Hobart Then and Now: Nickel Plate Garage/Town Hall

1923, and 2023[1]




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I don't know when the Nickel Plate Garage was built: I didn't note its construction during my microfilm reading and can't find that information in any online source. At present I can only guess that it must have been built after 1910, when it fails to appear in the Sanborn map, and before April of 1917, when I find my earliest note of its existence.[2]

Here is the garage as shown on the 1922 Sanborn map:


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In November 1917, Frank Beltzhoover (by then the sole proprietor) sold the Nickel Plate Garage to William Boyd Owen,[3] a son of the W.B. Owen of brickyard fame. The younger William was born in 1881 or '82 and married Eva Kitchen in Chicago in 1901. In the 1910 Census, William Jr., a Hobart resident, gave his occupation as "Superintendent" of a "Fire Proofing" business — that would be the brickyard, I believe. In the 1920 Census, as might be expected, his occupation was "Auto Salesman."

In January 1920 Paul Wehner bought 50 percent ownership of the Nickel Plate Garage and became its supervisor.[4] Born in 1898, he was the son of Andrew and Anna (Gottlieb) Wehner of Calumet Township. (I would expect to find him in Hobart in the 1920 Census, but I can't find him there or anywhere else.) In 1926, he married Leona Traeger. Sadly, she died the following year from complications of pregnancy; the infant died as well. Paul never remarried. By 1930 he had moved to Michigan City, working as a foreman in an "auto shop," but he came back to Hobart before the decade was out and by 1937 was in some sort of business partnership with Thomas Crisman.[5] He died of pneumonia in January 1937.

W.B. Owen had died in 1928 in South Bend.

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I haven't been able to find out much about what's on the other side of the card.


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The addressee was Eva (Drake) Stevens (or Stephens), a lifelong resident of Michigan as far as I can determine. The sender, Edith S., might have been any of several Ediths in Hobart whose surname begins with S and who were old enough, per the 1920 Census, to be sending postcards. Or she might not have been a Hobart resident at all. With so little information, I can't form even one of my wacky theories about how the sender and receiver might be connected.

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[1] I know the Google street view is from 2022. The view hasn't changed in a year.
[2] "Frailey & Beltzhoover Sell 22 Cars Since January 1st," Hobart News, 5 Apr. 1917. The owners were Clarence Frailey and Frank (or maybe Calvin) Beltzhoover.
[3] "W.B. Owen Buys Nickel Plate Garage of Frank Beltzhoover," Hobart Gazette, 15 Nov. 1917.
[4] "Owen and Wehner New Owners Nickel Plate Garage," Hobart Gazette, 8 Jan. 1920.
[5] "Lake Co. Courts," Hammond Times, 4 Feb. 1937.

Warning Signs at the Death Crossing

After the recent fatal accident at the Lincoln Highway intersection south of Ainsworth, a private organization put up warning signs, and other steps were taken to improve visibility.


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Hobart Gazette, Aug. 31, 1923.

Two columns over, a couple other stories caught my eye.

I've mentioned Charles Boyd before but never took the time to figure out exactly where his farm was. Here is his land as it appeared in the 1926 Plat Book:


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I don't know exactly where the house and burning barn were.

Below that, we find H.W. Traeger — probably the same man who gave that awful Traeger crossing its name — warning people to stay off not only his land, but "the land known as the Garden City, controlled by" him. Does that mean the former site of the Garden City brickyard, on the east side of the intersection of County Line Road and S.R. 130? It seems likely, with that land being so close to H.W. Traeger's own land. I find it interesting that the Garden City name stuck, although the brickyard had stopped operating long ago.

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Here's the social news from south of Deep River for the last week of August 1923:


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Hobart News, Aug. 30, 1923.

That Awful Traeger Crossing

This isn't the first time I've heard about the Traeger crossing …


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Hobart News, July 12, 1923.

… but it's the first time I've taken the trouble to figure out exactly where it was. Turns out it's almost as bad now as it was in 1923:



It probably got its name from H.W. Traeger, who owned the parcel of land in Union Township, Porter County, where the Pennsy and Nickel Plate Railroads crossed what is now County Road 600 N (10th Street in Hobart), according to the 1921 Union Township plat map:


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Image from https://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/1921Plats/Union-1921.jpg.

He had bought that land sometime between 1895 and 1906, again per the plat maps.

I expect that in 1923, the Traeger crossing had no gates or signals. There was no State Road 130 for easy travel between Hobart and Wheeler or Valparaiso; dealing with that crossing was more of a necessity than it is now. And, of course, there were no interstates to get you from Custer, Michigan, to Lombard, Illinois, without having to drive on these country roads with their dangerous crossings.

But who (I ask myself) was this H.W. Traeger? The 1910 Census shows a Henry Traeger living in Union Township on the "North Township Line Road," which corresponds with 600 N. But then the account of this 1923 accident in the Hobart Gazette refers to the "William Traeger crossing."[1] Henry's middle name was William; perhaps he went by that — or perhaps the Gazette got it wrong. Henry also had a sibling named William Henry. Henry William and William Henry each married a woman named Anna.

Henry William and his Anna are buried in Hobart Cemetery.

All I know is, you have to be careful at the Traeger crossing.

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The little story in the lower left-hand corner tells of that dairy showplace, the the Gruel farm, becoming even more impressive with the addition of 20 Wisconsin Guernseys.

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[1] "One Killed, Three Hurt," Hobart Gazette, July 13, 1923.

Two Drunks and an Idiom

Following the close of the big liquor trial, we get a tidbit of information about the incident involving the Springman brothers — dating back, I suspect, to March 1921 — that somehow led to the parties involved getting mixed up with all those real wrongdoers in Gary.


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"Local and Personal," Hobart News, April 5, 1923.

I had never before heard the expression "to clean house" being used in this way, meaning … I'm not sure exactly what. To trash the place? To fight?


Elsewhere in the same column, some news of our acquaintances. James Chester went to a horse auction. Ezra Gilpin began standing watch at the Lake Street crossing of the EJ&E Railroad — we have already seen the pictures.

And Alfred Pierce found his final resting place in California.

Not Guilty

The big Prohibition trial in Indianapolis in the spring of 1923 ended well for the locals — mostly. Mike Drakulich had pled guilty to one charge and was found guilty on another, but all the other Hobart defendants were acquitted: Fred Rose (marshal), Laurence Traeger (night marshal), George Fleck and William Busse (soft drink proprietors). ("Jury Renders Verdict of Guilty for 55 Conspirators," Hobart News, April 5, 1923.)

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On a totally unrelated note, Charles Sapper appeared at a meeting of the Hobart City Council and "notified the city that the fence around the abandoned cemetery near his place was in bad condition. St[reet] Com[missioner] Tyler was instructed to repair same." ("City Council Proceedings," Hobart News, April 5, 1923.) The cemetery in question was Old Settlers Cemetery. So Charles is telling us that by 1923 it was "abandoned" and neglected. Scanning over the NWIGS listing from its book of Hobart Township cemeteries, I find the most recent date of death for someone in that cemetery to be 1933, but he's an outlier. All the other death dates are before 1871.

Drinking Age

In March 1923, we get some news out of Indianapolis about the big trial following the mass arrests of Prohibition violators. When we get to the Hobart testimony, what really strikes me is that Christ Springman (Jr.) testified that he had bought liquor at the Traeger saloon when he was 12 years old …


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Hobart Gazette, March 23, 1923.

… but that was circa 1911, before Prohibition, so it didn't count for purposes of the trial. Anyway, he may not have been buying the liquor for his own use. I've heard Prohibition-era stories from my mother's side of the family about youngsters being sent up the street to buy some homemade whiskey or beer for Papa.

Over in the right-hand column, we find Tony and Christ Springman returning home from their trip to Indianapolis.

Everybody Is Under Arrest

When federal marshals swooped down on Lake County Prohibition-flouters in January 1923, the News thoughtfully provided a separate listing of those Hobart residents caught up in the dragnet.


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Hobart News 25 Jan. 1923.

Apparently all the liquor violators in Ainsworth got away with it, this time.

I do not know exactly why "the Springman brothers were arrested by Marshal Rose at the Traeger place," but I wish I did. It sounds interesting. I wonder if it could be that incident back in March 1921?

Incidentally, I cannot find a William Bussey in Hobart, and I suspect this may be Adeline Busse's brother Bill.


Another story a couple weeks later explained that the conspiracy charge against the Hobart citizens had been dismissed, but the charges of violating the federal liquor law would proceed to trial (except in the case of Mike Drakovich, who had already pled guilty).

Cursing, and Other Unpleasantness

Some nice local news … a new silo on the Gruel farm, innocent social activities South of Deepriver, blah, blah, blah …


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Hobart News 5 Oct. 1922.

… but also some juicy stuff, like "Mr. Traeger" cussing out Dr. Friedrich, a city health officer.

I do not want to guess at the identity of Mr. Traeger, whose first name is not given; but the location, I suppose, was the building at 235 Main Street. In 1922 it was only a former "saloon," as we use the word, since liquor could not legally be sold there.

And in the next column, we have a report of a big Ku Klux Klan recruitment rally in Hammond which gives us a look at how the Klan presented itself at that time and place. The open avowal of white supremacism is jarring, but otherwise the speaker was saying things that you can still commonly hear in both public and private discussions, and his concern that "a foreigner can come in here with a bomb in his hand" could have been voiced five minutes ago.

Ninth and Lincoln, Fifth and Lake

The "Local Drifts" in the Hobart Gazette of April 7, 1922, reported on a child's birthday party in the Briney house, on the northwest corner of Ninth and Lincoln, which is for sale these days.


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Hobart Gazette 7 Apr. 1922

Earl Blachly, who recently sold his farm, is opening an auto repair shop at Fifth and Lake, which sounds like the old German Methodist Church building. The 1922 Sanborn map confirms that the building was being used then for auto repair.


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Image courtesy of the Sanborn Company and Indiana University.

According to Hobart's Historic Buildings by Elin Christianson, the building had ceased to be a church in 1914 and was bought first by the town of Hobart, and then (in 1916) by L.E. Barnes, who leased it out to a laundry business. "The old church was used for commercial purposes for many years" — now we know another of those purposes.

Also, over in the "All kinds of Wants" column, someone is selling Rhode Island Red eggs, and that someone has Lovisa Nelson's phone number.

Vernon Traeger

Yesterday we read of the death of Huldah Traeger, and while I don't have a picture of her, I do have one of her son, Vernon.


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Images above and immediately below courtesy of Eldon Harms.

The photo is undated. It is printed on an unused postcard bearing a stamp box that could date to anywhere between 1908 and 1924.



To me, Vernon looks like a teenager here — maybe 16 or 17. He was born March 5, 1898.

Looking at census and other information, we find him at 20 years of age working for the Hobart Ice Co.; a couple of years later, it appears he was running a soft-drink parlor.* In 1930, he was employed in an unnamed sheet-metal shop — where he probably gained experience helpful to running his own business, which he opened sometime before April 1940. If he ever married, I don't know about it. Here is his death notice from the Gary Post-Tribune, 15 Jan. 1972:



Vernon is buried in Hobart Cemetery.

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*If I've read the census report correctly, which is not an easy thing to do.


Additional Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ 1930 Census.
♦ 1940 Census.
♦ WWI Draft Cards.

"Death Enters Several Hobart Homes"

Death was busy for a few days in mid-October 1921, and among those it took were some of our acquaintances — B.W. Strattan (of the Strattan building), Edith MacPherson Scholler (who had been married less than a year), and Huldah Traeger (wife of Lawrence, who was a night marshal and later a saloonkeeper, and mother of Vernon).


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Hobart News 20 Oct. 1921.


Additional Sources:
♦ "B.W. Strattan Killed by Accident." Hobart Gazette 21 Oct. 1921.
♦ "Mrs. Lawrence Traeger Dies Suddenly." Hobart Gazette 21 Oct. 1921.
♦ "Obituary." Hobart Gazette 21 Oct. 1921.

Bad Times

From the heart-rending down to the merely annoying, bad news packed the front page of the Hobart Gazette of May 20, 1921.


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The Gazette overestimated George Neimeyer's age. The 1920 Census information and the dates on his grave marker indicate that he would have been 13 years old at the time of his death.

I think the "old Scot Burge farm" straddled present-day U.S. 30 on the west side of Colorado Street, as seen on the 1908 Plat Map (Mary Burge being Winfield Scott Burge's wife):



George Niemeyer's parents, Fred and Eda, also had three teen-aged daughters, and a five-year-old son.


The Ridge Road Gardens was a restaurant, and I have the impression that it was near the site of the Black Cat — i.e., on Ridge Road where I-65 now passes over it. "Proprietor" Oleska's first name was Mike, and his wife was Anna.

H.W. Paxton was, I believe, Harry Windle Paxton of Hobart, who worked as a coal and lumber salesman (WWI Draft Cards, 1930 Census).

Midnight Lunch for Car Thieves

If you were a visitor to Hobart in December 1920, even at midnight you could find someone to work on your car at the Roper garage while you strolled down Third Street for lunch at the Amazon restaurant.


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(Per the 1920 Census, "Night Marshal Traeger" was Lawrence Traeger, 47 years old.)

Embarrassment at the Bank

This ad appeared in Hobart High School's Aurora yearbook for 1919.
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

It was an ordinary business morning — Wednesday, January 25, 1920 — and in the Hobart Bank, cashier William Killigrew and assistant cashier Deering Melin were going about their ordinary business when an official from the state banking department walked in and told them to close their doors and suspend all business. The bank was under investigation.

The news came as a shock to the two men, as they had no reason to think anything was wrong. The state official explained that the Farmers' State Bank of Valparaiso had likewise just been closed, and there lay the problem: the two banks shared a principal owner, one William H. Gardner of Valparaiso — so it was a case of suspicion by association.

State officials' examination of the Valparaiso bank's books, begun earlier in the week, had turned up a shortfall of $200,000. Examiners believed that bank funds were being used in stock speculation. The Farmers' State Bank cashier, Henry Winneguth, openly confessed to the shortfall; as for President Gardner, he had nothing to say — he was nowhere to be found.

The news, and the shock, spread locally. William Killigrew published a notice in the News asking for Hobart Bank patrons' "patience and good will until matters [were] straightened out." The Gazette had this to say:

Wm. J. Killigrew, the cashier, has been connected with the Hobart bank for some ten years, and D.D. Melin, the assistant cashier, for the past eight years. They have always retained the confidence of the general public, and through this confidence the bank has grown nicely, much to the credit of these two young men and the town. The Hobart bank was established here as a private bank in 1884 by the present owner's father, and was counted as solid as any institution.

By Friday, Mr. Gardner had turned up and surrendered all his property — hundreds of shares of stock, including all his stock in the Hobart Bank, his "magnificent home and all its luxurious fixtures" and "half a dozen other pieces of property"; Cashier Winneguth had also surrendered his home and personal property. Between the value of those assets and "financial soundness of [the bank's] backers," by the end of the week the Farmers' State Bank failure was apparently headed for a happy ending.

Meanwhile, the Hobart Bank, with a shortage of $46,000, faced either a winding up of its affairs with a possible loss of 30 percent to depositors, or a reorganization that would allow it to continue business with no loss to depositors. On Sunday morning a number of depositors, determined to reorganize, gathered at the bank and worked out the details with the help of state banking examiners. Quickly ("in ten minutes," according to one report) depositors bought $50,000 worth of stock, more than making up the shortage. By Tuesday morning, the Hobart Bank was open for business again.

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Many of those involved in the reorganization are acquaintances of ours. The bank's new officers were William Stommel (president); John J. Wood (vice-president); William Killigrew (cashier); and Deering Melin (assistant cashier). Its directors were Calvin Shearer, Emil Scharbach, Sherman Henderson, John Stocker and John Hillman. All officers (except Deering Melin) and directors were shareholders; additional shareholders were Andrew Melin, Armin Mackeldey, Paul Emery, Fred Rose, Lawrence Traeger, Alex Boyd, John Killigrew, Philip Thompson, Harry Parker, Siegfried Baumer, Robert Scholler, and Simeon Bullock.


Sources:
♦ "Bank Shortage to Be Made Good by the Backers." Kokomo Daily Tribune 27 Feb. 1920. http://www.newspaperarchive.com (accessed 12/7/12).
♦ "Doors of Hobart Bank Closed Wednesday Morning." Hobart News 26 Feb. 1920.
♦ "Hobart Bank Closed Wednesday by State Officials." Hobart Gazette 27 Feb. 1920.
♦ "Hobart Bank Involved in Crash, Will Reopen." Elkhart Review 1 Mar. 1920. http://www.newspaperarchive.com (accessed 12/7/12).
♦ "Hobart Bank Opened Tuesday." Hobart Gazette 5 Mar. 1920.
♦ "Hobart Bank Opens Under Reorganization." Hobart News 4 Mar. 1920.
♦ "State Auditor Closes Up Two Indiana Banks." Kokomo Daily Tribune 26 Feb. 1920. http://www.newspaperarchive.com (accessed 12/7/12).
♦ "Two Indiana Banks Closed By Auditor Shortage $200,000." Logansport Daily Tribune 26 Feb. 1920. http://www.newspaperarchive.com (accessed 12/7/12).

Ainsworth School: Interior

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Images in this post courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

The caption says this is circa 1900.

What are those birds on the blackboard holding the "Roll of Honor" banner? — sandhill cranes?

"The Hunter and the Woodman" is one of Aesop's fables.

Here's another exterior shot of the schoolhouse. No date is given and the photo is not clear enough for me to tell whether the schoolhouse has one room or two at this point.