USA > Indiana > Lake County > Encyclopedia of genealogy and biography of Lake County, Indiana, with a compendium of history 1834-1904 > Part 59
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Mr. Batterman was reared to the pursuit of a farmer and stockman, and was educated in the common schools and by personal application. At the age of twenty-one he began life on a capital of one thousand dollars, starting on the farm where he now resides. He purchased three hundred acres and paid the one thousand dollars on it, and by his economy and industry in time he lifted all incumbrances and the beautiful and high-class buildings and other improvements on the estate he lias made himself.
August 1, 1875, Mr. Batterman married Miss Anna Borger, and twelve children, six sons and six daughters, have been born to them, seven of whom are living. Johanna is the wife of Albert Keun, who is connected with a publishing house in Chicago; Mrs. Keun was educated in the common schools and the Hobart high school. Julius, educated in the common schools and at the Valparaiso normal, is married and a farmer at Palmer, Indiana. Mag- gie, educated in the common schools and at Hobart, is the wife of Michael Schmal, a farmer of St. John. Edwin is a resident of Hanover township. . Herman is in the ninth grade of the Brunswick schools. Alvin is in the seventh grade, and Elsa is also in school. Mrs. Batterman comes from the well known Lake county family of Borgers whose sketch will be found elsewhere.
Mr. Batterman is a lover of high-grade stock, and takes especial in- terest in the Percheron horses and the Red Poll cattle, and his cattle of this breed are registered, and he also raises fine grades of Chester White hogs. During his career he has suffered setbacks and misfortunes, but is a man of such determination and energy that he has on each occasion risen phoenix- like out of the ashes of ill-chance, and is now one of the financially substan- tial men of Hanover township. Besides his beautiful and well improved estate in Hanover township, he owns nine hundred and fifty acres in Hinds
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county, Mississippi, five miles northeast of Jackson, the state capital, about six hundred acres of this land being arable. The land on the whole is level, the location eligible, and as Mr. Batterman thinks the climate there far excels that of the northern latitude of Indiana he anticipates locating in that vicinity for his future home,-which will mean the loss of a valuable and prominent citizen from the ranks of Lake county. Mr. Batterman is a Re- publican on national issues, but in local affairs gives his voting support to the man best fitted for the office. He cast his first presidential vote for R. B. Hayes, and has supported each candidate since. He is a man who stands high in the estimation of all his fellow citizens, and has been selected to represent his township in the county conventions of his party. In 1898 he was appointed a member of the county council, and his services have been ably and efficiently performed. and he is accordingly tendered the thanks of the citizens of the whole county.
FREDERICK W. MANDERNACH.
The American nation owes much to the thrifty and hardy virtues of the German race. for this class of citizens has been important factors in ad- vancing every industrial enterprise. It is to this class that Mr. Frederick W. Mandernach belongs, and he has long since proved himself to be one of the most prosperous, progressive and public-spirited citizens of Lake county and Hanover township in particular.
Mr. Mandernach was born in the house where he still resides, on Octo- ber 15, 1864, and is the youngest of eight children, four sons and four daugh- ters. born to John and Tena (Saak) Mandernach. All the children are liv- ing. John is married and is living as a retired farmer at Odebolt, Iowa. Caroline is the wife of Herman Raasch, a farmer of Odebolt, Iowa. Henry is a resident of the same locality in Iowa, and is married. Flora is the wife of Gottlieb Nitsche. also in this Iowa community. Lonisa is the wife of Charles Sauter. a ranchman of Big Springs, Nebraska. Henrietta is the wife of Simon Sunderman, horticulturist at Cullman, Alabama. William, of Odebolt, Iowa, is married and is a farmer. And Frederick is the last.
Father Mandernach is a native of Prussia, where he was born November 17, 1817, and is still living at Odebolt, Iowa, retaining the use of his mental and physical faculties although at the great age of eighty-seven years. He
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was about twenty-six years old when he bade adieu to the fatherland and came to America, and the voyage was of six months' duration. He came to America empty-handed. not having ten dollars to his name when he arrived. In a strange land, among a strange people, whose language he could not speak, he had to subsist on the little earnings he could get by daily work. He came to Lake county and in Hanover township began as a wage earner. and worked for the Rev. T. H. Ball's father at the munificent wage of eight dollars per month. He was one of the most energetic and industrious of men. The first land he purchased was forty aeres, and he traded a pair of oxen for it. The first habitation the Mandernachs lived in was a log cabin. The father was one of the earliest settlers in western Lake county, and has seen deer and wild turkeys on his place. During his early years in the county he worked on the first railroad being built to Chicago. He has seen Chicago when it was a village in size compared to its present immensity. He was a successful man in his active career, and had accumulated seven hundred acres of fine land in Sac county, Iowa, and in Hanover township of this county. The home residence occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Mandernach was erected by his father, and the lumber for its construction was brought from Chicago by ox teams. The father was a true Republican. He and his wife were members of the German Methodist church two miles south of Hanover Center, and he aided very materially in its erection. Even the stove in the church was purchased by him. Mother Mandernach, a native of Lippe. Germany, was born January 13. 1827, and is still living.
Mr. Mandernach was reared and educated in Hanover township, his early mental training being acquired in the common schools. He has con- tinued a farmer and stockman during his active career. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years old, and he and his brother William then began as renters on his father's farm. He continued five years as a renter, and he then purchased the old homestead in Hanover township, con- sisting of one hundred and eighty aeres.
August 6. 1889, he married Miss Matilda E. Piepho, and five children, two sons and three daughters, have been born to them, four of whom are living. Elenora A. is in the seventh grade, being a bright student, and has also taken piano instruction. Elmer W., in the fifth grade, is well along in his studies and takes piano music. Nelson R. and Blanche D. are the youngest in the household.
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Mrs. Mandernach was born in Kankakee county, Illinois, May 29, 1867. a daughter of August and Wilhelmina ( Breuscher) Piephio. There were ten children in the family, and eight are living. Mary, the ekdlest, is the wife of David Dippon, a farmer at Dwight. Illinois. John is married and lives on the old homestead in Kankakee county. Emma is the wife of Herman Meyer, a farmer of Scotia, Nebraska. Mrs. Mandernach is the next. Minnie is the wife of Herman Nichols, a painter at Blue Island, Illinois. Louise is the wife of Charles Sauerman, a farmer of Kankakee county. George is a prosperous farmer in Hanover township. Annie, the youngest, is the wife of Ruda Jors, a carpenter at Blue Island. Father Piepho was a native of Hanover province, Germany, and was born January 21, 1833, and died January 13, 1900. He came to America when a boy of sixteen or seventeen. He was a shoemaker by trade and at an early day had a log-cabin store in Chicago. He went to the Pacific coast and Cali- fornia in 1849, and dug gold for five years, at which he was very successful, bringing back three thousand dollars' worth of the precious metal. He went out to the Eldorado country by way of the Isthmus of Panama. The first land he purchased in Kankakee county was two hundred and twenty acres, and he bought and sold several times, and at his death he owned three hundred acres in that county and two hundred and eighty in Lake county, so that he was evidently a very successful man. He was a Repub- lican in politics, and he and his wife were members of the German Meth- odist church. His remains are interred in the cemetery below Hanover Center. The mother of Mrs. Mandernach was born in Little Hanover, Germany, December 16, 1842, and is now living with her son George in Hanover township. Mrs. Mandernach was a girl of ten years when she became a resident of Lake county, and her education was acquired in the common schools. She and her husband are very cordial. genial people, and have hosts of friends.
Mr. Mandernach is a Republican, and cast his first vote for Benjamin Harrison. Several times he has been selected as a delegate to represent his township at county conventions. In 1904 he was elected a trustee of the Hanover township, and thus broke a record of some twenty-two years during which no Republican had held that office. The people of the township recognize in him a safe and progressive man of affairs, and his election 40
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means that the business and educational administration of the township will be in good hands during the following term. Ile is a member of Council No. 23 of the Independent Order of Foresters at Brunswick, and he and his wife are members of the German Methodist church, of which he is a trustee.
JOHN H. BORGER.
German-American citizenship has been an important factor in the advance and progress of the state and nation, and one of this worthy class, Mr. John H. Borger, is a prosperous resident of Hanover township and a true type of the German-American of the twentieth century. Mr. Borger was born in West Creek township, Lake county, February 15. 1853. and is the eldest of nine children, five sons and four daughters, born to John and Metic (Meyer) Borger. There are eight of the family living at the present writing, John H. being the first. Herman is a farmer of Jewell county, Kansas. Anna is the wife of Herman Batterman, a prosperous farmer of Hanover township. Charles is represented elsewhere in this volume. Edward is a farmer of Porter county, Indiana. Johanna is the wife of Henry Thineman, a farmer of Porter county. Metie is the wife of James Campbell, a resident of LaPorte, Indiana, and a carpenter and joiner by trade. Maggie, the youngest, lives in Chicago.
Father Borger was a native of Hanover province, Germany, and was born July 22, 1816, and died March 3, 1873. He was reared in his native land till manhood, and was educated in the German language. He was about thirty years of age when he bade adieu to his native land and sailed from Bremen to New York, and the voyage was of several weeks' duration. He landed in a strange land, among strange people, and with little money. He came at once to Lake county, and began as a wage earner by the day or month. The first land he purchased was a small tract in West Creek town- ship, and he sold this and purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Hanover township, in Sections 30 and 31, and he moved a little log house onto the land and this was his first habitation. He was one of the early settlers of Lake county, and there were then no roads, and Chicago, the now great city of two million, was but a town in size, and he could have purchased land around Chicago at a dollar and a half an acre. There was only one railroad
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HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
across the county at that time. He was a prosperous man, and added forty acres more to his real estate in the township. He was a farmer of high order and a lover of high grades of stock. He was a stanch Republican and always stood firmly on his principles. Mother Borger was a native of Lippe province, Prussia, and was born December 18, 1835, and died February 20, 1888. Both parents are interred in the Brunswick cemetery, where beautiful stones mark their last resting places.
Mr. Borger has been reared and spent all his life in this county, having given his attention to farming and stock-raising. He was educated in the English language. He remained with his parents until of age, and he con- ducted the estate for his mother until his marriage. February 14, 1882. he married Miss Susan Hoffmann, and eleven children, four sons and seven daughters, were born, ten of them being alive at this writing. Tillie M., the oldest, was educated in the common schools, graduating with the class of 1898 from the Brunswick schools. She does very artistic work in silk embroidering. Metie S. has completed the seventh grade of common schools. John W., who has passed the seventh grade, is a practical farmer boy. Lizzie T. graduated from the Brunswick public schools with the class of 1904. Otto H. is in the sixth year work of the schools, Henry E. is in the fifth grade, Edward M. is in the fifth grade, Margaret H. is in the third year, Luella A. is in the first year, and Clara E. is the baby of the family.
Mrs. Borger was born in Hanover township. September 15. 1859. a daughter of Mike and Susanna (Huppentahl) Hoffmann. There were eight children, five sons and three daughters, in the family, and four of these are living, as follows: John, who is a carpenter and resides with his mother in Hanover township: Mrs. Borger; Theresa, wife of Anton Hein, a mer- chant of Hanover township; and Anton, of Hanover township. Father Hoffmann was born in Germany in 1824 and died in 1896. He came to America when a young man, having been educated in the German tongue. He was a Republican, and a Catholic. His wife was also born in Germany, and she is still living at the age of sixty-seven in Hanover township. Mrs. Borger was reared in Hanover township and was educated in the common schools.
Mr. and Mrs. Borger began life on the present homestead where they now reside, purchasing the shares of the other heirs. All the excellent
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improvements of the farm have been effected through their efforts, and their comfortable farm residence is a credit to the township. Mr. Borger is one of the prosperous agriculturists of the township, and is a stockholder in the Brunswick Creamery Company, which was established in 1892. He likes good stock, and is endeavoring to raise the standard of his own cattle and hogs and horses, his favorite breeds of these animals being the Holsteins, the Chester Whites and the Normans as a heavy draft horse for farming. His wife is a fancier of Brown Leghorn chickens. Their estate comprises two hundred acres of land in Hanover township, and best of all there is not a dollar's indebtedness on the property. Mr. Borger is a stalwart Repub- lican, and cast his first vote for R. B. Hayes, having supported each candi- date since. Mr. and Mrs. Borger and their excellent family are among the leading German-American families of Hanover township, and we are pleased to give this full history of their lives. It may be added that the German spelling of the name Borger is Börger.
LOUIS W. HERLITZ.
The German citizens are the important personages who have made the wilderness to flower and blossom like the rose in the central Mississippi valley. They are noted for their diligence, industry and economy. Mr. Herlitz was born in Hanover township, Lake county, in the homestead where he now resides. He was born January 22, 1841, and is the third in a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, born to Louis E. and Gesche (Berger) Herlitz. There are five living. Fred, the eldest, is a resident of West Creek township and is a farmer. Margaret, widow of Dr. E. W. Vilmer, resides in Crown Point. Mr. Herlitz is next. Mena, widow of Fred Weber, resides in Chicago. Oscar G. is a resident of Ross township.
Father Herlitz was born in the village of Hemann, province of Lippe, about the year 1804, and died in 1869. He was reared in his native land until early manhood, when he came to America. He was nine weeks making the voyage across the Atlantic, and came to New York, thence to a place near Detroit, Michigan, where he remained four years, and where he married. He was an agriculturist, and was one of the earliest settlers of Lake county, coming here about 1839, when there were a number of Indians
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here. He purchased eighty acres of wild land, and the first home was a log cabin. He was quite successful in life. He was a Republican. Mother Herlitz was a native of Hanover province. Germany, born not far from Bremen about 1807, and died in 1875.
Mr. Herlitz is one of the oldest citizens now living who were born in Hanover township. He was educated in the English language and by his own application. He has been reared as a tiller of the soil. He married Miss Anna Meyer April 5. 1877. and eight children have blessed the union. three sons and five daughters, seven of whom are living. Mary, the eldest, is one of the successful teachers of the county. She was educated in the common schools, and was a graduate in the class of 1900 at Crown Point, and was a student in Valparaiso normal and has also taken music. Anna M. was educated in the common schools and at Crown Point high school. She has taken instruction in music and is now at home. Julius is at home. He has completed the common school course and has also been a student at Valparaiso normal. Laura W. and William D. are twins. Laura has grad- uated from the common schools, and is in her second year at the Crown Point high school, and she has taken instruction in music. William gradu- ated in the common schools and is a student at the Crown Point high school. Louis F. is in the eighth grade of school. Gesche, in the seventh grade, is a bright little girl.
Mrs. Herlitz was born in Hanover province, Germany, February 14, 1853, and is a daughter of D. H. and Anna (Beckman) Meyer. There were five children, two sons and three daughters, in the family. Mrs. Herlitz and her brother Herman, living in Nebraska, are the only survivors. Mrs. Herlitz was educated in her native land, as she was sixteen years of age when she came to America, and most of her life has been spent in Lake county.
Mr. and Mrs. Herlitz began their married life on the homestead where they now reside, and for twenty-seven years, over a quarter of a century, they have lived in Hanover township, and are citizens of the highest social standing. They own two hundred and five acres of choice land in Hanover township, and their beautiful sylvan homestead is a haven of rest for their friends as also for strangers. Mr. Herlitz is a Republican. He cast his first presidential vote for Lincoln and for each candidate of the party since.
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He was one of the boys who wore the blue, and was a member of Com- pany D. Eighty-third Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and his regiment was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee under General Sherman. He enlisted in October. 1862. and was ten months in service. being in the battles of Vicksburg, Arkansas Post and Jackson, Mississippi. He was hon- orably discharged August 2. 1863. at Camp Sherman, Mississippi. Mr. and Mrs. Herlitz and their excellent family of intelligent children are citizens who are among the better class of people of Lake county, and we are pleased to present this sketch of this worthy gentleman.
ALFRED SCHMAL.
Alfred Schmal is one of the leading and successful farmers and stock- men of Hanover township, and is a gentleman so well known in this part of the county as to need no introduction to the readers of this volume. In his veins is the blood of the hardy Teutonic race whose sturdy character and intelligent industry have been the most important factors in the upbuilding of this country, and Lake county has been especially happy to have among her inhabitants so many of German birth or parentage.
Mr. Schmal was born in Hanover township, on the estate where he now resides, on September 24, 1863. being the next to the youngest of fourteen children, eight sons and six daughters, born to Joseph and Barbara (Keefer) Schmal. Nine of these children are yet living, as follows: Katharine, wife of Wilhelm Ahles, a carpenter in Hanover township: Mary, widow of Fred Gerbing, of Cedar Lake. Indiana; Josepli, married, a blacksmith of St. John; Jacob, married, a farmer of St. John; Barbara, wife of Henry Ebert, a farmer of Cedar Creek township; Louie, who is married and is a merchant in Chicago ; Frank, married and a resident of West Creek township : Aurelia, wife of Fred Ebert. a prosperous farmer of Cedar Creek township; and Alfred.
Joseph Schmal, the father, was born in 1819, in Rhenishi Prussia, Ger- many, and died in January, 1894. He was a young man when he came with his parents to America, and he became one of the early settlers of Lake county, even when Indians formed a part of the population. He attained more than ordinary success in life, and was noted for his industry and economy and good sense. Ile accumulated a landed estate of some one
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hundred and thirty-two acres in Lake county. Ile was a stanch Republican and supported the party's doctrines and principles from the time of its organ- ization. Both he and his good wife were Catholics. For some twenty or twenty-five years during the early history of the county he was United States mail carrier between Crown Point and Brunswick. Mother Schmal is still living, although she has reached the advanced age of eighty-five years, and she resides with Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Schmal, who care for her during her declining years.
Mr. Schmal has been reared as a tiller of the soil and as a stockman, and his early education was received in his native township and in the Bruns- wick public schools. On February 12, 1889, he married Miss Caroline Herr- mann, by whom he has had eight children, three sons and five daughters, seven of whom are living. Joseph is in the eighth grade of school and very bright in his studies. Barbara is in the seventh grade, Josephine in the fifth grade, Elenora in the third grade, and Susan, Agnes and Albert are the three youngest.
Mrs. Schmal was born in St. John township, November 8. 1865, being a daughter of Jacob and Katharine ( Palin) Herrmann. There were fifteen children in her parents family, nine sons and six daughters, and of the nine living six are residents of Lake county. and the other three are as follows : John, a resident of Cissna Park, Illinois, is married and is a blacksmith by trade; Katie, wife of William Baunte, a painter in Chicago; and Albert, who is married and lives in Chicago Heights. Jacob Herrmann, the father of Mrs. Schmal, was born in Prussia in 1822 and died in 1895. He was a black- smith, learning his trade in Germany, and he has a farm in St. John township of this county. He and his wife were Catholics and he was a Democrat. His wife is still living in St. John, being seventy-seven years old and hale and active for one who has passed so many milestones of life. Mrs. Schmal was reared in St. John township, was educated in the common schools, and was confirmed by Bishop Durnger at the age of twelve.
Mr. and Mrs. Schmal began life on the old homestead, and for sixteen years they have been prominent German-American citizens of Hanover town- ship. All the excellent improvements in the shape of outbuildings and of other kinds have been placed on the faim by Mr. Schmal, assisted, of course. by his estimable wife. He is a lover of excellent stock, constantly endeavor-
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HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
ing to improve the quality of his animals, and takes especial pride in his Chester White hogs. Mrs. Schmal, on her part. is a fancier of thorough- bred poultry, and her silverlaced Wyandottes are her particular care, and of this fine breed she has sold a goodly number for breeding purposes. At the present writing Mr. Schmal is manager of the Brunswick Creamery Com- pany, an enterprise which has been very successful during the last ten years of its existence. In politics he is a stanch Republican, having cast his first vote for Benjamin Harrison. He served as assessor of Hanover township for two years, filling that office most acceptably : at the last election of 1904 and at the three prior elections he was inspector of elections. From all of which it may be seen that he stands high as a worthy and honorable citizen of Hanover township, and is also one of the financially solid men of the township. Mr. and Mrs. Schmal are members of St. Anthony's Catholic church at Klaasville, and they are well known and highly esteemed in west Lake county, where they have been reared and passed their days since childhood.
THOMAS J. WOOD.
Thomas J. Wood, man of affairs at Crown Point, a leader in the Demo- cratic party, and one of the most prominent lawyers in northwestern In- diana, has a career of unusual interest from whatever point of view it is beheld. In his carly years he made his own way and paid from his own earnings for his educational advantages. When he entered the political field it was as a man of principles and definite convictions, and it is uni- versally true that the man who stands for something is certain to have many loyal adherents and sincere admirers. For a number of years Mr. Wood has wielded a large influence in public and party affairs. as many of- fices of honor and trust held by him would indicate, and his work has as- sumed national importance since Indiana has become one of the "doubtful" states in national elections. Mr. Wood is a man of the highest integrity, and prosecutes both private and public affairs with an eye to the highest welfare of the community and state.
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