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 33
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work of his profession as a civil and consulting engineer and supervisor of construction. He has designed and directed the construction of many fine concrete bridges, has made special surveys for floor protection work and designed the buildings of the Fort Wayne Oil & Supply Company. In this city he was the designer also of the Harrison street bridge, and at Wabash, Indiana, designed and supervised the construction of a mod- ern concrete bridge seven hundred feet in length, over the Wabash river. Though he gives close attention to his official duties as county surveyor of Allen county he is able to continue effectively his general professional work, in connection with which he has worthily won his success and prestige. Mr. Grosvenor is a Republican in his political proclivities, he and his wife are members of the First Presbyterian church of Fort Wayne, he is affiliated with Sol D. Bayless Lodge, No. 359, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, and also with the Psi Upsilon college fraternity. October 27, 1904, recorded the marriage of Mr. Grosvenor to Miss Gert- rude King Hanna, daughter of Oliver S. and Mary Ellen (Nuttman) Hanna, of Fort Wayne, and of the three children of this union two are living, Juliet Hanna and Florence Walters. The only son, Jonathan Hol- man, died at the age of two years.
Charles Grotrian .- One of the older residents of Madison township is Charles Grotrian, retired farmer and veteran of the Civil war, and a resident of Allen county since he came to America, in 1854, as a lad of fifteen years. He is the son of Fred and Wilhelmina (Hassel) Grotrian, both of German birth, who settled on a farm in Allen county when they reached America with their little family. They lived quietly and pros- pered agreeably, and saw their closing days on the farm they acquired on coming into the county. They were the parents of six children, four of them now living. Charles Grotrian attended school in Allen county, and the most of his educational advantages were found after he came to his adopted country. When the Civil war was fairly well ad- vanced he enlisted for service in the Ninety-first Indiana Volunteers, serving till the close of hostilities, when he returned to his home and engaged in farming. He gradually acquired land and when he retired from active life, in 1906, he was the owner of two hundred and twenty acres of the finest land in the county. He moved to Maples, in Jefferson township, and is living there at this time. Mr. Grotrian is a Democrat, but not active in politics. He was married in 1863 to Miss Henrietta Gable, a native German, and they are the parents of nine children-Charles A., Fred H., Frank and Daniel, twins; Wilhelmina, Henrietta and Clara. The eighth and ninth born are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Grotrian are members of the German Lutheran church.
James O. Grove, D. C., is a thoroughly skilled and successful exponent of the benignant system of chiropractic, which has proven a splendid aid in the alleviation of human suffering and in the eradicating of many of the ills to which human flesh is heir. He is an enthusiast in his pro- fession and in the practice of the same is well established in the city of Fort Wayne, as one of the leading representatives of the chiropractic school in Indiana. Dr. Grove was born in Perry county, Ohio, March 29, 1874, and is a son of Hiram and Leah (Boyer) Grove, the latter of whom. is deceased. Hiram Grove, of German lineage, was born and reared in Perry county, Ohio, a scion of a sterling pioneer family of that section of the Buckeye state, and during his entire active career he has given close allegiance to the basic industry of agriculture, of which he con-
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tinued a prominent and honored exponent in his native county. He is the owner of a farm in Adams county, Indiana, served sixteen years as county trustee in Darke county, Ohio, is a Democrat in his political pro- clivities and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. Of the children the eldest, Harry, is now a resident of Oklahoma; Noah resides at Sturgis, Michigan; Mary is the wife of William Klipstein, residing in Ohio; James O., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Charles is in Texas; Orrin in Oklahoma; John died in infancy; George and Grover reside in the state of Oklahoma; and William and Ralph died in infancy. Dr. Grove is indebted to the public schools of Ohio for his early education, and in the earlier period of his business career he was a traveling sales- man for a firm engaged in the flour trade. Later he was identified actively with the buying and shipping of grain for a period of ten years, with headquarters at Lagrange, Indiana, and finally he became deeply impressed with the consistency and value of the comparatively new system of chiropractics, with the result that he went to the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he entered the Michigan College of Chiropractics, in which he was graduated in 1912 and from which he received his degree of Doctor of Chiropractics. In March of that year he opened an office in Fort Wayne, and here he has built up a substantial practice of representative order, his success having fully justified his choice of profession. He is a director of the Indiana State Association of Chiropractic and has been influential in the furtherance of the system of practice with which he has identified himself with characteristic earnestness and enthusiasm. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner. On March 3, 1903, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Grove to Miss Beryl Glazier, and they have four children: Doris, James O., Jr., Clark and Leah Marguerite.
Herman H. Grubb is one of the substantial business men and influ- ential citizens of his native county and now resides in the fine little city of New Haven, in Adams township. He is vice-president of the New Haven State Bank and, since 1911, has given effective service in the office of superintendent of the Wabash Valley Utilities Co. Mr. Grubb was born at Harlan, this county, October 26, 1869, a son of Ira I. and Mary Elizabeth (Oberholtzer) Grubb. Ira I. Grubb was born in Pennsyl- vania, June 3, 1838, and in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany came to Indiana when a young man. At the time of the Civil war he owned and operated a wagon shop at Harlan, and thereafter he pur- chased the old Oberholtzer homestead farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in Springfield township, where he continued to give his attention successfully to agricultural enterprise during the residue of his active life. He died November 24, 1911, at the age of seventy-three years, the loved wife of his youth having passed away at the age of fifty-three years and both having been earnest members of the Evangelical Lutheran church. He was a Democrat in politics and was affiliated with the Masonic fra- ternity-a man of sterling character and a loyal citizen who was respected by all who knew him. Of the children the eldest is Charles C., who remains on the old homestead farm; Lockie L. is the wife of J. C. Hursh, of Auburn, Indiana ; Herman H., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth ; Berne B. resides in the city of Lafayette, this state; and Mary J. is the wife of Rev. S. E. Slater, of Auburn, Indiana. After having availed himself of the advantages of the public schools, Herman H. Grubb attended the university at Valparaiso, Indiana, and thereafter was em-
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ployed for some time in his brother's grocery store at Harlan. For one year he operated a creamery in that village and for three years thereafter was engaged in the hardware and lumber business at St. Joseph, this state. For six years he operated a saw mill and handle factory at St. Joe, and then sold the plant and business and, in 1904, removed to New Haven, where he was associated with C. W. Sperry in the same line of industrial enterprise until 1911. He then sold his interest in the business and has since held the office of superintendent of the Wabash Valley Utilities Co., as previously stated in this article. A staunch advocate of the cause of the Democratic party, Mr. Grubb has not been ambitious for political office, though he gave six years of effective service as a member of the village council of New Haven. In the Masonic fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, besides being affiliated with the Mystic Shrine, the Knights of Pythias, and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is one of the active and valued members of the New Haven Commercial Club. In addition to his banking interests he purchased the old Herrick homestead of one hundred acres, in Springfield township, and gives to the same a general supervision. June 4, 1892, recorded the mar- riage of Mr. Grubb to Miss Harriet Herrick, who likewise was born and reared in Allen county, and the one child of this union is a son, C. Glenn, who remains at the parental home. Mrs. Grubb is a daughter of Arona and Mary (Boger) Herrick, the former of whom was born in the state of New York and the latter in Ohio. Mr. Herrick came to Allen county, Indiana, about 1848, purchased a tract of land near Harlan and became one of the pioneer farmers of the county. In 1864 he went forth in de- fense of the Union, as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Fifty- fifth Indiana Infantry, and in his army service contracted illness from which he never recuperated fully, his death having occurred in 1876. His wife long survived him and was venerable in years at the time of her death, July 4, 1912. Mr. Herrick was a stalwart Republican and was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. Mrs. Grubb was the fifth in a family of six children and was born on the old homestead farm near Harlan, a property now owned by her husband, the date of her nativity having been January 6, 1870. The eldest of the children, Andrew, is de- ceased, as is also Delia A .; Ida S. is the wife of O. D. Applegate, of this county ; and Catherine and William are deceased.
Frank J. Gruber has become one of the representative figures in connection with the industrial and general business activities of his native city and his civic liberality and progressiveness are on a parity with his ability and successful achievement as a captain of industry, he being the proprietor of the Frank Gruber Boiler Works, which represents one of the important industrial enterprises of Fort Wayne. Mr. Gruber was born in this city on the 13th of July, 1865, and is a son of Michael and Veronica (Huhn) Gruber, both of whom were born in Germany, though both were young at the time of the immigration of the respective families to America. Michael Gruber was afforded the advantages of the excel- lent schools of his native land and was sixteen years of age at the time of his disembarkation in the port of New York city. He remained in the national metropolis six years and there thoroughly skilled himself as a workman at the tailor's trade. At the expiration of the period noted he came to Indiana and established his residence in Fort Wayne. Here he was employed at his trade in the Nurdlinger tailoring establishment, and later in that of Townley Brothers. About the year 1871 he estab-
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lished a retail grocery at the corner of Wilt and Van Buren streets, and here he built up a substantial business, his active connection with the same having continued until about fifteen years prior to his death, and the business being still conducted at that location by one of his sons. A severe attack of smallpox prevented his enlistment for service in the Civil war, though it was his loyal ambition to go forth in defense of the Union. The original home of Michael Gruber after he had established his residence in Fort Wayne was one block west of the Bluffton plank road, now known as Broadway, in the city of Fort Wayne. After he established his grocery business he removed to the house which he had built some time before engaging in the grocery business next, to his store, and this old homestead, at 722 Wilt street, is now owned and occupied by his son, Edward J., who also owns and conducts the grocery business established by the father. It was in this house that Frank Gruber, the immediate subject of this review, was born. Michael Gruber was one of the well known citizens of Fort Wayne and the community was deeply shocked when he met a tragic death, at the age of seventy-two years. He was struck by an engine while walking on the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad near Fort Wayne, and died shortly afterward as the result of his injuries, his loved and devoted wife having survived him by only eight months and having been sixty-nine years of age when she too was summoned to the life eternal, both having been lifelong and zealous communicants of the Catholic church. Of their nine children the first two died in infancy; Elizabeth, who by her devoted consecration is known as Sister M. Veronica, is a member of the Catholic sisterhood of the Poor Handmaids of Christ, and is a teacher in one of the Catholic parochial schools of the city of Chicago; Frank J., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; Jacob J. is employed as a skilled pattern- inaker at the Fort Wayne Electric Works; Veronica is the wife of John Winbaugh, of Fort Wayne; Edward J. resides at the old family home- stead and conducts the grocery business established by his father, as has been previously stated in this context; Michael J. died one week prior to the demise of his mother and was twenty-seven years of age at the time ; Carrie is the wife of George Welch, of Fort Wayne. Frank J. Gruber gained his early educational discipline in the excellent parochial school of St. Paul's Catholic church, on Washington street, and he began his practical experience as a worker when but thirteen years old. At this juncture in his career he found employment in the Shurrick stave factory, but shortly afterward entered service in the Olds spoke manu- factory, on Lafayette street, where he was employed one year. For the purpose of learning thoroughly the boilermaker's trade he then entered upon an apprenticeship in the establishment of the firm of Kerr-Murray, where he gained practical experience. About one year later he entered the boiler shop of the Bass Foundry & Machine Works, where he com- pleted his apprenticeship and where he continued to be employed about eighteen years, though for a short interval he had been employed in the Matthews Boiler Works, in the city of South Bend. Later he was employed at his trade for a time at Terre Haute, in the shops of the Vandalia Railroad Company. In 1895 Mr. Gruber and Gustave Bengs established in Fort Wayne the National Boiler & Sheet Iron Works, and his original plant, one of modest order, having occupied the land on which now stands the city gas tank. After the lapse of one year he purchased his partner's interest in the business and changed the title
TH
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of the concern to Gruber Boiler Works. Under this name the enterprise was continued nine years, and it had in the meanwhile grown to be one of substantial order. At the expiration of that period Mr. Gruber admitted Gustave Bengs to partnership, whereupon the title was changed to the Gruber & Bengs Iron Works. About one year later Mr. Bengs organized an engineering company, with which he is still identified. The thriving business of Mr. Gruber has since been conducted by him in an independent way and under the title of the Frank Gruber Boiler Works, the establishment being situated on North Barr street at the corner of Duck street, and the main shop being sixty-two by one hundred and fifty feet in dimensions. The plant has the most modern equipment and facilities for the turning out of boilers, tanks and sheet-iron work of every description, and its provisions include the best devices for welding and cutting by the oxygen-acetylene gas method. Mr. Gruber has proved a most energetic and resourceful business man and is one of the world's great army of productive workers. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party, and he and his wife are zealous communicants of the parish of St. Patrick's Catholic church. On September 18, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gruber to Miss Louisa Zimmerman, who likewise was born and reared in Fort Wayne, and they have five children-Stella, Irma, Helen, Lenore, and Frank J., Jr. Stella is now the wife of Albert Derheimer, of Fort Wayne, and all of the other children are still members of the gracious home circle.
Olaf N. Guldlin, M. E .- The success which the true American holds in highest estimation is that which has been achieved through individual ability and well directed effort, and he whose name introduces this review has measured fully up to the high standard thus set in the land of his adoption, the while he is a scion of the fine Scandinavian stock from which America has had much to gain and nothing to lose. Through his exceptional technical ability and his executive and administrative talent he has become one of the leading captains of industry in the city of Fort Wayne, and his reputation in his chosen sphere of endeavor far transcends local confines, to mark him an influential figure in the field of industrial enterprise in which he has earnestly and worthily directed his activities. In 1885 Mr. Guldlin established his residence in Fort Wayne, and in 1888 he became the founder of the now extensive and important industrial enterprise conducted under the title of the Western Gas Construction Company, of which noteworthy corporation he has been president from its inception. A man of sterling character, his ambition has caused him to direct his course along a normal and im- portant line of enterprise for which his technical ability specially qualifies him, and he has been significantly the architect of his own fortunes- the builder of the ladder on which he has risen to the plane of large achievement and well merited success. Mr. Guldlin was born in the fine old city of Christiana, Norway, on December 6, 1858, and there he was reared to adult age, the while he was given excellent opportunities for the proper development of his alert mental faculties and natural me- chanical talent. He applied himself with characteristic diligence as a student in the Technical College in the city of Bergen, in his native land, and later in the celebrated Polytechnikum in the city of Munchen, Bavaria, Germany, after about a year's practical experience in the iron works of A. L. Thune at Christiana. He then, at the age of twenty-one years, severed the ties that bound him to home and fatherland and set
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forth, with high aspirations and indomitable courage, to make for him- self a place in the United States, which he wisely looked upon as a country of broader opportunities. Soon after his arrival in America Mr. Guldlin found employment in the engineering department of the celebrated Baldwin Locomotive Works, in the city of Philadelphia, and with this concern he remained two and a half years. His ambitious purpose and recognized ability conserved his advancement at that time, even as they have in the successive stages of his vigorous and productive career, and upon leaving Philadelphia he accepted the position of engi- neer for James R. Smedberg, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, then a cele- brated gas engineer. In 1885 he assumed the post of engineer for the Kerr- Murray Manufacturing Company, at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and, as previ- ously noted, he here initiated, in 1888, an independent business. It was in this year that he and his associates, W. A. Croxton and Frank D. Moses, here opened an office as mechanical and consulting engineers. It was through this medium that he was finally enabled to establish the modest enterprise that has been developed into the present extensive industry controlled by the Western Gas Construction Company. Within the first year after he had opened his office in Fort Wayne Mr. Guldlin entered into a contract for the erection of a large fuel-gas plant in the city of Akron, Ohio, members of the Lloyd family of Detroit, Michigan, having been interested principals in the enterprise. When, in 1890, Mr. Guldlin determined to expand his field of operations by effecting an incorporation of the business which he had established in Fort Wayne, he was fortunate in obtaining the ready co-operation of Messrs. Gordon W. and Ernest F. Lloyd, who were associated with him in the incorpor- ation of the Western Gas Construction Company, of which he became president, Gordon W. Lloyd treasurer, and Ernest F. Lloyd secretary. In January, 1902, he purchased the interests of the Lloyds, and the com- pany then became distinctively local in the personnel of its stock- holders and with the following corps of officers, which is still main- tained: Olaf N. Guldlin, president; Samuel M. Foster, vice-president; Charles McCulloch, secretary; and J. Ross McCulloch, treasurer. The following brief record concerning this representative industrial concern is well worthy of perpetuation in this connection: "The history of this business has been one of continuous growth, and operations were initiated in a small machine shop, sixty-five by one hundred feet in dimensions, that was erected in 1893. In the same year was erected also a small building for the accommodation of the general offices and the draughting department. In 1895 the machine shop was enlarged to a length of two hundred and fifty feet, and five years later it was found necessary to add a foundry and wrought-iron shop, in order properly to care for the increasing business. Two years later equally exigent demands resulted in the reconstruction and enlargement of all departments of the plant, and from time to time additions have continued to be made until the finely equipped institution now covers about thirteen acres of ground. The object of the business, or rather its chief function, is the construc- tion of gas works machinery and apparatus, for city as well as coke oven works, and the business of the company now extends into the most diverse sections of the Union, with facilities that make it possible for the concern to handle contracts of practically the maximum magnitude. The shops in Fort Wayne now give employment to more than four hun- dred persons, most of whom are skilled and highly paid artisans, while
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the field force, engaged in the erection of gas plants on contract, is of about equal numerical strength. Of all institutions devoted exclusively to the manufacturing of gas apparatus, the plant of the Western Gas Construction Company is now the largest in the world, and in addition to its extensive domestic business the company now sends its products into the European countries, South America, Australia and the Philippine Islands. Mr. Guldlin's fame as an expert in his particular line of busi- ness is now international. In 1900 he was a delegate from the Western Gas Association to the international gas congress held in the city of Paris, France. The exhibition made by his company at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, at St. Louis, in 1904, won for the company three grand prizes, five gold medals and four silver medals, after a proper demonstration of the methods of operation in appling the various devices to practical use in gas plants. In addition were received two gold and one bronze medals for exhibits of auxiliary apparatus used by the com- pany in its construction work. To Mr. Guldlin personally was awarded a grand prize, with diploma, in recognition of his inventions and develop- ments in the gas industry. The exhibit was visited by gas engineers from all parts of the world. He was also appointed a member of the international jury of awards, and at the conclusion of the exposition he received from its president, Hon. David R. Francis, a personal letter attested by Walter B. Stevens, secrtary of th xposition, advising him that by direction of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company a com- memorative diploma and medal had been conferred upon him in appreci- ation of his services. Mr. Guldlin was likewise instrumental .in having his company represented by an effective exhibit at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco, in 1915, and on this exhibit was awarded the medal of honor, two gold medals and two silver medals, besides which Mr. Guldlin was personally awarded a gold medal. In politics this vigor- ous and loyal citizen has been unswerving and well fortified in his alleg- iance to the Republican party, though he is essentially a business man and has no ambition for political preferment. In the time-honored Masonic fraternity he has received the royal-arch degrees, and in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite has attained the thirty-second degree, besides being affiliated with the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and being a life member of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. Among the more notable scientific and social organiza- tions with which he is further identified may be mentioned the following named : The American Society of Mechanical Engineers; the American Gas Institute; The Pacific Coast Gas Association and the specific organi- zations of the same order in the states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin; the American Academy of Political and Social Science; the American Political Science Association; American Economic Asso- ciation ; the Rejuvenated Sons of Jove, in which his membership number is 61; the Lotus Club of New York city; the Missouri Athletic Club of St. Louis; and the Cosmos Club of San Francisco. On August 28, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Guldlin to Miss Addie L. Bleekman, who was born at Stratford, Fulton county, New York, in November, 1863, who is a representative of one of the old families of the Empire state, and who was a child at the time of her parents' removal to Indiana, the family home being established in Fort Wayne. She is a daughter of Jerome and Henrietta (Sixbey) Bleekman, the former of whom is now deceased, and the mother resides in Fort Wayne. Mrs. Guldlin continued
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