Lake-La Porte-Porter County IN Archives Biographies.....Crumpacker, Peter 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 January 3, 2007, 11:28 pm Author: T. H. Ball (1904) PETER CRUMPACKER. Peter Crumpacker, one of the leading lawyers of Hammond, Indiana, and a member of the firm of Crumpacker and Moran, belongs to an old and prominent family, it having been represented in Maryland prior to the Revolutionary war, but later moved to Virginia. In the Old Dominion the paternal grandfather, Owen Crumpacker, had his nativity, and he was of German descent. While a resident of his native commonwealth he was a farmer and after coming to Indiana, in 1828, he continued that as his life occupation, and his death occurred when about sixty-five years of age. His wife Hannah reached the ripe old age of eighty-six years, and became the mother of six children. On the maternal side Mr. Crumpacker is descended from the Emmons family, of Scotch-Irish descent, who made their homes in the same section of Virginia as the Crumpackers. In 1832 his grandfather removed from that state to Cass county, Michigan, where his life's labors were ended in death at the age of sixty-eight years, while his wife Elsie survived him to the age of eighty-one years. In their family were three sons and three daughters. Peter Crumpacker was born in LaPorte county, Indiana, on the 9th of August, 1858, being a son of Theophilus and Harriet (Emmons) Crumpacker, natives of old Virginia. Eight children were born to this worthy couple, six sons and two daughters, but only seven are now living: John W., cashier of the Savings Bank of LaPorte; Hon. Edgar D., the present congressman from the tenth Indiana district and a resident of Valparaiso; Daniel W., of Willow Springs, Illinois, in the railway mail service; Eliza A., who became the wife of Melvin W. Lewis, but both have passed away; Peter, of Hammond; Dora A., the wife of Iredell Luther, of Chicago; Charles, who is employed as a traveling salesman and maintains his home in Valparaiso; and Grant, a lawyer of that city. Theophilus Crumpacker, the father of this family, accompanied his parents on their removal to Indiana in 1829, during his boyhood, their first location being in Union county. In 1832 they became residents of Porter county, this state, there spending one year, after which Mr. Theophilus Crumpacker removed to LaPorte county, that continuing as his home until the fall of 1863. From that time until 1865 he resided near Kankakee, Illinois, on the expiration of which period he returned to Porter county, locating on a farm three miles east of Valparaiso. Throughout his active business career he followed agricultural pursuits, but in 1890 he retired from the farm and has since made his home in Valparaiso, having now reached the eighty-second milestone on the journey of life. His wife is also in her eighty-second year, and although not members of any religious denomination this worthy old couple are adherents of the Christian faith. Mr. Crumpacker has always taken an active part in public affairs, and for three terms represented his district in the legislature, while he has also served as a township trustee, and has but recently retired from the city council of Valparaiso, of which he was a member for many years. Peter Crumpacker, the fifth child of this honored Indiana pioneer, spent the greater part of his boyhood days in Porter county, remaining on the homestead farm until twenty-three years of age, during which time he acquired his education in the district schools and in the Valparaiso Normal School. For eight terms thereafter he was employed as a teacher in the country schools, also assisting his father with the work of the farm during the summer months and for a period of nearly three years was the deputy county clerk under John Felton in Porter county. He then spent a year and a half in completing a general index of all judgements that had been taken in Porter county, placing them in alphabetical order for ready reference. These duties completed, Mr. Crumpacker began reading law with his brother Edgar at Valparaiso, later taking a one-year course at the Northern Indiana Law School, in which he graduated in June, 1887, and was immediately thereafter admitted to the bar. In 1888 he began the practice of his chosen profession in Hammond, Indiana, locating in this city on the 5th of March of that year. As a lawyer he is conspicuous among his associates, not alone on account of the success he has achieved, but by reason of his strong intellectuality, and his influence extends not only into the professional but the political and social circles as well. In March, 1883, Mr. Crumpacker was united in marriage to Miss Ida M. Younglove, a daughter of Wilbur and Mary E. (Hurr) Younglove, of Valparaiso, Indiana. Six children have been born of this union, three sons and three daughters,—Harriet M., Robert, Theophilus Charles, Mary A., Edgar D. and Dorothy,—but two of the number, Robert and Mary A., died in infancy. Mrs. Crumpacker is a member of the Christian church. In his fraternal relations Mr. Crumpacker affiliates with Garfield Lodge No. 569, F. & A. M., of Hammond; with Crown Point Chapter, R. A. M.; with the Independent Order of Foresters; and with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Hammond. His political support is given to the Republican party, and as its representative he served as the city attorney for four years. Additional Comments: Extracted from: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Genealogy and Biography OF LAKE COUNTY, INDIANA, WITH A COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY 1834—1904 A Record of the Achievements of Its People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. REV. T. H. BALL OF CROWN POINT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ILLUSTRATED CHICAGO NEW YORK THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1904 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/lake/bios/crumpack671gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/ File size: 6.2 Kb