  half  years. 
He  and  his  wife  were  parents  of  four  children:  Everett  H.,  of  St.  Louis; 
William  C. ;  Miss  Mattie,  of  Godfrey.  Illinois;  and  Hannah,  of  Lincoln, 
Illinois. 

Mr.  William  C.  Smith  received  his  first  schooling  in  Jersey  City,  and 
after  the  family  moved  to  St.  Louis  he  attended  the  public  schools  of  that 
city,  and  later  was  a  student  in  the  manual  training  school  of  Washington 
Lhiiversity,  in  St.  Louis.  After  school  days  -were  over  he  was  employed 
in  various  ways  in  St.  Louis  until  1887,  when  he  began  his  career  as  teacher, 
having  charge  of  district  schools  for  three  years.  He  then  became  assistant 
principal  at  Albion,  Illinois.  In  1901  he  came  to  East  Chicago  to  assume 
the  position  of  superintendent  of  the  city  schools,  and  has  served  in  that 
capacity  ever  since. 

Superintendent  Smith  is  a  member  of  the  Second  Baptist  church  of  East 
Chicago,  while  his  wife  is  an  Episcopalian.  Politically  he  is  a  Republican. 
He  resides  at  4136  Magoun  avenue,  where  he  built  his  good  home  in  1902. 
On  September  2,  1891,  Mr.  Smith  married  Miss  Mary  Bowman,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Kemp  and  Sarah  (Tribe)  Bowman.  They  have  one  daughter,  Sarah 
Frances. 

AARON    NORTON    HART. 

.'\aron  Norton  Hart  is  a  figure  of  the  past,  whose  career  came  to  a  close 

over  two  decades  ago,  but  whose  acts  survive  as  an  enduring  monument  of 

human   energy.      Count   that   man   well    starred,    indeed,   who   accomplishes 

aught   in   this   hurrying  world  that   is    destined    to    continuance    and    en- 


-^'^cujii^  (yi  (^cud- 


^.^Ca^u-tyv^    L^r     Mn  /hC^ 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  553 

durance,  for  most  men's  deeds  seldom  outlive  their  mortal  years.  But 
A.  N.  Hart  (always  called  A.  X.  Hart)  was  a  character  of  such  force  and 
originality  that  it  was  inevitable  he  should  leave  an  impress  on  some  phase  of 
human  endeavor,  and  this  will  be  found  in  what  he  did  for  the  advancement  of 
agriculture,  and  reclamation  of  the  swamps  of  Lake  county  to  lasting  cultiva- 
tion and  crop-production.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneers  and  most  successful 
promoters  of  this  work,  and  as  his  task  at  the  start  was  a  stupendous  one.  so  the 
happy  solution  of  its  ditiiculties  brought  him  proportionate  rewards,  and  at 
his  death  he  was  one  of  the  wealthy  men  of  Lake  county.  And  rich  not  alone 
in  this  world's  goods,  but  in  the  esteem  of  his  fellow  citizens  and  in  his  own 
worth  as  a  spirit  of  action,  of  energizing  power,  of  virile  manhood  and  no- 
bility of  character. 

Mr.  Hart  was  well  on  toward  seventy  years  of  age  when  he  was  sud- 
denly deprived  of  life,  but  he  was  an  active  force  in  affairs  and  at  the  moment 
of  his  death  was  employed  in  the  work  which  will  stand  as  his  most  important 
enterprise.  He  met  his  death  on  January  12,  1883,  under  the  following  cir- 
cumstances as  related  by  the  local  press : 

"Fridav  morning  about  11  130  o'clock  Mr.  Hart  was  superintending  the 
construction  of  a  ditch  cutting  off  a  large  bend  in  Plum  creek,  which  flows 
through  his  farm  at  Dyer.  The  ditch  had  already  been  cut  through,  and  a 
current  was  flowing.  The  bottom  of  the  ditch  was  about  two  feet  wide,  and 
the  banks  some  ten  or  twelve  feet  high.  A  man  was  working  just  ahead  of 
him,  cutting  off  clods  and  frozen  earth,  while  ]Mr.  Hart  was  standing  at  the 
bottom  of  the  ditch,  pulling  the  loosened  clods  down  into  the  ditch  that  they 
might  float  off.  Suddenly,  without  warning,  the  left-hand  bank  caved,  the 
sharp,  frozen  edge  of  the  falling  bank  striking  him  in  the  region  of  the  heart. 
Death  was  instantaneous.  He  was  .thrown  against  the  opposite  bank  and 
buried  to  the  waist.  The  man  nearest  him  states  that  Mr.'  Hart  did  not  utter 
a  word,  and  simply  threw  up  one  hand:  but  whether  it  was  an  involuntary 
motion  or  a  gesture,  he  cannot  tell.  It  required  the  exertions  of  ten  men  to 
extricate  the  body,  which  was  at  once  taken  to  the  residence  of  the  famih/ 
near  by.  It  is  supposed  that  the  bank  had  become  loosened  by  the  blasting, 
which  had  been  previously  done  to  open  the  ditch,  and  that  it  was  ready  to 
fall  at  the  slightest  touch."  Funeral  services  were  held  at  his  late  residence 
at  Dver  and  also  at  Crown  Point,  where  the  remains  were  interred. 


554  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

This  once  so  well-known  figure  in  real  estate  and  commercial  circles 
was  born  at  Akron,  Ohio,  April  i6,  1816,  being  a  son  of  Wilham  J.  and  Flora 
(Norton)  Hart,  of  New  England.  His  grandfather  was  a  sea  captain  of 
Nova  Scotia,  and  William  J.  Hart's  early  home  before  coming  west  was  in 
Connecticut. 

Mr.  Hart  was  well  educated  in  the  schools  of  Ohio,  and  throughout  life 
was  noted  for  his  strong  intelligence  and  keen,  alert  mind.  In  the  fall  of 
1850  he  went  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  soon  became  engaged  in  the  book 
publishing  business,  under  the  firm  name  of  Rice  &  Hart,  Book  Publishers. 
This  firm  published  such  works  as  "National  Portrait  Gallery,"  "American 
Sylva,"  and  "North  American  Indians,"  and  shortly  after  the  issue  of  the  first 
named  IMr.  Hart  came  west  to  the  territory  about  Chicago  and  engaged  in 
selling  the  work.  On  July  4,  1861,  he  located  permanently  at  Dyer  in  this 
county,  where  he  had  previously  made  extensive  investments  in  land.  After- 
wards he  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business  in  Chicago,  where  the  firm  of 
Hart  &  Biggs  continued  for  some  years  before  the  fire. 

Mr.  Hart  was  one  of  the  large  land-owners  in  Lake  county,  and  it  is  in 
connection  with  his  real  estate  interests  that  the  forceful  elements  of  his  life 
are  best  manifested.  He  owned  eight  thousand  acres  in  one  body  in  St.  John 
township,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  possessed  altogether  seventeen  thousand 
acres  in  the  county.  The  Hartsdale  farm  of  eight  thousand  acres  was  one 
of  the  first  of  the  fertile  and  inestimably  valuable  tracts  to  be  rescued  from 
the  dominion  of  swamp  and  fen,  which  had  been  its  state  for  centuries.  It 
was  about  1857.  when  he  was  traveling  through  this  state  and  Illinois  in 
the  interests  of  his  publications,  that  Mr.  Hart  saw  the  immense  Cady's 
marsh,  then  covered  by  water,  and  realized  at  once  that  it  could  be  drained. 
He  Ixjught  several  thousand  acres  at  various  prices  ranging  from  seA'enty- 
five  cents  to  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre.  He  e.xecuted  an  ingenious  and 
thorough  system  of  drainage  by  which  the  water  was  drawn  off  into  the 
Calumet  river,  and  ]\Ir.  Hart  found  that  he  had  thousands  of  acres  of  rich 
alhuial  soil,  whose  depth  of  fertility  could  never  be  impoverished  by  cultiva- 
tion, and  where  crops  have  grown  through  all  the  successive  years  in  abund- 
ance and  ever  increasing  value.  A  few  months  before  his  death  Mr.  Hart  was 
offered  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  his  farm,  but  refused,  since  it  was 
worth  twice  that  princely  sum. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  555 

Mr.  Hart  was  energetic  and  enterprising  in  many  affairs  looking^  to  per- 
manent improvement  and  development  of  his  county,  and  no  feasible  plan  for 
public  progress  could  be  presented  to  him  without  arousing  his  interest  and 
co-operation.  His  pioneer  efforts  in  making  the  fertile  farming  tracts  from 
the  original  swamps  did  more  for  the  permanent  growth  and  prosperity  of 
the  town  of  D}'er  than  any  other  one  cause,  and  that  town  and  community 
lost  a  great  force  for  good  in  the  death  of  Mr.  Hart.  He  was  very  much 
interested  in  a  ship  canal  from  the  .southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan  to  Toledo, 
effecting  the  saving  of  the  long  passage  to  the  north  through  the  straits  of 
Mackinac.  He  was  not  a  dreamer,  but  a  practical  man  of  affairs,  and  the 
solution  of  hard  problems  and  the  undertaking  of  great  enterprises  were  the 
natural  element  for  his  mind  and  energies  to  work  in. 

Mr.  Hart  was  married  at  Philadelphia  in  1844  to  Miss  Martha  Reed 
Dyre.  who  was  born  in  New  Bedford,  Massachusetts,  in  1824,  and  died  at 
Crown  Point,  Januar}-  4,  1897,  a  companionable  and  much  loved  old  lady  of 
seventy-three  years.  She  was  the  niece  of  Father  Taylor,  the  famous  Boston 
divine.  A.  N.  Hart  and  wife  had  the  following  children:  James  \\'..  de- 
ceased: ^Milton  R. :  Malcolm  T.,  deceased;  and  Mrs.  Flora  Norton  Biggs. 
Mr.  Hart  was  an  uncompromising  Republican  after  that  party  came  into  exist- 
ence, and  before  that  his  political  alignment  had  been  with  the  Whig  element. 

Mrs.  Flora  Norton  Biggs,  the  only  daughter  of  Mr.  Hart,  was  born  in 
.\kron,  Ohio,  and  was  educated  in  Mrs.  Cary's  private  school  in  Philadelphia. 
She  was  united  in  marriage  in  1863  to  Mr.  James  H.  Biggs,  of  Cincinnati, 
now  deceased,  and  who  for  some  time  was  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business. 

LOUIS  BARKER. 

Louis  Barker,  proprietor  of  the  leading  clothing  and  men's  furnishing 
goods  store  in  Indiana  Harbor,  will,  as  a  matter  of  record  for  all  present 
and  future  history,  have  the  distinction  of  being  the  pioneer  merchant  of 
this  town,  the  one  who  recognized  an  opportunity  and  opened  a  place  of 
business  before  ever  the  present  work  of  exploitation  and  development  of 
the  townsite  had  been  begun.  His  fortunate  selection  of  a  location  and  his 
fine  liusiness  ability  and  reliable  methods  of  dealing  have  all  combiiied  to 
give  him  a  prosperous  trade  and  an  influential  position  among  the  men  of 
affairs  in  whose  keeping  lies  the  greatness  of  Indiana  Harbor. 


556  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Barker  was  born  in  Russian  Poland.  December  25.  1830.  being  a. 
son  of  Herman  and  Goldie  (Barnett)  Barker.  His  family  name  was  orig- 
inally Barkavvfski,  but  for  business  reasons  he  had  it  changed  after  coming 
to  the  United  States.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  Jacob  Barkawfski, 
who  was  a  native  of  Poland  and  was  engaged  in  buying  horses  for  the  gov- 
ernment. He  had  a  small  family,  and  he  lived  to  be  eighty  years  of  age. 
Mr.  Barker's  maternal  grandparents  were  Samuel  and  Sarah  Barnett.  both 
natives  of  Russia,  where  the  former  was  a  grain  dealer  and  died  at  the  age 
of  eighty-five.  Herman  Barker,  the  father  of  Mr.  Barker,  was  a  fruit  dealer, 
and  in  1865  emigrated  to  America.  Sickness  soon  caused  him  to  return  to 
the  old  country,  where  he  died  in  1869,  aged  sixty-nine  years.  His  wife 
died  in  1890,  when  about  seventy-eight  years  old.  They  were  both  of  the 
Hebrew  faith.  There  were  eight  cliildren  born  to  them,  three  sons  and  five 
daughters,  and  the  six  now  living  are  Simon,  Louis.  Meier.  Pearl,  Sarah 
and  Rebecca. 

Mr.  Louis  Barker  received  his  school  advantages  in  his  native  land.  He 
came  to  America  with  his  father  in  1865.  and  after  living  in  New  York  city 
two  years  came  west  to  Chicago,  where  for  a  number  of  years  he  was  in 
Ih  the  grocery  business.     In  November,  1901,  he  came  out  to  Indiana  Harlior 

and  built  a  small  store  building  as  the  first  business  enterprise  of  a  coming 
town.  He  transacted  a  general  merchandise  business  for  some  time,  and 
a  year  later  his  family  moved  to  the  place.  In  the  summer  of  1903,  after 
the  full  tide  of  prosperity  and  industrial  development  had  struck  the  place, 
he  put  up  a  fine  brick  store  and  residence,  and  he  also  owns  other  real  estate 
in  the  city,  besides  a  building  in  East  Chicago.  His  son  Harry  was  the  second 
person  to  open  a  business  establishment  here,  a  restaurant,  and  he  later 
organized  the  Indiana  Harbor  Yacht  Club.  Mr.  Barker  is  a  Republican  in 
politics,  and  the  family  remain  true  to  the  religious  faith  of  their  ancestors. 

June  26,  1869,  Mr.  Barker  married  Miss  Rebecca  Moses,  a  daughter 
of  Max  and  Lillie  Moses.  Eight  children  were  born  of  their  marriage.  a=; 
follows :  Annie,  who  married  Mr.  A.  Frank,  of  Chicago,  and  they  ha\-e  two 
sons.  Beniamin  and  Lester;  Isaac;  Fannie,  who  married  I.  Bergson,  of  Chi- 
cago, and  has  two  daughters,  Dorothy  and  Sadie  Belle;  Harry;  Heiman.  who 
married  Belle  Cohn  and  lives  in  Indiana  Harlior.  and  has  one  son.  Earl; 
S.Tnuiel ;  Da^■id ;  and  Sadie. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  557 

WILLIAAl  H.  HERSHMAN. 

\A'illiani  H.  Hershnian,  .superintendent  of  the  city  schools  of  Hammond, 
is  a  well  known  educator  of  Lake  county  and  the  state  of  Indiana,  and  during 
the  past  three  years  has  made  a  splendid  record  through  his  connection  with 
the  public  schools  of  Hammond.  He  has  devoted  the  best  years  of  his  life 
to  his  profession,  and  from  first  to  last  has  been  in  the  front  rank  of  educa- 
tional progress.  The  field  has  been  vastly  broadened,  standards  of  efficiency 
have  been  raised  and  ideals  have  changed  since  he  taught  his  first  school,  but 
to-day  as  well  as  twenty  years  ago  Professor  Hershnian  is  a  dominant  and 
influential  spirit  both  as  a  school  manager  and  an  instructor  of  the  young. 

He  was  born  in  White  county.  Indiana,  Jnly  20,  1851,  being  a  son  of 
Jacob  and  Mary  (Edmondson)  Hershman,  natives  of  Ohio  and  Tennessee 
respectively.  In  the  paternal  line  he  is  of  German  descent,  and  his  grand- 
father came  from  Virginia  to  Ohio  in  an  early  day,  and  thence  became  a 
pioneer  of  Hamilton  county,  Indiana,  at  a  time  when  that  portion  of  the 
state  was  the  haunt  of  wild  animals  and  Indians.  Many  of  his  descendants 
still  live  in  Hamilton  county.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  lived  to  be  eighty-five 
years  of  age.  His  wife  w'as  Mary  Cartmill,  and  she  was  about  the  same 
age  at  the  time  of  her  death.  They  had  a  large  family,  eight  sons  and 
several  daughters,  but  all  are  now  deceased  but  two  daughters,  Mrs.  Sarah 
Smith,  a  widow,  of  Lafayette,  Indiana,  and  Mrs.  Mary  Strong-,  in  Nebraska. 

lacob  Hershman,  the  father  of  Professor  Hershman.  also  followed 
farming.  He  came  to  Indiana  when  fifteen  years  old,  and  resided  in  Hamil- 
ton county  till  after  his  marriage,  when  he  moved  to  Benton  county  and 
later  to  White  county,  and  in  186S  to  Newton  county,  where  he  lived  until 
his  death,  in  Brook  in  March,  1903,  when  about  eighty-two  years  old.  He 
was  one  of  the  stanchest  supix)rters  by  faith  and  works  of  the  Methodist 
church,  as  is  his  widow,  who  is  now  seventy-nine  years  of  age.  Her  father 
was  Thomas  Edmondson,  who  was  born  in  Ireland  and  came  to  this  country 
and  settled  near  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  where  he  followed  his  trade  of  mill- 
wright. He  died  in  young  manhood,  but  his  wife,  whose  name  was  Nancy 
Box,  lived  to  the  age  of  si.xty-three  years,  having  been  the  mother  of  seven 
children,  all  of  the  sons  Init  one  becoming  preachers.  Jacob  and  Mary  Hersh- 
man were  the  parents  of  seven  children,  five  of  whom  are  now  living:  George 
died  while  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  war;  Jolm  R.  lives  in  Brook,  Indiana;  W^illiam 


558  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

H.,  of  Hammond;  Jennie  is  the  wife  of  Xewton  Lyons,  of  Jasper  county, 
Indiana;  Frank  is  deceased;  Sarali  and  Linnie  are  twins,  the  former  the  wife 
of  James  Hoach,  of  Chicago  Heights,  Ilhnois,  and  tlie  latter  the  wife  of 
Thomas  Gratner,  of  the  same  place. 

Mr.  William  H.  Hershman  lived  in  White  county,  Indiana,  until  he  was 
seventeen,  spending  his  youth  on  a  farm.  From  the  district  schools  he  went 
to  the  National  Normal  School  at  Lebanni3n.  Ohio,  and  later  to  the  Indiana 
State  University,  at  Bloomington,  where  he  was  graduated  with  the  degree 
of  A.  B.  in  1898.  He  then  took  a  course  in  the  University  of  Chicago  and 
in  the  Cook  County  Normal  School.  These  periods  of  higher  training  were 
interspersed  in  longer  periods  of  teaching,  and  except  when  in  college  he  has 
been  teaching  practically  ever  since  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  His  first 
school  was  in  Newton  county.  He  was  president  of  the  \'incennes  University 
one  year.  He  came  to  Hammond  on  October  i.  1901.  and  has  held  the  posi- 
tion of  superintendent  ever  since.  There  are  eight  school  buildings  under 
his  supervision,  and  the  enrollment  of  pupils  is  about  2.670.  The  snperin- 
tendency  is  a  responsible  and  arduous  incumbency,  but  he  has  given  eminent 
satisfaction  and  done  a  fine  work  for  the  cause  of  public  education  in  this 
city.  Mr.  Hershman  served  as  county  superintendent  of  schools  of  Newton 
county  for  ten  years,  being  elected  five  successive  times  with  unanimous 
consent  except  the  first  time.  He  has  also  concerned  himself  to  some  extent 
with  newspaper  work,  and  is  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Brook  Reporter. 

Mr.  Hershman  in  politics  is  independent.  He  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  church,  and  he  is  one  of  the  church  stewards.  He  af- 
filiates with  Garfield  Lodge  No.  596,  F.  &  A.  M..  with  Hammond  Chapter, 
R.  A.  M.,  and  with  Hammond  Commandery  No.  41,  K.  T.,  and  also  with 
Murat  Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine  at  Indianapolis;  with  Delphi  Lodge  No. 
28  and  with  Carroll  Encampment  No.  17,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  with  the  Patriarchs 
Militant  at  New  Albany,  Indiana.  He  resides  and  owns  a  nice  home  at  39 
Webb  street. 

July  3,  1873,  Mr.  Hershman  married  Miss  Jennie  Lyons,  a  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Margaret  (Smith)  Lyons.  They  have  two  children.  Ara  Ethel 
is  a  teacher  in  the  Hammond  public  schools,  and  George  is  attending  Armour 
Institute  of  Technolog)-. 

Mrs.   Hershman's  father  was  a  native  of  Virginia  and  her  mother  of 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  559 

Xew  Jersey,  and  she  was  the  only  daughter  of  five  children.  Her  father,  a 
son  of  IMorris  Lyons,  also  a  native  of  Virginia,  was  a  blacksmith  in  early 
life,  later  a  farmer,  and  now  lives  with  his  daughter  at  the  great  age  of 
ninety  years.  His  wife  died  in  August,  1903,  aged  seventy-eight  years.  Her 
father  was  named  Joseph  Smith,  and  he  was  truly  a  hardy  and  venerable  old 
pioneer.  He  lacked  only  two  months  of  being  ninety-eight  years  old  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  He  hel]>ed  build  the  breastworks  aroimd  New  York  dur- 
ing the  war  of  1812.  His  birthplace  was  Hoboken.  New  Jersey.  lie  was  one 
of  the  first  settlers  of  Jasper  county,  Lidiana,  and  was  one  of  the  first  county 
commissioners  of  Jasper  and  Newton  counties,  serving  for  several  terms.  He 
left  Indiana  and  went  to  Kansas  in  the  fifties,  where  he  took  part  in  the 
border  warfare  of  that  state.  He  died  at  Brook,  Indiana.  He  had  been  left 
an  orphan,  and  been  bound  out  as  apprentice  to  a  tanner,  and  his  long  life 
was  filled  with  honorable  and  useful  effort. 

JOHN  A.  GAVIT. 

John  A.  Gavit,  attorney  at  law  in  the  ^lajestic  building  at  Hammond, 
has  carried  on  a  successful  practice  in  this  city  since  1896,  and  has 
been  practicing  at  the  l:-ar  for  the  past  sixteen  years.  Before  coming  to 
Hammond  he  took  considerable  part  in  public  affairs,  and  he  still  gives  pub- 
lic-spirited interest  to  all  matters  affecting  the  general  welfare  of  his  com- 
munity. He  is  an  able  lawyer,  well  read  and  a  fluent  talker,  and  is  a  genial 
and  talented  gentleman  who  wields  a  good  influence  in  the  city  and  county. 

Air.  Gavit  was  born  in  \\'alsingham,  Canada,  August  19,  1861,  a  son  of 
Albert  N.  and  Bridget  (Highland)  Gavit,  the  former  a  native  of  Connecticut 
and  the  latter  of  Ireland.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Albert  Gavit,  was  a 
native  Connecticut  farmer,  but  who  died  in  Canada  in  old  age,  having  reared 
a  large  family.  His  maternal  grandfather,  Patrick  Highland,  was  born  in 
Ireland  and  followed  farming  during  his  earlier  years.  He  emigrated  to 
Canada,  and  after  some  years  moved  to  Pontiac,  Michigan,  where  he  died 
in  old  age.  By  his  wife  Hannah  he  had  a  number  of  children.  Albert  N. 
Gavit  has  always  followed  farming,  and  is  still  living  on  his  farmstead  near 
Saginaw,  Michigan.  He  has  been  honored  with  various  township  oflices. 
He  and  his  wife  had  seven  children :  John  A. :  Frank  M..  of  Whiting,  In- 
diana; Louis  N.,  of  Saginaw,  Michigan:  Mary,  wife  of  Frank  Cole,  of 
Saginaw;  William,  of  Saginaw;  the  other  two  children  are  deceased. 


560  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

y\r.  John  A.  Ga^it  spent  his  boyhood  days  near  Pontiac.  Michigan.  He 
attended  the  pubhc  schools  there,  and  in  1886  graduated  from  tlie  Normal 
College  at  Flint,  Michigan.  He  then  read  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1888.  He  was  engaged  in  practice  at  Saginaw  from  then  until  1896,  at 
which  date  he  came  to  Hammond,  where  he  has  created  a  good  reputation  in 
his  profession  and  built  up  a  very  fine  clientage.  Mr.  Gavit  is  a  Democrat 
in  politics,  and  at  Saginaw  was  justice  of  tlie  peace  for  three  years.  He  re- 
signed that  office  to  accept  the  nomination  for  prosecuting  attorney,  and  was 
elected  and  served  in  that  office  for  two  years. 

Mr.  Gavit  affiliates  with  the  Knight  of  Pythias,  the  Maccabees  and  the 
Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks.  He  resides  at  755  Sibley  street, 
where  he  bought  ground  and  erected  a  good  home.  In  January-,  1890,  he 
married  Miss  Emma  Campbell,  the  daughter  of  John  and  Adelia  (Johnson) 
Campbell.  They  have  six  children :  Elwin  J.,  Russell,  Bernard,  Donald. 
Hubert  and  Inez. 

MELVIN  A.  HALSTED. 

Melvin  A.  Halsted,  who  is  living  a  retired  life  in  Lowell,  was  born  in 
Rensselaer  county,  New  York.  March  29,  1821.  The  ancestry  of  the  fam.ily 
can  be  traced  back  to  William  the  Conqueror,  and  three  brothers  of  the  name 
came  to  America  in  early  colonial  days,  settling  in  New  York.  The  great- 
grandfather of  Melvin  A.  Halsted  was  a  mmister  of  the  Baptist  church  and 
was  one  of  a  party  of  six  that  owned  an  entire  township  in  Rensselaer  countv. 
New  York.  One  representative  of  the  family,  Thomas  Halsted,  remained 
loyal  to  the  British  crown,  but  Joseph  Halsted,  the  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, espoused  the  cause  of  the  colonists  and  valiantly  did  battle  for  their 
rights.  He  was  born  in  the  Empire  state  on  the  bank  of  the  Hudson  river, 
became  a  farmer  and  followed  that  occupation  throughout  his  entire  life. 
William  Halsted,  the  father  of  ]\Ielvin  A.,  was  also  a  native  of  Rensselaer 
county,  New  York,  and  after  arriving  at  years  of  maturity  he  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Patty  Haskin,  who  was  born  in  Pittstown,  New  York,  and 
was  a  descendant  of  Enoch  Haskin,  who  was  of  Scotch  birth,  coming  from  the 
land  of  the  heather  to  America  in  the  year  1700.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William 
Halsted  were  the  parents  of  two  sons,  Init  tlie  younger,  Edson,  is  now  de- 
ceased. 

The  only  sur\-iving  member  of  the  family  is  Melvin  A.  Halsted,  who 


MRS.   M.  A.  HALSTED 


JC^Mt^aAHcC 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  561 

was  reared  in  the  place  of  his  nativity  until  fourteen  years  of  age  and  attended 
the  public  schools  there.  He  was  also  a  student  in  the  high  school  at  Benning- 
ton, Vermont,  and  in  1837  he  removed  to  Montgomery  county,  Ohio,  locating 
in  Dayton.  He  was  there  married  in  May,  1842,  to  Miss  Martha  C.  Foster, 
and  for  three  years  they  continued  their  residence  in  Dayton,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  the}-  came  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  locating  in  West  Creek 
township,  where  IMr.  Halsted  carried  on  farming  until  1848.  He  then  came 
to  what  is  now  the  town  of  Lowell  and  built  and  operated  a  sawmill.  The 
following  year  he  burned  four  hundred  thousand  brick,  and  erected  the  house 
in  which  he  still  lives.  It  is  yet  a  stibstantial  structure  and  is  a  monument  to 
his  life  of  thrift  and  energy.  Attracted  by  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California, 
l\ir.  Halsted  crossed  the  plains  in  1S50,  accomplishing  a  part  of  the  journey 
with  ox  teams  and  the  remainder  of  the  trip  with  mule  teams.  He  was  one 
hundred  days  upon  the  way,  and  after  spending  about  a  year  on  the  Pacific 
coast  he  returned  to  the  Mississippi  valley  by  way  of  Salt  Lake  city,  being 
eighty  days  upon  the  return  trip.  In  1852  he  built  the  flour  mill  at  Lowell, 
hauling  all  of  the  machinery  from  Chicago  in  wagons.  In  1853  he  began  the 
operation  of  this  mill,  and  it  became  one  of  the  important  industries  of  this 
part  of  the  state,  receiving  a  patronage  from  a  large  district.  Alx)ut  1857, 
however,  he  sold  the  property  and  removed  to  southern  Illinois,  but  in  the 
meantime  he  had  entered  the  land  upon  which  the  town  of  Lowell  now  stands. 
In  southern  Illinois  he  built  and  operated  a  grist  and  saw  mill  at  Kinmundy, 
twenty  miles  north  of  Centralia,  on  the  Chicago  branch  of  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad.  There  he  remained  until  1859,  when  he  sold  his  property  and 
again  went  to  California,  where  he  built  another  flouring  mill  thirty  miles 
south  of  San  Francisco.  In  1861  he  sold  this  for  twelve  thousand  dollars, 
and  then  returned  to  Kinmundy,  Illinois,  where  he  owned  real  estate.  After 
four  months,  however,  he  again  went  to  California,  by  way  of  New  York 
and  the  isthmus  route,  arriving  eventually  at  San  Francisco.  He  then  made 
his  way  to  Virginia  City  and  was  engaged  in  mining  at  Gold  Hill  for  about 
three  years,  when  he  returned  by  way  of  Panama  and  New  York  to  Lowell, 
Indiana.  His  family  had  joined  him  at  Gold  Hill  in  1862,  and  in  1863  he  made 
a  trip  among  the  giant  trees  of  the  state.  At  Gold  Hill  he  built  four  houses, 
which  he  rented,  and  thus  he  contributed  to  the  improvement  and  development 
of  the  town.     On  the  4th  of  January,   1864,  he  started  for  Indiana  by  the 


562  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

water  route,  leaving  his  family,  liowever.  in  California.  On  reaching  Lake 
county  he  found  that  his  original  property  at  Lowell  was  for  sale,  and  ]jur- 
chased  it,  together  with  other  property,  including  a  flour  mill  three  miles 
from  Lowell,  in  addition  to  the  one  at  Lowell.  On  his  return  to  Lowell  he 
put  the  mills  in  excellent  condition  and  carried  on  the  business  of  manufactur- 
ing flour  for  some  time.  He  then  sent  word  for  his  wife  to  sell  his  property 
in  California  and  Nevada  and  join  him  in  Lowell.  He  met  his  family  at 
New  York  city  and  went  to  Washington,  where  they  \isited  Mount  \'ernon 
and  many  places  of  interest  in  and  about  the  city.  While  there  ]\Ir.  Halsted 
obtained  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Colfax  in  getting  the  first  daily  mail  for  Lowell. 

Mr.  Halsted  continued  in  the  milling  business  at  Lowell  until  1869,  when 
lie  sold  out  and  spent  the  succeeding  winter  in  San  Francisco,  again  making 
the  trip  to  the  Pacific  coast  by  water.  He  erected  fourteen  houses  for  renting 
purposes  at  Valejo,  California,  twenty-two  miles  from  San  Francisco,  and 
continued  to  own  that  property  until  1872,  when  he  sold  out  to  one  of  the 
owners  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  In  tliat  year  his  family 
returned  to  Indiana,  while  Mr.  Halsted  made  a  hunting  tour  off  the  Island  of 
St.  Barbara.  He  captured  four  sea  lions  on  the  expedition,  which  he  sold  to 
John  Robinson,  the  showman,  for  twelve  hundred  dollars.  Later  Mr.  Halsted 
visited  Kinmundy.  Illinois,  before  returning  to  Lowell.  He  has  also  visited 
New  England,  viewing  many  points  of  historic  interest  in  that  country, 
including  Plymouth  Rock,  on  which  the  early  settlers  first  stepped  as  they 
landed  from  the  Mayflower  on  American  soil.  Going  to  Utah  territory,  he 
sent  for  his  family  to  join  him  there,  and  became  superintendent  of  a  mine, 
which  he  conducted  until  the  demonetization  of  silver  in  1873,  After  his 
return  from  Utah  he  was  instrumental  in  securing  the  building  of  the  Monon 
Railroad  through  Lake  county.  He  did  grading  to  the  value  of  eighty-five 
thousand  dollars,  but  only  received  sixty-five  thousand  dollars,  thus  suffering 
a  loss  of  twenty  thousand  dollars.  He  is  now  engaged  in  the  real  estate  busi- 
iies  in  Lowell. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Halsted  have  two  sons,  William  M.,  who  is  a  resident  of 
Topeka,  Kansas,  and  Theron  H.,  who  is  residing  in  Lowell.  Mr.  Halsted 
gave  his  early  political  support  to  the  Whig  party,  and  heard  William  Henry 
Harrison  deliver  a  political  speech  on  the  lOth  of  September,  1840.  On  the 
dissolution  of  that  party  he  joined  the  ranks  of  the  new  Republican  party,  of 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.     .  563 

which  he  has  since  been  a  stalwart  advocate.  He  is  now  the  oldest  Mason  of 
Lowell  and  a  charter  member  of  the  lodge  in  this  place.  He  has  passed  the 
eighty-third  milestone  on  life's  journey,  and  his  has  been  a  very  eventful 
career,  in  which  he  has  largely  witnessed  the  growth  and  upbuilding  of  the 
country  and  has  taken  an  active  and  helpful  part  in  the  work  of  progress  in 
many  sections  of  the  United  States.  From  actual  experience  he  has  intimate 
knowledge  concerning  the  history  of  pioneer  days  in  California  as  well  as  in 
Lidiana  and  Illinois,  and  his  life  record,  if  written  in  detail,  would  present 
many  chapters  of  intense  and  thrilling  interest.  He  is  very  widely  known  in 
northwestern  Indiana,  and  his  worth  as  a  man  and  citizen  is  widely  ackn<.iwl- 
edged. 

BEXJAMIX  F.  IBACH. 

Benjamin  F.  Ibach,  lawyer  of  Hammond,  with  offices  in  the  Hammond 
building,  has  been  prominent  in  practice  at  the  bar  of  Indiana  for  the  past 
forty  years.  He  has  gained  an  enviable  reputation  as  pleader  and  counsel, 
but  huS  also  gone  afield  into  politics  and  public  life,  and  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant state  charitable  institutions  owes  its  organization  and  high  efficiency 
to  his  sincere  and  intelligent  efforts.  Before  entering  the  law  he  bad  made  a 
great  success  in  the  teaching  profession,  and  he  performed  noteworthy  service 
in  this  line  in  both  Pennsylvania  and  Indiana.  Mr.  Ibach  is  a  man  of  broad 
practical  and  scholastic  attainments,  devoted  to  bis  main  work  in  life  and 
al.io  interested  in  world  and  community  affairs,  and  has  the  humanly  sympa- 
thetic instincts  which  are  the  marks  of  the  well  rounded  and  large  character. 

Mr.  Ibach  was  born  in  Cherrington.  Lebanon  county.  Pennsylvania. 
January  31,  1834,  so  that  he  has  now  passed  the  limit  of  life  set  by  the 
Psalmist,  but  is  still  able  to  perform  a  useful  part  in  life  for  some  years  to 
come.  He  is  a  son  of  Charles  and  Elizabeth  (Hine)  Ibach,  and  is  the  only 
one  living  of  the  three  sons  and  two  daughters  born  to  those  parents.  His 
father  was  torn  at  Reimscheid,  near  Diisseldorf,  Germany,  and  was  a  manu- 
facturer of  iron  kitchen  utensils,  as  was  also  his  father.  He  was  brought 
to  America  in  1799,  when  six  years  old,  the  family  locating  in  Chester 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  there  he  was  reared  and  in  that  state  lived  the 
rest  of  his  life.  He  died  in  Cherrington,  Pennsylvania,  in  August,  1833, 
before  his  son  Benjamin  was  born.  He  and  his  wife  were  both  Lutherans 
in  faith.     His  wife  was  born  in  Berks  county,   Pennsylvania,  and  survived 


564  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

him  until  1881,  being  then  eighty-two  years  old.  Her  father,  J(ihn  Hine,  was 
a  life-long  resident  of  Pennsylvania,  dying  at  Philadelphia  when  nearly  sev- 
enty years  old.     He  was  a  fanner  until  he  retired  late  in  life  to  Philadelphia. 

Mr.  Benjamin  F.  Ibach  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  Pennsylvania.  He  at- 
tended one  of  the  first  public  schools  established  in  the  state.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  Emanuel  Schaefifer,  of  Lancaster,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  learned  the  saddle,  harness,  collar  and  trunk-making  business. 
After  completing  his  apprenticeship  he  worked  at  his  trade  long  enough  to 
earn  money  with  which  to  attend  the  Strasburg  Academy.  After  a  term 
or  so  in  that  institution  he  taught  in  the  public  schools  of  Lancaster  county, 
and  then  became  principal  of  the  Strasburg  Academy,  which  position  he 
held  for  several  years,  ^^l^ile  principal  he  and  James  P.  Wickersham  and 
anotb.er  gentleman  were  appointed  a  committee  at  a  teachers"  county  conven- 
tioi;  to  organize  a  normal  school.  They  organized  and  set  going  such  a 
school  at  Millersville,  with  ]\Ir.  \\'ickersham  as  president,  and  out  of  this 
institution  grew  the  State  Normal  School  at  Millersburg.  After  leaving  the 
Strasburg  Academy  Mr.  Ibach  for  several  years  was  superintendent  of  the 
public  schools  of  Columbia,  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1862  became  superinten- 
dent of  tiie  public  schools  of  Huntington,  Indiana. 

While  engaged  in  school  work  both  in  Pennsylvania  and  in  Huntington 
Mr.  Ibach  was  reading  law,  one  of  his  preceptors  being  W.  T.  Phail,  of  Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania,  and  in  November.  1864,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
at  Huntington.  He  began  practice  in  that  city  at  once.  He  was  elected 
prosecuting  attorney  for  several  terms,  and  was  also  judge  of  the  common 
pleas  court  for  a  time.  He  held  the  office  of  city  attorney  of  Huntington 
for  seventeen  vears.  As  a  matter  of  recreation  principally  he  had  devoted 
some  study  to  feeble-minded  children,  and  when  the  legislature  passed  an 
act  for  the  organization  of  a  school  to  care  for  such  children.  Governor  Will- 
iams appointed  Mr,  Ibach  as  one  of  the  trustees.  After  the  completion  of 
a  suitable  building  for  the  purposes,  the  governor  induced  him  to  resign  his 
place  as  trustee  on  condition  that  the  board  of  trustees  should  elect  him  super- 
intendent of  the  institution,  which  was  done.  He  organized  the  school,  placed 
it  on  a  good  business  basis,  and  during  his  two  years'  management  the  asylum 
attracted  national  attention  to  its  efficiency  and  was  visited  by  superintendents 
from  various  states  for  the  purpose  of  noting  its  methods  of  improving  this 
class  of  children. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  565 

After  resigning  this  important  work  he  resumed  legal  practice  at  Hunt- 
ington, where  he  remained  until  1895.  in  which  year  he  came  to  Hammond, 
and  has  continued  his  successful  legal  career  in  this  city  to  the  present  writ- 
ing. In  1886  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature  for  the  counties  of  Hunting- 
ton and  Allen,  being  a  member  of  the  memorable  assembly  of  1887,  during 
which  he  voted  for  David  Turpie  for  United  States  senator.  His  political 
allegiance  was  given  to  the  Democratic  party  until  after  Cleveland's  first 
election,  and  from  that  time  until  1896  he  was  in  alignment  with  the  Re- 
publicans. His  views  as  to  money  caused  him  to  swing  with  the  silver  Re- 
publicans, and  since  then  most  of  his  influence  has  been  on  the  side  of  Democ- 
racy. He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  fraternally  is  affiliated 
with  Garfield  Lodge  No.  569.  F.  &  A.  M..  at  Hammond. 

January  29,  1856,  Mr.  Ibach  married  Miss  Kate  E.  Warfel,  whose 
parents  died  when  she  was  an  infant,  and  she  was  taken  and  reared  as  the 
daughter  of  B.  B.  Gonder.  Three  children  were  born  of  this  marriage, 
Charles  L.,  Preston  G.  and  Joseph  G.  Charles  L.  was  a  clerk  in  Indianapolis 
at  the  time  of  his  death ;  his  wife  was  Lizzie  Chambers,  of  Camden,  New 
Jersey,  who  is  also  now-  deceased.  Preston  G.  is  a  successful  physician  in 
Hammond;  he  married  Miss  Nellie  Huntoon.  Joseph  G.  is  an  attorney  in 
Hammond:  he  married  Miss  Minnie  Friedley.  and  they  have  three  children, 
Mary,  Anna  and  Joseph.  Mrs.  Kate  Ibach  died  in  February,  1864,  when 
twentv-nine  vears  old.     She  was  a  member  of  the  ]\Iethodist  church. 

In  May,  1876.  Mr.  Ibach  married  Miss  Martha  \\'ilson,  a  daughter  of 
Samuel  \\'ilson.  She  died  in  October,  1891,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three,  having 
been  a  faithful  member  of  the  Methodist  church.  There  are  no  children  liv- 
ing of  that  union.  On  July  22,  1903,  Mr.  Ibach  married  for  his  present  wife 
Mrs.  Amanda  L.  Rounds,  a  widow. 

PATRICK  REILLEY. 

Patrick  Reilley,  at  present  of  the  Reilley  Plumbing  Company  of  Ham- 
mond, is  a  man  of  broad  and  varied  business  and  industrial  experience,  cov- 
ering several  important  fields  of  human  activity  and  in  tlifferent  parts  of  the 
countn-.  He  has  known  a  life  of  busy  and  useful  effort  since  he  was  a  young 
bov.  when  he  joined  the  na\-al  serx'ice  of  the  United  States  while  the  Civil 
war  was  still  in  progress.     While  with  the  navy  he  saw  much  of  the  inhabited 


566  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

part  of  the  globe.  He  came  west  to  Hammond,  aljout  twenty  years  ago, 
to  identify  himself  with  the  butterine  department  of  the  packing  company, 
and  since  then  has  embarked  in  the  plumbing  business,  in  which  he  has  been 
most  successfully  employed  for  a  number  of  years.  He  is  now  able  to  rely 
and  place  much  responsibility  on  the  shoulders  of  his  stalwart  sons,  and  he 
has  good  reason  to  be  proud  of  his  fine  family,  which  lie  has  reared  to  careers 
of  usefulness  in  addition  to  perfcjrming  well  his  own  part  in  life.  He  has 
entered  much  into  public  affairs  since  taking  up  his  residence  in  Hammond, 
has  been  honored  with  the  office  of  mayor  of  the  city,  and  in  many  ways 
is  identified  prominently  with  the  life  and  welfare  of  his  community. 

Mr.  Reilley  was  born  in  Verplanck's  Point,  New  York,  January  i.  1848, 
a  son  of  James  and  Bridget  (O'Donnell)  Reilley,  both  natives  of  Ireland, 
where  their  parents  lived  and  died.  His  father  followed  various  pursuits  in 
young  manhood.  He  was  a  brick-maker  by  trade,  and  on  coming  to  America 
settled  in  New  York  state.  He  was  for  some  time  superintendent  of  the 
Second  Avenue  car  stables,  and  in  1855  was  killed  there  by  the  kick  of  a 
horse.  He  and  his  wife  were  both  Roman  Catholics.  His  wife  survived 
him  three  years,  and  by  her  second  husband,  John  Allen,  had  one  son,  John 
Allen,  Jr.  There  were  six  children,  two  sons  and  four  daughters,  born  to 
James  and  Bridget  Reilley,  but  only  two  are  now  living:  Patrick  and 
Bridget,  the  latter  the  wife  of  John  Hessick,  of  Lebanon,  Indiana. 

Mr.  Patrick  Reilley  lived  in  New  York  state  until  after  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Civil  war,  and  recei\ed  his  early  education  in  that  state.  On 
October  23,  1863,  when  fifteen  years  old,  he  enlisted  at  Philadelphia  in  the 
United  States  Marine  Corps,  and  served  as  drummer  for  five  years,  three 
months  and  eight  days.  He  re-enlisted  at  the  close  of  his  service,  and  went 
to  Europe  in  the  United  States  frigate  Guerriere.  He  served  four  years 
in  all,  and  was  also  assigned  to  other  ships,  the  Don,  the  De  Soto  and  the 
Brooklyn.  After  leaving  that  department  of  naval  work  he  was  employed 
in  the  Brooklyn  navy  yard  for  some  time,  and  later  began  the  manufacture 
of  butterine  at  Charlestown,  Massachusetts.  He  was  in  the  employ  of  the 
vStandard  Butter  Manufacturing  Company  for  some  time,  and  later  with 
John  Reardon  and  Son  of  Cambridgeport,  Massachusetts.  In  1884  he  came 
to  Hammond  to  accept  the  position  of  superintendent  of  the  Hammond  but- 
terine department,  remaining  with  the  company  for  twelve  years.     He  re- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  56T 

signed  and  went  into  the  pluni1)ing  and  later  into  the  grocery  business  with 
his  sons  James  and  Edward,  confining  his  attention  to  that  line  of  mer- 
chandising for  three  years.  For  the  past  six  years  he  has  given  his  principal 
energies  to  the  conduct  of  the  Reilley  Plumbing  Company,  which  has  a  large 
and  profitable  patronage  in  this  city. 

Mr.  Reilley  gives  his  political  allegiance  to  the  Democratic  party.  He 
served  as  councilman  of  the  third  ward  for  eight  years,  and  for  the  last 
eighteen  months  of  that  time  acted  as  mayor.  Two  years  later  he  was  re- 
elected to  the  council,  and  was  afterward  elected  to  the  office  of  mayor,  which 
he  held  four  years.  He  and  his  wife  and  family  are  members  of  the  Catho- 
lic church,  and  he  affiliates  with  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  the  Catholic 
Order  of  Foresters,  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters  of  the  State  of  In- 
diana, the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen  and  the  Benevolent  and  Pro- 
tective Order  of  Elks.  He  has  lived  at  his  pleasant  home  at  283  South 
Hohman  street  for  the  past  eighteen  years. 

Mr.  Reilley  married  Miss  Mary  A.  McSweeney,  a  daugliter  of  Edward 
and  INIary  (Murphy)  McSweeney.  They  are  the  parents  of  thirteen  chil- 
dren, eight  of  whom  are  living,  as  follows:  Marj'  Ann.  James  C,  Edward, 
Catherine.  Bessie,  Xora,  Julia  and  Joseph.     James  C.  married  Josie  Enright. 

FRED  S.  CHARTIER. 

Fred  S.  Chartier.  the  popular  liveryman  at  Hammond,  has  been  identi- 
fied with  the  business  affairs  of  this  citv  for  the  past  five  years  and  has 
gained  the  esteem  and  high  regard  of  all  his  fellow  citizens  through  his  fair 
and  progressive  business  methods  and  his  own  personal  integrity  of  character. 

He  was  born  in  Valparaiso,  Indiana,  May  24,  1871,  being  a  son  of 
Jacob  and  Emma  Chartier,  natives  of  Napierville,  Quebec,  and  born,  respec- 
tively, November  2,  1835,  and  October  19,  1845.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Emma 
Chartier  was  a  native  of  Canada,  whence  he  came  to  the  Ignited  States  and 
was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  St.  Ann.  Illinois,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of 
eightj'-four  years,  having  been  the  father  of  a  large  family.  The  paternal 
grandfather  of  Mr.  Chartier  was  of  French  parentage  but  a  native  of  Canada, 
and  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  died  at  Valparaiso,  Indiana,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-one  years.     There  were  eight  children  in  his  family. 

Jacob  Chartier  was  eighteen  years  old  when  he  came   to  the  United 


568  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

States  in  1853  and  located  at  Valparaiso,  Indiana,  where  he  engaged  in  farm- 
ing for  a  few  years.  He  then  became  a  brick  manufacturer,  and  continued 
that  business  up  to  1897.  since  which  time  he  has  Hved  retired.  He  served 
as  city  councilman  of  Valparaiso  for  several  terms,  and  has  otherwise  been 
prominent  in  business  and  pul^lic  affairs.  He  and  his  wife  are  Catholics 
in  faith.  They  had  eleven  children,  six  sons  and  five  daughters,  and  eight 
are  now  living:  George,  of  Stony  Island,  Illinois;  Fred  S.,  of  Hammond; 
Leonie,  of  Valparaiso;  Eliza,  wife  of  H.  B.  Blair,  of  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana; 
Alfred  C,  of  Hammond;  Margaret,  wife  of  Clarence  Dillingham,  of  Val- 
paraiso; Stella,  wife  of  David  Lameroux,  of  Chicago;  and  Peter,  of  Val- 
paraiso. 

Mr.  Fred  S.  Chartier  was  reared  at  Valparaiso,  in  which  city  he  at- 
tended both  the  parochial  and  the  public  schools.  He  undertook  life's  re- 
sponsibilities at  an  early  age,  and  has  since  made  his  own  way  and  gained 
by  self -achievement  the  prominent  position  in  business  affairs  that  now  be- 
longs to  him.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  went  to  Michigan,  where  he  remained 
for  a  year,  and  then  went  to  South  Chicago,  where  he  lived  for  eleven  years. 
He  followed  railroading  until  1894,  '^"fl  ^^'^s  then  in  the  o\\  and  gasoline 
and  bottle-lieer  business.  In  September,  1899,  '^^  came  to  Hammond,  and 
for  the  past  two  years  has  been  engaged  in  conducting  a  first-class  livery 
establishment,  to  v^■hich  he  has  recently  added  an  undertaking  business.  He 
is  a  live,  wide-awake  business  man.  and  understands  the  art  of  gaining  trade 
and  retaining  it  by  fair  and  honoraljlc  dealings. 

Mr.  Chartier  was  married  .\pril  10,  1893,  to  Miss  Catherine  Young, 
a  daughter  of  Michael  J.  and  Mary  (Conway)  Young.  They  have  three 
children,  Fred  Walter,  Marie  Agnes  and  Irene  .Mice.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Char- 
tier are  members  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  he  affiliates  with  the  North 
American  Union,  and  with  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters  of  Toronto. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

OSCAR  DINWIDDIE. 

Oscar  Dinwiddle,  of  whom  a  likeness  is  here  given,  is  the  oldest  son  of 
the  pioneer  J.  W.  Dinwiddle.  He  is  a  farmer  and  large  land  owner  of  Plum 
Grove,  in  Eagle  Creek  township,  is  master  of  Center  Grange,  has  been  an 
officer  in  the  State  Grange  and   National   Grange  of  the  Patrons  of  Hus- 


OSCAR  DINWIDDIE 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  56!) 

bandry,  and  is  president  of  the  Old  Settler  and  Historical  Association  of  Lake 
connty.  He  takes  an  active  part  in  the  Farmers'  Listitutes  and  is  a  member 
of  the  Lake  County  Tax  Payers'  League.  He  is  corresponding  secretary  of 
the  Dinwiddle  Clan. 

J.  FLOYD  IRISH. 

J.  Floyd  Irish,  engaged  in  the  real  estate  and  insurance  business  at 
Hammond,  with  office  over  the  First  National  Bank,  has  been  connected 
with  various  departments  of  business  activity  in  Lake  county  for  the  past 
twenty  years,  and  has  made  a  commendable  record  for  reliability,  integrity 
and  ability  in  all  his  dealings.  He  takes  much  interest  in  the  progress  and 
welfare  of  his  city  and  county,  and  is  a  citizen  who  can  be  depended  upon 
to  carry  out  his  obligations  in  every  department  of  life. 

Mr.  Irish  was  born  in  Brunswick,  Lake  county,  Indiana.  June  19,  1867, 
a  son  of  Josephus  Hull  and  Mary  Ellen  (Vinnedge)  Irish.  His  paternal 
grandfather.  Joab  Irish,  was  a  nati\"e  of  Vermont,  a  farmer  by  occupation, 
and  died  well  advanced  in  years,  having  been  the  father  of  twelve  children, 
six  sons  and  six  daughters.  Josephus  H.  Irish  was  born  in  Chittenden 
county,  Vermont,  and  trained  himself  for  the  profession  of  veterinary  sur- 
geon. He  came  west  to  Brunswick,  Indiana,  in  1S50,  and  lived  there  until 
1888,  when  he  moved  to  Hammond,  where  he  died  January  20,  1902,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-fi\'e  years.  He  held  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  for  thirty- 
four  years.  His  wife  still  survives  him,  and  now  resides  in  Zion  City, 
Illinois.  He  was  married  three  times.  His  first  wife  died  about  a  year  after 
their  marriage,  and  her  child  died  in  infancy.  His  second  wife  was  Clarissa 
Bidwell,  by  whom  he  had  four  children,  three  now  living,  as  follows : 
Cornelius  E.,  of  Hammond:  Martha  M.,  wife  of  Elliott  J.  Jarrard,  of  Ham- 
mond ;  and  Arvilla,  wife  of  Walter  Bowes,  of  Crown  Point,  Indiana.  His 
third  wife  was  Mary  Ellen  \'innedge,  who  was  born  near  Plymouth.  Indiana, 
and  they  were  the  parents  of  six  children :  Ida  May :  deceased,  who  was  the 
wife  of  Adolphus  E.  Crowell ;  Clara  A.,  the  deceased  wife  of  Ernest  \\^  Sohl ; 
Iva  E.,  deceased,  who  also  was  the  wife  of  Ernest  W.  Sohl ;  George  Edward, 
deceased ;  J.  Floyd  Irish,  of  Hammond ;  and  Charles  Hull  Irish,  of  Zion  City, 
Illinois,  assistant  cashier  in  a  bank. 

Mr.  J.  Floyd  Irish  was  born  and  reared  and  has  lived  all  his  life  in  Lake 
county.    He  attended  the  public  schools  at  Brunswick  and  Crown  Point,  after 


570  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

which  he  engaged  in  teaching  school  for  six  terms.  He  clerked  in  a  furni- 
ture and  undertaking  establishment  in  Crown  Point  for  some  time,  and  in 
1888  came  to  Hammond.  He  taught  school  and  later  clerked  in  a  con- 
fectionery store,  after  which  he  returned  to  Crown  Point,  and  was  in  the 
employ  of  Peter  Geisen  for  two  years.  He  went  back  to  Hammond  and  was 
circulator  and  reporter  for  the  Hammond  Tribune  until  January,  1898,  when 
he  entered  the  real  estate  and  insurance  business  in  connection  with  his 
father.  In  1899  h^  bought  his  father's  interest,  and  has  since  conducted  the 
business  alone,  dealing  in  city  and  countr}^  property  on  an  extensive  scale 
and  annually  writing  large  amounts  of  insurance  for  the  standard  companies. 

In  politics  Mr.  Irish  is  a  Republican,  and  is  one  of  the  city  commis- 
sioners. He  affiliates  with  Hammond  Lodge  No.  210,  Knights  of  Pythias, 
and  with  Pioneer  Council  No.  38,  Royal  League.  He  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  First  Presbyterian  church  of  the  city,  and  he  is  an  elder. 
He  purchased  his  present  good  home  at  628  May  street  in  1897.  He  was 
married,  September  30,  1891,  to  Miss  Eva  A.  Pierce,  and  their  family 
circle  now  contains  two  daughters,  Zella  Gertrude  and  Blanche  Marie. 

Mrs.  Irish  is  a  daughter  of  Israel  R.  and  Mary  C.  (Atkin)  Pierce,  the 
former  a  native  of  Ontario,  Canada,  and  the  latter  of  Ohio.  Her  paternal 
grandfather  was  James  Pierce,  who  came  from  Canada  to  the  United  States, 
and  lived  at  Valparaiso,  Indiana,  many  years.  He  died  in  advanced  years. 
By  his  wife,  Jane  (Lane)  Pierce,  he  had  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 
Mrs.  Irish's  maternal  grandparents  were  Major  B.  and  Betsey  (Banks)  At- 
kin, five  of  whose  children  are  still  living:  he  was  a  farmer  and  lived  in 
Crown  Point  during  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life,  which  ended  in  1897: 
he  was  a  Republican.  Mrs.  Irish's  father  was  a  farmer  and  an  early  settler 
in  Indiana,  having  left  Canada  when  he  was  eight  years  old.  He  lived  on  a 
farm  near  Merrillville  from  before  the  war  until  his  death,  on  April  2^,,  1885. 
when  forty-nine  years  old.  He  served  as  a  private  in  the  Civil  war  for  three 
years,  being  in  many  important  battles  and  in  Sherman's  campaign  to  the 
sea.  He  was  a  Republican,  and  he  and  his  wife,  who  survives  him.  were 
both  Methodists.  They  had  five  children,  four  of  whom  are  now  living: 
Jennie,  wife  of  Alva  Saxton.  of  Merrillville,  Indiana:  Carrie,  wife  of  Robert 
Saxton,  of  Merrillville;  Eva  A.,  wife  of  Mr.  Irish:  Ernest  L.  Pierce,  of 
Crown  Point :  and  one  that  died  in  infancy. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  571 

ARMANIS  F.  KNOTTS. 

Armanis  F.  KiKitts,  mayor  of  Hammond  and  since  1888  continuously 
engageii  in  law  practice  in  this  city,  is  an  able,  industrious  and  successful 
member  of  the  Lake  county  bar,  and  deserves  all  the  more  credit  because 
he  arrived  at  his  present  prominent  position  by  diligent  application  early 
and  late  from  the  days  of  boyhood.  He  has  spent  nearly  all  his  active  career 
in  northwestern  Indiana,  and  for  a  number  of  years  was  a  successful  school 
teacher,  by  which  profession  he  entered  uiion  his  broader  field  of  activitv  in 
the  law  and  public  life.  He  is  one  of  the  infiuential  Republicans  of  Lake 
county,  and  to  the  social,  institutional,  professional  and  political  affairs  of 
his  community  has  given  a  generous  share  of  his  time  anil  effort. 

Mr.  Knotts  was  born  in  Highland  county,  Ohio,  February  29.  i860,  a 
son  of  Frank  D.  and  Margaret  (Bell)  Knotts,  the  former  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  the  latter  of  Ohio.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  an  early 
settler  and  farmer  of  Ohio,  of  Irish  descent,  and  wIkt  reared  a  large  family. 
On  the  paternal  side  the  family  is  of  Holland  Dutch  stock,  from  early  settlers 
in  Maryland,  and  the  great-grandfather  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution.  The 
grandfather,  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  18 12,  moved  to  Ohio  at  an  early  day, 
and  lived  there  till  his  death  at  the  age  of  seventy  years,  ha\ing  reared  a 
large  family. 

Frank  D.  Knotts,  the  father  of  Mayor  Knotts,  has  followed  the  occupa- 
tions of  carpenter  and  farmer  principally.  When  he  was  quite  )'oung  he 
moved  with  his  parents  to  Ohio,  and  in  1868  came  to  Indiana,  locating  first 
in  Tipjiecanoe  county,  near  Lafayette,  and  afterward  at  Medaryville,  Pulaski 
county,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farming,  but  now  lives  in  the  town.  He 
is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  has  held  \arious  township  offices.  His  first 
wife  died  in  1870.  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  years,  and  he  married  for  his 
second  wife  ^liss  Jennie  Yates,  who  became  the  mother  of  two  children: 
Nettie,  the  wife  of  Nandis  Cox,  of  Medaryville:  and  William,  of  Medaryville. 

Mayor  Knotts  was  eight  years  old  when  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
Indiana,  and  he  grew  to  manhood  in  Pulaski  county,  being  reared  on  a  farm 
and  learning  its  duties  at  an  early  age.  He  laid  the  foundation  for  his  larger 
training  while  a  student  in  the  district  schools,  and  later  attended  the  normal 
school  at  Valparaiso.  After  leaving  the  home  schools  he  had  taught  for 
some  time  in  the  country  schools  and  in  ]\Iedaryville.     He  spent  five  years 


572  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

at  \^alparaiso,  and  graduated  in  the  classical  course  in  1883.  He  then  taught 
two  years  at  Ladoga,  heing  principal  of  the  Centra!  Lidiana  Normal  and 
Business  College.  He  then  returned  to  Valparaiso,  where  he  took  the  law 
course  and  was  graduated  in  1887.  In  1888  he  opened  his  office  in  Ham- 
mond, and  has  been  successfully  practicing  in  this  city  ever  since.  He  was 
elected  county  surveyor  of  Porter  county  while  in  school  in  Valparaiso,  and 
held  the  office  eighteen  months,  resigning  when  he  came  to  Hammond.  Since 
coming  to  Hammond  he  has  been  much  interested  in  Republican  politics.  He 
was  elected  and  served  one  term  in  the  state  legislature,  from  1898.  In  May, 
1902,  he  was  elected  mayor  of  Hammond,  and  has  given  a  very  efficient 
administration  of  municipal  aiifairs. 

Mr.  Knotts  resides  at  8  Clinton  street,  where  he  built  a  comfortable 
home  in  1892.  He  affiliates  with  Garfield  Lodge  No.  569,  F.  &  A.  M.,  with 
Hammond  Chapter  No.  117,  R.  A.  M.,  and  with  Hammond  Commandery,  K. 
T.  His  wife  and  the  children  are  members  of  the  Catholic  church.  In  1884  he 
married  Miss  Mary  Hennessy,  a  daughter  of  Michael  Hennessy.  They  have 
had  four  children :  Anna  Frances,  Eugenia,  Leo  and  Marguerite.  Leo  died 
at  the  age  of  two  vears. 


^s'- 


JAMES  A.  GILL. 

James  A.  Gill  is  well  known  in  the  business  circles  of  Whiting,  where 
his  keen  sagacitj^,  enterprise  and  well  directed  efforts  have  led  to  his  con- 
nection with  important  interests  and  his  consecutive  progress  therein.  He 
is  now  the  superintendent  of  the  wax-pressing  department  of  the  Standard  Oil 
Company,  is  president  of  the  Whiting  Electric  Light  Company  and  is  also  a 
director  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Whiting. 

Mr.  Gill  was  born  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  on  the  3d  of  January,  1865. 
His  father,  Isaac  Gill,  was  a  native  of  England  and  was  reared  in  that 
country,  remaining  there  until  about  thirty  years  of  age,  when,  hoping  to 
enjoy  better  business  opportunities  in  the  new  world,  he  crossed  the  Atlantic, 
taking  up  his  abode  in  Cleveland,  Ohio.  In  that  city  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Barbara  Heck,  who  was  born  in  Germany  and  came  to  the 
United  States  after  reaching  womanhood.  Isaac  Gill  was  in  the  employ  of 
the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  Cleveland  for  thirty-eight  years,  in  fact,  he 
was  one  uf  the  pioneer  representatives  of  the  company  and  was  employed 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  573 

directly  by  John  D.  Rockefeller.  After  the  establishment  of  the  plant  at 
Whiting  he  came  to  this  city,  and  here  died  in  his  seventieth  }ear,  while  his 
wife  also  died  when  about  seventy  years  of  age. 

James  A.  Gill,  their  only  child,  spent  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth 
in  the  city  of  his  nativity,  and  came  to  Whiting  in  1889  when  the  Standard 
Oil  Company  located  its  manufacturing  plant  at  this  place.  He  acted  as 
timekeeper  for  the  brick-layers  employed  in  the  construction  of  the  build- 
ings, was  afterward  made  inspector  of  oils  in  the  laboratory,  filling  that 
position  for  about  three  years.  He  was  next  appointed  superintendent  of 
the  acid  works,  holding  this  position  for  about  ten  years,  going  from  the 
acid  works  to  the  paraffine  department,  which  position  he  now  holds.  He 
is  one  of  the  most  trusted  as  well  as  capable  representatives  of  the  corpora- 
tion, and  this  department  is  always  managed  with  excellent  executive  ability 
that  results  in  efficient  workmanship.  As  his  financial  resources  have  in- 
creased, owing  to  the  increased  wages  that  have  come  with  promotion,  he 
has  been  enabled  to  extend  his  efforts  into  other  lines  of  activity  and  is  now 
the  president  of  the  ^^'hiting  Electric  Light  Company  and  one  of  the  direc- 
tors and  stockholders  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Whiting.  He  was  one 
of  the  incorporators  of  the  Petrolene  Paint  and  Roofing  Company,  and  was 
made  its  first  president,  resigning  same  some  time  ago,  as  the  duties  of  the 
office  were  getting  too  great  for  him  to  handle  in  connection  with  his  other 
business.  He  is  also  the  owner  of  valuable  real  estate  here  and  erected  the 
first  three-story  brick  block  built  in  Whiting. 

In  1891  occurred  the  marriage  of  James  A.  Gill  and  Miss  Carrie  H. 
Halsey,  a  daughter  of  Charles  Halsey.  She  was  born  and  reared  in  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  and  by  her  marriage  has  become  the  mother  of  two  children : 
Jesse  il.  and  Grace  A.  ]Mr.  Gill  is  a  stanch  Republican  who  keeps  well  in- 
formed on  the  questions  and  issues  of  the  day,  but  has  never  sought  office  as 
a  reward  for  party  fealty.  Fraternally  he  is  connected  with  the  Masons,  and 
he  is  also  a  member  of  the  Owls  Club,  in  which  he  formerly  took  a  very- 
active  part.  He  is  deeply  interested  in  the  growth  and  progress  of  his  adopted 
city,  and  has  witnessed  its  development  from  its  earliest  inception  to  the 
present  time.  For  fifteen  years  he  has  been  connected  with  the  upbuilding  of 
the  place,  and  has  just  reason  to  be  proud  of  the  fact  that  to  his  efforts  can 
be  traced  several  substantial  enterprises  and  achievements  contributing  greatly 


574  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

to  the  prosperity  and  progress  of  Whiting.  In  e\er\'  sense  of  the  word  he  is 
a  representative  citizen  dexoted  to  tlie  welfare  of  liis  chosen  state  and  coni- 
mnnity  and  loyal  to  the  g()\eniment. 

WARREN  HENRY  HAYWARD. 

Perhaps  the  majority  of  Lake  county  families  have  some  visible  evidence 
of  Mr.  Hayward's  artistic  work  in.  their  homes,  and  there  are  certainly  very 
few  families  in  the  county  that  ha\'e  not  some  knowledge  of  who  Mr.  Hay- 
ward  is  and  what  his  life  work  represents  in  the  way  of  fine  art.  For  over 
a  quarter  of  a  century  he  has  been  the  leading  photographer  of  Lake  county, 
and  in  a  profession  which,  during  the  last  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
made  as  phonomenal  advancement  as  any  other  science  he  kept  up  with  the 
rapid  pace  of  improvement,  and  as  he  stood  for  the  highest  type  of  art  in  the 
seventies  and  eighties  so  now  in  the  early  years  of  the  twentieth  century  he 
takes  the  palm  in  competition  with  the  masters  of  the  profession.  The  prob- 
able secret  of  Mr.  Hayward's  success  is  that  he  has  from  his  first  acquaintance 
with  photography  as  a  profession  been  enthusiastic  and  invincibly  industrious 
in  its  pursuit,  and  he  spared  none  of  the  resources  of  body  or  mind  in  his 
preparation  for  the  work. 

Mr.  Hayward  is  a  native  son  of  Lake  county  and  the  county  has  been 
his  home  and  center  of  activity  nearly  all  his  years.  He  was  born  in  Ross 
township,  June  25,  1852,  being  the  eldest  son  of  Henry  and  Martha  D. 
(Kronkright)  Hayward,  the  former  a  native  of  England  and  the  latter  of 
Vermont.  Henry  Hayward  emigrated  with'  his  parents  to  Canada  when  he 
was  eight  years  old,  and  a  few  years  later  the  family  home  was  located  in 
Lake  county.  After  his  marriage  Henry  Hayward  entered  eighty  acres  of 
land  in  Ross  township,  and  his  industry  and  successful  management  increased 
this  estate  to  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  on  which  fine  farm  he  lived 
until  1897,  when  he  moved  into  Crown  Point.  After  living  there  for  a  few 
years  he  moved  out  to  Santa  Barbara,  California,  where  he  now  lives  in  re- 
tirement from  a  career  of  activity  that  has  been  splendidly  useful  and  fruitful. 

Warren  H.  Hayward  attended  the  common  schools  of  his  township 
during  the  winter  seasons,  and  when  summer  came  he  was  at  home  helping 
on  the  farm.  This  routine  of  boyhood  he  continued  until  he  was  eighteen 
vears  old,  and  he  then  entered  the  Valparaiso  Male  and  Female  Methodist 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  575 

Episcopal  College,  where  he  remained  two  years  until  his  graduation  in 
the  commercial  department.  On  his  return  home  he  decided  to  teach  dis- 
trict school  during  the  winter  seasons,  and  was  accordingly  examined  and 
received  a  license  to  engage  in  pedagogic  work.  He  was  hired  to  teach 
a  winter  term  in  Ross  township,  but  before  the  term  began  he  had  settled 
upon  his  definite  life  occupation,  and  his  resignation  was  therefore  sent  in 
and  accepted  by  the  school  authority. 

It  was  Mr.  Hayward's  plan  to  launch  into  the  photographic  business 
at  Valparaiso  as  a  full  partner  with  his  uncle,  who  had  had  much  experience 
in  the  profession.  In  order  to  learn  his  part  of  the  work  Mr.  Hayward  at 
once  commenced  in  what  was  then  the  best  studio  in  Chicago,  the  firm  of 
Copelin  and  Melander.  where  he  paid  ten  dollars  a  week  tuition  fee.  and  at 
the  end  of  six  weeks  graduated  from  their  printing  and  finishing  rooms.  At 
Valparaiso  the  partnership  of  E.  J.  and  W.  H.  Hayward  was  carried  on  for 
a  little  over  a  year,  and  then  the  junior  partner  tought  out  his  uncle's  interest 
on  account  of  the  latter's  failing  health,  and  for  the  following  two  years  con- 
tinued the  business  alone.  He  then  sold  out  and  returned  to  Chicago  in 
order  to  continue  his  professional  training  ?.nd  prepare  himself  for  the  ex- 
tended career  in  photography  which  he  saw  was  opening  up  before  him. 

On  May  lo,  1876.  Mr.  Hayward  married  Miss  Jessie  Indiana  Bliss, 
the  youngest  daughter  of  Captain  H.  G.  and  Louise  M.  Bliss,  of  Crown 
Point.  On  the  day  following  the  marriage  they  left  for  Santa  Barbara.  Cali- 
fornia, where  for  a  year  Mr.  Hayward  was  manager  of  a  large  photographic 
business.  He  then  returned  to  Crown  Point  and  in  September,  1877,  started 
in  business  for  himself.  He  has  made  Crown  Point  his  headquarters  ever 
since,  and  at  different  times  has  also  conducted  branch  establishments  at 
Hammond  and  Lowell. 

]Many  things  prove  the  high  estimate  in  which  Mr.  Hayward's  art  is 
held,  not  only  in  Lake  county  but  wherever  it  has  come  into  competition 
with  other  work.  He  was  selected  by  the  G.  H.  Hammond  Company  packing 
house  ofificials  to  make  a  set  of  interior  and  exterior  photographs  of  their 
plant,  which  were  to  be  sent  and  placed  on  exhibition  at  the  Paris  exposition 
of  igoo.  He  has  likewise  taken  many  prizes  on  pictures  entered  in  various 
competitions,  and  he  was  awarded  a  bronze  medal  at  the  National  Conven- 
tion of  Photographers  at  St.  Louis  in  1894. 


576  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

From  childhood  Mr.  Hayward  has  found  his  greatest  recreative  pleasure 
in  the  rod  and  gun,  and  his  vacations  have  usually  been  spent  on  the  banks 
of  the  Kankakee  river,  whence  many  times  he  has  brought  home  a  hundred 
ducks  and  geese  that  have  fallen  before  his  accurate  and  practiced  marks- 
manship. When  wild  game  became  scarce  he  interested  himself  for  several 
years  in  trap-shooting  as  a  diversion,  and  won  numerous  prizes  and  medals 
in  competition  with  Chicago's  best  shooters.  Fraternally  ]\Ir.  Hayward  is  a 
member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters  of  America,  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  and  the  National  Union.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Crown  Point 
Commercial  Club,  and  at  this  writing  has  the  honor  of  being  its  president, 
now  serving  his  second  term  as  such.  This  club  is  primarily  a  social  organiza- 
tion, but  at  the  same  time  is  always  looking  out  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
town  and  has  efifected  much  for  its  welfare  in  the  past. 

Three  children  have  come  to  bless  the  home  of  IMr.  and  Mrs.  Hayward. 
Nina  Louise  was  born  June  20,  1878,  and  on  Christmas  day  of  1900  married 
Frank  E.  Daily,  of  Chicago.  By  this  daughter  ^Ir.  and  Mrs.  Hayward 
have  a  little  grandson,  Milton  Hayward  Daily,  who  is  now  three  years  old, 
having  been  born  November  21.  1901.  Harry  Bliss,  the  only  son,  was  born 
August  28,  1879,  and  after  spending  five  years  in  the  study  of  medicine  in 
Chicago  graduated  in  1902,  and  is  now  located  at  Valley  Mills,  Texas,  where 
he  is  practicing  his  profession  with  flattering  success.  Neva  Belle,  the 
youngest  of  the  family,  was  born  April  21,  1881,  and  on  January  12,  1904, 
married  John  T.  Daily,  of  Chicago.  The  two  daughters  married  brothers. 
This  happy  family  is  well  known  and  highly  esteemed  in  the  social  circles 
of  Crown  Point,  and  both  children  and  parents  individually  have  found  and 
I '  are  performing  worthy  parts  in  the  world's  affairs. 

JAMES  HERVEY  BALL,   Esq. 

James  H.  Ball,  of  whom  a  likeness  is  here  given,  youngest  son  of  Judge 
Hervey  Ball,  was  fifteen  months  of  age  when  his  father  settled  at  Cedar 
Lake.  A  student  for  a  time  at  Franklin  College  in  Indiana,  he  became  a 
teacher  in  the  public  schools  of  Lake  county,  and  at  length  school  examiner 
of  the  county.  He  held  as  county  examiner  the  third,  fourth,  fifth,  sixth  and 
seventh  county  institutes.  He  made  the  first  official  school  visitations  before 
they  were  required  by  law. 


JAMES  H.  BALL 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  577 

In  1 87 1  he  graduated  at  tlie  Law  School  of  the  University  of  Chicago. 
He  was  in  active  life  in  Lake  county  for  several  years.  He  has  been  for 
some  time  a  resident  in  Scott.  Kansas,  where  he  has  a  law  office,  and  he  has 
been  for  two  terms  probate  judge  of  Scott  county. 

Before  leaving  Crown  Point  he  erected  four  brick  dwelling  houses  which 
still  remain  as  memorials  of  his  enterprise,  as  well  as  his  work  for  many 
years  in  educational  lines. 

He  now  holds,  in  Scott  county,  quite  a  tract  of  land,  through  which 
flows  a  stream  of  water,  making  it  valuable  for  grass  and  for  pasturage. 
On  this  pasture  land  he  keeps  some  fine  cattle  of  the  Galloway  variety.  His 
place  is  called  "Edith  Ranch." 

JOHN  J.  WHEELER. 

John  J.  \Vheeler.  proprietor  and  publisher  of  the  Lake  County  Star  at 
Crown  Point,  the  newspaper  known  as  possessing  the  best  equipment  and  the 
largest  circulation  of  any  paper  in  northwestern  Lidiana,  is  a  representative 
of  the  journalistic  fraternity  whose  present  prosperous  and  successful  posi- 
tion in  life  has  been  won  by  hard  and  persevering  labor  and  serious  attention 
to  the  interests  which  of  his  own  responsibility  he  has  assumed  or  which 
ha\e  lieen  intrusted  to  him  through  circumstances.  His  career,  like  that  of 
many  newspaper  men,  has  been  varied  and  concerned  with  several  fields  of 
human  activity;  and,  also,  his  entire  life  spent  within  the  bailiwick  of  Lake 
county  has  brought  him  into  most  intimate  relations  with  its  citizenship  and 
industries, — forming  experiences  and  associations  of  inestimable  value  in  the 
conduct  of  a  local  journal.  The  Lake  County  Star  is  a  conservative  journal 
in  that  it  adheres  to  the  best  traditions  and  policies  of  the  past,  whether  in 
political  or  material  afTairs,  but  is  also  exceedingly  progressive  in  that  its 
point  of  view  broadens  with  the  advance  of  the  decades  and  it  continually 
advocates  the  upbuilding  of  the  county  and  state  and  a  betterment  of  all  the 
vital  conditions  of  society  and  the  world  in  general.  The  Star  is  an  influential 
organ,  contains  the  best  winnowings  of  the  local  news,  and  both  as  an  indi- 
cator and  director  of  public  opinion  its  strength  has  long  been  felt  in  Lake 
county. 

Mr.  Wheeler  is  a  native  son  of  West  Creek  township.  Lake  countv,  and 
was  born  in  that  prosperous  agricultural  section  of  the  county  January   11, 

S7 


578  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

1848.  The  Wheeler  family  originally  came  from  Connecticut,  and  this 
branch  is  from  the  same  strain  as  is  General  Joe  Wheeler,  the  famous  little 
rebel  general,  but  the  political  associations  of  the  Lake  county  Wheelers 
have  always  adhered  to  the  Union  and  Republicanism. 

Mr.  Wheeler's  father  was  John  Wheeler,  and  his  mother  Ann  Wheeler, 
a  daughter  of  John  D.  Jones.  These  parents  came  from  Ohio  to  Indiana  in 
1847.  The  father  first  engaged  in  school  teaching,  later  was  county  sur- 
veyor of  Lake  county,  and  in  1857  founded  the  Crown  Point  Register,  which 
he  continued  to  publish  until  June,  1861.  He  then  entered  the  Union  army 
as  captain  of  Company  B,  Twentieth  Indiana  Infantry,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1863  he  was  promoted  to  colonel  of  the  command.  He  had  been  in  all  the 
Potomac  battles  up  to  that  time,  and  on  the  second  day  of  the  great  Gettys- 
burg engagement  he  was  shot  from  his  horse  and  instantly  killed  at  the 
"Devil's  Den,"  July  2,  1863.  His  children  are  John  J.,  Edgar  C,  and  Alice 
M.,  now  Mrs.  S.  S.  Cole,  of  East  Brookfield.  Their  mother  died  in  the 
seventies. 

John  J.  Wfieeler  received  a  very  meager  education  in  the  country  schools 
of  this  county,  nor  did  his  opportunities  of  school  attendance  long  continue, 
since  he  was  obliged  to  make  his  own  way  from  the  time  he  was  fourteen 
years  old.  For  several  years  he  clerked  in  a  store.  He  entered  the  army 
when  he  was  fifteen  years  old,  and  he  now  possesses  two  honorable  dis- 
charges, showing  that  his  youth  did  not  hinder  him  from  performing  a  full 
meed  of  patriotic  service  to  his  country.  His  field  of  life  work  has  always 
been  in  Lake  county,  and  he  was  twice  elected  to  the  office  of  county  Sur- 
veyor. While  in  tlie  second  term  of  this  office  he  resigned  in  order  to  enter 
the  newspaper  business,  which  he  has  followed  since  1872.  He  has  owned 
his  present  fine  newspaper  plant  for  twenty-four  years,  and  is  among  the 
oldest  as  he  is  one  of  the  most  successful  publishers  in  northwest  Indiana. 
During  Harrison's  term  of  president  he  served  Crown  Point  as  postmaster, 
and  it  is  needless  to  state  that  he  has  always  been  a  stanch  Republican  in 
political  faith.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  for  thirty- 
three  years,  and  also  a  Forester,  and  has  been  identified  with  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  since  its  organization.  He  is  eclectic  in  his  religious 
views. 

Mr.  Wheeler  was  married  to  Miss  Belle  Holton,  October  27,   1870,  at 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  579 

Crown  Point.  Slie  was  a  granddaugliter  of  Solon  Robinson,  who  figures  so 
prominently  in  this  history  as  the  founder  of  Crown  Point;  he  was  a  remark- 
able man  in  many  other  ways,  was  the  author  of  numerous  lx)oks,  and  for 
many  years  was  agricultural  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wheeler  have  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  Harold  H.,  the  eldest,  is  now 
serving  his  second  term  as  county  clerk,  and  when  his  time  expires  he  will 
have  been  connected  with  that  office  for  twenty-two  years,  he  having  been 
deputy  fourteen  years.  Fred,  the  second  son,  is  f(ireman  in  the  Star  office. 
Jennie  A.,  the  older  daughter,  is  now  Mrs.  W.  P.  Tice,  and  Josephine  C, 
aged  fifteen,  is  still  at  home. 

Mr.  \\'heeler's  career  is  its  own  best  justification,  and  he  has  every  reason 
to  be  satisfied  with  the  outcome  of  the  battle  of  life  as  he  has  fought  it.  He 
is  prosperous  and  a  highly  esteemed  man  i>f  affairs  in  his  county,  and  a 
conscientious  and  diligent  devotion  to  the  work  of  the  present  world  makes 
him  content  with  what  his  lot  will  be  when  he  is  called  upon  to  cross  the 
great  unknown. 

DR.  JAMES  GILBERT  VAN  DeWALKER. 

Dr.  James  Gilbert  Van  DeWalker,  a  prominent  and  well  known  physi- 
cian and  surgeon  residing  at  712  Johnson  street,  Hammond,  Indiana,  has 
been  numbered  among  the  popular  practitioners  of  this  city  for  over  twenty 
years,  and  has  been  engaged  in  professional  work  for  nearly  a  half  century. 
His  long  life  has  been  full  of  useful  activity,  and  he  has  been  identified  with 
many  enterprises  botli  public  and  private  during  his  career.  He  is  a  man  of 
breadth  and  harmony  of  character,  and  his  energetic  disposition  and  large 
intelligence  have  brought  him  into  relationship  with  all  kinds  of  people  and 
with  various  activities.  He  is  one  of  the  veteran  soldiers  of  the  republic,  and 
has  also  been  a  lawyer  of  no  mean  ability,  and  has  taken  his  full  share  in 
the  social,  fraternal,  political  and  pulilic  affairs  of  the  various  communities 
where  he  has  had  his  home. 

Dr.  Van  DeWalker  was  born  in  Otsego  county.  New  York,  January 
31.  1 83 1.  He  is  a  descendant  of  one  of  three  brothers  wdio  settled  in  New 
York  during  the  early  Dutch  colonization  of  that  state,  and  the  family 
has  been  numbered  among  the  Knickerbocker  houses  of  New  York.  Martin 
Van  DeWalker,  the  grandfather  of  Dr.  Van  DeWalker,  was  a  native  New 


580  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

York  farmer,  and  several  of  his  brothers  were  Revokitionary  soldiers.  He — 
and  the  same  has  been  true  of  the  family  in  general — lived  to  an  advanced 
age,  dying  when  he  was  ninety-five  years  old,  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Christina  Flansbury,  lived  to  be  still  older. 

John  \'an  De^^'alker,  the  father  of  Dr.  De^^'alker,  was  a  native  of 
New  York  state,  was  a  farmer  there,  and  about  1842  came  west  and  settled 
in  Pleasant  township,  LaPorte  county,  Indiana,  where  he  bought  a  farm  and 
lived  until  his  death,  in  1889,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  years.  He  and  his 
wife,  who  died  in  1880.  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  were  both  members  of 
the  Methodist  Protestant  church.  His  wife's  maidei>  name  was  Nancy 
Thompson,  a  native  of  New  York  and  a  daughter  of  Robert  Thompson. 
The  latter  was  a  New  York  farmer,  and  for  a  short  time  was  a  soldier  in  tlv 
war  of  1812*  He  married  Elizabeth  Hull,  an  own  cousin  of  General  Hull, 
who  surrendered  at  Detroit,  and  also  a  cousin  of  General  Stark,  who  fought 
at  the  battle  of  Bennington,  Vermont,  where  she  was  born.  Robert  Thomp- 
son died  at  the  age  of  forty-five,  and  his  wife  lived  to  be  eighty  years  old. 
They  bad  three  sons  and  three  daughters.  Robert  Thompson's  father  was 
known  as  Colonel  Thompson.  He  was  the  founder  (if  the  family  in  America, 
bavins  come  from  the  north  of  Ireland  and  settled  in  Cherrv  Vallev,  New" 
York,  a  short  time  before  the  Indian  massacre.  John  and  Nancy  Van  De- 
Walker  had  six  sons  and  three  daughters,  and  the  three  now  living  are  Dr. 
James  G. ;  Emma  Jane,  the  widow^  of  W.  T.  Horine,  of  Washington,  D.  C. ; 
and  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  Preston  Green,  of  Lapaz,  Indiana. 

Dr.  James  G.  Van  DeWalker  was  about  eleven  years  old  when  he  left 
New  York  state  and  came  to  Indiana  with  his  father,  and  he  grew  to  manhood 
on  the  farm  in  LaPorte  county.  He  attended  the  district  schools,  and  later 
studied  bv  the  light  of  a  tallowdip,  and  in  the  main  he  is  a  self-educated 
man,  having  gained  by  hard  efforts  all  the  advantages  for  education  and  in- 
tellectual development.  After  leaving  home  he  studied  with  an  uncle,  Dr. 
Pierce,  of  Momence,  Illinois,  and  up  to  the  time  of  the  Civil  war  did  a  small 
practice.  He  enlisted  in  1862  in  Company  B,  Twelfth  Indiana  Infantry,  and 
served  till  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  in  the  battle  at  Richmond,  Ken- 
tucky, in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  at  Jackson,  Mississippi,  at  Missionary 
Ridge,  and  ;dl  the  fifteen  engagements  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  during 
the  .\tlanta  campaign.     He  was  then  with   Sherman  to  the  sea,  thence  up 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  581 

through  the  Carohnas.  the  last  battle  being  at  Bentonville.  In  1863  the 
officers  had  learned  that  he  was  a  physician,  and  put  him  on  duty  as  hospital 
steward,  and  he  was  assigned  to  General  John  A.  Logan's.  Fifteenth  Army 
Corps  headquarters,  where  lie  ser\ed  till  the  close  of  the  war  in  1865. 

After  the  war  he  practiced  medicine  at  Lisbon,  Xoble  county,  Indiana, 
until  1868;  from  then  until  1875  was  at  Lafayette;  until  the  fall  of  1878 
was  at  Medaryville.  Indiana :  then  moved  to  Davenport.  Nebraska,  and  prac- 
ticed until  1882,  in  which  year  he  took  up  what  has  proved  his  permanent 
location  at  Hammond,  where  he  has  carried  on  a  successful  practice  ever 
since.  Right  after  the  war  he  also  studied  law.  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  Pulaski  county.  Indiana,  in  1876.  and  practiced  that  profession  there  until 
1878,  and  also  in  Nebraska.    He  had  served  as  marshal  of  Valparaiso  in  1856. 

]\Iarch  22.  1856.  Dr.  Van  De^^'alker  married  ]Miss  ]Mary  Beattie.  wh.o 
died  Januar}'  21,  1891.  On  ]March  31.  1892,  he  married  Mrs.  Jennie  Simp- 
son, the  widow  of  Robert  Harrison  Simpson  and  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and 
Ann  (Shannahan)  Foley,  Dr.  Van  De\\'alker  is  a  member  of  the  First 
Congregational  church.  He  afhliates  with  Calumet  Lodge  No.  601.  I.  O. 
O.  F..  and  John  A.  Logan  Encampment  No.  95.  He  belongs  to  the  Colonel 
Robert  Heath  Post  No.  544.  G.  A.  R.,  of  the  Department  of  Indiana.  He 
is  a  member  of  tlie  Lake  County  Medical  Society,  an  honorary  member  of 
the  Nebraska  Eclectic  Medical  .\ssociation.  and  a  charter  member  of  the 
Indiana  State  Eclectic  Association.  In  jiolilics  he  is  a  Re])ul)Hcan.  He  was 
secretary  of  the  board  of  health  r>f  Hammi^ud  for  eight  years,  was  county 
physician  tweh'e  years  and  county  coroner  two  years.  He  has  also  beer, 
pension  attorney  for  a  number  of  years.  He  bought  his  present  home  and 
added  improvements,  and  also  luiilt  liis  office  on  the  same  lot. 

JOSEPH  STARK. 

Joseph  Stark  is  a  represenlati\-e  of  the  best  ideals  in  agriculture,  citi- 
zenship and  personal  character,  and  as  such  he  is  held  in  the  highest  esteem 
in  Lake  county,  and  especially  througlmut  \\'est  Creek  township,  where  the 
years  of  his  activity  have  been  passed. 

He  is  a  native  of  St.  John  township,  this  county,  and  was  horn  December 
30.  1859,  being  the  fourth  in  a  family  of  eleven  children,  seven  sons  and 
four  daughters,  born  to  Joseph  and  Mary  Ann  (Merrick)  Stark.     There  are 


5S2  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

nine  of  the  children  still  living,  as  follows :  Afra.  who  is  the  wife  of 
Matthew  Herman,  a  farmer  of  St.  John  township :  John,  who  is  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  West  Creek  township,  and  who  has  a  sketch  elsewhere  in  this 
book;  Mary,  the  wife  of  Jacob  Klassen.  a  retired  farmer  of  St.  John;  Joseph: 
Frank,  a  resident  farmer  at  St.  John,  who  married  Aliss  Amelia  Koeblin ; 
George,  who  resides  on  the  old  homestead  and  who  married  Miss  Rosa  Thiel ; 
Michael,  who  is  a  butter-maker  at  St.  John,  and  married  Miss  Mary  Schreiner : 
Peter,  a  farmer  of  St.  John,  who  married  Miss  Lizzie  Klassen ;  and  Frances, 
who  resides  with  her  mother  at  St.  John.  The  children  were  all  confirmed 
in  the  Catholic  church,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Stark  are  members  of  St. 
Martin's  church  at  Hanover  Center. 

The  senior  Joseph  Stark,  the  father  of  this  large  family,  was  born  in 
the  province  of  Bavaria,  Germany,  December  30,  1824,  and  died  March  17, 
1879.  He  was  deprived  of  his  mother's  care  when  six  years  old,  and  at  the 
age  of  thirteen  began  to  earn  his  own  way  in  life.  He  worked  day  and 
night  in  a  mill  until  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age.  and  his  wages  were 
wonderfully  meager  when  compared  with  those  paid  by  twentieth  century 
American  prosperity.  He  had  a  common  school  education  in  his  native 
tongue,  but  in  the  main  was  self-trained  and  self-educated.  He  was  always 
reckoned  as  a  man  of  character  and  solid  manhood.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  he  took  passage  on  a  sailing  vessel  at  Bremerhaven,  bound  for  the  free 
land  of  America,  and  at  the  end  of  six  weeks  he  landed  in  New  York  city. 
At  tliis  stage  of  his  career  he  was  three  dollars  in  debt,  and  the  first  thing 
he  did  in  the  new  world  was  to  work  three  days  and  clear  himself  of  this 
incumbrance.  He  then  worked  his  way  to  Chicago,  where  he  was  employed 
on  the  docks  until  cold  weather,  when  he  obtained  work  from  a  minister, 
being,  in  fact,  willing  to  accept  anything  that  would  earn  him  an  honest 
dollar.  After  remaining  in  Chicago  for  thirteen  months  he  enlisted  as  a 
soldier  in  the  ^Mexican  war,  and  served  throughout  that  important  struggle. 
After  the  war  he  traveled  through  South  America,  where  he  was  very  much 
pleased  with  all  he  saw,  and  thence  he  returned  to  New  York  by  ship  and  finally 
arrived  in  Chicago  again.  He  and  two  other  men  purchased  teams  and 
drove  through  to  California,  but  on  the  great  salt  desert  the  horses  perished, 
and  the  remaining  distance  they  were  compelled  to  cover  on  foot.  Mr.  Stark 
was  in  California  thirteen  months,  and  during  that  time  he  dug  out  of  the 


a 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  583 

ground  tiiree  thousand  dollars  in  gold.  He  returned  on  foot  to  Chicago, 
got  married,  and  for  a  year  farmed  on  rented  government  land  at  Home- 
wood.  Illinois.  He  came  to  St.  John  in  Lake  county,  about  1859,  and  lived 
here  till  the  end  of  his  useful  and  busy  life.  He  owned  four  hundred  and 
forty  acres  in  St.  John  township,  and  when  it  is  recalled  how  lie  started  out 
in  young  manhood  with  less  than  nothing,  and  before  he  had  reached  the 
meridian  of  his  career,  had  gained  a  competency  for  those  days,  he  must  be 
recorded  in  this  history  as  one  of  the  truly  successful  and  worthy  men  of 
the  past  who  have  made  Lake  county  what  it  is  at  the  present.  In  politics  he 
was  a  loyal  Democrat,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  devout  Catholics.  His 
■wife,  Mar}^  Ann  Stark,  was  born  in  Alsace.  Germany,  in  June,  1836,  and 
is  now  living  in  St.  John,  a  hale  and  hearty  old  lady. 

Mr.  Joseph  Stark,  who  was  born  on  the  same  day  of  the  month  with 
his  father  and  who  received  the  latter's  name,  was  reared  and  has  spent  prac- 
tically all  his  life  in  Lake  county.  His  education  was  obtained  in  the 
parochial  schools.  He  has  made  farming  and  stock-raising  his  vocation,  and 
has  been  more  than  ordinarily  successful  in  all  his  enterjjrises. 

He  remained  at  home  and  cared  for  his  mother  until  he  was  twenty- 
five  years  old.  and  on  February  5,  1885,  he  married  Miss  Susan  Thiel.  They 
have  been  made  happy  by  the  birth  of  ten  children  into  their  home,  four 
sons  and  six  daughters,  and  all  but  one  of  these  are  still  living,  as  follows : 
Tillie  S..  who  is  in  the  seventh  grade  of  school  and  is  a  piano  student; 
Frances  AI.,  who  is  in  the  eighth  grade  and  also  a  music  student ;  Josephine 
is  in  the  eighth  grade  and  takes  music ;  George,  who  is  now  in  the  German 
school;  Edward  J.,  who  is  in  the  fifth  grade;  Joseph,  in  the  fourth  grade; 
Oliva  E. ;  ^Madeline  M. ;  and  Christina  B.,  the  baby  of  the  family.  Mrs. 
Stark  was  born  in  Lake  coimty.  March  17,  1864,  and  was  educated  in  the 
parochial  schools.  Her  parents  were  Mathias  and  Susan  (Laurerman)  Thiel. 
Her  father  was  born  near  the  Rhine  river,  and  was  ele\-en  years  old  when  he 
accompanied  his  parents  to  America  and  to  Lake  county,  and  he  lived  in  this 
county  until  his  death,  on  November  10.  1901.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
he  owned  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  acres  in  St.  John  township, 
and  also  had  real  estate  in  Hammond.  He  was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and 
he  and  his  wife  were  Catholics.  There  were  eleven  children  in  the  Thiel 
family,  and  ten  are  living,  six  of  them  residents  of  Lake  county,  and  those 


584  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

elsewhere  are:  Katie,  wife  of  George  Thielen,  a  farmer  of  Cresco,  Howard 
county,  Iowa ;  Mathias  L.  is  a  merchant  of  Chicago,  and  is  married ;  Frank, 
who  was  born  June  2,  1870.  and  was  educated  in  the  parochial  schools,  is  a 
resident  of  Chicago,  and  married  Miss  Lena  Keilman.  who  was  born  in 
Lake  county,  November  17,  1873,  and  educated  in  the  common  schools,  both 
of  them  being  Catholics :  nnd  Andrew,  who  is  a  merchant  of  Chicago,  and  is 
a  married  man. 

Mr.  Stark  is  independent  in  politics,  casting  his  vote  for  the  best  man 
in  his  judgment.  He  is  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
in  West  Creek  township,  and  on  this  he  has  recently  erected  a  beautiful  and 
comfortable  farm  residence.  The  farm  is  improved  with  good  buildings  and 
other  conveniences,  and  the  entire  place  has  a  progressive  and  prosperous 
appearance.  He  is  a  stock  fancier,  and  takes  much  pride  in  his  fine  cattle  and 
hogs.  He  is  a  shareholder  in  the  West  Creek  creamer}-,  which  is  located 
near  his  property. 

Biographical  Sketch  of  WILLIAM  CLINTON  MURPHEY. 
Corporal,  Company  B,  One  Hundred  Thirty-ninth  Indiana  Infantry 
IN  THE  Civil  War,  Merchant  and  Banker. 

The  Murphey  family  in  Henry  county  is  as  old  as  the  county  itself. 
The  family  came  originally  from  North  Carolina,  for  it  was  in  the  old  North 
State  that  Miles  Murphey  and  Dorothy  Evans  were  united  in  marriage. 
Thev  were  the  parents  of  sixteen  children,  six  of  whom  died  in  North  Caro- 
lina. About  1820  the  family  determined  to  emigrate  to  Indiana,  and,  coming 
to  this  state,  they  settled  first  in  \\'ayne  county,  bringing  their  ten  surviving 
children  with  them.  In  the  spring  of  1822,  the  same  year  that  Henry  county 
was  organized,  the  family  moved  to  what  is  now  Henry  county  and  settled 
on  Flat  Rock,  two  and  one-half  miles  southeast  of  the  present  town  of  New 
Castle.  One  of  the  ten  surviving  children  was  a  son,  named  Clement,  born 
in  North  Carolina,  December  23,  1808.  In  1827,  near  New  Castle,  he 
married  Huldah  Bundy,  also  a  nati\e  of  North  Carolina,  and  soon  thereafter 
settled  on  a  piece  of  land  and  started  out  to  make  a  farm  in  Prairie  township, 
about  four  miles  northeast  of  New  Castle.  Clement  and  Huldah  Murphey 
were  the  parents  of  fifteen  children,  eight  hoys  and  seven  girls,  viz. :  Joel  L., 
Hiram  B.,  Francis  M.,  Robert  P.,  Eli  C,  William  C,  Miles  E.  and  John  F. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  585 

The  daughters  were  named  Ehzabeth,  Sarah  J.,  ^lary,  Alartha,  Eliza  J., 
Huldah  E.  and  Catlierine.  Clement  Murphey  Ijecame  a  prominent  farmer 
and  was  one  among  the  most  successful  agriculturists  that  ever  lived  in 
Henry  county.  He  and  his  wife  were  upright,  religious  people  and  took  great 
interest  in  church  and  educational  matters.  They  were  very  highly  respected 
by  all  who  knew  them,  and  the  good  name  which  they  left  behind  them  is  a 
valuable  legacy  to  their  children.  In  i860  Mr.  Murphey  retired  from  his 
farm  and  moved  to  New  Castle,  where  he  and  his  excellent  wife  continued 
to  reside  until  the  day  of  their  death. 

William  Clinton  Murphey,  the  sixth  son,  is  the  subject  of  this  sketcli. 
He  was  born  on  his  father's  farm  above  mentioned,  Januarv  i,  1842.  He 
lived  with  his  parents,  working  or.  the  farm  and  attending  the  public  schools, 
until  i860,  when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  New  Castle.  He  early  de- 
veloped mercantile  and  business  qualities  of  a  high  order.  In  the  fall  of 
i860  he  became  a  clerk  in  the  hardware  store  of  his  brother,  Joel  L.,  in 
New  Castle,  and  soon  after  obtaining-  his  majority  in  1863,  he  had  a  hard- 
ware store  of  his  own.  Later  he  moved  to  Middletown  in  Henry  county, 
and  engaged  in  the  dry-goods  trade,  remaining  there  for  a  period  of  about 
two  years,  when  he  returned  to  New  Castle,  where  he  continued  in  the  dry- 
goods  business  until  the  summer  of  1868,  when  he  engaged  in  the  grocery 
business,  which  he  operated  until  the  fall  of  187 1.  In  the  fall  of  this  year 
came  the  turning  point  in  ]\Ir.  Murphey's  business  career,  for  at  this  time  he 
was  induced  by  Mr.  George  Hazzard  of  New  Castle  to  dispose  of  his  grocery 
store  and  engage  in  the  banking  business. 

A  firm  was  formed  consisting  of  George  Hazzard,  \\'illiam  C.  Murphev 
and  Reuben  Tobey,  under  the  firm  name  of  Hazzard,  Murphey  and  Co.,  op- 
erating a  private  bank,  known  as  the  Citizens  Bank  of  New  Castle,  with  a 
combined  capital  of  $40,000,  ten  thousand  dollars  of  which  was  contributed 
by  Mr.  Murphey.  This  venture  was  highly  successful,  so  much  so  that  in 
the  summer  of  1873  these  partners,  with  some  new  capital  solicited  in  Henrv 
county,  were  able  to  and  did  organize,  under  the  laws  of  the  state  of  Indiana, 
the  Citizens  State  Bank  of  New  Castle,  with  a  capital  of  $130,000,  of  which 
bank  Mr.  Murphey  was  made  cashier. 

In  1874  there  was  not  a  banking  institution  of  any  kind  in  Lake  countv. 
Indiana.     Now  there  are,  perhaps,  twenty  such  organizations  in  the  county. 


588  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Neither  was  there  a  banking  institution  of  any  kind  on  the  line  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania railroad,  between  Logansport  and  Chicago.  This  unoccupied  terri- 
tory was  certainly  an  inviting  field,  and  accordingly  Mr.  iVlurphev  disposed 
of  his  interests  in  the  Citizens  State  Bank  of  New  Castle,  when  he  together 
with  Martin  L.  Bundy,  George  Hazzard  and  Augustus  E.  Bundy  of  New 
Castle,  and  John  Brown,  William  ^\'.  Cheshire,  David  Turner,  James  Burge. 
James  H.  Luther  and  perhaps  one  other  of  Crown  Point,  the  latter  taking 
$i,ooo  each  in  the  capital  stock,  organized  the  First  National  Bank  of  Crown 
Point,  with  a  capital  of  $50,000,  Mr.  Murphey  becoming  \ice  president. 
Later  the  other  parties  from  New  Castle  .sold  their  stock  in  the  bank,  and 
]\Ir.  Murphey  became  cashier,  a  position  he  held  vmtil  physically  disabled 
for  further  service.  With  this  bank  Mr.  Murphey  was  continuously  identi- 
fied as  the  controlling  spirit  from  the  date  of  its  organization  until  the  close 
of  his  business  career.  Under  his  management  the  bank  was  highly  success- 
ful. It  accumulated  a  surplus  fund  equal  to  its  capital,  and  so  desirable  was 
the  stock  as  an  investment  that  it  readily  sold  for  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  a  share.  The  par  value  of  the  shares  was  one  hundred  dollars  each. 
It  was  in  Crown  Point  that  he  made  his  great  reputation  as  a  prudent  and 
sagacious  business  man  and  banker,  and  it  was  there  also  that  he  accumulated 
the  fortune  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  which  he  left  at  the  time  of  his 
death. 

In  the  Civil  war  Mr.  Murphey  was  not  forgetful  of  the  patriotic  duty 
which  every  citizen  owes  to  the  government,  for  he  became  a  soldier  in 
Company  B,  One  Hundred  Thirty-ninth  Indiana  Infantry,  being  mustered 
into  the  United  States  service  as  a  corporal  June  5,  1864,  and  mustered  out 
September  29,  1864. 

At  New  Castle  on  the  29th  day  of  November,  1866,  he  was  married  to 
Alice  lone,  second  daughter  of  Joshua  and  Nancy  Holland,  old  and  highly 
respected  citizens  of  Henry  county.  Mrs.  Murphey  was  a  native  of  New 
Castle  where  she  lived  all  her  life.  She  was  highly  esteemed  by  all  who 
knew  her.  She  died  December  22,  1869,  and  her  tody  now  lies  at  rest  in 
Ijeautiful  South  ?kIound  cemetery.  From  this  union  there  was  one  child,  a 
daughter.  .\nna  Florence,  born  October  12,  1867.  This  loving  child  was 
not  permitted  to  reach  her  full  estate,  for  while  at  the  O.xford  (Ohio)  Fe- 
male College,  she  was  suddenly  stricken  and  died.  February  22.  1885.    Her  re- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  587 

mains  were  laitl  at  the  side  of  her  mother  in  Snutii  Mound  cemetery.  Her 
death  was  a  great  sliock  to  lier  father,  wiio  never  fully  reco\-ered  from  the 
great  loss  then  inflicted. 

On  November  22.  1882.  Mr.  Murphey  again  married,  tliis  time  to  Louise 
I\L  Luther,  iicc  Louise  M.  Whippo,  now  his  surviving  widow,  a  most  esti- 
mable woman,  liighly  educated  and  who  was  horn  at  Dulilin.  Wayne  county, 
Indiana,  September  9,  1844.  It  was  after  Mr.  Murphey's  union  with  Mrs, 
Luther  that  his  greatest  success  and  prosperity  came  to  him.  She  proved  in 
every  way  a  true  wife,  a  good  companion  and  a  great  business  helpmeet.  It 
was  with  the  most  tender  solicitude  that  she  cared  for  Mr.  Murphey  during 
his  last  years  of  almost  total  helplessness  and  supervised  his  business  affairs. 
Mr.  Murphey  died  July  21,   i8g8,  at  Crown  Point,  Indiana. 

On  .\ugust  3,  1895,  while  engaged  in  the  duties  of  his  position  at  the 
bank,  Mr.  Murphey  was  stricken  with  paralysis.  For  days  he  hovered  be- 
tween life  and  death,  but  finally  a  change  for  the  better  came,  and  as  soon  as 
he  was  able  to  travel  he  was  taken  to  southern  California,  where  with  the 
warm  sun  and  genial  climate  he  rapidly  improved  and  in  May  was  aljle  to 
return  home.  But  in  November  he  returned  to  California,  spending  the  winter 
in  Los  Angeles.  In  I\Iay  be  again  came  home,  but  soon  left  for  Mt.  Clemens, 
Michigan,  where  he  hoped  to  find  his  health  restored.  He  did  receive  some 
benefit,  but  in  the  fall  again  went  to  California,  remaining  until  spring.  He 
was  failing  before  his  departure  for  home,  and  on  his  return  was  confined  to 
the  bed  for  some  days,  but  for  ten  weeks  he  was  able  to  be  out  and  meet  his 
old  friends,  liut  Anally  the  fatal  disease  was  more  than  his  heroic  efYorts 
could  overcome  and  death  claimed  its  own. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Murphey  had  been  an  earnest  advocate  of  crema- 
tion, as  the  proper  method  of  disposing  of  the  dead,  and,  in  accordance  with 
his  often  expressed  wish  and  direction,  that  disposition  was  made  of  his 
remains,  and  his  ashes  deposited  by  the  side  of  his  wife  and  only  child  in 
South  Mound  cemetery.  New  Castle. 

No  man  that  ever  lived  in  Lake  county,  for  that  matter  in  northwestern 
Indiana,  left  behind  him  a  more  enviable  reputation  for  prudence,  sagacity 
and  sterling  integrity  than  William  Clinton  Murphey.  His  judgment  was 
the  controlling  factor  in  all  disputed  business  affairs,  throughout  Lake  county. 
He  was  an  excellent  person  for  one  in  doubt  to  consult,  for  he  could  take 


588  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

up  the  case  and  point  out  the  uncertainties  as  well  as  the  winning  points. 
His  advice  was  sought  far  and  wide.  He  was  a  man  of  polished  manners 
and  pleasing  address.  His  memory  will  long  be  cherished  by  all  who  knew 
him. 

ALBERT  C.  HUBER. 

The  prosperity  of  any  city  or  locality  depends  upon  its  commercial  and 
industrial  activity,  and  the  early  upbuilders  of  a  town  are  they  who  suc- 
cessfully conduct  business  enterprises.  A  representative  of  this  class  is  Albert 
C.  Huber,  who  is  now  engaged  in  dealing  in  groceries,  market  supplies  and 
coal  in  East  Chicago.  He  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  his  Ijirth  having  occurred  in 
Seneca  county,  that  state,  on  the  14th  of  February.  1874.  Little  is  known 
concerning  the  ancestral  history  of  the  family  save  that  the  Hubers  are  of 
German  lineage.  The  paternal  grandfather  spent  his  entire  life  in  Germany, 
and  in  that  country  Michael  Huber,  the  father  of  Albert  C,  was  born,  the 
place  of  his  nativity  being  Luxemburg.  In  early  life  he  learned  the  wagon- 
builder's  trade  and  about  1830  he  came  to  America,  locating  in  Berwick, 
Seneca  county,  Ohio,  where  he  was  engaged  in  wagon  building.  There  he 
died  in  the  year  1876.  His  wife  survived  him  until  January  13,  1903,  and 
passed  away  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  seventy-four  years.  Both  were  communi- 
cants of  the  Catholic  church.  Mrs.  Michael  Huber,  who  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Margaret  Sachas,  was  also  a  native  of  Luxemburg,  Germany,  and 
was  a  daughter  of  Nicholas  Sachas,  who  was  born  in  Germany  and  came 
to  the  United  States  in  1830  with  a  small  colony  of  people  that  established 
a  settlement  in  Seneca  county,  Ohio.  He  was  a  carpenter  and  bridge  builder, 
and  in  Seneca  county  spent  his  remaining  days,  departing  this  life  at  an 
advanced  age.     In  his  family  were  fi\e  children. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Michael  Huber  were  born  ten  children,  five  sons  and 
five  daughters,  of  whom  five  are  yet  living,  namely:  Elizabeth  A.,  a  resident 
of  Pullman,  Illinois;  Mary,  who  is  the  wife  of  D.  H.  Chapman,  of  Kensing- 
ton, Illinois;  Michael  W.,  who  is  living  in  Austin,  a  suburb  of  Chicago;  Ida, 
the  widow  of  Thornton  Berry,  and  now  of  Pullman,  Illinois;  and  .\lljert  C, 
of  this  review. 

Albert  C.  Huljer  resided  in  Seneca  countv,  Ohio,  until  sixteen  years 
of  age  and   in  his  liovhood   days  attended  the   parochial   and   public   schools 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  589 

there.  \\'lien  nineteen  _\ears  of  age  he  hegan  learning  the  tinsmith's  trade, 
Wiiich  he  followed  continuously  until  1899.  He  then  turned  his  attention 
to  the  grocery  business  in  East  Chicago,  forming  a  partnership  with  Thorn- 
ton Berry  under  the  firm  style  of  Huber,  Berry  &  Company.  This  rela- 
tionship was  maintained  until  190^,  when  Mr.  Berry  died,  and  since  that 
time  the  business  has  been  conducted  under  the  firm  style  of  A.  C.  Huber  & 
Company,  his  sister  Elizabeth  becoming  his  partner.  He  has  a  well  appointed 
grocery  store,  and  in  addition  also  conducts  a  meat  market.  The  tasteful 
arrangement  and  neat  appearance  of  the  store  secures  a  good  patronage,  and 
Mr.  Huber  is  always  able  to  retain  his  customers  because  of  his  honorable 
business  methods.  He  is  likewise  connected  with  the  Lake  Coal  Company  as 
a  partner.  In  1903  he  established  the  Empire  restaurant  in  East  Chicago,  but 
later  sold  out  to  Leo  McCormack. 

On  the  1 2th  of  February,  1901,  Mr.  Huber  was  united  in  marriage  to 
]\Iiss  Caroline  M.  Reiland,  a  daughter  of  John  S.  and  Henrietta  (Meisen- 
bach)  Reiland.  They  have  one  daughter.  Helen  Ruth  Huber.  The  parents 
hold  membership  in  the  Catholic  church,  and  fraternally  he  is  associated  with 
the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks  and  with  the  Royal  League. 
Politically  he  is  a  Republican,  having  firm  faith  in  the  principles  of  the  party 
as  set  forth  in  its  platform.  He  is  now  serving  as  president  of  the  board  of 
education  in  East  Chicago  and  is  a  citizen  whose  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  town  is  deep  and  sincere  and  is  manifested  by  active  co-operation  in  many 
movements  for  the  general  good.  He  is  yet  a  young  man,  but  has  already 
attained  creditable  success  through  honorable  efifort,  untiring  industry  and 
capable  management,  while  in  private  life  he  has  gained  that  warm  personal 
regard  which  arises  from  true  nobility  of  character,  deference  for  the  opinion 
of  others'  kindness  and  geniality. 

CHARLES  GROMANN,  M.  D. 

In  the  German  element  of  her  citizenship  Lake  county  has  found  a  fac- 
tor of  uplift  and  progress  toward  substantial  ideals  such  as  no  other  race  has 
brought  to  the  county,  and  this  history  would  lack  one  of  its  most  essential 
parts  should  the  work  and  lives  of  the  German-Americans  be  neglected.  Dr. 
Gromann,  whose  professional  career  has  made  him  so  familiar  to  numerous 
families  of  the  county,  is  a  native  of  the  little  province  of  Lippe-Detmold, 


590  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY. 

Germany,  wliere  he  was  born  December  2,  1823.  He  is  the  younger  of  two 
children  born  to  Phili])  and  Dorothea  (Witte)  Gromann,  and  is  the  onlv 
survix'or  of  the  family.  The  father  was  born  in  the  same  province  in  1794 
and  died  in  1867.  He  was  a  lirick-maker  l)y  trade,  and  was  a  successful  man 
throughout  his  life.     He  and  his  wife  were  Lutherans. 

Dr.  Gromann  was  reared  in  his  native  land  to  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years.     He  was  fomierly  a  druggist  by  occupation,  having  taken  a  practical 
course  in  a  store  under  an  experienced  pharmacist.     In  1849  he  cf)ncluded  to 
come  to  America.      He  sailed   from   Bremerhaven.   being  si.x   weeks  on  the 
voyage  to  New  York,  and  from  the  latter  city  he  went  to  Chicago,  thence  to 
Dalton,   Illinois,   where   he   and   his  brother-in-law   purchased   land   and    re- 
mained until  the  spring  of  1853.     Then  the  Doctor  came  to  Hanover  town- 
ship, Lake  county,  and  purchased  eighty  acres  of  raw  land.     His  first  resi- 
dence there  was  a  log  cabin  which  he  himself  built,  and  he  has  seen  deer  and 
wolves  roaming  about  in  this  county.     In  fact,  he  one  day  killed  two  deer 
Avithin  a  half  an  hour,  shooting  them  with  a  shotgun,  and  also  shot  a  bear 
from  the  window  of  his  cabin.     It  was  his  intention  to  follow  farming  as 
his  permanent  occupation,  but  his  health  was  poor  and  he  took  up  the  study 
of  medicine.     He  went  to  Chicago  and  entered  the  office  of  Dr.  Julius  Ull- 
rich, with  whom  he  carried  on  his  studies,  and  he  later  came  to  Hanover 
township  and  began   the   medical  practice  which   he  has   continuetl    in   this 
county  for  half  a  century.     He  is  a  genial  and  cordial  gentleman  and  well 
preserved  for  his  years,  and  his  career  has  Ijeen  such  as  to  win  him  esteem 
in  all  circles.     Dr.  Gromann  has  been  married  three  times.     His  first  wife  v.as 
Miss  Caroline  Kluckhohm.     They  became  affianced  in  Germany,  but  were 
married  in  Chicago.     Eleven  children,  six  sons  and  five  daughters,  were  born 
of  this  union,  and  nine  are  living,  as  follows :     Wilhelmina,  the  eldest;  Henry, 
of  Crown  Point ;  August,  a  physician  in  Iowa ;  Sophia  and  Caroline,  twins, 
both  wives  of  ministers:  Charles;  Louise;  Fred;  Anna.     The  mother  of  this 
family  died  in  1869,  and  Dr.  Gromann's  second  wife  was  Miss  Sophia  Ort- 
meyer.     Five  children,  one  son  and  four  daughters,  were  born  of  this  union, 
and  the  three  living  are:    Paulina,  a  professional  nurse;  Julia,  wife  of  George 
Piepho,  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Hanover  township;  and  Dora,  the  youngest. 
This  second  wife  passed  away  on  February  5,  1897.     On  March  20,   1901, 
Dr.   Gromann  married  Mrs.   Charlotte    (Bernhardt)    Sauer.   who  was   born 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  591 

near  the  city  of  Wiesbaden,  Germany,  November  i,  1837,  being  a  daughter 
of  Jacob  and  Philopena  (Weltert)  Bernhardt.  There  were  nine  children  in 
the  Bernhardt  family,  but  only  two  are  li\ing.  and  Mrs.  Gromann  is  the  only 
one  in  America.  She  was  educated  in  her  native  land,  and  is  a  Lutheran 
in  religion.  Her  first  marriage  took  place  in  Germany.  In  1867  she  came  to 
America,  and  from  Cincinnati  later  moved  to  Chicago.  Mrs.  Gromann  is  a 
genial  and  cordial  lady,  and  with  such  a  jovial  companion  as  the  jolly  Doctor 
their  home  is  truly  a  happy  one.  Their  cosy,  comfortable  home  is  open  to 
all  their  friends,  and  good  cheer  and  congenial  company  are  always  to  be 
found  there. 

Dr.  Gromann  is  a  stalwart  Republican,  and  has  supported  the  candidates 
of  the  G.  O.  P.  since  casting  his  first  vote.  Ofiicially  he  was  elected  to  the 
office  of  township  trustee  and  served  as  such  for  nine  years,  during  which 
period  he  erected  the  schoolhouse  in  Brunswick,  and  Ixsth  before  and  since 
the  cause  of  erlucation  has  always  found  in  him  a  true  friend.  He  was  form- 
erly a  memter  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  He  and  his  good 
wife  are  members  of  the  German  Methodist  church  society,  and  they  are 
well  known  and  highly  esteemed  in  their  home  town  of  Brunswick  and  also 
throughout  the  neighborhood. 

JOHN  KRUDUP. 

The  Germans  form  one  of  the  most  prosperous  elements  of  state  or 
nation,  and  are  especially  noteworthy  for  the  part  they  have  played  in  the 
substantial  and  enduring  development  of  Lake  county.  Mr.  Krudup  was 
bom  in  Hanover  township.  Lake  county,  April  19,  1870,  and  is  the  youngest 
of  the  seven  children,  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  born  to  Herman  H.  and 
Anna  Elizabeth  (Wilke)  Krudup.  There  are  four  of  the  children  still  living. 
The  eldest,  Johanna,  is  the  widow  of  John  H.  Meyer  and  a  resident  of  West 
Creek  township.  Herman,  who  is  married,  is  a  salesman  in  a  wholesale 
grocery  house  of  Chicago.  William  F.,  married,  is  a  dealer  in  harness  and 
hardware  at  Gibson  City,  Illinois.     And  John  is  the  youngest. 

Herman  H.  Krudup,  the  father,  was  a  native  of  Germany,  born  in  1828. 
He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  was  married  in  Germany  and 
about  1858  he  came  to  America,  arriving  at  New  Orleans  and 
making   the    trip    up    the    Mississippi    and    the    Ohio    to    Cincinnati,    being 


592  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

two  months  and  six  days  on  the  water.  \Mien  he  came  to  Inchana 
he  began  as  a  farmer.  He  purchased  eight}'  acres  of  land,  going  in  debt  for 
part  of  it,  and  by  diligence  he  not  only  paid  for  it,  but  added  to  his  property 
until  he  had  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  acres,  and  fifteen  acres  of  timljer- 
land.  This  land  is  now  the  property  of  Mr.  John  Krudup.  The  father  was 
a  Republican  in  politics.  The  mother  was  a  native  of  Prussia.  Germany, 
born  in  1832,  and  her  death  occurred  in  1892. 

Mr.  Krudup  was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer,  and  received  his  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools  of  the  county,  personal  application  being  a  prin- 
cipal factor  in  his  success  from  the  beginning  of  his  career.  At  the  age  of 
twentv-one  he  began  without  capital,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  he  re- 
ceived his  share  of  the  estate.  He  has  been  careful  and  frugal,  and  has  accu- 
mulated a  good  property  and  become  well  known  for  his  effective  business 
management.  In  March,  1904,  he  purchased  the  stock  of  merchandise  of 
Hon.  John  Beckman,  at  Brunswick.  This  was  a  well  established  general 
■merchandise  business,  the  stock  consisting  of  dry-goods,  shoes,  staple  and 
fancy  groceries,  queensware  and  other  general  goods.  Mr.  Krudup  is  a 
young  and  progressive  business  man,  affable  and  genial,  and  his  integrity 
and  character  and  reputation  for  honesty  and  fair  dealing  are  well  known 
throughout  his  native  community,  where  the  people  have  all  confidence  in 
him,  and  his  business  career  begun  under  such  favorable  auspices  is  certain 
to  lead  to  success. 

March  17,  1898,  Mr.  Krudup  married  Miss  Carrie  Russell,  and  two 
daughters  have  been  born  to  them,  Emma  M.  and  Edna  J.  Mrs.  Krudup 
was  born  in  Hanover  township,  this  county,  March  17,  1871,  and  was  reared 
in  the  county  and  educated  in  the  common  schools.  She  is  a  daughter  of 
Christopher  and  Johanna  Russell,  the  former  now  deceased,  and  both  her 
parents  were  born  in  Germany. 

Mr.  Krudup  is  a  stalwart  Republican,  having  cast  his  first  presidential 
vote  for  Benjamin  Harrison,  and  having  supported  each  candidate  since. 
He  and  his  wife  are  church  members  and  are  young  people  who  stand  high 
in  the  estimation  of  all  who  know  them. 

JOHN  N.  BECKMAN. 

The  German-American  has  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  affairs  of 
this  nation,  and  Lake  county  has  been  especially  benefited  by  their  presence 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  593 

and  activity  in  the  important  industries  and  social  and  public  affairs.  As  a 
class  these  people  have  been  noted  for  their  pluck,  industry  and  accumulative 
methods,  and  their  love  for  home  and  community  makes  them  citizens  par 
excellence. 

Mr.  Beckman  is  a  man  who  needs  no  introduction  to  the  citizens  of  Lake 
county  in  mercantile  and  ]iolitical  circles.  He  is  a  native  of  Hanover  town- 
ship, Lake  county,  where  he  was  born  October  26,  1856.  He  is  the  eldest 
of  nine  children,  three  sons  and  six  daughters,  born  to  Herman  C.  and 
Elizabeth  (Fink)  Beckman,  and  eight  of  them  are  still  living.  Gesina  M. 
is  the  wife  of  Dr.  A.  Groman,  of  Odebolt,  Iowa,  and  their  son,  Herman  C., 
is  a  graduate,  with  honors,  in  the  class  of  1904  from  Yale  University;  'Sirs. 
Groman  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  by  individual  study  and 
application.  Elizabeth  K.  is  the  wife  of  William  H.  Rohe,  a  banker  and 
druggist  of  Crete,  Illinois.  Anna  M.  is  the  wife  of  H.  H.  Gansbergen,  a 
music  publisher,  with  Root  and  Company  of  Chicago.  Hermina,  a  lady  of 
charming  and  lovely  character  and  disposition,  is  a  bookkeeper  with  E.  F. 
Root  and  Son  of  Chicago.  Margaret  J-  is  the  wife  of  Charles  J.  Murphy, 
who  is  a  farmer  and  stock  dealer.  Herman  C,  who  is  niarried  and  a  resident 
of  Chicago,  is  in  the  employ  of  the  DeLaval  Separator  Company.  B.  Fred- 
erick, who  is  married  and  a  resident  of  Red  Oak,  Iowa,  is  road  master  of  the 
C,  B.  &  O.  Railroad. 

Father  Beckman  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  June  3.  1822,  and  died 
July  5,  1894.  He  was  reared  to  young  manhood  in  his  native  land,  and 
gained  his  education  by  personal  application  and  by  reading  the  newspapers. 
He  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  intelligence,  and  in  the  later  years  of 
his  life  he  corresponded  for  some  agricultural  papers.  He  bade  adieu  to  his 
native  land  and  came  to  America  to  cast  in  his  lot  among  a  strange  people  and 
with  not  a  great  deal  of  cash  on  hand.  It  was  about  1846  when  he  came  to 
New  York,  and  he  remained  there  until  1856.  He  spent  a  short  time  in  South 
Carolina,  and  in  May,  1856,  he  arrived  in  Lake  county.  He  began  the  mer- 
cantile business  at  Hanover  Center,  and  also  the  breeding  of  high-grade 
cattle.  Most  of  his  life  in  Lake  county  was  spent  in  merchandising.  He 
was  an  ardent  Repulilican,  and  prior  to  the  formation  of  that  party  was  a 
Whig,  and  was  a  warm  admirer  of  Lincoln,  Blaine  and  Garfield.  Frater- 
nallv  he  was  a  member  of  the  Masons  and  the  Odd  Fellows.     His  wife  and 


694  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

tlie  mother  of  Mr.  Becknian  was  born  in  the  ])rovince  of  Hanover,  Germany, 
August  14,  1835,  and  she  died  in  July.  1879. 

Mr.  Beckman  was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native  county  of  Lake. 
He  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  at  T.  H.  Ball's  Institute  and  at 
Bryant  and  Stratton's  Business  College.  His  early  life  was  spent  on  the 
farm.  Mr.  Beckman  is  one  of  the  cordial  gentlemen  who  are  popular  with 
both  the  masses  and  the  classes,  and  by  his  courtesy  and  genial  manner  he  has 
won  the  confidence  of  the  people  of  Lake  county,  and  has  played  a  conspicuous 
part  in  the  political  arena. 

November  3,  1880,  he  married  Miss  Mary  A.  Echterling,  and  twelve 
children  have  been  born  to  them,  six  of  whom  are  living.  The  eldest,  John 
F.,  is  at  the  present  writing  in  the  model  dairy  of  the  agricultural  department 
of  the  World's  Fair  at  St.  Louis.  He  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
and  at  Crown  Point,  and  took  four  years  at  Purdue  L'niversity,  graduating  in 
the  class  of  1904.  August  C.  is  a  civil  engineer  in  northern  Wisconsin  in 
the  employ  of  the  C.  &  N.  W.  Railroad.  He  was  also  educated  at  Purdue 
University,  graduating  in  1904.  Elenora  M.  is  in  the  public  schools,  as  are 
also  Marie  T.  and  Frederick  Herman,  and  William  Edgar  is  the  youngest 
of  the  family. 

Mrs.  Beckman  was  born  in  the  province  of  ^^'estphalia,  Germany,  May 
14,  1858,  being  a  daughter  of  Frederick  and  Mary  A.  (Cloidt)  Echterling. 
She  was  educated  in  the  German  and  English  languages,  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  church.  Mr.  Beckman  has  always  espoused  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Republican  party,  and  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for  James  A. 
Garfield. 

Mr.  Beckman  is  a  lover  of  his  county,  state  and  nation,  and  has  always 
had  the  good  of  his  county  at  heart.  He  received  the  nomination  for  the 
office  of  county  auditor  in  1892.  Init  was  defeated  by  the  Democratic  land- 
slide of  that  year.  In  1900  he  was  elected  joint  representative  of  Lake 
county,  and  each  year  since,  including  the  present  year,  has  been  chosen  to 
that  important  office.  Fraternally  he  is  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order 
of  Foresters  and  also  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias.  He  is  now  to  a  great  extent 
retired  from  business.  We  are  pleased  to  present  this  brief  text  of  this  worthy 
gentleman  who  has  spent  his  entire  life  in  Lake  county,  to  form  an  enduring 
record  in  the  Encyclopedia  of  Genealogy  of  Lake  county. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  _  595 

FRED  W.  BUCKLEY. 

Fred  W.  Buckley,  formerly  manager  for  the  Wilbur  Lumber  Company 
of  Lowell,  was  born  in  Cedar  Creek  township.  Lake  county,  Indiana.  March 
2,  1878,  his  parents  being  William  and  Elizabeth  (Darst)  Buckley,  who  were 
early  settlers  of  Lake  county.  The  father  is  now  living  a  retired  life  in 
Lowell. 

Upon  the  home  farm  Fred  W.  Buckley  spent  the  first  sixteen  years  of 
his  life,  and  during  that  period  acquired  his  education  in  the  public  schools, 
which  he  attended  during  the  winter  months.  He  then  began  work  for  the 
Lowell  Lumber  Company.  John  E.  Burns  being  the  owner  of  the  yards,  and 
in  that  employ  Mr.  Buckley  remained  until  May  5,  1898,  when  the  yard  was 
sold  to  the  Wilbur  Lumber  Company,  Mr.  Buckley  continuing  there  until 
February,  1901.  He  then  resigned  and  joined  his  former  employer,  Mr. 
Burns,  in  Chicago,  and  continued  with  him  for  three  months,  at  the  end  of 
wliich  time  he  was  offered  the  management  of  the  \Vilbur  Lumber  Company. 
He  was  then  but  twenty-two  years  of  age,  but  he  had  demonstrated  his 
superior  ability,  his  thorough  understanding  of  the  lumber  trade  and  his 
trustworthin£Ss,  and  thus  his  strong  qualities  gained  him  a  very  desirable 
position,  which  he  held  for  three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  again  re- 
signed to  accept  a  better  position  offered  by  the  Sheridan  Brick  Works. 
Brazil.  Indiana. 

On  the  19th  of  July,  1900,  Mr.  Buckley  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Lotus  Metcalf.  who  died  on  the  15th  of  November,  1901.  He  is  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias  fraternity  at  Lowell  and  is  a  man  well 
known  in  Lake  county,  where  he  has  a  large  circle  of  friends,  among  whom 
he  is  very  popular,  owing  to  his  genial  disposition,  unfaltering  courtesy  and 
high  personal  worth. 

BYRON  M.  CHENEY. 

Byron  M.  Cheney,  who  is  engaged  in  fhe  practice  of  law  and  occupies 
the  position  of  justice  of  the  peace  in  East  Chicago,  ranks  among  the  rep- 
resentative residents  of  that  place,  where  he  has  so  directed  his  energies  as 
to  win  substantia!  success  in  business  and  at  the  same  time  gain  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  those  with  whom  he  has  been  associated.  As  a  public 
official  he  has  made  a  creditable  record,  his  course  being  marked  by  the  utmost 


59()  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

fidelity  to  duty,  while  his  decisions  are  characterized  by  strict  impartiality  and 
fairness. 

Mr.  Cheney  is  a  native  son  of  Illinois,  his  birth  having  occurred  in 
Jersey ville,  Jersey  county,  on  the  2nd  of  September,  1840.  He  comes  of  a 
family  of  English  lineage  and  his  ancestors  were  among  the  passengers  of 
the  Mayflower,  who  made  the  first  settlement  in  New  England.  The  paternal 
grandfather,  Prentiss  Dana  Cheney,  was  a  native  of  Vermont  and  a  physician 
by  profession.  He  served  his  countrj^  in  the  war  of  1812.  participating  in 
the  battle  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  aided  largely  in  the  care  of  the  wounded. 
He  was  twice  married,  first  wedding  Miss  Murray,  by  whom  he  had  five 
children,  while  his  second  wife  was  a  Miss  Goodell.  Dr.  Cheney  reached  a 
very  advanced  age,  dying  full  of  years  and  honors. 

Murray  Cheney,  son  of  Dr.  Prentiss  D.  Cheney,  was  born  in  the  Green 
Mountain  state  and  became  a  member  of  the  bar.  Establishing  his  home  in 
Illinois,  he  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  in  Jersey  county  and  also  held  the 
office  of  sherifif  there  for  two  terms.  It  was  in  the  year  1833  that  he  left  his 
home  in  New  England  for  the  central  west,  taking-  up  his  abode  at  what  was 
then  called  Hickoiy  Gro^•e.  but  is  now  the  site  of  Jerseyville.  He  afterward 
entered  some  land  in  Sangamon  county,  Illinois,  in  1852,  and  this  is  still  in 
possession  of  his  children.  In  1857  he  removed  to  that  county,  locating  upon 
his  farm  (the  Blue  ]\Iound)  in  Talkington  township,  near  Springfield,  where 
he  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  until  the  fall  of  1861.  He  then  remo\'ed 
to  Virden,  Illinois,  where  he  resided  until  bis  death,  which  occurred  in  1885, 
when  he  was  seventy-six  years  of  age.  In  early  manhood  he  wedded  Miss 
Caroline  Pickett,  also  a  native  of  Vermont  and  a  daughter  of  Gilead  Pickett, 
who  was  born  in  the  same  state  and  was  of  English  lineage.  He  was  a  black- 
smith by  trade,  served  his  country  in  the  war  of  1812  and  died  when  well  ad- 
vanced in  years.  In  his  family  were  seven  children,  including  Mrs.  Cheney,  who 
survived  her  husband  for  a  long  period  and  passed  away  on  the  6th  of  July, 
1903.  when  more  than  ninety  years  of  age.  Both  were  members  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Baptist  church  and  j\Ir.  Cheney  had  served  his  counti"y  as  a  soldier  in 
the  Mexican  war.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight  children,  five  sons  and  three 
daughters,  of  whom  five  are  now  living :  Gilead  P.,  a  resident  of  Jerseyville, 
Illinois;  Byron  M. ;  Martha  C,  the  wife  of  Oliver  S.  Green,  of  Chicago,  Illi- 
nois: John  George,  of  Lyons,  Colorado;  and  William,  of  Virden,  Illinois. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  597 

Judge  Byron  M.  Cheney  spent  the  first  fifteen  years  of  his  Hfc  in  Jersev- 
ville,  Illinois,  and  from  the  age  of  six  years  attended  the  public  schools. 
Later  he  worked  upon  a  farm  and  afterward  engaged  in  railroad  contracting 
and  levee  work  on  the  Illinois  river.  In  1888  he  arrived  in  East  Chicago  and 
estalilished  a  coal  and  lime  yard.  The  following  year  he  was  elected  justice 
of  the  ])eace  and  has  continuously  filled  the  position  since  that  time,  with  the 
exception  of  one  term.  As  a  business  man  he  has  ever  been  found  reliable 
and  trustworthy,  manifesting  also  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  age.  and  in 
office  he  is  known  for  his  fearless  performance  of  his  duty  and  his  promptness 
and  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  every  task  which  devolves  upon  him. 

On  the  22nd  of  February.  1865,  occurred  the  marriage  of  Judge  Cheney 
and  Miss  Sarah.  Beatty,  a  daughter  of  Francis  and  Jane  Beatty,  but  in  the 
following  March  the  Judge  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of  his  young 
wife.  Several  years  later  he  married  Miss  Mary  Van  Zandt,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Anna  (Barber)  Van  Zandt.  Mrs.  Cheney's  grandfather,  John 
Van  Zandt,  was  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  having-  entered  the  ranks  when 
only  12  years  of  age.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  church  and  an 
estimable  lady  who,  like  her  husband,  shares  in  the  warm  regard  of  her  many 
friends.  Judge  Cheney  belongs  to  the  JNIasonic  fraternity  and  has  attained 
the  Royal  Arch  degree.  Politically  he  is  a  Republican,  earnest  in  his  advo- 
cacy of  the  principles  of  the  party,  and  he  served  as  school  trustee  in  Sanga- 
mon county,  Illinois,  for  a  long  period.  He  and  his  wife  now  reside  at  No. 
4815  Olcott  a\'enue  in  East  Chicago,  where  he  owns  a  good  home,  and  in 
addition  to  this  he  lias  two  oth.er  desiralile  lots  in  East  Chicago,  and  a  part 
of  the  old  homestead  farm  in  Sangamon  county,  Illinois.  His  life  has  been 
one  of  continuous  acti\-ity,  in  which  has  been  accorded  due  recognition  of 
labor;  and  to-day  he  is  numbered  among  the  substantial  citizens  of  the 
countv.  His  interests  are  thoroughly  identified  with  those  of  the  middle 
west  and  at  all  times  he  is  ready  to  lend  his  aid  and  co-operation  to  any 
mo\'ement  calculated  to  benefit  this  section  of  the  country  or  ad\'ance  its  won- 
derful development. 

CHARLES  J.    HOLMES. 

Among  the  good  and  worthy  citizens  of  West  Creek  township  is  Mr. 
C.  J.  Holmes,  who  is  held  in  high  esteem  by  all  who  know  him.     His  active 


598  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

careei  '.n  nortliern  Indiana  has  extended  over  a  period  of  nearly  thirt\'  years, 
and  lias  been  one  of  absorbing  indnstry  and  puljlic-spirited  citizenshi]),  snch 
as  to  eventuate  in  material  prosperity  and  a  position  of  honor  among  his 
fellow  citizens.  He  hails  from  the  little  kingdom  of  Sweden,  where  he  was 
born  June  ii,  1854,  being  the  third  in  a  family  of  eight  children,  two  sons 
and  six  daughters,  born  to  John  and  Anna  (Swanson)  Johnson.  The  reason 
that  Mr.  Holmes  has  a  name  so  different  from  that  of  his  parents  is  that,  while 
lie  was  serving  as  a  soldier  in  the  Swedish  army,  his  number  was  313.  the 
corresponding  name  to  which  number  was  Charles  J.  Holmes,  and  Ijy  this 
name  thus  applied  he  has  been  known  ever  since.  He  has  a  sister  and  a 
brother  yet  living,  his  sister,  Christine,  older  than  himself,  being  the  wife  of 
Oscar  Petersen,  a  carpenter  and  joiner  residing  in  Sweden,  and  his  brother 
Peter  being  on  a  ranch  at  Salina,  Kansas.  The  father  of  this  family  passed 
his  life  in  Sweden,  and  was  a  shoemaker  I>y  trade.  He  also  served  in  the 
military  of  his  country.  He  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Lutheran 
church,  and  they  are  now  both  deceased. 

Mr.  Holmes  was  born  in  the  province  of  Smolen,  and  received  his  edu- 
cation in  the  schools  of  his  native  land.  He  learned  the  trade  of  shoemaker 
from  his  father,  and  remained  with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-one  years 
old.  .-Xt  that  age  he  concluded  to  come  to  America  to  better  his  fortune,  and 
on  April  28,  1875,  ^^  sailed  from  Gothenburg  and  landed  in  Philadelphia 
with  just  seven  dollars  in  cash  capital  to  support  him  while  he  gained  a  start 
in  a  foreign  land.  From  Philadelphia  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  three  weeks 
later  went  to  an  uncle  of  his  in  Porter  county,  Indiana,  where  a  farmer  pro- 
cured his  services  at  a  wage  of  thirteen  dollars  a  month.  After  three  months 
he  hired  out  to  another  farmer  at  seventy-five  dollars  a  year,  and  worked  for 
this  employer  for  eighteen  months.  During  the  ne.xt  eighteen  months  he  re- 
ceived twenty-one  dollars  a  month,  and  his  prosperity  was  soon  assured,  for 
his  diligence  and  intelligent  management  of  all  the  interests  intrusted  to  his 
charge  soon  won  him  the  confidence  of  all  with  whom  he  had  dealings,  and 
he  was  before  long  on  the  independent  road  to  success. 

On  October  5,  1881,  he  wedded  an  estimable  lady.  Miss  Emma  Ryden, 
and  eight  children  were  born  of  this  marriage,  seven  of  them  being  living,  as 
follows:  01i\'er,  who  received  his  diploma  from  the  jjublic  schools  on  Feb- 
ruary 19,  1898,  and  was  later  graduated  froiu  the  business  college  at  North 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  59^ 

Park,  Chicago,  and  tlie  academy  at  tlie  same  locality,  is  now  engaged  as  a 
clerk  in  one  of  the  banks  of  Mr.  Murray  Turner  at  Hammond ;  Emily,  who 
received  her  diploma  of  graduation  from  the  public  schools  on  May  q.  1902. 
at  present  has  charge  of  her  father's  home ;  Grace  is  now  in  the  first  year  of 
the  high  schocil ;  Harry  graduated  fnnn  the  common  schools  on  May  12.  1904, 
when  (jnly  thirteen  vears  of  age :  George  is  in  the  eighth  grade  of  school  work ; 
Bertha  is  in  the  sixth  grade ;  and  Esther  is  in  the  third  grade. 

Mrs.  Holmes  was  born  in  Smolen.  Sweden,  March  2J,  1863.  being  a 
daughter  of  .\ndrew  and  Lovisa  (Johnson)  Swanson,  both  of  whom  are  now 
living  in  Porter  countv.  Indiana,  and  one  sister  is  also  living.  Her  parents 
are  both  Lutherans,  and  her  father  had  served  in  the  Swedish  army.  She 
was  eight  years  of  age  when  she  accompanied  lier  parents  to  America,  the 
home  lieing  established  in  Chesterton,  Porter  county.  She  was  educated  in 
both  the  Swedish  and  English  languages.  She  was  a  woman  of  noble  char- 
acter and  an  able  assistant  to  her  husband  in  the  rearing  of  her  children  and 
the  caring  for  the  home.  Her  disposition  was  all  gentleness  and  kindliness 
toward  all.  and  she  made  friends  where\'er  she  went.  She  was  a  memlier  of 
the  Lutheran  church  at  Chesterton.  This  good  woman  passed  away  from 
the  world  and  her  sorrowing  family  on  February  24,  1901,  and  her  remains 
are  interred  in  the  Chesterton  cemetery.  She  was  a  loving  and  affectionate 
wife  and  mother,  and  her  admonitions  and  advice  to  her  children  have  sunk 
deeply  and  permanently  into  their  hearts  and  become  part  and  parcel  of  their 
worthy  characters.  Mr.  Holmes  is  now  living  in  West  Creek  township  with 
his  children  around  him.  and  his  noble  daughter  Emily  assumes  complete 
management  of  the  home.  Too  much  cannot  be  said  of  this  good  man  and 
worthy  citizen  of  West  Creek  township,  and  he  has  friends  by  the  score. 
Ever  since  coming  to  this  country  and  assuming  the  active  duties  of  citizen- 
ship he  has  been  a  stanch  upholder  of  Republican  principles.  He  and  the 
older  children  are  members  of  the  Lutheran  church. 

LEGRAND   T.    MEYER. 

LeGrand  T.  Meyer,  who  has  been  a  leading  attorney  at  law  in  Ham- 
mond for  over  ten  years,  is  a  life-long  resident  of  Lake  county,  and  has 
worked  out  his  successful  career  almost  within  call  of  his  first  home.  He 
has  been  a  member  of  the  bar  of  the  county  for  the  past  fifteen  years,  but  did 


GOO  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

not  at  once  engage  in  active  practice,  continuing  iiis  legal  and  literary 
studies  until  his  graduation  in  1892.  He  has  for  several  years  been  prom- 
inent in  the  business  as  well  as  professional  activity  of  the  city,  and  is  to  be 
counted  among  the  truly  representative  and  public-spirited  citizenship  of 
Hammond. 

Mr.  Meyer  was  born  in  Crown  Point,  Indiana,  November  22,  1867. 
His  father,  John  H.  Meyer,  was  born  in  Hanover.  Germany,  son  of  a  life- 
long resident  of  that  province.  He  was  reared  in  Germany,  and  in  1855  emi- 
grated to  America.  He  lived  in  Brunswick,  Indiana,  until  his  enlistment, 
in  1861,  in  Company  B,  Twentieth  Indiana  Infantry,  with  which  he  served 
three  and  a  half  years  as  a  private.  He  was  wounded  at  the  second  day  of 
Gettysburg,  and  sent  to  the  hospital,  but  afterward  rejoined  his  regiment. 
He  was  also  in  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run,  at  Chancellorsville,  and 
throughout  the  hard  Wilderness  campaign.  After  the  war  he  conducted  a 
general  store  at  Crown  Point  for  a  number  of  years,  and  then  retired  to  his 
farm  at  Cedar  Lake.  John  H.  Meyer,  the  father,  died  on  September  20, 
1904.  after  a  few  days'  illness  from  pneumonia,  and  on  September  23,  1904, 
\vas  buried  in  the  family  lot  in  Crown  Point  by  a  large  gathering  of  his 
old  comrades  and  neighbors.  In  politics  he  was  an  uncompromising  Demo- 
crat, and  his  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  church.  He  married  Mar- 
garet E.  Dittmer,  who  was  liorn  in  Savannah,  Georgia,  a  daughter  of  Will- 
iam Henry  and  Sarah  Elizabeth  (Carr)  Dittmer.  Her  father  came  from 
Germany  and  settled  at  Savannah  before  the  Civil  war.  He  owned  con- 
siderable real  estate  there,  was  a  prosperous  merchant,  and  erected  grist 
mills  in  various  localities.  In  1857  he  came  to  Lake  county,  Indiana,  and 
Ixiught  a  farm  at  Cedar  Lake,  but  afterward  returned  to  Savannah,  where 
he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-six.  Mr.  and  ]Mrs.  John  H.  Meyer  had  three 
children :     LeGrand  T.,   Howard  C.  and  Horace  G. 

Mr.  L.  T.  Meyer  lived  in  Crown  Point  the  first  eleven  years  of  his 
life,  and  received  his  first  schooling  there.  He  li\'e(l  mi  the  home  farm  at 
Cedar  Lake  for  some  years,  and  studied  law  and  continued  his  literary 
training  in  his  home  county.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1889,  and  in 
1892  graduated  from  the  literary  deiaartment  of  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, at  Ann  Arbor,  where  he  had  also  taken  a  law  course.  He  opened  his 
office  in  Hammond   in   1892,  and  has  built  up  a  \ery  satisfactory  practice 


I 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  601 

in  the  intervening  years.  He  is  vice  president  and  one  of  the  cHrectors  of 
the  Champion  Potato  JNIachinery  Company,  which  mannfactures  potato 
planters  and  diggers.  He  gives  his  poHtical  allegiance  to  the  Democratic 
party.  His  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church.  He  resides  at  47  Doty 
street,  where  he  built  his  home  in  1896.  Mr.  Meyer  was  elected  city  attor- 
ney of  Hammond,  on  June  21.  1904.  He  has  always  taken  an  active  part 
in  politics,  having  several  times  been  chairman  of  the  Democratic  city  cen- 
tral committee,  and  has  invariably  been  successful.  In  1893  Governor  Claude 
Matthews  appointed  him  chief  of  the  engineer  corps  of  the  Indiana  National 
Guard,  with  rank  of  colonel,  and  during  the  tempestuous  time  of  Roby 
pugilism  and  railway  riots  he  was  in  sen-ice  as  tlie  confidential  adviser  of 
the  governor.  Pre\iously  to  this  Mr.  i\Ieyer  had  always  been  active  in  mili- 
tary affairs,  having  commanded  a  company  of  Sons  of  Veterans  infantry, 
and  had  been  an  active  Son  of  Veteran  of  the  State,  holding  many  state 
offices  therein. 

May  22,  1895,  Mr.  Meyer  married  Miss  Sarah  L.  Jennings,  the  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Adelaide  (Miller)  Jennings.  They  have  three  children, 
Helen  Margaret.  Laura  M.,  and  LeGrand  T.,  Jr.  Through  the  maternal  side 
Mr.  Meyer  traces  his  direct  ancestry  to  the  \\'illiani  Carrs  of  South  Caro- 
lina, who  took  an  active  part  in  the  Revolutionary  war  of  .American  In- 
dependence. 

OLIVER  G.  WHEELER. 

Prominent  among  the  energetic,  enterprising  ano  successful  business 
men  of  Crown  Point,  Indiana,  is  numbered  01i\er  G.  Wheeler,  who  is  con- 
ducting a  dry-goods  store  in  that  city.  His  business  career  will  bear  the 
light  of  strong  investigation,  and  throughout  the  community  where  he  makes 
his  home  he  is  held  in  high  regard  because  of  his  active,  useful  and  up- 
right life. 

He  was  born  in  Florence,  Erie  county.  Ohio.  March  4,  1842.  and  in 
the  paternal  line  comes  of  English  ancestr}-,  although  the  family  was  estab- 
lished in  .\merica  at  an  early  period  in  the  de\elopment  of  this  countrw  The 
paternal  grandfather  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  it  was  in  that  state 
that  Johnson  \\"heeler,  the  father,  was  born  and  reared.  He  removed  to 
Ohio  during  the  pioneer  epoch  in  the  history  of  that  state,  settling"  in  Erie 


602 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 


county,  wlience  he  came  to  Lake  county.  Lidiana,  in  1847,  establisliing  his 
home  in  tlie  southern  part  of  the  county.  He  was  a  civil  engineer  and  sur- 
veyor by  profession,  and  did  work  in  that  hne  throughout  northwestern  In- 
diana. For  a  long  period  he  served  as  county  surveyor,  and  he  surveyed  the 
larger  part  of  Lake  county.  His  activity,  however,  extended  to  other  lines 
of  business,  and  he  carried  on  Ixith  farming  and  merchandising  interests,  his 
efforts  contributing  to  the  business  development  and  substantial  commercial 
growth  of  his  portion  of  the  state.  He  died  when  seventy-two  years  of  age, 
honored  and  respected  by  all  for  what  he  had  accomplished  and  for  what  he  did 
in  behalf  of  his  fellow  men.  He  gave  his  political  allegiance  to  the  Whig 
party  in  early  manhood,  and  upon  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party 
joined  its  ranks.  He  held  membership  in  the  Universalist  church.  He  mar- 
ried Sallie  Burr,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  who  died  in  Crown  Point  when 
fifty-four  years  of  age.  They  were  the  parents  of  ten  children,  four  sons 
and  six  daughters,  se\'en  of  whom  reached  years  of  maturity,  while  four 
are  now  living,  three  daughters  and  one  son. 

Oliver  G.  Wheeler,  the  ninth  child  of  the  family,  was  only  five  years 
of  age  when  he  came  to  Indiana.  -His  education  was  acquired  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  until  he  reached  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  when  the  family  re- 
moved to  Crown  Point,  and  he  then  continued  his  studies  there.  He  entered 
upon  his  business  career  as  a  clerk  in  his  father's  mercantile  establishment, 
and  he  was  thus  employed  until  after  the  inauguration  of  the  Civil  war, 
when  he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  Seventy-third  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry, 
in  August,  1862.  He  joined  the  army  as  a  private,  but  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  orderly  sergeant  and  afterward  to  second  lieutenant.  He  served 
for  alxDut  three  years  or  until  the  cessation  of  hostilities  in  1865.  His  first 
battles  were  at  Perryville  and  Stone  River.  The  command,  known  as 
Colonel  Straight's  Provisional  Brigade,  then  consisting  of  fifteen  hundred 
men,  passing  through  North  Alabama  on  the  way  to  Rome  in  Georgia, 
overtaken  by  Forrest's  men  at  dusk  in  the  passes  of  Sand  mountain  and 
fighting  there  for  three  hours,  April  30,  1863,  repulsing  an  attack  of  three 
thousand  cavalry,  surrendered  on  the  2d  of  May,  at  Blount's  Farm  in  Ala- 
bama. This  expedition  is  known  as  Straight's  raid.  Brewer,  a  historian 
of  Alabama,  says  of  the  three  hours  of  night  battle,  "The  scene  of  this  pro- 
longed  and   desperate   conflict   on    the   barren    mountain     heights   of    north 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  003 

Alabama  is  remeniliered  by  participants  *  *  *  ^jg  one  of  peculiar, 
weird  grandeur,  impossible  to  paint  witb  words."  Tiie  men  of  the  Seventy- 
third  were  exchanged  at  Richmond,  and  Mr.  Wheeler  went  home  on  fur- 
lough. He  soon  returned,  joined  his  regiment  at  Indianapolis,  and  went 
south,  again,  to  Nashville  and  to  Decatur  in  Alabama,  taking  part  in  tlic 
battles  at  Athens,  at  Decatur,  and  at  Nashville.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he 
receivetl  an  honorable  discharge  at  Indianapolis  in  July,  1865.  He  never 
faltered  in  the  performance  of  any  task  assigned  to  him,  but  did  his  full 
duty  as  a  soldier,  his  military  career  being  a  credit  to  the  army. 

Returning  to  Crown  Point,  Mr.  Wheeler  has  since  been  identified  with 
business  interests  iiere.  In  1867  he  opened  a  hardware  store  which  he 
conducted  successfully  and  continuously  until  1896.  In  that  year  he  sold  his 
stock  of  hardware  and  opened  his  present  store,  dealing  in  dry-goods,  boots 
and  shoes  and  clothing.  His  business  methods  are  in  keeping  with  the  mod- 
ern progressive  spirit  of  the  times,  and  his  earnest  desire  to  please  his  patrons, 
his  honorable  dealings  and  his  reasonable  prices  have  secured  to  him  a  trade 
that  makes  his  enterprise  a  profitable  one. 

In  1870  Mr.  Wheeler  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Alice  Clark,  a 
granddaughter  of  Judge  William  Clark.  She  was  born  in  Crown  Point  and 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools.  Four  children  have  been  born  of  this 
union,  three  daughters  and  a  son :  Maud,  a  very  promising,  talented  and 
truly  handsome  girl,  who  lived  to  be  fifteen  years  of  age  and  died  at  Ash- 
ville.  North  Carolina;  Myra,  at  home;  Ned  J.,  who  is  a  teacher  in  Purdue 
Uni\-ersity,  giving  instruction  in  the  mechanical  engineering  department ; 
and  Gretchen  Hope. 

Mr.  Wheeler  is  a  member  of  John  Wheeler  Post  No.  149,  G.  A.  R.,  in 
which  he  has  filled  a  number  of  positions.  This  post  was  named  in  honor 
of  Colonel  John  Wheeler,  a  brother  of  Mr.  W'heeler,  who  was  killed  at  Get- 
tysburg. Mr.  Wheeler  is  also  identified  with  the  Masonic  fraternity  at 
Crown  Point,  and  he  has  been  a  life-long  Republican.  Almost  his  entire  life 
has  been  passed  here,  and  those  who  know  him — and  his  acquaintance  is 
wide — recognize  in  him  a  loyal  citizen,  a  reliable  business  man  and  a  faith- 
ful friend.  His  salient  characteristics  ha\-e  ever  been  such  as  to  Cduimend 
!iim  to  the  confidence  and  good  will  of  all,  and  it  is  therefore  with  ])leasure 
that  we  present  the  record  of  his  career  to  our  readers. 


604  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY. 

Of  the  "English  ancestry"  of  Mr.  Wheeler  there  are  cnly  uncertain  tra- 
ditions, as  is  the  case  with  other  old  New  England  families,  but  it  is  certain 
that  John  Wheeler  settled  in  Concord  before  1640,  and  removed  to  Fair- 
field, Connecticut,  in  1644:  also  that  a  son  of  this  early  resident  of  New  Eng- 
land, another  John  Wheeler,  joined  a  colony  for  the  settlement  of  Woodbury 
on  the  east  of  the  Housatonic  river,  of  which  colony  he  was  a  prominent 
member  and  had  a  large  family.  He  died  in  1704.  His  youngest  son,  a 
third  John  Wheeler,  was  born  in  1684.  He  had  a  son,  Samuel  \\nieeler, 
born  in  1712,  and  a  grandson,  Johnson  Wheeler,  born  in  1754.  This  grand- 
son of  the  third  John  Wheeler  had  a  son.  Johnson  W'heeler,  born  in  1797. 
w^ho  was  the  father  of  O.  G.  AAHieeler  of  this  sketch,  so  that  between  him  and 
the  unknown  English  ancestry  are  six  generations,  two  ancestors  bearing  the 
name  of  Johnson,  one  the  name  of  Samuel,  and  three  having  the  noted  Eng- 
lish and  also  Bible  name  of  John. 

"The  Wheelers  of  New  England  were  a  hardy,  robust  set  of  men." 
Members  of  the  earlier  and  more  aristocratic  families  often  referred  to  their 
English  family  escutcheon.  Evidently  the  Lake  county  Wheeler  families 
came  of  a  good  English  lineage. 

Inheriting  the  benefits  of  such  ancestry,  descendants  also  through  tlieir 
gifted  mother  of  the  prominent  Clark  and  Farwell  families  of  pioneer  days, 
Miss  Myra  Wheeler  is  justly  prized  for  her  excellent  qualities  in  home  life. 
in  society  and  as  assistant  to  her  father  in  his  business:  and  the  now  young 
school  girl,  Gretchen  Hope,  is  a  bright  beam  of  life  and  joy  within  her 
father's  home. 

JAMES  FRANCIS   ROWINS. 

James  Francis  Rowins.  who  is  prominently  identified  with  the  printing 
business  in  Chicago,  is  a  well  known  former  resident  of  Lake  county,  where 
he  has  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  past  thirty  years. 

Mr.  Rowins  was  born  in  Easton.  Talbot  county,  Maryland,  August  7. 
1850.  being  a  son  of  John  Rowins  and  Sarah  Benson  Rowins.  His  father 
was  a  manufacturing  jeweler  in  Easton  and  owner  of  milling  interests  in  that 
city,  and  also  owned  several  large  plantations  in  the  neighboring  counties. 
Mr.  Rnwins"  genealogical  tree  runs  back  for  se\-en  or  eight  generations  to 
Irish  ancestrv  on  the  father's  side  and  to  English  and  Scotch  stock  on  the 
mother's  side.     Near  relati\-es  were  engaged  on  both  sides  during  the  late 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  (505 

rebellion,  the  family  interests  being  in  close  touch  with  both  the  north  and 
ihe  sottth. 

Mr.  Rowins  was  educated  almost  entirely  in  private  schools,  graduating 
from  a  Methodist  classical  institute  near  Annapolis,  the  capital  of  the  state. 
In  earl}-  manhood  he  began  reading  medicine,  but  never  completed  his  prepa- 
ration for  that  profession  since  he  became  interested  in  the  printing  business, 
which  he  has  followed  almost  his  entire  life,  ^h:  Rowins  first  became  iden- 
tified with  Crown  Point  as  a  resident  and  business  man  in  1873,  and  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  subsequent  period  has  called  Lake  county  his  home  or  been 
within  close  touch  with  this  part  of  the  state.  For  several  years  he  was 
connected  with  the  newspaper  business  in  Crown  Point,  and  is  well  re- 
membered in  that  city  and  in  other  communities  of  the  county,  although  his 
business  interests  have  for  some  time  been  centered  in  the  citv  of  Chicago. 

In  religious  views  JNIr.  Rowins  is  liberal  and  is  identified  actively  with 
no  church.  He  is  a  worker  in  the  Masonic  vineyard,  and  has  held  the  high- 
est official  positions  in  his  blue  lodge,  chapter,  council  and  commandery.  At 
the  present  writing  he  is  at  the  head  of  the  oldest  commandery  of  Knights 
Templar  in  the  west,  a  body  well  and  favorably  known  around  the  world. 
He  is  also  a  prominent  oflicer  in  the  largest  IMasonic  body  on  the  globe — the 
Oriental  Consistory  of  Chicago. 

May  7,  1873,  I\Ir.  Rowins  was  married  at  Crown  Point  to  Miss  Jennie 
S.  Holton,  a  daughter  of  Janna  S.  Holton  and  a  granddaughter  of  Solon 
Robinson,  the  pioneer  of  Crown  Point  and  Lake  county,  whose  prominence 
in  early  affairs  has  often  been  noted  in  other  portions  of  this  volume.  The 
following  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rowins :  Howard  Holton, 
born  January  21.  1875:  James  Edward,  born  ]\Iay  17.  1877.  and  died  Aug- 
ust 17.  1898:  Josephine  Sarah,  born  January  10.  1880,  and  died  March  18, 
1903:  and  Cora  Belle,  born  June  10,  1883. 

F.  E.  BROWNELL. 

The  business  interests  of  Lowell  find  a  worthy  representative  in  F.  E. 
Brownell,  who  is  engaged  in  dealing  in  agricultural  implements  there  and 
who  in  the  careful  management  of  his  business  affairs  is  winning  creditable 
.success.  He  was  born  in  Schoharie  coui:ty.  New  York,  on  the  24th  of 
April,  1852,  and  comes  of  Scotch  lineage.     His  paternal  grandfather,  a  na- 


60(3  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

tive  of  Scotland  and  the  founder  of  the  family  in  America,  crossed  the  At- 
lantic when  a  young  man  and  established  his  home  in  Pennsylvania.  Dr. 
Alva  Brownell,  the  father,  was  born  in  Schoharie  county.  New  York.  He 
removed  to  Lake  county,  Lidiana,  settling  at  Crown  Point,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  medicine  for  two  years.  He  then  removed  to  what 
is  now  Plum  Grove  in  Eagle  Creek  township,  where  he  carried  on  agricul- 
ural  pursuits  in  connection  with  his  professional  duties  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  May,  1871,  when  he  was  in  his  sixty-eighth  year. 
He  was  a  life-long  Republican  and  took  an  active  interest  in  public  affairs, 
being  particularly  loyal  to  the  Union  cause  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  war.  He 
held  a  number  of  local  positions,  inchuling  those  of  trustee  and  justice  of 
tlie  peace.  He  was  also  active  in  church  work  and  conducted  a  Sunday- 
school  at  Plum  Grove  for  many  years.  His  acquaintance  in  the  county  was 
wide  and  favorable,  his  fellow  townsmen  recognizing  his  sterling  worth  and 
giving  him  their  warm  personal  regard  and  friendship.  His  wife,  who 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Margaret  Sturnburg.  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
where  she  made  her  home  until  about  twelve  years  of  age,  when  she  ac- 
companied her  parents  on  their  removal  to  Schoharie  county.  New  York. 
Slie  was  of  German  descent  and  parentage  and  could  not  speak  a  word  of 
English  until  alx)ut  the  time  of  the  removal  to  the  Empire  state.  Her  death 
occurred  in  Plum  grove.  Lake  county,  Indiana,  in  February,  1855.  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Brownell  were  the  parents  of  eight  children;  five  reached  adult  age. 
but  only  two  are  now  living,  the  eldest  and  the  youngest,  the  brother  of 
F.  E.  being  Ezra  Brownell,  who  is  a  retired  farmer  living  in  Madis^'i 
county,  Iowa. 

F.  E.  Brownell,  the  youngest  of  the  family  and  the  only  representative 
left  in  Lake  county,  was  but  four  years  of  age  when  he  came  with  his  parents 
to  Crown  Point.  His  education  was  obtained  in  Plum  Grove,  Eagle  Creek 
township,  and  he  remained  at  home  through  the  period  of  his  boyhood  and 
youth,  and  in  early  manhood  took  charge  of  the  home  farm,  continuing 
its  cultivation  up  to  the  time  of  his  marriage.  It  was  on  the  second  of 
February,  1871,  when  he  was  joined  in  wedlock  to  Miss  Frances  Dinwiddle, 
a  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  (Perkins)  Dinwiddle,  who  were  early  set- 
tlers of  Lake  county.  Mrs.  Brownell  was  born  in  this  county  May  9,  1853. 
She  was  taken  as  a  l>ride  to  the  old  Brownell  homestead,  and  her  husband 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  60T 

continued  to  engage  in  general  farming  there  until  1900.  when  lie  put  aside 
the  active  work  of  the  fields  and  took  up  his  abode  in  Lowell,  where  he 
established  an  agricultural  implement  business.  He  still  owns  the  old  home- 
stead property,  however,  and  it  is  operated  under  his  direct  supervision.  It 
comprises  two  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Eagle  Creek  townsliip  and 
is  a  valuable  and  productive  property,  which  annually  brings  to  him  a  good 
income.  He  now  carries  in  Lowell  a  large  and  well-selectecl  line  of  agricul- 
tural implements,  and  has  built  up  a  good  patronage  in  his  commercial  venture. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brownell  have  been  born  ten  children :  Carl,  who  is 
living  on  the  old  homestead :  Alice,  the  wife  of  Howard  Slocum,  of  Lowell ; 
John,  who  is  living  in  Brazil,  Indiana:  Claude,  of  Sandwich,  Illinois;  Kate, 
the  wife  of  Harry  Hill,  of  Joliet.  Illinois;  Guy  and  Edward,  both  of  Lowell; 
Ruth,  at  home;  \\'alter  and  Ralph,  who  are  also  under  the  parental  roof. 
All  of  the  children  were  born  in  Eagle  Creek  township.  Mr.  Brownell  has 
ever  been  a  stanch  adherent  of  Republican  principles  and  has  taken  an  active 
part  in  promoting  the  welfare  and  growth  of  the  Republican  organization, 
yet  has  never  sought  or  desired  political  preferment  for  himself.  He  be- 
longs to  the  Knights  of  Pythias  fraternity  at  Lowell  and  is  well  known 
throughout  Lake  county,  where  be  has  spent  almost  bis  entire  life.  He  has 
been  true  to  every  trust  reposed  in  him,  has  been  found  honorable  and 
straightforward  in  his  business  dealings,  and  lx;cause  of  his  straightforward 
purpose  and  unflagging  energy  he  has  attained  a  very  desirable  measure  of 
prosperity. 

SEBASTIAN  EINSELE. 

Sebastian  Einsele,  who  has  done  much  by  bis  progressive  efiforts  for 
the  development  and  industrial  welfare  of  Lake  county,  and  who  is  a  well 
known  resident  of  Hanover  township,  was  born  in  Baden,  Germany,  March 
16,  1838,  being  the  fourth  of  the  children  born  to  Michael  and  Barbara 
(Ferrold)  Einsele.  His  father  was  bom  November  25,  1805,  and  died  in 
1899,  and  was  a  wagon-maker  by  trade.  In  1847  l^^  came  with  his  family 
to  America,  starting  from  Havre,  France,  in  a  sailing  vessel,  and  it  was 
forty-three  days  before  they  reached  New  York.  Thence  he  came  to  Lake 
county,  where  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  partially  impnned  land  in  Han- 
over township,  and  his  first  home  there  was  a  log  cabin.  He  was  a  prosper- 
ous man,  and  accumulated  about  two  hundred  and  twentv  acres  of  land  in 


<30S  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Hanover  township.  Politically  he  was  independent.  He  aided  in  the  erec- 
tion of  St.  Martin.s  Catholic  church  at  Hanover  Center.  His  good  wife 
was  also  born  in  the  fatherland  in  1805.  and  her  death  occurred  in  1876. 

]\Ir.  Einsele  was  a  boy  of  nine  years  when  he  became  a  resident  of  this 
county,  and  he  has  therefore  passed  most  of  his  life  in  the  county.  He  is 
a  self-educated  man.  having  gained  most  of  his  knowledge  by  personal  ap- 
plication. He  remained  with  his  parents  until  twenty-eiglit  years  old,  and 
when  he  married  and  began  life  for  himself  he  had  only  two  teams,  and  he 
started  to  farm  on  rented  land.  He  continued  as  a  renter  for  twenty-four 
years  in  one  part  of  the  township,  so  that  it  is  evident  that  he  began  at  the 
bottom  of  the  ladder  and  advanced  to  his  present  prosperity  by  degrees  and 
persistent  efforts. 

November  16,  1866,  he  married  Miss  Katharine  Drinen,  and  ten  chil- 
dren were  born  to  them,  nine  of  whom  are  living.  Mary  resides  with  her 
father.  Tena  is  in  Chicago,  but  her  home  is  still  with  her  father.  Joseph 
is  at  home,  as  also  are  Michael,  Lizzie,  Sebastian,  Anna,  Jacob,  Emil.  Mrs. 
Einsele  was  born  in  Prussia  in  1848,  and  when  four  years  old  came  to 
America. 

In  1899  Mr.  Einsele  began  the  erection  of  his  excellent  summer  resort 
hotel  at  Cedar  Lake,  and  since  that  time  he  has  given  his  chief  atten.tion 
to  its  management.  He  has  one  of  the  most  popular  hotels  and  saloons  in 
Cedar  Lake,  and  each  summer  this  resort  with  its  efficient  service  is  thrown 
open  to  the  public,  and  he  is  a  well  known  host  to  the  many  people  who 
each  year  flock  out  to  this  delightful  locality.  The  hotel  is  about  sixty  rods 
from  the  landing  and  from  the  Monon  depot,  so  as  to  Ije  most  conveniently 
located  for  the  reception  of  the  crowds  who,  especially  on  Sunday,  throng 
from  the  city  to  this  pleasure  and  recreation  spot.  The  Einsele  Hotel  is 
surrounded  by  a  beautiful  natural  grove,  and  with  all  these  charms  of  situa- 
tion and  equipments  its  popularity  each  season  increases  among  the  Chi- 
cago excursionists.  And  Mr.  Einsele  is  of  the  jovial  and  cordial  nature 
which  attracts  people  to  him,  and  his  business  increases  accordingly.  He 
has  telephone  connection  with  all  the  towns  of  Lake  county  and  with  Chi- 
cago, and  evervthing  is  at  hand  to  make  his  guests  comfortable  and  pleased. 
His  property  there  is  worth  about  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  within  a  few 
years  the  value  of  the  trade  and  of  his  permanent  investments  will  rapidly 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.         *  609 

increase,  as  Cedar  Lake  iDecomes  known  as  it  sliould  among  the  vast  nnm- 
bers  who  seek  such  retired  spots  for  rest  and  vacation. 

Mr.  Einsele  is  independent  in  poHtical  affairs,  and  supports  whom  he 
regards  as  the  1)est  man  for  tlie  office.  He  and  his  family  are  members  of 
St.  Martins  Cathoh'c  cliurch  at  Hanover  Center. 

HENRY  SEEHAUSEN. 

Henry  Seehausen,  a  prosperous  farmer  and  citizen  of  Hanover  town- 
ship. Lake  county,  is  a  native  son  of  the  same  locahty,  and  was  born  April 
2,  1858.  being  the  eldest  of  the  six  children,  four  sons  and  two  daughters, 
of  Henry  and  W'ilhelniina  (Glade)  Seehausen.  The  son  William  is  mar- 
ried and  a  farmer  of  Hanover  township.  Fred  is  married  and  a  farmer  of 
Flanover  township.  Louisa  is  the  wife  of  William  ^^'ille.  a  farmer  of  Will 
county,  Illinois.  .August,  married,  is  a  motorman  on  the  Wentworth  a\-enue 
electric  car  line  in  Chicago. 

Father  Seehausen  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  April  7,  1829,  and 
died  about  1874.  He  was  about  twenty-six  years  of  age  when  he  came  to 
America,  and  he  had  little  ca])ital  to  begin  on.  He  came  out  to  Indiana 
and  started  as  a  wage  earner.  He  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixteen  acres 
of  partially  improved  land,  and  his  first  home  was  a  little  frame  structure. 
He  went  in  debt  for  most  of  the  property,  but  by.  diligence  lifted  the  in- 
cumbrance and  added  to  his  estate  until  at  his  death  he  was  possessed  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty-four  acres,  all  in  Hanover  township.  He  was  a  Re- 
publican, and  he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Lutheran  church.  His 
wife  was  born  in  Hanover  township.  July  27,  1839.  and  she  is  still  living 
at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years. 

Mr.   Seehausen  was  born  and   reared   in   Hanover  township,   and   was 

educated  in  both  the  German  and  English  languages.     March  9,    1884,   he 

married    Miss   Anna    Seegers.   and   seven  children   have  been   born,    six   of 

whom  are  living.     August  F.,  who  completed  the  seventh  grade  of  school. 

is  farming  at  home.     Rosa,  at  home,  finished  the  seventh  grade  in  school  and 

in  a  German  school  took  musical  instruction.     Ella,  who  was  in  the  sixth 

grade,  is  now  in  the  German  school.     Albert  is  in  the  fourth  grade.  Edna  is 

in  the  second,  and  William  is  the  baby  of  the  family.     August  and  Rosa  have 

both  received  their  confirmations. 
39 


GIO  ■       HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mrs.  Seehausen  was  bom  in  Hanover  township,  Marcli  20,  1866,  being 
a  daughter  of  Christopher  and  Dorothea  (Koehhng)  Seegers.  There  were 
eight  children  in  the  family,  three  sons  and  five  daughters,  and  of  the  three 
living  Mrs.  Seehausen  is  the  oldest.  Her  sister  ]\Iary  is  the  wife  of  Fred 
Seehausen,  a  farmer  of  Hanover  township,  and  Sophia  is  the  wife  of  Fred 
Hitzeman,  a  farmer  of  Hanover  township.  Father  Seegers  was  Ijorn  in  Han- 
over province,  Germany,  in  1821,  and  died  in  1880.  He  was  reared,  edu- 
cated and  married  in  Germany,  and  was  a  wea\-er  by  trade.  He  came  to 
Lake  county  about  1847,  ^"^1  had  about  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Hanover 
township.  He  and  his  wife  were  Lutherans,  and  he  was  a  Republican.  His 
-wife  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  about  1830,  and  is  still  living.  Mrs. 
Seehausen  was  educated  in  both  the  English  and  German,  and  she  has  been 
a  faithful  wife  and  has  aided  her  huslxind  in  the  establishment  of  their 
pretty  home. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seehausen  began  their  married  life  on  the  old  homestead, 
he  buying  out  the  other  heirs  to  the  estates,  and  although  he  went  in  debt 
in  the  end  he  paid  off  all  that  he  owed  and  now  has  one  of  the  best  farms 
and  homesteads  in  Hanover  township.  He  has  one  hundred  acres  of  fine 
land,  and  it  is  well  improved  with  buildings  and  all  things  necessary  for 
its  successful  and  profitable  operation.  He  has  a  splendid  lot  of  stock,  and  is 
particularly  proud  of  his  Poland  China  hogs,  which  he  regards  as  the  most 
profitable  breed.  He  is  a  stockholder  in  the  Inter-State  Creamery,  which 
is  a  prosperous  enterprise. 

Mr.  Seehausen  is  a  Republican,  having  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for 
James  A.  Garfield.  He  has  not  cared  for  office,  and  his  full  time  has  been 
devoted  to  his  private  business  and  domestic  affairs.  He  and  his  good  wife 
are  members  of  the  Lutheran  church  located  in  the  northwestern  part  of 
the  township,  and  their  daughter  is  organist  in  the  church,  and  all  the 
children  attend  the  Sunday  school. 

JOHN  HENRY  MEYER. 

John  Henry  Meyer,  who  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  prosperous 
farmers  of  Hanover  township,  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  September 
21,  1833,  being  the  oldest  of  four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  born 
to  John  H.  and  Maggie  (Beckman)  Meyer.  Only  two  survive,  his  brother 
John  being  a  wealthy  retired  farmer  of  Crown  Point. 


JOHN  H.   MEYER 


4 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  611 

The  father  of  this  family  was  born  and  reared  in  Hanover,  Germany, 
being  educated  in  the  German  schools  and  following;  the  occupation  of 
farmer.  He  married  in  Germany  and  all  the  children  were  born  there.  In 
185 1  he  and  his  family  sailed  from  Bremen,  and  forty-two  davs  later  ar- 
rived in  New  York.  The  parents  and  one  of  their  children  went  to  Savannah, 
Georgia,  for  the  winter,  but  the  other  three  remained  in  New  York.  In  the 
spring  of  1852  the  parents  started  for  the  west  with  the  intention  of  locating 
either  at  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana,  or  in  Iowa,  but  on  the  death  of  a  brother 
who  had  taken  up  land  in  Lake  county  they  came  to  this  county  and  pur- 
chased two  hundred  acres  of  land  near  the  western  corner  of  Cedar  Lake. 
The  father  added  to  his  possessions  until  at  his  death  he  owned  three  hun- 
dred acres  of  good  land.  The  first  home  of  the  Meyers  was  a  log  cabin, 
and  deer  and  wob.es  were  still  to  be  seen  in  the  neighborhocd.  The  father 
voted  for  Fremont,  the  first  Republican  nominee,  and  he  and  his  wife,  who 
was  a  native  of  the  same  locality  in  Germany  as  himself,  were  members  of 
the  Lutheran  church. 

Mr.  Meyer  was  a  young  man  when  he  became  a  resident  of  the  United 
States,  and  during  his  first  winter  in  this  country  he  clerked  in  a  store  in 
New  York.  Coming  to  Lake  county  in  the  spring  of  1852,  he  began  on  the 
farm  and  has  remained  a  tiller  of  the  soil  all  his  life.  He  was  educated  in 
both  the  German  and  English  languages. 

He  remained  with  his  parents  to  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  when,  on 
January  20,  1861,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Christena  Doescher,  by  which 
union  twelve  children  have  been  born,  all  of  whom  are  living.  Johanna  is 
the  wife  of  John  E.  Meyers,  a  merchant  of  Kinman,  Jasper  county,  In- 
diana. Henr}'  is  married  and  is  a  contractor  and  builder  at  Mexico.  ^lis- 
souri.  John  is  married  and  a  resident  of  Kansas  City.  Kansas.  August, 
married,  is  a  dealer  in  and  a  manufacturer  of  harness  at  Mexico.  Missouri. 
Emma  is  the  \\ife  of  August  Grabe,  a  professional  horseshoer  of  Chicago. 
Lizzie  is  at  home  with  her  parents.  Christena  is  in  Chicago.  Anna  is  in 
Chicago.  Julius  is  a  resident  of  Independence.  Missouri.  Edwin,  a  prac- 
tical farmer  and  stockman  in  Hanover  township,  had  a  common  school  edu- 
cation and  then  took  a  business  course  at  Valparaiso,  where  he  graduated  in 
1896;  he  is  a  Republican  and  cast  his  first  vote  for  McKinley.  Adolph,  who 
took   the   commercial   and    shorthand    course   at    ^^alparaiso.    graduating    in 


012  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

1900,   is  now  in   the  wholesale  house  of  Carson,   Pirie,   Scott  &  Company, 
at  Chicago.     Ernest,  also  a  student  at  Valparaiso,  is  at  home. 

Airs.  Meyer  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  November  8,  1841,  a 
daughter  of  Herman  and  Johanna  (Sleffens)  Doescher,  who  were  the  par- 
ents of  eight  children,  two  sons  and  six  daughters,  five  of  whom  are  living. 
Herman,  the  eldest,  is  married  and  is  a  farmer  in  Endor,  Illinois.  Johanna, 
of  Endor,  Illinois,  is  the  widow  of  Christopher  Batterman.  Fredericka  is 
the  widow  of  Charles  Horn,  a  resident  of  Crete.  Illinois.  Mrs.  Meyer  is 
next.  Charles,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  war,  is  married  and  a  resident 
of  Crete,  Illinois. 

When  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Meyer  began  life  it  was  as  renters  on  section  19  in 
Hanover  township,  and  for  six  years  they  farmed  on  rented  land.  The  first 
land  he  purchased  was  twn  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  section  31.  and  he 
went  in  debt  for  a  large  part  of  it,  luit  in  the  end  his  diligence  and  good  man- 
agement paid  off  all  the  indebtedness,  and  he  is  now  owner  of  three  hun- 
dred and  two  acres  in  Hanover  township  and  fourteen  acres  in  Center  town- 
ship, well  improved  with  barns,  granaries,  and  other  buildings,  and  they  have 
an  excellent  farm  residence,  without  a  dollar  of  mortgage  standing  against 
the  property.  He  is  also  owner  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  acres  in 
Audrain  county,  Missouri,  situated  only  four  miles  from  the  thriving  city 
of  Mexico. 

jMr.  Meyer  is  a  Republican,  having  cast  his  first  presidentwl  vote  for 
Fremont,  since  which  time  each  party  candidate  has  received  his  support. 
He  and  his  wife  had  seen  all  the  remarkable  development  of  Lake  county 
during  the  last  half  century,  and  they  are  therefore  among  the  real  old- 
timers,  and  held  in  the  highest  esteem  for  their  many  excellent  qualities  of 
mind  and  heart. 

REV.  :mathias  zumbuelte. 

The  clergy  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  as  a  rule,  are  gentlemen  of 
ripe  scholarship,  and  are  important  factors  in  the  civilization  of  remote  dis- 
tricts as  well  as  founders  of  great  and  beneficent  works.  They  are  noted  for 
their  persistency,  energy^  and  ambition.  Rev.  Zumbuelte  comes  of  that  class 
of  priests.  He  is  a  native  of  Westphalia.  Germany,  and  was  born  February 
19.   1S39,  being  a  son  of  Anthony  and  Elizabeth    (Oellinghoff)   Zumbuelte. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  til3 

He  was  from  the  first  of  a  literary  turn  of  mind,  and  the  priesthood  seemed 
to  him  to  be  his  chosen  work.  His  primary  training  was  begun  in  the 
common  schools  of  Germany,  and  later  he  received  training  under  a  tutor. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  entered  the  gymnasium,  which  course  regularly 
required  nine  years,  but  in  five  years  he  received  his  diploma,  and  then  entered 
the  seminaiy  of  the  old  city  of  ]\Iunster.  where  he  put  in  three  years  at  his 
work.  The  tirst  }'ear"s  work  was  in  philosophy,  and  th.e  last  two  in  theology. 
When  he  had  completed  this  course  of  study  he  received  a  cordial  letter 
from  Bishop  Leuers,  of  the  Northern  Bishopric  of  Indiana,  who  was  on 
a  visit  to  Europe  and  at  that  -particular  time  in  the  city  of  Munster.  Bishop 
Leuers  advised  him  to  enter  the  American  College  of  Theology  of  the 
famous  University  of  Munster,  which  he  did  in  1864,  and  accordingly  spent 
two  years  in  that  noted  seat  of  learning.  May  26,  1866,  he  received  his 
ordination  as  priest  from  the  hands  of  Cardinal  E.  Sterx.  He  was  then 
fitted  to  enter  the  priesthood  in  America,  and  he  set  sail  from  Bremen  and 
arrived  at  Fort  Wayne.  Indiana,  in  Octolier,  1866.  and  was  appointed  as- 
sistant priest  to  Rev.  Joseph  B.  Ferce  at  St.  \'incent"s  parish  at  Logansport. 
He  remained  there  until  January  6,  1868.  \Miile  there  his  duties  were 
arduous,  as  he  had  a  great  deal  of  mission  work  to  perform,  and  also  visit- 
ing the  poor,  the  sick,  the  distressed  and  dying,  at  all  times  of  the  day  and 
night,  and  during  any  kind  of  weather.  In  this  Father  Zumbuelte  showed 
himself  to  be  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  courage  and  industiy  as  his  work 
extended  over  a  large  area  of  country.  The  next  work  he  took  charge  of  was 
as  assistant  to  Rev.  D.  Duehmig.  at  Avilla,  Noble  county,  Indiana,  and  he 
was  there  six  months.  In  July.  1868,  he  was  sent  to  Leo,  Allen  county,  In- 
diana, a  small  parish  of  nineteen  families.  The  name  of  the  parish  was 
St.  ]\Iar)-.  There  was  a  small  frame  building  used  as  church — no  home  for 
the  priest,  and  Father  Zumbuelte  was  forced  to  live  with  a  farmer  for  two 
years.  He  remained  there  two  years  in  all.  and  while  there  he  erected  a 
nome  for  the  priest.  In  1870  he  erected  St.  MichaeFs  church  at  a  ccst  of  tliir- 
teen  hundred  dollars,  and  liquidated  every  dollar's  indebtedness  and  paid 
an  additional  delit  of  seven  hundred  dollars.  In  187 1  Father  Zumbuelte  was 
sent  to  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  at  Columbia  City,  Indiana,  and  while  there  kept 
up  the  property  in  excellent  repair,  the  parochial  school  in  session  and  other 
important  parish  work.     In  that  locality  he  had  two  missions  to  attend  to. 


614  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

at  Pierceton  and  W'arsaw  in  Kosciusko  couiit\'.  There  were  about  seventy- 
five  families  in  the  Columbia  City  parish.  In  September,  1875,  he  was 
called  to  St.  Mary's  parish  at  Crown  Point,  Ixit  remained  there  only  seven 
months,  or  until  April,  1876,  when  he  concluded  to  visit  his  native  land  to 
see  his  parents  and  relatives.  His  father  was  an  old  soldier  under  the  great 
Napoleon,  and  was  present  at  the  famous  battles  of  Leipsic,  Jkloscow  and 
other  memorable  battles  of  that  epoch.     He  was  one  of  the  cannoniers. 

After  spending  three  months  in  the  land  of  his  birth  Father  Zumbuelte 
returned  to  his  field  of  labor  in  Indiana,  and  was  then  sent  as  chaplain  of  the 
colleee  at  Rennselaer,  where  he  remained  until  1888,  and  while  there  he 
erected  a  beautiful  brick  church  costing  six  thousand  dollars.  In  1888  he  again 
paid  a  visit  to  his  home  in  Germany,  and  upon  his  return  he  was  sent  to 
Reynolds,  Indiana,  and  besides  this  charge  he  had  the  missions  of  Medar}'- 
ville  and  Francesville.  He  was  there  one  year,  and  then,  in  October,  1889, 
he  came  to  St.  Martin's  parish  in  Hanover  township,  where  he  has  been  in 
active  charge  to  the  present  writing  in  1904.  There  are  about  sixty-five 
families,  a  parochial  school,  a  nice  church  building,  and  an  elegant  and  mod- 
ern residence  erected  for  the  priest  in  1902.  The  value  of  the  entire  parish 
property  is  placed  at  eight  thousand  dollars,  and  not  a  dollar  is  standing 
against  it. 

On  July  9,  1902,  Father  Zumbuelte  met  with  a  severe  loss  when  fire 
destroyed  his  home  and  all  its  contents,  including  his  fine  library  and  all  of 
his  wearing  apparel.  But  with  indomitable  will  he  set  to  work  at  once  and 
erected  a  model  residence  of  modern  style  of  architecture,  two  stories,  and 
finished  in  hard-wood,  and  containing  twelve  rooms.  It  is  a  beautiful  home 
and  a  credit  to  the  township.  The  parochial  school  of  St.  Martin's  jwrish 
comprises  forty-three  pupils. 

HENRY    ASCHE. 

The  German  citizen  in  America  has  been  specially  important  as  a  factor 
in  the  development  of  farming  interests,  and  to  this  worthy  class  of  people 
l>elongs  Mr.  Henry  Asche,  one  of  the  oldest  German  farmers  in  Hanover 
township  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  prosperous. 

Mr.  Asche  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany.  April  21,  1830,  a  son  of 
Frederick  Asche.     There  were  onlv  three  sons,  and  Henrv  is  the  onlv  sur- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  615 

vivor.  Father  Asche  was  a  man  of  industrious  habits,  of  German  educa- 
tion, and  was  a  soldier  in  the  European  war  of  1812  against  the  French,  and 
saw  the  great  Xapoleon.     He  underwent  many  of  the  hardships  of  the  war. 

Mr.  Asche  was  reared  in  his  native  land  to  the  age  of  twenty-four,  and 
learned  the  weaver's  trade.  May  i,  1854,  he  bade  adieu  to  his  native  land 
and  sailed  from  Bremen  in  a  sailing  vessel,  and  the  voyage  lasted  forty-nine 
days  before  the  arri\-al  at  New  York.  He  landed  in  a  strange  land  and 
among  a  strange  people,  and  could  not  speak  the  English  tongue,  and  all 
the  money  he  had  was  thirty-five  dollars.  He  remained  in  New  York  about 
ten  months,  and  then  came  to  Chicago,  where  he  resided  for  ten  years.  He 
began  as  a  wage-earner,  at  twenty-six  dollars  a  month,  the  next  year  got 
thirty-four  dollars  a  month,  and  the  next  vear  forty.  In  the  fall  of  1864 
the  crisis  came  when  there  was  no  work.  During"  the  vears  1862-63-64  he 
received  sixty-five  dollars  a  month,  and  in  1865  he  came  to  Hanover  township 
and  purchased  seventy-five  acres  of  partially  improved  land,  going  in  debt 
for  part  of  the  purchase  price.  His  first  home  was  a  little  frame  structure, 
and  it  still  stands  as  a  monument  of  the  early  days  of  his  entry  into  this 
township.  As  the  years  have  passed  he  and  his  good  wife  worked  and  toiled 
and  added  to  their  possessions  until  now  they  have  two  hundred  and  ten 
acres  in  Hanover  and  W'est  Creek  townships.  Since  that  early  day  he  has 
erected  the  most  comfortable  and  desirable  residence,  barns  and  other  build- 
ings to  be  found  in  the  township,  and  the  premises  around  the  home  indicate 
the  careful,  industrious  man  which  Mr.  Asche  is.  He  has  prospered  greatly 
in  his  affairs,  and  now  in  the  evening  of  life  he  and  his  good  wife  live  in 
peace  and  plenty.  Mr.  .\sche  is  one  of  the  stockholders  in  the  Brunswick 
Creamery  Company  at  Brunswick. 

October  2,  1859,  he  was  married  in  W'ill  county,  Illinois,  to  Miss  Sophia 
M.  Becker,  and  of  the  six  children,  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  born  to 
them,  only  one  is  now  living,  Hermann  H.  This  son  was  born  in  Hanover 
township,  March  13,  1874,  was  educated  in  the  English  language,  and  is  a 
practical  farmer,  residing  with  his  father  and  mother.  He  is  a  Republican 
in  politics.  Thus  only  one  child  is  left  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Asche  in  their 
declining  years,  and  they  too  have  had  grief  and  sorrow  in  their  journey 
through  life. 

Mrs.   Asche  was  born   in   the  province  of   Hesse,    Germany,    May   24, 


616  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

1836,  a  daughter  of  H.  H.  and  Elenora  Becker.  There  were  ten  cliildren 
in  the  family,  and  six  are  Hving,  of  whom  Mrs.  Asche  is  the  eldest.  John 
Becker  is  a  resident  of  Chicago  and  is  married.  Ella  is  the  wife  of  Henry 
Moeller,  a  resident  of  Minnesota.  Henry  is  married  and  lives  in  Hanover 
township.  H.  Henry  Becker  is  married  and  a  farmer  of  Iowa.  Conrad 
is  married  and  resides  in  hiwa.  Mrs.  Asche  was  reared  in  Germany  until 
she  was  eighteen  years  old,  and  she  came  to  America  with  her  hrother  John. 
sailing  from  Bremen  and  being  forty-two  days  in  crossing  the  ocean.  She 
came  to  Chicago  to  her  friends  and  resided  there  for  four  years. 

For  thirty-nine  years  have  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Asche  resided  in  Hanover 
township,  and  they  are  among  the  best  and  most  prosperous  people  of  the 
township.  Mr.  Asche  is  a  Republican  and  has  always  supported  the  ticket 
and  candidates  since  his  first  vote.  He  has  held  no  ofifice,  preferring  to 
devote  his  time  to  his  business  interests.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Asche's  beautiful 
country  seat  is  one  of  the  most  desirable  locations  in  the  township,  and 
could  well  be  called  the  "Pleasant  View  Farm."  They  are  typical  German- 
American  citizens  of  sterling  worth.  Having  come  to  this  country  poor 
people,  by  their  industry  and  economy  they  have  gained  a  competency  which 
places  them  in  easy  circumstances. 

FRANK   N.    GAVIT. 

It  is  a  well  attested  maxim  that  the  greatness  of  a  state  lies  not  in  its 
machineiy  of  government  nor  e\en  in  its  institutions,  but  in  the  sterling 
qualities  of  its  individual  citizens,  in  their  capacity  for  high  and  unselfish 
effort  and  their  devotion  to  the  public  good.  Regarded  as  a  citizen,  Frank 
N.,  Ga\'it  belongs  to  that  public  spirited,  useful  and  helpful  type  of  man 
whose  ambitions  and  desires  are  centered  and  directed  in  those  channels 
through  which  flow  the  greatest  and  most  permanent  good  to  the  greatest 
number,  and  it  is,  therefore,  consistent  with  the  purpose  and  plan  of  this 
work  that  his  record  be  gix'en  among  those  of  the  representative  men  of  the 
state.  He  is  now  an  attornev  of  Whiting,  and  his  ability  classes  him  with 
the  prominent  representatives  of  the  bar  in  northwestern  Indiana.  He  has 
been  connected  with  much  important  litigation  as  the  representative  of 
private  interests,  and  he  was  also  a  defender  of  \\'hiting"s  interests  in  its 
contests  with  Hammond.     In  this  wav  he  has  become  widelv  known,  and  his 


x^< 


i 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  617 

efforts  in  behalf  of  the  city  of  his  residence  were  untiring,  eff'ective  and 
beneficial. 

Mr.  Gavit  was  born  in  Walsingham,  Ontario,  Canada,  on  the  21st  of 
October,  1864,  and  comes  of  a  family  of.  Irish  lineage.  Several  genera- 
tions ago  representatives  of  the  name  left  Ireland  for  the  new  world,  becom- 
ing residents  of  the  United  States.  The  paternal  grandfather,  Albert  M. 
Gavit,  was  born  in  New  London.  Connecticut,  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion, following  that  pursuit  throughout  his  entire  life  in  order  to  provide  for 
his  family.  His  son,  Albert  A.  Gavit,  father  of  Mr.  Gavit,  was  also  a 
native  of  New  London,  Connecticut,  and  there  spent  his  boyhood  days. 
AMien  a  young  man,  however,  he  accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal 
to  Canada.  He  had  been  reared  to  the  occupation  of  farming  and  also 
made  it  his  life  work.  Leaving  the  Dominion  he  went  to  Oakland  county, 
Michigan,  where  he  resided  for  five  years,  and  then  took  up  his  abode  in 
Saginaw  county,  Michigan,  where  he  still  makes  his  home.  He  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Bridget  Highland,  who  is  a  native  of  Ireland  and  was 
brought  to  America  in  early  girlhood.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Albert  Ga^•it  occupy 
a  pleasant  home  in  Michigan,  and  the  father  is  now  sixty-eight  years  of 
age,  while  the  mother  has  reached  the  age  of  sixty-one  years.  They  were 
the  parents  of  ten  children,  eight  sons  and  two  daughters,  and  five  of  the 
number  are  now  living. 

Frank  N.  Gavit.  the  second  child  and  second  son  of  the  family,  was 
seven  years  of  age  when  he  accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal  from 
Canada  to  Michigan.  He  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  of  that 
state  and  in  the  Northern  Indiana  Normal  School  at  Valparaiso,  where  he 
was  graduated.  His  literary  course  being  completed,  he  then  determined  to 
make  the  practice  of  law  his  life  work  and  entered  the  law  department 
of  the  Northwestern  University  at  Evanston,  Illinois,  being  but  twenty-four 
years  of  age  when  he  was  graduated  there.  He  located  for  practice  in  Sagi- 
naw, Michigan,  where  he  remained  for  about  two  and  a  half  years,  and 
then  came  to  Whiting  in  1892.  Here  he  has  resided  continuously  since 
and  has  won  some  notable  successes  at  the  bar.  He  has  enjoyed  a  large 
private  practice  and  has  also  served  as  city  attorney  and  as  deputy  prosecut- 
ing attorney.  He  is  attorney  for  the  two  banks  of  Whiting  and  stantls  to-day 
as  one  of  the  strongest  representatives  of  the  Lake  county  bar.  being  a  strong 


618  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

advocate  before  the  jury  and  concise  in  his  appeals  before  the  court.  He 
is  notable  among  lawyers  for  the  wide  research  and  provident  care  with 
which  he  prepares  his  cases.  In  no  instance  has  his  reading  been  confined 
to  the  limitations  of  the  question  at  issue,  and  his  logical  grasp  of  facts 
and  principles  and  of  the  law  applicable  to  them  has  been  another  potent  ele- 
ment in  his  success,  while  his  remarkable  clearness  of  expression  and  ade- 
quate and  precise  diction  enables  him  to  make  others  understand  not  only 
the  salient  points  of  his  argument  but  his  every  fine  gradation  in  meaning. 

In  politics  Mr.  Gavit  is  a  stanch  and  unfaltering  Republican,  and  was 
nominated  on  that  ticket  for  supreme  judge  in  1896,  but  lost  by  a  fraction 
of  a  delegate  vote  and  in  1900  by  two  delegate  votes.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
bar  of  Lake  county  he  was  endorsed  by  the  bar  for  the  position  of  circuit 
judge  to  succeed  Judge  Fulett.  He  was  at  one  time  candidate  for  mayor 
of  Whiting  and  was  defeated  by  only  two  votes.  Mr.  Gavit  drew  up  the 
incorporation  papers  for  the  town  of  Whiting  and  afterward  incorporated 
it  as  a  citv,  and  he  has  represented  Whiting  in  all  of  the  litigations  between 
this  place  and  Hammond. 

In  1893  Mr.  Gavit  was  married  to  Miss  Minnie  Tweedy,  a  daughter 
of  David  and  Susan  (Baxter)  Tweedy.  Mrs.  Gavit  was  born,  reared  and 
educated  in  Saginaw,  Michigan,  and  this  marriage  has  been  blessed  with 
two  children  who  are  yet  living,  Albert  and  Ruth.  Fraternally  Mr.  Gavit 
is  a  Mason  and  has  attained  the  Knight  Templar  degree.  As  a  lawyer  and 
progressive  citizen  he  is  well  known,  and  Whiting  has  profited  by  his  ef- 
forts in  her  behalf. 

MATHIAS   M.   LAUERMAN. 

Mathias  M.  Lauerman  is  so  well  known  as  a  merchant  and  business  man 
of  Hanover  township  that  he  needs  no  introduction  to  the  people  of  Lake 
county.  He  is  a  native  of  Hanover  township,  where  he  was  born  February 
8,  1854,  and  is  the  fourth  in  a  family  of  ten  children,  five  sons  and  five 
daughters,  born  to  Mathias  and  Marie  (Heiser)  Lauerman.  There  are 
seven  children  living.  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Bartel  Hepp,  a  farmer  at  Flor- 
ence, Montana.  Angeline  is  the  widow  of  Conrad  Wagner,  and  is  a  landlady 
at  Morris,  Illinois.  ^Mathias  M..  is  the  next.  John  is  married  and  is  a 
farmer  at  Hanover  Center.     Mike  is  married  and  is  a  United  States  mail 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  G19 

carrier  at  Hammond.  Katharine  is  the  wife  of  Jacob  Card,  a  farmer  of 
Hanover  township.  Elizabeth  is  the  wife  of  John  Stummel.  wlio  is  a  teacher 
and  a  resident  of  Turkey  Creek,  this  county. 

Alathias  Lauerman.  the  father,  was  a  native  of  Prussia,  Germany,  born 
February  8,  1824,  and  he  was  reared  in  the  fatherland  until  he  was  nine- 
teen years  old,  being  educated  in  the  German  tongue.  In  1843  '^^  came  with 
his  parents  to  America,  and  the  voyage  across  the  ocean  consumed  sixty  days, 
although  it  can  now  be  accomplished  in  six  days.  Landing  in  a  strange  land 
and  among  a  strange  people  and  with  but  little  money,  he  came  to  Lake  county 
with  his  parents,  who  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  partially  im- 
proved land,  going  in  debt  for  it,  but  by  diligence  and  thrift  eventually  free- 
ing the  incumbrance.  Mathias  Lauerman  was  a  successful  man,  having  ac- 
cumulated one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  good  land  and  a  nice  residence 
near  Hanover  Center,  and  he  spent  most  of  his  life  in  Hanover  township, 
where  his  death  occurred.  He  was  a  Democrat  in  politics.  He  and  his  wife 
were  devout  Catholics,  and  he  was  one  of  the  leading  members  in  the  erec- 
tion of  St.  ^Martin's  Catholic  church,  and  he  always  aided  those  Ijenevolences 
worthy  of  his  consideration.  His  remains  are  interred  at  Hanover  Center, 
where  a  beautiful  stone  marks  his  last  resting  place.  Mother  Lauerman  was 
born  in  the  same  province,  April  15,  1828,  and  she  is  still  living  at  the  age 
of  seventy-six,  with  mental  faculties  well  preserved  in  spite  of  the  more  than 
three-quarters  of  a  century  of  her  earthly  pilgrimage. 

IMr.  Lauerman  was  reared  to  the  age  of  twenty-three  in  his  home  town- 
ship and  was  brought  up  as  a  farmer.  He  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  and  by  dint  of  personal  application.  February  12,  1879,  he  married 
Miss  Mary  Scholl,  and  seven  children,  six  sons  and  one  daughter,  have 
blessed  the  union.  Joseph,  the  eldest,  was  educated  in  the  Metropolitan 
Business  College  of  Chicago  and  is  now  in  the  wholesale  rubber  business  in 
Portland,  Oregon.  Edward  is  associated  with  his  father  in  the  large  and 
lucrative  mercantile  business  at  Armour  and  Cedar  Lake,  and  he  will  per- 
sonally conduct  the  new  store  at  Cedar  Lake.  He  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  and  through  the  School  of  Correspondence  passed  the  examina- 
tion for  mail  clerk,  but  he  is  devoting  his  life  to  the  mercantile  business. 
He  has  the  affability  and  geniality  which  is  the  best  stock  in  trade  for  a  young 
man      The  son  Arthur,  after  a  common  school  education,  learned  the  barber 


620  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

trade  at  a  Cliicago  barljer  college,  and  is  ikav  at  home.  Emil  is  a  salesman 
in  his  father's  large  store  at  Armour.  He  too  took  his  business  course  at  the 
Metropolitan  Business  College  of  Chicago.  Jerome  received  his  diploma  from 
the  common  schools  in  the  class  of  1903,  and  is  now  at  home  with  his  parents. 
Martha  is  in  the  sixth  grade  and  has  also  taken  piano  instruction.  Victor 
the  youngest,  is  in  school.  All  the  children  but  Martha  and  Victor  ha\e  been 
confirmed  in  the  faith  of  the  Catholic  church,  the  confirmation  ceremony  for 
all  having  been  administered  by  Bishop  Rademacher,  now  deceased. 

Mrs.  Lauerman  was  born  in  Schererville,  Lake  county,  March  15,  1856. 
and  she  was  reared,  educated  and  confirmed  in  this  county.  After  their  mar- 
riage Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lauerman  located  in  Sheridan  county,  Missouri,  where 
he  purchased  forty  acres  of  partially  improved  land,  later  added  to  this  land 
until  he  owned  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  continued  to  reside  there 
for  six  years.  Then  on  account  of  sickness  he  returned  to  Lake  county  and 
began  work  on  the  Monon  Railroad  as  a  wage  earner,  continuing  at  that  for 
two  years.  He  then  Ijegan  merchandising  at  Armour  in  partnership  with 
Mat.  Thiel,  with  a  capital  of  about  eight  hundred  dollars,  and  after  this  part- 
nership had  continued  about  fcair  weeks  Mr.  Thiel  took  sick  and  died,  after 
which  Mr.  Lauerman  continued  his  business  career  on  his  own  account.  From 
these  small  beginnings  the  business  has  increased  to  the  extensive  establish- 
ment which  we  find  in  1904,  comprising  a  large  double  store,  which  is  known 
as  a  department  store,  and  carrying  a  heavy  line  of  fancy  and  staple  dry 
goods,  boots,  shoes,  family  and  staple  groceries,  queensware,  clothing,  and 
in  fact  all  commodities  which  go  to  make  up  a  first-class  mercantile  house. 
The  annual  trade  runs  up  to  a  \ery  high  figure.  In  the  fall  of  1904  he  erected 
at  Cedar  Lake  a  new  store  in  which  he  placed  a  full  stock  of  fresh  goods,  and 
this  is  the  store  which  is  to  be  managed  by  his  son  Edward.  This  is  an  ex- 
cellent business  record  which  Mr.  Lauerman  has  made,  and  in  twenty  wears' 
time  he  has  progressed  from  a  position  of  very  modest  circumstances  to  a 
foremost  place  among  the  substantial  business  men  of  Lake  county — which 
is  a  career  that  any  man  might  be  proud  of.  He  and  his  sons  are  cordial 
and  genial  gentlemen,  and  by  fair  and  courteous  treatment  they  have  found 
ample  patronage  in  whatever  direction  they  have  extended  their  trade. 

Mr.  Lauerman  is  a  Republican,  brit  he  has  never  cared  for  any  office, 
and  gives  all  his  time  to  his  business.     But  in  1886  he  W2s  appointed  post- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  G21 

master  at  Armour.  He  and  his  family  are  members  of  St.  Martin's  Catho- 
lic church  at  Hano\  er  Center,  and  throughout  the  entire  community  this  fam- 
ily meet  the  respect  and  esteem  which  are  always  given  to  people  of  true 
personal  worth  and  whose  lives  have  accomplished  something  praiseworthy 
in  the  world. 

HERMAN  A.  BATTERMAN. 

The  country  of  Germany  has  aided  most  materially  in  the  founding  of 
the  great  nation  of  the  United  States,  and  its  citizens  have  been  especially 
prominent  factors  in  the  agricultural  development  which  has  been  the  basis 
of  all  other  prosperity.  The  German-American  is  noted  for  his  pluck,  energy, 
.economy  and  frugality,  and  exhibits  the  best  and  most  productive  estates  to 
be  found  anywhere.  Mr.  Herman  A.  Batterman  comes  of  one  of  the  old 
German  families  of  west  Lake  county,  and  is  a  true  and  typical  specimen  of 
the  prosperous  agriculturist. 

His  early  life  was  spent  in  Will  county,  Illinois.  Born  July  26,  1853, 
he  was  the  oldest  of  eight  children,  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  born  to 
Christopher  and  Johanna  (Doescher)  Batterman.  The  son  Henry  is  repre- 
sented elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Edward  is  also  one  of  the  honorable  men 
whose  lives  are  sketched  in  this  work.  Charles  is  married  and  engaged  in 
cultivating  the  old  home  place  in  Will  county,  Illinois.  Henrietta  is  the  wife 
of  Charles  Borger,  of  Hobart,  also  sketched  in  this  volume.  Matilda  is  the 
wife  of  Joseph  Echterling,  of  Will  county. 

The  father  of  the  family  was  born  in  Hanover  province,  Germany,  was 
reared  to  young  manhood  in  his  native  land,  and  in  1842  he  came  by  himself 
to  America,  landing  in  New  York  with  only  eighteen  cents  in  his  pocket,  so 
that  he  began  life  at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder  and  among  strange  people  and 
in  a  foreign  land.  He  came  to  Chicago  in  1842,  when  that  now  great  city 
was  small  and  insignificant,  and  out  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Des  Plaines 
river  he  got  work  at  twel\-e  dollars  a  month,  continuing  this  work  for  three 
years  and  three  months.  He  then  took  his  earnings  and  entered  two  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  Will  county,  Illinois,  an  unimpro\-ed  tract.  Then 
for  a  while  he  did  teaming  in  Chicago,  but  finally  returned  to  his  land  and 
erected  a  little  shack  of  a  shelter,  and,  aided  by  his  brother  Fred  from  Ger- 
many, he  developed  a  farm.     For  a  time  he  was  also  interested  in  a  sawmill 


622  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

enterprise,  but  then  returned  to  the  farm.  He  was  a  succes,sful  man,  and  ac- 
cumulated ahnost  five  hundred  acres  of  land  in  lUinois  and  Indiana.  He  was 
a  stanch  Repubhcan  and  before  the  formation  of  that  party  he  was  a  Whig. 
He  had  good  reason  to  rememl^er  tlie  famous  wildcat  monej-  l^efore  the  Civil 
war,  as  on  one  occasion  he  had  one  hundred  and  thirty  dollars  of  this  cur- 
rency, but  thirty  dollars  was  all  he  could  realize  on  the  entire  amount.  Both 
he  and  his  wife  were  Lutherans.  His  wife  v.as  also  born  in  Hanover,  and  she 
is  still  living,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years. 

Mr.  Batterman  was  reared  to  the  pursuit  of  a  farmer  and  stockman,  and 
was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  by  personal  application.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one  he  began  life  on  a  capital  of  one  thousand  dollars,  starting  on 
the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  He  purchased  three  hundred  acres  and  paid 
the  one  thousand  dollars  on  it,  and  by  his  economy  and  industry  in  time  he 
lifted  all  incumbrances  and  the  beautiful  and  high-class  buildings  and  other 
improvements  on  the  estate  he  has  made  himself. 

August  I,  1875,  Mr.  Batterman  married  Miss  .\nna  Borger,  and  twelve 
children,  six  sons  and  six  daughters,  have  been  born  to  them,  seven  of  whom 
are  living.  Johanna  is  the  wife  of  Altert  Keun,  who  is  connected  with  a 
publishing  house  in  Chicago ;  Mrs.  Keun  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
and  the  Hobart  high  school.  Julius,  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  at 
the  Valparaiso  normal,  is  married  and  a  farmer  at  Palmer,  Indiana.  Mag- 
gie, educated  in  the  common  schools  and  at  Hobart,  is  the  wife  of  Michael 
Schmal,  a  farmer  of  St.  John.  Edwin  is  a  resident  of  Hanover  township. 
Herman  is  in  the  ninth  grade  of  the  Brunswick  schools.  Alvin  is  in  tlie 
seventh  grade,  and  Elsa  is  also  in  school.  Mrs.  Batterman  comes  from  the 
well  known  Lake  county  family  of  Borgers  whose  sketch  will  be  found 
elsewhere. 

Mr.  Batterman  is  a  lover  of  high-grade  stock,  and  takes  especial  in- 
terest in  the  Percheron  horses  and  the  Red  Poll  cattle,  and  his  cattle  of  this 
breed  are  registered,  and  he  also  raises  fine  grades  of  Chester  White  hogs. 
During  his  career  he  has  suffered  setbacks  and  misfortunes,  but  is  a  man  of 
such  determination  and  energy  that  he  has  on  each  occasion  risen  phoem'.x- 
like  out  of  the  ashes  of  ill-chance,  and  is  now  one  of  the  financially  substan- 
tial men  of  Hanover  township.  Besides  his  beautiful  and  well  improved 
estate  in  Hanover  township,  he  owns  nine  hundred  and  fifty  acres  in  Hinds 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  623 

county,  Mississippi,  five  miles  northeast  of  Jackson,  the  state  capital,  about 
six  hundred  acres  of  this  land  being  arable.  The  land  on  the  whole  is  level, 
the  location  eligible,  and  as  Mr.  Batterman  thinks  the  climate  there  far 
excels  that  of  the  northern  latitude  of  Indiana  he  anticipates  locating  in  that 
vicinity  for  his  future  home, — which  will  mean  the  loss  of  a  valuable  and 
prominent  citizen  from  the  ranks  of  Lake  county.  Mr.  Batterman  is  a  Re- 
publican on  national  issues,  but  in  local  affairs  gives  his  voting  support 
to  the  man  best  fitted  for  the  office.  He  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for 
R.  B.  Hayes,  and  has  supported  each  candidate  since.  He  is  a  man  who 
stands  high  in  the  estimation  of  all  his  fellow  citizens,  and  has  been  selected 
to  represent  his  township  in  the  county  conventions  of  his  party.  In  1898 
he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  county  council,  and  his  services  have  been 
ably  and  efficiently  performed,  and  he  is  accordingly  tendered  the  thanks  of 
the  citizens  of  the  whole  county. 

FREDERICK  W.  MANDERNACH. 

The  American  nation  owes  much  to  the  thrifty  and  hardy  virtues  of  the 
German  race,  for  this  class  of  citizens  has  lx;en  important  factors  in  ad- 
vancing every  industrial  enterprise.  It  is  to  this  class  that  Mr.  Frederick 
W.  Mandernach  belongs,  and  he  has  long  since  proved  himself  to  be  one 
of  the  most  prosperous,  progressive  and  public-spirited  citizens  of  Lake 
county  and  Hanover  township  in  particular. 

Mr.  Mandernach  was  born  in  the  house  where  he  still  resides,  on  Octo- 
ber 15,  1864,  and  is  the  youngest  of  eight  children,  four  sons  and  four  daugh- 
ters, born  to  John  and  Tena  (Saak)  Mandernach.  All  the  children  are  liv- 
ing. John  is  married  and  is  living  as  a  retired  farmer  at  Odebolt,  Iowa. 
Caroline  is  the  wife  of  Herman  Raasch,  a  farmer  of  Odebolt,  Iowa.  Henry 
is  a  resident  of  the  same  locality  in  Iowa,  and  is  married.  Flora  is  the 
wife  of  Gottlieb  Nitsche,  also  in  this  Iowa  community.  Louisa  is  the  wife 
of  Charles  Sauter.  a  ranchman  of  Big  Springs,  Nebraska.  Henrietta  is  the 
wife  of  Simon  Sunderman.  horticulturist  at  Cullman,  Alabama.  W'illiam, 
of  Odebolt,  Iowa,  is  married  and  is  a  farmer.     And  Frederick  is  the  last. 

Father  Mandernach  is  a  native  of  Prussia,  where  he  was  torn  November 
17,  1817,  and  is  still  living  at  Odebolt,  Iowa,  retaining  the  use  of  his  mental 
and  physical  faculties  although  at  the  great  age  of  eighty-seven  years.     He 


624  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

was  about  twenty-six  years  old  when  he  bade  adieu  to  the  fatherland  and 
came  to  America,  and  the  voyage  was  of  six  months'  duration.  He  came  to 
America  emptv-handed.  not  having  ten  dollars  to  his  name  when  he  arrived. 
In  a  strange  land,  among  a  strange  people,  whose  language  he  could  not 
speak,  he  had  to  subsist  on  the  little  earnings  he  could  get  by  daily  work. 
He  came  to  Lake  county  and  in  Hanover  township  began  as  a  wage  earner, 
and  worked  for  the  Rev.  T.  H.  Ball's  father  at  the  munificent  wage  of  eight 
dollars  per  month.  He  was  one  of  the  most  energetic  and  industrious  of 
men.  The  first  land  he  purchased  was  forty  acres,  and  he  traded  a  pair  of 
oxen  for  it.  The  first  habitation  the  Mandernachs  lived  in  was  a  log  cabin. 
The  father  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in  western  Lake  county,  and  has 
seen  deer  and  wild  turkeys  on  his  place.  During  his  early  years  in  the 
county  he  worked  on  the  first  railroad  being  built  to  Chicago.  He  has  seen 
Chicago  when  it  was  a  village  in  size  compared  to  its  present  immensity. 
He  was  a  successful  man  in  his  active  career,  and  had  accumulated  seven 
hundred  acres  of  fine  land  in  Sac  county.  Iowa,  and  in  Hanover  town.ship 
of  this  county.  The  home  residence  occupied  by  ]Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frederick 
Mandernach  was  erected  by  his  father,  and  the  lumber  for  its  construction 
was  brought  from  Chicago  by  ox  teams.  The  father  was  a  true  Republican. 
He  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  German  Methodist  church  two  miles 
south  of  Hanover  Center,  and  he  aided  very  materially  in  its  erection.  Even 
the  stove  in  the  church  was  purchased  l)y  him.  Mother  ]\Iandernach.  a 
native  of  Lippe,  Germany,  was  born  January  13,  1827,  and  is  still  living. 

Mr.  Mandernach  was  reared  and  educated  in  Hanover  township,  his 
earl)'  mental  training  being  acquirefl  in  the  common  schools.  He  has  con- 
tinued a  farmer  and  stockman  during  his  acti\'e  career.  He  remained  with 
his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old,  and  he  and  his  brother  William 
then  began  as  renters  on  his  father's  farm.  He  continued  five  years  as  a 
renter,  and  he  then  purchased  the  old  homestead  in  Hanover  township,  con- 
sisting of  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres. 

August  6,  1889,  he  married  Miss  Matilda  E.  Piepho,  and  five  children, 
two  sons  and  three  daughters,  have  been  torn  to  them,  four  of  whom  are 
living.  Elenora  A.  is  in  the  seventh  grade,  being  a  bright  student,  and  has 
also  taken  piano  instruction.  Elmer  ^^^.  in  the  fifth  grade,  is  well  along  in 
his  studies  and  takes  piano  music.  Nelson  R.  and  Blanche  D.  are  the 
youngest  in  the  household. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  •     625 

Mrs.  Mandeniach  was  liorn  in  Kankakee  county,  Illinois.  May  29,  1867, 
a  daughter  of  August  and  Wilhelmina  (Breuscher)  Pieplio.  There  were 
ten  children  in  the'  family,  and  eight  are  living.  Mary,  the  eldest,  is  the 
wife  of  David  Dippon,  a  farmer  at  Dwight,  Illinois.  John  is  married  and 
lives  on  the  old  homestead  in  Kankakee  county.  Emma  is  the  wife  of 
Herman  Meyer,  a  farmer  of  Scotia,  Nebraska.  Mrs.  Mandernach  is  the 
next.  Minnie  is  the  wife  of  Herman  Nichols,  a  painter  at  Blue  Island, 
Illinois.  Louise  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Sauerman,  a  farmer  of  Kankakee 
county.  George  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Hanover  township,  .\nnie,  the 
youngest,  is  the  wife  of  Ruda  Jors,  a  carpenter  at  Blue  Island.  Father 
Piepho  was  a  native  of  Hanover  province,  Germany,  and  was  born  January 
21,  1833.  and  died  January  13,  igoo.  He  came  to  America  when  a  boy  of 
sixteen  or  seventeen.  He  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade  and  at  an  early  day 
had  a  log-cabin  store  in  Cliicago.  He  went  to  the  Pacific  coast  and  Cali- 
fornia in  1849,  ^^^  dug  gold  for  five  years,  at  which  he  was  very  successful, 
bringing  back  three  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  the  precious  metal.  He 
went  out  to  the  Eldorado  countr\'  by  way  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  The 
first  land  he  purchased  in  Kankakee  county  was  two  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  antl  he  bought  and  sold  several  times,  and  at  his  death  he  owned 
three  hundred  acres  in  that  county  and  two  hundred  and  eighty  in  Lake 
county,  so  that  he  was  evidently  a  very  successful  man.  He  was  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  German  Meth- 
odist church.  His  remains  are  interred  in  the  cemetery  below  Hanover 
Center.  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Mandernach  was  born  in  Little  Hanover, 
Germany,  December  16,  1842,  and  is  now  living  with  her  son  George  in 
Hanover  township.  Mrs.  Mandernach  was  a  girl  of  ten  years  when  she 
became  a  resident  of  Lake  county,  and  her  education  was  acquired  in  the 
common  schools.  She  and  her  husband  are  very  cordial,  genial  people, 
and  have  hosts  of  friends. 

Mr.  Mandernach  is  a  Republican,  and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Benjamin 
Harrison.  Several  times  he  has  been  selected  as  a  delegate  to  represent  his 
township  at  county  conventions.  In  1904  he  was  elected  a  trustee  of  the 
Hanover  township,  and  thus  broke  a  record  of  some  twenty-two  years  during 
which  no  Republican  had  held  that  office.  The  people  of  the  township 
recognize  in  him   ?.   safe  and   progressive   man   of  affairs,   and   his   election 

40 


626  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

means  that  the  business  and  educational  achninistration  of  the  township  will 
be  in  good  hands  during  the  following  term.  He  is  a  member  of  Council 
No.  23  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters  at  Brunswick,  and  he  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  German  Methodist  church,  of  which  he  is 
a  trustee. 

JOHN    H.    BORGER. 

German-American  citizenship  lias  been  an  important  factor  in  the 
advance  and  progress  of  the  state  and  nation,  and  one  of  this  worthy  class, 
Mr.  John  H.  Borger,  is  a  prosperous  resident  of  Hanover  township  and  a 
true  type  of  the  German-z\merican  of  the  twentieth  century.  Mr.  Borger 
was  born  in  West  Creek  township.  Lake  county,  February  15,  1853,  and  is 
the  eldest  of  nine  children,  five  sons  and  four  daughters,  born  to  John  and 
Metie  (Meyer)  Borger.  There  are  eight  of  the  family  living  at  the  present 
■writing,  John  H.  being  the  first.  Herman  is  a  farmer  of  Jewell  county, 
Kansas.  Anna  is  the  wife  of  Herman  Batterman.  a  prosperous  farmer  of 
Hanover  township.  Charles  is  represented  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 
Edward  is  a  farmer  of  Porter  county,  Indiana.  Johanna  is  the  wife  of 
Henry  Thineman.  a  farmer  of  Porter  county.  Metie  is  the  wife  of  James 
CampMl,  a  resident  of  LaPorte,  Indiana,  and  a  carpenter  and  joiner  by 
trade.     Maggie,  the  youngest,  lives  in  Chicago. 

Father  Borger  was  a  native  of  Hanover  province,  German}',  and  was 
I)orn  July  22,  1816,  and  died  March  3,  1873.  He  was  reared  in  his  native 
land  till  manhood,  and  was  educated  in  the  German  language.  He  was 
about  thirty  years  of  age  when  he  bade  adieu  to  his  native  land  and  sailed 
from  Bremen  to  New  York,  and  the  voyage  was  of  several  weeks'  duration. 
He  landed  in  a  strange  land,  among  strange  people,  and  with  little  money. 
He  came  at  once  to  Lake  county,  and  began  as  a  wage  earner  by  the  day  or 
month.  The  first  land  he  purchased  was  a  small  tract  in  \\'est  Creek  town- 
ship, and  he  sold  this  and  purchased  one  liundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Hanover 
township,  in  Sections  30  and  31,  and  he  moved  a  little  log  house  onto  the 
land  and  this  was  his  first  habitation.  He  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
Lake  county,  and  there  were  then  no  roads,  and  Chicago,  the  now  great  city 
of  two  million,  was  but  a  town  in  size,  and  he  could  have  purchased  land 
around  Chicago  at  a  dollar  and  a  half  an  acre.     There  was  only  one  railroad 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  627 

across  the  county  at  that  time.  He  was  a  prosperous  man,  and  added  forty 
acres  more  to  his  real  estate  in  the  township.  He  was  a  farmer  of  high 
order  and  a  lover  of  high  grades  of  stock.  He  was  a  stanch  Republican  and 
always  stood  firmly  on  his  principles.  Mother  Borger  was  a  native  of  Lippe 
province,  Prussia,  and  was  born  Decemlier  i8,  1835,  and  died  February  20, 
1888.  Both  parents  are  interred  in  the  Brunswick  cemetery,  where  beautiful 
stones  mark  their  last  resting  places. 

]\Ir.  Borger  has  been  reared  and  spent  all  his  life  in  this  county,  having 
given  his  attention  to  farming  and  stock-raising.  He  was  educated  in  the 
English  language.  He  remained  with  his  parents  until  of  age,  and  he  con- 
ducted the  estate  for  his  mother  until  his  marriage.  P'ebruary  14,  1882. 
he  married  Miss  Susan  Hoffmann,  and  ele\-en  children,  four  sons  and  se\en 
daughters,  were  born,  ten  of  them  lieing  alive  at  this  writing.  Tillie  M., 
the  oldest,  was  educated  in  the  common  schools,  graduating  with  the  class 
of  1898  from  the  Brunswick  schools.  She  does  very  artistic  work  in  silk 
embroidering.  Metie  S.  has  completed  the  seventh  grade  of  common 
schools.  John  W'.,  who  has  passed  the  seventh  grade,  is  a  practical  farmer 
boy.  Lizzie  T.  graduated  from  the  Brunswick  public  schools  with  the  class 
of  1904.  Otto  H.  is  in  the  sixth  year  work  of  the  schools,  Henry  E.  is  in 
the  fifth  grade,  Edward  M.  is  in  the  fifth  grade,  Margaret  H.  is  in  the  third 
year,  Luella  A.  is  in  the  first  year,  and  Clara  E.  is  the  baby  of  the  family. 

Mrs.  Borger  was  born  in  Hanover  township.  September  15,  1859,  a 
daughter  of  Mike  and  Susanna  (Huppentahl)  Hoft'mann.  There  were 
eight  children,  five  sons  and  three  daughters,  in  the  family,  and  four  of  these 
are  living,  as  follows :  John,  who  is  a  carpenter  and  resides  with  his  mother 
in  Hanover  township:  Mrs.  Borger;  Theresa,  wife  of  Anton  Hein,  a  mer- 
chant of  Hanover  township;  and  Anton,  of  Hanover  township.  Father 
Hoffmann  was  born  in  Germany  in  1824  and  died  in  1896.  He  came  to 
America  when  a  young  man,  having  been  educated  in  the  German  tongue. 
He  was  a  Republican,  and  a  Catholic.  His  wife  was  also  born  in  Germany, 
and  she  is  still  living  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven  in  Hanover  township.  Mrs. 
Borger  was  reared  in  Hanover  township  and  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Borger  began  life  on  the  present  homestead  where  they 
now   reside,   purchasing  the  shares   of   the  other   heirs.     All   the   excellent 


628  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

improvements  of  the  farm  have  been  effected  through  their  efforts,  and  tlieir 
comfortable  farm  residence  is  a  credit  to  the  township.  Mr.  Borger  is  one 
of  the  prosperous  agriculturists  of  the  township,  and  is  a  stockholder  in  the 
Brunswick  Creamery  Company,  which  was  established  in  1892.  He  likes 
good  stock,  and  is  endeavoring  to  raise  the  standard  of  his  own  cattle  and 
hogs  and  horses,  his  favorite  breeds  of  these  animals  being  the  Holsteins, 
the  Chester  Whites  and  the  Normans  as  a  hea\-v  draft  horse  for  farmine 
His  wife  is  a  fancier  of  Brown  Leghorn  chickens.  Their  estate  comprises 
two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Hanover  township,  and  best  of  all  there  is  not 
a  dollar's  indebtedness  on  the  property.  Mr.  Borger  is  a  stalwart  Repub- 
lican, and  cast  his  first  vote  for  R.  B.  Hayes,  having  supported  each  candi- 
date since.  Mr.  and  Airs.  Borger  and  their  excellent  family  are  among 
the  leading  German-American  families  of  Hanover  township,  and  we  are 
pleased  to  give  this  full  history  of  their  lives.  It  may  be  added  that  the 
German  spelling  of  the  name  Borger  is  Borger. 

LOUIS    \V.    HERLITZ. 

The  German  citizens  are  the  impcjrtant  personages  who  have  made  the 
wilderness  to  flower  and  blossom  like  the  rose  in  the  central  Mississippi 
valley.  They  are  noted  for  their  diligence,  industry  and  economy.  Mr. 
Herlitz  was  born  in  Hanover  township.  Lake  county,  in  the  homestead 
where  he  now  resides.  He  was  born  January  22,  1841,  and  is  the  third  in 
a  family  of  six  children,  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  born  to  Louis  E. 
and  Gesche  (Berger)  Herlitz.  There  are  five  living.  Fred,  the  eldest,  is  a 
resident  of  West  Creek  township  and  is  a  farmer.  Margaret,  widow  of 
Dr.  E.  W.  Vilmer,  resides  in  Crown  Point.  Mr.  Herlitz  is  next.  Mena, 
widow  of  Fred  W'eber,  resides  in  Chicago.  Oscar  G.  is  a  resident  of 
Ross  township. 

Father  Herlitz  was  born  in  the  \'illage  of  Hemann,  province  of  Lippe, 
about  the  year  1804,  and  died  in  1869.  He  was  reared  in  his  nati\-e  land 
until  early  manhood,  when  he  came  to  America.  He  was  nine  weeks  making 
the  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  and  came  to  New  York,  thence  to  a  place 
near  Detroit,  Michigan,  where  he  remained  four  years,  and  where  he 
married.  He  was  an  agriculturist,  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Lake  county,  coming  here  about  1839,  when  there  were  a  number  of  Indians 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  629 

here.  He  purchased  eighty  acres  of  wild  land,  and  the  first  hdme  was  a  log 
cabiiL  He  was  quite  successful  in  life.  He  was  a  Republican.  Mother 
Herlitz  was  a  nati\-e  of  Hanover  pro\ince,  Germany,  born  not  far  from 
Bremen  atout  1807,  and  died  in  1875. 

Mr.  Herlitz  is  one  of  the  oldest  citizens  now  living  who  were  born 
ni  Hanover  township.  He  was  educated  in  the  English  language  and  \)y  his 
own  application.  He  has  been  reared  as  a  tiller  of  the  soil.  He  married 
Miss  Anna  Meyer  A])ril  5.  1877,  and  eight  children  ha^■e  blessed  the  union, 
three  sons  and  five  daughters,  seven  of  whom  are  living.  Mary,  the  eldest, 
is  one  of  the  successful  teachers  of  the  county.  She  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools,  and  was  a  graduate  in  the  class  of  1900  at  Crow-n  Point, 
and  was  a  student  in  Valparaiso  normal  and  has  also  taken  music.  Anna  M. 
was  etlucated  in  the  common  schools  and  at  Crown  Point  high  schoiji.  She 
has  taken  instruction  in  music  and  is  now  at  home.  Julius  is  at  home. 
He  has  completed  the  common  school  course  and  has  also  been  a  student  at 
Valparaiso  normal.  Laura  \\'.  and  William  D.  are  twins.  Laura  has  grad- 
uated from  the  common  schools,  and  is  in  her  second  vear  at  the  Crown 
Point  high  school,  and  she  has  taken  instruction  in  music.  William  gradu- 
ated in  the  common  schools  and  is  a  student  at  the  Crown  Point  high  school. 
Louis  F.  is  in  the  eighth  grade  of  school.  Gesche,  in  the  seventh  grade,  is 
a  bright  little  girl. 

Mrs.  Herlitz  was  born  in  Hanover  pro\-ince,  Germany,  February  14, 
1853,  and  is  a  daughter  of  D.  H.  and  Anna  (Beckman)  Meyer.  There 
were  five  children,  two  sons  and  three  daughters,  in  the  family.  Mrs. 
Herlitz  and  her  In'other  Herman,  living  in  Nebraska,  are  the  only  survivors. 
Mrs.  Herlitz  was  educated  in  her  nati\'e  land,  as  she  was  sixteen  years  of 
age  when  she  came  to  America,  and  most  of  her  life  has  been  spent  in 
Lake  county. 

]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Herlitz  began  their  married  life  on  the  homestead  where 
they  now  reside,  and  for  twenty-seven  years,  over  a  c|uarter  of  a  century, 
thev  ha^■e  lived  in  Hano\'er  townshijj.  and  are  citizens  of  the  highest  social 
standing.  They  ow^n  two  hundred  and  five  acres  of  choice  land  in  Hanover 
township,  and  their  beautiful  syh'an  homestead  is  a  ha\-en  of  rest  for  their 
friends  as  also  for  strangers.  Mr.  Herlitz  is  a  Republican.  He  cast  his 
first  presidential  vote  for  Lincoln  and  for  each  candidate  of  the  party  since. 


630  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

He  was  one  of  the  boys  who  wore  tlie  blue,  and  was  a  memljer  of  Com- 
pany D,  Eig-hty-tbird  Regiment  of  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  bis 
regiment  was  assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  under  General  Sherman. 
He  enlisted  in  October,  1862,  and  was  ten  months  m  service,  being  in  the 
battles  of  Vicksburg,  Arkansas  Post  and  Jackson.  Mississippi.  He  was  hon- 
orably discharged  August  2.  1863,  at  Camp  Sherman,  Mississippi.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Herlitz  and  their  excellent  family  of  intelligent  children  are  citizens 
who  are  among  the  better  class  of  people  of  Lake  county,  and  we  are  pleased 
to  present  this  sketch  of  this  worthy  gentleman. 

ALFRED    SCHAIAL. 

Alfred  Schmal  is  one  of  the  leading  and  successful  farmers  and  stock- 
men of  Hanover  township,  and  is  a  gentleman  so  well  known  in  this  part 
of  the  county  as  to  need  no  introduction  to  the  readers  of  this  volume.  In 
his  veins  is  the  blood  of  the  hardy  Teutonic  race  whose  sturdy  character  and 
intelligent  industry  have  been  the  most  important  factors  in  the  upbuilding 
of  this  country,  and  Lake  county  has  been  especially  happy  to  have  among 
her  inhabitants  so  many  of  German  birth  or  parentage. 

Mr.  Schmal  was  born  in  Hanover  township,  on  the  estate  where  he  now 
resides,  on  September  24,  1863,  being  the  next  to  the  youngest  of  fourteen 
children,  eight  sons  and  six  daughters,  born  to  Joseph  and  Barbara  (Keefer) 
Schmal.  Nine  of  these  children  are  yet  living,  as  follows :  Katharine,  wife 
of  Wilhelm  Ahles,  a  carpenter  in  Hanover  township:  Mary,  widow  of  Fred 
Gerbing,  of  Cedar  Lake,  Indiana;  Joseph,  married,  a  blacksmith  of  St.  John; 
Jacob,  married,  a  farmer  of  St.  John ;  Barbara,  wife  of  Henry  Ebert,  a 
farmer  of  Cedar  Creek  township;  Louie,  who  is  married  and  is  a  merchant 
in  Chicago:  Frank,  married  and  a  resident  of  West  Creek  township:  Aurelia, 
wife  of  Fred  Ebert,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Cedar  Creek  township; 
and  Alfred. 

Joseph  Schmal.  the  father,  was  born  in  1819,  in  Rhenish  Prussia,  Ger- 
many, and  died  in  January,  1894.  He  was  a  young  man  when  he  came 
with  his  parents  to  America,  and  he  became  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
Lake  county,  even  when  Indians  formed  a  part  of  the  population.  He 
attained  more  than  ordinary  success  in  life,  and  was  noted  for  his  industry 
and  economy  and  good  sense.     He  accumulated  a  landed  estate  of  some  one 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  631 

hundred  and  thirty-two  acres  in  Lake  county.  He  \va.s  a  standi  Repuhhcan 
and  supported  the  party's  doctrines  and  principles  from  the  time  of  its  organ- 
ization. Both  he  and  his  good  wife  were  Cathohcs.  For  some  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years  during  the  early  history  of  the  county  he  was  United 
States  mail  carrier  between  Crown  Point  and  Brunswick.  Mother  Schmal 
is  still  living,  although  she  has  reached  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-five  years, 
and  she  resides  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alfred  Schmal,  who  care  for  her  during 
her  declining  years. 

]\Ir.  Schmal  has  been  reared  as  a  tiller  of  the  soil  and  as  a  stockman, 
and  his  early  education  was  received  in  his  native  township  and  in  the  Bruns- 
wick public  schools.  On  February  12,  1889,  he  married  Miss  Caroline  Herr- 
mann, by  whom  he  has  had  eight  children,  three  sons  and  five  daughters, 
seven  of  whom  are  living.  Joseph  is  in  the  eighth  grade  of  school  and  very 
bright  in  his  studies.  Barbara  is  in  the  seventh  grade,  Josephine  in  the  fifth 
grade,  Elenora  in  the  third  o-rade,  and  Susan,  Aenes  and  Albert  are  the  three 
)'oungest. 

Mrs.  Schmal  was  born  in  St.  John  township,  November  8,  1865,  being 
a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Katharine  (Palm)  Herrmann.  There  were  fifteen 
children  in  her  parents  family,  nine  sons  and  si.x  daughters,  and  of  the  nine 
living  six  are  residents  of  Lake  county,  and  the  other  three  are  as  follows : 
John,  a  resident  of^  Cissna  Park,  Illinois,  is  married  and  is  a  blacksmith  by 
trade;  Katie,  wife  of  William  Baunte,  a  painter  in  Chicago;  and  Albert,  who 
is  married  and  lives  in  Chicago  Heights.  Jacob  Herrmann,  the  father  of 
Mrs.  Schmal,  was  born  in  Prussia  in  1822  and  died  in  1895.  He  was  a  black- 
smith, learning  his  trade  in  Germany,  and  he  has  a  farm  in  St.  John  township 
of  this  county.  He  and  his  wife  were  Catholics  and  he  was  a  Democrat. 
His  wife  is  still  living  in  St.  John,  being  seventy-seven  years  old  and  hale 
and  active  for  one  who  has  passed  so  many  milestones  of  life.  Mrs.  Schmal 
was  reared  in  St.  John  township,  was  educated  in  the  common  schools,  and 
was  confirmed  by  Bishop  Durnger  at  the  age  of  twelve. 

Mr.  and  ]Mrs.  Schmal  began  life  on  the  old  homestead,  and  for  sixteen 
years  thev  have  been  prominent  German-American  citi;^ens  of  Hanover  town- 
ship. All  the  excellent  improvements  in  the  shape  of  outbuildings  and  of 
other  kinds  have  been  placed  on  the  farm  by  Mr.  Schmal,  assisted,  of  course, 
bv  his  estimable  wife.     He  is  a  lover  of  excellent  stock,  constantly  endeavor- 


632  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

ing  to  improve  the  quality  of  his  animals,  and  takes  especial  pride  in  his 
Chester  White  hogs.  Mrs.  Schmal,  on  her  part,  is  a  fancier  of  thorough- 
bred poultry,  and  her  silverlaced  Wyandottes  are  her  particular  care,  and 
of  this  fine  breed  she  has  sold  a  goodly  number  for  breeding  purposes.  At 
the  present  writing  Mr.  Schmal  is  manager  of  the  Brunswick  Creamery  Com- 
pany, an  enterprise  which  has  been  very  successful  during  the  last  ten  years 
of  its  existence.  In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican,  having  cast  his  first 
vote  for  Benjamin  Harrison.  He  served  as  assessor  of  Hanover  township 
for  two  years,  filling  that  office  most  acceptably;  at  the  last  election  of  1904 
and  at  the  three  prior  elections  he  was  inspector  of  elections.  From  all  of 
which  it  may  be  seen  that  he  stands  high  as  a  worthy  and  honorable  citizen 
of  Hano\er  township,  and  is  also  one  of  the  financially  solid  men  of  the 
township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schmal  are  members  of  St.  Anthony's  Catholic 
church  at  Klaasville,  and  they  are  well  known  and  highly  esteemed  in  west 
Lake  county,  where  they  have  been  reared  and  passed  their  days  since 
childhood. 

THOMAS  T-  WOOD. 

Thomas  J-  \Vood,  man  of  alTairs  at  Crown  Point,  a  leader  in  the  Demo- 
cratic partv,  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  lawyers  in  northwestern  In- 
diana, has  a  career  of  unusual  interest  from  whatever  point  of  view  it  is 
beheld.  In  his  early  years  he  made  his  own  way  and  paid  from  his  own 
earnings  for  his  educational  advantages.  When  he  entered  the  political 
field  it  was  as  a  man  of  principles  and  definite  convictions,  and  it  is  uni- 
versally true  that  the  man  who  stands  for  something  is  certain  to  have 
manv  loval  adherents  and  sincere  admirers.  For  a  number  of  years  Mr. 
Wood  has  wielded  a  large  influence  in  public  and  party  affairs,  as  many  of- 
fices of  honor  and  trust  held  by  liim  wimld  indicate,  and  his  work  has  as- 
sumed national  importance  since  Indiana  has  tecome  one  of  the  "doubtful" 
states  in  national  elections.  Mr.  Wood  is  a  man  of  the  highest  integrity, 
and  prosecutes  both  private  and  public  affairs  with  an  eye  to  the  highest 
welfare  of  the  community  and  state. 

Mr.  Wood  was  born  in  Athens  county,  Ohio,  September  30,  1844, 
being  a  son  of  Darius  C.  and  Diana  S.  (Carter)  Wood.  His  mother  was 
a  descendant  of  the  great  tarter  family  of  Massachusetts.  His  father  was 
a  school  teacher  and  farmer.     This  branch  of  the  Wood  family  settled  in 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  633 

America  before  the  Revolutionary  war,  being  of  English  and  Welsh  ex- 
traction. Their  first  home  was  at  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  and  later  descend- 
ants of  the  family  moved  to  Rochester,  New  York,  and  to  the  state  of 
Michigan  and  to  Ohio.  Governor  Wood  of  Ohio  was  of  the  family,  as 
also  was  President  Millard  Fillmore.  Many  of  Mr.  Wood's  relatives  were  sol- 
diers and  officers  in  the  war  for  American  independence,  and  some  of  his 
direct  ancestors  feil  in  the  liattles  of  Bunker  Hill  and  Yorktown. 

When  Thomas  J.  Wood  was  seven  years  old  his  father  brought  the 
family  out  to  Indiana  and  settled  on  a  farm  near  Terre  Haute.  The  son 
lived  at  this  place  until  he  was  twenty-two  years  old.  spending  much  of  his 
time  in  working  on  the  farm.  For  two  winters  he  attended  the  high  school 
in  Terre  Haute,  having  gained  his  elementar}'  education  in  the  common 
schools  of  Vigo  county.  After  his  high  school  course  he  taught  school  for 
two  years,  and  then  took  up  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Judge  William 
Mack  at  Terre  Haute.  He  later  went  to  the  Ann  Arbor  Law  School,  from 
which  he  graduated  at  the  head  of  his  class  in  1868.  For  this  literary  and 
professional  education  he  paid  by  his  own  efforts,  either  at  manual  labor  or 
in  teaching  school.  In  his  youth  he  formed  excellent  habits  of  industry  and 
personal  morality,  and  these  staying  principles  have  remained  with  him  ever 
since. 

After  he  graduated  at  Ann  Arbor  he  settled  at  Lowell  in  this  county 
and  began  active  practice  of  the  law.  He  remained  there  only  a  short  time, 
and  in  1870  moved  to  Crown  Point,  where  he  has  since  carried  on  his  ex- 
tensive legal  business,  practicing  in  all  the  county,  state  and  federal  courts. 
He  has  been  retained  in  many  important  cases,  and  in  the  course  of  his  pro- 
fessional career  he  has  handled  nearly  four  thousand  court  causes.  He  is 
considered  a  safe  and  reliable  counselor,  and  is  one  of  the  strongest  advo- 
cates in  this  part  of  the  state,  being  especially  successful  in  jury  trials. 

Tklr.  Wood's  career  in  public  life  began  soon  after  he  entered  upon  the 
active  work  of  his  profession.  He  was  elected  to  the  offices  of  clerk  and 
treasurer  of  Crown  Point;  was  elected  and  held  the  office  of  state's  attorney 
for  two  terms  of  two  years  each,  from  1872  to  1876,  and  made  a  fine  record 
in  convicting  criminals  of  all  classes,  from  misdemeanors  to  murder.  In 
1876  he  was  elected  state  senator  for  Lake  and  Porter  counties,  and  during 
his  four  years  in  that  office  was  identified  with  much  important  legislation. 


634  ■  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

and  he  stood  among  the  pre-eminent  debaters  on  the  floor  of  the  senate  and 
was  a  leader  on  the  Democratic  side.  His  alertness  to  the  true  interests  of 
both  the  country  and  his  party  is  illustrated  by  an  incident  during  his  sena- 
torial career.  At  a  time  when  many  of  the  Democratic  senators  were  absent 
from  the  hall  the  Republicans  took  advantage  of  the  occasion  to  call  up  some 
purely  partisan  legislation,  hoping  to  get  it  through  by  whirlwind  work  be- 
fore their  opponents  could  rally  their  forces.  Mr.  ^^"ood  at  once  leaped  into 
the  breach  by  taking  the  floor  and  launching  into  a  long-winded  speech  with 
a  vehement  arraignment  of  the  Republican  side,  which  he  continued  until  the 
messengers  could  bring  from  various  parts  of  the  city  the  absentee  Demo- 
cratic members,  thus  restoring  the  normal  equilibrium  and  saving  the  day 
for  tb.e  party.  While  in  the  senate  Mr.  ^^'ood  pushed  through  much  legis- 
lation affecting  land  titles  all  over  the  state.  In  1882  he  was  elected  to  the 
forty-eighth  Congress,  representing  for  two  years  the  old  Colfax  district.  In 
this  strong  Republican  district  he  was  defeated  for  re-election,  but  by  less 
than  three  hundred  votes.  It  is  said  that  he  was  defeated  by  Democratic 
votes  in  Valparaiso  and  Chesterton,  one  thousand  dollars  having  been  the 
price  paid  to  withdraw  enough  venal  Democrats  from  his  support  in  order 
to  accomplish  his  defeat.  Previous  to  the  last  Democratic  national  con- 
vention Mr.  Wood  was  a  much  talked  of  favorite  for  the  presidential  can- 
didacy. He  had  friends  at  St.  Louis  from  fifteen  states,  and  had  the  Alton 
B.  Parker  movement  failed  on  the  first  ballot  Mr.  Wood's  name  would  have 
been  placed  before  the  convention  and  he  would  have  received  thirty-nine 
votes  on  the  next  ballot. 

Mr.  Wood  has  been  a  prominent  Mason  for  thirty  years,  iDcing  a  Mas- 
ter and  a  Royal  Arch  Mason.  He  has  been  an  Odd  Fellow  for  twenty- 
five  years.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at 
Crown  Point  for  sixteen  years,  and  is  a  trustee  and  a  member  of  the  official 
Ixiard  and  active   in  church  work,  having  filled   the  pulpit   many   times. 

May  II,  1871,  Mr.  Wood  married  Miss  Mary  E.  Pelton,  of  Crown 
Point.  Her  mother,  Eliza  Pettibone,  is  the  widow  of  the  late  Dr.  Harvey 
Pettibone.  Her  father,  Hiram  S.  Pelton,  was  a  prominent  business  man  in 
Lake  county,  a  successful  merchant,  and  a  fine  man  and  much  beloved  by 
the  people,  having  been  one  of  the  first  county  commissioners.  For  his 
time  he  left  quite  a  large  estate.     Mary  E.  Pelton  was  a  relative  of  John 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  635 

W.  Pelton,  a  nephew  of  Hon.  Samuel  J.  Tiklen,  who  was  elected  president 
of  the  United  States  by  the  people.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wood  had  seven  children, 
but  through  the  ravages  of  diphtheria  lost  five  of  them  within  six  weeks. 
Mrs.  Wood  is  a  woman  of  splendid  character  and  capabilities,  motherly  and 
kind-hearted,  and  one  of  the  women  who  make  great  wives. 

Mr.  Wood  is  personally  a  genial  gentleman,  wholly  without  deceit, 
straightforward,  honest  and  earnest  in  all  social  relations.  He  is  forceful 
in  character,  hates  shams  and  puts  truth  and  honesty  above  all  other  virtues, 
and  is  highly  respected  by  all  people  of  his  community  and  accpiaintance. 
He  is  himself  above  the  low  level  of  light  amusements,  many  of  which 
he  holds  as  tending  to  the  moral  degeneracy  of  the  race,  but  at  the  same 
time  he  is  broad-minded  and  liberal  in  his  outlook  on  life,  is  optimistic  of  the 
future,  has  no  jealousy  of  others  and  is  not  willing  to  cast  others  aside  in 
his  own  race  for  the  best  of  the  world's  possessions,  and,  withal,  looks  con- 
stantly on  the  sunny  side  of  life  and  wants  to  see  men  made  better  and 
happier.  But  most  prominent  of  all  his  characteristics  is  his  firm  and  un- 
flinching devotion  to  what  he  sincerely  believes  to  be  right,  and  when  the 
moral  right  and  wrong  are  arrayed  there  is  no  doubt  what  side  he  will 
take.  His  own  career  has  wrought  out  in  him  a  sturdy  independence  and 
he  feels  thoroughly  able  to  take  care  of  himself  on  any  proposition,  and  from 
this  ability  of  self-control  and  direction  of  his  energies  into  the  channels 
which  he  chooses  he  is  also  able  to  give  intelligent  and  valuable  aid  to  causes 
and  principles  lying  outside  his  own  personal  relations.  He  has  pride  in 
good  moral  society,  believes  in  the  beneficence  of  church  influences  for  the 
betterment  of  the  world,  and  his  life  has  worked  out  for  the  general  good 
and  advancement  of  his  fellow  citizens. 

HENRY    A.    KLAAS. 

Henry  A.  Klaas,  of  Hanover  township,  belongs  to  a  class  of  citizens 
noted  for  industry,  thrift  and  native  intelligence,  derived  largely  from  his 
German  race  and  lineage,  to  which  nationality  Lake  county  is  indebted  for 
much  of  her  permanent  development  and  prosperity. 

Mr.  Klaas  was  born  in  Hanover  township,  this  county,  June  15,  1857, 
being  the  eldest  of  eleven  children,  four  sons  and  seven  daughters,  born  to 
Christian  and  Willielmina    (Brenker)    Klaas.     Six  of  these  children  beside 


636  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Klaas  are  living,  namely :  Louisa,  wife  of  F.  Berg,  a  farmer  of  Parnell, 
Missouri:  Anna,  wife  of  Fred  Echterling,  also  a  farmer  at  Parnell: 
August  H.,  who  is  married  and  farming  in  Hanover  township :  Mary,  wife 
of  Joe  Schenker,  of  Conception,  Missouri ;  Christian  F.,  who  is  married  and 
a  farmer  of  West  Creek  township;  Emma,  wife  of  John  Kretz,  a  harness 
dealer  at  Crown  Point. 

Christian  Klaas.  the  father,  was  born  in  Lippe-Detmold,  Germany,  in 
1828.  and  is  still  living  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  Being  reared  in 
Germany  to  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  then  took  ship  at  Bremen  and  after  a 
voyage  of  seven  weeks  reached  New  York,  whence  he  came  directly  to  Lake 
county,  arriving  with  little  money  but  with  plenty  of  youthful  energy  and 
ambition.  He  purchased  land  from  the  government,  and  during  a  successful 
career  he  came  into  possession  of  about  three  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of 
land  in  Lidiana  and  Illinois.  He  was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  a  member 
of  the  Catholic  church.  The  village  of  Klaasville  was  named  after  his  father, 
Henry,  who  also  aided  in  the  erection  of  the  St.  Anthony  Catholic  church  in 
that  place.  Mother  Klaas  was  also  born  in  Germany,  in  the  year  1832,  and 
she  is  still  living. 

]\lr.  Klaas  was  reared  in  Hanover  township,  and  was  educated  in  both 
the  English  and  German  languages.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  con- 
firmed by  Bishop  Durnger.  He  w-as  reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer  and 
stockman.  November  28,  1882,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Moenix,  and  all 
their  twelve  children  are  still  living,  as  follows :  Rosa  E.  was  confirmed  at 
the  age  of  fourteen  by  Bishop  Rademacher,  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  through  the  eighth  grade,  and  is  now  at  home.  Henry  C,  w'ho  was 
in  the  eighth  grade  of  school,  is  a  farmer  and  living  at  home.  Mary  A. 
was  confirmed  at  the  age  of  fourteen  by  Bishop  Rademacher  and  has  taken 
the  seventh  grade  of  school  work  and  also  studied  music.  Veronica,  con- 
firmed at  the  age  of  twelve,  is  in  the  seventh  grade.  Edward,  confirmed  by 
Bishop  Alerding.  is  in  the  sixth  grade.  Agnes  is  in  the  sixth  grade  of 
school,  Alma  is  in  the  fifth,  Emma  in  the  fourth,  Anton  B.  in  the  third,  and 
the  three  youngest  children  are  Andrew  C,  John  F.  and  Stella. 

Airs.  Klaas  was  born  in  Lake  county,  December  5,  1861,  being  a 
daughter  of  Christopher  and  Anna  Marie  (Berg)  Moenix,  her  parents  natives 
of  Germany  and  both  now  deceased.     There  were  ten  children  in  the  Moenix 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  637 

family,  six  sons  and  four  daughters,  and  of  the  four  still  living-  two  are  resi- 
dents of  Lake  county,  and  Anna  is  in  Illinois  and  Louie  is  in  Canada.  Mrs. 
Klaas  was  educated  in  the  common  schools,  and  was  confirmed  at  the  age  of 
thirteen  by  Bishop  Durnger. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Klaas  began  life  at  his  birthplace  in  Hanover  township 
on  land  which  his  father  ga\'e  him.  For  twenty-two  years,  or  almost  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  they  have  resided  m  Hano\'er  township,  and  they  are 
citizens  of  the  highest  standing  in  every  relation  of  life.  They  have  reared 
a  large  and  excellent  family,  and  they  are  known  among  their  friends  and 
associates  as  people  of  industry  and  honesty  and  high  worth.  Mr.  Klaas 
is  a  Democrat.  ha\-ing  cast  his  first  vote  for  \\'.  S.  Hancock,  and  has  sup- 
ported each  candidate  since.  He  is  a  friend  of  education  and  does  all  in 
his  power  to  support  the  public  school  system.  He  and  his  wife  and  the 
older  children  are  members  of  the  Catholic  church.  St.  Anthony's,  at  Klaas- 
ville,  and  Mrs.  Klaas  is  a  member  of  the  Rosary  Sodality  and  the  girls  of  the 
St.  Mary's  Sodality.  He  and  his  wife  own  one  hundred  and  thirteen  acres 
of  good  land  in  Hanover  township,  and  he  is  one  of  the  prosperous  German 
citizens  who  stand  high  in  the  estimation  of  the  people. 

FRANK    H.    LYONS. 

Frank  H.  Lyons,  in  the  real  estate  and  insurance  business  at  Hammond, 
has  for  a  number  of  years  been  identified  with  the  industrial,  public  and 
business  affairs  of  this  city,  where  he  has  practically  spent  the  vears  ui  his 
life.  He  is  a  young  man  of  much  ability,  alert  and  eager,  and  gifted  with 
an  energy  and  an  enterprise  which  make  him  influential  in  his  circle  of 
business  acquaintances. 

Mr.  Lyons  was  born  in  Sandusky,  Ohio,  September  i8,  1873.  a  son  of 
John  M.  and  Winifred  (Conlon)  Lyons,  both  natives  of  Ireland,  and  the 
latter  one  of  a  large  family  born  to  Michael  Conlon,  who  was  an  Irish  farmer 
and  died  in  Ireland  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-five  years.  The  father  of 
John  M.  Lyons  was  also  a  life-long  Ireland  farmer,  and  was  about  ninety 
years  old  when  he  died.  There  were  twelve  children  in  his  family.  John 
;\I.  Lyons  was  a  general  contractor,  and  after  his  migration  to  America 
located  on  Kelly's  Island  in  Lake  Erie.  About  1874  he  came  to  Indiana, 
and  a  year  later  located  at  Hammond,  where  he  has  since  lived.  He  and 
his    wife    are    members    of    the    Roman    Catholic    church.     Thev    had    nine 


638  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY. 

children,  four  sons  and  five  daughters,  and  the  five  now  hving  are  Peter  J., 
Frank  H.,  John  and  Matthew,  all  of  Hammond,  and  Miss  Winifred,  of 
Chicago. 

Mr.  Frank  H.  Lyons  was  reared  in  Hammond,  recei\ing  his  education 
in  the  public  schools.  He  afterward  took  up  the  trade  of  tinner  and  sheet 
metal  worker,  and  followed  it  for  twelve  years.  He  was  foreman  of  the 
sheet  metal  department  of  the  G.  H.  Hammond  Packing  Company  for  five 
years.  From  1898  until  1902  he  held  the  office  of  city  clerk,  and  during 
the  same  period  was  deputy  clerk  of  the  superior  court.  Since  lea\ing  this 
office  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  insurance  and  real  estate  business,  and 
has  already  built  up  a  creditable  amount  of  business. 

June  26,  igoo,  Mr.  Lyons  married  Miss  Mollie  B.  Hastings,  a  daughter 
of  Thomas  and  Margaret  (Clark)  Hastings.  They  have  one  son,  named 
Robert  F.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lyons  are  members  of  the  Catholic  church.  Their 
residence  is  at  142  Russell  street,  at  w-hich  location  they  also  own  another 
good  house.  He  affiliates  with  the  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of 
Elks  and  the  Maccabees,  and  in  politics  is  a  Democrat. 

MICHAEL    KOLB. 

Michael  Kolb,  the  well  known  druggist  and  pharmacist  at  Hammond, 
is  one  of  the  native  sons  of  Lake  county,  and  has  proved  an  honor  and  a 
credit  to  his  county  and  city  in  business  and  in  matters  of  citizenship.  He  is 
a  man  of  known  integrity  among  his  associates,  and  his  worth  of  character 
and  thrifty  enterprise  have  gained  him  a  well  deserved  place  among  the  fore- 
most men  of  Hammond.  His  life  span  covers  much  of  the  history  of  Lake 
county  from  the  primitive  pioneer  past  to  the  wonderful  progress  of  the 
present,  and  he  has  faithfully  borne  his  share  of  the  duties  and  responsibilities 
in  private,  business  and  political  life. 

Mr.  Kolb  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Lake  county.  February  28,  1855, 
being  the  eldest  of  the  family  of  Michael  and  Katharine  (Becker)  Kolb, 
both  natives  of  Alsace-Loraine.  Germany,  and  the  latter  being  one  of  the 
nine  children  of  George  Becker,  a  life-long  German  farmer,  who  attained 
the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  Both  the  paternal  great-grandfather  and 
grandfather  of  Mr.  Kolb  bore  the  name  of  Michael,  and  the  grandfather 
spent  his  life  in  Germany  as  a  farmer,  dying  when  an  old  man.  He  had  two 
children  by  his  first  marriage,  and  was  twice  married. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  639 

Michael  Kolb,  the  father  of  Mr.  Michael  Kolb,  grew  to  manhood  in  his 
fatherland,  and  in  1854  came  to  America  and  located  in  Lake  county.  He 
bought  a  farm  in  St.  John  township,  and  improved  it  and  reared  his  family 
on  it.  \\"hen  he  bought  the  land  it  was  wild  and  covered  with  woods,  in 
which  were  often  seen  the  wild  deer.  He  cleared  it  up,  and  eventually  had 
a  fine  farmstead,  on  which  he  lived  until  1893,  since  which  time  he  has  resided 
with  hi?;  son  Michael.  His  wife  died  November  14,  1879,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-nine  years.  They  were  both  Catholics.  There  were  nine  children  in 
their  family,  four  sons  and  five  daughters,  and  the  four  now  living  are : 
Michael;  Joseph,  of  Hammond;  Katharine,  wife  of  Anthony  Kouratt,  of 
Chicago;  and  Rose,  wife  of  John  C.  Klein,  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Kolb  spent  the  first  twenty  years  of  his  life  on  his  father's  farm, 
where,  among  other  valuable  things,  he  learned  to  be  thrifty  and  industrious. 
He  attended  the  district  schools,  and  also  the  high  school  at  Crown  Point, 
where  lie  graduated  in  1878.  For  the  following  twelve  years  he  was  en- 
gaged in  teaching  school.  In  tlie  latter  part  of  this  period  he  spent  his 
leisure  in  learning  the  drug  business  from  his  brother-in-law,  L.  G.  Kramer, 
and  in  1890  he  came  to  Hammond  and  entered  the  drug  business  on  his  own 
account,  which  enterprise  he  still  continues  with  profit  and  success. 

Mr.  Kolb  is  a  Democrat  in  politics.  He  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Catholic  church,  and  he  belongs  to  the  Catholic  Order  of  Foresters. 
His  residence  is  at  23  Condit  street,  where  he  erected  a  fine  home  in  1891. 
He  was  married  May  4,  1880,  to  Miss  Angeline  Kramer,  a  daughter  of 
ilatthias  and  Susan  (W'achter)  Kramer.  Eleven  children  have  been  born 
of  their  union:  Rose  M.,  Michael  E.,  Maria,  deceased,  Matthias  J., 
Leonard  G.,  Clara  K..  Agnes  M..  Francis  A.,  Katharine  M.,  Cecelia,  and 
Edward  O. 

EDWIN    J.    MUZZALL. 

Edwin  J.  Muzzall,  proprietor  of  a  livery  stable  at  Crown  Point,  where 
he  is  also  engaged  in  buying  and  selling  horses,  was  born  in  Ross  township. 
Lake  county,  August  28,  1861.  The  family  of  which  he  is  a  representative 
is  of  English  lineage  and  was  founded  in  America  by  Abrani  Muzzall,  a 
native  of  England,  who,  on  emigrating  to  America,  established  his  home  in 
Canada.     He  afterward  came  to  Indiana,  settling  in  Lake  county  in   1836. 


640  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Here  he  took  up  land  from  the  government,  for  wliich  he  paid  one  dollar 
and  a  quarter  per  acre,  thus  becoming  the  owner  of  a  quarter  section  in  Ross 
township.  He  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  this  part  of  the  state  and 
found  here  an  undeveloped  region.  The  prairies  were  uncultivated  and 
unclaimed  and  the  forests  still  stood  in  their  primeval  strength,  only  here 
and  there  could  be  seen  the  little  log  cabin  of  the  pi<ineer.  and  the  work  of 
progress  and  improvement  seem.ed  scarcely  begun.  John  Muzzall,  the  father 
of  our  subject,  was  born  in  Canada  and.  being  brought  to  Lake  county  by 
his  parents,  was  here  reared  amid  the  wild  scenes  of  frontier  life.  When 
he  had  arrived  at  years  of  maturity  he  wedded  Miss  Julia  Irish,  a  native  of 
Vermont,  in  which  state  she  spent  her  girlhood  days.  The  young  couple 
began  their  domestic  life  upon  a  farm,  and  John  ^Nluzzall  continued  to  engage 
in  agricultural  pursuits  until  1891,  when  he  removed  to  Crown  Point  and 
became  interested  in  the  livery  business  in  connection  with  his  son  Edwin  J. 
In  1894  John  Muzzall  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of  his  wife.  There 
were  three  children  of  that  marriage,  the  daughters  being  Chloe  and  Mary. 

Edwin  J.  Muzzall.  the  only  son  and  the  youngest  child,  was  reared  upon 
the  old  home  farm  in  Ross  township  and  at  the  usual  age  entered  the  district 
sch(TOls.  where  he  continued  his  education  until  he  had  mastered  the  branches 
of  learning  taught  therein.  He  was  also  early  trained  to  habits  of  industry 
and  economy  upon  the  home  farm,  and  when  but  a  boy  became  familiar  with 
all  the  duties  and  labors  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  agriculturist.  He  continued 
to  engage  in  farming  until  1891.  when  he  removed  to  Crown  Point  and  with 
his  father  established  a  livery  barn  and  also  began  buying  and  selling  horses. 
The  barn  is  well  equipped  with  a  fine  line  of  carriages  and  a  number  of  excel- 
lent horses  which  are  rented  to  the  general  public,  and  a  liberal  patronage  is 
now  accorded  Mr.  Muzzall.  He  is  an  excellent  judge  of  horses  and  is  thus 
enabled  to  make  judicious  purchases  and  profitable  sales.  He  has  been 
engaged  in  this  business  for  twelve  years,  and  in  the  year  1903  he  bought 
and  sold  over  four  hundred  head  of  horses.  Fie  goes  long  distances,  as  far 
as  Logansport  and  Monticello.  to  make  his  purchases,  and  he  is  now  the 
largest  horse  dealer  of  the  county.  He  also  owns  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  six  acres  of  valuable  land,  pleasantly  located  a  mile  and  a  half  .southwest 
of  Crown  Point,  and  this  returns  to  him  a  good  income.  On  the  i6th  of 
August,    1893.   Edwin  J.   Muzzall  was  united  in   marriage  to  Miss   Jennie 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  641 

Patton.the  youngest  daughter  of  Joseph  Patton,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
Lake  county.  ^Ir.  and  ^Irs.  Aluzzall  have  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  Percy, 
Leslie  and  Mabel. 

IMr.  !Muzzall  is  con.nected  with  the  Modern  \\'oodmen  of  America  and 
Ihe  Knights  of  the  Maccabees  at  Crown  Point,  and  has  taken  an  active  part 
in  these  lodges,  filling  ^■arious  of^ces  therein.  His  political  allegiance  is 
given  the  Republican  party,  and  he  keeps  well  informed  on  the  questions  of 
the  day.  both  politically  and  otherwise.  He  is  deeply  interested  in  the 
welfare  and  progress  of  his  native  county,  and  hi?  co-operation  has  been  a 
factor  that  is  ever  counted  upon  in  support  of  all  measures  for  the  gen- 
eral good. 

JOHN    PEARCE. 

John  Pearce.  the  well-known  stock-raiser  of  Section  24,  Eagle  Creek 
township,  has  spent  all  his  life  of  over  sixty  years  in  Lake  count}',  and  belongs 
to  one  of  the  pioneer  families  of  northwestern  Indiana.  He  did  not  enjoy 
manv  vears  of  grace  during  his  boyhood,  for  just  alx^ut  as  soon  as  he  could 
manage  a  plow  or  perform  the  ordinary  duties  of  a  farm  he  took  his  deceased 
father's  place  and  helped  provide  for  the  family  welfare.  He  has  laeen  more 
than  ordinarily  successful,  and  his  fine  h-ogs  and  cattle  have  a  high  reputa- 
tion throughout  the  county.  While  so  busily  engaged  with  the  serious  side 
of  life,  he  has  not  neglected  the  manv  other  interests  of  societ}'  and  citizen- 
ship, and  is  held  in  high  esteem  for  the  worthy  career  that  be  has  made  for 
himself  during  a  long  life  in  one  community. 

Mr.  Pearce  was  born  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides,  January  11, 
1842.  His  grandfather.  Squire  Pearce,  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  of  Scotch 
origin,  and  was  among  the  pioneers  of  LaPorte  county,  Indiana.  Michael 
Pearce,  the  father  of  John,  was  born  near  Hamilton,  Ohio,  in  1S08,  and 
died  in  1861.  He  was  reared  in  bis  native  place,  and  in  1838  accompanied 
his  father  to  Indiana,  making  settlement  in  Lake  county,  where  he  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  years.  He  married  Mary  J.  Dinwiddle,  who  was  born 
in  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  in  1818,  and  died  August  8,  1894.  Mr.  John 
Pearce  was  the  oldest  of  ten  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living,  the  others 
being:  Harriet,  wife  of  Isaac  Bryant,  of  Hebron,  Indiana;  Nancy  Ann, 
wife  of  O.  V.  Servis,  of  Eagle  Creek  township;  Mary  J.,  wife  of  W.  T. 
11 


6+2  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTi'. 

Buchanan,  of  Eagle  Creek  townsliip;  Susanna,  wife  of  G.  H.  Stahl,  of  Eagle 
Creek  To-«-nship :  Sedi  3— ;  and  Thomas,  on  the  old  homestead. 

Mr.  Jdm  Pearce  attended  oi>e  of  the  priniitiTe  ]c§-cabdn  schools,  now 
a  tJiii^  of  andent  history  in  Indiana.  He  got  efficient  training  in  farm 
work  from  Ms  faliher,  and  at  the  latter's  death  be  took  mp  tl>e  managenxait 
of  the  home  place  and  has  carried  it  on  ever  since.  He  has  one  hundred  and 
tweniTi-  acres  in  the  home  farm  and  fifty  acres  elsewhere  in  the  township, 
and  he  and  his  son  Jay  M.  make  a  specialty  of  raising  hogs  and  cattle 
respecti%-dT  of  the  Poland  China  and  Shorthorn  Tarieties.  He  has  line  facili- 
ties for  hc^-raising,  and  has  been  in  the  business  tor  twraity-five  years. 

Mr.  Pearce  is  a  stanch  Republican  in  politics,  and  has  taken  a  good 
citizen's  part  in  public  aSairs.  He  is  an  active  member  of  the  Masonic  lodge 
at  Grown  Pcrant.  He  was  married  to  Ikliss  Elizabeth  B,  Foster,  a  native  ol 
Pennsvlrania  and  a  daughter  of  Frederick  and  Betsey  Foster,  likewise 
natives  of  Pennsylvania-  Mrs.  Pearce  was  reared  in  her  native  state  to  -fee 
age  of  axteen,  and  then  came  to  Lake  county,  and  in  this  and  in  Porter 
countv  taught  school  for  sevoal  years  before  her  marriage,  being  one  of  the 
instroctars  in  Bal  Institnte  at  Crown  Point.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pearce  have 
Iw^o  children  Erii^,  and  two  are  deceased :  Florence  is  the  wife  of  Thomas 
Ross,  of  Eagle  Creek  township;  and  Jay  M.  is  the  partner  of  his  father. 

CLIFFORD   C   ROBIXSOX,  M.   D. 

One  of  the  younger  representatives  of  the  medical  profession  in  north- 
western Indiana  is  Dr.  Qiffcrd  Clarence  Rdbinsooi.  who  snoe  1902  has  en- 
gaged in  practice  at  Indiana  Harbar,  bringing  to  his  work  accurate  and  ccam- 
prebensive  knowledge  of  tibe  meet  nsodem  ideas,  discoveries  and  methods 
used  bv  the  n-jembers  of  the  medical  fraternity.  He  is  a  native  son  of  In- 
diana, his  tnrth  having  occurred  in  Elkhart,  on  the  :?7th  of  Aitgnst,  1S74. 
His  paternal  grandfather.  Squire  Robinson,  M.  D.,  was  a  natiine  of  tbe  siate 
of  Xew  York  and  in  eaify  Hfe  was  a  njanisiter  of  the  Ikmkard  church,  bat 
later  be  took  up  die  study  of  medicine  and  began  practice  when  thimvax 
vears  of  age.  At  tibe  time  of  the  Cavil  war  be  sers«d  in  xbe  L'nicn  anny  as 
a  surgecin,  thus  rendering  valuable  aid  to  the  boys  in  bhie.  He  became  a  resi- 
dent of  "■■"  '^'— :  at  an  eariy  period  in  the  settlement  and  improvement  of  the 
state,  a:  ard  removed  to  Michigan,  locating  at  Benton  Harbor,  where 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUXTY.  6-13 

lie  tiied  at  an  advanced  age.  He  married  a  Miss  Clem  and  they  reared  a 
large  family.  This  number  included  Dr.  Clarence  S.  Robinson,  who  was 
bom  in  Indiana  and  is  now  a  practicing  physician  and  surgeon  of  Dowagiac. 
Michigan,  where  he  has  lived  for  the  past  ten  years,  enjoying  a  liberal  pat- 
ronage. He  married  Miss  Agnes  Clark,  also  a  native  of  Indiana.  Her 
father,  who  was  a  native  of  the  state  of  Xew  York  and  was  a  farmer  by 
cKCupation,  enlisted  for  service  in  the  Civil  war,  as  a  meml)er  of  the  Union 
amiy,  and  was  killed  in  battle.  His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Julia 
Fuller  and  they  had  a  numerous  family.  Their  daughter,  Mrs.  Robinson, 
passed  away  in  1897,  when  thirty-seven  years  of  age.  She  held  membership 
in  the  Baptist  church,  to  which  Dr.  Clarence  S.  Robinson  also  belongs.  Their 
children  were  two  in  numl)er,  but  one  died  in  infancy. 

Dr.  Clifford  Clarence  Robinson,  of  Indiana  Harbor,  the  third  genera- 
tion of  the  family  to  engage  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  was  reared  in  the 
vicinitA"  of  Dowagiac,  Michigan,  and  attended  the  public  schools  there,  being 
graduated  from  the  high  school  with  the  class  of  1896.  He  then  took  up  the 
study  of  medicine  in  tlie  medical  department  of  the  University  of  Michigan, 
at  Ann  Arbor,  and  on  the  completion  of  the  full  course  was  graduated  in  the 
class  of  1902  and  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  chosen  profession  in  In- 
diana Harbor,  in  August  of  that  year.  Already  he  has  gained  a  good  pat- 
ronage and  has  demonstrated  his  ability-  to  successfully  cope  with  the  intricate 
problems  which  continually  confront  the  physician.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Lake  County  Medical  Society. 

On  the  1st  day  of  July,  1903,  Dr.  Robinson  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Belle  Corless,  a  daughter  of  Hiram  and  Martha  Corless,  and  during 
their  residence  in  Indiana  Harbor  they  have  won  the  favorable  regard  and 
friendship  of  many.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  in  citizenship  is  pub- 
lic-spirited and  progressive. 

GILBERT  C.  SAUNDERS.  M.  D. 

Dr.  Gilbert  C.  Saunders,  who  is  engaged  in  die  practice  of  medicine  and 
surger}-  at  Indiana  Harbor,  was  bom  at  Belle  Vernon,  Pennsylvania,  July  18. 
1859,  and  is  one  of  the  four  sons  whose  parents  were  William  and  Susan 
(Coutant)  Saunders.  The  family  was  established  in  .\inerica  at  an  early 
period  in  the  colonization  of  the  new  world  by  ancestors  who  came  from 


6U  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Scotland.  The  grandfather  was  born  in  \'irginia  and  died  at  Fish  Creek, 
that  state,  when  in  middle  life.  He  was  a  typical  soutliern  gentleman,  and 
owned  a  plantation  which  he  operated  with  the  aid  of  his  slaves.  His  wife 
was  Mrs.  Susan  Saunders  and  they  were  the  parents  of  one  son  and  one 
daughter.  The  son,  \\'illiam  Saunders,  father  of  Dr.  Saunders,  was  born 
in  West  Virginia,  and  after  arriving  at  years  of  maturity  he  wedded  Miss 
Susan  Coutant,  a  native  of  Connecticut.  Her  father.  Gilbert  Coutant.  was 
also  born  in  that  state.  He  was  a  shipbuilder  and  owned  a  ship  yard  at 
Xew  Haven,  but  subsequently  removed  to  Honesdale.  Xew  York,  where  his 
remaining  days  were  passed,  his  death  occurring  when  he  had  reached  the 
seventy-sixth  milestone  on  life's  journey.  In  the  family  were  two  sons  and 
five  daughters.  The  name  Coutant  is  of  French  origin  and  was  formerly 
spelled  Coutante.  The  ancestral  history  of  the  family  can  be  traced  back  to 
the  time  of  Charlemagnie.  William  Saunders  was  reared  upon  the  planta- 
tion owned  by  his  father  in  \'irginia  and  afterward  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  glass,  but  later  entered  professional  life,  beginning  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  Peru,  Indiana,  when  forty-five  years  of  age.  Subsequently  he 
removed  to  La  Salle.  Illinois,  where  he  continued  in  active  practice  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1S91,  when  he  was  sixty-three  years  of 
age.  His  wife  still  survives.  Like  him  she  is  a  Methodist,  and  has  long 
guided  her  life  by  the  teachings  and  precepts  of  the  church.  To  this  worthy 
couple  were  bom  eleven  children,  four  sons  and  seven  daughters,  of  whom 
seven  are  now  living:  William,  a  resident  of  Newcastle.  Pennsylvania;  Gil- 
bert C,  whose  name  introduces  this  record:  Sarah  E.,  the  wife  of  Thomas  A. 
Downs,  of  Orestes,  Indiana:  Charles  B.,  who  is  Hving  in  Chicago,  Illinois, 
where  he  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine;  Ida.  the  wife  of  John  Jen- 
nings, of  Chicago;  Mar\-.  the  wife  of  Charles  Johnson,  of  the  same  city;  and 
Belle,  of  La  Salle,  Illinois. 

Dr.  Gilbert  C.  Saunders  resided  in  Pennsylvania  until  fifteen  years  of 
age  and  then  went  to  La  Salle,  Illinois,  with  his  parents.  His  early  education 
was  acquired  in  the  public  schools  of  Pennsylvania  and  he  afterward  attended 
a  grammar  school  in  La  Salle,  Illinois,  while  later  he  continued  his  studies 
in  a  business  college  in  Davenport,  Iowa.  He  was  trained  for  his  professional 
duties  in  Chicago  and  San  Francisco,  attending  the  Hahnemann  Medical  Col- 
lege of  the  former  city  and  afterward  matriculating  in  the  Hahnemann  Hos- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  645 

pital  College,  of  San  Francisco,  from  which  institution  lie  was  graduated  in 
1894.  He  began  practicing  in  San  Trancisco,  where  he  remained  for  about 
nine  years  or  until  1903,  when  be  returned  eastward  and  established  an  ofticc 
in  Indiana  Harbor,  where  be  has  since  been  located.  He  is  deeply  interested 
in  his  profession  both  from  a  scientific  and  humanitarian  standpoint,  and 
continued  reading  and  investigation  constantly  broaden  his  knowledge  and 
promote  bis  efficiency  in  the  line  of  his  chosen  profession. 

On  the  8tb  of  January.  1883,  Dr.  Saunders  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  ]\Iary  A.  Robson,  a  daughter  of  Angus  and  Maria  (Walters)  Robson, 
who  were  natives  of  England.  Her  father  came  to  .\merica  when  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  and  her  mother  was  a  little  maiden  of  only  eight  summers 
when  she  crossed  the  Atlantic.  After  their  marriage  they  resided  at  Belle 
Yernon,  Pennsylvania,  for  some  time  and  subsequently  ren.ioved  to  Rock 
Island.  Illinois,  where  Mr.  Robson  died  on  the  9th  of  July,  1880,  at  the  age 
of  forty-seven  years.  His  widow  still  survi\es  him  and  now  resides  at  El- 
wood,  Indiana.  He  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  glass.  He  was  a 
son  of  William  and  Mary  A.  (Campbell)  Robson.  The  former  died  in  Eng- 
land at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  In  their  family  were  one  daughter  and 
several  sons,  including  Angus  Robson.  The  maternal  grandfather  of  Mrs. 
Saunders  was  James  W.  Walters,  a  native  of  England,  and  on  crossing  the 
Atlantic  to  America  be  settled  in  Blossburg,  Pennsyhania,  while  later  he 
established  his  home  in  Belle  \"ernon,  that  state.  In  the  year  1849  ^''^  went 
to  California,  attracted  by  the  discovery  of  gold  on  the  Pacific  coast  and 
later  he  made  his  way  to  old  Mexico,  where  he  died  at  a  very  advanced  age. 
His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Mary  Frank,  and  they  were  the  parents 
of  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  To  Mr.  and  i\Irs.  Angus  Robson  were  born 
eleven  children,  se\'en  sons  antl  four  daughters,  six  of  whom  are  now  living: 
John  A.:  Mrs.  Saunders:  Isaljel :  James  R. :  ]\Iaria  Jane,  the  wife  of  John 
Evans ;  and  Angus  C. 

To  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Saunders  ha\-e  been  born  two  children,  ^Margaret  and 
Lester,  but  the  latter  died  at  the  age  of  thirteen  months.  Dr.  Saunders  is  a 
member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias  fraternity,  while  his  political  allegiance 
is  gi\-en  to  the  Republican  party.  Although  he  has  made  his  home  in  Indiana 
Harbor  for  only  a  brief  period  he  has  already  gained  a  favorable  acquaintance 
both  professional!}-  and  socially  and  enjciys  tlie  high  regard  of  many  friends. 


646  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

ISAAC  H.  SCOFFERN. 

Isaac  H.  Scoffern,  who  for  fifteen  years  has  been  agent  for  the  Elgin, 
Joliet  &  Eastern  Railroad,  or  Outer  Belt  Line,  at  Hobart,  was  born  in  Eng- 
land, February  20,  1858,  and  when  twelve  years  of  age  came  to  the  Laiited 
States  with  his  parents,  Richard  and  Susan  (Cory)  Scoffern.  The  father 
was  born  in  England  and  was  a  mason  by  trade.  He  followed  that  occupa- 
tion in  the  old  world  until  about  1870,  when  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  to 
America  and  located  in  Allen,  Hillsdale  county,  Michigan,  where  he  followed 
both  farming  and  mason  work.  He  now  resides  in  Hobart,  making  his  home 
with  his  son,  Isaac  H.  His  wife  was  also  born  in  England  and  died  on  the  old 
home  farm  in  Michigan  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years.  This  worthy  couple 
were  the  parents  of  six  children,  two  daughters  and  four  sons,  but  the  first 
two  died  in  infancy.  Robert  F.  is  a  resident  of  Chickasaw,  Indian  Terri- 
tory, having  been  appointed  a  judge  there  by  the  government.  Dixon  Rich- 
ard is  cashier  of  the  Niles  City  Bank,  at  Niles,  Michigan.  Elizabeth  is  the 
wife  of  A.  B.  Kirchof¥,  and  resides  at  Franklin  Park,  Illinois,  his  business 
being  that  of  an  employe  in  the  auditor's  office  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee 
&  St.  Paul  Railroad  Company  at  Chicago. 

Isaac  H.  Scoffern,  the  fourth  child  and  third  son  of  the  family,  spent  the 
first  twelve  years  of  his  life  in  the  land  of  his  nativity  and  then  became  a 
resident  of  Hillsdale  county,  Michigan.  He  attended  the  public  schools  of 
England  and  afterward  continued  his  education  in  the  public  schools  of  Allen, 
Michigan.  The  duties  of  the  farm  claimed  his  attention  during  the  summer 
months  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  he  began  railroading,  be- 
ing employed  in  1879  as  a  checker  or  tallyman  in  the  freight  department  of 
the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Railroad  at  Chicago.  He  was  after- 
ward promoted  to  the  position  of  special  delivei7man  for  the  same  company, 
which  position  he  filled  until  about  1S83.  He  then  accepted  a  position  as 
operator  and  agent  with  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad  at 
Spalding,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  for  three  years,  when  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  Minonk,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  for  one  year  as  agent  for  the 
Elgin,  Joliet  &  Eastern  Railroad.  In  1889  he  came  to  Hobart  as  agent  for 
the  same  company  and  has  since  filled  this  position  covering  a  period  of  fifteen 
years,  a  fact  which  indicates  his  loyalty  to  the  company  and  also  his  fidelity 
and  capaliilitv  in  the  performance  of  the  duties  which  devolve  upon  him. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  64T 

On  the  24th  of  August,  1879,  Mr.  Scoffern  was  united  in  nianiage  to 
Miss  Mary  Wonnacott.  a  daughter  of  Jolui  and  Sarah  \\'onnacott.  Slie  was 
born  in  Chicago  and  was  reared  and  educated  there  until  twelve  years  of  age. 
Their  children  are  Robert  Floyd,  who  is  now  in  the  employ  of  the  Elgin, 
Joliet  &  Eastern  Railroad  Company;  and  Bessie  Edith,  who  is  assisting  her 
father  in  the  office. 

Mr.  Scoffern  was  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  at  Hobart,  takes  a  most  active  and  helpful  part  in  its  w'ork  and  is  now^ 
serving  as  treasurer  and  trustee.  He  is  also  a  recognized  leader  of  the  Pro- 
hibition party  in  this  community  and  is  chairman  of  the  central  committee 
for  Lake  county.  He  is  likewise  a  member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  Camp 
and  is  well  known  in  Hobart  as  one  of  its  leading  citizens  who  favors  progress 
and  improvement  along  every  line  which  tends  to  upbuild  humanit}'.  He  is 
the  champion  of  educational,  social,  temperance  and  moral  measures,  and  his 
influence  and  support  are  ever  on  the  side  of  right,  truth  and  justice. 

MATHL\S  G.  STERNBERG. 

Mathias  G.  Sternberg,  proprietor  of  the  Block  Avenue  Hotel  at  Indiana 
Harbor,  was  born  at  College  Point,  New  York,  April  6,  1855,  and  in  both  the 
paternal  and  maternal  lines  lie  comes  of  German  ancestry.  His  paternal 
grandfather  resided  in  Holstein,  Germany,  and  there  he  spent  his  entire  life, 
nor  did  the  maternal  grandfather  ever  leave  that  country.  The  parents  of 
our  subject  were  George  and  Wilhelmina  Sternberg,  also  natives  of  the 
fatherland.  The  former  became  a  school  teacher  and  crossed  the  Atlantic 
to  America  some  time  in  the  '50s,  settling  in  New  York.  He  proved  a  loyal 
son  of  his  adopted  country  and  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  war  he  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  Union,  enlisting  under  Captain  Roma,  with  whose  command 
he  went  to  the  front.  He  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  and  was 
long  survived  by  his  wife,  wdio  died  in  1886  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years. 
Both  were  members  of  the  Lutheran  church.  In  their  family  were  fourteen 
children,  six  sons  and  eight  daughters,  but  only  two  of  the  number  are  now 
living,  the  sister  of  our  subject  being  Dora,  the  wife  of  Nicholas  Schwartz, 
of  College  Point,  Long  Island,  New  York. 

Mathias  G.  Sternberg  resided  on  Long  Island  in  his  early  boyhood  days 
and   attended   the  public   schools   there.      He   afterward    went   to    Delaware. 


648  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Sullivan  county,  New  York,  w  here  he  worked  as  a  farm  hand  for  two  years, 
and  on  the  expiration  of  that  period  he  removed  to  Waterbury,  Connecticut. 
where  he  was  employed  by  the  Plume  &  Atwood  Company,  manufacturers  of 
various  kinds  of  brass  goods.  There  he  continued  until  the  spring  of  1876, 
when  he  went  to  Philadelphia  and  was  employed  by  the  Centennial  Exposi- 
tion Company  in  the  machinery  hall.  In  the  following  August  he  came  west 
and  took  passage  on  board  the  steamer  Tidal  \\"ave  of  the  Diamond  Joe  line, 
whereby  he  proceeded  from  Fulton,  Illinois,  to  Stillwater,  Minnesota,  accom- 
panied by  his  brother,  Casper  Sternberg.  In  the  fall  of  1876  he  made  his  way 
to  Chicago  and  secured  employment  with  the  Holmes  &  Pyatt  Company,  man- 
ufacturers of  printing  presses.  He  continued  in  that  service  until  1878.  when 
he  accepted  the  position  of  clerk  for  G.  E.  Smith  in  the  Metropolitan  Hotel 
on  Wells  street,  acting  in  that  capacity  until  1880.  He  then  went  to  the 
town  of  Harvey  and  began  working  for  the  Hopkins  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, manufacturers  of  mowing  machines,  and  during  two  yexirs  was  asso- 
ciated with  that  enterprise.  The  company  then  erected  a  hotel  called  the 
Hopkins  House  and  Mr.  Sternberg  assumed  its  management.  Later,  how- 
ever, he  again  entered  the  employ  of  the  Holmes-Pyatt  Company,  but  after 
a  short  time  he  made  his  way  to  Montana,  locating  on  a  ranch  twenty-two 
miles  from  Livingston.  There  he  lived  for  a  time  and  subsequently  returned 
to  Chicag'o,  where  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  William  Deering  Harvester 
Company.  In  1887  he  furnished  a  hotel  for  G.  E.  Smith  called  LeGrand. 
and  he  later  became  proprietor  of  the  Metropolitan  Hotel,  which  he  conducted 
until  1893,  when  he  entered  into  business  relations  with  the  Piano  Agricul- 
tural Works  at  West  Pullman,  being  expert  road  man  for  that  house.  In 
the  fall  of  1903  be  came  to  Indiana  Harbor  and  has  since  been  engaged  in 
the  hotel  business  here,  being  now  proprietor  of  the  Block  Avenue  Hotel. 

On  the  17th  of  August,  1883,  'Sir.  Sternberg  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Rose  Shiller.  Five  children  were  born  of  this  union,  four  daughters 
and  a  son:  Florilla  and  Orilla,  twins;  Matbias  G. :  Doris:  and  Rosa,  who 
died  in  infancy.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sternberg  are  members  of  the  Congregational 
church,  and  he  belongs  to  the  Knights  of  Pythias  fraternity.  Politically  he 
is  a  Democrat,  but  has  had  neither  time  nor  inclination  to  seek  public  i:)ffice, 
preferring  to  give  his  attention  to  his  busip.ess  affairs,  in  which  he  has  met 
with  very  good  success.     All  that  he  possesses  has  been  accpiireil  through  his 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  049 

own  labors  and  industry,  and  lie  has  steadily  worked  his  way  upward  so  tliat 
he  deserves  much  credit  for  what  he  has  accomphslied. 

REV.  EDWARD  F.  BARRETT. 

Rev.  Edward  F.  Barrett,  who  has  been  the  beloved  pastor  of  All  Saints 
Catholic  church  at  Hammond  for  the  past  seven  years,  has  almost  the  entire 
credit  for  the  present  flourishing'  condition  of  his  church  and  parish.  The 
church  had  been  organized  but  a  year  when  he  took  charge,  and  there  were 
then  but  seventeen  families  under  his  religious  care.  There  are  now  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-eight  families.  The  church  and  the  schoolhouse  were  built 
in  1897,  and  there  are  now  two  hundred  pupils  in  attendance.  A  handsome 
rectory  of  brick  was  erected  in  1898,  and  in  the  following  year  the  sisters' 
convent  was  built.  Father  Barrett  has  thrown  his  whole  heart  and  religious 
zeal  into  the  cause,  and  has  accomplished  wonders  in  the  short  time  of  his 
pastorate.  He  is  a  tireless  worker  not  only  in  the  cause  of  his  own  church 
but  for  humanity  in  general,  and  he  richly  deserves  his  immense  popularity 
among  both  Catholics  and  Protestants.  His  kindness  of  heart,  his  benevo- 
lence and  broad  public  spirit  are  traits  of  his  character  that  appeal  to  all 
men,  and  his  depth  of  learning  and  catholicity  of  sympathy  enable  him  to 
wield  a  potent  influence  for  righteousness  in  his  community. 

Father  Barrett  was  born  in  Rutland,  Vermont,  December  22,  1867,  be- 
ing a  son  of  James  and  Ann  (Clifford)  Barrett,  natives  of  Tipperary  county. 
Ireland.  Both  his  maternal  and  his  paternal  grandfather  died  in  Ireland. 
His  father  has  been  for  fifty-two  years  foreman  of  the  Vermont  Marble  Com- 
pany at  Rutland,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  highly  esteemed  citizens  of  that 
place.  They  had  seven  sons  and  three  daughters,  nine  of  whom  are  men- 
tioned as  follows:  John,  of  Rutland,  Vermont:  W^illiam,  of  New  York 
city;  Patrick,  of  Rutland;  James,  of  Mexico;  Sarah,  wife  of  John  Purcell, 
of  Rutland ;  Michael,  who  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen ;  Henry,  of  Rutland : 
Rev.  Edward  F.,  of  Hammond;  and  Mary  E.,  of  Hammond. 

Father  Barrett  was  reared  in  his  native  city  of  Rutland,  and  attended  both 
the  public  and  the  parochial  schools  there.  He  was  a  student  in  Assumption 
College  in  Canada,  and  took  his  theological  course  in  the  Grand  Seminary 
at  Montreal.  He  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  in  July,  1895,  at  Belle  Isle, 
by  Bishop  La  Flech,  and  in  the  same  year  became  assistant  pastor  of  St. 
Patrick's  church  at  Fort  Wavne,   Indiana,  under  Father  Delaney.      He  re- 


650  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

mained  at  Fort  Wayne  for  two  years  and  then  came  to  Hammond,  where  he 
took  charge  of  All  Saints'  church  as  the  successor  of  Rev.  John  Cook,  who 
had  been  its  first  pastor  and  organizer  in  the  previous  year.  1896. 

E.  H.  GUYER. 

E.  H.  Guyer,  who  is  engaged  in  merchandising  and  also  in  dealing  in 
stock  at  Hobart,  was  born  in  Calhoun  county,  Michigan,  Jnne  8,  1854.  His 
father,  Andrew  Guyer,  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Calhoun  county. 
His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  Mary  Royce,  died  during  the  infancy  of 
her  son,  E.  H.  Guyer.  In  the  family  were  twelve  children.  The  eldest  brother 
was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Stone  River  during  the  Civil  war.  Mr.  Guyer  was 
the  youngest  child  of  his  father's  first  marriage,  but  has  a  half-sister  born  of 
the  second  marriage.  He  was  but  fifteen  years  of  age  when  he  started  out  in 
life  on  his  own  account,  and  in  1874  he  made  his  way  to  Lake  county,  Lidiana, 
where  he  secured  employment  in  a  brickyard  at  driving  a  team  by  the  day  and 
month.  He  worked  for  about  four  years  in  the  butchering  business,  and  in 
1884  he  established  a  meat  market  of  his  own  in  Hobart.  He  is  also  en- 
gaged in  buying,  selling  and  shipping  stock  and  also  dealing  in  hay.  To  some 
extent  he  has  dealt  in  real  estate  and  now  owns  considerable  property  at 
Hobart  and  Indiana  Harbor.  In  1897  he  built  his  present  business  block, 
one  of  the  substantial  structures  of  the  city. 

In  1884  Mr.  Guyer  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Rebecca  Green,  a 
daughter  of  John  A.  and  Cordelia  (Bird)  Green.  She  was  born  in  Lake 
county,  being  a  representative  one  of  the  pioneer  families  here.  The  home  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Guyer  is  celebrated  for  its  gracious  hospitality,  and  the  hos- 
pitality of  the  best  homes  of  the  city  is  extended  to  them.  Mr.  Guyer  is  a 
Cleveland  Dtemocrat,  but  at  local  elections  votes  for  the  candidate  \\hom  he 
thinks  best  qualified  for  office.  He  is  identified  with  the  Masonic  fraternity 
at  Hobart.  He  has  traveled  extensively  over  the  county,  buying  and  selling- 
stock,  and  is  recognized  as  a  most  progressive  business  man  of  Hobart,  whose 
success  indicates  his  life  of  thrift  and  industry. 

JOHN  F.  TAKE,  ^I.  D. 

In  professional  circles  Dr.  John  F.  Take  has  won  a  position  of  prom- 
inence that  is  an  indication  of  his  skill,  close  application,  determined  purpose 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  051 

and  laudable  ambition.  He  is  largely  a  self-educated  as  Avell  as  a  self-made 
man,  and  he  has  exerted  his  efforts  in  a  calling  where  advancement  depends 
entirely  upon  individual  merit.  Not  by  gift,  by  purchase  or  by  influence  can  it 
be  secured.  A  physician's  labors  must  stand  the  test  of  practical  work,  and 
favorable  public  opinion  is  won  only  as  he  demonstrates  his  power  to  suc- 
cessfully cope  with  the  intricate  problems  continually  presented  by  disease. 
That  Dr.  Take  is  now  enjoying  a  large  practice  is  indicative  of  his  thorough 
understanding  of  the  principles  of  the  science  of  medicine  and  his  correct- 
ness of  their  application  to  the  needs  of  suffering"  humanity. 

Numbered  among  the  native  sons  of  Illinois,  Dr.  Take  was  born  in 
Fountain  Green,  Hancock  county,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1864.  His  father, 
Charles  Take,  was  a  native  of  Germany  and  came  to  America  when  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  hoping  that  he  might  have  better  business  opportunities  in 
the  new  world  than  were  afforded  him  in  his  native  country.  A  farmer  by 
occupation,  he  devoted  his  entire  life  to  that  calling  in  order  to  provide  for 
his  family,  but  he  died  at  a  comparatively  early  age.  His  wife  bore  the  maiden 
name  of  Mary  Church  and  was  a  native  of  Indiana.  They  were  the  parents 
of  three  children,  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  but  the  latter  died  in  infancy  and 
the  brother  of  Dr.  Take  is  known  as  Robert  Hetrick,  having  been  adopted 
by  the  Hetrick  family  of  Laharpe,  Illinois,  when  but  three  years  of  age,  his 
father  having  died.  He  is  now  a  merchant  of  Denver,  Colorado,  and  is  a 
journalist  by  profession. 

Dr.  Take,  the  eldest  of  the  three  children,  was  only  six  years  of  age  at 
the  time  of  his  father's  death.  He  afterward  lived  with  a  family  by  the 
name  of  Hopper  until  eleven  3ears  of  age,  and  during  that  time  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Hancock  county,  Illinois.  His  mother  then  removed  to  Rockford, 
Michigan,  and  Dr.  Take  resided  with  her  there  until  eighteen  years  of  age, 
during  which  time  he  attended  the  common  schools  and  also  assisted  in  the 
work  of  the  home  farm.  Later  he  went  to  North  Dakota,  where  he  spent 
one  year,  and  subsequently  removed  to  Lamars,  Iowa,  where  he  attended  high 
school  for  two  years.  By  earnest  labor  he  gained  the  money  necessary  to 
defray  his  college  expenses.  Desirous  of  becoming  a  member  of  the  medical 
fraternity  he  pursued  a  course  in  reading  under  Dr.  Prosser,  of  Lamars,  Iowa, 
for  a  year,  and  next  went  to  Chicago  in  the  fall  of  1887.  There  he  entered 
the  Bennett  Medical  College  and  was  graduated  from  that  institution  with  the 


652  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

class  of  1889.  'In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  he  matriculated  in  the  Chicago 
Homeopathic  College  and  was  graduated  in  the  spring  of  i8go.  On  the  i5tli 
of  April,  of  the  same  year.  Dr.  Take  located  for  practice  in  Whiting,  opening 
an  office  on  Front  street.  He  was  the  first  physician  to  locate  here  and  he 
has  been  in  constant  practice  in  the  town  since  that  time,  building  up  an  ex- 
tensive practice  which  has  constantly  grown  in  volume  and  importance.  He 
has  made  a  specialty  of  the  diseases  of  children  and  is  particularly  proficient 
along  that  line.  Dr.  Take  is  a  member  of  the  Eclectic  ]\Iedical  and  Surgi- 
cal Society  of  Chicago,  and  he  is  a  student  who  is  constantly  promoting 
his  efficiency  through  reading  and  investigation.  He  discharges  the  duties 
of  his  profession  with  a  sense  of  conscientious  obligation,  and  his  ability 
has  long  been  proved  by  the  excellent  results  which  attend  his  efforts. 

In  November,  1887,  Dr.  Take  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Mary 
Isabel  Haines,  of  Rockford.  Michigan,  who  was  born  in  that  city  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Moses  Davton  Haines,  whose  birth  nccurred  in  Dutchess  county, 
New  York.  Her  mother  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Jane  Wilkinson,  and  was 
also  a  native  of  Dutchess  county.  In  their  family  were  eight  children,  three 
sons  and  five  daughters,  of  whom  Mrs.  Take  is  the  sixth  child  and  fifth 
daughter.  Her  birth  occurred  July  8,  1866.  and  she  was  reared  in  Rockford, 
Michigan,  attending  the  public  schools  there  and  afterward  becoming  a 
student  in  St.  Mary's  Academy.  To  the  Doctor  and  his  wife  have  been  born 
two  children:  Lena  Frances,  who  was  born  June  15,  1889,  at  3636  Fifth 
avenue,  in  Chicago:  and  Milton  Jay.  at  304  One  Hundred  and  Nineteenth 
street  in  AVhiting,  Indiana,  on  the  loth  of  May,  1892. 

Dr.  Take  has  been  a  life-long  Republican  and  has  ser\'ed  Whiting  as  a 
member  of  the  town  board  of  health,  but  aside  from  this  has  had  no  political 
aspirations.  He  is  a  self-educated  as  well  as  self-made  man,  having  earned 
the  money  which  enabled  him  to  pursue  his  college  course.  The  history  of 
mankind  is  replete  with  illustrations  of  the  fact  that  it  is  only  under  the  pres- 
sure of  adversity  and  the  stimulus  of  opposition  that  the  best  and  strongest 
in  man  are  brought  out  and  developed,  and  the  life  record  of  Dr.  Take  is 
another  proof  of  this  statement.  In  private  life  be  has  gained  that  warm 
personal  regard  which  arises  from  true  nobility  of  character,  deference  for  the 
opinions  of  others,  kindness  and  geniality. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  653 

FRANXIS  E.  STEPHENS,  D.  D.  S. 

Dr.  Francis  Euceives  Stephens,  who  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of  den- 
tistry in  Indiana  Harbor,  was  born  in  Sharon,  Mercer  county,  Pennsylvania, 
on  the  29th  of  June,  1880,  and  is  a  representative  of  an  old  English  family 
that  for  several  generations  resided  in  Lydney.  Gloucestershire,  England. 
His  father,  iiis  grandfather  and  his  great-grandfather  all  bore  the  name  of 
John  Stephens.  The  last  named  was  connected  with  the  tin  industry  in 
Lydney,  his  native  town,  and  there  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-two  years,  while 
his  wife,  Mrs.  Hannah  Stephens,  departed  this  life  at  the  age  of  seventy-four 
years.  Their  family  of  three  sons  and  four  daughters  included  John  Stephens, 
2d.  who  spent  his  entire  life  in  Lydney.  where  he  worked  as  a  hammer- 
smith. He  married  Charlotte  Hawkens  of  that  town,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Sarah  Hawkens,  who  were  also  natives  of  Lydney  and  died  at  the  ages 
of  eighty-nine  and  forty-two  years,  respectively.  Mr.  Hawkens  was  a  ship- 
ping contractor  who  loaded  and  unloaded  vessels  in  the  canal  and  at  the 
dock,  and  in  his  family  were  two  children,  a  son  and  daughter,  the  latter 
Mrs.  Stephens.  John  Stephens,  2d,  died  in  1899,  ^"^  '^'S  wife  in  Alarch, 
1902.  Their  only  son,  John  Stephens,  3d,  is  the  father  of  Dr.  Stephens.  He 
was  born  in  Lydney,  December  2,  1844,  was  reared  and  educated  there  and 
throughout  his  entire  life  has  been  connected  with  the  iron  industry.  Com- 
ing to  this  countrv,  he  was  employed  in  various  places,  and  winning  promo- 
tions from  time  to  time.  He  is  now  superintendent  of  the  Inland  Steel  Com- 
pany of  Indiana  Harbor,  employing  almost  a  thousand  men.  A  detailed  ac- 
count of  his  life  and  work  is  given  on  another  page  of  this  volume. 

Dr.  Stephens,  one  of  his  ten  children,  acquired  his  early  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  Sharon,  Pennsylvania,  and  later  attended  the  INIuncie  high 
school.  When  he  had  completed  his  more  specifically  literaiy  education  he 
entered  upon  preparation  for  a  professional  career  as  a  student  in  the  Indiana 
Dental  College,  of  Indianapolis,  and  was  graduated  with  the  class  of  1903. 
Thus  well  equipped  for  his  chosen  calling  he  came  to  Indiana  Harbor,  opened 
his  office,  and  has  in  the  months  which  have  since  intervened  secured  a  good 
patronage,  w'hich  is  constantly  increasing. 

Dr.  Stephens  was  reared  in  the  faith  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
and  is  one  of  the  members  at  Indiana   Harbor.     He  belongs  to  tlie  Delta 


654  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Sigma  Delta,  a  dental  fraternity,  and  he  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in 
support  of  the  men  and  measures  of  the  Republican  party. 

WILLIAM  HALFMAN. 

William  Halfman,  promir.ent  farmer  and  cigar  manufacturer,  residing 
on  section  3,  Ross  township,  is  a  nati\-c  son  of  Lake  count)-  and  has  spent 
most  of  his  life  in  busy  pursuits  within  its  liountlaries.  He  is  a  young  man 
of  progress  and  enterprise,  has  never  lacked  plenty  to  do  and  has  made  money 
from  boyhood  up,  and  has  really  only  begun  the  career  of  activity  which  will 
result  in  greater  successes  in  the  future. 

Mr.  Halfman  was  born  May  18.  1875,  on  the  farm  where  he  still  re- 
sides, in  Ross  township.  Lake  county.  His  father.  Henry  Halfman.  was  one 
of  the  old  settlers  of  Lake  county.  William  was  reared  and  educated  in  Ross 
township,  receiving  his  early  educational  training  in  the  district  schools.  At 
the  age  of  sixteen  he  left  home  and  went  to  Cliicago,  where  for  a  time  he 
was  engaged  in  the  milk  business,  was  conductor  on  the  street  railway,  and 
was  also  connected  with  the  police  force.  He  then  returned  to  Lake  county 
and  began  farming  the  old  homestead,  where  he  has  since  centered  most  of 
his  energies.  He  does  general  farming,  stock-raising  and  dairying  and  milk- 
shipping,  and  his  place  of  over  three  hundred  acres  is  one  of  the  best  in  Lake 
countv,  being  a  scene  of  business  activity  and  industry  from  one  end  of  the 
year  to  the  other.  For  about  two  years,  while  still  engaged  in  fanning,  he 
traveled  through  Illinois,  Wisconsin.  Indiana  and  South  Dakota  as  the  sales- 
man for  the  McCormick  and  Champion  farm  machinery.  In  1902  he  began 
the  manufacture  of  cigars,  which  he  has  made  a  very  profitable  enterprise. 
His  most  popular  brand  is  the  "Halfman's  White  Ribbon,"  a  high-grade  five- 
cent  smoke. 

Mr.  Halfman  is  one  of  the  influential  young  Democrats  of  the  county, 
and  is  at  the  present  writing  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  township  trustee. 
He  has  always  been  interested  in  the  public  affairs  and  general  welfare  of  his 
community,  and  can  be  depended  upon  for  his  due  share  of  assistance  and 
co-operation  in  all  good  works. 

Mr.  Halfman  married,  in  1895,  Miss  Clara  Klein,  who  was  born  in 
Grundy  county,  Illinois,  a  daughter  of  Henry  J.  and  Clara  Klein.  They 
have  three  children :     Clara,  Edward  and  Marie. 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  655 

DR.  SAMUEL  A.  BELL. 

Dr.  Samuel  A.  Bell,  a  succes.sful  and  prominent  member  of  the  dental 
profession  at  Hammond,  where  he  has  been  in  practice  ever  since  his  gradu- 
ation from  college,  is  a  man  of  recognized  ability  and  talent,  not  only  in 
connection  with  his  duties  as  a  professional  man,  but  in  the  larger  realms 
of  life,  both  business  and  social.  He  has  concerned  himself  with,  and  con- 
sequently his  time  and  energies  have  been  called  upon  for  many  affairs  per- 
taining to  the  general  progress  and  development,  and  he  has  proved  himself 
a  thoroughly  public-spirited  and  enterprising  man.  He  is  especially  popular 
as  a  dentist,  and  has  a  large  and  high-class  patronage,  whose  constantly  re- 
curring needs  make  steady  demands  upon  all  his  time. 

Dr.  Bell  was  born  in  Kingston,  Canada,  October  i8,  1868,  being  a  son 
of  John  and  Helen  (McKechnie)  Bell,  natives,  respectively,  of  England  and 
Edinburg,  Scotland.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  William  and  Helen  Mc- 
Kechnie. who  came  to  America  from  Scotland.  William  IMcKechnie  \\as  a 
soldier  in  the  English  army  during  the  war  of  181J,  arid  by  occupation  was  a 
general  merchant  in  Canada.  He  died  in  Kingston,  at  the  age  of  ninety-two, 
and  his  wife  died  when  about  sixty-five.  They  had  seven  children.  John 
Bell,  the  paternal  grandfather  of  Dr.  Bell,  was  born  in  England,  whence  he 
moved  to  Canada,  and  was  a  farmer  near  Kingston  the  rest  of  his  life,  which 
came  to  an  end  when  he  was  about  eighty  years  of  age.  His  wife  Ellen  also 
attained  advanced  years,  and  they  were  the  parents  of  eight  children. 

Dr.  Bell's  father  was  a  farmer  throughout  the  active  period  of  his  life, 
almost  all  of  which  has  been  spent  in  Canada,  and  he  still  resides  at  Kingston. 
In  his  earlier  years  he  was  a  soldier  in  the  English  army,  with  the  rank  of 
lieutenant.  He  is  a  Methodist,  as  was  his  wife,  whom  death  separated  from 
him  in  February.  1901.  when  she  was  sixty-seven  years  old.  They  were 
the  parents  of  ten  children,  seven  of  whom  are  still  living,  as  follows :  John 
A.,  of  Watertown,  New  York;  James  H..  of  Kingston,  Canada;  Senator 
Thomas  E.,  of  Hammond;  Dr.  Samuel  A.,  of  Hammond;  Rose  A.,  wife  of 
Thomas  Copely.  of  Kingston ;  ]\Iaggie,  widow  of  James  Butland,  of  Kings- 
ton; and  Nellie  H.,  wife  of  Andrew  McLean,  of  Kingston. 

Dr.  Bell  spent  his  youth  on  a  Canadian  farm,  attending  the  district 
schools   for  his  earlv  education.      He  later  entered   the  Ontario  Veterinary 


656  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

College,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1890.  He  did  not  make  a  permanent 
choice  of  the  veterinarian  profession,  but  on  coming  to  the  United  States  en- 
tered the  dental  department  of  the  Northwestern  University,  of  Chicago, 
graduating  in  1894.  He  at  once  began  his  practice  in  Hammond,  and  has 
had  ten  most  successful  years  of  professional  work  in  this  city.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Indiana  State  Dental  Association. 

Dr.  Bell  affiliates  with  Garfield  Lodge  No.  569.  F.  &  A.  M..  and  is 
treasurer  of  the  lodge.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias  and 
Elks  fraternities.  In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Hammond  school  board,  and  is  president  of  the  Indiana  State  Associa- 
tion of  School  Boards.  His  residence  is  at  366  South  Hohman  street,  wdiere 
he  built  a  good  home  in  1897.  and  besides  this  he  owns  other  city  real  estate. 
He  was  married  September  6.  1896.  to  Miss  .\da  Sanger,  a  daughter  of 
Cvril  and  Carrie  (Childres)  Sanger.  They  have  two  children.  Cyril  and 
Walter. 

ELMER  D.  BRANDENBURG. 

Elmer  D.  Brandenburg,  attorney  at  law,  and  in  the  real  estate  and  in- 
surance business  in  Hammond,  Indiana,  belongs  to  the  younger  and  pro- 
gressive element  of  the  city  and  has  gained  quite  a  reputation  and  a  prom- 
inent place  among  the  members  of  the  bar  and  the  business  men  since  identi- 
fvine  himslf  with  Hammond. 

Mr.  Brandenburg  was  born  in  Harrisburg,  Ohio,  October  13,  1871, 
being  a  son  of  John  W.  and  Eliza  J.  (England)  Brandenburg,  the  former 
a  native  of  Kentucky  and  the  latter  of  Ohio.  His  grandfather,  Patterson  C. 
Brandenburg,  was  born  in  the  early  days  of  Kentucky  histon.-,  and  was  a 
farmer,  reaching  the  great  age  of  ninety-eight  years.  His  wife  Elizabeth 
died  young,  and  they  had  five  sons  and  one  daughter. 

John  W.  Brandenburg  for  a  number  of  years  operated  a  sawmill  and  a 
threshing  outfit  at  Harrisburg,  Ohio.  He  came  to  Indiana  in  1881,  locating 
at  Winamac,  where  he  lived  until  1898,  when  he  came  to  Hammond  and  is 
now  in  the  employ  of  the  Chicago  Telephone  Company.  He  was  a  soldier 
in  the  Civil  war,  serving  three  years  as  a  private  in  Company  F,  Thirteenth 
Indiana  Infantry,  and  was  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh  and  other  hard-fought  bat- 
tles of  that  great  struggle.     He  is  not  identified  with  any  church,  but  his 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  657 

■wife  is  a  ]Methodist.  His  witVs  fatlier  was  David  England,  a  native  of  Ohio, 
a  soldier  of  the  Ci\il  w  ar.  and  a  farmer  Ijy  occupation.  He  died  in  Ohio  at 
the  age  of  sixty-three  years,  and  his  wife,  who  was  Matilda  Brown,  died 
in  Hammond,  Indiana,  in  1903,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one.  They  had  five 
sons  and  five  daughters.  John  ^^^  and  Eliza  J.  Brandenburg  had  four  chil- 
dren:  Eva,  deceased:  Elmer  D. ;  Lacy  A.,  wife  of  John  M.  Kellar,  of  Ham- 
mond; and  Oliver  C,  of  Hammond. 

Elmer  D.  Brandenburg  attended  the  public  schools  of  Columbus,  Ohio, 
and  of  Winamac,  Indiana.  He  afterward  entered  the  University  of  Indian- 
apolis, from  which  he  graduated  in  1898,  having  taken  the  law  course,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  the  same  year.  He  began  his  practice  in  Gas  City, 
Grant  county,  and  f<ir  two  years  served  as  deputy  prosecutor  of  that  county. 
He  located  in  Hammond  in  February,  1903,  and  ha?  had  a  successful  practice 
since  that  time.  In  connection  with  his  brother  Oliver,  whose  history  is  given 
below,  h^  also  conducts  a  real  estate  and  insurance  business. 

December  26,  1899,  Mr.  Brandenburg  married  Miss  Josephine  C.  Balfe, 
a  daughter  of  Colonel  John  C.  and  \'italis  Balfe.  Mrs.  Brandenburg  is  a 
membi  r  of  the  Catholic  church.  ]\Ir.  Brandenburg  is  a  member  of  Gas  City 
Lodge  No.  428.  K.  of  P..  being  past  chancellor.  His  political  sentiments 
inclii  e  to  the  Republican  party.  He  resides  at  329  Sibley  street,  and  he  and 
his     ife  are  numbered  among  the  popidar  members  of  Hammond  society. 

OLIVER  C.  BRANDENBURG. 

Oliver  C.  Brandenburg,  of  the  firm  of  Brandenburg  Brothers,  real 
estate  and  insurance,  in  the  First  National  Bank  building,  at  Hammond,  has 
found  a  profitable  and  useful  niche  in  the  liusiness  world,  and  has  already 
proved  himself  a  public-spirited  and  progressive  citizen  during  his  brief  con- 
nection with  business  affairs  in  Hammond. 

He  was  torn  at  Harrisburg,  Ohio,  March  29,  1876,  being  the  youngest 
of  the  four  children  of  John  W.  and  Eliza  J.  (England)  Brandenburg,  who 
are  both  living  in  Hammond.  The  further  family  history  is  given  above  in 
the  biography  of  Mr.  Brandenburg's  brother. 

Oliver  C.  Brandenlvurg  was  nine  years  old  when  his  parents  came  from 
Ohio  to  Indiana,  and  he  attended  the  public  schools  of  Winamac,  where  he 
was  reared  to  manhood.     He  entered  the  Central  Normal  College  at  Danville 

42 


658  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

about  1892,  and  after  finishing  his  course  there  engaged  in  teaching  for  six 
terms.  He  came  to  Hammond  in  1899  and  taught  liere  for  two  terms,  and 
then  took  up  the  real  estate  and  insurance  business  in  Gas  City,  Indiana.  In 
December,  1902,  he  returned  to  Hammond,  and  a  short  time  later  the  firm 
of  Brandenburg  Brothers  was  formed,  which  has  carried  on  a  very  profitable 
business  in  real  estate  and  insurance  ever  since. 

September  26,  1900,  Mr.  Brantlenburg  married  Miss  Lillie  May  Conn. 
n  daughter  of  William  and  Eliza  Jane  (Cinder)  Conn.  They  have  one 
daughter,  Mable  Winona  Brandenburg.  Mrs.  Brandenburg  is  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  church.  He  affiliates  with  Monterey  Lodge  No.  660,  I.  O.  O. 
F.,  and  with  the  Fraternal  Assurance  Society  of  America.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Republican.     His  home  is  at  49  Sibley  street. 

DR.  CYRUS  W.  CAMPBELL. 

Dr.  Cyrus  W.  Campbell,  physician  and  surgeon  with  offices  in  th.e  Ma- 
jestic building  at  Hammond,  Indiana,  has  carried  on  a  successful  practice 
in  this  city  for  thirteen  years,  and  is  one  of  the  progressive  and  skillful  prac- 
titioners of  Lake  county.  He  has  been  devoted  to  his  professional  duties, 
and  still  takes  a  studious  interest  in  all  that  concerns  medical  science.  His 
twenty  years  of  experience  has  given  him  well  deserved  prestige  among  his 
fellow  physicians,  and  the  patronage  which  he  receives  in  Hammond  and  sur- 
rounding country  is  evidence  of  his  standing  in  the  profession. 

Dr.  Campbell  was  born  in  Monterey,  Indiana,  October  15,  1850,  being 
a  son  of  Francis  G.  and  Delia  (Campbell)  Campbell,  natives,  respectively, 
of  Ohio  and  New  York.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Dugall  Campbell,  was  a 
native  of  Ohio,  of  Scotch  descent,  a  farmer,  and  was  married  three  times, 
having  a  large  family.  The  maternal  grandfather  of  Dr.  Campbell  was  a 
native  of  New  York  state,  and  had  three  children.  Francis  G.  Campbell  was  a 
printer  by  trade,  and  in  1846  moved  west  and  located  in  Monterey,  Indiana, 
where  he  carried  on  real  estate  and  merchandising  business  and  also  farm- 
ing, and  where  he  died  in  1878,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years,  being  the  in- 
cumbent of  the  office  of  county  commissioner  at  the  time.  His  wife  had  died 
four  years  previously,  aged  fifty-four.  She  was  a  meniljer  of  the  Methodist 
church.     Thev  had  five  children,  four  sons  and  one  daughter :     Elizabeth,  the 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  659 

wife  of  H.  S.  Fausler.  of  Monterey,  Indiana:  Hiram  F.,  of  Hammond;  Cyrus 
W. ;  William  A.,  of  Alger,  Ohio;  and  Eli  L.,  of  Cotulla,  Texas. 

Dr.  Campbell  was  reared  on  a  farm  near  Monterey,  Indiana,  and  had  the 
benefit  of  the  district  schools.  In  1879  he  entered  the  Medical  College  of  In- 
diana at  Indianapolis,  and  after  completing  the  course  l>egan  practicing  in 
Blue  Grass,  Fulton  county,  Indiana,  where  he  remained  until  1891,  and  in  the 
spring  of  that  year  located  in  Hammond,  which  has  Ijeen  the  seat  of  his  suc- 
cessful practice  to  the  present  time. 

October  30,  1873,  Dr.  Campbell  married  Miss  Ellen  Wallace,  a  daughter 
of  James  and  Margaret  (Balx:ock)  Wallace.  Seven  children  have  been  born 
to  them.  Margaret,  Clarence,  Ethel,  Claudius,  Fay,  Murley  and  Dean.  Clar- 
ence died  at  the  age  of  thirteen  months.  Ethel  married  Frank  Stakemiller, 
of  Hammond,  and  they  ha\e  two  children.  Donald  and  Ellen.  Claudius  is 
in  the  employ  of  the  Hammond  Company,  being  foreman  of  the  casing  de- 
partment; he  married  Frances  Kizer,  and  they  have  one  son,  Cyrus.  The 
family  are  Baptists  in  religion.  Dr.  Campbell  affiliates  with  the  Knights  of 
Pythias  and  the  Maccaljees,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Kankakee  Valley  Medi- 
cal Association.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  is  secretary  of  the  board 
of  health  of  Hammond.  He  owns  his  nice  home  at  326  Truman  avenue, 
where  the  family  extend  an  open-hearted  hospitality  to  their  many  friends. 

DR.  L.  D.  JACKSON. 

Dr.  Lorenzo  D.  Jackson,  physician  and  surgeon  at  Hammond,  has  been 
engaged  in  acti\-e  practice  in  this  city  for  nearly  fifteen  years,  and  in  this 
useful  profession  has  attained  considerable  distinction  both  in  Hammond  and 
the  surrounding  country.  He  is  not  only  an  able  and  sympathetic  practi- 
tioner, but  is  also  a  man  of  broad  experience  and  capacity  in  other  lines  of 
work.  He  had  been  successfully  engaged  in  various  activities  and  kinds  of 
business  before  taking  up  the  practice  of  medicine,  and  his  life  has  been  spent 
in  dilYerent  parts  of  the  country.  He  is  an  active,  public-spirited  citizen,  and 
is  held  in  high  esteem  by  his  many  friends  and  business  associates. 

Dr.  Jackson  was  born  in  W^ayne  county,  Indiana,  January  15,  1849,  ^ 
son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  E.  (Harvey)  Jackson,  natives  of  Virginia  and  In- 
diana, respectively.  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Jackson  was  a  daughter  of  William 
Harvey,  who  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  and  became  a  pioneer  settler  of 


660  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Wayne  county.  Indiana,  where  he  took  up  government  land  an.tl  liecame  a 
thriftv  and  prosperous  farmer.  He  and  his  wife  li\ed  to  advanced  years, 
and  were  the  parents  of  five  cliildren.     He  was  of  Welsh  descent. 

Caleb  Jackson,  the  paternal  grandfather  of  Dr.  Jackson,  w-as  a  native  of 
Virginia,  and  a  descendant  of  English  ancestors  who  had  come  from  the  north 
of  Ireland  and  settled  in  Virginia.  He  grew  to  manhood  in  that  state,  and 
in  the  early  days  of  the  last  century  he  came  direct  from  the  Old  Dominion 
•  state  to  Wayne  county,  Indiana,  where  he  figured  as  one  of  the  ])rominent 
pioneer  settlers  and  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  long  and  useful 
life.  He  took  up  government  land,  on  which  he  reared  his  six  children.  He 
was  foremost  in  the  promotion  of  railroad  building  in  those  days.  He  had 
the  contract  for  building  the  Pennsylvania  road  through  Wayne  county,  and 
was  afterward  for  a  number  of  years  a  director  in  that  railroad  company. 

Joseph  Jackson,  the  father  of  Dr.  Jackson,  was  about  eight  years  old 
when  he  came  west  with  his  parents  to  Wayne  county,  where  he  grew  to 
manhood  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  his  occupation  being  farming. 
He  lived  to  be  seventy-six  years  old,  and  his  wife  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-six. 
Thev  were  brought  up  in  the  faith  of  the  Friends,  but  she  later  joined  the 
Christian  church.  They  were  the  parents  of  thirteen  children,  all  of  whom 
are  living,  as  follows:  Rebecca  J.,  the  wife  of  William  O.  Elliott,  of  Sterling, 
Kansas:  John  W.,  of  Cambridge  City,  Indiana:  01i^■e,  wife  of  John  Cod- 
dington,  of  Wayne  county,  Indiana:  Salina  J.,  w'idow  of  Lemuel  Morgan,  of 
Indianapolis;  Caleb  B.,  of  Wayne  county;  Joseph  \\'.,  of  Lebanon,  Ohio; 
Lorenzo  D.,  of  Hammond;  Lafayette,  of  Wayne  county;  Columbus,  of  La 
(irange,  Indiana;  ^lary  E.,  wife  of  Nathan  Ray,  of  Sterling,  Kansas;  Charles, 
of  Wayne  county;  Sarah,  wife  of  George  McConaha.  of  \\'ayne  county:  and 
Lincoln,  of  Arkansas  City,  Kansas. 

Dr.  Jackson  spent  his  youth  in  the  environments  of  country  and  farm 
life.  After  completing  the  district  school  course  he  entered  Earlham  College, 
in  Wayne  county,  and  later  taught  school  for  two  terms.  He  then  went  out 
west  to  California  and  Nevada,  where  he  was  engaged,  principally,  in  milling 
quartz  for  the  miners.  After  four  years  spent  in  the  west  he  returned  to 
Wayne  county,  and  for  a  time  devoted  his  efforts  to  farming.  He  then  l>e- 
gan  the  study  of  medicine  in  the  Physio-Medical  College  at  Indianapolis, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  in   1889.     For  about  a  year  he  practiced  in 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  601 

Rensselaer,  Jasper  county,  but  in  1890  opened  his  olfice  in  Hammond,  where 
he  has  carried  on  his  practice  ever  since. 

Dr.  Jackson  is  a  member  of  Cahimet  Lodge  No.  601,  L  O.  O.  F..  and  his 
poHtical  cleavage  is  Republican.  He  married  Miss  ]\Iary  E.  Blease,  a  daugh- 
ter of  James  and  Hannah  Blease.  They  had  three  children,  Eva,  John  and 
Sarah,  but  John  died  in  infancy.  Mrs.  Jackson  is  also  a  physician  and  sur- 
geon. Ijeing  a  graduate  of  the  Physio-Medical  College,  and  she  also  has  an 
extensive  practice  in  Hammond. 

OSCAR  A.  KRINBILL. 

Oscar  A.  Krinbill.  manager  of  the  Chicago  Telephone  Companv  and 
commissioner  of  Lake  county,  at  Hammond,  with  residence  at  25  Rimbach 
avenue,  is  one  of  the  successful  business  men  of  long  standing  in  this  city, 
and  has  made  his  home  in  Lake  county  all  his  life,  with  the  exception  of  two 
years  spent  in  Kansas.  He  was  known  for  many  years  as  the  leading  drug- 
gist of  Hammond,  but  has  recently  withdrawn  from  purely  commercial  pur- 
suits and  devoted  himself  to  the  management  of  his  other  business  matters. 
He  is  a  popular  citizen  of  both  Hammond  and  Lake  county,  as  he  deserves 
from  his  life-long  identification  with  their  interests,  and  he  has  to  his  credit 
many  public-spirited  endeavors  undertaken  for  the  promotion  of  the  welfare 
and  upbuilding  of  city  and  county. 

Mr.  Krinbill  was  born  in  Crow^n  Point,  Lake  county.  August  3,  1863, 
being  a  son  of  George  and  Marie  (Arnold)  Krinbill,  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, the  latter  one  of  two  sons  and  two  daughters  of  a  native  German  who 
came  to  America  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania.  The  father  of  George  Krin- 
bill was  a  life-long  resident  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  the  father  of  six  sons. 
George  Krinbill  was  engaged  in  merchandising  for  many  years,  and  later  was 
a  farmer.  He  is  an  old  settler  of  Licliana.  having  come  to  this  state  in  185 1 
and  settled  at  Cedar  Lake,  and  later  at  Crown  Point,  his  present  home.  He 
has  lived  in  Lake  county  for  fifty-two  years.  He  and  his  wife  are  Methodists. 
They  were  the  parents  of  eight  children,  four  sons  and  four  daughters,  and 
six  are  living  at  the  present  time:  George  Edward,  of  Dixon,  Illinois;  Julia, 
a  teacher  in  the  schools  of  Minneapolis :  Daniel  W.,  of  Rochester,  New  York ; 
Albert,  deceased:  Lena,  of  Crown  Point:  Oscar  A.,  of  Hammond:  Sarah,  de- 
ceased: and  Lillian  M.,  a  teacher  in  the  kindergarten  department  of  the  pul)- 
lic  schools  of  Princeton.  Illinois. 


662  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Oscar  A.  Krinbill  was  reared  at  Crown  Point,  and  attended  the 
public  schools  of  that  jilace.  He  studied  pharmacy,  and  was  engaged  in 
the  practical  work  of  that  profession  for  seventeen  years.  He  came  to  Ham- 
mond, February  14,  1886,  and  for  the  first  seven  years  was  a  drug  clerk  and 
for  the  past  ten  years  conducted  a  drug  store  of  his  own,  until  he  retired  from 
the  business  in  1903.  On  September  21,  1903,  he  became  manager  of  the 
Chicago  Telephone  Company,  and  is  performing  the  duties  of  that  responsible 
position  at  the  present  time. 

June  15,  1893.  Mr.  Krinbill  married  Miss  Edith  \\'eaver,  a  daughter 
of  Edward  and  Anna  (Randolph)  Weaver.  One  daughter  has  been  torn 
to  them,  Josephine  M.  Mrs.  Krinbill  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
and  he  belongs  to  Garfield  Lodge  No.  569,  F.  &  A.  M.,  Hammond  Chapter, 
R.  A.  M.,  and  Hammond  Commander}'  No.  41,  K.  T.,  and  is  also  affiliated 
with  the  Knights  of  Pythias.  In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican.  He 
was  appointed  county  commissioner  on  January  i,  1903,  to  fill  out  the 
vacancy  of  Stephen  Ripley,  and  he  was  on  the  Hammond  board  of  educa- 
tion for  five  years.  In  1898  he  built  his  nice  home  at  25  Rimbach  avenue, 
and  he  also  owns  two  other  good  residence  properties. 

PETER    CRUMPACKER. 

Peter  Crumpacker,  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  Hammond,  Indiana, 
and  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Crumpacker  and  ]Moran,  belongs  to  an  old  and 
prominent  family,  it  having  been  represented  in  ^Maryland  prior  to  the  Revo- 
lutionary war,  but  later  moved  to  Virginia.  In  the  Old  Dominion  the 
paternal  grandfather.  Owen  Crumpacker.  had  his  nativity,  and  he  was  of 
German  descent.  \\'hile  a  resident  of  his  native  commonwealth  he  was  a 
farmer  and  after  coming  to  Indiana,  in  1828,  he  continued  that  as  his  life 
occupation,  and  his  death  occurred  when  about  sixty-five  years  of  age.  His 
wife  Hannah  reached  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-six  years,  and  loecame  the 
mother  of  six  children.  On  the  maternal  side  Mr.  Crumpacker  is  de- 
scended from  the  Emmons  family,  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  who  made  their 
homes  in  the  same  section  of  Virginia  as  the  Crumpackers.  In  1832  his 
grandfather  removed  from  that  state  to  Cass  county,  ^Michigan,  where  his 
life's  labors  were  ended  in  death  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years,  while  his 
wife  Elsie  survi\-cd  him  to  the  age  of  eighty-one  years.  In  their  family 
were  three  sons  and  tln-ee  daughters. 


c:^:2;^.-^y^?^v 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  663 

Peter  Crumpncker  was  born  in  LaPorte  county,  Indiana,  on  the  9th  of 
August,  1858,  being  a  son  of  Theophilus  and  Harriet  (Emmons)  Crum- 
packer,  natives  of  old  Virginia.  Eight  children  were  born  to  this  worthy 
couple,  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  but  only  seven  are  now  living :  John  W., 
cashier  of  the  Savings  Bank  of  LaPorte;  Hon.  Edgar  D.,  the  present  con- 
gressman from  the  tenth  Indiana  district  and  a  resident  of  Valparaiso; 
Daniel  W.,  of  Willow  Springs,  Illinois,  in  the  railway  mail  service;  Eliza  A., 
who  became  the  v.ife  of  Melvin  W.  Lewis,  but  Iioth  liave  passed  away; 
Peter,  of  Hammond;  Dora  A.,  the  wife  of  Iredell  Luther,  of  Chicago; 
Charles,  who  is  employed  as  a  traveling  salesman  and  maintains  his  home 
in  Valparaiso ;  and  Grant,  a  lawyer  of  that  city.  Theophilus  Crumpacker. 
the  father  of  tltis  family,  accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal  to 
Indiana  in  1829,  during  his  boyhood,  their  first  location  being  in  Union 
county.  In  1832  they  became  residents  of  Porter  county,  this  state,  there 
spending  one  year,  after  which  Mr.  Theophilus  Crumpacker  removed  to 
LaPorte  county,  that  continuing  as  his  home  until  the  fall  of  1863.  From 
that  time  until  1865  he  resided  near  Kankakee,  Illinois,  on  the  expiration  of 
which  period  he  returned  to  Porter  county,  locating  on  a  farm  three  miles 
east  of  Valparaiso.  Throughout  his  active  business  career  he  followed  agri- 
cultural pursuits,  Iiut  in  1890  he  retired  from  the  farm  and  has  since  made 
his  home  in  \^alparaiso,  having  now  reached  the  eighty-second  milestone  on 
the  journey  of  life.  His  wife  is  also  in  her  eighty-second  year,  and  although 
not  members  of  any  religious  denomination  this  worthy  old  couple  are 
adherents  of  the  Christian  faith.  Mr.  Crumpacker  has  always  taken  an 
active  part  in  public  affairs,  and  for  three  terms  represented  his  district  in 
the  legislature,  while  he  has  also  served  as  a  tow-nship  trustee,  and  has  but 
recently  retired  from  the  city  council  of  Valparaiso,  of  which  he  was  a 
member  for  many  years. 

Peter  Crumpacker,  the  fifth  child  of  this  honored  Indiana  pioneer,  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  bojdiood  days  in  Porter  county,  remaining  on  the 
homestead  farm  until  twenty-three  years  of  age,  during  which  time  he 
acquired  his  education  in  the  district  schools  and  in  the  Valparaiso  Normal 
School.  For  eight  terms  thereafter  he  was  employed  as  a  teacher  in  the 
country  schools,  also  assisting  his  father  witli  the  work  of  the  farm  during 
tlie  summer  months  and  for  a  period  of  nearly  three  years  was  the  deputy 


664  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

county  clerk  under  John  Felton  in  Porter  county.  He  then  spent  a  year 
and  a  half  in  completing  a  general  index  of  all  judsrments  that  had  been 
taken  in  Porter  county,  placing  them  in  alphabetical  order  for  ready  refer- 
ence. These  duties  completed,  Mr.  Crumpacker  began  reading  law  with 
his  brother  Edgar  at  Valparaiso,  later  taking  a  one-year  course  at  the  North- 
ern Indiana  Law  School,  in  which  he  graduated  in  June,  1887,  ^"^  ^^'^^ 
immediately  thereafter  admitted  to  the  bar.  In  1888  he  began  the  practice 
of  his  chosen  profession  in  Hammond,  Indiana,  locating  in  this  city  on  the 
5th  of  March  of  that  year.  As  a  lawyer  he  is  conspicuous  among  his  asso- 
ciates, not  alone  on  account  of  the  success  he  has  achieved,  but  by  reason  of 
his  strong  intellectuality,  and  his  influence  extends  not  only  into  the  profes- 
sional but  the  political  and  social  circles  as  well. 

In  March.  1883,  Mr.  Crumpacker  was  united  in  marriage  to  ]\Iiss  Ida  M. 
Younglove,  a  daughter  of  Wilbur  and  Maiy  E.  (Hurr)  Younglove.  of 
Valparaiso.  Indiana.-  Si.x  children  have  Iieen  born  of  this  union,  three  sons 
and  three  daughters, — Harriet  ]\I..  Robert.  Theophilus  Charles.  Mary  A., 
Edgar  D.  and  Dorothy. — but  two  of  the  number.  Robert  and  Mary  A.,  died 
in  infancy.  ]\Irs.  Crumpacker  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  church.  In  liis 
fraternal  relations  Mr.  Crumpacker  affiliates  with  Garfield  Lodge  No.  569, 
F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Hammond:  with  Crown  Point  Chapter,  R.  A.  M. ;  with  the 
Independent  Order  of  Foresters :  and  with  the  Benevolent  and  Protective 
Order  of  Elks,  of  Hammond.  His  political  support  is  given  to  the  Repub- 
lican party,  and  as  its  representati\e  he  served  as  the  city  attorney  for 
four  years. 

REV.  FRANCIS  XAVIER  EGE. 

In  the  history  of  the  new  world  the  Catholic  clergy,  in  its  \-arious  orders, 
have  performed  the  work  of  religious,  and  often  industrial,  pioneers — ac- 
companying closely  the  traders  and  agricultural  settlers,  and  keeping  up  with 
the  very  vanguard  of  civilization  as  it  pushed  out  from  the  eastern  coast  and 
spread  over  the  western  prairies.  These  men  have  justly  obtained  wide  recog- 
nition for  their  indefatigable  energy,  their  unfailing  patience  and  endurance, 
and  their  sincere  and  zealous  devotion  to  the  cause  which  they  represented. 
In  whate\'er  vineyard  they  ha\e  worked  they  have  assisted  in  the  industrial 
progress,  and  have  been  especially  powerful  factors  in  advancing  education 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  665 

and  building  up  the  other  beneficent  institutions  which  are  the  mainstay  of 
social  order  and  permanence. 

Father  Ege,  the  well  known  priest  of  northern  Indiana,  where  he  has 
labored  for  a  cjuarter  of  a  century,  and  who  is  now  the  beloved  priest  in  St. 
Anthony's  parish  in  Hanover  township  of  this  county,  is  a  representative  of 
the  highest  type  of  the  Catholic  priesthood — zealous  and  hard-working,  pos- 
sessed of  broad  and  beneficent  purposes,  of  sweet  and  generous  character, 
and  a  man  revered  for  his  work  and  worth  wherever  and  among  whatso- 
ever people  the  duties  of  the  Master  place  him. 

Father  Ege  is  a  native  of  Wiirtemberg,  Germany,  where  he  was  born  in 
1849,  being  a  son  of  Xavier  and  Mary  Ann  (Steinhauser)  Ege.  His  studious 
nature  manifesting  itself  in  childhood,  he  determined  to  educate  himself  for 
the  priesthood,  and  accordingly  from  the  age  of  fourteen  to  twenty-one  he 
was  a  student  in  his  native  province.  After  the  priman,-  schooling  he  entered 
ihe  gymnasium  at  Felkirk,  Austria,  where  he  continued  his  scholastic  career 
until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  The  war  l>etween  Germany  and  Aus- 
tria at  that  time  threatened  to  interfere  seriously  with  his  plans,  and  it  was 
on  this  account  mainly  that  he  concluded  to  come  to  America.  The  reputation 
of  the  thorough  curriculum  of  study  in  philosophy  and  theology  offered  by 
the  famous  St.  Xavier  De  Sales  Saiesium  at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  was  al- 
ready familiar  to  him,  and  after  arriving  in  this  country  he  entered  this  in- 
stitution in  1869,  and  after  a  seven  years'  course  which  fitted  him  for  the 
priesthood  he  graduated  in  1876.  On  June  10,  1876,  he  was  ordained  priest 
at  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana  (the  seat  of  the  Northern  Bishopric  of  Indiana), 
by  Bishop  DAvenger. 

His  first  parish  was  at  Earl  Park.  Benton  county.  Indiana,  where  he 
remained  until  1878.  and  where  he  was  instrumental  in  the  erection  of  the 
priest's  home,  and  although  he  found  the  parish  encumbered  by  a  debt  of 
eight  hundred  dollars  he  left  the  church  entirely  free  from  money  obliga- 
tions. There  were  in  this  parish  some  eighty  French  families,  forty  German 
and  forty  Irish,  and  since  that  time  there  have  been  erected  two  additional 
churches  so  as  to  make  one  for  each  nationality.  The  next  field  of  labor  for 
Father  Ege  was  in  southeastern  Noble  county,  Indiana.  This  parish  then  lay 
in  almost  a  wilderness,  surrounded  lay  the  virgin  forest.  There  was  no  pat- 
ron saint's  name  given  to  the  parish,  it  was  simply  known  as  the  "French 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

settlement."  A  new  frame  Gothic  church  had  been  built  in  1875,  and  there 
were  seventy-five  or  eight)^  poor  families  in  the  parish,  and  the  property 
was  encumbered  with  three  thousand  dollars"  indebtedness.  Hardly  two 
months  had  passed  before  the  energizing  labor  of  Father  Ege  had  estab- 
lished a  parochial  school  and  placed  over  it  a  male  instructor,  who  was 
later  superseded  by  two  Sisters  of  St.  Francis,  one  the  teacher  and  the  otiier 
the  cook,  and  these  latter  have  remained  in  charge  since  ]\Iarch,  1879,  al- 
though an  additional  teacher  has  since  been  given  the  school.  Due  to  Father 
Ege's  managements  and  industry  also,  the  debt  of  this  parish  was  canceled. 
In  1886  this  parish,  known  as  St.  Mary's,  met  with  a  dire  calamity,  the  priest's 
home,  the  sisters'  home  and  the  school  being  all  destroyed  by  fire,  and  the 
Father  saved  nothing,  his  extensive  and  beloved  library  and  even  his  cloth- 
ing being  consumed.  But  there  was  no  evidence  of  despair,  no  time  was  lost 
in  useless  lamentation,  and  in  a  short  time  Father  Ege  had  the  pleasure  of  see- 
ing arise,  phoenix-like,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  attractive  brick  school 
buildings  to  be  found  in  the  diocese,  built  at  a  cost  of  twenty-two  hundred 
dollars,  and  paid  for  before  it  was  finished.  Also  there  was  erected  a  two- 
story  brick  residence  for  the  sisters,  and  a  priest's  home  of  brick  costing 
twenty-one  hundred  dollars  and  all  were  paid  for  at  the  time  of  completion. 
He  also  caused  to  be  constructed  an  ornamental  iron  fence  around  the  en- 
tire premises,  and  beautiful  shade  trees  were  planted  to  adorn  the  grounds. 
He  remained  in  this  parish  altogether  for  nineteen  years.  During  this  period 
he  at  first  experienced  considerable  trouble  in  getting  his  mail,  and  he  ac- 
cordingly appealed  to  the  United  States  government,  which  established  a  post- 
office  in  his  parish  and  named  it  Ege  in  his  honor,  this  being  done  in  1884. 
After  this  long  siege  of  trouble  and  care  his  health  was  greatly  impaired 
and  he  was  forced  to  enter  one  of  the  leading  hospitals  in  Chicago,  where  he 
remained  six  months.  Even  then  he  was  not  restored  to  his  normal  capa- 
bility, and  under  the  advice  of  the  good  Bishop  Durnger  he  spent  about  seven 
months  traveling  in  the  extreme  south,  southwest,  and  western  parts  of  the 
United  States  and  also  in  British  Columbia.  He  visited  much  of  the  grand 
sublime  mountain  scenery  of  the  great  west,  drinking  in  its  inspiration  and 
exhilaration,  and  so  much  was  he  impressed  by  the  splendors  of  nature  that 
he  considers  the  Swiss  or  Tyrolese  Alps  so  famed  in  continental  Europe  to  be 
inferior  in  many  respects  to  the  vast  ranges  of  our  own  west.     In  the  mean- 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  067 

time  his  normal  health  returned,  and  in  August,  1898,  he  was  able  to  assume 
charge  of  St.  Anthony's  parish  in  Hanover  township.  Lake  county,  where  he 
has  since  been  the  Iseloved  priest.  He  has  kept  the  parish  property  in  splendid 
repair,  and  there  is  not  a  dollar's  indebtedness.  There  are  thirty-five  families 
in  the  parish,  and  all  are  in  prosperous  circumstances. 

While  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  in  Noble  county,  Father  Ege  had  a  mission 
at  Albion,  the  county  seat,  where  there  were  fifteen  families  with  an  excellent 
church.  After  he  had  been  there  some  time  the  Father  was  informed  that  a 
debt  of  six  hundred  dollars  stood  against  the  property.  This  circumstance 
troubled  him.  and  one  Sabbath  he  informed  his  congregation  of  the  state  of 
afifairs  and  made  a  business  proposition  which  was  at  once  accepted,  and  on 
the  very  next  day  the  entire  amount  of  six  hundred  dollars  was  paid  to  one 
of  the  Albion  banks.  Father  Ege  always  remembers  with  extreme  gratitude 
the  great  kindness  and  substantial  material  aid  given  him  by  the  Protestant 
people  during  his  misfortune  in  losing  his  home  and  other  church  property 
while  in  Noble  county.  Father  Ege  is  a  devout  man,  a  good  citizen,  and  is 
held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  all  regardless  of  differences  of  religious  creed. 
He  is  in  every  way  fitted  for  his  work  as  a  leader  of  men,  and  it  is  a  pleasure 
to  be  able  to  record  the  principal  events  of  his  beneficent  career  in  this  took  of 
Lake  county  history. 

A   LIFE   OUTLINE. 

T.  H.  Ball,  recognized  as  the  historian  of  Lake  county,  Indiana,  has 
had  quite  an  eventful  life,  the  full  details  of  which  would  make  more  than 
a  small  volume.     A  comparatively  brief  outline  is  all  that  can  here  be  given. 

Birthplace,  Ahwic,  Lineage. 

He  was  born  February  16,  1826,  at  the  home  of  Dr.  Timothy  Horton, 
his  mother's  father,  in  tlie  present  town  of  Agawam,  then  West  Springfield, 
Massachusetts.  At  this  date  only  about  six  weeks  of  the  second  quarter  of 
the  grand  nineteenth  century  had  passed,  and  in  a  few  months  from  this 
date  took  place  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  this  nation  and  the 
death  of  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson.  Only  one  president  had  died 
before  he  was  born.  John  Ouincy  Adams  was  then  president.  It  was  a 
favorable  period   in   which   to   begin   life,   and   some   very   pleasant   circum- 


668  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

stances  were  around  him.  Througli  liis  fatlier,  at  that  time  a  lawyer  in  the 
state  of  Georgia,  near  Augusta,  he  is  tlie  seventh  in  descent  from  Francis 
Ball,  of  \\'est  Springfield,  who  was,  according  to  the  late  researches  of  the 
Ball  International  Union,  one  of  six  brothers  who  came  from  England 
between  1630  and  1650.  Through  his  mother  he  is  a  descendant  of  the 
Hortons  from  England,  a  great-grandson  of  Dr.  Timothy  Horton,  Sr.,  who 
was  born  in  Springfield  or  West  Springfield  in  1726,  and  probably  the  seventh 
in  descent  from  Thomas  Horton,  of  Springfield,  a  settler  in  1638.  Also 
through  his  mother,  Jane  Ayrault  (Aro)  Horton,  and  his  grandmother, 
Eli.zabeth  Hanmer,  daughter  of  James  Hanmer,  he  is  a  descendant  of  the 
English  Hanmers.  an  early  branch  of  which  family  settled  in  Connecticut; 
and  through  his  great-grandmother,  Elizabeth  Ayrault,  of  W'ethersfield,  he 
is  a  descendant  of  Dr.  Nicholas  Ayrault.  a  Huguenot  refugee  of  about  1681, 
who  settled  in  Rhode  Island  and  married  Marian  or  Mary  Ann  Breton, 
daughter  of  a  prosperous  Huguenot  merchant  of  the  south  of  France,  so 
that  through  these,  from  whom  he  is  the  sixth  in  descent,  he  goes  back  to  a 
line  of  Huguenots  who  were  in  good  circumstances  in  life,  who  possessed 
physical  endurance,  and  who  clung  tenaciously  to  their  religious  faith. 
Perhaps  some  of  that  tenacity  came  down,  Ijy  what  is  now  called  a  law  of 
heredity,  to  their  Indiana  descendant,  for  Dr.  Higgins,  of  Crown  Point,  once 
remarked  of  him  that  he  had  a  bull-dog  tenacity  of  purpose.  Going  back 
now  to  his  grandmother  Ball,  who  was  a  daughter  of  John  Miller  and 
Hepzibah  Chapin,  he  is  the  eighth  in  descent  from  Deacon  Samuel  Chapin, 
an  early  settler  in  Springfield,  a  noted  man  in  Puritan  church  life,  a  man 
highly  esteemed,  who  in  1652  was  "appointed  one  of  the  magistrates  of 
Springfield."  It  thus  appears  that  the  child  Ixirn  in  Agawam  in  1826  had 
four  w  ell  established  lines  of  Puritan  and  English  ancestry — the  Ball.  Horton, 
Hanmer  and  Chapin  lines — and  one  well-known  Huguenot  line,  so  that  he 
would  now  be  quite  inexcusable  not  to  have  some  strong  principle.  The 
name  given  to  that  child  was  Timothy  Horton,  the  name  of  his  grandfather, 
a  quite  noted  physician  at  that  time  in  West  Springfield.  The  name  being 
rather  long,  Timothy  Horton  Ball,  he  has  become  accustomed  to  write  it  as 
his  ordinary  and  business  signature,  T.  H.  Ball,  using  as  a  signature  to  many 
of  his  writings  the  initials  T.  H.  B.,  and  .sometimes  the  finals  Y.  N.  L.  He 
learned  a  few  years  ago  that  there  was  and  perhaps  is  still  another  T.  H.  Ball 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  669 

in  this  cDuntry  wlio  was  a  corset-maker,  Init   he  is  very  sure  that  no  one 
else  in  this  entire  country  can  claim  the  ad(h"ess  Rev.  T.  H.  Ball. 

Different  Home  Spots. 

From  his  grandfather's  home  in  Agawam  the  young  T.  H.  Ball  went 
with  his  mother,  in  the  fall  of  1828,  to  his  father's  home  in  Columbia  county, 
Georgia,  but  of  that  ocean  voyage  frotn  New  York  to  Savannah  he  retains 
no  remembrance,  his  memory  reaching  back  onlv  to  himself,  his  mother, 
his  father,  the  black  servants,  and  the  surroundings  of  his  father's  home,  in 
a  newly  erected  house  at  the  county  seat  of  Columbia  county.  Here  he  re- 
mained, learning  as  a  boy  naturally  would,  one  form  of  life  in  the  south,  the 
native  scenery  of  that  part  of  the  south,  its  social  and  its  religious  life  as  he 
saw  this  life,  till  tlie  late  fall  of  1833,  when  he  was  nearly  eight  years  of 
age.  and  then  he  returned  with  his  iiKither  and  a  sister  and  a  brother,  also 
with  his  father,  to  the  town  of  West  Springfield  and  to  his  birthplace. 
There,  in  looking  on  the  walls  of  the  ancestral  home,  an  object  attracting  his 
attention  immediately  was  a  painting  representing  the  Horton  and  Hanmer 
coats  of  arms.  Whether  his  English  ancestors  were  really  of  the  families 
to  whom  these  were  originally  given  he  knew  not  then,  he  knows  not  now, 
but  these  armorial  representations,  lions  couchant  and  rampant,  had  quite 
an  influence  upon  him. 

From  the  fall  of  1833  to  the  spring  of  1837  he  learned  New  England 
life  and  customs  and  traditions,  as  fast  as  he  could  grasp  thein,  learned 
something  of  the  kindred  of  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  in  1837  the 
family,  then  increased  by  the  addition  of  two  Massachusetts  brothers,  came 
to  Indiana.  For  a  little  while  in  the  summer  and  fall  a  home  was  found 
in  the  new  village  of  City  West,  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  ten  miles 
west  from  Michigan  City.  Here  he  learned  the  meaning  of  frontier  life, 
learned  the  grandeur  of  Lake  Michigan  in  storms  and  its  beauty  in  repose, 
gained  from  the  tops  of  the  great  sand  hills  an  idea  of  the  solitudes  of 
nature,  and  saw  something  of  Indian  life.  But  he  made  visits  with  his 
father  to  the  prairie  region  of  Lake  county  in  mid-summer,  and  to  that 
beautiful  little  lake,  the  Lake  of  the  Red  Cedars,  where  for  the  next  thirtv 
years  the  home  of  the  Ball  family  was  to  be,  and  where  in  December  of 
1837  the  entire  family  was  comfortably  domiciled.     To  this  home  of  lake  and 


670  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

prairie  beauty  his  grandmother  from  New  York  city  soon  came  and  two 
httle  Cedar  Lake  sisters,  hke  prairie  liirds,  also  came,  making  in  ah.  without 
the  domestics,  usually  two  or  tliree  in  number,  ten  members  of  the  trans- 
planted New  England  family.  This  became  the  dear  home  spot,  the  dearest 
at  length  to  him  of  all  home  spots  of  earth,  where  he  learned  something  of 
farm  work,  of  raising  cattle  and  sheep  and  hogs,  and  learned  to  hunt,  and 
to  spear  fish,  and  to  swim,  and  to  pole  and  row  and  scull  a  boat,  and  where 
the  most  important  experiences  and  events  of  his  life  took  place. 

One  more  home  spot  remains  to  be  named.  Crown  Point,  where  he 
established  his  own  home  in  1863,  and  where  that  home  continues  to  be. 
Lito  the  Crown  Point  home  at  different  times  many  friends  and  some  kindred 
have  gathered,  and  within  its  peaceful  walls  a  daughter  has  been  married,  a 
little  niece  has  died,  and  a  grandson  has  been  torn. 

His  Mental  Training. 

Of  course  many  ideas  had  been  acquired  and  quite  a  little  mental  train- 
ing had  been  carried  on  by  his  mother  in  his  first  two  years  of  life  of  which 
he  has  no  remembrance.  He  had  learned  in  those  years  one  great  lesson, 
and  that  was  obedience.  Of  learning  to  read  in  his  Georgia  home  he  has 
no  distinct  recollection.  His  father,  a  graduate  of  Middlebury  College,  and 
estimating  highly  the  value  of  classical  studies,  had  him  commence  the  study 
of  Latin  so  soon  as  he  could  read  well  and  had  learned  from  his  mother  some- 
thing of  elementary  geography  and  arithmetic  and  lx)tany.  He  commenced 
attending  an  academy.  He  had  some  good  teachers,  all  of  them  men.  He 
went  over  the  usual  spelling  and  reading  lessons  of  the  other  pupils  but 
applied  himself  diligently  to  his  Latin  studies.  The  only  certainty  as  to 
age  at  this  time  is  this,  that  he  had  committed  to  memory  very  largely 
Adams'  Latin  grammar,  had  read  a  Latin  first  reader  then  used  called  Liber 
Primus,  had  read  a  second  book  called  Viri  Roinae,  and  in  the  fall  of  1833 
commenced  reading  in  Caesar's  Commentaries,  when  his  southern  academic 
life  ended. 

In  West  Springfield,  when  eight  years  of  age,  in  an  academic  school 
he  continued  to  read  the  writings  of  Caesar.  When  nine  years  of  age  he 
commenced  the  study  of  Greek  and  continued  this  with  his  other  studies  for 
two  years,  having  for  a  portion  of  this  time  a  private  tutor  for  his  Greek. 


•      HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  671 

The  year  1837  came  and  classical  studies  were  laid  by.  At  the  Cedar  Lake 
home  school  he  pursued  English  studies  as  a  kind  of  recreation,  applied 
himself  vigorously  to  arithmetic,  surveying  and  philosophy,  doing  quite  an 
amount  of  reading  along  with  some  farm  work  and  hunting.  He  had  com- 
menced in  Georgia  reading  poetry,  having  in  his  own  library  "Original 
Poems  for  Infant  Minds"  and  Cowper's  works,  three  volumes.  To  these 
were  added  in  Agawam  "The  Poetical  Works  of  Hemans,  Heber  and  Pol- 
lok,"  and  in  his  lake  home  there  came  into  his  hands  "Ossian,"  of  which  he 
became  intensely  fond.  Several  of  the  British  poets  naturally  followed  in 
his  youth  except  Shakespeare,  for  whose  writings  he  never  formed  a  taste. 
In  West  Springfield  he  attended  when  nine  years  of  age  a  literarj'  society 
and  acquired  there  a  taste  for  literary  pursuits  which  was  further  cultivated 
by  the  Cedar  Lake  Lyceum  and  the  Cedar  Lake  Belles  Lettres  Society,  which 
taste  has  never  left  him. 

The  time  at  length  came  for  him  to  lay  aside  farm  work  and  hunting  and 
prepare  in  earnest  for  college  life.  Classical  studies  were  resumed  in  the 
home  at  the  lake.  He  read  largely  and  rapidly  Caesar  and  Cicero's  orations 
and  Virgil,  reading  the  twelve  books  of  the  Aeneid,  the  Bucolics,  and  the 
Georgics.  reading  the  last  Georgia,  566  lines,  in  one  June  day. 

Entering  Franklin  College,  Indiana,  in  1848,  a  long  ways  "in  advance" 
of  the  regular  college  course,  he  graduated  in  1850,  received  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts  and  soon  commenced  teaching,  first,  taking  charge  of  the 
Hendricks  County  Seminary  at  Danville,  Indiana,  and  in  185 1  becoming 
principal  of  the  Grove  Hill  Male  and  Female  Academy  of  Clarke  county. 
Alabama.  Here,  as  a  teacher,  he  applied  himself  diligently  to  the  studv  of 
English  grammar  and  in  a  short  time,  with  a  few  years  of  teaching,  he 
considered  himself  well  skilled  in  the  three  departments  of  parsing,  so-called, 
of  analyzing,  and  of  scanning.  In  college  he  had  given  much  attention  to 
the  odes  of  Horace,  and  he  soon  found  English  prosody  very  attractive.  In 
three  years  from  the  time  of  his  graduation  he  received  the  degree  "in 
course"  of  Master  of  Arts. 

The  time  came  for  another  change  in  studies.  In  i860  he  entered  as  a 
student  the  Xewton  Theological  Institution  near  Boston,  and  there  spent 
three  years  in  close  study,  having  as  teachers  Dr.  H.  B.  Hackett,  Dr.  Alvah 
Hovey,  and  Dr.  A.  S.  Train.  He  graduated  in  1863  and  has  been  cultivating 
his  mental  powers  ever  since. 


672  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

Special  Statements. 

He  was  received  as  a  member  into  tlie  Cedar  Lake  Baptist  church  April 
19,  1845.  a"<^'  o"  the  next  day,  Sunday,  April  jo,  was  baptized  according  to 
Baptist  custom  in  the  waters  of  the  Red  Cedar  Lake,  on  the  same  day  with 
his  oldest  sister.  He  was  licensed  to  preach,  also  according  to  Baptist  usage, 
February  8,  185 1,  at  Danville,  Indiana.  He  went  to  Clarke  county.  Alabama, 
in  1851,  and  was  there  married,  April  19,  1855,  to  Martha  Caroline  Creigh- 
ton,  daughter  of  Rev.  Hiram  Creighton,  of  Clarke  county,  with  whom  he  has 
now  lived  for  nearly  fifty  years,  and  who  has  nobly  filled  all  the  positions 
which  have  come  to  her  in  life. 

He  was  ordained  at  Crown  Point  Decemlier  30.  1853.  He  went  south 
in  1858  and  remained  there  till  the  fall  of  i860.  He  settled  as  pastor  at 
Crown  Point  in  1863.  In  1865  he  established  the  Crown  Point  Institute, 
and  erected  a  good,  substantial  building,  and  secured  several  teachers. 
August  I,  1871,  he  sold  the  land  and  building  to  the  town  of  Crown  Point 
for  public  school  purposes,  receiving  the  sum  of  $3,600. 

As  Pttblishcr. 

He  issued  his  first  publication,  a  ijamijhlet  on  the  Immortality  of  the 
Soul,  in  1861,  at  Boston,  and  his  first  book  in  1873,  at  Crown  Point.  His 
largest  book,  "Clarke  and  Its  Surroundings,"  pages  774,  was  published  at 
Grove  Hill,  Alabama,  in  1882.  In  all  he  has  published  thirteen  books  and 
six  pamphlets,  historical,  poetical,  genealogical,  and  religious,  nearly  all  sent 
out  from  Crown   Point. 

In  all,  thousands  of  copies  have  gone  into  ])ublic  and  private  liliraries, 
and  he  has  ])aid  out  thousands  of  dollars  fcir  printing  and  binding.  Most 
of  these  ])ublications  have  brought  in  some  income.  LTnlike  general  and 
large  publishers  he  has  issued  only  his  own  writings,  being  at  the  same  time 
author  and  pulilisher.  Besides  books  and  pamphlets,  he  has  also  published 
maps,  his  own  maps,  and  these  have  been  a  source  of  a  more  considerable 
income.  He  also  published,  at  different  times,  three  periodicals,  the  Casta- 
llon,  the  Prairie  Voi-ce,  and  Our  Banner,  the  latter  being  for  a  time  the  organ 
of  the  Indiana  State  Sunday  School  Union. 

In  his  younger  days,   before  commencing  to   publish   books,   he   wrote 


HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY.  673 

quite  frequently  fi)i"  large  religious  papers,  the  Journal  and  Messenger,  tlie 
Southzvesleni  Baplisf.  tlie  Te/utessee  Baptist,  the  IJ'itiiess,  the  C/irisfiaii 
Times,  now  the  Standard,  antl  for  some  secular  papers. 

Concluding  Statements. 

The  three  departments  of  iiis  hfe  work  have  been  teaching,  writing, 
and  preaching,  tlie  latter  including  much  Sunday-school  work.  In  these 
lines  of  work  and  including  his  childhood  travels,  he  has  made  fourteen 
journeys  from  Massachusetts  or  Indiana  to  Georgia  and  Alabama,  passing 
from  north  to  south  and  from  south  to  north  twenty-eight  times,  taking  some- 
times the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  coast  route,  being  once  east  of  the  Gulf  stream 
and  among  a  school  of  whales,  sometimes  passing  through  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee,  and  sometimes  .going  up  and  down  the  Mississippi  river;  tra\-el- 
ling  in  the  old  stage  coaches,  on  sailing  vessels,  on  a  canal  boat,  on  lake  and 
river  steamers,  as  well  as  on  railway  cars,  on  horseback  and  on  foot.  He 
has  been  in  Montreal  and  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  in  nearly  every  state 
east  of  the  Mississippi. 

His  first  teaching"  was  in  the  winter  of  1843,  sixty  years  ago,  in  a 
public  school  of  Lake  county,  on  the  east  side  of  Cedar  Lake,  and  there  is 
quite  certainly  no  man  now  li\'ing  who  was  a  teacher  in  Lake  county  so 
long  ago. 

He  had  charge  for  some  years  of  the  Crown  Point  Institute,  taught 
the  first  normal  school  in  the  county,  and  gathered  up  from  various  sources 
for  its  first  publication  the  county  history.  In  acti\'e  Sunday-school  work 
there  is  room  to  say  only  this,  that  liesides  work  as  a  missionary  of  the 
American  Sunday  School  L^nion  for  several  years,  he  was  for  twenty-two 
years  secretary  of  the  County  S.  S.  Convention.  As  a  missionary  pastor, 
the  only  minister  of  the  gospel  for  several  years  of  his  denomination  in  the 
county,  commencing  his  labors  fully  as  such  January  i,  1856,  he  has  preached 
in  all  the  central  and  southern  parts  of  the  county,  in  churches  and  school- 
houses,  and  has  conducted  burial  services  at  twenty-two  cemeteries  in  the 
county,  also  at  Salem  and  in  the  Hebron  cemetery  in  Porter  county.  This 
record  extends  from  1853  to  1904,  over  a  period  of  fifty  years. 

Hon.  Bartlett  Woods  is  reported  to  have  remarked  that  Mr.  Ball  had 
carried  the  gospel  to  more  people  in  Lake  county  than  any  other  minister 
ever  did  or  ever  would. 
43 


674  HISTORY  OF  LAKE  COUNTY. 

His  disappointments,  trials,  sorrows,  whicii.  if  few.  have  not  been  small, 
are  not  to  be  given  in  this  outline. 

His  blessings  and  successes  of  various  kinds  have  been  neither  few 
nor  small.  Among  these  he  counts  the  homes  of  his  childhood  and  youth ; 
well  educated,  cultivated,  and  judicious  Christian  parents;  three  manly  and 
kind  brothers  and  three  affectionate,  culti\ated  sisters;  and  more  than  that 
oft-quoted  number  of  dear  "five  Imndred"  friends,  for  he  has  certainly  l)een 
as  a  visitor,  a  tourist,  a  Sunday-school  missionary,  a  gospel  minister,  in  more 
than  -a  thousand  homes  in  Xew  Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  Massachusetts ; 
in  Indiana  and  Illinois;  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee;  in  Georgia,  Alabama, 
and  Mississippi,  and  he  has  seldom  failed  in  every  home  to  gain  a  friend. 
Among  other  great  blessings  he  counts  tiie  Alabama  maiden  \\ho  Ijecame 
his  wife,  his  .son  antl  daughter  and  other  kindred  dear. 

Successful  in  several  particulars  for  which  he  is  very  grateful,  he  hopes 
yet  to  accomplish  something  more  in  life. 

He  has  earned  something  in  teaching  and  !)}•  means  of  his  publications. 
Something  of  an  amount  of  money  has  passed  through  his  hands,  seldom 
more  than  two  thousand  dollars  in  a  year,  dribblets  compared  with  what 
many  receive  and  spend,  and  he  has  nothing  laid  by  for  helpless  old  age  if 
that  should  ever  come  upon  him.  He  yet  has  two  of  the  great  blessings  of 
life,  good  eyesight  and  good  health.