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.)
