USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 1 > Part 80
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In 1868, Mr. Crockett was united in mar- riage to Anna Miller, whose father, the late B. F. Miller, was an honored pioneer of St. Joseph county and at one time served as its sheriff. Five children have been born of this union, but only two are now living: Charles E., secretary of the Tribune Company, and Ethel. Mr. Crockett holds membership rela- tions with the Grand Army of the Republie, being past commander of Auten Post, No. 8, and in 1896, was senior viee department com- mander of Indiana. He is also an active worker in the Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as superintendent of the Sunday School, and is also a valued factor of the Young Men's Christian Association, of which he has been president. He was selected as a member of the citizens' advisory committee during the building of the new court house, and proved a valued member of the eommit- tee. Ile exemplifies in his life the tenets of the Masonic fraternity, of which he is a worthy member, and in 1889 and 1890 served
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
as Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Indiana.
CHARLES ALBERT MCDONALD both by work and. character was long identified with the higher progress and life of St. Joseph coun- ty. He was born in South Bend, Indiana. on the 15th of September, 1859, the son of John M. and Elizabeth McDonald, his father being a native of Virginia of Scotch ancestry. and the mother of New York state, whose fore- fathers were of the German fatherland.
Charles A. was a faithful school attendant in his boyhood and youth, graduated from the South Bend High School in the class of 1879, taught for some time, and was subse- quently principal of the Washington and South schools. While thus employed he be- came assistant editor of The Times, then a weekly paper with a Saturday edition. A few years later he became a partner with J. B. Stoll in the ownership of the South Bend Daily and Weekly Times, as well as its city editor, maintaining these dual relations until his death, which occurred December 14. 1905.
From numerous tributes to the high and lovable character of the deceased, which sprung spontaneously from the hearts of men. women and children in all walks of life, one of the most tender and broadly descriptive was penned by a classmate, who had known him from his youth. It is as follows: "A fresh, wholesome interest in intellectual pursuits dis- tinguished him even in his boyhood. He felt to the last a warm enthusiasm for all that was good and noble. Earnestness of purpose and a determination to excel were distinguishing marks of his character. He was ambitious and cherished high ideals, and to these he was always faithful. In spite of the harsh de- mands of practical life he never lost his rever- ence for the ideals of his boyhood and the beautiful dreams of his youth. Energy, per- severance and the exercise of all those facul- ties which make for success are admirable always, but when they are tempered by a broad love of humanity, and a deep inborn sense of devotion to family and friends and unfailing loyalty to the ideals of youth, they make a man the best of which a human being is capable. Mr. McDonald had all these in good measure. He was so tender and true in every relation that even the casnal acquaint- ance felt the warmth of his personality and the wholesome influence of his generous, loving nature. He was the best possible exponent of George Eliot's Simple Creed Religion. Kind-
ness. piety and reverence were inherent quali- ties, and the memories of old associations were sacred to him, for he clung with all his heart to the friends and teachers who had guided him in youth. His tenderness and re- gard for old friends, his cordiai interest in the welfare of his fellowmen, his unfailing sym- pathy for the afflicted and the oppressed, are the best testimonials of his character. Strong, upright and honorable, he knew no deceit. but gloried in the greater power of an all- conquering love. The high esteem of all who knew him is the best proof of his worth, the sorrow of those who knew him well, the no- blest tribute to his memory."
Mr. McDonald's business associate wrote of him: "From the beginning to the close of his connection with this establishment, he proved himself a thoroughly honest man. Greed was absolutely foreign to his nature. Avarice never warped or dwarfed his intellect. He became profoundly impressed with the belief that man's mission was above money-making. While he recognized the propriety and neces- sity of man's wants, he regarded an unsullied reputation as to personal honor far above the value of glittering gold. His career was too short to fully develop what was in the man. Could he have lived the scriptural allotted period, his splendid traits of character would have been conspicuously brought within the vision of a discerning public. But he lived long enough to leave a record to which his be- reaved relatives. friends and associates will point with satisfaction and pride. While this cannot, at the moment, assuage grief, subdue sorrow, still tears nor silence anguish, in years to come it will serve as a pleasant reminder that it was well for this community to have been the beneficiary of Charles A. McDon- ald's well directed and honorable efforts."
Another writer said of the deceased: "It was during his last years that many of Mr. MeDonald's choice poems were penned, which brought to him considerable fame. His ability in this line was unquestioned, and he took great pleasure in hailing the arrival of holidays and referring to South Bend's im- portant events in metrical form."
On the 17th of November, 1886. Mr. Mc- Donald married Miss Fannie Everson Brad- ley, of Berrien Springs, Michigan, daughter of Edward and Imogene Everson (Royce) Brad- ley, both natives of New York. Four children were born to their union-Marie, Arthur Royce, Kenneth Bradley and Charles Albert,
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Jr. Mrs. McDonald is now connected with the editorial department of the South Bend Times.
Although a public spirited man, Mr. Mc- Donald was interested in only one fraternal organization-South Bend Lodge, No. 235, B. P. O. E .- but in this he was a willing and enthusiastic worker. As a reward for his zeal in this direction he was recently elected chaplain, and was selected as one of the directors of the Elks Temple Association. Much credit is due him for the erection of this monument to Elkdom, as he was one of the prime factors in bringing about the plans which made possible the erection of the home. It was also Mr. MeDonald who suggested that the laying of the cornerstone should take place at eleven o'clock at night, the mystic hour of the order. The deceased was a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, which he joined in his youth and from whose teach- ings he never departed.
GEORGE W. J. KALCZYNSKI, one of the lead- ing journalists of northern Indiana, was born in Haverstraw, New York, January 17, 1872, a son of George W. and Mary ( Urbanowska) Kalczynski. In 1877, the family came to South Bend, here remaining for five years, during which time George attended a paro- chial school. On the expiration of that period, just after the death of the mother, they re- turned to Yonkers, New York, where the son resumed his studies. In a few years, however, he came again to South Bend, where he learned the printer's trade on the South Bend Times. In 1894, he went to Toledo, Ohio, and purchased the Toledo Courier (Kuryer), continuing its publication for sixteen months as a weekly, when he made it a daily and the name was changed to the Times (Czas). Sell- ing that paper at the expiration or two months, he went to Chicago, Illinois, and thence to Bay City, Michigan, where for five months he served as general manager of the Truth (Prawda).
For the third time Mr. Kalezynski came to South Bend, and with Messrs. H. C. Dunbar and II. Elliott organized the Goniee Polski Publishing Company. Messrs. Dunbar and Elliott owned a printing establishment, to which they added some Polish type and fur- nished the means with which to establish the paper, while Mr. Kalezynski contributed the editorial ability and experience. The paper, the Polish Messenger (Goniec Polski), was an immediate success, and has continued so to
the present time, being now a seven column folio, semi-weekly, and independent in poli- ties. The first number was issued on the 27th of June, 1896, and at that time Mr. Kalczynski was literally penniless, but he is now the sole owner of this large plant, which is equipped with the latest and most improved ma- chinery, conducted by electric power and is valued at twelve thousand dollars. This is the only newspaper printed in the Polish lan- guage in the state of Indiana. Outside of his paper, he is also prominent in Polish affairs, being president of the local Polish Turners M. R., and was national president of Polish Turners Alliance of America from 1901 to 1905. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Woodmen of the World, St. Stanislaus Society, the Polish Literary society known as St. John De Cantus, and the South Bend Press Club, of which he is secretary- treasurer. He is also a member of the Euro- pean society known as "Powsciagliwose i Praca," whose object is the bringing up of orphan boys and fitting them for the battle of life. This is conducted by the Roman Catho- lic clergy, and its headquarters are at Miejsce Piastowe in Gallicia, Austria. Mr. Kalezyn- ski has gained a brilliant success so far on the journey of life, and a still brighter future awaits him.
EDWARD A. JERNEGAN. Among the leading newspapers in northern Indiana is the Misha- waka Enterprise, edited and published by Edward A. JJernegan. His keenly analytical mind, his readiness in noting the most impor- tant points and his strong logical powers have combined to make the journal a leading news- paper of this locality. He was born in La- porte, Indiana, on the 27th of January, 1846. His father, Thomas Jernegan, a native of Ed- gartown, Massachusetts, was also an old and prominent newspaper man. In 1842 he came to South Bend, where he was for a number of years engaged in a mercantile business, and at that time his brother, Joseph L., was a leading attorney of the city. Purchasing the Mishawaka Toesin, Mr. Jernegan moved it to South Bend, next to Laporte and ultimately to Michigan City. He was a prominent news- paper man of his time, and was also a publie spirited and patriotic citizen. For a period of eighteen years he served as a government employe in the pension department, dying in the harness at Washington, D. C., in 1900, at the age of eighty-four years. His wife, nee Anne M. Clasby, and a native of Nantucket,
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Massachusetts. preceded him to the home be- yond many years, dying in 1872.
Edward A. Jernegan attended the schools of Michigan City, but ere the completion of his education he enlisted as a drummer boy in the Seventy-third Indiana, Company K. Subsequently, however. he entered the navy, where his father was paymaster, and during the latter part of the war was in Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Indiana, thus continuing until 1864. In that year he returned home and served in the provost mar- shal's office until the close of the war. After the struggle ended. the father resumed his newspaper business in Michigan City, and Edward joined him as assistant editor. In 1872 he came to Mishawaka and purchased the Enterprise, which had been established in 1854, and which he has ever since conducted in such a manner as to make it a power for good in this part of the state. The journal gives evidence of the high editorial ability of Mr. Jernegan, whose clear presentation of every question which he treats has borne marked influence upon his constituency. In 1897 he served as a member of the state legis- lature, while for four years during the Har- rison administration, he was postmaster of Mishawaka.
In 1869 he was married to Miss Nannie C. Sherman, a daughter of Dr. M. G. Sherman, of Michigan City, and they have two living children, Mrs. C. A. Ostrom, of Mishawaka, and Ralph. a promising young lawyer of this city. Their eldest son, Mason Sherman, died in 1901. He was a newspaper man of promise, and at the time of his death was serving on the Detroit Free Press. Mr. Jernegan is a member of the Masonic order and of the Grand Army of the Republic, Houghton Post. He has had many difficulties and obstacles to overcome on his way to success, among them being the great fire which swept over Misha- waka in 1872 and completely destroyed the town, proving a great loss to the young editor. His genial temperament, courteous manners and broad minded principles render him a favorite with all, and the circle of his friends is almost coextensive with that of his acquaint- ances.
HON. ABRAHAM BRICK. Whether the fun- damental attributes of success in life are in- nate, or whether they are quickened by a pro- cess of circumstantial development, is impos- sible to clearly determine; yet the study of a successful life is none the less profitable, as
it is found that in the majority of cases ex- ceptionable ability, supplemented by earnest purpose and close application, forms the real secret of advancement. It is a noticeable fact that the young men are rapidly occupying the foremost places in the financial, professional and political circles. Whether this is due to superior education, or to native ability is a question of dispute; at all events the faet remains that each community numbers among its leaders men who, although young in years, are controlling extensive interests in all fields of endeavor ; and in this class is emphatically placed Hon. Abraham Brick, of South Bend.
Hon. Abraham Lincoln Brick is known as a man of high attainments and possessed of that practical ability which has brought him success as a lawyer and a man of varied af- iairs. ITis broad influence extends into profes- sional, political and public fields, so that he has become recognized as one of the strongest and most popular men in the state. Born on a farm in Warren township, St. Joseph county, on the 27th of May, 1860, he is descended from Scotch-Irish and English ancestry. His father was a native of New Jersey, but re- moved to Indiana at an early day, and was there married to Elizabeth Calvert, who had come with her parents from Germantown, Pennsylvania. Their son Abraham received his primary education in the district schools of Warren township, later attended the South Bend grammar and high schools, and was sub- sequently a student at Yale and Cornell uni- versities. Close application to his studies im- paired his health to such an extent that he went to Kansas, where he spent a year on a ranch. With restored strength he returned to Indiana and soon after entered the Univer- sity of Michigan to prosecute his law studies. graduating there in 1883 and at once began practice at South Bend. As a lawyer he is remarkable for the wide research and provi- dent care with which he prepares his cases. In no instance has his reading ever been confined to the limitations of the questions at issue; it has gone beyond and compassed every con- tingency, providing both for the expected and unexpected-the latter happening quite as frequently in the courts as out of them. His close and logical grasp of facts and princi- ples. with the law applicable to them. has been another potent factor in his success: while a remarkable clearness of expression which enables him to make others understand not only the salient, but the fine points of his
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
argument, may be accounted another of his conspicuous accomplishments which go to make up the strength and attraction of his character as a lawyer.
Mr. Brick's public services have been vari- ous and noteworthy. He was first brought into official prominence by the able discharge of his duties as prosecuting attorney in the district then comprising the counties of La- porte and St. Joseph. In 1892, he was elected a member of the State Central Committee of the Republican party, of which he has long been a recognized leader in a state which has, at times, been classed as doubtful and pivotal. His labors on the state committee were of such value that he was accorded a place among the leaders of national influence by being sent as a delegate to the presidential convention which met in St. Louis in 1896. But advance- ment and high standing in the law was his prime ambition, and it was really against his personal inclination that he was nominated and elected as a representative of the Thir- teenth congressional distriet in 1898, receiving a majority of twenty-five hundred votes. He was re-elected in 1900, 1902. 1904 and 1906, being also returned during those years by handsome majorities. As would be expected from his character as a lawyer and a man his legislative labors were faithfully and ably performed and most fruitful of results which redounded to the good of his country. In congress, as in the field of his profession, he has been a hard worker, an effective speaker and a courteous gentleman, and with the pro- gress of his service his constituents are con- tinually placing a higher value upon him as a faithful and practical representative.
On the 11th of November, 1884, Mr. Briek was married to Miss Anna Meyer, a daughter of the late Godfrey E. Meyer, and one daugh- ter has been born to them. Mr. Briek is a mem- ber of the Indiana and Commercial Athletic clubs and also holds fraternal relations with the Masons, Knights of Pythias and Elks. Per- sonally, he is of a genial nature and inspires friendship of an unusual strength. Endowed with active. energetic and strong capabili- ties, he is a worthy representative of that elass of comparatively young men who are forging to the front and remaining there.
IION. WALTER A. FUNK. The bulwark of the country is composed of members of the great middle class, who from lowly eireum- stances, though stress of brave endeavor and inherited energy of sturdy ancestors, rise
to positions of great personal influence and publie responsibility. Thus struggling, as it were, from the ground upward, closely sur- rounded by relatives and old-time friends, their progress is so natural and unobtrusive that jealousies seldom arise to embitter their progress, as is usually the case when standing and authority depend largely on family con- nections and inheritance. This wide and pow- erful influence of members of the middle class upon the public affairs of American com- mnnities is nowhere more evident than in the domain of the law, and few judges of note have come from wealthy, or so called aristo- cratic families. A good judge must be a good sympathizer with the people at large, in order to carry into court both the spirit and the letter of the law.
All of the above general remarks may well be applied to the personality and career of Hon. Walter A. Funk, long an active and prominent member of the South Bend bar and for a number of years past circuit judge of St. Joseph county. Born on a farm in Elk- hart county, Indiana, on the 18th of Decem- ber. 1857, his most serious occupation until he attained his majority consisted of hard and faithful work upon the farm of his father, William Funk. But the boy early showed that his ambitions extended beyond the bare performance of his prosaic duties connected with the family homestead, and when only sixteen years of age, he had so advanced in his studies that he was called upon by the township authorities to teach distriet sehool. At this profession he did well and saved enough money to warrant him in aiming for a higher education than he could secure at home.
After laying a firm foundation for his pro- fessional studies in various educational insti- tutions of Goshen and Valparaiso, Indiana, Judge Funk had the satisfaction of becoming a student in the law department of the Uni- versity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, having already enjoyed the benefits of study and tutelage in the offices of Judge Smith, of Cas- sopolis, Michigan, and of Hon. Andrew An- derson, of South Bend. Mainly through his association with the latter, upon his gradua- tion from the state university and the win- ning of his professional degree, in 1885, Mr. Funk came to South Bend : and he seems from the outset to have been received by its citizens and his fellow practitioners as a stable and most valuable personal addition to the com-
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munity and the bar. Ile was thorough in the preparation of his cases, courteous yet firm in the positions which he assumed as an advo- cate, clear and concise in his arguments, and underneath all his high qualities as a lawyer could plainly be perceived the warm and com- mon-sense character of the man of broad sym- pathies. This combination constituted his main strength when he was put forward for the office of circuit judge of St. Joseph county and resulted in his decisive election to that position in 1900. These attributes of legal and personal character also made him an earnest, able and upright judge, bringing him also the popularity which, through the votes of his constituents, called him to the bench in 1906 for a second term of six years. On the bench he is the embodiment of judicial dignity-ever courteous and considerate, and never attempting to win cheap applause at the expense of an inexperienced attorney or an overwrought witness. Of unimpeachable character and of unusual intellectual endow- ments, with a thorough understanding of the law ; patient, urbane and industrious, Judge Funk took to the bench the very highest qualifications for the discharge of his responsi- ble duties. His record as a judge has been in harmony with his career as a lawyer and his character as a man, being distinguished not only by unswerving integrity but by a master- ful grasp of every problem which has come before him for solution.
Judge Funk's domestic relations are most harmonious, as befits one of his character and temperament. His wife was formerly Miss Mary E. Harris, who has borne him one child -William Harris. His character thus rounded and softened by the influences of wife, family and home, the Judge is a typical American citizen, vigorously upholding the framework of society both in his public capacity as an able judge and as a founder of that great American unit-the household. His is truly a complete and grand character, subordinating personal ambition to public good, seeking the benefit of others rather than the aggrandize- ment of self. Endowed by nature with high intellectual qualities, to which have been added the discipline and embellishments of culture, his is a most attractive personality, and in South Bend, where he has so long made his home, he is numbered among the most honored citizens, receiving the respect and re- gard of all peoples and classes.
HON. GEORGE FORD. For more than a third
of a century Hon. George Ford has been recognized as a distinguished member of the bar of South Bend, Indiana. The city is therefore pleased to claim him as one of her native sons, his birth occurring at No. 422 South Main street on the 11th of January. 1846. His father, Isaac Ford, had come to the city during the preceding year, dying here in 1880, in his sixty-second year. His wife. formerly Emeline Perkins, was born in Oswego county. New York, and survived her husband until 1903, when she passed away at the age of seventy-nine years. For more than sixty years. therefore, the sterling record of the Ford family has been a part of the annals of South Bend.
The local public schools furnished George Ford with the early mental training which he enjoyed, and his professional studies were pursued in the law department of the Univer- sity of Michigan. from which he was gradu- ated in 1869. In that year he began practice in South Bend, and during the intervening years has secured not only a large and dis- tinctively representative clientele, but estab- lished a reputation as a strong and progressive leader of the Democracy. For a number of years after his graduation he was associated in practice with Colonel Norman Eddy and Joseph Henderson. The litigation with which his name has been prominently associated em- braces many of the important cases tried in the courts of this circuit, and his powers as an advocate as well as his far-sightedness as a counselor, have been freely acknowledged these many years. His career as a Democratic leader was inaugurated in 1874 by his election to the office of prosecuting attorney of St. Joseph county, and, after a continuous and most meritorious service of ten years in this arduous position. in 1885 he commenced his term in the Forty-ninth congress as a repre- sentative of the Thirteenth district. Mr. Ford was a working, useful and practical member of congress, and returned to South Bend with a greatly strengthened and broad- ened reputation.
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