George W. Hartman, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .

Transcribed biography of George W. Hartman

GEORGE W. HARTMAN. It was from the soil and as an industrious tiller thereof that George W. Hartman of Westville won his prosperity, and by equally efficient relationship with the community has long enjoyed their regard as a citizen.

Mr. Hartman was born near the village of Kouts in Porter County, Indiana, March 6, 1857. His father, Christopher Hartman, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, December 31, 1824. He grew up on a German farm, had a common school education, and was a farmer in his native land until about 1850, when he came to America. He was on the ocean six weeks, and after a brief stay in New York went west to Milwaukee, from there to Chicago which was still a small city, and finding no prospects in the West returned to New York. Later he went to Michigan City, and for a time was employed by the Michigan Central Railway Company hauling wood for fuel, wood being burned by the locomotives instead of coal. Afterward for a time he was in the employ of the Panhandle Railway. He worked at small wages, and by the greatest economy he acquired capital and equipment which enabled him to start out as a farmer. From 1854 to 1866 he made his home in Porter County and afterward moved to Westville, where he died at the age of seventy-seven. He was reared a Lutheran and was always an adherent of that faith and in politics was a republican.

Christopher Hartman married Mary E. Barnes, who was born at Dexter, Maine, and died April 5, 1902, at the age of sixty-five. Her husband died October 29, 1900. She was member of one of the notable pioneer families of LaPorte County. Her parents were Ivory and Elmira Barnes, who came from Maine to LaPorte County in early days. Ivory Barnes was an expert axman, and when sawmills were not numerous he employed his skill in hewing timber, and no doubt worked out the timber that entered into the frame of many buildings still standing in LaPorte and Porter counties. He spent his last days in Westville and died at the age of seventy-six. Mrs. Christopher Hartman, who died at the age of sixty-five, was a sister of George W. Barnes, who according to local histories was the first settler in Galena Township of LaPorte County, establishing his home there about 1833. The first township election was held in his house. He was a man of uncommon nerve and force of character, and was one of the worthiest of the pioneers of that section of the state. Christopher Hartman and wife had three children: George W., Olive Jane, and William T.

George W. Hartman attended a rural school taught in a one room building with home made furniture, and also had some of the advantages of the schools at Westville. When only thirteen he chose to become self-supporting, and he has always relied upon hard work and industry as the sure road to prosperity. The first farm he was able to acquire was a mile and a half northwest of Westville. He sold that and bought the Barr farm, which he occupied seventeen years, and then bought the place where he now lives on the Lincoln Highway a mile west of Westville. He has made many improvements on his land and has always borne the reputation of being one of the high class farmers of that community.

April 10, 1894, Mr. Hartman married Elsie A. Chase. She was born in Polk County, Iowa, March 16, 1869, daughter of Charles and Mary A. (Herrold) Chase. Her father was born in New York State October 7, 1828, went to Michigan with his parents in 1840, moved to Iowa in 1859, and while there enlisted and served three years in the Union Army as a member of the Seventh Iowa Infantry. He was several times captured and was confined in both Libby and Andersonville prisons. He came of a military family, five of his brothers and two of his brothers-in-law being soldiers in the same war.

Mrs. Hartman died in 1910. In 1913 Mr. Hartman married Ida Ullom, of Cass Township, LaPorte County, daughter of William and Hannah (Dowd) Ullom. Her father was born in Athens County, Ohio, of early German ancestry, while her mother was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Mrs. Hartman is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Hartman is affiliated with Westville Lodge No. 309, Knights of Pythias, with Westville Lodge No.v136, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has filled all the chairs in the Odd Fellows Lodge and been a delegate to the Grand Lodge six times. He is a republican and has filled the office of road supervisor and served as a member of the Westville Town Council.
 


Source: Dunn, Jacob Piatt. 1919. Indiana and Indianans: A History of Aboriginal and Territorial Indiana and the Century of Statehood. Volume V. Chicago, Illinois: The American Historical Society. 2291 p.
Page(s) in Source: 2213-2214

This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.

Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook

 

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