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 28
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Michigan, the date of her nativity having been August 10, 1858. Her parents, Frederick and Henrietta (Hackstadt) Wolf, were born in Ger- many, but were young at the time of the immigration of the respective families to America, their marriage having been solemnized in Michigan, where Mr. Wolf long continued as a representative farmer and where he passed the remainder of his life, his widow being still a resident of the Wolverine State. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf became the parents of four chil- dren : Rose and Alfred are deceased; Mrs. Fuelling was the next in order of birth ; and Amanda was the last born. Mr. and Mrs. Fuelling became the parents of ten children, all of whom are living except the sixth, Theodore, who died at the age of one year. The names of the other children are here indicated in respective order of birth : Caroline, Amelia, John, Lewis, Henry, Martin, Charles, Fritz and Bertha.
Henry Gallmeyer .- In writing of the prosperous young farming men of this section, mention should properly be made of Henry Gall- meyer, one of the more successful and well known men of his generation in Milan township. He was born in Allen county, Indiana, August 16, 1880, a son of Fred and Christina (Brockmiller) Gallmeyer, the father a native-born German and the mother a daughter of Adams township in Allen county. Fred Gallmeyer came to America in young manhood and settled in Fort Wayne, where he met and married Christina Brockmiller, and they settled on a farm in Milan township soon after their marriage, there spending the rest of their lives. They were parents of twelve children-Fred, William, Henry, Hanna, Minnie, Elizabeth, Amelia, Sophia, Tena, Emma and two others who died in infancy. All of the ten named are living, with the exception of Emma. The children were educated in the schools of Milan township, and Henry Gallmeyer was introduced to farm life on the home place, of which he later became the owner, and he is today carrying on successful farming operations on the old homestead farm. He was married, in 1912, to Dora Myers, a daughter of John and Anna (Merriman) Myers, both of German birth and ancestry, who came to America in 1874 and settled on a farm in Henry county, Ohio, later coming to Allen county, Indiana, and settling in Milan town- ship, where they are spending the closing years of their lives in the home of their daughter, Mrs. Gallmeyer. Mr. Gallmeyer and his wife are members of the German Lutheran church, and are prominent in the good works of that body. They have a wide circle of friends in and about their home community, where their industry and general good citizenship have won for them admirable positions.
Robert B. Garmire, the present efficient court reporter for the Allen county court, has fortified his accuracy and marked facility in stenograph- ic work by an experience of broad and important order, involving his employment in his profession in many different sections of the United States. He was born at LaGrange, Indiana, October 10, 1876, and is a son of Jacob and Sarah (Young) Garmire. The father and mother were born and reared in England and were among the pioneers of La- Grange county, Indiana, where the father established his home in 1840 and where he reclaimed from the veritable wilderness a valuable farm, the while he lived up to the full tension of pioneer life in the early days, the original home having been a primitive log house and deer and other wild game being much in evidence. Jacob Garmire was of German ancestry, though he was born in England, as noted, and both he and his wife continued to reside in LaGrange county until their death, their
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religious faith having been that of the Evangelical Lutheran church and his political allegiance having been given to the Republican party. Of the children the eldest is Preston, who is now a prosperous ranch owner and substantial agriculturist in the state of California; Ida is the wife of John J. Arnold, who is in the rural mail service, and they maintain their home in Fort Wayne; Luther is a resident of California ; Estella is the wife of Frank Taylor and they reside in the state of Michigan; Horace B. is in Texas; Mary is the wife of George Jenkins, of Michigan ; Emma is the wife of George Myers, of LaGrange, Indiana; Sylvia is deceased; and Robert B., of this review, is the youngest of the number. In the public schools of his native county Robert B. Garmire continued his studies until his graduation in the high school, and as a member of the class of 1897 he was graduated in the old Fort Wayne Business College, which has lapsed in organization. For four years thereafter he was employed in the offices of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Fort Wayne; for the period of eighteen months thereafter he was on a ranch in the state of California; he then returned to the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, but resigned his position about a year later, and for the ensuing twelve years was engaged in the mail-order business, at Fort Wayne. In 1913 he opened in this city a public stenographic office, and in this connection he handled a large amount of important work, including that of legal documents. In September, 1916, there came con- sistent recognition of his ability and character in his appointment to his present position, that of official reporter of the Allen county court. He had previously served twelve years as deputy coroner of Allen county. Mr. Garmire is a staunch advocate and supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, has received the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite Masonry, besides being affiliated with the Mystic Shrine, in which he is first lieutenant of the Shrine Patrol of Mizpah Temple, at Fort Wayne, besides which he is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. On June 21, 1900, Mr. Garmire wedded Miss Kathryn Feustel, daughter of August and Sophia (Kiefer) Feustel, of Fort Wayne, and the three children of this union are Mildred, Dorothy and Robert B., Jr.
William Clayton Geake, a prominent attorney of Allen county and a resident of Fort Wayne, was born in Toledo, Ohio. He is a son of Wil- liam and Alice (Clayton) Geake. He received his preliminary education in the public schools and in the old Methodist College in Fort Wayne, and then entered the University of Michigan, as a law student, and graduated with the class of 1900, being admitted to the Indiana bar the same year. He then returned to Fort Wayne and opened an office for the practice of his profession, soon obtaining a fine clientage and becom- ing one of the legal lights of the county. In his political relations he is allied with the Republican party and from 1903 to 1907 served as Deputy Attorney-General of Indiana under Charles W. Miller. He has also served as a member of the Republican State Executive Committee, and he is frequently called to sit as special judge in the Superior Court of Allen county. Mr. Geake was married April 9, 1903, at Middletown, Pa., to Miss Anna O. Keener, and of this union two children have been born -Mary Catherine and William Keener. Mr. and Mrs. Geake are active members of Trinity Episcopal Church, in which he formerly served as vestryman, and in fraternal affairs he is especially prominent in Masonic circles. He has served as master of the Blue Lodge, filled other offices in both the local and Grand Lodge, and has been a member of the Su-
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preme Council of the Scottish Rite. In 1916, at Pittsburgh, Pa., he had conferred upon him the Thirty-third degree.
Julius Gehrig .- One of the pioneer citizens of the town of Grabill, in Allen county, is Julius Gehrig, who was one of the organizers of the Grabill Lumber Company and is now the head and front of that pro- gressive and prospering concern. Practically every industry in the com- munity has felt the touch of this man of affairs, and he has done much to further the best interests of the town in its various departments of eivic and industrial life. Mr. Gehrig was born in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, April 11, 1866, son of William and Louisa (Kipfer) Gehrig. The father was a native of Switzerland and the mother of Ohio. Some time after their marriage they located in Wisconsin and there lived on a farm. The father there met his death in a runaway accident. and the mother, prac- tically among strangers, gave up the place and returned to Ohio, where she might be among her own people. The children who grew to man- hood are John, a resident of Woodburn, Indiana; Julius, of this review; Theodore, of Cedar Creek township, and Ferdinand, also of that plaee. After the family had returned to Ohio Julius was sent to live with an uncle, who was a farmer, and he had much practical experience there up to the age of fifteen years, when he went to live on a neighboring farm for a year. In 1883 the mother moved to Indiana and bought a farm in Cedar Creek township and this place, with the help of her four sturdy sons, she was able to operate very successfully for a number of years. It was an eighty-acre place, which they made to pay for itself in a com- paratively short time, after which they established a brick yard on it and condueted a briek business for some years. They built a briek house on the homestead, Julius Gehrig doing praetieally all the carpenter work on it. His aptitude for the work was so marked that after finishing the house he turned his attention to carpentry and for ten years was engaged in that work. When the town of Grabill was established, Mr. Gehrig was one of the foremost men in the organization work that went on and he was instrumental in establishing the Grabill Lumber Company, of which he is now secretary-treasurer and manager. Other industries with which he is prominently connected are the Home Telephone Com- pany, the Power & Light Company and the Grabill Realty Company, in all of which he is a shareholder and a member of the board of directors. He is also a director in the Grabill State Bank, one of the sturdy financial eoneerns of the county. Mr. Gehrig is a Demoerat and a member of the Reformed church. He married Lydia Ringenberg, an Allen county girl, April 10. 1915, and one son has been born to them-Robert Lee, born May 8, 1916. Mr. and Mrs. Gehrig have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances in Grabill and Allen county and their home is one of the social centers of their community.
William F. Geller .- The purposeful and worthy ambition that makes for definite aetion has been significantly manifested in the career of Mr. Geller, who is one of the representative business men and valued and progressive citizens of Fort Wayne and who is a native son of this eity as well as a scion of an honored pioneer family of Allen county. He has by his teehnieal and executive ability and well-ordered efforts built up a large and prosperous business enterprise that is the leading one of the kind in Fort Wayne, his well-equipped and essentially modern bakery, at the corner of Broadway and Washington streets, having the best of facilities for the manufacturing of staple food products as well
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as a wide variety of fancy cakes and other fine table delicacies. In connection with the general functions of the enterprise has been devel- oped a metropolitan catering department, and the establishment is one that is creditable alike to its owner and to the city in which it is situated. Mr. Geller was president of the Indiana Master Bakers' Association for 1916-17, and is now (1917) president of the Tri-State Master Bakers' Association. William F. Geller was born in Fort Wayne on March 17, 1859, and is a son of Theodore and Catherine M. Geller, both of whom continued their residence in this city until their death. The father was born in Germany, was a piano-finisher by trade and established his home in Fort Wayne more than half a century ago. He had previously lived in the state of New York, and it was from the old Empire state that he went forth to render gallant service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil War, in which he was a member of Company H, Seventh New York Infantry, his service having continued during practically the entire period of the great conflict between the states of the north and the south. He whose name introduces this article gained his early education in the public schools and he was eighteen years of age when he entered upon a practical apprenticeship to the baker's trade, in the old-time Fort Wayne bakery owned and conducted by the late Christian Hoftner. He fortified himself thoroughly in all details of his trade and continued in service at the Hoftner bakery until he attained to his legal majority, when he put his technical knowledge to practical use and also showed his self-reliance and enterprise by engaging in business in an independent way. In 1881 he opened a small bakery a few doors to the south of his present establishment, and since 1887 has conducted his substantial busi- ness from the present headquarters, in which he gives employment to a corps of thirty-five persons. Mr. Geller has shown much progressive- ness and initiative ability in the developing of his large and prosperous business and has not only achieved substantial success but has also made the same a medium for expressing in a practical way his civic loyalty and public spirit, though he has manifested no desire for public office. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the National Union, and he and his wife are communicants of Christ church parish of the Lutheran church. In 1882 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Geller to Miss Cecelia M. Neal, who was born and reared in Darke county, Ohio, her father having been a representative farmer in Jefferson township, Allen county. Mr. and Mrs. Geller have four children-Mabel, Willard H., Walter N., and Arthur E. Mabel is the wife of Leo E. Danuser, of Detroit, Michigan, and the three sons still remain in their native city of Fort Wayne.
Anna C. Genth is the representative of a family that came to Allen county many years ago and has been identified with the growth and progress of the county from then down to the present date. She is the daughter of Lewis and Catherine Witzgall, who were of German birth and ancestry, and who settled first in Stark county, Ohio, and later in Allen county, Indiana. The father was a weaver by trade and worked some at that industry, but for the most part devoted himself to farming, in which he found a pleasing success. Coming to Allen county, they bought forty acres of land, later adding an eighty-acre tract to their holdings, and they lived on their farm home until death claimed them, when they were well advanced in years, though the latter years of their
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lives were spent in quiet retirement from farm duties. They were the parents of six children. William lives in Pleasant township, Anna C. is the subject of this sketch, Martin is deceased, Caroline lives in North Dakota, Lewis is settled in Marion township, and Katie is the wife of Jake Kimmell. Anna C. Witzgall married William August Genth on January 9, 1874. He was a son of Adam Genth, who came from Germany in young manhood and settled on land in Allen county, there spending the remainder of his life. William A. Genth was born in Allen county on March 18, 1848, educated in the schools of his native community, and reared to a thorough knowledge of farm life under the instructions of his father. After he left the parental roof he was employed for a number of years, and then bought a farm of his own to which he took his young wife. His first purchase was a sixty-acre tract, and he was able a little later on to add one hundred and twenty acres to his holdings. Prior to his marriage, he devoted some years to his trade as a carpenter, having learned that trade after he left home, and he built the house that was the family residence for years. He was a Democrat and a member of the Evangelical church. In 1913 he retired from active life, his health being not as good as usual, and he died on March 20, 1916, at the family home. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Genth. Frank lives in Lafayette township. William is on the home place. Walter lives in Lafayette township. Albert is also on the home place, as is Adolphus, the youngest of the six. Katie, the fifth child, died in infancy. Frank, the eldest son, is married and has five children-Edna, Richard, Russell, Marie and Noll. William has two children-Valda and Ruth, while Walter has a family of six-Mabel, Howard, Roy, Clyde, Virgil and Anna. Mrs. Genth has lived a life of quiet industry and is counted among the more depend- able women of her community, where she has a host of staunch friends who have shared in the beneficient influence shed by her lif and works.
Rev. Samuel Gerig, who gave earnest and effective service as a clergy- man of the Missionary church and was a scion of one of the well known and honored families of Allen county, was engaged in the work of the min- istry in the west at the time of his death, which occurred Aug. 23, 1909, but he ever payed a tribute of loyalty and affection to his native county and looked upon the same as his home until the time when he passed from the stage of life's mortal endeavors, his window now maintaining her residence at Woodburn, one of the attractive and prosperous villages of Allen county. Mr. Gerig was a man of strong mentality, broad and prac- tical in his views, and his consecrated labors in the vineyard of the Divine Master were fruitful in good. Concerning the Gerig family of Allen county adequate data are given in other articles in this volume, and thus it is not necessary to enter into geneological details in this memoir. Samuel Gerig was born on a farm near Grabill, in Springfield township, this county, and the date of his nativity was October 15, 1876, so that he was but thirty-two years of age when he was summoned to eternal rest. His father, Joseph Gerig, gained precedence as one of the representative farmers and substantial citizens of Springfield township and the family name has been long and worthily identified with the history of Allen county. He whose name introduces this review was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and received his youthful education in the public schools of Springfield township. His initial ac- tivities of an independent order were in connection with agricultural industry, and his deep Christian faith and his high sense of personal
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stewardship early led him to enter the ministry of the Missionary church, as a representative of which he served as pastor of the church at Wood- burn. Upon leaving his native state he engaged in active ministerial service in Missouri and Kansas, and his faithful labors in these states covered a period of seven years. He was residing in Kansas at the time of his death, after which his widow returned to Allen county, where she has since maintained her home. Mr. Gerig was a loyal supporter of the cause of the Republican party and was a young man who commanded unqualified popular confidence and esteem, both as a clergyman and as a citizen. On June 1, 1899, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Lavina Klopfenstein, who likewise was born and reared in Allen county, a daughter of Joseph and Anna (Stukey) Klopfenstein, adequate mention of the family being given on other pages of this work, in the sketch of Joseph Klopfenstein, a half-brother of Mrs. Gerig. Mr. and Mrs. Gerig became the parents of five children, all of whom remain with their widowed mother in the pleasant home at Woodburn, their names being here given in respective order of their birth: Frieda, Jesse, Harry, Walter and Irene. Mrs. Gerig earnestly aided her husband in his service as a clergyman and is a zealous adherent of the Missionary church.
Frederick W. Gerke has been a resident of Allen county since his boyhood, is a representative of one of the old and honored German families of the county and is the fortunate owner of one of the specially fine farms of St. Joseph township. Known as one of the most enterprising and progressive farmers of that township and, without ambition for public office of any kind, he has been influential in community affairs, with secure place in popular esteem. Frederick William Gerke was born in the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, January 27, 1850, a son of Henry and Dora (Mandel) Gerke, who immigrated to America in 1855, and first settled in Jackson county, Indiana, where they remained four years. The family home was then established in Dubois county, Indiana, where the father continued his association with agricultural pursuits for six years. Removal was then made to Allen county, in 1864, and Henry Gerke purchased a tract of land in St. Joseph township, where he de- veloped one of the excellent farms of the county and became one of the substantial agriculturists and valued citizens of his township. He achieved through his industry and good management a large measure of material prosperity and when well advanced in years retired from active labors and removed to the city of Fort Wayne, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives in the generous peace and comfort that justly rewarded former years of earnest endeavor, both having been devoted communicants of the German Lutheran church. They be- came the parents of three children-John, Anna E. and Frederick W. He whose name introduces this review was about four years old at the time of the family immigration to the United States, and he attended school in both Dubois and Allen counties, while he gained his full quota of youthful experience in connection with the work of the home farm. In 1882 he rented from his father sixty acres of his present farm, in Section 29, St. Joseph township, and eventually purchased the property, to which he had added forty acres, so that his splendidly improved farm now comprises one hundred acres. He erected on the place his modern and commodious brick residence and other farm buildings of superior order, and everything about the place indicates thrift and good management, the farm being given over to diversified agriculture and
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stock-raising. Taking deep interest in community affairs, but imbued with no desire for public office, Mr. Gerke is independent in politics and gives his support to men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. Ile and his wife are active members of the German Lutheran church at Goeglein. In 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gerke to Miss Mary Rebber, daughter of Christopher and Clara (Rohe) Reb- ber, both of whom were born in Germany, Mr. Rebber having been for many years one of the substantial farmers of Allen county. Mr. and Mrs. Gerke have one son, Henry C., who is engaged in farming at home in St. Joe township, his wife, whose maiden name was Addie Busching, being a daughter of Henry F. Busching, concerning whom individual mention is made on other pages of this publication.
Joseph F. Getz, senior member of the firm of Getz & Cahill, which conducts one of the leading undertaking establishments of Fort Wayne, at 1031 Calhoun street, has as his associate in the business James B. Cahill, and the enterprise was established by them on September 1, 1907. Mr. Getz was born at Mahoning, Mahoning county, Ohio, September 1, 1860, a son of Charles and Anastasia (Weaver) Getz, who were born and reared in Baden Baden, Germany, where their marriage was solemnized, and they immigrated to America in 1848. They first established their home at New Albany, Franklin county, Ohio, and later removed to Ma- honing county, where the father engaged in farming, besides having operated coal mines of which he was the owner. He was a Democrat in his political proclivities and both he and his wife were communicants of the Catholic church, their home having been maintained in the old Buck- eye State until the time of their death. Of their children, Angeline is the wife of Joseph Schriver, of Salem, Columbiana county, Ohio; Henry, Charles and Joseph F. are all residents of Fort Wayne; August resides at Salem, Ohio, as does also Frances, who is the wife of Herman Voni- mon, and Frank likewise maintains his home at Salem; Florence, the youngest of the children is the wife of Carl Baker, of Akron, Ohio. Joseph F. Getz acquired his early education in the schools of Salem, Ohio, and continued his residence in his native state until 1879, when he established his home in Fort Wayne. He was about nineteen years of age at the time and for three years gave his attention primarily to the buying and shipping of live stock, in connection with which line of en- terprise he traveled somewhat widely through the rural districts of In- diana. Thereafter he was employed on a stock farm in Allen county about three years, and for a comparatively equal period was in other employment. He then entered the local service of the Adams Express Company in Fort Wayne, in which connection he continued two years. For a year thereafter he was identified with the retail grocery business and then conducted a retail liquor business five years. For fourteen years after his retirement from this field of enterprise he conducted a prosperous retail cigar business, upon disposing of which he became as- sociated with Mr. Cahill in the establishing of their present business as undertakers, embalmers and funeral directors, with facilities of the best standard in all particulars. Mr. Getz gives allegiance to the Democratc party, he and his wife are communicants of the Cathedral parish of the Catholic church, and he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the Tribe of Ben Hur, and the U. T. C. On May 25, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Getz to Miss Louise Perriguey, daughter of Felix
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