USA > Indiana > Lake County > A standard history of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet region, Volume II > Part 43
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In February, 1908. Mr. Fulton married Jessie White of Scotland. They have one son, William A. Mr. Fulton is prominent in Masonry, having taken thirty-two degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, was master of his lodge in Scotland, and has also taken the York Rite degrees, including Knight Templar, and belongs to the Mystic Shrine. He is also a past chief and royal deputy for Indiana of the Order of Scottish Clans of United States and Canada.
His church is the Pres- byterian, and in politics he is a republican.
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E. C. SIMPSON. Since the age of nineteen identified with banking and until January 1, 1915, the cashier of the First National Bank of Gary, Mr. Simpson got his early experience of banking in Elkhart and as one of the trusted subordinates of Mr. Snell came to Gary soon after the First National Bank opened its doors for business operating under the first national charter given to an organization in that city, and is now regarded as one of the old-timers of Gary.
E. C. Simpson was born in Warsaw, Indiana, February 17, 1875, a son of Franklin T. and Lydia Maltby Simpson. His father was a min- ister of the Methodist Church, who died in 1910. Reared in Indiana, E. C. Simpson graduated from the high school at Marion in 1894. Only a few weeks later, in July, he got his first experience in banking as an employee in the St. Joseph Valley National Bank, and was with that well-known Northern Indiana institution until April, 1907, having in the meantime advanced from a minor clerkship to the position of teller. The First National Bank of Gary received its charter on November 5, 1906, but it was not opened for business until early in 1907. Its growth has been as steadily upward as that of the city itself. At first its capital was twenty-five thousand dollars and by four successive increases the capitalization is now two hundred thousand dollars and the deposits amount to over a million and a half.
Mr. Simpson on coming to Gary took the position of assistant cashier with this bank, and was promoted to cashier on January 1, 1908. Janu- ary 1, 1915, he resigned as cashier of the bank in order to devote his entire time to the interests of the Snell-Simpson Company, investment bankers, with offices in the First National Bank Building, Gary. This company makes a specialty of special improvement bonds and real estate contracts. Mr. Simpson served as city treasurer of Gary from November, 1909, to January 12, 1914. He is a progressive; is married ; is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Masonic Blue Lodge and the Royal Arch Chapter, and is treasurer of the Gary Commercial Club.
FRANKLIN PETRY, M. D. The medical profession in the Calumet region is noteworthy for the splendid attainments and the high character of its members, and in the ranks of active practice are men whose ability classes them among the best representatives of the profession in the country. Of the younger physicians and surgeons, one whose career has been marked throughout by expert qualification and successful work is Dr. Franklin Petry, of Gary.
Born in Beaver Dam, Indiana, January 9, 1874, a son of substantial farming people, Jacob and Mary Jane Petry, he came up to a profes- sional career through the routine of the public schools and a successful period spent as a teacher. After leaving the public school he spent a year and a half in the Indiana State Normal School, was a teacher for three years, and prepared for his profession by two years in study in the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, followed by a course in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Chicago with supplemental study in the University of Chicago and graduated M. D. in 1901. His first two years as a practitioner was spent at Akron, Indiana, followed by five years at Thayer in the same state, and in 1908 he located in Tolleston. His practice has grown rapidly since locating in this city, and he is a member of the Lake County and the Indiana State Medical societies.
In May, 1905, Doctor Petry married Elva A. East of Wheatfield,
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Indiana. They are the parents of four children. Doctor Petry has taken the chapter degrees in Masonry, is a member of the Presbyterian Church and in politics a democrat.
SAMUEL SERAIS. One of the oldest business men at the Village of Shelby is Samuel Serais, who for many years conducted the most important hardware and implement house, and by close attention to his business and by fair dealing was able to retire recently and is now living on the fruits of a well spent and honorable career.
Samuel Serais was born in Quebec, Canada, May 18, 1865, received an education in the schools of his native province, and at the age of sixteen came to Lake County and began at Shelby as a blacksmith. His service to the community in this mechanical trade brought him a fair degree of prosperity, and after a time he added to his business by opening a stock of farm implements and hardware, and sold out in 1914 to F. Shinboker, who is now its proprietor. Mr. Serais owns his own home and a number of town lots, and is comfortably situated. He has a motor car and finds both relaxation and opportunity for business in numerous trips with his machine.
Mr. Serais was married, August 5, 1895, to Hattie Regner of Kansas. Their four children are: Earl, Mabel, Ernest and Samuel, the oldest eighteen and the youngest three years of age. The older children are all attending school. Mr. Serais is a republican in politics and a member of the Catholic Church.
LOUIS J. BAILEY, librarian of the Gary Public Library, has been identified with this important social service position practically all his career. Born in Ontario, New York, in 1881, he graduated from the University of Rochester A. B., and spent two years in New York State Library School, now a department of the University of New York, which gave him the degree bachelor of library science in 1907. In the mean- time Mr. Bailey has been employed one year in the State Library at Albany, and during 1907-08 was in the great library of Congress at Washington.
Mr. Bailey entered upon his duties as librarian at Gary, August 28, 1908, and was in charge of the modest collection of books when the library was first opened to the public in the following December at 31 W. Seventh Avenue. Mr. Bailey is an ardent student of all phases of library work, and in looking after the routine of library management is constantly planning new ways to make the institution of greater benefit to the people of Gary. He did much of the work in connection with drawing up the plans for the present beautiful building.
Mr. Bailey, in 1907, married Regnea Gunnison, of Spencerport, New York. They have two sons and a daughter. Mr. Bailey is a charter member of the Gary Y. M. C. A., he and his wife are members of the Congregational Church, and in politics he is independent.
THE GARY PUBLIC LIBRARY. Not least among the splendid institu- tions at Gary is the public library. In some respects its influence and work have a more vital and intimate relation with the people than the splendid public schools, the great many factory plants, and other note- worthy establishments that might be named. The Gary Public Library is, as its name implies, open to all the people of Gary, and it has been the aim of the managers of the library since it was opened to take its
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service directly to the people, as well as acting a somewhat passive part collecting books and affording facilities for those who out of their own initiative would seek such facilities.
The Gary Public Library was established in 1908, and the first meeting of the library board was held March 30th of that year. Its inception was not conspicuous and the small collection of books was open for the public in a store room at 31 W. Seventh Avenue. On August 1, 1911, the library was moved to larger rooms at 564 Washing- ton Street. At the present time the Gary Public Library occupies one of the handsomest and largest library buildings to be found anywhere in the State of Indiana. The building is the result largely of the munificence of Andrew Carnegie, who gave the city, under the usual conditions regulating Carnegie gifts to libraries, the sum of $65,000. At the same time the Gary Land Company donated ten lots between Adams and Jefferson streets on Fifth Avenue, the value of the site being estimated at $35,000. The architect of the building was Henry D. Whitfield of New York, while the construction was supervised by J. J. Verplank, a Gary architect. The building was completed and was dedicated November 17, 1912, with an address from Rev. John Cavanaugh, president of the Notre Dame University. The sum donated by Mr. Carnegie was expended for the general contracts, amounting to $53,098.95, besides the architect's fees, stone-cutting, book sash work, furniture, hardware and electric fixtures. The library board subse- quently used over three thousand dollars from current funds for further construction and furnishing of the building.
The Gary Library, which combines in its architecture some of the classic features with the English Gothic, has three floors, the first con- taining an auditorium for 300 people and used by various clubs and social organizations for their meetings, besides book cases, work rooms and other equipment; the second floor is the main library department, with reference and reading rooms, children's reading rooms, and delivery rooms, while the third floor has a large club room and art rooms and additional book storage space. The capacity of the building for books is 60,000 volumes, and at the close of the year 1914 the total number of volumes in the collection was about forty-two thousand five hundred. In December, 1910, the library facilities were extended by the establish- ment of the Tolleston branch, with a collection of nearly fifteen hundred volumes and open on three days in the week. More recently a library branch was opened in the Emerson School as a direct service to the public school system of Gary, and the new Froebel School Building has also received a library branch in that building. During 1914 the cir- culation of books by the Gary Public Library was 300,000 volumes, an increase over the previous year of nearly 50 per cent, while the attend- ance in the reading room at the main library was upwards of fifty thousand persons. These figures prove that the Gary Public Library is performing its service to the people, and the spirit of the entire manage- ment is one to invite increased use of this institution rather than make it exclusive for a certain portion of the population.
The members of the library board are: Judge O. L. Wildermuth, president; Mrs. William R. Brown, vice president; Miss Annie Klingen- smith, secretary; Dr. William Fader, Richard Hotchkiss, Mrs. C. M. Greenlee and John B. Green. Louis J. Bailey, the librarian, has been in charge of the Gary Library from the beginning.
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MAX HIRSCH. "Great oaks from little acorns grow" is an old maxim, but not less true because of its age, and in the case of Max Hirsch and his present flourishing business at Gary is presented another example of the great oak which has been evolved from a little acorn of business enterprise. Six or seven years ago Mr. Hirsch had a little shop at Gary and from his ovens supplied a few dozen loaves of bread and other bakery commodities to a modest but exceedingly well satisfied trade. The best indications of the subsequent growth and splendid prosperity of his business is furnished in the handsome enamel brick building, just erected by Mr. Hirsch at a cost of $63,000. The lower floor is divided into store and office quarters for the largest and best equipped bakery establishment in all Indiana, while the second floor has been modeled for living room. The baking machinery in the Hirsch estab- lishment alone cost $12,684 and there is hardly a thoroughly tested, modern improvement in baking apparatus which is not to be found in the Hirsch establishment.
When Max Hirsch opened his little shop at Gary, March 5, 1907, he delivered all his goods in a one-horse wagon. At the present time seven double wagons are employed all day long in transporting the products from bakery to consumer, and while the payroll at first was only $5 a week, the employes now receive an aggregate of about six hundred dollars every week. The handsome Hirsch Building stands on ground 100 by 133 feet, with two stories and basement, and the staff of em- ployees numbers about thirty-five. Whereas at the beginning people in the then small town of Gary and in the immediate neighborhood of the shop patronized the Hirsch bakery goods, its product now goes to supply the daily demand over all of Greater Gary, East Chicago, Indiana Harbor, Hammond, Hobart, and baskets and hampers of goods are sent to every town within a radius of twenty-five miles about Gary.
The upbuilding of such a business is a splendid monument to the enterprise, the commercial courage, the technical skill, and the foresight of its proprietor. Max Hirsch is a German by birth, born in 1876, and came as a boy to America, and in 1893 located at Chicago. His experi- ence in Chicago was with the well known Piper Baking Company, and he rose to the position of manager for that large concern. At the end of fourteen years he sought a field for his individual enterprise, and the chief facts in regard to his progress since locating in Gary have already been narrated. In October, 1899, occurred his marriage to Mary Epley, who came from France. Mrs. Hirsch has been almost as im- portant a factor in the success of the business as her husband. She has helped him in every branch of the trade, and is herself an experienced baker. They are the parents of four children, namely: Max, fourteen years of age and attending business college at Gary; Elsie, Margaret, and Benjamin. Mr. Hirsch and wife are members of the Catholic Church, and he affiliates with the Knights of Columbus.
JUDGE JOHANNES KOPELKE. As an example of what a man coming into this country as a foreigner and stranger can accomplish if he has courage and willingness to work, the career of Judge Kopelke, judge of the Superior Court of Lake County, may give encouragement to others. He is one of the best lawyers in this section of the state, has been in practice in Lake County for nearly forty years, and his appoint- ment to the Superior Court was justified both by his long record and his thorough ability and training in the legal profession.
Max
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Judge Kopelke was born at Buchwald, near Neu-Stettin, Germany, June 14, 1854, a son of Ferdinand and Sophia (Erbguth) Kopelke. His father was a minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and his mother was a granddaughter of a sister to the famous Prussian, General York, who was a prominent factor in the overthrow of Napoleon and was afterwards made a count and field marshal by the King of Prussia.
Judge Kopelke was educated in the common schools of Germany and was thoroughly trained in the Royal Gymnasium, in which, from 1865 to 1871, he specialized in the study of languages. In the summer of 1871, at the age of seventeen, Judge Kopelke came to the United States and after a year given to the study of the English language was employed as a teacher until 1874, at which time he entered the University of Michigan to study law and economics. He graduated in 1876, came to Crown Point in April of that year, and on being admitted to the bar took up the practice which has absorbed his energies for so many years until his elevation to the bench. In Crown Point Mr. Kopelke, a young man of twenty-two, but with unusual scholarship and evident ability, was made a partner of Thadeus S. Fancher, one of the ablest members of the local bar. From 1879 Judge Kopelke practiced alone. His work as a lawyer brought him into connection with some of the most important litigations tried in the district courts of the state. He assisted the attorney general in suppressing racing and gambling at Roby a few years ago, and has frequently served as counsel in litiga- tions before the higher courts, both state and federal.
For the first two years of his American citizenship Judge Kopelke was a republican, but in 1882 became a democrat. He was a presidential elector in 1884, and cast his vote for Cleveland and Hendricks. In 1890 he was elected to represent Lake and Porter counties in the Senate, and in that body was a member of the judiciary and other important committees, originated several measures, assisted in legislation for the reform of practice and procedure, and did much other work in behalf of important legislation during that time. Judge Kopelke was nominated by the democratic party to the office of appellate judge in 1898. During the administration of Governor Gray he was a member of the staff with the rank of major.
In February, 1911, Governor Marshall, now vice president, appointed Mr. Kopelke judge of the Superior Court of Lake County, and since then he has divided his time between his office in Crown Point and the court at Hammond. Judge Kopelke has never married. Both profes- sionally and socially he is one of the best known citizens of Lake County.
JOHN OKRAJ. Since he was a boy John Okraj has been fighting the battles of life on his own account, on the Great Lakes for six years as an able bodied seaman, and has never hesitated to accept responsibilities and duties where a cool head and strong body and absolute fearlessness are the requisities of efficient accomplishment. Mr. Okraj has been identified with the West Hammond police for a number of years, and his promotion to the post of chief of police was well earned. Besides his work in this line, he has identified himself with other public affairs in his township and city.
John Okraj was born in Prussia, near the Baltic Sea, June 25, 1873, and came to America with his parents at the age of fourteen. His parents were Frank and Anna Okraj, and his father served as a sailor
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on the ocean and Great Lakes for a period of thirty-five years. Mr. Okraj's first home in America was Chicago, where he attended the parochial schools, for a brief period was a student in St. Stanislaw's School and also in the night schools in order to acquire an English education. His home has been in West Hammond since 1895, and for seven years he was an employe of the Hammond Packing Com- pany. Official honors came to him at a comparative early age, and for six successive years he was trustee of the village. For nine years in the office of trustee he had charge of the township schools, and was again elected to that responsible place in 1913, his term continuing until 1917. Mr. Okraj began his career on the local police force in 1906 as a patrolman, was elevated to the rank of captain, held that position two years, and since 1912 has been chief of police.
On January 29, 1896, he married Elizabeth Redziejewski. Their fine family of eight children are mentioned briefly as follows: Joseph, who is connected with the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad; Mary, a Catholic sister; Agnes, also in the convent; Anna; Martha; Jacob; Frank; and Powell. The family worship in St. Andrew's Church, and Mr. Okraj is a member of the Catholic Union, the Society of Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Catholic Order of Foresters.
CHARLES E. CHESTER. A farm estate that is regarded unequivocally as one of the best in Lake County is that of Charles E. Chester, in Hobart Township, on Rural Free Delivery Route No. 2. Mr. Chester's lands not only grow the staple crops of Northern Indiana with a regu- larity and volume that prove fine methods of agriculture, but the place is also noted for its dairy. High grade milk has come from the Chester farm and has gone to supply the markets of Chicago for many years, and the proprietor, Charles E. Chester, has won his success as a dairyman.
Mr. Chester is a native of Hobart, born November 26, 1871, was educated in the school at Ainsworth, and grew up and was trained to his business with his father on the farm. His chief farm comprises 250 acres, while just west of the Village of Ainsworth is another place of 120 acres. It was his father who owned and improved the home place of 250 acres, while the son paid $12,000 cash for the farm at Ainsworth. The other heirs to the property sold their interests to Mr. Charles E. Chester. Not only in its productive resources but in the superficial improvements the Chester farm stands out prominent among Lake County homesteads. The residence is a three-story brick dwelling, with all modern improvements, with power plant, steam heat, acetylene gas for lighting, and the machinery used about the place is all of a modern type. Mr. Chester has fifty head of high grade cattle, and keeps about fifteen horses.
In 1893 he married Dora Forman of Chicago. His second wife was Constance McLean of Burlington, Iowa. His nine children have all finished school except the four youngest, who attend the Merrillville High School.
Mr. Chester's father was Henry Chester, a Lake County pioneer, who established his home in the country near the site of Hobart in 1838. He was a native of Pennsylvania. He married Harriet L. Hanks, who was born at Syracuse, New York, and died April 9, 1878. Besides Charles E. Chester is another son, James, living at Hobart, and three sisters, Mrs. Luella Olson of Fort Wayne, Mrs. Louisa Nelson of Hobart, and Mrs. Carrie Raschke of Ainsworth.
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Mr. Chester is a stockholder in the American Trust and Savings Bank. Having lived in Lake County all his life, he is firmly convinced of its substantial future, and has steadily done all he could to promote the general welfare and upbuilding of the county. Ile is an enthusiastic motorist, and some time ago made a trip to New York in his car, taking a party of six. In politics he is republican, and is a member of the Methodist Church.
ALFRED JONES. The Gary Evening Times, of which Mr. Jones is city editor and with which he has been identified since May, 1910, was estab- lished in June, 1906, and its files cover practically every day of the city's history. It was the first daily published as a Gary newspaper, and the enterprise shown at the first has been typical of its activities and influence ever since. When the first issue of the Times was brought out Gary existed chiefly on the maps and blue prints containing the plans and specifications for the erection of the model industrial city, and the paper was edited and published through a combination of a local Gary news gathering and editorial office and staff, while the press work was done at Hammond. The first issues ran from eight to twelve pages, and the news service was complete for every department.
Mr. Jones' experience in the newspaper field began while he was getting a technical education in Chicago. Born in Newark, Ohio, Novem- ber 28, 1886, a son of James A. and Margaret (Rogers) Jones, Alfred Jones was educated in the parochial schools, and at the Armour Insti- tute of Technology in Chicago. He paid part of his way through Armour's by newspaper work, and was chosen editor of The Fulcrum Magazine, issued by Armour Institute. This experience led him per- manently into the field of newspaper enterprise, and after leaving school he found his first opening at Chicago. He came to Gary in 1907. Mr. Jones is also manager of the Gary News Bureau, which deals in press dispatches.
Mr. Jones was married, September 16, 1913, to Margaret DeBold of Aetna, Indiana. His fraternal and church associations are with the Knights of Columbus, the Modern Woodmen and the Roman Catholic Church, and in politics he is a democrat.
A. S. HESS. In 1907, when Gary was in the first stages of its growth from a sand lot to a magic industrial city, A. S. Hess became a citizen worker of the community, and as a building contractor has a list of practical accomplishments to his credit which have been no small item in the upbuilding and improvement of the city. A native of Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1869, Mr. Hess was from early youth trained to his present vocation, and has been in business as a contractor and builder since 1896. After locating in Gary in 1907, the first work he did was in the construction of the Slicks Gary Laundry Building. Some of the most conspicuous structures in the business and residence districts are the products of his business organization. They include the Daily Tribune Building, the Commercial Club Building, the Elks Club Building, the Mercy Hospital, the Presbyterian Church and several other church edifices, and the Hotel Washington. Were minor structures to be included, the list might be extended almost indefinitely. Mr. Hess has a complete business organization, has been popular as an employer of labor, both skilled and unskilled, and has gained a reputation for thorough reliability in the performance of all his contract promises.
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