Lake County IN Archives Biographies.....Schmal, Alfred 1863 - 
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Author: T. H. Ball (1904)

ALFRED SCHMAL.

    Alfred Schmal is one of the leading and successful farmers and stockmen of
Hanover township, and is a gentleman so well known in this part of the county as
to need no introduction*to the readers of this volume. In his veins is the blood
of the hardy Teutonic race whose sturdy character and intelligent industry have
been the most important factors in the upbuilding of this country, and Lake
county has been especially happy to have among her inhabitants so many of German
birth or parentage.

    Mr. Schmal was born in Hanover township, on the estate where he now resides,
on September 24, 1863, being the next to the youngest of fourteen children,
eight sons and six daughters, born to Joseph and Barbara (Keefer) Schmal. Nine
of these children are yet living, as follows: Katharine, wife of Wilhelm Ahles,
a carpenter in Hanover township; Mary, widow of Fred Gerbing, of Cedar Lake,
Indiana; Joseph, married, a blacksmith of St. John; Jacob, married, a farmer of
St. John; Barbara, wife of Henry Ebert, a farmer of Cedar Creek township; Louie,
who is married and is a merchant in Chicago; Frank, married and a resident of
West Creek township; Aurelia, wife of Fred Ebert, a prosperous farmer of Cedar
Creek township; and Alfred.

    Joseph Schmal, the father, was born in 1819, in Rhenish Prussia, Germany,
and died in January, 1894. He was a young man when he came with his parents to
America, and he became one of the early settlers of Lake county, even when
Indians formed a part of the population. He attained more than ordinary success
in life, and was noted for his industry and economy and good sense. He
accumulated a landed estate of some one hundred and thirty-two acres in Lake
county. He was a stanch Republican and supported the party's doctrines and
principles from the time of its organization. Both he and his good wife were
Catholics. For. some twenty or twenty-five years during the early history of the
county he was United States mail carrier between Crown Point and Brunswick.
Mother Schmal is still living, although she has reached the advanced age of
eighty-five years, and she resides with Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Schmal, who care for
her during her declining years.

    Mr. Schmal has been reared as a tiller of the soil and as a stockman, and
his early education was received in his native township and in the Brunswick
public schools. On February 12, 1889, he married Miss Caroline Herrmann, by whom
he has had eight children, three sons and five daughters, seven of whom are
living. Joseph is in the eighth grade of school and very bright in his studies.
Barbara is in the seventh grade, Josephine in the fifth grade, Elenora in the
third grade, and Susan, Agnes and Albert are the three youngest.

    Mrs. Schmal was born in St. John township, November 8, 1865, being a
daughter of Jacob and Katharine (Palm) Herrmann. There were fifteen children in
her parents family, nine sons and six daughters, and of the nine living six are
residents of Lake county, and the other three are as follows: John, a resident
of Cissna Park, Illinois, is married and is a blacksmith by trade; Katie, wife
of William Baunte, a painter in Chicago; and Albert, who is married and lives in
Chicago Heights. Jacob Herrmann, the father of Mrs. Schmal, was born in Prussia
in 1822 and died in 1895. He was a blacksmith, learning his trade in Germany,
and he has a farm in St. John township of this county. He and his wife were
Catholics and he was a Democrat. His wife is still living in St. John, being
seventy-seven years old and hale and active for one who has passed so many
milestones of life. Mrs. Schmal was reared in St. John township, was educated in
the common schools, and was confirmed by Bishop Durnger at the age of twelve.

    Mr. and Mrs. Schmal began life on the old homestead, and for sixteen years
they have been prominent German-American citizens of Hanover township. All the
excellent improvements in the shape of outbuildings and of other kinds have been
placed on the farm by Mr. Schmal, assisted, of course, by his estimable wife. He
is a lover of excellent stock, constantly endeavoring to improve the quality of
his animals, and takes especial pride in his Chester White hogs. Mrs. Schmal, on
her part, is a fancier of thoroughbred poultry, and her silverlaced Wyandottes
are her particular care, and of this fine breed, she has sold a goodly number
for breeding purposes. At the present writing Mr. Schmal is manager of the
Brunswick Creamery Company, an enterprise which has been very successful during
the last ten years of its existence. In politics he is a stanch Republican,
having cast his first vote for Benjamin Harrison. He served as assessor of
Hanover township for two years, filling that office most acceptably; at the last
election of 1904 and at the three prior elections he was inspector of elections.
From all of which it may be seen that he stands high as a worthy and honorable
citizen of Hanover township, and is also one of the financially solid men of the
township. Mr. and Mrs. Schmal are members of St. Anthony's Catholic church at
Klaasville, and they are well known and highly esteemed in west Lake county,
where they have been reared and passed their clays since childhood.


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


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