USA > Indiana > Lake County > A standard history of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet region, Volume I > Part 40
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In June, 1914, was organized East Chicago Commandery No. 58, K. T. It has a present membership of over seventy, with the follow- ing officers: Waldo C. Bailey, eminent commander; Willard B. Van Horne, generalissimo; Fred W. Gerdts, captain general; William H. Jeppeson, treasurer ; Henry C. Knobloch, recorder.
ERS
MICHIGAN AVENUE, INDIANA HARBOR
The order in East Chicago also includes Chapter No. 141 and O. E. S. Chapter No. 167.
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS AND PYTHIAN SISTERS
East Chicago Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 477 was formed in January, 1900, and since its organization the following have been prominent : I. R. Ladd, Robert Spear, Joseph Galloway, John Hatfield, John Steel, A. E. Roland, Lester Graham, A. G. Slocomb, Roy Laundy, J. R. Andrews, A. H. W. Johnson, A. A. Ross, Samuel Hensell, F. H. Stephens, W. C. Jones, W. R. Diamond, Edward Green, Martin Peter- son, W. D. Irish, E. J. Meredith and C. W. Haight. The Knights have a membership of 125.
The Pythian Sisters are also organized under the name of East Chicago Temple No. 391, and are making progress-as usual.
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THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
The name "Calumet Chapter" was given to this branch of the organ- ization that it might be identified elosely with this region. The blue- fringed gentian, which grows in such profusion about, and the rarest of lilies, "the Lotus," which grows in Little Calumet River, were chosen for the flowers. "Calumet" means "peace-pipe," and in so naming the chapter it was designed also to stand for the same principles that our Indian progenitors intended when they named the rivers; that name now stands for unity of this diversified population.
The first member, Mrs. William R. Diamond, admitted by the National Board to the Wythogan Chapter of Plymouth October 6, 1909, has been most active in establishing this chapter. Living here her interest was transferred to this place. Miss Lillian Maxey and Mrs. Eleanor M. Creswell were admitted at the same time.
There being no public meetings of the organization here, it was difficult to find those who would be eligible and sufficiently interested to look up their ancestry, which must in faet have an established record as having served in the War of the Revolution. Interesting it is to search out from the records of genealogies, old people's knowledge of past events, facts of births, deaths and marriages, which when verified by the military record of Revolutionary soldiers at Washington, will entitle applicant to apply for admission.
Mrs. George W. Lewis, present regent, her mother, Mrs. Hinds, and daughter, Miss Florenee Lewis, were added to these January 5, 1910. Informal meetings were held keeping the interest alive. Mrs. Evaline Funkey, Mrs. George Miller, Mrs. V. Badeaux, Mrs. B. M. Cheney, Mrs. E. B. Jones, Mrs. F. L. Evans, Miss Mary H. Stone were admitted in 1911, completing the full quota of members required for application for a charter. This was granted April 12, 1911. Printed yearly programs made the meetings formal and the year's work outlined. From time to time application blanks are given out to guests, stimulating activities in looking up ancestry. Once a year formal receptions are held, an event looked forward to with much pleasure. The one in January of this year in the Masonie Temple was a notable one, bringing guests from surround- ing towns. The members assisted the officers in receiving : Mrs. George W. Lewis, regent ; Mrs. William J. Funkey, vice regent ; Mrs. Frank L. Evans, secretary ; Mrs. Eleanor M. Creswell, treasurer. At the present time there are enrolled nineteen members and as Hammond, Indiana Har- bor and Whiting are represented, the number is rapidly increasing. The chapter has presented the city with a sanitary drinking fountain, now doing duty on Forsythe Avenue. Also the beautiful American flag which adorns the walls of the public library. It was designed to have it decorate
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the outside of the building, but our esteemed critics from Chicago news- papers suggested it was just as well to have it flying there, as from the diversity of languages heard any time on our busy corners, one would imagine they were in some foreign quarter. This symbol of American patriotism stands for the highest type of American citizenship and loy- alty, as do each of the members of the Calumet Chapter, D. A. R.
MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA
The Modern Woodmen of America have been represented since March, 1910, by East Chicago Camp No. 13,078. William L. Cherry, William J. Funkey, Max T. Rottenberg, Clifford H. Reed and Roy E. Ayrs have successively filled the position of consul. Present member- ship over one hundred.
LOYAL ORDER OF MOOSE
In January, 1913, the Loyal Order of Moose instituted East Chicago Lodge No. 1,256, John Roberts being considered its founder. The officers elected at the time of organization were: Past dictator, R. G. Howell; dictator, Charles Johns; vice dictator, William Herbert ; prelate, D. J. Roberts ; secretary (three years), John Roberts; treasurer, John E. Jones. Mr. Jones resigned in October, 1913; Mr. Herbert was advanced to the chair and J. S. Johnston was elected vice dictator. In March, 1914, new officers were elected. Mr. Herbert thereby became past dictator, M. H. Silverman, dictator, J. S. Johnston, vice dictator and D. J. Roberts, prelate. John Roberts, by virtue of his three years' term, is still secretary. At present the lodge numbers 350 members m good standing.
OTHER FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS
The Fraternal Order of Eagles has also a progressive aerie-East Chicago No. 1127-which meets at Union Hall, Indiana Harbor. The following may also be mentioned as in the live list of secret, benevolent and protective bodies : East Chicago Tent No. 44, Knights of Maccabees; Rachel Hive No. 77, Ladies of the Maccabees; East Chicago Division No. 1, Ancient Order of Hibernians; St. Joseph Court No. 999, Catholic Order of Foresters; Twin City Council No. 1700, Knights of Columbus ; Blumer Lodge No. 86, Independent Order of the Western Star; Royal Neighbors of America; United Order of Foresters, and Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers. Of course there are scores of other associations organized by the workingmen of East Chicago, but the organizations mentioned are perhaps the strongest and best known.
LUVHUS HUTH UNILIHM
CHAPTER XXVII
CITY OF WHITING
AS A TOWN-CITY IMPROVEMENTS-WHITING'S PUBLIC PARK-MUNICIPAL DEPARTMENTS-THE PUBLIC LIBRARY-THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM -SACRED HEART CATHOLIC PARISH-METHODISM AT WHITING-ST. JOHN BAPTIST CATHOLIC CHURCH-ST. ADALBERT'S PARISH-THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH-SECRET AND BENEVOLENT BODIES.
The introduction to the corporation of Whiting has already been written in the collation of the facts picturing the purchase of its site by such land speculators as George W. Clarke, George M. Roberts and Jacob Forsyth, the actual settlement there of Henry Schrage, the establishment of a postoffice in 1871, and the forming of a village com- munity in 1888, coincident with the coming of the railroads which gave it special transportation advantages.
AS A TOWN
The village was only a community, however, until 1895, for it was not until that year, when a population of probably twenty-five hundred had gathered around the plant of the Standard Oil Company, that it was incorporated as a town. Its first officers, chosen in October of that year, were as follows: W. S. Rheem, president of the board of trustees; Henry Schrage, Fred Smith and George Humphrey, other trustees; Claire V. Crane, clerk ; P. Hickey, treasurer ; C. Collins, marshal.
"During the six years which Whiting was under the administra- tion of a town government," says one of its citizens, "our neighbor, Hammond, showed an inclination to annex the whole town, and, in fact, did annex all except that part owned by the Standard Oil Company, which included the works and eighty-five cottages. Legal steps were taken to recover those parts which Hammond had annexed, and all was recovered except Robertsdale. In order that it might be impossible for our larger neighbor to repeat the annexation scheme, Whiting was incorporated as a city early in 1903, and its first officers were elected May 4th of that year."
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CITY IMPROVEMENTS
W. E. Warwick served as mayor of the new city from May, 1903, to May, 1906, and during his administration the first steps were taken toward improving the streets, most of the wooden sidewalks being replaced by cement. The main-traveled thoroughfares were afterward paved with brick and Westrumite, the latter being a patent asphalt cement manufactured by a local plant.
WHITING'S PUBLIC PARK
In 1908, during the administration of Fred J. Smith, the city pur- chased twenty-two acres of barren sand dunes along the lake front. The tract was bought from the Forsyth estate for $75,000, which sum, with an additional $25,000 for improvements, was raised by a bond issue. Within two years that unsightly spot had been converted into a pretty park of lawns, flowering plants and shrubbery, and buildings and conveniences for pleasure, exercise, rest and recreation. A play- ground in which are swings, slides and merry-go-rounds, has been provided for the children, while four tennis courts attract those who enjoy this vigorous sport. The grounds, upon which these courts are situated, are quite low, so that when flooded in winter, a perfectly safe skating pond is provided. This is lighted at night so that those who desire may enjoy skating after working hours. When tired and chilled the skaters may rest in a heated building only a few feet from the lagoon. A recreation pier is contemplated.
MUNICIPAL DEPARTMENTS
Whiting's city hall and police station are included in one building, which was erected when the town incorporation was effected in 1895. It originally cost about ten thousand dollars and a handsome municipal structure of modern construction is believed to be a city improvement which is not in the far future.
Whiting has its special fire department housed in the city hall, and is also within prompt calling distance of the Robertsdale division of the Hammond department ; it is also within a ten minutes' call of the East Chicago station and its big motor-driven engines; the Standard Oil works have also special fire fighting apparatus; so that Whiting feels comparatively safe from a serious invasion of the-but the fire fiend has been canned these many years.
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THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Carnegie Library building was erected in 1905 and represents an investment of $30,000. It is of brick construction, somewhat Gothic in style, with a pretty entrance and a rather ornate tower as its main features. It houses about ten thousand volumes, is conveniently located on Oliver Street near Ohio Avenue, is well patronized and is satis- factorily conducted by Louisa Randall, the librarian.
The public schools of Whiting are under the control of the Board of Education, of which T. S. Boyle is president, J. E. Evans, secretary, and Charles Naef, treasurer. The superintendent of the system is W. W. Holliday and the high school principal, C. C. Whiteman.
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
Whiting has five schools within its public system-the high school, completed in 1910, the primary school, old high school and Steiglitz School, and we can give no better idea of what is accomplished through that system, as well as the How in all its essentials, than by quoting from Superintendent Holliday's report for 1913, as follows:
"Whiting has a population of about eight thousand people and only two and one-half square miles of territory. This makes it possible to have all the public school buildings in one group. There are five build- ings-three for the grades, one for the high school and manual training, and another for an auditorium and gymnasium. These buildings are all heated from the central heating plant located in the high school build- ing. The McGregor building and the high school building are heated by direct indirect system which is automatically controlled. The other three buildings are heated by steam radiators and are ventilated by the gravity system.
"The high school building is three stories high and has about twenty-five rooms. On the lower floor are located the shops of the manual training department, consisting of a bench rooom, a store room, a turning room, a forge room, and a machine shop. On this floor also are two rooms for the kindergarten, a kitchen, a dining room, a sewing room, the boiler room and the pumping room. The second floor of the building has an assembly room with a seating capacity of about two hundred and fifty, the commercial department, offices for the superin- tendent, the Board of Education, and the principal of the high school, and several recitation rooms. On the third floor are located the botany, chemistry, and physics laboratories, the mechanical drawing room, a recitation room, and a lecture room, and a dark room. This building
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is modern and up to date in every particular and has been a great factor in the growth of the high school and the efficiency of the work.
"The gymnasium is a two story brick building with a play room 60x80 feet on each floor. It has several dressing rooms and a shower bath. Each floor is equipped for playing basketball. These rooms are used in stormy weather as play rooms for the grade children. Quite a large number of dumbbells and Indian clubs have been made for the gymnasium but as is usual in schools they are very little used, as the boys and girls prefer to play basketball or some other game.
"The other three buildings of the group are in very good condition but have nothing of any special interest.
"Our grade pupils are given forty minutes each day for play, twenty minutes in the forenoon and twenty minutes in the afternoon. The daily program is so arranged that the children of only two rooms are on the play ground or in the gymnasium at the same time. The play is supervised closely by the teachers in order to give all pupils a fair chance and to prevent accidents. The play ground is small in extent but is well provided with play ground apparatus.
"Practically all the work of making and putting up the apparatus was done by the high school boys in the manual training department. There are two steel vertical ladders, five pairs of flying rings, five see- saws, three teeter ladders, six swings, two horizontal bars, two trapeze, three slides, one giant stride, and uprights for pole vault and high jump. We estimate that this apparatus, if bought ready made, would cost about six hundred dollars. Its actual cost was one hundred and fourteen dollars and thirty-three cents.
"Whiting was among the first of the schools in the Calumet region to make manual training and domestic art a part of the course of study. It is possible that in our enthusiasm these have been somewhat overdone in the past, but they have without doubt been of great value. During the last seven years, 81 per cent of the pupils who have finished the eighth grade work have entered the high school. Eighty per cent of these have finished the first year's work ; 78 per cent have completed the second year's work: 65 per cent the third year's work; and 57 per cent have graduated. While these figures are not what they should be, school men know that they are very high compared with the average school. There is little doubt but what manual training has kept many boys in school. If so, it is a good thing even if it had no other value. The boys of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades are required to work one hour and twenty minutes each week at manual training, and the girls of these grades work the same amount of time at sewing. In the seventh and eighth grades, the boys work one hour and twenty
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minutes a week at mechanical drawing and the girls work the same amount of time at cooking. It is very probable that manual training will be discontinued in the fifth and sixth grades after this year. These children are most too small to work successfully in the shop. Cooking will probably be discontinued in the seventh and eighth grades or will be made optional. Manual training and mechanical drawing are elective in the high school. The percentage of boys taking these subjects at this time is much lower than it was several years ago. This is probably because the subjects were then novel.
"Four years of mechanical drawing and four years of shop work are offered in the high school. The first year of mechanical drawing con- sists of : Construction, lettering, and orthographic projection. The sec- ond year: Development of surfaces, intersection of solids, study of screw threads (conventional standard square and V), and machine design. The third year: Study of gears, crank, and cams, machine design studied from machines used in the shop. The fourth year: Ad- vanced machine design and blue printing. The first year of shop work consists of : Several articles of cabinet work selected by the pupil, and the instructor teaching shop methods and wood working. The second year : Wood turning and pattern making. The wood turning is prepara- tory to pattern making and occupies four months' time. The pattern making class makes patterns for machine parts to be cast and used in the third year. The third year: Use of machinist's lathe, drill press, shaper, and milling machine, completing the machine parts from designs made in the second year's work. The fourth year: Advanced work upon the iron working machinery and tools, completion of some tools, machine, or machine parts to be determined by the pupil and the in- structor. One year of domestie art is offered. This includes advanced cooking and sewing. In the cooking, an extensive study is made of the nutritive values of the different elasses of foods, their selection in the market, economy in buying, the planning of menus, the serving of meals, and practical lessons in cooking the foods discussed.
"The sewing consists of simple hand and machine sewing, making simple articles of underclothing and outside garments, simple drawn- work and hemstitching. This work is applied towards garments made for the pupil herself or for some member of her family. It is our inten- tion to put into the high school a good course in millinery and dress- making.
"During the last seven years the enrollment of the high school has increased from forty-seven to one hundred and sixty. There are sev- eral factors in the cause of this increase, the principals of which are an excellent teaching force and splendid equipment.
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"As is true in all the cities of the Calumet region, Whiting has a large percentage of foreign born residents. The great majority of the pupils in the school are of American birth but of foreign parentage. Only 41/2 per cent of our pupils were born in foreign lands but 621/2 per cent of the parents are of foreign birth. These are of twenty-five different nationalities. A large part of the pupils are unable to speak English when they enter the school. Some of our teachers, especially the ones who have been with us for some time, have become very skillful in handling these children. Twenty-nine and one-half per cent of all the pupils in the first eight grades are retarded, that is, over age for their grade. This retardation is most heavy in the first five grades and is most common among children of foreign parentage. There are very few retarded pupils in the seventh grade and almost none in the eighth grade.
SACRED HEART CATHOLIC PARISH
The Catholics, now represented by the Sacred Heart Church, were the first to be fairly established at Whiting. In the latter part of 1890 Rev. Joseph Kroll was sent to the settlement centering in the Standard Oil works for the purpose of selecting a suitable site for a church. This he did, by purchasing four lots from Jacob Forsyth, who donated a fifth. In February, 1891, Rev. M. J. Byrne arrived on the ground and gathered a band of Catholics comprising twenty families and one hun- dred unmarried men. The roughest part of Whiting was then known as Oklahoma, and there, in a room over a saloon on 119th Street, Father Byrne celebrated mass and conducted the services of his church until May of 1891, when a little frame church building was completed, it being dedicated by Father Bremmer, the vicar-general. In the following October confirmation was administered for the first time in Whiting by Bishop Rademacher, of Nashville.
Father Byrne afterward erected Oriental Hall, which was for a time used by the public as well as the church. He also built a parochial schoolhouse, a larger pastoral residence and a dwelling for the teachers. In August, 1898, he was succeeded by Rev. Charles Thiele, under whose pastorate the land was purchased on LaPorte Avenue, which is now the site of the Sacred Heart Church. This location west of the old site was deemed advisable, as the center of population had shifted in that direction. Father Thiele was succeeded by Rev. John B. Berg, the present pastor, in July, 1905. Under Father Berg's ministrations the church debt has been wiped out, and in 1910 were completed a combined church and school edifice and residences for the sisters and pastor. The
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total cost of these buildings was $45,000. The church membership is more than one thousand souls and the school attendance some three hun- dred pupils.
METHODISM AT WHITING
Methodism was organized in Whiting in 1891. It grew out of a Sunday school which had been held in one of the rooms in the high school of which Henry Schwalm and E. J. Lewis were superintendents, alternating as their work required. The first preaching service was held by Reverend Mr. Reno, pastor of the East Chicago Church. An organization was effected with three members. The first pastor was A. J. Calvert. The present church building was dedicated in 1895. Three years later it was remodeled and much improved. The interior has recently been redecorated and put in fine condition. The property is valued at $8,000. Last April the congregation purchased a parsonage at a cost of $3,500. The membership numbers 205, the Sunday school 215. The ladies' societies are especially strong and active, and to them is due no little credit for the success of the church. The congregation has had fifteen pastors. The present pastor is Rev. W. B. Warriner, who is serving his people very acceptably.
ST. JOHN BAPTIST CATHOLIC CHURCH
St. John Baptist Church was established in 1897 by Bishop Rade- macher, especially to accommodate the many Slavish Catholics who had been in attendance at the Sacred Heart Church. Five years after his ordination as a priest in Hungary, Rev. Benedict M. Rajeany was called to that charge by his church and has been the guide and friend of St. John Baptist Parish since its organization in 1897. Besides a large church and school and a handsome priest's residence, Father Benedict, as he is popularly ealled, established a cemetery at Hammond, purchas- ing what was known as Greenwood and renaming it St. John Cemetery. The total value of the church property, outside of the cemetery, is esti- mated at $35,000; membership, about two thousand souls; school attend- ance, some three hundred and fifty pupils.
ST. MARY'S GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH
St. Mary's Greek Catholic Church, in charge of Rev. Valentine Balogh, is an organization of American-Ruthenians, which since 1907 has been under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church. In
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1899 they bought the church and parish house which had been erected by the German Reformed Lutherans and established an independent organization. The pastors of this first society were Rev. Father Sere- gelyi, Rev. Eugene Satala and Rev. Father Parscouta. The appointment of Father Balogh, in 1907, came through Rt. Rev. S. S. Ortynsky. who had been selected from Rome as bishop of the Greek Catholic Ruthenians in the United States. On account of legal complication with his prede- cessor, Rev. Father Parscouta, he did not take active charge of the church until May, 1908. Since that time the progress of the parish has been steady and smooth.
ST. ADALBERT'S PARISII
The religious and social center of the Poles of Whiting is St. Adal- bert's Parish of the Catholic Church. In 1901 it was found that some seventy families of Polish blood were worshiping at the Sacred Heart Church and it was thought best to organize them into a separate parish. This was done under the supervision of Father Peter Kahellek of Ham- mond, and a site for a church and auxiliary buildings was purchased on Indiana Boulevard near 121st Street. As was customary. the Forsyth estate donated a portion of the land. A house of wor- ship was dedicated in the spring of 1902. In the meantime Father Kahellek had been succeeded by Rev. Peter Budnik, who made not only improvements in the church property, but organized a number of strong societies for men, women and juveniles. A brick schoolhouse was completed in 1906, and in 1909 a new rectory was added to the church properties. The parish now numbers some one hundred and fifty families. The present pastor is Rev. Julian Skrzypinski.
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