Investing in Preservation: My Role as a Corporate Historian at a Family-Owned Bank

Abstract

The Schrage family is a pioneer family in my hometown of Whiting, Indiana. The family immigrated to Chicago from Hesse, Germany, in the 1840s, but they did not purchase land in the Whiting area until 1863. When Henry Schrage returned from serving as a substitute in the Union Army, he opened his first general store in 1868. He then opened the first post office within that general store in 1871, where his wife, Caroline Wuestendfeldt, worked. After the family sold 50 acres of land to Standard Oil Company in 1889, along with many other German farmers in the area, Schrage used that money to open the Bank of Whiting in 1895 with capital of $35,000.

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