Howard County IN Archives Biographies.....Schwenger, Gottfried 1858 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 5, 2006, 10:49 pm Author: Jackson Morrow GOTTFRIED SCHWENGER. The great empire of Germany has contributed a most valuable element of our national social fabric, and among the worthy sons of the Teutonic fatherland, and who stand as reputable and honored citizens of Kokomo, none occupy a more prominent place in the esteem and confidence of the public than the well known business man whose name appears above. For a young man to sever home ties and the sacred associations of childhood and youth and embark upon a new career in a foreign land, where manners and customs are strange and where untried conditions are calculated to embarrass and retard legitimate effort, and this, too, with a wife and children dependent upon him when he has but a few dollars in his possession, and in course of time to overcome these obstacles and discouragements and build up a large and thriving business, means a task of formidable magnitude, and yet such is the record of Mr. Schwenger, who, coming to this country with no means worthy of mention and no help from wealthy or influential friends, has steadily advanced in commercial circles until he now does the leading business of his line in Kokomo and stands in the foremost rank of the city's most enterprising and successful men of affairs. Gottfried Schwenger is a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, where his birth occurred on the 14th day of July, 1858. His father, Gottlieb Schwenger, a farmer by occupation and a man of intelligence and good social standing, lived and died in his native land, as did also the mother, both of whom are sleeping the sleep of eternal silence in the old ancestral burial ground near the place where the even, tenor of their lives was passed. The subject of this review received a good education in the land of his birth, but laid aside his studies at the age of fourteen to serve a two years' apprenticeship at the baker's trade, in addition to which time he was obliged to pay the sum of fifty dollars as a partial remuneration for the knowledge imparted to him. In due time he finished his apprenticeship and became quite efficient in his chosen calling, after which he worked at various places until his twentieth year, when, like all young men in Germany, he was obliged to enter the military service, to which the ensuing three years were devoted. At the expiration of his period of enlistment he resumed his trade and continued to work at the same in his native land until 1885, when he became convinced that better opportunities and more favorable openings were to be found in America for men of moderate means, and he decided to try his fortune in the country beyond the sea. In the meantime (1883) he married the young lady of his choice, Caroline Schaufler, so that by the time he was ready to embark upon his new enterprise he had, besides himself, a wife and two children to provide for. Nothing daunted, however, but with a spirit of determination in the new world, when new scenes greeted him in which he was to "lay" the foundation of a fortune and carve out a new destiny, he began at once his career here. Shortly after arriving in America Mr. Schwenger proceeded as far west as Chillicothe, Ohio, which place he reached with one hundred and two dollars in his pocket, this being the sum total of his earthly possessions. He soon secured remunerative employment in that city, where he continued to work at his trade until 1894, when he left the shop in which he had worked for nine consecutive years and came to Kokomo, engaging soon after his arrival with a baker with whom he remained for a period of eighteen months. Severing his connection with Mr. Zuttermeister, his employer, at the end of the time indicated, he and a friend decided to go into the business for themselves. Accordingly each contributed one hundred and twenty-five dollars to equip the establishment, and with this capital they began operations with the most encouraging prospects, the superior grade of their product bringing to the bakery in a short time a large and liberal patronage. Within less than two years Mr. Schwenger purchased his partner's interest and became sole proprietor. Under his able management, progressive methods and honest desire to treat his customers fairly he gradually extended the scope and magnitude of the business, replacing the old bakery in 1904 with the large and splendid modern structure on the corner of Union and Syracuse streets, where he owns one-fourth of a block sixty-seven by one hundred and thirty-three feet in dimensions, the building being thoroughly equipped with all modern appliances of first-class establishments of the kind. Mr. Schwenger is not only himself a skillful baker, but in his desire to keep pace with the times and furnish his customers with high-grade bread, cakes, pastry, etc., retains in his employ first-class men only and spares neither effort nor means to make the business of which he is the head representative in its character and second to no other of the kind in the city. This adherence to a straightforward and honorable policy and the treating of his patrons with the consideration due them is the key to much of the success which has attended him since locating in this city, and that he is destined to continue the upright course he has thus far pursued and reap still greater financial rewards is the belief of all who know him or are familiar with his methods. In connection with baking, in which he leads all competitors, Mr. Schwenger also conducts a large and well appointed restaurant, which is extensively patronized by the people of Kokomo and transient visitors to the city, the traveling public, as well as farmers, mechanics and all classes of artisans finding it an ideal place of entertainment as far as satisfying the appetite and nourishing the physical man is concerned. Mr. Schwenger came to Kokomo with little of this world's goods, but is now classed with the financially solid and reliable men of the city, having given strict attention to business, honorable dealings and a straight forward course, from which no motive has ever caused him to deviate. He has accumulated a handsome fortune, including valuable real estate in the city and large private capital not represented in his business enterprise. His personal relations with his fellow men have ever been mutually agreeable, and the high esteem in which he is held indicates the universal hold he has on the confidence and respect of the people, regardless of class or condition. He is an active and influential member of the Improved Order of Red Men, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Order of Eagles and Modern Woodmen, and with his wife belongs to the Grace Methodist Episcopal church, the largest religious organization in the city. His family consists of himself and wife and five children, the two older, Pauline and Sophia, ages twenty-three and twenty-two, respectively, having been born in the old country. The others are: Albert, aged twenty; William, aged seventeen; and Katherine, a young lady of fourteen years. Additional Comments: From: HISTORY OF HOWARD COUNTY INDIANA BY JACKSON MORROW, B. A. ILLUSTRATED VOL. II B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (circa 1909) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/howard/bios/schwenge140bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/infiles/ File size: 7.7 Kb