Wolf Cemetery, Portage TownshipIndex of Wolf Cemetery burials . . . .
The index of Portage Township cemeteries published in 1995 by the Northwest
Indiana Genealogical Society provides the following information concerning the
Wolf Cemetery:
"At one time there were grave stones north
of the big brick
[Josephus] Wolf home in SW 1/4 sec.
30."
The Wolf home is located in the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of
Section 30, at the northwest intersection of 700 North and 450 West. The
statement above concerning the tombstones located near the Wolf home is indeed
true.
My great aunt, Ellen Marie (Shook) Forbes, commonly referred to as Marie, lived
in the Wolf home from November 1917 to March 1920, along with her parents,
William Addison Shook and Mary Lunette (Florence) Shook, and her siblings - Mae,
Ross, Ralph, Floyd, Mary, Ray, Roe [my grandfather], and Jay. The Shook family
were the caretakers for the Wolf Farm, then owned by brothers Robert and Lewis Robbins. In 1992, in
a privately published, 230 page book titled Memories for My Grandchildren,
Marie writes in great detail about the Wolf and Robbins families, the Wolf farm,
the Wolf house, and the small grave yard near the Wolf house. On page 48 of her
book, Marie writes:
"The house and the barn, of course, made
tremendous impact
on my child's mind, and still do, to
this day, more than seventy
years later. A brick mansion is
unusual for a farm residence, and
there are few double cowbarns that I
know of, in fact, not other
of which I have heard. But exceeding
those two buildings in
interest to me was something I have
seen only on the Wolf Farm,
although I have read it was sometimes
the custom in much
earlier times.
In memory I can still behold the tiny
private cemetery which
lay a little north of the Wolf House,
and which I saw day by
day from our windows. The little
headstones were encircled by
an iron railing and, like it, showed
much evidence of
weathering. I thought I could
remember there were five and
asked my sister Mae how many she
though there were, and
without telling her my opinion. She
said there had been five.
The number of Wolf children deceased
before the 1882
History [of Porter County] was five.
Only the three sons,
Francis, Milton, Elmer, survived. I
did not know the names on
the tombstones, since I could not
read, so I am unaware if
there were any daughters.
Several years ago we found Josephus
Wolf's tombstone
in the McCool Cemetery. It was a tall
black one, ugly to
me -- many other names are inscribed
around the bottom of
it, presumably those of his children
who predeceased him.
Evidently there was removal to the
grave site of the parents,
and the little stones were discarded.
Despite the wealth of Josephus Wolf
(at least, in land) he
was poor in other ways. Losing more
than half his family
of eight children should have been a
far greater tragedy
than being a pauper in worldly
goods."
Records of the McCool Cemetery in Portage Township, as well as visual
observation of Josephus Wolf's tombstone, show that there were, in fact, five
Wolf children who died young. These children were Edith, Gladys, Josephus M.,
and two infant daughters. The vital information for each of these children are
provided below.
NOTE: If you have information that you
like to add to this database, including corrections, then please contribute it
to
Steve Shook.
WOLF, Edith
Birth:
Death:
Note:
WOLF, Gladys
Birth:
Death:
Note:
WOLF, Josephus M.
Birth:
Death:
Note:
WOLF, Infant Daughter
Birth:
Death:
Note:
WOLF, Infant Daughter
Birth:
Death:
Note:
Wolf Cemetery data prepared by Steven R. Shook