John B. Hardebeck
John B. Hardebeck, a native of Hamilton County, Ohio, was
born on the 29th day of March, 1844. His parents, Barney and
Elizabeth (Lutt) Hardebeck, were natives of Germany, the former
born 1819, and the latter in the year 1823. They came to the
United States in 1840, and settled in Hamilton County, Ohio, moving subsequently to Indiana, and locating in Decatur County.
John
B. Hardebeck was educated in the common schools, and having early manifested a decided taste for mechanical pursuits, engaged
at the age of fifteen to learn the machinist's trade at Lawrence
burgh, Ind., in which city he remained until 1861. In the latter
year he responded to the country's call for volunteers, enlisting in
the Sixth Ohio Battery, with which he served for a period of three
months, enlisting in Company E, Thirty-fifth Kentucky Infantry at
the end of that time, and sharing the fortunes and vicissitudes offered with that regiment until
1862. He was then transferred to the
Fifth Indiana Cavalry, Company H, with which he participated in
some of the bloodiest engagements of the war, including the Battle
of the Wilderness in 1864, where he was captured and taken to the
noted prison pen at Andersonville. He was held a prisoner for
three months, suffering many privations and hardships during that
time. He was honorably discharged from the service September
15, 1865, and immediately thereafter began working at his trade at Milhousen.
During the succeeding four years he carried on the
mercantile business at the town of Milhousen, Ind., after which he engaged in the manufacture of woolen floods, continuing the latter
until 1874, when he sold out and removed to Indianapolis. He subsequently returned to
Milhousen. and later moved to Shelbyville
and opened a grocery and saloon, which afterward - burned, entailing upon him a loss of about $7,000.
With that energy characteristic of the man he at once resumed business, and although
experiencing many difficulties, continued the same until 1885, at
which time he abandoned merchandising and accepted the position
of Gauger of the Sixth Indiana District, the duties of which position he has discharged until the present time.
Mr. Hardebeck's
military record is one of which any man might feel justly proud,
and as an intelligent and courteous gentleman he has the respect
and confidence of the community around him. He is a Democrat
in politics and belongs to the G. A. R. and K. of L. He has served
as a member of the City Council of Shelbyville, haying been
elected to that body in 1885, and re-elected in 1887. In 1863, he
married Miss Christina E. Koeler, who was born in Ohio, August
24, 1843. Mr. and Mrs. Hardebeck have five children, viz.: Rosa,
Charles, Bertha, Lawrence and Leo.
History of Shelby County, Indiana, Brant & Fuller, 1887,
"Shelbyville Sketches," page 492-93.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming
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