Lake County IN Archives Biographies.....Stark, John 1855 - ************************************************ 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 21, 2006, 11:51 pm Author: T. H. Ball (1904) JOHN STARK. Lake county can boast of no finer class of citizens than the German-Americans who have settled in such number within its boundaries, and, whether born in the fatherland or children of German-born parents, these men and women have proved their substantial and solid qualities in all the relations of life. The farming communities have been especially benefited by them, and without their industry and excellent management it is doubtful if this county could so rapidly have progressed to a front rank in the agricultural communities of the state. One of the most representative of the men with the blood of German parents coursing in their veins is Mr. John Stark, of West Creek township, who belongs to a family which has been identified with Lake county since its pioneer epoch. His father and mother, like so many others, came to the county years ago, poor but honest, and with their industry accumulated a good estate before their years of activity were past. Mr. John Stark was born in St. John township, Lake county, September 30, 1855, and is the third in age of the eleven children born to Joseph and Mary Ann (Merrick) Stark. A more detailed history of this worthy couple and family will be found in the sketch of their son Joseph, who is represented elsewhere in this work. Mr. Stark was reared on a farm and spent fourteen years of his life in the threshing industry. He received both an English and a German education, and in all the essential successes of his life he has been the architect of his own fortunes. He began life for himself at the age of twenty-six, when he was united in marriage with Miss Susan Portz, on April 26, 1881, in St. John township. Ten children have been born of this happy union, and all are living at the present writing: Rosa, at home, who was educated in the public schools; Emil J., who went through the common schools and is fond of farming and all kinds of mechanical work; Mary E., who after the common schools attended the Lowell and Crown Point high schools; Minnie E., who is in the eighth grade of school work; Adeline B., also in the eighth grade; Martha, in the sixth grade of the St. John schools; Anna M., in the fourth grade; Frankie, who has been to school one year and has never missed a day nor once been tardy; Leonora M. and Johnnie, who are the youngest of the family. Mrs. Stark was born in St. John township. Lake county, May 2, 1859, and was one of the ten children of Peter and Susan (Kraus) Portz. Seven of her brothers and sisters are living, as follows: Katie is the wife of Jacob Scherer, a carpenter of St. John, and has six children living; Peter, proprietor of the St. John's Hotel at St. John, married Miss Susan Bohr and has five children living; John, a prosperous resident of Hammond and for eighteen years in the packing houses of that city, married Susan Giehring, who died July 11, 1904, and has four living children; Joseph, who resides with his mother at St. John, was educated in the high school at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and for fourteen years was a teacher in his home school; Barbara is the wife of Joseph Jeurgens, a farmer of Juniata, Adams county, Nebraska, and has five children living; Mrs. Stark is the next in order of age; Lizzie is the widow of Jacob Lauermann, of St. John, and has five living children; Leo, a prosperous farmer of Adams county, Nebraska, married Miss Anna Beiriger and has nine living children. All the children of this family were bright and intelligent in the work of the schools as well as in after life. Peter Portz, the father of Mrs. Stark, was born near the beautiful Rhine river in Germany, in 1819, and died in 1885. He was reared and well educated in his native land, and was a teacher for some time after coming to America. By trade he was a miller. He was married in Germany, and after living there for some years he emigrated across the Atlantic with the intention of bettering himself financially. When he landed in New York he had almost no money, and he came out to Lake county and by a life of industry and good management accumulated an estate of two hundred and sixty acres of fine land. He and his wife were devout members of the Catholic church at St. John, and all the children were confirmed in the church. Mrs. Stark's mother was born in 1821 and is still living at this writing, eighty-three years of age, and bright and healthy for one so old. Mr. and Mrs. Stark purchased two hundred and eighty acres of land in West Creek township, and two years later added forty acres more. Their present home estate consists of one hundred and sixty acres, on which they have erected a nice country residence, and the entire beautiful farmstead is a monument to their lives of industry and worth. Mr. Stark is a lover of fine stock, and finds the best grades to be the most profitable, his favorite grade of hogs being the Chester Whites. He is a Democrat in politics, and has voted the ticket since the candidacy of S. J. Tilden. He and his wife and some of the children are members of St. Edward's Catholic church at Lowell, of which Father F. Koenig is pastor, and Mrs. Stark is a member of the married ladies' sodality and the girls are members of the young ladies' sodality of St. Mary's. 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/stark526gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/ File size: 6.2 Kb