A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 36

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels
Publication date: 1904
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1273

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were captured and plundered by Indians. There was no English trader west of the Alleghanies earlier than 1749; but long before that, as Father Charlevoix writing at Niles relates in 1711, the Indians had begun to take their furs to the eastern English posts to trade for whiskey, and it is recorded that in 1793 Indians from LaPorte county carried on the same traffic at Vincennes. Baptiste Point de Sable, a San Domingan negro, built the first cabin at Chicago, July 4, 1779, and traded with the Indians about Lake Michigan for a hundred miles on either side, until he sold out to Le Mai in 1796. When Fort Dearborn was established, in 1803, there were four French traders living at Chicago with Indian wives, and they had a large number of runners bringing in furs from all directions to their log warehouses. John Kinzie bought out Le Mai in 1804, and, ex- cept when interrupted by the massacre of 1812, continued the business until 1827. Baillytown. in Porter county, was one of the outposts belonging to this trade. The English introduced whiskey into the traffic with the Indians, and the French soon followed the evil example, notwithstanding the enactment of severe laws prohibiting it. The earliest criminal prosecutions in the courts of La- Porte county were for selling liquor to Indians. The effect of the traffic may be judged from a speech made in 1803 by Little Turtle, a noted Miami chief of northern Indiana, who said to a commission of the Friends, "I am glad you have

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seen this business as we do, and desire to assist us to remove this great evil out of our country, an evil that has had so much ruin in it, that has destroyed so many lives that it causes our young men to say, 'We had better be at war with the whites. This liquor they introduce into our country is more to be dreaded than the gun or the tomahawk. There are more of us dead since the Greenville treaty than we lost by the years of war before, and it is all owing to the introduction .of this liquor among us.'"

When the first permanent white settlers ar- rived in this county they found a market in exis- tence for furs and skins, with trading posts at South Bend, Baillytown, Chicago and elsewhere, .established by the American Fur Company or- ganized by John Jacob Astor; and many of the farmers were able to make substantial payments ·on their lands by means of this trade. There was a trading post at Hudson lake as early as in 1829, and another at Bone island in Hanna township possibly as early. In 1830 a man named Welsh opened a store at what is now Door Village to trade with the Indians, his principal stock being whiskey. These and like ventures were of short duration, and soon gave place to the stores estab- lished for the patronage of the white people who came in very rapidly after the first settlements were made.

The writer has data at hand which would ·enable him to mention perhaps hundreds of little stores which sprang up in different parts of the county and passed through changes of ownership, management and patronage, but to do this might be what Ruskin would call being lost in endless detail. It does not awaken much interest to say that Smith started a store at a certain crossroads, and that he was bought out by Jones, etc., etc., especially when Smith and Jones and all the rest are forgotten. The writer chooses rather to give a general view of business and commerce in the larger centers.

It has already been intimated that scattered ·over the county there are, or have been, many little centers which have had their stores to which the people in the surrounding country have re- sorted to do their smaller trading. These centers, especially those of them which have been on the lines of railroads, have been shipping points, and there much business has been done. These places

have been mentiond already, and therefore the mention of them is not repeated in this chapter, which considers only those places where business has been extensive enough to require banks of deposit.

The first store in Westville was kept by John and William Cattron at a part of the town known as the four corners; it was opened in 1848. In 1849 D. M. Closser opened a dry-goods and grocery store. In 1851 Bell Jennings opened a general store. In 1880 we find E. M. Ansley keeping a general store, and more recently Homer, one of his sons, engaged in the real estate and insurance business. In the eighties also we find Charles Cole engaged in buying grain; though he had been engaged in the mercantile business with Charles McClure, who was one of Westville's most enterprising merchants, the son of Christopher and Sarah McClure. He was reared on a farm, educated in the common school, clerked in a drug store one year in Iola, Kansas, and then returned and engaged in business in company with Mr. Deshler, of Westville. In 1870 he engaged in business with his father under the firm name of McClure & Cole, but after his father's death he conducted the business in his own name. In an early day James W. Payne was engaged in the mercantile business in Westville for about eleven years, though afterwards he be- came a farmer. Mr. E. S. Smith came to the county in 1867 and became one of Westville's most enterprising merchants. He is proprietor of the Westville Bank, which will be remembered as the scene of the tragedy in which the young boy, Wesley Reynolds, who was watchman in the bank, lost his life in defending his employer's property from burglars. In the early fifties we find William J. Smith engaged in shoemaking for about ten years, then in the manufacture and sale of chairs, and later in the furniture and un- dertaker's business, the latter of which is now carried on by Amenzo Mann. From 1879 on- ward Henry Wing was engaged in the mercantile business in Westville, coming from Otis, where he had followed the same occupation. He was also postmaster for eighteen years, and notary public for twelve years. He afterwards retired to a farm in Porter county. More recently we find H. F. Draves and Emerson E. Nichols sell- ing agricultural implements : A. J. Forbes, a hard-

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ware merchant ; Charles Garwood, Edward Link and John McClure keeping saloons; Charles E. Herrold and D. W. Weed keeping general stores ; Jacob Herrold and Herman Warnke engaged in the butchering and meat business ; John Herrold selling stock ; J. M. Hill, George Miller and Will- iam M. R. Williams keeping livery stables, and Ezra T. Scott proprietor of a drug store.

The foregoing will give some idea of the business of Westville. There have been times in its history when its energies were intensified, when shipping was heavy and there was great business activity ; but railroad stations established at other points, and other causes have depleted its trade. With its beautiful shade trees and situation, it is a pleasant place in which to live, especially in summer; and with its productive surrounding country, its excellent railroad con- nections, and the electric line which is certain sooner or later to connect it with other places, it evidently has not seen its best days.

As to Wanatah, it has already been related that the first store there was kept by Joseph Unruh, who moved it from Rozelle. The build- ing was used as both store and dwelling house, and afterwards as a hotel. Unruh sold out to Mitzner & Conitz about the year 1871, and went to Chicago. Conitz has been a name of im- portance in Wanatah and vicinity. Julius Conitz, another branch of the family, was born in Ger- many in 1843, and came to this country in 1865, and settled in Wanatah. In 1866 he went to Chicago as clerk in a grocery store. In 1868 he went to California, where he remained until the summer of 1869, when he returned to Chicago and opened a grocery. He continued in this busi- ness until 1871, when he came to Wanatah and opened a hardware store. The house was after- wards known as Conitz & Richman. Latterly Conitz & Dolman were proprietors of the Wanatah roller mill, one of the best in the state. Julius Conitz was also proprietor of the bank in Wana- tah and was doing exceedingly well, but he went into railroad building, which requires an enor- mous capital, and reverses came, through whose fault the writer will not undertake to say, and about two years ago the bank went down, though at the present writing W. E. Pinney, Esq. of Valparaiso, has a branch bank in Wanatah. Julius Conitz died in the fall of 1903, and about

the middle of May, 1904, his wife-nee Mary Richman- followed him in a very tragic manner. It is said that her will was found written on the margin of a newspaper, bequeathing a $3,000 life insurance received since the death of her hus- band to her only child, a daughter in the bloom of youth. Life contains many tragedies which are inexpressibly sad, and the hearts of every com- munity should go out in sympathy and deeds of kindness to all, especially the innocent who suffer from them. A man by the name of Protsman built the first hotel some time before the town was surveyed and platted, a building which after- wards become Gallerts saloon. A hotel was also kept for a time by a man named Louderback. Frank McCurdy built the McCurdy House in 1865, and sold it in 1874 to Robert Whitlock, and January 9th of the following year it was de- stroyed by fire. It was immediately rebuilt by Whitlock and opened July 22, 1875, as the Wana- tah House.

John N. McCurdy was for a long time a heavy grain dealer in Wanatah. He was born in this county April 7, 1843. His parents, John and Rhoda McCurdy, were natives of Ohio. Most of his childhood was spent in Porter county. On February 20, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, Sixty-third Regiment, Indiana Infantry, and was discharged October 27th of the same year, on account of disability. He re-enlisted in Decem- ber, 1863, in the Twelfth Indiana Cavalry, Com- pany M, One Hunderd and Twenty-seventh Regi- ment. He served till about the close of the war .. When he returned home he engaged in the whole- sale and retail business. He was married Febru- ary 17, 1865, to Hannah J. Lamoreaux, who. passed away January 22, 1873. Over five years later, July 2, 1878, he was married to Blanche C. Farmington. He has a large family, a host of friends, and is now county recorder under a Democratic administration.

In recent years we find Bailey, Bunnell & Company and Oliver B. Bailey commission mer- chants ; Gust H. Bailey, dry-goods and notions ; Julius Boehlke, furniture and undertaking ;: Charles Bramer, agent for Guenther's beer; E. P. Conboy, livery stable ; L. A. Eaton and Mitz- ner & Terry, agricultural implements; Jacob A .. Eaton and Amelia Gallert, groceries and pro- visions ; Charles F. Eckert and Robert L. Schmidt,

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hardware; Peter Fudenski, and Charles Roths- child, dry-goods stores; Albert Gohr, boots and shoes ; Fred Grieger, Charles W. Mann, Henry Mann, John G. Matthews, and Edward Mitzner, saloons; Isabella Groth, general store; W. F. Groth, Julius Henning and August Pankin, meats ; Roman Gruse, proprietor Hotel Wanatah ; C. E. Osborn, real estate and insurance; Wies- john & Wojohn, drugs, groceries, etc .; J. B. Zangler, restaurant and bakery ; also the firm of Gross & Goodwin.

William and Stephen Clement arrived in Center township in the autumn of 1831 and opened a small store on the old Sac trail, on the east side of the present site of LaPorte. Benajah Stanton hauled their stock of goods from Niles. There was much travel along the Sac trail, as this was the overland route from Detroit to Chicago, and the business must have prospered. At the September term of the commissioner's court in 1833, a license was granted to William Clement to vend merchandise in the town of LaPorte; at the March term, 1834, he was licensed to vend foreign and domestic liquors and groceries, and at the September term following he received a license to keep a tavern in LaPorte. When the town was incorporated, in 1835, he was elected one of the town trustees. In 1832 James and A. P. Andrew had a store at their sawmill near what is now known as Camp Colfax, on the west side of the town plat, and that winter the town con- sisted of only four families. Early in 1833 the village began to grow. John F. and William Allison opened a store and tavern in the spring, and a little later Dr. Seneca Ball started a store, both of which establishments were duly licensed by the commissioners at their September term, the fee being $15, William Allison soon died and John F. became a bankrupt, the first in the county. He moved to Noble township in 1836 and taught school, afterward becoming a justice of the peace and a county commissioner. Dr. Ball was a very active business man during the first few years of LaPorte's history. Hiram Wheeler opened a store in LaPorte and another in New Durham in the spring of 1834, T. Wheeler, being a partner in the LaPorte store, and Leonard Woods a clerk. Woods built a log store for himself in LaPorte in the fall of 1834, and later was a part- ner with Wheeler in the New Durham business.

He moved to Michigan City and became one of the largest grain dealers in the county. Amzi Clark, who the next year opened a store in Byron,. was licensed to vend goods in LaPorte in Septem- ber, 1834, as was also Absalom Walters. Clark was one of the first town trustees, and a member of the first board of school trustees; he helped organize the Presbyterian church and was promi- nent as a patriot at the outbreak of the Civil war. He passed away in 1868. Noah Newhall was licensed to keep a store in LaPorte in September, 1834, and at the November term A. and A. W. Harrison were granted the privilege of selling goods. In 1835 licenses were granted to R. B. Hews, McCarty & Howell, John Brown, and Thomas H. Phillips to vend merchandise, and to Daniel D. Rathbun, Oliver Shirleff, John A. Fletcher, Mordecai Cross, and Grover & Will- iams, to keep tavern, licenses previously granted being renewed. In the same year Sherwood & Hixon were licensed to vend wooden clocks. In 1836 James Gibson, Arthur McClure, Samuel Darlington, and Conrad Everhart were licensed to keep tavern, and Eli Hays to sell goods, these- being the new licenses issued that year for La- Porte.

The increasing number of business establish- ments in the town testifies to its rapid growth. and precludes the separate mention of each .. With the opening of railroad communication in 1852, LaPorte received a fresh impetus in com -. merce and manufactures ; the rich farming coun- try surrounding the place was the cause of its. early growth, and has always been the chief ele- ment of its steady prosperity, but of late years. the increase of manufacturing enterprises has con- tributed enormously to the city's advancement.

LaPorte entered upon its career as an incor- porated town with the business establishments mentioned above, some of which were quite strong financially. The Clement store had a prosperous existence under the management of the two brothers until about 1850; and Hiram Wheeler, who was succeeded by his son George H., accumulated considerable wealth. Edmund S. Organ came to the town in 1836 to clerk in a store then just opened by Jacob Early, whose daughter he subsequently married, and he contin- ued in the store and milling business many years, during which time he was county treasurer one

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term, and held other public offices. Samuel and Henry A. Organ came in 1837 and engaged in merchandise and dealing in stock; the mortal re- mains of both are buried in Patton cemetery. Several peddlers plied their trade along the main roads, among whom was one named Pendleton, trading north from Logansport on the Michigan road and the Sac trail from 1840 to 1848, when he went to North Carolina. This man is especially mentioned by old-timers. In 1847 Andrew Roberts advertised tea, pine sash and fresh drugs ; A. H. Matthews dealt in boots and shoes ; Dr. L. Frye had a fresh shipment of hats; Lee, Judson, & Lee offered prints and calicoes ; H. P. Hol- brook, P. King and A. D. Porter announced the "one price cash store" opposite the court house ; J. W. Hobson & Company advertised a general store; Edward Vail invited attention to his jewelry and watches. The merchants were re- ceiving large stocks of winter goods, even though the wheat crop the previous year was a failure, all were doing a good business, including the mechanic shops, and the streets were daily thronged. In that year there was a saloon in town, as may be seen by referring to 8 Black- ford's Indiana Reports, page 319.

In the following spring F. Roberts & Son advertised that their soda water fountain was in full blast for the hot weather. Harvey Truesdell and James M. Allen were business men of that period also. Edward Vail's jewelry store was established in 1845 and continued until August I, 1884, when it was removed to Wichita, Kan- sas, by the proprietors, who then were Edward Vail and son. A short time prior to the removal this store was successfully burglarized and a large quantity of stock was taken which was never re- covered.

In 1845 the Michigan City firm of Holbrook & King established a branch store in LaPorte under the management of A. D. Porter. In 1849 Polaski King took charge of the business and a year later became the sole proprietor, handling a general line of goods. The time came when every other store established in LaPorte prior to 1845 in general merchandising was discontinued, and then Mr. King called his place "The Pioneer Store," by which name it was known until he closed it out and retired from business at the end of 1883. Besides the branch store of Holbrook

& King at New Buffalo, Mr. King opened a branch at Kingsbury, with Frederick West in charge. With the close of the King store in 1883 the "Bee Hive," now owned by Julius Barnes, became the pioneer store of LaPorte and so re- mains. It was opened in 1855 by James Lewis and acquired by Mr. Barnes, the present pro- prietor, ten years later. A. D. Porter was born in Vermont in 1816, coming to Michigan City in 1834, and to LaPorte in 1845. When Polaski King bought the LaPorte store Mr. Porter re- turned to Michigan City, but in 1856, and again in 1858, he was elected county treasurer, requir- ing him to reside at the county seat again. He served in the commissary department of the Union army through the war, and passed the remainder of his life in LaPorte as bookkeeper at the King & Fildes woolen mill. Frederick West, manager of the King store at Kingsbury four years, came to LaPorte in 1857 and joined L. C. Rose in the drug business. This firm was dissolved in 1870, when the store was burned, and Mr. West continued the business alone until about 1883. In 1849 LaPorte had sixty stores and groceries.

William M. Scott opened a photographic studio in 1853 and operated it more than a third of a generation. At the present writing George D. Thomas is the proprietor. In 1868 John W. Bryant bought and enlarged the studio of Charles B. Teeple, then a few years in operation, and con- ducted the business many years, after which he engaged in the manufacture of photographic ac- cessories.

Colonel Willard A. Place was perhaps the first in LaPorte to deal in live stock in a large way for the eastern market, a business that was made possible by the opening of the railroads in 1852.

In April, 1856, William Crawford commenced the crockery and glassware business, which was conduced many years, and Miss Jane Crawford now has charge of the crockery department in the large store of Oberreich & Arnold. The firm of J. F. Decker and son also handled crockery, glass- ware and dry-goods. This firm began business in LaPorte in the fall of 1861, and was prosperous in 1875; though the senior member had with- drawn and the business had succeeded to the son, DeWitt C. Decker.

Perhaps the best known hotel in LaPorte is

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the Teegarden, built by Dr. A. Teegarden, com- pleted and opened in 1852. Captain Levi Ely was the first host, who kept the house for two years. Among the landlords may be mentioned James Longee, Lawson & Phelps, V. W. Ax- tell, J. C. Gilbert, and more recently John Wolf. This hotel was rebuilt in 1885, when Gilbert was proprietor.

It would be impossible in the space allotted, to mention every person who has engaged in busi- ness in LaPorte, or even the principal ones. Suf- ficient has been said to awaken many memories of long ago. In dry-goods and clothing, in the drug business, in millinery, fancy goods and sew- ing machines, in lumber and coal, in musical in- struments, in printing and book-binding, in the grocery trade, in boots and shoes, in real estate and insurance, in short, in all businesses which are necessary in a small inland city of high char- acter, the writer has data which would fill many pages like this, showing something of the busi- ness activities of LaPorte during her history.

It may not be generally known that LaPorte was ever a center of wholesale trade, but such is the fact. After the hard winter of 1857, business began to revive. Teams with corn and oats thronged the streets, the farmers were buying goods for summer use, and the country merchants were recruiting their stock at the wholesale stores. At that time the wholesale trade was an import- ant factor in LaPorte. The following are some of the houses which were engaged in the whole- sale trade :

Books and stationery-George B. Roberts at the "Old Line Book Store." J. E. Beardsley, and M. L. Stanton.

Drugs and medicine, paints, oils, etc .- Wil- son Andrew & Company, L. C. Rose, and George B. Roberts.

Hardware and cutlery, iron, steel, nails, hollow ware, etc .- L. D. Webber & Son, S. VanNest, and James Lower. These men bought in large quantities and could conduct a wholesale trade to advantage.

Hats and caps .- John L. Fry, P. F. Cham- berlain.

Ready made clothing .- Guggenhime & Wile, M. Newberger & Company, E. & I. H. Henoch, L. Eliel, F. Eliel, and others.

Leather and shoemakers findings .- George

Mack, William Millikan, J. A. Caldwell, and A. H. Matthews.

Dry goods .- James Lewis & Company, at the "Bee Hive," R. H. Rose, P. King, at the "Pioneer," E. G. Hamilton, at the "People's Store," and E. Allen & Company.

Groceries .- French & Company.

There were a few others who did wholesaling but the foregoing list is large enough to give some idea of the wholesale business of LaPorte at that time. During the first two weeks of July, 1857, L. D. Webber sold fifteen McCormick reapers.

As to the financial institutions of LaPorte, in April, 1839, a loan company was formed. On March 30, of that year, a meeting of citizens was held, to take the matter into consideration, and Doctor T. P. Cobbs, was appointed a committee to draft a plan for organizing a loan office. On Friday, April 5, at another meeting of the citizens he reported the following plan :

"The undersigned agree to associatethemselves together for the purpose of forming a Loan Com- pany to be kept in the town of LaPorte, upon the following principles and subject to such other regulations as the members of the company may from time to time adopt and establish." The captal stock was to be $200,000, in shares of $100 each, to be secured by subscribers by bond or mortgage on good unincumbered land worth at least twice the value of subscription, the land to be appraised by the sheriff of the county. The bonds and mortgages were to be assigned to some eastern capitalist from whom the whole amount of capital was to be obtained and employed in loaning, discounting bills of exchange, etc. The institution was to be governed by a board of directors elected by the stockholders, the direc- tors to elect their president, cashier, etc. No stockholder was to be liable for more than the amount of his subscription. Each loan was to be made for not less than five nor more than twenty years. To meet current expenses, a small per cent of each subscription must be paid at the time of subscribing.

On motion of John H. Bradley the report was unanimously adopted. On motion of E. A. Han- nigan it was resolved that a committee of five be appointed to prepare a constitution and rules and to open books in different parts of the county

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for subscriptions to the capital stock from April IO to May 10, 1839. Dr. John P. Cobbs, John H. Bradley, Esq., Dr. Sylvanus Everts, Andrew Burnside, and John Brown were appointed on that committee.

The writer has no data at hand to show what success this enterprise met with, nor whether it did any business ; but at all events it shows that there was a want among cur early settlers for a banking institution, and it shows that a worthy effort was put forth to supply that want.

The LaPorte Savings Bank was organized in 1871 under state authority. It is regularly in- spected by the proper officer of the state as re- quired by law. Every depositor becomes a stock- holder to the extent of his deposit, and all net earnings are divided among the depositors. The bank started out with the following well known citizens as officers : Trustees, John Sutherland, Dr. T. Higday, Benajah Stanton, T. W. Butter- worth, F. Baumgartner, Samuel Downing and Shepherd Crumpacker ; president, John Suther- land; vice presidents, Dr. T. Higday and Ben- ajah Stanton ; cashier, J. H. Vining. In 1884 this bank was put into the hands of a receiver, and Seth Eason was appointed to that office in Decem- ber. The assets were $200,000. The officers then were, president, John Sutherland ; vice presidents, Benajah Stanton and T. W. Butterworth ; cashier, J. H. Vining ; trustees, Sutherland, Stanton, But- terworth, F. Baumgartner, E. W. Davis, S. Crumpacker, and James H. Buck. The trouble was about the management, there being no loss. On February 12, 1885, the report of the receiver showed assets $188,209.76, liabilities $178,669.48, giving a surplus in round numbers of $9,540.00. Benajah Stanton was made president and J. W. Crumpacker, cashier. The bank was reorganized and has continued business successfully till this day. Mr. Crumpacker was deputy treasurer of Porter county four times, treasurer twice, and cashier of the Farmers National Bank at Val- paraiso.

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 36

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1273

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels
Publication date: 1904
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1273