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 7

Author: Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927; Taylor, Samuel R., Mrs
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : Robert O. Law Co.
Number of Pages: 792


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 7


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lately completed the erection of a fine modern bungalow, so well planned and carried out that further mention may properly be accorded to it. The place is equipped with every modern convenience, and no city dwell- ing is better provided with the comforts of urban life than is this farm house of Mr. Beckman's. Electric lights, modern furnace, open plumb- ing, hot and cold running water, modern laundry equipment in basement with clothes chute from top floors to laundry and service elevators from kitchen to basement, make up some of the labor-saving devices and aids to comfort that are so necessary in these days and so seldom found in the farm home. Mr. Beckman was married, in 1909, to Marie Schow,


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daughter of Ludwig Schow, concerning whom extended space is given elsewhere in these pages. He and his wife are members of St. Paul's Lutheran church in Fort Wayne and in politics he is a Democrat. He is not active in local politics beyond the demands of good citizenship and has no fraternal affiliations.


John Beckstein is one of the native sons of Allen county who is aiding definitely in the upholding of its prestige along the line of agri- cultural enterprise and is one of the substantial farmers and represent- ative citizens of St. Joseph township, where he is the owner of a well- improved farm of eighty acres, in Section 29. Mr. Beckstein was born in the township that is now his place of residence and the date of his nativity was August 14, 1861. He is a son of John and Frederica (Bufink) Beckstein, both of whom were born in Germany and were young at the time of coming to America. They settled in St. Joseph township more than half a century ago and the present farm of their son John, of this review, is a part of their old homestead, upon which they continued to reside until their death. Of the children only three are now living-John, George and Henry. The mother passed to the life eternal, in 1877, and the father was one of the venerable and honored pioneer citizens of St. Joseph township at the time of his death, in September, 1914. He whose name introduces this article was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm, profited duly by the advantages of the schools of his native township, and has never faltered in his alle- giance to the basic industry of agriculture, through the medium of which he has achieved definite success. He owns and resides upon a portion of his father's old homestead farm, as previously stated, and upon the same has made numerous improvements that mark the demesne as a model farm. Industry and good management have characterized his activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower, he is independent in politics, has had no inclination toward public office, but takes loyal interest in those things that touch the communal welfare. Both he and his wife hold membership in St. John's Reformed church in the city of Fort Wayne. The home farm is about four miles distant from the city mentioned and receives service on rural mail route No. 15 from the county seat. On November 28, 1894, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Beckstein to Miss Christina Denges, who likewise was born and reared in this county, a daughter of Christian and Elizabeth (Hansel) Denges, her parents having been children at the time of the imigration of the respective families from Germany to America and both families having established homes in Allen county in the pioneer days. Of the ten children of Mr. and Mrs. Denges five are living-Henry, Christ, Caroline, Sophia and Christina. Mr. and Mrs. Beckstein have five children, namely : Walter, Selma, John, Jr., Edna and Hilda.


George W. Beers has been a resident of Fort Wayne for nearly a quarter of a century and has been specially prominent and influential in the promotion of industrial enterprises-notably along the line of public utilities. It was under his personal direction that the lines of the Postal Telegraph Cable Company were brought into Fort Wayne, he was the chief factor in effecting the organization of the Home Telephone Company, of which he was the first president, and he has not only been a strong, positive and efficient force in the establishing of independent telephone services but has also been prominent in the manufacture and distribution of gas in northern Indiana. He is one of the substantial and valued


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citizens of Allen county and is entitled to definite representation in this history. Mr. Beers was born in Darke county, Ohio, on the 7th of June, 1859, and is a son of the late William J. and Amanda (Ward) Beers, both of whom passed the closing years of their lives in the old Buckeye state, where the father had been for many years an able and successful member of the bar of Van Wert county. Of the five children only George W. and Kate are now living, and the latter is the wife of Walter S. Allyn, of Cleveland, Ohio. In the public schools of his native state Mr. Beers acquired his early education and as a youth he gained practical experi- ence in surveying and general civil engineering work. In this connection he was associated with the engineering corps that had charge of the con- struction out of Van Wert of the Cincinnati Northern Railroad. Later he was concerned prominently with timber development enterprises, mainly in the state of West Virginia, and in 1893 he established his permanent home in Fort Wayne. He has done much in furthering enterprises along the line of applied electricity, and, as before stated, he had charge of the extending of the Postal Telegraph lines into Fort Wayne, besides which he was the dominating force in establishing the system of the Home Telephone Company in Allen county and has otherwise been prominently interested in the exploiting and establishing of independent telephone lines. A business man of circumspection, energy and initiative, Mr. Beers has made a most successful record, and as a citizen he has been liberal and progressive. Well fortified in his convictions concerning govern- mental and economic policies, he is independent in politics and instead of being restricted by mere partisanship he gives his support to men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. In the Masonic fra- ternity he is a Knight Templar, a member of the Mystic Shrine and has received also the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. Both he and his wife are members of the First Presbyterian church of Fort Wayne. In 1884 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Beers to Miss Catherine Numbers, who was born at Decatur, Adams county, Indiana, and the two children of this union are Dan N., who is identified with business interests in Fort Wayne, and Ruth, who is the wife of William T. McKay, of this city.


Joseph W. Bell has been a resident of Fort Wayne for nearly forty years and during this long period he has been continuously identified with business interests that have had distinct bearing on the civic and material prosperity of the community. For twenty years he was here engaged in the wholesale saddlery and hardware business, and since his retirement therefrom, in 1911, he has given his attention to the real estate business, in which his operations have been confined to the handling of his own properties, entirely aside from commission transactions. He is the owner of valuable realty in Fort Wayne, both improved and unim- proved, and his activities in his present line of enterprise are conducive to further development and progress in the metropolis of Allen county, even as his previous business enterprise contributed to the commercial prestige of Fort Wayne. In the agnatic line Mr. Bell is of sterling Scotch lineage, as a scion of the third generation of the family in America, and in his character and achievement he has manifested the inviolable integ- rity for which the Scotch people have ever been noted. Joseph William Bell was born at Coshocton, Ohio, and the date of his nativity was De- cember 1, 1853. He is the eldest in a family of three children, and the other two arc Mrs. Laura Bell Lewis, of Cleveland, Ohio, and George A. Bell, of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Benjamin Franklin Bell, father of him


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whose name initiates this article, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and was but seven years of age at the time of the family immigration to America. He here acquired a liberal education, and his advantages included those of the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware. He prepared himself for and entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he gave many years of earnest, able and consecrated service in the vineyard of the Master. For ten years he was pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Delaware, Ohio, and thereafter he held various other pastoral charges, including a number of important order, the closing years of his life having been passed at Wellington, Ohio, where he died at the age of 59 years, his cherished and devoted wife, a woman of singularly gracious personality, having been 48 years of age when she was summoned to the life eternal. At the age of twenty-four years Rev. Benjamin F. Bell wedded Miss Lucinda McMorris, daughter of Joseph McMorris, who was a successful millwright and prominent citizen of Dresden, Muskingum county, Ohio, and concerning the three children of this union due mention has already been made in this context. Joseph W. Bell was signally favored in being reared in a home of culture and refinement and his public school education was supplemented by a course in his father's alma mater, the Ohio Wesleyan University. At the age of twenty-five years he entered the wholesale hardware business at Mansfield, Ohio, where he remained five years. He then, in 1885, came to Fort Wayne, where he has since maintained his home and where for twenty years, as previously noted, he was successfully established in the wholesale hardware and saddlery business. Mr. Bell has always stood exponent of loyal and public-spirited citizenship, has given unfaltering allegiance to the Re- publican party, has become affiliated with the York, Scottish Rite and Shrine bodies of the Masonic fraternity, is an active member of the Fort Wayne Commercial Club, and both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. On the 26th of December, 1877, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bell to Miss Elizabeth Reed, daughter of the late Nicholas S. Reed, of Mansfield, Ohio, and the two children of this union are Guy Reed Bell and Benjamin Rector Bell, both of whom are associated with their father in the real estate business, as representative young men of Fort Wayne.


Henry E. Bell, who has been the popular mail carrier on rural routes Nos. 2 and 5, from the village of New Haven, since 1907, is a scion of one of the well-known families of Allen county, where the marriage of his parents was solemnized, but he claims the Sunflower State as the place of his nativity. He was born in Reno county, Kansas, Sep- tember 12, 1872, a son of Robert S. and Lucy (Burgess) Bell, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Allen county, Indiana, where her parents settled in the pioneer days. The mother passed to the life eternal, in 1876, and the subject of this sketch is the eldest of the three children, the other two being Eugene H. and Robert. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Bell removed to Kansas, where they gained a due quota of pioneer experience, and upon their return to Allen county settled on a farm in Jefferson town- ship. The father became one of the substantial agriculturists of the township, made good improvements on his farm, including the erection of excellent buildings, and he lives in New Haven, the death of his wife having occurred in 1877. Henry E. Bell was about two years old at the time of his parents' return from Kansas to Allen county, where


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he was reared to manhood on the home farm and where he profited by the advantages offered in the schools of Jefferson township. He continued his active alliance with agricultural enterprise until he assumed his present position as rural mail carrier, in which his service has given unequivocal satisfaction and in which he has made a fine rcord, as attested by the commendation of the patrons of the two routes which receive his attention. In politics Mr. Bell is a Republican, and he is affiliated at New Haven with the organizations of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On October 5, 1898, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bell to Matilda J. Cameron. She is a daughter of James and Matilda Cameron, the former of whom was born in Scotland and the latter in Allen county, Indiana, where their marriage was solemnized, Mrs. Bell being the first in a family of seven children and the names of the others being here designated : John A., Martha Maude, Harriett G., one who died in infancy, Lily May, Mary Winona and James Ross. Mr. and Mrs. Bell have no children, but Mrs. Bell has one son by a former marriage-Roy M. Timbrook, who is associated in the conducting of an automobile garage in the city of Fort Wayne.


Gustave Bengs .- The Engineering Company, located at Fort Wayne, of which Gustave Bengs and his brother are the moving spirits, is one of the leading enterprises of its kind in the state. It was organized in 1907, and in 1908 it was incorporated under the laws of the state, at which time the capital stock was inereased from $15,000 to $100,000. The com- pany engages in the manufacture of beams, channels, angles, plates, sheets, steel for buildings, iron stairs, ornamental railings and grills, with special attention given to the manufacture of machinery for use in milk condensing, their product in that line being used from coast to coast. The factories are established at the corner of Winter street and the Wabash railroad, and they have most admirable facilities there for the efficient handling of their products. Gustave Bengs is of German origin, born in that country on January 2, 1871, and he is the son of Herman and Anna (Alf) Bengs, both of German birth and ancestry. The father was a stone cutter by trade and came to Fort Wayne with his family in 1883, direct from Germany. The parents, who are no longer living, reared a family of nine children. All survive but two, and the subject was the fourth born in the family. He had his education for the most part in Fort Wayne, attending first the parochial school of the German Lutheran church, and later entering the old Methodist College, where he took a course in mechanical engineering. Following his gradu- ation from that institution Mr. Bengs entered upon an apprenticeship in the Bass Foundry & Machine shop in Fort Wayne, and he served long and faithfully in that shop, adding to his college training valuable experience that has since proved itself of inestimable value to him in his business. Leaving the shop he engaged in business with Frank Gruber in a boiler making enterprise, and after eighteen months sold his interest to his partner, after which he went to Philadelphia and entered the service of the John Baizley Iron Works. He was there for about five years, and from Philadelphia he went to Los Angeles, California, in search of a suitable location for business. He spent six months in that quest and returning to Fort Wayne joined his one-time partner, Frank Gruber, continuing with him for two years. Once more he sold out to his partner, this time to engage in business with his brother, Otto, who is his partner


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today in the business conducted under the name of The Engineering Company, whose activities have been described in an opening paragraph. The Bengs brothers have every reason to feel pride in their accomplish- ments in the past ten years as the proprietors of this thriving business, and they have won the confidence and good will of the business interests of the city. Mr. Bengs married Anna Heine in August, 1898. She is a daughter of. Fort Wayne, and her family has long been established in the county. Mr. and Mrs. Bengs have three children-Herbert, Raymond and Alfred-fine boys who are growing up in the public schools of the city, and who give promise of splendid futures. The family are members of the German Lutheran church and Mr. Bengs is a Republican in politics, but not a politician.


Edward P. Bennigen, whose well-developed executive ability comes into effective play in his native city, has won by his own ability and efforts a merited advancement in the service of the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company, in the freight department of which in the city of Fort Wayne he is now serving as chief bill clerk. Mr. Bennigen was born in Fort Wayne, August 24, 1872, a son of Henry E. and Mary C. (Meyer) Bennigen, the former of whom was born in New Jersey and the latter in Fort Wayne, both having been of sterling German lineage and having passed the closing years of their worthy and unassuming lives in Fort Wayne, the father having been for nineteen years employed as a skilled machinist in the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He was a sterling citizen who commanded the esteem of all who knew him and both he and his wife were earnest communicants of the Catholic church. Of their nine children the subject of this review. is the eldest ; Charles F. still resides in Fort Wayne, as does also Bertha, who is the wife of Louis Neef; Agnes is the wife of Edward Wehmeyer, of this city ; George W. and Arthur still reside in Fort Wayne; Estella is the wife of Oliver Reed, of this city; Esther died in childhood; and Albert likewise resides in his native city. Edward P. Bennigen acquired his early education in the German parochial schools of the Catholic church in Fort Wayne but began to depend largely upon his own resources when he was a lad of but thirteen years. For a time he was employed in a local clothing store and later found employment along mechanical lines in the Olds Wagon Works, with which he continued his association until 1893. In the following year he entered the service of the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company and in 1895 began his work in its freight department, with which he has since been identified and in which he has won advancement to the responsible position of chief bill clerk. He gives his political allegiance to the Republican party, is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and both he and his wife are communi- cants of the Cathedral parish of the Catholic church in their home city On June 27, 1906, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bennigen to Miss Amelia N. Hitchens, who was born in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, and they have two children-Elva Mary, who was born July 6, 1907, and Kenneth C., who was born March 19, 1909.


John Benzinger .- Among the many successful and capable farmers of Marion township who claim that prosperous community as their birth- place may be mentioned John Benzinger, who was born in Marion town- ship on June 29, 1859, the son of Fred and Catherine Benzinger. Fred Benzinger was born in New York state of German parents, and he ac- companied them to Allen county as a boy. They drove an ox team across


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the country and experienced many hardships that made the trip a life- long memory to all who participated and were of sufficient years to re- member anything. The family settled on a tract of land in Marion township, and John Benzinger is the owner of that farm today. A single cabin of logs with old time puncheon floor was the first rude home that sheltered the Benzingers, in marked contrast to the commodious dwelling that is the family home of the representative of the name at this time. Fred Benzinger was a farmer all his life, a hard working man and a good citizen, and he was able to accumulate some property during his active years. He was a Democrat and a member of the German Lutheran church, and his children numbered seven. John, the first born, is the immediate subject of this family review. Fred lives in Fort Wayne. May is married. Rosa is the wife of Henry Rievel. Lena is deceased, as is also the seventh child, the latter dying in infancy. John Benzinger had his education in the German Lutheran schools of his community, and early learned to apply himself to the duties that presented themselves in the management of the home place with his father. He continued there until the death of Fred Benzinger, when he inherited the home place, and from then on he gradually accumulated other properties in the township. He carries on diversified farming on a generous scale, enjoying a well mer- ited success in his work. He is a Democrat in politics, prominent in local politics, and a member of the German Lutheran church from infancy. He was married in January, 1888, to Miss Carolina Waterback, who was born in Germany. They have three children-Frederick, William and Mary, the two younger ones still at home with the parents.


Gustav A. Berghoff .- Sce Rub-No-More.


Hubert Berghoff has been closely associated with his elder brothers, Herman, now of Chicago, Henry, and his younger brother, Gustave, in the development of one of the important industrial enterprises of Fort Wayne, that of the Berghoff Brewing Association, but in 1908 impaired health caused him to retire from active business, though he still is the nominal secretary of the Rub-No-More Soap Company, which has de- veloped in Fort Wayne an extensive and prosperous manufacturing en- terprise that adds materially to the city's commercial prestige. Hubert Berghoff was born in the town of Dortmund, Westphalia, Prussia, and the date of his nativity was November 21, 1860, his parents, Anthony and Elizabeth (Boellhauve) Berghoff, having passed their entire lives in that section of the German empire; the father died in 1777 and the mother in 1884. He whose name introduces this article gained his early education in the excellent schools in his native land, and he was nineteen years of age when he severed the home ties and came to America, where, on the 12th of February, 1880, he joined his elder brothers, Herman and Henry, who had established their residence in Fort Wayne and concerning whom further mention is made on other pages of this publication. During the carlier years of his residence in Fort Wayne Hubert Berghoff was as- sociated with the wholesale house of A. C. Trentman, and in 1889 he formed an alliance with his two brothers in establishing the enterprise that has been developed into the extensive business now' controlled by the Berghoff Brewing Association. As previously stated, he has been prac- tically retired from active business responsibilities since 1908. Like his brothers, Mr. Berghoff has proved one of the liberal and public-spirited citizens of Fort Wayne and has supported measures and enterprises that have tended to advance the civic and material prosperity of the com- munity. On October 11, 1882, was solemnized his marriage to Miss


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Johanna Mayer, daughter of Lawrence Mayer and a representative of one of the old and influential families of Allen county. Of the children of this union the eldest is Hubert, Jr., who is bookkeeper in the offices of the Berghoff Brewing Association; Herman is similarly engaged in the offices of the Rub-No-More Soap Company; Henry E. is secretary and treasurer of the Fort Wayne Carriage Works; and Elizabeth remains at the parental home.


Forrest B. Beyer, of the Beyer Grocery Company, of Fort Wayne, has proved a vital and resourceful factor in the developing of the sub- stantial wholesale business now controlled by this representative com- mercial concern and is known not only as one of the influential young business men of the metropolis of Allen county but also as one of specially high scholastic and scientific attainments. Mr. Beyer was born at North Manchester, Wabash county, Indiana, May 21, 1886, and is a son of Cyrus C. and Melissa Catherine (Baker) Beyer, who now maintain their home in the city of Kendallville, Noble county, where the father is engaged in the wholesale produce business, besides which he is one of the interested principals in the Beyer Grocery Company, at Fort Wayne. Forrest B. Beyer was a boy at the time of the family removal to Ken- dallville, where he continued his studies in the public schools until he had completed the curriculum of the high school. In pursuance of his higher educational discipline he entered historic old Yale University, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1908 and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later he completed a post-graduate course in Leland Stanford Junior University, at Palo Alto, California, and from this institution he received the degree of Master of Arts. For one year thereafter he served as chemist for the Twenty-Mule Team Borax Company at Alameda, California, and later he held the position of organic chemist for the Bureau of Science at Manila, P. I. In 1913 he came to Fort Wayne and associated himself with the wholesale grocery business then conducted under the title of Beyer Brothers Com- pany, and this alliance he has since continued with marked success, the concern having been reorganized in 1916 under the present title of the Beyer Grocery Company. His associates in the substantial and constantly expanding enterprise are his father, and George H. Crouse and Irvin W. house through its trade territory, and in the establishment itself an Von Gunten. Four traveling salesmen represent this wholesale grocery house through its trade territory; and in the establishment itself an adequate corps of clerical and general assistants is maintained. Mr. Beyer takes lively interest in all things tending to advance the commercial and civic welfare and progress of the Summit City, is an active member of the local Commercial Club and Rotary Club, and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. On the 1st of September, 1909, Mr. Beyer wedded Miss Ethel C. Reyher, daughter of Jacob Reyher, of Kendallville, and the one child of this union is Forrest B., Jr., who was born November 5, 1914.




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