He was born at South Bend, April 3, 1895, son of Lawrence and Mary Bartol. His father was born in Germany, and when fifteen years of age came to the United States, in company with an uncle. For ten years he lived in Pennsylvania, where he completed his education, and then moved to South Bend, Indiana, where he followed the trade and business of painter and decorating contractor and was very well known in that line of work and was a public spirited citizen. He died January 7, 1925, when seventy-four years of age. His wife was also a native of Germany and was eighteen years of age when she came to America. She first lived in Saginaw, Michigan, and five years later, in 1882, came to South Bend. She is now seventy years of age, and all. of her six children are living.
George A. Bartol attended parochial schools in South Bend, had a high school education and also attended the South Bend Business College. While in school he was a newsboy and at an early age he learned to be dependent upon his own resources and efforts. His business experience included six months of work in the law and reference department for the Studebaker Corporation and for one year he was a salesman for the Hinkle Motor Company. He is one of the oldest Chevrolet salesmen in Northern Indiana. He first became acquainted with the Chevrolet as a salesman with the Beistle Automobile Sales Company at South Bend and Mishawaka.
He left this organization in April, 1918, to join the colors, and spent twelve and a half months in France with the Signal Corps, attached to the heavy artillery of the Seventieth Division. Mr. Bartol in May, 1919, received his honorable discharge, with the rank of corporal.
Immediately after leaving the service he returned to the Beistle Automobile Sales Company at South Bend as a salesman. In January, 1920, he was made manager of the firm's branch office at Mishawaka, and in 1922 became part owner and a partner in the Mishawaka business. Since 1926 he has been the principal owner of this business, which has been carried on since that time under the title of Bartol Chevrolet Sales Company, located at 214-216 South Main Street, Mishawaka. Mr. Bartol is president and manager of the company. He and his brother, Joseph Bartol, are also owners of the Nu Life Mineral Water Company in South Bend. In January, 1931, Mr. Bartol was appointed traveling auditor by state auditor Williamson in the gasoline tax department of the state auditing department. In January, 1930, he was appointed president of the Mishawaka board of public safety and was reappointed January 1, 1931, by the city council, due to the reclassification of the city.
Mr. Bartol is an active Democrat, and has been a leader in civic affairs in both South Bend and Mishawaka. He is a member of the Mishawaka Chamber of Commerce, a charter member of the Lions Club, a member of the American Legion, B. P. O. Elks, and the Saint Joseph Catholic Church and is a director of the Mishawaka Credit Bureau.
Mr. Bartol married, October 15, 1919, Miss Mary Elizabeth Ullery, who was born in Greene Township, Saint Joseph County, Indiana, daughter of Mr. Osborn Ullery, of South Bend. They have one daughter, June Louise, born July 26, 1921.
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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
HENRY GROW at the age of eighty-seven is one of the oldest and most highly respected citizens of Rensselaer, a man who has borne the weight of his years gracefully and is one of the few surviving veterans of the Civil war.
He was born in Ohio, January 13, 1843, son of George and Susan (Jones) Grow. He was one of a family of six sons and two daughters and those to grow up were Joseph, William, Henry, George, James and Martha.
Henry Grow was educated in a district school and was living at Logansport, Cass County, Indiana, when he responded to the call for volunteers early in the war, being one of the first to enlist there. He joined Company E of the Twenty-ninth Indiana Infantry and was in many of the battles of the war. His first great fight was the battle of Shiloh. His regiment was a number of miles away when that battle began on the Tennessee River. It was ordered to march to the scene of action and at about two o'clock in the morning they reached the Tennessee River, where the regiment was loaded on the boats and rowed eight miles up the river to Pittsburgh Landing. They landed just at daybreak, and were part of the heavy reinforcement that had been rushed on the scene by General Grant and which on the second day turned the tide of victory from the Confederate to the Union side. It was eleven o'clock on the second day before Henry Grow's regiment arrived on the firing line. He states that eighty rounds of ammunition were provided and it took two hours to fire them into the opposing ranks. Then the Confederate line gave way and the Union cavalry completed what the infantry had begun.
Mr. Grow for many years has been one of the active members of the Grand Army of the Republic. After the war he engaged in farming until he reached the age of retirement and is now enjoying well earned comfort in his home at Rensselaer. He married Mary Ellen Nowels, daughter of David Nowels. Three children were born to them. The son Elza married Maggie McGlinn and has a son, William. Charles, a resident of Rensselaer, is married and has a son Charles, Junior. The daughter, Mrs. Nicholas Schmitter, lives in Newton County, west of Rensselaer.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
MARIETTA ELIZABETH STEELE, who passed away January 12, 1931, was born in Marion, Indiana, May 16, 1848, and spent her later years in her native city. Mrs. Steele was the widow of the late George Washington Steele, a distinguished soldier of the Civil war, later an Indiana congressman, and the first governor of Oklahoma Territory. Mrs. Steele was also the mother of one of the most distinguished American naval officers, Capt. George W. Steele, Jr., whose record also has a fitting place in Indiana history.
The late George Washington Steele was born in Fayette County, Indiana, December 13, 1839, son of Asbury and Mary Louisa Steele. He completed his education in Ohio Wesleyan University, in 1861 was admitted to the bar, but on April 19 of the same year enlisted for service in the Union army. However, the Eighth Indiana Infantry, in which he enlisted, was not mustered in. On May 2, 1861, he joined the state service and on July 20 was commissioned a first lieutenant of the Twelfth Indiana Infantry. He was mustered out May 19, 1862, and on September 2, 1862, was commissioned a first lieutenant of the One Hundred and First Indiana Infantry and promoted to captain on September 6, to major January 27, 1863, to lieutenant colonel May 31, 1863, and on June 24, 1865, was mustered out of the volunteer service. He participated in many battles and campaigns, including Sherman's famous march to the sea.
After the war Major Steele joined the regular army, serving as second and then as first lieutenant of the Fourteenth United States Infantry from 1866 until he resigned February 1, 1876.
Major Steele after leaving the army returned to Marion and for many years was active in the business life of that community and became president of the First National Bank of Marion. In 1880 he was elected to represent the Eleventh Indiana District in the Forty-seventh Congress and served four consecutive terms, until 1889. In 1890 he was appointed by President Harrison the first governor of Oklahoma Territory, and for twenty months lived at Guthrie, the first capital of Oklahoma. He retired as governor in 1891, and in 1894 was again elected to Congress from the Eleventh District. He served in the Fifty-fourth to the Fifty-seventh Congresses, inclusive, retiring in 1903. From 1890 to 1904 he was a member of the board of managers of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, and subsequently became governor of the National Soldiers Home at Marion and held that post for ten years. He is buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery at Marion.
Mrs. Steele grew up in Marion, attended the Marion Academy and was married to Major Steele in 1866. Her maiden name was Marietta Elizabeth Swayzee. She was the mother of two children. Marietta Vermalyea Steele was born at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1875.
Her son, George Washington Steele, Jr., was born at Marion, Indiana, and for four years was a student in the Shattuck Military Academy at Faribault, Minnesota. In 1896 he entered the United States Naval Academy, graduated in 1900, and during his service on the Cruiser Brooklyn in the latter half of the "Boxer War," in China, was awarded a medal for conspicuous service. He was twice elected adjutant of the naval academy, an honor probably never given to another cadet in the history of the school. After being ordered home he was assigned to the Cruiser San Francisco, one of the ships sent to participate in the international races at Kiel, Germany, where at the age of twenty-three he won the highest prize over the ships of all nations and was personally complimented by the Kaiser, who presented him the winner's cup. During the war between Russia and Japan he was on the San Francisco in the Asiatic station to make observations. At the age of twenty-six he was offered the command of the destroyer Barry, serving one year, and was then ordered home and assigned to the Illinois, which was one of the grand battleship fleet sent by President Roosevelt on the famous cruise around the world in 1907. He was assigned to the training of the men at the gun for target practice in Magdalena Bay, and theIllinois won the grand prize in this competition. He was on the Illinois in Italian waters when the great earthquake occurred at Massina, Sicily, and had charge of a detachment of men that went on shore and found the bodies of the American Consul and his wife. In recognition of this service the Italian government sent a testimonial and medal to Lieutenant Steele.
In 1912 he became navigator to the flagship California of the Pacific fleet, serving on the western coast of Mexico. Later the California was ordered to Nicaragua during a revolution there, and as lieutenant commander he went on shore with four hundred blue jackets to restore order, driving the rebels from the hills and turning over the government to the Federal party.
On January 5, 1917, he was serving as navigator on the battleship Pennsylvania, the finest ship in the navy. When America entered the World war he was ordered to Washington to act as aide to the English vice-admiral and French rear admiral, and then applied for a navy transport and was with the first to go as captain of the transport Henderson. He crossed the submarine infested Atlantic fourteen times. On the fifteenth voyage the ship took fire when six hundred miles from the American coast. The fire could not be controlled and the troops were transferred to other ships, and the Henderson returned to her home port and Commander Steele succeeded in bringing the ship to port without the loss of a man. For this he was highly commended for the “efficiency of the organization on board the U. S. S. Henderson under your command,” in a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, another from the Admiral of the fleet, and another from the Secretary of War. During the course of the war Captain Steele was twice selected by the Board of Admirals, once to the full rank of commander and the second time to be captain. He became a thoroughly qualified naval aviator and one of the highest honors ever paid to a naval officer was his selection as the commanding naval officer representing the American navy on the dirigible Los Angeles, officially known as the ZR-3, when it was brought from Germany to the United States. His selection to this post was strongly urged by Rear Admiral W. A. Moffett, whose recommendation to the Navy Department, Bureau of Aeronautics, requested that "the commanding officer of the ship should be selected for his experience, ability and training, and should be considered the very best available and best equipped in the service - that he should be an officer of the rank of Captain and of experience in handling large ships and corresponding numbers of personnel, and also a qualified naval aviator," concluding his recommendation in these words: "In the opinion of this Bureau, Captain G. W. Steele, U. S. N., is the best qualified officer in the service for assignment as commanding officer of the ZR-3. He is a qualified aviator, in addition to being an officer of ability and experience."
Captain Steele for a time commanded the armored cruiser Pittsburgh, the flag ship of the Asiatic Squadron, stationed during the Chinese revolution at Shanghai. Captain Steele is now the naval attache at the American Embassy at Paris, France.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
JOSEPH W. FRISZ was for many years a business man of Terre Haute. Later he and associates acquired that wonderful spot of Indiana known as "The Shades," five miles north of Waveland in Montgomery County, and has gradually acquired full control of the property and is general manager of this unique summer resort, which affords attractions in miniature comparable to the wonders of the Yosemite and the Yellowstone. There are medicinal springs, waterfalls and rugged ravines and cliffs, but most impressive of all to the nature lover is the great body of native timber, five hundred acres, one of the largest bodies of Indiana forests surviving. Some of the finest white oak trees in the state are found here. The name of the resort is reminiscent of Indian days, when, on account of the dense forests, it was known as "The Shades of Death." While a purely primitive piece of landscape, it is located only an hour or two's drive or ride from the cities of Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Lafayette. The development work has been carefully done so as not to mar nature's handiwork, yet thousands of tourists and recreationists go there every year to avail themselves of the hotel, cottages, tourists camp, picnic grounds, supplied with comforts and facilities for recreation such as bathing, swimming, fishing, boating and dancing.
Mr. Joseph W. Frisz is himself a charming and genial gentleman who takes delight in providing the facilities of the state to the people of Indiana and other states. He was born at Mount Vernon in Jennings County, March 31, 1863. His father, John Frisz, came from Alsace-Lorraine to the United States when he was five years of age. He learned the trade of carpenter and contractor and in 1869 moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he established a bottling works, the first plant of the kind in Kentucky south of Louisville. John Frisz married Magdaline Gasper, who was born in Kentucky, her parents coming from the same part of Alsace-Lorraine as her husband. Of their eight children two died in infancy. George B. lives at Tipton, Indiana; Mary is the widow of Mike Shea, of Louisville; Katherine lives with her brother at The Shades; Lena is the wife of D. E. White, of Lafayette, Indiana; and John is deceased..
Joseph W. Frisz was educated in public schools in Kentucky and during his boyhood assisted his father in the bottling plant. He learned the trade of shoemaker, but that occupation did not appeal to him and he turned to something more attractive, serving an apprenticeship at the machinist's trade in the shops of the Louisville & Nashville Railway at Bowling Green. In September, 1881, he came to Terre Haute, Indiana, and during the next five years was a machinist with the Pennsylvania Railway Company. In January, 1886, he and a partner established a grocery business, and after a couple of years he bought out the store and enlarged his enterprise to general merchandise, handling notions and groceries. He was one of the successful merchants of Terre Haute until January, 1923. He was identified with organizations that sought to bring to Terre Haute industries to increase the commercial prosperity of the city. He served as president of the Merchants Ice & Cold Storage Company, was a director and later secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Kettle Mining Company, and was a director and later president of the pottery works at Bloomingdale.
Mr. Frisz for over twenty years has been interested in the property comprising The Shades. In 1909 he joined Dr. T. William and Morton T. Hidden in the acquisition of the lands, including the timber and the rugged district around the Garland Dells. Later he bought the holdings of his partners, and through the years has steadily carried on the development work which has given to Indiana one of the most charming resorts in the Middle West. Mr. Frisz is a Democrat in politics, is a Catholic and fourth degree Knight of Columbus, and a charter member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
He married in 1891 Miss Elizabeth Kindlz, of Terre Haute. She died in 1919, the mother of eight children, Wilfred P., Ethel F., Helen J., F. Leo, Blanche M., Clarence D., F. J. and Paul C. In August. 1923, Mr. Frisz married Pearl M. Whalen, of Crawfordsville. She has two children by a former marriage.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
MISS KATHARINE FISHER is librarian of the public library at Attica. She has held that post of duty and responsibility in the community since the library was opened.
Miss Fisher was born at Attica, daughter of Joseph Fisher, a native of Ohio., who came to Indiana when eighteen years of age. He was a carriage manufacturer and a man of public spirit, always showing a willingness to do more than his share in a community way. Joseph Fisher married Julia Ann Haff, a native of New York State.
Miss Katharine, only child of her parents, was reared and educated in Attica, attending high school there, and took the library extension work at Butler University. She had an active part in promoting the public library movement in 1902 and took charge when the library was opened, with 1500 volumes. The library has steadily grown and increased in service, now representing a collection of 11,000 volumes. The president of the library board since it was organized has been Mrs. L. S. Levore.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
FRED A. WIECKING, who was born at Bluffton, August 15, 1892, had a ver broad and liberal technical and classical education, spending several years in the practical phases of business, was with the colors during the World war, and for the past ten years has been an increasingly successful lawyer in his native city.
Mr. Wiecking's father, Ernest Wiecking, was born December 5, 1858, in Branische bei Osnabrueck, Hanover, Germany, and came to America in 1881. For over forty years he was in business at Bluffton as a cigar maker, until 1922, and is now living retired on his farm near Bluffton. Ernest Wiecking married Mary Studebaker on October 6, 1887. She was born August 10, 1859, in Adams County, daughter of Abram Studebaker and granddaughter of Peter Studebaker. Peter Studebaker was a ranger during the War of 1812, enlisting in the company commanded by Captain Du Bois and saw service in some of the northwestern campaigns. He came to Adams County in 1827, with Robert Simison, and settled north of Geneva. Abram Studebaker on leaving Indiana went to Missouri and in 1890 went on to the Northwest, to Idaho, and died near Boise City about 1905. Peter Studebaker married Mary Simison, a daughter of John Simison, and their five children were David, Elizabeth Curry, John, Catherine Chamfer and Abram. Abram Studebaker married Miss Stoops, of a West Virginia family.
The children of Ernest Wiecking and wife are: Hermine, born July 23,1888, now supervisor of music in the schools of Anderson, Indiana; Herman, born September 23, 1890, a resident of Boston, married Sarah Arnold, of that city, and their three children, all born at Bluffton, are Catherine, born April 5, 1910, wife of Lawrence Foster; Herman S., Jr., born in October, 1911, and Margaret G., in high school. The fourth child, Wilbur E., born February 1, 1895, an engineer with the Ohio Bell Telephone Company at Cleveland, married Audrey Norma, of Portland, Oregon, and has two children: William, born in August, 1924, at Indianapolis, and Robert E., born in 1926, at Toledo, Ohio.
Fred A. Wiecking was educated in the grade and high schools at Bluffton, graduating from high school in 1908. On August 6, 1908, he went to Germany and spent a year in a technical school, the Noellesche Handelsschule, in Osnabrueck. On returning home, August 9, 1909, he enrolled in the University of Indiana for the fall term, remaining there one year. For six years he was engaged in the insurance, real estate and other lines of business and then returned to Indiana University to study law. His university career was again interrupted when, in 1918, he enlisted and after the war he completed his law studies with the class of 1919 and has since been in active practice at Blutfton. He is a member of the national fraternity Sigma Pi Epsilon and the Phi Delta Phi.
In 1919 he organized the local post of the American Legion, was elected its first commander and his since been prominent in American Legion work, being district commander in 1925-1926, chairman of the Legion Committee of 1928 and in 1929 was elected department commander of the State of Indiana.
Mr. Wiecking on January 14, 1920, married Miss Marie M. White. She was born September 26, 1897 and was reared and educated at Evansville, Indiana. Her father, Charles Pitman White, was of a New York family, was an electrical engineer by profession and died in 1916. He married a Miss Hesemann and she died in 1912, both being buried at Evansville. Mr. and Mrs. Wiecking have two children: Frederick A., Jr., born November 22, 1921, at Blutfton; and Charles White, born February 19, 1925. The family are members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Wiecking is a member of the Lodge, Royal Arch Chapter, Council and Knights Templar Commandery, of York Rite Masonry, belongs to the Scottish Rite Consistory, is a past commander of the Knights Templar, is a past exalted ruler of the B. P. O. Elks and vice president of the State Association of Elks. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a past president of the Kiwanis Club.
He enlisted in March, 1918, was sent to Fort Thomas, Kentucky, and in May was assigned as a military instructor in the Ordnance Training Corps at Camp Hancock, Augusta, Georgia. He was discharged February 19, 1919, with the rank of second lieutenant, Ordnance Corps, and held a reserve commission as second lieutenant until October 24, 1924, when he was promoted to first lieutenant.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
CHARLES PORTER KIMMEL. The assistant superintendent of the Gary Works of the Illinois Steel Company, Charles Porter Kimmel has had an active and somewhat diversified career, although he has been identified with his present company since 1908. The success which he has gained in life has been of his own making, for he has had no special advantages, but has made the most of the opportunities that have arisen, gaining, step by step, the awards of industry and fidelity.
Mr. Kimmel was born at Indianapolis, Indiana, March 29, 1873, and is a son of Oliver P. and Adelaide (Moeller) Kimmel. Oliver P. Kimmel was born in Pennsylvania, where he was reared and received a public school education, and as a young man became a puddler in a Pennsylvania steel plant at Johnstown. He was still a young man when he came to Indiana, and shortly thereafter enlisted in a volunteer cavalry regiment for service in the Union army during the war between the states, in which, for a time, he served as an aide on the staff of General Grant. Upon the close of the war he returned to Indiana and secured employment as an engineer with the Indianapolis & Saint Louis Railroad, now a part of the New York Central lines. For years he had run out of Indianapolis to Mattoon, Illinois, then being transferred by the company to Terre Haute, Indiana, and later to Mattoon, Illinois, where he resided for about ten years, still being identified with the same road. Moving then to Kansas City, Missouri, he invested his earnings in a mercantile business, but after two years disposed of his holdings therein and went to Moberly, Missouri, where he entered the service of the Wabash Railroad as a locomotive engineer and was thus engaged for four years, his next location being Hoisington, Kansas, where he served as an engineer for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Subsequently he was master mechanic in the shops of the Missouri Pacific at Horace, Kansas, and in 1888 was transferred to Pueblo, Colorado, where he retired from active work in 1900 and spent the remainder of his life in that place, where he died in 1924. He was a Mason practically all of his life and a stanch member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Mr. Kimmel married Miss Adelaide Moeller, who was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, where she was educated in the public schools, subsequently going with her parents to Terre Haute, Indiana, where she met and married Mr. Kimmel. She was gifted as a vocalist and was a member of the choir of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the work of which she always was active. Mrs. Kimmel died in 1926 and was laid to rest at the side of her husband. There were four children in the family: William T.; Maude B., now Mrs. Frank McLaughlin; Charles P., of this review; and Leta Loretta, now Mrs. Barnett, of Hollywood, California.
The public schools of Mattoon, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, and Pueblo, Colorado, furnished Charles P. Kimmel with his educational training, following which he secured a position in the machine shop of the Colorado Coal & Iron Company, now the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, running a bolt cutter and small machines. He continued with this concern until 1904, when he took a position with the Passaic Rolling Mills, of Paterson, New Jersey, and remained with that organization for two years, then going back to the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company. In 1908 he came to Gary as superintendent of the roll department of the Illinois Steel Company. In 1913 he was promoted to superintendent of the merchant mills and remained in that capacity unti1 1918, when he was advanced to his present post as assistant superintendent of the Gary Works of the Illinois Steel Company. He is known as one of the best posted men in his line in the business, an energetic worker and an excellent executive. Mr. Kimmel is a member of East Chicago Lodge No. 595, A. F. and A. M., Gary Chapter No. 139, R. A. M.; the Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania, the Hamilton Club of Chicago, the Commercial Club and Chamber of Commerce of Gary, the Gary Country Club, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Young Men's Christian Association and the Michigan North Woods Club. He has always shown a commendable and helpful interest in public affairs and votes the Republican ticket. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church.
At Denver, Colorado, April 11, 1913, Mr. Kimmel was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Cosslett, daughter of Walter and Mary Cosslett, the former of whom was for years a coal miner of Colorado, and later a locomotive engineer on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. In 1910 he met his death in a head-on collision at Canyon City, Colorado, about fifteen miles from Pueblo, and was buried at Pueblo. Mrs. Cosslett survives her husband and is a resident of Los Angeles, California. Mrs. Kimmel was educated in the public schools of Pueblo. She is active in the work of the Episcopal Church and has been an enthusiastic worker in the Woman's Club and the Order of the Eastern Star. Both she and her husband took an active part in all war activities, assisting in the Red Cross, Liberty Loan and other drives. Mr. and Mrs. Kimmel have one son: Anthony Wayne, a graduate of Emerson High School, Gary, who is now attending the University of Chicago, class of 1932.
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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
