Lake County IN Archives Biographies.....Schrage, Henry 1844 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 10, 2006, 4:58 pm

Author: T. H. Ball (1904)

HENRY SCHRAGE.

    Honored and respected by all, there is no resident of Whiting who occupies a
more enviable position in public regard than does Henry Schrage, the president
of the Whiting Bank and one of the early settlers of Lake county. His position
of influence is not clue alone to his success, but is the result of the
honorable, straightforward business policy he has ever followed, his entire
career being such as will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny. Moreover,
he is an active factor in public life and one whose influence has been exerted
toward general progress, reform and improvement.

    Mr. Schrage is a native of Germany, his birth having occurred in Auhgen,
Hessen, on the 21st of January, 1844. The first ten years of his life were spent
in the fatherland, and he then came to America with his parents, Chris and
Fredericka Schrage, who on crossing the Atlantic took up their abode in Chicago,
whence they removed to Lake county in October, 1854. The subject of this review
was reared where the town of Whiting now stands. He attended the public schools
of Chicago and remained at home until about twenty years of age, when in
response to the call of his adopted country he enlisted in 1863 as a member of
Company K, Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as a private. He thus served
until the close of the war and did active duty with his regiment, which was
assigned to the Seventeenth Army Corps under the command of General Sherman.
When hostilities had ceased and his aid was no longer needed to defend the
Union, the preservation of which was an established fact, he received an
honorable discharge, in July, 1865.

     Mr. Schrage then returned to Whiting and entered the railroad service as a
section hand, being thus employed until 1868. The following year he engaged in
business on his own account, opening a small general store, which he continued
to conduct with fair success until about 1890. He then retired from active
business and enjoyed a brief period of rest, but in 1895 he opened the Whiting
Bank, a private banking institution. He also owns the East Chicago Bank, which
he purchased in 1902, and he is therefore well known in financial circles in
Lake county. These institutions have become recognized as strong financial
concerns, and he is now conducting a large and prosperous banking business. He
is at the same time a representative of that class of American citizens who,
while promoting individual success, also advance the general welfare and
prosperity. As his financial resources have increased he has made judicious
investments in real estate, and he now owns much property in Whiting, in East
Chicago, Hammond, South Chicago and in the city of Chicago. He has been
identified in large measure with the upbuilding of Lake county, few men having
contributed in greater degree to the substantial progress and upbuilding of his
section of the state, in which he has spent the greater part of his life.

    Mr. Schrage was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Wustenfelt, who was born
in the province of Hessen, Germany. This marriage was celebrated in 1868, and
has been blessed with six children: Harry C, who is cashier of the Whiting Bank;
Mary, the wife of August Tresen; William C-who is cashier of the East Chicago
Bank; Herman; Sophia C, at home; and Walter E., who is employed in the bank in
Whiting. The family is well known in that city and its members are prominent in
local circles there. In the front rank of the columns which have advanced
civilization and improvement in this portion of Lake county stands Mr. Schrage,
and has been among those who have led the way to the substantial development and
progress of Whiting, being particularly active in the growth of the city, in
which he still makes his home. His memory goes back to the time when this was an
undeveloped region, but when the town was founded he had the business foresight
to recognize possibilities here and to utilize them for the benefit of the
public as well as his individual interests. As a business man he has been
conspicuous among his associates not only for his success, but for his probity,
fairness and honorable methods.   In everything he has been eminently practical,
and this has been manifested not only in his business undertakings, but also in
social and private life.


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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