Love and Death at the Ainsworth Crossing

For Fred Ahrens, the 1920s started out with grief upon grief. In February 1920, he lost his mother to complications of influenza. In February 1921, his 38-year-old wife, Mollie, died of tuberculosis. Fred was left with a young daughter and son to raise. He moved into his widowed father's house, where his sister, Mary, could help with the children. His former home became a rental property.

In May of 1923, the house got a new tenant, a former Chicago resident named Catherine McManus. She had something in common with Fred: she too had lost a spouse and was raising a daughter and son on her own. Her husband, Matthew, had died in 1918. For a few years after her loss, Catherine had remained in Chicago, working as a waitress and taking in boarders to make ends meet.

Catherine probably was familiar with Hobart long before she moved there. Her married sister was a Hobart resident for some ten years before moving to Gary. Their mother, Carolina (Lena), had been one of the local Springmans by birth. Lena's first husband (Catherine's father) was Nicholas Semmer, whose parents had farmed in Ross Township in the mid-19th century before relocating to Chicago. Her second husband was Fred Maybaum. So Catherine had many local relations, and surely friends and acquaintances too. Fred Ahrens may have been among the latter.

He soon became something more. These two bereaved hearts found solace in each other. Catherine and Fred fell in love, decided to marry, and quietly told their family and friends of their decision.

Since the two of them were an item, it was natural for them to travel together to the surprise birthday party planned for Rollie Sizelove, an Ainsworth-area farmer, on the evening of January 9, 1924. They would drive south from Hobart on present-day State Road 51, cross the Grand Trunk tracks at Ainsworth, turn right onto Ainsworth Road to reach the Lincoln Highway, then west to Colorado and north to the Sizelove farm.

But their journey ended at the Ainsworth crossing.


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Hobart News, 10 Jan. 1924.


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Hobart Gazette, 11 Jan. 1924.

There was no indication that Fred might have been trying to beat the train, as in the case of an earlier accident at this railroad crossing. It seems that he simply didn't notice it in time to react.


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Hobart News, 17 Jan. 1924.


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"General News," Hobart Gazette, 18 Jan. 1924.

A double funeral for Fred and Catherine, held at the Evangelical Lutheran Church, was widely attended.[1] They were laid to rest in the Hobart Cemetery.[2]

The surviving family members thanked their friends and neighbors as one:


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Hobart News, 17 Jan. 1924.

The orphaned children all had relatives willing to give them a home:


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"Local and Personal," Hobart News, 17 Jan. 1924.


_______________
[1] "Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette, 18 Jan. 1924.
[2] Catherine's grave is listed on findagrave.com and in the NWIGS's Hobart Township Cemeteries. Fred's grave does not appear in either source; nor does his wife's (Mollie).

A Very Short History of the Deep River Church

I came across this article in the May 14, 1975 issue of the Hobart Gazette about the Christian Church of Deep River, whose original building is now the Deep River County Park visitors' center.


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It's interesting that the old-timers of 1975 did not remember Contractor Abel, unless he was one of the volunteers mentioned. But I believe he and his family belonged to the German Lutheran Church in Hobart, so it isn't likely that he was volunteering his services to the Deep River church.

The article does me a favor by explaining the "Willing Workers," as I was unclear about its origin. I have seen that ladies' aid society mentioned numerous times in the early 20th-century newspapers (for example, a 1922 social column previously posted announced their fund-raising sale and supper). The earliest such mention I can find in my notes was in June 1906,[1] so I guess the 1975 old-timers' memories were off by just one year. Which is remarkably good.

I only wish the article were clearer about the location of the dance hall! [6/24/2026 update parsonage/dance hall identified]


The photo of the Sunday School class includes some familiar names as well as some I have scarcely looked into.

Mrs. Flora Maxwell, presumably the Sunday-School teacher, had been born into an old Ross Township family, the Sturtevants, and had married Douglas Maxwell. Thus Olive Maxwell, in the first row, was her stepdaughter.

We already know of Philip Waldeck and his untimely death. Through his mother, he was a cousin of Clarence Maybaum ("Maybawm" is a mistake).

George Casbon, born in 1897, was a child of Thomas and Ella Casbon[2] and lived in a brick house on the north side of what is now 73rd Avenue (later owned by the Buchfuehrers).

Raymond Wood was the son of William and Martha Wood, and a great-grandson of John and Hannah, who founded the village of Deep River. The "Ford agency in town" mentioned in the article was run by William and Raymond.

Floyd Yager was born in 1897 to George and Anna. The extended Yager clan has already furnished considerable material for this blog, from Floyd's eccentric uncle, Fred, to his elegant brother, George Jr., but Floyd himself seems to have led a pretty quiet life. His family's farmhouse on 73rd Avenue is still standing.

Now we get to the less familiar names.

I believe that George Sandburg's father, John, bought Huffman's mill in 1903, and his mother, Lucy, had been a Baker.[3] George remained a Porter County resident through the 1940 Census, but by 1950 had moved with his wife to Tennessee, where he is buried.

Thus far I have indexed the surname Ditlow only in connection with "South of Deepriver" social columns (1921 and 1922). Raymond and Cecil Ditlow were brothers, born into a Union Township farming family. This 1942 article about their parents' 50th wedding anniversary gives a little of the family history …


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"Mr. and Mrs. Abe Ditlow Celebrate Golden Wedding," Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso, Ind.), 21 Sept. 1942.

.. as does their father's 1947 obituary:


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Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso, Ind.), 17 Mar. 1947.

Raymond and Cecil are both buried in Mosier Cemetery.

As for the surname Riley, I have found it several times in my notes, in connection with minor social news, and once it got into the blog, but I am confused about the relation of the various Rileys to one another, if any. The Riley in this photo, Marion, was the daughter of Edwin Stanton[4] and Rose (Miller) Riley and was born in 1897. In 1917 she married Reid Peck and lived out the rest of her life in Valparaiso. She, too, is buried in Mosier Cemetery.

_______________
[1] "Thursday, June 21st, from two to four o'clock, there will be a ten-cent Tea served by Mrs. B.H. Wood at Deepriver and by other members of the Willing Workers society on Mrs. W.M. Waldeck's lawn. Everybody invited. Mrs. Casbon, President." "General News Items," Hobart Gazette, 15 June 1906.
[2] Per his entry on Findagrave.com, his middle name was Perry — the maiden name of his grandmother.
[3] The surname appears as both "Sandburg" and "Sandberg." Since George himself used "Sandberg" when he signed his WWI draft card, I will be indexing it that way.
[4] He seems to be variously referred to as "E.S.," "Edwin S.," and "Stanton," which contributes to my confusion.

Ainsworth School-Year Souvenir, 1897-98 (Conclusion)

(continued from Part 7)



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My last entry in this series is a disappointment, because I simply can't identify any Bessie (or Elizabeth) Switzer with any clear connection to Ainsworth.

Checking my notes, however, I do find a local connection to the surname Switzer in this "General News Item" from the Hobart Gazette of September 20, 1907:

A family reunion in which fifty-two people participated was held last Sunday at the home of Chas. Maybaum, Sr., south of Ainsworth, in honor of his sister, Mrs. Rudolph Switzer, and her daughter Carrie who are here from Ness City, Kas., visiting relatives for a few months. Those present from Hobart were Mrs. Geo. Stocker who is a sister of Mrs. Switzer and Jacob Kramer, Jr., and family. The day was very pleasantly passed.

And in the Indiana Marriage Collection we find Rudolph Sweitzer marrying Augusta Maibaum in Lake County, Indiana, on March 4, 1871. Rudolph first shows up in Hobart in the 1860 Census (age 11) with his parents, Daniel and Anna, both of whom died within a few years and are buried in Hobart Cemetery. Rudolph also makes some appearances in the Union Sunday School record books and the Hobart Township Trustee's ledger between 1869 and 1875, though I can't find him in the 1870 Census.

However, Rudolph and Augusta Switzer were in living in Kansas from the 1880 Census onward, and as far as I can tell they never had a child named Bessie.

Ainsworth School-Year Souvenir, 1897-98 (Part 2)

(continued from Part 1)

As we now turn our attention to the pupils listed on the souvenir, I find there are more names here than I can index, so I'm going to have to split this up still further.


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I'll deal first with the names I've encountered before.

Blachly — Earl and May were siblings, the children of Morgan and Amelia. Earl had been born in 1882, May in 1884. By the way, I think the house at 4301 E. 73rd Ave. was the Blachly house, built in 1905[1] to replace whatever the family had been living in until then.

Bullock — Hubert probably met up with the Blachly kids as he walked down from the Bullock home, unless he walked along the Grand Trunk Railroad tracks or cut across the fields … but the latter would be some rough walking.

Chase — I thought this would be easy, since I know of a Chase (aka Chace) family recorded in Ross Township in the 1870 Census and 1880 Census, members of whom were residing in Hobart into the 1920s (Minnie Chase Smith and Gust Chase). But I can't place Gracie in any census. She might not have belonged to the local Chases, but to some Chase family just passing through.

Coyle — Nina, Stella, and Arlie were the daughters of Ainsworth's postmaster, Frank Coyle. Nina, the youngest, was the only one born in Indiana (1892). Her older sisters had been born in Kansas. Why the family moved from Kansas to Ainsworth, Indiana, is a mystery, but I suspect it might have something to do with Frank's wife, Susanne, having been born a Chase — possibly she had some relation to the local Chases. The Coyle family left this area probably around 1904 (when Frank resigned as postmaster) and moved permanently to Kansas City, Missouri.

Halsted — Howard lived above the Ainsworth general store with his parents, Willard O. and Barbara (Fiester) Halsted. He probably was a promising student, since he went on to law school. As we know, he died before his time.

Kagabein aka Kegebein — Frieda lived on a farm north of Ainsworth. Her parents were John and Carolina "Lena" (Eick) Kegebein. Frieda was born in 1891. In 1911, she became Mrs. Albert Witt.

Maybaum — There were so many Maybaums around here that I can't keep them straight. These two, Louis and Hattie, were cousins, I believe. Hattie was the youngest child of Charles and Caroline, born in 1886. In 1907 she became Mrs. R.D. Sizelove. Charles and Caroline's (I believe) eldest child, August, begat Louis in 1891. The 1900 Census shows the family — August and Dora, with Louis and his two younger brothers, Harold and Clarence — farming rented land among southeast Ross Township neighbors such as Bragington, Campbell, and Doepping.[2] In 1916 Louis married Ruby Man in Porter County. By 1917 they had moved to Battle Creek, Michigan,[3] and by the 1930 Census they were running an "oil station" in San Antonio, California.

Ols — Edward was the grandson of John and Charlotte Ols, born in 1890 to their son, John Jr., and Alta (Whittemore/Whitmer). Based on the 1900 Census, I believe they owned the 80-acre parcel in the southeast corner of Section 7 that later passed to Henry Chester, then Charles Chester, then John Berndt. The census records after 1900 show Edward in various places like Starke County and Gary, Indiana; as far as I know he never lived in Ainsworth after the family sold their 80 acres.

Pierce — Ruth (b. 1882) and Jennie (b. 1884) lived with their father, Reuben, and stepmother, Catherine. Their mother, Caroline (née Kegebein), had died in June 1895, not quite a week after their grandfather, Orrin Pierce, who had owned the farm where they lived as far back as 1874:


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From the 1874 Plat Map.

I don't know what, if any, relation they had to their Pierce neighbors.

Ruth Pierce married William Kelleher in Chicago in 1908; they lived and raised their family in Chicago. All I know about Jennie is that she is buried in the Hobart Cemetery under her maiden name.

Smith — Pearl Smith was the adopted daughter of Cyrus and Ellen Smith. So she was also the adopted cousin of the teacher, Mabel Smith Peterson.

Wojohn aka Wojahn — Frieda, Emil, Gust and Paul were some of the children of Julius and Alvina Wojahn. These four were born between 1884 and 1889. We've already met another of their children — Elsie, who married Howard Shearer. The Wojahn family lived on Ainsworth Road just west of the Lindborgs.[4] The schoolhouse was an easy walk west.

[to be continued]

_______________
[1] Per the county records; also in my notes I find a reference in 1907 to Morgan Blachly's "new" house being blown off its foundation during a storm ("General News Items," Hobart Gazette, Mar. 29, 1907).
[2] From that location, they may have been attending a different school, such as the Deep River school, or the Hurlburt school if it was still operating.
[3] "General News," Hobart Gazette, Dec. 21, 1917.
[4] I believe the house at 6222 Ainsworth was built for the Wojahn family, in 1930 according to the county records, so it would have replaced an earlier house.

Not in Our Back Yard! (Smallpox, That Is)

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Hobart Gazette, March 30, 1923.


First question: where was "the Peddicord brick north of Cleveland avenue"? — near Illinois and Kelly Streets, apparently, but that doesn't narrow it down very much.

Second question: why did the Hobart Health Department think that neighborhood a better place for a smallpox patient than Lake Street? Less crowded, maybe?

George Maybaum was not one of the Ainsworth Maybaums, but we still hope he gets over his smallpox, don't we?[1]

♦    ♦    ♦
At the bottom of that column, we find William H. Wood & Son (Raymond, I believe) selling used Fords at their dealership in the village of Deep River. I've mentioned that enterprise at least once — more than once, I thought, but I can't find any other reference. According to my notes, it went back at least to 1916, when the "Local Drifts" column of the November 24 Gazette said: "Wm. H. Wood, the Deepriver merchant, who is sales agent for the Ford auto, is building a garage 40 by 60 feet for storage of new cars and a repair shop." I have been told that this business was located about where the fire department station is now.

________________________

[1] SPOILER ALERT! — he did, according to the 1930 Census. The neighbors' objections were settled by moving George "to a smallpox barracks in Cook county, Ill." ("Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette, April 6, 1923), where presumably he was nursed back to health.

Old Lutz House: On the Corner or Down in the Gully?

The last time we heard of the old Bragington farm was in December 1920 when it served as an emergency landing strip. At the time I concluded that Ed Maybaum was occupying that farm, and I don't know how I figured that out, but now it seems I'm right. And Ed, like others, was finding himself at least partially priced out of farming in the autumn of 1922:


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Hobart News 26 Oct. 1922.

And with a new brick house to live in, the Lutzes were sending their old house off to become a Fasel house … which is why I think "the corner west of their place" referred to the south side of the intersection of Tenth Street and South Hobart Road. But both corners of that intersection are "west" of the Lutz house, so it might have been either the east or west corner. These days, the west corner is occupied by a house built (according to the county records) in 1890.

However, more than once when we were driving through that area, Eldon Harms told me there had been a house on the east corner. Somebody's — I forget the name and oh, how I wish I had Eldon back again to tell me — somebody's mother-in-law lived in that house, and when the house had finished its usefulness it was pushed down into the gully.

An item in the "Local Drifts" of the Hobart Gazette of Dec. 15, 1922, noted that "Henry Fasel, Jr., moved his family last Friday into their new home on 10th street." This may have been the new-to-them old Lutz house, since I haven't noted any reports of new construction there.

In conclusion: I don't know.

Cora Maybaum

We've seen the interior of the Main Street Trinity Lutheran Church before.


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I finally took the trouble to figure out the text across the top of the front wall — it's the beginning of 1 Corinthians 1:23, "But we preach Christ crucified."

Once again, I didn't buy the postcard for its front but for the mystery on its back (and this time I didn't wimp out).



The postmark is 1909. The writer signs herself Cora M. From the text we can gather that she has two daughters, Mary and Margaret, and that Mary is old enough to go to school. Looking in the 1910 Census records for Hobart, we find all those elements in the household of Fred and Cora Maybaum. They have two children: Mary, who in 1909 would have been just old enough to go to school (about six years of age), and Margaret, about three years old. They lived at 1122 Devonshire Street.

According to Fred Maybaum's death certificate (Indiana Death Certificates), his mother's maiden name was Maasch, which would explain why Cora was writing to Mrs. F. Maasch.

Fred was not one of the Ainsworth Maybaums. He was one of the many, many Hobart Maybaums. I believe his brother, Louis, had also married a Cora.

The postcard-writing Cora's maiden name was Shearer (Indiana Marriage Collection), but if she was related to the Ainsworth Shearers, I haven't found out about it yet. Her father was Harrison Shearer; I think Amanda Shearer Scholler was her aunt. Her grandparents were Daniel and Sarah (Ream) Shearer, who came to Union Township, Porter County, sometime between the 1850 Census and the 1860 Census.

Here is the Daniel Shearer land in 1876:


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Image from http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/1876Plats/Union-1876.jpg, courtesy of Steven R. Shook.

Note the road I've marked with a question mark. If that road ever existed, it has long vanished. But the map fails to show Duck Creek, which runs about the same route as that road; so I'm wondering if somewhere between the surveyor and the printer, the creek got mistaken for a road. We find the same marking in the 1895 and 1906 plat maps, but with the 1921 map the road is replaced by Duck Creek.

Also with the 1921 map, we find some of the former Shearer land in the hands of Theodore and Annie Rossow, whose niece, Minnie Rossow, married in the Harms family of East AINSWORTH — ha! I've finally brought this back around to Ainsworth, so I guess those 6 hours I spent researching this little postcard weren't all wasted.

Harriet Towl Ragen

An early resident of Ross Township, Harriet Ragen died in June 1922, just short of her 79th birthday.


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Hobart Gazette 30 June 1922.

Here is the Ragen farm as it appeared on the 1874 Plat Map.



This map suggests a house in the approximate location of 4012 E. 73rd Ave., where there now stands a house and large barn along with other outbuildings, most of which date to 1921 if the county property records are correct.

After moving to Hobart in 1896, the Ragens rented out their farm. Charles and Lovisa (Chester) Nelson rented it in the spring of 1903; by August of that year, the Ragens had rented it to a Wilhelm Neuman (or Newman), reportedly for a five-year term. By December 1908 George Ragen was advertising for a new tenant. In September 1914, the widowed Harriet, now living in Gary, offered it for sale or rent. She sold it in January 1915 to May Blachly (who sold it to S.J. Craig, who sold it to Emil Wojahn … who probably built that house and barn, etc.).

I believe "Mrs. Cora Maybaum of Gary" was married to Louis Maybaum, the streetcar motorman whose photo we've seen.

Harriet Ragen's husband, George, was not only a veteran of the Civil War but also a brother of Amanda Ragen Bullock, as we learn from his obituary:


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Hobart Gazette 1 Mar. 1912.

That would explain why Joseph (aka Josiah) Halladay came down from Chicago in June 1922 to attend Harriet Ragen's funeral — he was the husband of Amanda Ragen Bullock's daughter, Ruth. (I don't know why Ruth did not accompany him.)

From George's obituary, also, we also learn that the "Mrs. Mary Stevens of Gary" who survived Harriet was the wife of Hobart's one-time baker and restaurateur, Willard Stevens (so I suppose she is the Mate Stevens identified in one of the photos in that first link).

In closing, I will add this random item I came across in the 1901 microfilm: "A carload of laborers, men and women of the African type, have pitched camp upon George Ragon's farm near the Grand Trunk railroad and will be engaged in work on the double track grading. They are said to be a jolly crowd."

♦    ♦    ♦
The second story marked on the 1922 image above tells us that the elder Severances, George and Anna, had celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. I believe Bunge is a misprint for Burge — the married name of their daughter, Mary.


Additional Sources:
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "For Sale or Rent." Hobart Gazette 25 Sept. 1914.
♦ "General News Items." Hobart Gazette 19 Apr. 1901; 24 Apr. 1903; 28 Aug. 1903; 11 Mar. 1904; 11 Dec. 1908.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 6 July 1922.

South of Deepriver

The social news from the countryside in early March 1922.


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Hobart News 9 Mar. 1922.

"Mrs. L.R. Huffman" would be Nellie, wife of Levi Randall Huffman, Jr.

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.

Edward and Tillie (Harms) Niksch

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Image courtesy of Eldon Harms.

It was Thanksgiving Day 1964, and someone took this photo of Mathilda "Tillie" and Edward Niksch at the celebration of their 60th wedding anniversary.

As I was writing about their purchase of the former Deep River schoolhouse (yesterday's post), I realized that I've scarcely mentioned these folks in the blog, and I had better take some time to make up for that oversight. They were Ainsworthites, after all: Tillie grew up in the Harms farmhouse east of Ainsworth, and she and Edward moved onto the Lincoln Highway/Randolph St. farm in the spring of 1912.

Tillie was born November 12, 1884, so she had just turned 20 when she married Edward Niksch.


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Numerous unnamed Ainsworth-area residents also attended the wedding. (The "bride's home on south Main street" probably refers to Harms house at the southwest corner of Lincoln and 7th.)

Minnie Rossow Harms' family history gives us a brief summary of the next 16 years:

After Mathilda (Tilly) and Ed were married in 1904, they moved into his home on Devonshire street* in Hobart (Leona and son still** live there). Tilly had attended Valparaiso University and worked as a compositor for the Hobart Gazette. Leona was born December 28, 1907 and Laverne April 9, 1909. They had a great desire to go farming and soon Grandfather Harms purchased his Lincoln Highway farm where they raised their family. Donald was born July 3, 1916 and Edward Jr. July 28, 1920.

♦    ♦    ♦
I've talked a lot about the Harms family in this blog, but what about Edward Niksch and his people?

Edward was born May 13, 1882, in Hobart, one of ten children of Louis and Minnie (Niemann) Niksch, who by 1891 owned and farmed this land northeast of town:


Image from the 1908 Plat Map.


His mother died in June 1909.



(Yes, it was Edward's sister, Rosa, who had conquered the heart of the redoubtable Michael O'Hearn.)


Louis Niksch followed his wife to the grave in January 1912.



(While the 1900 enumerator recorded Louis' immigration year as 1860, the 1910 enumerator agreed with the obituary on 1854.)


Edward Niksch is described in the 1900 census as a farm hand, living and possibly working on his parents' own farm. Sometime between then and his marriage in 1904, he went to work in the brickyard, and bought that house in town. He remained a brickie through 1910 — probably until 1912, when he and Tillie moved onto the farm. After that, he stuck with farming, even through the Great Depression, as the 1940 census records him still farming on the Lincoln Highway land.

My notes record only pleasant events for the Niksches until 1917, when Edward became ill. Early in November he was in Chicago getting medical treatment for "serious affection of the eyes." The November 15 News included these unpleasant details:

Edward Niksch, who has been suffering with his eyes, underwent an operation at Dr. Dahlman's hospital in Chicago last Saturday for affected glands and another operation on Monday for pus forming on his face and for his jaws being set. Late reports were that he was some better.

In early December the Gazette reported that, after a couple weeks' treatment and much suffering, he was back home:

Edward Niksch who was operated upon Nov. 9th at the South Shore hospital by Drs. Werelius and Dahlberg for necrosis of the upper jaw bone and joint was able to return home the forepart of last week and indications are that he will meet with a full recovery. His head was so bandaged when he came home he was scarcely recognizable, except by voice. He has been returning every third day to the city for dressing of the wound. He says the pain he suffered before the operation was almost unbearable.

Either he recovered in good time or I was negligent in taking notes, as I have no further information on that illness.

So Edward and Tillie quietly got on with life in the neighborhood of Ainsworth, farming and raising their family. In May 1921, their eldest child, Leona, took part in the first commencement at the new W.G. Haan school.

Late that autumn, the Niksches bought the old Deep River schoolhouse, which started this digression.


_____________________
*1019 Devonshire, per Polk's Hobart City Directory 1962.
**I believe Minnie wrote this in 1952.


Sources:
♦ 1880 Census.
♦ 1891 Plat Book.
♦ 1900 Census.
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ 1930 Census.
♦ 1940 Census.
♦ "Ainsworth Pick-Ups." Hobart Gazette 2 Dec. 1904.
♦ Harms, Minnie Rossow. As It Was Told to Me. 1952 – 1978. MS. Hobart Historical Society, Hobart, Indiana.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 8 Nov. 1917; 15 Nov. 1917.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 16 Mar. 1912; 16 Nov. 1917; 7 Dec. 1917.
♦ "Niksch-Harms Nuptial." Hobart Gazette 2 Dec. 1904.
♦ "Obituary." Hobart Gazette 25 June 1909.
♦ "Two Pioneers Pass Away." Hobart News 11 Jan. 1912.
♦ WWII Army Enlistment Records.

John Barney

A westbound Grand Trunk train stopped at the Ainsworth station on the morning of October 24, 1921, to deliver a sad cargo: John Barney, born and raised in Ross Township, was making his last trip home.


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Hobart News 27 Oct. 1921.

I've seen the Barney name every now and then in social news, but I didn't realize until now how long the family had been in this area. A couple of posts ago, I mentioned Thomas Chandler buying a farm from "Charles E. and Maggie E. Barney at Palmer" — John's parents — which farm I haven't identified; but oddly enough it seems that Charles E. and Maggie E. Barney sometime between 1874 and 1891 bought 80 acres that had belonged to Thomas Chandler's grandfather; namely, this parcel on the south side of E. 73rd Ave.:


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On this image from the 1908 Plat Map, the land that belonged to Charles and Maggie Barney in 1891 is outlined.

That's the only land I have found ascribed to the elder Barneys in any plat map.

John's widow, née Lena Maybaum, belonged to the large Maybaum family. They had married in 1887, not 1886 as stated in the article above.

Their two sons, Edward Ray and Charles Leslie, often went by their middle names.


Additional Sources:
♦ 1874 Plat Map.
♦ 1891 Plat Book.
♦ 1900 Census.
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ Indiana Marriage Collection.
♦ "Obituary." Hobart Gazette 28 Oct. 1921.
♦ WWI Draft Cards.

What Dan Maybaum Had

Dan Maybaum, now living in the village of Ainsworth, had a car to lend, and $10 to help out a friend who got in trouble in the big city …


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… and land to sell:

Mrs. Chas. Henning last week purchased the house and one and a half acres of Fred Carbine at Ainsworth, located north of the new school building, and also an acre of ground from Dan Maybaum.

"Mrs. Chas. Henning" was Henrietta, a 62-year-old widow and mother of Elsie (Henning) Nelson.

Fred Carbein described himself in the 1920 Census as a salesman in a "grain house" (perhaps William Raschka's?), and based on his neighbors, he and his family (including a 13-year-old orphan girl) did appear to be living in Ainsworth, near the schoolhouse.


Source: "Local and Personal." Hobart News 19 May 1921.

The Cheerful Liar and the Hot-Headed Shooter

Here's what was going on in the new Ainsworth school in May of 1921.


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From the Hobart News, 12 May 1921.

I gather that the Palmer Stock Company got its name from the village of Palmer, in Winfield Township (where Randolph Street crossed the CC&L/C&O railroad). While I haven't identified C.H. and Mrs. C.H. Burge, the other cast members appear locally in the 1920 census.

In searching (unsuccessfully) for the text of the play, I came across a story of some Minnesota high school students who decided against performing it, I gather, because of its potential to corrupt young people.

Above the Cheerful Liar ad is another for a baseball game to be played at the Hobart Speedway … a novel way to use a motorcycle racetrack.


Meanwhile, at the old Ainsworth school …


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From the Hobart Gazette, 13 May 1921.

The Gazette speaks of "Mike Murphy" as if local readers would know him, but he's a mystery to me. As is Dan Maybaum, still.

Airmail

I suppose disabled planes were landing in farmers' fields all over the country. It only seems as if they all came down around Ainsworth because I'm reading about Ainsworth, not the rest of the country.


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From "Local and Personal," Hobart News 9 Dec. 1920.

(Also, the Melvin Guernsey family, who had fled to Florida to escape the Indiana winter, have fled back to escape the Florida cost of living.)


From Hobart News 9 Dec. 1920


From Hobart Gazette 10 Dec. 1920.

The "old Bragington farm" was at the southern border of Ross Township:



That's how it looked in the 1926 Plat Book. The Bragington name covers most of Section 31, Range 7, from the 1874 Plat Map onward. That doesn't change until the 1939 Plat Book, and for all I know the names listed there could be Bragington heirs.

And we do find Ed Maybaum, in the 1920 Census, living on rented land in southern Ross Township.

How Do You Spell Your Name, Again?

I just love these actions to quiet title. Here we have George Chester seeking to establish his perfect right to the farm his father, Charles, bought for him. From the length of this notice, it looks as if hundreds of people have had some claim on this land, but when you look closely you see there were not that many — it's just that they never spelled their names the same way twice, and due diligence requires every variation to be published.


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From the Hobart News of April 1, 1920.

So let's count:

1. Andrew L. Booth (or Andrew J. Boothe or Andrean J. Booth) and his wife, Sarah;
2. Winnefred Linsey (or Winfred Linsey) and her husband, name unknown;
3. Finette Gordon (or Finnet Gordon, or Finette Pierce) and her husband(s), name(s) unknown;
4. James Crawford and his wife, name unknown;
5. Horace Marble and his wife, Martha;
6. William Mankey (or Menkey or Menke) and his wife, Doris;
7. Frank Abel and his wife, name unknown;
8. Oswald Kleine (or Oswold Kline or Oswold Kleine or Oswald Kline or Oswald L.E. Kline) and his wife or wives, Christiana and Emeline;
9. Vincent Hassler (or Vencennes Hassler or Vincent Hasler) and his wife, whose name may be Anna;
10. Frank J. Smith (or Francis J. Smith) and his wife, whose name may be Hattie;
11. George Earle and his wife, name unknown;
12. George Earle & Son; and
13. Charles Maybaum and his wife, Carolina.

That's only 13 pairs, and there you have, for search-engine purposes, every name they ever called themselves when they were dealing with this land.

Below that notice, I see we are finally getting around to settling the estates of a couple of Ainsworth-area people who have left Ainsworth forever.

Dan Maybaum Again

I already told you I don't know who Dan Maybaum was. But the "Local Drifts" in the Hobart Gazette of March 5, 1920, brings us some news about him (and I'm also typing it out for you, since the microfilm is hard to read).

Dan Maybaum, who has operated for years the Maybaum farm south of Ainsworth, until it was sold last fall to Chas. Chester, has just moved from the farm to Ainsworth.

Said column also brings us news of our old friend, Jesse Frame. It's been a long time, Jesse!


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Charles Chester Buys a Farm

The "Local Drifts" column of the Hobart Gazette of Nov. 28, 1919, brings us to the reason why the Ainsworth cemetery came to be known as Chester Cemetery.


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From the 1926 Plat Book.

There are a few other items about people we know — or don't know, in the case of the mysterious "Jolly Four" who are keeping Ainsworth entertained; but at last Carl Boldt is home from the army, and Lesta Raschka is hosting a shower for Bricky's fiancée.

He Went Home Again

I didn't even know that Charles Maybaum, Jr. was in poor health. And now, having learned that from the age of 17 he suffered from "rheumatism" (probably arthritis), I am surprised that he was so active. As the years passed, his condition grew worse: by his early thirties, he needed a crutch and a cane just to move about, and toward the end he was "quite helpless."

All of this came out (to me) only after Charles died on October 11, 1919, in the house in Ainsworth where he had moved only three months earlier. He was 53 years old, having been born July 23, 1866, in Germany.

I do wonder if the grief and disruption in his life — the loss of his mother, who had cared for him all those years, the move from his old familiar farm home to a house in the village — hastened his death, but that is just my wild conjecture.

Charles was survived by his nine siblings, and since eight of them lived in northwest Indiana, they likely attended his funeral at the M.E. Church in Hobart. The possible exception was his sister Lena Barney, who now lived in Battle Creek, Michigan; but her branch of the family was represented by her 28-year-old son, Ray, who made the trip down to pay his respects.

Charles Jr. was laid to rest in Crown Hill Cemetery.


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That is the west side of the stone whose east side memorializes his parents.

His brother-in-law, R.D. Sizelove, was appointed administrator of his estate.




Sources:
♦ 1900 Census.
♦ "Additional Local News." Hobart Gazette 11 July 1919.
♦ "Card of Thanks." Hobart News 16 Oct. 1919.
♦ "Death of Charles Maybaum." Hobart Gazette 17 Oct. 1919.
♦ "Funeral of Charles Maybaum Held Monday Afternoon." Hobart News 16 Oct. 1919.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 16 Oct. 1919.
♦ "Notice of Administration." Hobart News 16 Oct. 1919.

Dan Maybaum

I am puzzled by the identity of Dan Maybaum, whom in September 1919 we find announcing a public sale on the Charles Maybaum farm.


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I've found him in the 1910 census, where he purports to be the son of Charles and Caroline Maybaum, and yet the obituary of Charles Sr., whence I gathered the long list of their children, does not mention a Dan, nor does Caroline's, nor any census other than the 1910.

Here and there I find Dan in my notes: in 1905 he bought a "trick donkey" (and then sold it); in 1910 he won a prize for his comic costume at a Deep River masquerade ball.

My theory at the moment is that this is one of the Maybaum sons (other than Charles Jr.) going by his middle name, or just a name he preferred.

Anyway, with all this selling going on, I wonder if the Maybaum land itself will go soon.

♦    ♦    ♦
About two weeks earlier, William and Carrie Raschka made the 50-mile trip down to Knox, Indiana, for a big party in honor of Louis and Anna Raschka's 25th wedding anniversary.

Frank and Frieda Raschka also attended the party, traveling from their sadly quiet farm in Winfield Township.


Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ "Ainsworth Pick-Ups." Hobart Gazette 13 Jan. 1905.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 18 Sept. 1919.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 4 Feb. 1910.
♦ "Public Sale." Hobart News 25 Sept. 1919.