The Slow Death of a Veteran

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From the Hobart High School's "Memories" yearbook of 1921.
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society, Hobart, Indiana.

He didn't die in action, or even in the service, but World War I killed John Small anyway, according to the Hobart News.


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Hobart News, 20 Dec. 1923. See also "Death Summons John E. Small," Hobart Gazette, 21 Dec. 1923.

If I understand the family tree correctly, this John Small was the grandson of John and Mary Jane Small, who (I believe) gave Small's Crossing its name. The farm he grew up on seems to have been in southwest Portage Township, Porter County, based on neighbors' names in the 1900 census and several parcels owned by Smalls in that area on the 1906 plat map. By 1910 his parents had retired from farming and moved their family to the village of Wheeler. In 1920 John and his wife, Martha, were living in Hobart, where John gave his occupation as a teacher in a public school — modestly, perhaps, if the News was correct about his being the high school principal by then.

Martha remarried in 1935, to a widower named Ralph Orr, but when she died in 1975, her remains were brought home from Indianapolis to be laid to rest beside John.

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Moving from the serious to the silly, we note (in the lower right of the page above) that a Hobart night marshal resigned from his position under a cloud. According to an earlier article, he had been suspended after being accused of not only drunkenness, but also poker-playing ("Night Marshal Carrier Suspended," Hobart Gazette, 14 Dec. 1923).

Mr. and Mrs. Johann Christian Traugott Erfurth, Just Passing Through

Now let's get back to the northern 40 acres of the Harms 73rd Avenue farm. We left off in 1870, at which time ownership of those 40 acres was transferred from Charles Smith to Albert Van Doozer. Charles' parents, Jacob and Hannah, may or may not have still been leasing the land and farming it themselves.

Five years later, it appears that the elder Smiths had no further want of the land, for whatever reason that may have been. On New Year's Day, 1875, Albert and Emma Van Doozer sold the land to someone named Johann Christian Traugott Erfourth.


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Images courtesy of the Eldon Harms family.

Johann aka John, and his wife, Eliza Rosalia, borrowed the money to purchase the land from one Emma P. Smith …



… who was, I'm guessing, the daughter of Luther and Sarah Smith. If my guess is correct, Emma was about 20 years old (born circa 1855 per the 1860 Census). I do not know where a 20-year-old would get $500 to lend out, unless she inherited it from her mother, or perhaps a grandparent (we know that both her grandparents were dead by September 1877). I have not been able to find out anything about Emma's life after her father's estate was distributed, beyond the fact that she became an orphan in 1871.

The surname of the purchasers has already appeared in two different spellings: Erfourth and Erfurth. Later it shows up as Ehrfurth. Even with all those options I cannot identify Johann and Eliza in any other record, such as a census, that would give us details about them.

A lien search two years later (when the Erfurths were selling the land) showed that Johann had been active enough, during the previous ten years, to be involved in a couple of lawsuits:



That first lawsuit, Ehrfurth v. Kline, might have involved an Ainsworth-area Kleine/Kline, but without a first name we can't know.

The second lawsuit, Steinfeld v. Ehrfurth & Bommerschein, tells us that the Erfurths were in business with a Martin Bommerschein — but I can't find any information about him, either. Nor can I identify this Steinfeld person who sued them.

So this episode in the history of the Harms 73rd Avenue farm is a big "I don't know."

Finally, in 1878 — several months after the Erfurths had sold the land — Emma Smith released the mortgage on it.




I just have to add that I think "Traugott" is an interesting name. It means "trust in God."

Ainsworth School-Year Souvenir, 1897-98 (Part 4)

(continued from Part 3)


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Let us move on to — Kleine, which I can't say is completely new to me, since I've already referenced it once in the blog, but I've never paid much attention to the Kleine family.

Our Edgar Kleine is neatly summed up in his obituary:


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Hammond Times, Mar. 26, 1940.

Edgar's parents, Richard and Fredericka, were born in Germany. Their early married life was spent in Wisconsin, apparently, since that is where their eldest child, Bruno, was born circa 1867. The 1870 Census records them here in Ross Township, as does the 1880 Census.

The 1874 Plat Map shows the Kleine farm on the Joliet Road (E. 73rd Avenue) — I believe so, anyway, although the surname is spelled Kline and the first initial is hard to read.


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And the 1880 census enumerator recorded the Kleine family close to such names as Bullock, Harper, Ragen, and Smith, which suggests that the "R?. M. Kline" of the 1874 map is indeed Richard Maximillian Kleine.

You will notice that O.L.E. Kleine owns a big parcel just touching the southeast corner of Richard and Fredericka's farm. I believe O.L.E. was Richard's older brother, Oswald. The 1880 Census records Oswald living in Hobart with their mother, Christina; but apparently he later moved (back?) to Wisconsin, where he died in 1899. He was the Oswald Kleine involved in George Chester's action to quiet title.

But getting back to Edgar's family — after the close of the school year, perhaps, they moved to Porter County, where Richard died in December of 1898. The 1900 Census shows the widowed Fredericka still farming in Porter County, with the help of the three sons old enough to work the farm (they ranged in age from 32 to 17); there was also a 15-year-old, a 13-year-old, and a toddler born in August 1898.

In 1901, Edgar married Lillian Frailey in Porter County.

Fredericka died in 1902.

[to be continued]

How Do You Spell Your Name, Again?

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


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From the Hobart News of April 1, 1920.

So let's count:

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

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

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