Quietly Married

On September 1, 1922, the 15-year-old Marie Hardesty quietly married a 28-year-old Yugoslavian immigrant, Vaso Stambolija.*


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Hobart Gazette 15 Sept. 1922.

That she is described as the daughter of Mrs. John Hardesty makes me think that her father was the John Hardesty who had been accidentally killed about four months earlier. Out of my puzzlement about his children, I have finally drawn the conclusion that she had been christened Marie Rebecca, and the 1910 Census recorded her under her middle name, either by mistake or because she preferred her middle name at the time — but later she changed her preference. Evidence that Marie and Rebecca were the same person includes the fact that both were born in 1907 (per the 1930 Census in Marie's case and the 1910 Census in Rebecca's); and according to her death certificate, Marie's middle initial was R (Indiana Death Certificates.)

I've already stumbled across the premature end of Vaso's story:


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The Hammond Times 4 May 1939.

To judge by her death certificate, which gives her surname as Coppock, Marie's story included another marriage and another widowhood.

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In other news, farmer-turned-bus-driver Glen Nelson was planning to make a little money with his newly purchased bus.


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Hobart News 14 Sept. 1922.

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*The Gazette spells it Stanbolija, but the vital records spell it Stambolija, so that is how I am going to index it.

Main Street, 300 Block, circa 1909

I mentioned having a circa-1909 view of the 300 block of Main Street, so I suppose I had better cough it up now.


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This is the east side, from mid-block north to Third Street. The First State Bank is at the near corner of Main and Third.

I suppose one or two of those awnings next south of the bank cover the Main Street entrance to Scheidt & Keilman's Bee Hive, but there's nothing legible to confirm that.

Two narrower awnings are marked "Buffet," if my eyes don't deceive me, but I don't know who ran that business.

Next we see the two-story building housing the drugstore, with "DRUGS" on the awning (and "Mackey Drug Store" on the front border of the awning). On the south side of that building is what appears to be a ramshackle fence plastered all over with signs, on some of which I can see something about "4th of July" and "Hobart."

South of the fence is the office of the Hobart Gazette.

On the south side of the newspaper office is a two-story building with a saloon operating at street level. The saloon's awnings bear the name "E. Ahrens," but the sign sticking out over the sidewalk reads "Schavey & Ahrens."

The awning at the right edge of the photo is probably the same one that reads "PUMPS, PLUMBING & WELL(?) SUPPLIES" in the 1911 photo, marking Newman's hardware store.

The postmark is October 1909:

A New Feedstore and an Old Homestead

When I wrote about the 1910 death of Morgan Blachly, I didn't know the 1908 Plat Map existed, so I could not credit him with more than the 180 acres shown in the 1891 Plat Book … but now I know that the Blachly farm comprised 256 acres by 1908. After Morgan died, the land apparently was divided up among his heirs, and his three sons farmed their share, or rented it out for others to farm.

In February 1922, as we've seen, Earl Blachly announced that he had sold his share of the old homestead, but did not identify the buyer.

Now in September 1922 we have this announcement of a new feed store in Hobart, one of the owners of which had "last spring … bought the Morgan Blachly homestead."


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Hobart Gazette 15 Sept. 1922

I believe I've identified him as Mark Pembor, born in Massachusetts on July 7, 1880. The earliest I can connect him to this area is December of 1911, when he married Esther Denton in Lake County, Indiana. (Why there, I do not know; Esther was a Chicago resident in 1910.) While my 1927 telephone directory lists a number for his "farm residence," I can't otherwise establish that the couple ever lived there. In 1920 they lived in Chicago; I can't find them in 1930; and Mark's death in 1933 happened in Chicago.

Mark and Esther are buried in (of all places) Frankfort, Michigan.

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The "Local Drifts" on the Gazette page above includes a few items about acquaintances of ours — the family of Dalia Messick moving from one unknown place to another; William Rossow loving the improvements on Lincoln Street; and George Rhodes moving to Cleveland Avenue, somewhere east of Illinois Street.


Additional Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths Index.
♦ Indiana Marriage Collection.
♦ WWI Draft Cards.

"Our Store"

This view of Main Street comes from a postcard postmarked 1911. The sender has drawn an arrow pointing to "our store":


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The arrow points to a building with a sign reading "Drug Store," topped by a curved embellishment bearing a name that is not legible. That building once housed a drug store operated at various times under the names Mackey and Scheddell.

Having written "our store," the writer then turned the postcard over and clearly signed herself "Edna":



So far as I have been able to determine, there was no Edna in the Scheddell family or the Mackey family.

However, there was an Edna in the Scheidt family, and Scheidt & Keilman's Bee Hive store was just slightly north of the drugstore.

On this image, blown up to 1200 dpi on the scanner, it's clear which building is marked, but on the original 3.5" x 5.5" postcard, it's not nearly so clear. I think it quite possible that Edna Scheidt marked the wrong building by mistake. That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it.

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Moving south from the drugstore, let's see what we have here:



(1) A one-story wooden building, probably housing the Gazette office.*

(2) A two story building with a sign advertising Blatz beer, suggesting that it houses a saloon, which I think is operated by Fred Ahrens and Fred Schavey, Jr.*

(3) Newman's Hardware, operated by Paul Newman, who is more generally associated with his later location at Third and Center Streets. (This leads me to wonder if I wrongly categorized the interior shot of the hardware store; it could have been taken inside this Main Street location.)

(4) A saloon, "Hogan's Place," operated by Hugo Zobjeck, who seems to have been called "Hogan" as a nickname.

(5) The bakery operated by Severin Baumer** and, later, his son Fred Baumer.

(6) Real estate and insurance office operated by Lewis E. Barnes.

(7) Real estate office operated by a retired Ainsworth farmer, Gilbert Bullock.

(8) A billiard-and-pool business operated by Calvin L. Fleming, where the cigars he sold may have been of his own making.

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*I'm cheating by looking at another postcard that hasn't been posted to the blog yet, but more clearly shows the mid-block area circa 1909.
**He is recorded as "Siegfried" in the 1910 Census.

Henry Fasel, Jr. Quits Farming

"Henry Fasel, Jr., has decided to quit farming," said the Hobart News of September 14, 1922, "and is advertising a sale of his farm implements for next Saturday, Sept. 16."

He certainly was:


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Hobart News 14 Sept. 1922.

I previously showed you where the Fasel farm was. The 1920 Census shows Henry Jr. and Henry Sr. both living and farming in that vicinity, Henry Jr. on rented land … which may have been rented from his father; I don't know.

In 1922 Henry Jr. was about 40 years old, married to the former Bertha Beier and the father of a large and growing family. Their eldest son was named Henry, too.

Jacob William Hazelgreen

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He was born April 15, 1881 (WWI Draft Cards) to Haken and Christine Hazelgreen of Lake Station.

By the 1910 Census, he had moved to Washington State, and there he stayed, I gather, and there lie his earthly remains.

The photographer was A.O. Merrill of Hobart, Indiana, who, as we know, was in business from the autumn of 1899 to the autumn of 1902. The fact that William (he seemed to prefer his middle name) was around to be photographed in that era suggests he should have been counted in the local 1900 Census, but I cannot find him. The Lake Station/East Gary enumerator of 1900 seems to have been a bit overwhelmed by his task and has left us with some confusing records.

Business Buying and Selling

Some local businesses were changing ownership as the summer of 1922 drew toward its end.

The eldest of the Walter brothers sold his share of their garage.


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Hobart News 7 Sept. 1922.

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Although Margaret Baumer had declared that as Mrs. George Fleck she would remain involved with the family bakery, a couple of weeks after the wedding she sold her interest to her brother, Fred. To run the bakery store, Fred planned to hire Johanna Lundgren away from the Sauter market.*

Later in September, Harry Coons, Sr. became the owner of the Gem Theater again, buying it from Herman Kemp of Michigan City, who had bought it from A. Vaichis — who had bought it from Harry in 1917.**

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*"Fred Baumer Buys Out Bakery and Bake Shop," Hobart News 14 Sept. 1922.
**"H.T. Coons Again Becomes Owner of Gem Theater," Hobart News 28 Sept. 1922.

The Chester House Again

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Image courtesy of John Fleck.

This is the Chester house, as seen from the west, and I'm not kidding when I say I really appreciate getting such a good view of Ainsworth Road itself … which would have been called the Chester road when this photo was taken.

Exactly when that was, I do not know. The reference in the caption to the late 1800s may mean the era when Carrie Raschka lived there. The number of electric or telephone wires strung along the road suggests at least a couple decades' worth of twentieth century. The porch pillars have been remodeled from their original appearance (compare the two "then" photos in the series linked to above), and I believe that was done in the early 20th century.

I may try a then-and-now in the middle of next winter, but I'm not sure it's possible, even with the leaves off the trees — the former side yard, the site of some of those outbuildings, is just too thickly grown over.

Ainsworth School Teachers 1922

As the new school year began on September 5, 1922, the W.G. Haan school in Ainsworth was staffed by: "Primary, Miss Elsie Brennon; intermediate, Miss Frieda Stark; 7th and 8th grades, J.E. Drillette; high school, Miss Olive Wood."

Elsie's name shows up in the vital records as Brannon, so that is how I shall index it. She came from a farming family in Center Township.

The last time we met Frieda Stark, in June 1922, she was planning to attend the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute. She had graduated from Hobart High School in 1921.


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From the Hobart High School Memories yearbook of 1921, via Ancestry.com.

J.E. Drillette was, I believe, Jacob Edward Drillette, about 49 years of age, who had been teaching in Lowell, Indiana, when he filled out his draft card in 1918. He was a Hoosier by birth, but not a local.

Olive Wood had been teaching since 1917 that I know of, and would continue teaching for many years.

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Evelyn Fredrick (who had taught at Ainsworth in the past) was now teaching in a Hobart school — "4A and 4B," which I take to mean the fourth grade.


Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 7 Sept. 1922.
♦ "Local Teaching Staff Complete for the Coming Year." Hobart News 7 Sept. 1922.
♦ "School Opens on Tuesday." Hobart Gazette 8 Sept. 1922.
♦ WWI Draft Cards.

Ida Know and Ida n't Care

When I saw this postcard for sale, the front did not interest me …


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… but the back — well, here we have a mystery:



A woman named Ida, who appears to have lived in Hobart, who had a niece named Olga Allen — who was she? Wouldn't it be fun to try to find out? is what I said to myself.

I said that because this was back in May, before the really hot, humid weather came, while the lawn and garden were still orderly, before the wasps built all those nests, before the poison ivy shot up among the wildflowers. Now I'm tired, I have a million things to do, I'm too old for this, and I just want to take a nap.

So I leave it up to the internet to solve the mystery.

A Trip to Casper

Late in the summer of 1922, Ella Rossow took a ten-day vacation to Casper, Wyoming …


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Hobart News 7 Sept. 1922.

… which would explain this postcard:


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Postcard courtesy of Eldon Harms.



"Just like Main St. in Hobart," she wrote to her sister, Minnie Harms.

By the time Minnie received this postcard, she was probably already worried about six-year-old Rheinhart's bad sore throat. But by the time Aunt Ella came back, Rheinhart was home from the hospital, minus his tonsils and adenoids.


And with the new school year, Esther Strong took up her first teaching position, at the Vincent school.

Gary & Southern Fatalities

The Gary & Southern streetcar line, running to Crown Point, crossed the old Lincoln Highway at what is now Taft Street, so that intersection is probably the location "west of Merrillville" where a fatal accident occurred on September 2, 1922:


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Hobart Gazette 8 Sept. 1922.

Below that article, we find Floyd Demmon setting up his law office in Hobart. He had married Alice Mundell (the Honey Man's sister) in 1918 (Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index).

At the Lake County Fair

These photographs, which come to use from Eva Thompson via Eldon Harms, were taken on the Lake County fairgrounds circa 1926, which date I guessed at because the only license plates I can see say "IND 26."


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Images courtesy of Eldon Harms.

We have no notes identifying any of these people. I have made a few tentative IDs:



(1) Herman Harms, Sr.; (2) Walter Dye; (3) Minnie Rossow Harms; and (4) Lester Dye.


The next photo shows two unidentified couples getting cozy. And I wish I knew what was going on with those two in the background.




Finally, we have a photo of four men, unidentified except I believe that's Herman Harms Sr. second from the right.



In the background, we see the young woman in the white hat and pearl necklace (second from left) who was getting cozy in the previous photo.

Note the automobile second from the right — its peculiar back end was called (Eldon told me) a turtle deck luggage carrier.

A Wreck at the Ainsworth Corner

To someone reading about a car wreck in the Hobart News of September 1922, what did "the Ainsworth corner" mean? The corner south of Ainsworth, where present-day 73rd Avenue and Grand Boulevard meet, was notorious for wrecks, sometimes deadly, sometimes only painful. However, in this case …


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"Local and Personal," Hobart News 7 Sept. 1922.

… I think "the Ainsworth corner" likely meant the intersection of present-day Ainsworth Road with Grand Boulevard. Hattie Sizelove was presumably coming from her farm east of Ainsworth, so leaving the Lincoln Highway at present-day Greene Street and taking Ainsworth Road to Grand would be a shortcut compared to staying on the Lincoln Highway all the way to Grand.

And Hattie's auto met John Wesley's just south of the Grand Trunk Railroad tracks.

I don't know whether this was John senior or John junior.

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In Hobart, the female population was looking forward to Friday or Saturday night and a trip to the Gem Theatre to see heartthrob Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik.


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Just Look at This Wonderful Parking Lot!

Evidently somebody was very proud of this parking lot.


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The photographer stood (on top of something) along Fourth Street, looking northeast toward the intersection of Third and Center Streets where stood the business served by this parking lot, Hobart Federal Savings (now MainSource Bank).

I'd do a then-and-now, only I don't feel like climbing up on my car to get the right angle — and there are too many trees in the way these days.

The postcard is unused.



According to this website, the Dexter Press did not bear that name after 1980. Judging by the cars in the photo, I'd date it to the latter part of the 1970s.