Dalke, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Dalke
THE DALKES OF PORTER COUNTY
Submitted by Mrs. Carl (Winona) Dalke
In 1880 fifteen year old Augusta Scholz came to America with her older sister, Anna, from Breslau, Germany. They came to the home of an uncle not far from a mill located on Salt Creek. The mill was owned by Bert and Jay Gossett.
Little did the Scholz sisters know that before long they would marry and live on adjoining farms on the road now named the 'Dalke Road.' Anna married Frederick Hockelberg, April 24, 1885. Augusta married Michael Dalke who was born in Hutta, Germany the son of Michael and Anna Elizabeth (Tetzloff) Dalke on October 28, 1857. Young Michael was naturalized in Porter County on October 11, 1880.
When Michael and Augusta bought the Felker farm in 1890, there was a settlement near the Gossett Mill called Gossettsburg with a store, a post office, a creamery, a school, a black smith shop, the mill and the Gossett Cemetery. In this cemetery Henry Batton is buried -- the only Revolutionary War soldier buried in Porter County. Some of the Gossets buried here were relatives of John and Hannah (Hageman) Busse. (John served as Postmaster at Porter (formerly called Hageman), Indiana for many years.) There was an impressive entrance at the gate of the cemetery as well as picnic tables and seats. The Busses came here often for a day of remembrance.
At the turn of the century the present brick house was built and in 1910 a barn was built by A. J. Babcock. The Dalkes added more land to the original farm -- the two Gossett home places and twenty acres of the Gossett land across the road from the Dalke home.
Augusta and Michael had six sons and four daughters. The family attended the St. Peter's Lutheran Church at McCool where the pastor was the Rev. J. E. Bescherer who served the parish for fifty years. The Dalkes were active in the work of the church since the parents were among the first members of the church. All but two of the Dalke children were confirmed by Rev Bescherer.
Michael died in 1914. As the other children married and left home, Fred (1891-1969) and Rose (1897-1966) stayed with their mother and continued farming. It was during this time that a large Slippery Elm located on the farm was named by the American Forestry Association as the National Champion in their big tree files.
Gust married Grace Moore and did some farming, later coming to Valparaiso to live. They had two sons, Junior and Leslie, and seven daughters, Lois, Helen (Walter), Eleanore (Price), Evelyn (Copas), Betty (Carey), Vernette (Gutt) and Margery (Jacobs). At one time Gust with his brother, Edward, along with their sister, Clara, operated a grocery at Crocker which offered a horse-drawn delivery device for the surrounding community. They also operated one of the first automobile agencies in the area handling the Dort car.
Edward (1893-1965) and Carl were in the army during World War I. Carl was sent to France and was in the Meuse-Argonne Sector in active fighting at the time of the Armistice. Both belonged to the American Legion Charles Pratt Post 94 in Valparaiso where Carl filled all the chairs, and was elected Commander of the Veterans of World War I of which he was a charter member.
Ed married Anna Tofte. They lived in Valparaiso where Ed worked at the Continental Diamond Fibre Company and the Lantz Manufacturing Company.
Carl married Winona Babcock. They live in Valparaiso and he worked for the McGill Manufacturing Company. They had two children, Carwyn and Sharon (Crowder).
Clara married Roy Babcock, a railroad man at Crocker, Indiana. There were nine children in this home: Avis (Watters), Iris (Buczkowski), Robert, Donald, Edna (Lorenz), Louis, Everett (1921-1923), Gloria (Buczkowski) and Kenneth.
Alfred married Helen Thatcher and they had a daughter, Rita (Tracy). Al worked in Valparaiso as a auto mechanic beginning this work for Milton Take.
Herbert (1906-1969) married Betty Broberg. They lived in Gary, Indiana where Herb worked in the mills. There were 3 children, Mrs. Dorthy Hager, Ernest Erickson and Edward Broberg.
Ida (1889-1917) married Rufus LaHayne and had two daughters -- Ruth (Berrier) and Isabel (Wiseman).
Elizabeth (1899-1900) died in infancy.
Today the farms formerly owned by the two Scholz sisters belong to Dr. E. W. Griffith. Here stand his broad acres of tall corn high above Salt Creek which once powered the big red mill in the little settlement of Gossetsburg.
Source: American Revolution Bicentennial Committee of Porter County. 1976. A Biographical History of Porter County, Indiana. Valparaiso, Indiana: American Revolution Bicentennial Committee of Porter County, Inc. 180 p.
Page(s) in Source: 93-94
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