Carl Charles Gordner: Civil Servant from Indiana to Arizona by Sheryl Hamlin German Roots Carl Gordner was born in Boonville, Indiana in 1892 into a community with many German roots. In fact, Germans were the largest immigrant group to Indiana before World War I. Carl's father Louis was born in Indiana, but Louis' father was born in Germany. Source: here In 1910 Indiana had the twelfth largest population of residents with German ancestry. Many Germans taught their children the language of their ancestors and were ostracized during World War I. (Source: here ) But there was no evidence of this ostracization in the Boonville Gordner family. Carl registered with the Army in 1917. The picture below of Carl in uniform was taken in early 1919. Marriage and Family Pre-War Before the war, Carl married Alma and two daughters were born: Jane and Lois. Jane graduated from the University of Arizona in 1941. Jane played the piano and Lois the violin. According to friends, Alma w