"On a Serious Charge Against His Daughter"

On the topic of crime, we get a hint of something disturbing around Ainsworth in mid-January 1916, when Christ Ols swore out a warrant for the arrest of Frank Fasel "on a serious charge against his daughter, Jennie."

Frank Fasel was the seventh of 12 children born to Henry and Mary Fasel. The family had been farming in northeast Ross Township in 1880, but by 1900 had moved into Hobart Township. In 1916 Frank would have been about 23. He had married Emma Gumm on December 30, 1915.

Jennie Ols was then only 15 or 16. She was the oldest daughter of Christian and Alpha Ols, who had farmed in Ross Township at least since 1900. They rented land and moved around, so it's difficult to place them, but in 1910 they seem to have been living somewhere between Ainsworth and Merrillville.

The circumspect language with which the News reported the case makes me think this involved sexual behavior. At best, I suppose, Frank and Jennie had merrily gotten together and when later she realized she was pregnant, he wouldn't or couldn't marry her; but in light of the disparity in their ages, the word "seduction" comes to mind. At worst, it (allegedly) wasn't consensual.

Frank was arrested and taken before Judge Killigrew in Hobart. He posted bond and a hearing date was set. Then the case was continued, and continued again, and then it simply disappeared from the news. Unless it resurfaces, we'll never know exactly what the charge was and whether Frank was found guilty or not. But the outcome of the case could not have been too disruptive to his life: when the 1920 census came around, he was a free man and still married to Emma.


Sources:
♦ 1880 Census.
♦ 1900 Census.
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Additional Local." Hobart News 20 Jan. 1916.
♦ Indiana Marriage Collection.
♦ "Personal and Local Mention." Hobart News 27 Jan. 1916; 10 Feb. 1916.