George received his diploma in June of 1879. His degree was in business. George's diploma includes a list of his classes and the grade he received in each.⁽⁴⁾ He did well in all of his classes, but excelled in his business courses. Curiously, at a time when railroads were exploding across the country, George elected to take a course in Steamboating instead of Railroading. Is it possible that George was inspired by the Civil War record of his distant cousin, Rear Admiral Roger Nelson Stembel (now retired), who captained ironclad steamboats on the Mississippi River?⁽⁵⁾ Or maybe he was influenced by his school's proximity to Cincinnati and the Ohio River.

After graduation, George returned to Champaign County where he taught school. In the 1880 census he was recorded as a 25-year-old, single, school teacher, living at home with his parents and siblings.

George didn't stay at home for long. Soon after the census, he moved to Indiana. We have no idea exactly where he moved initially, or why. There were Stembel relatives living in Benton County, Indiana, and the adjacent Warren County. The relative in Benton County was his uncle, Theophilus Stembel, a wealthy farmer who was well-connected in his community. He was George's father's older brother. Theophilus would be a logical person to visit by any family member who was interested in establishing a business. Given that all of George's subsequent activities in Indiana took place in the counties just north of his uncle's farm appears to confirm the connection. Family lore says that George attended the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute in Valparaiso, Indiana, about 65 miles north of Benton County. If this is true (and there is some doubt)⁽⁶⁾ it would be a logical move for someone who wanted to learn how to run a business from those who know.

We know that for a time George worked in a drugstore in Hebron (Porter County), Indiana, before moving to the nearby town of Wheatfield in the fall of 1884. Wheatfield, Indiana was a small prairie town about ten miles southeast of Hebron. The town had just been platted the year before, and was so small that at the time of his move the entire town reportedly had only six houses,⁽⁷⁾ but it had the W. E. Sweeney Lumberyard, and George was hired to be it's manager.

While living in Wheatfield, George met Sarah Elizabeth Tilton. Sarah was born in nearby Medaryville, Indiana,⁽⁸⁾ on December 9, 1869. She moved to Wheatfield with her parents in 1885.⁽⁹⁾ George noticed her soon after her arrival, and not long after they were engaged. They were married on October 2, 1888. Sarah was 18. George was nearly 35.

In 1889, their first child, Albert Frederick was born. George and Sarah had six more children; their last, Clarence, was born in 1907. George was nearly 54 years old at the time of his birth.

In 1903 George formed a partnership with Edward Biggs, selling lumber, grain, hay, and farm implements.⁽¹⁰⁾ In August of 1904 he assumed full control of the business upon the death of Mr. Biggs.⁽¹¹⁾ Under his control, the business prospered, as Wheatfield grew. Later George sold this business and used the proceeds to erect a large grain elevator.

It appears that George's education paid off, for his lumber yard and later his grain elevator were enormously profitable. When his mother died in 1911 and his family's farm back in Ohio was sold, the estate was split equally between the eight children Or their heirs, but George got fully one half of the proceeds because we believe he had bought three of his siblings' shares over the years.

As owner of a large business in a small town like Wheatfield, it is inevitable that George would be active in the community. George was a member of the Wheatfield School Board for eighteen years,⁽¹²⁾ a post he enjoyed. He was also active in politics. In 1898, he ran for the office of Jasper County Auditor.⁽¹³⁾ However, running as a Democrat in a strongly Republican county probably doomed his chances. He lost.

George was also active in a number of social organizations, including the Masonic Lodge, the Knights of Pythias, and the Modern Woodsmen of America⁽¹⁴⁾. According to Wheatfield's Centennial booklet published in 1983, when Wheatfield's Masonic Lodge was formed in 1902, George was selected to be their first Worshipful Master.

Just as his grain elevator business was prospering, George was diagnosed with diabetes. His obituary describes how he dropped from a robust 200 pounds to 150 pounds in the ten years before his death. This was before insulin was available to control diabetes's devastation. Eventually the diabetes led to George's death on August 7, 1914,⁽¹⁵⁾ at the age of 60. It was reported in a local newspaper that his funeral was the largest ever held in the area.⁽¹⁶⁾

George usually went by the name George Oren. Mary Stembel Davis (a first cousin, once removed) remembers meeting him when she was a child. She described him as a jovial man who got along well with children. She told me her sister Goldie was so fond of him that she later named one of her children after him (but spelled the name "Orrin").⁽¹⁷⁾

By all measures, George was a financial success. At his death he was the wealthiest man in Wheatfield, and one of the wealthiest in Jasper County, according to relatives. Unfortunately, George died without a will. It took almost sixty years to settle his estate. His sons took over the management of his businesses, and his property was divided among family members.

Sarah remained in Wheatfield, a widow with seven children. Almost four years after George's death the family's wooden house burned down on June 23, 1918.⁽¹⁸⁾ Sarah had a new house built upon the same site, this one made of brick. She lived there for the remainder of her life. Of her children, one son died in 1921, another in 1930. Two sons married and remained in Wheatfield, a third did not marry, but remained in Wheatfield. Another son moved to Chicago. Her only daughter married and later moved to Texas.

In 1949, Sarah was interviewed for an article in a nearby newspaper. She described the early days of Wheatfield, and how much had changed since then. The article noted that three of Sarah's surviving sons still lived close by: Harry was single and living with her, Albert was living next door, and Oscar was living across the street.⁽¹⁹⁾

Sarah died in 1958 at the age of 88. I'm told she had been hard of hearing for at least 30 years before her death. This writer remembers meeting her once as a child, a few years before her death.

George and Sarah Stembel's seven children:

A. Albert Frederick Stembel (1889-1960). Albert was born on August 25, 1889, in Wheatfield. He was George and Sarah's first child. He grew up in a small farm town surrounded by swamps that were quickly being drained and filled to create fertile farms. Thus, Wheatfield was growing, with new houses being built using lumber sold by the lumber yard managed by his father. Albert attended the local township schools.

Albert married Almedia Louella McCay in 1914, shortly after his father's death. Albert was 25. Almedia was 17. At George's death, Albert took over as manager of his father's businesses. A year later Albert was elected to the Wheatfield Town Board. At the same time he also held the office of City Treasurer.⁽²⁰⁾ Albert and Almedia had three children.

Sometime after the 1930 census Albert and Almedia divorced. Albert then married Nancy Ellen Harrington on January 12, 1934. In the 1930 census, 3 years before their marriage, Nancy (who went by her middle name Ellen) was living with her father and two of her brothers on her father's farm outside Wheatfield. Ellen was 20, her marital status was listed as "married" and she had two young daughters living with her. She used her maiden name as her last name and for her daughters, which seems strange if she is married. I assume her two daughters came to live with Albert and Ellen after their marriage. Together they had one more child, Albert Allen who was born in 1936.⁽²¹⁾

Albert died of a heart attack⁽²²⁾ in 1960. Nancy died in 1985. Albert is buried in the Wheatfield Cemetery.

Albert's four children (with two wives):

1. Albert M. Stembel (1916-1916). Albert was born September 5, 1916, probably in Wheatfield. He died the next day. He is buried in the Wheatfield Cemetery.
2. William Frederick Stembel (1918-1957). William was born January 13, 1918, in Wheatfield. On August 28, 1943, he married Margaret Alma Parker. They had one child, a son, whom they named William Frederick II, who went by the name of Fred. Fred married Linda Louise Knapp. They had two children, but later divorced. William died April 6, 1957, in Valparaiso, Indiana, and is buried in the Wheatfield Cemetery. Margaret died July 12, 1996. Fred died September 28, 1997. All three are buried in the Wheatfield Cemetery.
3. James Lewis Stembel (1929-1996). Jim was born January 17, 1929, 11 years after his brother William. Jim married Joan Carroll Hartman on December 8, 1951, in Neptune, New Jersey. They had two children, James, Jr., and Jean. Jim died September 28, 1996. Joan lives in Spring Lake Heights, New Jersey.
4. Albert Allen Stembel (1936-2003). Allen, as he was known, was born April 24, 1936, in Wheatfield. He was born to his father's second wife, Nancy. He was seven years younger than his half brother, James, and 20 years younger than his half brother, William. Allen married Carolyn Ruth Hoffman on October 1, 1960. They lived in Hebron, Indiana. They had four children: Barbara, Carol, Martin, and Sharon. Allen died March 31, 2003.

B. Oscar J Stembel (1891-1953). Oscar was born on January 15, 1891, in Wheatfield. In 1920, Oscar married Clara Bell Dunn. At the time of the wedding, Oscar was 29, Clara was 19. Oscar and Clara had two children, both daughters. About 1925 Oscar moved the family to Hammond, Indiana, where he took a job as a carpenter for a railroad company. Oscar died November 24, 1953. He is buried in the Wheatfield Cemetery. Clara died December 2, 1993. She is also buried in the Wheatfield Cemetery.

Oscar and Clara Stembel's children:

1. Miriam Hope Stembel Lawyer (1922-2012). Miriam was born January 12, 1922, in Wheatfield. On September 15, 1940, she married Charles Lawyer in Bloomington, Indiana. They had four children: Charles, Penelope, Samantha, and Andrew. Charles died on June 3, 1970, in East Chicago, Indiana. He is buried in the Wheatfield Cemetery.

Miriam shared many newspaper clippings and photographs of the family with this writer. She died July 25, 2012, and is buried in the Wheatfield Cemetery.
2. Donille Stembel Hoevel (1927-2016). "Doni," as she was known, was born on Christmas Day, 1927, in Hammond, Indiana. On June 5, 1953, she married Benjamin Hoevel in Pierceton, Indiana. Benjamin was a high school history teacher. They had four children: Ann, Claire, Kimberly, and Amy. Donille and Benjamin lived in South Bend, Indiana. Benjamin died on July 29, 2012. Doni died at home on July 19, 2016. Doni was an accomplished artist and generously shared information about her family with this writer.

C. Grover Cleveland Stembel (1892-1921). Grover was born on November 6, 1892, at Wheatfield. He was the third child born to Sarah and George in just over three years. Grover married Lulu Fern Dewey in 1916. Grover was 23; "Fern," as she was known, was 19. They had two children, Oren (the father of this writer) and Elizabeth.

Grover was a foreman at the family's grain elevator. He also enjoyed gardening; he had a reputation for growing prize vegetables.

In early 1921, Grover's son, Oren, then 4-years-old, recalled his father coming home for lunch When his son, Oren, was four years old, he recalled that he remembers his father coming home for lunch one day complaining of a bad sore throat. During the meal it got so bad that he couldn't return to work. Oren remembers his father went to bed that afternoon and never got up again. Grover was taken to a hospital in Valparaiso where he died of lethargic encephalitis. He was just 28. His wife was left with two small children and no income. Grover was buried in the Wheatfield Cemetery.

Fern remained in Wheatfield, where she opened a millinery shop with a friend, and took in boarders to make ends meet. This income was not enough to support her family, so she moved to the city of South Bend, Indiana, to look for work. Her two children went to live on her parent's farm, not far from Wheatfield. Eventually Fern found a good job in nearby Elkhart and was able to send for her children. From the time of Grover's death, Grover's brother, Harry, made it a point to watch over Fern and her family.

In 1933, Fern married Earl Shigley, but the marriage was short-lived. In 1945 she married again, to Fred Berkey. Fred worked on the railroad as a maintenance man. After Fred retired, they moved to Pensacola, Florida, where Fred died in 1967. Fern died in 1974. Both are buried in the Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola.

Grover and Fern Stembel's children:

1. Oren Edward Stembel (1917-1989). Oren was born January 5, 1917, in Wheatfield. He was called "Spud" as a child and the name stuck into his adult life. He married Sue Hutchison on April 11, 1942, in Elkhart, Indiana. Sue was from Wisconsin. She had moved to Elkhart, briefly she thought, to take care of her ill sister, Dorothy, but Sue was overwhelmed by the many job opportunities in Elkhart and decided to stay. Soon after Oren and Sue were married, Oren was drafted into the Army Air Corps and was trained as a flight mechanic on B-29s. He was stationed on the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Theater where he flew, as part of the B-29 flight crew, bombing runs over Japan until the war was over. He returned to Elkhart where he and Sue had five children: Oren, Jr. (this writer), Robert, Deanna, Michael, and James.


Oren was a salesman for Kreamo, a local bread company based in South Bend, Indiana. Later he started his own insurance agency, and worked out of a shoe store that he had purchased. After all her children were in school, Sue sought a job as a paraprofessional teacher at the age of 51. She worked 25 years before retiring at the age of 76.

Oren died of a heart attack on October 1, 1989, in Bremen, Indiana, while visiting his son Michael. He is buried in the Sugar Grove Church Cemetery, east of Elkhart. Sue moved to a new house on Michael's farm. She lived there until her death on June 18, 2001. She is buried next to her husband.

2. Elizabeth Odell Stembel Weideman (1919-2014). Elizabeth, "Betty," as she is known, was born on February 5, 1919, in Wheatfield, Indiana. She married Howard Weideman in Elkhart, Indiana, on June 2, 1940. Howard was an accountant; Betty worked for the Department of Commerce (Census), and was an accomplished musician. She played bass in a number of community orchestras. They had four children: Barbara, Beth, Thomas, and Nancy (Beth died in a tragic auto accident in 1974). Betty and Howard lived their entire lives in Elkhart. They sponsored a number of Stembel family reunions. On June 2, 2010, they celebrated their 70^th wedding anniversary. Betty died November 10, 2014. She was 95. Betty is buried in the Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in nearby Osceola, Indiana. Howard died in April 2020 at the age of 102. He is buried in Elkhart's Rice Cemetery.

D. Mary Samantha Stembel Morehouse (1895-1981). Mary was born March 18, 1895, in Wheatfield. She was George and Sarah's only daughter. On March 4, 1918, Mary married Abe Morehouse in Rensselaer, Indiana. Abe was from the town of Kouts, just a few miles from Wheatfield. After their marriage they moved to a local farm not far from Kouts. They had two daughters, Lois and Vera. Sometime later they moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, hoping the climate would be more beneficial to Abe's health.

Abe died in 1953 just two weeks before his 57th birthday. Mary remained in Corpus Christi for the remainder of her life.

On June 1, 1980, the city of Corpus Christi honored Mary's service to the community by proclaiming "Mary Morehouse Day." Mary was 85 years old. She died a year and a day later.

Mary and Abe Morehouse's children:

1. Lois Mae Morehouse Sidler (1918-2003). Lois was born September 13, 1918, in Kouts, Indiana. On August 3, 1946, she married Harold Sidler in the Bronx, New York City. Sometime before 1951 Lois and Harold moved to Corpus Christi. They had two children, Robert and Peggy. Robert is a chemist. He is married and has three children. I have no information about Peggy.

Harold died July 30, 1994. Lois died September 13, 2003. Both are buried in Corpus Christi's Seaside Memorial Cemetery.
2. Vera Louise Morehouse Anderson (1920- ). Vera was also born in Kouts, Indiana, on June 23, 1920. She married Grant Anderson on September 11, 1944, in South Mills, North Carolina. Sometime after 1950 Vera and Grant moved to San Diego. They later divorced. They had two children, George, who was born in Utah, and Christopher, who was born in Texas. George is married and has two children. Christopher is also married and has three children. Vera died March 24, 2002.

E. Harry Ivan Stembel (1897-1961). Harry was born in Wheatfield, Indiana, on May 27, 1897. He grew up in Wheatfield with three older brothers and an older sister. When he was three a younger brother was born, and when he was ten another brother was born. When he was 20, World War I heated up and Harry joined the Army.⁽²³⁾ Upon his return to Wheatfield after the war, he found much to do in his family's businesses. He ran the family's grain elevator with his brother, Albert. He also joined the American Legion and became a member of the Masonic Lodge.⁽²⁴⁾

After his brother, Grover, died suddenly in 1921, Harry watched over Grover's widow and her two young children, one of whom was this writer's father.⁽²⁵⁾ I remember his visits to my home in Elkhart when I was a child. He was a kind, friendly man who laughed easily and enjoyed children. About once a year he would bring us a 50-pound burlap bag of unpopped popcorn, popcorn being a favorite snack of our family. His kindness was much appreciated. Harry never married. He lived in his boyhood home all his life, and cared for his mother when she became too old to get around.

Harry died of a cerebral hemorrhage⁽²⁶⁾ on February 12, 1961. He is buried in the Wheatfield Cemetery.

F. Gilbert Henry Stembel (1900-1986). Gilbert was born August 7, 1900, in Wheatfield, Indiana. He grew up in a large family in a small town. For seven years he was the youngest in the family until his brother, Clarence, was born in 1907.

In 1917 Gilbert married Mildred Anna Morrow in South Bend, Indiana. I don't know how they met or why they were in South Bend. It's possible Gilbert had moved to South Bend, a large industrial city, to find interesting work. His father and older brothers ran the family enterprises back home, and maybe Gilbert, at 17, didn't feel useful. However, it's possible they met closer to home, for Mildred was from Francesville, about 15 miles from Wheatfield.

After they married they had a daughter, Mary, but soon after her birth, World War I heated up and Gilbert joined the Army. Evidently the marriage didn't survive the enforced separation for by the 1920 census, Mildred was boarding with a family in South Bend, working as a clerk in an auto factory, but most significantly, she told the census taker she was single, not married. Their daughter, Mary, was living with Mildred's parents in Francesville (Pulaski County). Gilbert may have still been in the service stationed overseas because he didn't appear in the 1920 census.

The next record we have of Gilbert is 1928, when he married Erma Schram in Evanston, Illinois. In 1934, they had a son, Gilbert Oren, who was born in Evanston. Gilbert remained in the Chicago area all his life where he owned a coal company and an insurance agency. Erma died in 1965. Four years later Gilbert married Ethel Volk. Gilbert died in 1986. I don't know where he, or his wives, are buried.

Gilbert's two children (with two wives):

1. Mary Elizabeth Stembel Norris. (1917- ). Mary was born December 13, 1917⁽²⁷⁾, in South Bend, Indiana. She lived in South Bend as a teenager⁽²⁸⁾. She later married Dale Norris who worked for the Indiana & Michigan Electric Company. They last appeared in the South Bend city directory in 1960, at 1434 Miner Street.
2. Gilbert Oren Stembel (1934-1998). Gilbert went by his middle name, Oren. He was born on August 28, 1934, in Evanston, Illinois. He married Marilyn Torbick. Oren had many interests. He owned a recording studio, Recordings Unlimited, in Chicago where many local bands recorded demo records under his label, Orlyn (Or- for Oren, -lyn for his wife Marilyn). Recordings on this label are highly sought today. According to his son, Oren recorded the Beatles when they performed in the old Commisky Park (home field of the Chicago White Sox). Oren was also an inventor, with a number of patents for medical and recording devices.

Gilbert and Marilyn had a son, Steve⁽²⁹⁾, and daughter, Merrilee. Gilbert died August 29, 1998, a day after his 64th birthday.

G. Clarence Oren Stembel (1907-1930). Clarence was born September 1, 1907, in Wheatfield, Indiana. He was born seven years after Gilbert. Clarence never married. He died suddenly on July 18, 1930, of an infection which developed after an appendectomy operation in La Porte, Indiana. He was just 22. He is buried in the Wheatfield Cemetery.

FOOTNOTES