"Our Store"

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


(Click on images to enlarge)

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.

________________________
*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.

The Mystery of One-Eye Nelson

In the archives of the Hobart Historical Society museum, in a box labeled (among other things) "Shearer and Emery, Coal Dealers," I found an interesting ledger detailing coal purchases in the early part of the 20th century. Whoever kept the ledger* often spelled purchasers' names phonetically, and when he didn't know or couldn't recall the buyer's first name, he sometimes just wrote an identifying characteristic, such as "lady" or "old" or, in this case, "one eye":


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

Who was this unfortunate coal buyer? We have checked all the Nelson obituaries we could find — but an obituary would not necessarily mention an old injury. I have looked at all the local Nelson WWI Draft Cards without finding this physical disqualification — but Mr. Nelson may have been over draft age or out of the area, if indeed he lived to see World War I (I'm guessing he was male; a lady with one eye is still a lady). The time period covered by the coal ledger is beyond living memory. So at present I can't restore Mr. Nelson to the dignity of a Christian name.

But I'll keep an … watch for any further information.

________________________
*With no name stamped or written on the ledger to identify the seller, I'm not sure who exactly he was. While the ledger no doubt was donated by a Shearer or an Emery, as far as I know Calvin Shearer and Paul Emery first became business partners in 1917. My guess is that the seller in these 1905-08 transactions was a predecessor of the Shearer & Emery firm, such as Calvin Shearer doing business solo, or the partnership of Shearer & Barnes.

Ninth and Lincoln, Fifth and Lake

The "Local Drifts" in the Hobart Gazette of April 7, 1922, reported on a child's birthday party in the Briney house, on the northwest corner of Ninth and Lincoln, which is for sale these days.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart Gazette 7 Apr. 1922

Earl Blachly, who recently sold his farm, is opening an auto repair shop at Fifth and Lake, which sounds like the old German Methodist Church building. The 1922 Sanborn map confirms that the building was being used then for auto repair.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Sanborn Company and Indiana University.

According to Hobart's Historic Buildings by Elin Christianson, the building had ceased to be a church in 1914 and was bought first by the town of Hobart, and then (in 1916) by L.E. Barnes, who leased it out to a laundry business. "The old church was used for commercial purposes for many years" — now we know another of those purposes.

Also, over in the "All kinds of Wants" column, someone is selling Rhode Island Red eggs, and that someone has Lovisa Nelson's phone number.

Fire and Ice

I don't know exactly what one should expect to find in a barn belonging to the Barnes Ice Co. Me, I'd expect to find ice. I'd be mistaken, apparently, either because no ice was put up during the winter of 1920-21, or because by September 1921 the ice was all used up anyway, or because this was the barn, not the ice house. For whatever reason, when it caught fire, there was no ice inside to melt and put the fire out.*


(Click on image to enlarge)
"Local and Personal." Hobart News 22 Sept. 1922.

According to the Gazette, Fred Rose, Jr. first noticed the fire as he was standing at Main and Third around 8:00 that evening. He gave the alarm and ran to get his dad's fire truck, and with several other members of the fire department who happened to be nearby, rushed to the scene … but to no avail.

I wonder if this is the fire referenced in the 1979 article of downtown Hobart memories.


In other news, Bertha Bodamer's social life continues active and reported.

____________________
*I know, I know — fire goes up, meltwater goes down.


Additional Source: "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 23 Sept. 1921.

The Milk House

The story about the new Gruel barn in Monday's post mentioned a plan for a new milk house as well, "built of hollow tile … 34x36 feet." That reminded me that I have a picture I haven't posted yet, which comes from the "John Gruel Farm" envelope found among Lillie Newman Barnes' keepsakes, and which may be of that milk house.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Diane Barnes.

That looks like hollow tile to me, and I suppose the width could be 34 feet, especially if you were measuring across the center of the interior. Not a positive ID, but possible.

The marvelous new barn is almost completely hidden behind this possible milk house — you can just see the top of the silo on the north side of the barn, and one of the cupolas.

When I was out there last spring photographing the former site of the barn, I took a picture of the shed that now stands approximately where the (possible) milk house stood.



I have spent a lot of time since then trying to convince myself that it's the same building, just with a lot of remodeling. I haven't quite succeeded, but I shall keep trying.

Fisher, Farmer, Auto Mechanic

If William G. Fisher planted any crops on his rented farm in the spring of 1921, apparently someone else would have to harvest them. Though he and his wife (née Jennie Hurlburt), along with their seven children, had spent the winter of 1920-21 in Florida, they returned early in April, in time for planting. But by early summer, they left Ross Township for the town of Hobart, the farming life for the auto-repair business, and their farmhouse for the "MacPherson house on Main street, formerly occupied as a boarding house" (exact location unknown).

The Fishers had purchased the Nickel Plate Garage building from F.D. Barnes, but would not take possession until January 1, 1922. Awaiting that happy day, William and his two eldest sons, Floyd (21) and Lester (20), would operate their auto-repair business out of the old whip factory building.


Sources:
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 2 June 1921.
♦ "Return From Southland." Hobart Gazette 8 Apr. 1921.
♦ "South of Deepriver." Hobart News 2 Dec. 1920; 9 June 1921.
♦ "W.G. Fisher Buys Nickel Plate Garage Bldg. of F.D. Barnes." Hobart News 9 June 1921.

Phil Making a Face

Among Lillie Newman Barnes' miscellaneous photos was this one:


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Diane Barnes.

The only ID is a cryptic note on the back: "Phil was making a face at Marci when she took this snapshot." But since Lillie's sister, Bliss — known to the family as well as to census-takers and county registrars as "Dollie" — married Philip Roper, Jr., we can guess at this Phil's identity. If that's Dollie's husband, that may be Dollie herself standing so close to him.

But I can't even guess at who this Marci was, taking the snapshot.

I tried to find a picture of Phil Roper for comparison. The only one I could find was this, from the Roper genealogy file at the Hobart museum:


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

Under this photo are handwritten notes:

Top Row  Robert & Phil
Bottom   Luther & Ernest

Those are indeed Phil's brothers' names. Taken at Showman's Gallery, the photo probably dates to sometime between 1893 and the turn of the century; Phil was born in 1884 — that seems consistent, since the kid at the top right looks about 14 years old.

But I can't say I see any resemblance! — and I'm not sure there would be much, between a serious adolescent boy, and a face-making man of perhaps 40 or 45.

Well House? Watch Tower?

Another photo from Lillie Newman Barnes' "John Gruel Farm" envelope, and this time I believe it may actually be the farm. The photo is undated, but a partially visible car at left, behind the fence, looks 1920s-ish to me.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Diane Barnes.

I think (though I'm not sure) that the barn in the background at right is still standing.

But let us look at that tall, thin, gabled structure in the foreground. What the heck is it? My guess is a well house, perhaps with a water tank in the upper part, which would create water pressure via gravity.

It's interesting to compare the above photo with one from the Chicago Daily Tribune "fortress" article. One of the aerial photos in that article identifies a tall, thin structure near the entrance to the farm as a "watch tower."


(Click on image to enlarge)
From the Chicago Daily Tribune, date unknown.

This photo isn't clear enough to see the details of the "watch tower" for comparison, but notice its location with respect to the other outbuildings, especially the barn towards the right edge of the picture. Whatever purpose it served, I think we may be looking at the same structure in both pictures.

Stop Teasing Your Grandma!

(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Diane Barnes.

To me, these unidentified people suggest three generations of a family. I don't know what that kid in the striped sweater, at center, is doing with his hands. Is he making devil's horns behind his grandma's head?? — kids these days!

This photo was among Lillie Newman Barnes', but it wasn't in the "John Gruel Farm" envelope. Like an earlier photo from the envelope, it includes a well kept setting, canna lilies and a gentleman with white facial hair … who's now in profile, inconveniently for comparison; moreover, the world is full of canna lilies; and furthermore, going by the women's fashions, I would set this photo in the mid- to late 1920s, meaning there's at least 15 years between the two photos.

Short answer: I don't know.

Hobart House

This photo was in Lillie Newman Barnes' "John Gruel Farm" envelope, but of course it's not the farm!


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Diane Barnes.

We have not seen this particular view of the Hobart House before. It is undated, but probably was taken before August 1911, when Clarence Frailey sold his horse livery operation behind the Hobart House (note the sign at the far right of the photo). This photo may have been taken in 1909, like others in the envelope; the cars out front are not inconsistent with that date (thank you, R.F., vintage-car connoisseur!).

Nobody in this photo is identified. They may well be Gruels or Newmans — we just don't know.

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[12/20/2013 update] Interesting to compare the above photo with this photo, from a postcard postmarked June 6, 1909 (previously posted here):


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

It's not precisely the same scene from a different angle, but there are points of similarity.

Three Boys in a Studio(To Say Nothing of the Dog)

Once again we dip into Lillie Newman Barnes' "John Gruel Farm" envelope, and come up with this charming but unidentified group:


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Diane Barnes.

Am I wrong in thinking that the guy in the middle is an older brother to the other two, not their father?


[Update: see the Comments to this post — maybe they are the Newman brothers?]

South of Deepriver

Here's a South of Deepriver social column that might be mildly interesting if you're related to these people. Also, John Killigrew, moving up in politics, is attending the inauguration of Warren T. McCray; John's brother, William, seems to be doing well in his oil business with Lewis Barnes and Calvin Shearer.



(Click on image to enlarge)
From the Hobart News, 13 Jan. 1921.

There's a New Sheriff in the County

With the new year — 1921 — came a new sheriff for Lake County, and Lewis E. Barnes, formerly of Hobart, moved to Gary and the ice business.


(Click on images to enlarge)
From "Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette 7 Jan. 1921.

I don't know anything about his successor, but he may have been 49-year-old William H. Olds of East Chicago, whom the 1920 Census describes as "Chief Deputy," "County."

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If you're shopping for a phonograph, here's a couple you can buy from the Central Drug Store in Hobart:


From the Hobart Gazette, 14 Jan. 1921.


From the Hobart Gazette, 21 Jan. 1921.

That price range in 2013 dollars would be about $979 to $23,483.*


______________________________
*"US Inflation Calculator." Inflation Calculator. COINNEWS MEDIA GROUP LLC (COIN NEWS), 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/.

Men in Hats

From the envelope marked "John Gruel Farm" in Lillie Newman Barnes' keepsake box comes this group photo:


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Diane Barnes.

But I don't have a clue who they are.

The Back of the House

… which house, we don't know for certain.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Diane Barnes.

But since this photo, like the two we just saw, came from the envelope marked "John Gruel Farm," it's quite possibly the Gruel house. The woman who was on the right in the group shot, in that previous post, resembles the woman on the right in this photo.

This looks like a farmhouse of pretty good size, and the house and its grounds are meticulously kept, which suggests owners who are diligent and prosperous … like the Gruels.

Possibly the Gruel House

(Click on images to enlarge)
Images courtesy of Diane Barnes.



These photographs were inside an envelope marked "John Gruel Farm" in a keepsake box that had belonged to Lillie Newman Barnes. She, as we know, was John Gruel's niece, and her wedding in April 1909 took place at the Gruel home. On the back of the first photo, someone had written: "April 14, 1909." But that was all we had in the way of identification.

I showed these photos to someone who had known the Gruels, having spent his early years on a neighboring farm. As to these two photos, he said they might be of the Gruel house, but his memories were just too dim for him to be certain. While he didn't positively recognize any of the people, he did remember John Gruel as having facial hair, similar to the man at the center of the group in the second photo.

So the circumstances around these photos, including the fact that two other photos in the "John Gruel Farm" envelope show a structure we can positively identify as the Gruels' magnificent cow barn,* provide evidence that they may show the Gruel house, but I can't be 100% sure.

__________________________
*Which I will post in the future.

Lillie Newman Barnes

(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Diane Barnes.

This is Lillie Newman Barnes. The photo is undated, but she wears the pigeon-front bodice popular in the first decade of the 20th century. (The photographer was Adelbert Reading, which doesn't help us narrow down the time frame.)

In 1909, on the John Gruel farm that is now River Pointe Country Club, Miss Lillie Newman became Mrs. Harry Barnes.


(Click on image to enlarge)
From the Hobart Gazette of May 7, 1909.

But where, during all this merry-making, were Lillie's parents? — they lay in the Hobart cemetery.

The Gruel family came over from Germany in 1871,* including the 17-year-old John Jr. (who would end up farming near Ainsworth); his 25-year-old sister, Wilhelmine; and their 10-year-old brother, Charles (who would become a butcher in Hobart). In 1872 Wilhelmine married Otto Newman in Cook County, Illinois. The young couple settled in Hobart, where the 1880 census showed them with two children, Paul (6) and Edwin (2), Otto working as a stonemason. Over the next eight years, Wilhelmine gave birth to four more children: Emma, Arthur, Lillie, and Bliss (known as "Dollie").

Otto Newman died in 1890, and Wilhelmine just four years later, leaving six orphans, the eldest just 21. But the young Newmans had their Gruel uncles nearby to help them, and give them a home if desired — Emma moved in with Uncle Charles, and Arthur with Uncle John. I do not know where Lillie stayed, as I can't find her in the 1900 census. But clearly she was close enough with Uncle John to be married from his house.

So you see even the Newmans of Hobart have an Ainsworth connection!

________________________
*Or 1872; sources vary.



Sources:
♦ 1880 Census.
♦ 1900 Census.
♦ Anuta, Michael J. Ships of our Ancestors. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1999.
♦ Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index.
♦ "Death." Hobart Gazette 5 Oct. 1894.
♦ "Emma Newman Drowned." Hobart Gazette 30 July 1897.

Warmed by Love, Heated by Hot Water

On the heels of the Spanish-flu marriage came a half-flu marriage, as Calvin Scholler, bereaved of his first wife by flu, became the first husband of Edith A. MacPherson on November 15, 1920.


(Click on images to enlarge)
From the Hobart News of Nov. 18, 1920.

Also, news of an acquaintance: John Harms was moving onto the farm he had bought last August. (I don't know if "Mr. Maicke" is the Otto Maicke who eventually married Lesta Raschka, but perhaps we'll find out.) And a wedding south of Ainsworth! I must admit this is the first time I've noticed the William and Rosie Wilkening family, even though a little investigation shows they've been farming in southern Ross Township at least since 1908.

From the Gazette, another report on the Scholler-MacPherson wedding, and more news of acquaintances:


From the Hobart Gazette of Nov. 19, 1920.

Lee & Rhodes heating up their own headquarters in the Roper building, and the Borger building, wherever that might have been.

As for Mrs. Harry Barnes, this is the first time I've mentioned her, but it won't be the last. She was born Lillian Newman, and a descendant of hers just recently clued me in to the connection between the Newmans and the Gruel family of Ainsworth. Lillie was the sister of Paul Newman, of Hobart hardware-store fame, and Arthur Newman who appeared somewhere in the Gruel pigeon-shoot picture (and who, I believe, just recently provided confections for the W.G. Haan School fundraiser). "Mrs. Philip Roper, Jr." was their sister, Dollie. More to come from that direction.


Other sources:
♦ 1908 Plat Map.
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ Indiana Marriage Collection.

Oil and Lumber andWhat to Do on Saturday Night

A couple more entries in the "Hobart in Epitome" series that I found mildly interesting — the first updating us on some old acquaintances, Lewis E. Barnes, Calvin C. Shearer, and William J. Killigrew.


(Click on image to enlarge)

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As for what to do on a lovely Saturday night in April … if you aren't afraid of catching the measles that are going around …


(Click on image to enlarge)

Wings of the Morning had a fantastic story line and a handsome leading man.



(Click on image to enlarge)
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons.

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In other old-acquaintance news, on April 19, 1920, Miss May Blachly bought the Louise Jacobs house and lot on Lake Street. Perhaps May was tired of living with her mother, or intended to rent out the house. Although house numbers were coming into vogue, this time no address was given. The Hobart Gazette described the house as being located "between the Fetterer and the Hancock property," which doesn't tell me much. My 1947 telephone directory shows a Walter Blachly living at 674 S. Lake Street; perhaps we shall find out if that had ever been May's house.


Sources:
♦ Advertisements. Hobart News 15 Apr. 1920.
♦ "Local and Personal. Hobart News 15 Apr. 1920; 22 Apr. 1920.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 23 Apr. 1920.
♦ McDonald, J. Frank. "Hobart Lumber Company." Hobart News 22 Apr. 1920.
♦ McDonald, J. Frank. "National Oil and Supply Company." Hobart News 22 Apr. 1920.

The Death of Michael Baessler, Sr.

Michael Baessler, Sr. never lived in Ainsworth, but he fathered two Ainsworth-area farmers — Michael Jr. and John — so I ought to take note of his passing.

He was 80 years old and had buried all three of his wives and five of his eight children.


(Click on images to enlarge)

(The News gives his first wife's name as Magdalena, but the Gazette here agrees with the 1870 census.)

His gravestone, in Hobart Cemetery:



Beside him, his second wife, Louise (and thank heaven the Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society/DAR transcribed these markers back when they were still legible!):



In the next row over, his first wife, Wilhelmina, who died in 1875 (the inscription is in German):



Beside her, three of their children (the first stone marking two graves):





(I can't read the names or dates, but according to the NWIGS listing, all three children died within four days of each other — on March 16, 19 and 20, 1877, aged 11, 4 and 15, respectively.)

Two babies were buried in Mosier Cemetery, in Porter County. According to the NWIGS listing of Union Township cemeteries, this first stone marks the grave of Anna Sophia, daughter of Michael and Menia Bassler, who died January 30, 1866, aged one year, ten months and 27 days.



Just beside it lies a completely illegible stone — small, suitable for a baby. The NWIGS volunteer was able to read "infant son of Michael and Menia Bassler," but even at that time the name and dates, if any, were illegible, and the stone broken.



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As noted beside the obituary above, the Indiana legislature had just ratified the proposed 19th amendment to the Constitution.


Sources:
♦ 1870 Census.
♦ "Death of an Aged Citizen." Hobart Gazette 16 Jan. 1920.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 8 Jan. 1920.
♦ "Michael Baessler, Sr., Dies at Home of His Daughter Wednesday." Hobart News 15 Jan. 1920.
♦ "Obituary." Hobart Gazette 23 Jan. 1920.