Fires on the Farms

On the evening of May 23, 1921, a glow in the sky over northern Ross Township drew hundreds of gawkers from Ainsworth, Hobart, Merrillville and the surrounding countryside toward a farm south of Turkey Creek. They found its source in a raging barn fire, too big for any amateur firefighting efforts. Fire trucks from nearby towns responded, or tried to, but without water mains their efforts were limited. Only Hobart's truck had the equipment to pump water from Turkey Creek.

The farmhouse was saved, but all in all it was a terrible loss for Calvin Beltzhoover (formerly of Hobart).


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I'm having trouble identifying the farm in question. Calvin Beltzhoover was only renting it. The current owner's name is given as "Landfields" by the Gazette (which also describes him as Calvin's brother-in-law; I think he was Henry Landfield, who in 1909 had married Stella Kent, sister of Calvin's wife, Pearl). Previous owners' names include Keilman (Gazette) and D.M. Heiney (News). On the 1908 Plat Map, we do find a large farm in the Turkey Creek area belonging to Phillip Keilman, but it's not south of the creek as described by the Gazette (which may simply have got its geography a little confused); we also find some farms belonging to people by the name of Hein, but not D.M. Heiney.



I can't find Calvin Beltzhoover at all in the 1920 Census. (By the way, I'm now convinced that Calvin and Frank Beltzhoover were two different people, which leaves me deeply confused over which of them owned the Nickel Plate Garage, and whether they were any relation to each other.)

Also, in the "Public Sale" notice under the fire story above, we find James Chester auctioneering again.

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Two days early, the roof of the John and Ella Crisman farmhouse, near the village of Deep River, caught fire somehow. Luckily the fire was put out quickly, so the rest of the house was not harmed, and the outbuildings never in danger. The Crismans had insurance to cover the damaged roof.


Sources:
♦ "17 Head of Cattle and Horses Burned Up in a Fire at Turkey Creek." Hobart News 26 May 1921.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ Indiana Marriage Collection.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 26 May 1921.
♦ "Two Barns Burn." Hobart Gazette 27 May 1921.

The Race Car Driver Settles Down

Last we heard of Clifford Blachly, he was speeding around a track in Valpo, winning an auto race. Now, at the tender age of 20, he is settling down.


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From the Hobart News of 11 Dec. 1919.

The 1920 Census would show him living in Gary with his wife — who would that year give birth to their first child — and his parents, and working as a foreman in a steel mill. Sounds very responsible. I don't know if we'll hear any more of his racing cars, but in by the 1930 Census he had found a way to combine his love of cars with responsible wage-earning: he was a steel-mill chauffeur.

… Also, Eugene and Carrie Chandler are so excited about moving to their very own farm that they can't wait for all those fine buildings to be finished.

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As we continue following the unusual career of Ellsworth Humes, we find this in the "Local and Personal" column of the Hobart News of December 18, 1919: "Ellsworth Humes left last week to become advance advertising man for Harvey's Greater Minstrels. The show is now eastward bound, and will later go to the Pacific coast."

It's difficult to find any information about Harvey's Greater Minstrels. Here is a brief summary.

A minstrel show was something of an anachronism in 1919, as such entertainments had, since the turn of the century, been giving way to vaudeville and stage musicals, and now the movies were taking over the entertainment world.