That Awful Traeger Crossing

This isn't the first time I've heard about the Traeger crossing …


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Hobart News, July 12, 1923.

… but it's the first time I've taken the trouble to figure out exactly where it was. Turns out it's almost as bad now as it was in 1923:



It probably got its name from H.W. Traeger, who owned the parcel of land in Union Township, Porter County, where the Pennsy and Nickel Plate Railroads crossed what is now County Road 600 N (10th Street in Hobart), according to the 1921 Union Township plat map:


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Image from https://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/1921Plats/Union-1921.jpg.

He had bought that land sometime between 1895 and 1906, again per the plat maps.

I expect that in 1923, the Traeger crossing had no gates or signals. There was no State Road 130 for easy travel between Hobart and Wheeler or Valparaiso; dealing with that crossing was more of a necessity than it is now. And, of course, there were no interstates to get you from Custer, Michigan, to Lombard, Illinois, without having to drive on these country roads with their dangerous crossings.

But who (I ask myself) was this H.W. Traeger? The 1910 Census shows a Henry Traeger living in Union Township on the "North Township Line Road," which corresponds with 600 N. But then the account of this 1923 accident in the Hobart Gazette refers to the "William Traeger crossing."[1] Henry's middle name was William; perhaps he went by that — or perhaps the Gazette got it wrong. Henry also had a sibling named William Henry. Henry William and William Henry each married a woman named Anna.

Henry William and his Anna are buried in Hobart Cemetery.

All I know is, you have to be careful at the Traeger crossing.

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The little story in the lower left-hand corner tells of that dairy showplace, the the Gruel farm, becoming even more impressive with the addition of 20 Wisconsin Guernseys.

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[1] "One Killed, Three Hurt," Hobart Gazette, July 13, 1923.

Fast Time

Our friend Fred Rossow lost nearly all his cows in April 1923, as the tuberculosis testing of local herds finished up.


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Hobart Gazette, April 20, 1923.

No one else lost as many in this round of testing, and most of the herds tested clean. "John Harnes" is a misprint for "John Harms."

There is so much material on this page! In the far-left column, Bess Hayward is selling off livestock and farming implements from her parents' estate.

In the next column, just below the cow-testing story, confusion arises from the inconsistent adoption of "fast time" — Daylight Saving Time. (And below that, yet another dance at the Niksches' Deep River Hall.)

In the right-hand column, we find an entertainment planned at the W.G. Haan School.


From Plays of the 19th and 20th Centuries, Volume 27 (1884)

And at the bottom of the column, some Severance-Yager socializing. From the 1920 Census, it would appear that George (Sr.) and Agnes Severance, who always rented the farms they operated, had moved from their previous home, a Ross Township farm west of Hobart,[1] to land in southeastern Hobart Township: their neighbors are Malones, Ensigns and Fasels.

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I was able to confirm the Harnes/Harms misprint above through the News version of the cow-testing story. That paper also carried a story about Ruby Fisher's marriage to a Hobart chiropractor named Alfred[2] C. Wickham, whom I never heard of before …


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Hobart News, April 19, 1923


… or after, either — I can't find them in the 1930 Census.

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[1] "Celebrate Silver Wedding," Hobart Gazette, July 20, 1917.
[2] Indiana Marriage Collection.

Lots of Them

On Christmas Day 1922, over there at 61st and Arizona, the family of William and Louisa Lute had an intimate family dinner, just the 37 of them.


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Hobart Gazette 29 Dec. 1922.

Over in the left-hand column we find a summary of "a splendid year's growth" — all the buildings that went up in Hobart in 1922, as well as repairs and remodeling.

Henry Smith (whoever he was) built his house of Kellastone, something I had never heard of before. A little Googling turned up the ad below, which tells us that Kellastone is "imperishable stucco." I wish I knew the location of Henry's house so I could check on that "imperishable" part … if it's still there. I don't suppose they meant that Kellastone could resist the wrecking ball.


Image credit: stuccometrics.com

Hey, search engine, over here: Banks, Baumer, Brahst, Bruhn, Burris, Campbell, Carey, Carlson, Ciesilski, Demmon, Dewell, Fasel, Fasel, Ferren, Fleming, Flick, Gransow, Gresser, Gruel, Harney, Henderson, Jahnke, Kasonovich, Kibler, Killigrew, King, Kozub, Kramer, Kucaba, Lutz, McAfee, Metaxis, Miscevich, Mundell, Newman, Niksch, Norris, Palm, Peddicord, Phillips, Popp, Ream, Scharbach, Scholler, Schuelke, Schuknecht, Schwuchow, Scull, Smith, Smith, Sohn, Thompson, Verplank, White, Zelibor

Quitting Farming: Part XVIII or Whatever

Now we learn that back in the autumn of 1921 when an airplane fell into "William Moehl's field," it was technically George Hayward's field on the northeast corner of Liverpool Road and 49th Avenue.


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Hobart News, 19 Oct. 1922.

The renters vacating the flat were, I believe, Lloyd and Mamie Arnold (1920 Census). I have mentioned Lloyd before in passing. He was from Wheeler, where his father had been a blacksmith (1900 Census). I don't know anything about Mamie (maiden name unknown). Lloyd seems to have spent just a few years in Hobart, then moved to Gary to stay.

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Elsewhere in the same column on the page above, we have some teacher news — Elsa Gruel teaching in Chicago, and Evelyn Fredrick entertaining her colleagues in the Fredrick home on S.R. 51. Bunco, in case you didn't know (and I didn't), is played with dice.

Cursing, and Other Unpleasantness

Some nice local news … a new silo on the Gruel farm, innocent social activities South of Deepriver, blah, blah, blah …


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Hobart News 5 Oct. 1922.

… but also some juicy stuff, like "Mr. Traeger" cussing out Dr. Friedrich, a city health officer.

I do not want to guess at the identity of Mr. Traeger, whose first name is not given; but the location, I suppose, was the building at 235 Main Street. In 1922 it was only a former "saloon," as we use the word, since liquor could not legally be sold there.

And in the next column, we have a report of a big Ku Klux Klan recruitment rally in Hammond which gives us a look at how the Klan presented itself at that time and place. The open avowal of white supremacism is jarring, but otherwise the speaker was saying things that you can still commonly hear in both public and private discussions, and his concern that "a foreigner can come in here with a bomb in his hand" could have been voiced five minutes ago.

His Awesome Alfalfa

On July 13, 1922 — about three months after the sudden death of her husband — Maud Hardesty gave birth to his last son. The child's name was not given in the newspaper; it may have been Bruce, but at the moment I'm not sure.

Three days earlier, on their farm southeast of Ainsworth, Emil and Bessie Buchfuehrer welcomed a baby daughter — she would be named Grace, I believe.

But the really surprising thing to happen in July 1922 — surprising to me, anyway — was that Henry Nolte came in to the office of the Gazette to show off his alfalfa.


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Hobart Gazette 21 July 1922.

That page is loaded with news, including visitors at the Paine farm, an expansion of the Wood garage in Deep River, and a thief in the night at the Hayward farm.


Additional Sources:
♦ 1930 Census.
♦ "Births." Hobart Gazette 21 July 1922.

Superior Farms and Certified Milk

Jumping around in time as I do with the blog, I've long associated the Gruel farm with the name Superior Farms, but apparently it did not get that name until early in 1922:


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Hobart Gazette 27 Jan. 1922.

(And apparently Fred Scharbach objected to his mention in the previous week's letter from Canada.)



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Hobart News 9 Feb. 1922.


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Hobart Gazette 24 Mar. 1922.

Ross Township Trustee's Report, 1921

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Hobart Gazette 13 Jan. 1922.

So many of our acquaintances here, I can't index them all. Gus Lindborg was still the go-to man for bus repairs, among other things. Bus drivers included C.S. Guernsey, Paul Fredrick, William Springman, John Miller, and Thomas Sullivan. Schoolteachers included Elsie Gruel, Olive Wood, and Evelyn Fredrick (Paul's daughter). Charles Goldman sold unspecified merchandise to the township. Robert Harper provided "advisory service." And under "Road Fund Disbursements," many familiar names.

Gruel Report

Elsie Gruel had been teaching since 1917, but apparently she felt she needed more training to be the best teacher she could possibly be. Because that's how the Gruels did things.


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The uncle she was staying with in Hobart would be Charles Gruel, the butcher … and ice farmer, whose dashed hopes we encounter further down in that same column.

Meanwhile, on the farm east of Ainsworth, the calves that Elsie's brothers were selling were "high grade" and "from world's record breeding." Of course they were, because that's how the Gruels did things.

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Among the illnesses reported in the Hobart News of January 12, 1922, was an ominous-sounding item about William and Jennie Fisher's son, Lester (a budding auto mechanic):


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Schools for Sale

With the new W.G. Haan school in its second year of operation, Ross Township had no further use for the two old wooden schoolhouses that had formerly served the Ainsworth and Deep River areas. In November 1921, they were offered for sale.


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Hobart Gazette 18 Nov. 1921.

Back in October, the Ainsworth school had been appraised by Charles Chester, John Gruel and William Shults at $40.00* in value, its woodshed at $3.00 and its outdoor toilet at $2.00.


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Image courtesy of the Merrillville/Ross Township Historical Society.

I already know what happened to the Ainsworth school: someone from the Foreman family bought it. I think a Niksch bought the Deep River school, but we shall see.

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*The figure looks like $40.00 to me, but I might be wrong.

A House Without a Housekeeper

The Nolte brothers' former housekeeper, Sarah Read, was ill. The woman she was staying with, "Mrs. E. Hartnup," was likely Eliza Hartnup, widow of Edgar, whose maiden name seems to have been Read (or Reed — they keep changing the spelling).


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Hobart Gazette 23 Sept. 1921.

And Elsie Gruel has changed jobs, from teaching to banking. (Her father, John, was a director and officer of the bank.)

Ford v. Cement Truck

Apparently, if you were bored in Hobart, you could go hang around the Nickel Plate Garage and wait for something to happen. Just one day after the barber-v.-barber grudge match, a cement truck showed what it could do to a Ford car out in front of the Nickel Plate Garage. The Ford belonged to our friend Roland Dolphus Sizelove.


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"Local and Personal," Hobart News 11 Aug. 1921.

In news of other acquaintances — yet another relative for the mysterious Mary Kipp. "Mrs. Wm. Halsted" may have been W.O.'s widow, Barbara; that was how the Gazette of August 12 identified a woman beginning a new house on Garfield Street, though there could have been two such women.

And Vera Quinlan had a job in Gary. From the next day's Gazette, we learn that her brother, Lester, who was then about 16 or 17, had joined the National Guard:


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"Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette 12 Aug. 1921.

… and yes, Mrs. Gottfried Mayer was Oscar's sister-in-law.

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.


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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.

For Stud Service, Go to Mike O'Hearn's House

We haven't heard from our old friend Mike O'Hearn since 1918. Now we find him offering the stud services of a golden sorrel stallion — apparently at his own property, where you venture at your risk.


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From the Hobart Gazette 24 June 1921.

In the next column, we get some details about the Gruel cow barn, which has been under construction for nearly a month.

Back Home Again

Richard Chapman was allowed to return to his foster home in time to celebrate his ninth birthday. If the Dunhams believed that Richard's stay at the "home of the friendless" had cured his problems, I expect they found out otherwise before long.


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"Local and Personal." Hobart News 26 May 1921.

Also, a "South of Deepriver" social column.

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While I haven't discovered what Richard did to get sent away in the first place, I have learned where he went: to the Julia E. Work Training School in Plymouth, Indiana.

The records from that institution record only the barest facts about him.


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Image courtesy of the Indiana State Digital Archives.

Bad Times

From the heart-rending down to the merely annoying, bad news packed the front page of the Hobart Gazette of May 20, 1921.


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The Gazette overestimated George Neimeyer's age. The 1920 Census information and the dates on his grave marker indicate that he would have been 13 years old at the time of his death.

I think the "old Scot Burge farm" straddled present-day U.S. 30 on the west side of Colorado Street, as seen on the 1908 Plat Map (Mary Burge being Winfield Scott Burge's wife):



George Niemeyer's parents, Fred and Eda, also had three teen-aged daughters, and a five-year-old son.


The Ridge Road Gardens was a restaurant, and I have the impression that it was near the site of the Black Cat — i.e., on Ridge Road where I-65 now passes over it. "Proprietor" Oleska's first name was Mike, and his wife was Anna.

H.W. Paxton was, I believe, Harry Windle Paxton of Hobart, who worked as a coal and lumber salesman (WWI Draft Cards, 1930 Census).

Ross Township School Commencement

The new W.G. Haan school's first academic year was nearing its end. The auditorium — in the school's basement, I believe — would be the venue for Ross Township's eighth-grade commencement ceremonies in May 1921.


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From the Hobart Gazette, 20 May 1921.

We know the District 2 teacher, Elsie Gruel. I suppose District 2 was the W.G. Haan school, considering the number of graduating students in that district and the distribution of their homes around Ainsworth — for example, Vincent Chester came from the northeast, John Mankey from the southeast, Grace Sullivan from the southwest.

Mabel Henrichs, or Henricks, was Laura's sister.


… Also, a progress report on the Lincoln Highway improvements.

A Bairn and a Barn

In April 1921, Owen and Caroline (Sapper) Nelson welcomed their first daughter, after two sons. The 1920 census shows the family farming rented land in southern Hobart Township, which may still be the "Hoffman farm."

And the Gruels put a lot of thought into planning a new barn, which I believe will be their glorious cow barn.


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Sources:
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 28 Apr. 1921.

Ainsworth Then and Now: Gruel Cow Barn/River Pointe Country Club

1920s(?) and 2014.



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Top image courtesy of Diane Barnes.

It was the pride of Superior Farm — the barn that housed the cows that gave the milk that made the Gruel dairy famous.

We have a couple of pictures to show where it stood, including the bird's-eye shot that ran with a Chicago Daily Tribune, probably in 1938. But so few points of reference from that photo are still there today — really, the north-south road running past the barn is the main one remaining — that I can only give you a general idea of where it was: about where the picnic shelter is now, and south of it as well, since the barn was much bigger than that shelter.

As to the date of the historical image above, there's not much to go on, except that it was with a group of photos, two of which appear (from the cars in them) to date probably to the 1920s.

Here is another view, from the same collection and so, I'm guessing, from the same time period.


Image courtesy of Diane Barnes.

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My reading of the microfilm newspaper of 1921 has got to the point where the barn is being planned, so I'm expecting it to go up in 1921 or maybe 1922.

The Hobart Historical Society has a pamphlet that was printed up for the Gruel farm, describing the methods its dairy operations used to ensure the quality of their milk. The pamphlet is not dated, but from its appearance I would place it in the 1920s, or possibly the 1930s. It includes an exterior shot of the barn as well as some interior shots, at least one of which shows the interior of the barn.


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Images courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

Caroline Abel and Her Carpenters

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From the Hobart Gazette 1 Apr. 1921.

Aside from being an early settler, Caroline (Feiler) Abel was the wife and mother of carpenters who were responsible for a lot of building in the vicinity of Ainsworth; my notes are full of "Contractor Abel" and "F. Abel" shipping lumber to Ainsworth and putting up this house and that barn in the surrounding area. Problem is, I'm not sure exactly which Abel is being referred to, since all these references are after the 1900 census, in which both Frank Abel, Sr. and his son, Frank, Jr., described themselves as carpenters. In 1910 they both described themselves as contractors doing carpentry work (Frank Jr. being married with his own household), and 16-year-old Edward Abel also called himself a carpenter.

Let's just take a look at what we can attribute to one or more of the Abels:

• Nov. 1901: "Walter Blachely [Blachly] will build an addition to his barn on the Mid Harper farm. Frank Abel sold him a carload of lumber with which to do the work."
• March 1902: "On Wednesday Contractor Abel began building a house for John Miller at Ainsworth, having the contract for the labor and the furnishing of lumber."
• April 1902: "Contractor Abel … has just shipped a carload of lumber to Ainsworth for C. Hill for repairs on a house and several outbuildings, which he will shortly build."
• May 1902: "Contractor Abel received another carload of lumber this week for his contracts. He is building an addition to the house of Wm. Foreman, south of Ainsworth."
• May 1902: "Contractor Abel has just shipped two carloads of lumber to Ainsworth to be used in a large barn that he will build for Frank Bayor…."
• June 1902: "Contractor Abel this week finished Fred Miller's new house at Ainsworth."
• September 1902: "An old-fashioned barn raising was held at John Gruel's yesterday and both of his new barns were raised. Quite a number from town attended. Contractor Abel is doing the carpenter work."
• May 1903: "Contractor Abel has had three cars of lumber shipped to Ainsworth, to be used in the construction of a new barn for Howard Smith who lives south of Deepriver."
• August 1904: "Contractor Abel is building the new Deepriver church."
• June 1906: "A week ago Contractor Abel began building a big barn for Chas. Sievert who lives southwest of town. The building will be 34 by 84 feet, with 20-foot posts."
• September 1906: "Contractor Abel has begun the erection of a new barn, 32 by 48 feet and 18 feet high, on the Mike Ormond farm southeast of Hobart. The dwelling is also to be raised about eighteen inches and a new addition built thereto."
• October 1909: "Contractor Abel who is building a new barn on the Kramer farm south of town hopes to have the structure completed within a few days."
• March 1911: "Abel & Sons have been doing a lot of repair work on the Chas. Chester farm near Ainsworth and are now doing work for Ed Batterman."

… and those are just the projects I happened to make note of over the years.

Frank Sr. died in 1915; Edward died in 1918; and Frank Jr. died in 1919 of tuberculosis.

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Just look at all those Ross Township names in the "Notice of Road Petition" on the Gazette page above. Many acquaintances, some farmers, some Ainsworth businessmen such as Gust Lindborg and Charles Goldman, and even William Wollenberg, who I suppose still owned the saloon building in Ross Township though he lived in Chicago.

I suppose the road in question is E. 101st Avenue.


Sources:
♦ 1880 Census.
♦ 1900 Census.
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ "Early Settler Passes Away." Hobart Gazette 1 Apr. 1921.
♦ "General News Items." Hobart Gazette 8 Nov. 1901; 21 Mar. 1902; 4 Apr. 1902; 2 May 1902; 23 May 1902; 15 May 1903; 26 Aug. 1904; 8 June 1906; 21 Sept. 1906.
♦ "Hobart." Hammond Lake County Times 22 Jan. 1919.
♦ Indiana WPA Death Records Index.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 27 June 1902; 19 Sept. 1902; 29 Oct. 1909; 10 Mar. 1911.