Series Finale: The Harms 73rd Ave. Farm History

And now we come to the waning days of 1896 — December 28, to be exact — and William Notter is selling his 79.5 acres to Henry and Annie (born Johanna Springman) Harms, who were living on and farming their old homestead to the northeast of this property. The Harmses were to pay $3,180 for the land (about $112,000 in today's money) in installments.


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Images courtesy of the Eldon Harms family.

The transaction included an action to quiet title, a review of the property's owners — not all of them, in this case, as you can see. I'm guessing the action named only the ones who might conceivably have some claim to the land.







The only new information we get from this concerns Emma Smith, daughter of Luther and Sarah: in 1881 she married William J. Hatch in Chicago; they had five children, and then Emma died in 1893. None of the surviving Hatches turned up to contest the title to the farm.

This is the title bond that William Notter gave to Henry and Annie Harms on December 28, 1896, promising to deliver title to the land and "a clear abstract of title" upon payment of the full purchase price, without interest.



On the outside of the title bond, William Notter jotted down a payment by the Harmses of $300 on the "noat" in January 1897. Below that, someone with more polished handwriting (Louis Wettengel, probably) recorded a larger payment, and William signed his name.



And this, also from the verso of the title bond, is why I think the person with the polished handwriting was Louis Wettengel.



Louis was a resident of Hobart, who appeared in the 1870 Census as a saloonkeeper, but by the 1880 Census had made a lawyer of himself. He and his wife, Emmeline (Shearer), had many children, lived out their lives in Hobart and are now buried in Hobart Cemetery.

By October 16, 1897, Henry and Annie Harms had paid off the purchase price of the land, and William Notter gave them the deed.







And so we come to the end — not of the history of the farm, but of this abstract. I'm afraid I've already given away an episode of the sequel, when Henry and Annie sold 9 acres of the land to Herman and Minnie Harms in 1938. From a comparison of the 1939 Plat Book to the 1950 Plat Book, we can see that a lot more dividing and selling of the land went on over the course of that decade. I shall see if I come across any details in the future.

Women Voters and a Woman Pioneer

The mid-term election of 1922 was approaching, which may be why the Ainsworth League of Women Voters planned a meeting in the W.G. Haan school; but then again, in those days people held meetings for any reason.


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"Local and Personal." Hobart News 21 Sept. 1922.

The death of Mrs. J.E. Small, mentioned at the bottom of that column, got a fuller treatment from the next day's Gazette.


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Hobart Gazette 22 Sept. 1922.

Her daughter, Mrs. Crisman — christened Elizabeth — was the wife of John Crisman, Sr., and the grandmother of Dorothea.

Mary Hardesty, the daughter with whom Mrs. Small had lived, was a widow (1920 Census), but I'm not sure of her deceased husband's name. It might have been Adolphus (Indiana Marriage Collection).

Mary Jane Riley Small rests in Mosier Cemetery.


In the pages above and elsewhere in old newspapers I have come across references to "Small's Crossing," and thus far nobody I've asked has known exactly where it was. Based on the people whose names came up in connection with Small's Crossing, I gathered it was in Porter County but not far from the village of Deep River. In common parlance around the turn of the 20th century, the name likely referred to a road crossing a railroad line near a piece of land owned by a Small. So, let's take a look at the plat map of Union Township, Porter County, in 1895, by which time all the railroads were in place:


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Image from http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/1895Plats/Union-1895.jpg, courtesy of Steven R. Shook.

There's a Small farm, there's the Grand Trunk Railroad, there's the road now known as N 725 W crossing the railroad. Just over the county line is the village of Deep River. I think this is a pretty good candidate for Small's Crossing. If you can find a better one, please let me know about it.

What God Hath Joined Together …

This magnificent marriage certificate comes from the Hobart Historical Society museum. We know the bride and groom well: Edward Sauter and Augusta Schumacher.


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Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

The first witness listed, Johann Schumacher, may have been Augusta's father, or her 17-year-old brother. I don't know who Louise Schumacher was. (Augusta's mother's name was Johanna; she went by "Annie" in the 1880 Census, but if she ever went by "Louise" I haven't heard about it.)

Herman Tabbert was then about 17. I believe he was the H.C. Tabbert who ran a shoe store in Hobart. He married Emma Wettengel in 1891 (Indiana Marriage Collection).

Among the scripture and verses scattered around the certificate, we find the German equivalent of that familiar injunction: "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." But, as we know, these two did put themselves asunder.

Cider Press

Photos taken inside the Hobart Historical Society museum.


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Looks like an awful lot of work, to get a little apple juice. Why didn't they just go to the supermarket? [Facetious remark.]

Continuing in my quest to master the art of bad photography, I've discovered another technique that I've neglected: the vignette. So here goes:



Doesn't it just bring tears to your eyes?

Wettengel House, Part 3

Either this was a bad photo to start with, or it was badly reproduced. On the back, someone wrote "Wittinberg house," and underneath that someone else wrote "Wettengel?" No date. You can't see much of the women's fashions but to me they suggest the 1890s, perhaps early 1900s.


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All images in this post courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

You can see that they put a lot of work into that garden.


The two photos below are undated, but the car in the first is a 1941 Ford Coupe (thanks, R.F.!). On the back of both, someone has written, "Wettengel's             Georgiana St."





That's it for now. I seem to remember at least one more "Wettengel house" photo on the display boards that I forgot to check when I was at the museum getting these. One of these days when I have time …

Wettengel House, Part 2

Continued from yesterday.

This postcard was not used, so no postmark, but since the photo is attributed to August Haase, we can guess it was taken sometime between 1902 and circa 1912, and the postcard produced after 1907.


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All images in this post courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.


Another Haase image, this particular one from an 8" x 10" reproduction of what was probably a postcard. Going by yesterday's pictures, this appears to be a south view of the house and garden.




That guess is supported by handwritten notes on the back of this unused postcard: "Wettengel house from south."




A colorized version of that image, on a used postcard.




Unfortunately, the postmark is not clearly legible. To me it looks like 1911.



More to come.

Wettengel House(?), Part 1

I am now going to post a bunch of pictures of a house and garden, purportedly belonging to the Wettengel family. And furthermore I'm going to drag it out over several days, because I've got all kinds of stuff going on right now and it's easier to post pictures than to read microfilm and write stories.

And so, let us begin. These photos are undated. Someone wrote descriptions on the back, someone else typed them up as captions when the photos were put in plastic and backed with cardboard so they would hold up as posterity mauled them about.

For this first one, I scanned the caption as well as the photo.


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All images in this post courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.


This one is described as "Wettengel house, east view."




This sadly unfocused one is "Wettengel house, south view."



More to come.