Lake County IN Archives Biographies.....Hornecker, George M. 1873 - ************************************************ 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 December 9, 2006, 11:56 pm Author: T. H. Ball (1904) GEORGE M. HORNECKER. George M. Hornecker is the proprietor of the Fair, a general department store at Whiting and in this connection has met with very creditable success. In viewing the mass of mankind in the varied occupations of life, the conclusion is forced upon the observer that in the vast majority of cases men have sought employment not in the line of their peculiar fitness, but in those fields where caprice or circumstances have placed them, thus explaining the reason of the failure of ninety-five per cent of those who enter commercial and professional circles. In a few cases it seems that men with a peculiar fitness for a certain line have taken it up, and marked success has followed. Such is the fact in the case of the subject of this biography. Mr. Hornecker is a native son of Illinois, his birth having occurred in Henry county, that state, on the 3d of October, 1873. He is a son of G. J. and Catherine (Ernst) Hornecker, who were natives of Germany, whence they came to America in early life. Here they were married and established their home in Illinois. They became the parents of nine children, of whom George M. Hornecker is the fifth in order of birth. He was reared and educated in his native county, attending the public schools, and when not engaged with the duties of the schoolroom he devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits. After putting aside his text-books he followed farming until 1896, when he came to Whiting and began working for the Standard Oil Company. He also engaged in clerking in a hardware store for about two years, and on the 8th of August, 1897, he began business on his own account by purchasing and opening up a small stock of hardware. He received a good patronage and within a short time was enabled to extend the scope of his business by adding other departments. His trade has rapidly increased along substantial lines, and he now has the largest store in Whiting. It is called the Fair and is a credit to the town. He makes careful selection of his goods, sells at prices which are fair alike to purchaser and to merchant and by his honorable dealing has won the unqualified confidence of the public. He is also a member of the Chicago Telephone Company at Whiting and the office of this company is in his building. He is likewise a stockholder in the First National Bank, and his influence has been a potent factor in commercial and financial circles of this city. In 1897 Mr. Hornecker was united in marriage to Miss Clara M. S. Wille, and to them have been born three children who are yet living, while their second child, Gertrude A., is deceased. Those who survive are Laura C., Martin G. and Robert A. Mr. and Mrs. Hornecker are representative members of the German Lutheran church, of which her father, Rev. H. Ph. Wille, is now minister. Through his business interests Mr. Hornecker has contributed in no small degree to the upbuilding of the town. He erected his first business building in 1901, and has also added another of the same size-twenty-five by seventy-five feet. In the second building he occupies three floors with his large line of general merchandise. He is treasurer of the Whiting volunteer fire department. In politics he is a Republican, and, May 2, 1904, he was elected to represent the Second ward in the City Council of Whiting. He is a member of some of the most important committees. Mr. Hornecker entered upon his business career with very limited capital, yet his efforts have been so discerningly directed along well defined lines of labor that he seems to have realized at any one point of progress the full measure of his possibilities for accomplishment at that point. A man of distinct and forceful individuality, broad mentality and most mature judgment, he has left and is leaving his impress upon the mercantile world, and at the same time his business is of such a nature that it promotes the commercial prosperity of the town and thus contributes to its general benefit and growth. 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/hornecke431gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/ File size: 4.9 Kb