USA > Indiana > Lake County > A standard history of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet region, Volume II > Part 39
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Edward P. Wise was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1868, a son of Joseph B. and Ella E. (Blair) Wise. His father was a farmer, and the son grew up in the country of South- western Pennsylvania, had a common school education, and early in life started out to push his own way to success. While working in the mines he had an ambition to get above the ordinary rank of miners, and while learning to do by doing he was also a student in all his legal inter- vals, and took two courses through the Scranton School of Correspond- ence, one in English and the other in mining. While in the mining industry he worked his way up from the bottom to the position of superintendent of Mines No. 1 and No. 2 at Banning, Pennsylvania. He was at one time also superintendent of the Hart Company's coal mines at Stewartsville, Ohio, and at the Wee Gee mines at Bellaire, Ohio. In 1895, on leaving his business as mine superintendent, Mr. Wise engaged in the real estate business at Bellaire and lived there for the following fifteen years. On June 3, 1910, he established his home and head- quarters in Gary, but has been handling Gary real estate since 1908. While at Bellaire, while dealing in city and local property, he built up a large business in selling Texas and Oklahoma farm lands. In Gary Mr. Wise has been interested in the following well known subdivisions: W. G. Wright's First Subdivision; Jackson Park Subdivision; L. P. Hammond's Subdivision. The greater part of his business at the pres- ent time is selling improved property, chiefly homes, and he has sold a great many to the people of that city.
On August 27, 1888, Mr. Wise married Sarah E. Branthoover, of Washington County, Pennsylvania. Of the eight children born to their marriage one is now deceased. Mr. Wise affiliates with the Masonic order, is a republican in politics, and is a member of the Gary Y. M. C. A. He is also a member of the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges, and one of the vice presidents of the Indiana Real Estate Association.
HENRY F. MACCRACKEN. A Gary attorney who has successfully combined the practice of law with the activities of citizenship and poli- tics, Henry F. MacCracken since 1907 has established himself securely
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in his profession at Gary, where his influence counts as that of a pro- gressive leader. In his work Mr. MacCracken has exhibited a fine sense of responsibility of the individual to the community, and his abilities give him rank as one of the leaders in the Lake County bar.
Henry F. MacCracken was born at Columbus, Ohio, in 1871. He comes of a scholarly family. His uncle, Dr. H. M. MacCracken, is one of the distinguished educational leaders in America, is chancellor of New York University, and was the leading exponent of the idea which was carried out in the founding of the Hall of Fame of the National Capitol in Washington. Mr. MacCracken's parents were George W. and Anna (Sparrow) MacCracken. His father was a successful mem- ber of the Ohio bar, and was chosen a Wilson delegate to the Baltimore convention of 1912, and died just before the convention met.
After graduating from Wittenberg College at Springfield, Ohio, Mr. MacCracken took up the study of law with his father, was admitted to the bar in 1898, and was associated with the elder MacCracken in practice at Urbana, Ohio, until he removed to Gary in 1907. In his native state he became a leader in the democratic party, and in 1904 was democratic candidate for Congress from the Eighth Ohio District.
On November 29, 1903, Mr. MacCracken married Mabel E. Carson, of Pickaway, Ohio. Their children are: Richard F., now about four years of age; and Mary E. Mr. MacCracken is past exalted ruler of the Gary Lodge of Elks, is vice president of the Gary Commercial Club, is president of the Gary Bar Association, and his church is the Protestant Episcopal.
FRANK J. SHEEHAN. A graduate in law from the University of Michigan, Frank J. Sheehan has been in practice at Gary for the past seven years, and has enjoyed a large office and general litigating practice.
Frank J. Sheehan was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, September 13, 1880, a son of Patrick and Ellen (Shannon) Sheehan. His father was a farmer in Western Pennsylvania, and it was there that the son grew up, attended the public schools, took his preparatory work in the Taber Academy in Massachusetts, and from early manhood began to support himself and pay his own way while fitting himself for his profession. Mr. Sheehan graduated from the University of Michigan in the law department in 1906 and secured his first year of experience in Conneaut, Ohio. He identified himself with the new city of Gary in December, 1907, and now does a large business in partnership under the firm name of Sheehan & Lyddick.
Mr. Sheehan was married January 9, 1912, to Bessie Vrooman of Dowagiac, Michigan. They are members of the Catholic Church and in politics he is a republican.
EARL V. SHIMP. The firm of Shimp & Williams. undertakers, though recently established in Gary, have developed a splendid service in their profession, and both members are expert funeral directors and embalmers and have all the material facilities for the successful handling of a growing business. The present firm was established November 24, 1913, succeeding the firm of Simpson & Shimp, which was organized June 1, 1913. The headquarters of the firm are at the corner of Sixth and Massachusetts streets, where they have the ground floor and base- ment of a building 35x75 feet, and all their equipment is modern and includes an automobile funeral car and ambulance.
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Earl V. Shimp, who was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, September 4, 1879, is a son of D. R. and Catherine (Shower) Shimp, his father being a retired farmer. After graduating from high school, Mr. Shimp spent nine years as assistant postmaster of Keystone, Indiana, and in the meantime had acquired much practical experience in undertaking, and was graduated in 1911 from the Askins Training School for Em- balmers at Indianapolis. The first year was spent in the undertaking business at Indianapolis, and selling out, he came to Gary in 1912. He is thoroughly trained, has wide experience, and is building up a suc- cessful business on the basis of honest one-price methods. His firm sold the first steel vault in Gary. Mr. Shimp was married in 1900 to Estella Risley, of Keystone, Indiana. Mr. Shimp affiliates with the Loyal Order of Moose and the Modern Woodmen of America, is inde- pendent in politics, and his church is the Baptist.
HERBERT ERICKSON. As an architect and civil engineer, Mr. Erick- son has performed a great deal of important work at Gary during the past five years, and has established himself securely in his profession. It will be a matter of interest to many Gary citizens to know that Mr. Erickson belongs to a family which has contributed one of the greatest names in American invention and naval annals. Mr. Erickson's father was a first cousin to the famous John Erickson, who invented and perfected the Monitor, the revolving turret battleship which revolu- tionized all methods of naval warfare. In his home and office at Gary Mr. Erickson has a number of relics from the old Monitor. The family still maintains its relations with the United States Navy, since two brothers of Herbert Erickson are serving as lieutenants in that branch of the nation's defense. Mr. Erickson's father also saw service in the Swedish navy.
Herbert Erickson was born at Fort Wayne, Indiana, June 22, 1885, a son of John and Anna Erickson. His mother was a gifted musician, possessed a rare voice, and that art was also something of a family inheritance, since her cousin was the famous Jennie Lind, the Swedish nightingale. John Erickson, the father, was a graduate from a Swedish University, and a civil engineer and designer, practically all members of the family having followed some branch of engineering. He brought his family to the United States in 1873, and located in Indiana.
Herbert Erickson was for two years a student of the University of Wisconsin, and in 1908 came to Gary, worked in architectural lines for a few months, and since 1909 has had an office of his own for the practice of his profession as architect and civil engineer. His work finds examples in several prominent public structures in Gary and vicinity. He designed the Swedish Lutheran Church, the Elks Club Building, a number of apartments and residences and business houses, was architect of the Bank of Whiting, and superintended the building of the magnificent Froebel School at Gary. He also laid out the plan of the City of East Gary.
Mr. Erickson was married in 1909 to Grace Sines, of Delphi, In- diana. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a member of the Gary Commercial Club and in politics a republican.
GARY HEAT, LIGHT AND WATER COMPANY. Among the various sub- sidiary companies of the United States Steel Corporation, which founded
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and improved, and has since continued to serve the people of the City of Gary, perhaps the most important in its present relations is the Gary Heat, Light and Water Company, which furnishes water, gas and elec- tric light, and combines under one management three of the most valua- ble public utilities. This company was organized January 1, 1907, and operates under franchises granted by the city corporation of Gary. At the present time there are thirty miles of gas mains extending from the company's plant throughout the city, and forty-one miles of water mains within the city limits. The supply of water is obtained from Lake Michigan, through a tunnel 15,000 feet in length and seventy-two inches in diameter, extending under the bed of the lake to a sufficient distance from the shore line to insure a supply of water free from pol- lution. The pumping station is located in the center of the distributing system of the city, and has capacity sufficient to supply a population of 100,000. The gas is manufactured in the company's own plant, with a present capacity of 250,000 cubic feet daily. The electric current for lighting and power requirements in Gary is supplied from the Indiana Steel Company's works.
In February, 1908, the company sold 182,000 feet of gas. In Decem- ber, 1913, the company distributed to consumers 12,000,000 feet of that commodity. In April, 1911, the amount of electricity consumed by the patrons of the company was 70,000 kilowatt-hours, while for April, 1913, the kilowatt-hours aggregated 172,000. Electric current is fur- nished to a number of factories, and lights 360 arc lights and 1,000 incandescent bulbs. The company has in its employ from forty to one hundred men, according to the season.
The officers of the Gary Heat, Light and Water Company are: L. W. McNamee, president and treasurer; William Luscombe and Leonard Fitzgerald, vice presidents; W. J. Mlodoch, secretary and auditor; and J. C. Hoot, purchasing agent, of Chicago.
Leonard Fitzgerald, who has had a broad experience as an engineer in connection with public utility plants in various parts of the country, was brought to Gary soon after the organization of the Gary Heat, Light and Water Company. He was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, March 23, 1882, a son of John H. and Flora B. Fitzgerald. His father, who now lives in Houston, Texas, retired, was a gas engineer with the Kerr-Murray Manufacturing Company at Fort Wayne and followed his profession in various parts of the country. Mr. Fitzgerald received a public school education in St. Joseph, Missouri, and at Houston, Texas, and in 1900 graduated a mechanical engineer from the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Texas. His first practical experience was with the Houston Gas Plant for two years, followed by a similar time as chemist for No. 2 works of the Gas, Light and Coke Company of Cleve- land, Ohio, and one year with the Gas Machinery Company of the same city. As superintendent of the North Shore Gas Company, of Wauke- gan, Illinois, for three years, Mr. Fitzgerald became well known for his ability in both the technical and administrative departments of gas and electric manufacturing, and his ability caused his selection by the Gary Heat, Light and Power Company in April, 1907, for the con- struction of the local plant. He installed the gas and electric machinery and service at Gary, and has since been superintendent of those depart- ments.
Mr. Fitzgerald on May 23, 1911, married Camilla Giesey of Wil- liamsburg, Pennsylvania. They have one daughter. Mr. Fitzgerald
S.a.0
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is a member of the University Club, the Gary Commercial Club, the Jovians, the American Gas Institute, the National Commercial Gas Association, the National Electric Light Association, and the Indiana Electric Light Association. He is on the executive board of the Retail Merchants Association of Gary. His church is the Catholic.
CHARLES A. DELONG, M. D. The fourth physician to locate in the new City of Gary was Doctor DeLong, whose work has been continuous in that community since May 15, 1907. Few physicians in the Calumet region have accomplished more or gained higher recognition in the local profession than Doctor DeLong, who began his service with exceptional equipment and has gained not only a large and profitable private prac- tice, but has been several times honored with office in the local medical societies.
Charles A. DeLong was born in Montour, Iowa, December 14, 1873. His birth occurred on a farm, and his parents, G. W. and Mary F. DeLong, were substantial farming people in one of the rich agricultural centers of that state. After finishing his common school education he entered Grinnell College of Iowa, and was graduated with his bachelor degree in 1896, and first used his college education as a teacher, a voca- tion which he followed for ten terms. During that time he served as county superintendent of schools in Tama County for two years. Doctor DeLong is a graduate in medicine from the Rush Medical College of Chicago with the class of 1905, and after an interneship in the Pres- byterian Hospital did his first practice in Morocco, Indiana. Since coming to Gary, in May, 1907, he has built up a large general practice both as physician and surgeon.
Doctor DeLong was married in October, 1907, to Helen E. Humphrey of North Kortright, New York. They have three children-Robert, born in 1908; Charles, born in 1910; and Ruth, born in 1912. Doctor DeLong affiliates with the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Court of Honor, and on the strength of his Scottish ancestry belongs to the Scottish Clans. He has served as both secretary and president of the Gary Medical Society, also as secretary of the Lake County Med- ical Society, and has membership in the Indiana State and the American Medical associations. His church is the Congregational, and in politics he is progressive.
HUGH S. ESPEY, D. D. S. A successful member of the dental pro- fession at Gary, having located at Tolleston in 1910, Dr. Hugh S. Espey began practice less than ten years ago, and from boyhood'has made the best of his opportunities for advancement in the world.
Hugh S. Espey was born at Rising Sun, Indiana, September 22, 1882, a son of Frank F. and Charity Espey. His father for many years was a merchant at Rising Sun. The public schools gave him the groundwork of his educational training, and in 1905 he graduated with the degree D. D. S. from the Ohio College of Dental Surgery at Cincinnati. The first four years were spent in practice at Vevay, Indiana, and in December, 1910, he located at Tolleston and has since gained a profitable clientage. Dr. Espey affiliates with the Masonic order up to and includ- ing the Knight Templar degrees, belongs to the Mystic Shrine, is a member of the University Club of Gary, and his politics is republican and his church is the Presbyterian.
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H. GERSHMAN. The leading merchant tailor of Lowell, Mr. Gersh- man has been a resident of this town for nearly nineteen years, and in spite of vicissitudes, with the loss of his business by fire, has brought himself to a prosperous position second to none among the large business men of the town. His career well illustrates the success which has been won by not a few of his fellow countrymen in the free land of America.
H. Gershman was born at Moscow, Russia, April 20, 1862, attended a private school until twelve years of age, when he became a tailor's apprentice, and at the age of twenty-two, having learned the trade of tailor, engaged in the business at Ostashkov, which was 120 miles from any railroad. He remained there seven years, two years working as a cutter in a department store, and five years were spent in business for himself. Having sold out, he emigrated to America, arrived in Chicago September 5, 1891, and found his first employment as a tailor for Morris M. Abrahams on Cottage Grove Avenue. Mr. Gershman lived in Chicago until February 15, 1896, and then located at Lowell. He opened a small tailoring shop in a room 18x18 feet across the street from his present location. The building was then remodeled to 18x36 feet, with a flat above which he occupied as a residence. Then occurred the fire of 1898 which wiped out the entire block, and it was his misfor- tune not to have a cent of insurance. Home and business were destroyed and it was by rare good fortune that the members of the family got out from the burning building with their lives. With only a reputation for good work and reliable business methods as his credit, Mr. Gershman then started a shop in the Sanger Building, where the Lowell National Bank now stands. He lived in three rooms at the rear of his shop, and was soon hard at work in order to once more get a start in the world. The following spring he moved his residence to Charles McNay's house, and on November 4, 1899, opened a shop in the Castle Building, where he put in an up-to-date merchant tailoring store and men's furnishing goods department. The entire building was well equipped with new stock and furniture, and he had a good stock of woolens. In 1903 the furnishing goods stock was sold, and since then Mr. Gershman has confined himself entirely to tailoring. In March, 1905, his business was moved to its present location in the Johnson Store Building. Mr. Gershman acquired ownership of the property in 1912, and in 1913 con- structed an entirely new building, a two-story brick, with its ground front almost a continuous line of plate glass, behind which are found the most modern fixtures throughout the storeroom of 18x50 feet. The basement underneath and the flat above complete the equipment. On April 1, 1914, he took in as a partner his son-in-law, Charles Berlow, and they put in a complete stock of men's wear and furnishings and have one of the finest and most patronized establishments in Southern Lake County. Their trade extends over three townships, and their patronage may be considered county-wide.
Mr. Gershman was married September 18, 1884, to Dora Propp of Moscow, Russia. They have three children. one daughter and two sons. Celia was born September 18, 1885; Abraham was born Decem- ber 23, 1886, and Isaac was born June 20, 1894. The children are all graduates of the Lowell High School. Celia married Charles Berlow, of Hubbell, Michigan, March 8, 1914. Abraham has taken two terms in the Lewis and Armour Institutes of Technology at Chicago and is now a traveling salesman for the Universal Battery Company. The son Isaac is now a student in the Art Institute of Chicago. Mrs. Gershman died February 8, 1903.
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Mr. Gershman has affiliations with Colfax Lodge No. 378, A. F. & A. M., and the Eastern Star Chapter No. 360, with Lowell Lodge No. 245, I. O. O. F., Lowell Lodge No. 300, Knights of Pythias, and Cedar Camp No. 5155, Modern Woodmen of America. He is also an active member of the Lowell Fire Department. In politics he is pro- gressive.
FRED EIBEL. Vice president and manager of the plumbing and heating department of the Peoples' Hardware Company, the largest enterprise of its kind at Gary or in Lake County, Fred Eibel is a man whose rise to independence has been the result entirely of his own well directed labors, beginning at early years when most boys are still in school. He is still a young man, possessed of that aggressive enter- prise which is so characteristic of Gary leaders in business, and has a secure place both as a business man and citizen of this community.
Fred Eibel is a native of England, born in the City of London, Sep- tember 16, 1877, a son of Joseph and Freda Eibel. His mother came to the United States in 1881, locating with her family of children at Utica, New York. Her husband had died in England, and there were four children, three sons and one daughter, of whom Fred was the youngest. From Utica in 1885 the family moved to Rochester, New York, where Fred attended the public schools and gained the most of his book education. In 1890, when he was only thirteen years of age, he began learning the plumbing trade in Chicago, and was employed as an apprentice and worker in that line until 1895, when he went to Joliet, Illinois. He is a skillful man in his line of business, and had already made a reputation before coming to Gary in 1908. Since then he has been identified with one of the executives of the People's Hardware Company, and as vice president has the entire management of the heat- ing and plumbing department.
On October 25, 1900, Mr. Eibel married Freda Huettner, of Joliet. Their three children are: Myrtle, Gertrude and Frederick. Mr. Eibel affiliates with the Modern Woodmen of America, his church is the German Lutheran, and in politics he maintains an independent stand.
WILLIAM TAYLOR. One of Lake County's successful business men is William Taylor, whose home is now at Shelby. Much of his career has been spent in the West, but he is a native of Lake County, and now has many substantial evidences of material prosperity, all of them acquired through a career of strenuous effort and keen business man- agement.
A son of Dewit C. and Emma L. Taylor, William Taylor was born August 10, 1871, on a farm which he still owns, situated a mile and a half northwest of Lowell. His early education came from the country schools, and when sixteen years of age his father was killed by a runa- way team. At the age of seventeen he entered Valparaiso College, at- tended eighteen months, and returned to the farm and took its active management. At the age of twenty-five Mr. Taylor and his mother went out to Yuma, Arizona, thence proceeded by stage and horseback to Ehrenberg, in Yuma County, where they spent nearly a year. During that time Mr. Taylor carried mail on horseback from Ehrenberg to Parker, a distance of fifty-two miles, his regular schedule calling for two round trips a week. During the course of the trip he seldom saw a white person from one end of the road to the other. On one trip, on
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account of the large volume of mail which made a load for his horse, he was obliged to walk the entire distance, since it was impossible to find an extra packhorse. While in the Southwest Mr. Taylor was also engaged in the merchandise business, and in order to get goods to stock his store made a trip with his Mexican teamsters to Phoenix, Arizona, a distance of 200 miles of desert road, and during that journey the party were compelled to make dry camps, and haul water from one watering place to the other. It required twenty days to make the round trip. When Mr. Taylor prepared to leave Arizona, he and his mother, with their baggage, embarked in a rowboat, and went down the Colorado River, with its dangerous rapids and whirlpools, to Yuma, a distance of 120 miles. Mr. Taylor carried about his person $500 in gold dust, which he subsequently had coined at the San Francisco mint ..
In 1898 Mr. Taylor married Cora L. Kanarr. Two years later, in the fall, when their little daughter Edith was five months old, they made a trip by wagon to Western Nebraska, and on his return Mr. Taylor engaged in the meat business. He built a nice brick building in Lowell for this purpose. That was his principal line of business until 1906. Then came another excursion to the West. With his wife and daughter in one wagon, and his brother-in-law and family in another wagon, the party drove to the northern part of Iowa, thence to Hastings, Nebraska, then northwest through Cheyenne, Laramie, Lander, Yellowstone Park, into Montana, where several weeks were spent in hunting. His brother- in-law concluding to stay there for the winter, Mr. Taylor with his wife and daughter then struck the trail for the Northwest, passing through Butte, Deer Lodge, and passing out of Montana near the Cana- dian border and crossing Idaho at Hope, Sand Point, into Spokane, Washington, from which point they continued southwest to Raperia, crossing the Snake River. While crossing this tortuous and rapid stream on a ferry boat, a gale broke the cable, leaving the ferry boat at the mercy of the waves. The ferryman took Mrs. Taylor and Edith into a lifeboat and conveyed them to shore, leaving Mr. Taylor with the team to look out for himself, but as usual he came out unscathed and in time was able to continue the journey. At Pendleton, Oregon, they sold the outfit, and took train to The Dalles. From that point they proceeded down the Columbia River by boat to Portland, thence by rail to California, and after a journey of a number of months, charac- terized by incidents and adventures such as never betall the routine traveler by railway, they returned to Lowell. Since that time Mr. Taylor has made two other trips to Montana, and has done some big game shooting in the West. It is of his adventures as a hunter and traveler in the mountain and desert region of the Southwest and North- west that Mr. Taylor has his most interesting reminiscences, and espe- cially likes to tell of how he was lost in the timber of the Northwest for a number of days, and had to depend entirely upon the game he killed for food. He now has to show for his early hunting trips a nice bear rug, three mounted elk heads, one deer head and several other trophies.
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