Charles E. DeWolfe, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Charles E. DeWolfe
Charles E. De Wolfe was born in Wolfeville, Nova Scotia, March 6, 1814; at 18 years of age he went to St. Andrews, N. B., and engaged in merchandising for four years. In the fall of 1836 he moved to Toledo, Ohio, where he remained one year; then came to Porter county, Ind., and engaged in mercantile business in Valparaiso in 1841. which he continued until 1850; he then moved to Michigan City, where he has since resided., and is engaged in mercantile business, and now has one of the largest dry-goods and notion houses in the city. He is one of the first organizers of the First National Bank of Michigan City, and is now a stockholder and Director of the same. He was married near Valparaiso, Ind., in April, 1840, to Miss Mary E. Baum. They have now living 5 children: Joseph B., James R., Geneva M., Charles B. and Harriet B.
Mr. De Wolfe was one of the originators and stockholders of the Michigan City Harbor Company, organized in 1865 for the building and improvement of the harbor at this place. He remained a Director until the company turned over the harbor to the U. S. Government in 1868. Mr. De Wolfe held $3,000 of the stock of the company. The Government has never refunded any of the moneys spent by the company in the improvement of the harbor, and the company never received anything from any source on the stock invested. Mr. De Wolfe also platted and laid out "De Wolfe's South Addition" to the city, containing 70 acres. A part of the lots have been sold and residences built on them; the rest he still owns. He has never belonged to any secret order or Church society, and has never held any office. However, he has always been a public-spirited man, and identified with every movement for the improvement and advancement of the interests of the county and city; and but for his aversion to political life, he would have been called upon to fill many of the positions of honor and trust in this county.
Source: Charles C. Chapman & Company. 1880. History of La Porte County, Indiana: Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages, and Townships. Chicago, Illinois: Charles C. Chapman & Company. 914 p.
Page(s) in Source: 760-761
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