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Elias Olive Wildermuth
The oldest of Henry and Barbara (Burns)
Wildermuth's nine children, Elias Wildermuth was born March 2, 1850,
in Pulaski County, Indiana. Included in the household were Henry's
two children of his first marriage. Pioneering was part of Elias'
heritage. His ancestors had come to Pennsylvania from Germany in the
mid-eighteenth century. They moved on to Ohio just as it was
achieving statehood and then on to Indiana in time to be original
purchasers of land in Pulaski County, Indiana, Elias' Mother, born
in Germany, came to this country when she was eleven and married
Henry on her eighteenth birthday.
Although her grandchildren remember her
singing German lullabies, she was not allowed to speak German in the
house while Henry was around. In 1875, Elias married Olive Herrick,
the daughter of Joseph and Sarah Elizabeth (Hickman) Herrick. Joseph
had come to America from England when he was eighteen, served in the
Union Army during the Civil War, and, eventually, became a farmer in
Pulaski County. Elias and Olive had four sons: Harry, Ora, George
and Joe. Their only daughter died at birth. As a young man, Elias
taught school in a walnut log schoolhouse near his farm in Van Buren
Township, Pulaski County. Farming, however, was his chief occupation
until 1904 when he retired to Star City. Perhaps partially motivated
by the pioneer spirit of his ancestors, Elias, at age 56, chose to
participate in the founding of a new city on the shore of Lake
Michigan. This decision to move to Gary was encouraged by his two
older sons. Harry, who was a locomotive engineer for the
Pennsylvania Railroad, passed through Lake County on his regular run
from his hometown of Logansport to Chicago and caught the excitement
generated by all the activity in northern Lake County. Even before
Elias moved to Gary, both he and Harry had purchased land there.
Elias' son, Ora, a new graduate of Indiana University, had moved to
Gary in 1906. In the spring of 1907 Elias packed the family's
possessions in a wagon, hitched up the team and, with his ten-year
old son, Joe, made the three day trip from Star City to Gary-a
distance of 75 miles. Olive followed on the train.
Shortly after arriving, Elias opened
Gary's first feed store. With a whole city to carve out of the sand
dunes, hundreds of horses were needed to pull the grading equipment.
The business of selling hay, oats, corn and straw flourished. There
was a spur of the railroad in front of the shack store and, although
he always kept some feed on hand in the store, most of it was sold
from the railroad car. At first the family lived above the store,
but soon built a home at 425 Jefferson St. Elias became an active
citizen of Gary. When the first iron ore shipment was to arrive in
Gary, the US Steel Corporation invited the leading citizens of the
town to ride the boat from the South Chicago Harbor to the new Gary
Harbor. Elias was among those invited. For the next several years
Elias ran the store, invested in the construction of a couple of
buildings, and found time, in 1910, to be an enumerator for the US
Census. After a short illness, Elias died on January 2, 1915, and
was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery. Two of his sons preceded him in
death. In December 1907, George was found decapitated along side a
railroad track. The murderer was never found. Harry died in a
railroad accident in 1910. Joe continued to live at home with his
mother. She took in boarders-some of whom became Joe's life-long
friends. After Joe was married, he lived at 660 West 8th Ave. From
time to time his mother lived with them. Joe's wife always spoke of
her Mother-in-law with great affection. Olive's granddaughter,
Maxine (Ora's daughter), was devoted to her grandmother. Olive
Wildermuth died in 1925 and was buried along side her husband.
Representing a generation older than many who were part of the
formative years of Gary, Elias and Olive Wildermuth lent their
spirit and experience to this burgeoning new city full of 20th
century pioneers and became forever a part of its history.
Source: Submitted by: Dorothy Wildermuth Vekasi - dvekasi@aol.com |