Tyndall, John W. Standard history of Adams and Wells Counties, Indiana. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1918, pp. 925-6.

HENRY KRICK. A prominent, prosperous, and well-to-do citizen of Decatur, Henry KRICK, who was for many years president of the Decatur Tile Company, is now living retired from active pursuits, having by means of persevering industry and good management acquired a handsome competency. A son of John KRICK, Jr., he was born October 24, 1845, in Berks County, Pennsylvania, coming from thrifty German ancestry.

The immigrant ancestor of the family to which he belongs came from Germany to America in 1731 and settled near Reading, Pennsylvania, where he acquired title to 400 acres of land, on which he was engaged in farming until his death. He reared a family of thirteen children, most of whom lived and died in that locality, and there, in Berks County, many of his descendants are living, one of whom owns and occupies 160 acres of the original KRICK homestead. The KRICK family is well known there as industrious and prosperous people and prominent in business circles.

John KRICK, Sr., Mr. Krick's grandfather, was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and spent his seventy-seven years of early life on the home farm. He and his good wife were active members of the German Reformed Church.

John KRICK, Jr., one of a family of nine children, was born at Sinking Spring, Berks County, in 1812, and was there engaged in farming and stock raising during his life, dying in 1880. He was a democrat in politics, and a member of the German Reformed Church, to which his family also belonged. He married Elizabeth Schleter, who was born and reared in Berks County, as were her parents, John and Mary (Jackson) Schleter. Of their union five sons and two daughters were born, four of whom are now living, and are married and have families.

Leaving school at the age of thirteen years, Henry KRICK subsequently assisted his father on the home farm for about six years. Starting westward then, with the hope of bettering his fortunes, he arrived at Decatur, Indiana, January 16, 1865. The place was then small, with but few industries established. He had previously learned the tinner's trade, but finding no opportunity then to follow it he was engaged for two years in sawing wood with a buck saw. He afterwards worked for two and a half years at his trade, receiving $80 a year and his board. Mr. Krick then became agent for a hardware and implement store, and for a number of years carried on a good business among the farming population, selling goods in the country.

Enterprising and resourceful, Mr. Krick embarked in a business new in the county, being the first one in the locality to buy and ship eggs and farm produce to the city markets. With the limited capital of $85 he bought a horse and wagon, running in debt for them $20, plus the cost of his first shipment of eggs. From 1879 until 1894 he traveled the roads, many of which in those days were nearly impassable, but, however rough or muddy, he never gave up, pulling himself and load through in some way. From 1878 until 1882 he served as sheriff of Adams County, being the youngest man at that time ever elected to that office.

In the meantime Mr. Krick established a brick kiln, and in 1882 embarked in the manufacture of brick, and for ten years manufactured all the bricks used in the erection of public buildings in the city with the exception of the Decatur courthouse, and also shipped bricks to various places for making sidewalks. In 1892 Mr. John Tyndall, our associate editor, and a Mr. Meyer began making tile at the old brick plant, and in 1898 the business was incorporated, with Mr. Krick as president; John Tyndall, secretary and treasurer, and George M. Krick, manager. An extensive and profitable business was soon established, the plant being strictly up-to-date in its equipment and the machinery used being of the most modern and approved style. Since retiring from active pursuits Mr. Krick has been enjoying the fruits of his many years of toil at his pleasant home at 405 Mercer Avenue.

Mr. Krick is a prominent member of the democratic party, and for two years, from 1899 until 1891, represented Adams County in the State Legislature. He was one of the organizers of the Decatur Gas Company, in which he is a director. He is also an extensive landholder, owning two farms, of 160 acres each, in Washington Township; 895 acres in the Louisiana State and Grower's Association, and 200 acres elsewhere. He is a strong temperance man, and did much toward making Decatur dry territory.

Mr. Krick married, in Adams County, Sarah Mangold, who was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1854, and in 1862 came with her parents, Ephraim and Mary (Slayback) Mangold, to Indiana, settling on a farm in Preble Township, where she was reared and educated. Mrs. Krick has been for many years an active worker in religious and charitable undertakings. For the past seven years she has been a member of the Adams County Children's Charities; she is a valued member of the Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church; and is likewise an active member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Decatur.

Mr. and Mrs. Krick have a large family of children, as follows: Nellie M., wife of Prof. John R. Parrish, principal of the Fort Wayne schools, has two children, John R. and Marian; Frank, who farms and works in the factory, married Eva Elsa, and they have three children, Pauline, Robert and Joseph; George M., manager of the tile factory, married Mary Klinehitz, and they have one son, Arthur W.; Desire, wife of Lewis Dolch of Toledo, Ohio, has one child, Ruth Virginia; Augnes of Gary, Indiana, is in the office of Mayor Ross Johnson; Josephine, who is a graduate nurse from the Lakeside Hospital, is now superintendent of a hospital in Kendallville, Indiana; Virgil, superintendent of a tile factory in Auburn, Iowa, married Merle Leonard, and they have two daughters, Barbara and Talisa; and Walter, a graduate of the Decatur High School, is now continuing his studies in the agricultural department of Purdue University. The family are all members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Krick is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows