Prominent among the benefactors of the Ladies Library were Mrs. Dempster Beatty; Mrs. Luther Cass, Mrs. L. M. Henderson, Miss Kate Merrifield and Mrs. H. G. Niles.

For the organization of a public library a tax of three cents on the $100 was levied August 21, 1906, by the board of education, consisting of E. V. Bingham, J. C. Beatty and F. A. Partridge. J. F. Nuner, superintendent of schools, was commissioned to purchase 1,000 books the next summer, and on September 1, 1907, the library was opened in a room in the City Hall, with Miss Olive Long (Mrs. E. D. Byrkit), a teacher in the public schools, as the first librarian. For three months the library was open two afternoons each week and Saturday mornings, and later the schedule was increased by two evenings each week. During the summer months Miss Florence Stuller (Mrs. Charles W. Bingham) had charge. Miss Long was succeeded in December, 1913, by Miss Carrie Crosby (Mrs. L. A. Pletcher), who came from the South Bend Public Library.

By that time the library contained 6,000 volumes, overcrowding the space in the City Hall.

A great impetus was given to the movement for a library building by the organization of the Mishawaka Woman's Club. In 1913 the City Council, during the mayoralty of R. W. Gaylor, guaranteed an annual tax of ten per cent on the investment if the Carnegie Corporation would provide a building. The ground on North Hill and First streets, where the library now stands, was donated by Mr. and Mrs. F. G. Eberhart. The Carnegie Corporation promised $30,000 January 6, 1915. The general library committee of fifteen comprised Mrs. George Blair, Miss Carrie Crosby, Mrs. Rose Grimes, Mrs. A. C. Ormond, E. H. Ahara, Jennison Chesbro, F. G. Eberhart, R. W. Gaylor, H. W. Jones, F. A. Partridge, L. F. Van Rie, C. F. Waidner, A. D. Warner, G B. Williams, with J. F. Nuner chairman. Mr. Nuner also was chairman of the executive or building committee, the other four members of which were E. H. Ahara, F. G. Eberhart, R. W. Gaylor and F. A. Partridge. The building committee awarded the contract for the building and furnishings, to cost $30,000, to A. F. Wickes, Gary architect, with Ingwald Moe, of Gary, contractor for the construction. The library structure is of Oriental velour texture brick with terra cotta trimmings, old English design, with Queen Anne windows. The main floor is ninety-two by thirty-eight feet, and the north end of the basement was fitted up as an auditorium, to seat 200 persons. In the summer of 1930 this room was converted into a children's department.

The library was completed and dedicated to use in May, 1926. At that time the board of education consisted of H. W. Jones, president, F. A. Partridge and George S. Shobe. Since May 6, 1926, the library has maintained a regular schedule of hours, from nine in the morning until nine in the evening. During the World war the Mishawaka Public Library responded to the call for service to the soldiers by raising $562.18 and by collecting $500 worth of books to be used in camp. Since January, 1928, the library has also maintained deposit stations in the remote school buildings. In September, 1928, a children's department, under a trained librarian, was instituted, with Miss Ruth Hayward the first children's librarian.

Miss Crosby was succeeded by Miss Josephine Andrews as librarian. Miss Andrews served from February, 1917, to February, 1918. Her successor was Miss Lyndell Martling, previously assistant librarian under Miss Crosby, who held the position until August 15, 1922. From September 6, 1922, to September 1, 1926, Miss Marie Simpson was librarian. After her resignation Mrs. Florence B. Ford was acting librarian until September 1, 1927. Then the post of librarian was filled by Miss Flora M. Case, former librarian at La Porte. On January 1, 1930, Miss Case was appointed librarian for the Elkhart Public Library, and was succeeded by Miss Ella Hodges, of Springfield, Illinois. The board in 1929 comprised E. B. Byrkit, W. H. Tupper, W. W. Lechlitner.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931

HOMER LONGFELLOW. For a quarter of a century Homer Longfellow has been engaged in the practice of law at Warsaw, during which period he has established himself in general public confidence as a man of high professional ability and personal integrity. In his career he has not only shown a high degree of capability in his private practice, but has served conscientiously in public office, while as a citizen he has given his full support to worthy and beneficial civic movements.

Mr. Longfellow was born in Noble County, Indiana, March 3, 1873. He came of an old and respected family, his great-grandfather, Joseph Longfellow, having been a soldier in the American army during the War of 1812, and was of English descent. His grandfather was born in Champaign County, Ohio, in 1805, and passed his career in agricultural operations. The father of Mr. Longfellow was born in Ohio, but in young manhood moved to Indiana, and during the war between the states enlisted in the Union army and became first lieutenant of Company B, One Hundred Fifty-second Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. He then returned to his farm in Noble County, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was a staunch Republican in his political views and a member of the Methodist Church. He married Sarah E. Hindbaugh, who was of Scotch and German descent and came from Pennsylvania to Ohio prior to the war between the states.

Homer Longfellow passed his boyhood days on the home farm and attended the county schools. Having aspirations for a professional career, he entered Ohio Wesleyan University, from which he graduated in 1898, and for a number of years thereafter was identified with educational work, being superintendent of the schools at Bethel and Tipton, and principal of the township high schools in various communities. In the meanwhile he was preparing himself for the law, and in 1905, after an examination, was admitted to the bar and immediately took up his residence at Warsaw, where he has since remained. He was engaged in a general private practice until elected prosecuting attorney of Kosciusko County, in which office he served with efficiency and energy until January 1, 1918, and then returned to his private practice, which has grown to large and lucrative proportions. He is a member of the Kosciusko County Bar Association, the Indiana State Bar Association and the American Bar Association, and several other connections of a fraternal and civic character. His political convictions cause him to be a supporter of issues and candidates of the Republican party, and his religious faith is that of the Methodist denomination.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931

PAUL DRAKE WILLIAMS, M. D., controls in the City of Monticello, judicial center of White County, a substantial general practice that marks him as one of the able and popular physicians and surgeons of the younger generation in this part of his native state, and he maintains his office in the Law Building.

Doctor Williams was born in Morgan County, Indiana, May 28, 1904, and is a son of Lewis and Ada (Drake) Williams, both likewise natives of Morgan County, where the respective families gained no minor pioneer honors. Lewis Williams is a son of William Williams, who was born in this state and who here devoted his active life to farm enterprise. His father, Lewis Williams, was one of the early settlers of the Hoosier State and one who did his part in pioneer development and progress. Lewis Williams, father of Paul D., gave thirty-eight years of constructive service in educational work in his native state, and in this connection was county superintendent of schools in Morgan County four years.

Dr. Paul D. Williams, one of a family of three children, received the advantages of the public schools of his native county, including the high school at Martinsville, the county seat, and he likewise had the good fortune to be reared in a home of distinctive culture and refinement. In preparation for his chosen profession he completed the prescribed curriculum in the medical department of the University of Indiana, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1927, his reception of the degree of Doctor of Medicine having been followed by his initiation of service as an interne in the City Hospital of Indianapolis. At the beginning of his second year in this hospital he was appointed house physician, and after retaining this position one year he established his residence at Monticello, in August, 1929, and began active independent practice of general order, the intervening period having tallied for him a constant expansion in the scope and importance of his practice and this standing as a voucher for the communal estimate placed upon him personally and as a physician and surgeon well fortified for successful ministrations. The Doctor has membership in the White County Medical Society and the Indiana State Medical Society, his political alignment is with the Democratic party, he is affiliated with the Theta Kappa Psi college medical fraternity, is an active member of the Business Men’s Club of his home city, and here he and his wife have membership in the Methodist Church. Mrs. Williams, whose maiden name was Lois Truax, was born in Owen County, this state. Doctor and Mrs. Williams have a winsome daughter, Emma Lee, born February 27, 1928.

Doctor Williams is a scion of a French Huguenot family that early settled in the Carolinas, in the Colonial period of American history, representatives of the family later having gained pioneer precedence in Kentucky, and it was from the latter state that the first members of the family came to Indiana, before this state was admitted to the union.

Click here for photo.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931

WALTER JOHN BRAUNSDORF. For over half a century the name Braunsdorf in South Bend has been associated with building and architectural work. One of the old established firms is Walter J. Braunsdorf & Son, a firm of plumbing and heating contractors, the senior member of which is Walter J. Braunsdorf and the junior partner is his son, Robert Leonard Braunsdorf.

The founder of the family in South Bend was Robert L. Braunsdorf, who was born at Dantzig, Germany, July 25, 1843. He came to the United States in 1869 and in 1871 established his home at South Bend. He was a skilled architect and builder, and put up some of the handsomest homes in the city half a century ago, one of which was the residence of Mr. Clem Studebaker.

Walter J. Braunsdorf was born in New York State, came to South Bend when a child and since 1900 has been in the plumbing and heating business, building up an organization that has handled contracts allover Northern Indiana. He married first, Miss Margaret Leonard, of Niles, Michigan. Robert Leonard is the only child of this union. Mrs. Braunsdorf died in 1899. Mr. Braunsdorf then married Miss Emma Gibson, of England. There were four children of this union: Margaret, deceased; Dorothy; Walter; and Warren, deceased.

His son Robert Leonard Braunsdorf was born in South Bend, July 9, 1899, was well educated and since 1922 has been associated with his father as a partner. He is a member of the South Bend Society of Sanitary Engineers and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. Robert L. Braunsdorf married Miss Kathryn Fosdick, a native of LaPorte, Indiana. They have a son, Robert Leonard Jr., and a daughter, Norma Jean.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931

SAMUEL TOMLINSON, of Plymouth, Marshall County, has spent the greater part of his active business career in the telephone industry, as organizer and manager of exchanges, and is the business head of one of the important public utilities serving the people of Marshall and adjoining counties.

He was born in Highland County, Ohio, March 22, 1864, and is member of a very old and prominent family of Colonial stock. His ancestors have been Quakers for a number of generations. His great-great-grandfather, Josiah Tomlinson, was a participant in the battle of Cowpens in the Revolutionary war. His grandfather was Moses Tomlinson, born in 1781. Mr. Tomlinson's father, Paul Tomlinson, was born in Highland County, Ohio, July 1, 1834.

Samuel Tomlinson attended district schools in his native county, the Cedarville High School and Ohio State University. During his early manhood he was with his father on the farm, interested in raising pure bred Shorthorn cattle, Poland China hogs and fancy poultry. In 1895 he located at Winchester, Indiana, and for ten years was engaged in the grain and lumber business. Mr. Tomlinson in 1903 helped organize the Winona Telephone Company, and has served continuously as president. He is also vice president of the Interstate Telephone & Telegraph Company. His home has been in Plymouth since 1907. When he bought the local telephone interests there were about four hundred telephones in use, and the system has been increased until there are now 4,500 instruments, and his company is regarded as one of the best equipped and best managed of the independent companies in Northern Indiana.

Mr. Tomlinson is a Methodist, a Republican and a member of the Masonic fraternity. He was active on the building committee during the construction of the new Methodist Church. Mr. Tomlinson is endowed with unusual capacity for leadership and is a fine organizer, though in public he is very modest and unassuming. He is one of the three men at Plymouth called "The Three Sams," who are referred to by their neighbors as the leading spirits of the town.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931

Mr. Stucker was born in Bartholomew County, Indiana, May 10, 1861. His father, Phillip Stucker, was also a native of Indiana, and his grandfather was Henry Stucker, who lived at Madison, Indiana. Phillip Stucker married. Elmira Coovert, who was born in Ohio. They had nine children, Rommie, now deceased, William, Clinton, Molly E., Margaret, Elmer, Oscar, Lillie and Conda H.

Conda H. Stucker was a boy when the family came to Newton County, and secured his early school advantages there. For one year he was a student in Valparaiso University, and he taught school for one year. His first business was the manufacture of drain tile and other clay products. After 1912 he became a concrete contractor, a business he followed until his time was fully taken up by his official duties.

His first important office was as trustee of Jackson Township, in which he served one term. For four years he was a county commissioner, but resigned to become a candidate for county treasurer. He was elected in 1928 and has administered the finances of the county and the collection of the taxes in a manner to reflect credit upon himself and the citizens who supported him for office.

Mr. Stucker is an active Republican. His family attend the Methodist Church and he has been a liberal contributor to all worthy moral and religious causes.

He married in 1890 Miss Rosamond Baldwin, who was born in Illinois. They have two sons, Gilbert and Perry. Gilbert, assistant county treasurer, married Lillian Brown and has two daughters, named Elizabeth and Geneva. Perry is a graduate of the School of Pharmacy of Valparaiso University and is now in the drug business in Chicago. He married Elma Sullivan.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931

JOHN JOSEPH LANTERNIER is one of the progressive business men and loyal and public spirited citizens of his native City of Fort Wayne, where he is manager of the Dreibelbiss Abstract & Title Company, at 729 Court Street.

Mr. Lanternier was born in Fort Wayne on the 2d of December, 1879, and is a son of August J. and Amelia (Girardot) Lanternier, both representatives of sterling French ancestry, as the respective family names clearly indicate.

August J. Lanternier was born in France, June 12, 1845, a son of Joseph and Mary Lanternier, who established the family home at Fort Wayne in the year 1854 and who passed the remainder of their lives in this state. The final stage of their transportation to Fort Wayne was by the old canal, and Joseph Lanternier here established himself as a market gardener. Mrs. Amelia (Girardot) Lanternier was born February 11, 1847, and was a girl of about six years when her parents established residence in Allen County, near Fort Wayne, her father having here become a substantial farmer.

August J. Lanternier received the advantages of both parochial and public schools in Fort Wayne, and as boy and youth gained practical experience in connection with his father's gardening enterprise. Eventually he became one of the representative florists and gardeners of this city, his retirement from active business having occurred about 1921 and his death August 4, 1929. His widow is now a resident of Fort Wayne. Of their eleven children all are living except two. The religious faith of the family has been for many generations that of the Catholic Church.

The Catholic parochial schools of Fort Wayne were the medium through which John J. Lanternier acquired his youthful education, and he was associated with his father in the florist's business until he was chosen deputy clerk of Allen County, December 31, 1910. He retained this position until January 1, 1917, when he associated himself with the Dreibelbiss Abstract & Title Company, of which he has been the manager since October 1, 1919.

The political allegiance of Mr. Lanternier is given to the Democratic party, he is a communicant of the Catholic Church, while his wife retains membership in the Lutheran Church. He is an appreciative and popular member of the Optimist Club.

June 25, 927, recorded the marriage of Mr. Lanternier to Miss Paula Reinkensmeier, who likewise was born and reared in Fort Wayne and who is a daughter of Christian and Alurina (Beverforden) Reinkensmeier, who were born in Germany and the former of whom was twenty-one years of age when he became a resident of Fort Wayne, his future wife having come with her parents to this city when she was a child of six years. Mr. Reinkensmeier celebrated in 1929 his seventy-sixth birthday anniversary and his wife is sixty years of age, both being devout communicants of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Reinkensmeier has been actively engaged in the retail grocery business during the past forty-five years and is now one of the veteran and honored business men of Fort Wayne. Mr. and Mrs. Lanternier have a wide circle of friends in their native city and are popular in social life in their home community. Mr. Lanternier’s first wife was Laura Schuckman, who died May 10, 1926, and there were two children born to this union, John E. and Charlotte R.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931

ROBERT H. MCGRATH, of Lafayette, is owner of the McGrath Foundry & Machine Shop, one of the oldest industries in that city. It is the one of the few manufacturing plants in the Wabash Valley which has continuously occupied one site and has been in the ownership of one family for seventy years.

Mr. McGrath was born at Lafayette, May 5, 1859, son of Robert M. and Catherine (O’Grady) McGrath. Robert M. McGrath was brought by his mother to Indiana about 1825. As a young man he was employed by the engineering corps which laid out the Wabash & Erie Canal. In 1860 he started a small machine shop on the ground now occupied by the plant of the McGrath Foundry & Machine Shop, and was active in the business until his death. He served as county commissioner of Tippecanoe County and was a man of substantial character and leadership in his community.

Robert H. McGrath was one of a family of five children. He attended schools at Lafayette and completed his education in Notre Dame University. At the age of eighteen he went to work in the office of his father's business and when his father died took over the active management. Since the death of his mother he has been owner and operator of a plant that does a general machinery manufacturing business. He is a Democrat in politics and for three terms served on the board of public works as water works trustee at Lafayette.

Mr. McGrath married Miss Mollie Ward, of Keokuk, Iowa. Four children were born to their marriage. The daughter Genevieve is the wife of Joseph Voight. Irma is the wife of Will Hanley, of Indianapolis, Indiana. Miss Helen is at home. The son, Robert, died while with the colors during the World war. He was with the first American regiment sent to Italy, and he died in that country.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931

CLYDE ROMEO NETHERTON, M. D., is giving to the Chalmers community of White County the loyal and effective service of a well trained and conscientious physician and surgeon, and he has here been established in the successful practice of his profession since 1920.

Doctor Netherton was born in Pulaski County, lndiana, February 2, 1884, and is a son of William E. and Clara (Ross) Netherton, both likewise natives of Indiana. William E. Netherton not only functioned a term of years as one of the progressive exponents of farm industry in Pulaski County, but also served as county superintendent of schools, and as postmaster of the City of Winamac, the county seat.

Dr. Clyde R. Netherton, first in order of birth in a family of five children, continued his studies in the Winamac public schools until he had duly profited by the curriculum of the high school, and he thereafter advanced his academic or literary education by attending two summer sessions at the University of Indiana and two summer sessions at the Indiana State Normal College at Terre Haute, besides having been a student at Valparaiso University during one summer before he was there matriculated in its medical department. The Doctor gave five and one-half years of effective service as a teacher in the Indiana public schools, and the major part of this service was rendered in his native county, where he taught at Francesville, Pulaski and Monterey.

In preparing for the profession in which he has since won definite success and prestige Doctor Netherton was a student two years in the medical department of Valparaiso Uni- versity, and he thereafter continued his studies in the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery until he was there graduated as a member of the class of 1913. After receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine he further reinforced himself through serving as interne in Grace Hospital and also the West Side Hospital, well ordered institutions of Chicago. Thereafter he returned to his native county, where he was established one year in active general practice at Francesville. He then left Pulaski County and passed a year in practice at Clarks Hill, Tippecanoe County. He passed the ensuing year in professional service with the Chicago branch of the Ford Motor Company, and in the great western metropolis he rendered one year of similar service with the Western Electric Company. In the meantime he profited by the advantages of the Cook County Clinic and the West Side Hospital. In 1920 he established his residence at Chalmers, Indiana, where he has built up a substantial and representative general practice and became distinctly persona grata both as a skilled physician and surgeon and as a progressive and public-spirited citizen. The Doctor is a member of the White County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the Phi Delta medical college fraternity. His political support is given to the Republican party and he has membership in the Knights of Pythias.

His native state of Indiana gave to Doctor Netherton his gracious and popular wife, whose maiden name was Blanche Mabel Bryant, and who was born and reared in this state. The children of this union are two sons and one daughter: William Robert, Clyde Bryant, and Joan.

Click here for photo.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931

GEORGE A. SCHWIND is a well known South Bend Business man, one of the owners of the United Heating & Plumbing Company at 913- 915 West Indiana Avenue.

Mr. Schwind is a native of South Bend, where he was born November 23, 1890. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Schwind, are deceased. He was only four years of age when his mother died. Mr. Schwind from boyhood has been a worker, has had a high sense of his responsibility to himself, his family and his community. His education was derived from the local schools, supplemented by work started at an early age. He served his apprenticeship as a plumber, and since 1923 has been associated with Mr. Anthony F. Swiatowy in the United Heating & Plumbing Company. Since 1924 this organization has had a rapid increase in the volume of its business, and has handled many large contracts. One of the large buildings in which they recently installed the heating and plumbing equipment was the Thomas Jefferson High School.

Mr. Schwind married Miss Clara J. Bielecki, a native of South Bend. They have a son, George A., Jr., born June 20, 1929. Mr. Schwind is a director of the South Bend Society of Sanitary Engineers and is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He and his family reside at 215 South Maple Street.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931