Grief and Glory

One hundred years ago today, the joyous news of the Armistice reached our shores. The Great War was over. Celebrations broke out all over the country.

In Lake Station, one family's joy was tempered by a recent loss: Christina Blank Hazelgreen had died on October 31, 1918, and was laid to rest on November 3.

Christina's daughter, Elna (now about 24 years old), received from a friend in Chicago this letter dated November 12 that expressed a range of emotions from private grief to public joy to horror at the flu epidemic that was still going on.


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The letter reads:

Dear Elna:

Received your letter Sat. telling the sad sad news of your bereavement, in the death of your dear mother.

You have our sincerest sympathy and our hearts truly ache for you, and with you, for we feel that we, too, are bereft of a sincere friend, one whose true womanly influence was always felt in the desire she gave one, to do better and be better. How glad you are now of the years of devoted services rendered.

If we had only known of your sorrow, we would have been with you and yours in those last sad rites.

In trying to lighten the burden of others, we find our own load grows less heavy, and you will find it so in this "7 in 1" drive.[1] Wish you the greatest success.

Will come to see you at the first opportunity. You know we left E[ast] Gary sooner than we expected, and I intended, as much as could be, returning on the following day, to say "Good Bye" to all old friends, and neighbors, but on reaching the city that night, found Jay had made plans to go to Detroit instead. On our return, was a victim of the "flu" and for four weeks, was in the house every minute. Am feeling fine now and glad to be alive. So far, we have made no plans for the Winter, but will probably remain with Hazel. And I want you, Clara and Malcolm to be sure and come to see us. Take a Hammond car to Grand Crossing, then transfer to a 75th street car, last get off at Jeffery, walk to Chappel and we live the sixth door from the corner in a little brick bungalow.

Isn't it glorious the war is over? This was some mad town the 11th. I understand there wasn't much of a celebration in Gary. Well, dear will be glad to see you or hear from you at any time, it seems odd not to have one of our "weekly midnight conflabs" [sic].

Was sorry that Esther Olson had been so ill. Oh that epidemic was something terrible – in many cases it was impossible to bury the dead on account of no caskets being available.

Hazel is waiting for me to make button holes, so will close.

With love and best wishes.

Yours Sincerely,

Belle Lewis.

Belle Lewis appears in the 1910 Census as a resident of East Gary (Lake Station). She and her husband, Jay, had come there sometime after the 1900 Census (which recorded them living in Michigan). Hazel was their only daughter, born circa 1890.

Clara and Malcolm were Elna's siblings.

Esther Olson was some relation to Elna — either the wife or daughter of Elna's cousin on her mother's side, Floyd Olson (also an East Gary resident).

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[1] I don't know exactly what she is referring to, but it may have involved the Fourth Liberty Loan Drive.

Turk's Melody Boys

"Music by Turk's Melody Boys," says the advertisement for a dance at Niksch's dance hall, providing no further detail, as if everybody knew who Turk's Melody Boys were … or as if they were so obscure that there was nothing to say about them.


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Hobart Gazette, 29 Sept. 1922.

Googling "Turk's Melody Boys" turns up only a few references to a band called Johnny Turk's Melody Boys, which got some air time on West Coast radio broadcasts circa 1926; for example:


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Eugene Guard (Eugene, Ore.) 27 July 1926 (via newspapers.com).

I wonder if Johnny Turk's Melody Boys got their start in such humble places as the old Deep River schoolhouse? But theirs wasn't a story of a rise from small beginnings to great fame: after a few radio broadcasts they seem to have disappeared, and have not resurfaced in any modern-day account of American musical history that I can find.

The woman whose obituary takes up most of the left-hand column of the Gazette page above was Christina (Blank) Hazelgreen's sister.

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Here's a summary of local auto accidents in the space of a week:


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Hobart Gazette 22 Sept. 1922.

Dr. Phillip Forsberg was a veterinarian, and I suppose his wife, Mary, was the "Mrs. Forsberg" whose identity eluded me when she sang in Ainsworth. They both rest in Hobart Cemetery, beneath a literary epitaph. Their "house by the side of the road" was at 56th and Broadway (WWII Draft Cards), which was in Ross Township (1940 Census). Phillip was a friend to man's best friend, anyway. And Mary, who gave her occupation in 1940 as assistant school principal, was a friend to children, we can hope.

The Carlson fruit farm and its melons were on the west side of S.R. 51, somewhere near what is now Indian Ridge Golf Course.

The Chester Farm, From the South

I may never get a better scan of this photo, so I may as well post what I've got. [Update: I despaired too soon. Here is a nice enlarged scan of the photo.]


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Image courtesy of John Fleck.

[7/7/2015 update — information from a comment to this post] In the one horse carriage are Charles E. Chester & Lovisa Chester Nelson. Standing (L to R) Luella Chester Olson, Carrie Chester Raschka, & John J. Chester. On the milk wagon are James & Jerome Chester. In the wagon on the right are Henry Wm Chester and Daisy Chester Fleck. Picture was taken around 1905.

This undated photo shows the Henry Chester farm as viewed from well south of Ainsworth Road. I would not have recognized it, had not it come from a Chester descendant who identified it as such. But once you know enough to look, you can recognize, in the right-hand background, the Chester house as it looked before Charles Chester someone remodeled it.

They may or may not be the traces of these buildings that you can still find on the south side of Ainsworth Road, across from the house. I don't know what demolitions and rebuildings went on between this photo and the final knock-down.

Nobody in the photo is identified.

Birthdays

Down near Ainsworth, Claude and Mary Ann Bullock welcomed their first daughter (and only) daughter, after two sons; while up in Hobart, Henry and Anna Harms welcomed a crowd into their home to celebrate his 69th birthday.


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Hobart News 22 Dec. 1921.

We also learn another name to add to the Chester family tree: Luella (Chester) Olson's daughter Juanita had married Benjamin Reiman in 1917. By 1920 they had one son, Charles.

(I like that story about the "smooth game" in South Bend, although it has nothing to do with anyone around here.)

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The next day's Gazette mentioned that "E.L. Arment of Greencastle, Ind., was in Hobart Wednesday looking after his property interests south of Hobart" — which might mean he came here to see how his bungalow was progressing. Or not.

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[2/23/2015 update] Concerning the ninth item down in the left-hand column of the Hobart News page above, about Louise Sapper Schavey Dewell, the DeWell family archivist writes:

It was confirmation of a story I always heard from my dad.

He was born 11-28-1921, so was not even a month old when his mom went to Chicago for what I think was a kidney stone problem (can't be sure). My infant father had to go with his mom so she could breastfeed him. He was kept in a separate room, but she claimed she could hear him crying and would have crawled to him if necessary to comfort him. (Sounds rather dramatic!)

When they returned home, they reportedly stripped down, bathed, and boiled their clothing before entering the house to prevent a lice infestation.

Makes you wonder about hospital quality back then!

Additional Sources:
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Births." Hobart Gazette 23 Dec. 1921.
♦ Indiana Marriage Collection.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 23 Dec. 1921.

Death Comes for the Groom-to-Be

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Images courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

Let us go back for a moment to a couple of those wonderful old glass-plate negatives — specifically, the two that include William Olson, Andrew Melin, Tekla Anderson, and a young woman whose identity we don't know. In the photo above, William is standing at left, Tekla is standing at right, and Andrew is seated at right. The young woman seated at center, wearing a high-necked white blouse and an amused expression, is unidentified. They are all together again in the photo below, a trick shot that makes William (standing) appear twice.




CK Melin has furnished me with William Olson's obituary from the Hobart News of October 6, 1910, and pointed out that it may contain a clue as to the possible identity of that mysterious young woman in the images.


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That article is largely reprinted from the Hammond Times. The Hobart Gazette followed the next day with its own article, which included a few more details:

Wm. A. Olson who formerly lived in Hobart was found dead in his room last week Thursday, Sept. 29, at the home of Mrs. W.H. Rifenburg at Hammond where he had roomed several years. Mr. Olson had passed the evening before at the home of his aunt, Mrs. Eric Melin, in Chicago, and was in his usual good spirits and health. He did not arise at his usual hour the next morning and after forcing in the door to his room his body was found upon the floor, face downward, and it was evident that he had died in an epileptic paroxysm, of which he had been afflicted from youth although of late years he was much improved. The remains were shipped to Hobart via the Nickel Plate Friday afternoon and conveyed to the home of his cousin, Andrew Melin, on Michigan avenue. The funeral in charge of Rev. Otto A. Johnson was held at 10:30 last Sunday forenoon at the Swedish M.E. church, but the sermon was preached by Presiding Elder Anderson of Chicago. The burial was in the Hobart cemetery.

Mr. Olson was thirty-two years old. He was born in Sweden and came to this country when a youth of ten years and had made his home at the Melin residence. He learned the tinner's trade when a young man and was employed by his cousin, Andrew Melin, when he conducted a hardware store in Hobart some years ago and then by A.J. Swanson the hardware dealer but for the past five years he was employed by P.H. Mueller at Hammond. He was a young man of excellent habits and was an expert tinner and plumber. At the time of his death he was secretary of the Tinner's union at Hammond and a social member of the Maccabees in Hobart. He was engaged to be married to Miss Theresa Lindgren, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Lindgren of Lake street and the ceremony was set for Saturday of this week. His death is very regrettable. He is survived by a mother, a sister and a brother in Sweden.

Well, after reading all that, one can't help but jump to the conclusion that the lovely young woman in the photos is the fiancée, Theresa Lindgren. It's such a cozy and intimate little group there, and in the first photo William is resting his elbow on her chair in an almost proprietary gesture. Knowing what we know now, we see the poignancy in these playful images, as they capture the happiness of young lovers spending a perfect summer afternoon together, never suspecting how close they are to death and heartbreak.

Officially, however, I still have to consider her unidentified.


There are a few more photos in which I believe she appears …

I think she is seated at the far right in this one (while William Olson is standing at the far left) (original post here):



In this one, she's second from the top (original post here):



Here she's at left (original post here):



At left again (original post here):



And again (original post here):



I'm not 100% sure, but that might be her standing second from the right in this one (original post here):



In the choir photos, I think the young woman at right in the middle row might be her (and William Olson is at right in the last row) (original post here):

Merry Christmas from the Ainsworth School!

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Image courtesy of Eldon Harms.

There is no date on this program, but one of the participants estimates that it took place in the very late 1930s, or 1940 at the latest. The Ainsworth school had a Christmas program every year (she tells me), as well as a Halloween masquerade party and some sort of program in the spring. And every month during the school year, a "community meeting."

I wish I could index every surname, but Blogger won't let me. So I will just type them out for the search engine: Baldner, Bergman, Blimel, Bodamer, Bowers, Bryant, Buchfuehrer, Bush, Busselburg, Carden, Collins, Dick, Doepping, Dorman, Engstrom, Ford, Gernenz, Harms, Hartin, Homeier, Johnson, Jones, Kissinger, Klemm, Kuntz, Lines, Madura, Maihofer, Mitchell, Moreland, Nelson, O'Brien, Olson, O'Neil, Peterson, Pike, Piske, Ready, Robb, Robinson, Schmidt, Shaw, Sullivan, Tonagel, Watts, Weiler, Wesley, Willy, Wise, Witham, Wojahn, Yager, Ziemanski.

Bobbed Hair in Middletown!

Was it newsworthy when three girls in Muncie bobbed their hair??


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Hobart Gazette 16 Sept. 1921.

Elsewhere on that same page — aside from the sixth wedding anniversary of George and Pearl Yager — we find a mention of a young man named Lee Thompson. I don't believe I've taken notice of this particular Thompson family before. Lee's parents were George and Nancy Thompson, who had moved with their son and three daughters into Ross Township from Porter County, sometime between 1910 and 1920. I can't really tell from the 1920 census where in Ross Township they were living; I have been told that at some point they occupied the white house on the north side of Ainsworth Road just west of County Line Road, and the News also describes Lee as an Ainsworth resident.

I don't believe these Thompsons were any relation to the five-and-ten-cent Thompsons. I am not sure if they had any relation to the 19th-century Ainsworth Thompsons. However, George was a brother of the Wallace Thompson whose daughter, Ethel, had been killed by a train in Wheeler in 1919.

There's nothing particularly interesting about Lee's visiting his uncle, but we shall be hearing more from this family as the years go by.

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Little tidbits about some people we've known for a long time …


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Hobart News 15 Sept. 1921.

Lovisa Nelson and her children had probably been visiting her sister, Luella Olson, in Fort Wayne. And Alice Paine, recently graduated from Hobart High School, is off to Teachers College in Indianapolis, which I never heard of before.


Additional Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 15 Sept. 1921.

Our New President and Vice President

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From the Hobart News of Nov. 4, 1920.

The obituary of the streetcar-line owner suggests that Hobartites were less than happy with the line's service.

More bad news from the same issue's summary of "Town Board Doings": "A report by the state board of health showed the town water polluted and unfit for domestic use."

A couple more cheerful items, one from the "Local and Personal" column: "Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Raschka, Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Chester and Mrs. Lovisa Nelson motored to Fort Wayne Saturday and visited at the home of Mrs. Olson, returning Monday."

This is the other:



Sweaters from Ainsworth! … OK, it's not as exciting as a trip to Purdue or a camera, but it's better than a roll of roofing paper or a manure fork.

Raschka News

This social column of the Hobart News of July 15, 1920, was just crammed with news of the Raschkas and their relatives.

Also, you can get that 100-lb. bag of sugar you needed at George Sauter's store.


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Family Reunion and National Drought

On January 14, 1920, William and Carrie Raschka had a visit from their niece, Mamie Olson, who was now about 30 years old, and studying to be a nurse. (Mamie, as you may remember, was the daughter of Charles and Luella (Chester) Olson.)


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Two days later, the rest of the nation joined Indiana and the other pioneer dry states, as Prohibition-with-a-capital-P became the law of the land — on paper, anyway.



The Gazette had off-handedly noted in its first issue of the year: "Many people throughout the country are dying from drinking wood alcohol." Without further explanation, we can only guess that this was in the already-dry states. But we've all heard the stories from the Prohibition era about people going blind or dying from bad bootleg liquor.


Sources:
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Additional Local News." Hobart Gazette 2 Jan. 1920.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 22 Jan. 1920.
♦ "Nation Now Dry Under Amendment to United States Constitution." Hobart News 22 Jan. 1920.

Only a Thousand Miles

The autumn of 1919 found those road trippers, Charles and Constance Chester, on the road again, but this time it was a comparatively short trip: only a thousand miles.

Also, we find out that Constance had a niece in Kansas, Mrs. Etta Messmaker (whom the 1920 Census shows as a 41-year-old widow).


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From the Hobart Gazette of October 10, 1919.

The Kids Are Growing and So Is the Store

As Carrie Raschka's two youngest daughters had close birthdays, she decided to host a joint birthday party to celebrate Bernice's fourth and Wilma's second. (I haven't been able to find an exact birthdate for Bernice, but I believe it was sometime in July 1915; Wilma had been born July 15, 1917.) And so some fifteen little children came to the Raschka home on Lake Street on Wednesday, July 9, 1919. They spent the afternoon playing games and eating goodies. A week later Uncle Charles and Aunt Luella Olson came out from Fort Wayne, bringing with them 18-year-old Cousin Flossie and probably some birthday presents as well.

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Back in Ainsworth, the store that the Raschkas had enlarged in 1905 was growing once again:


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You will notice the lengthy article on that page about the return of George Severance, Jr. from military service. He was at last safe at home with his family, including his wife of two years — and I think in those two years they'd spent more time apart than together.


Sources:
♦ "Goldman's Store Building Being Enlarged." Hobart Gazette 1 Aug. 1919.
♦ "Hobart's First Soldier Returns." Hobart Gazette 1 Aug. 1919.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 10 July 1919; 17 July 1919.
♦ Untitled social column. Hobart News 19 July 1917.

Twenty-One Years for James and Effie

On the evening of July 14, 1919, James and Effie Chester were surprised in the Water Street home by family and friends come to help them celebrate their 21st wedding anniversary. They had been married that very day in 1898, when James was about 23 years old and Effie Spencer about 27.

I've never seen a picture of James, but his 1918 draft card describes him as "Bald headed." As for Effie, I know almost nothing about her. Again, on the draft card, James gives her name as "Mrs. May Chester," and I do find a May Spencer in the 1880 census, living in Hobart, her age matching Effie's, and her birth state, as well as her father's and mother's, matching those she gave to the 1920 census-taker. So perhaps that's her, but I can't say for certain.

The reports don't say exactly who attended the anniversary party, but James' sister Luella Olson was in town from Fort Wayne, along with her husband Charles and daughter Flossie, staying with sister Carrie Raschka; no doubt the Olsons as well as the Raschkas were among the guests. Someone came in from East Gary — probably brother John Chester and his wife, Emma; and there were guests from Ainsworth as well, so likely the families of Charles Chester and Lovisa Chester Nelson were represented.

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Another ad from our old friends, Lee & Rhodes, on the front page of the Hobart Gazette of July 18, 1919.


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Sources:
♦ 1880 Census.
♦ 1900 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Given Pleasant Surprise." Hobart Gazette 18 July 1919.
♦ Indiana Marriage Collection.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 17 July 1919.
♦ WWI Draft Cards.

At Melins' (Unidentified Glass-Plate Image)

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Images courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

The notes on the envelope: "No. 70/Name: At Melins."

"Melins" may be the Andrew and Emma Melin family. The 1910 Census shows them living on Cleveland Avenue (or maybe Michigan, it's not perfectly clear). The 1900 Census shows them in Hobart, but the enumerator did not make note of the streets. Both were Swedish immigrants and by 1910 had three sons.

I believe the man in the chair is Andrew Melin, because of this photo at the Hobart Historical Society museum:



I think the lady in the polka-dot blouse (in the glass-plate image) is Tekla Anderson. The other two I can't identify.

We've seen these four people together before. (And would you believe I'm only just now noticing that there really are only four people in that earlier picture? The photographer did some double-exposure trick to get Mr. Cigar in there twice, which may account for the superimposed landscape.) And since they are all wearing the same clothes in both photos, both were probably taken the same day.

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[Update — 5/4/2012]

From CK Melin, this information about the glass-plate image:

Andrew Melin is seated at right. The young man standing on the left is William Olson, a "nephew" of either Andrew or Emma Melin. Also, see William Olson again in the family group photo of "the Melin family" that you have; standing at right.

In my Melin genealogy research, I can't make the family connection making him a nephew of Andrew. William Olson, in the Federal Census pages, is a Tinner which I suppose means he's in the plumbing & pipe fitting trade; but I'm not sure. Maybe a Tinner makes sinks and buckets. William Olson DID marry, so perhaps the lovely young lady is his wife. William died pretty young; I think of TB or perhaps asbestosis from all those pipes.

Now I see the resemblance between William Olson in the family portrait, and the umbrella-holding fellow in the glass-plate image. Sometimes I have to have things pointed out to me. (I don't know what a Tinner does, either.)

Don't Fence Me In (Unidentified Glass-Plate Image)

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Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

Unidentified friends or relatives, gathered under a shade tree on a summer's day. The focal point of their pose is that little book held by the women at center.

What's interesting is the transparent image haloed around her head. It may be the actual background of this scene; if you look at the far right, amidst all the overexposed glare you can make out the lines of a plank fence, which seems to continue in the superimposed image. A fence, then a road beyond it, and over the shoulder of the man standing at left, a utility pole with at least four crossbars.

But how did it all get superimposed like that? — just a double exposure? Maybe the camera's being in the shade caused the intense glare of the sun beyond to interact with the camera's curved lens somehow, to pick up and transpose part of the background. I don't know.

The center lady's miniature hat is quite unusual. It may be a joke.

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[Update — 5/4/2012]

Thanks to CK Melin, we have IDs on two of these people: Andrew Melin is seated at left, and standing in back (on both sides, since — as I eventually figured out — this is a double exposure) William Olson.

Also, by now I've seen Tekla Anderson enough that I believe I recognize her in this image, seated at right.

Another Daughter for Carrie and William

Eight months after marrying off her eldest daughter, Carrie Raschka gave birth to another daughter, Wilma. She was about 40 years old. Carrie, I mean. Wilma was a good deal younger.

In August, Carrie's sister Luella Olson came up from Fort Wayne to see her newest niece. Lesta Raschka had spent most of the time since August 1916 living with Aunt Ella in Fort Wayne, still undergoing chiropractic treatment.

The Raschkas now had five children, all daughters. They had lost a little girl named Bessie Luella about a month after her birth in 1902. She is buried in Hobart Cemetery at quite a distance from her parents' graves.


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Sources:
♦ "Births." Hobart Gazette 20 July 1917.
♦ "General News Items." Hobart Gazette 11 Apr. 1902.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 30 Aug. 1917.
♦ "Personal and Local Mention." Hobart News 4 Jan. 1917; 1 Mar. 1917.
♦ Untitled social column. Hobart News 17 May 1917; 19 July 1917.

Lesta and Chiropractic

Late in the summer of 1916, William and Carrie Raschka sent their 18-year-old daughter, Lesta, for chiropractic treatment at Fort Wayne, Indiana. While there, no doubt she stayed at the home of her uncle and aunt, Charles and Ella Olson.

I don't know what medical problem they were hoping to correct. It may have been the lingering effect of an illness in the summer of 1912, which the Hobart News could only describe as "a sort of paralysis, causing one side of her body to be dumb and motionless." The News did not follow up that report with any news of her recovery, nor have there been any reports of her suffering any other illness or injury.

Chiropractic was then about 20 years old, having begun in Davenport, Iowa, in 1895.

As September drew toward its close, Lesta was still in Fort Wayne. Her treatment was going well, at least according to her chiropractor, who had "much hope for her complete recovery."


Sources:
♦ "A Sad Case." Hobart News 11 July 1912.
♦ "Personal and Local Mention." Hobart News 21 Sept. 1916.

Thy Will Be Undone

I said earlier that I had no evidence that Henry Chester was ever unkind to any of his own children. Well, now I do: he cut his eldest daughter, Mary Marchant, out of his will entirely.

As we know, Mary had died before her father, but she left at least one son, William Harvey Marchant. William thought the will unfair, so in November 1913 he filed suit in the Lake County superior court to contest it, seeking one-tenth of Henry Chester's estate — a good sum, since the estate totaled about $100,000 in real and personal property (and that's in 1913 dollars). According to the Hobart News, another plaintiff party to the suit was Martin Stroman, the son of Mrs. Etta Wood, who was the daughter of Henry Chester. This is the first I've heard of Henry's having a daughter named Etta, and I can find no mention of her in the census, Henry's biographical profile or any of the newspapers I've read thus far.

The News stated that Henry had made the will early in 1910. As we know, at that time he was already in failing health. William's suit alleged that the will was invalid because Henry had been "of unsound mind, and because the instrument was unduly executed and was procured by undue influence."

The suit was dismissed by the Lake County superior court on the grounds that the county circuit court (which had probated the will) had exclusive jurisdiction. William appealed that decision all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court, which in 1915 decided against him.

I don't know whether William ever got anything. On December 26, 1913, the Gazette announced: "The Henry Chester heirs on Wednesday satisfactorily closed the settlement of their remaining real estate interests and each received his and her respective share." That William was still appealing in 1915 suggests that the other heirs did not choose to allow him any part of the estate.

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Since Henry Chester's death, Chester news has been dominated by Jerome's antics. Let's look at what was going on among the more respectable Chesters.

In March 1911, the widowed Lovisa Nelson, who had been living in Chicago, rented a farm north of Ainsworth from her brother, Charles Chester. She moved her children there and operated the farm on shares. A couple years later, she bought out Charles' interest in the stock and equipment, thereafter operating the farm for herself and paying cash rent.

In the autumn of 1911, James Chester gave up farming. He rented out his farm, which sat along the county line north of Deep River; he sold off his livestock, wagons and farming equipment (along with 965 shocks of corn), and moved with his wife, Effie, to Water Street in Hobart. To the 1920 census taker, he would describe himself as a buyer and seller of stock (livestock, probably).

In May 1913, Charles and James bought out all the real estate holdings of their stepbrother John, consisting of 89 acres "east of the old homestead" as well as an interest in the original estate. I am not sure how John occupied himself after that. He apparently ran a feed mill at Ainsworth for a while, but Earl Blachly took over that in December. John also seems to have continued doing some farm work — in October he managed to get himself run over by a hay press, fortunately escaping without serious injury. ("John must have fallen asleep," joked the News. I have yet to account for the physical injuries described on John's World War I draft card.). John and Emma suffered a tragedy in September 1913 with the loss of their infant son, Otto.

Charles and Constance Chester continued farming. I get the impression that they were comfortable financially, and they seem to have recovered enough from the loss of their little daughter and infant son to be able to enjoy life. In August 1913 they set out in company with Sam Faulkner and his wife, Dr. Clara Faulkner, Mary Kipp and Bessie Banks on an extended auto tour to the east coast, Charles driving a Winton Six. Over three weeks they traveled to Niagara Falls, New York and other cities, and returned through the mountains of Pennsylvania — "a delightful trip."

Luella and Charles Olson remained in Fort Wayne, occasionally visiting back and forth with their Lake County relatives. Carrie and William Raschka were still pillars of the Ainsworth community.

And as for Mary E. Baird Chester, by November 1912 she had remarried. Her new husband was John A. McDaniel (or McDaniels; it appears both ways), and he is a mystery to me. I've not been able to find any record of the date or location of their marriage. Nor have I been able to find out where John came from or how they might have met.

Immediately after their marriage, they lived together in the old Chester house east of Ainsworth. In November 1913 they announced a public sale to be held there, at which they would sell "25 head of milch cows, a Holstein bull, 20 head of hogs, 10 head of work horses, 2,000 bushels of corn, about a hundred tons of baled hay, straw and fodder, farming tools and implements of every kind and nature, harnesses, gasoline engine, chickens and household and kitchen furniture." That sounded as if they intended to quit farming and move — and indeed, by August 1914 they were living on Devonshire Street in Hobart in a "large and commodious home."


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Devonshire Street, from an undated postcard, but probably roughly the same era as the McDaniels' move. Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

Such was the description used by the Gazette in reporting on a lavish wedding hosted in the McDaniels' home in August 1914. The bride was a Chicago relative of Mary's, the groom an assistant manager in the Chicago office of the Heinz Pickle Co. The Rev. W.A. Howard of the Congregational Church officiated.

Miss Tillie Kucaba, chief operator at the telephone exchange, appeared at the piano and during her skillful execution of Mendelssohn's march the wedding party … proceeded to the large bay window of the front room, the contracting couple standing beneath a [huge] bell covered on top with lilies of the valley and beneath with carnations and red roses. … The bride was handsomely gowned in white crepe de chine with [tulle] veil and carried a shower [bouquet] of white roses and lilies of the valley. … After the hearty congratulations by the guests, the wedding party autoed to the Naumann studio where several sittings were made. … A sumptuous wedding dinner served in courses was greatly enjoyed …. The evening was passed in social enjoyments and singing and later by dancing. The hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. McDaniel seemed unbounded and they proved charming entertainers throughout. The festivities continued late into the night and most of the out of town guests remained over Sunday.

It sounds splendid (although perhaps we should bear in mind that among the guests as A.J. Smith, the Gazette's editor). It also sounds to me quite a contrast to the seemingly harried life Mary had been leading over the last few years — what with her husband's increasing irritability, her sons' misbehavior, and the daily pressures of managing a large farm household that included numerous hired workers, not to mention that deluge of bereavement during the spring of 1910. When I said, back in May, that Mary would find consolation in a second marriage, I was speaking conventionally, but perhaps it was truer than I suspected.



Sources:
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Additional Local News." Hobart Gazette 28 Mar. 1913; 9 May 1913; 26 Sept. 1913.
♦ "Big Wedding Celebration." Hobart Gazette 7 Aug. 1914.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 3 Mar. 1911; 8 Mar. 1912; 26 Dec. 1913.
♦ "Marchant et al. v. Olson et al." The Northeastern Reporter, Volume 110. St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1916.
♦ "Notice." Hobart Gazette 26 Dec. 1913.
♦ "Personal and Local Mention." Hobart News 14 Nov. 1912; 21 Aug. 1913; 9 Oct. 1913.
♦ "Public Sale." Hobart Gazette 27 Oct. 1911; 14 Nov. 1913.
♦ "Return From New York." Hobart Gazette 19 Sept. 1913.
♦ "The Henry Chester Estate Is In Court Once More." Hobart News 6 Nov. 1913.