Showing posts with label Peterson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peterson. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

An Encore for Pastor Moberg

Remember our "mighty hunter before the Lord," Pastor Theodore Moberg?[1] CK Melin has found an article that summarizes his life and career up to 1955:

2023-12-20. The Rambler, Texas Wesleyan College, 4 Oct. 1955, p. 1
2023-12-20. The Rambler, Texas Wesleyan College, 4 Oct. 1955, p. 2
(Click on images to enlarge)
The Rambler (Texas Wesleyan College, Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 28, No. 4, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 4, 1955 (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth336975/), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu


♦    ♦    ♦

Theodore's first wife, Julia, had been born in Hobart in February 1890 to Swedish immigrants Andrew and Christine Peterson (1910 Census). She married Theodore in Lake County in June 1909 (Indiana Marriage Collection). The 1910 Census shows the young couple living in New York. In 1920 they were in Illinois, and by 1930 in Minnesota. Sometime during that decade they moved to Texas.

When Julia died in Texas in 1937, her body was brought back to her hometown for a funeral at the Swedish Methodist Church.[2] She was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery.

_______________
[1] He also appears in the two choir photos. (One of these days when I get some time I am going to have to fix a lot of small preview images in my blogs.)
[2] "Hobart," The Hammond Times, 14 Dec. 1937.

Thursday, October 7, 2021

Tressy's Secret

Theresia Chester
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.


When a stranger named Mandy Haggerty contacted me out of the blue to tell me that her grandfather was Theresia Chester's illegitimate child, I was astonished. Tressy? Who would ever have thought…?

But the birth certificate is easy enough to find, if only I had known to go look for it. I wonder that I did not stumble across it before in all these years of research.

2021-10-07. George Peterson Jr. Birth Certificate 1918-05-14
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from Ancestry.com.


The father, George Peterson, was born December 24, 1888, somewhere in Wisconsin (sources vary). His parents, Danish immigrants, were farmers (1900 Census, and I am relying on Mandy's research for his background, since a guy with a name like George Peterson — well, you have to have a special interest in him to do the work of separating him from all the other George Petersons). At about 20 years of age George married for the first time and had a child; the 1910 Census shows him living in Chicago with his in-laws. I do not know what became of that marriage. George somehow found his way down to Ross Township. When the Great War broke out and he had to complete his draft card on June 5, 1917, he described himself as single (WWI Draft Cards). He was working as a hired hand on the farm of Nicholas Fleck, Jr.

Living in Ross Township, he not surprisingly came to know Tressy Chester. She was about ten years his junior.

What is surprising about this episode is that throughout the late autumn of 1917, and the winter and spring of 1918, none of the local papers mentioned a word about Charles Chester's taking any legal action against his daughter's seducer — or even illegal action, as might be the first impulse of the hot-headed Charles.

To his credit, Charles apparently did not do anything against his pregnant daughter, either. It was probably under his roof, on May 14, 1918, that George Jr. was born. As noted on the birth certificate, George Sr. was then residing back in his home state, Wisconsin.

We have no way of knowing how Tressy felt about giving her child up for adoption. The fact that birth certificate recorded a name rather than just "baby boy" would suggest emotional attachment — but I ought not to subject Tressy to my amateur psychologizing.

At that time and place, of course, her keeping the child as a single mother would have come at a very heavy social cost. As to letting her parents raise the child as their own — as the Ols family had done with little Lela — well, Charles and Constance were both about 46 years old at that time; I suppose they could have brazened it out if they'd really wanted to. But that didn't happen.

The child having been adopted out, Tressy's life resumed all appearance of normality. As we know, in September 1919 she married Robert Shaw. The ceremony took place in Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. The bride wore white crepe de chine and was attended by her sister, Jennie.[1]

Our knowing what we know now makes it all the more poignant that the first child of that marriage, a little boy names James, died shortly after birth (Cook County, Illinois, Deaths Index). Robert and Tressy went on to have two more sons whom they raised to adulthood.

I wonder if Robert knew about Tressy's first child?

The Chesters kept quiet about it all even within the family, it seems. In contrast to the Ols descendants, to whom the story of Jennie and Lela was just a part of family history, none of the Chester descendants I'm in touch with knew anything about Tressy's secret. The story was equally unknown among the descendants of Tressy's baby. Mandy Haggerty needed an Ancestry.com DNA test, with its suggestions of possible relatives, as well as the help of a "search angel," to figure out that the grandfather she knew as Donald Robert Haggerty had come into the world as George Peterson, Jr.

I will talk about him and his adopted family in a future post.

_______________
[1] "Hobart," The Times (Hammond, Ind.), 5 Sept. 1919.

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Ainsworth School-Year Souvenir, 1897-98 (Part 1)

Here is the first page of another recent acquisition.

2020-08-05. Ainsworth school souvenir 1897-98 a
(Click on image to enlarge)

This program must date back to the era when the old Ainsworth school had only one room — otherwise, there would have been more than one teacher.

The teacher, Mabel Peterson, was the daughter of William and Cassie (Booth) Smith (and niece of Cyrus Smith). She had been born in 1872. In 1896 she married Frank Peterson (Indiana Marriage Collection), but in 1897-98 they had no children yet (1910 Census). I believe they were living somewhere near the Ainsworth schoolhouse: according to the 1908 Plat Map, they hadn't yet bought the farm in southern Ross Township; and the 1900 Census shows them farming rented land near her father and Uncle Cyrus — possibly her father's farm on 73rd Street (where Exceptional Equestrians Unlimited is now). From there, it was a walk of perhaps 2,000 feet up (present-day) Greene Street and Ainsworth Road to the schoolhouse.

Dr. Homer L. Iddings, Ross Township trustee, was a practicing physician in Merrillville, and himself a former schoolteacher, according to a 1904 biographical sketch.

Francis "Frank" Ebenezer Cooper, the Lake County superintendent of schools, was likewise a former schoolteacher (1880 Census), and a resident of Crown Point, where he is buried.


Next, we'll get to the pupils.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Sweethearts Wrecked

The country roads in Winfield Township were dark and icy on the evening of January 13, 1923, when a car full of young people bound for Ainsworth skidded and overturned. Among its occupants were Lynn Peterson and Grace Nelson.

2017-5-9. Accident on icy road
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart News 18 Jan. 1923.


Grace's brother, Wayne, must have been driving his own car (or a borrowed one) if he could take the young ladies home.


And in Hobart, that forward-thinking entrepreneur (and former Ainsworthite), George Sauter, was looking to put the ice-man out of a job.

Monday, January 2, 2017

There Goes Charles Peterson

Here and there in my notes there will be a name that I've come across in my reading in connection with the Ainsworth area, and without understanding who that person was, I just catalog the reference and leave it up to chance that I will eventually come across something to enlighten me. In this case it was the announcement that Charles Peterson was leaving Ainsworth forever that enlightened me.

2017-1-2. Chas. Peterson public sale
Hobart Gazette 17 Nov. 1922.

In this item we learn that he lived on the Halsted farm south of Ainsworth:

2017-1-2. Peterson - Halsted farm
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart Gazette 17 Nov. 1922.


And where might that be? This image from the 1926 Plat Book shows a farm south of Ainsworth owned by Barbara Halsted:*

2017-1-2. Halsted 1926
(Click on image to enlarge)

The 1908 Plat Map shows that land owned by Barbara's husband, W.O. Halsted.

As you can see, the Halsted farm is conveniently near the farm of Frank Peterson. A brief item in a later Gazette[1] tell us that Frank was Charles' brother. So was John Peterson of Hobart. Charles had come into the area in 1885 with his parents and resided locally ever since. But now he was leaving Indiana for Illinois, and farming for carpentry — a transition that stuck, apparently, as I can find him carpentering in Rockford, Illinois, through the 1940 Census.

You will notice I have highlighted the name Bragington, east of the Halsted and Peterson farms. I did that because the earliest mention of Charles in my notes has him repairing buildings on the "old Bragington farm" in 1910.[2] In January 1911, we come upon this:
Antone Peterson who has lived upon and operates the Bragington farm south of Ainsworth for the past eight years has decided to move back to Chicago next spring. He will dispose of his personal property at public sale. His brother Chas. the carpenter who lives upon the same farm contemplates moving to Hobart to reside.[3]
So there was another Peterson brother.

It seems Charles did indeed leave the Bragington farm, as he rented the "H. Scholler cottage on East street" in Hobart.[4]. The next time Charles and family show up in my notes is in February 1918, when they are again living "south of Ainsworth,"[5] which may have referred to the Halsted farm.

And now Charles and family are leaving, and the Halsted farm is being rented by S.E. Bowman. Who S.E. Bowman is, I don't know, but I hope eventually to come across something that will enlighten me.

♦    ♦    ♦

Let's look at the Gazette page from November 1922 that contained Charles Peterson's public sale notice — it includes a couple of other interesting (to me) things …

2017-1-2. Sale page
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart Gazette 17 Nov. 1922.


… regular Wednesday night dances at Deepriver Hall (which may have been the former schoolhouse), evidently well enough attended that it was worth Clarence Howell's (who??) time to operate bus service between Hobart and the hall.

(And below the dance item, another mention of the old Lutz house's new life.)

________________

[1] "Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette 1 Dec. 1922.
[2] "Ainsworth Pick-Ups," Hobart Gazette 24 June 1910.
[3] "Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette 20 Jan. 1911. The third brother's name also shows up spelled "Anthon" (e.g., "PublicSale," Hobart Gazette 3 Feb. 1911).
[4] "Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette 17 Feb. 1911.
[5] "Births," Hobart News 21 Feb. 1918.


Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Blessed Are the Cheesemakers

The news that Ernest Walters (or Walter) was re-elected yet again in November 1922 as Ross Township assessor leads me to pay a little more attention to him. Thus far I've mentioned him only as the father of the garage partners. As the article explains, however, he had long been Merrillville's cheesemaker.

2016-12-20. Walters
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart Gazette 11 Nov. 1922.


He had been born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1853.[1] Having arrived in this area after 1880, he missed that census. In Lake County in 1888, he married Louisa Niksch.[2] The 1900 Census shows the two of them with their cheese factory and their three sons in Merrillville.

A Pictorial History of Merrillville has this to say about Ernest and his cheese:
Initially Ernest had a factory on Walter's Avenue but later relocated to the southwest side of the C. & O. Railroad on Madison Street in closer proximity to the Township's busy square. … Ernest traveled as far as Hammond, Indiana, in his horse and buggy to peddle his hefty rolls of cheese for $3.00 apiece.

Known far and wide by his nickname, "Cheese Henry," Ernest was much appreciated by the local farmers as they found in his business as market for their slightly sourced milk that was not suitable for shipping to Chicago on the "dummy" train.
If "later relocated" means about 1900, then the second cheese factory (south of the former C&O tracks) may still be standing.

♦    ♦    ♦

In the left-hand column of the page above, we find that Roy Hack, fresh off his victory over the paving company, has won the election for Ross Township trustee. He would succeed Alex Boyd, who after eight years had evidently had enough of trusteeship, as he did not seek re-election.

In the middle column, we find our friend Annie Peterson selling off household goods — preparing to downsize her living quarters, perhaps?

Below that, with respect to the fire starting from the Charles Lee property, if "Nagel subdivision" in the news item = "Nagle's Addition" on the map, then the corner of Cleveland and Ohio was a good distance for a fire to travel, or an odd stopping place for the fire department — I'm not sure which from the wording. Perhaps someone flagged them down there and told them all the excitement was over, but you'd think they would go check it out for themselves.


_______________________
[1] Indiana Death Certificates.
[2] Indiana Marriage Collection; Indiana Death Certificates. Louisa may have been from the Merrillville Niksch family which, as far as I know, was not related to the Hobart/Ainsworth Niksch family.

Friday, June 17, 2016

Order in the Court!

I wish these "Local Court Notes" gave more of the juicy details.

We know all the people in the first case. The last I heard, Nathan Bosen was renting Elmer Arment's new house on S.R. 51.

2016-6-17. Court cases
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart News 24 Aug. 1922.


In the swearing case, I guess the point of where he lived was that the swearing wasn't done within Hobart city limits.

And of course we know Harry Cole, alias Harry Breyfogle. But I'm not sure which of the local John Petersons was suing him.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

South of Deepriver

Random bits from the countryside south of Deepriver, late July-early August 1922.

2016-4-20. South of Deep River
(Click on images to enlarge)
Hobart News 3 Aug. 1922


I don't know exactly what a separator canvas is, but the wording of that item suggests that the farmers of southeastern Ross Township had chipped in to buy themselves a communal farm machine — a sensible thing to do — and it was getting a workout in that summer's wheat threshing.

… Here's a little article about a threshing machine that has a separator and a canvas, somehow or another.

2016-4-20. Separator
(Click on image to enlarge)
From the Chilton Tractor Journal, Vol VIII, No. 4 (April 1, 1922). Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=xsZMAQAAMAAJ&lpg=RA3-PA14&ots=pSADxxAJwL&pg=RA3-PA14&ci=80%2C816%2C899%2C500&source=bookclip#v=onepage&q&f=false.


♦    ♦    ♦

Elsewhere in the August 3, 1922 issue of the News, we find out that the strikebreaker has still not recovered …

2016-4-20. Ida Heck Carlson et al.

… and among the familiar names in the second column, we also find Miss Jeanette Peterson, daughter of Lena and George. The Hugo Zobjeck at Camp Knox in Kentucky was Hugo Jr., now about 17 years old.

In the third column are a couple of obituaries. The first concerns the untimely death of Ida (Heck) Carlson, who probably grew up on the old Heck place. The second brings me to consider the Wilson family of Union Township, Porter County, whom I have considered very little up to now. Mrs. Jane Harwood would have been Aunt Jane to "Miss Leola Wilson of Blachly's corners," and also, I believe, to Ralph Wilson, who in his youth took music lessons from Ainsworth's own Hugh Dotzer ("Ainsworth Pick-Ups," Hobart Gazette 6 Jan. 1905). In my notes and in the blog, I find several references to Wilsons, and some day when I retire and have time on my hands, perhaps I shall investigate which of them belonged to the Wilson family of Union Township.

Here is the farm of Jane's parents, Amos and Hannah Wilson, as it appeared on the 1876 plat map:

2016-4-20. Wilson 1876
From http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/1876Plats/Union-1876.jpg, courtesy of Steven R. Shook.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

"We Have Come to Stay"

Two smiling young women, a bicycle, and a snowy landscape.

2016-4-14. hazel001_a
(Click on images to enlarge)

Handwritten notes on the back identify them:

2016-4-14. hazel001 b

The photo has no date, but based on their leg-of-mutton sleeves and apparent ages (Clara was born circa 1877, Lena circa 1879), I would put it close to the turn of the 20th century.

I'm not sure which is Lena and which is Clara. Comparing them both to the person identified as Lena Triebess in the Old Maids' Basketball Team, I think Lena is on the left. Also, here's a photo of Lena in 1916:

2016-4-14. Lena Triebess Peterson, 1916
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.


Lena and Clara worked together as schoolteachers at the Miller school during the school year beginning September 3, 1900. Lena continued teaching there for at least two more school years; Clara did not. The school's principal was a G.F. Peterson — this may have been the George F. Peterson who in June 1907 became Lena's husband.

Their marriage is the first time I can find either Lena or George in the official records. I naturally wondered whether Lena was related to Ainsworth's own Julius Triebess. In January 1900, "Julius and Tillie Triebess made a short visit with their sister Lena" in Miller — I just haven't been able to find anything to show me if that was our Julius. (In 1910, we find a 29-year-old Tillie Triebess living in Miller, teaching school, but that doesn't prove anything. There was also a Triebess family in Hobart — one of whom married Fred Thompson — but based on the matriarch's obituary, I don't think she could have had any closer relation than aunt to Lena or Julius, if related at all.)

Here's the Gazette's story of Lena and George's wedding:
One of the prettiest weddings occurring in Hobart took place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. W.B. Owen last Monday evening, June 24, 1907, when Miss Lena A. Triebess of this place and George F. Peterson, of Miller, were united in marriage. The ceremony was performed at 8:30 o'clock in the presence of about forty relatives and friends by the Rev. Bruce Brown, Ph.D., pastor of the Christian church at Valparaiso. The Methodist Episcopal service was used.

The bridge was attired in white and presented a most handsome appearance. She carried a shower bouquet of pink sweet peas. Mr. and Mrs. Owen's little daughter Jessie was flower girl and gracefully performed her part. The Owen home was extensively decorated, suitable for the occasion.

After congratulations, a fine wedding dinner was served, following which the bride and groom departed to their new home, which, for the present, will be a cottage on the beach at Lake Michigan north of Miller. Their future residence will be either at Miller or at Gary, where at present the groom is engaged in his chosen profession, that of electrical engineer.

The groom was raised at Miller, educated at our public schools and two years ago he graduated from the department of electrical engineering at the Purdue University. The past year and a half he was engaged in teaching manual training in the public schools at St. Paul, Minn., while the bride has claimed Hobart as her home, having lived for a number of years at the Owen residence. After attending our public schools, she began teaching eight years ago, having taught five years in Miller and the past three years in the Hobart schools, having been very successful in her school work. Both young people are very popular among their friends and acquaintances and are highly respected in our community. We join their numerous friends in extending well-wishes and happiness.

Those present from out of town were: From Miller — Mrs. Hannah Peterson, the groom's mother, and his sister Clara, Mrs. Aug. Olson and two daughters and Prof. Frank Fitzpatrick; from Lake [Station] — Mrs. V.P. Babcock [née Esther Hazelgreen] and Misses Clara and Eleanor Hazelgreen; from Chicago — the bride's brother Julius and family and sisters Amanda and Annie; from Valpo — the bride's sister Tillie, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Kitchen, Mr. and Mrs. Rodney Kitchen and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Foster; from Cincinnati — Chas. Langeman, a classmate of the groom while in colleage, and from Kentucky, Dr. and Mrs. J.C. Boone.
That still doesn't tell us if this Julius Triebess was the Ainsworth Julius.

♦    ♦    ♦

As for Clara Hazelgreen, by 1910 she had left northwest Indiana and, along with several of her siblings, was living in Seattle, Washington, describing herself as a missionary teacher. It appears she lived out her life in Seattle, and now rests there. (Her findagrave.com entry includes photo of three people identified as Lena, George, and Clara.)

This undated portrait of Clara Hazelgreen was taken in Seattle:

2016-4-14. hazel004



Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ 1930 Census.
♦ 1940 Census.
♦ Indiana Marriage Collection.
♦ "A Pleasant June Wedding." Hobart Gazette 28 June 1907.
♦ "Deaths." "Mrs. Minnie Triebess." Hobart Gazette 14 Feb. 1935.
♦ "Miller Murmurings." Hobart Gazette 12 Jan. 1900.
♦ "School Begins Sept. 3rd." Hobart Gazette 24 Aug. 1900.
♦ "School Teachers For Next Year." Hobart Gazette 26 July 1901.

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Timothy McAuliffe, Jr., Gets a Divorce

The Hobart Gazette of October 11, 1901, quietly noted that on "Oct. 7th, Timothy McAuliff[e], Jr., was granted a divorce from his wife, Esther McAuliff[e]."

I knew Timothy Jr. had been married, but it didn't occur to me to wonder what happened to his wife that he would end his days living as a single man with his brother and sister on the old family farm.

He had married Esther Peterson in Porter County on December 13, 1897, according to the Indiana Marriage Collection. The 1900 Census does record him as married for two years, but his wife was not listed in the same household with him.

So far as I can tell, there were no children from the marriage. None are mentioned in his (very brief) death notice ("Hold Rites for Porter Farmer," Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso, Ind.) 25 Feb. 1938).

Monday, February 8, 2016

A Dance and a Daughter

The Niksches were planning yet another dance for July 12, 1922, in the old Deep River schoolhouse; and the day after Independence Day, Mayme Harney gave birth to a baby daughter … unnamed at the time, apparently, but she would soon be Gladys.

2016-2-8. Dance and daughter
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart Gazette 7 July 1922.


♦    ♦    ♦

From the same issue of the Gazette, some random news — Calvin and Howard Shearer had a contract for sewer work; Old Settlers Cemetery on S.R. 51 was in sorry shape; someone had run a car down the "steep embankment" near the George Lutz farm (which steep embankment you can still run a car down, if you are so inclined); and on the Peterson farm, a big family reunion … but no list of surnames that might help a genealogist.

2016-2-8. Sewer, etc.
(Click on image to enlarge)

Friday, October 30, 2015

Hobart Class of 1922: Lynn Peterson

2015-10-30. Peterson, Lynn 1922
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.


After the death of his brother, Herbert, in 1916, Lynn was the eldest of Frank and Mabel Peterson's surviving children.

The Peterson farm lay on the west side of Grand Blvd. at its intersection with E. 93rd Ave. — here is how the 1926 Plat Book showed it (taken from an earlier post):

Hurlburt-Peterson 1926
(Click on image to enlarge)

As we know, Lynn Peterson would marry Grace Nelson in 1929 — but its seems that his classmates had already noticed his liking for her.

2015-10-30. img874
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Ross Twp. Farmers' Institute

I gather that in January 1922 Mary Baird Chester McDaniel was still living on the Chester farm, or somewhere in Ross Township, with her granddaughters, since one of them — Helen, now about 13 or 14 years old — walked away with three first prizes at the Ross Township Farmers' Institute.

2015-4-6. Ross Twp. Farmers Institute meeting
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart News 2 Feb. 1922.


Glen Peterson didn't do so badly either. About 13 years old, he was the youngest son of Mabel Peterson, Secretary of the Institute and writer of this report.

Vernon and Emery Hurlburt were the only children of Jacob and Augusta, who farmed some 80 acres at the northeast corner of E. 73rd Ave. and Grand Blvd.

Irvin Wojahn was the oldest child of Louis and Lena (Fasel) Wojahn, who had supposedly retired from farming in 1917 — but I can't find them in the 1920 census to see what they were up to.

Dorothy Mankey was the only daughter of William and Lena (Springman) Mankey.


Additional Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Ross Twp. Farmers Hold Big Meeting." Hobart Gazette 3 Feb. 1922.

Monday, March 2, 2015

South of Deepriver

Random news from the countryside south of Deep River, and elsewhere.

2015-3-2. South of Deepriver
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart News 5 Jan. 1922.


Melvin and Verna Guernsey are moving back into my bailiwick, so maybe I will start paying attention to them again. But if they are moving to the Howard H. Smith farm, where is Howard H. Smith going?

Thursday, February 5, 2015

South of Deep River

The social news from the countryside as November 1921 came to an end:

2015-2-5. South of Deepriver
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart News 1 Dec. 1921.


♦    ♦    ♦

In unrelated news, the Roper Bros. in Hobart suggest you buy a one-ton truck chassis and build your own truck.

2015-2-5. Chassis ad
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hobart Gazette 2 Dec. 1921.


♦    ♦    ♦

Sarah Read's return to the Nolte farm in late October did not last long. She became ill again sometime in November, I gather, and had to go back to the home of her nephew, Benjamin Packham, in Hobart ("Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette 2 Dec. 1921). She spent most of December 1921 convalescing there, and not until after the New Year was she able to leave the house — only to go to downtown Hobart, though; not to the farm ("Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette 13 Jan. 1922).

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

South of Deepriver

Here's a South of Deepriver social column that might be mildly interesting if you're related to these people. Also, John Killigrew, moving up in politics, is attending the inauguration of Warren T. McCray; John's brother, William, seems to be doing well in his oil business with Lewis Barnes and Calvin Shearer.


South of Deepriver social column
(Click on image to enlarge)
From the Hobart News, 13 Jan. 1921.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Automobile Genealogy

After several moments of deep confusion, I have figured out that I was wrong, 'way back in October 2009, when I said that Jennie Hurlburt had become Mrs. Chas. Stevens. It was Jennie's younger sister, Ethel. (In fact I have no idea how I concluded that any Hurlburt daughter had married Mr. Stevens, since I can't pinpoint my 2009 source — but somehow I got it half-right.)

Part of the problem is that the Milan Hurlburt family is remarkably difficult to find in the census records. The first trace I find of Ethel is in the marriage records in February 1909, when, at the tender age of 16, she married the 23-year-old Charles Stevens, a track foreman for the Pennsy railroad. They lived in Hobart and had four children: Zorah, Charles, Milan and Robert.

Anyway, all this meditation upon the identity of Mrs. Charles Stevens came from two items in 1920's final issue of the Gazette (which I have to transcribe because the microfilm is almost illegible):
Jacob Hurlburt and family of Ainsworth, Chester and M. Hurlburt were entertained at a Christmas dinner at the home of the latter's daughter, Mrs. Chas. Stevens.

♦    ♦    ♦

Last Sunday, while Charles Stevens and family were returning from Mr. Hurlburt's with a party of friends, apparently with no reason whatever, while crossing the Deep River bridge near the Frank Peterson farm, the car became unmanageable and turned square across the road, just over the abutment, and the front wheels of the car were hanging over a 10-foot embankment. But for the help of a good set of brakes there would have been a serious accident, as the car, going down, would have turned turtle into the river. Frank Peterson was called and a party in a passing car gave their help and righted the machine. When examined, the radio rods were found to be bent, causing it to be unmanageable. It was driven home without any further serious accident.
So apparently they got back in the car that had just tried to kill them and drove home. And no, I have no idea what "radio rods" are.

Hurlburt-Peterson 1926
(Click on image to enlarge)
The location of the accident, as it appeared in the 1926 Plat Book.



Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ 1930 Census.
♦ 1940 Census.
♦ "Additional Local News." Hobart Gazette 31 Dec. 1920.
♦ "Auto Party Has Narrow Escape." Hobart Gazette 31 Dec. 1920.
♦ Indiana Marriage Collection.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

This Must Come and These Must Go

In October 1920, Albert Orcutt (who had an Ainsworth connection through his wife, née Etta Mander) had come to realize that his business building — this one, I suppose — must be renovated "sooner or later."

Also, the social activity of our friends South of Deepriver.

Orcutt and South of Deepriver
(Click on image to enlarge)
From the Hobart News of Oct. 7, 1920.


Meanwhile, Edward Rohwedder is getting rid of his excess inventory as he prepares to move to a smaller farm.

Rohwedder public sale
(Click on image to enlarge)
From the Hobart News of Oct. 7, 1920.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

A Threshing Party

…and a load of fertilizer, and a lot of minor socializing.

South of Deepriver column
(Click on image to enlarge)
From the Hobart News of Sept. 2, 1920.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Ross Township Graduates

There are several familiar names among the Ross Township graduates — and this was graduation from the eighth grade, not high school; none of these schools (save Merrillville, mentioned at the end of the article) had high-school classes, and a brief check on some of these children shows them in the age range of 12 to 14 years.

This article predicted that the new Ainsworth school would be ready for the next school year, which I suppose means the autumn of 1920.

Ross Township graduates
(Click on image to enlarge)

You will also notice Charles Goldman's ad, at right.

Here's another ad, in case you were wondering who the local sellers of United States Tires were:

U.S. Tires ad


Sources:
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ Advertisement. Hobart Gazette 21 May 1920.
♦ "Ross Township Schools." Hobart Gazette 21 May 1920.