USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 100
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101
In 1893 Mr. Freyermuth was united in mar- riage to Anna Billstein, a daughter of August Billstein, of South Bend. Mr. Freyermuth is a member of the Masonic order, Lodge No. 294, also of the chapter and commandery, and . of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.
FRED BAUMBERGER. Among the citizens of South Bend to whom is vouchsafed an hon-
ored retirement from labor, as the reward of an active and useful business career is Fred Baumberger, who is also numbered among the boys in blue of the Civil war. He was born in Switzerland, November 22, 1844, but in 1852, when a small boy, came with his father, John Baumberger, to America, locating first in Buffalo, New York. The father was a miller, and had followed that occupation in his native country. He lived only six years after his arrival in America, dying in 1858, and the young son was then left to care for himself, a young lad of only fourteen years and almost a stranger in a strange land. Go- ing to Rochester, New York, he worked at the painter's trade there, and was also a member of the Fifty-fourth Regiment of the state of New York Militia, serving as a guard of rebel prisoners at Elmira, that state, for three months. At the close of that period he en- listed in the Union army, becoming a member of Company E, Tenth New York Volunteer Infantry, entering the ranks as a private, and was stationed at Governor's Island, New York. He remained a faithful soldier until the close of the struggle in 1866, and in that year came to Michigan and located at Kalamazoo, where he remained for two years and during that time learned the shoe-maker's trade. In 1868 he left Kalamazoo for the northern part of the state, remaining at Traverse City for a time, and then, purchasing a piece of wild land, engaged in its cultivation and improve- ment. As the years passed by he succeeded in converting this once densely wooded land into a good farm of two hundred acres, which he yet owns, and on which he made his home for thirty-five years.
In 1897 Mr. Baumberger came to South Bend, Indiana, to care for Augustus Inwood, one of the honored old pioneers of St. Joseph county, his arrival within its borders dating back to 1833, and from that time forward he was prominently identified with its history. In 1870 Mr. Baumberger had married his daughter, Mary E. Inwood, and they have be- come the parents of eight living children : Charles A., Susan R., Richard J., Lydia L .. Mattie G., Edna G., Jessie and Fred B. Mr. Baumberger is a member of the Norman Eddy Post, G. A. R., of South Bend, in which he has long served as the chaplain. He is also a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church, and is a life-long Republican, having cast his first presidential vote for Grant. and has supported every Republican presidential
Digitized by Google
1147
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
candidate since that time. During his resi- dence in Michigan he served as township treas- urer, as supervisor and as road commissioner, and throughout the period of his residence in South Bend he has been equally prominent in its public affairs and is well known to many of its residents.
JOHN G. HARTMAN, whose extensive real- estate interests place him among the leading business men and financiers of South Bend, was born in Petersburg, Canada, on the 27th of January, 1874. His father, Gottlieb Hart- man, was a native of Germany, but emigrated to Canada when seventeen years of age, and made his home there until 1878. He was a cabinet maker, and on his removal from Can- ada he settled in Detroit, Michigan, coming thence to South Bend in 1880, where he fol- lowed his chosen calling until his life's labors were ended in death, when he had reached the age of ninety-one years. His widow, who bore the maiden name of Barbara Syler, is a native of Petersburg, Canada, and now resides in South Bend.
The early educational training of John G. Hartman was received in the public schools, and when eighteen years of age he took up the business of contracting and building, this be- ing among the last years of his father's identi- fication with that business, and the son suc- ceeded him. On reaching his twenty-first year he embarked in the real estate business in South Bend, with which he is still identified, and on the east side of the river he has erected and sold sixty-five houses, also laid out four additions, including one hundred and ninety- six lots, while in the city proper he has built and sold one hundred and twenty-five houses. Mr. Hartman has built and financed the Dewey flats and the Ciralsky warehouse, while in 1904 he built over fifty houses for other parties. During the past seven years he has been connected as general overseer with the Harriett Hartman Remedy Company, which carries on an extensive business over all parts of the United States and Canada. His varied interests also include fire insurance. His sis- ter, Katie P., is associated with him in busi- ness, and is the able manager of the office, rents and collections.
On the 25th of July, 1895, Mr. Hartman married Miss Hattie May Kurtz, a native of St. Joseph county and a daughter of Frank and Ophelia (Zeigler) Kurtz, the latter also a native of this county. The father was num- bered among the honored early pioneers of Vol. II-35.
this section of the state, and was long promi- nently identified with the history of St. Jo- seph county. Mr. Hartman holds membership relations with the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Khorassan, and is a zealous and active member of the Zion Evangelical church. He is emphatically a man of enterprise, in- domitable energy and liberal views, and is thoroughly identified in feeling with the growth and prosperity of the county and city of his adoption.
WILLIAM N. BERGAN. Close application and industry, a high degree of self-reliance and natural aptitude for his work have brought William N. Bergan into rank with the best citizens of South Bend while he is still one of the youngest. To the people in general he has been well known for many years through his connection with the county clerk's office, and his thorough training and careful legal preparation are generally rec- ognized and appreciated.
Born in Three Rivers, Michigan, June 20, 1880, Mr. Bergan's parents were Joseph and Margaret Bergan (the latter being deceased), and his father has been well known for many years in South Bend business circles, having promoted several manufacturing enterprises and conducting a wholesale paper stock busi- ness. In the upbuilding of the east side he has been especially active, and several im- portant results of his work come to mind at mention of his name. Both parents were born in county Westmeath, Ireland, were reared and married there, and on coming to America lived a time in Cincinnati and then in the southern part of Indiana before locating in South Bend.
One of the parochial schools of this city gave Mr. Bergan his early education, and later he attended Notre Dame University two years. From an early period he began work which contributed to his education, and his schooling was continued in winter, while in summer he worked in the fac- tories. On leaving school he began studying law in the office of George E. Clarke. Here he learned shorthand and typewriting. and during the two years spent in that office he acted as stenographer and attended to the collections besides learning much theoretical law. He left Mr. Clarke's office in 1899 to enter the county clerk's office under Clerk George M. Fountain, and later being appointed dep- uty clerk under George H. Alward he con- tinued as deputy clerk four years, and was
Digitized by Google
1148
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
later appointed deputy under the present clerk, Frank P. Christoph. In the meantime he had continued his law studies and in 1901, on motion of Judge Lucius Hubbard was ad- mitted to the bar. Though active in poli- tics, he has never run for office, although the respect he has won from the community and his popularity with the people would make him an eligible candidate for public favor. Prominent in several fraternal orders, he was elected state vice president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians for two years, and was a delegate to the national convention of the order. He is also a member of the Elks, the Tribe of Ben Hur and the Knights of Columbus.
Mr. Bergan married, June 20, 1906, Miss Nellie Hagerty, daughter of Cornelius Hag- erty, of South Bend, who was ticket agent for the Lake Shore Railroad Company in this city for thirty years. One son born of their marriage March 15, 1907, is named William Joseph Bergan.
CHARLES WEIDLER was born in Union township, St. Joseph county, Indiana, on the 17th day of June, 1875. He was the sixth child of Valentine and Mary ( Koontz) Weid- ler, both natives of Germany.
Charles Weidler spent his childhood and youth on a farm attending the district school until he was 13 years of age and then took a two years' course at the graded schools at Bremen, Indiana. After several years of teaching school he attended Valparaiso Nor- mal and the state university at Bloomington, Indiana, and at the latter place began the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1901. He opened an office to follow his chosen profession at South Bend in Novem- ber, 1902, and since that time has had a con- stantly increasing business. He has also had some experience in real estate affairs, having been interested in the platting and improving several additions to the city and in building the Jefferson building.
Mr. Weidler was married in 1901 to Maude Jackson, a daughter of Joseph T. Jackson and . Mary (Hupf) Jackson, of Union township, St. Joseph county. They have two children, Helen and Carl.
GEORGE H. WILKLOW, one of the progres- sive, wide-awake young business men of Mishawaka, is a representative of one of the oldest pioneer families of St. Joseph county. He seems to have inherited his ability for the livery business, for his grandfather,
Frank Wilklow, was one of the first to en- gage in that occupation in Mishawaka, and his father, John Z. Wilklow, was a veteran liveryman of the city, so that the name has long been prominently associated with the vocation. A more complete history of the family will be found in the sketch of J. Z. Wilklow in this volume. The last named was a native son of Mishawaka, born in 1856, and in this city his son George also had his birth, his natal day being the 6th of April, 1881. After completing his education in the public schools he became identified with his present occupation, and at the time of his father's retirement, on the 16th of July, 1906, assumed entire charge of the business. He conducts a general livery business, and in addition runs hacks to and from the depots. He is systematic, prompt and far-sighted in his business transactions, meeting his obliga- tions faithfully and inspiring confidence in all with whom he has dealings. He is a meni- ber of the Masonic order and of the Elks and Owls, and in his political affiliations he is independent.
JOHN Q. SWANGER comes of a substantial family of Pennsylvania Germans, whose great-grandfather founded the American branch. The latter emigrated from the fa- therland before the Revolutionary war, in which he afterward became a participant, and settled near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, still later removing to Wayne county, Ohio, In 1833 he took up his residence in Richland county, that state, where he became a wealthy farmer and lived to the advanced age of one hundred and two years, having been for much of his long life a faithful Lutheran. Jacob Swanger, his son, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and was there married to Mary Lasher, their union resulting in thir- teen children. After the birth of his three eldest children Jacob Swanger moved to Wayne county, Ohio, but in 1833 became a resident of Richland county, where he re- sided upon his farm of one hundred acres until 1851, the nine subsequent years being spent in Berrien county, Michigan. He then returned to Richland county, Ohio, where he died at the venerable age of ninety-seven years. He was a Lutheran. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, was with Perry on Lake Erie, and participated in other engagements. He was a man of great versatility in many practical ways, being a skilful farmer. a practical shoemaker, a good weaver and a
Digitized by Google
1
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
1149
manufacturer of wheat cradles and wooden mold-board plows, obtaining the material for the last named from twisted trees.
Peter Swanger, the son of Jacob and the father of John Q., was born April 21, 1801, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and was such a hard and faithful worker from early boyhood that he received few educational ad- vantages. He went to Ohio with his father and was married in Wayne county to Mary Boydson, who died after bearing him two children,-John Q. and George W., the latter dying in the Union army during the Civil war. After the death of his first wife Mr. Swanger moved to Richland county, Ohio, in 1835, and there wedded Martha Johnson. They became the parents of eight children : William, who died while serving in the Civil war; Hester A., Mary, Alexander J., Sarah, Margery, Loving C., and Franklin B. Peter Swanger maintained the reputation of the family for longevity, and himself attained the age of over ninety years. He was one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Richland county, and for many years was a leading member of the Christian church. Formerly a Whig, he afterward became a firm Repu!)- lican and his politics were rooted deeper than ever by the issues and results of the Civil war. Four of his sons served in the Union army, including the one with which this biography is chiefly concerned.
John Q. Swanger was born in Wayne county, Ohio, May 3, 1832, performed all the duties of a farmer's son, and received his usual modicum of education. At the age of twenty-one he came to South Bend, and after learning the carpenter's trade worked at it in Berrien county most of the time until the opening of the Civil war. On January 6, 1856, he was married to Elsa J., daughter of Isaac and Electa (Scott) Tripp, the former of whom was a native of Niagara county, New York, and a manufacturer of plows. Mrs. Swanger was the fourth of ten children, her father, who died at the age of seventy-six, being a well educated gentleman as well as a good business man. After his marriage Mr. Swanger lived in Steel county, Minnesota, for a number of years, and in 1859 returned to Berrien county, Michigan, and cultivated a rented farm until his enlistment in the Union service in August, 1862. At that time he joined Company K. Twenty-fifth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and was hon- orably discharged at Salisbury, North Caro-
lina, June 24, 1865, after having participated in the following engagements: Tibb's Bend, Kingston, London, Knoxville, Mossy Creek, Rocky Face Mountain, Resaca, Dallas, Al- toona, Cips Farm, Kenesaw Mountain, Eutaw Creek, Decatur, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Duck River Ford, Nashville, New Brunswick, Wil- mington, Goldsboro, Raleigh and Greensboro. His command was present at the surrender of General Joe Johnston.
After the war Mr. Swanger was first em- ployed in the wagon factory of Alexis Co- quillard, nine years later he became connected with the Studebaker Brothers' manufactory, and then turned his attention to the manu- facturing of cement sidewalks, in which line he has developed a fine business, being recog- nized as an expert in South Bend and con- tiguous territory. In fraternal ranks Mr. Swanger has confined his most enthusiastic work to the G. A. R., and his Republicanism is of the kind founded upon the terrible reali- ties of the Civil war. Both Mr. and Mrs. Swanger are members of the Christian church.
Mr. Swanger's marriage has resulted in the birth of ten children: Myron F., who was in the regular service of the United States for five years, was in a number of engagements with Indians and married Clara Harris, had a number of children; Levi E., who died at the age of eighteen years; Homer, who mar- ried Candace Bullard, is a resident of Misha- waka, and has a family of four children; Lenora, who died at the age of twenty-eight; William J., married, and in the hardware business at Marion, Indiana; Ella, who mar- ried Edward Nolan, of South Bend; John Q., who married Effie Lawler and is a tinner of Mishawaka; Grant, who died when nine years of age; May and Louie.
MATHIAS LANG .. In all ages the desire to be remembered after one's brief span of life is finished has been one of the most important factors of human existence, and we are glad to place before the readers of this work, which records the histories of many of the repre- sentative citizens and families of St. Joseph county, a few facts which have been gleaned in regard to the life of the subject of this memoir. Mr. Lang was born in Germany June 8, 1830, and the first thirty-three years of his life were spent in the fatherland, after which, in 1863, he set sail for America. Con- tinuing on to Mishawaka, Indiana, he here learned his trade of coopering, under the in- structions of his brother, Henry Lang. On
Digitized by Google
455472
1150
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
the 2d of September, 1863, he was united in marriage to Anna Lunz, a native also of Ger- many, where she was born on the 30th of June, 1833, and they became the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters: Benjamin, deceased; Henry; Mathias, de- ceased; Rosa, the wife of John Goller, now retired and lives in South Bend; and Mary, the wife of August Mahank, engaged in the saloon business in Mishawaka. All were born and reared in this city, receiving their edu- cation in its Catholic schools, and the family are members of the Catholic church. He con- tinued his work at the cooper's trade until his busy life was ended in death, passing away at the age of fifty-seven years. He gave his political support to the Democratic party. He had no enemies, for his honest, kindly na- ture drew every one to him and made them his friends. His widow lived with her daugh- ter, Mrs. Goller, till her death in 1907.
ARCHIBALD GRAHAM. A prominent repre- sentative of the bar of northern Indiana is Archibald Graham, who is also winning for himself a name among the political leaders of this section of the state. He was born in London, Ontario, on the 1st of September, 1871, his parents being John and Rebecca (McClellan) Graham, both natives of Scot- and, a country which has furnished our re- public with some of her most loyal sons. When fourteen years of age the father crossed the waters to Canada, where he en- gaged in agricultural pursuits, and he is still a resident of Ontario.
After attending the public schools of his native locality Archibald Graham matricu- 'ated in Toronto University in 1892, while in 1896 he graduated from the Detroit College of Law. Coming to Mishawaka, Indiana, in the same year, he remained in that city until in August, 1905, when he established his home in South Bend and formed a partner- ship with the Hon. A. L. Brick, the firm name becoming Brick & Graham. Mr. Graham's ability as a legal practitioner soon won him a distinctively representative clientage, and from the beginning of his career as a lawyer his efforts have been attended with success. This ability has also led to his selection for public honors, and in 1904 he served as chair- man of the county Republican central com- mittee. Throughout the period of his resi- dence in Mishawaka he served as its city at- torney with the exception of a year and a half, and after coming to South Bend still
continued to hold that office until his resig- nation in September, 1906, his service in this city being under a Democratic adminis- tration, although he is a stalwart supporter of Republican principles.
On the 4th of January, 1904, Mr. Graham was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Crane, a daughter of Charles Crane, of Elk- hart county, Indiana. Mr. Graham is a mem- ber of the Masonic order at Mishawaka, also of the Commandery in South Bend, of the order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of the Indiana Club and the St. Joseph Valley Country Club.
L. M. MUCHA. No citizen of South Bend enjoys the confidence and high esteem of his associates in a greater degree than does L. M. Mucha, who came to this city in 1891 from his home in Poland, where he was born on the 23d of July, 1863. He received an ex- cellent education in his native land, grad- uating in some of its leading colleges, and afterward taught in the schools there. Com- ing direct to South Bend from his home in Poland in 1891, he resumed his teaching in St. Hedwidge's Schools, thus continuing for six years, and he then taught in the St. Ka- zonider schools until 1905. During that time he also taught history and the Polish lan- guage in Notre Dame University for two hours each day. Mr. Mucha was appointed a notary public, in which capacity he has served for nine years, and his term of office does not expire for three years following. He is also the secretary and one of the stock- holders in the Jan III Sobieski Building and Loan Association, and in addition to his other varied business relations is also extensively engaged in the insurance business.
In his native country of Poland in 1888 Mr. Mucha was married to Anna Stopka, and their two children are Mary and Steve. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, of Branch 83 of the Polish Na- tional Alliance of America, the St. Kasimier Society and the Polish Turners, Z. B. No. 1. He has been four times delegate to the Polish National Alliance, and in 1907 was elected Commissioner for the Alliance for Indiana. Since taking up his abode in South Bend Mr. Mucha has taken an active interest in the development of the resources of his lo- cality, and as a real estate dealer, steamship agent and notary public, with offices at 822 South Webster street, he is well known to the business men of this city.
Digitized by Google
1151
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
ADAM HUNSBERGER. To become firmly. es- tablished in the confidence of a community in the activities of many fields of endeavor is indicative not only of a powerful physical personality but of a most elastic and vig- orous mentality. Such a combination is found in Adam Hunsberger, educator, public offi- cial, land dealer and merchant of South Bend. For years prominently connected with the mercantile, industrial, agricultural and civic interests of his community, he is a Canadian by birth, a native of Perth county, province of Ontario, born March 23, 1860. His father, Christian Hunsberger, was born in Pennsylvania of German ancestry, and his mother (formerly Margaret Paff) was a na- tive of the fatherland. When a young man Mr. Hunsberger removed to Perth county, Canada, where he married and resided until 1860, returning then to the States and set- tling in Elkhart county, Indiana, where he has since lived, engaged in agricultural pursuits.
Adam Hunsberger was but an infant when his parents brought him to Indiana, and so knows no other state as his home. He was educated in the public schools of Elkhart county, and in young manhood devoted much of his time to teaching. Until he was of age he lived with his parents, but at his majority purchased a farm in Penn township, St. Jo- seph county, which he operated for several years in connection with his school teaching. In 1894 he transferred his residence from the farm to River Park, and has since lived in that place.
In 1893 Mr. Hunsberger was appointed deputy county treasurer, serving in that ca- pacity for four years, and in the fall of 1902 was elected county treasurer on the Republican ticket to succeed Mr. Ziegler. He was re-elected in 1904, and completed his second term with a high and sustained repu- tation for financial ability and unimpeach- able integrity. Since leaving the treasury department of the county he has devoted himself to a multiplicity of interests and investments, which he has been continually developing.
Having a firm and abiding faith in the future of St. Joseph county, especially in the permanent and increasing value of its real estate, Mr. Hunsberger has been a lib- eral investor in both country and town prop- erty, and is the owner of fine farm lands in Penn and Union townships. He is also presi-
dent of the South Bend Land Company and of the River Park Land and Improvement Company, and is influential with the indus- trial and mercantile interests of the county as president of the R. G. Snell Manufactur- ing Company and as a member of the firm of Albert & Hunsberger, hardware dealers of Mishawaka.
On the 6th of May, 1885, Mr. Hunsberger married Miss Kate E. Albert, a native of Penn township, St. Joseph county, whose father, Charles Albert, was a Philadelphian, born March 7, 1843. Her mother, Margaret Klein, was born in Germany, and when seven years of age was brought to America by her parents, Mathias and Katherine Klein. The daughter was educated in the district schools, and resided with her parents until her mar- riage, at the age of eighteen years, to Charles Albert. Mrs. Albert died on the 28th of May, 1906.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.