Restless George Settles Down

The first hint that George Sauter had plans for settling down came in mid-February 1919, when the Gazette reported that he had bought "the Epps house and lot on Third street."

The owners had been his sister Lizzie and her second husband, Alfred Epps, now living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The News described the house's location as "the corner of Third and New Street," but did not say which corner. (The Gazette added that the house had been occupied by the Messick family, which probably included the budding artist, Dalia.)

At the time, George was still managing the grocery department at the Tittle Bros. store on Broadway in Gary. That soon changed: not two weeks after he bought the house, he also bought the Carstensen-Anders market in Hobart. (Around the same time, George's former business partner, Armin Mackeldey, sold the market they had once operated together to H.J. and W.B. Anderson.)

Announcements of George's most recent purchase noted that he expected to take over the market's management on March 10. Why he did not do so immediately became clear with the first newspapers of March. On Wednesday, March 5, George married Mabel Johnson.

Mabel was the daughter of John and Clara Johnson of Hobart. She was 24 years old and had been earning wages for several years at various Hobart businesses — among them the Sauter & Mackeldey market, where she had worked as bookkeeper.

The wedding, held in Mabel's home on Center Street, was small and quiet. Only close relatives attended. The fact that George was described by both papers as the son of Mrs. John Fiester, with no mention of Edward Sauter, Sr., suggests that Edward did not come to town for his eldest son's wedding.

After the ceremony, the party sat down to a three-course dinner, and then the newlyweds left for Grand Rapids. They would spend much of their honeymoon visiting Lizzie and Alfred Epps — a short honeymoon, for George was due back at his new business on Monday. Though it seems he was ready, at the age of 28, to give up his wandering, he wasn't ready to give up his workaholic ways.

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I believe the Carstensen-Anders market was already in the location where George ended up operating his store. It had originally been in the Roper/ATS building, for the Carstensens had bought out James Roper's market around 1904. After Conrad Carstensen died in 1911, his widow ran the market herself. When the American Trust and Savings Bank moved into the Roper building in 1912, Emma Carstensen had the market's new home built at 413 Main. In 1915 she remarried, and lived in the flat over the market with her new husband, Emerson Anders. They intended to continue living their after George Sauter took possession of the store.

I may never know for certain, but now I suspect that Mabel Johnson was one of the young women in the photo with Fred Rose, Jr. and George Sauter in uniform — probably the one second from the right.


Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ "A. Mackeldey Sells Out." Hobart Gazette 28 Feb. 1919.
♦ Christianson, Elin B. Hobart's Historic Buildings. Hobart: Hobart Historical Society, 2002.
♦ Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index.
♦ "George Sauter Buys A. Carstensen-Anders Store." Hobart News 27 Feb. 1919.
♦ Indiana WPA Death Records Index.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 14 Feb. 1919.
♦ "Sauter-Johnson Marriage." Hobart Gazette 7 Mar. 1919.
♦ "Sauter-Johnson." Hobart News 6 Mar. 1919.
♦ "The Carstensen Market Sold." Hobart Gazette 28 Feb. 1919.