USA > Indiana > Lake County > A standard history of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet region, Volume II > Part 10
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FERDINAND RICHARD SCHAAF. Postmaster of Hammond, Ferdinand R. Schaaf has lived in that city since he was a boy, and in many ways has identified himself with the larger business and civic interests of the community. IIe is a member of several banking institutions of the Cal- umet region, has large and important interests in other lines of business, and little more than thirty-five years of age has made himself an influen- tial figure in affairs.
Ferdinand Richard Schaaf was born at Hamburg, Germany, April 15, 1878, a son of Ferdinand R. and Catherine (Schlueter) Schaaf. His father, who has long been identified with the real estate and insurance business, came to America in 1880, and after ten years' residence in Chicago moved to Hammond in 1890. The son was twelve years old when the family established its home in Hammond, and he acquired his education by attending the public schools of that city and of South Chicago. He also had a course in a business college, and with that preparation for a career started to earn his living as bookkeeper with the Knickerbocker Ice Company and also with the Standard Oil Com- pany. In 1908 Mr. Schaaf was elected township trustee of North Town- ship and served in that office four years. He has for a number of years been prominent in republican party affairs, has served as county chair- man of Lake County, has been a member of the State Republican Com- mittee and otherwise active in furthering and supporting the party wel- fare. On December 19, 1910, Mr. Schaaf was appointed postmaster at Hammond, and his term expires at the close of the present year, 1914.
As a banker Mr. Schaaf is vice president of the East Chicago Bank, vice president of the Farmers and Merchants Bank at Highlands, is a director in the First National Bank at Whiting, and a member of the firm F. R. Schaaf & Company, bankers and brokers. For one term he served as secretary of the Lake County Bankers' Association. He is also vice president of the Northern Indiana Lumber & Coal Co .; a member of the firm of Hammond & Schaaf, at Hammond, and is vice president of the Postmasters' Association of America.
On June 12, 1901, at Hammond, Mr. Sehaaf married Mary Agnes Roberts, a daughter of George M. and Agnes (Atchison) Roberts, her father being one of the large property owners of Northern Indiana. Mr. Schaaf has membership in the Hamilton Club of Chicago, the Chicago Automobile Club, the Hammond Country Club, the East Chi- cago Club, the Hammond Commercial Club, and the Indiana Society of Chicago. In Masonry he has taken thirty-two degrees of the Scottish Rite, belongs to the Mystic Shrine, to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, to the Knights of Pythias, and to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of America. He and family worship in the First Evangelical Church, of which he is a trustee.
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CYRUS W. CAMPBELL, M. D. It was thirty years' active practice in medicine in Indiana, twenty-three of which have been spent in Ham- mond, which have brought Dr. Cyrus W. Campbell the distinctions and rewards of the best type of physician. His service has been commen- surate with the length of years in practice, and his genial personal qual- ities combined with an expert knowledge of his profession have won him the strong affections of hundreds of families in Hammond and vicinity.
Dr. Campbell was born at Monterey, Indiana, October 15, 1850. His parents were Franeis G. and Delia A. Campbell. His father was for a number of years an editor, and also was in business both as a merchant and farmer. Dr. Campbell attended the public schools of Indiana and studied medicine privately and also in Franklin, Pennsylvania. He began practice in 1880 at Blue Grass, Indiana, and remained there for more than ten years. In the meantime he had continued his studies in the Medical College of Indiana at Indianapolis, and was graduated M. D. in 1888. In May, 1891, Dr. Campbell moved to Hammond, and has since enjoyed a large general practice in that city. He was at one time seere- tary of the Hammond Board of Health. Professionally his relations are with the Lake County Medical Society and the Indiana State Medieal Association.
In October, 1893, Dr. Campbell was married at Monterey, Indiana, to Ellen Wallace. Their six children are mentioned briefly as follows : Margaret, Mrs. M. J. White, of Hammond; Ethel, Mrs. F. J. Stake- miller, of Miami, Florida; Claudius, of Hammond; Celestia Fay. Mrs. Welcome Kindig, of Bunker Hill, Indiana; Murley, of Hammond ; and Dean H., at home. Dr. Campbell has membership in the Hammond Country Club, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Maccabees.
FRANCIS HARRY Fox, M. D., is one of the younger members of the medical fraternity of Hammond, but in ability and extent of professional relations is regarded as one of the leading physicians and surgeons in that city. He brought to his work in Hammond thorough scholarship attainment and a broad experience gained both through pri- vate practice and hospital work.
Francis Harry Fox is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Bradford August 22, 1880. His father, Francis H. Fox, was for many years actively identified with the oil industry in Western Pennsylvania. The maiden name of the mother was Jane Tait. Doctor Fox attended the public schools of Derriek City, finishing at the high school, and after one year at the Western University of Pennsylvania entered the old and distinguished center of medical education, the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, where after three years he was graduated in 1902 M. D. He began his practice in June of the same year at Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, and from there in 1905 went to West Frankfort, Illinois, and was surgeon for the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway Company and the Deering Coal Company until 1907. With that experi- ence behind him, Doctor Fox came to Hammond and has since been chiefly engaged in looking after a large and growing general practice. While the Hammond Medical Society was in existence Doctor Fox served as its president. He is a member of the Lake County Medical Society and the Indiana State and Tenth District Medical Association. He also belongs to the Hammond Country Club. Doctor Fox was mar- ried in 1902, at Philadelphia, to Mary Theresa LaFave. They have two children : Adelaide Estella and Francis Harry, Jr.
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GARY LAND COMPANY. CAPT. H. S. NORTON. A history of the modern City of Gary practically begins with the operation of the Gary Land Company, which was organized in 1906 as a subsidiary to the United States Steel Corporation. The officers were E. B. Buffington, president ; J. G. Thorpe, vice president ; and T. J. Hyman, secretary and treasurer. The Gary Land Company was organized for the purpose of handling the land acquired by the steel corporation on the proposed site of the new industrial city. The land company had acquired ownership of approx- imately nine thousand acres of land, in one continuous body. In the spring of 1906 the company began building the City of Gary, primarily for the purpose of providing suitable homes for the employees of the various industries established by the steel corporation. The City of Gary was consequently incorporated, compromising approximately thirty-two square miles of territory. This was the area over which the Gary Land Company had jurisdiction. Sites were sold to the Indiana Steel Company, the American Sheet and Tin Company, the American Bridge Company, for industrial sites, while all the land was laid out and subdivided to provide a model city. Streets sixty feet in width were laid out in rectangular fashion, and under the supervision of competent sani- tary engineers a sewer system was planned and installed throughout the Gary Land Company's first subdivision. All the sewers, gas and water pipes are located under the alleys, so as to avoid the necessity of dis- turbing street pavements in order to repair these pipes. The Land Com- pany's subsequent additions were developed and improved in the same manner. The principal street running north and south, designated Broadway, is one hundred feet in width, and was paved with granitoid or concrete blocks. The principal street running east and west, desig- nated Fifth Avenue, is eighty feet in width and similarly paved. Other streets were paved with macadam. At the close of 1913 within the city limits of Gary were 180 miles of paved streets. A supply of water was provided by a tunnel constructed 15,000 feet in length to the deep waters of Lake Michigan, and a supply of pure water has been supplied equal to the needs of a city of 250,000 population. An artificial gas plant was also established, and electric current for lighting and power was provided from the Gary works. These public utilities, water, gas and electric light, are controlled by the Gary Heat, Light and Water Company, a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation.
The Gary Land Company has put up all told a thousand residences, more than six hundred of them in the first subdivision, and varying in cost from twenty-five thousand dollars to fifteen hundred dollars each. About three hundred houses in the sixth subdivision cost from five thou- sand dollars to eighteen hundred dollars each. Building lots are offered for sale at prices representing approximately the cost of the land plus cost of improvements, and a special discount is offered to employees of the subsidiary companies of the United States Steel Corporation. Strict requirements are maintained as to the character of buildings to be erected, and purchasers of lots are required to erect buildings of approved character within eighteen months after purchase. The title does not pass to the purchaser until the completion of the building. In the busi- ness district the requirements concerning improvements made it neces- sary for the purchaser of each 25-foot lot to construct a building valued at least ten thousand dollars. During the first four years buildings of two stories were permitted in the business district, while at the present time the requirement is for three or more stories.
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The Gary Land Company has necessarily employed a large force of skilled engineers, architects, artesans in the building trade, for the con- struction of these buildings and for carrying out the vast work under- taken in building a new town from the foundation up and in the space of only two or three years.
The director and manager in charge of these comprehensive enter- prises of the Gary Land Company has been Capt. H. S. Norton, who enjoys the unique honor of having overseen the growth and upbuilding of an entire city. Captain Norton was born at Lockport, Illinois, Novem- ber 27, 1865. a son of DeWitt C. and Maria L. (Singer) Norton. The father was a prominent business man who conducted a line of stone quarries at different points about Chicago. Captain Norton was liberally educated, graduating from DePauw University of Indiana in 1888. He was associated with his father in the stone business until the latter's death in 1892, and then continued in the same line independently at Bedford, Indiana, until 1896. At that date he became identified with the Illinois Steel Company at Joliet, and in 1906 was placed in charge of the field force and practical construction operations of the Gary Land Company.
Captain Norton gained his title from service as captain in the Third Regiment of the Illinois National Guards, an office he held two years. In 1888 Captain Norton married Miss Lu Martin, of Lemont, Illinois. They have three children: Genevieve B., Mildred L., and Marion L. Captain Norton has membership in the college fraternity Delta Tau Delta, is a Knights Templar Mason and member of the Shrine, and affili- ates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Knights of Pythias. He is president of the Gary Commercial Club and was one of the organizers of the Country Club. He also belongs to the University Club, is a trustee of the Gary Y. M. C. A., and is Senior Warden in Christ's Episcopal Church.
EAST SIDE TRUST AND SAVINGS BANK OF HAMMOND. While this is one of the new financial institutions that have sprung up in response to the demand of trade and the growing commerce and industries in the Calumet region, it has already well justified the confidence of its organizers and of the business community which it serves.
The East Side Trust and Savings Bank was organized on March 22, 1912, but did not begin business for several months, and its first year of fiscal operation closed on November 1, 1913. The capital stock of the company is $25,000, and, besides general banking facilities, it affords the security and stability of a corporation for all kinds of trusts, handling insurance, issuing bonds, collecting rents, and acting as trustee, receiver, administrator, guardian, and the general handling of estates. The total resources of the company on November 1, 1913, amounted to $120,813.02, and deposits at that time were nearly $95,000.
The bank has suitable quarters at the corner of Calumet Avenue and State Street, in Hammond. Its officers are: Englehardt Ullrich, presi- dent ; John C. Becker, vice president; J. Floyd Irish, cashier; Arnold Keldenich and Clayton B. Stiver, directors.
ENGLEHARDT ULLRICH. The president and one of the chief organizers of the East Side Trust and Savings Bank of Hammond, Englehardt Ullrich, has been identified with that city in various and important rela- tions since 1896. Mr. Ullrich was in the coal business, wholesale and
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retail, up till 1903, and has since been chiefly in real estate and insur- ance, doing a large business in that field, and at the same time carrying on the executive work of the bank. Mr. Ullrich is director and treas- urer of the Becker & Tapper Realty Company of Indiana, and has been specially prominent in the building of moderate priced homes for the working people, having constructed more buildings at such prices than any other man in Hammond. In 1902 he was elected and served one term as alderman from the First Ward.
Englehardt Ullrich was born in Kassel, Germany, November 7, 1867, a son of Henry and Tenia Ullrich. His father was a farmer. After being reared and receiving a fairly substantial education in Germany, Englehardt Ullrich emigrated to the United States when he was seventeen years old, and spent his first three years employed as a farm hand. He served two years in apprenticeship to the blacksmith trade, and for nine years was employed in that work in the City of Chicago. From Chicago he came to Hammond, and has since shown a marked capacity for general business enterprise.
In April, 1895, Mr. Ullrich married Anna Sippel of Tinley Park, Cook County, Illinois. There are three children: Arthur J., who is assisting his father in the bank; Dora; and Walter. The family are members of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. Besides his other business connections he is vice president and a director in the Gary Brick and Stone Company, and was also a director in the Lake County Title and Guarantee Com- pany for about five years.
PETER H. BICK. Now associated as one of the partners in the large real estate business conducted by Ullrich & Bick, Mr. Bick has known Hammond more or less closely as a resident since 1883, though for ten years he was in business in Chicago.
Peter H. Bick was born in Trier, Germany, May 6, 1874, a son of Casper and Anna Bick. His father, who brought his family to Ham- mond in 1883, was for a number of years engaged in the real estate business and had a number of houses which he rented. The son received his education in the public and parochial schools of Hammond, where he grew up from the age of nine years, and supplemented his early school training by a course in a business college. He was connected with the drug trade for several years, and then went to Chicago and spent ten years in that city as credit man and sales manager for a laundry supply house. Returning to Hammond, and having a thorough knowledge of the laundry business, he established a plant and operated a high grade laundry until March, 1913. Mr. Bick became associated with Mr. E. Ullrich in real estate and insurance business in November, 1913.
In 1907 Mr. Bick married Mary E. Kiley at Chicago. Their three children are Mary Catherine, Elizabeth and Ann. The family has mem- bership in St. Joseph's Catholic Church, and Mr. Bick is a member of the Chicago Laundrymen's Club and the Spring Bank Club of Chicago.
JOHN N. BECKMAN. Representing stanch German-American stock in Lake County, John N. Beckman, who has again and again been hon- ored with public office, and who is active in the real estate business, has had a long and honorable career.
He was born in Hanover Township of Lake County, October 26, 1856. He was the oldest of nine children, three sons and six daughters, whose parents were Herman C. and Elizabeth (Fink) Beckman. Her-
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man C. Beckman was born in Germany, June 3, 1822, and died July 5, 1894. Reared to manhood in Germany, he had a good education and was a man of more than ordinary intelligence. In 1846 he arrived at New York, and lived in the East until 1856, in the month of May of which year he came to Lake County. He established a store at Hanover Center, and also engaged in raising high grade cattle. He voted the republican ticket from the formation of that party, was affiliated with the Masons and Odd Fellows, and his name is one that deserves men- tion among the early settlers of Lake County. His wife was born also in Germany, August 14, 1835, and died in July, 1879.
John N. Beckman grew up in Lake County, received a common school education, and later attended the Ball Institute and the Bryant & Stratton Business College. Most of the early years were spent on a farm, and he later engaged in merchandising, and finally in real estate, and has long enjoyed a secure prosperity as one of Lake County's business men. He is one of the leading republicans of the county, having cast his first vote for James A. Garfield, and in 1900 was elected joint representative of Lake County, and was returned regularly to the Legislature for several years. Mr. Beckman affiliates with the Independent Order of Foresters and the Knights of Pythias.
On November 3, 1880, he married Mary A. Echterling, who was born in Germany, May 14, 1858, and came of a Catholic family. Twelve children were born to their marriage, of whom six grew to maturity, and several of the sons have found important positions in the business world. John F. Beckman is president of the Home Lumber Company of Hammond, and a brief sketch of his career appears elsewhere. August C. is a civil engineer.
JOHN FREDERICK BECKMAN. Many of the most successful business men graduated from the "road" into prominent executive positions, and J. F. Beckman of Hammond is an example of a young man who served his apprenticeship in making the rounds of the trade from town to town, then five years ago became bookkeeper for the Home Lumber Company, of which he is now president and manager.
John Frederick Beckman was born in Brunswick, Indiana, June 25, 1882, a son of John N. and Mary A. (Echterling) Beckman. His father has had a business career chiefly in real estate. The son received a public school education, and later was a student in Purdue University at Lafayette. On leaving college he took up his business career as a traveling salesman, and spent five years selling goods on the road. In 1909 he entered the Home Lumber Company as bookkeeper, and later, on the reorganization of the concern, he stepped into the position of president and manager. The business is one of the most flourishing of its kind in Hammond, and Mr. Beckman's place in local affairs is already secure.
He is a member of the Hammond Country Club, the Knights of Columbus, and in college was an Alpha Omega. His church is St. Joseph's Catholic. On January 10, 1911, he married Mary Krost, a daughter of John F. and Emma (Kaufer) Krost of Hammond. They have one child, Mary Elizabeth.
ROSWELL O. JOHNSON. In 1913, on the citizens ticket. Roswell O. Johnson was elected mayor of Gary, an honor carrying with it heavy responsibilities, and Mr. Johnson has entered office with the complete
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confidence of the better element of citizenship in Gary, and his previous standing as a citizen and professional man is a guarantee of his con- scientious and efficient performance of his duties to the public. Already Mr. Johnson has introduced many changes and reforms in the manner of conducting municipal affairs, and from what has been done, there is a promise of a thoroughly business-like administration, noted not less for its economy and effectiveness, than for its honesty.
Roswell O. Johnson was born in Adams County, Indiana, April 23, 1872, and is a son of Joseph P. and Martha E. Johnson. His father was a farmer in Eastern Indiana, and Mayor Johnson spent his boy- hood in the wholesome environment of the farm. The early education acquired from the local schools was supplemented by a college career at the Tri-State Normal School, where he graduated, and for several years he read law at Decatur, Indiana, with Paul G. Hooper, being admitted to the bar in 1899. However, his early period of practice was comparatively brief, and for a number of years he was engaged in the performance of official duties. In 1900 he was appointed collector of customs on the Mexican border, at Douglas, Arizona, and remained in the Southwest in that office until 1906. During 1899, before leaving the state, he made the race for the office of state senator of Indiana. On returning from the Southwest, Mr. Johnson entered the Indianapolis Law School, and was graduated in 1907. For two years he practiced at Kendallville, Indiana, and since 1909, has been a resident and in the law and real-estate at Gary. He is president of the Indiana Sales Company, which has put on the market two important additions to Gary, the first being Schug Park, comprising 384 lots, and the Woodland Park, of 343 lots.
Mayor Johnson was married in 1901 to Alice Leone Browand, at Ken- dallville, Indiana. They have two boys, Roswell B., aged ten years, and Richard C., now about one year of age. Mr. Johnson affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a member of the University Club, of the Commercial Club, and the Y. M. C. A.
THEODORE C. KLOTZ. A former resident of Chicago, where he also became prominent in politics, Mr. Klotz located in Hammond in 1906, and while building up a large and profitable law practice has also con- tinned his activities as one of the leaders in the local democracy. Mr. Klotz has the qualifications of an able attorney, is well versed in the law and his experience has brought him in connection with much impor- tant court and office business. At the same time he has the gifts and personality of a public leader, and will probably go far in political activities.
Theodore C. Klotz was born in Chicago October 9, 1877, a son of Theodore and Caroline Klotz. With a public school and college educa- tion, Mr. Klotz entered the Chicago Law School and graduated an LL. B. in 1898. He was court elerk for Col. J. W. Bennett in Chicago, and secretary of several democratic organizations of the old Fourteenth and Sixteenth wards of Chicago, and of the Young Men's Democratic Club of Chicago. It was at the suggestion of Judge Lawrence Becker that Mr. Klotz came to Hammond in 1906. For two years he served as assistant city attorney, and later was Judge Becker's personal bailiff in court No. 2 of the Superior beneh. During 1910-11 he was acting secre- tary of the Democratic County Central Committee.
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On December 6, 1902, Mr. Klotz married Miss Helen M. DeBo, daugh- ter of Capt. Peter and Elizabeth DeBo. Both the children born to their marriage are deceased. Mr. Klotz has membership in the Chamber of Commerce, is a Knights Templar degree Mason, and a Shriner and also affiliates with the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the United Order of Foresters, and the Protected Home Circle. He is an active member of the IIammond Saengerbund, the local Ger- man singing society. The local democratic society, known as the Jef- ferson Club, is also one of his affiliations.
Mr. Klotz represents several of the smaller towns of Lake County as attorney, is secretary and treasurer of the Hammond Finance and Development Company, and is secretary and a member of the Frieden Evangelical Church.
DR. GEORGE LINDSAY SMITH. In the practice of his profession as a dental surgeon Doctor Smith has been identified with the City of Ham- mond for more than ten years, and in skill and general ability ranks second to none among the profession in Lake County. Doctor Smith has been prominent in dental societies, and is a man who has since early boyhood relied upon his individual efforts to advance him to success.
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