The Humane Society and its Shelter

These articles, from August 1954 through September 1955, tell the story of the Humane Society of Hobart's formation, and the building of its shelter on Rte. 130.


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"Humane Society Organized Here," Hobart Gazette, 19 Aug. 1954.


Hobart Gazette, 7 July 1955.


Hobart Gazette, 22 Sept. 1955.

I suppose these kind people have all gone to their reward by now. Their president, Morris Cox, died in 1978 and is buried in Evergreen Memorial Park.

The Humane Society is still operating out of the 1955 building. The size of the property is now less than three quarters of an acre; if it's true that Bertha Jacoby originally donated several acres of land, some of it may have been sold off to raise money for construction or operating expenses.

Grapeleaf Skeletonizer Caterpillar

While working in my tomato garden last September, I came across this very small caterpillar.


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That's my thumb, for scale.

It took me a while to ID this tiny thing. I believe it will grow up to be a Grapeleaf Skeletonizer moth.

But Maybe Find Another Name for Your Nightclub?

He tempted Fate, and Fate could not resist.


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Hobart Gazette, 20, Feb. 1947.

In all seriousness, though, this nightclub may have been in operation under that name even before the disastrous Cocoanut Grove fire of 1942. Its owner, Michael "Mack" Petruzelli, was described in the 1940 Census as the proprietor of a tavern, but of course the census does not name the tavern. (His wife Annabelle, some 25 years his junior, is described as a "check-room girl" in a tavern; she also had two small children to look after.) The 1950 Census likewise describes him as the owner of a tavern.

According to my 1947 phone book, this Coconut Grove was located at 1233 North Central Avenue in Lake Station. The structure now standing there was built, per the county records, in 1947.

Thimbleweed Gone To Seed

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Thimbleweed going — going — gone to seed.

Bertha Jacoby and the Hobart Animal Shelter

While skimming through the 1950s microfilm for non-Ainsworth reasons,[1] I have been coming across the history of the Humane Society of Hobart, including its organization and the construction of the shelter on Route 130. That is a subject near to my heart — in my 30+ years here in Ainsworth, I have adopted three dogs and a cat from the Humane Society of Hobart; and in the dozen years I have been volunteering as a foster, I suppose I've fostered hundreds of kittens, as well as a few adult cats and some puppies.

A 1959 newspaper article[2] about an "open house" event at the shelter included an off-hand mention that the shelter had been built on several acres of land donated by Bertha Jacoby in 1954. I had never heard that name before, so I thought I'd look into it.

And in the 1950 Plat Book, we do find the Jacoby name on a 28-acre parcel that includes the location of the shelter:



The initial, you'll notice, is J. So I looked for a Bertha Jacoby in conjunction with someone whose name begins with J, and found …


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Image from Ancestry.com.

… Joseph and Bertha Jacoby, living in Gary and running their own real estate firm.

They were both immigrants: Bertha from Austria,[3] Joseph from Hungary. I can't find information on when each came to this country, but Bertha was naturalized in 1938.


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Image from Ancestry.com.

In 1942, we find them listed as the owners of those 28 acres on S.R. 130:


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"County Tax List," Hammond Times, 23 Mar. 1942.

In 1947, Joseph died. His obituary portrays an interesting man:


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"Obituaries," Hammond Times, 13 Nov. 1947.

From his death certificate, it appears that Jacoby/Jakoby was an Americanized version of Jakubik.

The 1950 Census shows the 53-year-old Bertha living in Gary, running her own real estate and insurance agency.

After that I don't find much information about her — aside from a brief mention of her sponsoring a Hungarian refugee in 1955[4] — until her death on March 19, 1972. She was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Gary, according to her death certificate, but although Findagrave.com lists her husband, I can't find a listing for her. I hope she is not lying in an unmarked grave.

So far as I can tell, she had no children.

But what motivated her to donate land to the Humane Society of Hobart? A tax deduction, maybe, for this practical businesswoman? But I'd like to believe that somewhere amidst all her business acumen, there was a soft spot for animals.

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[1] In a few months I hope to be able to return to my Ainsworth focus in this blog. I just have too much going on right now.
[2] "Humane Society of Hobart Open House This Sunday," Gazette, 24 Sept. 1959.
[3] Her death certificate gives France as her birthplace (with the informant being her brother-in-law), but the 1940 and 1950 censuses both state Austria.
[4] "Two Refugees Head For Calumet Area," Hammond Times, 20 Nov. 1955.

Keep Calm and Carrion

I found this guy on the sidewalk in back of my house.


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He is an American Carrion Beetle — part of Mother Nature's clean-up crew.

The Span of Rossow's Restaurant

When I first wrote about Rossow's Coffee Shop, I didn't know when it was in operation, or for how long. Now I know, thanks to this 1948 article announcing its end.


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Hobart Gazette, 22 July 1948.

So, the Rossows operated it from 1936 to 1948, and the pictures included in my previous post that were taken during Hobart's centennial celebration would indeed have shown the restaurant when it was under their ownership.

It makes sense that they would have started the business in 1936. That was a year of great change for the family. In January 1936, Theodore Rossow died — that is, husband of Annie Bergmann Rossow, and father of Lillian and Grace. So the three of them left the farm and opened their little restaurant in Hobart.

The article above does not mention Annie, and likely she had retired by 1948, for she was then 73 years old and not in good health. About two months after the restaurant closed, she died.

The purchaser, if I've found the right person, was Matilda Schmidt Springman. She had been born in Chicago circa 1899, but by the 1910 Census she and her family were living in Hobart. She was only 16 when she married Tony Springman on August 21, 1915 (Indiana Marriage Collection).[1] They had half a dozen children, but evidently the marriage was not happy: by the time we get to the 1950 Census, Tillie was divorced. She was described then as a restaurant proprietor. In 1953 she married again, to Edward Rigg.

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[1] On January 10, 1916, she gave birth to a premature infant, who died the following day (Indiana Death Certificates).

Walking Stick of Victory

This thing showed up last summer on the Winged Victory of Samothrace statuette on my front porch.


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It is a Walking Stick, of course; also known as Stick Insect and various other names.

They have no wings. They climb around in trees, eating leaves and looking like twigs. Sometimes they climb down from the trees, evidently, to appreciate Art.