Lake County IN Archives Biographies.....Stark, Joseph 1859 - ************************************************ 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 1, 2007, 7:45 pm Author: T. H. Ball (1904) JOSEPH STARK. Joseph Stark is a representative of the best ideals in agriculture, citizenship and personal character, and as such he is held in the highest esteem in Lake county, and especially throughout West Creek township, where the years of his activity have been passed. He is a native of St. John township, this county, and was born December 30, 1859, being the fourth in a family of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, born to Joseph and Mary Ann (Merrick) Stark. There are nine of the children still living, as follows: Afra, who is the wife of Matthew Herman, a farmer of St. John township; John, who is a prosperous farmer of West Creek township, and who has a sketch elsewhere in this book; Mary, the wife of Jacob Klassen, a retired farmer of St. John; Joseph; Frank, a resident farmer at St. John, who married Miss Amelia Koeblin; George, who resides on the old homestead and who married Miss Rosa Thiel; Michael, who is a butter-maker at St. John, and married Miss Mary Schreiner; Peter, a farmer of St. John, who married Miss Lizzie Klassen; and Frances, who resides with her mother at St. John. The children were all confirmed in the Catholic church, and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Stark are members of St. Martin's church at Hanover Center. The senior Joseph Stark, the father of this large family, was born in the province of Bavaria, Germany, December 30, 1824, and died March 17, 1879. He was deprived of his mother's care when six years old, and at the age of thirteen began to earn his own way in life. He worked day and night in a mill until he was twenty-two years of age, and his wages were wonderfully meager when compared with those paid by twentieth century American prosperity. He had a common school education in his native tongue, but in the main was self-trained and self-educated. He was always reckoned as a man of character and solid manhood. At the age of twenty-two he took passage on a sailing vessel at Bremerhaven, bound for the free land of America, and at the end of six weeks he landed in New York city. At this stage of his career he was three dollars in debt, and the first thing he did in the new world was to work three days and clear himself of this incumbrance. He then worked his way to Chicago, where he was employed on the docks until cold weather, when he obtained work from a minister, being, in fact, willing to accept anything that would earn him an honest dollar. After remaining in Chicago for thirteen months he enlisted as a soldier in the Mexican war, and served throughout that important struggle. After the war he traveled through South America, where he was very much pleased with all he saw, and thence he returned to New York by ship and finally arrived in Chicago again. He and two other men purchased teams and drove through to California, but on the great salt desert the horses perished, and the remaining distance they were compelled to cover on foot. Mr. Stark was in California thirteen months, and during that time he dug out of the ground three thousand dollars in gold. He returned on foot to Chicago, got married, and for a year farmed on rented government land at Homewood, Illinois. He came to St. John in Lake county, about 1859, and lived here till the end of his useful and busy life. He owned four hundred and forty acres in St. John township, and when it is recalled how he started out in young manhood with less than nothing, and before he had reached the meridian of his career, had gained a competency for those days, he must be recorded in this history as one of the truly successful and worthy men of the past who have made Lake county what it is at the present. In politics he was a loyal Democrat, and he and his wife were devout Catholics. His wife, Mary Ann Stark, was born in Alsace, Germany, in June, 1836, and is now living in St. John, a hale and hearty old lady. Mr. Joseph Stark, who was born on the same day of the month with his father and who received the latter s name, was reared and has spent practically all his life in Lake county. His education was obtained in the parochial schools. He has made farming and stock-raising his vocation, and has been more than ordinarily successful in all his enterprises. He remained at home and cared for his mother until he was twenty-five years old, and on February 5, 1885, he married Miss Susan Thiel. They have been made happy by the birth of ten children into their home, four sons and six daughters, and all but one of these are still living, as follows: Tillie S., who is in the seventh grade of school and is a piano student; Frances M., who is in the eighth grade and also a music student; Josephine is in the eighth grade and takes music; George, who is now in the German school; Edward J., who is in the fifth grade; Joseph, in the fourth grade; Oliva E.: Madeline M.; and Christina B., the baby of the family. Mrs. Stark was born in Lake county, March 17, 1864, and was educated in the parochial schools. Her parents were Mathias and Susan (Laurerman) Thiel. Her father was born near the Rhine river, and was eleven years old when he accompanied his parents to America and to Lake county, and he lived in this county until his death, on November 10, 1901. At the time of his death he owned a farm of one hundred and forty-eight acres in St. John township, and also had real estate in Hammond. He was a Democrat in politics, and he and his wife were Catholics. There were eleven children in the Thiel family, and ten are living, six of them residents of Lake county, and those elsewhere are: Katie, wife of George Thielen, a farmer of Cresco, Howard county, Iowa; Mathias L. is a merchant of Chicago, and is married; Frank, who was born June 2, 1870, and was educated in the parochial schools, is a resident of Chicago, and married Miss Lena Keilman, who was born in Lake county, November 17, 1873, and educated in the common schools, both of them being Catholics; and Andrew, who is a merchant of Chicago, and is a married man. Mr. Stark is independent in politics, casting his vote for the best man in his judgment. He is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land in West Creek township, and on this he has recently erected a beautiful and comfortable farm residence. The farm is improved with good buildings and other conveniences, and the entire place has a progressive and prosperous appearance. He is a stock fancier, and takes much pride in his fine cattle and hogs. He is a shareholder in the West Creek creamery, which is located near his property. 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/stark625gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb