Henry W. Dreblow, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Henry W. Dreblow
HENRY W. DREBLOW. A review of the life of Henry W. Dreblow, of Pine township, Porter county, Indiana, shows him to have at all times exercised characteristics of industry and thrift and to have conducted his business affairs in a manner that makes him now one of the most prosperous and substantial farmers of this community. His farm, comprising eighty acres of well located land, is one of the best tilled in the county and is improved with a good set of buildings and other necessary appurtenances to the modern, up-to-date estate.
Mr. Dreblow is a native of Indiana, his birth having occurred in Pulaski county, September 7, 1864. His parents, Christian and Minnie (Stephens) Dreblow, were natives of western Prussia, in which country they remained until the year of their marriage, in 1854, when the ambitious young couple immigrated to the United States. They prospered here from the first and proved to be a welcome addition to the citizens of the community of Michigan City, in which they first located. Mr. Dreblow had learned the blacksmith trade in his native country and continued to ply that trade in this country in Michigan City for five years. He carefully saved his profits during those years with the purpose in view of ultimately purchasing some farm land that he might make his home thereon. This desire was fulfilled when he invested his accumulated money in a forty-acre tract in Pulaski county. He built a log cabin on the place and moved into it, cleared and improved the land steadily and also added to his landed possessions until at the time of his death, in 1904, he was the owner of two hundred and twenty acres. His wife survived him three years, her demise occurring in 1907. Twelve children were born to them, five of whom are now living, these being: Augusta, wife of Ewaldt Grieger, of LaPorte county; Henry W.; Louis, who is a veteran of the Spanish-American war; Edward, who married Mary Herman; and August.
The boyhood of Henry W. Dreblow was spent on his father's farm in Pulaski county, the district schools of which community he attended until in his early 'teens. Until eighteen years of age he remained at home assisting his father in the farm duties and the subsequent four years worked on the farm for wages. He then decided to seek employment in some other section and capacity and secured a position at Michigan City as painter and finisher in the Alaska Refrigerator shops, there remaining at the factory five years, the fine character of the work he turned out assuring him a continuous position. He subsequently returned to farming and for many years has been identified with agricultural pursuits.
Mr. Dreblow was married August 28, 1890, to Miss Clara Zarndt, who became the mother of two children and died in 1893. One child died at the age of three years, while the daughter Alice is now a young woman and makes her home under the parental roof. The present wife of Mr. Dreblow, to whom he was married June 15, 1897, was in maidenhood Miss Emma Paul. She was born in 1865, the daughter of Lewis and Julia (Verdine) Paul, natives of Germany. Mrs. Paul came to the United States in 1854 and was married in Michigan City to Mr. Paul, who had arrived in this country some time previous. They lived on a farm in Pulaski county for a short time, in 1866 settling in Pleasant township, Porter county, and residing there for several years. Later he purchased a farm of one hundred acres in Morgan township and that became subsequently the family homestead. As Mr. Paul prospered he added to his lands until he had secured nearly eight hundred acres, becoming by his own unaided efforts one of the wealthiest farmers in this section of the state. In 1898 Mrs. Paul died and two years later Mr. Paul divided his land among his children and went to Chicago to live, he being now in his eighty-third year.
Mr. and Mrs. Dreblow have two children, Julia, born April 10, 1898, and Edith, born August 17, 1903. They are artice participants in the religious life of the community, Mr. Dreblow being a member of the German Lutheran church and his wife of the Christian church. Politically Mr. Dreblow is an advocate of the principles embraced in the platform of the Democratic party, although he is not deeply interested in active politics. He is a man of many fine personal qualities, honest and fair in all his dealings with his fellows and is held in the highest respect throughout the community in which he resides.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company. 1912. History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. 881 p.
Page(s) in Source: 819-820
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