(Click on images to enlarge)
Images courtesy of Marilyn Duran.
The Armistice was just two weeks old when George Bruebach, Jr., wrote these holiday greetings to the folks back home in Hobart.
Thursday, December 24, 2020
Season's Greetings from Luxembourg, 1918
(Click on images to enlarge)
Images courtesy of Marilyn Duran.
The Armistice was just two weeks old when George Bruebach, Jr., wrote these holiday greetings to the folks back home in Hobart.
Saturday, December 19, 2020
The Girl in an Abandoned House
She was photographed in Chicago, probably sometime in the first decade of the 20th century, but she meant something to someone in Hobart, where this photo ended up …
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Eldon Harms.
… but then again, she meant nothing to someone in Hobart, where this photo was left in an abandoned house, and found by Eldon Harms, whose employer had sent him to shut off the gas in that house so it could be demolished.
I can't date the photograph with any precision. Her blouse and the bow in her hair could date to anytime between the turn of the 20th century and World War I. The photographers, Fein & Schnabel, were in business at that address for over a decade: Chicago Photographers 1847 through 1900 shows them starting out in 1897, and a 1910 Chicago directory records them still working together at that same address.[1]
She wears a heart-shaped locket, just like Baby Les.
I don't suppose I'll ever know who she was.
_______________
[1] The following year Jacob Fein, photographer, is listed at that address without reference to Schnabel, but that might not mean anything.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Eldon Harms.
… but then again, she meant nothing to someone in Hobart, where this photo was left in an abandoned house, and found by Eldon Harms, whose employer had sent him to shut off the gas in that house so it could be demolished.
I can't date the photograph with any precision. Her blouse and the bow in her hair could date to anytime between the turn of the 20th century and World War I. The photographers, Fein & Schnabel, were in business at that address for over a decade: Chicago Photographers 1847 through 1900 shows them starting out in 1897, and a 1910 Chicago directory records them still working together at that same address.[1]
She wears a heart-shaped locket, just like Baby Les.
I don't suppose I'll ever know who she was.
_______________
[1] The following year Jacob Fein, photographer, is listed at that address without reference to Schnabel, but that might not mean anything.
Saturday, December 12, 2020
Baby Les, Bejeweled
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Eldon Harms.
On the back of the original photo, someone has written: "Les baby picture," and since this photo was among those that had belonged to Lester Harms, I gather it's Lester himself. He was born August 10, 1904 (Indiana Death Certificates), and while the photo is undated, Lester appears to be perhaps three months old, which would mean the photo was taken in the autumn of 1904. The photographer was August Haase.
Lester's parents, John and Sophia (Schavey) Harms, have dressed their baby very nicely — just to have his photo taken, or was there some special occasion that this portrait commemorates?
He wears a ring on one finger of his right hand, and a heart-shaped pendant (a choking hazard, but they didn't think about things that way in 1904).
He is staring straight at the camera with such a look of curiosity!
Sunday, December 6, 2020
Independence Hill Fire Department 1946-1947
The volunteer fire department of the Independence Hill area of Merrillville got up a little booklet in 1946 as a means of raising funds for equipment or supplies.
(Click on image to enlarge)
They sold advertising space to local businesses (going as far east as Ainsworth's The Pantry, even) and then, I suppose, distributed the booklet around the community. The booklet includes lists of active firemen and charter members, as well as a brief history of the fire department and photographs of its officers.
I have scanned the entire booklet and you may view it here.
This particular copy comes from the estate of Dr. Doris Papke Blaney via the Hobart Historical Society, which passed it along to the Merrillville/Ross Township Historical Society (in the belief that the latter was more properly concerned with Independence Hill).
In the online files of The Times, I found an informal history of Independence Hill written by Bruce Woods in 2008.
(Click on image to enlarge)
They sold advertising space to local businesses (going as far east as Ainsworth's The Pantry, even) and then, I suppose, distributed the booklet around the community. The booklet includes lists of active firemen and charter members, as well as a brief history of the fire department and photographs of its officers.
I have scanned the entire booklet and you may view it here.
This particular copy comes from the estate of Dr. Doris Papke Blaney via the Hobart Historical Society, which passed it along to the Merrillville/Ross Township Historical Society (in the belief that the latter was more properly concerned with Independence Hill).
In the online files of The Times, I found an informal history of Independence Hill written by Bruce Woods in 2008.
Friday, November 27, 2020
The Reaper
Who is this young man reaping the harvest of 1911?
(Click on images to enlarge)
I don't know; but I think it may have been a member of the Kraft family of Hobart (well, technically, of rural Porter County northeast of Hobart, but let's not get picky), because it was sent by Fred Kraft, Jr.
Fred Jr. was about 36 when he sent this postcard. From what I can see of the young man in the photo, he looks younger than mid-30s. There was a 19-year-old brother, Ralph, who seems a more likely candidate, if this reaper is indeed a Kraft.
Fred Jr.'s parents were Fred Sr. (of course) and Elizabeth "Eliza" Ream — which answers one of my earliest questions in this blog, about the connection between the Kraft and Ream families. They had nine children, all of whom lived to adulthood.
The family was living in Indiana by the time of Fred Jr.'s birth in 1875, and to judge by the 1880 census, they were already in the area of Portage Township where they would settle permanently; but the earliest plat map where I can find the Fred Kraft farm dates to 1895.
Image from https://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/1895Plats/Portage-1895.jpg
The 1876 plat map shows 40 acres of that land owned by D. Kraft — likely Fred Sr.'s brother, Dan.
On the 1895 map, there's a square marking a house in approximately the same spot where that lovely old brick farmhouse stands today. The Porter County records give 1900 as the build date for the house (but you know my opinion about "1900").
Fred Jr. lived and worked on that farm through the 1940 Census. He never married. He died in 1951 and was buried in Hobart Cemetery.
As for this Michael Pister who received the card in Chicago — if there was any family connection between him and the Krafts, I don't know about it. And the Henry whom Frank Kraft, Jr. wanted to hear from was Michael's brother. The 1910 Census records them as 30-something bachelors living with their parents in Chicago, working in their father's tin shop.
Within three months of the date of this postcard, the Reaper came for Henry.
Chicago Inter Ocean, Sept. 22, 1911.
(That last sentence is probably inaccurate, as Henry's obituary in the Chicago Tribune of September 24, 1911, mentions no wife or children.)
(Click on images to enlarge)
I don't know; but I think it may have been a member of the Kraft family of Hobart (well, technically, of rural Porter County northeast of Hobart, but let's not get picky), because it was sent by Fred Kraft, Jr.
Fred Jr. was about 36 when he sent this postcard. From what I can see of the young man in the photo, he looks younger than mid-30s. There was a 19-year-old brother, Ralph, who seems a more likely candidate, if this reaper is indeed a Kraft.
Fred Jr.'s parents were Fred Sr. (of course) and Elizabeth "Eliza" Ream — which answers one of my earliest questions in this blog, about the connection between the Kraft and Ream families. They had nine children, all of whom lived to adulthood.
The family was living in Indiana by the time of Fred Jr.'s birth in 1875, and to judge by the 1880 census, they were already in the area of Portage Township where they would settle permanently; but the earliest plat map where I can find the Fred Kraft farm dates to 1895.
Image from https://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/1895Plats/Portage-1895.jpg
The 1876 plat map shows 40 acres of that land owned by D. Kraft — likely Fred Sr.'s brother, Dan.
On the 1895 map, there's a square marking a house in approximately the same spot where that lovely old brick farmhouse stands today. The Porter County records give 1900 as the build date for the house (but you know my opinion about "1900").
Fred Jr. lived and worked on that farm through the 1940 Census. He never married. He died in 1951 and was buried in Hobart Cemetery.
As for this Michael Pister who received the card in Chicago — if there was any family connection between him and the Krafts, I don't know about it. And the Henry whom Frank Kraft, Jr. wanted to hear from was Michael's brother. The 1910 Census records them as 30-something bachelors living with their parents in Chicago, working in their father's tin shop.
Within three months of the date of this postcard, the Reaper came for Henry.
Chicago Inter Ocean, Sept. 22, 1911.
(That last sentence is probably inaccurate, as Henry's obituary in the Chicago Tribune of September 24, 1911, mentions no wife or children.)
Friday, November 20, 2020
A Bruebach Family Portrait
I received this photo from a Bruebach descendant, who tells me that it shows a family group on the Bruebach farm circa 1912.
(Click on images to enlarge)
Photos courtesy of Marilyn Duran.
The extended and in-law Bruebach family at this time included an Abel as well as Manteuffels,[1] and probably other family names that I don't know about.
If this is the Bruebach farm, that must be the farmhouse in the background, and a very nice farmhouse it is. I can't match it up to anything still standing today; more's the pity.[2]
Only four people in this photo are identified, and here Marilyn has pulled them out to form their own little family group:
Clockwise from the top: Frank Abel, Jr. (b. 1880); his wife, Johanna (Bruebach, b. 1882); their son, Lester (b. 1911); and their daughter, Audis (b. 1907).
What strikes me is how unhappy both Frank and Audis look. Maybe they just didn't like having their picture taken; but then again, they might not have felt entirely comfortable among the Bruebachs. Unfortunately, Frank and Johanna's marriage was troubled. Later in the 1910s, their private drama would become public as the social columns of the local newspapers reported separations, reconciliations, and Johanna's filing of a divorce suit. Frank's death certificate (January 1919) describes him as divorced.
By then Johanna had taken the children and moved to Chicago. Marking the anniversaries of Frank's death through 1922, the local newspapers carried notices like this one:
Hobart News, January 22, 1920.
_______________
[1] Elise Manteuffel married George Bruebach, Sr., in 1887 in Chicago (Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index), thus beginning what would become the Bruebach family of Hobart.
[2] Assuming some remodeling, it looks a bit like 10 N. Hobart Road, which was built in 1899 per the county records and is not on the former Bruebach property.
(Click on images to enlarge)
Photos courtesy of Marilyn Duran.
The extended and in-law Bruebach family at this time included an Abel as well as Manteuffels,[1] and probably other family names that I don't know about.
If this is the Bruebach farm, that must be the farmhouse in the background, and a very nice farmhouse it is. I can't match it up to anything still standing today; more's the pity.[2]
Only four people in this photo are identified, and here Marilyn has pulled them out to form their own little family group:
Clockwise from the top: Frank Abel, Jr. (b. 1880); his wife, Johanna (Bruebach, b. 1882); their son, Lester (b. 1911); and their daughter, Audis (b. 1907).
What strikes me is how unhappy both Frank and Audis look. Maybe they just didn't like having their picture taken; but then again, they might not have felt entirely comfortable among the Bruebachs. Unfortunately, Frank and Johanna's marriage was troubled. Later in the 1910s, their private drama would become public as the social columns of the local newspapers reported separations, reconciliations, and Johanna's filing of a divorce suit. Frank's death certificate (January 1919) describes him as divorced.
By then Johanna had taken the children and moved to Chicago. Marking the anniversaries of Frank's death through 1922, the local newspapers carried notices like this one:
Hobart News, January 22, 1920.
_______________
[1] Elise Manteuffel married George Bruebach, Sr., in 1887 in Chicago (Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index), thus beginning what would become the Bruebach family of Hobart.
[2] Assuming some remodeling, it looks a bit like 10 N. Hobart Road, which was built in 1899 per the county records and is not on the former Bruebach property.
Friday, November 13, 2020
Where the Bruebach Farm Was: A Theory
Since I started researching the Bruebach family, I have been wondering where they lived. Newspaper items reference a farm, but I could not find any property labeled "Bruebach" on any plat map.
The reason for this, I have come to believe, is that the farm was too small to allow a mapmaker to write out the full name, and that the Bruebach farm is marked by the initials "G.B." on the 1908 Plat Map:
(Click on images to enlarge)
It's a parcel of probably less than 20 acres straddling Rand Street on the west side of present-day State Road 51.
Aside from the initials matching George Bruebach's name, what evidence do I have for my theory?
First of all, in the 1920 Census, the enumerator's notes place the Bruebach household on the "East Gary Road between East Gary and Hobart, Ind.," which describes S.R. 51.
That phrase could also describe Lake Park Avenue, I suppose, so let's look at the 1910 Census.
Of all the names recorded near the Bruebachs, only Larson also appears on Lake Park Avenue. I think the Jacob and Anna Haller below the Bruebachs show up on the 1908 map misspelled as J. & A. Keller, while Kostbade in the census comes out Kostbach on the map.
Also note that George Bruebach, Sr. was an electrician by trade, not a farmer, so he wouldn't need a lot of land.
In further support of the S.R.-51 theory, I offer early-20th-century newspaper descriptions of the location of the Bruebach home. The "Local Drifts" column in the Hobart Gazette includes a couple of items: in the July 7, 1914, issue: "Mrs. Frank Able [née Johanna Bruebach; married Frank Abel, Jr. in 1906] and two children spent Sunday with her parents northeast of town"; and in the September 29, 1922 issue: "Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bruebach, who live in the Lounsbury house, on Cleveland avenue, will move about next Monday to the home of his mother and sister, northeast of the city." I emphasize "northeast" because that direction more accurately describes S.R. 51 than Lake Park Avenue; the latter would just be "north."
In their obituaries of George Bruebach, Sr. (who died June 15, 1920), the Gazette states: "Fifteen years ago last April he purchased a small farm northeast of Hobart,"[1] while the News describes the farm as being "about two miles from town."[2] Measured on Google maps, the distance from the center of town to the Rand-S.R. 51 intersection (traveling by road) is about 1.77 miles.
So there you have my theory, and the evidence on which I base it.
_______________
[1] "Death of George J. Bruebach," Hobart Gazette, June 25, 1920.
[2] "George Bruebach, Sr. Expires Suddenly Tuesday Evening," Hobart News, June 17, 1920.
The reason for this, I have come to believe, is that the farm was too small to allow a mapmaker to write out the full name, and that the Bruebach farm is marked by the initials "G.B." on the 1908 Plat Map:
(Click on images to enlarge)
It's a parcel of probably less than 20 acres straddling Rand Street on the west side of present-day State Road 51.
Aside from the initials matching George Bruebach's name, what evidence do I have for my theory?
First of all, in the 1920 Census, the enumerator's notes place the Bruebach household on the "East Gary Road between East Gary and Hobart, Ind.," which describes S.R. 51.
That phrase could also describe Lake Park Avenue, I suppose, so let's look at the 1910 Census.
Of all the names recorded near the Bruebachs, only Larson also appears on Lake Park Avenue. I think the Jacob and Anna Haller below the Bruebachs show up on the 1908 map misspelled as J. & A. Keller, while Kostbade in the census comes out Kostbach on the map.
Also note that George Bruebach, Sr. was an electrician by trade, not a farmer, so he wouldn't need a lot of land.
In further support of the S.R.-51 theory, I offer early-20th-century newspaper descriptions of the location of the Bruebach home. The "Local Drifts" column in the Hobart Gazette includes a couple of items: in the July 7, 1914, issue: "Mrs. Frank Able [née Johanna Bruebach; married Frank Abel, Jr. in 1906] and two children spent Sunday with her parents northeast of town"; and in the September 29, 1922 issue: "Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bruebach, who live in the Lounsbury house, on Cleveland avenue, will move about next Monday to the home of his mother and sister, northeast of the city." I emphasize "northeast" because that direction more accurately describes S.R. 51 than Lake Park Avenue; the latter would just be "north."
In their obituaries of George Bruebach, Sr. (who died June 15, 1920), the Gazette states: "Fifteen years ago last April he purchased a small farm northeast of Hobart,"[1] while the News describes the farm as being "about two miles from town."[2] Measured on Google maps, the distance from the center of town to the Rand-S.R. 51 intersection (traveling by road) is about 1.77 miles.
So there you have my theory, and the evidence on which I base it.
_______________
[1] "Death of George J. Bruebach," Hobart Gazette, June 25, 1920.
[2] "George Bruebach, Sr. Expires Suddenly Tuesday Evening," Hobart News, June 17, 1920.
Friday, November 6, 2020
Brave Critters of Ainsworth
Some brave critter (skunk? raccoon?) came by in the night and dug up a yellowjacket nest in my yard.
(Click on images to enlarge)
I knew the yellowjackets had built a nest in the ground by that old elm stump last summer, but I didn't know how big it was.
And to think I mowed around there all summer without getting stung. It seems the yellowjackets of Ainsworth are pretty mild-mannered.
(Click on images to enlarge)
I knew the yellowjackets had built a nest in the ground by that old elm stump last summer, but I didn't know how big it was.
And to think I mowed around there all summer without getting stung. It seems the yellowjackets of Ainsworth are pretty mild-mannered.
Sunday, November 1, 2020
Jim's Bad Day on the Dunes Highway
James Chester's first time ever driving on the newly opened Dunes Highway did not go well.
(Click on image to enlarge)
"Local and Personal," Hobart News, Nov. 29, 1923.
An item in the same column tells us that an infant daughter of Leo and Augusta (Buchfuehrer) Fifield was seriously ill. Clara Mae Field had been born August 14, 1923 (delivered by Dr. Clara Faulkner). Fortunately, Clara survived her illness and shows up alive and well in the 1930 Census and beyond.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from Ancestry.com.
(Click on image to enlarge)
"Local and Personal," Hobart News, Nov. 29, 1923.
An item in the same column tells us that an infant daughter of Leo and Augusta (Buchfuehrer) Fifield was seriously ill. Clara Mae Field had been born August 14, 1923 (delivered by Dr. Clara Faulkner). Fortunately, Clara survived her illness and shows up alive and well in the 1930 Census and beyond.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from Ancestry.com.
Saturday, October 24, 2020
Ainsworth School-Year Souvenir, 1897-98 (Conclusion)
(continued from Part 7)
(Click on image to enlarge)
My last entry in this series is a disappointment, because I simply can't identify any Bessie (or Elizabeth) Switzer with any clear connection to Ainsworth.
Checking my notes, however, I do find a local connection to the surname Switzer in this "General News Item" from the Hobart Gazette of September 20, 1907:
However, Rudolph and Augusta Switzer were in living in Kansas from the 1880 Census onward, and as far as I can tell they never had a child named Bessie.
(Click on image to enlarge)
My last entry in this series is a disappointment, because I simply can't identify any Bessie (or Elizabeth) Switzer with any clear connection to Ainsworth.
Checking my notes, however, I do find a local connection to the surname Switzer in this "General News Item" from the Hobart Gazette of September 20, 1907:
A family reunion in which fifty-two people participated was held last Sunday at the home of Chas. Maybaum, Sr., south of Ainsworth, in honor of his sister, Mrs. Rudolph Switzer, and her daughter Carrie who are here from Ness City, Kas., visiting relatives for a few months. Those present from Hobart were Mrs. Geo. Stocker who is a sister of Mrs. Switzer and Jacob Kramer, Jr., and family. The day was very pleasantly passed.And in the Indiana Marriage Collection we find Rudolph Sweitzer marrying Augusta Maibaum in Lake County, Indiana, on March 4, 1871. Rudolph first shows up in Hobart in the 1860 Census (age 11) with his parents, Daniel and Anna, both of whom died within a few years and are buried in Hobart Cemetery. Rudolph also makes some appearances in the Union Sunday School record books and the Hobart Township Trustee's ledger between 1869 and 1875, though I can't find him in the 1870 Census.
However, Rudolph and Augusta Switzer were in living in Kansas from the 1880 Census onward, and as far as I can tell they never had a child named Bessie.
Friday, October 16, 2020
Valpo Dummie at the Pennsy Station, 1977
Here's another addition to my collection of Depressing Photos of the Pennsy Station, this one from a slide imprinted with the date April 8, 1977.
(Click on image to enlarge)
According to handwritten notes on the slide, standing on the track is the "Valpo Dummie," a commuter train that ran between Valparaiso and Chicago.
I have no idea what the correct spelling of dummie/dummy is. If a colloquialism like that could be said to have a correct spelling.
(Click on image to enlarge)
According to handwritten notes on the slide, standing on the track is the "Valpo Dummie," a commuter train that ran between Valparaiso and Chicago.
I have no idea what the correct spelling of dummie/dummy is. If a colloquialism like that could be said to have a correct spelling.
Friday, October 9, 2020
Ainsworth School-Year Souvenir, 1897-98 (Part 7)
(continued from Part 6)
(Click on image to enlarge)
Maybe I should have recognized the name, Wert; I've mentioned with it a couple of times before in the blog — but only in passing, and without bothering to find out much about the family.
Ella Wert was born in 1880. In December 1900, she became Mrs. Edward Cole. She and Edward had two daughters (Evelyn and Edna), and also a foster son named Harry Breyfogle.
Ella's father, Emanuel Wert, shows up in Ross Township as early as the 1860 Census. His parents, Martin and Mary, with their numerous children (nine by 1870), farmed in southeastern Ross Township. This image from the 1874 Plat Map shows the Wert farm, which included 40 acres just over the Winfield Township line.
(Click on image to enlarge)
You'd think, with so many children, the Wert family would have more of a presence locally, but my newspaper notes include only a few mentions of them. (Which may be due to my lack of attention.)
Also on the image above, outlined in green, is the Hooseline and Tabor farm. That, I believe, has some connection to Ella's mother, Mary Hooseline, whose obituary describes her as the child of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Hooseline. The 1870 Census shows Michael and Laura (Tabor) Hooseline living in southeastern Ross township, possibly on that farm. But Michael is not old enough to be Mary's father: he must be her brother.[1] Her father, then, was Michael Sr. I am not sure who her mother was — Mary's death certificate has "unknown" in that space. The 1860 Census shows Michael Sr. and his wife (one infers) Rebecca living somewhere in Union Township, Porter County, with Mary and her siblings. Michael Sr. was 58 and Rebecca 35; I suspect she was his second wife. Michael Sr. died in 1862.
In 1878 Mary Hooseline married Emanuel Wert. Ella was their only child — at least, the only one to survive infancy — and the Wert marriage was cut short when Emanuel died in 1886, as we learn from his grave marker in Deer Creek Cemetery. I have no idea what happened to him.
I cannot find the family in the 1880 Census. The 1900 Census shows Mary and Ella living in or near the village of Ainsworth (to judge by the names recorded close to theirs). And later that year came Ella's marriage.
♦ ♦ ♦
That's all the time I have right now to devote to the Werts. Just one last thing — I took a look at the satellite view of the Wert land in case their house might still be where the 1874 plat map seems to indicate: on the east side of Grand Boulevard, just north of the Ross-Winfield Township line. But now there is only an empty plowed field, and some buildings south of the township line.
[to be continued]
_______________
[1] Michael Jr.'s entry on findagrave.com gives a little background about him and his family.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Maybe I should have recognized the name, Wert; I've mentioned with it a couple of times before in the blog — but only in passing, and without bothering to find out much about the family.
Ella Wert was born in 1880. In December 1900, she became Mrs. Edward Cole. She and Edward had two daughters (Evelyn and Edna), and also a foster son named Harry Breyfogle.
Ella's father, Emanuel Wert, shows up in Ross Township as early as the 1860 Census. His parents, Martin and Mary, with their numerous children (nine by 1870), farmed in southeastern Ross Township. This image from the 1874 Plat Map shows the Wert farm, which included 40 acres just over the Winfield Township line.
(Click on image to enlarge)
You'd think, with so many children, the Wert family would have more of a presence locally, but my newspaper notes include only a few mentions of them. (Which may be due to my lack of attention.)
Also on the image above, outlined in green, is the Hooseline and Tabor farm. That, I believe, has some connection to Ella's mother, Mary Hooseline, whose obituary describes her as the child of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Hooseline. The 1870 Census shows Michael and Laura (Tabor) Hooseline living in southeastern Ross township, possibly on that farm. But Michael is not old enough to be Mary's father: he must be her brother.[1] Her father, then, was Michael Sr. I am not sure who her mother was — Mary's death certificate has "unknown" in that space. The 1860 Census shows Michael Sr. and his wife (one infers) Rebecca living somewhere in Union Township, Porter County, with Mary and her siblings. Michael Sr. was 58 and Rebecca 35; I suspect she was his second wife. Michael Sr. died in 1862.
In 1878 Mary Hooseline married Emanuel Wert. Ella was their only child — at least, the only one to survive infancy — and the Wert marriage was cut short when Emanuel died in 1886, as we learn from his grave marker in Deer Creek Cemetery. I have no idea what happened to him.
I cannot find the family in the 1880 Census. The 1900 Census shows Mary and Ella living in or near the village of Ainsworth (to judge by the names recorded close to theirs). And later that year came Ella's marriage.
That's all the time I have right now to devote to the Werts. Just one last thing — I took a look at the satellite view of the Wert land in case their house might still be where the 1874 plat map seems to indicate: on the east side of Grand Boulevard, just north of the Ross-Winfield Township line. But now there is only an empty plowed field, and some buildings south of the township line.
[to be continued]
_______________
[1] Michael Jr.'s entry on findagrave.com gives a little background about him and his family.
Friday, October 2, 2020
Back to 1923 Temporari-Lee
I still have a couple of items from the 1923 newspaper, from back in the good old days when you didn't need an appointment to go to the library. May those days return soon.
Speaking of returning, that is what Lee Thompson, our barber, has done — from Seattle, where he had gone in October 1922. He was just in time to meet his brand-new niece.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart News, Nov. 29, 1923.
Below that, a surprise birthday party for Asa Strong, who was 54 years old. Born November 24, 1869 (Indiana Death Certificates) and named for his grandfather, he was the first child of Augustus and Sarah (Culver) Strong, who had been married in 1868. In 1900, Asa had married Ida Roper. They lived in Hobart (1920 Census). Mrs. Ross Graham was the former Ruby Roper.
Speaking of returning, that is what Lee Thompson, our barber, has done — from Seattle, where he had gone in October 1922. He was just in time to meet his brand-new niece.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart News, Nov. 29, 1923.
Below that, a surprise birthday party for Asa Strong, who was 54 years old. Born November 24, 1869 (Indiana Death Certificates) and named for his grandfather, he was the first child of Augustus and Sarah (Culver) Strong, who had been married in 1868. In 1900, Asa had married Ida Roper. They lived in Hobart (1920 Census). Mrs. Ross Graham was the former Ruby Roper.
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Ainsworth School-Year Souvenir, 1897-98 (Part 6)
(continued from Part 5)
(Click on image to enlarge)
I can find no reference in my notes to the surname Selen, but a search on Ancestry.com easily turns up the 1900 Census, which shows Peter and Freeda Selen, with their four children, farming rented land in Ross Township — probably southeast of Ainsworth, to judge by their landowning neighbors: Larson, Wojahn, and Yager can all be placed along 73rd Avenue between S.R. 51 and Randolph between the 1891 Plat Book and the 1908 Plat Map.
Annie, born in Illinois in 1888,[1] was about 10 years old during this school year. She had a brother, Albert, born 1891, who ought to have been in school with her; also a sister, Ester, born 1892; and then in June 1897 along came little Alexander.
Peter Selen had come to this country from Sweden in the mid-1880s. In 1888, he married Fredericka Dorette Ellene "Freeda" Wilkens, a German immigrant. They lived in Illinois through Ester's birth in 1892, at least. Why they came down to farm in Ross Township, I have no clue. The 1910 Census shows the family living in Chicago, Peter working as a carpenter — but they had lived in Indiana through about 1907, when their youngest child was born.
Per the Cook County, Illinois, Deaths Index, Annie Selen died, unmarried, on February 12, 1919.
[to be continued]
_______________
[1] Her death record says September 17, 1888; the 1900 Census says September 1887; her parents' marriage (if I've found the right people) took place April 7, 1888.
(Click on image to enlarge)
I can find no reference in my notes to the surname Selen, but a search on Ancestry.com easily turns up the 1900 Census, which shows Peter and Freeda Selen, with their four children, farming rented land in Ross Township — probably southeast of Ainsworth, to judge by their landowning neighbors: Larson, Wojahn, and Yager can all be placed along 73rd Avenue between S.R. 51 and Randolph between the 1891 Plat Book and the 1908 Plat Map.
Annie, born in Illinois in 1888,[1] was about 10 years old during this school year. She had a brother, Albert, born 1891, who ought to have been in school with her; also a sister, Ester, born 1892; and then in June 1897 along came little Alexander.
Peter Selen had come to this country from Sweden in the mid-1880s. In 1888, he married Fredericka Dorette Ellene "Freeda" Wilkens, a German immigrant. They lived in Illinois through Ester's birth in 1892, at least. Why they came down to farm in Ross Township, I have no clue. The 1910 Census shows the family living in Chicago, Peter working as a carpenter — but they had lived in Indiana through about 1907, when their youngest child was born.
Per the Cook County, Illinois, Deaths Index, Annie Selen died, unmarried, on February 12, 1919.
[to be continued]
_______________
[1] Her death record says September 17, 1888; the 1900 Census says September 1887; her parents' marriage (if I've found the right people) took place April 7, 1888.
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Just Whistle!
I bought this bottle thinking (mistakenly) that the Hobart Historical Society didn't already have any like this. They did. So now they have another.
(Click on images to enlarge)
The bottle has "Hobart Ind" stamped on the bottom:
Whistle was an orange-flavored soda introduced to mass marketing sometime circa 1920; sources vary on exactly when. This source says 1920s; another source says the soda was formulated in 1916 but not sold until 1925. However, I have found a flurry of ads in Indiana newspapers in 1919, like this one:
Kokomo Daily Tribune, Aug. 20, 1919.
Here's one from a local paper in 1921:
Lake County Times (Hammond), Apr. 22, 1921.
And here's a little ad from 1957 in Terre Haute:
Terre Haute Tribune, Sept. 23, 1957.
I have no idea when Whistle soda ceased production.
I can't really date this bottle, either. The Hobart Historical Society's display dates a similar bottle to around 1940, but an online source dates another to circa 1926.
The agonizingly slow process of reading microfilm may yield more information.
(Click on images to enlarge)
The bottle has "Hobart Ind" stamped on the bottom:
Whistle was an orange-flavored soda introduced to mass marketing sometime circa 1920; sources vary on exactly when. This source says 1920s; another source says the soda was formulated in 1916 but not sold until 1925. However, I have found a flurry of ads in Indiana newspapers in 1919, like this one:
Kokomo Daily Tribune, Aug. 20, 1919.
Here's one from a local paper in 1921:
Lake County Times (Hammond), Apr. 22, 1921.
And here's a little ad from 1957 in Terre Haute:
Terre Haute Tribune, Sept. 23, 1957.
I have no idea when Whistle soda ceased production.
I can't really date this bottle, either. The Hobart Historical Society's display dates a similar bottle to around 1940, but an online source dates another to circa 1926.
The agonizingly slow process of reading microfilm may yield more information.
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Ainsworth School-Year Souvenir, 1897-98 (Part 5)
(continued from Part 4)
(Click on image to enlarge)
Now I shall deal with the names Glattli and Mankey, because I think they are related. Why do I think that? First, here is Edward Mankey's 1963 death notice:
Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso), May 6, 1963.
Who on earth (I asked myself) was this surviving sister, Mrs. Louise Mounts? The only Mankey girl I knew of was Sophie Mankey Triebess. So I went looking for Louise, and eventually found her death certificate.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from Ancestry.com.
Louise's mother was Dorothea Mankey.
Dorothea had become a widow in 1889, when her husband, William, died. William was the father of Henry, Eddie, and Willie, as well as Sophie.
William and Dorothea are elusive. I can't find them in the 1880 Census or any earlier one, nor can I find a marriage record for them. They likely were married around 1880, if Sophie, born in 1881, was their first child. Her birthplace was Indiana, while the boys all were born in Illinois (William, 1883; Edward, 1885; Henry, 1888). Dorothea had a local connection here: her sister, Minnie Brockmiller, became Mrs. Christ Passow in 1885 and resided in Hobart. That marriage had taken place in Cook County, Illinois, so perhaps the Brockmillers lived in the Chicago area.
After William's death, apparently Dorothea married Carl aka Charles Glattli — but again, I can't find a record of that marriage. According to a family tree someone compiled on Ancestry.com, Anna Glattli was born in November 1890, so Dorothea may have been her mother. (Anna died in Illinois in 1920; her death certificate is not online.) That would account for the Anna Glattli on our 1897-98 souvenir. Then Louise Antonie Glattli, the future Mrs. Mounts, was born in 1891.
Dorothea Brockmiller Mankey Glattli died in 1899 and is buried under the Mankey name. (She died in Chicago, but her residence was Ainsworth, Indiana, per the Cook County, Illinois, Deaths Index. I cannot find a death notice in the local newspaper.) Carl/Charles Glattli survived her, and apparently remarried soon and moved to Chicago, if I've found the right people in the 1900 Census (and if the enumerator made a mistake in the "How many years married" column).
The Mankey children did not go to Chicago with their stepfather. The 1900 Census shows them scattered. While I can't find Sophie at all, I suspect she was living with relatives in Chicago, where she married Julius Triebess in 1901. William, age 16, was a hired farmhand living in the household of Michael and Mary Foreman. The 14-year-old Edward was living in the home of a Calumet Township farmer named William Gallagher; Eddie is described as a "servant" but is also "at school." I can't find their younger brother, Henry, in 1900, but in the 1910 Census he turns up in Hobart, in the home of Aunt Minnie and Uncle Christ, employed in a brickyard.
William married Lena Springman in 1906, and they farmed in Ross Township through the 1920 Census, but it looks as if they moved to Chicago by the 1930 Census.
Edward married Alvina Koeppen in 1911. They farmed in Porter County through the 1940 Census, but then moved to Hobart.
Henry got out of the sticks, married and resided in Chicago, but had moved to Calumet City by 1974, when he died.
Anna Glattli married a man named Charles Mosel in 1911 and lived out the rest of her short life in Blue Island, Illinois.
Louise Glattli married a Joseph Jackson in Blackford County, Indiana, in 1916, and after his death in 1937, married the Rev. Claude Mounts in Gary, Indiana, in 1938.
I can't believe how many hours of my life went into figuring this all out.
Finally, here is the death notice of Dorothea Brockmiller Mankey Glattli's mother, from the "Mortuary Record" column of the Hobart Gazette of March 31, 1905:
[to be continued]
(Click on image to enlarge)
Now I shall deal with the names Glattli and Mankey, because I think they are related. Why do I think that? First, here is Edward Mankey's 1963 death notice:
Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso), May 6, 1963.
Who on earth (I asked myself) was this surviving sister, Mrs. Louise Mounts? The only Mankey girl I knew of was Sophie Mankey Triebess. So I went looking for Louise, and eventually found her death certificate.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from Ancestry.com.
Louise's mother was Dorothea Mankey.
Dorothea had become a widow in 1889, when her husband, William, died. William was the father of Henry, Eddie, and Willie, as well as Sophie.
William and Dorothea are elusive. I can't find them in the 1880 Census or any earlier one, nor can I find a marriage record for them. They likely were married around 1880, if Sophie, born in 1881, was their first child. Her birthplace was Indiana, while the boys all were born in Illinois (William, 1883; Edward, 1885; Henry, 1888). Dorothea had a local connection here: her sister, Minnie Brockmiller, became Mrs. Christ Passow in 1885 and resided in Hobart. That marriage had taken place in Cook County, Illinois, so perhaps the Brockmillers lived in the Chicago area.
After William's death, apparently Dorothea married Carl aka Charles Glattli — but again, I can't find a record of that marriage. According to a family tree someone compiled on Ancestry.com, Anna Glattli was born in November 1890, so Dorothea may have been her mother. (Anna died in Illinois in 1920; her death certificate is not online.) That would account for the Anna Glattli on our 1897-98 souvenir. Then Louise Antonie Glattli, the future Mrs. Mounts, was born in 1891.
Dorothea Brockmiller Mankey Glattli died in 1899 and is buried under the Mankey name. (She died in Chicago, but her residence was Ainsworth, Indiana, per the Cook County, Illinois, Deaths Index. I cannot find a death notice in the local newspaper.) Carl/Charles Glattli survived her, and apparently remarried soon and moved to Chicago, if I've found the right people in the 1900 Census (and if the enumerator made a mistake in the "How many years married" column).
The Mankey children did not go to Chicago with their stepfather. The 1900 Census shows them scattered. While I can't find Sophie at all, I suspect she was living with relatives in Chicago, where she married Julius Triebess in 1901. William, age 16, was a hired farmhand living in the household of Michael and Mary Foreman. The 14-year-old Edward was living in the home of a Calumet Township farmer named William Gallagher; Eddie is described as a "servant" but is also "at school." I can't find their younger brother, Henry, in 1900, but in the 1910 Census he turns up in Hobart, in the home of Aunt Minnie and Uncle Christ, employed in a brickyard.
William married Lena Springman in 1906, and they farmed in Ross Township through the 1920 Census, but it looks as if they moved to Chicago by the 1930 Census.
Edward married Alvina Koeppen in 1911. They farmed in Porter County through the 1940 Census, but then moved to Hobart.
Henry got out of the sticks, married and resided in Chicago, but had moved to Calumet City by 1974, when he died.
Anna Glattli married a man named Charles Mosel in 1911 and lived out the rest of her short life in Blue Island, Illinois.
Louise Glattli married a Joseph Jackson in Blackford County, Indiana, in 1916, and after his death in 1937, married the Rev. Claude Mounts in Gary, Indiana, in 1938.
I can't believe how many hours of my life went into figuring this all out.
Finally, here is the death notice of Dorothea Brockmiller Mankey Glattli's mother, from the "Mortuary Record" column of the Hobart Gazette of March 31, 1905:
Mrs. Dora Brockmiller, mother of Mrs. Christ Passow, Jr., of this place, died suddenly at 3948 State street, Chicago, on Tuesday, March 28, 1905, aged 71 years. Services were held at the late residence at 12:15 yesterday and the remains were shipped to Hobart on the Milk Train and taken to the German Lutheran Church where services were conducted by Rev. Schuelke. The interment occurred in the Hobart cemetery.No mention of the daughter who predeceased her, the ever-elusive Dorothea.
The deceased is mourned by three children, Mrs. Minnie Passow, Henry Brockmiller and Mrs. Ida Quade.
[to be continued]
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Ainsworth School-Year Souvenir, 1897-98 (Part 4)
(continued from Part 3)
(Click on image to enlarge)
Let us move on to — Kleine, which I can't say is completely new to me, since I've already referenced it once in the blog, but I've never paid much attention to the Kleine family.
Our Edgar Kleine is neatly summed up in his obituary:
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hammond Times, Mar. 26, 1940.
Edgar's parents, Richard and Fredericka, were born in Germany. Their early married life was spent in Wisconsin, apparently, since that is where their eldest child, Bruno, was born circa 1867. The 1870 Census records them here in Ross Township, as does the 1880 Census.
The 1874 Plat Map shows the Kleine farm on the Joliet Road (E. 73rd Avenue) — I believe so, anyway, although the surname is spelled Kline and the first initial is hard to read.
(Click on image to enlarge)
And the 1880 census enumerator recorded the Kleine family close to such names as Bullock, Harper, Ragen, and Smith, which suggests that the "R?. M. Kline" of the 1874 map is indeed Richard Maximillian Kleine.
You will notice that O.L.E. Kleine owns a big parcel just touching the southeast corner of Richard and Fredericka's farm. I believe O.L.E. was Richard's older brother, Oswald. The 1880 Census records Oswald living in Hobart with their mother, Christina; but apparently he later moved (back?) to Wisconsin, where he died in 1899. He was the Oswald Kleine involved in George Chester's action to quiet title.
But getting back to Edgar's family — after the close of the school year, perhaps, they moved to Porter County, where Richard died in December of 1898. The 1900 Census shows the widowed Fredericka still farming in Porter County, with the help of the three sons old enough to work the farm (they ranged in age from 32 to 17); there was also a 15-year-old, a 13-year-old, and a toddler born in August 1898.
In 1901, Edgar married Lillian Frailey in Porter County.
Fredericka died in 1902.
[to be continued]
(Click on image to enlarge)
Let us move on to — Kleine, which I can't say is completely new to me, since I've already referenced it once in the blog, but I've never paid much attention to the Kleine family.
Our Edgar Kleine is neatly summed up in his obituary:
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hammond Times, Mar. 26, 1940.
Edgar's parents, Richard and Fredericka, were born in Germany. Their early married life was spent in Wisconsin, apparently, since that is where their eldest child, Bruno, was born circa 1867. The 1870 Census records them here in Ross Township, as does the 1880 Census.
The 1874 Plat Map shows the Kleine farm on the Joliet Road (E. 73rd Avenue) — I believe so, anyway, although the surname is spelled Kline and the first initial is hard to read.
(Click on image to enlarge)
And the 1880 census enumerator recorded the Kleine family close to such names as Bullock, Harper, Ragen, and Smith, which suggests that the "R?. M. Kline" of the 1874 map is indeed Richard Maximillian Kleine.
You will notice that O.L.E. Kleine owns a big parcel just touching the southeast corner of Richard and Fredericka's farm. I believe O.L.E. was Richard's older brother, Oswald. The 1880 Census records Oswald living in Hobart with their mother, Christina; but apparently he later moved (back?) to Wisconsin, where he died in 1899. He was the Oswald Kleine involved in George Chester's action to quiet title.
But getting back to Edgar's family — after the close of the school year, perhaps, they moved to Porter County, where Richard died in December of 1898. The 1900 Census shows the widowed Fredericka still farming in Porter County, with the help of the three sons old enough to work the farm (they ranged in age from 32 to 17); there was also a 15-year-old, a 13-year-old, and a toddler born in August 1898.
In 1901, Edgar married Lillian Frailey in Porter County.
Fredericka died in 1902.
[to be continued]
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Ainsworth School-Year Souvenir, 1897-98 (Part 3)
(continued from Part 2)
And now I shall educate myself about the names I don't recognize.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Rosa Dumas was about 15 years old, while Charlie, Maggie, and Moses ranged from 11 to 7. At home were two more siblings: Lucy, age four, apparently was not in school yet, nor, of course, was the two-year-old James. Their parents, Lucien and Hannah, rented a house somewhere in the village of Ainsworth (1900 Census). Lucien worked as a railroad section boss, perhaps on the Grand Trunk Railroad. In 1899, Hannah would give birth to twins, but only one, Genevieve, would survive — yes, I did note that down while reading microfilm,[1] but the Dumas name meant nothing to me and I quickly forgot about it.
I found a few other forgotten references in my notes. This one, from January 1905, suggests that Maggie was a popular young lady.
(Click on images to enlarge)
Hobart Gazette, Jan. 6, 1905.
From the same issue, we learn that Rosa had moved out of the family home.
Sometime after 1905 (I find no mention of any Dumas later than that in my notes), the family moved to Chicago, where both the 1910 Census and the 1920 Census record them. The 1930 Census shows that they had moved to Otsego, Michigan. Lucien and Hannah lived out the rest of their lives there, but when Hannah died in 1937[2] and Lucien in 1940[3], each was brought back to Valparaiso for burial.
Both Lucien and Hannah had grown up in Porter County. The 1870 Census records the eight-year-old Lucien in Valparaiso with his parents, Levi and Lucy. By 1880 he was working in a woolen factory. I can't find Hannah in 1870, but in the 1880 Census she was counted twice: once at home in the village of Hebron with her parents, Andrew and Margaret, and once as a servant in the household of Thomas and Mary McKay, who farmed in Winfield Township, Lake County. Lucien and Hannah were married in 1883.
I wonder if this Dumas family has any connection to Dumas Street in Valpo?
[to be continued]
_______________
[1] "Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette, Oct. 13, 1899.
[2] "Sister of Local Woman Succumbs at Home in Michigan," Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso), Mar. 27, 1937.
[3] "Lucien Dumas Death Victim," Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso), Feb. 5, 1940.
And now I shall educate myself about the names I don't recognize.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Rosa Dumas was about 15 years old, while Charlie, Maggie, and Moses ranged from 11 to 7. At home were two more siblings: Lucy, age four, apparently was not in school yet, nor, of course, was the two-year-old James. Their parents, Lucien and Hannah, rented a house somewhere in the village of Ainsworth (1900 Census). Lucien worked as a railroad section boss, perhaps on the Grand Trunk Railroad. In 1899, Hannah would give birth to twins, but only one, Genevieve, would survive — yes, I did note that down while reading microfilm,[1] but the Dumas name meant nothing to me and I quickly forgot about it.
I found a few other forgotten references in my notes. This one, from January 1905, suggests that Maggie was a popular young lady.
(Click on images to enlarge)
Hobart Gazette, Jan. 6, 1905.
From the same issue, we learn that Rosa had moved out of the family home.
Sometime after 1905 (I find no mention of any Dumas later than that in my notes), the family moved to Chicago, where both the 1910 Census and the 1920 Census record them. The 1930 Census shows that they had moved to Otsego, Michigan. Lucien and Hannah lived out the rest of their lives there, but when Hannah died in 1937[2] and Lucien in 1940[3], each was brought back to Valparaiso for burial.
Both Lucien and Hannah had grown up in Porter County. The 1870 Census records the eight-year-old Lucien in Valparaiso with his parents, Levi and Lucy. By 1880 he was working in a woolen factory. I can't find Hannah in 1870, but in the 1880 Census she was counted twice: once at home in the village of Hebron with her parents, Andrew and Margaret, and once as a servant in the household of Thomas and Mary McKay, who farmed in Winfield Township, Lake County. Lucien and Hannah were married in 1883.
I wonder if this Dumas family has any connection to Dumas Street in Valpo?
[to be continued]
_______________
[1] "Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette, Oct. 13, 1899.
[2] "Sister of Local Woman Succumbs at Home in Michigan," Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso), Mar. 27, 1937.
[3] "Lucien Dumas Death Victim," Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso), Feb. 5, 1940.
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Mr. and Mrs. Postmaster
While snooping around on Ancestry.com for my last post, I came across these photographs of Frank and Susanne (Chase) Coyle.
(Click on images to enlarge)
Images from Ancestry.com
Frank's photo was taken in 1885, according to notes on the site, and Susanne's was likely taken around the same time, to judge by the style of her dress and her apparent age. (She was born in 1867, he in 1859; both in Pennsylvania.) So add 15 years to these portraits, and you've got Mr. and Mrs. Ainsworth Postmaster.
I did send a message to the person who uploaded these to Ancestry.com, hoping for some insight as to why the Coyles moved from Kansas to Ainsworth, Indiana, but I haven't received a reply.
(Click on images to enlarge)
Images from Ancestry.com
Frank's photo was taken in 1885, according to notes on the site, and Susanne's was likely taken around the same time, to judge by the style of her dress and her apparent age. (She was born in 1867, he in 1859; both in Pennsylvania.) So add 15 years to these portraits, and you've got Mr. and Mrs. Ainsworth Postmaster.
I did send a message to the person who uploaded these to Ancestry.com, hoping for some insight as to why the Coyles moved from Kansas to Ainsworth, Indiana, but I haven't received a reply.
Friday, August 14, 2020
Ainsworth School-Year Souvenir, 1897-98 (Part 2)
(continued from Part 1)
As we now turn our attention to the pupils listed on the souvenir, I find there are more names here than I can index, so I'm going to have to split this up still further.
(Click on image to enlarge)
I'll deal first with the names I've encountered before.
Blachly — Earl and May were siblings, the children of Morgan and Amelia. Earl had been born in 1882, May in 1884. By the way, I think the house at 4301 E. 73rd Ave. was the Blachly house, built in 1905[1] to replace whatever the family had been living in until then.
Bullock — Hubert probably met up with the Blachly kids as he walked down from the Bullock home, unless he walked along the Grand Trunk Railroad tracks or cut across the fields … but the latter would be some rough walking.
Chase — I thought this would be easy, since I know of a Chase (aka Chace) family recorded in Ross Township in the 1870 Census and 1880 Census, members of whom were residing in Hobart into the 1920s (Minnie Chase Smith and Gust Chase). But I can't place Gracie in any census. She might not have belonged to the local Chases, but to some Chase family just passing through.
Coyle — Nina, Stella, and Arlie were the daughters of Ainsworth's postmaster, Frank Coyle. Nina, the youngest, was the only one born in Indiana (1892). Her older sisters had been born in Kansas. Why the family moved from Kansas to Ainsworth, Indiana, is a mystery, but I suspect it might have something to do with Frank's wife, Susanne, having been born a Chase — possibly she had some relation to the local Chases. The Coyle family left this area probably around 1904 (when Frank resigned as postmaster) and moved permanently to Kansas City, Missouri.
Halsted — Howard lived above the Ainsworth general store with his parents, Willard O. and Barbara (Fiester) Halsted. He probably was a promising student, since he went on to law school. As we know, he died before his time.
Kagabein aka Kegebein — Frieda lived on a farm north of Ainsworth. Her parents were John and Carolina "Lena" (Eick) Kegebein. Frieda was born in 1891. In 1911, she became Mrs. Albert Witt.
Maybaum — There were so many Maybaums around here that I can't keep them straight. These two, Louis and Hattie, were cousins, I believe. Hattie was the youngest child of Charles and Caroline, born in 1886. In 1907 she became Mrs. R.D. Sizelove. Charles and Caroline's (I believe) eldest child, August, begat Louis in 1891. The 1900 Census shows the family — August and Dora, with Louis and his two younger brothers, Harold and Clarence — farming rented land among southeast Ross Township neighbors such as Bragington, Campbell, and Doepping.[2] In 1916 Louis married Ruby Man in Porter County. By 1917 they had moved to Battle Creek, Michigan,[3] and by the 1930 Census they were running an "oil station" in San Antonio, California.
Ols — Edward was the grandson of John and Charlotte Ols, born in 1890 to their son, John Jr., and Alta (Whittemore/Whitmer). Based on the 1900 Census, I believe they owned the 80-acre parcel in the southeast corner of Section 7 that later passed to Henry Chester, then Charles Chester, then John Berndt. The census records after 1900 show Edward in various places like Starke County and Gary, Indiana; as far as I know he never lived in Ainsworth after the family sold their 80 acres.
Pierce — Ruth (b. 1882) and Jennie (b. 1884) lived with their father, Reuben, and stepmother, Catherine. Their mother, Caroline (née Kegebein), had died in June 1895, not quite a week after their grandfather, Orrin Pierce, who had owned the farm where they lived as far back as 1874:
(Click on image to enlarge)
From the 1874 Plat Map.
I don't know what, if any, relation they had to their Pierce neighbors.
Ruth Pierce married William Kelleher in Chicago in 1908; they lived and raised their family in Chicago. All I know about Jennie is that she is buried in the Hobart Cemetery under her maiden name.
Smith — Pearl Smith was the adopted daughter of Cyrus and Ellen Smith. So she was also the adopted cousin of the teacher, Mabel Smith Peterson.
Wojohn aka Wojahn — Frieda, Emil, Gust and Paul were some of the children of Julius and Alvina Wojahn. These four were born between 1884 and 1889. We've already met another of their children — Elsie, who married Howard Shearer. The Wojahn family lived on Ainsworth Road just west of the Lindborgs.[4] The schoolhouse was an easy walk west.
[to be continued]
_______________
[1] Per the county records; also in my notes I find a reference in 1907 to Morgan Blachly's "new" house being blown off its foundation during a storm ("General News Items," Hobart Gazette, Mar. 29, 1907).
[2] From that location, they may have been attending a different school, such as the Deep River school, or the Hurlburt school if it was still operating.
[3] "General News," Hobart Gazette, Dec. 21, 1917.
[4] I believe the house at 6222 Ainsworth was built for the Wojahn family, in 1930 according to the county records, so it would have replaced an earlier house.
As we now turn our attention to the pupils listed on the souvenir, I find there are more names here than I can index, so I'm going to have to split this up still further.
(Click on image to enlarge)
I'll deal first with the names I've encountered before.
Blachly — Earl and May were siblings, the children of Morgan and Amelia. Earl had been born in 1882, May in 1884. By the way, I think the house at 4301 E. 73rd Ave. was the Blachly house, built in 1905[1] to replace whatever the family had been living in until then.
Bullock — Hubert probably met up with the Blachly kids as he walked down from the Bullock home, unless he walked along the Grand Trunk Railroad tracks or cut across the fields … but the latter would be some rough walking.
Chase — I thought this would be easy, since I know of a Chase (aka Chace) family recorded in Ross Township in the 1870 Census and 1880 Census, members of whom were residing in Hobart into the 1920s (Minnie Chase Smith and Gust Chase). But I can't place Gracie in any census. She might not have belonged to the local Chases, but to some Chase family just passing through.
Coyle — Nina, Stella, and Arlie were the daughters of Ainsworth's postmaster, Frank Coyle. Nina, the youngest, was the only one born in Indiana (1892). Her older sisters had been born in Kansas. Why the family moved from Kansas to Ainsworth, Indiana, is a mystery, but I suspect it might have something to do with Frank's wife, Susanne, having been born a Chase — possibly she had some relation to the local Chases. The Coyle family left this area probably around 1904 (when Frank resigned as postmaster) and moved permanently to Kansas City, Missouri.
Halsted — Howard lived above the Ainsworth general store with his parents, Willard O. and Barbara (Fiester) Halsted. He probably was a promising student, since he went on to law school. As we know, he died before his time.
Kagabein aka Kegebein — Frieda lived on a farm north of Ainsworth. Her parents were John and Carolina "Lena" (Eick) Kegebein. Frieda was born in 1891. In 1911, she became Mrs. Albert Witt.
Maybaum — There were so many Maybaums around here that I can't keep them straight. These two, Louis and Hattie, were cousins, I believe. Hattie was the youngest child of Charles and Caroline, born in 1886. In 1907 she became Mrs. R.D. Sizelove. Charles and Caroline's (I believe) eldest child, August, begat Louis in 1891. The 1900 Census shows the family — August and Dora, with Louis and his two younger brothers, Harold and Clarence — farming rented land among southeast Ross Township neighbors such as Bragington, Campbell, and Doepping.[2] In 1916 Louis married Ruby Man in Porter County. By 1917 they had moved to Battle Creek, Michigan,[3] and by the 1930 Census they were running an "oil station" in San Antonio, California.
Ols — Edward was the grandson of John and Charlotte Ols, born in 1890 to their son, John Jr., and Alta (Whittemore/Whitmer). Based on the 1900 Census, I believe they owned the 80-acre parcel in the southeast corner of Section 7 that later passed to Henry Chester, then Charles Chester, then John Berndt. The census records after 1900 show Edward in various places like Starke County and Gary, Indiana; as far as I know he never lived in Ainsworth after the family sold their 80 acres.
Pierce — Ruth (b. 1882) and Jennie (b. 1884) lived with their father, Reuben, and stepmother, Catherine. Their mother, Caroline (née Kegebein), had died in June 1895, not quite a week after their grandfather, Orrin Pierce, who had owned the farm where they lived as far back as 1874:
(Click on image to enlarge)
From the 1874 Plat Map.
I don't know what, if any, relation they had to their Pierce neighbors.
Ruth Pierce married William Kelleher in Chicago in 1908; they lived and raised their family in Chicago. All I know about Jennie is that she is buried in the Hobart Cemetery under her maiden name.
Smith — Pearl Smith was the adopted daughter of Cyrus and Ellen Smith. So she was also the adopted cousin of the teacher, Mabel Smith Peterson.
Wojohn aka Wojahn — Frieda, Emil, Gust and Paul were some of the children of Julius and Alvina Wojahn. These four were born between 1884 and 1889. We've already met another of their children — Elsie, who married Howard Shearer. The Wojahn family lived on Ainsworth Road just west of the Lindborgs.[4] The schoolhouse was an easy walk west.
[to be continued]
_______________
[1] Per the county records; also in my notes I find a reference in 1907 to Morgan Blachly's "new" house being blown off its foundation during a storm ("General News Items," Hobart Gazette, Mar. 29, 1907).
[2] From that location, they may have been attending a different school, such as the Deep River school, or the Hurlburt school if it was still operating.
[3] "General News," Hobart Gazette, Dec. 21, 1917.
[4] I believe the house at 6222 Ainsworth was built for the Wojahn family, in 1930 according to the county records, so it would have replaced an earlier house.
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Primrose Moths
Here are two primrose moths (Schinia florida) on an evening primrose blossom.
(Click on images to enlarge)
They are called primrose moths because the caterpillars feed on primrose blossoms and seeds. They are night-flying moths. During the day they like to come back to their childhood homes to rest.
(Click on images to enlarge)
They are called primrose moths because the caterpillars feed on primrose blossoms and seeds. They are night-flying moths. During the day they like to come back to their childhood homes to rest.
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Ainsworth School-Year Souvenir, 1897-98 (Part 1)
Here is the first page of another recent acquisition.
(Click on image to enlarge)
This program must date back to the era when the old Ainsworth school had only one room — otherwise, there would have been more than one teacher.
The teacher, Mabel Peterson, was the daughter of William and Cassie (Booth) Smith (and niece of Cyrus Smith). She had been born in 1872. In 1896 she married Frank Peterson (Indiana Marriage Collection), but in 1897-98 they had no children yet (1910 Census). I believe they were living somewhere near the Ainsworth schoolhouse: according to the 1908 Plat Map, they hadn't yet bought the farm in southern Ross Township; and the 1900 Census shows them farming rented land near her father and Uncle Cyrus — possibly her father's farm on 73rd Street (where Exceptional Equestrians Unlimited is now). From there, it was a walk of perhaps 2,000 feet up (present-day) Greene Street and Ainsworth Road to the schoolhouse.
Dr. Homer L. Iddings, Ross Township trustee, was a practicing physician in Merrillville, and himself a former schoolteacher, according to a 1904 biographical sketch.
Francis "Frank" Ebenezer Cooper, the Lake County superintendent of schools, was likewise a former schoolteacher (1880 Census), and a resident of Crown Point, where he is buried.
Next, we'll get to the pupils.
(Click on image to enlarge)
This program must date back to the era when the old Ainsworth school had only one room — otherwise, there would have been more than one teacher.
The teacher, Mabel Peterson, was the daughter of William and Cassie (Booth) Smith (and niece of Cyrus Smith). She had been born in 1872. In 1896 she married Frank Peterson (Indiana Marriage Collection), but in 1897-98 they had no children yet (1910 Census). I believe they were living somewhere near the Ainsworth schoolhouse: according to the 1908 Plat Map, they hadn't yet bought the farm in southern Ross Township; and the 1900 Census shows them farming rented land near her father and Uncle Cyrus — possibly her father's farm on 73rd Street (where Exceptional Equestrians Unlimited is now). From there, it was a walk of perhaps 2,000 feet up (present-day) Greene Street and Ainsworth Road to the schoolhouse.
Dr. Homer L. Iddings, Ross Township trustee, was a practicing physician in Merrillville, and himself a former schoolteacher, according to a 1904 biographical sketch.
Francis "Frank" Ebenezer Cooper, the Lake County superintendent of schools, was likewise a former schoolteacher (1880 Census), and a resident of Crown Point, where he is buried.
Next, we'll get to the pupils.
Thursday, July 30, 2020
The Relics of a Dead Marriage
With her marriage ending, Olive Maxwell Hill and her little daughter were moving back with her parents, and she no longer needed all this nice furniture from the marital home — at least, that's what I think was going on here.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart News, Nov. 29, 1923.
Here is the Maxwell farm on the 1921 plat map of Union Township, Porter County:
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from https://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/1921Plats/Union-1921.jpg.
We may be seeing the descendant of the old Maxwell place in the house and outbuildings on the north side of U.S. 30 east of N 725 W. Except I don't think the Maxwells had a caboose.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart News, Nov. 29, 1923.
Here is the Maxwell farm on the 1921 plat map of Union Township, Porter County:
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from https://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/1921Plats/Union-1921.jpg.
We may be seeing the descendant of the old Maxwell place in the house and outbuildings on the north side of U.S. 30 east of N 725 W. Except I don't think the Maxwells had a caboose.
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Michigan Avenue circa 1909
(Click on images to enlarge)
This is Michigan Avenue in Hobart, according to the caption on the postcard. I'd do a then-and-now post, if only I knew where on Michigan Avenue. You can't see enough of any of the houses, or anything else, to identify the exact location.
The photographer was trying to capture an inviting scene: a wide, straight street lined with well grown trees all leafed out in their summer greenery. And sidewalks, even! But it doesn't translate very well to black and white, or sepia.
I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out who sent the postcard …
… only to conclude that there wasn't enough evidence to identify this Bessie. Hobart and the surrounding countryside was crawling with Bessies.
The recipient had been born Harriet Quirk. Here is a description of her wedding to James Scudder from the Hobart Gazette of November 4, 1904:
The 1900 Census had counted Hattie twice: in Hobart, working as a "family domestic" in the home of William and Mary Devonshire; and in Portage Township, working as a milliner and living with her stepfather, Charles Estelle, and her mother, Sarah. Hattie had been born in Kansas, where her parents were married and where her father died; I wonder how the widow and child came to Indiana, and how Harriet met this Ohio man.Scudder-Quirk Nuptial.
James F. Scudder from Ohio and Miss Harriet J. Quirk, daughter of Mrs. Chas. Estelle, of this place, were united in marriage yesterday, Nov. 3d, 1904. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Geo. B. Jones, pastor of the M.E. church, at the bride's home two miles east of town at high noon, in the presence of a few friends and relatives. The young couple departed on the afternoon train via Chicago for Colorado where they will reside for the present.
The groom is engaged in the mining business, and the bride is one of Hobart's accomplished and highly esteemed young ladies, possession many warm friends.
On Wednesday evening the bride was accorded a reception and given a bundle shower at the home of Dr. and Mrs. [Fred] Werner.
The Gazette joins the bride's numerous friends in extending hearty congratulations and well wishes.
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