USA > Indiana > Lake County > Encyclopedia of genealogy and biography of Lake County, Indiana, with a compendium of history 1834-1904 > Part 24
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HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
On the 13th of June. 1878, Mr. Koehle was united in marriage to Miss Anna Smith, and to them has been born a son, William. In his political affiliations Mr. Koehle is a Demoerat, active in support of the party, and he now has charge of the stone roads in St. John township. He is well known in this part of the county and is deeply interested in its welfare and sub- stantial upbuilding. He and his family are members of the Catholic church of St. John. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to seek a home in America, for here he has found the business opportunities which he sought, and through elose application, energy and untiring effort he has passed from humble surroundings and has become one of the well-to-do citizens of his community.
HERBERT E. JONES.
Herbert E. Jones, who is serving for the third term as city clerk of East Chicago, was born in Knoxville. Tennessee, on the 23d of July, 1866. his parents being John T. and Mary (Jones) Jones, both of whom were natives of Wales. The paternal grandfather. John Jones, was also born in Wales, was an iron worker by trade and coming to America was identified with the iron industry of Pennsylvania. He died in Pittsburg, that state. when more than eighty years of age. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Jones, also a native of Wales, spent his entire life in that little rock-ribbed country, dying in middle life. He had made farming his occupation. His widow married again, becoming the wife of a minister.
John T. Jones followed in the business footsteps of his father and became an iron worker. He emigrated to America about 1851 and located in Pittsburg. Pennsylvania, making his home in that state until 1866. when he went to Knoxville, Tennessee, continuing to reside there and in the neighborhood of Chattanooga until 1873, when he removed to Portland, Maine. About seven years were passed in that city, at the expiration of which period he took up his abode in Chicago, Illinois, where he continued until 1889. when he removed to East Chicago. Here he spent his remaining days, passing away in 1897. when seventy-one years of age. His wife had departed this life about six months before. in July, 1896. at the age of sixty- nine years. They were members of the Congregational church. Their family numbered ten children, five sons and five daughters, of whom four
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are now living: John A., a resident of East Chicago: Mary, the wife of John P. Hickman, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Herbert E., of East Chicago; Daniel, who is also living in East Chicago.
In taking up the personal history of Herbert E. Jones we present to our readers the life record of one who is now widely and favorably known in East Chicago. Born soon after the removal of his parents to Knoxville, Tennessee, he spent the first seven years of his life in that state and then accompanied his parents to Portland. Maine. His education was acquired in the public schools. When he was thirteen years of age he began to earn liis own living by working in a rolling mill. thus following the occupation which had been the life labor of his ancestors through several generations. He continued in that pursuit for a number of years, and in the meantime had become a resident. first of Chicago and then of East Chicago. Finally, however, he abandoned the iron industry to accept the position of city clerk, in 1898. and by popular franchise he has been continued in the office for three terms. His re-elections are certainly indicative of his methodical, systematic and accurate work in the office and of his unfaltering fidelity to duty. In March, 1904, he was nominated for the office of recorder of Lake county.
On the Ist of September. 1896, occurred the marriage of Mr. Jones and Miss Mary Jenkins, a daughter of Richard and Mary Jenkins, and they are now the parents of two children-Agnes and Herbert. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are consistent members of the Congregational church. They reside at 4222 Magoun avenue, where he has recently erected a comfortable home. Fraternally he is connected with East Chicago Lodge No. 595, F. & A. M., was formerly its master and is now filling the position of secretary. He also belongs to East Chicago Lodge No. 677, I. O. O. F., to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. the Knights of the Maccabees and the Modern Woodmen of America. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, his study of the questions and issues of the day and of the attitude of the two parties respecting these leading him to give a loyal support to Repub- lican principles, and it was upon the ticket of that party that he has been three times chosen to the position of city clerk.
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HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
FREDERICK LASH.
Frederick Lash, the popular and successful proprietor of the Erie Hotel and Restaurant at Hammond, Indiana, has been numbered among the busi- ness men of this city since 1890. He has lived in the state of Indiana since the late sixties, taking up his residence here after a brilliant record as a soldier in both the volunteer and regular forces of the United States, and in his private career since that time he has been as successful. as enterprising and public-spirited as when he followed the flag of the nation. He has a permanent place in the regard of the citizens of Hammond, and has never been known to shirk the responsibilities of private, social or public life.
Mr. Lash was born in Berks county. Pennsylvania, December 19. 1843. being the only son of Benjamin and Elizabeth ( Hummel) Lash, natives of Germany. His paternal grandfather, John Lash, was a native of Germany, was a baker by trade and also served in the regular army. and died in that country at the age of ninety-five years, having been the father of a good-sized family, mostly sons. Benjamin Lash was also a baker by trade, and followed that pursuit after emigrating to America and taking up his residence in Berks county. Pennsylvania. He died there in 1849. aged seventy-five years. His wife's father Hummel died in Germany, and that part of the family history is lost.
Mr. Frederick Lash was reared in Berks county, Pennsylvania, on a farm, and the school which he remembers having attended was in a log cabin. He was at home until the summons of war went out through the land. and as a boy of about seventeen he enlisted, in 1861, in the First New York Artillery. He was in the conflict from almost the very beginning to the end, and entered as a private and was gradually promoted to the captaincy of his company, being of that rank at the close of the war. He was in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Fredericksburg. Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge and the Wilderness, and was all through the Atlanta campaign. He was slightly wounded at Vicksburg. After the war he served three years in the regular army. being stationed most of the time in the eastern states, princi- pally in New York.
Following his army service, he came to Indiana and engaged in the restaurant busines in Lafayette for some years. He conducted a restaurant,
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HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
bakery and confectionery establishment at Attica, Indiana, until 1890. and in that year came to Hammond, where he has been in the restaurant and hotel business ever since, for the past twelve years having had charge of the Erie Hotel, one of the most popular public houses of the city, owing all its prosperity to the excellent management of Mr. Lash.
Mr. Lash was married in March, 1869, to Miss Elizabeth Lahr, a daughter of Ulrich and Julia Lahr. There were two children of this union. William and Frederick, the former being a clerk in Hammond and a married man, while the latter is single. Mrs. Elizabeth Lash died April 8. 1899. On May 2, 1900, Mr. Lash married Miss Elizabeth McIntyre, a daughter of James P. and Eliza Jane (Forrest) McIntyre. Mr. and Mrs. Nash are Epis- copalians in faith, although not identified with any church. He is a Repub- lican in politics, and is alderman from the Third ward. He affiliates with Garfield Lodge No. 569, F. & A. M .. with Hammond Chapter, R. A. M., and Bethlehem Temple of the Mystic Shrine in Chicago, and he and his wife are members of the Eastern Star. He also belongs to Moltke Lodge. I. O. O. F., and to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is a member of the William H. Calkins Post No. 549. G. A. R. For ten years he was commander of the Indiana State Guard, and was elected colonel of the Lake County Brigade, G. A. R., in 1900. He is the owner of several houses and lots in Hammond, and his material prosperity has come to him as the results of his own efforts. He is a self-made man, and well deserves the place of esteem which he has gained by a life of endeavor.
Mrs. Lash's grandfather. James McIntyre, was of Irish lineage, but was born in the north of Scotland. He married Mary Booth, of pure Eng- lish stock, and they had eleven children. He came to America in young man- hood and settled in Vermont, where he died at the age of seventy-three years. His father, also named James, died in Ireland. Mary (Booth) Mcintyre died in Vermont at the age of seventy years.
The parents of Mrs. Lash were natives of Vermont, and lived at St. Albans Bay. They had two children: Elizabeth and Edgar Forrest Mc- Intyre. James P. McIntyre, her father, was a molder by trade, and had a business of his own. He settled in Jackson. Michigan, at an early day, and thence moved to Athens, and from there to Three Rivers, in the same state, where he had a large plow factory. He returned to Vermont, but later came
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HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
to Baldwin, Wisconsin, and from there to Stillwater, and thence to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he had extensive plow works. He later took up his residence in Chicago, which is his present home. His wife died in 1869. She was a member of the Methodist church. Her father, William Forrest, came to Vermont from Canada, and he and his wife Eliza had a large family. Mr. McIntyre was a soldier in the Civil war, belonging to Company I, Ver- mont Infantry, and served four years, having been enlisted as a private and mustered out as a colonel. He was once wounded in the forehead by a shell. He married for his second wife Louisa Amelia Stannard, and they had nine children, five sous and four daughters, the five now living being Frank E., James H., Archie R., Sarah J. and Belle, all of Chicago.
JOHN STEPHENS.
John Stephens, as superintendent of the Inland Steel Company at Indiana Harbor, is a prominent factor in the industrial development and substantial growth of northwestern Indiana, and his career is one which excites the admiration and awakens the respect of all who know aught of his life history. To a student of biography there is nothing more interesting than to examine the life history of a self-made man, and to detect the elements of character which have enabled him to pass on the highway of life many of the com- panions of his youth who at the outset of their careers were more advan- tageously equipped or endowed. Mr. Stephens has through his own exertions attained an honorable position and marked prestige among the representative men of this state, and with signal consistency it may be said that he is the architect of his own fortunes, and one whose success amply justifies the application of the somewhat hackneyed but most expressive title of "a self- made man."
Mr. Stephens was born in Lydney. Gloucestershire, England. December 2, 1844, and is a son of John and Charlotte ( Hawkens ) Stepliens, both of whom were natives of Lydney. The paternal grandfather also bore the name of John Stephens, and he too was born in Lydney. He was a mill worker, connected with the tin industry, and lie died at the advanced age of ninety- two years, while his wife, Mrs. Hannah Stepliens, died at the age of seventy- four years. They were the parents of three sons and four daughters. The maternal grandparents of our subject were Samuel and Sarah Hawkens, and
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HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
were native residents of Lydney, where the latter died at the age of forty-two years, while the former reached the venerable age of eighty-nine years. He was a shipping contractor, loading and unloading vessels as they came into the canal and dock, or preparing them for passage at sea. To him and his wife were born a son and a daughter. the latter becoming the wife of John Stephens. the father of Mr. Stephens of this review. John Stephens, 2d, was a hammerman and lived and died in his native town of Lydney, where his death occurred in 1899, when he was seventy-seven years of age. His wife departed this life in March, 1902, when seventy-six years of age. Both were members of the Methodist church. They had but two children, the daughter, Sarah, being the wife of Lot Malsom, of Sharon, Pennsylvania.
Mr. John Stephens spent the days of his boyhood and youth in Lydney, England, and acquired his education in the public schools there. When six- teen years of age he became identified with the industry which he has made his life work, securing employment in an iron foundry. There he became familiar with the business in every department, and in detail as well as prin- ciple. He worked in both the tin and sheet-iron departments, gaining a most practical and comprehensive knowledge of the trade, and thus he was well equipped for advancement along that line when he came to America.
Believing that the new world offered better business advantages, Mr. Stephens, on the 22d of February, 1872. left England for America. landing in New York city on the 9th of March. The same day he went to Oxford. New Jersey, arriving there at half past six o'clock in the evening. He con- tinued in Oxford until the following August, when he removed to Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, where he remained for ten months. and then located at Sharon, Pennsylvania, where he resided for eleven years, actively connected with the iron industry at that place. His next home was in Greenville, Pennsylvania. and two years later he went to Newcastle, in the same state, where he lived for five years. On the expiration of that period he returned to Sharon, where he remained for seven years longer. For eighteen years he was in the employ of P. L. Kimberly & Company, and during the last seven years with the Sharon Iron Company, being its superintendent. On leaving Pennsyl- vania. he removed to Muncie, Indiana, where he took charge of the plant of the Midland Steel Company, with which he was connected for six and a half years. From Muncie he came to Indiana Harbor, on the Ist of March, 1902,
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HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
and in company with R. J. Beatty, John McGrath, John G. Dauks, R. W. Wick and some Chicago capitalists, including L. E. Block, P. D. Block and others. built the Inland Steel Mill, which now employs about nine hundred and fifty men, and this number will be increased as the work progresses. The output of the plant has reached very extensive proportions and it is destined to become one of the leading industrial concerns of the middle west. Throughout his business career Mr. Stephens has been connected with great productive industries, in which he has gradually worked his way upward through efficiency, skill and practical knowledge, until he stands today as one of the foremost representatives of the iron industry in Indiana. More- over, throughout the entire period of his business career he has ever sus- tained a reputation which is unassailable, and while fully guarding the inter- ests of his company he has also been most just and fair in his dealings with those who have worked under him, and no better proof of both statements can be given than the fact that he has received from both employers and fellow-employes substantial tokens of their trust and esteem for him.
When Mr. Stephens left Newcastle, Pennsylvania, the employes of the mill there made him a present of a handsome gold watch and chain, a set of gold cuff buttons and a pair of fancy slippers, while the company gave him a purse of twenty-seven dollars and a rocking chair. When he left Sharon, Pennsylvania, the employes gave him a full set of the Encyclopedia Britan- nica and a rocking chair for himself and one for his wife. When he left Muncie the employes gave him a three-hundred-dollar silver set, and these tokens of kindly regard and good will he justly prizes highly.
On the 14th of October, 1865, Mr. Stephens was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Jones, a daughter of Herbert and Hannah Jones, and to them have been born the following children, five sons and five daughters : Emily, Caroline Charlotte, Frederick J. H., Lillie Hannah, Minnie Maude, William Charles, Francis Eusebius. Mabel, Harold and Clairmont. Emily is now the wife of Edwin Hoke, of Indiana Harbor, and they have two chil- dren, Emma and Beulah. Frederick J. H. Stephens married Miss Laura Halstock, of Muncie, Indiana. Lillie Hannah is the wife of Walter Dang, of Indiana Harbor.
Mr. and Mrs. Stephens are prominent, influential and active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is serving as a member of the
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HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
board of trustees and also as superintendent of the Sunday school. He is a local minister, having been licensed to preach thirty-four years ago. Politi- cally he is a Republican. He built in 1902 the largest residence in Indiana Harbor, on the lake front. Possessing strong domestic tastes, his interest largely centers in his family, and he counts no sacrifice on his part too great that will enhance the welfare or promote the happiness of his wife and children. The church, too, claims considerable of his attention, and while in his business career he has steadily advanced, he has always found time to discharge his duties to his fellow-men and his obligations of citizenship.
CHARLES M. BAKER.
Charles M. Baker, who is proprietor and successfully conducts a large livery, feed and sales stable at Crown Point, is a business man who can point with much pride and satisfaction to his career of self-achievement cul- minating in a substantial place in the business circles of Crown Point and in the esteem of his fellow-citizens and associates. He has practically hewn out his own destiny and been the architect of his own fortune since he was a lad of few years and with little preparation such as most boys enjoy. From various experiences in varied lines of activity he has progressed gradually but surely, and is now able to claim one of the very best establishments of its kind in Lake county, with a constantly growing patronage as evidence of the excellence of his teams and equipments and methods of doing business.
Mr. Baker was born in Porter county, Indiana, March 26, 1866, a son of Justice and Eunice (Allen) Baker, the former a native of New York state. He was four years old when he lost his mother, and five years old when he lost his father, and their individual histories are not easily recalled. Mr. Baker has one brother. George, of Boone Grove. Porter county, and three sisters: Lydia, wife of Noah Merriman, of Marion, Indiana: Jennie, wife of James Lewis, of Champaign, Illinois ; and Emma, who is the widow of Alfred T. Coffin and lives in Crown Point.
Mr. Baker, thus left an orphan before he was of an age to attend school, was deprived of many circumstances of rearing that most children have. At the age of nine hie was bound out to a man with whom he remained three years, and then started out on his individual career. He worked by the day and month at anything he could find. He clerked in a store in Crown Point
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HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
for some time, and also spent two years as a clerk for the H. P. Stanley Fruit Company in Chicago. For several years after that he was engaged in various lines of enterprise in Crown Point, which has been the scene of most of his efforts since arriving at years of manhood. In 1900 he bought the livery stock of Charles Wilson, and in 1903 he built his present barn, thirty-eight by one hundred and forty feet. He keeps twenty-six head of good horses, and has the reputation of sending out the best rigs in town.
Mr. Baker is one of the public-spirited citizens of Crown Point, and has served on the town board and as one of the trustees of Crown Point. He is stanch in his adherence to the Republican party. He affiliates with the Independent Order of Foresters. In connection with the livery business lie also buys and sells horses, and up to 1902 he was engaged in the hay business.
Mr. Baker married, in 1887, Miss Adah Holton, the daughter of Janna S. and Catherine J. (Eddy) Holton, who were Lake county pioneers. Mrs. Baker was born in this county, September 14. 1867, and was educated at Crown Point. finishing in the high school. She died February 16, 1904, when in her thirty-seventh year. There are three sons and one daughter of the family: Harry J., born in 1889: Fay M., born in 1892; Lewis C., born in 1895; and Howard H., born in 1897.
F. RICHARD SCHAAF. JR.
F. Richard Schaaf, Jr., is filling the position of bookkeeper with the Standard Oil Company and is an expert accountant. He also owns valuable real estate in Robertsdale, and is a director of the First National Bank of Whiting. While his life history is characterized by no exciting incidents, it, nevertheless, proves the value of activity, energy and reliability in the affairs of life and shows that the young man may occupy positions of great trust and responsibility.
Mr. Schaaf was born on the 15th of April, 1878, in Hamburg, Ger- many. His father, F. Richard Schaaf, Sr., was a native of Saxony, Ger- many, was reared and married there. Miss Catherine Schlueter becoming his wife. Her birth occurred near Hamburg. In the year 1880 they left the fatherland and with their family sailed for the new world. taking up their abode in Chicago. Mr. Schaaf, Sr., is a blacksmith by trade, but in Chicago engaged in the hotel business. In 1890 he removed to Whiting, where he
J. Richard Schaffe
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HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
also established a hotel, which he conducted for about five years. On the expiration of that period he went to Robertsdale, a suburb of Hammond, Indiana, where he engaged in the grocery business and also became a real estate and insurance agent. Both he and his wife are still living in North Hammond and are well known there. They are the parents of seven chil- dren and with one exception all are yet living.
F. Richard Schaaf, Jr., is the eldest child and was only about two years of age when brought to the United States. His education was acquired in the public schools of Chicago and in Bryant & Stratton's Business College of that city. In 1898 he became an employe of the Western Newspaper Syndicate of Chicago, continuing in that service for about seven months, when he was offered the position as bookkeeper by the Standard Oil Com- pany at Whiting. His efficiency won him promotion to the position of head bookkeeper of the paraffin department six months after he had become an employe of the corporation. He is likewise a director of the First National Bank at Whiting and he owns a large amount of real estate in Robertsdale, having made judicious investments in property. from which he has already realized good returns.
Mr. Schaaf is well known in political circles in northwestern Indiana. and when he was but twenty-one years of age he was elected a delegate to the Republican state convention held at Indianapolis in 1900. He was also elected a member of the county central committee and made vice chairman of the city central committee of Hammond, Indiana. In the spring of 1904 he was nominated for trustee of North township. He is also president of the Robertsdale fire department, having filled this position for six years.
On the 12th of June, 1901. Mr. Schaaf was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Roberts, a daughter of Mrs. Agnes Roberts of Robertsdale, and they are well known in Lake county, where they have many friends. Fra- ternally Mr. Schaaf is connected with the Masons, belonging to Whiting Lodge No. 613, F. & A. M., of which he is now treasurer. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a man of considerable influence, aiding in molding public thought, action and opinion. The inter- ests which have made claim upon his time and attention have been such as tend to the betterment of the conditions of mankind and for the stimulus of material progress or the improvement of the city.
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HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
ROBERT SPEAR, M. D.
During the seven years which mark the period of his professional career Dr. Robert Spear has met with gratifying success. Throughout this time he has made his home in East Chicago, where he has won the good will and patronage of many of the best citizens. He is a thorough student and endeavors to keep abreast of the times in everything relating to the dis- coveries in medical science. Progressive in his ideas and favoring modern methods as a whole, he does not dispense with the time-tried systems whose value has stood the test of years.
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