USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > Valley of the upper Maumee River, with historical account of Allen County and the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Volume II > Part 27
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BUSINESS INTERESTS.
in 1844. The mother then removed to Whitley county, thence to Lafay- ette, and then to Allen county, where she died about 1877. They had four children, of whom two survive, the subject of this mention and Benja- min F. Tinkham. The latter enlisted in the Twentieth Indiana, in 1861, and served three years. He was taken prisoner and confined in Libby prison, and was on ship board during the disastrous storm off Hatteras Inlet, and suffered all the hardships of war. He is now a resident of Fort Wayne. John P. Tinkham spent his early years upon the farm of his parents, their last location being near New Haven, and after leaving the farm, was employed on packet boats on the Wabash & Erie canal during the summers, spending the winters at Fort Wayne for five or six years. Afterward he engaged quite extensively in ship- ing wood and lumber to Cincinnati, from Fort Wayne by way of the canal. This occupied him for several years. About 1874, he opened a wood yard at Fort Wayne, which he has since conducted. He was mar- ried in 1861, to Mary Parant, who was born in Ohio in 1838, and died about 1872, leaving three children of whom two survive, Cora and Frank. In 1876, he was married to Matilda M. Eldridge, born in Steu- ben county, in 1851, and they have five daughters: Mabel, Gracie, Blanchie, Nellie and Eva. Mr. Tinkham has been successful in business, and is highly esteemed as a citizen.
Since April, 1868, when he made his home at Fort Wayne, Chris- tian Wenninghoff has been extensively engaged in the manufacture of cigars, and the wholesale and retail trade. His establishment was for many years on Calhoun street, but has been lately removed to his present commodious quarters at IIO West Jefferson. In his factory (No. 142), are employed ten men on the average, and his products, " Copyright Red Bird," "Xenophon," " Nelson " and " Triple Extra," are well known. Mr, Wenninghoff was born at Bramsche, Hanover, October 12, 1842. In 1866, having learned the trade of cigar maker, he came to the new world, and made his home first at Steubenville, Ohio. April 1, 1869, he was married to Amelia Wieman, of Williams county, Ohio, and they have seven children: Sarah, Amelia, Lilly, Christian, Flora, Arthur and Edgar. Mr. Wenninghoff is a member of Emanuel Lutheran church, and a worthy citizen.
During the past decade Jacob V. Wilkens has been a successful business man at Fort Wayne, and one of the proprietors of a meat market which does a flourishing business. He was born in Ohio, April 8, 1857, the son of Chris Wilkens, a native of Germany, and Katherine, his wife. He came to Fort Wayne with his parents in 1863. He learned the butcher's trade with his father, and this has been his vocation. He was married September 3, 1883, to Miss Sarah Sutter, a native of Wells county, Ind. He has three children: Grace, Emma Leoni and Maud May. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkens are members of the English Lutheran church. He is a good business man and a first-class citizen.
John Wilson, a leading dealer in coal and wood at Fort Wayne, is a native of England. He was born at Suffolk, August 25, 1823, and was
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reared in London, whither his parents moved when he was young. The father was a school teacher, surveyor and map-maker, and assisted materially in his son's education. At the age of fourteen John was apprenticed, an engagement which he abruptly terminated. Then he secured a position in a grocery store in London, and afterward was in the employ of a wholesale cheese dealer, for whom he traveled. In the fall of 1844 he married and engaged in general merchandise at Black Friar's, London, until 1848, when he emigrated with his family to Albany, N. Y. In July, 1851, he made his home in Allen county, on the "Ryder section," in Lake township. He taught school, graded in IS53 one mile of the Pittsburgh railroad, and next invested in timber land and managed a saw-mill, selling the product to the railroad, until 1878, when he had cleared 560 acres of land. Leaving his sons on the farm, he took a position in the lumber yards of J. N. Coombs, at Fort Wayne, and remained exactly four years. Mr. Wilson embarked in the coal and wood business in April, 1882, in partnership with Edward Gilmartin and B. B. Rossington. A year later he purchased the interests of those gentlemen, and in 1884 his son Walter was admitted to the business, and in 1885 his son J. C. became a partner, the firm style now being John Wilson & Sons. Mr. Wilson was married first to Harriet Pryor, who was a native of Hertfordshire. She died in 1876, leaving three children : John C., Walter B. and Mary A., now Mrs. Whitney, and in 1878 he was married to Mary Rossington, also a native of England. Mr. Wil- son is a member of the Episcopal church, and is a highly esteemed citizen.
Since August 10, 1880, William Wise has been enrolled among the busy and successful mechanics of Fort Wayne. He was born near Mansfield, Ohio, September 3, 1854, son of Henry and Mary (Bosler) Wise, the former of whom was a native of Pennsylvania. He was reared on a farm and received a common school education. At nine- teen he entered upon an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade in Mansfield, Ohio, and served three years and a half. He then conducted a shop at the old Wise homestead, in Richland county, two years. On coming to Fort Wayne he first worked a while as a journeyman. But in the spring of 1882 he and Mr. Farnin became the owners of a black- smith shop on Lafayette street. The partnership was dissolved in the following autumn, and on September 22, 1882, Mr. Wise opened up his present shop at No. 363 South Calhoun street. Mr. Wise is a member of the English Lutheran church.
A skillful mechanic and worthy citizen of Fort Wayne during the past eight years, Joseph F. Zurbuch, conducts a prosperous business at No. 387 West Main street. Mr. Zurbuch was born in Mercer county, Ohio, April 12, 1861. His father, Xavier F. Zurbuch, came to this country with his parents, from Alsace, in 1833, and was married in Ohio in 1856, to Elizabeth Rentz, a native of that state. When their son Joseph was ten years old they removed to Lawrence county, Tenn, but in 1877 returned to Ohio, settling near Carthagena. In 1880 they came
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to this city, their present home. On the return from Tennessee, Joseph F. Zurbuch found employment at farm work in Mercer county, Ohio. In the fall of 1877 he came to Allen county, and for three years he served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade at New Haven. In the spring of ISSI he came to Fort Wayne where his attention has ever since been given to his trade. He has made a specialty of horse- shoeing, and for the past four years he has conducted an establishment of that kind for himself. He was married November 18, 1884, to Christena M. Reinhardt, who is a native of Fort Wayne, born February 20, 1865, the daughter of John and Louisa M. Reinhardt, both natives of Germany. Mr. Zurbuch and wife are members of the Catholic church. He is a member of the Knights of St. Charles society.
ARCHITECTURAL GROWTH.
The architectural improvement of Fort Wayne during the last few years has been remarkable, both for the number of new buildings erected, and for the elegance and substantial qualities of these addi tions to the attractions of the city. Before this era of improvement began, and within the memory even of the young men of the city, Cal- houn street, the principal thoroughfare, now having the additional dis- tinction of being the wholesale street, was a muddy road, bounded by poor sidewalks, making pretensions to business at the north end, and with a few eating houses and drinking houses at the south depot. Be- tween Washington and Baker streets was a motley array of buildings too variegated in character to give the street a substantial appearance. Here, handsome buildings now stand, which are a credit to the city and its people. At the "old Townley corner" the buildings occupied in part by George Dewald & Co. have been wonderfully improved, and this old seat of trade is not behind more recent business blocks in strik- ing appearance. The handsome five-story building of A. C. Trentman, 60x65 feet frontage, the five-story building of E. A. K. Hackett, adjoin- ing the Rich building, distinguished by its handsome cut stone front, the attractive four-story building, 50x100, occupied by the wholesale house of Bursley & Co., the Fleming building, which so closely escaped destruction in the fire of February, 1889, the metropolitan Pixley-Long block, erected by George W. Pixley and Mason Long, with front of Michigan sandstone, the Fox wholesale block, risen from the ashes of a disastrous conflagration, the Schmitz building, the stone exterior of which is the most elaborate and ornate of any business building in the city, the Rich, Wayne and Aldine hotel buildings, which have supplemented so efficiently the entertaining capacity of the older Aveline and Robinson hotels-these are some of the more prominent improvements in the city's business accommodations. Of the many handsome and luxurious residences which have grown up recently, and of those elegantly appointed ones that have stood for many years, attesting the good taste
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and faith of their builders in the future of the city, it would be impracti- cable to make detail in this work. The splendid temples of worship and other church institutions now adorning the city, are described in a more appropriate connection. There remain to mention, the buildings of a public character, and of these, and the circumstances attending their erection, a brief account will here be given.
The Government Building .- The Fort Wayne building has been pro- nounced by competent judges, the handsomest and best building, size and cost considered, that the government has yet erected, yet the work was done so honestly and economically that $6,000 of the appropriation remained unexpended at the completion of the work. The movement for this public work was begun by the citizens during the congressional term of Hon. Walpole G. Colerick, and through his exertions, the first appropriation of $50,000 was made by congress. The subsequent appro- priations were obtained through the efforts of Hon. Robert Lowry, who earnestly devoted himself to this enterprise. The total estimate was $221,000, of which $34,000 was for the site. The first superintendent of the work was the late Col. George Humphrey, who was appointed in April, 1884. He was relieved by the appointment of Christian Boseker about the time that the work had progressed as far as the lay-
ing of the second floor supports. William Moellering was the contrac- tor, and faithfully performed the work he undertook. It was occupied by Postmaster Kaough on the night of February 14, 1889. The build- ing is fire-proof throughout, and the walls are built of Michigan bluff sandstone, from the quarries of S. B. Bond, at Stony Point, Mich., a very handsome material. The ground plan is eighty-five feet square, and the top of the roof is sixty-six feet above the ground. At the north- west corner a beautiful bastion tower rises to the height of 115 feet. The building affords a working room for the postoffice, 26x80 feet, as well as offices, on the first floor, and the second floor contains, besides offices of various departments of government service, a court room, 26x53, elegantly appointed, and furnished with benches and tables of solid cherry. This superb building is the pride of the city and a great gratification to all who labored for the securing of it.
Y. M. C. Association Building .- For a number of years a Young Men's Christian Association, railroad branch, had flourished in the city and furnished a commodious reading room near the depots on Calhoun street. But the necessity of an extension of this noble enterprise and the organization of a regular association in Fort Wayne of a general character, was recognized early in 1886, and the matter was debated in the meetings of the executive committee of the railroad department. At the suggestion of E. D. Ingersoll, railroad secretary for the inter- national committee, a committee consisting of E. A. K. Hackett, E. S. Philley and C. H. Newton was appointed to formulate a constitution, and Messrs. Ingersoll and D. F. More were added as advisory mem- bers. This committee reported a plan of organization to the meeting called at the parlors of the railroad association March 18, 1886, at which
INDIANA SCHOOL FOR FEEBLE -MINDED YOUTH
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time the organization of the city association was made with 100 charter members. The first officers were E. A. K. Hackett, president : E. S. Philley, S. R. Smith, W. T. Ferguson, August Detzer, vice presi- dents; C. H. Newton, secretary, and J. A. Tyler, treasurer. Trustees: J. K. Edgerton, John Ferguson, O. P. Morgan, John H. Jacobs, George W. Breckenridge and John M. Miller. The association at once began considering the erection of a building as a permanent home for the association, and though the project was a vast one for the young organ- ization, the brave hearts of its founders were not discouraged. In Jan- uary, 1887, it was officially resolved to purchase the lot of J. B. White adjoining the Sentinel building, and erect a building 40x100 feet, and the plans prepared by Wing & Mahurin were adopted. The work of digging for the foundation was begun before the frost was out of the ground, and the contract was let to William Moellering. A building committee was appointed, who vigorously and efficiently prosecuted the work, Hon. A. A. Chapin, chairman; J. W. Cromwell, W. S. Harrison, H. C. Schroeder, and George O. Bradley. The corner stone was laid with appropriate services, and an address by Dr. Munhall, on June 6, 1887, and in about a year the building was occupied. It is a handsome structure with an attractive stone front, and cost, the lot included, about $40,000. It is elegantly furnished throughout, and contains a lecture hall, a spacious reading room and ample space for athletic exercises, fully equipped with apparatus. On September 16, 1889, a new con- stitution was adopted, whereby the two branches of the association in the city are brought under the control of a board of directors, of which W. D. Page is president; C. H. Newton, vice president and H. C. Schroeder, secretary. Of the association just described, E. A. K. Hackett, whose untiring energy and popularity have contributed so much to the success of the institution, remains as chairman, with George B. Shivers, secretary, and James McKay, treasurer. The general secretary is D. F. Bower, lately of Reading, Penn., and E. F. Gage is physical director.
The State Institution. - By the state legislature of 1887, there was enacted a law for the establishment of a state institution, to be called the Indiana School for Feeble-minded Youth, taking the place of a similar institution formerly connected with the home for soldiers' orphans. There was a lively struggle in the legislature for the location of this new insti- tution, and the pluck and perseverance of Fort Wayne citizens was well illustrated in the campaign which ended in their victory and the estab- lishing of the location at Fort Wayne. A board of trustees was appointed of which E. A. K. Hackett, of this city is president. On the 19th of May, 1887, they purchased of William L., and Clara L. Carnahan, a tract of fifty-four and one-half acres, one and a half miles from the city, and on this the erection of a building was begun in the spring of 1888. For this and site there was at first appropriated $50,000. The trustees decided to erect a building which should be able to adequately meet the wants of the unfortunate children, long neglected, and the plans were
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prepared by Wing & Mahurin of this city. The contract for the main building, which was all that could be attempted under the first appropria- tion, was let to William Moellering, of Fort Wayne, who finished it in the fall of 1888, waiting for the state's financial condition to improve before receiving his pay. The contract for building the wings, hospital, cold storage building, boiler house and laundry, was let subsequently to Brooks Brothers, and the entire structure, it is expected, will be ready for receiving its inmates in the spring of 1890. The building has a 400 foot frontage, and has a capacity of accomodating 1,000 children. The central portion, or administration building, contains, in addition to the various offices, dining rooms, chapel, culinary department, etc. The additions to the east and west are dormitories. The building is con- structed with particular care to provide those conveniences necessary to the character of its occupants, being heated by steam, with a complete sys- tem of water-works, and fire protection, an electric-light plant of its own, complete sanitary arrangements and fire escapes, and is most thorough in its adaptation to the uses for which it is designed. The halls and all dining rooms are tiled, and the building is as near fire proof as possible. By the last legislature aditional appropriations of $187,000 were made, and the building when completed will have cost including land about $230,000.
William Moellering, one of the leading contractors and builders of northern Indiana, was born in Prussia, April 7, 1832, the youngest son of August and Dorothea (Rackeweg) Moellering. The father, a native of Prussia, died there when William was about three years old, and the mother, a native of Hanover, died in Prussia about 1844. William Moellering obtained a good common school education, and in 1849 emi- grated to the United States, making the voyage in sixty-three days. He reached Fort Wayne, which has since been his home, in August, 1849. In 1850 he began the trade of stone mason and brick layer, and three years later, had so thoroughly perfected himself that he began the business of a contractor, in which he has since been so successfully engaged. He is also one of the most extensive brick manufacturers of the city and has extensive stone quarries at Wabash. Mr. Moellering has erected many well-known public buildings in this part of Indiana, among them, six of the public school buildings in Fort Wayne, St. Paul's cathedral, 1886, St. Paul's Lutheran church in 1888, the United States court-house and postoffice at Fort Wayne, and he is now building the State School for Feeble-minded Youth, near the city. He has been very successful in business, and occupies a high rank among the enter- prising men of the city. He is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and in politics is democratic. Mr. Moellering was married in 1854, to Anna Hambrock, who was born in Germany in 1834, and came to Fort Wayne in 1851. They have ten children: William F., Eliza, Minnie, Henry F., Anna, Sophia, Charles E., Mathilda, Edward and Clara.
In the year 1884 J. F. Herber embarked in business as a carpenter
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at Fort Wayne, and in 1888 began contracting, in which he has been quite successful, having a good custom and employing a number of men. He was born in Marion township, October 3, 1862, the son of Nicholas and Mary (Hoffman) Herber, both of whom were born in Germany. The father immigrated in about 1850, came directly to Allen county, and buying a farm in Marion township began farming. He is now one of the prosperous farmers of that township. His wife came to America in 1832, and her father was Gunderum Hoffman, was one of the pioneers and a well-to-do farmer of Marion township. She died in 1875, at the age of forty-six years. Both parents were members of the Catholic church. To them nine children were born, eight of whom are living. Their son, J. F., was reared on the farm until his seventeenth year, when he began working at the carpenter's trade. He owns a handsome two- story frame residence on South Wayne street, on a forty-foot lot. Mr. Herber is a member of St. Mary's Catholic church.
Sanford Rich, owner of Rich's Hotel, is a native Indianian, born in Washington township, Rush county, September 30, 1840. His father, Joseph Rich, was born in Adams county, Ohio, August 1, 1818, the son of John Rich, a native of North Carolina, who was one of the pioneers of Adams county, Ohio, settling there in 1804. He died in that county at middle age, and his widow removed to Fayette couuty, Ind., about 1824. When Joseph was about seventeen years of age he removed to Rush county, and was there married in 1839 to Melinda Lightfoot, who was born in Kentucky in 1822. In 1847 he moved to Wells county, and settled in what was known as the Indian reserve, when there were only about a dozen families living in the township. His occupation was farining and stock dealing. He died in Wells county, December 12, 1877, his wife having passed away in 1854. They had five children, of whom Sanford Rich is the oldest. The others are: Edwin, born in 1842; Permelia, born in 1844; Angeline, born 1848; and William, born 1851. Sanford was raised on the farm, and obtained his early educa- tion in the pioneer schools of Wells county. The first school-house at which he attended was known as the Uniontown school-house, and was the first erected in Union township, Wells county. His father donated the ground and was one of four men who put up the building in 1848. The first teacher was John Mulrine. In 1864 he came to Fort Wayne, and for about two years was engaged in the meat business, afterward, in the fall of 1865, returning to Wells county, where he was occupied in farming and stock dealing until his return to the city in 1873. Until 1880 he was again engaged in conducting a meat market, at Fort Wayne, but in the year named be removed to Chicago, and there fol- lowed the same business for seven years, doing a business of nearly $100,000 a year. Throughout his career he has maintained a reputa- tion as a shrewd and careful business man, and an upright and worthy citizen. He is now a resident of Fort Wayne, where in 1885 he built Rich's Hotel, which is one of the leading and most popular hotels of northern Indiana. In politics he is a democrat; and he is a member of
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the Masonic and I. O. O. F. orders. He was married in 1863 to Elizabeth E. Walker, born in Rush county, in 1839, daughter of William Walker, a pioneer of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Rich are prominent members of the Christian church.
The Wayne Hotel, built by J. C. Peters, in 1887, is famous over the land as a strictly first-class hotel, with perfect appointments and thor- oughly equipped with all those many provisions of comfort which the civilization of to-day has devised for the convenience and pleasure of the wayfaring public. The building is of brick and stone, four-stories high, with an area of 110X150 feet, and contains 128 furnished rooms for guests. On the ground floor are the office, lounging room, wash- room, bar and barber shop, five sample rooms, ample dining rooms, and a large lobby, all richly frescoed and decorated, and furnished with an exquisitely tiled floor. There are three capacious entrances, two ele- vators and wide stairways, and four fire escapes, to make entrance and exit comfortable and safe under all possible circumstances. To provide for comfort, there are two parlors with fireplaces, though the building is heated by steam; and the Hess electric system of call and return call extends throughout the house. Ample sample rooms on the second floor are ready for the many commercial travelers who make their headquar- ters here. The best ventilating and sanitary engineering have found scope in the Wayne, and the furniture is of a high order of elegance. In the respects named the house is first class, but an essential feature of a successful hotel has not yet been mentioned - its management. This, in the hands of W. M. McKinnie & Co., the active partner being Captain Henry McKinnie, leaves nothing to be desired in the tout ensemble of the Wayne Hotel. Capt. McKinnie has the sole control, and to him the unparalleled success of the establishment is due. Under his careful supervision the service is uniformly satisfactory, the cuisine is all that the most fastidious could wish for, and all guests receive the most cour- teous attention. Capt. McKinnie is also interested in the management of the Hotel Anderson, at Pittsburgh, the Manhattan Beach and Oriental hotel at Coney Island, and the Niel Hotel at Columbus, Ohio.
Christian Boseker, a prominent citizen of Fort Wayne, and well- known throughout northern Indiana, was born in Saxony, Germany, May 8, 1841. His parents, Peter Boseker and wife, were natives of Saxony, and five years after the birth of Christian came to the United States, settling at Fort Wayne in June of 1846. Here the father followed his occupation, that of miller. The parents passed away after gaining the esteem of their acquaintances in their new home, the father in 1857, and the mother in 1865. Christian Boseker is the youngest son among eight children, four of whom survive. He received his education in the com- mon schools, and in 1859 began work at the trade of carpenter in the employment of A. C. Beaver, with whom he remained until the out- break of the war of the rebellion. In the summer of 1861 he enlisted in Company E, Thirtieth Indiana volunteer infantry, and served until March 28, 1863, when he was discharged on account of physical disa-
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