USA > Indiana > Lake County > A standard history of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet region, Volume II > Part 4
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In March, 1911, Mr. Roberts was appointed treasurer of the town- ship to fill an unexpired term of Harry Johnson, and in the following November was elected without opposition and was unopposed at the second election. On September 15, 1909, occurred his marriage with Bessie Mae Love, of Lowell. Mrs. Roberts was educated in the Lowell High School and after taking the teacher's course at Valparaiso, taught school three years in her native town. They are the parents of one son, Victor John, born September 26, 1913. Mr. Roberts has affiliations with Colfax Lodge No. 378, A. F. & A. M., of which he is secretary, and his church is the Methodist. He is fond of outdoor life, finds his recrea- tion is fishing, hunting and motoring, and also supervises the operations of two farms in Lake County.
C. E. NICHOLS. With the returning of C. E. Nichols to Lowell in 1891, an element of strength and purpose was added to the upbuilding forces of this prosperous community. He had gained broad experience in the marts of trade and commerce and among the forceful business men of Chicago, and his advent in Lowell marked the beginning of a career that has brought him steadily to the forefront among the men whose activities have contributed to the city's importance as a business center and whose high aims and purposes have maintained a supremacy of public-spirited citizenship. At this time he is head of the grain elevator firm of C. E. Nichols & Company and vice president of the Lowell National Bank, and also has large interests at Cook, where he is president of the Nichols Grain and Hay Company.
Mr. Nichols was born on a farm one mile west of Lowell. Lake County, Indiana, December 14, 1861, and is a son of Horatio R. and Eliza (Kenyon) Nichols. His father, a native of New York, was born in January, 1818, and moved to Lake County as a pioneer in 1836, with his brother Abram, and with the exception of two years spent in Michigan this continued to be his home until his death in April, 1897. Mr. Nichols passed his life in the pursuits of agriculture and is remem- hered as a man of industry and sound integrity. Mrs. Nichols was born January 3, 1826, in Rhode Island, and made the trip to the West with
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her parents when ten years of age, and after spending two years in Ohio the family came to Lake County, in 1838, among the earliest pioneers.
C. E. Nichols was a lad of seven years when the family moved from the farm into the town of Lowell, and there he attended the public schools until eighteen years of age. At that time he entered the grain business with his father, but two years later established the firm of Nichols Brothers, which continued in business until 1886. Seeking a broader field for the display of his abilities, Mr. Nichols then went to Chicago, where he entered the grain and commission business with the firm of Stinchfield, Head & Company, but in 1887 moved to Crown Point, Indiana, and remained in the grain trade until the fall of 1890. He then returned to Chicago and entered the commission business on his own account, becoming a member of the Board of Trade, where he was constantly engaged in large transactions. Too close application to business and continued mental strain caused Mr. Nichols' health to fail, and, disposing of his interests in Chicago, in 1891, he returned to Lowell and formed the firm of C. E. Nichols & Company, of which he has continued to be the directing head. This concern has two elevators, with a capacity.of 75,000 bushels, and a large grist mill in which are manufactured whole wheat flour and buckwheat flour. For some years he has been identified with financial matters, and is at present vice president of the Lowell National Bank. His fine business talents have been recognized by his election to the presidency of the Business Men's Association of Lowell, in which capacity he is contributing materially to the commercial and industrial welfare of the city. As a citizen he has ever shown himself eager to advance movements for the civic wel- fare, and has served capably as a member of the Board of Education. At Cook, Indiana, Mr. Nichols is president of the Nichols Grain and Hay Company, which also handles live stock and all kinds of building materials, the business extending throughout both townships. Mr. Nichols is a business man of superior qualifications and abounding energy, and has the capacity for the able supervision of a large variety of details. His associates have the utmost confidence in his ability, and he is widely and favorably known in trade circles in Chicago.
On June 25, 1888, Mr. Nichols was married to Miss Edna Smith, of Hammond, who was educated in that city and for a time was a teacher in the public schools. One daughter has been born to this union: Stella, who married Harvey Hildebrant, of Lowell. Mr. Nichols is a Mason, belonging to Colfax Lodge No. 378, and a Pythian Knight, and also holds membership in the Hammond Country Club and the Chicago Automobile Club. He has served as vice president of the National Hay Dealers Association and is a member of the National Grain Dealers Association. His political support is given to the republican party, but he has had no desire for preferment in the public arena.
HENRY P. DOWNEY. For more than thirty-five years the name Dow- ney has had special significance in the Calumet region and particularly at Hammond in connection with contracting work. The late Peter Downey and his son Henry P. Downey have been more or less closely identified with brick manufacturing, paving construction, and other lines of contracting in Chicago and in northern Indiana for nearly half a century. Henry P. Downey is now at the head of the Downey & Portz Construction Company of Hammond. His has been a varied and
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busy career and one that has taken him to a number of different states, and his substantial position as a business man goes without question.
Henry P. Downey was born in Chicago, August 15, 1864, a son of Peter and Mary (McGuigan) Downey. Mrs. Peter Downey is now living in Hammond at the age of seventy-seven. The late Peter Downey followed contracting and manufacturing the greater part of his career, and it is an interesting fact that he had the contract for the first sweep- ing of streets in Chicago in 1862. In 1877 he moved to Hammond, almost at the beginning of that town, and lived there until his death in November, 1892. His work was chiefly in the manufacture of brick and in farming.
Henry P. Downey was fairly well educated, graduating from the Hessville schools in 1878, and soon afterwards he started out to make his own way. Seven years were spent in Colorado, in railroading, hotel work and mining. With a somewhat eventful experience he returned to Chicago in 1889, and later became foreman under his father in the contracting business. In 1910 Mr. Downey established at Ham- mond the Downey & Portz Construction Company, and this has been developed into a large and efficient organization for the construction of roads and streets and also the handling of coal and building sup- plies. In Lake county the firm has built over fifty miles of improved highways, macadam, asphalt and other type of construction, and have fulfilled contracts amounting to about $200,000 in asphalt street and brick paving and curbing. Mr. Downey has contributed to the develop- ment of his home city in the construction of the Downey building, con- taining six flats and two stores, and his residence, erected in 1911, is one of the most attractive homes of the city. His interests also extend to rural life, and he owns and operates a stock farm near Crown Point.
Mr. Downey is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Order of Foresters, and the All Saints church. He was married in 1893 to Miss Susan MeLaughlin, of Saxon, Lake county. Their three children are named Mary, Gertrude and Henry P., Jr., the latter a student at Notre Dame, Indiana.
THOMAS ARNOTT. Thrown upon his own resources at the age of six years, working at the hardest kind of manual labor when still but a child, sailing for fourteen years in the English Navy, coming to the United States and gradually establishing himself in a paying business enterprise only to see the labor of years swept away by misfortune, and finally winning well-deserved success through constant perseverance- such, in outline, has been the career of Thomas Arnott, now one of Lowell's substantial business men. It would be impossible to enumerate in a review of this nature the vicissitudes of a long and eventful life such as has been led by Mr. Arnott; it must suffice to give only the salient points and to show how he has brought himself from obscurity and humble circumstances to recognized position and financial inde- pendence.
Mr. Arnott was born at Rochester, Kent, near the City of London, England, November 28, 1847, and became self-supporting when but six years of age. When he was nine years old he came to the United States alone, and for three years worked at various occupations in Chicago, then returning to London, where he apprenticed himself to the up- holsterer's trade, working thereat in London for five and one-half years.
Wft Casting
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He next found employment at the Chatham dock yards, at Kent, and while there was solicited to enter the English Navy as admiral's joiner, a capacity in which he remained in the service for a period of fourteen years, during which time he visited nearly every port of importance in the world. In 1879 he again came to the United States and located in Chicago, where for six months he worked at the Palmer House, and then engaged in business on Jackson Boulevard, on the present site of the Great Northern Hotel, with the firm of Seargant, Howard & Com- pany. Mr. Arnott bought the business of this firm and conducted it until 1882, when the building was torn down, and then removed to 226 South Clark Street, where he remained for two and one-half years. His next venture was in the hotel business, in which he was engaged for nine years with a fair measure of success, when he disposed of his in- terests and came to the vicinity of Lowell, the next year being passed in operating a rented farm. Succeeding this he returned to Illinois and superintended the management of a farm until 1908, when he came to Lowell and engaged in repairing furniture, in a store 9x30 feet, which stood on the present site of his handsome establishment. Through enterprise, ability and honorable dealing he was able to build up an excellent business, and had a stock worth some seven thousand dollars, when his place of business was destroyed by fire, and he was able to recover but $1,000 insurance. He refused to claim exemption from his debts which are now almost entirely liquidated, and he now has a thriving and steadily-growing business, with one of the most com- plete lines of furniture, carpets, etc., in the county. He occupies a store of three stories, and attracts a representative trade from all over this part of the county. In Mr. Arnott's career there may be found the lesson that perseverance, determination and indomitable courage in the face of misfortune will eventually win success if combined with good management and business ability. No inheritance of wealth was his, no kindly influences shaped his career. At all times he has known the value of hard work, and the success which has come to him is but the just reward for a lifetime of earnest endeavor.
Mr. Arnott was married first in 1867 to Miss Elizabeth Rule, of New Brompton, England, who died in 1879, having been the mother of two children : George, now forty-six years, and Harriet, aged forty- two, both married and with families, and residents of England. His second marriage occurred in 1884, when he was united with Mary J. Bruckman, of Hanover Township, Lake County, Indiana, who was edu- cated in the schools of that locality. Mrs. Arnott is a member of the Catholic Church, while Mr. Arnott is a member of the Methodist Church. In political matters he takes an independent attitude, preferring to use his own discretion as to the fitness of the candidates for public service.
WILLIAM H. GOSTLIN, SR., is one of the pioneer builders of the modern Hammond. His home has been in this city since 1882, at which time Hammond comprised one chief industrial plant, and a small village of homes and stores grouped about that central establish- ment. Mr. Gostlin was for years engaged in manufacturing lines, and for the past twenty-five years has been one of the most active in promot- ing the varied developments of this industrial city and is a member of the largest real estate firm in Lake County.
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William H. Gostlin was born December 25, 1852, on a farm near Broekville, Canada, being the youngest of the six children of Thomas and Sarah (Kerr) Gostlin. In 1863 the family moved to the vicinity of Wadsworth, Ohio, where he attended school. At the age of seven- teen, in 1869, he moved to Chicago, and subsequently became identified with the distillery business in that city, and continued in that line until 1879. In that year Congress passed a law favorable to vinegar makers, as a result of which Mr. Gostlin became engaged in the manufacture of vinegar, and was the first manufacturer of vinegar under the new law. The following year he established at Crystal Lake, Illinois, the largest vinegar factory of that time. His relations with the business continued until April, 1882, when he disposed of his interests to J. J. Wilson.
From Crystal Lake Mr. Gostlin immediately came to Hammond, where in company with the late M. M. Towle he erected the M. M. Towle Distilling & Syrup Plant, being the second industry located in the Calumet region. After the burning of the factory in 1887 Mr. Gostlin went into the dredging business, and for two years was one of the con- tractors in the dredging of the grounds of the World's Fair in Chicago, and also for two years used his organization in the construction of the Chicago Drainage Canal.
In the meantime Mr. Gostlin had begun the real estate activities which have since taken the greater part of his time and energies. In 1888 he had laid out two subdivisions, known as Gostlin's First and Second additions, and in 1890 became head of the firm of Gostlin, War- ren & Webb, which laid out Homewood, a tract of 110 aeres, and River- side, containing twenty acres. In one year this firm built forty houses in Riverside. In the Homewood addition the buildings were restricted to the erection of residences at a certain fixed cost, on 50-foot lots, and neither business bloeks nor schoolhouses were allowed in that district. Mr. Gostlin's home on Hohman Street, facing Harrison Park, is located in this addition and is one of the many fine residences in Hammond.
In 1902 the real estate firm of Gostlin, Meyn & Company was organ- ized, and in 1905 it was incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000. In 1913 the capital stock was inereased to $300,000. The first officers were : William H. Gostlin, president; A. Murray Turner, vice presi- dent ; Peter W. Meyn, secretary and treasurer. Through the activities of Mr. Gostlin, together with those of the other members of the firm, this company has been the most important medium of real estate transac- tions in Hammond, and through its large resources has undertaken many important improvements. It has done much to beautify the city, has planted many trees in the parks and along Hohman Street, and a few years ago sold at a sacrifice the parks on Hohman Street to the city, thus giving this growing industrial eenter some open places which will always be appreciated by the people.
In 1913 Mr. Gostlin retired from active business, and Mr. Meyn was elected president of the company. Politieally Mr. Gostlin is a stanch republiean, and was one of the first six councilmen of the corpora- tion of the city. He served as state senator from 1895 to 1899, and for eight years was postmaster of Hammond, 1904 to 1912. He also was the first president of the Hammond Commercial Club. Fraternally Mr. Gostlin is a charter member of the Masonie order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Hammond, and a charter member of the Hammond Country Club. In 1875 he married Mary A. Hyslop, of
Seo. P. Stout
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Chicago. Their only son, William Harvey Gostlin, is now secretary of Gostlin, Meyn & Company.
WILLIAM H. GOSTLIN, JR. Possessing in no small measure the busi- ness ability and judgment characteristic of his father, W. H. Gostlin, Jr., is one of the young business leaders in Hammond, and secretary of Gostlin, Meyn & Company, the largest real estate firm in Lake County.
William H. Gostlin, Jr., was born November 7, 1879, in Chicago, and was brought to Hammond by his parents three years later. After com- pleting the course of study in the Hammond High School he entered Wabash College, was a student in that classic Indiana institution three years, and on leaving college entered the employ of the Hammond Ele- vator Company, with which he was connected as cashier for five years. The following two years were spent as cashier and in the advertising department of the Lake County Times. In 1909 Mr. Gostlin became associated with Gostlin, Meyn & Company, and on the reorganiza- tion of the business in 1913 was chosen secretary of the company, while his father, so long its active president, took the position of treasurer.
Mr. Gostlin was married, September 3, 1908, to Nelle S. Ingraham, of Brooklyn, New York. Their home has been blessed by the birth of two children: Florence Ingraham Gostlin and Mary Hyslop Gostlin. Mr. Gostlin is a member of the Hammond Country Club and of the Hammond Commercial Club, and has fraternal affiliations with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.
WILLIAM A. STOUT. In the commercial directory of Hammond the name George P. Stout & Son has had a place for a number of years, and in supplying the trade with coal and building materials it has a record of progressive success, based upon prompt and reliable service, and this has been the chief factor in the growth of the enterprise, rather than any of the more showy but superficial methods of getting business.
William A. Stout, who is the junior member of the firm, was for a number of years on the road as a traveling salesman, and had several responsible commercial relations before engaging in his present busi- ness. He was born at Chester, Ohio, on Christmas Day of 1871, a son of George P. and Sarah E. Stout. His father has lived in Hammond for a number of years, and established the business which is now con- ducted under his name and that of his son. William A. Stout after attending the public schools went on the road as a traveling salesman, followed that line for ten years, and has had his home in Lake County since 1905. For the first two years he was employed as storekeeper by the American Steel Foundry Company at Indiana Harbor, and for about five years was auditor of the National Car Line Company of Chi- cago. In 1911 he joined hands with his father in the coal, wood and building material trade and with the vigor of his youth and his broad experience has kept the business growing rapidly until it is now one of the largest concerns of its kind in Hammond.
William A. Stont was married June 25, 1895, to Elizabeth Elrod of Orleans, Indiana, daughter of John O. Elrod, a farmer in that com- munity. They have three children, Harold E., Helen M. and William Kenneth. Mr. Stout and family worship in the Presbyterian Church,
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of which he is a trustee, and he belongs to the Hammond Commercial Club and the Country Club.
STRAUBE PIANO COMPANY. The industrial Hammond is a vital, vigorous community, constantly growing and expanding its own re- sources and reaching out for new capital and affording every encour- agement to new industries. The exceptional position and advantages of the city have appealed to a number of concerns established and prosperous in other localities, and one of the most important converts of this kind is the Straube Piano Company, which has had a continuous and successful business history of more than thirty-five years, and for the past ten years has been located at Hammond.
The Straube Piano Company, manufacturing the well known Straube and Hammond pianos and player pianos, was established in 1878 with office at Chicago and plant at Downers Grove, Illinois. The founder of the business was William Straube of Chicago. In 1897 the company was incorporated with a capital stock of $25,000, and William Straube as its president. The removal to Hammond was effected in 1904, and a three-story brick building was erected as its plant, furnishing 34,000 square feet of factory space. At the present time the plant has been enlarged to 55,000 square feet of factory space, and the capital has been increased to $250,000. The output of this industry is an average of twelve complete pianos every day of the year, and the quality of durable and accurate mechanical construction, of tone and general ex- cellence which characterized the early instruments have always been maintained and improved from year to year, and among pianos and player pianos the Straube has no superior and few equals.
The Straube Piano Company is a splendid asset to the industrial prosperity of Hammond. Its plant occupies five acres of ground, there are about one hundred and fifty employees, and every year more than a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars are paid out in wages to its many skilled workmen. The product goes into every state of the Union and the business is now more prosperous than ever before. The presi- dent of the company is E. R. Jacobson; Charles H. J. Thorby is vice president and treasurer, and James F. Jacobson is secretary.
EDMOND A. GILSON, M. D. A worthy representative of the medical profession of Hammond is Dr. Edmond A. Gilson, who though in prac- tice here only five years has dignified his calling by his earnest efforts and has won a reputation among a large clientage and stands high among his professional associates.
Edmond A. Gilson was born in Elyria, Ohio, a son of A. S. and Dora L. Gilson. As a boy he had an education in the Monroeville public schools of Ohio but when the ordinary opportunities of training had been exhausted, it was left to his own initiative and labor to pay his way and get a higher education. Through his own work he paid his way for three years in Dennison University, and had several lines of business experience before getting access to his chosen calling. He was a traveling salesman four years, and for a similar time was in the rail- way mail service, a business which allowed him some leisure intervals, which he employed in the study of medicine. Dr. Gilson was grad- uated medical doctor from the medical department of the Toledo Uni- versity in 1905, and first set up in private practice at Toledo, after one year moving to Covington, Indiana, and three and a half years later to
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Hammond in July, 1909. Besides his general practice he has been especially successful in obstetrics. Dr. Gilson is a member of the Lake County Medical Society, and the Tenth District and the Indiana State Medical Associations. Fraternally his relations are with the Masonic Order and the Knights of Pythias, while his church is the Methodist. He is also a member of the Hammond Chamber of Commerce. In 1895 Dr. Gilson married Jessie Evans of Granville, Ohio. Their two chil- dren are Edwin Russell and Margaret Olive.
MICHAEL P. WARNIMONT. One of the most capable and successful of the automobile men of Lake County is Michael P. Warnimont, who conducts a modern and complete garage and automobile storage at Hammond, and also operates repair shops. Mr. Warnimont is a ma- chinist by trade, an expert in his line, and his popularity and prom- inence in automobile circles is steadily increasing.
Michael P. Warnimont was born in 1878 at Chicago, Illinois, a son of Peter M. and Mary Anna Warnimont, his father an engineer by trade. After completing his education in the public schools, he spent eight years in learning and working at the trade of machinist in his native city. In 1898 Mr. Warnimont moved to Hammond and was employed in machine shops, and in 1910 was foreman for F. L. Heintz in an automobile storage and repair shop and factory for the making of automobile tires. In 1911 Mr. Warnimont opened an automobile garage and repair shop, and has space for the storage of thirty cars. He was married in 1911 to Nellie May Smith of Wilkesbarre, Pennsyl- vania.
HAMMOND PATTERN AND MODEL WORKS. One of the important industries of Hammond is the Hammond Pattern and Model Works, a business which owes its origin and standing in commercial circles to the energy and ability of its proprietors, Howarth & Kirk. The company was organized in 1913 by William Howarth and E. A. Kirk. They have a large shop on Lyman Avenue and the Nickel Plate Railway, and have all the facilities for the making of metal patterns and jobbing work in metal and also handle a large amount of carpenter business. William Howarth came to Hammond in 1903 to become foreman in the pattern department of the Stewart Machine Company and continued with that institution until he and Mr. Kirk in 1913 bought the model and pattern department of the older company, and reorganized it under its present name. While the business is young, it is growing, and both proprietors are men of broad experience and their judgment can be trusted to enlarge the industry as rapidly as conditions will justify. At the present time about five workmen are employed in the shops.
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