USA > Indiana > Lake County > A standard history of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet region, Volume II > Part 17
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was in the engagement which terminated that raid and resulted in the capture of Morgan and many of his men. He was also with the army of Burnside in Tennessee and participated in the battle of Knoxville. During 1864 he was in the great campaign which terminated with the fall of Atlanta. However, Mr. Brown, as a participant in the Stoneman raid, was captured at Sunshine Church on July 31, and for the next seven months, until about March, 1865, had to endure the rigors of southern prisons. He was confined at Andersonville two months, then sent to Charleston, then to Florence, South Carolina, and was kept in the stockades until released. He was mustered out of service June 27, 1865, at Indianapolis, after three years of service.
Returning to Lake County, Mr. Brown began his business career as a farmer, and also engaged in stock buying. Public affairs for a number of years shared his time and energies, together with business, and in 1870 he was elected county treasurer, and in that year moved to Crown Point. In 1872 he was reelected, and in 1876 was elected county auditor, and served two terms of four years each in that office.
Mr. Brown occupies probably the most distinctive position in North- western Indiana as a landowner. He is the proprietor of a large ranch of 7,000 acres in Lake County, located along the Kankakee River. Such large bodies of land devoted to stock raising under one ownership is of course not uncommon in the Southwest and West, but in a country which has been settled and under development for seventy or eighty years, it is extremely unusual. Mr. Brown's son now is engaged in the active management of this vast farm and stock ranch. Mr. Brown served as vice president of the First National Bank for a time, and has occupied the position of president since 1881. He is president of the Business Men's Association of Crown Point. In recent years he has done much to extend the accommodations and service of transportation about Crown Point, and is vice president of the Gary & Southern Electric Railway, of which he was one of the organizers. It was Mr. Brown who took perhaps the leading part in the establishment of a public library in Crown Point, and has been president of the board since its organization. Fraternally his Masonic relations have extended to the commandery, and he is affiliated with the Grand Army post.
Mr. Brown first married Almira Clark. The three children of that marriage are: Neil, who is his father's right-hand man on the ranch at Selby; Mary Alice, living at home; and Grace Almira, the wife of Edward S. Davis of Chicago. After the death of his first wife Mr. Brown married Myrtle E. Ashton, and his present wife was Jennie E. Northrup.
GEORGE ELMER HERSHMAN. Though his practice as a member of the Lake County bar has extended over only about seven years, few of his professional associates have so valuable and important practice as George E. Hershman of Crown Point.
George Elmer Hershman was born at Asphaltum, Jasper County, Indiana, January 29, 1885, and for all of his accomplishments has not yet celebrated his thirtieth birthday. His parents, Walter H. and Anna C. (Sager) Hershman, were Jasper County farmers. After a public school training he graduated in 1904 from the law department of the Valparaiso University, was admitted to the bar in June of the same year, and at once set up in practice at Rensselaer, Indiana. In Septem- ber, 1907, Mr. Hershman moved to Crown Point, and besides a general
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practice has been called upon for a large amount of service as attorney for corporations. Mr. Hershman is attorney for the Chicago & Erie Railroad, Grand Trunk & Western Railroad, the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, the Michigan Central Railway, the Edward Hines Lumber Company of Chicago, the Able Transfer Company of Chicago, the Town of Schererville, Lake County, Indiana, and has also performed a large amount of abstract work for the abstract and title companies.
Besides his membership in the Lake County Bar Association, Mr. Hershman is a past noble grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a member of the Rebekahs, and Encampment, is acting consul of the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America, belongs to the Royal Neighbors of America, and his church is the Methodist. On August 29, 1907, at Rensselaer, Indiana, Mr. Hershman married Lillie May Wright. Their two children are Esther A. and Harold W.
ERNEST H. HIXON. Among the prosperous and substantial farmers of Lake County, Indiana, whose successful careers reflect credit upon the community in which they live, is the worthy citizen of section 9, Center Township, to whom this personal record pertains. A native son of the county, practically his entire life has been passed within its limits, and he belongs to a family that has had its residence here since 1839 and members of which have at all times occupied high places in agricul- ture, in business, and in social and public life. Mr. Hixon was born on his father's farm in Winfield Township, Lake County, December 12, 1864, and is a son of Loren and Martha (Lawrence) Hixon, the former of whom died at Valparaiso, Indiana, at the age of seventy-four years, and the latter in Winfield Township when thirty-four years of age.
Jeremiah Hixon, the paternal grandfather of Ernest H. Hixon, was a native of Pennsylvania, and came to Lake County, Indiana, in 1839, being among the first white settlers, while the Indians were still numer- ous, Mr. Hixon acquiring a fair knowledge of their language. A con- tractor and builder by occupation, he constructed a number of light- houses along the shores of Lake Michigan, and was also the builder of the first courthouse at Crown Point. Although he followed contracting and building throughout his entire life, he resided on a farm in Winfield Township which he had secured from the Government on first coming to Winfield Township, and on which he built his home, a structure of logs. Loren Hixon was still a lad when he accompanied his father from the Pennsylvania home to the practical wilderness of Lake County, and here he was reared amid pioneer surroundings. The educational opportuni- ties in this vicinity at that time being decidedly limited, he was sent to Buffalo, New York, by his father, and there remained several years attending school, and following this was for several years a sailing master on the Great Lakes. About that time he was married and returned to Winfield Township, where he took up land, improved and operated it for many years, and developed a good farm. In the evening of life, with a handsome and well-earned competency, he retired from active pursuits, and moved to Crown Point. His death occurred at Valparaiso. Polit- ically he was a republican. Mr. and Mrs. Hixon were the parents of three children : Charles, who is now deceased ; Ernest H., of this review ; and Walter, a resident of Chicago.
The early education of Ernest H. Hixon was secured in the country schools of Winfield Township, but when he was twelve years of age aecom- panied his parents to Crown Point, where the city graded and high
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schools furnished him with the balance of his training. While a member of the senior class of the Crown Point High School he laid aside his books and as a lad of nineteen years went to Chicago to accept a position in the wholesale dry goods department of the great firm of Carson, Pirie, Scott & Company. After three years of mercantile experience Mr. Hixon returned to Lake County and began farming on his father's old place in Winfield Township. Later for twelve years he was located on a property in Eagle Creek Township, formerly owned by his father- in-law, but disposed of his interests therein in 1897 and purchased his present tract, at that time an unimproved property of ninety-four acres, lying outside of the city limits, although it has since been included in the corporate limits of Crown Point. Here Mr. Hixon has made improve- ments of a valuable and handsome character. His buildings are of the best, as are his machinery and equipment, and the enviable results which he achieves from his labors forcibly prove that he is thoroughly con- versant with every angle of farm work. In addition to his homestead farm Mr. Hixon is the owner of a property in Ross Township, just north of Crown Point. From 1909 until 1913 Mr. Hixon was a majority stockholder and manager of the Crown Point Electric Company, and various other enterprises have had the benefitting guidance of his able management and executive ability. In years past he had much to do with farmers' institutes, and was one of the first to advocate and realize the advantages of good roads, which have since become such a vital issue.
Mr. Hixon was married in 1888 to Miss Amy Crawford, of Eagle Creek Township, Lake County, and to them there have been born five children, as follows : Walter C., who died in 1913 when twenty years of age, had just graduated from Crown Point High School and had a most promising future ; Ralph M., who graduated from the Crown Point High School in the class of June, 1914; and Helen Grace, Mary, and Margaret Amy, all of whom are attending that institution. The family is connected with the Presbyterian Church. In political matters Mr. Hixon is a republican.
Mrs. Hixon is a daughter of John A. and Adeline (Staley) Crawford, natives of Montgomery County, New York, where the former was born December 19, 1814, and the latter December 3, 1823. They came to Lake County, Indiana, in 1844, and took up Government land in Eagle Creek Township, Mr. Crawford continuing to add to his original entry until he owned 600 acres, and at his death left a valuable estate, although at the time of his arrival he owned but $75. Mr. Crawford passed away in Eagle Creek Township, August 14, 1874, while the mother survived him until December 3, 1902, and died at Crown Point.
HARRY B. NICHOLSON. One of the moving spirits in Crown Point social, civil and public life is Harry B. Nicholson, who grew up in this county, has always been a man of genial manner, with a large circle of friends and political associates, and has shown efficiency in every position whether in private business or in public office.
Harry B. Nicholson was born in Lake County, April 29, 1871, a son of William C. and Anna (Brown) Nicholson. His father was a car- penter, a man in only ordinary circumstances, and though the son was educated through the Crown Point High School, he has had his own way to make in the world since boyhood. Eight years were spent as book- keeper for a grain company, and that was followed by his appointment
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as deputy county clerk. He twice filled that office for periods of four years, and being then well seasoned by experience and with a large acquaintance over the county, he became a candidate for county treas- urer, and made a splendid campaign for the republican nomination, but was defeated in the convention by a combination of two factions against him, though his defeat was compassed by only forty-one hundredths of a vote. The following year was spent in the West in order to regain his health, and he then worked as bookkeeper one year with the Pennsylvania Railway Company at Chicago. Returning to Crown Point, Mr. Nichol- son accepted an appointment on March 13, 1906, to the office of justice of the peace, his appointment having come from the Board of County Commissioners. On November 6, 1906, he was elected to that office and was again chosen on November 8, 1910.
Mr. Nicholson was one of the organizers and the first president of the Crown Point Commercial Club, and was also a charter member of the Chamber of Commerce. He has served as past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, and is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Hammond.
DAVID MANEY. Though a lawyer by training and profession, Mr. Maney has for some years been identified with one of the largest concerns in Lake County occupying the title and abstract and general financial field. Mr. Maney was for several months a resident of Gary and actively connected with its business affairs, but now lives in Crown Point.
David Maney was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, September 13, 1872, son of David and Ann ( Wilson) Maney. The family in 1881 emigrated to America and located in Chicago, Illinois. The father was a miller by trade, and held degrees in the Masonic order. David Maney attended the grammar and high schools at Chicago, and after leaving school entered the employ of Haddock, Vallette & Rickcords, abstractors, in Chicago. When that firm was merged with the Chicago Title and Trust Company, Mr. Maney remained with the larger concern until 1910, and then located in Gary as vice president of the Allman-Gary Title Company. Since July 1, 1910, his home has been in Crown Point, where he has looked after the business of the company. While connected with the Chicago Title and Trust Company in Chicago Mr. Maney studied law at the John Marshall Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1906.
Mr. Maney has membership in the Gary Commercial Club, and took his first degrees in Masonry at Chicago, Illinois, on December 7, 1895, and has since gone through the Royal Arch Chapter and the Council of Royal and Select Masters and Commandery. He also belongs to the Shrine. Mr. Maney was married to Rose E. Matson of Chicago, a daughter of Peter Matson. Their two children are named Ann Wilson and Ida May.
EUGENE ALFRED GRISWOLD. Hammond people recognize E. A. Gris- wold as one of its most substantial business men and public spirited citizens. The position he has attained is one that would be creditable to any man. It was hard work, ability to face obstacles and to take hard knocks, and a certain persistency and quickness to take advantage of the lessons of experience, that raised him from a poor and half educated working boy to his present affluence.
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Eugene Alfred Griswold was born at Ravenna, Ohio, April 5, 1869, a son of Levi and Eliza Griswold, and both parents died when the boy was five years of age. Such education as he was able to acquire in the intervals of work was supplied by country schools. In his tender years he sometimes had to resort to the expedient of playing a mouth organ on the streets in order to earn a meal. Five years of his youth were spent in work in a wholesale feed and produce house at Garrettsville, Ohio, as a check boy. He then worked as water boy for a contractor, and, becoming master of details, was promoted to foreman of a force of workmen build- ing brick and sewer construction, following that work for three years. In 1894 Mr. Griswold came to Hammond, and in 1896 established a cigar and confectionery store. Later a stock of groceries and meats were added, and all the surplus of his merchandising was invested in real estate, and he built and sold several houses on unimproved property. Mr. Griswold opened the first ice cream parlor in Hammond, and is still proprietor of a large store supplying high class articles of food to the people of Hammond. His store is in a fine two-story pressed brick block with a frontage of 33 feet on State Street and 132 feet on Sohl Street. Besides his own store there are three others which he rents, and above are seven flats.
Mr. Griswold was married at Hammond in 1894 to Zylpha Hubbard. They have one son, Alfred Eugene, Jr., born November 30, 1895, and now a member of the firm of E. A. Griswold & Son. The senior Mr. Gris- wold is a past noble grand in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
WILLIAM H. TUTHILL. The ranks of Crown Point's successful busi- ness men include William H. Tuthill, who still in his thirties has employed his energies to such good purpose as to own a substantial and growing business and to occupy a position of influence in that com- munity.
The Tuthill family has long been identified with Crown Point and vicinity, and William H. Tuthill is a native of the county seat, born March 11, 1878. His parents were Marion E. and Mary (Fuller) Tut- hill. His father was a painting contractor. With an education acquired at the public schools of Crown Point and Lowell, Mr. Tuthill learned a trade under his father's direction, and for fifteen years was engaged in painting contracting at Crown Point. In April, 1909, Mr. Tuthill opened a coal yard, and also represents several lines of fire insurance, and has a good business in both departments.
His representative business and social relations include membership in the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Men's Association, and he has been quite prominent in Odd Fellowship, being past noble grand of his lodge, has served as a delegate to the state grand lodge, is a mem- ber of the Encampment and also of the Rebekahs. Other fraternities in which he has membership are the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Royal Neighbors.
On October 13, 1896, Mr. Tuthill married Adella Fleming, of Crown Point, a daughter of a well known citizen, William Fleming. To their marriage has been born one child, Cecil Clarence, now thirteen years of age and attending the public schools.
GEORGE W. FREDERICK. More than thirty years have passed since George W. Frederick became identified with Crown Point, and in that then small village he was employed for several years in the humble
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capacity of clerk. He has steadily worked his way to greater prosperity, has utilized the opportunities at hand and has kept his eye on the future, and is now one of that city's substantial business men and influential citizens.
George W. Frederick, who first came to Crown Point in 1880, was born in Greensburg, Indiana, June 6, 1863, a son of Wolfgang and Sarah Frederick. His father was a farmer in Southern Indiana, and the family is of German stock. When George W. Frederick came to Crown Point he spent three years as clerk in the Depot Hotel, and was in railway service for a number of years. For some time he was connected with the Illinois Central at Pullman, and for three years was with the Chicago Street Railway Company. After getting a little capital and with his broad experience in other affairs, Mr. Frederick bought equipment and took up the business of sinking tubular wells, and has continued in that line ever since, his facilities enabling him to take contracts and perform this kind of work with a reliability and promptness that has kept his force in almost constant demand. In 1906 Mr. Frederick opened a plumbing establishment in Crown Point, and that is now the chief source of his business prosperity.
Mr. Frederick has identified himself with the community in various ways, is a director and one of the original members of the Chamber of Commerce, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Foresters and the Modern Woodmen of America, and he and his family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. On October 1, 1897, Mr. Frederick mar- ried Ida P. Kline, of an old family in Lake County. Their three chil- dren are named Grant W., Bernice May, and Enoch Arden.
EDWARD J. EDER. The Lake County Title and Guaranty Company, incorporated in 1905 with a capital stock of $50,000, was the first firm of abstractors to incorporate the business in this county. No other com- pany of the kind has such complete facilities, nor such abundant resources. All its capital stock is owned by Lake County people, more than a hundred in number, and the individual wealth of these stock- holders is estimated in the aggregate at more than five million dollars. Besides the main office at Crown Point there are branch offices both in Hammond and Gary. The company recently completed a building at Crown Point, 27 by 90 feet and two stories brick, the postoffice occupying the ground floor and the company's offices on the second. Besides the officers of the company eleven people are employed in the various depart- ments. It has a complete set of abstract records of Lake County.
The officers of the company are: F. R. Mott, president ; Frank Ham- mond, vice president; Albert Maack, secretary and treasurer; and Edward J. Eder, manager. The directors are all prominent citizens. bankers, business men, and are: A. M. Turner, Peter W. Meyn, Frank Hammond, F. R. Mott, Oscar A. Krinbill, J. S. Blackmun, Paul B. Lipinski, George B. Sheerer, and H. E. Jones.
As manager of the company's business at Crown Point, Edward J. Eder has peculiar qualifications for this work and is one of the promi- nent young business men of Lake County and represents one of the old families. He was born at Crown Point, November 8, 1881, a son of George M. and Frances (Scheerer) Eder. From the common schools he entered Valparaiso University, graduating in 1900, and then spent two years in the law school of the Northwestern University at Chicago. Admitted to the bar in 1902, Mr. Eder practiced his profession two years
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in Hammond, and then joined the Lake County Title and Guaranty Company at Crown Point. He has held the office of manager for the past six years.
Mr. Eder is a member of the Crown Point Chamber of Commerce, and belongs to St. Mary's Catholic Church, with fraternal affiliations with the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Order of Foresters. He married Emma K. Krost, of Hammond. Their one child is Mary Frances.
WILLIAM FREDERICK HOUK, M. D. During the past ten years Doctor Ilouk has well established his reputation as a reliable physician and surgeon at Crown Point, and has built up a large practice both in the city and surrounding country. Doctor Houk is also local surgeon for the Pennsylvania Railway Company at Crown Point.
Born in Lake County, Indiana, December 1, 1876, his parents were John and Maggie (Fehlman) Houk, who represented families that set- tled in Lake County in the early '50s and were consequently among the pioneers who helped to develop this part of Indiana. Doctor Houk grew up on a farm, with the usual advantages of the distriet schools, had his collegiate training in the Northwestern College at Naperville, Illinois, and took his medical course in the Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he graduated in 1904. His practice in Crown Point began in October of the same year, and his practice is a general one. Doctor Houk for the past seven years has been deputy coroner of Lake County. and has membership in the Indiana and Lake County Medical societies. Fraternally his relations are with the Masonie order, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America.
On July 14, 1904, soon after graduating in medicine, Doctor Houk married Della Van Seiver of Lake County. Her parents were William and Kate (Patton) Van Seiver of Lake County.
LEVI E. BAILEY. A representative of one of the oldest families in Lake County, where its various members have taken part in the develop- ment of the land from wilderness conditions since pioneer settlement, Levi E. Bailey has himself spent most of his career in the county, although not a native, and in addition to his substantial position in agri- cultural circles has also been honored with publie office, and was formerly county treasurer.
Levi E. Bailey was born in Yellowhead Township, Kankakee County, Illinois, January 9. 1858. His ancestors have been Americans for a number of generations, and lived at various times in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Ohio. His grandfather, John Bailey, was one of the pioneers in LaPorte County, Indiana. Josiah B. Bailey, father of Levi, was born in LaPorte County, Indiana, and was a boy when the family established its home in Lake County. Josiah B. Bailey was born in 1835, and died in West Creek Township of Lake County November 25, 1902. He was esteemed as one of the most worthy citizens of his community, and his was a sturdy, upright character that left a permanent impress on the activities of every community with which he was associated. With the exception of a few years spent in Kankakee County, Illinois, he had his home in Lake County all his years. He was a substantial farmer in West Creek Township, served as supervisor of that township and one of the citizens who did much to promote the early building of gravel roads in this county. On March 19, 1857, he married Naney E. Kile, who died
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April 18, 1876. Their children were Levi E., Charles T., George B., and Grace. Josiah Bailey in 1877 married Mrs. Amelia Sanger.
Levi E. Bailey attended the district schools in Lake County and at the age of twenty-two he started in life on his own account, was for three years a farmer in Kankakee County, and then permanently identified himself with Lake County in West Creek Township. His interests as a farmer and land owner have substantially increased during the successive years, and through his individual work and business like supervision many of the fertile acres of Lake County have been made to produce their crops with an unvarying success, and his labors are now represented in a substantial property.
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