Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2014 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== A Standard History of Starke County, Indiana McCormick, Joseph N. - 1915 [234-236] Charles W. Weninger. The present county auditor of Starke County has been a resident of this county from the time of his birth and has achieved prestige as one of its most progressive and influential business men and most public-spirited citizens, the while he has held official preferments that indicate fully the secure place that is his in the confidence and esteem of the people of his native county. MR. WENINGER has shown much initiative and constructive ability as an executive and business man and is one of the foremost citizens of the fine little Village of North Judson, where he is president of the First State Bank and also of the Per- petual Building & Loan Association, one of the most substantial and important corporations of the kind in this section of the state. MR. WENINGER was born on a farm in Wayne Township, this county, on the 23d of May, 1873, and his initial experience in connection with the practical affairs of life was acquired as a youthful representative of the sturdy yeomanry of the fine old Hoosier State, the while he made good use of the advantages afforded him in the public schools and as a youth proved himself eligible for peda- gogic honors, though his service as a teacher covered but one term. For four years thereafter he held the position of deputy postmaster at North Judson, and after his retirement he conducted a meat mar- ket in that village for a few years. He then became associated with JACOB KELLER, one of the best known and most influential citizens of the county, and engaged in the real estate and insurance busi- ness, this mutually grateful and profitable alliance continuing until the death of MR. KELLER, of whose valuable estate, including 3,300 acres of land, MR. WENINGER was made administrator. In 1909 MR. WENINGER became one of the stockholders of the Citizens Bank of North Judson, and in January, 1911, this was consolidated with the Farmers & Merchants Bank, which had been established in 1906. He was vice president of the former bank at the time of the consoli- dation of the two under the title of the First State Bank, of which he has since been the president and the affairs of which he has directed, as chief executive, along progressive and yet careful and conservative lines, the institution now having larger deposits than any other bank in the county. Its operations are based on a capital stock of $25,000, its surplus fund is in excess of $10,000, and it pays to its stockholders regular annual dividends, at the rate of 8 per cent. JACOB F. MANZ is vice president of the bank. PERRY H. MCCORMICK is the cashier, and G. N. PETERSON is assistant cashier, while the directorate of the institution includes the three executive officers and also Messrs. DAHLKA AND MOSHER. MR. WENINGER was one of the principal organizers of the Per- petual Building & Loan Association, in 1906, and has been its president from the time of its incorporation. This substantial and ably ordered corporation, of which G. N. PETERSON is secretary, has an authorized capital of $200,000, and its loans are made exclu- sively to residents of Starke County. It controls a specially large and prosperous business, has exercised most benignant function, has paid regular dividends and has never had a dollar of loss on its loans or investments, its dividend in 1914 having been rendered at the rate of 10 per cent. MR. WENINGER is one of the leaders in the Starke County councils and activities of the democratic party, and as candidate on its ticket he was elected county auditor in 1912 — an office in which he is giving a characteristically careful and efficient admini- stration. He has been a delegate to the local conventions of his party, served two terms as town clerk of North Judson and one term as trustee of Wayne Township, of which he was a trustee from 1900 to 1904. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias, in which last men- tioned he is past chancellor of the lodge at North Judson. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in their home village and he is serving as a member of its board of trustees. On the 29th of September, 1897, was solemnized the marriage of MR. WENINGER to Miss MAUDE COLLIER, who was born in the State of Ohio, in 1878, and who was educated at the Ohio Wesleyan Univer- sity, in the City of Delaware. She is active in church work, especially as a member of the Ladies' Aid and Home Missionary societies, and is a popular figure in the representative social activities of North Judson. Mr. and Mrs. WENINGER have one son, HOWARD LESLIE, who is attending the public schools. ===========================================================================