USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River, Vol. II > Part 20
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Louis Dudenhoefer .- The record of the life of Louis Dudenhoefer is not more eventful to contemplate than is that of the average man of his station and occupation, but it is the achievements of such as he that has made of Allen county the rich and progressive section it is known to be at this time. Mr. Dudenhoefer was born on June 25, 1852, in Marion township, Allen county, and is the son of Philip and Anna (Riel) Duden- hoefer, who came direct from their homes in Germany to Allen county, and two years later settled in Marion township, where they spent the rest of their lives. They bought land, uncleared and unproven, and built a small cabin home in which to begin their independent career as farmers. Mr. Dudenhoefer was industrious and success followed his efforts so that in a short time he was able to add to his original twenty acres by a pur- chase of one hundred and twenty-three acres near by. In later life he acquired a good deal of town property and the declining years of his life were spent in Fort Wayne, where he died at the age of seventy. His widow survived to the age of eighty-two. They were of the German- Lutheran faith and their children were reared in the same religious belief. They were the parents of Philip, now a resident of Fort Wayne; Louis, the subject of this sketch; Margaret, who married Frank Braber of Fort Wayne, and Francis, who is deceased. Louis Dudenhoefer had his educa- tion in the Lutheran schools of his home community and was trained to farm life under the instruction of his father, whose assistant he was for years. When the elder Dudenhoefer retired the son rented the home place and continued as a renter for some years, but in 1904 he bought a farm, where he has since been successfully engaged in stock-farming. Like his father, he is a Democrat, active in local politics, and is a member of the German-Lutheran church. He was married on May 18, 1875, to Miss Lena Geischer, who came of German parents and was herself of German birth, her father having died on shipboard when the family was
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making the journey from Germany to America. Mrs. Dudenhoefer died in December, 1912, the mother of twelve children. George and Frank are located in Fort Wayne, there engaged together in the grocery business. Henry died in 1913. Frederick and Louis are at home. Mary married Fred Lepper, of Marion township. Nettie is the wife of William Oster- hause, also of Marion township. Anna lives in Fort Wayne. Bertha and Gertrude are still at home, while Matilda and Lena, the youngest of the family, are located in Fort Wayne.
Hermann A. Duemling, M. D., has brought to bear in the work of his profession the full powers of a strong and resourceful personality and also the technical ability and skill that have won for him secure vantage- ground as one of the essentially representative physicians and surgeons of Indiana. He is engaged in the active practice of his profession in the city of Fort Wayne, is chief of the staff of surgeons of the Lutheran Hospital, and is an acknowledged leader in the ranks of his profession in northern Indiana, besides being known also as a liberal and public- spirited citizen. Dr. Duemling was born at Addison, Dupage county, Illinois, on the 18th of September, 1871, and is a son of Professor Hermann F. and Jennie (Sulzer) Duemling, the former of whom was born in the historic old town of Magdeburg, Prussia, and the latter at Cedarville, Wisconsin, their marriage having been solemnized in the Badger state. In his native land Hermann F. Duemling received the best of educational advantages and that he was a man of high intellectual attainments is evidenced by the fact that he received the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He came to the United States in 1867 and established his residence in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he became an in- structor in the city high school. A few years later, after his marriage, he removed to Addison, Illinois, where he was engaged as teacher of mathematics and science in the teachers' seminary. About 1873 he came with his family to Fort Wayne, where he became a valued member of the faculty of Concordia College, as a teacher of mathematics and natural science. Finally he returned to Milwaukee as the chief editor of the "Germania," in which capacity he served for the ensuing period of twelve years-or until the time of his death, which occurred March 13, 1913, his widow still maintaining her home in the Wisconsin metropolis, and being a devout communicant of the Lutheran church, as was also her revered husband. Professor Duemling entered fully into the spirit of American institutions and customs and was a loyal supporter of the prin- ciples of the Republican party, his sterling character giving him inviolable place in popular esteem. Of the children the eldest is Dr. Duemling, immediate subject of this review; Enno is the city missionary of Mil. waukee; Paula is the widow of Albert C. Koch and she too is a resident of Milwaukee; Jennie is the wife of Dr. Richard Clausen, of that city; Thekla remains at the home of her mother; and Gerhard, a chemist by profession, likewise resides in Milwaukee. Dr. Duemling was a child of about two years at the time of the family removal to Fort Wayne, and here he acquired his rudimentary education in the parochial school of St. Paul's Lutheran church. In 1889 he was graduated in Concordia College, and in consonance with his well defined ambition he then began preparing himself for his chosen profession. He entered the medical department of Washington University, in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, and in the same was graduated in 1892, with the well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. He has been an enthusiast in his profession and has
Hand vending
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insistently kept in line with the advances made in both medical and surgical science. In 1897 he did most effective post-graduate work in the city of Berlin, Germany, where he studied in and attended the clinics of the Friederich Wilhelm University, his attention having been given prin- cipally to an advanced course in surgery. The Doctor served his pro- fessional novitiate by establishing himself in practice in Fort Wayne in the year 1892, soon after his graduation, and for the first decade his practice was of general order. Since that time he has confined his service largely to the surgical branch of practice, and in this important field he has gained more than local prestige. High attainments and close and faithful application have constituted the basis of his unequivocal success and have been the source through which he has won high standing in the exacting and humane vocation to which he is devoting himself with all of earnest zeal and self-abnegation. He has been the head of the surgical staff of the Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne since 1905, has given most effective service as a member of the city board of health, and is affiliated with the Allen County Medical Society, the Fort Wayne Academy of Medicine, the Indiana State Medical Society, the Tri-State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and both he and his wife are active communicants of the parish of St. Paul's Lutheran church. On October 5, 1893, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Duemling to Miss Adeline A. Stuermer, daughter of William and Augusta (Mauth) Stuer- mer, of Fort Wayne. Mr. Stuermer was born in Brandenburg, Prussia, learned in his native land the trade of cabinet maker, and in the late '60s came to the United States. Many years ago he established his home in Fort Wayne, where he was long employed at his trade in the shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad, his death having occurred May 23, 1892, and his widow being still a resident of Fort Wayne. Dr. and Mrs. Duem- ling have an interesting family of six children-Editha, Jennie, Werner, Miles, Arnold, and Gerhard. The year 1917 finds Editha, Jennie and Werner as students in the University of Michigan, and Miles in the Fort Wayne high school.
Frank R. Dulin .- The ability, character and achievement of Mr. Dulin have given him established vantage-ground as one of the leading lawyers of the younger generation in the city of Fort Wayne, where he has been engaged in the general practice of his profession since 1903. His standing in the community and as a member of the Allen county bar is assured and enviable, as shown by his having served five years as attorney for the juvenile court of Fort Wayne, under the regime of Judge Edward O'Rourke, and by his having been for four years deputy pros- ecuting attorney of Allen county, under the administration of Harry H. Hilgemann. Mr. Dulin was born in Boone county, Indiana, on November 6, 1880, and is a son of John A. and Mary A. (Carr) Dulin, the former of whom is now deceased and the latter maintains her home at Lebanon, Ind., the father having devoted the major part of his active career to the fundamental industries of agriculture and stock-growing. He whose name initiates this article was the fifth in order of birth in a family of seven children, all of whom are living. Frank R. Dulin found the period of his childhood and early youth compassed by the sturdy and benign influences of the home farm and he continued his studies in the public schools of his native county until he had availed himself of the advantages of the high school at Lebanon, the county seat. In prep-
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aration for his chosen profession .he entered the Indiana Law School, at Indianapolis, and in this well ordered institution was graduated as a member of the class of 1902, his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws being virtually coincident with his admission to the bar of his native state. For the first year after his graduation he was serving his profes- sional novitiate at Lebanon, judicial center of his native county, where he continued in practice until his removal to Fort Wayne, in 1903. Here he has built up a substantial general law business and gained definite prestige as a versatile and successful trial lawyer. He has appeared in connection with important litigations in the courts of this section of Indiana and the character, scope and cumulative tendency of his law business denotes the popular estimate placed upon him. Mr. Dulin is found arrayed as a loyal and effective advocate of the cause of the Demo- cratic party, he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist church, he is a member of the Fort Wayne Commercial Club and the Country Club, and in the Masonic fraternity his maximum York Rite affiliation is with Fort Wayne Commandery of Knights Templar, besides which he has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite and is affiliated also with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. August 28, 1912, recorded the marriage of Mr. Dulin to Miss Della Hughbanks, who likewise was born and reared in Boone county, and who is a daughter of James A. and Luella (Nelson) Hugh- banks, well known citizens of that county, where her father is a repre- sentative farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Dulin have two children-Frank R., II., and Myrtle.
Thomas Dunkel has been a resident of Allen county since 1904 and is the owner of a well improved farm of one hundred and eight acres, in Sections 14 and 23, Springfield township. Throughout his entire inde- pendent career he has been an energetic and successful exemplar of agri- cultural enterprise, and through the medium of the same has achieved definite prosperity, the while his course has been so ordered in all of the relations of life that he has proved a helpful factor in community affairs and has merited and received the confidence and good will of his fellow men. Mr. Dunkel was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, is the youngest son in a family of eight children, and all of his brothers and sisters still reside in the old home county of Pickaway, namely: Isaac, Malinda, Amos, Jr., Catherine, Laura A. and Amanda J. Mary, the third in order of birth, died in childhood. The parents-Amos and Catherine (Stout) Dunkel-passed their entire lives in Pickaway county, Ohio, the father having been a native of Pickaway township and the mother of Washing- ton township, and they were representatives of sterling pioneer families of that section of the old Buckeye state. Amos Dunkel was a scion of staunch German ancestry and was one of the substantial farmers of his native county during his entire independent career. He whose name initiates this review was born on the old homestead farm of his parents, in Pickaway county, and, as previously intimated, is the only one of the family to have found a theater of successful enterprise outside of his native county, the date of his birth having been August 12, 1861. He is indebted to the common schools of his native county for his early educational discipline and in his youth gained close friendship with honest toil and endeavor, in connection with the work of the home farm. He thus gained at first hand his broad and diversified knowledge of agri- cultivral and live-stock industry, of which he continued a representative
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in his native county until January 1, 1904, when, after having disposed of his property in Ohio, he came to Allen county, Indiana, and purchased a farm of eighty acres, in Section 23, Springfield township. He has since bought an additional tract of twenty-eight acres, in Section 14, and is thus the owner of a well improved farm of model type-a demesne that gives every evidence of thrift and prosperity and that constitutes one of the many attractive rural estates of Allen county. His political alleg- iance is given to the Democratic party and he and his wife hold member- ship in the Lutheran church. In 1905 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Dunkel to Miss Barbara Boger, who was born and reared in this county and who is a member of one of its old and honored families. She is a daughter of Samuel and Susanna (Baltz) Boger, who were children at the time when the respective families settled in Springfield township, about the year 1840, at which time the township could claim only six or eight families residing within its borders. The parents of Mrs. Dunkel continued their residence in this township until their death and the names of both merit place on the roster of the honored pioneers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Dunkel have one child, Ruth.
Charles A. Dunkelberg .- The activities of Charles A. Dunkelberg have brought him into contact with "all sorts and conditions of men." From these he seems to have learned, while his own personality has in- spired and taught, with the result that the absorption and cultivation of talents of wide range have not only made him a successful man of busi- ness and executive worth but one who counts his warm friends by the hundreds. Fort Wayne knows no home more truly hospitable than that of the Dunkelberg's on South Fairfield avenue. Mr. Dunkelberg was born in Chemung, New York, April 4, 1865, the son of Charles A. and Eliza (Lassen) Dunkelberg, both natives of Germany. At the age of two, Mr. Dunkelberg removed with his parents to the town of Honesdale, Pennsylvania, where the son at the age of twelve was employed for the period of a year in a drug store. After leaving the common schools, he entered Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, New York, and graduated from that institution well equipped with the foundation for a successful business career. He was at this time an expert in stenog- raphy, and this accomplishment became a marked factor in his advance- ment in the business world, and he was one of the first stenographers in northeastern Pennsylvania. He also brought the first typewriter into that section of the state. He had already devoted his attention to a training course in business practice. His first employment, after leaving school, was with the banking and brokerage firm of E. C. Benedict and Com- pany, in New York City, where, as a young man of ready perception and strong character, he was enabled to gain actual experience in the applica- tion of the theories gained from the schools. Afterward, he entered the employ of Joseph T. Ryerson and Son, iron merchants, at Chicago. Here he developed the talents which marked him as a man of notable execu- tive ability, and this led to his selection as the steward of the State Hospital for the Insane, at Logansport, Indiana, a position which he filled with entire satisfaction for a period of five years, after which he chose to engage in business in Logansport. He established a wholesale and retail queensware store, and continued in this line for three years. During this period, Mr. Dunkelberg added materially to his knowledge of men and methods, which led to his coming to Fort Wayne to take an important position with S. F. Bowser and Company, world-famed makers
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of self-measuring oil handling devices. It was in July, 1899, that Mr. Dunkelberg accepted the place of head bookkeeper for the concern. Here his abilities were given full course, and his promotion to the office of superintendent of salesmen was followed by a later advancement to that of secretary and treasurer of the company. His work in these various positions was of untold value to the company at the time when such service figured strongly in the success of the plant and its management. On September 1, 1916, Mr. Dunkelberg resigned his position with S. F. Bowser and Company in order to give his entire time and attention to the management of his large modern dairy farm, located six miles south of Fort Wayne, in Pleasant township, Allen county. Mr. Dunkelberg was united in marriage on May 1, 1895, with Miss Anna C. Crockett, daughter of Franklin and Sarah (Murdock) Crockett, of Lafayette, Ind. To this union have been born four sons-Charles A., Ralph C., Paul C. and David C. Mr. Dunkelberg is a true sportsman. His fondness for hunting "big game" takes him frequently into the Canadian forests, and he has made several trips to Mexico and the southwest on similar quests, the success of which is attested by the collection of mounted specimens of the results of the hunt in the forest and on the plain. The travels of Mr. Dunkelberg have taken him to all portions of the United States and into many sections of Canada and Mexico, and several business trips have required his presence in the capitals of Europe. Mr. Dunkelberg is in- terested in many Fort Wayne financial and other institutions and his counsel as a member of governing boards has proven to be of the utmost value. His position in business circles of his home city is suggested by his election to the presidency of the Wayne club of Fort Wayne during the year it was united with the Commercial Club. He is active in Masonic circles where he holds the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite body, and also is a Knight Templar. He is a member of the Indiana Society of Chicago. Mr. Dunkelberg is a true optimist, and always he displays a delightful fellowship which has won for hin countless real friends.
Washington Dunten .- It is now permitted to accord merited tribute to one of the native sons of Allen county who has passed the psalmist's span of three-score years and ten and who has been worthily and promi- nently identified with civic, industrial and business affairs in the county. He now resides on his attractive homestead farm, in Perry township, about ten miles distant from Huntertown, from which village he receives service on rural mail route No. 2. Mr. Dunten served twelve years as postmaster at Huntertown, from which office he retired in 1913, and for five years was engaged in the dry-goods business in that village. Though now living in virtual retirement, he takes much satisfaction in giving a general supervision to his farm, is favored in the splendid retention of his physical and mental powers and takes a lively interest in all things pertaining to the county which has ever been his home and in the develop- ment and progress of which he has played well his part. Mr. Dunten was born at Huntertown, January 26, 1841, at which time the now pro- gressive village was a mere hamlet in the midst of a partially developed agricultural district. He is a son of Ephraim Howard and Pamelia (Hicks) Dunten, the former of whom was born in Jefferson county, New York, and the latter at Hartford, Connecticut, their marriage having been solemnized in the state of Michigan. The parents passed the closing years of their lives in Allen county, where the father died, July 24, 1854, the devoted mother having attained to venerable age and having passed
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to the life eternal on July 17, 1894, after surviving her husband by fully forty years. The old homestead farm, of forty acres, is that now owned and occupied by the subject of this review, and the father operated in an early day the pioneer hotel in Huntertown, the same having been known as Dunten's Tavern. His first wife was Clarinda Bentley, of Jefferson county, New York, and her death occurred, February 26, 1839. The three children of this union were Louisa, Daniel I. and William H., all of whom are now deceased. Of the four children of the second marriage, Washing- ton Dunten, of this review, is the eldest; Lucy A. is the wife of Jacob Furth, who is president of one of the national banks in the city of Seattle, Washington, as well as president of a railroad company in the west; Lucien, who was born September 10, 1845, died on November 4 of the fol- lowing year, and his funeral was held from the pioneer Dunten tavern or hotel at Huntertown, the same having been at the time the family hone ; Ella Medora, who was born February 16, 1849, was about thirty- five years of age at the time of her death. He whose name initiates this review acquired his early education in the pioneer log school house at Huntertown, and his boyhood days were passed in the old-time hotel conducted by his father, though later he began to aid in the work of the home farm, of which he is now the owner. In addition to this old home- stead of forty acres he owns an adjoining tract of eighty-eight acres, and the place is one of the well improved and valuable farms of Perry township. Mr. Dunten has been an energetic and successful exponent of agricultural industry and also active in the mercantile business, as previ- ously intimated in this article, besides which he has been known and honored as a man of sterling character and one who has been influential in community affairs. He has designated himself as a Lincoln Republican and has given effective service in the local ranks of his party, besides having held for twelve years the office of postmaster at Huntertown, as previously noted. He was formerly in active affiliation with a Fort Wayne lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife have been earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church for fully forty years. November 24, 1866, recorded the marriage of Mr. Dunten to Miss Almena E. Farrand, and she passed to the life eternal on October 29, 1873. Two children were born of this union: Wilna Augusta, who was born October 20, 1869, died December 31, 1891; and Wilbur Howard, who was born August 27, 1872, died June 26, 1909. The second marriage of Mr. Dunten was solemnized October 28, 1874, when Miss Hannah Wilcox, of Coldwater, Branch county, Michigan, became his wife. Mrs. Dunten is a daughter of James R. and Anna (Peckham) Wilcox, who were born in Jefferson county, New York, and became pioneer settlers in Michigan, where ther passed the remainder of their lives. Concerning the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Dunten the follow- ing brief record is entered in conclusion of this review: Carrie Louise, who was born April 13, 1880, died August 24, 1899; Ernest W., who was born September 11, 1881, at Coldwater, Michigan, is now a resident of Huntertown; and Lohman Clifford, who was born November 17, 1886, remains at the parental home and has been the popular and efficient carrier on one of the rural mail routes from Huntertown since 1904.
Fred Eckart .- Fred Eckart was brought up in the packing business of which he is now one of the owners, getting his early experience under the guidance of his father, who had established the business, and thus laying a solid foundation for future successes. He is a native son of
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Allen county, born here on December 7, 1859, and his parents were Fred and Elizabeth (Linker) Eckart. Mrs. Eckart is a native of Allen county, her parents were Engelhart and Anna (Weisheit) Linker; and she was born in what is known as the Old Fort House in Fort Wayne in 1836, and now lives in the Eckart homestead at 321 East Wayne Street, but the father is of Bavarian birth and parentage. They became the parents of eleven children, ten of whom grew to maturity. Fred is mentioned below; Henry I. died, aged four years ; Mrs. Sophia Ober, of Chicago, Ill .; Anna, of Fort Wayne; Reinhart, who died at the age of twenty-six years; Mrs. Matilda Schultheis, of Lima, Ohio; Henry is mentioned elsewhere in this work; Mrs. Caroline Schmidt, of Fort Wayne; Mrs. Henrietta Pfeiffer, of Fort Wayne; and Miss Lucy Eckart and Mrs. Bessie Ranke, of Fort Wayne. Mr. Eckart, whose portrait ap- pears on the preceding page, came to America in early manhood and started up in the butcher business in Fort Wayne, that being the trade he had learned in his native land. He had success and after a few years branched out in the pork packing business. From that small beginning has been developed the present extensive packing industry to which his sons succeeded when he died in 1894. Fred Eckart, the immediate subject of this review, had a somewhat limited schooling, attending the German Lutheran School on Barr Street, Fort Wayne, up to the age of fourteen. He then went into the business with his father to learn the details of the work. He familiarized himself thor- oughly with every phase of the business in the plant and then took up the selling end of the enterprise, to which he has given his best energies through the past fifteen years. He has made a study of modern methods in the packing business, and wherever he has found a new idea has put it into play in his own establishment, the result being that the concern has made steady and consistent progress with the passing years. He has evolved some very creditable plans for the pushing of sales into new territory, and all considered, may properly be said to have been an active force in the growth of the industry, which has more than trebled its output in the last twenty years. On June 28, 1888, Mr. Eckart was married to Miss Caroline L. Hostman, the daughter of Christ Hostman, of Fort Wayne. He died, March 1, 1917, aged eighty-two years. They became the parents of one child, Pearl Llva, who died at the age of four days. In Masonry Mr. Eckart has taken both the Scottish and York Rite, and the Shrine. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Fort Wayne Commercial Club and the Fort Wayne Country Club. He has no party affiliations in politics, but prefers to hold himself free to indulge independent views.
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