Allen County, Indiana - The whole text, 1905 (part 6 of 12)

and William Fleming in the Fleming Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of road-making machinery, and in due time rose to the position of manager of the concern, which relation he sustained for ten years. At the end of that time he severed his connection with the firm and turned his attention to the real-estate and loan business, which he has since conducted and in which his success has been signally encouraging, as is attested by the large and lucrative patronage which he now commands, not only in the city but throughout Allen county. In addition to the handling of real estate, he subsequently added stocks and bonds, in which he also does an extensive business, besides being identified with various public enterprises which have exercised a potent influence on the financial advancement and general prosperity of Fort Wayne. For several years past he has been a director of the Citizens' Trust Company, the interests of which he has done much to promote, and also holds the. position of vice-president and director of the German-American National Bank of Fort Wayne, the continued growth and popularity of which institution is largely attributable to his business tact and executive ability. Mr. Pfeiffer was one of the original promoters and leading spirits in the organization of the South Bend Home Telephone Company, from the inception of which enterprise to the present time he has been a member of its board of directors, besides contributing to its success in other than official capacities.

In his political affiliation Mr. Pfeiffer is a firm and uncompromising Republican, and as such has done much to promote the strength and success of the party in Fort Wayne and Allen county in a number of local and general campaigns. While earnest and unyielding in defense of his principles, he is nevertheless popular with the people irrespective of party ties and numbers many of his warmest personal friends among those who hold opinions directly the opposite of his own. While not a partisan in the sense the term is usually understood, he has ever been ready to work for the party and subordinate many of his interests to its welfare, being a judicious adviser in its councils and, when necessary, an active worker in the rank and file. In recognition of his services, as well as by reason of his peculiar fitness for the place, the people of his ward in

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1873 elected him to represent them in the city council and to him belongs the unique distinction of being the youngest man ever chosen a member of that body. During his incumbency of two years he took an active and influential part in the deliberations of the council, introduced a number of ordinances and succeeded in bringing about much important municipal legislation. Always untiring in his efforts to promote the interests of his constituency and of the people of the city in general, he won the esteem of the public and when he retired from the council it was with the reputation of an able, discreet and exceedingly popular public servant.

Religiously, Mr. Pfeiffer subscribes to the English Lutheran creed and with his family belongs to Trinity church in the city of Fort Wayne. He manifests an abiding interest in the welfare of this church, contributes liberally to its material support, and for a period of eight years has been treasurer of the organization and for two years a member of its board of trustees.

On November 19, 1902, Mr. Pfeiffer was united in the bonds of wedlock with Miss Henrietta Eckert, of Fort Wayne, daughter of Fred and Elizabeth Eckert, the union being blessed with one child, a daughter by the name of Marguerite Elizabeth.

The career of Mr. Pfeiffer presents a notable example of the exercise of those qualities of mind and heart which overcome obstacles and win success and his example is eminently worthy of imitation by those dissatisfied with present attainments and who would aspire to higher positions of honor and trust. A business man in all the term implies, his integrity has ever been above reproach, while his methods will bear the test of the severest criticism and among his fellow citizens his name has ever been synonomous with fair and honorable dealing. While subordinating every other consideration to his business affairs, he has not been unmindful of his obligations as a citizen, as is attested by the interest he manifests in the public welfare, nor is he negligent of those social ties which every well ordered community requires of those who constitute its mainstay and support. Among his marked characteristics are his energy, optimism and self-reliance and, with an abiding faith in his own abilities, he addresses himself manfully to every undertaking which engages his attention and seldom if ever fails to achieve the end he seeks. In private life, as already indicated, he is an accomplished and genial gentleman, popular with all classes and conditions of his fellow citizens, and few men in the city of Fort Wayne are held in higher esteem by the people as a whole.

Prof. John Henry Ungumach

The subject of this review not only takes high rank among the leading educators of Fort Wayne, but has achieved much more than local distinction in the particular line of work to which his energies and talents have been so long and so faithfully devoted. He has also made his presence felt as a citizen and in every walk of life his influence has inade for the advancement of the community and the good of his fellow men. His name with eminent fitness occupies a conspicuous place in the profession which he adorns, and his career presents a series of successes such as few school men attain. .

Prof. John Henry Ungumach is a native of Zanesville, Ohio, and dates his birth from February 26, 1843, being the son of John and Magdalen Ungumach, both parents born in Germany, the father at Rosenthal, near Cassel, the mother not far from the town of Gieben. Mr. and Mrs. Ungumach resided at Zanesville, Ohio, until their son John Henry had attained to the age of ten years, during five of which he attended the parochial schools of that city, taught by the minister of the Lutheran church, of which communion the parents were earnest and consistent members. At the expiration of the period noted the family moved to a farm near Zanesville, where, during the five ensuing years, young Ungumach became familiar with the rugged duties of country life, laboring in the fields of summers and in the winter seasons attending the district schools of the neighborhood, in which he made commendable progress. Actuated by a laudible desire to add to his scholastic attainments, the subject, in December, 1857, entered the Lutheran Seminary at Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he pursued his studies for some time under the direction of Profs. Creamer and Fleischman, the meanwhile laying broad and deep a substantial foundation for his future career of usefulness. While prosecuting his studies in the seminary, his father earnestly besought him to enter the ministry and devote his life to the church, but this line of work not appealing very strongly to the young man, he decided to fit himself for a calling more in harmony with his taste and desires; accordingly, he yielded to an inclination of long standing by preparing himself for the profession of teaching.

Prof. Ungumach's first work in his chosen vocation was in the parochial schools of Boston, Massachusetts, where he went in 1861 as assistant teacher, which position he filled with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned for a period of fourteen months, returning to Fort Wayne in September of the following year, for the purpose of further prosecuting his studies to the end that he might the more thoroughly be prepared for his life's work.

After spending a couple of months in Fort Wayne, Prof. Ungumach, in December, 1862, was recalled to Boston to take charge of a recently established parochial school, and remained in that city until 1873, achieving the meanwhile an enviable reputation an an able teacher, successful disciplinarian and accomplished musician, having in connection with his regular scholastic duties filled the position of organist in the church which he attended. In the year 1873 Prof. Ungumach severed his connection with the school of Boston and, returning to Fort Wayne, took charge of the school of the St. Paul's Lutheran congregation, which place he has since filled, being in point of continuous service one of the oldest as well as one of the most successful educators, not only in the city, but in church circles throughout the northern part of the state. The marriage of Prof. Ungumach was solemnized on June 6, 1870.

In closing this brief review of the long and eminently useful career of Prof. Ungumach, it is needless to state that he has fully met the high expectations of his friends and the public, and that he enjoys the esteem and confidence of all with whom he comes in contact. That his professional labors have been signally successful is attested by the continued growth and prosperity of the institution under his charge as well as by the honorable positions to which many of his erstwhile students have been called. Ever mindful of moral growth as well as intellectual advancement, he has been untiring in his efforts to produce symmetrically developed manhood to the end that those whom he leads into the field of knowledge may under- stand and appreciate the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, a work which only the consecrated teacher of noble aims and high ideals knows fully how to prosecute with the assurance of abundant results. Prof. Ungumach is still in the prime of his physical and mental power and professionally bids fair to continue for many years in the noble work so auspiciously begun and so successfully carried on.

Johnvgc. Preiv Ee

This retired farmer, and for many years one of the substantial and representative citizens of Allen county, is a native of Wittenberg, Germany, where his birth occurred on July 27, 1821. His childhood was spent in the fatherland until 1832, when, at the age of eleven years, he accompanied his parents, Christofer and Catherine Pfeiffer, to the United States, locating at Buffalo, New York, where he remained during the eight years following. In 1840 he came with the family to Fort Wayne, by way of Lake Erie and the Maumee river, the portion of the trip from Maumee, Ohio, to his destination requiring nine days' time, the boat being propelled by poles.

Shortly after his arrival in Fort Wayne, Mr. Pfeiffer purchased a farm north of what is now the city limits, near the Orphans' Home, where he lived until January 18, 1849. In the latter year he married Margaret Bosler, and immediately thereafter bought another farm three miles north of the city, on what was then known as the Huntington road, building a small log house and several other structures of the same material which answered well the purposes for which it was intended until replaced by more substantial improvements a few years later. After residing on this farm and bringing it to a successful state of cultivation, he sold out and moved to a farm on the Leo road which he also purchased and which, under his industry and able management, soon became one of the best improved as well as one of the most valuable places of its area in the vicinity of Fort Wayne.

It was while living on this farm that the death of his wife occurred, on January 7, 1876. She was born in Germany, was a lady of beautiful character and sterling worth and her memory is fondly cherished, not only by her husband and children, but by all who enjoyed the privilege of her acquaintance. She presented her husband with five offspring, whose names are as follows: Charles F., of Fort Wayne; Carrie M., wife of Dr. Edward F. Sites, of the same city; Sophia S.; Edward L., who operates the home farm, and Abbie E. Mr. Pfeiffer devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits and stock raising until 1890, at which time, having accumulated an ample competence, he turned his farm over to other hands and removed to Fort Wayne, where he has since lived in honorable retirement, enjoying the fruits of his many years of toil and successful management. He has always been a public spirited citizen and in addition to his private interests was for a number of years engaged in the building of plank roads and other highways throughout the county. All laudable public enterprises received his countenance and support and to him more perhaps than to any other man is due the progress of the community in which he so long resided. Politically he is a Republican, but has never aspired to official positions, having always been content with the life of a business man and satisfied with the simple title of citizen. For a number of years he was a director in the First National Bank of Fort Wayne, a position he resigned some time since, although he is still identified with that institution as a stockholder. He was also a partner for some years in the Bloomingdale Flouring Mills, but since retiring from active life has severed his connection with that and other enterprises so as to spend the evening of his day in the quiet and content which one of his activity knows so well how to appreciate and enjoy.

George Dewald

The days of the honored subject of this memoir were part and portion of that indissoluble chain which linked the annals of the pioneer epoch in Allen county with those of latter-day progress and prosperity, and the history of the city of Fort Wayne can not be told without intimate reference to this prominent and influential business man and loyal and progressive citizen, who did much to promote civic and material growth and development. He stood "four square to every wind that blows" and his strength was as the number of his days. He was a distinct man and made his life count for good in all its relations, while he was in a significant sense the architect of his own fortunes. He rose to prominence and affluence as one of the leading merchants of Fort Wayne, and it is most fitting that his name is retained in connection with the extensive concern of which he was virtually the founder, the George DeWald Company being at the present time one of the representative business houses of the city.

An outline of Mr. DeWald's career is succinctly given in the following paragraphs, which were published in one of the Fort Wayne newspapers at the time of his death: "He was born in Darmstadt, Germany, on the 14th of May, 1831. When but a lad he often expressed a wish to come to'the new world, and when but eighteen years of age he immigrated to America, severing the home ties and giving exemplification of his courage and self-reliant spirit. Later he came to Fort Wayne, and after being here but a short time he went into the employ of a small dry-goods firm that was stationed at the same location now occupied by the large establishment of the George DeWald Company. Mr. DeWald worked hard in his youth. He was apt at learning and possessed a good business head, ready to grasp the examples of business set by his superiors. Starting in at the lowliest position in the little store, he gradually worked his way up the ladder. His own diligence and aptitude, combined with honesty and integrity in all his dealings, placed him in the confidence of his employers. As the business of the little store increased Mr. DeWald was promoted until he was finally taken into the firm, which then became known as Townley, DeWald & Bond. Within a few years Mr. DeWald was practically at the head of the firm, and it was largely due to his efforts and business ability that the house thrived and became one of the leading dry-goods firms in northern Indiana. In a few years R. W. Townley, the senior inember of the firm, decided to retire, and he was succeeded by Mr. DeWald. It was not long thereafter when Mr. DeWald became the sole manager and proprietor of the business. The company was merely nominal.

"Mr. DeWald had an extensive acquaintance not only in this city but also throughout Allen county and northeastern Indiana. In his business and also in his private life he was a man of but few words, but always congenial. About the store he was friendly with the employees, and he always had a cheering word for a beginner in the business. He was benevolent, and gave freely in a quiet way to charity. He shunned notoriety in all of his charitable acts, but it was well known that a person in need would never be refused help by Mr. DeWald."

From the Fort Wayne Journal of Thursday, June 28, 1899, we make extract of the following appreciative estimate: "Few events of recent years have caused deeper or more widespread regret than the death of George DeWald. He had been so long identified with the city's commercial growth, so long regarded as a pillar of strength in the business world, and so honorable and upright in his life that his unawaited demise was felt almost as a public calamity.

"Mr. DeWald's life story is one of those, numerous in our western history, that serve as object lessons to those who would mount the ladder of success. His beginning was humble, and he owed his rise to ao train of fortunate incidents or fortuitous circumstances. It was the reward of application of mental! qualifications of a high order to the affairs of business; the combining of keen perceptions with mental activity that enabled him to grasp the opportunities that presented themselves. This he did with success and, what is more important, with honor. His integrity was unassailable, his honor unimpeachable. The shrewd business man will be missed in business circles, but it is as the gentle-mannered, kindly gentleman that his friends will love most to remember him. Fort Wayne has lost a sterling citizen whose place will be hard to fill. Innumerable poor who have known his beneficence will call his memory blessed." Still another paper spoke of the subject of this memoir in the following words: "George DeWald was loved and respected not only in Fort Wayne but in all the country round. His friends were legion, and none knew him who did not thoroughly trust and esteem him. He made honor the corner-stone and cap-stone of his success. He will be greatly missed frim business circles of Fort Wayne, and thousands of his acquaintances will feel a sense of personal loss."

It was in the year 1871 that Mr. DeWald became head of the business which he built up to so great proportions under the firm name of George DeWald & Company, which was retained until the time of his death. Six months to the day after his demise the establishment of the frm was destroyed by fire, on the 27th of December, 1899, and in the followmg month was effected the organization of the George DeWald Company, under which title the business has since been continued in its wholesale and jobbing lines, the retail department having been abandoned. Apropos of the fire the Fort Wayne Journal- Gazette spoke as follows: "A pile of blackened, smoldering ruins is all that remains of the great dry-goods house of George DeWald & Company. This pioneer mercantile establishment, one of the oldest in the northwest, was wiped out by fire before dawn yesterday morning (Wednesday, December 27, 1899). With the DeWald building went the old crockery store of M. F. Kaag, adjoining on the east. Both are a total loss, with all their contents, and the losses are variously estimated, but will not fall below two hundred thousand dollars. The house of George DeWald & Company was established in the early pioneer days, and the original building, three stories in height, was erected in 1846. It was owned by Hartman & Jones, general merchants. In 1849 Hartman & Jones sold out to the Townley Brothers, who continued the business until 1854, when the firm became Townley, DeWald & C ompany. In 1870 the firm of George DeWald & Company succeeded to the business. The death of Mr. DeWald, last spring, caused a change, and in January the firm name was to have been changed to the George DeWald Company. The firm was one of the most progressive and most widely known in the northwest. Since 1881 a general wholesale business had been carried on, in addition to the original retail trade. The frm owned the building on the corner of Calhoun street and the building on the east, which was connected with the store and occupied as salesrooms, was owned by the Hugh McCulloch estate until about five months ago, when Mrs. DeWald purchased the property, for a consideration of fourteen thousand dollars."

It may be noted that the business was continued without interruption by this disaster, but the concern dropped the retail trade and has since conducted an exclusive wholesale business, its volume of trade being very large and its territory being wide. The prestige of the concern is admirable and the name remains as a memorial to him whose energy and ability made possible the building up of the great enterprise, while its indirect benefit to the city of Fort W ayne can not be estimated in metes or bounds. A fine new building has been erected on the same site, and is one of the many modern business structures which give Fort Wayne so metropolitan an appearance. The company was organized in January, 1900, and the official corps is as follows: Robert W. T. DeWald, president ; George L. DeWald, vice-president; and William .P. Beck, secretary and treasurer.

The honored subject of this memoir was summoned to the life eternal on the 27th of June, 1899. For two years prior to his demise his vitality had been somewhat impaired, but he had continued to give his attention to business and been active up to the day of his death, which came without warning, being the result of pulmonary hemorrhage. His life was one of completeness and of worthy accomplishment, and while his death caused a wave of sorrow to sweep over the city in which he had so long made his home and in which he was so highly honored, none could fail to realize that in the measure of his accomplishments and in the fulness of his good works his days found fitting end and bore to those left behind the grateful compensation which is that of true nobility and worthiness.

In his political adherency Mr. DeWald was a stanch Democrat, and while he took a loyal and public-spirited interest in local affairs he never sought official preferment, being intrinsically and essentially a business man. He was a communicant and zealous and earnest member of St. Patrick's Catholic church, to whose direct support he contributed liberally, as did he also to the collateral benevolences and charities of the parish and the diocese. In this church his funeral was held, and the edifice was filled with citizens of all classes, who assembled to pay a last tribute of respect. Solemn high mass was celebrated by Rev. Father Delaney and his assistants, and the celebrant in his words of appreciation pointed to Mr. DeWald as one whose life had been passed in obedience to the divine mandate. His earthly existence had not been fruitless, for he had lived in anticipation of the end and had shaped his life accordingly. The highest tribute that could be paid him as a man, said Father Delaney, was that those who knew him best loved him best.

On the 11th of February, 1861, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. DeWald to Mrs. Sophia A. (Lasselle) Nettlehorst, widow of Charles W. Nettlehorst, to whom she bore one child, Hannah, who is now the wife of John Mohr, cashier of the Hamilton National Bank, Fort Wayne. Mrs. DeWald was born and reared in Fort Wayne, being a daughter of Francis D. and Hannah H. (Henderson) Lasselle, both members of sterling pioneer families of this city. Of the five living children who, with Mrs. DeWald, survive the honored subject of this memoir we enter brief record as follows: Robert W. T. is president of the George DeWald Company and is individually mentioned elsewhere in this volume; Mary E. is the wife of James T. McDonald, of Chicago, Illinois; Caroline is the wife of Henry J. Beuret, of Fort Wayne; Elizabeth M. remains with her mother in the old homestead; and George L. is vice-president of the George DeWald Company.

Lemuel Roberts Hartman

The gentleman whose name introduces this review was born December 9, 1838, at Wooster, Ohio, and when six years of age came with his parents to Fort Wayne, making the journey by canal packet. The family first settled in a little house on Lafayette street, near the corner of Washington, but later moved to a home of their own building on West Main street, now the brick structure occupied by H. J. Bowerfind. In those early days Fort Wayne was still in its period of village shabbiness and rough struggles with the frontier. There were no public schools at that time and the lad Lemuel was accordingly sent to a private institution of learning taught by a Mr. McJunkin. His father, a tailor by trade, opened a shop on Calhoun street near Columbia, and speedily built up a thriving business, employing a number of journeymen to meet the growing demand of his customers, besides taking several apprentices who in due time became efficient workmen.

At the age of fourteen, Lemuel R. Hartman began his business career as a telegraph messenger boy, which modest employment was followed by a term of clerking, first in Jacobs' shoe store and later in the Fort Wayne postoffice. Owing to temporary suspension of business which threw him out of employment, he subsequently entered Fort Wayne College, where he pursued his studies for several years and earned the reputation of an industrious and painstaking student. About 1852 his father, D. P. Hartman, who for some years had been a class leader and local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church, entered the regular ministry, a work which he pursued faithfully and with distinction until his death, twenty-five years later.

was a student of Asbury College (now DePauw University), which at that time was one of the foremost institutions of learning in the West. Mr. Hartman remained at college until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he went to Indianapolis to become a reporter in the state senate. During his father's pastorate at Lagrange he took up the study of law in the office of the well known firm of Parrott & Kennedy, of that town, and in due time was admitted to the bar and began the practice of his profession. He tried and won his first case, but soon becoming tired of the law, he abandoned the profession and for some time thereafter held a position in the auditor's office of Allen county. With this return Mr. Hartman's permanent residence in Fort Wayne began, and two years later he entered the First National Bank, with which he retained continuous connection until his death. His first service in the bank was in the capacity of bookkeeper, which position he held for eight years, acting as assistant cashier for a few months and later being promoted cashier, a relation he sustained for a period of thirty years. In connection with his duties as cashier he also became practically president of the institution, and as such made his influence felt as a keen, far-sighted and eminently successful financier. During Mr. Hartman's thirty-nine years of banking experience he easily became one of the leading citizens of Fort Wayne and was recognized in the city and throughout the northern part of the state as a banker with few equals and no superior.

In 1867 Mr. Hartman was united in marriage with Miss Eliza Harper, a teacher in the Fort Wayne public schools, the union resulting in the birth of four sons, Frank Harker, Fred Stewart, Foster and Harris Vincent.

Aside from his business relations Mr. Hartman's greatest activity was in the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was a loyal member from childhood, and to the end of his life a faithful attendant upon its services and a director of its affairs. He was the prime mover in remodeling the edifice of the Wayne Street Methodist church, a work which he not only successfully financed but personally directed through all the building operations. In his funeral eulogy at the church it was beautifully and truthfully said, "If you would see his monument, look about you." Mr. Hartman died, after a brief illness, May 27, 1902. His memory as a man of strict integrity, sterling worth and high honor in business affairs is widely remembered by his fellow citizens, while the purity of his private life, which affords an example worthy of imitation, is cherished by his friends as a priceless heritage. "To live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die."

William A. Diffenderfer

Numbered among the representative business men of Fort Wayne is the subject of this sketch, who is secretary and treasurer of the Fort Wayne Spoke and Bending Company, and who has long held the responsible position of bookkeeper for the well known firm of Mossman, Yarnelle & Company.

Mr. Diffenderfer is a native of the Hawkeye state, having been born in Mt. Sterling, Van Buren county, Iowa, on the 2 5th of October, 1857, and being a son of Benjamin O. and Isabella (Alcorn) Diffenderfer, the former of whom died in December, 1889, at the age of sixty-nine years, while the latter is living in the city of Fort Wayne. The father came to Allen county from Iowa when the subject was a child, having been formerly a resident of this state, in which both he and his wife were born and reared. William A. Diffenderfer secured his early educational discipline in the public schools, whose curriculum he completed in due course of time, having been graduated in the Fort Wayne high school as a member of the class of 1876, and having soon afterward initiated his independent career, securing a position as bookkeeper for the firm of Coombs & Company, prominent wholesale hardware dealers of Fort Wayne, with whom he remained several years and then accepted a similar incumbency with the important wholesale and manufacturing concern of Mossman, Yarnelle & Company, with whose affairs he has ever since been identified in the capacity of bookkeeper and general office man. In 1904, Mr. Diffenderfer became associated with others in the organization of the Fort Wayne Spoke and Bending Company, which was duly incorporated with the following official and executive corps: W. S. Sponhouer, president; William A. Diffenderfer, secretary and treasurer, and E. A. Yarnelle, vice-president. The concern has provided a well equipped plant and is engaging success- fully in the manufacture of vehicle spokes, bows, felloes, etc., the active management of the enterprise being placed in the hands of the president of the company, while the business is being pushed forward with marked energy and discrimination and is gaining a place among the representative industrial enterprises of Fort Wayne.

Mr. Diffenderfer is known as a loyal and public spirited citizen and takes a deep interest in all that makes for the prestige and material advancement of the fair city in which he has made his home from his childhood. In politics he accords a stanch allegiance to the Democratic party, but has never sought the honors or emoluments of public office. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, and in a fraternal way he is identified with the Royal Arcanum and the National Union. In a genealogical way we may note that the subject is descended from stanch Holland Dutch stock on the paternal side, his grandfather, William Diffenderfer, having been born in Holland. In the maternal line the genealogy is traced back to Scotch-Irish derivation.

On the gth of October, 1895, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Diffenderfer to Miss Blanche A. Davis, who was born in the city of Dayton, Ohio, in the year 1866, being a daughter of Leroy and Cordelia Davis, who are now residents of Fort Wayne. Mrs. Diffenderfer was educated in the public schools, having been graduated in the high school at Galion, Ohio, as a member of the class of 1880. The only child of this union is Davis A. Diffenderfer, who was born on the roth of November, 1897.

Charles T. Strawbridge

It is not an easy task adequately to describe the character of a man who has led an eminently active and busy life and stamped his individuality on the plane of definite accomplishment. Successful men must be live men in this age, bristling with activity, and there can be no impropriety in justly scanning the acts of any man as they affect his public, social and business relations. Among the able and representative business men of the city of Fort Wayne is numbered Mr. Strawbridge, who is identified with important industrial enterprises and whose executive capacity has been such as to enable him to achieve a noteworthy success, while the methods employed have been such as to retain to him the confidence and good will of his fellow men. He is vice-president and secretary of the Bass Foundry and Machine Company, one of the greatest of the manufacturing concerns of Indiana's "Summit City," while he is also secretary of the Fort Wayne Foundry and Machine Company, duly mentioned in the sketch of the career of John H. Bass, on other pages of this publication, so that a recapitulation of the data is not demanded in the present connection.

Mr. Strawbridge was born in the village of Blooming Grove, Morrow county, Ohio, on the 7th of January, 1857, and is a son of John and Jane Strawbridge, natives of Ohio, while the genealogy in the agnatic line traces back to stanch English derivation, the original American representatives of the family having come to the new world in the colonial era of our national history. The father of the subject followed the vocation of engineer during the major portion of his active career, and both he and his wife continued residents of Ohio until their death. Charles T. Strawbridge was a lad of about four years at the time of his parents' removal to Bucyrus, Crawford county, Ohio, and in the public schools of this attractive little city he secured his early educational discipline, completing a course in the local high school. He then learned the art of telegraphy in the Bucyrus office of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, becoming a skilled operator and holding a position in the employ of the above mentioned company when seventeen years of age, while he was stationed at various points on the lines of the company prior to 1877, when he came to Fort Wayne and took a position as operator in the general offices of the company at this point. He retained this incumbency two years, and in the meanwhile had learned the art of stenography, fitting himself for effective clerical and office work in general lines. In 1879 he became a stenographer in the offices of the Bass Foundry and Machine Company, with which he has ever since been identified, while he has risen step by step through well earned grades of promotion until he is now vice-president and secretary of the company, having held this dual office since 1900, while he is also a member of the executive corps of the two allied concerns previously mentioned in this context. It is scarcely necessary to say that he is a man of sterling business qualifications and marked administrative ability, for such advancement could come through no other means than the exemplification of such powers, and he is today numbered among the influential business men of Fort Wayne and is honored as a progressive and public spirited citizen.

Frederick W. Gieseking

Just north of the corporation limits of the city of Fort Wayne is situated the beautiful suburban home of this well known citizen, who is one of the four stockholders in the Fort Wayne Wind Mill Company, manufactures of windmills, and who is one of the substantial men of his native county, where he was for many years prominently identified with agricultural pursuits.

Mr. Gieseking was born in Lake township, Allen county, Indiana, on the of November, 1845, and is one of three sons born to Deitrich W. and Mary (Gokey) Gieseking, the names of the other sons being William F. and John W. The father of the subject was born in Prussia, where he was reared and educated and whence he immigrated to America when a young man. In the year 1843 he took up his residence in Allen county, becoming one of the pioneers of Lake township, where he engaged in farming, reclaiming much land from its wild state and becoming the owner of a very large landed estate in the county, where his holdings at one time comprised ten hundred and fifty acres. He was a man of sterling character and commanded unqualified esteem in the county, with whose civic and industrial affairs he was so long and honorably identified. He continued to reside on his farm until four years prior to his death, when he removed to the city of Fort Wayne and took up his abode in a pleasant home, where he died at the venerable age of eighty-three years. His devoted wife preceded him into eternal rest, having been seventy-five years of age at the time of her death. They became the parents of three sons, as before noted, and all are living. The parents were consistent members of the English Lutheran church, and in politics the father gave his support to the Democratic party.

tional advantages were those afforded in the common log cabin school of the locality and period. He initiated his independent career by engaging in the same line of enterprise to which he had been reared, and for a number of years he was numbered among the representative farmers of Washington township, where he was the owner of a finely improved farm of two hundred and twelve acres. In 1898 he purchased his present attractive little suburban place, comprising seven and one-half acres, and this he has improved with a fine brick residence of ten rooms and of modern architectural design and equipment, the place being on the outskirts of the city to the north and thus offering ali the attractions of both urban and country life. Mr. Gieseking became one of the stockholders and incorporators of the F. P. Wilt Company, wholesale grocers, in 1902, and later was identified with the hardware business in Fort Wayne, while in August, 1904, he became one of the four interested principals in the organization and incorporation of the Fort Wayne Wind Mill Company, to whose interest he now gives the major part of his time and attention. The company has a well equipped plant and manufactures windmills of superior type, while an average corps of twenty-five men is employed in the factory the year round, and the number of traveling representatives at the time of this writing is about one hundred and twenty-five. Mr. Gieseking is also a stockholder in the German-American National Bank and is a man of marked business acumen and has gained success through his own well directed efforts, while every step in his career has been regulated by inflexible integrity of purpose, so that he has not been denied the fullest measure of confidence and esteem as emanating from those with whom he has come in contact in the various relations of life. In politics he maintains an independent attitude, exercising his franchise in support of the men and measures which tneet the approval of his judgment. He and his wife are members of the English Lutheran church.

On the 12th of May, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gieseking to Miss Louise Rose, who was born and reared in this county, being a daughter of Christian Rose, who was a well known and substantial farmer of St. Joseph township. Mr. and Mrs. Gieseking have three children, Marie L., Carl F. and Mabel L. Carl is a graduate of the Fort Wayne Business College, all of the children being afforded good educational advantages.

One of the representative medical practitioners of the city of Fort Wayne is Dr. Enslen, who has his office at 1608 Calhoun street, while his residence is located at 2216 Fairfield avenue. The confidence reposed in him as a physician and surgeon is best indicated in the significantly successful practice which he has built up, while he has the unqualified esteem of his professional confreres in his chosen field of endeavor.

Dr. Enslen is a native of the Buckeye state, having been born in Allen county, Ohio, on the 16th of October, 1863, and being a son of John and Mary (Shutts) Enslen, both of whom were born in the state of Pennsylvania, whence they went to Ohio when young. The mother died in 1896 and the father is still living, maintaining his home in Allen county, Ohio, where he has long been identified with agricultural pursuits. The subject of this review passed his youth in his native county, in whose public schools he secured his early educational training, which was later supplemented by courses of study in the National Normal University, at Ada, Ohio, and the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business College, in Valparaiso, Indiana, in which latter he was graduated as a member of the class of 1884. After leaving college he devoted two years to teaching in the public schools of Ohio, and in the meanwhile formulated definite plans for his future career, deciding to prepare himself for the medical profession. With this end in view he began his technical reading under the able preceptorship of Dr. R. E. Jones, of Gomer, Allen county, Ohio, under whose direction he continued his studies for two years, after which he had a second preceptor, in the person of Dr. C. B. Stemen, of Fort Wayne, to which city he came in 1888. In order to fully fortify himself for the work of his exacting profession he then entered the Fort Wayne College of

Medicine, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1890, receiving his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. Shortly after his graduation the Doctor opened his present office and he has been most successful in his practice during the decade and a half which has since elapsed, while his supporting patronage is of a representative character. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Indiana State Medical Society, and the Fort Wayne Medical Society. In politics he is a stanch advocate of the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor, but he has not sought or held public office of any description. He-has attained to the thirty-second degree in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, being identified with the various local bodies of the great fraternity and with the Indiana consistory, whose headquarters are in Indianapolis. The Doctor and his wife are active members of Simpson Methodist Episcopal church, of whose board of trustees he served as a member for a number of years.

On the 15th of October, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Enslen to Miss Eva Leist, who likewise was born and reared in Allen county, Ohio, and they have two children, Helen Esther and William Myron.

A native son of Allen county, a representative of one of its old and honored pioneer families, a veteran of the Civil war and a citizen well known and highly esteemed in the community is Henry C. McMaken, who is a prominent and influential farmer, stockgrower and dairyman of the county, his fine homestead estate being situated in section 8, Wayne township.

Mr. McMaken was born in Adams township, this county, on the 15th of January, 1844, and his lineage traces back to sterling Scottish origin, the original American ancestors having come from Scotland to the new world in the sixteenth century. The first representative of the family in Indiana was Joseph Hamilton McMaken, grandfather of the subject. This honored pioneer was born in Monmouth, Kentucky, in 1787, and from that state he removed to Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio. He was a valiant soldier in the war of 1812, and during the progress of the same was for a time stationed at Fort Wayne, which was then a mere frontier post. In the spring of 1832 he came from Ohio to Allen county, becoming one of the prominent and honored citizens of Fort Wayne, where he was engaged in the hotel business for a number of years, while he was one of the first supervisors of Wayne township and one of the early judges of the local courts, while he wielded much influence in public affairs, being a man of much force of character and one whose name was a synonym of integrity and honor in all the relations of life. He went to Burlington, Iowa, in 1857, and there passed the remainder of his life. In politics he was an old-line Whig up to the time of the organization of the Republican party, when he identied himself with the latter, whose principles he thereafter upheld until he was summoned from the scene of life's endeavors. The maiden name of his wife, whose death occurred in Hamilton, Ohio, was Moore, and she was a representative of one of the twenty-two families which founded the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, whither the original ancestors removed from Pennsylvania.

Joseph Gettys MeMaken, father of the subject of this review, was born in Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, in 1815, and there passed his boyhood days, while he accompanied his parents on their removal to Fort Wayne, in 1832. Owing to the exigencies of time and place his educational advantages, in a formal sense, were limited, but, like many another product of the pioneer epoch, he made his own opportunities and became a man of broad mental scope and much pragmatic ability. He was one of the first general contractors in Fort Wayne, while he also controlled a large business in teaming, in which connection he gave special attention to hauling government supplies for the Indians. He accumulated farm property in the county and was one of the highly esteemed citizens of the community, while as a man it may consistently be said that he stood "four square to every wind that blows." In his political proclivities he was originally a Whig, but espoused the cause of the Republican party at the time of its inception and ever afterward was a stalwart advocate of its principles and policies, while he was called upon to serve in various minor offices of public trust.

As a young man Joseph G. McMaken was united in marriage to Miss Dorothy Ruch, who was born in the province of Alsace- Lorraine, France, which is now a portion of Germany, and who was eleven years of age at the time of the family immigration to America. Mr. McMaken died on the 13th of December, 1864, and his loved and devoted wife survived him by many years, being summoned into eternal rest on the 8th of August, 1899, at the venerable age of eighty-one years. They became the parents of twelve children, of whom the eldest died in infancy, while of the others we enter brief record, as follows: Henry C. is the immediate subject of this sketch; William B. is a representative farmer of Wayne township; Joseph H. is residing on the old homestead farm, in Adams township; Sarah J. is the wife of Sylvester Coleman, of Wayne township; Anna M. is a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Fort Wayne; Adelia A. died at the age of about thirty-seven years, and Lewis C. died in early childhood; John C. F. is a farmer of Wash- ington township; Franklin A. is engaged in plumbing in Fort Wayne; Elizabeth, of Fort Wayne, and Lottie M., wife of E. E. Banks, of Fort Wayne. -

Henry C. McMaken, to whom this sketch is dedicated, secured his early educational discipline in the common schools of Adams township and made good use of the opportunities thus afforded him, while in the connection it may be noted that four of his sisters became successful teachers.

When "grim-visaged war had reared its horrid front" and the integrity of the Union was imperiled Mr. McMaken gave signal manifestation of his patriotism, since, on the gth of January, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company E, Fifty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which was recruited in Fort Wayne and vicinity. The command was in service principally in the state of Kentucky, and at Richmond, that state, on the 3oth of August, 1862, after having taken part in the spirited engagement at that point, Mr. Mc- Maken was captured by the enemy, while he was unprovided with food for a period of four days while thus held prisoner. He then rejoined his command, with which he remained on active duty until September 9, 1862, when he received his honorable discharge, while he came forth as a youthful veteran who had rendered yeoman service in defense of the nation's honor. The subject has ever retained a most insistent and lively interest in his old comrades in arms, and is one of the popular and valued members of General Lawton Post, No. 590, Grand Army of the Republic, in Fort Wayne, being past commander of the Sion S. Bass Post and having served in other post offices, including that of chairman of the visitors' committee. He has unbounded enthusiasm in his allegiance to this noble organization and has attended the various state and national encampments of the Grand Army of the Republic. In his political adherency Mr. McMaken has ever been found aligned as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party, while he has been a prominent figure in public affairs of a local nature.

After the close of his military career Mr. McMaken returned to his home in Allen county, and in 1868 he was married. He then located on a farm in Adams township, where he remained six years, and in 1876 he purchased his present farm property, in section 8,

Wayne township, the homestead comprising sixty-two acres of most arable land, while to its original area he added by subsequent purchase until he now has a finely improved landed estate of one hundred and forty-one acres. When he made his original purchase the land was entirely unreclaimed, being covered with a dense growth of native timber, so that a herculean task was that which confronted him. He put up a small frame house on his embryonic farm and he and his devoted wife there established their home and made ready to work side by side toward the goal of prosperity and independence. The farmstead today bears sliglit resemblance to its condition at the time when Mr. McMaken came into possession of the property. The land has been cleared and placed under a most effective cultivation; substantial and attractive modern buildings have replaced the primitive ones of the early day, and thrift and prosperity are in evidence on every side. In the work and management of the farm our subject's only son is associated with him. In addition to raising the various agricultural products common to the locality, Mr. McMaken has conducted a successful dairying business since 1890, while he also devotes no little attention to the raising of high-grade horses, cattle and swine. He has farther manifested his initiative and his enterprising spirit by making a specialty of supplying and setting out forest trees, principally in the city of Fort Wayne, where he has placed thousands of fine trees which stands as monuments to his careful and successful labors in the connection, while it may be said without fear of contradiction that he has planted more forest trees in this way than has any other man in the county, having given his attention to the enterprise for the past quarter of a century. He and his family are prominent and popular in the social life of the community, and their pleasant home is a center of gracious and generous hospitality.

On the oth of April, 1868, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McMaken to Miss Frances J. Link, who was born in Newark, Ohio, and who was a child at the time of her parents' removal to Allen county, Indiana, in 1854, her father, Adam Link, having become one of the successful and honored farmers of Wayne township. Mr. and Mrs. McMaken became the parents of six children, concerning whom we record that Lottie M. died at the age of four months ; Lucy

M. is the wife of William Kyburz, a representative farmer of Maumee township; Dora G. resides in Aboit township; Henry W. is associated with his father in the management of the home farm; Adam died in childhood; Helen A. is the wife of H. B. Jackson, Pellscon, Michigan; Elizabeth C. is the wife of M. B. Gouty, head engineer at the power station at Huntington, Indiana.

George Jordan

The subject of this memoir was one of the honored pioneers of Allen county, having settled in Wayne township in an early day and having become one of the prosperous farmers of this section of the county, here continuing to reside until he was summoned to his reward, closing a long, noble and useful life. Mr. Jordan was born in the province of Alsace, France, on the 21st of November, 1821, the place of his birth being now a German province. As a young inan he served seven years in the French army, having been reared and educated in Alsace, where the family had been established for many generations. In 1851 Mr. Jordan immigrated to America and not long after landing in the new world he came to Allen county, Indiana, where he took up his permanent location. On the 31st of May, 1851, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jordan to Miss Mary A. Burgel, who was likewise born and reared in the beautiful province of Alsace, being a daughter of Benedict and Catherine (Seiler) Burgel, who came to Allen county, from their native land, in the same year, 1851, settling in Wayne township, where the father secured a tract of wild and heavily timbered land, upon which he erected a log cabin, which was the original family home. In clearing his land he utilized ox teams and in course of time he developed a good farm, while he also operated a distillery for the manufacture of whiskey, an industry which was common throughout the state in those days. He was industrious, provident and honest, and not only attained prosperity but also gained the unqualified confidence and esteem of the people of the community, being well known in the county, while both he and his wife continued to reside on the farm until their death. Of their five children two are living.

farm of his father-in-law, in Wayne township, and eventually he and his wife became the owner of eighty acres of the tract. Here he reclaimed and developed one of the best farms in the township, erecting good buildings and making improvements as demanded, while he continued to reside on this homestead, which is located in section 5, until he was summoned from the scene of life's endeavors, his death occurring on the 30th of March, 1894. Mr. Jordan was a man of inflexible integrity and made his life count for good in all its relations, while to him was accorded the unreserved esteem of the people of the community in which he lived for so many years. He was a stanch supporter of the Democratic party and was called upon to serve in various township offices, while his religious faith was that of the Catholic church, in which he was reared and of which he, as well as the members of his family, was a communicant. His widow still resides on the old homestead, which is endeared to her through the hallowed memories and associations of the past, while in the community her circle of friends is limited only by that of her acquaintances. In conclusion of this brief tribute to the memory of one of the honored pioneers of the county we enter a brief record concerning his children: George is a resident of Bloomingdale, Indiana ; Edward is a successful farmer of Washington township, Allen county; Joseph is a resident of the city of Fort Wayne, as is also Alois; Mary is the wife of John Nieble, of Fort W ayne; John and Frank remain on the old homestead and are associated in its work and management; Anthony, Henry, William and Elizabeth all reside in Fort Wayne.

Frederick W. Fahlsing

We now have the privilege of entering a brief record concerning the life history of one of the honored pioneers and representatve citizens of Wayne township, where he is a prominent and influential farmer and dairyman, being the owner of the Homestead Dairy, one of the most popular in this section and one of the oldest established, the same having afforded service in the city of Fort Wayne for nearly thirty-five years.

Mr. Fahlsing was born in Minden, Prussia, on the 4th of August, 1830, and is a son of Frederick and Louisa (Remke) Fahlsing, his father having been a successful farmer in Prussia, where he remained until 1844, when he immigrated with his family to America and soon came to Indiana, locating as a pioneer in Preble township, Adams county, where he took up a tract of wild land, which he reclaimed from the native timber, developing a good farm. The original family domicile was a log cabin of the primitive type and the conditions were such as marked the pioneer era in that now populous and favored section of the state. On the old homestead farm the father of our subject died in the year 1863, while the loved and devoted wife and mother passed the closing years of her life in the home of the subject, in Allen county, whence she was summoned to the "land of the leal" in 1870, at a venerable age. She was a lifelong member of the German Lutheran church, as was also her husband, and in politics he espoused the cause of the Democratic party after coming to the United States. Concerning the ten children in the family we enter the following brief record: Frederick W. is the immediate subject of this sketch; Minnie, Conrad, Louisa and William are deceased; Sophia maintains her home in Allen county; Augustus is a resident of the city of Fort Wayne; Amelia is a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana; Mary makes her home in Fort Wayne, and Charles is deceased.

In the excellent national schools of his native land the subject of this review received his early educational training, and he was about fourteen years of age at the time of the family immigration to America. As his services were demanded in connection with the work of the pioneer farm and there were practically no advantages to be had in an educational way in the new country in which the family located, he received no further discipline in a technical sense, but during the years of an active and successful career he has effectually overcome the handicap of his youth and is known as a man of broad information and marked ability in a practical way.

Mr. Fahlsing continued to be associated in the work of the homestead farm, in Adams county, until 1855, on February 8th of which year was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mary Hetzman, who likewise was born in Minden, Prussia, Germany, on the 23d of September, 1833, being a daughter of Christian and Sophia Hetzman, who immigrated to America in 1837, Mr. Hetzman having been for a time employed on the old Erie canal, in the state of New York, while in 1842 he located in Washington township, Allen county, Indiana, where he improved a good farm, upon which he passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1874, while his cherished wife was summoned into eternal rest about a decade later, her demise occurring in 1885. Mr. Hetzman's wife and children did not join him in America until 1845, by which time he had prepared a good home for them. Mr. and Mrs. Hetzman became the parents of six children, namely: Sophia, who is the widow of Frederick Myers, resides in the city of Fort Wayne; Mary is the wife of our subject; Frederick resides on the old homestead, in Washington township; Christ resides in the city of Fort W ayne; William is deceased ; and Henry is associated in the work and management of the old home farm, in Washington township. Mr. and Mrs. Fahlsing have had seven children, of whom two, each of whom was named William, died in infancy. Of the others we make brief mention as follows: Sophia is the wife of Henry Barham, a prosperous farmer of Washington township; Maria is the wife of Conrad Brauar, of Fort Wayne; Christopher, who married Miss Mary Hormann, is associated with his father in the management of the home place and the dairy business; Minnie is the wife of William Lankemann, of Fort

One year after his marriage Mr. Fahlsing removed from Adams county, this state, to Allen county, locating in Wayne township, where he has ever since maintained his home and where he has ever been held in the most unequivocal confidence and esteem. He took up his abode on the farm which still remains his home, the same being located in section 4, about three miles distant from the city of Fort Wayne. At the time when he came into possession of the property the land was covered with the native timber and was practically without improvements of any description, while no roads had been cut through in this section, so that he found himself surrounded with the environments of the typical pioneer days. Wild game was most plentiful, and Mr. Fahlsing stated to the writer that in one winter alone he supplied the family larder with fourteen wild turkeys. On his land he erected a frame dwelling of primitive type, the same being only sixteen by eighteen feet in dimensions, while later he made additions to the same, the building continuing to be the family home until 1873, when he erected his present commodious and substantial brick residence, which is one of the attractive farm homes of the county. In 1864 Mr. Fahlsing erected the original portion of his present large farm, which, with the additions made at later dates, is now in the form of an L, and is one hundred and twenty-four by thirty feet in dimensions. It is a bank barn and is thoroughly modern in its equipment and facilities. In the building is a machine which is utilized for the grinding of all feed for stock, while stable room is afforded for thirty-six head of cattle and about eight horses, and accommodation is afforded for one hundred tons of hay. The fine farm comprises about two hundred acres, and the major portion of the place is maintained under a high state of cultivation and devoted to diversified agriculture. In 1869 Mr. Fahlsing established his dairy business, which has since been conducted under the name of the Homestead Dairy, while he has the best of facilities for the supplying of milk of the best quality and free from all impurities, the greatest care being given to every detail of the work, so that effective sanitation is insured. He controls a large business in supplying the city of Fort Wayne in this department of his farming enterprise. He keeps an average herd of about forty head of milch cows, while he also raises high-grade swine and a sufficient number of horses to meet the demands of his farming and dairying business. Our subject is known as a progressive and public spirited citizen, while to him is accorded the high regard of the people of the county in which he has maintained his home for so many years. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Democracy, and both he and his wife are valued members of Emanuel church - (German Lutheran) on West Jefferson street, in the city of Fort Wayne. Mr. Fahlsing started out in life with no resources save his strong heart, willing hands and determination to make the best of opportunities afforded, and the position he today holds indicates how admirably he has succeeded in connection with temporal affairs, while to him has come the greater benefice of the objective confidence and regard which only sterling worth can beget.

Henry Beerman

The great empire of Germany has contributed a most valuable element to our national social fabric, and among the worthy sons of the Teutonic fatherland who stand as reputable and honored citizens of Allen county is the subject of this sketch, who is one of the successful farmers of Wayne township, his well improved homestead being situated in section 6, three and a half miles distant from 'the city of Fort Wayne.

Mr. Beerman was born in the city of Glesse, in Darmstadt, Germany, on the 28th of February, 1853, and is a son of Frederick and Christina (Folke) Beerman, both of whom were born in that same section of the German empire, where the father devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits until 1855, when he immigrated with his family to America, coming forthwith to Indiana, where a few years afterward his cherished wife died. He later came to Fort Wayne, and here passed the closing years of his life retired from active business, his death occurring in 1875. He was a Democrat in politics and both he and his wife were devoted members of the Lutheran church. Concerning their children, we incorporate a brief record, as follows: Wilhelmina became the wife of Charles Pape and her death occurred in Fort Wayne; Justina, who likewise is deceased, was the wife of Gottlieb Cramer; Caroline is a widow and resides in Fort Wayne; Johanna, who was the wife of William Heine, of the same city, is deceased; Frederika is the wife of Henry Shafer, of Fort Wayne; Frederick is identified with the lumber business in this city, and Henry is the immediate subject of this sketch.

Henry Beerman was a child of about one year at the time of the family immigration to the United States, and as he was deprived of a mother's care while a child he was reared principally in the home of his eldest sister, Mrs. Pape, while he attended both German and English schools in a somewhat limited way during his boyhood years, while he early began to work out at such employment as he could secure, thus providing for his own maintenance, while he kept a definite aim in view, - that of gaining a position of independence and one in which he might personally secure the maximum returns from his efforts. In 1874, shortly after attaining to his legal majority, Mr. Beerman took unto himself a wife and established a home of his own, while from the beginning of his married career to the present time he has had the loving aid and co-operation of his devoted wife, to whose influence he ascribes no small part of the marked success which has crowned his efforts. For eleven years after his marriage Mr. Beerman was an employe of the Globe restaurant, one of the leading places of the sort in Fort Wayne, and within this period he carefully conserved his resources and thus became justified in purchasing a farm property for a home, buying forty acres of his present place, and later purchasing an adjoining forty acres. The land was only partially reclaimed and was rough and stony, but its appearance today indicates the model farm and gives assurance of the expenditure of well directed labor. Mr. Beerman has erected excellent buildings, including a commodious and attractive residence, and has put all parts of the farm into good order and thus maintained them, while he has consequently become known as a progressive and energetic business man and one of excellent judgment. He has made the various departments of his farm enterprise profitable and is well satisfied to number himself among the sturdy husbandmen of the nation. He devotes no little attention to the raising of small fruits and also to market gardening, while he also has built up a successful dairy business, selling milk in Fort Wayne, while he raises sufficient live stock to properly complement the other phases of his farming industry. In the past years has done a very considerable amount of teaming, and for three years gave most effective service as superintendent of county roads in his section, while for several years he was a valued member of the board of school directors of his township, taking a lively interest in all that makes for the material, moral and civic well-being of the community. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Republican party, and on March 1, 1905, he was appointed deputy assessor of Wayne township. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Lutheran church, while to them is accorded the unqualified esteem of the community in which they have so long made their home.

In the year 1874 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Beerman to Miss Johanna Ruehl, who was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, being a daughter of Christian P. and Rosanna Helena (Gallar) Ruehl, the former of whom died in the fatherland, while the latter now resides in Frankfort, being well preserved in mind and body, though of venerable age. In conclusion of this brief sketch we enter a record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Beerman: John Edward, who married Miss Ellen Connor, resides in Fort Wayne, from which city he is carrier on one of the principal rural mail delivery routes; Rosina Helen is the wife of Robert C. Work, of Wayne township, where he is a successful farmer; William F. H. is unmarried and is associated with his father in the management of the home farm, while his twin sister, Caroline L., is employed as stenographer in the office of the Western Hay and Grain Company, in Fort Wayne; Charles G. is a prosperous blacksmith in Fort Wayne; Harry A., who remains at home, is a member of the class of 1905 in the Fort Wayne high school, and Walter is a member of the class of 1909 in the same school.

Ernest W. Kruse

The subject of this memoir was one of the substantial and highly honored farmers of Washington township and stood representative of the best type of citizenship, while during the long years of his residence in Allen county he proved himself well worthy of the unqualified esteem in which he was so uniformly held.

Mr. Kruse was a native of Germany, where he was born in the year 1850, being the only child of Ernest H. and Sophia (Henschen) Kruse, who came to America when he was a child and located in Allen county as pioneers, here passing the remainder of their lives. The subject of this memoir was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and his entire life was filled with ceaseless toil and endeavor. The farm which he owned at the time of his death and which is now the residence of his widow, was largely reclaimed from the native forest by him, and he developed the place into one of the model farms of the county, the homestead being most eligibly located in Washington township and being readily accessible to the city of Fort Wayne. He enlisted in the United States regular army and served five years. Upon his return he was for seven years successfully engaged in contracting and building. He then returned to his farm, where he passed the remainder of his life in agricultural pursuits, his death occurring: on the 24th of May, 1902. His homestead farm comprises eighty acres and all is under effective cultivation. The improvements are of the best order and all were made by him, including the erection of the attractive residence. He was a stanch Republican in his political proclivities and took much interest in public affairs of a local nature, though he never sought or desired official preferment. He was a zealous and valued member of the Reformed church, as is also his widow. He was a man who stood "four square to every wind that blows," and his name merits a place on the roll of the sterling citizens of Allen county.

In the year 1875 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kruse to Miss Elizabeth Huebner, daughter of John and Minnie (Otto) Huebner, who came to Allen county when Mrs. Kruse was a child. Mr. and Mrs. Kruse became the parents of twelve children, seven of whom are living, namely: William, who is a clergyman of the Reformed church, residing in Ada, Ohio; Emma, who resides in the city of Flint, Michigan; Anna, who resides in Fort Wayne, and Walter, Martha, Clara and Harold, who remain with their mother on the old homestead.

Sylvanus F. Bowser

In the city of Fort Wayne are found many industrial concerns of wide scope and importance, representing enterprises which have brought to the city high repute in the commercial world, and which have been the conservators of municipal progress and prosperity. Among the far-sighted, reliable and progressive men whose initiative power and definite courage in carrying forward to successful issue new ideas in practical industry stands forth in no inconspicuous way Sylvanus F. Bowser, who figures as the subject of this brief sketch, and who stands at the head of the well-known and important manufacturing firm of S. F. Bowser & Company, patentees and manufacturers of various devices utilized in storing and handling oils of all kinds and classes, both for the retail trade and for use in manufacturing plants. Mr. Bowser is insistently utilitarian in his business policy, and has ever retained the virile idea that faith without works is dead. It is through his efforts that the great business of his concern has been built up from a modest nucleus, and his career has been marked by aggressiveness and that determinate effort whose natural sequel is success. He has the courage of his convictions, and the patent evidence of this fact is given in the enterprise at whose head he stands, while he is honored as one of Fort Wayne's representative business men.

Mr. Bowser is a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of Allen county, and here he has ever made his home, though for a period of fourteen years he was employed as a traveling salesman. He was the first man who had the courage to engage exclusively in the selling of oil tanks "on the road," instead of making this a "side line," as the commercial phraseology has it. He made a success in placing the Bowser products on the market, and established a factory in Fort Wayne for the manufacture of oil tanks of his patent, which tanks have become famous throughout the Union. As to the inception of the business we can not do better than to quote from a descriptive article recently published in a local paper: "S. F. Bowser, the inventor, was for a time the only salesman, bookkeeper, helper in the shop and erector of the goods sold, while the present vice-president, Allen A. Bowser, did all the machine work with a foot lathe. Under these conditions the Bowser self-measuring oil tank was launched." Operations were thus inaugurated in the year 1885, and from this nucleus has been evolved the present magnificent industry. The firm is incorporated under the laws of the state, and bases its operations upon ample capital and experience, while the average annual business now shows an aggregate of fully five hundred thousand dollars, and the plant of the concern covers a block in the northeast section of the city. Employment is afforded to a corps of two hundred operatives, while the contingent of agents and traveling salesmen is a very large one. Branch houses are maintained in Toronto, Canada, and Boston, Massachusetts, for the purpose of facilitating the business in the territory tributary to those cities. In addition to the large domestic business controlled the firm also has a large export trade, while the ramifications of the business are constantly extending in scope and importance. Mr. Bowser is the inventor of a most effective self-measuring oil pump and of other improved devices for the handling of oils, and all of these were manufactured by his firm in advance of all others. The personnel of the executive corps of the concern is as follows: S. F. Bowser, president; A. A. Bowser, vice-president; A. Z. Polhamus, general manager; C. A. Dunkelberg, secretary and treasurer.

Sylvanus F. Bowser was born in Perry township, Allen county, Indiana, on the 8th of August, 1854, and is a son of John H. and Eliza (Krieger) Bowser, both of whom were born and reared in Pennsylvania, where their marriage was solemnized. The father was born on the 15th of April, 1812, and his death occurred on the roth of March, 1879, while his wife, who was born on the 18th of September, 1818, was summoned to the life eternal on the oth of September, 1875. Of their thirteen children eight are living. The parents came to Allen county in 1833 and became numbered among the early settlers of Perry township, where the father developed a good farm in the midst of the virgin forest, becoming one of the sub-

The subject of this review was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and his educational advantages were those afforded in the common schools of Allen county, while he early manifested that ambitious spirit and self-reliance which have so clearly denoted the man in his business career and which have been the conservators of his success, in conjunction with his unbending integrity in all things. In 1882 Mr. Bowser became a traveling salesman for the wholesale paper house of W. H. Wells & Brother, of Chicago, remaining with this concern until 1885, in which year he patented the Perfect selfmeasuring oil tank and siphon, which represent the products of the great concern at whose head he now stands and in whose upbuilding he has been the prime factor. His business career since the year noted has been adequately outlined or intimated in preceding paragraphs. In politics Mr. Bowser gives his allegiance to the Republican party, and both he and his wife are valued members of the First Baptist church.

On the 11th of October, 1876, Mr. Bowser was united in marriage to Miss Sarah F. Russell, who was likewise born and reared in Allen county, being a daughter of William and Sarah Russell, of Fort Wayne.

Prominent in the ranks of the able and successful members of the medical profession in Allen county is found Dr. Bower, who is established in a large and representative practice in the city of Fort Wayne, with office headquarters at 326 East Berry street.

The old Keystone state of the Union figures as the place of Dr. Bower's nativity, since he was born near the town of Jersey Shore, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of March, 1862, while he is a son of Jesse and Leah (Bixler) Bower, both of whom were likewise born in Pennsylvania, and both of whom are now deceased, the father having devoted the major portion of his active career to mercantile pursuits. Dr. Bower passed his youth in his native town, in whose public schools he secured his early educational training, having been graduated in the West Branch high school as a member of the class of 1878. He then entered Lafayette College, at Easton, Pennsylvania, where he completed the classical course, and in 1884 he was matriculated in the medical department of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1887, receiving his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. In the following year, after special post-graduate work, he passed a most creditable examination in the Medico-Chirurgical College, in the city of Philadelphia, being granted a certificate by this institution.

Dr. Bower initiated the active work of his profession by locating in the village of Elimsport, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, where he remained but a short time and then serving one year as resident physician in St. Joseph's Hospital, in Reading, Pennsylvania. In the meanwhile he took a special post-graduate course in gynecology in the medical department of the University of Maryland. In 1889 the Doctor located in Fort Wayne, where he has since been established in active practice as a physician and surgeon and where he has risen to prominence as an able representative of his exacting profession. He is held in high regard by his professional contemporaries and is a member of the Allen County Medical Society, of which he was president in 1900, and he is also identified with the Fort Wayne Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. At the time of this writing the Doctor is a member of the board of censors of the Fort Wayne Medical Society, while he also holds the preferment of president of the United States board of pensionexamining surgeons for Allen county, and is medical examiner for a number of the leading life-insurance companies doing business in Indiana, notably the following named: Union Central, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Metropolitan Life, of New York; Travelers', of Hartford, Connecticut; Michigan Mutual, of Detroit, Michigan; Illinois Life, of Chicago; Franklin Life, of Springfield, Illinois; Equitable Insurance Company, of Des Moines, Iowa; the New York Casualty and United States Casualty Companies, of New York, and the Great Eastern Casualty and Indemnity Company, of New York.

In politics Dr. Bower gives an unqualified allegiance to the Republican party, while both he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church. He is a Knight Templar and a Scottish Rite Mason and is also affliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

On the 7th of November, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Bower to Miss Florence Kelly, of Reading, Pennsylvania, who died on the 19th of September, 1901, leaving one child, Clara. On the 26th of December, 1904, the Doctor wedded Miss Lillian L. Weld, of Guthrie Center, Iowa, and she presides most graciously over their pleasant home in Fort Wayne.

The lineage of this well known and substantial farmer of Wayne township, Allen county, traces back to Scottish derivation, and he bears a name which has been identified with American history since the seventeenth century, while he is also a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Allen county, where he has passed practically his entire life.

The founder of the family in Indiana was Joseph Hamilton Mc- Maken, grandfather of the subject. He was born in Monmouth, Kentucky, in 1787, and from his native state removed to Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio. He served with distinction as a soldier in the war of 1812, during the progress of which he was for a time stationed at Fort Wayne, which was then but a frontier post. In the spring of 1832 he removed from Ohio to Allen county, Indiana, and settled in Fort Wayne, where he was engaged in the hotel business for a number of years, while as a citizen he wielded much influence and was held in high regard in the community, having been a man of forceful individuality and leaving a distinct impress upon the public activities of the town and county. He was one of the first supervisors of Wayne township and one of the early judges of the local courts. This honored pioneer removed to Burlington, Iowa, in 1857, and the Hawkeye state thereafter continued to be his place of residence until he was called to his final reward. In politics he was originally an old-line Whig, but he espoused the cause of the Republican party at the time of its organization and thereafter was a firm advocate of its principles. The maiden name of his wife, who died in Fort Wayne, was Moore, and she was a representative of one of the twenty-two families which founded the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, whither the original ancestors removed from the state of Pennsylvania.

Concerning Joseph Gettys McMaken, father of the subject, we record that he was born in Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, and there passed his boyhood days, while he accompanied his parents on their removal to Fort Wayne, in 1832. Though his educational advantages were somewhat limited, in the academic sense, he was possessed of such alert mentality and such appreciative determination that he was enabled to overcome the handicap, becoming a man of advanced ideas and much business acumen. He was one of the first general contractors in Fort Wayne, while he did a large business in the way of contract teaming, especially in the handling of government supplies for the Indians. He became the owner of a large tract of farming land in the county and was a substantial and honored citizen. He joined the Republican party at the time of its organization and ever afterward gave a zealous support to its principles, while he was called to serve in various local offices of public trust and responsibility. He continued to reside in Allen county until his death, which occurred on the 13th of December, 1864. His wife, whose maiden name was Dorothy Ruch, was born in Alsace, Germany, and was eleven years of age at the time of her parents' immigration to America. She survived her husband by many years, having passed away on the 8th of August, 1899, at a venerable age. Of the twelve children of this union two died in infancy, and of the others we enter brief record as follows: Henry C. is a prominent farmer of Wayne township and is individually mentioned on other pages of this work; William B. is the immediate subject of this sketch; Joseph H. resides on the old homestead farm, in Washington township; Sarah J. is the wife of Sylvester Coleman, of Wayne township; Anna M. is a valued teacher in the Fort Wayne public schools; Adelia A. is deceased; Lewis C. died in childhood; John C. F. is a farmer of Washington township; and Franklin A. is a resident of Fort Wayne.

William B. McMaken, to whom this review is dedicated, was born in Adams township, Allen county, Indiana, on the 22d of May, 1846, the place of his birth having been the homestead farm, four miles east of Fort Wayne. He was afforded a good commonschool education and remained on the home farm until there came to him the call of higher duty, when the integrity of the Union was imperiled through armed rebellion. On the rst of January, 1864, he enlisted as a private in Company B, One Hundred and Twentyninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel Zollinger, while General Hovey was the brigade commander during the entire time the regiment was at the front. Among the principal engagements in which Mr. McMaken took part may be mentioned the following; Resaca; Kenesaw Mountain; the work in the right of the city of Atlanta during the siege; Lovejoy Station; Columbia, Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee; and Kingston, North Carolina. In the battle of Kenesaw Mountain Mr. McMaken received a severe flesh wound from a rifle ball, but he bravely bound up the wound and continued on his way, not leaving the ranks and continuing at the post of duty without interruption. The wound was sufficiently deep to leave a scar for all time. After the battle of Nashville the command marched to the Tennessee river and thence proceeded up the Ohio river to Cincinnati, from which point the regiment was sent to the city of Washington and on to Beaufort, North Carolina, while it reached Fort Anderson, that state, two hours after the engagement. The command joined Sherman's forces at Raleigh and the lines were drawn up in expectation of a battle, but the engagement did not come, as Johnston surrendered. The brigade then marched to Charlotte, North Carolina, to hold the territory, and there remained until August 29, 1865, when its members were mustered out, and our subject returned home by way of Petersburg, City Point and Baltimore, reaching Fort Wayne on the 15th of September and having been at the post of duty and in active service for a period of twenty-two months, save for a furlough of thirty days, which he passed at home. He received his honorable discharge as corporal of his company, having been chosen to this office after the battle of Resaca and having served in the same until the close of the war. On one occasion he was assigned to detail duty in guarding division rations, and the little detail was surrounded by Confederate guerillas, who were finally repulsed, though word had gone to regimental headquarters that all men in the detail had been killed. One of the members was captured by the enemy and was hanged. A great loss and bereavement was suffered by our subject during his absence at the front, as his honored father passed

After the close of the war Mr. McMaken turned his attention to work at the carpenter's trade and thereafter was employed by the Wabash Railroad Company about four years - up to the time of his marriage, which was celebrated in 1874. Since that time he has given his attention almost entirely to agricultural pursuits, having taken up his residence on his present farm about the year 1878, the same being a portion of the old homestead of his father-in-law, while for eight years he had operative control of the entire homestead. His present farm embraces one hundred acres of fine land and is recognized as one of the best farms in the county, being situated in section 29, Wayne township, four and three-fourth miles southwest of the city of Fort Wayne, on No. 8 rural mail route. In 1890 Mr. McMaken erected his present commodious and attractive modern residence, while all other buildings on the place are of the best order. He gives his attention to diversified farming and makes a specialty of market gardening, placing his horticultural products with the wholesale groceries and doing a large business in this line. Mr. McMaken is a man of progressive ideas and brings to bear in the management of his farm the most approved and scientific methods and accessories, so that he secures the maximum returns from the labors and funds expended. His horticultural products are of specially high standard and find a ready market at top prices. About eighteen acres of land which had been pronounced worthless he has reclaimed by effective drainage, utilizing the same for the raising of corn, potatoes, etc., and finding it one of the most productive sections of his farm. The expense incurred in the installation of the drainage system has been paid several times over from the products of the land thus reclaimed.

Mr. McMaken has never found it expedient to take an active part in political matters and has never been an aspirant for public office, though he is a stalwart supporter of the principles of the Republican party. He is affiliated with General Lawton Post, No. 590, Grand Army of the Republic, in Fort Wayne, and for nearly forty years he has been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, holding membership in Harmony Lodge, No. 19 while both he and his wife are members of the allied organization, the Daughters of Rebekah. Mrs. McMaken is a prominent and valued member of Sion Bass Woman's Relief Corps, No. 7, of which she is past president. Their church relations are with the Methodist Episcopal church.

On the r2th of February, 1874, Mr. McMaken was united in marriage to Miss Deborah Robertson, daughter of John and Susan (Banks) Robertson, the former of whom was born in Botetourt county, Virginia, and the latter in Montgomery county, same state, while their marriage was solemnized in Darke county, Ohio, to which state their respective parents had removed when Mr. and Mrs. Robertson were children. Thomas Robertson, the paternal grandtather of Mrs. McMaken, was one of the honored pioneers of Darke county, Ohio. In 1850 John Robertson came with his family to Allen county and settled on Indian reserve land, in Lafayette township, the tract being entirely unreclaimed from the forest. In the primitive cabin home on this place were born three of his children. After remaining there for somewhat more than two years he removed to Wayne township and passed four years on the farm now occupied by the home for feeble-minded. He then purchased two | hundred and forty acres of canal land and instituted its development and improvement, and of this tract the fine farm now owned by his son-in-law, the subject of this sketch, is an integral part. The hewed-log house which he erected on the place is still standing and is incorporated in the modern residence of his daughter, Mrs. Ruth Cunnison. Mr. Robertson accumulated other farm land in the county, and his home at the time of his death was the old McNear homestead, on the Huntington road, Wayne township, where he died on the 20th of August, 1886, at the age of sixty-seven years, three months and eighteen days. His wife died on Christmas day, 1901, at the age of seventy-eight years, eleven months and twentyone days. The latter was a devoted member of the Wayne street Methodist Episcopal church, in Fort Wayne. Mr. Robertson was a man of prominence and influence in his community, was a stanch Republican in politics but never sought official preferment. Of the twelve children of Mr. and Mrs. Robertson four are living, namely: Martha, who is the widow of Dr. Samuel Humphreys and who re- sides in Riverside, California; Deborah, who is the wife of the subject of this review; Lydia R., who is the wife of Charles Bennett, of Chapman, Kansas; and Ruth A., who is the wife of George Cunnison, of Santa Cruz, California. Mr. and Mrs. McMaken have two children, William G., who is cashier in the offices of the International Harvester Company at Buffalo, New York; and Clinton R., who is associated with his father in the work and management of the home farm. Both sons received good educational advantages, Clinton having completed a course in business college but finding ample scope for his efforts in connection with the great ~basic industries with which he continued to be identified.