Calvin T. D. Shanks, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Calvin T. D. Shanks
CALVIN T. D. SHANKS was born June 29, 1837, in Ontario, Ohio. He is the eldest of eight children born to Simon P. and Elizabeth (Border) Shanks, both natives of Pennsylvania. The elder Shanks was both carpenter and mason. When Calvin was fourteen years old, his parents moved to Noble County, Ind., then to Wolcottville, La Grange County, where our subject received the most of his education at the Greggs Seminary. They soon went to the well-known watering place, Rome City, about three miles south of the former place, remaining there about eight years; he now of age, went into the norther part of Michigan, where he lumbered for about two years; he then returned to La Grange County, farming for about two years. He married, September 20, 1861, Rachel Lownsbury, a native of La Grange County. They began keeping hotel at Newburg, La Grange County, remaining about eighteen months, when he moved to Tecumseh, Mich., where he farmed and lumbered for a few years. In 1866, he came to Chesterton, farming for about a year, when he engaged in cabinet work in Mishawaka for three years; he returned to Chesterton and engaged in different occupations until 1875, when he founded the Central House, and, through his energy and efficiency as "mine host," has made one of the finest hotels of its size in the county. In the summer of 1882, he made some fine improvements, and the public may always expect a cordial reception and an excellent culinary department under the management of Mrs. S. He has been a member of the I. O. O. F. Mrs. S. is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Shanks was a Democrat up to the Garfield campaign, but is now a Republican.
Source: Goodspeed, Weston A., and Charles Blanchard. 1882. Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Illustrated. Chicago, Illinois: F. A. Battey & Company. 771 p.
Page(s) in Source: 311-312
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