USA > Indiana > Porter County > History of Porter County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests > Part 21
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buildings located between the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago and the New York, Chicago & St. Louis railroads. The monthly pay roll at this time amounted to about $1,000. A few years later the partner- ship between Barry and Spooner was dissolved, the former going to some place in Illinois, and the works were discontinued.
John Saylor opened the first brickyard at Valparaiso, but the exact date when he began making briek cannot be learned. Others who have engaged in that line of business were Charles Briggs, Dickover & Weaver, Moses Frazier, Chartier & Dumas, A. W. Lytle, and the Durands. In February, 1897, W. C. Goodwin, representing a Chicago brickyard syndi- eate visited Valparaiso and announced that he had secured an option on forty acres of land lying near the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago railroad, one and a half miles west of the city, where he expected to have a brickyard in operation within six months, with a daily capacity of from 50,000 to 75,000 brick. A test of the clay showed that it was suitable for making first class brick, and the yard never was established. In fact that has been one of the drawbacks in the manufacture of good brick in the immediate vicinity of the city of Valparaiso.
A. Kellogg & Sons started a foundry and machine shop at a compara- tively carly date, and in 1857 began the manufacture of furniture in connection therewith. The next year Daniel White and one of the Kel- loggs established a planing mill. In 1864 White built a sash, door and blind factory on the corner of Main and Monroe streets. This factory changed hands several times during the next few years, being owned successively by Wasser & Vastbinder, Alonzo Smith, A. Freeman and Jolın D. Wilson. The largest planing mill in the city in 1912 was that of the Foster Lumber & Coal Company.
The Valparaiso Woolen Mill Company was organized in 1866, with a capital of $60,000. Among the stockholders were George, William and Julia A. Powell, H. R. Skinner and A. V. Bartholomew. The com- pany hegan the manufacture of knitting yarns, jeans, flannels and blankets in 1867, but owing to the high prices that prevailed at the close of the war and the subsequent constant decline, the woolen mill
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was not a profitable venture. After a few years the Powells bought up all the stock and after running the mill for awhile closed down until times should grow better. In 1872 a pin factory was started in place of the woolen mill and run for about three years, when it was removed to Detroit. In 1876 new machinery was placed in the woolen mill aud the manufacture of varns was again commenced. In 1881 knitting mia- chines were installed and the manufacture of hosiery was introduced. For a time the company used about 500,000 pounds of wool annually and had a monthly pay roll of $3.700. Unable to compete with the woolen mills located in larger manufacturing centers, with better fa- cilities for shipping and in closer touch with the great markets, the Valparaiso mill finally succumbed to the inevitable.
In 1867 Don A. "alyer built a paper mill at the crossing of Was! ington street and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago railroad. About $20,000 capital was invested in the enterprise And the monthly pay roll was about $550. The product of the mill was chiefly straw wrappers, some 1,000 tons of straw being annually used as raw material, producing from 700 to 800 tons of paper. When the straw-board fac- tories formed a combination, Mr. Salyer's mill was purchased by the trust and later was dismantled. Thus ended another Valparaiso industry.
Charles H. Parker, Sr., began the manufacture of varnishes, paint dryers, Japans, black iron enamels and paint specialties in 1871. IIis first place of business was located near the tracks of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis (Nickel Plate) railroad, about a quarter of a mile west of the present Mica Works. On June 18, 1889, his factory there was destroyed by fire, though the safe, books and a few other articles were saved. The hose company and the hook and ladder company re- sponded, but the nearest hydrant was so far away that the hose was too short to reach from it to the factory. Owing to the nature of the business it was impossible to secure insurance and the loss of $12,000 fell entirely upon Mr. Parker. Undaunted by the disaster, however, he immediately made plans for rebuilding, but located on the east side of
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the city, not far from the Grand Trunk station. Subsequently his three sons beeame associated with him, and in 1895 the business was incorpo- rated In 1912 the officers were Charles II. Parker. Sr., president and treasurer; M. F. Parker, general manager and secretary; Charles H. Parker, Jr., superintendent, and E. M. Parker, sales manager. The business of the company has shown a steady inercast ever since the in- corporation and it has become one of the largest producers of asphaltum blocks in the United States.
At various times efforts have been made by the enterprising busi- ness men of Valparaiso to secure the location of new manufacturing concerns in that city. At a meeting held on April 2, 1889, it was an- nounced that $3,590 had been subscribed to a fund which was to be offered as a bonus for the location of a pump factory by some persons in the city of Chicago. The following evening anoth: :: meeting was held and it was then reported that all but $300 of the required amount had been subseribed. A tentative organization was effected and the directors were instrueted to notify the Chicago parties to get their machinery, ete., but the promoters evidently had changed their minds and the factory was never established in Valparaiso. A month or so after this Charles H. Bluhm, of Michigan City, wrote to the mayor of Valparaiso making inquiries as to the prospects for the organization of a company to manufacture refrigerators. ITis plan for the formation of the company did not meet with the aproval of the Valparaiso people and the company was not. organized.
In 1892 two brothers named Dulaney came from Canton, Ohio, with a newly invented electric eloek, which they proporod to manufacture and sell outright, instead of leasing them as was done by the Western Union Telegraph Company. A stock company was formed, most of the stoek being sold in Valparaiso and Chicago, a building was leased from Benajah Williams, machinery was installed and the factory started. About a month after it was opened a sheriff fron Obio appeared on the seene and attached the machinery to satisfy fin clanos of some of the Dulaney's ereditors in that state. Benajah Wiliroy and J. H. McGill
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
raised enough money to satisfy the sheriff. Shortly after this Wilian. sold the building to the Dulakeys for $27,500, taking a mortgage for $10,000. stock in the company to the amount of $15,000 (said to be worthi $60,000 at par), and allowing the purchasers to assume a mortgage indebtedness of $2,500. A few months later he sold the stock back t: them for $15,000, receiving $7,5' ) in cash and the remainder in prom- issory notes. Not long after this deal was made Williams resigned the presidency of the company and foreclosed the mortgage on the build- ing, though he permitted the Dulaneys to remove the machinery. Mr. Williams was indieted by the grand jury upon the complaint of some of the stockholders, but he was released by the court, which ordered a receiver appointed and released certain Valparaiso people from liability This was the end of an industry that was accompanied by disaster from the start. All the stockholders ever got out of it was a valuable experience.
In 1899 word was received in Valparaiso that the Chicago Miea Company and the Chicago Wheel Company were desirous of seeuring a lo- cation somewhere outside of that rity. A committee of citizens went to Chi- cago and persuaded Mr. Snyder, president of the Miea Company, to visit Valparaiso and look over the ground. The woolen mill building was pronounced by him to be the only one suitable for his purpose, and it was then learned that another Chicago concern had an option on the building, which belonged to R. M. Hutchinson and Senator Culbert, of Michigan City. This delayed matters for a short time, but on October 25, 1899, Mr. Hutchinson and Mr. Snyder met in Valparaiso and reached an understanding which three days later resulted in a deal by which the building passed into the hands of the company. On February 28, 1900, the city council, upon a petition signed by 174 taxpayers, by a vote of five to three, donated $5,000 to the company and ordered the city clerk to draw a warrant for that amount. The Mica Company is Valparaiso's largest manufacturing industry. According to a statement of the State Bureau of Inspection, seventy-five people are employed. The mica bond insulators manufactured by this company are shipped to every
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HISTORY OF PORI
country on the globe where electricty is und For power or lighting purposes.
Powers, Higley & Company began the rangeure of desks and educational specialties in 1887. In the same 1 T" their factory was removed to Valparaiso and located ir known as (1). It- tauqua Park, through the influence of the Valjen. Land and Develop-
ment Company, which was organized i: 1400 1 . firm was succeeded by the Chautauqua Manufacturing Company, at least in name. Among the articles turned out by this concern are the ('hantauqua art desk, the challenge safety swing, loose leaf cat not. , photograph and post card albums, nature study school marts
In 1905 James II. MeGill, founder tem and president of the local telep C. merly occupied by uliana avenue near rsons were at first Gill found it neces- Bureau of Inspection
aiso telephone sys- began the manu-
facture of electrical specialties in the the Kellogg foundry and machine sle on the Pennsylvania railroad station. ty a employed, but the business has grown mntil sary to enlarge the building, and in 19 thịt
reported fifty-two people engaged in :
C. O. HTilstrom began the manufac e of In 1880 he removed his factory to (. tertep in Chicago in 1869. four years later en- larged his plant so as to give employment to fibry men and turn out eight organs daily. In 1899 a strike , mon; the piano workers in the Chicago factories led the Russell-La Co. to remove a portion In 1906 Mr. Hilstrom A branch was estab- the concern did a pros- be organ works were dling vacant. of their work to Mr. Ililstrom's buildh ., in conforton, and in this way Porter county had for a time a pinto facie began the manufacture of a new cabinet ds lished at Fort Worth, Texas, and for , few y : perous business. After Mr. Hilst 's closed down and in 1912 the buildings Web
Tn 1890 the Hydraulic-Press L. k ( plant at Porter. On October 21, 1. with the exception of the barns, " .1.( !
established a large was destroyed by fire, ome minor buildings,
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the loss reaching $50,000. Early in the spring of 1905 the plant w built, the buildings being made as nearly fire-proof as possible od m fire engine was installed as a precautionary measure against i; i. disaster. This company made an exhibit at the World's ( Exposition at Chicago in 1893 which advertised its business .00 the civilized world and brought in a large number of orders. in 1012 the works at Porter employed 90 men and were turning out shots 75,000 brick daily. The pressed brick made by this concern are sub- jected to a pressure of 2,800 tons, which renders them almost as solid as marble. The company also makes a velour, or rough finished Ini 4. which is becoming quite popular, and a paving brick which is ap .! to be the equal of any in the country. An electric lighting p! been added to the equipment, so that the works can be rou ho hum! and day, and even then the company in August, 1912, was behind wal its orders. The value of the company's holdings at Porter, incomo real estate, is something like $200,000. The main offices of the conmans are in the Chamber of Commerce building in Chicago.
In 1893 the Vienna Enamel Stamping Company, which had been established some years before at Porter, passed into the hands of a receiver. In Angust, 1900, J. T. Darling submitted a proposition +, the people of Porter that for a bonus of $10,000 and fifty building lots, he would purchase the property of the enameling company and spend $20,000 in improvements to make it available for a glass works that would employ not less than 150 men. The Porter Land Company off. d to convey 100 lots to those who subseribed to the $10,000 fund, and on May 27, 1902, the following officers of the Chicago Flint & Line Glass . of- pany were elected : Charles J. Bockius, of Marion, Indiana, president Louis D. McCall, vice-president ; W. S. Calder, secretary and treasurer. The Porter Land Company gave $1,600 in cash and eighty-four ! to secure the location of the works. On June 16, 1902, a heavy rain flooded the ovens and three months were spent in pumping out il water. Other causes combined to delany the opening so that it va. December 24th before the works actually began operations. Financi Hy
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
the glass factory was never a great success. On January 1, 1905, P'it- kin & Brooks took a six months option on the property, but at the ex- piration of that period declined to close the option by purchase. Con- sequently, on July 1, 1905, the factory closed. In July, 1911, the works were dismantled, the stock and fixtures removed to Chicago, and a year later the matter was in the courts for adjustment. A little later Pit- kin & Brooks made overtures to the Valparaiso Commercial Club, offer- ing to locate their factory in that city upon assurance of a bonus of $8,000. This sum was raised by the progressive citizens of Valparaiso, and at this writing-August 14, 1912-a new building is well under way near the Joliet road bridge in Chautauqua Park addition.
Some years ago a merchant at Three Oaks, Michigan, realizing that whalebone was every year becoming scareer, set to work to discover a substitute., After a number of experiments he found the most suitable material in the quills of the wing and tail feathers of the common turkey. Ile perfected his invention and placed upon the market the produet known as "Featherbone." About 1897 a branch of the Warren Featherbone Company was established at Porter, the main works being at Three Oaks, Michigan. All parts of the feathers were utilized, the quills forming the substitute for whalebone and the vanes or vexilla being used to make materials for upholstering, pillows, cushions, etc. The Porter branch was in operation but a few years. In January, 1905, the property passed into the hands of the Sall Mountain Asbestos Con- pany, manufacturers of rubber and miea roofiing, fire-proofing materials. This concern in 1912 was the largest maunfacturing establishment in Porter county in point of the number of people employed, 105 persons being reported to the State Bureau of Inspection.
For the past twenty-five years . L. Coovert has been engaged in the manufacture of drain tile at Valparaiso, his factory being located be- tween Washington and Lafayette streets near the Grand Trunk rail- road. Ilis output has been about 200,000 pieces of tile annually. In recent years he has turned his attention to the manufacture of a con- erete tile. The report of the State Bureau of Statistics for 1910 also
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mentions brick and tile mills at Jurter and Hebron. In the winter of 1911-12 a lock-nut factory wis va re lat Porter. It manufactures what its name suggests-a lock-out rt -- for use in automobile construction and certain lines of railroad work
Among the minor manuf. ng industries of the county a
several harness shops at Valpa lebron and Porter; sawmills, cigar factories, ereameries and ice cream. factories, etc. Most of these concerns are small, some having a capital o. but a few hundred dollars, but all appear to be doing well. Reid. Murdoch & Company have a depot at. Porter where thousands of ener ;. s are gathered for shipment for she industries of Porter county ist. main works at Hammond. The. been prosperous in recent year. to 1910 the per capita wealth jr
Faced by the fact that from 1 70 : From $376 to over $700, and ! despite the fact that several cori . failed during that period. In 1870 there was one company d . .sjuoss in the county that was in ! corporated with a capital of or over. Thirty years later the number of such corporations ha . erreased to fifty-seven. Truly, this is not a bad reeord.
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CHAPTER XI
THE PROFESSIONS
HARDSHIPS OF THE PIONEER DOCTOR - EARLY PHYSICIANS - PERSONAL SKETCHIES OF NOTED PHYSICIANS-LIST OF DOCTORS IN 1912 -PORTER COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY-KANKAKEE VALLEY MEDICAL SOC : TY-HOS- PITAL-SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC OF 1899-JUDICIAL SYSTEM -FIRST JU- DICIAL CIRCUIT-PROBATE COURT-COURT OF COMMON BLEV SUPERIOR COURT-CITY COURT OF VALPARAISO-LIST OF JUDGES-PROSECUTING AT- TORNEYS-EARLY LAWYERS-PORTER COUNTY BAAR ASSOCIATI . -- LIST OF LAWYERS IN 1912-ANECDOTE OF D. D. PRATT-ART-LITERATURE-JOUR- NALISM-PERSONAL SKETCHES OF AUTHORS, POETS AND JOUR JALISTS.
In the settlement of a new country, the doctor is usually the first pro- fessional man to appear upon the scene. Realizing the fact that condi- tions upon the frontier are not always conducive to health, and that the sparse population there is far away from centers of civilization whence medieal aid can be obtained, the pioneer physician often makes sacrifices to serve his fellow men and aid them in heroic efforts to extend the margin of civilization into hitherto unknown lands. True, he is actuated by motives of private gain, to some extent at least, but when the lot of the country doctor in a new settlement is considered in all its aspects, it is anything but inviting. Settlers are seattered over a large extent of territory ; roads are bad, and frequently there are no roads at all; drugs and medieines are hard to obtain; money is scarce; calls must be answered, day or night, rain or shine, if the doctor is to maintain his
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
prestige in the comr.mity, and even then they come but seldom, owing the sparseness of fle population. For years he may struggle alony living a sort of han Hyo-month existence, waiting for other settlers to come in before his practice can be really established upon a paying basi ... Notwithstanding all this, the physician is always to be found among the pioneers.
One of the first phy. vians to locate in Porter county was Dr. Senera Ball. He was born in Warren county, Ohio, August 18, 1798; received his preliminary education in the little log school house of that day ; at- tended a graded school at Waynesville, Ohio, and then began the stu ly of medicine by himself. Later he read under Dr. William Bunnell. at Washington, Indiana And then began practice. After following Li- profession for a short ane ho engaged in merchandising at Lafay with his brother, and is rat Laporte. Late in the year 1836 he came to Valparaiso and shortly after that date resumed his practice, which l: followed until old age spelied him to desist. Ile also served as justi of the peace, probate muore, and representative in the state legislature. His death occurred on October 4, 1875.
Dr. Cornelius Blachly came to Porter county in 1838 and continn: d to practice medicine in the county for more than forty years. He bought the old Gosset Mill in Liberty township in 1869, which his sons continued to run for years after his death in 1876. Dr. Blachly was one of the best known physicians in the county in his day.
In 1844 Dr. Luther Atkins came to Porter county, though at that time he had not yet received his diploma to practice medicine. Ile was born in Massachusetts in August, 1819. Subsequently his parents re- moved to Ashtabula county. Ohio, where he acquired his general educa- tion, and after coming to Porter county he began the study of medicine He began practice in 1847, but did not graduate from any college until 1866, when he received the degree of M D. from a school in Philadelphia. In 1880 he located at Kout- where he opened a drug store which he con- ducted in connection with his practice until his death.
One of the well known pioneer doctors of Porter county was Levi A.
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Cass, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, July 9, 1819. At the age of fourteen years he entered Oberlin College, where he studied for some time and then read medieine with his father, Levi A. Cass, Sr. In 1840 he came to Porter county and commeneed the practice of his profession, but after a short time went to Laporte, where he completed his profes- sional education under Dr. Meaker. He represented Porter county in the state legislature, was one of the organizers of the First National Bank at Valparaiso, and was otherwise identified with the affairs of the county.
Among the early physicians in the southern part of the county, prob- ably none is so well remembered as Dr. John K. Blackstone, who prae- ticed medicine at Hebron for half a century. He was born in Ohio in * 1817; attended the Ohio State University ; served as second lieutenant in the Second Ohio infantry in the Mexican war; then read medicine and graduated at. Cleveland Medical College in 1848. Shortly after that he located at Hebron, where he continued to practice his profession until his death on January 28, 189S. Dr. Blackstone was an archae- ologist of some ability, and at one time had in possession an interesting collection of Indian and mound-builders' relies.
Another early Porter county physician was Dr. Erasmus J. Jones, who was born in Ohio in 1814. In 1840 he entered Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in 1846 began practice with his brother-in-law, Dr. J. G. Kyle, in Ohio. In 1851 he started for Iowa, but upon reaching Porter county some of the members of his family be- came ill and he stopped in the "Gosset Settlement," where he remained until 1859. He then removed to Chesterton and practiced there and at Porter until his death. He was also engaged in the drug business for a while at Chesterton. Dr. Jones served as county clerk for two terms.
In 1853 Dr. J. II. Letherman located in Valparaiso. IIe was a native of Pennsylvania, where he was born in March, 1819; studied under his father; attended the Jefferson College for four years, and graduated in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1844. IIe began practice in Pennsylvania, but soon removed to Des Moines, Iowa, and practiced there until November, 1853, when he came to Valparaiso Vol. I-10
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as above statod. In 1871 he admitted to partnership his son, Dr. Andrew P. Letherman, who is still practicing in Valparaiso. Dr. J. H. Lether- man served for twelve years as county coroner. He died on March 22. 1886.
On June 12, 1812, Dr. J. M. Goodwin was born in Tompkins county, New York, where his ancestors were among the pioneers, his grand- father having served as a commissary in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war. In 1836 he graduated at the Geneva Medical Col- lege; practiced in New York and Illinois until 1856, when he located in Porter county. Here he remained until his death, and during the Civil war he gave his professional services free to members of soldiers families. He served as justice of the peace for many years in Pine township, where he resided.
Dr. Hiram Green, who in his day was one of the prominent physi- cians of Chesterton, was born on July 19, 1829, in Oneida county, New York. In 1835 his parents removed to Ohio and at the age of twelve years ITiram entered a normal school, having saved twenty-eight dol- lars as the result of four months' work to pay his expenses. Two years later he began the study of medieine with his brother at New Lisbon, Ohio. At the age of twenty he went to Birmingham-opposite Pitts- burgh, Pemisylvania-where a cholera epidemic was raging, and was fortunate enough to succeed to the practice of a physician who was com- pelled to leave the town. From that time until the discovery of gold in California he practiced in various places. A company bound for the gold fields offered him inducements to join the movement as a physician and he started for the Pacific coast. At Michigan City, Indiana, he fell ill and did not fully regain his health for two years. After practicing for four years at Gosset's Mill, he located at Chesterton. During the Civil war he served as lieutenant, captain and assistant surgeon. He then practiced at Whecler for about three years, when he returned to Chesterton and opened a drug store, continuing the practice of medicine in connection with the drug business. lle served as trustee of Westchester township; was a member of the board of pension examiners, and was a Knight
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Templar Mason. He died at Chesterton on January 5, 1901. As a mark of respect the public schools were dismissed at noon and the business houses were closed from noon natil four o'clock on the day of the funeral.
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