USA > Indiana > Lake County > A standard history of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet region, Volume II > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
649
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
Some comparative statistics will indicate his growing responsibilities and the many improvements made at East Chicago in the past ten years. When he first took charge of the school in that city he had thirty-five teachers under him. At the present time the corps of instructors num- bers 115 teachers. At the same time three large and modern school build- ings have been erected, and all of these were planned by Superintendent Canine. During his first year the highest salary paid to a grade teacher was $52.50 a month and salaries for the same class of teacher now rise as high as $90 a month.
Mr. Canine in 1894 married Nannie C. Lucas of Brazil, Indiana. They have a son, Ralph, who is now in his first year in the medical department of the Northwestern University of Chicago, and a daugh- ter, Margaret, attending Indiana University.
Superintendent Canine is of an old and distinguished American fam- ily, originally of Dutch ancestry. His great-grandfather, Ralph Canine, moved from Kentucky in 1821, and became one of the early settlers in Montgomery County, Indiana, taking up Government land. One of the farms entered by this pioneer near the old homestead is now owned by Professor Canine, and is valuable, both as agricultural property and also for its family associations. This pioneer Indiana settler was the son of Peter Canine, who enlisted at Philadelphia and saw active serv- ice in the War of the American Revolution. On the strength of this ancestor's record, Mr. Canine is a member of the order of the Sons of the American Revolution. Since he was twenty-one years of age he has been affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and has held all the chairs in the lodge; is a Royal Arch Mason; is independent in politics, and a member of the Congregational Church. While his chief work in East Chicago has been as an educator, he has interested himself in allied movements for the social welfare. He has served as president of the Associated Charities since its organization, and is a member and chair- man of the educational committee of the East Chicago Commercial Club.
CENTRAL INVESTMENT AND REALTY COMPANY. An important com- mercial service has been rendered to the community of East Chicago and vicinity through the Central Investment and Realty Company, which has been in existence for the past five years, and has not only handled in the usual manner real estate on a brokerage business, insurance, negotiated loans, but has also undertaken independent development and building activity in the city.
This company was organized in 1909, and the organizers were Peter W. Meyn, Giles T. Warner, George W. Lewis, who was the first secre- tary treasurer, and Reverend Mr. Lauer. Mr. Lewis and Reverend Mr. Lauer sold their interests in 1912, and were succeeded in the company by Joseph W. Dunsing and Julius Meyn. Mr. Dunsing is now secretary and treasurer, and G. T. Warner is president. At the present time the company is promoting a subdivision of 100 lots, located between One Hundred and Fiftieth and One Hundred and Fifty-first streets and Reading and Northcot streets. The real-estate holdings of this com- pany aggregate in value a quarter of a million dollars, and are situated in various parts of East Chicago, but chiefly in the business district. The best office building in East Chicago, and one of the largest in the county, is the Calumet Building, constructed by this company in 1909,
Vol. II-12
650
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
and its offices are located in that handsome structure. The company also put up in 1913 the Lyric Building.
Joseph W. Dunsing, secretary and treasurer, was born in Strassburg, Illinois, in 1881, a son of Reverend Julius and Wilhelmina (Schnoeker) Dunsing. His father, a minister of the German Lutheran Church, moved to Wanatah, Indiana, where he had charge of a church, in 1891 returned to Illinois and located at Clayton, and in 1894 was placed in charge of one of the large churches of Hammond.
In these various localities Joseph W. Dunsing acquired a public school education and also had a course in business training, and his talent and industry have afforded him a progressive rise to independent position among the leading business men of his community. For sev- eral years Mr. Dunsing was connected with the G. H. Hammond Com- pany at Hammond, later with the Lake County Savings and Trust Company of that city until 1909, was in business at Gary until June, 1912, and after six months of traveling salesmanship, became actively identified as secretary and treasurer of the Central Investment and Realty Company of East Chicago.
Mr. Dunsing has had a part in local public affairs, and has the dis- tinction of having served as the first city comptroller after the incor- poration of Gary, holding that office for eight weeks. He is affiliated with the lodge and chapter of Masonry, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, belongs to the East Chicago Club, the Commercial Club, the Gary Y. M. C. A., and in politics is a democrat.
SAMUEL HERSKOVITZ, M. D. Few American young men have gone farther in profession and business than Dr. Samuel Herskovitz. A poor immigrant fourteen years ago, he paid his way through school, prepared for his profession, made himself proficient in a special branch of medi- cine and surgery, and since locating at Indiana Harbor five years ago, has gained a practice that taxes his energies, is proprietor of two pharma- cies, and one of the prominent men of affairs in the city.
Samuel Herskovitz was born in Roumania, one of the Balkan states, February 14, 1884, a son of Joseph L. and Pearl Herskovitz. His father died in his native country, and the widowed mother, since de- ceased, came with her children to the United States. Doctor Hersko- vitz attended the public schools in Roumania and was sixteen years old when he came to the United States in 1900. Here by hard work he con- tinued his education, and while employed in the daytime at wages of one or two dollars a week, spent his nights in study. Doctor Hers- kovitz received his professional training in the medical department of Washington University at St. Louis, from which he was graduated M. D. in 1908. After several months of practice in St. Louis, he took postgraduate work at Chicago in the diseases and treatment of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and with this thorough equipment for both gen- eral practice and his specialty, came to Indiana Harbor in March, 1909. The scope of his work soon broadened beyond the strict lines of his profession, and in 1910 he established the Calumet Drug Store, and in February, 1913, the Red Cross Pharmacy was opened under his pro- prietorship. These are now two of the best equipped and best known pharmacies in the city.
Doctor Herskovitz has membership in the Lake County and the state medical societies, and the American Medical Association. On
651
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
October 8, 1908, he married Nettie D. Sachs of New York. Their three children are: Pearl, Joseph L., and Bernard.
Doctor Herskovitz affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Knights of Pythias, the I. O. B. A., the Fraternal Order of Eagles, is a member of the Indiana Harbor Commercial Club, and in politics is republican. During 1912-13 he has given an important pub- lic service as secretary of the board of health of East Chicago. He is also secretary and director of the Twin City Sentinel. All these rela- tions and activities indicate his prominence as one of the leading young men of affairs in the Calumet region.
THE STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF INDIANA. The progress of Whiting as an industrial center has been chiefly due to the establishment there of the great refineries of the Standard Oil Company. Its operations have touched the city at so many points that no account of Whiting could be written without frequent reference to the chief industrial institution, and at this point it is only necessary to group the more salient points concerning the company in the form of a brief sketch.
The Whiting Standard Oil Company is an Indiana corporation, and construction work on the original plant was started in February, 1889, and operations of refining began in October, 1890. The grounds acquired by the company were 360 acres, and the great and complex plant, refineries, storage plants and warehouses, offices and other con- spicuous features of the industry now cover all of 428 acres.
It would be impossible to enumerate in detail all the varied products of the Whiting plant. There are over a thousand brands of lubricat- ing oils, besides gasoline, illuminating oil, petroleum asphalt, wax, greases and candles, and a large catalog would be needed for even a brief description of its products. The raw material comes to Whiting through a pipe line from the different states of Oklahoma and Kansas, and about thirty-six thousand barrels per day are worked through the refineries. The capacity of the plant is about forty thousand barrels per day when cheaper products are made. During the construction of the plant the company employed 2,000 men, and in March, 1914, there were 2,700 men on the payroll, 500 of whom were engaged in new construc- tion. The noted Owl Club of Whiting, which was established about twenty years ago by Mr. Burton, now vice president of the company, was designed as the social center for the company's employes in Whiting, and is now the largest and most popular club of the city.
This company has its own docks and boats at Whiting, and also at Detroit, Marquette and Hancock in Michigan, and at Green Bay and Superior, Wisconsin. Branch establishments are found at Wood River, Illinois, at Sugar Creek in Missouri, and at Casper, Wyoming. During 1913 the company transported by boat to its various stations refined oil and gasoline in an aggregate of over seventy-five million gallons. Besides the chief refinery at Whiting and the three branch establishments, the company maintains distributing stations in eleven different states of the union.
Beaumont Parks, who is general superintendent of the Standard Oil Company at Whiting, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, December 25. 1868, son of Joseph and Jane Parks, farming people. He was well educated, graduating in 1890 from the Western Reserve University at Cleveland, and on July 26, 1890, arrived at Whiting and found employ- ment as timekeeper over the workmen employed in the construction of
652
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
the refining plant. Since then his employment has been continued, and his own ability has advanced him through nearly all the grades of service. He has served as foreman in most of the departments, and from the fall of 1904 until September, 1914, was assistant superin- tendent of the plant, when he was appointed general superintendent.
Mr. Parks was married October 25, 1892, to Helen M. Ogram, of Cleveland. They have one son, Donald B., who is now taking a course in chemical engineering in the University of Wisconsin. Mr. Parks is affiliated with the Masonic Order, and member of the Hudson Chap- ter of the Alpha Delta Phi (A A +). In politics he is a democrat. He is also a member of the Hammond Country Club, and was presi- dent six years of the Whiting Board of Education, and recently retired from the office of mayor of Whiting, his service having eontinned from January, 1910, to Jannary, 1914. Having been identified with Whiting since the beginning of its industrial importance, Mr. Parks has been successful in business, and has been able to serve and assist in the advancement of his community.
CLARENCE C. SMITH. That East Chicago has become one of the most thriving and enterprising industrial and commercial centers of the state is due to such men as Clarence C. Smith, who represents a pion- eer family in Lake County and who has been closely identified with business affairs in the Calumet region for many years. His efforts in advaneing the material interests of the city are generally recognized, and his relationship with several real-estate and other business organi- zations has been fruitful in contributing to the present solid position of East Chicago.
Clarenee C. Smith was born at Mason, Michigan, October 5, 1863, of an old New York family. Gideon Smith, his father, was a native of New York, took up the trade of shoemaker, located in Michigan about 1862, and in 1864 established an early home in Lake County, Indiana, about one mile west of Deep River postoffice, where for some years he was associated with farming and also kept a small shop in his home for boots and shoes. Gideon Smith married Mrs. Anna L. (Marble) Hanna, whose father, Simeon Marble, was a settler of the late '50s in Lake County. Mrs. Gideon Smith died about 1880, and her husband passed away in December, 1902, at East Chicago, aged eighty-two years. They had six children, three sons and three daughters.
The early career of Clarence C. Smith was spent on a farm, most of his early recollections being associated with the old homestead west of Deep River. The district schools afforded him his educational advan- tages, and his first regular employment was as a farmhand at monthly wages. At the age of twenty-one Mr. Smith ventured out into the broader avenues of life, learned telegraphy, and in 1885 was employed by the Pennsylvania Railway Company as an operator, a service con- tinned until 1889. In that year he was sent to East Chicago as assis- tant station agent, and in March, 1890, was appointed agent at IIam- mond. His relations with East Chicago have thus been of a pioneer character, since he was on the ground practically at the beginning of that now prosperous city, and in January, 1893, was appointed agent at East Chicago, and continued to represent the railway in that capacity until December 29, 1903. For several years after that Mr. Smith was a member of the firm of Smith & Clapper Bros., engaged in the livery and transfer business, and subsequently he became president of the
653
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
East Chicago Transfer Company. Ilis interests gradually broadened, and he gave active attention to the transfer company until selling out all his stock therein in January, 1914.
Mr. Smith for several years had acted as agent for the East Chicago Company, and on April 15, 1906, opened an independent office for real estate, and has sinee been one of the largest operators in that field. Mr. Smith is president of the Smith-Miller Company, which was organized in 1910, for the object of building homes and selling them on easy payments. Its capital stock is $100,000, and since its organization two hundred or more houses have been constructed under its management and its capital, and most of them are high-class residences. The com- pany has also put up several large business bloeks in Indiana Harbor. As president of the Indiana Harbor Realty Company, Mr. Smith is also known in that community. The Indiana Harbor Realty Company was organized in 1909 with a capital stock of $50,000, and it owns forty- two acres of ground on Kennedy Avenne between Indiana Harbor and East Chicago, and this is as yet only partly developed. Mr. Smith is treasurer of the East Chicago Land Association, which owns 107 lots, and that property is being rapidly developed, fifty houses having already been erected and sold. Other of his individual relations with the busi- ness community are as director of the First National Bank of East Chieago, as stockholder in the Northern States Life Insurance Com- pany. In the general insurance and real-estate field, Mr. Smith has for several years been regarded as one of the most important operators in East Chicago. His business headquarters are at 802 Chicago Avenue.
Mr. Smith has not neglected his community obligations in spite of his growing burdens of private business. For six years he has served on the East Chicago School Board, and his name appears among the school officers on the cornerstone of six of East Chicago's school build- ings. He has membership in the Indiana Harbor and East Chicago Commercial Club, and in Masonry has taken both the Lodge and Chap- ter degrees. In polities he is a republican, and his church is the Con- gregational.
On May 21, 1893, Mr. Smith married Miss Maude Holmes, daugh- ter of Milton D. and Helen (Turner) Holmes. The four children born to their marriage are: Leonard C., Beulah (deceased), Irene and Rol- land.
THOMAS Y. RICHARDS. From the ranks of the industrial workers of East Chicago, Thomas Y. Richards was elevated to the position of city clerk at the election of November 4, 1913, and moved his office to the city hall and began his administration on January 5, 1914. Mr. Rich- ards became a worker in the iron and steel mills of Indiana when a boy, and has been identified with the great industries of East Chicago for nearly ten years.
Born in the City of Indianapolis, July 22, 1874, Thomas Y. Rieh- ards is a son of Robert Q. and Emma (Youtsey ) Richards. His father has likewise followed the iron and steel industry for a long period of years, and sinee 1908 has been employed by the Green Engineering Company as special policeman. The early youth and the business career of Thomas Y. Richards began and were passed for a number of years in Muncie. He finished his education in the grammar and high schools there, and subsequently took a course in the Muncie Business College. As an employe in the iron works of that eity he learned the occupation
654
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
of weighman, became an expert in that line, and followed the industry of iron and steel working for seventeen years. It was in the Indiana Rolling Mill Company's plant at Muncie that he began his career in 1893, and remained at Muncie until 1905, since which date he has been in East Chicago. His first relation was with the Interstate Iron & Steel Company and then with the Republic Iron & Steel Company.
Well known and popular, both in labor circles and among all classes of citizens, Mr. Richards' election to the office of city clerk was an honor which he well deserved, and everyone recognizes his preeminent quali- fications for the responsible duties of his trust. In politics he is a pro- gressive republican. Mr. Richards has affiliations with the Improved Order of Red Men, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and the B. P. O. E. In 1901 he married Fannie Nelson, who had been a schoolmate of his in Muncie.
JOSEPH A. MEADE. That part taken by Joseph A. Meade in the affairs of Northern Lake County has been that of an able and conscien- tious lawyer, whose affiliations have always been straightforward and honorable, and whose practice, of an extensive and important charac- ter, has brought him into connection rather with the common people than with the large corporate and wealthy clients. Mr. Meade is one of the popular members of the East Chicago bar, and has rendered many important services through his professional activities.
Joseph A. Meade was born at Industry, Kansas, January 17, 1886. His parents were Nathan and Laura (Baker) Meade. His father, who was for some years a stockman in Kansas, finally returned to his original home state of Illinois, in 1888, locating at Marion, and there continued business as a stock breeder, buyer and seller. Two years of age when the family returned to Illinois, Joseph A. Meade grew up in that state, and had an education in the grammar and high schools, but has worked his own way to professional success and his tuition and living expenses while a student at Valparaiso University, where he took courses in law, oratory, and part of the curriculum leading up to the Bachelor of Science degree. Mr. Meade was admitted to the bar at Chicago, in 1908, and for several months had valuable experience in the office of Senator Wil- liam E. Mason of that city. Since August 18, 1908, his home has been in East Chicago, where his practice as a lawyer has been of increasing scope and influence. His work has led him more and more to special- ize in the line of real-estate, criminal and personal injury practice. In 1913 Mr. Meade represented East Chicago at the Waterways Conven- tion in Washington, D. C. Probably more than any other local attor- ney, Mr. Meade appears as counsel and is retained in the interest of a large number of labor unions. Ile has a place on the membership com- mittee of the Lake County Bar Association.
In October, 1912, Mr. Meade married Alberta J. Campbell, of Marion, Illinois. They have one child, Jackson Nathan Meade. Mr. Meade is chairman of the house committee of the East Chicago Elks Club, is president of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and also has affiliations with the Knights of Pythias and the Loyal Order of Moose. He is one of the charter members of the East Chicago Commercial Club. A repub- lican in politics, he was chosen city chairman of the republican organiza- tion in 1914. Prosecuting Attorney Greenwald made him his deputy, and in 1910 prosecuting eighteen felonies, he made the remarkable rec- ord of securing seventeen convictions.
Swagdung
655
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
WALTER L. SPENCER. Though one of the younger business men of East Chicago, Walter L. Spencer has had a long and varied experience, has been working since boyhood, has found his opportunities for inde- pendence, and is one of the best known citizens of East Chicago through has active relations with public affairs.
Walter L. Spencer was born in Chicago, March 7, 1884, a son of Thomas A. and Mary Spencer. His father was a steel worker who moved to East Chicago, in 1892, when the steel mill was established there, and died April 11, 1912, while the mother is still living. There were four sons and four daughters in the family, and Walter was the fifth born.
With a public school education, he quit attending school at the age of thirteen, became an office boy in the Republic Iron & Steel Company, was soon promoted to timekeeper, worked in that capacity two years, and at the age of sixteen found a similar position with the Inland Iron Works. At the age of eighteen he found another line of work as deputy city treasurer, serving four years, then was deputy city clerk four years, and held the office of city clerk for a similiar period. Early in 1914, Mr. Spencer bought an interest in the garage, which had been conducted by J. P. Lewis, and together they organized the East Chicago Garage and Sales Company.
On July 23, 1905, Mr. Spencer married Elizabeth E. Schwab, daugh- ter of John Schwab of Hammond. They have a daughter now six years of age named Eunice Marjorie. The family reside in East Chicago, where Mr. Spencer has affiliations with the Blue Lodge and Chapter of Masonry, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Com- mercial Club, and is well known and popular in both civic and social circles. He is a republican, and at the present time is a member of the board of school trustees.
JAMES CLEMENTS. A successful East Chicago merchant, who has built up a good business on the basis of his mechanical trade, thoroughly learned when a young man, James Clements now has one of the best hardware establishments in the city.
Born at Mishawaka, Indiana, in 1875, he is a son of George and Emma Clements, his father a blacksmith. As a boy he learned the tinner's trade, brought his mechanical skill to East Chicago in 1896, and for several years was employed by the East Chicago Hardware Company. In 1900 he bought from this company its tinshop, and since then has been in business for himself. Mr. Clements did the tinwork on the first two important buildings erected at Indiana Harbor, the Harbor Hotel and the office of the Inland Steel Company. In 1906 he opened a hardware and tinshop on Olcott Avenue, and in 1911 moved to his present location at 4708 Forsyth Avenue. His store has a ground space of 20x85 feet, and he still maintains a tinshop on Olcott Avenue.
Mr. Clements was married in 1904 to Minnie May McDonough of Mishawaka, Indiana. They have a young son, James Buford. Mr. Cle- ments is a republican, has affiliations with the lodge of the Masonic order, also the Royal Arch Chapter, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
S. W. OGDEN. Among the manufacturing concerns of the East Chi- cago district one of the largest and most important in contributing to the resources of the city and in giving the Calumet region publicity over the United States through the distribution of its goods is the
656
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
Grasselli Chemical Works, further reference to which industry is found on other pages. The works are a branch of the central establishment at Cleveland, Ohio, and were started at East Chicago in 1892. The location of the plant is at Kennedy Avenue between 151st Street and the Calumet River, and the grounds contain four hundred acres. About five hundred and fifty people find employment at the works, and it can be easily seen that this contributes one of the largest single items to the prosperity of the community. The output of the Grasselli Chemi- cal Works are all kinds of heavy C. C. chemicals for both industrial, laboratory and medicinal purposes. The product is shipped to every state in the union.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.