Charles L. Strey, Jr., was born in the City of Chicago, Illinois, January 30, 1886, and is a son of Charles L. and Martha (Putsig) Strey, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Germany, their children having been five in number. Charles L. Strey, Sr., became a resident of Chicago in the year 1868, and he was long and prominently associated with the lumber industry, besides serving as purchasing agent for the America Car & Foundry Company, one of the important industrial corporations of Chicago.
Senator Strey supplemented the training of the Chicago public schools by a technical course in Lewis Institute, which is one of the prominent educational institutions of that city. His preparation for the legal profession was mainly obtained through the medium of night schools, and he gained admission to the Indiana bar after establishing his residence at Wabash, the county seat and industrial capital of Wabash County.
At the age of twenty years, in 1906, Senator Strey initiated his association with the lumber and box-manufacturing business, by assuming the position of bookkeeper and office manager for a lumber concern at Labranche, Menominee County, Michigan. Two years later he thence went to Northern Wisconsin, where he became auditor and office manager for a lumber and box-manufacturing corporation at Menominee. He was thus engaged until 1913, when he resigned his position and established his residence in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he became eastern sales manager for a leading western lumber company. In 1916 he returned to Chicago, where he became vice president and general manager of the R. T. Feltus Lumber Company. He continued this alliance until 1919, when he established his residence at Wabash, Indiana, where he bas since continued the exclusive sales representative for the Plywood Box Mills, the manufactories of which are established in Northern Michigan. This concern manufactures a fine line of plywood boxes and other containers, the products being shipped to all parts of the United States and about 350 carloads being shipped annually. To this important enterprise Senator Strey devotes the major part of his time and attention as a man of affairs, and his office headquarters are maintained in the building of the Wabash County Loan & Trust Company.
Senator Strey has been active and influential in the councils of the Republican party during the period of his residence at Wabash, and he was Republican nominee for representative of Wabash County in the State Legislature in 1926, but was defeated. In 1928 he was elected to the State Senate, and he initiated his active service in the legislative session of 1929, his term expiring in 1933. He has proved a resourceful working member of the Senate, active in the deliberations of the floor and the committee-room, and among the committees to which he has assigned membership are those on manufacturing, labor and roads. He was in Chicago in the World war period and was there active in loyal service in furthering the sale of Government war bonds, as well as in the Red Cross campaigns. He is an appreciative and valued member of the Wabash Chamber of Commerce and was the second to serve as vice president of the Community Service Association of this city. He was investigator in connection with the establishing of the proposed Frances Slocum Park in Wabash County; and has continued a zealous and enthusiastic worker in behalf of this projected and historically consistent state park. He is active affiliated with the local Blue Lodge and Chapter of the Masonic fraternity.
At Wabash was solemnized the marriage of Senator Strey to Miss Dolia Elizabeth Jones, who was born and reared in Wabash County. She attended Earlham College, of Richmond, Indiana, and was graduated from the Stout Institute of Menomonie, Wisconsin, after leaving school and prior to her marriage she lectured on domestic science for several years. Martha Alice, elder of the two children of this union, is a student in the Wabash High School, and Charles Lawrence III is here attending the junior high school at the time this sketch is in preparation, in 1930.
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INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
RODNEY HIRAM BAYLESS after his admission to the bar first practiced at South Bend, moving from there to Peru, where he has become established as a reliable and competent attorney and leader in civic affairs.
Mr. Bayless was born at Jacksonville, Illinois, December 7, 1887. His father, Benjamin F. Bayless, was a native of New York State, served with the Fourth New York Heavy Artillery in the Civil war, and after the close of the war moved to Illinois. He was a business man, interested in politics and gave his unusual ability as a public speaker to the support of his political friends, one of whom was William Jennings Bryan, and Benjamin Bayless went all over the State of Illinois campaigning for the eloquent Nebraskan. Benjamin Bayless married Bell M. Cassady, who was born in Illinois.
Rodney H. Bayless after graduating from high school attended Valparaiso University and completed his legal education in Indiana University, graduating LL. B. in 1913. He was admitted to the Indiana bar that year and for four years practiced at South Bend. In 1917 he moved to Peru, where he has gained a busy general law practice. He is a member of the Miami County and Indiana State Bar Associations and is now a member of the county Democratic committee.
He was rejected for army duty during the World war and spent much of his time as a member of the legal advisory board and in assisting in the bond and other drives. Mr. Bayless is a member of the Episcopal Church and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and Fraternal Order of Eagles. He married Miss Esther Elizabeth Beck, who was born at Peru, Indiana. They have two children, Benjamin Franklin and Rodney Herbert, both attending school at Peru.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
ARTHUR HERMAN SCOPE is a member of the Scope Brothers Plumbing & Heating Company of South Bend. Mr. Scope is a thoroughly practical man in his line of business, the work he took up when a youth, and his wide experience and close study of the science of sanitary engineering have made him a master of his craft.
Mr. Scope was born in South Bend, April 15, 1891, son of E. Herman and Henrietta (Wiegand) Scope, early settlers of South Bend, both now deceased. Mr. Scope was educated in the grammar and high schools of South Bend and in 1908 began his apprenticeship in plumbing and heating engineering with W. H. Burke & Company. In 1913 he began his career as a journeyman plumber, and during the next ten years he did work on large and small contracts allover Northern Indiana. In 1924 he and his brother Otto established their business as the Scope Brothers Plumbing & Heating Company, with shops and warerooms at 1515 Portage Avenue.
Mr. Scope is a recognized leader in his business district in South Bend. He is president of the Northwest Business Men's Association. He is affiliated with the independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a past vice president of the South Bend Society of Sanitary Engineers. Mr. Scope was captain of the Strongheart football team in 1911. This team were champions of semi-professional football for northern Indiana in 1911.
Mr. Scope married, August 11, 1913, Miss Frieda M. Schmuck. She was born in Germany and was brought to South Bend at the age of ten years by her parents. They have four children, Gerald Wilbur, Virginia Elaine, Wilma Janet and Winifred Jean.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
OTTO PAUL SCOPE is a native of South Bend, and for some years has been actively associated with a well known business organization of that city, the Scope Brothers Plumbing & Heating Company.
He was born July 14, 1895, a son of E. Herman and Henrietta (Wiegand) Scope. His parents were born in Germany. E. Herman Scope was born in Saxony, July 18, 1857, and came direct to South Bend in 1875, having received military training in the German army during his youth. He was a cabinet maker by trade, and was employed by some of the prominent industries of South Bend for many years. He died November 28, 1924. His wife had come to the United States alone at the age of sixteen. She passed away May 15, 1923. Of her eight children five are living.
Otto Paul Scope was educated in the grade and public schools of South Bend and in the South Bend Business College. Up to 1924, his business time was spent in office work, and in that year he joined his brother Arthur H. in the Scope Brothers Plumbing & Heating Company. They have a complete organization, including office, show room and shop at 1515 Portage Avenue. Mr. Scope has entire charge of the office end of the business, while his brother is superintendent of construction.
Mr. Otto Scope is unmarried. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the South Bend Society of Sanitary Engineers and. the German Zion's Evangelical Church, being a leader of its Men's Bible Class. As hobbies he confesses to a particular interest in Indiana history and baseball.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
JAY B. WILES, manager and industrial commissioner for the Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, began his career as a railroad man, and has had some interesting and effective experience in Chamber of Commerce work both as an administrator and organizer in different sections of the country.
Mr. Wiles was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, February 3, 1885. He graduated from the Altoona High School, following which for fifteen years he was an employee of the Pennsylvania Railway Company at Altoona. He left there to engage in Chamber of Commerce work, being for two years located at Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, and for a year and a half with the Chamber of Commerce at Parkersburg, West Virginia. During that time he organized the State of West Virginia in behalf of the $50,000,000 Good Roads Constitutional Amendment. For three years after leaving West Virginia he was with the Chamber of Commerce at Portsmouth, Ohio, and subsequently was general sales manager for the American City Bureau of Chicago. For three years he was manager and industrial commissioner for the Chamber of Commerce at Binghamton, New York.
Fort Wayne has been fortunate in securing the services of such a capable and widely experienced man to take charge of its Chamber of Commerce in the industrial department. He has written a number of articles, chiefly along business and Chamber of Commerce lines. His hobbies are reading, motoring and golf.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
ELMER WALTER BAUMGARTNER, cashier of the Bank of Berne is a native of Adams County, but, like many other men in that community, is descended from sterling Swiss ancestors, pioneer colonists who came from the Canton of Bern, Switzerland in the early days and transferred a large part of their Swiss culture and other sturdy characteristics to this community.
Mr. Baumgartner was born in Wabash Township of Adams County, April 18, 1890. His paternal grandparents were Peter and Verena (Basinger) Baumgartner, both natives of the Canton of Bern, Switzerland. His grandfather was born in 1814 and died in 1882, while his grandmother was born in 1825 and died in 1892. Mr. Baumgartner's father, Christian Wilhelm Baumgartner, was born in French Township, Adams County, Indiana, December 7, 1851. In early life he followed the business of contracting and for forty years made his home on a farm in Wabash Township. After selling his land, in 1913, he moved to Berne and lived retired until his death on June 8, 1925. He is buried in the cemetery at Berne. Christian W. Baumgartner married Caroline N. Riesen, who was born in Allen County, Ohio, and now lives at Berne. She and her husband were married in March, 1879. Her father, Samuel Riesen, was born in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, in 1833, and came to America at an early age. He died in 1898. His wife was Barbara Lora, who was born in Allen County, Ohio, in 1835 and died in 1915. Of the children of Christian W. Baumgartner and wife the oldest is Bertha Emelia, who was born May 9, 1880, and is the wife of J. A. Michaud, a well known auctioneer at Berne. Their four children were all born at Berne: Howard H. Michaud, born in October, 1903, a teacher in the Fort Wayne High School, married Ruth Heffner, of Huntington, Indiana; Lores C. Michaud, born August 7, 1907, is unmarried and is connected with the General Electric Company at Fort Wayne; Marcella, born in 1910, was a student in the North Manchester College at North Manchester, Indiana, and is now a teacher in the Hartford Township Consolidated Schools; Angela, born in 1915, attends school at Berne. The second of the family is Cordelia Emely Baumgartner, who was born in March, 1883, and lives at Berne. Sarah Leah, born in March, 1886, also lives at Berne. Elmer W. is the fourth of the six children. Martha Lena, who was born April 16, 1892, is the wife of C. T. Habegger, secretary and treasurer of the Berne Overall & Shirt Manufacturing Company, and they have a daughter, Christine, born in August, 1919. Martin W. Baumgartner, the youngest, was born May 25, 1895, and is engaged in educational work in Chicago. He married Bernice Bogart, of Bluffton, Ohio, and has two children, Virginia Kay, born in February, 1924, and Betty Lou, born in 1927.
Elmer W. Baumgartner was reared on the old homestead farm in Wabash Township, attending the common and high schools there, followed by a business course in the Bluffton College of Ohio. At the age of twenty-one, in 1911, he began his business career and for eight years was with the hardware firm of Baumgartner Brother & Company. He left that organization to enter the Bank of Berne as assistant cashier, and on July 1, 1928, was promoted to cashier. His obliging disposition and thorough knowledge have been an important factor in the growth and stability of bank.
Mr. Baumgartner married, April 20, 1913, Miss Bertha Lehman, of Berne. She was reared and educated in the schools of Monroe Township, Adams County. Her father, David C. Lehman, was born in Monroe Township, in 1853, and died at Berne, in August, 1930. He was a contractor and farmer. Her mother was Elizabeth Liechty, who was born in 1858 and grew up and received her education in French Township. She died October 4, 1927. Mr. and Mrs. Lehman celebrated their fiftieth or golden wedding anniversary in September, 1927. Mr. and Mrs. Baumgartner have five children: Elaine Elizabeth, born January 28, 1914, a student in the Berne High School; Marjorie Caroline, born February 3, 1917, Eddyth Loraine, born February 14, 1919, Verna Louise, born December 18, 1920 and Howard Elmer, born June 8, 1924, all students in the schools at Berne. The family are all devoted members of the Mennonite Church. Mr. Baumgartner is a Democrat and a member of the Berne Chamber of Commerce.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
CLARENCE RULAND COWGER has recorded nearly a quarter of a century of resourceful and successful achievement as a member of the bar of his native county, where he has been continuously established in active general practice at Monticello, the county seat, since 1908, and in addition to being one of the representative members of the bar of White County he is also a scion, in the third generation, of one of the honored pioneer families of this county.
Mr. Cowger was born in his present home City of Monticello and the date of his nativity was January 21, 1882. He is the only son of Dr. Silas R. and Maria (Ruland) Cowger, the former of whom was born in White County and the latter in the State of Illinois. Doctor Cowger was a son of Randall Cowger, who became one of the prominent pioneer farmers of White County, and was engaged in practice at Monticello, as one of the leading and revered physicians and surgeons of White County, during a period of more than fifty years, within which he gave long service as a member of the Monticello Board of Health. He was graduated in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was a man who lived up to the finest ethics and ideals of the profession in which he gave so prolonged and able service.
Clarence R. Cowger continued his studies in the Monticello public schools until he had duly profited by the curriculum of the high school, and thereafter his higher academic studies were pursued in the University of Indiana until he received therefrom the degree of Bachelor of Arts, class of 1905. In the law department of the university he was graduated as a member of the class of 1908, his admission to the bar having been virtually concomitant with his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and he having forthwith initiated the practice of his profession at Monticello. Here he has long maintained a large and important law business, and his practice has extended into the Indiana Supreme Court. In 1910 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the Thirty-ninth Judicial District, and he has served continuously as city attorney of Monticello since 1911. In his practice he maintains direct affiliations in Indianapolis, and in his native city his finely appointed law offices are established in the Law Building.
Mr. Cowger is a Republican in political adherency, has membership in the White County Bar Association and the Indiana State Bar Association, is affiliated with the Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity, as well as with Murat, Temple of the Mystic Shrine, Indianapolis, and he has membership in the Phi Kappa Psi college fraternity and the Tippecanoe Country Club. The name of Mr. Cowger still appears on the roster of eligible bachelors of his native county.
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INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
AMOS HIRSCHY has for a long term of years been known as a quiet and efficient business man at Berne. His experience has covered the field of banking, insurance and real estate, and to his knowledge he brings an active intelligence and the faculty of applying continuous and straight thinking to every problem intrusted to his care, the result being that his work is not only done well, but done promptly for the convenience of his clients.
Mr. Hirschy was born on a farm in Wabash Township, Adams County, September 25, 1870. His father, Philip Hirschy, was a native of Switzerland and was eleven years of age when he accompanied his mother to America. Philip Hirschy married Mary Richer. Coming to Adams County, he bought land a mile south of Berne, and lived there until his death in 1899. His material possessions were represented by a well improved farm of 320 acres, but he also left a record of duty well performed to his family and community, and a career of probity and honor. He and his wife had nine children.
Amos Hirschy was reared on a farm. When a small child he had an illness which left him physically handicapped for the life of a farmer, and consequently his education was directed with a view to training his mental talents and other capacities. He was educated in the common schools, the high school at Ceylon, and in 1890 finished a business course in the Tri-State Normal College at Angola. Mr. Hirschy for two years was assistant postmaster at Berne and then entered the Bank of Berne, where he remained eleven years, being promoted to the position of teller. While in the bank he began writing insurance, and his work and training as a banker were of great value to him in many ways, not least being the large acquaintance with the people of Berne and the surrounding country. When, in 1901, he resigned from the bank he and J. D. Winteregg formed a partnership in the insurance and real estate business, and in 1905 took offices in the recently completed Bank of Berne block. Since 1912 he has been in business for himself, and during the past thirty years has handled an immense volume of transactions in fire, life, accident and indemnity insurance, in farm loans and in the buying and selling of real estate.
Mr. Hirschy has been a progressive in matters affecting the improvement of Berne as a home and business center. He is an active Democrat and for some years was town clerk of Berne. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and he and his family are active workers in the Mennonite Church.
Mr. Hirschy married, in 1892, Miss Emma Schenbeck, of Berne, daughter of John J. and Barbara Schenbeck, who came to Indiana from Pennsylvania, settling on a farm in Wabash Township, three and a half miles from Berne. Mr. and Mrs. Hirschy are the parents of three children. The oldest, Gertrude, born October 26, 1893,. is the wife of Hugo R. Beitler, a resident of Berne and traveling representative of the Berne Furniture Company; Mr. and Mrs. Beitler's six children, all born at Berne, are: Geraldine, born May 23, 1916, and who died May 3, 1930; Richard, born August 31, 1917, Chester, born November 23, 1918, James, born May 3, 1920, Calvin, born March 19, 1926, and Roger Tell, born December 19, 1929. The second child of Mr. and Mrs. Hirschy is Irvin Arbor, born April 28, 1899. He is now an instructor, with the rank of captain in the Morgan Park Military Academy at Chicago. He married Welma Schug, of Berne. Willard S. Hirschy, the younger son, was born February 6, 1901, is unmarried, and is manager of the Berne branch of the Indiana Service Corporation.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
ALBERT WILLIAM ROLF, JR. The successful operation of an important business enterprise in a thriving city where competition is rife and high standards prevail presupposes the possession of a thorough knowledge of the line engaged in, as well as of shrewd business ability. When these requisites are met in the head of a successful business enterprise, and to them is added the progressive and inquiring tendencies of a younger generation, a harmony should result as gratifying generally as it is financially. Such a combination is found in the plumbing, hot water and steam heating and electric wiring business conducted at Fort Wayne by Albert W. Rolf and his son, Albert W. Rolf, Jr., who are both widely and favorably known in business circles.
Albert Rolf, Jr., was born at Fort Wayne, Indiana, June 26, 1898, and is a son of Albert and Emma (Moeller) Rolf, and a grandson of Ernest Rolf, a native of Germany, who immigrated to the United States in young manhood and settled near Lewis, Vigo County, Indiana, where he passed the remainder of his life in agricultural operations. Albert Rolf, the elder, was born on his father’s farm and secured an education in the public schools. He did not care for a career such as was afforded by the farm, and accordingly applied himself to learning the trade of plumber, which he followed until he was twenty-five years of age, his birth date being October 15, 1868. Coming to Fort Wayne in 1895, he founded a business of his own as a plumber and heating and electric wiring contractor, and for the past thirty years has maintained his business at 1026-28 Broadway, where he carries a full line of bathroom furnishings and plumbing and electrical supplies and fixtures. This is recognized as one of the most reliable concerns in the city and owes its reputation to an honorable policy and to straightforward dealing under all circumstances and conditions. Among its thousands of important contracts may be mentioned the Central Building, Wayne Hotel, Centliver Hotel and Dudlo Manufacturing Company. Mr. Rolf, Sr., was also one of the founders and is president of the Rolf Coal Company, one of the oldest and largest coal companies in the city. He has various civic and fraternal connections and is a leader in public- spirited movements. Mr. Rolf married Miss Emma Moeller, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and they have had four children: Albert W., Jr., of this review; Mildred, the wife of Earl Lowry, of Fort Wayne; Elmer, who is deceased; and Lillian, who resides with her parents.
Albert W. Rolf, Jr., was given his educational training in the public schools of Fort Wayne, and after his graduation from high school became associated with his father in the present business. Like the elder man he has mastered every detail, and at this time supervises all of the contracts, while his father has charge of the office and store. In 1921 Mr. Rolf, Jr., was united in marriage with Miss Marie Lohse, who was born July 4, 1897, at Fort Wayne, a daughter of Richard Lohse, for many years a resident of this city. Mrs. Lohse is now deceased.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
FRANK A. KINTZ. In the broad field of general contracting, sound and practical workmanship, absolute integrity and conscientious fidelity in the matter of living up to the letter of contracts are necessary qualities for the achievement of success in any large city in these modern days of stern and unremitting competition. The possession of these characteristics, with good business judgment and a capacity for handling large undertakings, has served to place the firm of Rump- Kintz Company among the leading building contractors of Fort Wayne, a city which is not lacking in men well qualified for this kind of work. The junior member of the concern, Frank A. Kintz, comes naturally by his vocation, which has been a family one for three generations, and during his career has assisted in the construction of some of Fort Wayne's most substantial and impressive structures.
Mr. Kintz was born at Fort Wayne, September 7, 1878, and is a son of A. W. and Lucia A. (Miller) Kintz. His grandfather, Alexander Kintz, was born in Pennsylvania, where he followed the trade of bricklayer, and in 1844 moved with his family to Fort Wayne, where he continued to be occupied in the same line until his retirement, shortly before his death. A. W. Kintz was born at Somerset, Ohio, in 1842, and was two years of age when brought by his parents to Fort Wayne, where he received his education in a private school. Under the preceptorship of his father he learned the trade of bricklaying, and followed that vocation all of his life at Fort Wayne, where he died in 1918, at the age of seventy-six years. He was a man of high character and honorable principles, and was held in confidence by those who knew him. Mr. Kintz married Lucia A. Miller, who was born at Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1854, and was six years of age when she accompanied her parents to Indiana. She received her education here, and for several years prior to her marriage was engaged in teaching in the public schools of Allen County. She still survives, as a resident of Fort Wayne, where all of her three children live.
The second in order of birth of his parents' children, Frank A. Kintz received his education in the public schools of Fort Wayne, and following the family inclination took up the trade of bricklaying. He also learned the mason's trade, and, being alive to his opportunities, began to take modest contracts on his own account, principally in the way of building brick and stone residences. Through expert workmanship and strict fidelity to his contracts he developed a large enterprise, and in February, 1923, became associated with F. J. Rump, thus forming the present firm of Rump-Kintz Company, with offices in the Medical Arts Building and equipment and work yards on South Wayne Avenue. This concern has completed many contracts at Fort Wayne, among them being such beautiful and substantial structures as the Lutheran Hospital, the Christian Science Church, the Schlatter Building and the Capehart Factory Building. They also have done a great deal of work in towns adjacent to Fort Wayne, and have won their way to well-merited recognition and reputation. Mr. Kintz was also one of the founders and is president of the Old Fort Supply Company, handling building supplies, this being also one of Fort Wayne's substantial enterprises. He has several other connections of a business and civic character and is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Young Men's Christian Association.
On October 4, 1899, Mr. Kintz was united in marriage with Miss Anna V. Kaeck, who was born April 13, 1878, at Fort Wayne, daughter of the late Peter Kaeck, a pioneer of Allen County, who was engaged in farming for many years and was one of the substantial and highly-respected men of his community. To Mr. and Mrs. Kintz there have been born two children: Delbert A., born December 23, 1903, a graduate of Purdue University, who now follows the profession of mechanical engineering at Lafayette, Indiana, and has one son, Robert A.; and Elma L., the wife of Thomas Houlihan, of Fort Wayne, who has two children, Joan and Frank. Mr. and Mrs. Frank A. Kintz reside in a beautiful home at 2424 Florida Drive.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
WILL FRANKS, the honored and efficient principal of the Junior High School in the City of Garrett, DeKalb County, is a veteran in pedagogic service in the Hoosier State, where he initiated his work as a teacher more than half a century ago and where his has been a notably loyal and constructive service during the long intervening period. He is held in affectionate regard in his present home community, .where he is known as "Uncle Billy" by all the young folk of the city. He is not only principal of the Junior High School but also of the Central public schools, and he has given fifteen years of service as a member of the board of review of DeKalb County, through appointment by three different judges of the District Court.
Mr. Franks was born at Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, January 1, 1860, but has been a resident of Indiana since his early youth. He is a son of Thomas and Eliza (Millard) Franks, the former of whom was born in Wayne County, Ohio, about the year 1833, and the latter of whom was born in Crawford County, that state, about 1834, their marriage having occurred in the old Buckeye State, whence they eventually removed to Indiana, where Thomas Franks continued his activities as a farmer, he having died in March, 1920, and his wife having passed away in June, 1910. Their mortal remains rest in the cemetery in Corunna, DeKalb County. Of the children the first born was Julia, who is deceased; Almedia is the wife of Jesse Watson and they reside in DeKalb County; Will, of this sketch, was next in order of birth; Edward is deceased; Nettie likewise is deceased; Mattie is the wife of Frederick Speckein, of Kendallville; Frances is the wife of Clark Griffith, of Corunna, DeKalb County; and Harvey is deceased.
After profiting by the advantages of the public schools of Corunna and those of the high school at Auburn, Will Franks advanced his education by a course in what is now Valparaiso University, at Valparaiso, this state. In 1877 he became a teacher in a rural district school in Allen Township, Noble County, his compensation in the early period of his pedagogic career having been but twelve dollars a month. He was a teacher in the schools of rural districts in DeKalb County until 1886, since which year his service has been with the public schools in the City of Garrett, where he has been a principal of schools fifteen years and where he has played an important part in the developing of the present fine system of schools, concerning which specific mention is made in the following sketch.
Mr. Franks is a Democrat in politics and has been progressive and loyal in his civic attitude, he having served twelve years as a member of the city council of Garrett. He is a Knight Templar and Scottish Rite, thirty-second degree, Mason and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
July 31,1888, marked the marriage of Mr. Franks to Miss Eva Thomas, who was born and reared at Waterloo, DeKalb County, a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Corbin) Thomas, who there continued their residence until their death, Mr. Thomas having served as a loyal soldier of the Union in the war. Paul R., eldest of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Franks, died in 1926. He was graduated in Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, as a member of the class of 1912, and made a record of success as a teacher in the public schools of Chicago and at other places in Illinois. In 1915 he married Miss Vida Chamberlain, and she, with her two children, Paul, Jr., born in 1920, and Louise, born in 1923, maintains her home in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, where she is a teacher in the public schools. Ralph T., the second son, was graduated in the Garrett High School, was in service in the United States army in the World war period and was a junior in the Indiana Dental College at the time of his tragic death, in 1922, he having been drowned in the lake at Rome City, Indiana. He was a talented musician and found employment as a musician during his vacation periods. Wilma G. was a student three years in DePauw University, and thereafter attended the nurses training school of the Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and that of a leading hospital in Fort Wayne. She served as supervisor of nurses in the great Cook County Hospital of Chicago, having later held a similar position in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was supervisor of nurses in the Miami County Hospital and is now connected with Sacred Heart hospital at Garrett.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
GARRETT PUBLIC SCHOOLS. One of the most important and thriving municipal communities of DeKalb County is that represented in the City of Garrett, and the loyalty and progressiveness of the citizens is shown in no more significant way than through the high standards of the public-school system of the city. One of the veteran and revered teachers in the schools of Garrett is Will Franks, who is principal of the Junior High School and the Central School and of whom individual mention is made elsewhere in this publication. In 1886 T. S. Merica was superintendent of the Garrett High School and Mr. Franks was administrative head of the sixth, seventh and eighth grades. At that time the students in the high school numbered thirty and those in the three grades just noted averaged fifty. The growth and progress of the city and its schools are shown in the fact that the enrollment of pupils in 1930 is fully 1,000. In 1886 the city maintained but one school building, with five rooms, and the present school plant is one of modern order in every respect. In 1907 the present building of the Junior High School was completed, and in 1925 was completed the fine high-school building, at a cost of about $50,000. This splendid building, with the best of equipment in all departments, is situated on a tract of thirteen acres and the grounds are beautifully landscaped and otherwise adorned, with the result that the buildings and their surroundings constitute one of the most imposing physical and civic attractions of the progressive little city. The school plant was amplified in 1927 by the erection and equipment of its modern gymnasium and assembly auditorium, at a cost of $50,000. The North Side grade school has as its efficient and popular principal in 1930, Archie Fretz. The Garrett public schools now retain an average corps of fifty teachers.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
