USA > Indiana > Lake County > A standard history of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet region, Volume II > Part 23
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WISCONSIN LUMBER COMPANY. This company, handling lumber, building material and poles, was established in East Chicago in 1904, succeeding the former establishment of Mr. Wilkerson, who started in business there in 1902. The officers of the company are S. O. Knudson, president, and W. L. Craig, secretary and treasurer. The company was incorporated in Indiana in 1904. The plant is located at Tod Avenue and the tracks of the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal Railway, and occupies grounds 240 by 620 feet. About twenty-five men are employed, a force which indicates the extent of the supplies handled and the big business transacted by the firm.
W. L. Craig was born in Chicago in 1863, a son of John Craig, who settled in Chicago in 1851 and was a contractor. Educated in Chicago, Mr. Craig got his early experience in the lumber trade in Chicago, sub- sequently was located at Pontiac, Illinois, and has been in business at East Chicago since 1904. Mr. Craig married Aurora F. Arnold of Chicago, and has one son, Allen, who is in the oil business in Kansas and Oklahoma. Mr. Craig is affiliated with the lodge and chapter of the Masonic order, belongs to the Presbyterian Church, and is a republican.
WILLIAM GRAVER TANK WORKS. The first important industrial con- cern in East Chicago was what is now the William Graver Tank Works, a flourishing industry employing a large number of workmen, with a continuous and prosperous business record extending over twenty-five years, and manufacturing commodities that are sold all over the world.
William Graver, the founder of the business, was born in Pennsyl- vania of German descent, learned the trade of mechanic and became a
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tank builder and in 1857 started a small shop with his brother Michael at Pittsburg. In 1872 he became sole proprietor of the business and in 1884 moved west to Chicago, then in 1886 moved his plant to Lima, Ohio, and came to East Chicago in June, 1888. The business was incorporated in 1888 under its present title, William Graver Tank Works. William Graver is president and treasurer; J. P. Graver is secretary; W. F. Graver, vice president; and P. S. Graver, general manager; A. M. Graver, purchasing agent ; and H. S. Graver, sales manager. These latter are all sons of the founder of the business, have learned it in detail from bottom to top, and are capable young business men who have extended the industry along all lines and made it one of the most important in East Chicago.
The plant occupies ten acres of ground and when running at full capacity employs about two hundred and twenty-five workmen. The out- put comprises steel plate work of every kind, but particularly steel tanks, smoke stacks, gas holders, car tanks, complete oil refining apparatus, and a line of water softeners known as the Bartlett-Graver, which soften and purify water used for making ice without the expense of the distillation process, for laundries, boiler plants, textile mills, hotels, etc. In 1912 the works put out many thousand tons of finished material, and the plant now has added new buildings and equipment, which doubles its previous capacity.
J. P. Graver is secretary of the Safety First Association of East Chicago and Indiana Harbor, and a member of the Indiana Harbor Com- mercial Club. The sons of H. S. and A. M. Graver are both graduates of the University of Michigan, the former as civil engineer and the latter as mechanical engineer. William, Sr., J. P., and P. S. Graver are mem- bers of the Masonic order, having taken the Knights Templar degrees and are also members of the Mystic Shrine.
ABE OTTENHEIMER. Probably no member of the East Chicago bar has a better position in that community than Abe Ottenheimer, who re- cently retired from long service as city attorney of East Chicago. Of broad experience and fine capabilities, he has won on merit every advancement from the time he started in life as a clerk, and now has his time and energies completely absorbed by his large practice.
Mr. Ottenheimer is one of the few citizens in the Calumet region who claim Arkansas as their native state. He was born in Little Rock, the capital of that state, September 1, 1868, a son of Daniel and Sally Otten- heimer. His father is a retired merchant and his mother is now deceased. As a young man Abe Ottenheimer, after finishing his public school work, was engaged in the furniture business at Hammond, Indiana, from 1893 to 1897. During that time he took up the study. of law under J. G. Ibach, who is now judge of the Appellate Court. After his admission to the bar in 1899, Mr. Ottenheimer practiced for two years as a member of the Hammond bar, and in 1901 established an office in East Chicago. His ability as a lawyer brought him soon into notice in that community, and in 1903 he was first appointed city attorney, and served until 1905. In January, 1910, he was again called back to office, the duties of which had in the meantime greatly increased, and his capable service contin- ued until the beginning of 1914.
Mr. Ottenheimer was married February 24, 1892, to Minnie Unger, of Chicago. They have a son, Lester, now twenty years of age and a young man of exceptional brilliance, whose future is promising. He is
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a graduate of the East Chicago High School, attended the State Univer- sity at Bloomington, and is now in the law department of the North- western University at Chicago. Mr. Ottenheimer has made a record in oratory, and 1913 was awarded the gold medal prize in Lake County, and also has several trophies for his athletic prowess.
Mr. Abe Ottenheimer is active in fraternal affairs, is a past master of East Chicago Lodge No. 595, A. F. & A. M., also a member of the Royal Arch Chapter; is past exalted ruler of the East Chicago Lodge of Elks No. 981 ; is past worthy president of the Fraternal Order of Eagles ; and a member of the Loyal Order of Moose.
EAST CHICAGO GARAGE AND SALES COMPANY. This is one of the best equipped and best managed concerns of its kind in the Calumet district, and was established under the above title on April 1, 1914. It previously was conducted as the J. P. Lewis Garage, which in turn succeeded the East Chicago Transfer & Express Company, which Mr. Lewis has man- aged for some time. After W. L. Spencer had bought an interest in the business with Mr. Lewis in April, 1914, the company was organized under the title already stated. The company has a well located garage and storeroom, occupying space 60 by 142 feet, supplies garage service and also all the equipment for automobiles, and operates an automobile livery.
J. P. Lewis was born in Knightsville, Indiana, August 16, 1871, and from a career begun as a common laborer has made himself one of the independent business men of the Calumet district. With a public school education, he found his first work in steel mills, came to East Chicago in 1901, and was with the mills there, and in 1908 bought out the Smith & Clapper Teaming Company. Later he organized the East Chicago Transfer Company, and the progress of his business enterprise since then has already been noted.
Mr. Lewis was married September 25, 1895, to Lulu P. Redus, of Centralia, Illinois. They are the parents of three children, Paul, Lillian and Lyle. Mr. Lewis is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Lodge and Chapter of Masonry and in politics is a republican.
L. CLARK WOOD. During the past six years, covering practically the entire history of Gary, many of the largest subdivisions and real estate deals have been handled through L. Clark Wood, whose record in this field of business is one of unquestioned success. His early experience was acquired in the City of Chicago, and from his office in that city he began operating in Gary property soon after the establishment of the town. Mr. Wood did not start in the real estate business with capital. and not even with an influential clientele. What every business man recognizes as "nerve" and good judgment has been the chief factors in taking him so far in this line of enterprise, and his friends say that he has practically never failed to estimate properly the value of future developments and has timed his deals and investments with a nicety which almost invariably have resulted in profit.
L. Clark Wood was born in Douglas County, Illinois, in 1874, a son of F. H. and Hulda H. Wood. His father, who was a farmer, came from Ohio to Illinois. Mr. Wood while growing up in the country in Illinois attended the district schools, and finished his education with a course in the Normal College at Danville, Indiana. His experiences and environ-
each Hood
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ment were those of the farm until he was twenty-two years of age. In 1896 he went to Chicago and soon had his first taste of real estate. Dur- ing the following ten years he laid the foundation for his success in that city, handled a large amount of property in Chicago and vicinity, and in 1907 began operating in Gary. He moved his office from Chicago to Gary in 1908, and has since taken a leading part in real estate develop- ment in this city.
The additions and subdivisions which have been exploited by Mr. Wood in Gary are chiefly the following. Central Park Addition, Novem- ber 3, 1909, which Mr. Wood bought and re-sold, comprising one hundred and sixty lots at 17th and 2nd Avenne; the Gary Security Company's First Addition, comprising nine acres between 19th Avenue and Main Street, which he put on in 1910. On January 24, 1911, he bought the holdings of the United States Land Company, consisting of Douglas Park, two hundred lots on 25th Avenue and Van Buren Street. All told Mr. Wood has handled over two thousand lots in Gary, and still has two hundred and fifty left. Besides this he has acted as broker in many deals, has two hundred lots in East Chicago and a hundred lots in Ham- mond. Mr. Wood is president and treasurer of the Gary Security Com- pany and most of his operations have been carried on through that cor- porate organization. The Hartwell building, a structure 90x125 feet, is the property of Mr. Wood. Fraternally his affiliations are with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, he is a member of the Gary Commercial Club and the Young Men's Christian Association.
ALLMAN-GARY TITLE COMPANY. A record of long and consecutive growth and success is the history of the Allman-Gary Title Company. It has not always existed under its present title, as a matter of course, but the nueleus of the present business was started in 1859 at Crown Point by Amos Allman. The business was then known as Amos Allman & Son. In 1889 its title was changed to Allman Bros., and in 1895 to Allman Bros. & Dinwiddie. In 1910 occurred the consolidation of this old Crown Point enterprise with the Gary Title and Abstract Company, and since then the name Allman-Gary Title Company has been in use. The officers at the present time comprise not only Lake County business men of prominence but also from Chicago, where the president of the company, A. R. Marriott, vice president of the Chieago Title and Trust
Company, resides. The other officials of the company are: David Maney, viee president and treasurer, of Crown Point ; Claud W. Allman, viee president, of Crown Point; Elmer Dinwiddie, secretary, of Crown Point ; and Harold Eckstorm, who is manager of the Gary office. The company performs all the service of a title and abstraet organization, guaranteeing and investigating titles, drawing up such, and the extent of its business is indicated by the fact that more than forty thousand three hundred abstracts covering Lake County property have been drawn through this company's offiees.
At Gary the company occupy a building of their own at 656 Broad- way. 25 by 100 feet in dimensions.
The Gary manager of this company, Harold Eckstorm, is a Chicagoan by birth, and was edueated for the profession of mechanical engineer, but some seven or eight years ago beeame identified with the Chicago Title and Trust Company and was sent to Gary to take charge of the present business. His birth occurred in 1883, and his parents are Paul F. and Karen P. Eckstorm. His father is connected with the wholesale grocery
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business in Chicago. Mr. Eckstorm finished his education in the Univer- sity of Illinois in the mechanical engineering department, worked in the line of his profession for the Chicago & North Western Railway Com- pany, and later was in the building and contracting business for a time. In 1906 he became an employe of the Chicago Title and Trust Company, soon got into good standing as an official worker and skillful manager, and the confidence entertained by his superiors in his ability resulted in his coming to Gary to take charge of the local office of the Allman-Gary Title Company in 1910.
Mr. Eckstorm in 1912 married Maude Coover of Gary. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, has taken the Knights Templar degree in Masonry and is a member of the Mystic Shrine, belongs to the Gary Commercial Club and the University Club, and his college associations were with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon and the Theta Nu Epsilon fraternity.
J. GLENN HARRIS is the senior member of the firm of Harris & Ress- ler, which is one of the strongest combinations of legal talent in the City of Gary. He is well trained in his profession and has acquired a broad experience both in general office practice and court work.
Mr. Harris is a native of Indiana, born in Carroll County, November 27, 1882, where he lived with his parents, Samuel E. and Mary Harris, until he finished high school. He taught school in his home county for four years, after which he entered the Indiana Law School at Indianap- olis, where he graduated in 1907. He came to Gary June 10th of the same year, and since that time has been a member of the Gary bar in active practice.
He is a member of a number of clubs and fraternal orders, including Thirty-second Degree Masons, Mystic Shrine, and Elks.
GARY STATE BANK. HENRY G. IIAY, JR. The Gary State Bank, the depositary of the steel company and other corporations, was established for business in its present location March 4, 1898. The bank organiza- tion is really as old as Gary itself, but the present square and substantial house, with its handsome gray stone exterior, was not completed for occupancy until early in 1908. It occupies a location in the very heart of the business district, the corner of Broadway and Fifth Avenue. The first organization was by officers of the Indiana Steel Company and Judge E. H. Gary of the steel corporation. According to a recent report, the Gary State Bank has capital of $100,000, surplus and undivided profits of more than $40,000, deposits of practically a million and a half dollars. The total resources aggregate $1,602,889.06.
The officers and directors of the Gary State Bank are: H. G. Hay, Jr., president ; J. B. Bailey, cashier ; E. J. Buffington, Ralph Van Vech- ten, G. G. Thorp, K. K. Knapp and H. G. Hay, Jr. The officers and directors have been the same since the opening of the bank with the ex- ception of T. P. Philips, who recently died in California; and A. B. Keller, who recently resigned his post as cashier and went with the Inter- national Harvester Company. Mr. Bailey, the present cashier, was formerly with the Continental Commercial National Bank of Chicago.
Henry G. Hay, Jr., president of the Gary State Bank, is a banker with a number of years' practical experience, and is a western man and a graduate in law.
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He was born at Cheyenne, Wyoming, June 30, 1876, a son of Henry G. and Ella O. (Bullock) Hay. His father went to Wyoming from Indiana in 1868 and the mother went to the same place in 1874. Henry G. Hay, Sr., was for many years prominent in business and public affairs in Wyoming, served several terms as state treasurer, was a rancher and stockman, president of the Stockgrowers National Bank of Cheyenne, and since 1903 has been assistant treasurer of the United States Steel Company.
The junior Hay grew up in Wyoming, had a public school education, and in 1896 graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan. He became interested in banking in Cheyenne, and rose to the position of assistant cashier of the Stockgrowers National Bank. His home has been in Gary since December 17, 1906, so that he is one of the pioneers, and has been identified with the financial interests of Gary since the beginning, and president of the Gary State Bank since its doors opened for business.
Mr. Hay was married in 1907 to Bessie Gourlie of Cheyenne, Wyom- ing. They have two children. Mr. Hay is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Shrine, also affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In politics he is independent.
W. J. ROODA. In the retail shopping district of Gary the name Rooda has for about five years stood for quality merchandise and deal- ings in the jewelry trade. Mr. Rooda is one of the more enterprising young merchants of the city, and deserves success because he has quali- fied himself for it.
A native of Holland, born in 1884, W. J. Rooda is a son of J. W. and Susan Rooda, who emigrated to the United States and located in Chicago in 1891. It was in Chicago that W. J. Rooda received his public school education, and early became an apprentice and learned the jewelry trade. On May 18, 1909, he moved to Gary and opened a stock of jewelry at 521 Broadway, and has since been steadily prospering.
In September, 1905, he married Jean Henry, of Chicago, and they have two children, Ellen and John. Mr. Rooda affiliates with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Maccabees, is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics is independent.
JAMES B. BAILEY. As a growing financial and industrial center, Gary has attracted to the important executive positions in the local sphere of business many capable men from larger cities and larger insti- tutions, and one of the recent comers is James B. Bailey, now cashier of the Gary State Bank. Mr. Bailey entered upon his duties after more than a quarter century's experience in one of Chicago's largest and best known institutions.
James B. Bailey was born at Ottawa, Illinois, November 15, 1867. With a public school education in Chicago, where he was reared, on January 4, 1886. when eighteen years old, he began his experience in the banking business with the Commercial National Bank. He was with that institution, in various grades of service and responsibility, until August 31, 1913, and was then appointed cashier of the Gary State Bank as successor to Mr. A. B. Keller, who had been the first cashier.
Mr. Bailey in 1889 married Julia M. Kelly, of Chicago. They have four children, and the family have moved to Gary and all are now iden- tified with the social community. Mr. Bailey is a member of the Cath-
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olic church and affiliated with the Knights of Columbus. In politics he is independent.
MARK M. MILLER. As Gary is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in America, it is only natural that men of foreign birth and training in many instances have found places of leadership and large influence in business and in public affairs.
One of the successful younger business men of the city is Mark M. Miller, associated with Andrew Volesko in the real estate business. Mark M. Miller, like his partner in business, is a native of Hungary, where he was born September 7, 1882, a son of Nathan and Jessie Miller. He was reared and spent his early manhood in his native land, and in 1906 came to America, spending a short time in New York City, thence going to Chicago, and from there to Gary in the latter part of 1907. Since arriv- ing in this city he has been associated with Mr. Volesko in real estate, and the two have built up a large business.
Mr. Miller was married in September, 1912, to Elinor Brust, who was also of Hungary. Mr. Miller has membership in the Commercial Club and the University Club of Gary, affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in politics is a progressive.
PAUL E. SCHUBICH. The Builders' Hardware Company of Gary has had a prosperous commercial record since it was established in May, 1909. The business was founded by William S. Gallagher and William J. Williams, and since June, 1910, has been under the active manage- ment of Paul E. Schubich. There are few business houses in Gary which have a better elass of trade, better credit, and none which offer a more reliable service to the community than the Builders' Hardware Company. The store is located at 706 Broadway in a building 25x85 feet with basement, and a complete line of builders', shelf and household hardware is carried, in such assortment as to satisfy all the demands of the local trade.
One of the successful young business men of Gary, Paul E. Schubich has been identified with the hardware business since early youth. Born in Algoma, Wisconsin, April 25, 1882, a son of Edward F. and Othelia Schubich, the father being a furniture merchant, Paul E. Schubich grew up in Wisconsin, graduated from the high school, and in 1901, when nineteen years of age, went to Chicago and secured his business training with one of the largest hardware houses in the country, the Hibbard, Spencer & Bartlett Company. It was as a stock boy and minor clerk that he gained his first experience with that great house, and continued in its service for eight years, in which time he had been progressively advanced, and for six months traveled on the road selling the goods of the company to the retail trade. With this experience Mr. Schubich came to Gary in 1910 to become manager of the Builders' Hardware Company.
Mr. Schubich was married June 12, 1913, to Wilna Gallagher, daughter of William S. Gallagher, one of Gary's leading business men.
EMMET N. WHITE. A lawyer by profession, and with a large expe- rienee in business and official affairs, Emmet N. White is now serving Gary in the office of city comptroller, and was previously police con- missioner of the city. He was one of the early lawyers to locate in this growing industrial metropolis, and has for a number of years held a
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secure place in the regard of the community as well as in his chosen vocation.
Emmet N. White is a native of Virginia, born in that state Septem- ber 24, 1879, a son of John G. and Nora (Carter) White. His father was a farmer, and the son grew up in the country of old Virginia, fin- ished his course in the public schools and during the first years of his manhood, from 1899 to 1904, was in the southwest, and served as pur- chasing agent for the American Smelting and Refining Company of El Paso, Texas. Returning home, he then entered the University of Virginia, and studied law until graduating from the law department in 1908. In the same year he was admitted to the Virginia bar, and ar- rived at Gary in July of the same year. He was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1909, and has practiced ever since so far as his official duties would permit. Mr. White is a member of the firm of Seabright & White. For two years he served as police commissioner of Gary, and in November, 1912, was appointed to the office of city comptroller.
On June 20, 1913, Mr. White married Helen Robins at Gary, a. daughter of William A. and Helen W. Robins, formerly of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Mr. White is secretary and vestryman in Christ's Episcopal Church of Gary. In politics he is a democrat, and one of the local lead- ers in that party. Besides his own residence, he owns considerable property, all of which represents his accumulations since taking up the practice of law.
FRANK L. WELSHEIMER. A Gary lawyer of exceptional equipment and success in his practice, Frank L. Welsheimer has been a member of the Indiana bar for more than twenty years, and moved his practice to Gary about six years ago.
Born on the farm in Allen County, Indiana, June 28, 1864, Frank L. Welsheimer is a son of Ludwig and Elizabeth Welsheimer. Though reared in the country, he had his ambitions even when a boy, and re- solved to fit himself for a career of usefulness among the world's work- ers. It was largely through his own earnings that he paid his way through the higher courses of education, and in 1892 was graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan. For a number of years he practiced with an office at Auburn, Indiana, and enjoyed an increasing general practice in the courts and in office, and for two terms served as prosecuting attorney of DeKalb and Steuben counties from 1903 to 1907. As the result of his experience and his many other quali- fications Mr. Welsheimer has been successful from the beginning of his practice at Gary, in which city he located on June 2, 1908.
On June 27, 1895, was celebrated his marriage with Eveline A. Johns, of Columbia City, Indiana. They have one child, Mildred, fifteen years old. Mr. Welsheimer is a republican in politics, belongs to the Methodist Church and is affiliated with the Masonic order.
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