John J. Tafte, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of John J. Tafte
JOHN J. TAFTE was born in Holstein, Germany, December 17, 1831, and is one of the seven children of George B. and Anna (Peterson) Tafte. His father was born in Holstein in 1804. He was a cabinetmaker and contractor, and employed twenty-five men continuously. He died when thirty-five years old. His mother was born in Hamburg in 1806. Her father was a ship-builder, and met his death in a storm. She now resides with her son John. After his father's death, John was adopted by one Claus Fasbinder, in Holstein, with whom he lived eleven years and learned masonry. He afterward hired out for forty-five Prussian dollars a year, and later he was employed in hauling rock to rebuild what the Danish gunners had demolished in the war against Denmark in 1848-49. In May, 1852, he arrived in New York, aged twenty-one years. He went directly to New Buffalo, Mich., where he worked on a railroad, then "struck through the country," coming to the house of R. Starr, Centre Township, Porter County, where he hired for $8 per month. After learning some English, he worked at his trade, and in 1872 purchased his present place for $7,000. He was married September 26, 1858, to Anna Rathyeu, at Hebron, Ind. Six children were born to them, three boys and three girls, the latter being deceased - Albert, George, John, Anna, Emma and an infant unnamed. Mr. Tafte is a Freemason and a Democrat. He lives on 170 acres two miles northeast from Valparaiso. He also has 108 acres two miles north and 160 in Minnesota.
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: 289
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