LaPorte County, Indiana - Chapter 16: Enterprising Men, 1904

Besides those mentioned in the preceding chapter, a very early arrival in .Michigan City was that of POLASKI KING, then a boy of a little over twelve years of age. He was born in Onondaga Valley, New York, February 25, 1823, where he resided and worked on a farm and at¬ tended a district school until the summer of 1834, when he went to Utica to live with his sister, Mrs. J. S. Castle. He attended school in Utica during the winter of 1834-35, and in the spring he left Utica in company with the Castle family who were coming to Michigan City, to establish a newspaper. In June, 1835, the family arrived at their place of destination, where Polaski be¬ came printer's devil in the office of the new paper, preforming all the duties which belong to that occupation. Though he ever afterward cherished the kindest memories of his position, he did. not remain long in the printing business. From 1836 to 1838 he did some clerking, and attended school a part of the time. He was carefully instructed by his teachers, especially in writing, bookkeep¬ ing and general business, which, with great na¬ tive ability, prepared him for what proved to be his life work. Mr. King's first clerking was done in the stores of Mr. Chittenden and T. J. Field, where Mr. John Hutchinson took special pains in teaching the young man the principles and practice of business. These men soon went out of business and young King worked about at odd jobs until July, 1838. when he entered the store of C. B. and L. Blair, as a clerk, determined to succeed. The Blairs were well pleased with his services, but in the spring of 1839 he left their employ and went to Canal Winchester in Ohio, to clerk in the store of his brother. Owing to ill health his brother sold out in the fall of 1840, and Polaski went to Cleveland and boarded with his oldest brother and went to school to a Mr. Battie ; but having a taste for business, and the Blairs being anxious for him to re-enter their employ, he left Cleveland in the spring of 1841, and re¬ turned to Michigan City, and on May 3rd return¬ ed to the store of C. B. and L. Blair as clerk. He remained with them until the spring of 1845, when he formed a partnership with Mr. H. P. Holbrook under the firm name of Holbrook & King, the business being that of a general store. They also had stores at New Buffalo and a store at LaPorte, the latter under the supervision of Mr. A. D. Porter. The first store at New Buffalo was sold to Stuart and Adams, and the second to Alonzo Bement. In the spring of 1849, when the last store at New Buffalo was sold, Mr. Holbrook took charge of the store at Mich¬ igan City, and Mr. King of the one at LaPorte, which had been running since 1846. In the spring of 1850 Mr. King bought the interest of Mr. Holbrook at Michigan City and became sole proprietor of the business, and remained in it continuously until he retired. He became one of the pioneer business men of LaPorte and also put up several buildings ; first a brick store which he occupied twelve years, then a still larger store.

also occupied by himself, a substantial brick dwelling house for his own home, and several cottages. His grandfather on his mother's side was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. Mr. King was an Episcopalian, confirmed by Bishop Upfold. He married Cornelia, the daughter of H. P. and Mary Ann Holbrook, on July 1, 1847, Bishop Kemper performing the ceremony in the church at Michigan City. Mr. King was an active participant in many public enterprises, literary, scientific, political and religious. He was a most useful man to the county. Though living in LaPorte, he still had a deep interest in the af¬ fairs of Michigan City. He was a member of the Hermitage Club, at whose beautiful lake side home he gave a banquet a few years before he died to the members of the press, in memory of his own connection with that business. As an instance illustrating his character, during the Spanish war a clergyman then settled in LaPorte lost his son in that struggle, and by order of priority among the ministers of the place it fell to the writer to solicit subscriptions to enable him to go east after the son's remains. The writer had just obtained a contribution in a certain store, when Mr. King came in, to whom he represented the case. "Well," said Mr. King, looking up in his peculiar way, "well, Til see, I'll see." The writer did not know him then, and supposed that the reply was just what it usually is in such cases - a polite way of saying no, and letting the solici¬ tor down easy ; he expected never to hear from Mr. King again concerning the matter. Judge of his surprise, therefore, when on the following day Mr. King took the trouble to drive to the writer's home and made a good contribution, pay¬ ing the money. That little incident spoke vol¬ umes concerning Mr. King's character. If any one wishes to meet with some surprising revela¬ tions of character, let him solicit subscriptions under such circumstances. The writer had some revelations from different persons that day, which he will always remember.

Among the early enterprising men of Michi¬ gan City should be included JOHN BARKER, who came of an old New England family whose Puritan charasteristics, qualified by rational prog¬ ress. constitute some of the best material possi¬ ble {or the making of new cities. Mr. Barker was bom at Andover, Massachusetts, December 14,

1814. His father was a prosperous farmer of Essex county and a man of much influence, so¬ cially and politically, in his immediate locality. The son was the youngest of a family of eleven children, eight sons and three daughters. In boyhood he attended the common school, and later Phillips Academy at Andover, and was very thorough in his use of all the advantages vrhich those schools afforded. He left home at the age of eighteen and entered the store of James Noyes, at Haverhill, Massachusetts, where he served an apprenticeship of three years, learning the details of a mercantile business. From the time of leaving his father's farm he relied entirely upon his own resources, receiving little financial assistance. With the knowledge and experience he had obtained, he sought a broader field in the west. After short engagements in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, as a clerk in drygoods houses, he located in Michigan City, in the spring of 1836, and formed a partnership with his cousin, Jacob Carter, to carry on a general mercantile busi¬ ness, under the firm name of Carter & Barker. It was a general store containing all articles needed by the pioneers and also goods demanded by the Indians, who were then numerous. At the end of three years Mr. Barker purchased the interest of Mr. Carter and formed a partnership with William Best, under the firm name of Barker & Best, which was continued for several years, until the ill health of Mr. Best made his retirement necessary. Mr. Barker continued the business alone until 1852 and then associated C. E. De- Wolf with himself as partner. In 1854 he sold his interest in the store and retired from general merchandising. For sometime his business en¬ ergies were devoted to the purchase, storage and shipment of grain, for which he had an elevator of his own, and a pier which he constructed to facilitate operations. Railroads had just made their advent, but as yet they had not interfered seriously with water transportation, which was Mr. Barker's reliance for shipping grain to the eastern market. But railroads were pushing their way westward, and sagacious men saw that there would be a demand in that region for rolling stock. In 1852 Messrs. Mason G. Sherman, Fred¬ erick Haskell and Hiram Aldridge came from Ogdensburg, New York, to Michigan City for the purpose of manufacturing railroad cars, and started a factory. The business was conducted by the firm as then organized until 1855, when Mr. Barker bought an interest amounting to onethird of the whole, and became actively identified with the business. Mr. Sherman retired and the firm name was changed to that of Haskell, Barker & Aldridge. In 1858 the interest of Mr. Al¬ dridge was purchased by the other two members of the firm which now took the name of Haskell & Barker until 1871, when it was incorporated under the name of the Haskell & Barker Car Company. Thus was laid the foundation of a con¬ cern which soon became, and which remains, the largest business interest of the place, which has contributed very materially to its upbuilding, and any serious misfortune to which would be a sad blow to Michigan City. The business felt the general depression and suspension of manufact¬ ures throughout the country in 1857. But it emerged from the panic in 1862, since which time though there have been fluctuations, there has been no break in its prosperity. It is one of the largest institutions of its class in the United States, employing two thousand men. Mr. Bar¬ ker's active connection with the business ceased on the advent into the concern of his son, Hon. John H. Barker, now the president of the com¬ pany. Mr. John Barker moved to Chicago in 1869 and made investments in various enterprises there, seeking such dispositions of his capital as would not require his continued personal atten¬ tion, that he might obtain relief from the cares of a long, active and extensive business career.

He was married in 1842 to Miss Cordelia E. Collamer, of Sandy Hill, New York, whom he first met when she was visiting her brother, Dan¬ vers G. Collamer, then cashier of a bank in Mich¬ igan City. Of the union were bom five children, the first of whom died in infancy ; the second is Hon. John H. Barker, the present head of the car works. The third son, George Tyler, born in 1846, died February 24, 1852. Wallace C., who was born in 1848, was drowned from a yacht in Chicago, June 1, 1878. The only daughter be¬ came Mrs. Ann B. Austin, of Chicago.

Mr. Barker passed away in Chicago, March 22, 1878, and his remains were buried in Green¬ wood cemetery in Michigan City, the city wherein most of his adult life was passed, and which was the scene of his greatest activity and success in business. His widow survived him until Decem¬

Mr. Barker was a man of strict integrity and broad capacity for commercial business, careful and prudent, with a first-class reputation, study¬ ing the wants of his customers. His practical, hard common sense and knowledge of trade en¬ abled him to avoid the losses which so often wreck tradesmen embarking in business in new countries. He had good judgment, tenacity of purpose, foresight, and public spirit. He was president of the Michigan City Harbor Company from its organization until its dissolution after having accomplished its purpose of constructing a safe and capacious harbor. He belonged to that class of men whose energy and ability de¬ velop the resources of a state, whose generous deeds and honorable dealings make friends, and whose kindly disposition and domestic traits make happy homes.

Another of Michigan City's pioneer and en¬ terprising men was HARVEY TRUESDELL. He came to the place in 1836 when it was a mere hamlet, and engaged in business there as a mer¬ chant and continued a resident of the county until the date of his death, May 17, 1893, covering in all a period of fifty-seven years of active life. He came while in his young manhood, courageous, honest, resourceful and self-reliant, and was iden¬ tified with both Michigan City and LaPorte dur¬ ing the early history of these cities, ending his long and useful career in a rich and prosperous community, to the development of which he had contributed his full share. He was bom in Gilbertsville, New York, December 28, 1813. He made good use of his educational advantages and at the age of seventeen wasateacher in the schools of his native county. He engaged successfully in this calling until 1834, when he went to Ham¬ ilton, Ontario, and engaged in commercial pur¬ suits. He remained as a clerk in that city until 1836, when his active temperment led him to seek a broader field of enterprise in what was then the far west. At that time there were no railroads west of the Alleghany mountains, and water transportation was considered the one thing most essential to the building up of a city, provided it had tributary to it a sufficiently large area of fertile country. This consideration led Mr. Trues- dell to locate in Michigan City. A broad expanse of country, rich in resources, stretched away to the center of the state, and this region was rapidly being settled by an industrious farming popula¬ tion. Michigan City seemed to be the natural market for their products and promised to be¬ come a trade center of some importance. The one factor which these men of enterprise did not con¬ sider was, the rapid spread of railroads and their immense carrying capacity. Attracted to Michi¬ gan City by the outlook, Mr. Truesdell located here and opened a drygoods store of the pioneer kind, and continued the business successfully for six years. During this period he formed the ac¬ quaintance of Miss Katharine Tyron, whose fa¬ ther, David Tyron, had also settled in Michigan City in 1836, and in 1838 they were married in Trinity Episcopal church by the Rev. D. V. M. Johnson, first rector of the parish, afterward a noted clergyman of Brooklyn, New York. Four years later - in 1842 - Mr. Truesdell removed to LaPorte and at once became actively interested in the building up of this city. He at once be¬ came proprietor of the LaPorte Hotel, one of the famous old hostelries of northern Indiana, a land¬ mark long remembered by those who traveled over the old stage route between Detroit and Chi¬ cago. Mr. Truesdell also operated a stage line between South Bend and Michigan City, an im¬ portant feature of which was the carrying of the United States mails. In this dual capacity he be¬ came a familiar figure to the traveling public, as well as to the pioneers of northern Indiana ; few were more widely or more favorably known. The various enterprises in which he engaged pros¬ pered under his skillful management, and the keen foresight and good judgment with which nature had endowed him prompted judicious and profitable investments, so that while still a com¬ paratively young man he was able to retire from active business pursuits. As a citizen of LaPorte he was among the promoters of some of its most important public enterprises. He was one of the founders of the state bank, and one of the originators of the Pine Lake Cemetery Association, of which he served as president for twenty years. St. Paul's Episcopal church was also indebted largely to him for its prosperity. For twenty years he was senior warden of this church, and was officially identified with its organization. In the history of the city he took a prominent part in the conduct and management of its municipal affairs, and during the Civil war he was a staunch supporter of the Union, actively identified with local move¬ ments calculated to aid in the suppression of the rebellion. But he interested himself in public and political affairs only to the extent of dis¬ charging the duties of good citizenship, and was never a seeker after political preferment. He found his. chief enjoyment in the domestic circle, where his relations were of an ideal character. His children are Charles H. Truesdell, a member of the LaPorte county bar, Mrs. Walter Vail, of Michigan City, and Miss Mary K. Truesdell, of LaPorte. He was physically a well preserved man to the last ; he grew old gracefully until he finally yielded to the burden of years.

One of the prominent men identified with the business interests of northern Indiana for nearly half a century was OFFLEY LEEDS, who lo¬ cated in Michigan City in 1837. He was born in Newton county. New Jersey, in 1798, the son of a farmer in moderate circumstances, and one of a family of twelve children. He grew to man¬ hood on the farm, acquiring the rudiments of an education in the public schools. His father's family were Friends, he was brought up in that faith, and the effects of its peaceable principles could be seen in his character. He was gentle to his children, kind in personal intercourse, hon¬ est in dealing, and thrifty in life. While very young he taught school in winter and saved his meager salary. He raised grain on his father's farm and saved the proceeds of his crop. From these two sources he accumulated a small capital with which he embarked in mercantile business in his early manhood at Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Prudence and care in business brought him suc¬ cess, and he added to his capital year after year until he met with his first misfortune. A vessel which bore a large shipment of goods consigned to him from Philadelphia, was wrecked and the entire stock was dost. As it had been purchased largely on credit, the disaster fell on him with greater severity. Nothing daunted, however, he waited on his creditors in Philadelphia and in¬ formed them of the true condition of his affairs. He could promise to pay only in case they would sell him another stock of goods on credit, and wait until he realized the money for the sales.

Such was the reputation which he had established for integrity and business capacity, that they gave him the credit asked for. And yet there are those who would tell us that honesty is not the best policy. The extra stock of goods was bought and in due time Mr. Leeds paid for it according to promise. His trade extended and in a few years he had accumulated considerable property. When trade was most prosperous he sold his business advantageously and removed to Staten Island, New York, where he engaged for a few years in milling, with the same good fortune which had before attended him. In 1837 he mar¬ ried Miss Charlotte Ridgeway, whose relatives were among the honored families forming the early settlement of LaPorte county. The same year he sold his milling interests on Staten Island and removed to Michigan City with a stock of merchandise and opened a general store. He first endeavored to procure a building in LaPorte for the purposes of his store, but failing in this he located in the lake city. His stock was shipped by way of the Hudson river, the Erie canal and the lakes to Chicago, and thence to Michigan City which then promised to be a commercial port of large proportions. His mercantile business con¬ tinued with marked success and unbroken pros¬ perity until 1852. He became widely known throughout the tributary trade region and was able to amass a comfortable fortune, as wealth was then estimated. The investment of his sur¬ plus profits as they accrued, in the purchase of lots and the erection of houses, was the basis of a still larger fortune. He began early to buy and improve property, with unfaltering faith in the growth of the harbor city. His enterprise in¬ augurated and completed many of the most valu¬ able improvements of those early times, some of which remain as land marks and conspicuous mon¬ uments of his public spirit and foresight. After closing out his mercantile business he became in¬ terested in extensive flouring mills and other en¬ terprises outside of Michigan City. For many years he was one of the directors of the State Bank of Indiana. His family consisted of two sons and a daughter, the only survivor of which, W. O. Leeds, became a business man of Michi¬ gan City. After a well rounded life of three score and ten years, Mr. Offley Leeds passed away, in his comfortable home, in 1877, leaving

Another enterprising man who was identified with the business interests of Michigan City was CHARLES E. DeWOLFE, who was bom in Wolfeville, Nova Scotia, March 6, 1814; at eight¬ een years of age he went to St. Andrews, New Brunswick, and engaged in mercantile business for four years. In the fall of 1836 he moved to Toledo, Ohio, where he remained one year, and then came to Porter county, Indiana, where in 1841, he engaged in mercantile business in Val¬ paraiso. He continued in this business until 1850, when he moved to Michigan City, where he afterward resided. Here he began business anew and after some years had one of the largest drygoods and notion houses in the city. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank, of which he was a stockholder and director, and of which he became president. He was married near Valparaiso in April, 1840, to Miss Mary E. Baum, and to the union several children were born. He was one of the organizers and stock¬ holder in the Michigan City Harbor Company, organized for the building and improvement of the harbor of that place, and remained a director of that institution until the company turned over the harbor to the United States government. Mr. DeWolfe held $3,000 of the stock of the company. The government has never refunded any of the moneys spent by the company for the improve¬ ment of the harbor, and the company never re¬ ceived anything from any source on the stock invested. This company was organized for the good of the public and received its return only in the public benefit. Mr. DeWolfe also platted and laid out DeWolfe's South Addition to the city, containing about seventy acres which is now largely built over with residences. He was not actively identified with secret societies nor with the church; his energies were spent in business. He was a very public-spirited man and was iden¬ tified with every movement for the improvement and advancement of the interests of the county and city, and his name is frequently heard today associated with such movements. He never sought office and rather felt an aversion therefor but such was his standing in the community that if he had consented to the use of his name he

MR. GEORGE AMES was also one of the oldest settlers and one of the most enterprising men of Michigan City. He was born in Massa¬ chusetts, January 30, 1804. His early life was spent on the farm ; from the farm he went into the blacksmith shop and the shovel works. He came to this county in 1834 and located at Michi¬ gan City, where he made some purchases of real estate and began building. His health being poor he took passage on a fishing vessel for the coast of Labrador and spent some time visiting the tribes along the coast. In 1835 from this city to Washington, D. C., on horseback, making the trip in twenty-seven days. He engaged in the mercantile business in Michigan City in 1835, m connection with Mr. Fisher, the firm being known as Fisher, Ames & Company, which business they continued but a short time. He then bought out the proprietor of the drug store and in partner¬ ship with Mr. Holliday continued in that busi¬ ness for over thirty years. He was one of the first directors of the National Bank, and became its president. He owned a number of dwellings and stores, and was one of Michigan City's wealthiest men. He was married in 1849 t0 Miss Elizabeth B. Banks, of Massachusetts. He held the office of mayor several terms, and that of councilman six years. He was always a publicspirited man and many of the best improvements of the city were due to his untiring efforts. Not¬ ably among these were the improvements which he made on the high school grounds at his own expense and under his own supervision. Through successive years he set out choice trees on those grounds by the hundreds, for which he received the gratitude of the scholars and of his fellow ' citizens. At the high school commencement in 1879, the children presented him a gold-headed cane in token of their appreciation of his efforts in this direction. He also contributed largely to the fund for the improvement of the harbor, and spent much time and money in getting up peti¬ tions to Congress and in soliciting aid in behalf of the enterprise.