Carl Edward Bauer

    Carl Edward Bauer, Secretary of the Simplex Railway Appliance Company at Hammond, is one of the practical and progressive business men of the city. As a mechanical expert and contriver he is especially proficient, and as such has been a valuable member of his company. He has been an American Citizen for over twenty years, and owing to his ability he has been constantly engaged in useful activity and has filled a worthy niche in the world of industry. He is one of the highly esteemed citizens of Hammond, where he has lived for the past six years, and in both business and social and civic affairs his personal integrity and worth of character have made him a man of influence.

    Mr. Bauer was born in the village of Langenholzhausen, Province of Lippe-Detmold, Germany, on November 5, 1857, being a son of Ferdinand E. and Minna (Bock) Bauer, both natives of the fatherland. His mother was a daughter of Christian Bock, who was a farmer and brewer and also ran a bakery at Varenholz, in the Province of Lippe-Detmold. He had an inn in that place, and was a prominent burger of the town, serving as its Mayor. He died at the age of fifty-five years, and his wife survived him a number of years. They had three children.

    The paternal grandfather of Mr. Bauer was Frederick E. Bauer, who was a German miller, and was also Mayor of his home village. He lived to be about seventy years of age. His wife, who attained the age of seventy-six was named Wilhelmina Mello, whose father was a Hollander and later a German settler.

    Ferdinand E. Bauer was one of a good sized family. He followed in the footsteps of his father and made milling his occupation until very recently. He is now living retired at the advanced age of eighty-seven years, being one of those sturdy Teutons who never grow old and who retain their vitality to the last. He resides in his old home at Langenholzhausen. He is still able to read without glasses. He has been a prominent man in his community, having been Mayor of the village a number of times, and also a Deputy to the provincial diet. In his younger days he traveled all over Europe, and is a well informed and most intelligent old gentleman. His wife is also living, and well and hearty at the age of eighty-three. They belong to the Reformed Church. They were the parents of four sons and two daughters: Leopold; August; Johanna, wife of Rev. Korff; Emil; Carl E.; and Helen, who died at the age of six years.

    Mr. Carl E. Bauer was reared and educated in Germany, and served his full time in the cavalry branch of the regular army, being a non-commissioned officer during his service, and at the time of his departure from the country he was a Lieutenant of the Army Reserve. His education was received in the gymnasium and his technical training at the polytechnic school, so that he had the thorough and careful German equipment for life's duties.

    He came to America in 1882, locating first at Terre Haute, Indiana, where he was in the employ of the Terre Haute Car Manufacturing Company as a Mechanical Engineer. He was there until 1887, and then took a similar position at Muskegon, Michigan, with the Muskegon Car Company, with whom he remained until 1892. From that time until 1895 he was in the employ of the Indiana Car and Foundry Company at Indianapolis, and for the following two years was with the Illinois Car and Equipment Company. In 1897 he began his connection with the Simplex Railway Appliance Company, which in the following year located its shops at Hammond. He is now Secretary of the company. From three to four hundred persons are employed by this concern, and their large annual product consists of various kinds of car and railway appliances.

    Mr. Bauer has fraternal affiliations with Hegewisch Lodge No. 766, I. O. O. F., and also with Crystal Lodge No. 258, K. of P. His politics are Republican. He has a nice home on Hohman Street, and he and his family stand high in the social circles of the city. He was united in marriage in April, 1887, to Miss Olga Wittenberg, a daughter of Otto and Charlotte (Sachs) Wittenberg. There were four sons and two daughters born of their union: Walter; Gretchen; Carl; Minnie, who died at the age of six years; Ernest, who lived only a little over a year; and Emil.

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. By Rev. T. H. Ball of Crown Point, Editor-in-chief. The Lewis Publishing Company, 1904, page 299, 300, 301.