CHARLES H. ALLISON, whose home is in Russiaville, Howard County, has been a member of the county bar for over a quarter of a century. Mr. Allison is especially well known over Indiana through his official work in connection with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

He has lived practically all his life in one community. He was born November 5, 1872, in a log cabin which stood on the site of his present modern home at the western edge of Russiaville. Mr. Allison's great-great-grandfather, Charles Allison, with his brother James, natives of Holland, came to America when young men and were soldiers on the American side in the Revolutionary war. The original Allison stock came from Northern England and moved to Holland on account of religious oppression in England.

Charles H. Allison is a son of Martin and Mary E. (Smithson) Allison. His father was born in York County, Pennsylvania, January 13, 1836, and his mother in Highland County, Ohio, August 30, 1837. They were married at Russiaville, Indiana, in 1859. Martin Allison came to Indiana in 1848. The old Madison & Indianapolis Railroad had not yet been completed to Indianapolis. While living with John Kessler in Lafayette he learned the wagonmaker's trade. For a short time his home was at Paris, Illinois, and in 1857 he bought the land at Russiaville comprising the Allison homestead, a large portion of which is owned by Mr. Charles H. Allison. Martin Allison from 1860 to 1866 was kept very busy building army wagons. All the woodwork had to be fashioned from the rough timber by hand skill.

Charles H. Allison attended the local schools at Russiaville and in May, 1890, was graduated from the high school of Delphi in Carroll County. Later he spent two years in Butler College at Indianapolis and one year in the Indiana Law School at Indianapolis, graduating in 1893. His experience as a lawyer has brought him in contact with a large amount of litigation and he has represented many of the citizens of Russiaville in business before the courts at Kokomo. While he still carries on a general law practice he has devoted much time to the building up of a general insurance agency. Mr. Allison is a lawyer who has had no aspirations for public office. In politics he is usually aligned with the Republican party.

In Odd Fellowship Mr. Allison was grand patriarch of the Grand Encampment of Indiana for the years of 1916-17, was a representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge at St. Louis in 1918 and at Boston in 1920. He has attended eleven sessions of the Sovereign Lodge. He was state field supervisor for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows from 1922 to 1927 and at the present time is special deputy grand master of Indiana. Since 1922 he has ben one of the three directors of the State Odd Fellows Home at Greensburg and is treasurer of the Odd Fellows Home Association. Another fraternal organization in which he has been deeply interested is the Knights of Pythias. He has held most of the offices in the local lodge, for a number of years was keeper of records and seals, and on two occasions was representative to the Grand Lodge. Mr. and Mrs. Allison are members of the Methodist Church of Russiaville.

He married, December 24, 1892, at Delphi, Indiana, Miss Carrie B. Kerlin. They have occupied their home at Russiaville practically ever since their marriage. Mrs. Allison is a daughter of James Calvin and Mary Magdaline (Pennybaker) Kerlin, natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Indiana when children.

Mr. Allison's only son, Grant E. Allison, is connected with the Chevrolet Automobile Sales Company at Kokomo. He married, June 7, 1914, Miss Beryl Davis, of Russiaville, and they have a pleasant home near MR. Allison. Mrs. Grant Allison is an active worker in the Russiaville Methodist Church.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


CALRE WILLIAM HOBART BANGS. In the allotments of human life few individuals atatin to eminent positions. It is an interesting and curious study to note how opportunity waits on fitness and capacity, so that all at last fill the places for which they are best qualified. In the legal profession there is no royal road to promotion. Its high rewards are gained by diligent study and long and tedious attention to elementary principles, and are awarded only to those who develop, in the arena of forensic strife, charactes of integrity and moral worth. All individuals fall into the niches in the elaborate edifice of life that they are qualified to fill. However marvelously "natural selection" may work in the production of species, there is a wondrous selection in the sifting out of the fittest from the mass of common material that crowds all the avenues of the law. In that most difficult and perplexing profession, the very occupation of superior position argues for its possessor solid ability, signal skill, sound learning, untiring industry and uncompromising integrity. In this connection extended mention is due Clare William Hobart Bangs, of Huntingdon, who is not only a leading lawyer of his state, but well known as an educator and successful as a business man.

Mr. Bangs was born on a farm in Richland Township, near Auburn, DeKalb County, Indiana, May 5, 1890, and is a son of Charles Henry and Virginia H. (Reynolds) Bangs. His father still operates the homestead farm on which he was born in DeKalb County, and for thirty years has been the Government crop reporter for his county, where Mrs. Bangs also was born. There were five children in the family, all of whom have taught school.

The third in order of birth of his parents' children, Clare William Hobart Bangs attended the public schools of DeKalb County, where he was reared on the home farm, and in 1912 received the degrees of Bachelor of Pedagogy and Bachelor of Arts from the Tri-State College, at Angola, Indiana. He then attended Indiana University and the University of Chicago and King's School of Oratory, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this being followed by a correspondence school course in civil engineering. He received his degree of Master of Arts from Huntington (Indiana) College in 1913, his Bachelor of Laws degree from Columbia University, New York, in 1922, and from 1922 until 1924 attended the University of Paris, France.

Mr. Bangs commenced his career as an educator in 1909, when he became superintendent of high schools in Steuben County, Indiana, continuing to be thus engaged until 1912, when he became professor of sociology and philosophy at Huntington College. He was elevated to the presidency of that institution in 1914 and continued as such until his resignation in 1919. During his period as president he was an investigator of social problems at Chicago and Saint Louis at various times, and also a Chautauqua and commencement lecturer, in addition to which he did his share in promoting various war movements, particularly at the students' military training camps. After his return from Paris, in 1924, Mr. Bangs entered upon the practice of his profession at Huntington, where he has since risen to an acknowledged position among the leaders, and now has offices at 48 Franklin Street. He has been identified with much important litigation that has come before the courts, and has shown himself a thoroughly capable, learned and reliable attorney. He belongs to the Huntington County Bar Association, the Indiana State Bar Associationand the American Bar Association. Mr. Bangs has several business connections and is president of the Mutual Savings & Loan Association and treasurer of Huntington Pure Milk, Inc. Politically he is a Republican. He is a member and a past president of the Exchange Club and belongs to the Edward Bangs Descendants, of which he is a charter member. His religious connection is with the United Brethren Church, of which he was formerly a member of the board of trustees.

On July 18, 1917, Mr. Bangs was united in marriage with Miss Nellie A. Binning, who was born in Nebraska, and was a teacher of English and oratory at Huntington College for nine years. She is a daughter of the late Edward Binning, a native of Illinois, who later moved to Kansas and Nebraska and became a prominent rancher an done of the influential citizens of his community. Mr. and Mrs. Bangs are the parents of two children: Charles Edward, born October 12, 1918; and Sarah Virginia born December 8, 1921.

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INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


JOE HENRY WILDERMUTH has proved his ability and resourcefulness both as a teacher in the public schools and as a professional exemplar of the art and science of architecture, of which he is now a prominent representative in the great industrial City of Gary, Lake County, with office headquarters at 673 Broadway.

Mr. Wildermuth was born on the parental home farm near Star City, Pulaski County, Indiana, July 6, 1897, and is a son of Elias and Olive (Herrick) Wildermuth, of whom more specific mention will be found on other pages of this publication, in the personal sketch of an older son, Judge Ora L. Wildermuth. The public schools of Star City were the medium through which Joe H. Wildermuth acquired his earlier education, and in 1915 he was graduated in the Emerson High School in the City of Gary. In advancing his education he went to the West and entered the University of Arizona. In this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1919 and with the degree of Bachelor of Science. Subsequent post-graduate work gained to him in the following year the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois. It has been noted that he was graduated in the Emerson High School at Gary, and after his graduation he gave a year of characteristically effective service as a teacher in this school. His collegiate studies embraced work that specifically fortified him for technical and professional service as an architect, and since 1921 he has been one of the successful and representative exponents of this profession in Gary. Mr. Wildermuth has designed and supervised the erection of many important buildings in Gary, including the fine Municipal Auditorium, the Emerson Grade School, the Lew Wallace Public School, besides about twen ty of the other public school buildings of the city, three Gary public libraries, and numerous business and residence buildings of the best modern type. His reputation as an architect of school buildings has extended beyond the limits of Indiana, and he is the only Gary architect whose name is listed on the membership rolls of the of the American Institute of Architects, the nation's organization of architects. He is one of the most prominent representatives of his profession in this part of the state and the year 1931 finds him in service as vice president of the Indiana Society of Architects.

Mr. Wildermuth was a student in the University of Illinois when the nation entered the World war, and he there entered the Officers Training Camp and was duly enlisted for service in the United States Army. He was not called to overseas service and he received his honorable discharge in December, 1918, about a month after the now historic armistice had brought the was to a close. He is now an appreciative and popular member of Gary Memorial Post of the American Legion.

Mr. Wildermuth was one of the real pioneers of the City of Gary. When he was a small boy his father brought him here in a two horse wagon, traveling a distance of seventy-five miles, which took three days to make the trip. His father built a small shack on Fifth Avenue and from this little home the lad witnessed the real start of Gary. He saw the grading shaft for what is now the Monmouth steel plant, and witnessed also the grading of the first streets. His part in the pioneer start of this now thriving city was that of a newsboy, he having been the first newsboy in the place.

Mr. Wildermuth is loyal and progressive in his civic attitude, is independent in politics, is enrolled as an active member of the Gary Chamber of Commerce, as well as the local Kiwanis Club, he has membership also in the Gary Country Club, the Lincoln Hill Country Club and the University Club of his home city, where also he is affiliated with Gary Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, both are popular figures in the representative social activities of their home community, and Mrs. Wildermuth is active in women's clubs, besides being affiliated with Beta Gamma college sorority.

At Gary, on the 10th of January, 1923, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wildermuth to Miss Madeleine Havens, daughter of Daniel F. and Lola (Bassett) Havens. Mr. Havens was engaged in the sheet metal business in Indianapolis many years and he now resides at Gary, where he is living virtually retired, his wife having died in 1922. Mrs. Wildermuth completed her high school course in Indianapolis, and thereafter was a student in Northwestern Univeristy, Evanston, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Wildermuth have two children, Richard Lee, born June 22, 1924, and Dorothy Ann, born January 5, 1926, and the son is at the time of this writing a pupil in the Gary public schools. Mrs. Wildermuth has proved a solicitous and devoted wife and mother, is the gracious chatelaine of her attractive home and has found time and opportunity to identify herself actively with the church, cultural and social activities of her home community, where she is in the fullest degree persona grata in the various circles in which she moves.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


LOUIS BOHREL RODIN has gained rank among the progressive business men and loyal and substantial citizens of Gary, where he has maintained his residence since 1920 and where he became the founder of the substantial business now conducted under the title of Calumet Glass Works. He is the owner and active manager of this prosperous business, the headquarters of which are established at 628 Washington Street.

Mr. Rodin is a member of a family of eight children, all of whom were born in Russia and all of whom are now residents of the United States, as citizens fully appreciative of the advantages and attractions of the land of their adoption. Mr. Rodin was born in Russia on the 21st of February, 1889, and is a son of Bohrel and Bernice (Bernstein) Rodin, who were born and reared in Russia and who there maintained their home throughout their entire lives, their mortal bodies having been laid to rest in a cemetery at Olito. Bohrel Rodin bcame in his native land a successful contractor in road construction, and he was able to make, in 1910, a visit to the United States and to his son, Louis B., of this review, who had come to this country about five years previously. Bohrel Rodin did not long survive after his return to his native land, for there his death occurred in 1911 on the 25th of October, his wife having passed away in 1891 and both having been devout members of the Jewish synagogue in their home community in Russia. Of their eight children the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth.

Louis B. Rodin received his youthful education in a private school in his native land and was an ambitious and self-reliant lad of about seventeen years when he severed the home ties and voyaged across the Atlantic ocean to the United States, in 1905. He established residence in Brooklyn, New York, where he gained practical experience in the glass business, with which he was there identified until 1911, when he came to the West and associated himself with the same line of business in the City of Chicago, where he remained until 1920, the year that marked his founding of the Calumet Glass Works at Gary, Indiana. With marked progressiveness and with enterprise, the present scope and importance of which mark him as one of the successful and representative business men of the city.

Mr. Rodin has gained success through his own ability and efforts and has stood forward as a loyal and liberal citizen who is deeply interested in all that concerns the civic and material welfare of his home community. He has membership in the Gary Commercial Club and Chamber of Commerce, and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the B'nai B'rith. He is a member of the Turkey Creek Country Club, and he and his wife are zealous members of Temple Israel and Beth El in their home city. In politics he maintains an independent attitude and gives support to men and measures meeting the approval of his judgement.

In the City of Chicago, on the 10th of October, 1917, Mr. Rodin was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Wolf, daughter of William and Rebecca Wolf, who there continued to maintain their home until their death. Mr. and Mrs. Rodin have three children: Bernice, Walter Herbert and Jacqueline Cherie. The year 1931 finds the two older children ambitiously pursuing their studies in the Gary public schools.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


EDWIN F. SCHOENBECK, county surveyor of Lake County, was educated for a technical profession, and before his entrance into politics was in the engineering department of one of the great industrial corporations of Lake County.

Mr. Schoenbeck was born at Beatrice, Nebraska, March 8, 1900, son of Herman and Caroline (Goehring) Schoenbeck. His grandfather was John Schoenbeck, a native of Germany, who brought his family to America about 1872 and settled on a farm at Rochester, New York. Later he moved to Nebraska, living in the country near the Kansas line, and he is buried in the Bethlehem Cemetery near Odell, Nebraska. Herman Schoenbeck was born in Germany and was twelve years of age when the family came to America. He continued his education, begun in Germany, at Rochester, learned the trade of carpenter, but about 1880 moved to Nebraska and spent the rest of his life as a farmer. He died in February, 1924, and is buried in the Bethlehem Lutheran Church Cemetery near his old home. His wife, Caroline Goehring, was born near Waverly, Ohio. Her parents, Gotthold Goehring and wife, moved from Ohio to Illinois and later to Nebraska. Caroline Schoenbeck was a devout Lutheran. Shed died in November, 1924. There were five children: Walter, who died in 1918 at the Fort McHenry Hospital at Baltimore, Maryland, while enrolled in service as a soldier during the World war; Mrs. Helen Koenig, of Gering, Nebraska; Elmer, of Gering; Miss Martha, of Gering; and Edwin F.

Edwin F. Schoenbeck attended public school at Odell, Nebraska, graduating from high school in 1919, following which he spent two years in the college at Hastings, Nebraska, and in 1925 was graduated in the engineering course from the University of Nebraska. In the same year of his graduation he came to Gary, and entered the engineering department of the American Bridge Company, starting in the drafting room. He was with the bridge company until January 1, 1931.

Mr. Schoenbeck on November 4, 1930, was elected county surveyor of Lake County. His office is in the courthouse at Gary. He was elected as a Democrat and is a member of the Gary Democratic Club. He is a member of the Sigma Xi Society and the Trinity Lutheran Church. He plays golf, but his chief hobby is amateur photography.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


CHARLES AUGUST BUBLITZ, Gary manufacturer, is president of the Calumet Sash & Door Company. This is one of the extensive industries of the city, with plant and yards at 2051-55 Adams Street.

Mr. Bublitz has had a long and successful experience in the woodworking business. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, October 31, 1887, a son of Carl A. and Katharina (Sommer) Bublitz. His parents were born and educated in Germany. His father was a young man when he came to America and located in Chicago. By trade he was a wagon maker, and that occupation he followed with different plants in Chicago until his final years. He died in 1918 and he and his wife are buried in the Waldheim Cemetery, Forest Park, Illinois. Both were devout members of the Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church. Katharina Sommer came to America when a young woman and located in Chicago. Shed died December 28, 1929. Of their four children one died in infancy. Those living are Charles A., Mrs. Lillian Gehle, of Chicago, and Rudolph, an automobile worker in Chicago.

Charles A. Bublitz attended the grammar schools of Chicago and left school to become a salesman with Chicago mercantile houses. After a year and a half of this work and another year with the Reid Murdock Company, wholesale grocers, he started in a new live of experience in 1905, as an employee of the True & True Company, a sash, door and millwork plant in Chicago. He was with that firm for twelve years and during the latter part of the service was plant superintendent.

His first connection with the business affairs of Gary was made in 1915, when he accepted the place of head estimator for the Gary Mill Work Company. After a year and a half he returned to Chicago and was with the Quist & Becker Company, stair manufacturer, until 1919.

In 1919 Mr. Bublitz established himself in business at Gary, founding the Calumet Sash & Door Company. He has been president of the company since it was started, and has had the satisfaction of seeing the business grow and prosper. He employs on the average about thirty persons. Mr. Bublitz is also a director of the Industrial Finance Company and of the Home Savings & Loan Company.

His other affiliations indicate some of his public spirit and readiness to cooperate with organizations for the general welfare. They include the Commercial Club and Chamber of Commerce, Gary Country Club, Lions Club. In Masonry he is affiliated with Roosevelt Lodge No. 766, A. F. and A. M., Gary Chapter Royal Arch Masons, Knights Templar Commandery, Orak Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Hammond. He is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, a Republican, and is vice president of the church council of the Grace English Evangelist Lutheran Church. During the World war he helped in the various drives. His recreations are golf and fishing.

He married at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 4, 1913, Miss Hilda Kuchenbeiser, daughter of Emil and Anna (Beimdeike) Luchenbeiser. Her father was born and reared in Milwaukee while her mother was born at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Her father was an iron moulder and followed that trade for many years. He died about 1899 and her mother passed away December 7, 1925; both are buried at Milwaukee. Mrs. Bublitz attended school in her native city. She is a member of Gary Chapter of the Eastern Star and of the same church as her husband. Their two sons are named Charles August, Jr., a student in the Horace Mann High School, and Robert Harold, in grade school.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


FRANK BORMAN, Gary business man, was born within the present city limits of this wonder steel city of Northern Indiana. Among his many property interests he still retains a portion of the old family estate, which was acquired when his father entered Government land in this part of Lake County three-quarters of a century ago.

Mr. Borman was born at Tolleston, now Gary, January 9, 1875, son of Christopher and Wilhelmina (Kurth) Borman. His parents were born and reared in Germany, attending public schools in that country, and his father came to America in 1855. At that time little had been done toward developing the northern or lake shore region of Lake County. He acquired land from the Government at two dollars an acres, and for many years was one of the leading citizens of Tolleston. For twenty-five years he was postmaster of the village. He also owned a grocery store and meat market, which was the first business of that kind established in Calumet Township. He possessed much talent as a musician. He and his wife were married in Tolleston and both are buried in the Waltheim Cemetery. His wife was educated in Germany and came to America about 1860 with her parents. They Kurth family also took up land in northern Lake County. She was an active member of the Lutheran Church. She died in 1900 and is buried beside her husband. These parents had nine children: Christopher, deceased, Mathilda, widow of Fred Findling, of Hammond; Elbert, of Gary; Dorothy, deceased; Emma, deceased; Laura, deceased; Fred, deceased; Frank and Otto, deceased.

Frank Borman spent his childhood and youth in the village of Tolleston and after leaving school took up the same line of business his father had followed and was a grocery merchant and meat dealer for twenty-two years. In the meantime Gary had been established and in its growth had absorbed the original village of Tolleston. On tracts of land which he owned he started building houses and other structures, and contributed in important measure to the upbuilding of the city. He is still the owner of considerable property in the Tolleston district. One of his buildings is the Borman Building and another is the Safeway Garage, owned and operated by Borman & Son. Mr. Borman is vice president and a director of the First State Bank, the oldest bank in Gary.

Probably any one acquainted with Gary business and civic affairs during the past quarter of a century is aware that Mr. Borman has been one of the outstanding leaders in the community. For fifteen years he has been vice president of the Gary park board. He is a Lake County jury commissioner, a Democrat, and a member of the church of his parents, the Lutheran.

He married at Tolleston, June 6, 1896, Miss Louisa Kunert, daughter of Charles and Augusta (Arich) Kunert. Her father was another early settler in Tolleston, where for many years he was in the general mercantile business, and both he and his wife are buried in the old cemetery. Mrs. Borman attended public schools at Tolleston. She is a member of the Lutheran Church, the Woman's Club and the Ladies Aid Society. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Borman are Meta, Edwin O. and Florence. Meta was educated in public schools and in the Froebel High School at Gary, is a graduate of the Gary Business College and until her marriage was a clerical worker for the Gary Motor Truck Company. She is the wife of Arthur L. Krueger, who has charge of the insurance department in the First State Bank of Gary. Mr. and Mrs. Krueger have a daughter, Marylin. The son, Edwin O. Borman, graduated from the Froebel High School in 1920, was a member of the class of 1924 in Wittenberg College at Springfield, Ohio, and since the close of his college career had been associated with his father in business, in the firm of Borman & Son, operating the Safeway Garage. Edwin Borman marriage Margie Ann Pearce, of Dayton, Ohio, and they have a son, Frank II. Edwin Borman is a Phi Gamma Delta and one of the popular young business men and citizens. The daughter Florence graduated from the Emerson High School and from the Gary Business College. She is the wife of Walter McLean, formerly of Rockford, Illinois, now connected with the Cudahy Packing Company and a resident of Gary. They have one daughter, Bonnie May.

The civic interests of the community have always attracted a share of Mr. Borman's attention and energies. During the World war he helped in all the drives, being captain of one of the bond teams at Tolleston. His favorite recreation is hunting.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


Deb Murray