USA > Indiana > Lake County > A standard history of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet region, Volume II > Part 35
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Mr. Kostbade has membership in the Commercial Club and the Lutheran Church, and is a democrat in politics. He allied himself with the cause of the democratic party during the administration of Hayes, at which time he became convinced that the tariff had no important relation to the wage problem. Mr. Kostbade has always been a great student of history and public affairs, and is regarded as one of the best informed men in his community. It is his opinion that in the course of years all the various towns through the Calumet region will become
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consolidated as one large city, and he believes that the future of Hobart is especially bright. He knew Hobart when it was a town of only a few houses, and few men have done so much to improve local conditions.
WILLIAM C. JAHNKE. With all the years of his adult life spent in the Calumet district, William C. Jahnke has been a witness of history in the making in this district, has with credit and honor borne his own share of citizenship duties, and is one of the highly esteemed and pros- perous business men of Hobart.
William C. Jahnke was born at Tolleston, now a portion of the City of Gary, in May, 1865. There was a time in his own experience when he could have bought lots in South Gary at $5 apiece, and the pre- vailing price for this property at this time is $1,500 a lot. Mr. Jahnke has a brother and two sisters living, besides four half-sisters. His brother is Lewis, of Boston, Massachusetts; and one sister lives in East Gary, and the other at Tolleston.
After an education in the schools of Lake County, concluding at the age of thirteen, William C. Jahnke worked as a farm boy, paid his tuition for a more thorough schooling, and lived on a farm until he was twenty-one. At that age he began service for the Michigan Central Railroad at Lake Station, spent one year there, one year at Wheeler, and was with the Grand Trunk at Ainsworth for a time. For twelve years he was engaged in the retail coal and wood business, and in 1897 entered the service of the Standard Oil Company, and is the Hobart representative of that industry at the present time.
On December 27, 1886, Mr. Jahnke married Reca Dewel of Ross Township. They are the parents of one son and two daughters. Charles, the oldest, was married September 9, 1912, to Mabel Eich, of Chicago, who died June 9, 1913. Lillian, who was born February 14, 1890, married Herbert Milling, of Oak Park, and they have a son, born No- vember 6, 1913. The youngest child, Mildred, born January 27, 1905, is now in the fourth grade of the Hobart schools. Mr. Jahnke has affiliations with the Independent Order of Foresters and the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Hobart Commercial Club, and has been quite active in civic affairs for a number of years. He is captain of the hook and ladder company and for twenty years a member of the vol- unteer fire department. For four years he has served as treasurer for the city board, and is now a trustee from the First Ward. During his time of official service in the town the sewer and lighting system were constructed, and he was treasurer of the sewer fund. In politics he is republican. Mr. Jahnke owns a comfortable two-story and basement brick house, in which he resides, and is substantially situated in this community.
DR. CLARA FAULKNER is one of the successful women physicians of Northern Indiana, and has brought to her profession the best qualifica- tions of technical preparation and the strength and fidelity of true wom- anhood. She has for a number of years been successfully identified with practice at Hobart.
Dr. Clara Faulkner was born in Laporte County, Indiana, March 25, 1863. Her early education was acquired chiefly in the common schools of Iowa, having moved with her parents to Floyd County, near Charles City, and living there until the age of sixteen. After two years speut in Minnesota, she came to Hobart and soon afterwards entered school
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at Valparaiso, taking the teachers' course. Doctor Faulkner was a successful teacher in the old Edwards School at Hobart, beginning in 1882, and continuing for three years. Three years were spent in Fort Wayne, and her home was in Chicago until 1901. She took up the study of medicine in 1896 and in 1901 was graduated M. D. from the Bennett Medical College of Chicago. In September of the same year she returned to Hobart, and has since enjoyed an excellent practice.
At an early age Doctor Faulkner married Charles Lambert, and in 1886 became the wife of her present husband. Mr. Faulkner is engaged in business in Chicago, but makes his home in Hobart and returns from the city each day. Doctor Faulkner has one living child, Mrs. Hubert Bullock, and has two grandchildren. She is an active member of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Royal Neighbors, the Knights of the Mac- cabees and the Pythian Sisters, having held office in all these orders. Doctor Faulkner believes in the right of suffrage for women.
PAUL C. NEWMAN. Hardly anyone in Hobart is unfamiliar with the exceptional business enterprise of Paul C. Newman, who is both a pros- perous merchant and public-spirited and useful citizen. He is at the head of a large hardware, heating and plumbing and garage establish- ment, his business having been founded in 1900. It was started like most enterprises which have the possibilities of growth, on a small scale, in a room 20 by 40 feet on Main Street. His first stock was entirely hardware, and it was as a result of conservative but vigorous enterprise that he expanded his concern, at the end of five years taking a double store. During the following five years the business continued to prosper, and he then built two storerooms, one 22 by 100 and one 22 by 88 feet, and subsequently added a warehouse 20 by 24 feet. At the present time Mr. Newman has plans drawn for the construction of a fireproof build- ing, one story in height, but so arranged that a second story can be added. It will be a handsome addition to the commercial district of Hobart, and will be used exclusively as a garage and automobile supply and salesrooms. Mr. Newman is agent for the Harley-Davison motor- cyele, and also sells automobile trucks. In his older line of business he has facilities for the handling of all kinds of roofing, heating and plumbing contracts, and supplies the goods and installs the apparatus for such work both in Hobart and the surrounding towns, including Etna, Miller, East Gary, and other places. It has been as a result of planning his affairs a long way ahead that Mr. Newman has enjoyed more than average success.
Paul C. Newman was born in Chicago, September 6, 1873, and has lived in Hobart most of his career since he was five years of age. His father was born in Berlin, Germany, came to America when a young man, had traveled all over the world, and by pony made the trip from Denver to the Pacific Coast. He bought mines and had a property which promised a fortune, but owing to the operations of an English syndicate in buying all the available water rights, he had to sacrifice his holdings for much less than they were worth. The father subsequently built the South Chicago Rolling Mills, and it was his wish to buy real estate about Gary and Lake County, but desisted owing to the objection of his wife. The father predicted the growth of this section and was one of the ster- ling and well-remembered business men of Hobart and vicinity. Paul Newman grew up in Hobart, attended the public schools to the tenth grade, when he left his studies to begin an apprenticeship under his
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father, who was a building contractor. After his father's death he went to Hammond, was employed there by Charles Levine one year, returned to Hobart to work under James Carpenter and Steward Lightner, and at the age of nineteen started out as a journeyman and was employed in the plumbing and heating trade in most of the cities of the United States. He was twenty-six years of age when he returned to Hobart and set up in business for himself.
On November 6, 1894, Mr. Newman married Margaret Stresser of Hobart. Their one son, Everett, who is now completing his course in school, plans to take over the management of the garage. Mr. Newman is affiliated with the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Independent Order of Foresters, has passed through most of the chairs in the Odd Fellows lodge, and is one of the aggressive mem- bers of the Commercial Club at Hobart. Mr. Newman gave all his influ- ence and energy to the promotion of the Hobart lighting system, and when the modern sewerage system was installed most of the hardware was supplied through his store. The municipal improvements which have done so much to make Hobart a modern city in recent years have all had the active support of Mr. Newman. Outside of business and civic affairs his interests go to outdoor life, fishing, hunting and motor- ing, and he now plans the organization of a local gun club.
WILLIAM SCHARBACH, JR. One of Hobart's enterprising and pro- gressive business men, William Scharbach, Jr., has lived in that locality for the past twenty-two years, and during that time the Scharbach name through both father and sons has become well known in connection with the lumber trade and manufacturing. While giving close attention to business affairs, Mr. Scharbach is known for his progressive civic enter- prise, and is one of the men who deserve special credit for the various municipal improvements which have placed Hobart in the van among Lake County towns.
William Scharbach, Jr., was born in Chicago, March 28, 1879. He attended school in the German Lutheran schools of Chicago until coming to Hobart with his parents in 1893. He was confirmed by Rev. E. R. Schuelke in 1893. After the Scharbach enterprise and family were established in Hobart, the junior Scharbach began work for his father in the lumber yard and mill.
On August 25, 1901, William Scharbach, Jr., married Caroline Ewigleben of Hobart. They have one child, Myrtle, now eleven years of age and attending the German Lutheran parochial school at Hobart. Mrs. Scharbach, who is devoted to her home and family, was educated in the public schools and in the German Lutheran schools.
It is due to the united efforts of William Scharbach, Sr., and his sons that the large lumber and general building material plant has been developed under the Seharbach name. The business is one now employ- ing nine or more men, and the trade extends all about Hobart for eight or ten miles in every direction. On moving to Hobart, William Schar- bach. Sr., bought out W. H. Riffinburg, who was then conducting a small vard with one small shed. The yard is now equipped with two large sheds, and much open space, besides a three-story fireproof planing mill and a large warehouse. The factory is equipped with modern machinery and the Scharbachs are able to supply almost everything desired in the way of building material, builders' hardware and supplies. Besides William Scharbach, Jr., four other brothers are connected with the busi-
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ness, while one brother is at Mishawaka, Indiana, with the Frank Lumber and Coal Company.
Mr. Scharbach's mother is still living at the age of sixty-eight. Both his father and mother were born in Germany, William Scharbach, Sr., in 1843, coming to the United States when twenty-two years of age.
Mr. Scharbach is a member of the Hobart Commercial Club, and belongs to the local carpenters' union. Some special mention should be made of his civic enterprise. As an officer of the local fire department, he has been instrumental in organizing and bringing the department up to a high standard of efficiency. On November 14, 1911, Mr. Schar- bach was elected to the town board, taking his seat January 1, 1912. During his administration he put himself in the lead on the fight for the sewer system, and his efforts deserve much credit for the splendid sewerage system that Hobart now has. He also deserves honorable men- tion in connection with the introduction of the present boulevard system of lighting in Hobart. The town board voted unanimously in favor of both improvements, and Mr. Schiarbach took time from private business in order to study and investigate the best system both for the sewer system and the lighting. In politics he is a republican and is a member of the German Lutheran church. An enthusiastic baseball fan, he at one time played the game as member of a regular team.
JOHN P. STAWICKI, M. D. Gary has no more loyal and useful citizen than Dr. John P. Stawicki, who has a high standing in his profession, and while especially esteemed among the Polish people of Gary, has identified himself practically with the community at large, and is known as an able representative of his profession and in the general field of business. Doctor Stawicki is proprietor of the Broadway Pharmacy and owns the two-story brick building, 25 by 72 feet, in which this drug store is con- ducted. The location of his store is at 1428 Broadway.
A native of Poland, Dr. John P. Stawicki, who was born in 1880, when seven months of age came with his parents to the United States. His early home was in Illinois and his schooling was acquired at St. Ignatius College in Chicago. Doctor Stawicki took his medical course at the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons, the medical department of the University of Illinois, entering that school in 1904 and graduating M. D. in 1908. Following his formal school course he was an interne at St. Bernard's Hospital in Chicago and at St. Margaret's Hospital in Hammond, Indiana. His first regular practice was done in Indiana Harbor, and from that community he moved to Gary in April, 1913. Doctor Stawicki, though a general practitioner, has had a growing practice as a specialist in surgery and obstetrics.
Doctor Stawicki married Florentine Ostrowski of Hammond. She was a teacher in the public schools of Chicago for three years. They are the parents of two children, Jeanette, now four years of age, and John, an infant. Doctor Stawicki is a member in high standing of both the Chicago Medical Society and the Lake County Medical Society, and is medical examiner for several fraternal orders, including the Knights of Columbus, the Independent Order of Foresters, the Polish and Slavish National Alliance, and the Polish Roman Catholic Union. 1
GEORGE E. TABBERT. Youth is no bar to business success. Twenty- two years of age, Mr. George E. Tabbert is already at the head of the
John Strawich M.L.
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prosperous Tabbert's Grocery at Hobart, is vice president of the Com- mercial Club, and one of the leading men of the town.
George E. Tabbert was born at Hobart, February 23, 1892, was grad- uated in 1910 from the Hobart High School, and during his school days had secured the experience which he has utilized in the building up of a prosperous store. While a schoolboy he was employed by the firm of Scheidt & Keilman in order to pay his way. He was prominent in athletic and social affairs in the high school, and in 1909 took part in the oratorical contest as a representative of the Hobart school.
Mr. Tabbert is a son of Mrs. Emma Tabbert, whose business enter- prise originated the establishment now known as Tabbert's Grocery. Mrs. Tabbert was born in Hobart August 17, 1864, and besides George has one son and three daughters, all of whom are at school except the youngest. Mrs. Tabert's father was Lewis Wettengel, who was one of the first settlers of Lake County and located in Hobart when it had only three houses. This pioneer was a native of Germany, and arrived in the United States when about twenty-one years of age. Mrs. Tabbert, in order to support her family, had established a small candy and cigar store at Hobart, and after finishing his schooling George E. Tabbert took hold of this place with characteristic energy, and he and his mother have since developed one of the best stores in the town. A line of groceries was added, larger quarters were secured, and the stock has been increased until the original room was extended by an addition 20 by 24 feet, besides a basement. A complete line of fancy and staple groceries and meats are carried, and the trade is among many of the best people of the town. The store is equipped with the latest fixtures, and progressive methods prevail in every department.
Mr. Tabbert is a progressive in politics. He was elected vice presi- dent of the Hobart Commercial Club on March 4, 1914, and since the beginning of his career has aligned himself with civic enterprise in the town. He is a member of the volunteer fire department, and on Febru- ary 11, 1914, while on duty, was injured so seriously as to be confined to his bed for three weeks. Mr. Tabbert is also town clerk of Hobart, a member of the board of directors of the Commercial Club, and was chairman of the committee which managed their last banquet. He is also president of the Hobart Athletic Club, and continues his interest in athletics, in which he was prominent while in the Hobart school.
C. F. HECK. It is not an empty distinction to have lived actively and usefully in any community for more than half a century. One of the most interesting old-timers of Lake County is C. F. Heck, now living retired, in the society of his children and with the work of home and garden to occupy him at Hobart. Many of the events chronicled in these pages are matters of personal recollection with Mr. Heck. The scroll of progress was unrolled before his eyes, and he himself was no incon- spicuous actor in the affairs which have constituted the progress and development of this section of Indiana.
C. F. Heck was born in Germany, a country which furnished many sterling pioneers to Northwestern Indiana. His birth occurred Febru- ary 1, 1849. When eleven years of age, after some schooling, he accom- panied his parents to the United States, and his father, who died Jan- uary 10, 1903, at the age of eighty-seven, bought a farm of forty acres near Hobart. C. F. Heck was the only child, and remained on his father's farm until 1884. He then bought a place of 200 acres, and for many
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years was one of the leading farmers, with a special reputation for the raising of draft horses.
On April 14, 1884, Mr. Heck married Johanna Struebig of Lake County. She was born September 15, 1857, and died August 23, 1898. There were three children: Lydia, who was born October 18, 1885; Ida, who was born June 2, 1887, and is now Mrs. W. O. Carlson; and Martha, born January 8, 1891, and married S. B. Rupp, March 4, 1914. There is also a grandson, in whom Mr. Heck takes particular delight, Robert F. Carlson, who was born February 2, 1913.
Mr. Heck has membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Independent Order of Foresters. For eight years he gave substantial service as a citizen on the township advisory board. During that time the Hobart school ad- ditions and the Miller IIigh School addition were constructed, with an expenditure aggregating fifty thousand dollars. He is a republican in politics and a member of the Methodist church. Mr. Heck retired from active affairs about eleven years ago, and has since enjoyed the fruits of a well-spent career. His youngest daughter was educated in the normal course at Valparaiso, and by a business course in Chicago.
When Mr. Heck came to Lake County Hobart was marked by only one store, and in the early days he has seen Crown Point people come into the village by stage coach. There was no church in the community, practically every improvement has been placed here since he became an active participant in affairs. Among his acquaintances was the ven- erable Wellington Clark, who was known as Lake County's oldest citi- zen and who died at the age of ninety-seven. In the early days Mr. Heck made a number of trips to Chicago by team and wagon, walking alongside the wagon. He recalls one trip which he made with his uncle. Both walked the entire distance into Chicago, and when they got along about Eighteenth Street and Wabash Avenue, his uncle remarked that it was a pity he had not bought land there some years previously, and yet at that very time it was possible to make investments in real estate at $100 an aere of land that is now almost in the heart of the city.
OVE A. JOHNSON. In years of life and professional activity, one of the younger members of the Lake County bar, Ove A. Johnson, has all the advantages of youth, energy and enthusiasm, and those qualities he has employed to advance him into a place of leadership as a member of the Hobart bar.
Born at Latimer, Iowa, February 22, 1885, Ove A. Johnson is of Danish parentage, and on his mother's side comes of distinguished lineage. Both his father and mother were natives of Denmark, his father born in 1847 and the mother in 1843, and are still living at Lati- mer, Iowa. They came unmarried to the United States in 1868, and in the following year joined their lives in wedloek. Besides the Hobart lawyer there are two daughters and four sons. The ancestry on the mother's side goes back to the year 1608, and Mr. Johnson of Hobart has complete records of this branch of the family covering all the subse- quent years. One of his ancestors gained particular prominence in Denmark, his name was Ove Jorgensen Hoegh Guldberg, who, after graduating with honors in 1749, was ordained to the ministry, in 1754 was made professor of oratory at Sara Academy and continued a mem- ber of the faculty from 1761 to 1764, then was private tutor to Prince Frederick until 1771, was appointed a councillor of state and cabinet
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secretary under Prince Frederick, and in 1774 became private secretary to the king, and was made king's private councillor and minister of state. In 1780 he was raised to the rank of nobility, and died at Wiborg, Den- mark, in 1808.
The early education of Ove A. Johnson was acquired in the country schools, but most of his advantages have been secured as a result of his own efforts, and he has a remarkable range of experience for a young man. After he was thirteen he spent two years in the high school at Latimer, then remained on the farm until seventeen, and this was fol- lowed by a year in the commercial department at Valparaiso University. As a young man he conceived the idea that travel and practical expe- rience in meeting men and conditions was one of the best equipments and training for a successful career. It was therefore entirely as a matter of education and experience that he started on a round of travel through- out the western states and territories, through North and South Dakota, parts of Canada, Montana, and elsewhere in the Northwest. He spent a year altogether in this hard school of practical experience, six months one time and six months at another. Some of his experiences were in Southern Idaho along the Snake River. He started out without funds, and depended upon such work as he could get between stations to pay his way. While on his journey through North Dakota he had a starva- tion experience near Williston. It was in the early fall when he arrived, and it was necessary that he stop and get some work in order to stake him to the next town. He found 300 men sitting around looking for work, and his own cash capital was reduced to five cents. Falling in with some friends who had a little more money, he spent several days in a hand-to-mouth existence, and they had to resort to almost desperate expedients in order to keep from starving. One of the party picked some berries, boiled them, and after eating was taken sick and died. Mr. Johnson was spared the humiliation of resorting to begging when a thresherman came along and employed him and a companion at wages which came above the verge of starvation.
After this educative experience, Mr. Johnson returned to Valparaiso and entered the university in the scientific department, remaining three years to complete his high school training. Later he graduated in 1909 from the law department, and in the fall of that year again went out West and entered the University of South Dakota, where he made a special study of real estate, abstract and public speaking, and did a large amount of research work. Returning to Indiana, in June, 1911, Mr. John- son opened his office and has since enjoyed a growing and prosperous general practice. He is a member of the Danish Brotherhood and the Patriots, is independent in politics, and among the churches favors the Unitarian creed.
Mr. Johnson is naturally interested in outdoor life and in many activities aside from his private business. Both at Valparaiso and in the University of South Dakota he played football and baseball, and it is easy to arouse his enthusiasm over the sports of hunting and fishing and camping.
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