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 83
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
589
FORT WAYNE AND ALLEN COUNTY
Grieble, and they live in Marion township, Allen county. Herman lives in St. Joseph township and is a prosperous farmer there. Frederick is deceased. Jacob is a resident of Maumee township. John is established in business in Toronto, Canada. Anna is the wife of Fred Wellman, of Indianapolis. Christian G., of this review, is the tenth child of his parents, and Martin J., a minister in the German Lutheran church, is in charge of a parish at Fort Dodge, Iowa. He is the eleventh and youngest of the family. Allen county common schools gave to Christian Vonderau such book-learning as he gained in youth. Up to the age of about twenty- two he remained at home on the farm, assisting in its management and learning the elements of successful agriculture under the guidance of his father. In 1888 he established himself on a farm of his own and he continued to devote himself to active farming until 1908, when he retired with twenty years of active farming to his credit and a splendid record for progressiveness and industry. He has always been a citizen who has manifested a wholesome interest in the affairs of his community, and for many years has been chosen to fill various offices of importance to his locality. He was township assessor for six years, member of the Board of Township Trustees for four years and a member of the Board of Review for three years. In all of these offices he has ably discharged the duties that came to his hand. He is a Democrat, a member of the German Lutheran church, and a member of the New Haven Commercial Club. He was married on October 6, 1889, to Miss Mary Griebel, the daughter of George and Fredericka (Wolf) Griebel, of Marion town- ship, in Allen county. They were German people, and like Mr. Von- derau's own parents, came to Allen county and settled on a farm where they lived lives of industry and contributed much to the welfare of their community. Both are now deceased. Their daughter, Mrs. Vonderau, was born in Marion township on August 30, 1863, and she has been esteemed in the community all her life. Five children have come to their home : Freda, Anna, Herman, Jennie, and William. All share the paren- tal home with the exception of Anna, who is a resident of Fort Wayne. The family is one of the foremost ones in New Haven, and they are leaders in the best social activities of their community, where they have a wide circle of friends.
Max J. Vonderau .- Max J. Vonderau, successful farmer of St. Jo- seph township, was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana, December 17, 1884. He is a son of John and Mary (Klopp) Vonderau and the grand- son of Jacob and Margaret (Kern) Vonderau, the grandparents being natives of Germany, where they were reared and married. They came to America and settled in Marysville, Ohio, later locating in Allen county, Indiana, settling first in Milan township and later in St. Joseph town- ship. Jacob and Margaret Vonderau had cleven children. They were Susan, Casper, Peter, Katherine, Herman, Frederick, Jacob, John, father of the subject; Annie, Christ and Martin. Susan, Casper and Frederick are deceased. John Vonderau has followed teaching and is now a resi- dent of Ontario, Canada, where he is engaged in agricultual activities. Max J. Vonderau was educated in the public schools of the city of Cleveland, Ohio, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and the German Lutheran schools of Allen county, Indiana. He first took up farming in St. Joseph town- ship and is now the owner of eighty acres of fertile and well-cultivated land, highly improved and showing evidences of intelligent industry in its operation. He has a fine brick dwelling house on the place, and the
590
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
barns and fences reflect the general spirit of the place in their well-kept appearance. Mr. Vonderau was married, August 17, 1913, to Louise Behrman, daughter of John W. and Sophia (Harting) Behrman.
Edward A. Wagner .- All the business years of Edward Wagner's life have been devoted to electrical work and the past sixteen years have been spent in the employ of the General Electric Company in Fort Wayne as head of the transformer department of that well-known con- cern. Mr. Wagner has found both pleasure and profit in his chosen field of employment and is known as one of the best-posted men in his partic- -ular line to be found in his community today. Edward A. Wagner was born in New York city on August 8, 1873, son of Andrew and Adelaide (Schumm) Wagner, the father a native son of France and the mother of German birth and parentage. Andrew Wagner, after coming to America, engaged in the mercantile business in New York city and was engaged in that enterprise until he died, the mother still being a resi- dent there. Of their five children Edward Wagner is the youngest but one. He had a substantial common school education, followed by a course of study in the College of New York City. He first gave his atten- tion to a classical course, but after a year changed to a business course, to which he gave two years of diligent work. His first posi- tion after leaving college was with the Electrical World and it was there he had his introduction to the electrical field. He was so at- tracted by the possibilities offered that he left the World to enter a factory at Lynn, Massachusetts, in quest of practical experience in the work .. He later moved to Schenectady, New York, where he added much to his already excellent knowledge of the work, and from there was sent to Mexico, where he spent two years in superintending the erection of a plant. That work completed, he returned to New York, where he decided to further his electrical knowledge by technical train- ing in Cornell University. Entering as a special student he took the work assigned to students in the senior year, following it with post- graduate work, and made a record while there that marked him as one of the most brilliant men to be found in that field of study at the time. His post-graduate work finished, he returned to Schenectady to take charge of the transformer department of the General Electric Company at that point, where he continued until 1900, when he came to Fort Wayne in a similar capacity for the same company. He has manifested a wholesome interest in the development of electrical enterprises in the city and his work has been most praiseworthy along these lines. He was the organizer of the Electro-Technic Club of Fort Wayne and has been a moving spirit in that organization since that time. Mr. Wagner has taken his place among the up-to-the-minute men of the city since he first located in Fort Wayne and has shown himself to be the possessor of a commendable degree of civic pride and enthusiasm. A Republican in politics of national character, he has never permitted party lines to influence him in determining his line of action in local affairs, and has served the city creditably as a member of its council. He is a thirty- second degree Mason and a Shriner, and is a member of the Institute of American Electrical Engineers. On November 25, 1902, Mr. Wagner married DeEtta Davis, a daughter of Fort Wayne, and two children have blessed them-Ruth Davis and Frances Quait.
George Waldschmidt has been a resident of Fort Wayne since his boyhood, his early education having been received in his native province in Germany and he having been a lad of eleven years when his parents
591
FORT WAYNE AND ALLEN COUNTY
emigrated to America and established their home in Allen county, Indi- ana, where they passed the remainder of their worthy and useful lives, the subject of this review being the third eldest of their five children and the other four-Jacob, Louis, Elizabeth and Margaret-being likewise residents of Fort Wayne. George Waldschmidt has proved his energy and resourcefulness through connection with varied lines of business enterprise in Fort Wayne, and that he has developed an individual poten- tial of assured order, besides entrenching himself securely in popular confidence and esteem, is indicated by his incumbency of the position of assistant cashier of the German-American National Bank of Fort Wayne, this being one of the strong and important financial institutions of nortli- ern Indiana. Mr. Waldschmidt was born at Krumbach, in the province of Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, on September 3, 1869, and in the same section of the great German empire were born his parents, George and Katherine Waldschmidt, the father being employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad from the time he arrived in Fort Wayne until he was pensioned. Most of the time he was employed as mail carrier between the main office and the east office yards. Both he and his wife were most zealous communicants of the Lutheran church. After the family home had been established in Allen county the subject of this sketch attended the paro- chial school of St. Paul's Lutheran church up to the time of his confirm- ation as a communicant of the church, when he was about thirteen years old. For about a year thereafter he attended the public schools of the city and then completed a course in a local business college, so that he was well reinforced when he initiated his business career. After having held a few minor clerical positions he finally entered the employ of the Seavey Hardware Company, with which he remained about eight years. Thereafter he had charge of the office of the Fort Wayne Carriage Works about two years, and for the ensuing ten years was in charge of the gen- eral clerical work in the Nuttman Bank. With this institution he con- tinued his effective service until May 20, 1905, when he resigned his position and assumed one of similar executive order in the newly organ- ized German-American National Bank, of which he is now the efficient and popular assistant cashier. Mr. Waldschmidt has entered most fully into the best business and social life of Fort Wayne and his circle of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances. He is a charter member of the local Rotary Club, of which he has served as treasurer from the time of its organization, is an active member of the Fort Wayne Commercial Club, and has been identified with the Fort Wayne Golf Club since the early stage of its existence, he having served nine years as its secretary. In the Masonic fraternity his ancient-craft affiliation is with Summit City Lodge, and in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite he has received the thirty-second degree, besides which he is affiliated also with the Mystic Shrine. He has been an active member of the Men's Club of the First Presbyterian church from the time of its organization : he was treasurer of this vigorous club for three years. Alert and pro- gressive as a citizen and business man, Mr. Waldschmidt takes special interest in all things pertaining to the well being of his home city, and in politics he is found aligned as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party. On January 1, 1895, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Waldschmidt to Miss Bessie P. Racine, who was born and reared in Fort Wayne, daughter of F. L. Racine, a well-known retired mail !- facturer of this city.
592
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Noah A. Walker retired from business life about ten years ago, bought a small farm in Lafayette township, and has since lived there quietly, giving some attention to the business of cultivating the place, but taking life easily and enjoying the fruits of his labors of earlier years. He is a son of John W. and Rebecca (Dorry) Walker and was born in Lafayette township, Allen county, on October 24, 1857. The parents came from North Carolina to Allen county in an early day and were counted among the earliest settlers of this district. John W. Walker came with his parents as a boy, and his father was for some years a merchant in the community that in later years came to be known as Zanesville, in Huntington county. The boy, reared to manhood in Allen county, where his parents eventually settled, grew up with a working knowledge of farming in the wilds, and when he married Rebecca Dorsey bought a small farm and applied himself diligently to its development. He later added more land and in time found himself among the more prosperous men of his community. He was a Republican in politics in later life, and was township supervisor for several years. He was a member of the Christian church practically all his life, and was an exam- ple of many admirable qualities in his home and wherever he was found. Industry and honesty were salient traits in his makeup, and he was prom- inent in the financial affairs of the township for many years. He was twice married. His first wife, Rebecca Dorsey, was the mother of nine children, of whom brief mention may be made at this point. James is a resident of Lafayette township, and is a retired farmer. Mary E. was the next in order of birth. Noah A., the third born, is the immedi- ate subject of this family review. Sarah married G. C. Miller, and they live in Fort Wayne. Ida became the wife of Martin Keplinger, now deceased. John M. and Rebecca Jane were twins, and the latter is mar- ried to William Jones of Huntington county. Ella died at the age of three years. William Clark is engaged in the grocery business in Zanes- ville, Indiana. The second wife of Mr. Walker was Louisa Warner, and three children were born of this union. Sanford lives in Zanesville. Laura is the wife of Jacob Erick, of Fort Wayne, and Paul is a resident of that city also. Noah A. Walker did not enjoy the best of educational advantages as a boy at home. The country school of his day ran about three months in the year and the advantages it afforded in that brief time were not to be compared with those of the remotest district school of today. The equipment was practically nil and the instruction most limited, so that if a child learned to read and write he did about all that was expected of him. Noah Walker's training was limited, but he is by no means illiterate, having made up in later years much of what was denied him in boyhood in the matter of schooling. He found much prac- tical experience at work on his father's farm and after he left home worked by the day for five years, saving his money and gathering ex- perience for the time when he should establish a place of his own. He rented a farm of 150 acres in Allen county which he operated success- fully for twelve years, after which he engaged in the butcher business in Zanesville. He was engaged in that enterprise for a number of years, when he bought a small place near Sheldon and for the past eleven years has carried on farming activities on a small scale. He is a Republican and a member of the United Brethren church. Mr. Walker was married on October 28, 1877, to Miss Viola Florence Harvey, daughter of Harrison and Malinda (Connoway) Harvey, who came to Allen county about 1870.
593
FORT WAYNE AND ALLEN COUNTY
Mr. Harvey is not living, but the mother survives and has her home in Lafayette township. They were farming people all their active days, and were old residents of Huntington county, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey were the parents of five children. Viola is the wife of the subject. Isadore married Benjamin LeRoy Merchant, of Wells county, Indiana. Charles Monroe lives in Fort Wayne. John Randolph is deceased. Frank- lin Evert is an electrician with the Standard Oil Company and is located in Whiting, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Walker are parents of a son, Arvid D., of Detroit, Michigan, and he has four children-Leota Ferne, May Pauline, Asa Sodona and Ralph Harold.
William P. Walsh .- Marked by ambition and well directed activities has been the career of Mr. Walsh, who now controls a substantial insur- ance, real estate and loan business in the city of Fort Wayne and who, after identification with various lines of enterprise, has found in this sphere of business excellent opportunities for the achieving of success worthy of the name. He was born on a farm near Greenwick, Washing- ton county, New York, and the date of his nativity was February 23, 1874. His parents, John and Mary (O'Keefe) Walsh, passed their entire lives in the old Empire state, where the father long held place as one of the successful farmers of Washington county, and both were zealous com- municants of the Catholic church. Of their children the eldest, Thomas, died after having attained to man's estate; Michael died in infancy ; Andrew is a resident of Plattsburg, Vermont; John resides at Port Rich- mond, New York; William P., of this review, was the next in order of birth ; and Daniel still remains in his native county, where he maintains his home at Greenwich. In addition to receiving the advantages of the public schools and Washington Academy, William P. Walsh completed an effective course in the Albany Business College, an excellent school in the capital city of New York. As a youth he served an apprenticeship to the trade of mule spinner, but he did not long devote his attention to practical work at this vocation. Among his earlier business experiences in his native state were included one year of service as bookkeeper in the office of a woolen mill, clerk in a grocery store for a period of about equal duration, and resumption of work on the home farm for about three years. For four years thereafter he was engaged in the retail mercantile business at Fremont, Sullivan county, New York, and then came to the west and established his residence in the city of Chicago, where he held for one year the position of assistant superintendent of the shoe department in the great mail-order house of Montgomery Ward & Company. He then came to Fort Wayne as a representative of the Chicago Inter-Ocean, and his estimate of the advantages and attrac- tions of the city has been best indicated by his continuous residence within its borders. After severing his association with the Chicago news- paper mentioned, he became a representative of the Columbian Relief Association, of Indianapolis, and this was the initiation of his conunce- tion with the insurance business. Through his resourceful energy and progressive and reliable methods he has developed in Fort Wayne a representative general insurance business, besides having become a suc- cessful exponent of the real estate and loan business. Though he is loyal and liberal in all things pertaining to civic fealty, he is independent of partisan lines in politics and votes for the men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. Mr. Walsh and his wife are active com- municants of St. Patrick's Catholic church, and he is affiliated with the
594
BIOGRAPIIICAL SKETCHIES
Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and the Buffaloes, besides which he is an appreciative and active member of the Fort Wayne Commercial Club. On October 16, 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Walsh to Miss Daisy Robert- son, daughter of Clifford and Harriet (Larkin) Robertson, of East Green- wich, New York, and the two children of this union are Ruth and Doris.
Horatio Nelson Ward .- When Horatio Nelson Ward passed away, in 1909, he had to his credit sixty-one years of residence in Fort Wayne and was recognized as a pioneer in the crockery business in this section of the state. Mr. Ward was of English birth and parentage, born in Manchester on March 16, 1823, and was just twenty-four years of age when he left his native land to identify himself with life in America. He located first in New Orleans, Louisiana, but his stay there was a brief one and for a year he moved about a good deal in search of a suitable location. It was in 1848 that he came to Indiana, located first in New Albany and there establishing himself in the crockery business, to which he had been trained in Manchester. In 1859 he moved from New Albany to Fort Wayne, there engaging in the same enterprise, and was promi- nently identified with that business up to the time of his death, May 1, 1909. His first place of business was on Calhoun street, but the later years of his active business career found him located at what is now 108 West Columbia street, in a property owned by himself. In the years of his residence in Fort Wayne he prospered consistently and was able to accumulate considerable real estate in and about the city. He was a Democrat and took an active part in affairs of his party, and was a life- long member of the Episcopal church, his parents having been members of the Church of England. He was a Mason of high degree and popular and prominent in Masonic circles locally. Mr. Ward was a man of splen- did vitality and was able to give his attention to his business up to the last days of his life, though he had retired from commercial pursuits in 1899. In his passing Fort Wayne and Allen county lost an admirable citizen and a successful and enterprising business man. For many years he was the foremost dealer in crockery in Northern Indiana, the same being carried on both wholesale and retail. In 1855 Mr. Ward was mar- ried to Miss Christine Louise Shuler, a native of Germany. Two sons and five daughters were born to them, as follows: Albert H., deceased : William, deceased; Emily Louise, Lillie Caroline, deceased; Annie M., Pauline Rosaline, and Alice Christine.
S. Ren Warnock, Jr .- As one of the representative young business men and popular citizens of Allen county, the cashier of the Huntertown State Bank is specially entitled to recognition in this history. He is one of the progressive and public-spirited citizens of the thriving little city of Huntertown and was the prime factor in effecting the organization of the well ordered banking institution of which he is the efficient cashier. Mr. Warnock claims the old Buckeye state as the place of his nativity, as do also his parents, who still reside within its borders. He was born at Fort Recovery, an historic town in Mercer county, Ohio, and the date of his nativity was November 30, 1880. He is a son of S. Ren Warnock. Sr., and Clara (Kruse) Warnock, and his father has given the major part of his active career to agricultural enterprise, the subject of this review being the eldest of the three children, and the other two, Harry and Anna Louise, being still at the parental home in Mercer county, Ohio.
595
FORT WAYNE AND ALLEN COUNTY
It may consistently be noted in this connection that the father of Mr. Warnock, while engaged in excavating for a public building at Fort Recovery, Ohio, disinterred what were supposed to be the mortal remains of General Butler, as the sword found with the remains bore the name of the general, the same being now on exhibition in the collection of relics maintained at the high school in Greenville, Ohio. S. Ren Warnock, Jr., is indebted to the public schools for his early educational discipline, which was supplemented by an effective course in a business college in the city of Cincinnati. For two years after leaving school he served as secretary to the superintendent of the telephone service of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, and for eight years thereafter he was associated in the work and management of his father's farm. After his marriage he continued to be identified with farm enterprise in Ohio for two years, and the ensuing four years found him the incumbent of a position in the People's State Bank of Fort Recovery, Ohio. He then came to Huntertown, Indiana, and effected the organization of the Hun- tertown State Bank, which is incorporated with a capital stock of twenty- five thousand dollars and of which he has been cashier from the time of incorporation The first president, Dr. Frank Grunwell, retired from this office and was succeeded by Charles H. Hartung, the present incum- bent, Charles F. Bleke being vice-president of the institution. The bank was incorporated January 2, 1913, its business has been most ably man- aged, its success unqualified and its total assets being fully one hundred and fifty thousand dollars as indicated in the official report of January 2. 1917. Mr. Warnock has identified himself most loyally and fully with community interests and is treasurer of the Huntertown Live Stock & Agricultural Association. In Huntertown he is affiliated with Lodge No. 689, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, his political support is given to the Democratic party, and he and his wife hold membership in the Metho- dist Episcopal church. On November 8, 1906, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Warnock to Miss Clara Lee Straight, daughter of Charles and Harriet (Reprogle) Straight, who still maintain their home in Darke county, Ohio, where Mrs. Warnock was born and reared, the youngest of the three children. Her only sister, Gertrude, is the wife of Henry Hildbolt, of Fort Recovery, Ohio, and her brother, Ora, is, in 1917, a suc- cessful teacher in the public schools at Arcanum, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Warnock have two children-Raymond and Bettie Lee.
Dick F. Waterfield has had a somewhat varied and essentially vigor- ous career in connection with business affairs and is a recognized author- ity in the tobacco trade and commerce, of which he is now a leading representative in Fort Wayne, where he is secretary and treasurer of the Wayne Tobacco Company, the well equipped establishment which is located at 111-113 East Columbia street. A scion of staunch Pennsyl- vania German stock and of one of the sterling pioneer families of Cler- mont county, Ohio, Mr. Waterfield was born in the town of Felicity. that county, on .the 30th of October, 1870, the fourth in order of birth of the six children of William W. and Mary Elizabeth (Frazier) Water- field. His father was a prosperous general merchant and tobacco dealer in Clermont county for thirty years. After having duly profited by the advantages of the public schools of his native village, Dick F. Water- field pursued an advanced course of study in Bethel Academy, at Nicho- lasville, Kentucky. At the age of eighteen years he went to Hutchinson, Kansas, where he completed a course in the Hutchinson Business College.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.