Charles Link, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Charles Link
CHARLES LINK. Among the enterprising and influential farmers of Jackson township, Porter county, none are more deserving of mention than Charles Link, who has the distinction of being a native son of the township, having been born on the beautiful farm he now owns in section 27. Mr. Link's birth occurred March 25, 1866, and he is a son of Jacob Link, who was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, November 23, 1823.
Jacob Link was the eldest of five children born to Jacob Link and his wife, Mary. The grandfather was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and came to the United States in 1832, in order that his sons might be exempt from army service, as was required by the German government, and with the thought in view of bettering his own condition. He had been in the service and had assisted in overthrowing Napoleon, having participated in the battle of Waterloo. On arriving in this country he located first in Columbiana county, Ohio, and later removed to Seneca county, in the same state, where his death occurred August 20, 1840. Jacob, his son, and the father of Charles, there began to learn the carpenter trade as well as the business of Wheelwright, and was engaged in clearing farming land as well. After working at his trade in several places, in 1853 he came to Porter county, Indiana, and three years later brought his family to this county, where he contiued to reside the remainder of his life. He worked for a time at sawmilling and farming, and was the owner of a mill and 400 acres of valuable land in Jackson township. While a resident of Wisconsin he was united in marriage with Catherine Zimmermann, who was born in Germany in 1825, and they had the following children: Ella J., the wife of L. J. Wolfe, of LaPorte county, Indiana; William; Michael; Frank; Mary; Emma; Charles; Elvin and Edward. Mr. Link was a progressive man, was public-spirited to a high degree, and a stanch Republican in politics. He was held in high esteem by the people of his community, who knew him as a citizen of the highest integrity.
Charles Link inherited many of the sterling characteristics of his father. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and attended the district schools of his native locality until he was about twenty years of age, dividing his study with a strict training in matters pertaining to successful farming. The many valuable lessons taught by his father in regard to soil and climatic conditions, crop rotation and all modern methods of intensive farming have been of the utmost value to him in subsequent years, and to them he attributes much of his success. As a young man he managed his father's property for him, and on receiving his remuneration started to cultivate a property of his own, to which he has added from time to time until he now has one hundred and eighty-two acres in an excellent state of cultivation. Industrious and progressive, he has taken up the various branches of agricultural work, not the least of which is stock raising, and he now has a valuable herd of blooded animals. He is also interested in the local telephone, owns real estate in both Chesterton and Gary, and is always ready to investigate any proposition that promises to be a good investment. In political matters he is a Republican, and is regarded as a strong party man by the leaders of the organization in his section of the county. His success has come as the result of his own energy and enterprise along strictly legitimate lines, and he is regarded as one of his locality's most substantial and representative citizens.
In 1892 Mr. Link was married to Miss Clara Beach, who was born in Jackson township and here received the advantages of a liberal education. Mr. and Mrs. Link have two children: Lawrence, born October 6, 1907; and Bernice, born June 7, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Link have a curiosity in the way of a large clock made in scroll saw work and a facsimile of a cathedral.
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: 782-783
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