USA > Indiana > Lake County > A standard history of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet region, Volume II > Part 41
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
Mr. Guipe has taken the Knight Templar degrees in Masonry, belongs to the Mystic Shrine, is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. The University Club of Gary has his name on the roll of charter members, and in politics he is republican.
GEORGE M. McROBERTS. Identified with Gary since November, 1907, in real estate and insurance lines, Mr. McRoberts is one of the most progressive and enterprising real estate men of the Calumet district, and his business is one whose character results in the permanent im- provement and benefit of the city and vicinity.
George M. McRoberts was born in West Virginia in 1869, and his parents, George M. and Hattie (Duke) McRoberts, in the same year moved out to Kentucky, where the son spent his boyhood and received his education. After graduating from Eminence College of Kentucky, Mr. McRoberts attended the School of Pharmacy at Louisville, Ken- tucky, and while in that state was in the drug business. In 1900 he moved to Elwood, Indiana, then a prosperous community as a result of industrial development following the era of natural gas, and was a successful real estate and insurance man there until he moved to Gary in 1907. In Gary Mr. McRoberts became associated with Mayor Knotts, and has since been active manager of the large insurance and real estate activities of the Knotts & McRoberts Agency.
Mr. McRoberts was married to Miss Bettie Barnes of Covington, Kentucky, on January 28, 1896. They have a son, George M., Jr., aged seventeen, and a daughter, Bettie Herndon, aged eleven. Mr. Mc- Roberts and family worship in the Christian Church and in politics he is an independent republican.
GEORGE LUTZ. No section of Lake County has a more enterprising and thrifty farming population than Hobart Township, and one of the younger men who have continued the work of an older generation and who are regarded as substantial and useful citizens is George Lutz, whose home is on Rural Free Delivery Route No. 3 out of Hobart. Mr. Lutz operates a fine farm of 153 acres, and besides the general line
765
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
of farming that is characteristic of Lake County agriculture also pays considerable attention to diversified lines, keeps fine Holstein cattle, has a dairy, and also enjoys considerable revenue from the keeping of poultry.
Mr. George Lutz was born on the farm, which is still his place of residence, August 14, 1872. His father, Jacob Lutz, born in Germany, January 16, 1835, at the age of twenty left his native land, crossed the ocean to New York, from there went to Michigan, and after a few years came to a permanent home in Lake County. He is deserving of special mention as one of the veterans of the Civil war. In 1862 he enlisted in Company A of the Ninety-ninth Indiana Infantry and was taken into the service for three years or until the close of the war. Outside of his military service his life has been spent quietly as an industrious farmer and good citizen in Lake County. He married Catherine B. Kern, who was born in 1843 and died on Christmas day 1905. Besides George Lutz there is a brother, Emanuel W., who lives in Hammond, and a sister, Emma, living in Aurora, Illinois.
The early education of George Lutz was acquired by attendance at the Hobart schools until he was eighteen years of age. From that time forward he has been active assistant on his father's farm, and has worked that land and helped to develop its resources ever since. For ten years he rented the farm from his father, and after the latter's death, on September 27, 1913, he became joint owner of the property with his sister and brother.
Mr. Lutz was married January 23, 1906, to Anna Hagerty. Mrs. Lutz was educated in the public schools at Wheeler. They are the parents of two children. Mabel, aged seven, is now attending the Hobart schools, while Robert is about six years of age. Mr. Lutz is well known in his section of Lake County, is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, is an independent republican in politics, and a member of the Methodist Church. For recreation his favorite diver- sions are hunting and fishing.
ALEXANDER C. MILLER. The manager of the Gary and Interurban Railway Company is one of the best known figures in railway circles in the Middle West, and has had an active career as a banker, railway builder and inventor.
Born in Ohio in 1852, a son of George and Lydia (Whitsell) Miller, his father a Methodist minister, Alexander C. Miller was educated in the public schools, and when sixteen years old began work as a telegraph operator. Like a great many successful men in the transportation field, he graduated from the telegraph key to places of higher responsibility, and during the past ten or fifteen years has made a name for himself as an original genius and director of important business affairs. For a number of years he was employed by the Lake Shore and later by the Burlington Railroad until about 1902. From that year until 1906 he was president of the Aurora Trust and Savings Bank at Aurora, Illinois, and in the latter year became actively interested in the Calumet region in connection with the construction of the Gary and Interurban Rail- way, of which he has since been general manager.
Mr. Miller now has his home at Valparaiso, Indiana. In 1880 he married Julia Austin of Aurora, and they have a family of three sons. Mr. Miller is a republican in politics.
766
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
EAST CHICAGO BANK. The oldest bank in East Chicago, with a record of stability and service in proportion to its years, the East Chicago Bank was originally a private institution, known as the Schrage Bank, and it is now under state charter. Its history dates back to the year 1899, when Andrew Wickey organized and started a private banking house, but who soon sold out to Henry Schrage, who conducted it as a private bank until January, 1910. It was at that time that the state charter was taken out and the capital placed at $50,000. The capital has been retained at the same figure, and its resources are now more than half a million, with deposits alone ranging between four hundred thousand and five hundred thousand dollars. The first directors under the state charter were: Henry Schrage, president ; F. Richard Schaaf, vice presi- dent ; and James O. Marks, cashier. In May, 1911, Mr. H. K. Groves became cashier, Mr. Parks having left the institution. Otherwise the officers are the same. Mr. C. L. Kirk, the second vice president, is a resident of Indianapolis and president of the East Chicago and Indiana Harbor Water Company and president of the Indianapolis Water Com- pany. Few banks in the Calumet district have rewarded its stock- holders more liberally. At the present time it has $15,000 of earned surplus, and since organization the stock has paid eight per cent dividend annually. The original location was in the Schlieker Building, but it was moved to its present quarters at Chicago and Forsyth avenues in May, 1912. The equipment is perhaps as good as can be found in any of the Calumet banking houses, with mahogany furnishings and imported Grecian marble for the interior decoration. Among other directors of this bank at the beginning were Frank Hammond, C. L. Kirk, Dr. A. G. Schlieker and Charles Johns. The present directorate includes Henry Schrage, F. Richard Schaaf, A. G. Schlieker, C. L. Kirk, Joseph Wadas, H. K. Groves, Walter E. Schrage, the last named being also cashier of the Bank of Whiting. The East Chicago Bank has mem- bership in the Cook County Bankers Association. Since its organization with a state charter this bank has increased its resources more than one hundred per cent.
The cashier of the East Chicago Bank, H. K. Groves, is not only an expert banking executive, but has had a broad experience in the iron and steel industry both in the Calumet region and elsewhere, and his training in industrial affairs has been an asset of particular value to the East Chicago Bank.
H. K. Groves was born in the City of Chicago, October 23, 1879, a son of John W. and Isabel J. Groves. His father was a merchant and business man of Chicago, later moved to Sangamon County, Illinois, engaged in farming and stock raising on a large scale, and was a director and partner in the Williamsville Bank, but in 1903 returned to Chicago and became well known among stockmen as secretary of the American Shorthorn Breeders' Association, an office he held until his death in April, 1912. The mother is still living in Chicago.
Mr. H. K. Groves is a college trained man, having attended North- western University at Evanston, Illinois. He trained for a commercial career by a course in the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois. and in 1899 began work as storekeeper with the Republic Iron and Steel Company at East Chicago. His talent for business was quickly mani- fested, and at the age of twenty-one he was promoted to the responsible office of superintendent of the plant, and continued to superintend the
767
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
company's interests at East Chicago until 1907, when he accepted the position of superintendent of the Forth Worth Iron & Steel Company at Fort Worth, Texas. After a year in the Southwest Mr. Groves returned to East Chicago, spent a year and a half with the H. Channon Company of Chicago, having charge of the Chicago territory as salesman, was for a year and a half special assistant to the general auditor of the Wisconsin Steel Company, and on February 1, 1911, became connected with the East Chicago Bank.
On October 1, 1907, Mr. Groves married Miss Edith S. Johnson, of East Chicago, daughter of G. A. and Wilhelmina Johnson. The John- son family was the third to move to the little community of East Chicago, about twenty-five years ago, and her father was a contractor and builder. Mr. Groves and wife have one son, John Hurst. Mr. Groves is a charter member of East Chicago Lodge No. 981, B. P. O. E., affiliates with Lodge No. 595, A. F. & A. M., the Royal Arch Chapter No. 141, Hammond Council No. 90, R. & S. M., the East Chicago Com- mandery No. 58, K. T., and with Fort Wayne Consistory of the thirty- second degree, Scottish Rite, and is a member of Orak Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Hammond, Indiana. He is also a member of the Loyal Order of Moose and a member of East Chicago Lodge No. 477, K. of P. He belongs to the East Chicago Commercial Club and is a member of its board of directors, and is a director of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Highland, Indiana. Although active in republican politics, he has never been an office seeker.
LEWIS E. WOODWARD is one of that well known group of business men who came to Gary a few years ago in connection with the organ- ization and construction of the electric lines that now constitute the Gary and Interurban system. He had for a number of years been iden- tified with banking in the City of Aurora, Illinois, and since establish- ing his home in Gary has become one of the forceful personalities in local business affairs.
Lewis E. Woodward was born at Plano, Illinois, January 31, 1874, a son of O. K. and Harriet M. Woodward. His father was a carpenter, and the son grew up in a good home, without the handicap of wealth and has been making his own way since boyhood. After attending the public schools he learned telegraphy, but was soon diverted from that profession and at the age of twenty entered the old Second National Bank of Aurora, Illinois. His experience as a banker covered some thirteen or fourteen years, and he was promoted from one grade of responsibility to another until in 1902 he became cashier of the Aurora Trust and Savings Bank. After being with that institution for five years he became associated with the men who, in 1907, were engaged in the promotion and construction of electric railways through Northern Indiana, and in 1907 took the office of treasurer of the Gary and Interur- ban Company. He has held that official connection with this transporta- tion company, and is also director and treasurer of the Steel City Home Builders Company.
Mr. Woodward, on June 27, 1906, married Mary Lilley of Aurora, and they have two children. Mr. Woodward is a member of the Gary Commercial Club and in politics a republican.
WALTER DOUGAN. On the basis of practical accomplishments, which indicated the excellent possibilities of his public service, Walter Dougan
768
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
was appointed building commissioner of the City of Gary on January 5, 1914. Mr. Dougan has been identified with Gary for the past five years, and is one of the successful architects and building contractors, and both his work and business integrity insure the faithful and able performance of his public duties.
Walter Dougan was born at Niles, Michigan, in 1877, a son of T. F. and Sarah (Brown) Dougan. The parents both live at Niles, where his father has been in the contracting business for many years. With a public school education, Mr. Dougan, when a young man, followed the example of his father and engaged in contracting at Niles, and later moved to Chicago and continued in the same line of business. His home has been at Gary since 1909, and a long list of his work might be drawn up to prove his business success. Mr. Dougan built the Muller Hotel, drew plans for the John A. Brennan Building at Fifth Avenue and Ambridge, also drew plans for the McCormick Apartment Building, for the Sisters' Home and a number of others.
In 1904 Mr. Dougan married Anna Blakeley of Milwaukee. They have had five children; one is now deceased. Mr. Dougan is a republi- can in politics.
OTTO C. BORMANN. The activities of the Bormann family have been noteworthy in the old Town of Tolleston and the new City of Gary for many years. Otto C. Bormann was a merchant here previous to the founding of Gary, and since that industrial city was established has been selling and developing real estate in the Tolleston district, and has handled more real estate in that particular section of the larger city of Gary than any other operator. He is one of Gary's most successful business men.
Otto C. Bormann was born March 3, 1876, at Tolleston, and his parents were early settlers of Lake County, and his father, about 1875, came to Tolleston and became prominent in the little community, having a retail meat market and for many years acting as postmaster. Otto C. Bormann attended the public schools, and at an early age became experienced in the meat trade and was in business with his brother Frank until selling out to the latter. For one year he was proprietor of a market in Chicago, and on selling that became head cutter for one of the largest retail meat firms in that city. His expert knowledge of the business, both in its technical and commercial details, made him a valuable representative to the packing firms, and he travelled for several different packing houses for two years and established a number of retail markets. Finally returning to Tolleston, Mr. Bormann married Henrietta F. (Kunert) Seegers. Mrs. Bormann at that time was running a general store at Tolleston, and she and her husband increased the business by putting in a meat market. Eight years later they moved to Hammond and sold the business to Arthur A. Kunert, a brother of his wife. On returning to Tolleston Mr. Bormann bought the old store again, and did business at the same old stand until 1906, when both the stock of merchandise and the building were sold.
Since then his operations have been confined almost exclusively to real estate. His first associate in that line was Peter W. Meyn, who at the end of one year retired in favor of Mr. Bormann. The latter has since operated the Bormann Real Estate Exchange, Inc., and it has been the medium for a splendid business. Several important subdivisions
769
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
have been put on the market and developed under Mr. Bormann's direction, including Bormann's First Addition of four blocks in the very heart of the old town of Tolleston; Bormann's Second Addition, ten acres lying west of the first addition, and built up as residence property, and the Carlyle Addition on Fifteenth Avenue, five acres of residence property. Mr. Bormann has handled two-thirds of all the property sold in Tolleston in acreage division. His capital and enterprise have been directed to other local affairs, and he was one of the founders and still a director of the First State Bank at Tolleston. He was also one of the founders and a director of the Gary Trust and Savings Bank, but has sold his interests in that institution.
Mr. Bormann has one daughter, Caroline, while his wife had three daughters by her first marriage, the oldest being Laura, now deceased, while Renetta married Louis Meyers, and Hertha is at home. Mr. Bormann affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a member of the Commercial Club and in politics affiliates with the Bull Moose party.
FRANK BORMANN. As a banker and 'business man Frank Bormann has been identified with the original community of Tolleston and with the more modern Gary practically all his life. Through the varied activities of his business career he has reached a point where he is able to consider himself retired from affairs, although still under forty, and while his supervision has been taken from the details of mer- chandising he still directs his many large investments and properties in and about Gary.
Frank Bormann was born near the present City of Gary in 1875, a son of Christopher and Wilhelmina (Kurth) Bormann. His parents were among the old settlers of Lake County, having located there in 1860. His father, a farmer, moved to the vicinity of Tolleston in 1875, and was the leading business man of that little community in the years before Gary was dreamed of. He had a retail meat market and for twenty years served as postmaster. His death occurred in 1903, and his wife was also deceased. Frank Bormann grew up at Tolleston, attended the public schools, and when seventeen got his first regular experience in business affairs in connection with the retail meat trade. That was his occupation for years, and eventually he expanded his busi- ness to include both the grocery and meat departments. In 1911 he retired from merchandising, and in the following year put up the Frank Bormann Building, one of the best known business structures in the Gary district. For the past two years he has been one of the executive officers in the First State Bank of Tolleston, the oldest institu- tion of its kind in this section.
His public service has been noteworthy, and he was town trustee on the first board which administered the affairs of the little Town of Tolleston, and for 31/2 years, until the expiration of his term on January 5, 1914, was a member of the board of public safety in the City of Gary. Mr. Bormann was married, June 6, 1897, to Louise Kunert of Tolleston. She was born in this section of Lake County, a daughter of Charles Kunert, who settled here in 1859. The three children of Mr. Bormann and wife are: Meta, Edwin and Florence. The family worship in the German Lutheran Church, and in politics he is a democrat.
770
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
FIRST STATE BANK OF TOLLESTON. The oldest bank of the Tolleston- Gary region is the First State Bank of Tolleston, which was established in 1906, the same year which marked the beginning of Gary's history. It has been an exceptionally prosperous institution, and has paid regular dividends from the beginning. Its capital stock is $25,000, and at the present time it has an earned surplus of $15,000, a fact which indicates a highly prosperous and efficient management. The bank was organized by Gallus J. Bader, whose numerous relations with banks in the Calumet region have made him the most diversified banker in this section of the state. The building occupied by the bank at 1001 Cleveland Street was erected in 1906, and is the oldest banking home in the City of Gary. The officers of this bank are: Gallus J. Bader, president; Herman W. Uecker, cashier; Frank Bormann, vice president ; and the directors are : E. T. Davis, of Chicago ; F. J. Smith, of Whiting; Otto C. Bormann, of Gary; and H. C. Rutz, besides the officers first mentioned.
Herman W. Uecker was born in Elkader, Iowa, in 1879, and has been in the banking business practically all his active career. After his education in the public schools, at the age of twenty, he entered the employ of the Elkader State Bank, and was with that institution as assistant cashier until 1906, in which year he came to Gary and became identified with the first bank organized in this section.
Mr. Uecker on July 19, 1905, married Louise Kline of Cresco, Iowa. They have two children. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic order, and his church is the German Lutheran.
HOLY ANGELS CATHOLIC CHURCH OF GARY. This was the first Catho- lic parish to be established in Gary, and in its spiritual influence and material prosperity has grown in proportion to the development of the great industrial community that surrounds it, and is now one of the strongest Catholic churches in the Calumet region. The Holy Angels Church is at 932 West Seventh Avenue. The pioneer priest, whose labors brought about the founding and has since carried forward with such efficiency and zeal the many activities of this parish, is Rev. Thomas F. Jansen, the present pastor. Father Jansen founded the church in 1906. His labors are now represented in a handsome church edifice which cost $35,000, both the church and school being combined in one building. The grounds are also occupied by a sisters' home, which cost $10,000 dollars; the priest's residence, built at a cost of $5,000. The Holy Angels parish now has 3,000 souls, while the school has 400 stu- dents and a corps of instructors comprising thirteen teachers.
Father Jansen is a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana. born in 1872, and took his college training in St. Lawrence College at Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, and his seminary course at Mount St. Mary's, Cincinnati. Ohio. He was one of the first priests of his church to visit and perform his priestly duties at Gary, attending it from Hobart. His first sick call was made on horseback, since there were at that time no street cars and no transportation facilities to enable him to reach the place. While the upbuilding of Holy Angels Church has been a work that would be extremely creditable of itself, Father Jansen has also identified himself with many movements outside his immediate duties, and is known as one of the prominent citizens and builders of Gary. His assistants in the pastoral charge are Rev. Fr. Francis Gnibba, who was born at Michigan City, Indiana, and Rev. Joseph S. Ryder, born at
In Thes Jansen
771
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
Fort Wayne, Indiana. Father Jansen is a member of the Gary Com- mercial Club and was formerly a member of the University Club, was chairman of the Gary Public Library for a period of three or four years, during the time of its construction, and chairman of the Board of Charities and Corrections of Lake County.
ED BEHNKE. While he is now regarded as one of the successful business men of Gary, Ed Behnke has come up through varied experi- ence and intimate acquaintance with hardship, heavy manual labor, and as a result of industry and close application to business. He belongs to a sterling class of self-made men who came from the old country and have fought their way to success in the new land of American liberty and opportunities.
Born in the Province of Posen in Germany, in 1862, he lived in his native land until after he was grown, and coming to the United States in 1885 found employment in railway work with headquarters at Pine Station in Lake County. That was his regular work for ten years, and during the last five years of that time he conducted a small mercantile business at Clarke Station. Following that he was in the liquor business until 1899, and then took up contracting for the Brownell Improvement Company in work along the lake front. At the end of eight years Mr. Behnke, in 1906, opened a coal, feed and flour store at the Village of Tolleston. His enterprise has been growing both as a result of his own energy and the increasing development of the surrounding territory, and it is now the largest concern of its kind in the old town of Tolleston, or the Sixth Ward of Greater Gary.
In March, 1887, Mr. Behnke married Lena Schreiber, a native of Germany. Their son, George B., born December 16, 1887, after attend- ing the public schools, was for five years a student in Concordia College at Fort Wayne, and has since been actively associated with his father in business at Gary. George Behnke, on December 21, 1908, married Gertrude Kunert, a daughter of the well known Gary business man, W. C. Kunert. George and Gertrude Behnke have two children : Helene, aged four years, and George, three years of age. The family are all members of the German Lutheran Church.
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.