L I E> R.ARY
OF THE
U N 1 V L R S 1 T Y
or ILLINOIS
977:344
ttUwils Historical Sumei
QUINCY
AND
ADAMS COUNTY
History and Representative Men
DAVID F. WILCOX
Supervising Editor
JUDGE LYMAN McCARL
Chairman of Advisory Board
Assisted by the Following Board of Advisory Editors
JOS. J. FREIBURG
THOMAS S. ELLIOTT
GEORGE W. CYRUS
HENRY BORNMANN
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1919
LIBRARY
Of THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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History of
Ouincy and Adams County
Edward "Wells. A life of peculiar power and significance in enriching
the business and civic development of Quincy from pioneer times was that
of the late Edward Wells, manufacturer, business man and banker. Some of
the steadying qualities of his enterprise and character are felt even today in
the city. There is no need of apology for telling briefly the story of this Quincy
citizen, since it is in truth a vital part of Quincy 's history.
It is from Thomas Wells that the Quincy branch of the family is descended.
Thomas was born in Essex County, England, in 1605, and in 1635, at the age
of thirty, set sail from Ipswich, England, and landing in Massachusetts joined
the little colony at Agawam, which the colonists soon named Ipswich. Thomas
Wells took his freeman's oath May 17, 1637, and soon built his substantial
frame dwelling which was still standing as late as 1850. Besides his growing
interests as a property holder he was a stalwart member of the noted Ipswich
Church and was also magistrate and physician. Many of the early records
referred to him as distinguished in different capacities. He died October 26,
1666.
Samuel Williams Wells, father of Edward Wells of Quincy, was born at
Newbury June 12, 1774. During his life he was chiefly distinguished for his
rare scholarship and ability as a teacher. He died June 30, 1851, at the age
of seventy-seven.
Edward Wells was born at Newbury March 23, 1813, and was named for his
maternal grandfather, Edward Swasej' Wells. He acquired a strong distaste
for double Christian names, and in Quincy was always known simply as Edward
Wells. The following story of his life is largely made up of quotations from
his published biography.
In childhood Edward Wells gave evidence of the push, energy and cour-
age which led him in early manhood to leave the beaten way of men and go
out across the mountains to make a name, place and home for himself on the
eoirfines of civilization. At the age of fourteen he .sought and obtained employ-
ment with a rope maker in his native town, who perceiving in him the promise
of unusual business ability endeavored to retain his services, when at the end
of the year he gave notice of his intention to withdraw, bj- offers of immediate
promotion and eventually a share in the business. But the lad wanted a larger
field for the exercise of his powers than a rope walk in an old town that had
ceased to grow.
Influenced by these considerations, young Edward Wells packed his modest
box, said good-bye to his employer and home friends, and on the top of the
sta^e coach that plied semi-weekly between his native town and Boston made
his first trip to that famous city. On India Wharf he found a cooper by the
name of Lang, who, attracted doubtless by the lad's business-like manner,
agreed to take him as apprentice till the time of his majority. Then followed
seven busy years, in the course of which the lad not only acquired a knowledge
pf his craft and satisfied the master whom he was bound to serve, but by
735
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736 QUINCT AND ADAMS COUNTY
working overtime as the opportunity offered earned $100, which, bit by bit,
as it was gathered, he sacredly set aside to give him a start in business when
the days of his service sliould be over.
In the last days of his service the young apprentice belonged to the city
fire department and the Mechanic's Liljrary Association, and whether sitting
in solemn conclave witli the members of the latter organization or taking his
turn at the old hand engine in the smoke of a city fire, was cquallj' willing,
energetic and helpful.
After the terms of his indenture were fulfilled he worked at his trade,
boarding somewhere on Fort Hill, waiting the opportunit.y to invest the savings
of his years of apprenticeship. In April, 1834, he writes to a sister, "I shall
remain here but six months longer unless there is some gi-eat change in the
prospects that are before me." No change for the better seems to have taken
place, for in October of the same year we find him, equipped with a new stock
of clothing and tools, purchased with part of his savings, the remainder of
the $100 in his pocket, and the blessings of his father and home friends in
his heart, cutting himself adrift from the moorings of familiar scenes and
launching out into the unknovni "West.
In October, 1833, Capt. Nathaniel Pease, a man of great energy and
enterprise, w'ho had been trading in Cleveland, Ohio, and other points on the
lakes, made his way to the little town of Quincy in Adams County, Illinois,
bought 300 hogs, had them slaughtered and packed and carried them oft' to
sell in other places. Succeeding in this venture and deciding that Quincy was
well located and destined to gi'ow, he determined to return with his family and
settle there permanently. His home was in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In
the spring when his plans for emigration were nearly perfected young Edward
Wells met him, heard his story, and concluded to join his party which was to
start in the fall.
Thus it is we find him on a mild October day saying good-bj-e to friends,
and boarding the train for Providence and the West. At that time, as the
railway system was in its infancy, connections were uncertain and accommo-
dations limited. * * * They journeyed from Boston to Providence by
rail, from Providence to Amboy by boat, and then by rail from Amboy to
Philadelphia, from Philadelphia to Baltimore, and from Baltimore over the
mountains to the Ohio River. Down this stream they voyaged by steamer,
frequently delayed by low water, and helped over the sandbars, where they
grounded, by men who worked day after day in the water for the low wage
of 3 shillings. The.y passed at times through a noiseless woodland solitude and
boundless prairies level and lonely as the sea. The boat was run by no sched-
ule. It stopped anywhere to let ]iassengers off, at a creek, a cabin or a young
busy town. It tied up wherever it was convenient to wait for wood to be cut
and loaded or repairs to be made. Waiting for repairs seems in fact to have
absorbed a great deal of the time of those early steamboat trips. Finally they
reached the Mississippi and boarded an upward-bound steamer for the last
stage of their journey.
Quincy at that time contained only about 500 inhabitants. There were
some half dozen very respectable frame houses, a good many log cabins, a
log courthouse and jail, several smaller frame houses, two small brick dwellings
and a frame tavern. An infant town indeed, but its location on the Slissis-
sippi in a region unsurpassed for fertility and productiveness, with an unlim-
ited supply of building stone in its bluffs and timber on the islands and margin
of the river, gave promise not only of rapid but continuous growth.
Into, this town incorporated but four months previously entered young
Edward" Wells, wearied with a thirty- four days' journey, slightly homesick,
destitute of money except for a single silver dollar, but well fiirnished with
Yankee ingenuity, pluck, energy- and determination to succeed. Like his Puri-
tan ancestor he stepped into a new world, consecrated to the task of helping to
QUIXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 737
redeem it from the wilderness and make it blossom with all the beauty of
civilization.
Failing to find work at liis trade he took hold of any honorable employ-
ment that presented itself. I have heard him say that having a thorough
knowledge of but one trade he had worked at all. He learned by observation
what he did not discover by a fine mechanical sense that was his in no common
measure. That first winter was uncommonly mild, a contrast to the cold and
storm of the New England Coast, until the "iSth of January, when a cold
•wave passed over lUlinois and Kentucky that pulled the mercury down to
32° below zero, killed or injured nearly all the fruit trees, and brought death
to large numbers of horses, cattle and hogs.
In the spring of 1835 Edward Wells formed a partnership in the cooper
business with James D. Morgan, a friend who had followed him from Boston.
* * * Mr. Morgan having a wife and child took up his abode in a log cabin,
but the younger member of the firm lived in the shop, his modest housekeeping
arrangments hidden by a curtain from the business end of the establishment.
To coopering he applied himself with characteristic energv' for a few years.
His work brought him into relations with the pork packers, and seeing in
their business a wider opportunity for the accumulation of wealth he discon-
tinued his partnership with IMr. ]\Iorgau and began to pack and ship pork.
In 1839 he was one of four pork packers who packed 5,000 hogs, in 1840 one
of four who packed 4,000, in 1842, one of four who packed 7,000, in 1843 one
of four who packed 20,000. and in 1846 one of four who packed 10,000. After-
wards he engaged in business on a more extensive scale and laid the founda-
tions of a fortune to which he added by judicious operations in real estate in
Chicago.
Though possessed in a remarkable degree of the business instincts which
detect success or failure at the outset, his judgment was not always infallible
in those early years of his business career. Twice, through the failures of
other men, he lost everything he had 'accumulated, and twice with undaunted
courage he began to build anew. It was perhaps while waiting an opportunity
to start a place in his chosen career that he went into the solitude of the Des
Moines Kiver to trade with the Indians, made trips to New Orleans to dispose
of produce, and even served as mate on a Mississippi steamboat. He was
never at a loss for employment of some kind. In a letter written in 1839 to
his father he refers to the growth of the city: "Quincy is still improving.
If we keep on a few years longer we shall have a place larger than Xewbury-
port. There has been a; great deal of emigi-ation to this country this year.
We now have six dii¥erent religious denominations, Congregational, Baptist,
Methodist, Episcopal, Unitarian and Catholic. So you see there are plenty of
chances to go to church if a person is so disposed." About this time Edward
Wells united with a few others in founding the Unitarian Church, of which
Rev. George Moore was the first settled minister. Edward Wells continued
for more than fifty years not only a regular attendant but a stay and support,
giving with bounteous hand in response to all calls for help. Nor did he
waiver when in the last years of his life the financial burden of the church
rested largely on his shoulders.
With his advent into the town Edward Wells joined the volunteer fire
department, which he served as chief for one term. Old "No. 1," which was
purchased some time between 1837 and 1840 for the sum of $1,125, felt his
hand in those early famous fires on Hampshire Street and "under the hill"
as well as in less noted blazes.
From the time of his majority he gave himself with diligence to the study
of the political situation, allying himself in turn with the whig and republican
parties. In the log cabin campaign of 1840 he was a delegate to county con-
ventions that endorsed the nomination of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too."
Though successful in multiplying into a fortune the silver dollar which
738 QUIXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
constituted his capital when he disembarked at Quincy in 1834, his energies
were not all given to personal gain. He was a leading spirit in all projects
for the advancement of the city of his adoption, which he saw develop from
a town of 500 inhabitants into a large and flourishing center of trade. For
many years he was greatly interested in procuring railroad connections, and
became personally acquainted with the prominent railroad men of the countiy.
He succeeded in getting the Pennsjivania Central to agree to come to Quiney;
but before the purpose could crystallize into action success became failure
through the secret sale of the Quincy and Warsaw Road, with which the con-
nection was to be made. Still he did not lose heart nor did he become discour-
aged when negotiations for connections with the Baltimore & Ohio roads came
to naught ; but spurred by failure and broadened by contact with men of wider
experience, took up the work again with a zeal that compelled success. He was
the originator and principal factor in the passing of the bill through Congress
for the building of the railroad bridge across the Mississippi River at Quincy
in 1864, spending weeks in Washington while engaged in this work. In the
drafting of this bill he insisted on a clause which was original with him, that
all roads should have right of way over the approaches to bridges and thus
prevented for all time excessive tollage or monopoly. He was at one time
president of the Quincy & Warsaw Railroad Company, and was on terms of
intimacy and influence with J. L. Joy of the Wabash Railway for many years.
Though all his life intensely interested in the political affairs of city, state
and nation, the subject of this sketch resolutely refused political office. One
term as alderman from the Third Ward is his meager record. His counsel was
sought by men who held office as well as by men who walked the quiet paths
of private life. He was well acquainted with Lincoln, Douglas, 0. H. Brown-
ning, W. A. Richardson, Richard Yates, John A. Logan, General Sherman
and many others of world wide reputation. He had large influence in both
state and national capitals, which was used effectively but quietly, and without
making himself so pi'omineut as to antagonize others. He sought no reward,
remaining silent while others appropriated credit that belonged to him. From
the formation of the party he was an uncompromising republican, as he had
been for years a subscriber to the principles on which it was founded. In war
time he was intensely loyal, sending two substitutes to the field and spending
money freely in the cause. Director of the First National Bank of Quincy
for a long period, his wise counsels, founded on his accurate knowledge of the
finances of that institution, made it a paying bank as long as he was in office.
He was a stockholder in the Quincy Gas Works, the Newcomb Hotel Company,
Quincy Savings Bank, Library Association, director of the Vandiver Corn
Planter Compan.v, which he helped to organize, and officially connected with
many other business, improvement and charity organizations of the city.
Edward Wells did not fail to keep up close associations with his old New-
England home. He journeyed back to Newbui'yport in 1840, and again in
1848 and his third and fourth visits were made in the summers of 1856 and
1858. From 1858 Edward Wells journeyed eastward every summer with the
exception of two until his death in 1892, his party increasing to sixteen and
eighteen as children were given to his married sons and daughters. The heated
term was passed at some resort on the Massachusetts or New Hampshire Coast,
and the month of September in Boston, where his youngest sister had removed
with her family in 1859 ; while some portion of the holiday was invariably
spent in the birthtown of his mother, which was always regarded by her wan-
dering son with affectionate interest. These annual returns to the sea were
the only occasion of recreation in the life of a very busy man : for though he
retired from active business when he was but little over fifty years old, his
transactions in real estate and his interest in corporations and institutions
called for ever increasing mental activity.
On May 16, 1892, Edward Wells suddenly passed away. On the day pre-
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 739
ceding, a Sunday, he attended church apparently in his usual health and spirits.
The Quincy AVliig said editorially at the time: "Mr. Wells was a man of
fine presence, kindly manners, and so active and interested in the details of
the world's life that although he had nearly touched four score years he never
impressed one as an old man. He was active in his church, the Unitarian, of
which in this city he was a pioneer member, active in politics, attending even
the primary meetings of his party, the republican, as regularly as when it came
into existence, keenly alive to everything that affected the credit, the good
name or the prosperity of the city in which he had lived so long, and main-
taining his social interests to a degree that made him a congenial companion
to young and old alike. He was a man of unblemished integrity, a prudent
and sagacious adviser, a firm and faithful friend, and his life contact with men
in these relations will make him widely missed, but nowhere will he be so sorely
missed as in the home which was, after all, the chief object of his affection and
devotion. ' '
ilarch 19, 1836, at Quiney, Edward Wells married Mary Babson Evans.
Her father, Capt. Robert Evans, was born near Germantown, Pennsylvania,
in 1784, had migrated from Boston to Adams County in 1835, and died at the
home of Edward Wells in Quiney in 1866. As a youth he ran away from home
to become a sailor and was a vessel master and captain of a privateer during
the War of 1812 and had many strenuous adventures, ending with his capture
and imprisonment at Dartmoor Prison in England to the close of the war.
April 11, 1813, before making this final cruise. Captain Evans married
Betsey Babson Haven, a widow. She was born at Gloucester, Massachusetts,
and died at Quiney in 1855. The Babsons were among the first settlers of
Gloucester. Captain and Betsey Evans had four children, George, Mary B.,
James L. and Harriett. Mary was born at Gloucester March 3, 1819. After
the War of 1812 Captain Evans was engaged in the West India trade for some
years, and in 1835 joined the tide of emigration that brought him to the banks
of the Mississippi. He first bought a farm near Bloomfield, twelve miles from
Quiney, but was soon discouraged by the loneliness of the place and the home-
sickness of his family and removed to Quiney. Learning of the presence of
a Ma.ssachusetts family in that locality, Edward Wells rode out to call at their
country home. It was then he first saw young 'Slary Evans. She was barely
sixteen, slender, fair, with waving masses of soft dark hair, a dimpled smile
and a reticent manner. Captain Evans bought a house on the corner of Eighth
and Hampshire streets in Quiney, and there Edward Wells and Mary Evans
were married. After boarding for a time Mr. and Mrs. Wells had their first
independent home in a small house near the corner of Sixth Street and Broad-
way. Several years later they moved to a substantial brick house at 408 Jersey
Street and about 1860 moved to 421 Jersey Street, the home where he died.
His wife, Mary, survived him less than two years, passing away March
27, 1894. Her death also came suddenly, from heart disease. Of her the famil,y
biographer has written :
"Mary Wells was distinctively a home woman. To her immediate familj'
and a narrow circle of relatives and friends she gave herself with devotion.
She was interested in what was going on in the world and in her home nook
informed herself of affairs and gave utterance to very decided opinions con-
cerning them. Her charities, which were large, were dispensed without osten-
tation, as were those of her husband; and that she saw the woes and needs of
humanity even more clearly than he did was evidenced by the fact that she
frequently told him where to bestow his bounty. Too proud to disclose the need
of SA-mpathy, she hid personal loss and sorrow as well as personal gain and
joy under a quiet exterior, giving the careless observer the impression that
she lacked in sensibility. Only those who knew her best ever measured the
depths of her feelings. She was shy of thanks, but took delight in seeing her
gifts used and appreciated. She helped to build the structure of her hus-
740 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
band's prosperity by self denial and faithful administration of home affairs.
One of the organizers of the Unitarian Church in Qnincy, she was for nearly
sixty years quietly active in maintaining its interests and extending its influ-
ence. Her creed, like that of her church, was to be sincere and do good."
The children of Edward and ilarj- Wells were : Eliza Ann, born July 2,
1838, died April 29, 1839 ; Mary Eliza, born ilareh 22, 1840, died September
20, 1854; Edward, born December 21, 1841, died November 3, 1849; Harriet,
born February 28, 1844, died April 14, 1846; George, born August 22, 1846,
whose life record is told in other paragraphs; Frank, born March 28, 1849,
for thirty years a prominent business man of Chicago ; Ella, born November
10, 1852, mari'ied James Russell Smith, a leading figure in business and poli-
tics at Quincy for many years; and Kate, born June 22, 1857, who married
William Russell Loekwood.
George Wells, long prominent in iiuancial and business affairs at Quincy,
and associated with Major James Adams as mortgage bankers, is the oldest
living child of the late Edward Wells.
He was born August 22, 1846, at Quincy, on the site of the present armory.
He attended private schools in his native town to the age of thirteen, and was
then put in school at Kingston, Massachusetts. He has always led a very active
life and though now past the age of three score and ten has every appearance
of the man of fifty. At the age of sixteen he entered his father's pork packing
establishment and remained in that line of business until 1879. From 1869 to
1876, during the summer months he also manufactured canned goods and pickles.
From 1880 to 1886 Mr. Wells was in the grocery business, but in the latter
year formed his partnership with Ma.ior Adams under the name Wells & Adams,
mortgage bankers. About 1860 his father had bought the present Wells Build-
ing, which was erected in 1856 at the corner of Main and Fifth streets. This
building was subsequently remodeled by George Wells, and it is now his office
headquarters.
Mr. Wells inherits his father's interest in the republican party as well as his
aversion to holding political office. He is oiie of the prominent Masons of the
city, serving as Master of Quincy Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted ^lasons,
in 1888-89, and for a number of years was eminent commander of El Aksa
Commandery of Knights Templar. He has also served as a trustee of the
Anna Brown Home for the Aged and is a trustee and official for the Woodland
Home for the Friendless and Orphans. In 1909 Mr. Wells built a beautiful
home on Twentieth Street, where he has a spacious house surrounded by ample
gi-ounds, one of the homes that give dignity to a beautiful residential section.
Mr. Wells and all his family are members of the Unitarian Church.
August 29, 1869, at New York, George Wells married Sarah Jane Castle,
only daughter of Dr. Edward G. Castle of Quincy. Doctor Castle and wife
were both born at Carlisle, England, and came to Quincy in 1849. Doctor
Castle was a well educated and trained physician in English schools and institu-
tions, and was regarded as one of the foremost ph.ysicians and surgeons of the
city for many years. During the war he was busily engaged in local hospital
service. Doctpr Castle died in September, 1880, at the age of sixty-five. He
married Jane Carrick, who survived him about ten years. She was of a fine old
English family, her father, David Carrick, having been an English banker.
Mr. and Mrs. George Wells had eight children, four of whom are still living.
Edward Castle Wells, the oldest, born June 27, 1871, was educated in ilassa-
ehusetts from the age of fourteen, graduating from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology in 1892 and receiving his degree in mechanical engineering before
his twenty-first birthday. For a number of years he was connected with the
firm of Wells & Adams, mortgage bankers at Quincy, biit in the fall of 1913
moved to Dayton, Ohio, and has since been head of the Piatt Iron Works of that
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LIBRAhY
X THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINO'
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 741
city. He married, October 17, 1S95, Mary Caroline Brookings, of Boston, and
they have two sons and two danghters.
James Russell Wells, second child of George \\^ells, was born September 11,
1872. His twin brother, Albert George, died in infancy. James E. Wells after
his fourteenth j'ear attended private seliools in ^Massachusetts, graduated from
Dummer Academy in 1891, and studied architecture and design in the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology and the Boston Art School. For about a year
after completing his education he followed his profession iu Boston, but has
since been connected with the firm of Wells & Adams and is busied with handling
his father's varied interests. November 8, 1898, he married Henrietta Rosamond
Eaton, and they have four sons and one daughter.
The fourtli and fifth sons of Mr. George Wells were named Willie George
and Frank Harrison, and w'ere born respectively December 4, 1873, and June
21, 1875. Both died in infancy. The sixth son was Charles Lawrence, l>orn
January 19, 1883, and elsewhere referred to in this publication. The only
daughter of the family was Harriet Evans, born July 28, 1884. She had a twin
brother, who lived only a few months. Harriet is now the wife of Lafayette D.
Musselman of Quincy.
Ch.^rlep Lawrence Wells, sixth son of ilr. and ^Mrs. George Wells and a
grandson of the late Edward Wells of Quincy, is one of the most prominent
younger men of the city, a leading spirit in all public movements and a con-
structive factor in all that makes for advancement in this section of the state.
He inherits much of the enterprise and vigor of his grandfather, but has di-
rected them largely to civic interests.
He was born at Quincy January 19, 1883, and like his older brothers was
educated chiefly in the East. He attended the noted Lawreneeville School in
New Jersey, also the Phillips Academy at Exeter, New Hampshire, and in the
fall of 1903 entered Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1907.
After his return to Quincy he became identitied with his father's business, and
is still connected with the firm Wells & Adams, Mortgage Bankers.
In June, 1910, he was appointed by the mayor to the City Board of Local
Improvements, and wa.s one of its executive committee until 1912. During
that time the board effected a great deal of pennanent improvement in the
city, especially in constructing new streets, sidewalks and sewers and doing
probably more in this line of improvement than Quincy has ever had at any
similar period before or since. In 1912 Mr. Wells was appointed a member of
the Boulevard and Park Association and is a member of the executive committee
of that organization.
He has served as secretary of the Civic League, and through this organization
has done some of his best work for the city. Mr. Wells since May, 1916, has
been pi-esident of the Woodlawn Cemetery Association, having succeeded his
father, who had been president for many years. This is the oldest and finest
cemetery in the city. It is owned by the city, but is cared for by the Cemetery
Association, which was organized thirtj'-six years ago.
Mr. Wells is one of the most enthusiastic Masons in Western Illinois. He
has been junior deacon of his lodge, illustrious ma.ster of Quincy Council No. 15,
Royal and Select blasters, high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, active in the
Knight Templar Coramandery No. 77, and a member of the Quincv Consistory
of Scottish Rite. During the winter of 1918 Mr. Wells served as "chairman of
the local fuel administration under John E. Williams of Chicago, state chair-
man. Mr. Wells is independent in politics, and is a member of the Unitarian
Church.
In November, 1915, he married Miss Lois D. Benton, wlio was born in Quincy,
daughter of Joel Benton. Mrs. Wells is a highly cultured woman, was educated
in the Quincy High School, at Davenport, Iowa, and finished her education in
the Mason School at Tarrytown, New York.
742 QUmCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
John Egbert Laughlix is one of Mendon Township's oldest native citizens,
has been a leading and prominent stockman for half a century, and the esteem
in which he is generally held is well expressed bj' his fellow citizens in their
reference to him as "Bob" Langhlin, and when Bob Laughlin's opinion is
expressed on some matter of farming or stock raising or community affairs it
receives all the consideration and respect which is its proper due.
The Laughlins as a family have been well known in northern Adams County
since pioneer times. John Robert Laughlin was born on a farm four miles
northwest of Mendon January 15, 1841. The old house in which he was born
is still standing. His parents were Benjamin and Sarah (Robinson) Laughlin.
Benjamin Laughlin was born in Bourbon County, Kentudrs', in 1806, a son of
John Laughlin, who came to America from Ireland.
In 1831, when Quincy contained only three houses, John Laughlin and his
four sons, William, Wilson, Benjamin and Johnson, rode into this I'egion on
horseback and prospected over the surrounding country until they had satisfied
themselves with some choice tracts of land, which then could be obtained by
merely entering at the land office and paying the stated fee of a dollar and a
quarter per acre. In the same fall Benjamin Laughlin began the erection of a
double log house in which his son John Robert was born some ten years later.
However, after their tour of inspection the Laughlins returned to Kentuck\%
and there busied themselves with the contriving of a flatboat on which they
brought their household goods and their people to St. Louis, and from there up
the river by steamboat to Adams County. Besides the four brothers mentioned
there were two unmarried sisters. Sarah, one of these, afterwards married
James Rankin and lived near Breckenridge in Hancock County, Illinois. Violet,
the other daughter, married Matt Forsythe, and lived in Hancock Count}' near
the Adams County line.
John Laughlin, the father of the four brothers, bought land near Ursa, and
this land was occupied by his son Johnson, who died there at the age of sixty
years. This Ursa Township farm was about five or six miles distant from the
place of settlement of the Laughlin family in Mendon Township. John, the
grandfather, lived with his sons until his death when about eighty-seven or
eighty-eight years of age. His second wife survived him some years and his
first wife and the mother of his children died in Kentuckj-. Three brothers,
William, Benjamin and Wilson, all settled adjoining farms in Mendon Town-
ship. Wilson married Ellen Hightower, and he died on his farm at the age
of sixty-five and his widow subsequently lived in Quincy but died at Mendon.
This farm has since been sold. It adjoined the place of Bob Laughlin on the
east. William Laughlin's farm lay east of that of his brother Wilson. William
Laughlin was honored with many township offices, and died in Mendon at the
age of seventy-five. None of his children remain in Adams County. A daughter
of Wilson Laughlin is the widow of Charles Miller, of Mendon. Johnson Laugh-
lin also left no survivors.
Benjamin Laughlin spent his life on his father's farm, and also bought the
160 acres adjoining on the noi-th and at his father's death acquired
his tract of two hundred twenty acres. He also owned a farm of two hundred
sixty acres in Ursa Township which had been previously operated bj' his brother
Johnson. With all this land under his control he carried on farming operations
in proportion, and was one of the leading cattle raisers and feeders in the
county. He was permitted a long life and died at the age of eighty-six. He is
buried in the Franklin Cemetery. He had laid out this cemetery on some of
his own land, and named it Franklin for his own middle name. This cemetery
was at the Free Will Baptist Church, an organization that has since been dis-
banded, though the old church is still standing. Benjamin's wife, Sarah Robin-
son Laughlin, died in 1916, at the age of eighty-six. Their family consisted
of five sons and two daughter.s, four of whom reached maturity : William, who
left Mendon a number of years ago and moved to Chariton County, Missouri, '
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 743
where he died and where his widow and sons still live; the second in age is
John Robert ; Benjamin, a fanner in this vicinity, died at Marcelline, one of the
inland villages of Adams County, about two miles west of the Laughlin farm,
in 1910, at the age of sixty-three, leaving a widow and two children; and Dud-
ley, also a farmer at Marcelline.
It is generally true that the American farmer who has made the best
success at his business is the one who has remained longest on the job. Bob
Laughlin has not only lived all his life en a farm but has been content to
acknowledge no other important interests away from farming, though he has
rendered such service as he could to his community, helping forward projects
that were worthy and cooperating with liis fellow citizens when his cooperation
was needed. At the age of tweuty-one his father gave him a farm, and later
he bought out the other interests and now owns the 220 acres which was
originally taken up Ijy his grandfather. Later he bought 100 acres on the west,
giving him a complete half section in one farm, and since then has added
another eighty acres nearby and recently bought fifteen acres. One improve-
ment has followed another, and twenty years ago he built the comfortable resi-
dence wliieh now houses the family. In 1881 he erected a. barn that was one
of the best in the county at tlie time, being of the familiar bank construction,
40 by 60 feet in ground dimensions and with 20-foot posts. For forty years Mr.
Laughlin specialized in horses and jacks, and has had as many as sixty-five
head of these animals at one time. He has also been unusually successful in
growing wheat, and has raised some splendid crops of that cereal. His farm
now comprises as fine a body of land as is found anywhere in the county and
with as good improvements. He has hired labor as well as worked hard him-
self, and has given everj' detail of the farm his personal supervision. In politics
he is a democrat, as was his father before him, but in local issues is .strictly inde-
pendent, and has never allowed his name to be presented as a candidate for
ofiSce.
At the age of . twenty-four Mr. Laughlin married Eliza Ann Randolph.
She was left an orphan when a small girl and was reared in the family of a
cousin. Mrs. Laughlin died in 1903, after they had been married forty years.
There were two children, George and Sarah Elizabeth. The latter is now Mrs.
John Austin and lives at Brookfield, Missouri. George Laughlin, the only son,
died at the age of fortj'-eight years. He was a farmer and was also in the
automobile business at Quincy. He married Sarah Shepherd, who is still
living and makes her home with Mr. Laughlin, and her two children have
practically grown up in the home of their grandfather. The children are Ruth
and Hazel, the former the wife of Chester Miller, and the latter the wife of
George Sauble. Chester Miller and George Sauble are now operating the
Laughlin farm. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have one son, Robert Lee Miller.
Theodore C. Poling. With practically every phase of Quincy 's develop-
ment in financial power, business resources, and the enrichment of its com-
munity and institutional life, Theodore C. Poling has been identified during
the past forty years. His name in connection with any enterprise has at once
given it dignity and has brought to it the sustaining confidence of the best
people. No man deserves a more grateful memory aud is more worthy of a
record for what he has done and what he has stood for in this city.
He was born at Middletown, New Jersey, January 10, 1840, "and has been
a resident of Quincy since 1870. In Quincy and elsewhere he taught school,
and educational work was his chief occupation until he was admitted to the
bar in Quincy in 1871. From 1861 to 1864 he was a student of Knox College
at Galesburg, and enlisted from there for two periods in the Civil war. He
was first a member of Company E of the Seventy-first Illinois Infantry for
four months and later re-enlisted in Company C of the One Hundred and Tlairty-
Seventh Regiment under the command of Governor John Woods, the founder of
744 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Quincy. Altogether he was in the army for nine montlis. His brother James
K. was killed in battle at Memphis, Tennessee, and another brother, George W.,
died at home from disease contracted in the swamps before Vieksburg.
One of Mr. Poling 's earliest acciuaintances at Quincy and for a numljer of
years his partner in law practice was Hope S. Davis. He studied law in Mr.
Davis' office and at the same time taught school. One of the schools he taught
occupied the site of the present courthouse and the following year he taught
in the building now known as the Powers Building. .
His first law partner.shijj was with Judge Philo A. Goodwin and the Hon.
Hope S. Davis, under the firm name of Goodwin, Davis & Poling. Judge
Goodwin died two years later and the firm of Davis & Poling continued until
1885. Prom that date until the mortgage banking firm of T. C. Poling & Com-
pany was organized, Mr. Poling gradually withdrew from the routine work of
the legal profession and gave his time and attention to the work of building
up a strictly financial business, to which the firm has devoted all its energies
for many years.
Mr. Poling is now the oldest mortgage banker in Quincj-, and is the head of
one of the oldest investment companies doing buisness in the states of Illinois
and Missouri. That this company has invested many millions of dollars without
the loss of a single dollar on any loan it ever made is evidence of the skill and
care of its founder. The company's offices are in the Blackstone Building, of
Avhieh Mr. Poling is one of the owners and builders. It was erected in the
'80s. His business in farm loans extends over a large territorA' around Quincy
in both Illinois and ^lissouri. Since 1905 his active associate has been his son
Theodore Chester Poling, Jr. At the present time their annual volume of busi-
ness is over $1,500,000 in loans now outstanding.
Mr. Poling has been responsible for the development of some of Quincy 's
best known residence and business additions. One of them was the ninety-six
acres subdivided and now known as the Poling & Cruttenden Addition.
This city is largely indebted to Mr. Poling for the beautiful Lawndale
Addition, where his own handsome home is located. Another property in which
he is actively concerned is the AYalton Heights Manufacturing Section, of
which he and the late John S. Cruttenden, were joint trustees until tlie latter 's
death left Mr. Poling as sole tru.stee. Mr. Poling 's labors and financial assistance
aided materially in securing additions to Quincy "s splendid boulevai-d and pai-k
sj'stem.
Of all his business activities Mr. Poling will doubtless be best remembered
for his leadership in movements having to do with the most complete and best
known expression of Quincy 's community spirit. He has managed the financial
affairs of many wealthy citizens and has been entrusted with the settlement of
a large number of e.states as executor and trustee. It is said that more than
.$400,000 devoted to charitable purposes passed through his hands as executor
or trustee, and this fact is indicated by the county records. He helped raise
the money and was the first treasurer of the Building Committee of the local
Young Men's Christian Association. He took a similarly prominent part in
the Public Librarj- movement many years earlier. The building and lot on
which the lilirary was erected were secured largely through the joint labors and
solicitations of ^Ir. Poling and Mr. J. N. Sprigg. Mr. Poling served as one
of the early directoi's of the library. It was through the earnest appeal made
by Mr. Poling and his associates that the handsome Quincy Library of today
was built. As financial adviser and as executor of the estates of Charles Brown,
Jr., and Anna Brown, he carried to completion their plans to found what is
now the Anna Brown Home for tlie Aged, and has been responsible, in a large
measure, for the success of that institution.
Mr. Poling is a trustee of the Blessing Hospital, was many years a director
of the Chamber of Commerce, and a willing worker for and contributor to many
other public enterprises. Seldom has an appeal for assistance in worthy char-
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 745
ities been presented to him in vaiu. He was a director aud treasurer of the
original Quincy Gas, Light and Coke Companj-, and has served as treasurer of
the Adams County Llemorial Association and the Quincy Cemetery Associa-
tion. He is active as a senior deacon in the Congregational church. He is
also a member of John Wood Post No. 96, Grand Army of the Republic.
Mr. Poling married J\liss Ella A. Wharton, a native of Philadelphia, but
reared and eduacted in Payson, Illinois. She was born ilarch 8, 1848. Their
oldest child, Florence Poling Nielson, born March 4, 1869, died February 9,
1911. She was the wife of James Nielson. Otho Curtis Poling, the second child,
was born June 20, 1871, and is now a resident of Arizona and is the father of
two children. Eugene Edwin Poling, born March 23, 1873, died September
28, 1880. Theodore Chester Poling, born January 31, 1885, is his father's
business associate, and is married, ilr. Poling has four grandchildren : Eleanor
Poling Nielson ; James Poling Nielson, now serving in the United States Navy ;
Frances E. Poling; and Howard 0. Poling.
C.iPT. Greenle.vp H. D.wis. Many times the name and career of Captain
Davis have been made subjects of articles in the general press and other publi-
cations. He is a most interesting character not only in Quincy but in all the
Middle West. Not nearly so much romance surrounds the buikling of railroads
in modern times as it did when Captain Davis was a pioneer in pushing along
some of the old railway systems. He is about the last survivor of that group
of railroad builders who constructed the old Illinois Central and some of the
main branches of what is now the great Burlington System.
Captain Davis was born in Stafford County, New Hampshire, March 16,
1834. He is of old New England stock. His grandfather, Nathaniel Davis,
spent his life as a New Hampshire farmer. Captain Davis ' parents wei'e natives
of the same state and were also farmers there during their lives.
Captain Davis was educated in New Hampshire, and lived there until about
eighteen years old, when he came west to Chicago. In 1851 he did his first work
as a pioneer railroad builder with the old Illinois Central road while it was
being constructed from Chicago to Kankakee, Illinois. He was at first in the
track laying department, and subsequently was assigned to charge of the supply
department at Muddy Creek. Such was his ability that he was able to reduce
his working force to half and increase the efficiency of the department. After
getting the department in working order he was assigned to superintendent
of the track laying force, and his wages were more than doubled. He carried
the tracks of the Illinois Central on as far as Centralia, Illinois, and about
that time was offered the position of roadmaster. He declined because of a
previous contract he had made to assist in laying the rails of the old Northern
Cross Railway, now that part of the Burlington between Galesburg and Quincy.
Captain Davis began track laying for the Northern Cross Railway in 1855,
and had the work completed between Galesburg and Quincy by about the first
of January, 1856. He then accepted the responsibility of laying the track on
the old Hannibal and St. Joseph Railway, a distance of 206 miles across the
northern half of Missouri. He was three years in building this pioneer line,
and when it was completed he was offered and accepted the position of railroad
stock agent at St. Joseph. Later he was made stock agent for the entire road
between Chicago and St. Joseph. He has seen practically all the changes in
management and extension of these early railwaj^ lines until they now com-
pose part of one of the biggest sj-stems in the United States. Captain Davis
continued for thirtj'-six years in the service of the Chicago, Burlington and
Quincy. For a time he was under General Superintendent J. T. K. Hay-
wood, later for a short time under C. W. Meade, and also served under General
Superintendent W. C. Brown, John C. Carsons and other men whose names are
household words in railroad affairs. In 1898 Captain Davis became claim agent
for the road and filled that office for ten years with headquarters at St. Joseph.
746 QUINCY AND ADAilS COUNTY
During that time Judge 0..M. Spencer was general solicitor of the Burlington
System.
Captain Davis finally retired after more than half a century of railroad
work in July, 1908, and has since lived quietly at his old home at 425 North
5th Street in Quincy. Fifty years ago he built a part of this residence, and it
was subsequently enlarged and remodeled in 1876.
If the experiences of Captain Davis were written out in detail it could
easily be enlarged to a book, and would be a fairly complete historj' of railroad
building and extension and operation through the Middle "West. One incident
that may properly be recalled even in this brief sketch is that it was under his
orders that the first railroad engine was loaded on the boat Denver at St.
Joseph, ilissouri, to be used by General Manager H. B. Hoxey on the Union
Pacific Railroad when that great transcontinental system was in course of con-
struction.
On September 2, 1862, he was commissioned captain of Company H of the
Thirty-Eighth Missouri Regiment, but as his duties were already of a military
character he was a captain with special detail and detached service, giving his
time chiefly to duties as roadmaster. His commission as captain bears date
of July 27,' 1864.
At Galesburg, Illinois, in September, 1855, Captain Davis married Miss
Emily Hilton. She was born in New York State, daughter of Richard Hilton,
of an old family of that name in New Yoi'k State. Her father was for many
years a farmer at Galesburg, Illinois, and later located in "Washington County,
Kansas, where he died. His widow, Caroline, survived him and died at the
home of Captain and Mrs. Davis in Quincy at the age of seventy-five. Both
are now at rest in the cemetery at Galesburg, Illinois. Mrs. Davis died at
Quincy in 1900. They had one daughter, Carrie L., who was born and reared
and educated in Quincy and is now the Avidow of Morris F. ilurphy, who died
in one of the western states several years ago. ]\Irs. Murphy has a daughter,
Anna L.. who is a gi-aduate of the Quincy High School and attended college
at Galesburg. She and her mother live with Captain Davis.
Captain Davis among other property interests owns 540 acres of land in
Caldwell County, Missouri, a well improved farm. For over sixty years Cap-
tain Davis has been a Mason, and is one of the oldest members of that order in
the state. He took his first degrees in 1857 in a lodge in Macon County, ^Mis.souri.
For over half a century his membership has been with Bodly Lodge No. 1,
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Quincy. He entered that lodge when
John Sylvester was its master. Captain Davis is also a Eoyal Arch Mason.
E. "W. Ch-arles Kaempex is president of the Buerkin & Kaempen firm,
planing mills, lumber dealers and general contractors, a business that grew from
individual services as carpenters forty years or more ago until now it consitutes
an immense and well appointed plant and with facilities unexcelled by any
similar business in Western Illinois.
The present business is the outgrowth of several partnerships between,
carpenters and contractors of an earlier time. In 1879 Joseph Buerkin and
James Shanahan joined their respective abilities as good carpenters to estab-
lish on a small scale a lumber yard and do general contracting work. Mr. Buer-
kin for a number of years had been a Quinc\^ carpenter, and was a highly expert,
and technical man in all branches of the business. The firm had its first location
in a small alley shop back of the Tenk hardware store on Maine Street, between.
Fifth and Sixth streets.
From this first partnership Mr. Buerkin withdrew in 1881 and formed a
new arrangement with Mr. Gottlieb Burge, a prominent contractor and builder
of that day, then already established on Vermont Street, and continued to
prosper until 1888. It was in the latter year that E. W. Charles Kaempen, who
for fifteen or twenty years had been a carpenter in Quincy, bought the interests
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 747
of Mr. Burge, and thus established the alliance between the Buerkins and
Kaempens which has continued uninterruptedly and with increasing prosperity
and growth to the present time. Both men were thorough and practical
mechanics and builders, and in a short time they introduced milling machinery,
establishing a planing mill and offering their services as contractors.
In 1891 they bought a quarter block at the corner of State and Sixth streets.
It was very low and practically wa.ste ground and after filling up a big hollow
they erected a mill the same year. In 1894 the mill was enlarged more than
double its size. During the past twenty years the plant has been remodeled
and increased several times, and they now own and occupy a whole half block.
The fii-m now has a big planing mill, other facilities for manufacture of lumber
products, a large yard for lumber storage, and unexcelled facilities for con-
tracting in all classes of buildings from private homes to the largest public
structures. In 1909 the business was incorporated, with Mr. Buerkin its first
president and ilr. Kaempen secretary and treasurer. Two of Mr. Kaempen's
sons, Emil and Arthur L., and Mrs. Buerkin 's son, Edwin C, were admitted
to the business a.^ directors in the company. In October, 1909, Mr. Joseph
Buerkin died, after having been active in business affairs at Quiney for over
forty years. He was born at Baden, Germany, in 1848.
Germany was also the birthplace of ilr. Kaempen, who was born April 12,
1850. Both of these men came to the United States when quite young.
Mr. Kaempen came to Quiney in the spring of 1868. He is a born mechanic,
his father and grandfather on both sides having been carpenters and mechanics
in the old countrj'. The first associations between Mr. Buerkin and Mr. Kaempen
came as fellow employes with Mr. Lockworthy and Burge at Quiney.
Mr. Kaempen was in Mr. Lockworthy 's employ for about twenty years. In 1876
he was shop foreman when that contractor put up the Adams County court-
house.
The firm and corporation of Buerkin & Kaempen has been employed in the
construction of some of the most noteworthy buildings, private homes, business
houses and public structures in and around Quiney. Among others they erected
the ^lasonie Temple, the Armory, the Young Men's Christian Association build-
ing, the Chamber of Commerce building, the New Gardner Governor building
and others. The company has about 250 men at times on the pay roll, and many
of their employes have been with them for a long period of years.
Mr. Kaempen married Miss Louisa Buxman, a native of Quiney and of
German parentage. They have eight children, four sons and four daughters.
Besides the two sons named above as members of the company there are Charles
and Evert, both students in the Quiney High School. These four sons are
all single men. The daughter Hermina is the wife of Fred Fredericks, now
living in California, and they have a son and three daughters. Laura was edu-
cated in the high school and the University of Illinois, and is now a teacher
in the Madison School at Quiney. The daughter Flora married Dr. Herman
Wendorf, and they have a son, Herman, Jr. Emma Kaempen was also a suc-
cessful teacher and her death recalls a -well known tragedy. As a teacher in
one of the country districts she was boarding with a family who fell victims to
the mad vengeance of an alleged kinsman and Miss Kaempen lost her life with
the rest. Mr. Kaempen and family are members of the Evangelical Church
and formerlj- for thirty years was identified with the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows.
Hon. Rolland M. "W.\gxer, Adam County's representative in the Fiftieth
General Assembly, has through his active and progressive career as a lawyer at
Quiney since 1909 amply fulfilled the expectations of his friends who from
their early acquaintance with his earnest and studious purposes and activities
predicted more than ordinary- success for him in the legal profession.
Mr. Wagner was bom at Liberty, Adams County, Illinois, July 27, 1885,
748 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
and already in liis tliirty-third year may be said to have attained that degree
of success whicli makes his future secure. His parents are Charles A. and
Clara (Collins) Wagner. The Collins famil_y were numbered among the pio-
neers of Adams County, where Mr. Wagner's mother was born. His maternal
grandfather, Oliver Collins, was born in this county more than eighty years
ago and has spent his entire life here and is still possessed of all his faculties.
He and his wife, who is also past eighty, make their home with their daughter,
Mrs. Charles Wagner. Charles A. Wagner was born in Ohio, and came to Adams
County with his parents. He was only nine years old when his father died, and
wa.s the oldest of four children, all of whom are still living and all married but
one. Charles A. Wagner finished his education at Knox College, and after
some years as a farmer joined his fathei'-in-law, Oliver Collins, in conducting a
general store at Liberty. He and his wife are still living in this county, now
practically retired. They are well known people. Their home is at Coatsburg.
In the family were seven children : Clifford, deceased ; Nellie, wife of John Y.
Lawless, of Coatsburg; Herman T., a farmer at Waterloo, Iowa; Rollaud M. ;
Clinton B., of Coatsburg; Edna, wife of Leroy Myers, of Paloma, Illinois, and
mother of a daughter, Lucile ; and Hazel, of Quincy.
Rolland il. Wagner graduated and afterward did post-graduate work iu the
Liberty High School, and for two years was a teacher in local schools. He then
entered the Univer.sity of ]\Iichigan Law School for one year, and the last two
years was a student in Northwestern University Law School at Chicago, where
he graduated in 1909. He remained for some months in Chicago gaining valuable
experience and performing some useful service at the same time as an employe
of the Legal Aid Society. In 1910 he was admitted to practice in the Federal
Courts. In October, 1909, returning to Quincy, he entered upon his career as
a full fledged lawj'cr. In 1913 Mr. Wagner was appointed assistant state's attor-
ney under his present partner, Mr. W^olf, then state's attorney of this county.
The first ease he handled was the State vs. Dobbs, but his chief fame as a prose-
cutor came from his work in the case State vs. Ray Pfanschmidt. Ray Pfan-
■schmidt, it will be remembered, was tried for the murder of his father, mother,
sister and a school teacher who was boarding at the Pfanschmidt home. It was
proved in the course of the trial that he committed the crime for mercenary
reasons. JMr. Wagner and his associate labored assiduously preparing the evi-
dence for this trial and Mr. Wagner's arguments before the jury requii-ed six
hours for delivery.
Since retiring from the office of assistant state's attorney Mr. Wagner has
been associated with Mr. Wolf in private practice and they are one of the busiest
firms in Adams County. In 1916 ilr. Wagner was elected as representative of
Adams County to the Fiftieth General Assembly and also to the Fifty-First Gen-
eral Assembly. He was a member of the judiciary committee and on the com-
mittee of judicial practice and procedure and was also a member of the legisla-
tive committee to visit penal institutions. As a democrat he was four years sec-
retary of the Executive County Committee. Mr. Wagner is a director of the
Public Library of Quincy and was formerly attorney for the Quincy Humane
Society. He is unmarried. Fraternally he is a member of Qi;incy Lodge No. 1,
Ancient Free and Accepted ]\Iasons, one of the oldest lodges in the state, is past
president of the local lodge of Eagles, is an official member of the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, is a member of the Turnverein. the Quincy Country
Clul), the Y. M. C. A. and is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Alexander Ohnemus. For more than three quarters of a century the name
Ohnemus has been vitally identified with the business welfare and upbuilding
of Quincy. Mr. Alexander Ohnemus, of the second generation of tliis family
in Quincy, is now retired from business, but in his time played a large and
constructive part in affairs.
The Ohnemus family originated in Baden, Germany, where they lived for
QUINCT AND ADAMS COUNTY 749
many generations. Andrew Ohnemus, father of Alexander, was born in Baden
in 1820. "When about twenty years of age he came to the United States hy sail-
ing vessel, and from New York came west to Quincy about 1840. By trade
he was a harness maker. He and his brother Mathias established a business of
this kind at 325 Hampshire Street. At that location they erected two three-
storj^ brick buildings, which are still owned by Alexander Ohnemus and have
been in the family possession for over seventy years and have never been with-
out tenants. In 1860 Mathias Ohnemus sold out his share of the business to
his brother. Andrew Ohnemus lived in a fine home at 14th and Vermont streets
until his death on July 22, 1868. His old home at 14th and Vermont was erected
when that portion of the city was practically in the country, and it stood as a
landmark and pioneer home in the district until building progress caught up
and enveloped it.
At Quincy Andrew Ohnemus married Agnes Metz. She was born in Ger-
many about 1830 and came to the United States with her parents at the age
of eight or ten years. Her parents also located in Quincy, and were farmers
in Riverside Township, where they died within a month of each other, her
father at the age of eighty-eight and her mother at eighty-two. The Metz and
Ohnemus families were all early members of St. Boniface Catholic chi;rch at
Quincy. Agnes Ohnemus died at her home at 14th and Vermont streets in
1903 in advanced years. She and her husband were married in St. Boniface
Church, but later transferred their membership to St. Francis parish. In their
family were three sons and three daughters. Three are still living: Anton, a
well known Quincy business man, secretary and treasurer of the Excelsior Stove
Works, and father of three children ; Margaret, who lives at St. Louis, widow
of George Puster and the mother of a son Alvin ; and Alexander.
Alexander Olmemus was born at the old home of his father at 325 Hampshire
Street May 15, 1854. As a boy he attended St. Francis parochial school and
learned the tinner's trade hy a practical apprenticeship. In 1879 he went into
business for himself in one of his father's buildings at 327 Hampshire Street,
setting up a stove, hardware and tinware business. He successfully conducted
that until 1900, when he sold out and then became associated with Mr. W. F.
Berghofer for eight years in the sheet metal industry on Jersey Street. Ten
years ago Mr. Olmemus retired and is now looking after his private affairs and
interests. He lives in a fine two-story frame house at 317 Chestnut Street.
This residence he built in 1885, more than thirty years ago. In politics Mr.
Ohnemus is a democrat, a member of the Eagles and one of the early members
of the Firemen's Benevolent Association.
In Quincy Mr. Ohnemus married Miss Ella M. Clai-k. She was born in East
St. Louis October 10, 1859. When she was two years old she lost her mother
and she and her brother Amadeus were sent to Adams County to be reared by
their maternal grandparents, Darius and Agnes Wertz, of Melrose Township.
Mrs. Ohnemus gi'ew up on the Wertz farm and at the death of her grand-
parents received a generous endowment from them. Mr. and Mrs. Ohnemus
had one son, Albert N., whose vigorous manhood and manly character are
recalled with extreme regret by his many friends. He was born November 10,
1881, and died in the prime of his usefulness August 30, 1915, at the age of
thirty-four. He was educated in the parochial and city schools and the Gem
City Business College, and also completed a course at the Illinois State Univer-
sity. He was laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery. Mr. Ohnemus is a member of
the Catliolie church, while Mrs. Ohnemus is a Lutheran.
William F. Sivertson. Several generations of the Sivertson family have
lived in Adams County, and they have furnished a number of .strong-minded,
highly capable and energetic citizens to the various communities in which they
have lived. The principal seat of the family has been in Honey Ci'eek Town-
ship, where some of the name are still found. The founder of the family here
750 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
■was Christian Frederick Sivertson, who was born in Copenhagen, Denmark,
February 20, 1809. When he was only nine years old he ran away to sea, and
had many interesting experiences in early life. He came to this country in
1832. He was sixty days in making the voyage to New York, and after about
six months in that city and state he went to Washington County, Ohio, and
found employment on a river steamboat. He was a shipbuilder by trade and
also worked a.s a marine engineer. As a river man he came to Quiuey, and at
Quincy on October 22, 1840. married Miss Marcia Lakins. She was born in
Whitehall, New York, February 1, 1816. After leaving the river Christian
F. Sivertson acquired a fine tract of 160 acres of land in Honey Creek Town-
ship for $500 and used the skill of his trade to build the substantial house that
now stands on the land. The interior finish for this house was brought from
Cincinnati. He also erected several homes for his neighbors and built the
school house at the corner of his farm. He spent his last years in retirement
at Paloma, where he died August 26, 1891. His wife died January 7, 1894.
They were buried at Coatsburg. Christian F. Sivertson was a member of the
Free Baptist Church of Paloma. He served at one time as ti'easui-er of his
township, and was regarded as a very fine type of citizen. He and his wife
had four children. Emily Frances, born December 21, 1842, married Thomas
Ingram, and died April 10, 1862, at the age of twenty. The second child
was William Frederick Sivertson, whose career is taken up in the following
paragi'aphs. Mary Sophia, was born March 5, 1847, and died in middle life
unmarried. Edgar Charles, born April 8, 1853, was the youngest of the family.
William Frederick Sivertson was born in Honey Creek Township December
21, 1843, in the same house now occupied by his son William F., Jr. On August
12, 1862, he enlisted in Company I of the One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Illi-
nois Infantry, in what was known as the Excelsior Regiment, and also the Tem-
perance Regiment. Most of its recruits were from ]\IcDonough County, and his
captain was Captain Griffith. He saw three years of active service, being
honorably discharged August 15, 1865, as a corporal. He was at the siege of
Vicksburg, at Champion Hill and many other engagements.
January 5, 1882, William F. Sivertson married Miss Laura H. White,
daughter of James M. White, whose name is the caption of a separate sketch
on other pages. The late Mr. Sivertson is remembered not only as a good
farmer but as a citizen inclined to intellectual pursuits. He was a student, and
kept up with all current events by extensive reading in history and other
lines. He was active as a republican in township affairs, served as town clerk
for a number of years, and altogether wasi the type of man whose presence
means much to any community. He died April 30, 1910, and his good wife
passed away February 3, 1911. They were the parents of two sons. Leon F.
and William F., Jr. Leon F. was associated with his brother on the old home-
stead until his death at the early age of twenty-eight. He married Florence
Dickhut, and she survives with one child, Donald.
William F. Sivertson, Jr. was born December 28, 1886, in the house built by
his grandfather and which he .still occupies. He attended high school at Camp
Point and spent one year in Illinois University. After his education he and his
brother took the management of the home farm, and they also bought sixty-
five acres of other land and also acquired a tract of 320 acres. At the death of
his brother William F. sold the fii-st purchase, but has continued to improve and
develop the 320 acres, known as the old T. S. Emery farm. He occupies the old
homestead which he owns jointly with his brother's widow. Mr. Sivertson is a
successful hog raiser, and sends several carloads annually to market. He also
feeds sheep and cattle. He is a republican party worker and has served as party
committeeman and judge of elections. He is a member of the Methodist Episco-
pal Chiirch at Paloma.
James Morris White was one of the finest figures in the citizenship of
Honey Creek Township. He was born in Monroe County, Tennessee, December
QUINCT AND ADAMS COUNTY 751
22, 1824, a son of Thomas and Nancy (Morris) White. The White family is of
English and Welsh ancestry. William White and three brothers emigrated
from Wales to America. His son, Richard White was a Virginian and moved
across the mountains into Tennessee. Richard White married Elizabeth Cal-
thorp. The original settler, William, had a Welsh father, but his mother, a
Hamner, was of an English family.
James Morris White was nine years old when in November, 1833, the family
left Alabama, where they were living at the time, and started north for Quincy.
The day before beginning this journey was made memorable by a great fall of
stars, which all histories have recorded and which James M. White well
remembered and frequentlj' spoke of in his later years. The White family
reached Quincy December 11th, having had to wait eight days at St. Louis
for the only boat then plying up the Mississippi. In the spring of 1835 they
moved to Froggy Prairie, and in 1836 bought a farm in the central part of
Honey Creek Township. This land is now owned by John L. Grigsby. James
31. White's father spent his last years there, and in the same locality the son
grew to manhood and on March 31, 1853, married Miss Margaret Elizabeth
Guraion. She was born in Illinois Febi-uary 28, 1834, daughter of Elder Isaiah
Guymon, a prominent minister of the Baptist church. The Guymon family
lived close to the farm of the White family. Elder Guymon went to Missouri
during the war, and died in that state at the advanced age of ninety-one. He
was a very pronounced Union man. His father, Isaiah G. Guymon, was of
Scotch ancestry, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war and was next to
the tallest man in his regiment. He migrated from Stokes County, North
Carolina, to Illinois. Elder Guymon was one of the earnest and forceful
preachers of his time, a thorough Bible student, and carried a great deal of
conviction into all his discourse. He never preached for a salary, making his
living from his farm.
James M. White spent all his married life on his farm a mile and a half
northwest of Coatsburg, and that land was in his ownership for over seventy
years. He died there October 19, 1916, and at that time was probably the
oldest man in the county. His wife died April 2, 1872, at the age of thirty-
eight. James M. White was a vigorous and stalwart republican and had no
faith in anything the democratic part.y did. He voted for every republican
candidate for president except at the first election of Lincoln.
James M. White was an exemplary temperance man and practiced all that
he preached. He never used tobacco, and his strength of will made him com-
plete master of both his intelligence and his body. He was very decided, and
his firmness and readiness of decision would have made him a great business
executive.
He and his wife had six children, four daughters and two sons. The oldest
daughter, Eleanora C, died at the age of twenty as the wife of George Lovejoy.
Laura Helen was Mrs. William F. Sivertson Sr. Nannie has had a career of ex-
ceptional interest. She attended Knox College at Galesburg, graduating with
the class of 1887, taught school in Adams county and in the high school at Gil-
man, Illinois, and from there went to Washington and for eighteen and a half
years was clerk in the treasury department. At the death of her sister, Mrs.
Sivertson, she returned home to care for her father, and is now living at Paloma.
She is secretary of the Red Cross Society and acting assistant cashier of the
Bank of Paloma, and while a resident of Washington was a member of the
Congregational Church in that city. William L. White, the older son, graduated
from Knox College in the same class with his sister, taught school in Adams
County, and is now living at Alameda, California, as salesman for the United
States Steel Products Company. James Alvin resides at Peoria, where he is
connected with the Avery Manufacturing Company. Mary, the yoiingest of
the children, is the wife oif David C. Hair, son of the late D. L. Hair of Adam9
County. ]\Ir. Hair is a railway conductor, living at Okolona, Mississippi.
752 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
ITox. Lyman McCael. The present generation at least in Adams County
knows Lyman MeCarl as well as any other personality in Quiney. The present
records therefore are set down not to tell who he is or what he is doing or has
done, but as a matter of history for a later generation.
Lyman ilcCarl, son of Alexander W. McCarl and Minerva (Likes) McCai'l,
was born on a farm in section 32 of Richfield Township, Adams County, Illi-
nois, May 3, 1S59.
A man of liberal education and culture, it is evident that Judge McCarl
acquired his training and did not merely receive it. He attended the district
schools near the old home and at the age of seventeen entered the Maplewood
High School at Camp Point, where he graduated in the sj^ring of 1878. After
two years as a teacher he entered Lombard College at Galesburg, from which
institution he was graduated Bachelor of Science in June, 1885. Two years
later he returned and took his Master of Science degree at Lombard.
The summer of 1885, it is a matter of special interest to note, Judge Mc-
Carl spent compiling and writing a county history of LaSalle County to be
published by the Lewis Publishing Company, publisliers of the present woi'k
on Adams County. He then returned to Adams County and taught school and
at the same time carried on his law studies imder Capt. AV. H. Keath of
Quiney.
Judge McCarl was admitted to the bar June 16, 1888, so that his career
as a lawyer is a record of thirty years of honest and earnest practice combined
with various official duties. He was for two years deputy eii-cuit clerk under
George Bropliy. Li 1890 he entered partnership with William G. Feigenspan,
their partnership being known as McCarl & Feigenspan and continuing to
mutual advantage for twenty years, until Mr. McCarl was elected county judge.
In June, 1891, he was appointed by Judge Oscar P. Bonuey, master of chan-
cery in Adams County, an office he filled for six years. In November, 1910,
he was elected to his prei5ent office as county judge of Adams County, and was
re-elected in 1914.
Judge McCarl in politics is a democrat and in religion a Unitarian. He is
a member of the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks. In a Ijusiuess way he is also president of the Tri-
State Mutual Life Insurance Company of Adams County. Many organizations
and causes have at different times sought his active support and assistance.
He is president of the Associated Charities of Quiney and is president of the
Board of Trustees of Lombard College at Galesburg. his alma mater. Since
the war began with Germany he has willingly made those saci-ifices demanded
of every loyal citizen. Besides the service flag in his home with two stars indi-
cating that his two sons are in the ranks of the army. Judge McCarl is a director
of the Red Cross Society and a member of the Covuicil of Defense and chair-
man of the Legal Advisory Board for Quiney.
April 23, 1893, Judge McCarl married Miss Hannah M. Berrian, only
daughter of the late Judge Benjamin F. Berrian. To them have been born
four children : Margaret, Richard B., Donald E. and Charlotte. The daughter
Margaret has much talent as a singer and served as chorister in the Unitarian
Church until December 4, 1918, when she was married to Ensign Theodore P.
Wright. Richard B. is one of the sons who represents the family in the army,
and is now stationed with an Ambulance Corps in Paris, France. Donald E.,
who was in the Navy Aviation Service at Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been
released on inactive duty and now is a member of the sophomore class of
Lombard College at Galesburg, and that institution has graduated both Mar-
garet and Richard B. Charlotte, the youngest of the family, is in the junior
class of the Quiney High School.
Alfred J. Brockschmidt. Scholarly in his habits, talented and accom-
plished, Alfred J. Brockschmidt, of Quiney, a lawyer of wide experience, has
won a commanding position in the legal .profession and an honored position
^.
'?7X<^ (^c^y^
LIBRAHY
or THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QULNX'Y AND ADAMS COUNTY 753
among' the esteemed and respected citizens of his community. A son of John
Henry Brockschmidt, he was born in Quincy, August 11, 1860.
A native of Germany, John Henry Brockschmidt was born at Bohmite, near
Osnabruck, in the Kingdom of Hanover. Realizing the superior advantages-
America offered for obtaining a living, he immigrated to this country as a
youth, settling in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1856, a stranger in a strange country,
and unable to speak English. While looking for employment he was taken ill
and removed to a hospital. While there he wrote to an uncle in Quincy
Hlinois, explaining his plight, and the uncle immediately sent for him to come
to him. Arriving in this city, he found employment in a hat factory, and
apprenticed himself for a period of three years, his wages to be, in addition to
his room and board, ^25 the first year ; .$50 the second year ; and $75 the last
year. In the meantime the ambitious lad attended night school, in which
he acquired an excellent knowledge of the English language. With this founda-
tion of knowledge, energy, perseverance and thrift, his advance in life was
rapid and continuous, and he never failed to thoroughly impress upon his chil-
dren the inestimable value of a good education in the attainment of any desirable
position. He subsequently embarked in mercantile pursuits in Quincy, and
cari-ied on a prosperous business until his death, October 24, 1897.
The maiden name of the wife of John Henry Brockschmidt was Caroline
M. Epple. She was born in Adams County, Illinois, and died at her home in
Quincy, April 8, 1876. Six children were ])orn of their union, as follows:
Alfred J., the special sub.iect of this brief review ; Lorenzo J., deceased : Ositha
M., who died September 9, 1913 ; Louisa Philomena, who died August 24, 1912 ;
Francis J., who died March 17, 1909, and Agnes, deceased.
Obtaining his elementary education in the St. Boniface Parish School, Alfred
J. Brockschmidt was gracluated from St. Francis College, Quincy, with the
class of 1879, on June 20 of that year, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts,
and subsequently took a post graduate course of two years at that institution.
He was then eager to enter upon a mercantile career, but was over-iiiled by
his father, who was anxious that he should further advance his college studies.
Going to Missouri, he entered the St. Louis University, where he obtained a
degree. He received his first instructions in law at the hands of the late Hon.
Orville H. Browning, of Quincy, U. S. senator of Illinois, at one time Secretary
of Interior in the cabinet of President Lincoln, and one of the ablest attorneys
of the State of Illinois. Subsequently entering the law department of Yale
University, Mr. Brockschmidt was there graduated June 27, 1883, and there in
1884 and 1885 he took post graduate courses. Returning to Quincy, he has since
been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession,
having built up an extensive and lucrative patronage. He was admitted to the
bar by the Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut, at New Haven, June 27,
1883,"admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois, at Spring-
field, September 19, 1883 ; admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of the State
of ilissouri, October 12, 1886 ; admitted to practice in the Federal courts by the
U. S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, September 10, 1895 : to the
Circuit Court of U. S. Southern District of Illinois, September 11, 1905; to the
U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, September 11, 1905 : to the
Supreme Court of the State of Iowa, October 16, 1908 ; and to the U. S. Supreme
Court, December 10, 1913.
On August 28, 1901, Mr. Brockschmidt was united in marriage with ]\Iathilde
L. Loire, a native of Saint Louis, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Brockschmidt have
no children. Politically Mr. Brockschmidt is a democrat, and religiously he is
affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Professionally he belongs to the
Illino's, Missouri and Iowa State Bar associations, and to the American Bar
Association.
Joseph J. Zimmerm.vx. The name Zimmerman has been a familiar one in
Quincy history for over half a century, and has been especially identified with
754 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
the iron working- trades. Joseph J. Zimmei'inan is au experienced blacksmith
and carriage-smith and now conducts the large wagon and carriage factoi-y at
105 North Third Street which was established by his brother, the late Alvis L.
Zimmerman, many years ago. Alvis L. Zimmerman died December 1, 1913,
and his successor in the business is Joseph J. Zimmerman, who had been in the
shops for thirty-two years. The factory is one of Quincy's important local
institutions, and turns out a large amount of material in carriages and also
automobile trucks. Alvis L. Zimmerman had conducted this business for forty
odd years. He was a thoroughly practical mechanic, skilled in every branch of
the iron and wood working industiy.
Joseph J. Zimmerman was born December 12, 1866, in the old family home
at 514 Kentucky Street, where all his brothers and sisters were also born. He
is a son of Michael and Josephine (Schmidt) Zimmerman. His parents were
both born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, of Catholic families. They left their
native country when young, came in sailing vessels to the United States and
from Castle Garden came westward to Quincy, where they married. Michael
Zimmerman owned a rock quarry and lime kiln near Quincy and was a lime
burner until his death in 1869 when past fifty-six years of age. His widow
survived him until 1902 and lived at the home of her son Alvis, where she died
aged seventy-seven. Both parents were members of St. Boniface Catholic
Church. Michael Zimmerman was a liberal supporter of church activities of
every kind. In the family were three sons and one daughter: Alvis L., who
married Mary Avercamp, also deceased, and they had two children, Hilda who
is married, and Blanche. Anton died thirty years ago at the age of thirty-two.
The next son is Joseph J. Mary, the oldest of the family, was born on Kentucky
Street, sixty-five years ago, was educated in the parochial schools, and died
November 30, 1918. She was the widow of "William Boland and had two chil-
dren, Albert and Josie.
Joseph J. Zimmerman grew up at Quincy, was educated in the local schools
and learned his trade as an iron worker with his brother. He married in Quincy
Cletta Moss, who was born in this city in 1871. Her parents, Henry and
Elizabeth (Blickhan) Moss, were natives of Germany, but were married after
they came to Quincy. Her father was for thirty-two years a coachman for
Henry Bull, a prominent Quincy banker, and died while in his service. Her
widowed mother is still living at the age of seventy-four. Mrs. Zimmerman's
parents and family were also active Catholics. Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman
are members of St. Francis Catholic Church. They are the parents of eight
children : Olivia, wife of Fred Kraemer of Quincy and mother of four children ;
Agnes, who married Frank Wattercutter in Camp Grant; Freda, at home;
Margaret, wife of Mark Brushan, who is a farmer in this county; Lawrence J.,
who is a very capable iron mechanic and employed in his father's shop ; Richard,
Alfred and Ralph, the two older still in school.
J. W. Edward Bitter, M. D. A phj^sieian and surgeon of more than
thirty years practice and experience, there is not a member of the profession
in Quincy more generously esteemed and liked by his fellow associates and by
the public in general than Doctor Bitter. He is a graduate of the Quincy College
of Medicine with the class of 1886, and in 1898 was awarded a post-graduate
certificate by the Philadelphia Polyclinic. After completing his medical studies
he began practice on Washington Street, at No. 829, and was there nearly thirty
years, until he removed to his present beautiful home and office at 1130 State
Street. This is iia many ways one of the most charming homes of Quincy.
Doctor Bitter is a man of exceeding domestic temperament and the greatest
happiness of his life is when he is spending his hours with his happy family.
Doctor Bitter began the study of medicine at Quincy under Dr. John C. Curtis,
and pursued his readings under that direction two years before entering college.
He is a member of the Adams County Medical Society and his attainments as
a practitioner well justifies the esteem in which he is held.
QUIXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 755
Adams County has not a more sterling patriot tlian Doctor Bitter. He is
heart and soul in the present great war and regards it an opportunity and
privilege to give his time and means to every cause connected with army work
and everything that will promote the success of the allied progi-am.
Doctor Bitter, whose full name is John Wilhelm Eduard, was born at
Quincy April 4, 1863. The home in which he was born stood on the site of the
present Evangelical Lutheran Church at the corner of State and Ninth streets.
He was educated in the parochial and public schools, and in early life mani-
fested that ambition and determined character which have brought him the
position he now enjoys.
His father was John Henry Bitter, a prominent and successful business
man of Quincy for many years. He was born at Laar in Kreis Herford, Ger-
many, August 3, 1834. He came to the United States, landing at New Orleans,
in 1852 and soon afterwards reaching Quincy, where he took up his trade as
stone cutter. In March, 1855, he married at Quincy Miss Annie Menke, who
was born in the same district of Germany as her husband on February 9, 1834,
and had also come to this country in 1852. The father built up a large busi-
ness as a stone mason contractor, and lived in Quincy until his death in 1890,
at the age of fifty-six. His widow survived him until August, 1917, and at the
time of her death was aged eighty-two years, five months, twenty-seven days.
They were members of the Lutheran church and the father was a republican
and was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in both the Lodge
and Encampment. He and his wife had six children : Henry, born June 17,
1857; Hannah, born November 20, 1859; Doctor Bitter; Anna Wilhelmina, born
December 3, 1868; Anna Lidia, born May 11, 1871; and Anna Amanda, born
March 3, 1875.
The same year he gi'aduated in medicine Doctor Bitter married at Mays-
ville, Missouri, Miss Joanna L. Beatty. She was born in "West Virginia, daughter
of Josiah and Phoebe E. (Taylor) Beatty, also natives of the same state. In
1863 her parents moved to Maysville, Missouri, where her father died at the
age of eighty, and her mother at eighty-three. Both were active members of the
Methodist church. They had lived together as man and wife for fifty-seven
years, and in that time there was not a single break in the family circle by
death.
Doctor and Mrs. Bitter have six children : Eleanor A., a graduate of the
Gem City Business College and now an employe with the Booth Fisheries Com-
pany at Chicago; Laura, wife of Percy C. Henrj', of New York City, is the
mother of one daughter Gertrude E. ; Arthur "W., a graduate of the University
of Missouri and from the University of Pennsylvania with the class of 1918
and now a member of the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Army;
Florence, a trained nurse now in hospital practice; Milton E., a graduate of
the Quincy High School in 1917 ; and Agnes V., who also will graduate from
the Quinc.v High School in 1919. Doctor and ]\Irs. Bitter are members of the
Methodist church.
Henry F. Muegge. In this era of high priced lands and high priced farm
products, when a farmer is supposed to be rolling in wealth, it is interesting and
instructive to refer somewhat in detail to the experience of such a man as
Henry F. Muegge, whose prosperity and enterprise are above question and who
acquired that success under circumstances vastlj^ different fi'om those now
prevailing in the agricultural world. In fact Mr. Muegge began with nothing
but his bare hands. He worked successively as a farm hand, farm renter, modest
farm owner, and has bought liuudreds of acres of land at a value now repre-
sented bv ten or twent.v bushels of wheat, has sold fat cattle at $50 a head, and
hogs at 3 and 4 cents a pound. ^Mr. Muegge is now living retired in a comfort-
able home at Quincy, but still spends much time looking after his farms, and
has one excellent place in Burton Township.
Mr. Muegge was born in Germany and was brought to this country in
756 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
infancy by his parents, David and Mary Miiegge. He was thirteen or fourteen
years old when his okl family minister supplied him with the date of his birth — -
December 25, Christmas Day of 1853. His father died at Quincy about six
months after coming to this country. There were just two sons, William and
Henry. AVilliam, two years older than Henry, was reared by his uncle Henry
John Menke, remembered as a pioneer planing mill man in Qnincy. Illinois.
William Muegge subsequentlj' learned the carpenter's trade, lived for many
years at Tioga in Hancock County, and is now retired in Quincy at 12th and
Jefferson streets.
Henry F. Muegge grew up with his mother and in after years made a home
for her and supported her until his own marriage. She was a woman that de-
served much credit, and in order to support herself and her son she took in
washing. After the marriage of Henry she lived in his home and later went
to the home of a daughter, Mrs. Cupp, of Hamilton in Hancock County, and
died at a good old age.
For several years Henry Muegge had the advantages of the public schools
in Hancock County, and also attended parochial school there. He was fourteen
or fifteen years of age when he a.ssumed the serious task of supporting himself.
He worked out by the year at $10 a month for Sutter G. Budiker. He was then
quite small for his age, but was an earnest worker and earned every cent that
was paid him. All his wages went to the support of his mother. At eighteen
Mr. Muegge came to Mendown Township and was employed at $18 a month by
Peter Wible for three years. In a short time his wages were advanced to $20.
For two vears he was also emplo3'ed by Clarke Striekler, receiving $200 for
nine months. While in the employ of Mr. Striekler he married ]Miss Hannah
H. Mowe, who was born at 701 Washington Street in Quincy, eighteen years
before her marriage.
When he married Mr. jMuegge had aecumi;lated $500 in savings, and also
owned a house and lot at Tioga where his mother lived. He began as a renter
near Mendon for one .year, until that farm was sold, and then moved a mile
and a half south and half a mile east of Melrose Chapel and live miles from
Quincy. His experience there was not profitable and he moved to another farm
in the same vicinity, ninety acres, which was owned by his uncle, Henry ^Menke.
He rented that land for $600 a year cash rent, and was on it for eight years. He
then bought the place at $6,000, paying $1,000 in cash and the rest on time. In
seven years time he had it paid for, and he did this through the products of
the land and by stock dealing. Probably the keynote to Mr. Muegge 's success
has been his skillful and energetic entenprise as a stock dealer. He has always
handled stock and seldom has his judgment been betrayed. Besides his home
farm he rented other land and frequently had as high as iOO acres under his
management. In the meantime he had bought an adjoining forty acres, giving
him 130 acres of his own. After fifteen years he sold that place and located on
the old Daniel Wible farm in Ursa Township, this being a 160 acre place, a
mile and a half east of old Ursa. He bought this farm for $16,000, going
$6,000 in debt. By this time he was well under way and was willing to assume
what many men would have regarded as risky obligations, having complete
faith in his own ability to pay out and make good. The next year after Inning
the Wible farm he bought forty-five acres at $80 an acre, two yeai-s later took
on a 140 acre place in Mendon Township at $25 an acre, and in the same year
bought twenty acres adjoining the 140 at $30 an acre. The next year he
acquired the 150 acres known as the Grimes farm, which was sold at an admin-
istrator's sale for $8,500. These various tracts gave him more than 500 acres
and he operated the entire tract under his direct supervision. His policy then
as always was running large numbers of stock in his fields, and this was not
only a money making plan but did much to improve the fertility and advance
the value of the land. At liis last sale Mr. Muegge had ninety head of cattle
and his total receipts from the sale ran over $5,000. When Mr. Muegge sold
the old Wible farm to Mrs. William Nickerson, the sale was talked of for many
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 757
days, as the place hroiiglit .^20,000. He also sold forty-five acres at $125 an acre,
and soon afterwards turned over the Grimes farm of 150 acres to his oldest son,
Harry, who still owns it. ]\Ir. ]\Iuegge owns 160 acres in the same vicinity, and
it also is under the management of his son Harry. After thus disposing of his
land holdings ^Ir. Muegge moved to Quinej-, and has one of the good city
homes at 1022 Kentucky Street.
However, he was not content to remain idle. Soon afterward he paid $17
an acre for 240 acres in Marion Count.y, Missouri. A short time later he sold
this at an advanced value, and then inve.sted in eighty acres at Coatsburg at
$40 an acre. He has also bought and sold some property in Quincy, and has
always added something of value to every farm he has owned. Several years
ago Mr. Muegge bought the Reinhart Cook place of 210 acres in Burton Town-
ship, eight miles east of Quincy. He acquired this land at a public sale at the
courthouse in Quincy, and at once put his son Fred on the property. Fred
operated the farm vnitil his death December 29, 1918. Mr. Muegge spends
much time there supervising operations. Fred Muegge, who was born in Mel-
rose Township, was thirty-four years of age at the time of his deatli, and left
a widow and four children. He was a devout member of St. James Church.
Mr. Muegge has always kept hogs. At one time he owned as many as 500.
Even at .$.3.35 a hundred he found hog growing fairly profitable. He has sold
corn for 25 cents a bushel, wheat at 70 cents, and for three years his crop of
this golden grain brought only 60 cents a bushel. This schedule of low prices
prevailed during a large part of the time while ilr. JIuegge was paying for
his lands. The explanation of his successful career is merely the old story
of a very able and energetic man who would be successful in any time and
under almost any circumstances, and without the aid of high prices fixed by
the Government.
'Mr. Muegge is a republican in polities. He is a memlier of the German
Lutheran Church and has always been interested in movements for the im-
provement and welfare of the various districts in which he has lived.
He and his wife had the following children : Harry, a farmer in ]Mendon
Township ; William, in Lewis County, Missouri ; Edward, of Mendon Town-
ship ; Fred, deceased ; Matilda, a trained nurse ; Charles, of Rock Island,
Illinois ; Arthur, who is an invalid ; Selma, who attended the Macomb Normal
School, has taught in Adams County and is at home ; Esther, also a graduate of
the Macomb Normal and an Adams County teacher; and Emil, a student of
Gem City Business College of Quincy.
GuSTAVE A. Bauman has been an active business man of Quincy more than
forty years. Since 1886 he has been in the loan, mortgage and general money
brokerage business, and continuously at Quincy except two years spent in
another city. He is a recognized specialist on the subject of farm loans, and
that is now the basis of most his work, carried on in Adams and adjacent counties
and also in the State of Missouri. From 1886 to 1898 he was associated with
Mr. T. C. Poling, one of the prominent business men of Quincy, and from 1898
to 1905 was in partnership with the late John S. Crittenden. At that time he
■was located in the Blackstone Building, but since 1907 has been in business
for himself at his present location, 300 6th Avenue, North.
Mr. G. A. Bauman is not only a good business man, but one of the men
upon whose good citizenship Quincy has come to rely. He has been a most
enthusiastic supporter of America's part in the present war and has given two
of his sons with commi.ssions as officers to the service. In reviewing his past
career Mr. Bauman finds that its most strenuous period was the thirteen yeai-s
from 1873 to 1886 when he spent from sixteen to seventeen hours every day,
including parts of Sundays, in his father's meat market at 20 North 6th Street,
between Maine and Hampshire streets, as salesman and general manager. He
regards this now as a splendid discipline, one that gave him a thorough com-
prehension of the fundamentals of business detail, and likewise developed his
758 QUIXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
physical power and endurance, and this has not been the least asset of his sub-
sequent business career. Mr. Bauman is still a strong man physically and
would easily pass for being twenty years younger than he is.
He was born at Herman, Missouri, thirty miles east of Jefferson City, Decem-
ber 14, 1857. He spent his early life at Herman until 187.3, when the family
moved to Quiney. He is a son of Engel and Louise (Danzisen) Bauman. His
father was born in Canton Uri, Switzerland, where the name was spelled Bu-
man. His birth occurred in 1824 and as a young man he went to France and
later was passenger on a sailing vessel that required three months to cross the
Atlantic and land him in New Orleans. He proceeded up the river to Herman,
Missouri. He lived in a time when there were wonderful opportunities for a
man of courage and dauntless spirit and in his lifetime he saw many countries
and played many interesting parts. In 1849, with some others of his fellow
eountrvmen, he crossed the plains to the golden shores of California. While
in the West he met the famous Sutter, who was also a native of Switzerland,
and whom history credits as having first discovered gold in California. Engel
Bauman mined gold for some time, then returned to the States, and again went
west, on this trip doubling Cape Horn. He knew California in the time and
conditions that have been so vividly described by Bret Harte and other writers.
After this experience he did saw milling in ^Missouri along the Missouri River
during the Civil war and until 1873, when he brought his family to Quiney. In
Quinc.y he established a meat market, and was active in that business until 1886,
when he retired. He died in 1902, at the age of seventy-nine.
While living at Herman, Missouri, Engel Bauman married Louise Danzisen,
who was born in Baden, Germany, February 11, 1838, and as a child was left
an orphan. She came to America to join her kindred in Missouri. After her
marriage she worked faithfully and loyally with her husband in rearing their
family, and is still living in Quiney at the age of eighty-one years. Gustave A.
Bauman was the oldest of his parents' five children. One daughter, Louise, died
in 1875, at the age of sixteen. The second oldest is Louis P., who with his
brother Eugene live in Kansas and both are active .stockmen. Both are married
but have no children. Otto, the other child, was educated in the Quiney schools
and also the State University and for many years has been a clerk for his
brother Gustave and is also married but has no children.
Gustave A. Bauman married at St. Louis, Missouri, March 26, 1890, Augusta
L. Frendenstein. She was born at St. Louis of German parentage and was
reared and educated there. Her father, who died thirty years ago, was in the
grocery business at St. Louis and her mother is still living and was eighty-four
j'ears of age on December 19, 1918.
For all that he has accomplished in a business way Mr. Bauman takes more
pride in his children than aiiything else. His oldest child, Eugenia, born at
Quiney twenty-seven years ago, was educated in the high school and St. Louis
University and is now the wife of Charles L. Carr, only son of Mr. and Mrs.
Daniel J. Carr of Quiney. Mr. and Mrs. Carr now live in Kansas City,
Missouri, where he is a successful lawyer, being a graduate of Northwestern
University of Evanston, Illinois.
The second eliild and older son of Mr. and Mrs. Bauman is William G., who
is a graduate of Washington LTniversity in St. Louis, is a lawyer by profession,
but over a year ago received his commission as a lieutenant at Fort Sheridan
and is now first lieutenant in the Forty-Second Machine Gun Battalion, Four-
teenth Division, at Camp Custer, iliehigan.
The second son, Gustave A., Jr., is a graduate of the University of Wiscon-
sin and has taken the agricultural course. He was also a candidate for a com-
mission at Fort Sheridan in the officer's Reserve Corps, and is now a First
Lieutenant and organizer of the Three Hundred and Forty-Third Tank Corps
Battalion, located at Camp Polk, Raleigh, North Carolina.
The family are members of the Congi-egational Church. Mr. Bauman is
affiliated with Lambert Lodge No. 569, Ancient Fi'ee and Accepted Masons and
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 759
with the Royal Arch Chaptei* and Knights Templar Commandery and Con-
sistor}-. His sons are also members of Lambert Lodge.
August P. Stockhecke came to Adams County fifty years ago. For four
decades he steadily pursued his way as a farmer, home maker and one of the
most industi'ious citizens of his community, and since then has enjoyed a well
earned retirement and some of the comforts of city life in a good home at 1030
Kentuckj' Street, Quincy.
August F. Stockhecke was born in Westphalia, Germany, September 18,
1842, son of Philip and Elizabeth (Bolkenbrink) Stockhecke, natives of the
same district of Germany and German farmers. They spent all their lives in
the old country and were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Of
their sons and daughters only two are now living, August and Heurj-. The
latter when a j'oung man came to America and has been a thrifty and pro-
gressive farmer of Mendon Township. He is married and has three children.
August F. Stockliecke grew up on his father's farm in Westphalia and had
the usual common school education supplied to German boys. He was called
into the army and his period of service was during a particularly eventful time
in the growth of the Prussian Empire. He was in some of the campaigns of
1864-66 while Prussia was acquiring from Denmark the provinces of Schleswig-
Holstein. He had some very narrow escapes and one time a shell exploded
immediately in front of him and threw him down, but by some miracle left
him without serious injury. At the conclusion of his arm3' service in Decem-
ber, 1866, Mr. Stockhecke married Miss Wilhelmina Stockshiek. She was born
in Lippe Detmold, Germany, December 7, 1842, and was reared and educated
there. Her parents were Helmer and Louise (Hietkamp) Stockshiek, both
natives of Lippe Detmold and farmei's there. The Stockshiek family came to
America and the mother died at St. Louis at the age of fifty-six, soon after arriv-
ing, while the father survived many years and passed away at the age of
seventy-four. The Stockshieks were also members of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church. Three of Mrs. Stockhecke 's sisters are still living, all married and
have children of their own.
Mr. Stockhecke and his young bride came to America in September 1867.
They journeyed by ocean steamer, the Deutschland, from Bremen to New York
City, being on the ocean seven days. From there they came west to St. Louis,
.spending one winter in the city, and in the spring of 1868 arrived at Quincy.
For two and a half years Mr. Stockhecke made his home in Quincy, and then
moved to a rented farm in Ellington Township. He also rented in Ursa Town-
ship five j'ears. In the meantime his affairs had been prospering owing to the
diligence practiced by himself and wife, and he was able to effect the purchase
of 147 acres in Mendon Township. This land he converted into a fine farm,
erecting good buildings both house and barns, and also increasing the area to
227 acres. Still later he invested some of his surplus in 160 acres in section 16
of the same township. That also represents a complete farm in its equipment.
Mr. Stockliecke did all around farming, specializing in good livestock, and
though most of his work was done in an era of low prices he was able to retire
with a comfortable competence in 1908. Since then he has lived in a substantial
city home, a two-story brick, seven-room residence at 1030 Kentucky Street in
Quincy. Mr. Stockhecke is a republican voter, but be.yond casting an intelligent
vote has never been in politics. He and his famil,y are all members of the Salem
Evangelical Lutheran Church. It now remains to mention briefly the chil-
dren.
Herman P., the oldest, is a successful farmer in Ursa Township. He married
Mary Thyson, and their family consists of Lawrence, Arthur and Minnie.
August W., the second son, occupies his father's 160 acre farm in section 16.
He married Nora Starr, and their children are Bessie, Curtis and Charles.
Edward Stockhecke occupies the old homestead farm. He married Emma
Opsmeyer and has a daughter, Theresa.
760 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Elenora is the wife of a well known Quincy jeweler, Mr. Van Lolier. Their
children are Elma, Yolta, Wilma, Lillian and Robert.
Emma Stoekhecke is the wife of Walter Altenberg and lives with her parents.
William T. Duker. One of the solid, reliable and representative business
men of Quincy is William T. Diiker, who for over thirty years has been in busi-
ness as a merchant, and is now proprietor of a general department store that
would do credit to any city in Illinois.
A native of Quincy, where he was born December 14, 1861, ilr. Duker
represents some well known old time families of the city. His parents were
Theodore and Elizabeth (Brinekhoff) Duker. The mother was born at Phila-
delphia, Pennsylvania, and the father was born in Hanover, Germany, and was
brought to America in 1846, at an early age. The grandmother on the maternal
side was named Elizabeth Yon Hobbard. She was a beautiful woman, of noble
birth and lineage, and left her native land because of her marriage out of the
royal kin. The Brinekhoffs came to Quincy in 1846 and the husband here was
a contractor and builder. This family has furnished a familiar name to Quincy
in the Brinekhoff Addition in the western part of the city. Theodore Duker
came to Quincy in 1848, had a cooperage shop for a number of years, and then
for about fifteen years was a general merchant. He finallj' retired from busi-
ness and died in 1906, at the age of seventy-eight. His wife passed away in
1899. William T. Duker was the oldest of the six sons of his parents, and
altogether there were eleven children.
As a boy he attended the public schools of Quincy and also St. Francis'
College. Experience in the line which has beoome his permanent vocation began
as a boy clerk in a dry goods store. For a time he was in Kansas City, and in
1889 he became associated with H. B. Menke. These two enterprising men
stocked with merchandise a single front building and as their enterprise pros-
pered they put up a large store at 704 Maine Street and later leased a building
at 614 Maine Street. The partnership was dissolved in 1898, and since then
Mr. Duker has been in business alone. At this writing he is constructing a
modern and handsome department store building, 72 by 130 feet, six stories in
height, at the corner of Sixth and Maine streets. The building has two balconies,
thus giving eight complete .stories. It is fire proof construction, with a com-
plete sprinkling system installed, and also modern facilities of ventilation.
February 12, 1888, Mr. Duker married Elizabeth Bowles, a native of Peoria,
Illinois. They have two children, Edna B. and William T., Jr. In polities Mr.
Duker is independent. He has never sought office and has rendered valuable
public service through various organizations of which he is a member. He is
president of the Quincy National Bank, took an active part in building the
modern Hotel Quincy, and has held various offices in the Chamber of Com-
merce, being now vice president. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights
of Columbiis, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is a member
of the Catholic church.
Judge Joseph Sibley. The Adams County Bench and Bar of the last cen-
tury has had no more honored and dignified figure than that of Judge Joseph
Sibley, who was associated with all the great lawyers and statesmen that made
Illinois famous at that time, and his own abilities rank him among the best
of these.
His American ancestry goes back to the time of the Mayflower in New
England. The first Sibleys on leaving England settled in Connecticut, and
later moved to Massachusetts. Judge Sibley's father, Aaron Sibley, spent his
active life as a New England farmer at Westfield, ^Massachusetts. He married
Tryphena Agard. Her father, Joshua Agard, enlisted from Connecticut and
served in the Continental line of the Revolutionary Army. The oldest brother
of Aaron Sibley, Moses Sibley, was also a Revolutionary soldier. Thus two
different lines of the family are entitled to member.ship in the patriotic soci-
eties. Aaron Sibley and his four brothers spent their lives in Massachusetts.
V
LIBRARY
)r THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 761
Judge Joseph Sibley was born at "Westfield, Massachusetts, Januar.v 2, 1818.
When a young man he went to Schenectady, New York, and studied law under
Judge Potter. After his admission to the bar he sought a western field for
his experience, and went to Nauvoo, Illinois, arriving there soon after the death
of the ilormon leader, Joseph Smith. He did well in practice in that county,
and in 1853 located at Warsaw, then a small but growing town.
Joseph Sibley was first chosen to the bench in 1855, when he was elected a
circuit judge. His term as circuit judge ran for a longer period than that of
any other judge in his district. He was on the bench twenty-four consecutive
years. In 1865, in order to accommodate his residence to the exacting demands
of his judicial position, he moved to Quincy, and here bought an entire square
of land at 1200 North Eighth Street. There he built his large home and in
the next block lived his friend, 0. H. Browning, at that time a secretary in
President Johnson's Cabinet. Senator Browning and Judge Sibley were fast
friends. Wlien under the new constitution Illinois established its Appellate
Courts, Judge Sibley was appointed one of the three judges to represent this
district, and finished out his judicial career on that bench. Judge Sibley was
also a member of the Legislature two terms, 1850 and 1852.
In 1879 he retired from the bench and became associated in practice with
J. N. Carter and W. H. Covert. Mr. Carter, who recently died, was a judge
of the Supreme Court of Illinois. This firm was one of the most successful
in Western Illinois and Judge Sibley was an active member until he was in-
jured by slipping on a banana peel and after that was unable to participate
in office' practice, so he constantly received at his home his fellow lawyers and
was considered invaluable to them in advice and counsel. Judge Sibley died
June 18, 1897, when nearly eighty years of age. He was a lifelong democrat
and a very vigorous partisan when not on the bench. He was reared in the
Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1849, at St. Louis, he married iliss Maria E. Brackett. Mrs. Sibley,
who is still living and one of the most honored women of Quincy, belongs to
one of the oldest and most historic families of the state. She was born in that
interesting French community of Cahokia, Illinois, February 8, 1829, daughter
of Dr. James L. and Hortense (Jarrot) Brackett. Her maternal grandfather,
Nicholas Jarrot, was a native Frenchman and was one of the followers of
General Lafayette in bringing assistance to the sorely beset colonists at the
time of the Revolution and was in the War of 1812. He died at Cahokia. Illi-
nois. The old Jarrot mansion liouse at Cahokia was constructed after General
Clark had conquered the Northwest. It is constmcted of brick made on the
grounds and still kept in good repair, having survived the earthquake of 1812
and the floods of 1844 and 1851, when the river was above the second story.
In 1776 Vital Beauvais married Feliste Jannis. The bride on tliat occa-
sion wore a wedding gown made of genuine cloth of gold, which is now in
possession of the family. Later, in 1828, when her granddaughters were mar-
ried, this wedding gown was made into two gowns, and though 140 years old one
is still preserved as a sacred relic and to all appearances is as good as new, and
also her wedding ring. Another family posses.sion is a small chest in which this
French ancestor brought with him to America his stock of gold. Dr. James L.
Brackett, father of Mrs. Sibley, wa.s a son of James Brackett, a colonist of ]Maiue
and a soldier in the Revolution. Dr. Brackett when a young practicing physi-
cian came West and earned high station in his profession and as a citizen of
Cahokia, where he died when past fifty-one years of age. His widow lived to
be eighty-seven and her mother was ninety-six when she died.
Mrs. Sibley is thus a woman of many historic associations. She was reared
and educated in St. Louis and still possesses all her faculties and takes keen
enjoyment in life, so that she greatly belies her age. She is now in her ninetieth
year. In the campaign for the Third Liberty Loan at Quincy ]\Irs. Sibley was
honored and did honor to lier connnunity by marching at the head of the Daugh-
ters of the American Revolution, and going in sprightly step the entire distance
762 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
of fifteen blocks covered by the parade. She is the head of five geiieratious,
something seldom seen now-a-days, and some three years ago a picture of them
was taken. She was a great-great-grandmother at eighty-six, Jarrot Sibley was
a great-grandfather at sixty-four, and Julia Hartley was a grandmother at
forty-two, and still none were married under twenty years.
Judge and Mrs. Sibley had two children. Jarrot Joseph, born in St. Louis
in 1851, is a well known agriculturist of Mendon Township of Adams County,
and has made his place a meeca for stockmen. In 1872 he married at Palmyra,
Missouri, Amanda Carson, who died in 1906. They had six children. Julia is
the wife of John Hartley of Kahoka, Missouri, and is the mother of seven chil-
dren : Belle, who married Earl Newuham, is the mother of two children, Thurs-
ton and ]\Iarguarite ; Amanda married Otto Wright; Robert and John, both
unmarried ; Ruth and Ruby, twins, both married ; and Minah. Cora, the second
child of Jarrot J. Sibley, died in infancy. The third child, and eldest son, is
Nicholas J., who married Elverta Thomas in 1899, has two daughters and two
sons, and is in the employ of the Government at Granger, Missouri. The fourth
child, Joseph W., lives in Oregon and has three children. John S., the fifth, lives
in South Dakota and is unmarried, and Grover C, the sixth, is one of the lead-
ing lawyers of St. Louis. In November, 1908, at Canton, Missouri, Jarrot J.
Sibley married Louise Stewart, daughter of William Stewart, a prominent farmer
in that locality.
The only daughter of Judge and Mrs. Sibley is Julia. She was well edu-
cated at Quincy Female Seminaiy and St. Mary's Academy. She has been an
instructress in music, French and English literature. Judge Sibley was a
great lover of books, and during his lifetime gathered about him what is eon-
ceded to be one of the largest private libraries in Quincy, and he also had a
fine law library. His private collection contains many interesting works that
liave a great value among book collectors, and are rare both from point of age
and also in their titles and their publishers. Mrs. Sibley is an active member of
St. Peter's Catholic Church. Both she and her daughter are life memliers of
the Quincy Historical Society, and Miss Julia is secretary of that organization.
Both are also members of the Daughters of the i\merican Revolution and Miss
Julia Sibley is a former regent and registrar and corresponding secretary of the
local chapter.
John B. Schott. For over sixty years the name Schott has been a distinc-
tive one in Quincy 's progressive commercial affairs. It is especially associated
with Quincy 's importance as a center of the manufacture and distribution of
leather and saddlery products. The John B. Schott Saddlerj' Company, built
up on the nucleus of a pioneer tannery, was subsequently advanced to a front
rank among similar firms in the Middle West.
The stimulating factor and head of this business for many years was the
late John B. Schott. He was born in Bavaria, Germany, I\Iarch 28, 1833, a son
of Philip Anthony and Margaret (Fischer) Schott, both of whom represented
some of the most substantial families of old Bavaria, people of education and a
high degree of commercial ability and integrity. Mr. Schott was a tanner, and
he and his wife spent all their lives in their native town, where they died when
past sixty. John B. Schott was one of six sons to grow to manhood, and all of
them learned their father's trade. He acquired a liberal education, and in
1852, at the age of nineteen, started for America. He traveled on a sailing
vessel and after a number of weeks landed in New York City. He worked at his
trade as a tanner and currier at Cincinnati, Ohio, for about four years. It
was in response to an advertisement which oifered the rental of a tannery at
Quincy that Mr. Schott arrived in this city on the 16th of May, 1856. He made
arrangements to take over an old tannery at the corner of Sixth and State
streets, and he subsequently married the daughter of the founder of that busi-
ness. Though he came to Quincy with very little capital, Mr. Schott was a
man of much ability in his line, and his energy enabled him to make a success
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 763
of the business. At first only six or eight men were employed but he pushed
the business rapidly and in 1861 bought the property. In 1865 he bought other
property at 613-615 Hampshire Street, where he engaged in the general leather
business, besides conducting the old tannery. Another addition to the business
came in 1875, when he took up the manufacture of horse collars. In 1877 the
companj- engaged in the wholesale manufacture of saddlery goods, and at that
time employed twenty-five men. In 1879 a building at the corner of Third
and Hampshire streets was acquired and that for many years has been the
headquarters of the J. B. Sehott Company. In 1889 Mr. Schott erected a five
story addition in Hampshire Street, a building that is still known as the Schott
Building. The goods manufactured by this firm have been sold in practically
every state of the Union and even abroad. From six to eight meu represent the
company on the road, and altogether there are about 100 employes.
John B. Schott invested much of the surplus of his business in local real
estate and owns some especially valuable property between 14th and 15tli
streets on State Street, in which locality he had his home for forty-seven years.
After only two days illness he died at his home May 6, 1910, at the age of
seventy-seven. He was an independent voter, but his business position alone
made him a factor of importance in the city and he was always liberal in his
support of worthy causes.
February 17, 1859, Mr. Schott married at Quincy, Miss Adolphina Schleich,
and they lived to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. Mrs. Schott, who
is still living, was born near Berlin, Germany, December 9, 1839, daughter of
F. Julius and Wilhelmina Schleich, both natives of Prussia. Some of her
ancestors were prominent as teachers and preachers in the Lutheran church.
Mrs. Schott came to America with her parents on board a sailing vessel between
Bremen and Baltimore in 1847. They were six weeks in making the passage,
and the family brought with them all their household equipment, including
cooking utensils and beds and bedding. From Baltimore the family came on
west to Quincy, where Julius Schleich established himself at his trade in a
tannery. He had sought a home in the new world to become free from the
political and other restrictions that sent so many liberty loving sons of the '
fatherland to this country during the late '40s. Julius Schleich built a tannery
at the corner of Sixth and State streets which was the first institution of the
kind in Quincy. Troubles assailed him in the management of this business, and
he died in 1851, at the age of thirty-nine, leaving the property much involved.
The tannery was finally taken over, as already noted, by the late John B. Schott,
who made it the nucleus of the business just described. The widow of Julius
Schleich survived him a great many years and was ninety-three years old when
she passed away May 20, 1903, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Schott, with
whom she had lived for over forty-five years.
The Schott home at 1421 State Street is one of the stately places in the city,
and indicates in its atmosphere the substantial qualities of its owners. One
special feature of the place are the fine trees growing on the spacious lawn.
These trees were set out when small by Mr. and Mrs. Schott, and they now
stand as living signals of their earlier lives.
Mr. and Mrs. Schott were the parents of six children, Antonia, Julia,
Emma, John F., Adolph and Eobert. Antonia, who lives at 1301 State
Street, is the widow of Louis "Wolf, formerly president of the Quincy National
Bank and manager of the J. B. Schott Saddlery Company. Julia is the
wife of Charles H. Lauter, manager of the Schott Company. They have
two children, Carl and Margaret, the former a chemist. Emma died at
the old home at the age of forty-five, unmarried. All the sons, John, Adolph
and Robert, are connected with the company and business established by their
father. All are married, and John has four children, John, Jr., Herbert, Theo-
dore and Frances, while Adolph has one son, Frederick.
764 QUINCT AND ADAilS COUNTY
John J. Fisher. There are many ways in which a city becomes known to
the outside world, through its size, its striking history, its location with respect
to the routes of travel, the possession of some distinctive resources or by a
special line of products that it sends out to the world. It is probable that the
largest number of people who have never lived in Quincy and whose destiny
has never led them to a close acquaintance with the community have more
associations with the name as suggestive of stove manufacture than in any way.
It is of one of the men who have contributed to this fame of the city as a stove
manufacturing center that this article has to deal.
In fact the Fisher family have been stove foundrymen and manufacturers
in Quincy for more than half a century. John J. Fisher was born in this city
July 6, 1869, a son of John C. and Mary A. (AVeilage) Fisher. His father was
a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and his mother of Germany. John C. Fisher
was a molder by trade and coming to Quincy during the early 'iOs. as a yoimg
man, he engaged in work at his trade as a stove plate molder and about 1865
organized and established the Excelsior Stove Works, with which he was actively
connected until his death. His associates in this business were Samuel "Wood
and Joseph Easterly. Subsequently, in 1890, after the death of IMr. Fisher, the
Excelsior Stove Works discontinued business. His widow, who was born in
Hanover, Germany, and was brought to Quincy in childhood, is still living in
the city. John C. Fisher at one time represented the Third Wai-d in the city
council.
He and his family were active members of St. Mary's Catholic C%ureh.
They had eight children, two of whom. William and Adelaide, died young.
Otillia is the wife of Theodore Ehrhart ; ilartha is the wife of Otto Duker : the
third in age is John J., of Quincy; Henrietta married F. W. Rummenie. of St.
Paul, ^linnesota : William Joseph and Frank H. reside in Quincy.
John J. Fisher grew up in his native city, attended St. Mary's parochial
schools to the age of eleven, at which age he went to work eai-ning his own
living as clerk in a confectionery store and later in a grocery house. Then in
1884, he began an apprenticeship in the foundry of the Excelsior Stove Works
and was with that company until it discontinued business in 1890.
On the first of May in that year ]\Ir. Fisher went into the stove repair busi-
ness, under the name Excelsior Stove Repair Company, and in 1893 his business
was incorporated and in 1896 the capital was increased and the name changed
to the Excelsior Stove and ilanufacturing Company. Since then the company
has manufactured stoves, ranges and furnaces under the popular trademark
name "National Stoves, Ranges and Furnaces," which have been shipped to
every q^iarter of the globe. ]\Ir. Fisher is president and treasurer of the com-
pany and now two branch houses are maintained, one at Oklahoma City, Okla-
homa, and the other at St. Paul. ^Minnesota. It is one of the larger local indus-
tries, emploving several hundred men and doing an annual business valued at
more than .$1,000,000.
Ml". Fisher is also vice president of the National Furniture and Stove Com-
pany St. Paial, ilinnesota, is president of the Quincy Freight Bureau; is chair-
man of the Transportation and Classification Committee of the National Asso-
ciation of Stove Manufacturers and is vice president of Potter & Vaughn Com-
pany. He has acquired many other interests with business and civic enterprises
and during the last year has served as a member of the National Defense
Neighborhood Committee and a member of the Conservation Committee of the
War Industries' Board of the National Association of Stove ^Manufacturers. He
and his family are active members of the St. Peter's Catholic Church.
On May 31, 1902, he married iliss Ellen C. Nolen, of Quincy. Their only
child, a boy, died in infancy.
Mr. Fisher has undoubtedly had a large and sustaining part in Quincy 's
industrial life and yet it is his disposition to refer to this role with exceeding
modesty and disclaiming honor for himself gives credit for all the success of
QUIXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 765
his business to his loyal and faithful assistants, associates and workmen, who
in co-operation have produced the results by which the name of the Excelsior
Stove and Manufacturing Company has such interesting and worthy signifi-
cance.
John J. ^Ietzger. Of the old time business men of Quiney one whose name
is still spoken with respect due to the energj- and character of its possessor is
that of John J. iletzger, who was at one time connected with the pork packing
industry- of this city, was also a grocer and land owner, and one of the most
prominent and public spirited citizens Quiney ever had.
He was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, October 30, 1842, of Catholic
ancestry. "When he was three years old his parents Martin and Margaret Metz-
ger came to the United States and after a voyage of many weeks landed in
New Orleans. From there they proceeded up the ilississippi River to Burling-
ton. Iowa, but soon located at Edwardsville, Illinois, where Martin Metzger
died when past seventy years of age. After his death the family came to
Quiney and located at 17 Vermont Street. Here the mother spent her last years.
John J. Metzger in early life became associated with others in pork pack-
ing, and carried on an extensive business. In early life he learned the trade of
saddler and for some time worked at his trade with the late J. B. Schott. Along
in the late '70s he was in the grocery business at the corner of Sixth and York
streets. He finally retired and built his fine home at -53.3 York Street, where he
lived until his death October 2.5, 1910, at the age of sixty-seven. He owned
eighty acres of land just south of the city and since his death has been reclaimed
for the purpose of cultivation by the South Quiney Drainage System. This
was an improvement which he always advocated during his lifetime.
ilany remember Mr. IMetzger chiefly for his active connection with many
public affairs and as a leader in his church. He was prominent in local politics
as a democrat and was once candidate for mayor. He was one of the organizers
of the first volunteer fire departments, was its first chief, and was in active serv-
ice for over twenty-five years, being chief much of the time. One of the honors
which he always appreciated was the chief's bugle given him by the ladies of
the city. He and his family were pi-ominent in St. Boniface parish of the
Catholic Church and he was one of the organizers of the "Western Catholic
Union, served as its supreme president, and was also an official of the local
branch and attended nearly all the conventions of the order. On October 16.
1889, his services as president of the Supreme Council received a beautiful
recognition when he was presented with a gold headed cane. He was also
president of the local branch known as St. Peter's No. 16, and this service was
also given a grateful token when he was presented with a gold badge. He was
active in the Catholic Benevolent Society.
November 9. 1S64, John J. Metzger married Miss Elizabeth Kuter who was
born in Quiney July 19. 1844. and has spent practically all her life at her
present home on York and Sixth streets. ;Mrs. Metzger is well known to an
intimate circle of friends and relatives as one of the most devoted wives and
mothers, and has been constant in her duties to her church and all the
organized activities of St. Boniface parish since early girlhood. She is a
daughter of John G. and Angeles ("Vos) J. Kuter, both of whom were natives
of Germany, where they married. On coming to America they lived two years
in St. Louis and from there came to Quiney, where they were among the first
pioneers. The Kuters secured land that is now practically covered over by the
crowing City of Quiney. Her father died here at the age of eighty-five and
her mother when eighty-one. They were named among the organizers of St.
Boniface Church.
To ilr. and ilrs. iletzger were born nine children, five of whom are still
living. These are Matilda, Carrie A.. Crescence A., Anna C. and Arthur 0.
Among the deceased children George Metzger was educated in St. Francis
Vol. n— 3
766 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
College and the Gem City Business School, and for some years was in the hard-
ware business with Tenks and Cotrell. Later he was a grocery merchant and
his death occurred June 25, 1913, when in the prime of life. He was active
in the Catholic Benevolent Society and the Western Catholic Union. He
married Mollie Gardner, now a resident of Decatur, Illinois. They had four
children, Marina and Raymond J. and two who died when young, ilai'ina is
married and lives in Decatur. Raymond J. makes his home with his mother.
Matilda, the oldest of the living children of ]\Irs. Metzger, married Henry
J. Rummenie, of St. Louis, and her children are Clifford J., Alvara E.,
Clarence A., Margaret and Virginia. The other three daughters are still at
home and all of them have been well educated in St. Mary's Academy. The
only living son Arthur 0., who completed his education in St. Francis College,
is now in the grocery and confectionery business. '
Charles H. Altenhein, one of the prosperous farmers of Ellington town-
ship has lived on the one farm and in one location for over fifty j-ears, since
earlj' childhood. The farm is in section 17 and he has conducted its fields and
the general business of the farm since 1890 on his own account. The farm
comprises eighty acres of land and is devoted to general agriculture and stock
raising. He has made a success of his enterprise, and has a good property for
his purpose, being well drained soil and with excellent buildings. The livestock
which he favors are Poland China hogs and Hereford cattle. Mr. Altenhein
has owned this old homestead since 1907.
He was born in Melrose Township of this county, in section 20, May 11,
1864. He was three years old when he came to his present farm and grew up
and attended the Center School in Ellington Townehip. Mr. Altenhein is a
son of Frederick and Christina (Rhode) Altenhein, and some other particulars
regarding the family will be found on other pages. Frederick Altenhein was
born in Hanover, Germany, August 10, 1826, and his wife was born in Hesse
Darmstadt June 15, 1827. He served tliree years in the regular army. He
then joined his sweetheart and at once set out for the United States. They
traveled by sailing vessel to New Orleans, were married in that city, and a
year later arrived in Quincy. On reaching here tliey had only a dollar in cash
and in order to get a start he secured employment as a wood chopper and his
wife as a domestic. In 1857 they made their first purchase of land, a small farm
in Melrose Township. Then, in 1868, they moved to Ellington Township,
where their son Charles H. now lives. The father in addition to this homestead
subsequently acquired two more farms, and was one of the most prosperous cit-
izens of the township. He and his wife lived together many years after celebrat-
ing their golden wedding anniversary, though his wife was an invalid for several
years. After they had been married neai'ly sixty years their companionship was
broken by her death January 5, 1911. The father survived only until December
6, 1912. Both were well known, good hearted and generous people, and were
charter members of St. John's Lutheran Church at Quincy. Frederick Alten-
hein was one of the builders and one of the chief supporters of the church, and
nearly always held some church office. He was a democrat in politics.
The oldest child was Frederick Altenhein, Jr., to whom a separate sketch is
dedicated on other pages. Mary, who died in 1910, left four children. John
died two years after his marriage and left a widow and two small children.
Charles H. Altenhein married at Quincy, February 22, 1899, Miss Eva
Feigenspan. She was born in Quincy in 1872 and was reared and educated
there. Her parents came from Germany. Mrs. Altenhein is the mother of one
daughter, Margaret, born December 2, 1900, and a graduate of the Quincy
High School in 1918.
Chaeles Henry Fosgate is remembered by Quincy people and hosts of
travelers who wera entertained by him as the man who had the ability and
resources of a hotel manager to give the Newcomb Hotel of Quincy its real
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 767
place among the fiue hotels along the Mississippi River. After his death he
was succeeded in the management by his capable wife, Mrs. M. L. Fosgate,
who has even improved upon the standards of management set up bj' her hus-
band.
The late Mr. Fosgate had all the natural qualifications as well as experience
to assist him in his hotel work. He was born at Ripon, Wisconsin, in 1872, and
died at Rochester, New York, at the Whiteomb Hotel, of which he was owner,
December 17, 1910. He received his education at Ripon, and at the age of
eighteen began clerking in the Corning Hotel at Portage, Wisconsin, for his
uncle. For a time he conducted the Union Hotel at Galesburg, Illinois, and at
the age of twenty-three was proprietor of the Fosgate Hotel at Elgin. At the
age of twenty-seven he came to Quincy and took over the Newcomb, and was
the first to make that hotel, with its splendid equipment of buildings and other
facilities, really successful from the point of view of good management. Be-
sides his local hotel interests Mr. Fosgate was interested in the management
of the Mark Twain Hotel and the Whiteomb Hotel at Rochester, New York.
At one time with his brother L. R. Fosgate he conducted the Pacific Hotel at
Jacksonville, Illinois.
He was a prominent member and at one time president of the Illinois State
Hotel ]Men's Association, and also belonged to the Hotel Men's Mutual Benefit
Association. He was made a Mason in Wisconsin, and during his last years
was affiliated with the order at Quincy. He was also an Elk and active in the
Quincy Chamber of Commerce.
Three years before his death he married at New York City, Miss Maida Lee.
!Mrs. Fosgate was born in North Carolina, but was reared and educated in
New York City and attended the Staten Island Academy. Her father was
captain of a company in the Sixty-Ninth ^Massachusetts Infantry early in the
Civil war, and was in service until the close of that great struggle. He was at
Lookout ilountaiu and with Sherman on the campaign to the sea, and on one
of the battlefields was promoted to colonel of his regiment. After the war he
went back to Boston, but later returned south to North Carolina and bought
several plantations around Raleigh. While in North Carolina he married
Venetia Blanche Harris whose father was a colonel in the Confederate army.
Mr. Fosgate is survived by his widow and one child, Elaine Reade Fosgate, born
April 11, 1909.
Floyd W. IMunroe was admitted to the bar October 5, 1904, after success-
fully passing the examination at Chicago before the bar committee headed by
James R. Ricks, then judge of the Supreme Court. Since that date Mr. Munroe
has been achieving the better distinctions and rewards of the capable lawyer,
and has his share of the best and most important practice at Quincy. Mr. Mun-
roe is one of the men whom Judge Lj-man MeCarl has trained for the legal
profession. He was a student under Judge McCarl for three years. Mr. Mun-
roe is a member of the Adams County and State Bar As.sociations, and his
practice has frequently taken him before the Supreme Court and the Federal
Court. A lawyer's first case is sometimes regarded as significant of the future,
but any predictions based upon that in the case of Mr. Munroe would have been
a gratuitous assumption not justified by subseciuent facts. Before he was ad-
mitted to practice he was employed to handle a piece of litigation tried before
a country justice, and he failed to carry his point. Mr. Munroe has developed
a large business in chancery and probate work.
He represents one of the oldest of American families, and traces his descent
back to William Munroe, who was born in Scotland in 1625 and was member
of the famous Clan of Munroe. He came to America in 1652, a prisoner of war
taken by Cromwell at the battle of Worcester, and sold in service to an American
proprietor. After working out his time William Munroe acquired property at
what is now Lexington, Massachusetts, and thereafter was very prominent in
768 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
that historic community and was founder of the numerous Munroes not
only in Lexington but elsewhere in America.
A large number of Munroes still live at Lexington. The ancestor died
January 27, 1717, the father of thirteen children by two wives. The names of
his sons were John, William, George, Daniel, David, Joseph and Benjamin. It
was from these sons that the various branches of the family now found are
descended.
History recalls the fact that more than twenty Munroes took part in the
first battle of the Revolution at Lexington. Some of them had been soldiers in
the earlier colonial wars, and some of them saw active service during other
phases of the war for independence.
One of these men who withstood the advance of the red coats at Lexington
in 1775 was Nathan Munroe, who with a number of his kinsmen was in Captain
Parker's Company of Minute Men. Nathan Munroe had ten children, one of
whom was Thaddeus Munroe, the pioneer of this family at Quincy.
Thaddeus Munroe, who was born at Lexington, Massachusetts, September 14,
1790, was the grandfather of Floyd W. Muni'oe. Thaddeus was a cabinet maker
by trade, and settled in Quinc}- in 1835. He spent the rest of his long and use-
ful life in the city and died at a very advanced age.
Floyd W. Munroe was born at Mendon in Adams County in 1879, a son of
Warren T. and Mary A. (Higbie) Munroe, both of whom were natives of Adams
County. Warren T. Munroe was born in 1837 and learned the trade of harness
making. He established a business at Mendon, where he married. During the
Civil war he was a soldier for three years and three months in Company I of
the Ninety-First Illinois Infantry. Early in his service he was captured in
Kentucky by John Morgan, but after thirty days was paroled and subsequently
joined his regiment in time to participate in the Llobile campaign. He saw
much hard fighting, but was never wounded. He was made sergeant of his
company and at the close of the war was brevetted second lieutenant. When
the war was over he resumed the hai'uess business and finally located in 1883,
at Beverly, where he conducted a general store for some years. In 1901 he
retired and removed to Quincy, where he died Febi'uary 1, 1915, when in his
seventy-eighth year. He was a republican, while his father, Thaddeus was a
democrat. His wife was born September 27, 1849, and is still living at the age
of sixty-nine. They had a family of five children, three sons and two daughters,
all of whom are living, married, and two of them have children.
Floyd W. Munroe married at Palmyra, Missouri, in 1908, Miss Eula Moss.
She was born at Palmyra October 29, 1886, and was reared and educated there.
She is a daughter of Joseph and Eula (Leggett) Moss, both of whom are still
living. The maternal grandparents are John B. and Anna Leggett, the former
a native of Virginia and the latter of Palmyra, Missouri. John B. Leggett is
now eighty-one years of age and his wife sevent.y-six, and on March 31, 1918,
they celebrated their fifty-fifth wedding anniversary. Mr. and Mrs. Munroe
have one daughter, Eulalie, born November 30, 1909, and now in the third grade
of the public schools.
Mr. Munroe is affiliated with Bodley Lodge No. 1 of the Masonic Order at
Quincy. His grandfather Thaddeus, was a charter member and the first junior
warden of that lodge when it was organized in 1840. Warren T. Munroe was
also an active member of the same order. The family is now represented in
the Lodge by Floyd W. and his brother Eugene. Mrs. Munroe is a member of
the Episcopal church.
Fred C. Altknhein. Time and change have dealt kindly with Fred C.
Altenhein, though only in accordance with his deserts. Mr. Altenhein for forty
years has been a successful farmer on the sovitheast quarter of section 5 in
Ellington Township. He has worked hard and industriously for all that he
has, and his prosperity is represented by a farm of nearly 100 acres, most of
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 769
it thoroughly cultivated and well improved. His home is an eight-room modern
steam heated house, and the farm buildings are most substantial, including a
barn 40 by 4-± feet and other facilities. Mr. Altenhein is one of the leading
fruit growers of that section, having twenty-five acres in fruits of different
kinds. His regular fields are cultivated to the staple crops, chiefly wheat. He
also owns eighty acres in the Indian Drainage District.
ilr. Altenhein was born on Kentucky and Fifth streets in Quincy, January
24, 1854, and received his early education in the schools of Melrose in Elling-
ton Township. He and his good wife have been married for thirty-eight years
and in that time they have worked hand in hand and their splendid prosperity
mu.st be credited to them jointly.
yiv. Altenhein is a sou of Fred and Christina Ehoda Altenhein, the former
a native of Waldeck and the latter of Hesse Darmstadt. They were married in
Germany, and soon afterward came to America and were farmers in Adams
County for many years. The father died at the home of his sou Fred in Elling-
ton Township, December 6, 1912, when past eighty-six, and his wife on January
5, 1911, aged eighty-six. Both were members of the Luthei'an Church.
Fred C. Altenhein married in Ellington Township Miss Anna Henhoff. She
was born in Riverside Township of this count.y February 1, 1859, and received
a good education in the Quinc.y schools. Her parents, Fred and Anna (Tappe)
Henhoff, were also natives of Germany, coming from Bielfeld and marrying
after they reached Adams County. They were also farmers and her father died
as the result of an accidental fall from a wagon when about fifty years of age.
Her mother died six years earlier. Both were Lutherans in religion.
Mr. and Mrs. Altenhein had five children, one of whom died in infancy and a
son, Albert, at the age of twentj'-five, unmarried. William F., the only living
son, manages the home farm, and by his marriage to Ella M. Hoelscher, who
died April 17, 1918, at the age of thirty-one, has two children, Har-old and
Emmett. Lenora Altenhein is the wife of Ernest "Weiseman, a grocery merchant
at Quincy, and has a sou, Alfred A. Laura N. Altenhein was reared and edu-
cated in Ellington Township and is the wife of Otis W. Glemmore, now principal
of schools at Hammond, Indiana. Mrs. Glemmore is a talented musician. She
is the mother of one son, Otis.
Mr. and Mrs. Altenhein are members of the Seventh Street Lutheran Church
at Quincy. He has filled all the township offices, served as justice of the peace
nine yeai's, township clerk and assessor for some years, school trustee two terms,
and is a free trade democrat.
Henry Moellring. One of the many energetic and progressive men actively
engaged in cultivating the rich and fertile soil of Adams County, Henry
Moellring has brought to his calling an excellent knowledge of agi-iculture,
sound judgment and good business methods, and is meeting with well deserved
success in his labors. His farm is the old Moellring homestead where he has
spent practically all the days of his life, situated in Gilmer Towu.shi]) a half
mile south of Paloma. He has a fine body of land in one of the best sections
of the county, and many of its choice impi'ovements represent his own individual
contributions, including barn and house. Mr. Moellring is a fine, intelligent
citizen, public spirited, and makes his presence count for good in the community.
Plis father, the late Henry Moellring, Sr., was born December 18, 1818,
in the City of Hanover, Germany. His was a long and industrious career before
coming to an honored close November 2, 1900, in his eighty-second year. "When
he was about thirty years of age he came to the United States and made his
way to old acquaintances in the Schurraann family at Quincy. About the first
work that employed him in this county was cutting wood and farm labor at
six dollars a month. Thus his experiences continued for about five years. At
Quincy he married Henrietta Rueter, who was born in Prussia and had come
with friends to America at the age of eighteen. At Quincy she worked in several
770 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
homes until her marriage. At the time of his marriage Henry Moellring had
saved enough to buj- a yoke of oxen, a plow and wagon, and with this equipment
he and his bride rented some land near Fowler. One of the places they rented
in that vieinitj' is now the home of their daughter Mrs. George Steinagel. The
old homestead on which Henry, Jr., now resides was bought by the parents
in 1869. Henry, Sr., paid forty dollars an acre for the eighty acres of land. It
was all in cultivation, but its buildings consisted only of a small stable and a
two-room house. The house continued to be the nucleus of his home, though
with various additions and improvements. Later he bought thirty acres a mile
from the homestead, and was successfully identified with the management of
this farm the rest of his life. His good wife died July 5, 1899, at the age of
sixty-seven. Their children were: Anna, Mrs. J. H. KoUmeyer; Emma, who
died at the age of eighteen ; Lena, Mrs. George Steinagel ; Louise, Mrs. William
Steinagel; and Henry.
Henry Moellring, Jr., was born February 28, 1871, on the fann where he
now lives. "When his father died it was at the latter 's special wish and desire
that the son succeeded to the ownership of the homestead, after paying the
interests of the other heirs. Besides the home farm he has acquired another
sixty acres and operates the two places as a general farm and stock raising
proposition. Mr. Moellring built his present comfortable home iu 1911 and
three years previously had erected his good barn. All the crops he raises he
feeds on the place, and his chief money making stock is Poland China hogs, mar-
keting about 125 every year. Mr. Moellring is now serving as director of the
home schools.
February 10, 1892, he married Minnie Fischer, daughter of Henry Fischer,
a well known old resident of Melrose Township, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs.
Moellring have five children : Inez, wife of Zelma ^lorton, a farmer near Camp
Point; "Walter H., who is now taking most of the responsibilities and manage-
ment of the home farm from his father ; and Lydia, Esther and Roj-, who are the
younger people in the Moellring home circle.
Henry H. Thyson. A farm home quickly reveals the character and tastes
of its owner. In section 5 of Ellington Township is a farm which at once indi-
cates the thoroughly systematic and efficient methods that prevailed among the
family. Everything is spick and span and iu its place, and the Thysons have
the character and reputation of being cjuiet, domestic and harmonious people,
well worthy of all the esteem they enjoy in that community.
Mr. Thyson has been a farmer at his present home for the past fifteen years.
He has done much to improve both the land and the buildings. He has a barn
32 by 44 feet and an 8-room modern house. He is a general farmer and stock
breeder, and has spent all his life in Adams County.
Mr. Thyson was born in Mendon Township December 19, 1868, and as a boy
attended the public schools. He is a son of Herman and Caroline (Schlipman)
Thyson, both natives of Germany. They came with their respective parents to
Adams County by way of sailing vessel to New York, were reared and married
in Adams County, and then went on the farm in Mendon Township. They
spent their last years there, where the father died at the age of fifty-eight and
the mother at forty-five. He was a republican and both were active members
of the Lutheran church. Their five sons and four daughters are all living, all
married, all but two have children, and they occupy homes in Adams County.
Henry H. Thyson married in Ursa Township Miss Edith E. Brennecke. She
was born in Kentucky Street in Quincy, July 20, 1875, and as a girl attended the
public and Lutheran parochial schools. Mrs. Thyson is a daughter of Charles
and Charlotte (Henriehs) Brennecke, her father a native of Brunswick and her
mother of "Westphalia, Germany. Her father came alone to America when
seventeen years old. Her mother was ten years old when her parents came to
this country by way of New Orleans. Charles Brennecke was a shoemaker
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QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 771
by trade, married in Quincy, and after some j'ears bought land in Ursa Town-
ship, where he lived as a farmer until his death November 27, 1911, at the age
of sixty-six. His widow is still living in Ursa Township, aged seventy-two. She
is a member of the Ursa Lutheran church.
Mr. and Mrs. Thyson have three children. Edgar C, born August 8, 1898,
was educated in the Standard School near the old home in Ellington Town-
ship, and is now associated with his father in the management of the farm.
Charlotte Ethel, born April 3, 1900, also received her education in the Standard
School; Margaret B., born March 30, 1905, is still in school. The family are
members of the Ursa Lutheran church. Mr. Thyson is a republican and is
now serving as a school director.
Greenbury Elliott Whitlock, M. D. The residence and the scene of
activities of Doctor Whitlock has been in and around the old village of Colum-
bus more than sixty years. Doctor "Whitlock retired from the active practice
of medicine some years ago and resides on his farm two miles west of Colum-
bus in Gilmer Township and fourteen miles northeast of Quincy. Farming has
been an interest with him for many years, though he leaves most of the work
and responsibilities to his sons.
Many hundreds of families in the eastern pai-t of Adams Count}' appre-
ciate the quiet and effective services rendered by Doctor Whitlock in that com-
munity. In his individual career he has lived up to some very excellent family
traditions.
The record of the Whitlock family in America goes back nearly three cen-
turies. Including Doctor Whitlock 's sons there have been eight generations
of the family in this country.
The founder was Thomas Whitlock, who was born in Devonshire, England,
in 1620, and immigrated to Massachusetts in 1640. His first settlement was at
Salem, later, in 1645. he moved to Gravesend, Long Island, and in 1667 to Mon-
mouth County, New Jei-sey. He died in 1703 at Shoal Harbor, New Jersey.
A brief record of the subsequent generations in this branch is as follows :
2. John, who died at Middletown, New Jersey. 3, Thomas and John, sons of
John, and the latter also lived and died in Monmouth County. 4, James.
5, John Whitlock, son of James and Jane (Cruiser) Whitlock, served as a
private in the Revolutionary Ai-my, and four of his cousins were also repre-
sented in the same struggle. 6, John, born in 1775, married Lydia Howell,
and from Sussex County, New Jersey, they moved by wagon and team over
the trackless wastes of the Middle West and settled in Butler County, Ohio.
John Whitlock died in that county. 7, Derrick Whitlock was an old and prom-
inent character in Adams County, Illinois, and was the father of Doctor Whit-
lock.
Derrick Whitlock was born in Sussex County, New Jersey, April 2, 1817,
and a few months later was taken by his parents to Butler County, Ohio, where
he grew to manhood. December 18, 1839, he married Miss Eachel Elliott, who
was born in Butler County March 13, 1818. Derrick Whitlock during his early
life followed the trade of tailor. In 1853 he brought his family West to Adams
County, and established his home at Columbus. Two of his brothers-in-law,
Samuel Elliott and D. L. Hair, had located in the same community of Adams
County two years before. John Elliott came at the same time as his sister
and Derrick Whitlock. John Elliott was at one time in business at Quincy,
later was a hotel man at St. Louis, and finally moved out to California, where
he died. Samuel Elliott settled in Hancock County, Illinois. Another of the
Elliott brothers, William, located in Northeast Township of this county, and
for a number of years served as superintendent of the county farm. His son,
William B. Elliott, is now representative of the International Harvester Com-
pany at Helena, Montana. A daughter of William Elliott lives near Canton,
Missouri.
772 QUINCT AND ADAMS COUNTY
After coming to Adams County Derrick Whitlock was a general merchant
at Cohimbus for fourteen years, from 1857 to 1871. At that time Columbus
was a flourishing inland village and lost its original prosperity largely through
the competition of towns situated on the railroad. Derrick Whitlock also served
as postmaster at Columbus during the Civil war, and from 1860 to 1887 was
a justice of the peace. He lived retired in the village of Columbus until his
death in 1892. He was a loyal democrat and adherent of Stephen A. Douglas
until the close of the Civil war, when he became affiliated as a republican. He
was very active in the Methodist Episcopal Church, a Sunday school worker,
and a strong temperance man. He was also affiliated with the JIasouic order
and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
The Whitlock family has furnished many notable men to the ministry of
the Methodist Church and various professions. Derrick Whitlock was a nephew
of Rev. Dr. Elias Wliitlock, whose son. Brand Whitlock, has for a number of
years been one of the America's foremost leaders of public opinion and pro-
moters of American ideals of democracy, and as United States Minister to
Belgium has attained international fame. Another nephew of Derrick Whit-
lock was William Francis Whitlock, for many years prominent as a professor
in the Ohio Weslej'an University at Delaware.
The wife of Derrick Whitlock died in 1896. Of their four children only
two came to mature years, Louisa, who married Dr. N. H. McNeall, and of her
family further mention is made on other pages of this publication; and Dr.
Greenbury Elliott.
Dr. Greenbury Elliott Whitlock was born in Butler County, Ohio, October
12, 1850, and was three years of age when brought to Illinois. He attended
the common schools, also the Abingdon College in Illinois, and graduated from
the Ohio Wesleyan University with the class of 1874. Among his classmates
at Ohio Wesleyan was N. Luecoek, who for many years has been prominent
in the Methodist Episcopal Church and since 1912 has been a bishop of that
church. Doctor Whitlock began his medical studies under a physician at Dela-
ware, Ohio, also studied a year with Doctor Henry at Columbus, Illinois, and
finished his course in the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, where he
was graduated in 1876, and in the fall of the same year began practice in the
village of Columbus. It was only after thirty-eight years of continuous work
in the profession that he retired in 1914. Doctor Whitlock practiced over all
the country around Columbus, riding and driving without thought of hard-
ship or other inconvenience. When he began practice he had to carry most
of his medicines with him and as he went on with his work he adapted himself
fi'om year to year not only with the new and enlarged scope of medical science,
but also to such improvements and aids to the medical practitioner as tele-
phone, automobile and modern highways. He was always active in medical
societies, serving as president of the county society, and adhered closely to
the regular school of medicine. During the first ten years he gave undivided
attention to his professional duties, and in 1885 bought his farm in Gilmer
Township where he now resides and to which he has given some portion of his
time and energies for many years. For four years during the '90s he was also
proprietor of "a general store at Columbus. Doctor Whitlock is now serving
his twenty-fourth year as justice of the peace, having first been elected to
that office in 1892. In politics he cast his first ballot as a republican and
became a democrat on the silver question. Doctor Wliitlock has given his serv-
ice as a member of the Exemption Board of Adams County, and is one of the
men whose personal character and activities constitute them natural leaders
of public opinion. He has filled all the chairs in the local lodge of Odd Fellows,
has been representative to the Grand Lodge, and has the rank of Past Noble
Grand.
December 4, 1877, Doctor Whitlock married Mary Frances Booth, who was
born in Adams County March 4, 1854, and died September 29, 1909. She was
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 773
born in Gilmer Township and was a daughter of IWilliam A. Booth of that
township. Doctor Whitlock has two sons, Derrick B. and Halford B. These
sons handle the operations of the home farm. Derrick is married, hi? wife
being Alta Tilton. They have two children. Derrick and Grace.
Richard E. Harness. To mention tlie name Harness is to recall the earliest
family identified with the permanent settlement of Lima Township. To record
the time of that settlement it is necessary to go back ninety years, to the year
1828, when Joseph Harness, a native of St. Clair County, Illinois, invaded this
section of the wilderness and erected the first house, about two miles northwest
of where the Town of Lima now stands. The maiden name of his wife was
Nancy Worley. Their daughter Julia was the first white child born in the
township. Joseph Harness, who was of German ancestry, was a man of very
distinctive character and many stories are told of his personality. The only
picture he ever had taken shows a man of strength both physically and mentally.
His ability brought him large possessions and at one time he owned 800 acres,
partly in Adams and partly in Hancock counties. This land he distributed
among his children, and some of it is still owned bj' them. He was one of the
pioneer raisers of cattle and mules, and his name was also identified with the
early history of fi-uit growing in the county. About 1835 he established a
nursery and sold much of the stock which supplied the early orchards of this
part of the state. It is said he was the first man to graft and bud trees, a
custom which is now the vital feature of fruit growing. At one time he was
probably the largest apple grower in the county. He was also a noted hunter.
In this sport, which he pursued largely as a means of supplying his table with
meat, he relied upon the old fashioned muzzle loading rifle. He was an expert
in its use, and it is said that he killed sixteen deer in seventeen successive
shots. He also was fond of telling a story of killing five deer with one bullet.
His reputation for veracity and uprightness was greater than that for a keen
sense of humor, and few strangers on hearing the storj- would have disputed it.
His son Richard R., however, who was about ten j-ears old when he first heard
the tale, was disposed to question its truthfulness and showed an attitude of
doubt until the matter was explained. His father satisfied him with the expla-
nation that it was one bullet but five different shots that did the execution.
Each time he recovered the bullet from the deer and used it over and over again
until the one missile had slain five animals. Joseph Harness was a democrat,
but had no fondness for local offices, and so far as known never held any.
He died on the old farm in 1881, in his ninetieth year, and he and his wife had
enjoyed their marriage companionship for sixty years.. She survived him three
years and passed away at the age of ninety. Joseph Harness was a member
of the Masonic Order at Lima, and was representative two years in the Grand
Lodge, and he also belonged to Mendon Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, the
Knight Templar Commandery at Quincy, and the Medina Temple of the Mystic
Shrine at Chicago. Among other characteristics Joseph Harness had a voice of
wonderful strength and carrying power. From his farm to the Mi-ssissippi
River a distance of seven or eight miles intervened, but old rivermen frequently
claimed that they could distinctly hear him calling his stock. One night a
prowling wolf came into his yard, and was attacked by his dogs. Thinking
that the dogs were getting the worst of it Mr. Harness jumped up out of bed
and barefooted and bare-legged, with only his hunting knife, started out and
got close enough to make one stab at the wolf, but missed and then started in
pursuit. He and the dogs kept up the chase for fully three quarters of a mile,
until the wolf made its escape. He then realized that other dangers were
present and made his way back home very carefully, fearing that every step
would expose him to the bite of a rattlesnake.
Joseph Harness and wife's three living children are: Julia Ann, widow of
774 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Jason Strickland, of Liberty, Missouri; Nancy, widow of James Ellis, living
in California; and Richard R.
The old Harness home in Lima Township, 2yo miles northwest of Lima and
on the Hancock County line, is now owned by Richard R. Harness, and he
was born on that farm Februaiy 28, 1841. Practically all his life has been
spent in that one community, and he now owns about half of the land formerly
held by his father. The Harness home is in Adams County, while his barn
is over the county line in Hancock. They are twenty-eight miles from Carthage
and twenty-two miles from Quinc.v. Mr. Harness is a capable and progressive
farmer and one of the leading grain and stock raisers in his vicinity. In
politics he is a democrat.
At the age of twenty-three he married Miss Rilla Ann Crenshaw, daughter
of Paschal Crenshaw of Hancock County. The Crenshaws located in that
community in the spring of 1827. Rilla Crenshaw was twenty years of age
when she married Mr. Harness. She died at the age of sixtj'-five. Mr. Harness
has three sons and two daughters : George M., the oldest, lives in the same com-
munity with his father and married Lizzie Vinson. Charles C, who farms
part of his father's place in Hancock County, is the second in age. Callie
Gertrude is the wife of Elmer Lliller, and they live on part of the farm. Jasper,
who is operating the home place, married Verna Nicholson, of Ursa Township,
and their children are Hugh Carlton, "Wilma Emaline, Richard Lafayette,
Russell Paul and Leo Elizabeth. Effie, the youngest of the family, is the wife
of Doctor Parker, formerly of Lima but now of Clayton.
Louis Henerhoff. Adams County has its fair share of the fertile soil of
Illinois, and taking the farms as a whole they measure up to the best standards
of cultivation and management found in other prosperous sections of the state.
But there is a wide difference between individual farms, and this difference
is largely a reflection of the owner and manager and the methods employed.
It is largely this personal element which accentuates the character of the Hen-
erhoff farm, a mile south of Lima. On the road from Lima to Quiney it would
be diflScult to find a farm more skillfully kept and managed than this place.
The farm is a monument to the industry and abilities of Louis Henerhoff, who
is an eminently practical farmer, but began life poor and without special
resources except those contained within his o^^ti work and character.
Mr. Henerhoff was born three miles east of Lima in that township March
13, 1861, a son of William Henerhoff. 'William Henerhoff' came to this country
from Germany, and he and his wife brought with them four children. Three
children were born in Illinois. The family settled here about 1859, and had
previously lived in Ellington Township. Louis Henerhoff was only two years
old when his mother died, and when he was five j'cars old his father died at
Tioga in Hancock County. Louis is one of three sons and four daughters,
being the youngest son. His brothers, August and Fred, are farmers in Lima
Township. The four daughters are : Hannah, widow of H. Honor, of Lima ;
Rika, who died in 1895, the wife of Casper Elderbrook ; Gusta, who lives in
Hancock County, the widow of Henry Dix; and ilinnie, who is the wife of
Herman Elleman, and lives ten miles east of Quiney.
At the time of his father's death, which made him an orphan, Louis Hen-
erhoff went to live with his sister Mrs. Elderbrook, and her home was the only
one he could claim until he was twenty-eight years of age. With only a meager
education in the common schools he began work at the age of fourteen, and for
many years worked out with farmers at wages from .$10 to $20 a month. He
was thrifty as well as industrious, and managed to accumulate something each
year in the way of savings. For four years he farmed in Hancock County with
his brother Fred.
At the age of twenty-eight he established a home of his ovrn by his marriage
to Hannah Holtman, daughter of Fred and Hannah Holtman. The Holtmau
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 775
home was a half mile east of Marcelline. Mrs. Henerhoff was born in Quiney,
where her father was a prominent earpenter and builder until she was sixteen
years of ago, when they moved to the farm. Mrs. Henerhott" was twenty years
old when she married.
After their marriage they rented the George Earhart farm of 240 acres in
Lima Township for seven years, and there got their real start. Prom their
savings and earnings the.v then bought their present place of a hundred acres,
known as the Conner Reager farm. For that land he paid sixty-five dollars
an acre. Mr. Henerhoff at once erected the comfortable house which still
adorns the place and has also put up a barn and made many other improve-
ments. Besides this homestead he owns a farm of seventy-six acres across the
road, improved with a set of buildings, and has another forty acres elsewhere.
He paid as high as seventj--flve dollars an acre for some of his land, but consid-
ering the present range of prices it was all acquired at a very reasonable figure.
Mr. Henerhofif found the land when he acquired it drained of its best resources
by many years of successive cropping, and one of his best achievements has
been in restoring the soil fertility. He has practiced rotation of crops and has
always used fertilizer generously. He keeps a bunch of cattle, horses and hogs
that furnish much fertility for the farm, and he has also bought fertilizer.
For a few years he was a cattle feeder, but would now be classed as a general
farmer.
Mr. Henerhoff is a trustee of the Gennan Evangelical Church at Ursa. He
and his wife have four children. Selma is the wife of Elmer Grimmer, and they
live on her father's seventy-six acre farm above mentioned. Edith is the wife
of Guy Conover, and their home is two miles west of Lima. Emil, who now has
the active management of the homestead, married Ella Baker. The youngest,
Alma, is still in the home circle.
Charles C. Crooks is secretary of the Crooks Brothers IMillinery Company,
the exclusive wholesale and retail millinery house in Quiney, and an institu-
tion which lias been built up and developed by the Crooks Brothers during
the last thirteen years to a point where it now enjoys a commanding position
in the millinery trade over several states.
The business was incorporated November 20, 1905. The first president of
the corporation was the late Frank Cox, who died in 1907. Since then his
position has been filled by R. Edward Crooks, while Thomas A. Crooks is treas-
urer. Mr. Charles C. Crooks has been secretary of the business since it was
established. These three brothers have equal partnership interests.
The house is located at 514 Maine Street, where they have a beautifully
equipped store occupying three floors and basement, and all devoted to the
different^ departments of the business. This firm has been the medium for the
importation and distribution over the Middle West of many of the most exclu-
sive French modes, and as wholesalers their field of distribixtion covers Illinois,
Missouri and Iowa and even other western states. They keep from six to eight
traveling representatives on the road, while in the local retail department they
employ from twenty-five to thirty milliners. They also maintain a staff of
trimmers numbering about fift.v, who each season carry the ideas of the Crooks
Brothers Millinery Company to the various retail establishments of the firm
throughout the trade territory.
The Crooks Brothers came to Quincj- from Keokuk, Iowa, where they re-
ceived part of their school education and early business training. They are all
thoroughly familiar with the millinery business, and each has developed special
proficiency along different lines. They were born in Kentucky, and spent part
of their youth near Louisville. Their father Rev. John C. Crooks, was a native
of Kentucky and a ]\Iethodist minister. He died in 1875, in the prime of life.
His wife, Virginia Montague, was also a Kentuckian by birth, and some years
776 QUINCY AND ADAJMS COUNTY
ago came to Quiney and is now enjoying the comforts of a fine home, sur-
rounded by her children, who still consider their mother's residence their
own home. She is now seventy-eight years of age and very vigorous for her
years.
She was the mother of four sons and one daughter : John W., who is married
and still lives in Kentucky ; Mrs. Charles A. Cox of Qiiincy ; R. Edward, a
bachelor; Charles C, who married Ada B. Willson, of Quiney, and has two
children, Charles C, Jr., and Robert E. ; and Thomas A. Crooks, who married
Emily Wagner, of Keokuk, Iowa, and their two children, Thomas A., Jr., and
Robert "Wagner, are both in the city schools.
The three brothers are members of the Masonic order. Their firm is repre-
sented in the Quiney Chamber of Commerce and Mr. Charles C. Crooks is a
member and a director of the Quiney Rotary Club.
Henry Middexdorf. There is great worth to a community in the estab-
lishment and development of sound, well financed and honorably conducted
business enterprises, and of these Quiney has a number and among the most
important may be mentioned the lumber and building material firm of Mid-
dendorf Brothers & Company, of which Henry Middendorf is vice president.
Henry Middendorf is a member of an old family here and was born at
Quiney July 6, ISSi, the second son in a family of eight children born to
Bernhard H. and Elizabeth (Jelsing) Middendorf, as follows: Elizabeth, who
is the widow of "William Schlagheck, of Quiney ; Catherine, who died in child-
hood; "William il., who is president of the Broadway Bank of Quiney and a
member of the firm of Middendorf Brothers & Company ; Henry ; Mary and
Frank, both of whom are deceased ; Theodore, who is a member also of the above
firm : and Joseph, who is a Franciscan monk, connected with St. Joseph 's Col-
lege, Teutopolis. Both parents were born in Germany and both died at Quiney,
Illinois, the father in 1885 and the mother in 1905, having been residents here
since 1849.
Henry Middendorf attended the parochial school until he was thirteen
years old and then began to work in a factory, his task there being the painting
of chairs, and afterward he served in a bakery long enough to gain a fair knowl-
edge of that business. An opportunity came just then for work on a farm and
for three years he maintained familiar relations with hoe, harrow and plow,
and then spent two years learning the cooper's trade. The youth therefore
had made excellent use of his time before he ever entered the lumber business,
but since then has made no change and spent thirty years in lumber yards and
sawmills prior to 1912, when he bought an interest in the firm of Middendorf
Brothers & Company, of which his eldest brother, "William ]\I., is president and
he is vice president. This house, with its well established reputation for busi-
ness integrity, does an immense business at Qiiincj* and up and down the river,
and it may be classed as one of the city's most prosperous business enterprises.
Henry 3Iiddendorf was united in marriage with Lliss Bei-tha Rees, who is
a daughter of Casper and Barbara (Durley) Rees, old residents of Quiney.
To this marriage the following children were born : George, who is in busi-
ness at Quiney; Ida, who is the wife of Walter Bernsen, of Quiney; Raymond,
in the United States Army now serving his country in France ; Heni-y, also in
the United States Army ; and Helen and Arthur, both of whom live at home.
In politics Mr. Middendorf has always been a sound democrat, giving hearty
support to his party's candidates but never being willing to accept any political
favors. He is a faithful member of St. Francis Catholic church and his
children have been carefully reared in the faith. He is a member of the Western
Catholic Union and frequently has served on church and civic committees,
mainly of a charitable nature, on which his good judgment and practical ideas
have made him very useful.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 777
WiLLLiM H. Anck. Among the many enterprising and trustworthj- men
that are prominentlj' identified with the mercantile affairs of Quincy is William
H. Anck, a son of the late John Anck, who became interested in the meat
trade of the city nearly three decades ago, establishing a business that is now
being successfully conducted by his sons, who have a large and well-kept meat
market at the corner of Broadway and Eleventh Street. A native of Adams
County, Illinois, he was born October 15, 1884, not far from Columbus.
Locating in Quincy in 1889, John Anck built up a fine business as a pork
packer, and conducted it with excellent results until his death. The maiden
name of his wife was Isabel Neista. She, too, has passed to the life beyond.
Of their large family of children but six are living, as follows: Josephine, wife
of Henry Hedrick, of Rock Island, Illinois; Marie, wife of Charles Schmidt,
of Chicago ; Casper, born August 15, 1875, a member of the firm of Anck
Brothers ; John, of Quincy ; William, the subject of this brief sketch ; and
Edward, engaged in the meat business in Quincy.
But five years old when his parents removed to Quincy, William H. Anck
obtained his early education in the city schools. Soon after attaining his
majority, following in the footsteps of his father, he embarked in the meat
business, with his brothers Casper and John opening a meat market. Suc-
cessful in their operations, this enterprising firm assumed possession of the
building it now occupies and owns in 1911, and has since continued in busi-
ness with the same good success, having by straightforwai'd, upright dealing
won the confidence of the community and built up an extensive and lucrative
trade.
William H. Anck married, July 14, 1913, Lillian Mitchell. John Anck, who
sold his interest in the meat market to his brothers in 1915, married, October
4, 1904, Florence Lyle King, and they have one child, Marie, born February
5, 1906. Politicall.v all of the Anck brothers are earnest supporters of the
principles of the democratic party.
Father Didacus. 0. F. M., has been rector of St. Francis Solanus Church
and School, a complete account of which noble Catholic institution is published
in the general history section of this work.
Father Didacus was at the head of St. Francis Solanus for six years, till
Augu.st, 1918, when he became a missionary. His assistant was Father Francis
Werhand, 0. F. M., who graduated from St. Joseph's College, Teutopolis,
Illinois, in 1903. In 1915 he came from Santa Barbara, California, to Quincy,
and has since then been assistant.
Father Didacus was born in Germany, but was reared from childhood
in Chicago, where his parents lived and where his brother Charles still has
his home. He was educated in St. Augustine's parochial school and took hia
philo-sophical and theological courses in the Franciscan Monastery, St. Louis,
Missouri. He was admitted to the order of St. Francis in 1900 and in 1907
was ordained by Archbishop Glennon of St. Louis. He then did pastoral work
at ]\Iontrose, Illinois, at I.sland Grove in Jasper County of this state, and for
a time was in Wieu, Chariton Countj', Missouri. From there he came to
Quincy, where his work as a constructive leader received the gi'ateful apprecia-
tion of the people and his church superiors. He was the successor of Father
Columban, who was here for two years. Probably the most noteworthy material
additions to the church propertj^ during Father Didacus' administration were
made when .1>7,000 were expended improving the school and a fine pipe organ
was installed at a cost of .$7,000.
Arthur H. Heidemanx. One of the old business concerns of Quincy, one
that has been carried on continuously for a half century or more, is the retail
lumber house of which Arthur H. Heidemann is manager. Tliis business
was founded by Mr. Heidmann's maternal grandfather, Herman H. Merten.
778 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Arthur H. Heidemanu was born at Quincy, Illinois, July 4, 1874. His
parents were John William and Juliana (ilorteu) Heidemann. The father was
born in Germany and the mother in St. Louis, Missouri. The families cama
to Quiney about 1853, where the paternal grandfather, Herman Heidemann,
established himself as a tailor, and the maternal grandfather embarked in the
lumber business. John William Heidemann was a bookbinder by trade but
later he went into his father-in-law's lumber business, succeeding to the same
and continued to be interested until the time of his death, June 1, 1906. His
first wife died September 27, 1881. They had two children, Orlinda Anna and
Arthur H. In August, 1883, John William Heidemann was married to Matilda
Meyer, who is now deceased. The children of that marriage were : Walter,
who died in childhood, Meta C, Emma C, and Matilda M.
Arthur H. Heidemann attended first the parochial school in the parish
belonging to St. Peter's Evangelical Church, later the Quincy public schools
and subsequently a commercial school in this city. About five years before his
father's death he became identified with the lumber business, as his father's
manager at length but at first as bookkeeper, and has continued manager with
his sister. Miss Orlinda A. Heidemann as assistant manager. The business has
been gradually expanded and the plant enlarged but the old firm name con-
tinues and the same honest business policy is adhered to. Mr. Heidemann, like
his gi'andfather and father, has proved not only an able business man but an
upright one.
Mr. Heidemann was married April 15, 1902, to Miss Amelia Peter, who
was born at Burton, Illinois, and they have two children: Arthur W., who was
born April 9, 1905 ; and Juliana, who was born December 10, 1912. Mrs.
Heidemanu is a member of tlie Lutheran Memorial Church at Quincy, and Mr.
Heidemann of St. Peter's Lutheran Evangelical Church, and both are active
in these congregations in furthering mission work and aiding in their various
commendable plans of benevolence.
Mr. Heidemann is an independent voter, believing in this wa.y he can best
use his influence as a public-spirited citizen, which fact he has very often
demonstrated. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and has taken both the
Scottish and York rites. He belongs also to the Elks and to the gi-eat lumber
organization known as the Concatenated Order of Hoo Hoo.
James B. Corrigax. During his many years of residence in Quincy and
Adams County James B. Corrigan has become known to his fellow citizens as
a capable public official, a man of legal training and of thorough business
ability. Since 1907 he has been engaged in the general insurance business in the
Heintz Building at 300yo North Sixth Avenue.
Mr. Corrigan was born in this county February 21, 1856, of Irish parents, a
son of James and a grandson of Bernard Corrigan both of whom were natives
of TjTone, Ireland, and of old Irish Catholic stock. Bernard Corrigan came
to the United States with his family in 1838, the voyage being made in a sailing
vessel and two months were spent in crossing. From New York City he went
to Pennsylvania, but after a brief sojourn came west to Quiney in 1844 and
bought and settled on a farm in Liberty Township. He cleared up much of
his land and was a prosperous and well-to-do farmer in that locality for many
years. He died when about fourscore years of age. He and his family were
members of St. Peter's Catholic Church. He and his wife are buried side by
side in the cemetery of that church. Their sons and daughters are all now
deceased.
James Corrigan, Sr., was a young man when the family settled on the old
farm in Liberty Township, and that home is still in the family, being now
occupied by Daniel Corrigan, a brother of James B. James Corrigan married
at Boston, Massachusetts, Sarah Hart, who was born in the same locality in
County Tyrone as he was, and soon after she landed in the United States at
LIBRARY
)r THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUIXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 779
Boston they married. James Corrigan brought his bride to Adams County and
to the old homestead, where they spent the rest of their years. James Corrigan
died at the age of eight}- -four, and his widow died in the same year, at seventy-
eight years of age. They were members of the Catholic church, formerl.y of
St. Peter's in Quiney but later of the church in their home township, where
they are both buried. James Corrigan was a democratic voter. In the family
were two daughters and seven sons, all of whom married, and all are living
except John. The living children are Catherine, Bernard, Ella, Daniel, James
B., Frant, Felix and Sj-lvester.
James B. Corrigan spent his early life on the old homestead which has
been with tlie Corrigans now for three generations. He attended the local
schools, also the Camp Point High School, and is a graduate of St. Francis
College of Quiney. His early law studies were directed by the firm of Sibley,
Carter & Covert at Quiney, and he also attended law school of Chaddock
College. He has used his legal training to good advantage in different ways,
but has never formally practiced. His first official service was as deputy under
Benjamin Heekle.y, sheriff at the time. Later he was clerk in the county treas-
urer's office for four years, and was then elected to succeed John B. Kreitz as
county treasurer. Following his regular term in the office he was assistant
in the treasurer's office, for a time was engaged in the hardware business in
Quiney, then sold and returned to the treasurer's office as assistant until 1907,
when he engaged in the insurance business.
Mr. Corrigan married at Quiney Miss Agnes C. Bernbrock. She was born
in the State of California of German ancestry, but was reared and educated in
Quiney. Mr. and Mrs. Corrigan are members of St. Peter's Church and he
is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Western Catholic Union.
Mr. Corrigan is a democrat in his political views.
John H. Best is one of Quiney 's oldest and most honored business men.
He has been president of the Illinois State Bank of Quiney since it was organized
July 1, 1909, and the splendid condition of this institution reflects highly upon
his ability as a banker and general business man. "When it was organized the
bank had a capital of .$12,5,000, which sixt.v days later was increased $100,000,
and in Ma.y, 1916, to its present capitalization of $300,000. The Illinois State
Bank today has aggregate resources of over $2,500,000 and its deposits total over
.$2,000,000. It transacts a general commercial banking business, and is also
authorized to act as a trust company.
The home of the Illinois State Bank is one of the well known landmarks
of the Quiney di.striet, at the corner of Sixth and Hampshire streets, in the
splendid seven-story terra cotta building, one of the leading office structures
of the city. Mr. Best shares his honors of continuous connection with this in-
stitution with Mr. William J. Singleton, the vice president, and William Rupp,
Jr., the cashier, both of whom have been with the institution since it .started.
The directors are all prominent business and professional men of Quiney,
including besides the executive officers, H. Weems, G. A. Urban, "Will J.
Heintz, E. V. Moorman, Prof. J. H. Crafton, and Hon. Lyman MeCarl.
Mr. Best comes of old Scotch-Irish ancestry. He and his family are Epis-
copalians and his ancestors were for many generations activelj' identified with
the Episcopal or Established Church of England. His father, John H. Best,
Sr., and his grandfather, William Best, were both born in County Monaghan,
Ireland. William Best was an Episcopal curate. He was twice married. His
first wife was Margaret Stockdale, who was born in County Monaghan. She
died there leaving two children, William and Charlotte. Charlotte became
the wife of William B. Finley, an Episcopal curate who succeeded to the posi-
tion of his father-in-law. William Best married for his second wife Mary
McCabe. They came to the United States in 1839 and settled in Adams County,
where they spent their last years. William died at the age of sixty-seven.
780 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
For a time they affiliated with the Methodist Church in Quiney, but finally
returned to the church of their old faith. William Best was a whig and later
a republican, and his death occurred before the Civil war.
John H. Best, Sr., was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, in 1813, and was
reared and educated there. At the age of fifteen he came alone to America,
arriving a stranger in a strange land after a six weeks' voj'age. He had
learned the painter's trade in Ireland, and followed that occupation in New
York City for about two years. He then, went to Philadelpliia, where he mar-
ried Mi.ss Ann J. Adams. She was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1816,
and was thirteen years old when she came with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wil-
liam Adams, to Philadelphia. Her father and mother spent their last years
in Philadelphia, where they died when quite old. Both were membei-s of the
Presbyterian Church. They were the parents of one son and four daughters.
William Adams, Jr., was captain of a company in the Mexican war, being
wounded at the battle of Monterey, and after his return became a captain of
ordnance at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, where he died.
John H. Best, Sr., and wife were married in Februrarj', 1837, and a year
later they arrived at Quiney, where he followed his trade as a painter and
painting contractor and also conducted a paint store at the corner of Third
and Main. On the site which he occupied as his business center for many years
now stands a solid and substantial block, three stories high, erected by his
sons John H. and Ezra as a memorial to their father. A tablet on the building
tells briefly the business record of John H. Best, Sr. This building was erected
in 1896 and is now a paper warehouse. John H. Best, Sr., died in Quiney,
April 9, 1882, and his widow passed awa.y July 10, 1890, in Los Angeles, but
was brought back and laid to rest beside her husband in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Both were members of the Presbyterian Church and in politics the father was
a republican.
John H. Best, Jr., was born in Quiney September 15, 1841, and has lived
in this city for more than three quarters of a century. He was educated in the
city public schools and the Bryant & Stratton Business College, and in early
life spent eight years in farming. Later he learned the art of telegi-aphy and
became an active man in local transportation circles. He was for a number
of years traffic manager and agent for the Quiney, Omaha and Kansas City
Road.
Ml'. Best also has a public record, having served as alderman from the Sixth
Ward, and in 1907 he was elected mayor of the citj', and the following two
years gave a very progressive administration to the municipal afifaii-s. He has
always been a republican.
Mr. Best married at Quiney Sophia A. Daneke, who was born in Quinc.v of
German parents. Her father and mother were early settlers here, her father
being a victim of the cholera epidemic in 1849. Her mother died about eight
years later. Mr. and Mrs. Best have one daughter. Alberta B., now the wife
of Edwin S. Massie. Mr. and Mrs. jMassie live in the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Best. The family are members of the Episcopal Church and Mr. Best has been
affiliated with the Masonic order since 1868.
Besides his interests as a banker Mr. Best is almost equally well known as
a farmer on an extensive scale. He has one of the complete and well arranged
farms of the count.y, comprising 300 acres, all developed and intensively cul-
tivated except twenty acres of native timber. He also has 300 acres in Pike
County, Missouri, and four different farm tracts comprising 1,000 acres in
Marion County, iMissouri. As a boy ]\Ir. Best had considerable experience,
and besides the result of that early influence which has led him to invest his
means in farm real estate, he derived from it in part at least his splendid
physical constitution, which keeps him erect, rugged and vigorous in the prose-
cution of his affairs, though past the age of three score and ten.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 781
J. George Birkexmaier is one of the solid and substantial business men of
Quincy, has been a resident of the city thirty-five years, and for twenty-five
years has been distributing and purveying meats and provisions to a constantly
growing circle of patrons. He is one of the most popular and progressive men
in the business at Quincy.
An American citizen since early manhood, he probably appreciates and
can support more enthusiastically American institutions than many native
born. He was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, October 23, 1866, and he and
several brothers came to this country for the express purpose of freeing them-
selves from the military system and autocratic rule of the old country. His
parents were J. George and Catherine (Eroetz) Birkenmaier, natives of the same
country, his mother being of Austrian ancestry. His parents spent all their
lives in Wuertemberg, and the father died there when about seventy and the
mother at fortj^-three. The father was a farmer and wine grower. The Birk-
enmaiers were of Lutheran faith. The first of the family to come to America
was J. Jacob Birkenmaier, who arrived in 1878, while his brother John came
in 1879. Jacob finished his education in the Gem City Business College at
Quincy, and is a well-to-do man, a resident of San Francisco. John lives in
Chicago and is married and has a family.
J. George Birkenmaier lived in his native province until he was sixteen
years of age, and while there acquired the fundamentals of knowledge as taught
in the German common schools. In 1882 he set out for the New World, taking
pa.ssage on a steam.ship at Antwei'p and landing in New York City fourteen
days later. He came on to Quincy to .join his brother John, his brother Jacob
having gone west. For six months he lived in Barry, Pike County, Illinois, and
there attended school in his efl'ort to acquire the best possible knowledge of the
English language. Later his brother Christ came to this country and is now
a farmer in the State of Colorado, and has sons and daughters, some of his
sons being in the Government service.
In 1883 Mr. Birkenmaier located in Quincy and was employed by several
local butchers, under whom he learned his trade. About twenty-five years ago
he engaged in business for himself, his first location being at Sixth and Maiden
Lane, from there moving to 912 Maine Street, some years later to the corner of
Maine and Ninth streets, and in 1905 he bought the interest of his partner, the
late A. August Long, and moved across the street to his present location, where
he owns a good business house 24x65 feet and also leases the adjacent store.
His first partner in the meat business, with whom he was associated four or
five years, was Chris Duker, now a well known commission merchant of Quincy.
Mr. Birkenmaier handles many of the standard lines of meat products, and
also manufactures a large amount of sausage in his ovra shop.
In Quincy Mr. Birkenmaier married Miss Wilhelmina Koch. She was born
in Quinc}-, reared and educated here, and is a daughter of Gottlieb and Cath-
erine (Bresing) Koch. Her parents were both born in Pru.ssia, but were
married after they came to Quincy. Her father died at the age of seventy-
five and her mother at sixty. Mr. Koch was a cooper by trade. The thorough
Americanism of the Birkenmaier family needs no further proof when it is stated
that one of the sons is now in France with the Allied Armies, and another is
awaiting his call to the service under the new age limits. The family consists
of three sons and two daughters. Carl J., now twenty-two years of age, .joined
the National Guard at nineteen and is now a member of the Thirty-Third
Division and has been in France since May, 1918. The second son, Robert
G., aged nineteen, is employed by his father while awaiting the call to military
duty. The third son, George, Jr., is acquiring a knowledge of military science
as student in a military school. Edna is in the Quincy High School, Edith is
in the grammar school. The family are members of tlie Lutheran church, and
Mr. Birkenmaier is independent in local politics and votes as a republican in
national afi'airs.
782 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Frank E. Morris. One of the most flourishing industries of Quiucy is the
Morris Brothers Shoe Company, which as a business is a lineal successor of
one of the pioneer shoe factories of the Middle West. Quincy was fortunate
in inducing the Morris Brothers to locate here a few years ago, and this is now
one of the few industries of the eitv that produce goods to a total value of over
.$1,000,000 annually.
The business was established at Quincy in February, 1914, and on February
8, 1916, it was incorporated as the Morris Brothers Shoe Company, with a
capital stock of $85,000. Frank E. Morris is president of the corporation,
Evan F. Morris is secretar.y, William J. Morris is vice president, and two other
brothers are on the board of directors. It is a close corporation, the capital
stock of 600 common shares and 250 preferred shares being pi'acticallj' all
owned by the brothers.
The main factory building, comprising nearly half a block, is located at
237-239 North Second Street. About 450 people are emploj-ed. They man-
ufacture all kinds of men's dress shoes, workmen's medium grade shoes, and in
1918 completed a separate factory for the manufacture of interlined shoes
for mechanics. The goods of this company are sold everj-where. In four
years time the business has been built up to an aggregate value of $2,000,000
a year.
Wliile never a resident of Quinc.y, the real pioneer and founder of the busi-
ness was the father of Morris Brothers, Evan Morris, who was born in Wales
of Welsh parentage in 1830 and died at St. Louis, Missouri, December 1, 1898.
He was brought to America when a child, his parents Mr. and Mrs. Thomas
Morris, locating in Maryland. His father soon afterward enlisted for service in
the Seminole Indian war in Florida and was killed there in the prime of life.
Evan Morris grew up and learned his trade as a shoemaker, and developed the
highest degree of skill as a bench and custom shoemaker. Back east he was fre-
quently employed in making the finest shoes, and one of his customers was
Charlotte Cushman, most of his trade coming from people of exclusive tastes
like that famous actress. He left his trade to enlist in the Union army and
served four years, coming through unharmed, and then resuming work at the
bench.
About fifty j'ears ago a Mr. Corning brought from Cincinnati to St. Louis
the first McKay sewing machine for machine sewing of soles on boots and shoes.
He started a factory in St. Loiiis, bringing with him experienced men from
Cincinnati. After getting the business under way all his employes left him
and returned to Cincinnati. He inserted an advertisement asking for skilled
men at the business, and one of the replies received came from Evan Morris.
He thus became identified with the new system of using machinery, recognized
the value of machines as siiperior to the slower method of hand manufacture,
and after developing a force of proficient men he and associates organized in
1868 a factory which was the first west of the IMississippi River. Out of this
grew the Excelsior Shoe Company, with Evan Morris as one of its chief officials.
He lived to see and use all the machines made and employed in the most modern
work of shoe manufacture. Every trade paper has long recognized his pioneer
standing in the shoe business in the Middle West.
At his death he left the business to his sons, and they sold it to the Goodyear
Shoe Company. They then established the George F. Dittman Shoe Company,
which they ran successfully until 1906. In that year they accepted a proposi-
tion from the citizens of Mexico, Missouri, to start a factory, were proprietors
of it for one year, and then sold their interests to the Friedman Brothers Boot
& Shoe Company. They continued the management of the factory, however,
for .several years more. This factory at Mexico was finally taken over by the
International Shoe Company of St. Louis.
It was in 1913 that the Morris Brothers accepted a proposition from the
people of Quincy to establish a plant in this city.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 783
At St. Louifs Evan Morris married Mary Sciilly, a native of Ireland. She
died November 3, 1892. They had ten children, all of whom were born isn
St. Louis and all grew to manhood and womanhood. Six of them married,
and five sons and two daughters are still living. The sons all live at Quincy
except Robert M., who is a manufacturer of shoe colorings and specialties.
Edward T. Morris learned his trade with his father in the original factory at
St. Louis. He is married and lives on Twelfth Street in Quincy.
Mr. Frank E. Morris was born in St. Louis in 1865 and after his education
went into his father's shop and learned every detail of the business. He and
his brothers all married in St. Louis, and all had been associated with their
father after thej" reached maturity.
Frank E. Morris married in St. Louis Alice Bvirk, who was born in that
city of Irish parents. They are the parents of six children, Evan F., Margaret,
Richard, ilary, Francis and Alice. The younger children are students in St.
Francis and St. Mary's Colleges. All the family are members of St. Peter's
Catholic Church. The Morris brothers are active in the Knights of Columbus.
Mr. Frank E. Morris' oldest son, Evan F., though secretary of the company,
is now in the service of the Government in the war.
Dakiel Speyeb, one of Quincy 's prominent clothing merchants is successor
to one of the oldest established wholesale and retail clothing houses of the city,
for many years conducted under the name Jonas Meyer & Company. The late
Jonas Meyer and L. Whitehead engaged as partners in the clothing and men's
furnishing business at Quincy in September, 1868, just a half century ago.
Their original location was at 323 Hampshire Street. They dissolved partner-
ship in 1879, but Jonas Meyer continued in business from that time foi'ward
and with other associates until his death.
Mr. Daniel Speyer was born in New York City November 22, 1854, son of
Elias and Eleanor (Silverman) Speyer. Both parents were born in Bavaria,
Germany. The father came to New York in 1835 and was a merchant for many
years.
Daniel Spe.ver grew tip in New York State, was educated in the common
schools, and had an extensive experience with a wholesale clothing house
before he came to Quincy in 1879. Here he joined 'Sir. Jonas Meyer as an
employe, in 1882 was taken into partnership as member of the firm Jonas Meyer
& Company, and gave his utmost energies and abilities to the successful eon-
duct of this well known house. Mr. Jonas Meyer died in 1911, and Mr. Speyer
is now sole owner of the business, which occupies three floors of one of the
best known store buildings in the downtown district, at 421 and 423 Hampshire
Street.
Mr. Speyer is a republican, a member of the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks, and worships in the Jewish Temple.
Davto D. Steixer, M. D. One of the busiest professional men of Quincy
is Dr. David D. Steiner, who graduated from the College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Keokuk, Iowa, with the class of 1886, and after a few years of
practice at his native Village of Lorain in Adams County moved to Quincy
twenty-six years ago and is now one of the older representatives of the pro-
fession in this city. He ranks high as a physician, and his solid abilities have
justified all the liberal patronage extended him.
Dr. Steiner was born at Lorain in Keene Township of this county Jtily 6,
1860. He grew up on his father's farm in that locality and first qualified him-
self for teaching. The work he did as a teacher enabled him to carry on
advanced literary courses in the Valparaiso Normal School in Indiana, where
he graduated in 1883. He continued teaching another year before entering
Keokuk Medical College.
Dr. Steiner is a son of Michael Steiner, one of the prominent early settlers
784 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
of Keene Township. Michael Steiner was born in Germanj- Januaiy 30, 1810,
and was well educated. He served a term in the regular army and the captain
of his compan.y was the father of Prince Albert of Germany. Michael Steiner
came to this country in 1836, and while at New York saw Martin Van Buren,
who was elected in that year president of the United States. At Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, he found employment on a coal boat, went to New Orleans, thence
up the river to Galena and back to Quincy in 1837. He continued boating for
a time, and was emploj'ed on the steamboat Olive Branch plying between St.
Louis and Galena, one of the first boats to run on the Upper Mississippi. Later
he was employed in the Whipple Saw Mill and sawed the blue ash flooring
which went into the first home built bj' General Browning. Michael Steiner was
a pioneer of many experiences. He often told of conditions during the hard
winter of 1839-40 when the Mississippi froze so early that the merchants were
unable to get their supplies from St. Louis, and goods had to be carted all the
way from that city. Salt commanded a price that winter of $4 a bushel.
In 1845 he was summoned as a witness at Macomb and had to find his way
across the country the best he could in the absence of roads.
In 1839 Michael Steiner married Ann Catherine Goebel, who was born in
Germany February 20, 1820. She had come to America with her brothers and
sisters in 1826, and she located at Quincy in 1838. In 1842 Michael Steiner and
wife moved to a tract of Government land in section 5 of Keene Township, and
that was their home the rest of their industrious careers. Michael Steiner
accumulated a large and well developed farm, and assisted some of his children
to the ownership of homes of their own. He died at the age of eighty-two and
his wife at seventy-nine, and both were members of the Lutheran church. They
had nine children, seven of whom reached maturity, and when the parents
died there were forty grandchildren to do them honor. Dr. Steiner is one of
four still living.
While Dr. Steiner was a student of Valparaiso Normal School in Indiana
he met Miss Emma I. Russell, and that was the beginning of a romance which
eventuated in their marriage. Mrs. Steiner was born at Ironton, Ohio, Jan-
uary 9, 1862, and was educated in the public schools there and at Valparaiso
and was a teacher before her marriage. Dr. and Mrs. Steiner had two children :
Paul R., who died when two years old; and Hugh Wynne, who was born in
1891. This son was educated in the Quincy High School, in the Military School
at Booueville, Missouri, and graduated with the class of 1915 from the University
of Wisconsin. He is now connected with a large manufacturing corporation
at St. Louis, and is at present in California assisting in the building of a branch
factory in that state. He married Louise Johnson, daughter of Dr. Johnson
of Barry, Illinois. She is a graduate of the Illinois Woman's College at Jack-
sonville. Dr. Steiner is a Royal Arch Mason.
Walter F. Emery. This is one of the most honored names in the pioneer
annals of Adams County. Walter F. Emery came here in 1832, while his good
wife, whom he married here, was an even earlier settler. She was a niece of the
noted ex-Governor Wood, and had come with the Wood family to Quincy during
the early '20s. She gi-ew up on the site of the town which her uncle founded.
Many of the interesting details in the earlj' history of Quincy as noted on
other pages may be considered as the background and environment in which
both Walter F. Emery and his wife lived and acted for many years.
Walter F. Emerj- was born in Vermont July 7, 1797, and died in March,
1876, at the age of seventy-nine. He was of old New England ancestry, and
descended from one of two brothers, John and Anthony Emery, who came to
the colonies prior to the Revolution. The history of the family in detail was
published some j^ears ago by Rev. Samuel Hopkins Emery, who for a number of
years was pastor of the Congregational church at Quincy.
Walter F. Emery grew up in his native state, and when a young man
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 785
sought the scenes of the far "West. He first located at Galena, Illinois, where he
was a lead miner. From there he came to Quincy in 1832, and here he met and
married Miss Matilda Goodrich, who was born in New York State June 17,
1815, and died at Quincy, December 14, 1887, at the age of seventy-two. As
already stated, she was a niece of Governor Wood, the founder of Quincy, and
at the time of her death .she was probably the oldest resident of Quincy.
After his marriage Walter F. Emery entered 168 acres of Government land
three miles south of what was then the Town of Quincy, but the tract now is
just outside the limits in Melrose Township. On this farm Walter Emery
built a double log house, and in many ways improved the land and brought
much of it under cultivation. In 1849 he left Quincy to join the throng of
gold seekers bound for California and was 214 years in the far West, engaged
in mining operations. He went out across the plains, biit returned by way of
Panama and the Atlantic coast. He made and saved some little money while
in the West, and after his return he settled down to the quiet vocation of
farming, which he followed the rest of his life. He had many of the experi-
ences of the pioneer, including breaking land with oxen. Besides his home place
in Melrose Township, he owned 400 acres in Columbus Township and also owned
the site of the Woodland Cemeterj- which he later sold to Governor Wood. He
began voting as a whig, and was one of the original members of the republican
party. He also held a number of townsliip offices, and was a man whom to
know was to trust. He was a man of splendid physique and of great powers
of endurance, and in pioneer times he bore the reputation of being the cham-
pion cradler of the county. He was able to cradle four acres of gi'ain per day,
and even a modern generation of farmers can appreciate how much labor and
endurance that required.
Walter F. Emery and wife had eight children four of whom died young.
Charlotte, the oldest of the family, married Frederick Smith, and died in Cali-
fornia, the mother of two daughters, Minnie, who is still unmarried, and Agnes,
who died after her marriage, leaving a son and daughter. James L. Emery
owned a part of the old homestead, and died there in March, 1909. He mar-
ried Miss Ella Heppelman, of Iowa, who died before her husband.
The living representatives of the familj^ of Walter F. Emery and wife are
John F. Emery and his older sister, Emily A., both of whom live on the old
homestead adjoining the city at East State and Twenty-Fifth Street. John P.
Emery was born on this farm October 28, 1847, and has spent most of his life
in this one locality. He has been a successful farmer, and now owns forty-six
acres of the old homestead. He married at Quincy Miss Mary T. Howard, who
was born at Hannibal, Llissouri. She died in 1896, at the age of forty years,
the mother of five children. Two of the daughters are still living, Laura B.
and Lula Pearl. Laura B. is the wife of Fred Ohlendorf, a farmer in Melrose
To'miship. LIr. and Mrs. Ohlendorf have three children. Pearl, Jessie and
Clyde. The other daughter, Lula Pearl, has one son, John E. Garver, attending
high school.
Miss Emilj' A. Emery has spent her life at the old home, and was liberally
educated in seminary and college. She has a beautiful home of seventy-five
acres and has done much to improve this land and keep it up to the high stand-
ards set by her honored father. Her beautiful home is perhaps most widely
known for its flowers. She has developed a remarkable skill in growing flowering
plants of all kinds, both in the open ground and in the house, and there is
never a day in the year when flowers are not abloom at the old Emery home.
Anton Binkert. For more than half a centurj^ the name Anton Binkert
has had honored and useful associations with the business and public life of
Quincy. Mr. Anton Binkert is representative of one of the substantial German
families that came to Adams County more than eight decades ago, and during
his active career he has filled public stations with credit, has been prominent in
786 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
business, and has also done much to build up and beautify the city which he
regards as the home and center of his best interests.
Mr. Binkert was born in the Kingdom of Baden, Germany, June 4, 1836.
Six weeks after his birth his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Antou Biukert, set out for
the New World, traveling by sailing vessel and coming to Quiney. Anton
Binkert, Sr., when he stepped from the packet on shore at Quiney had only 5
francs or 95 cents in his pocket. He had to begin at the very bottom and his
industry carried him tlu'ough and enabled him to win an honored name in his
adopted city. For eighteen years he worked for one man and then utilized his
modest capital in starting a general store, which later he developed into a large
business.
Mr. Anton Binkert gi-ew up in Quiney, had an education supplied by the
public and parochial schools, and at the age of eighteen began learning the
trade of carriage blacksmith. He served as an apprentice and journeyman for
eight years. Mr. Biukert is one of the few men still living who knew intimately
by experience the life of the western plains prior to the Civil war. He crossed
the plains to Colorado in 1859, 1860 and 1861, going out in the spring and
coming back in the fall. During the winter he worked in carriage shops in
Quiney, and the money which he made by this vocation he spent prospecting
for gold in Colorado.
In the latter part of 1861 Mr. Binkert was appointed a sutler's clerk with
the Sixteenth Regiment of Illinois Infantry, and was in the army for three
years. In the meantime his father had given up merchandising, and in 1865,
when the sons returned to Quiney, they all started their business together under
the name A. Binkert & Sons. There were two other brothers, Thomas and
Damion, who were also in the Union Army. Thomas was likewise a .sutler,
with the Seventy-Eighth Illinois Infantry, while Damion served as a private
in the Sixteenth Infantry. At the battle of Big Shanty Damion was taken
prisoner, and spent nine months of imprisonment and torture in the notorious
Andersonville prison. He was not released until practically the end of the war.
The firm of A. Binkert & Sons continued a prosperous business for a number
of years and Anton Binkert, Sr., died in 1872. The sons in the meantime had
sold out and had joined John Ware in the tobacco business as manufacturers.
Two years later a fire destroyed the warehouse and factory and brought a
heavy loss to all the partners. A little later the brothers again resumed general
merchandising at the corner of Twelfth and Hampshire streets. This firm of
Binkert Brothers, gi'oeeries and dry goods, was continued by Thomas and
Damion Binkert until they died. In the meantime Anton Binkert had left the
business in the hands of his brothers at the time of his election to the office of
county treasurer in 1877. He filled that office with credit and efficiency for five
years and after retiring engaged in the real estate business. He continued that
most successfully until he retired, tui-ning his affairs over to his sons George
and William, who have continued it and have added an insurance department.
Binkert Brothers, Insurance and Real Estate, is still located at the place where
Mr. Anton Binkert was in business for so many years, 214 N. Sixth Street.
Twenty-five years ago Mr. Anton Binkert bought fifteen acres on Twelfth
Street between Jersey and Kentucky streets. This he laid out and developed
what is known as Park Place, perhaps the most widely known and highly devel-
oped residential district of the city. It is now practically covered with fine
brick homes, hundreds of them, and it is one of the real beauty spots of the
city. Mr. Binkert coidd desire no better monument to his business energy than
this fine residential section, which he helped so much to make.
Mr. Binkert was a charter member and the prime mover at Quiney in organ-
izing the Western Catholic Union. He supported it liberally with his owti
means, and was also one of its first directors and served as the supreme treas-
urer and secretary for a number of years. He was succeeded in that office
by +he present supreme treasurer, Joseph J. Frj'berg.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 787
Mr. Binkert was first elected to public office in 1872, when he was chosen
alderman from the Fifth Ward. After two j^ears he resigned to become the
first collector of the city under a new law establishing that office. He was in
that position one year, and was then chosen county treasurer. It is a significant
record that Mr. Binkert was never defeated for any office for which he was a
candidate. He has always been identified with the democratic party. Seven
years ago he was again elected alderman, from the Fourth Ward, and served
one term. He and his family are all active members of the Catholic Church.
In 1863, in St. Lawrence, now St. Peter's, Catholic Church, Mr. Binkert
married Miss Helen Beatty. Mrs. Binkert was boi-n in Ellington Township of
Adams County in 1839 and was reared and educated there. She is a daughter
of John and JIary (Truelock) Beatty, both natives of Ireland. Her parents
came to the United States in a sailing vessel, spending many weeks on the water
and landing at New Orleans, Louisiana. From there they came up the
Mississippi River to Quincy and here joined his brother Thomas Beatty, who
had located in Ellington Township years before. John Beatty and wife began
life here on a tract of raw land, and with loyal co-operation they developed
a good pioneer home and lived to enjoy its comforts in their old age. They
were pioneers here and Quincy was only a hamlet when they first arrived. Mrs.
Binkert and her mother were reared as Protestants but joined the Catholic
ehiiroh in the earlj^ '60s.
Mr. and Mrs. Binkert had six children to grow up. One son, Thomas, died
in New Mexico, leaving a wife and two children. The living children are:
George A., who is associated with his brother William J. in the real estate
business at Quincy. Both sons are married. George has two children, Paul
and Charles, and William has a son, Donald. John Binkert, the third son, is
connected witli the Gas, Electric Light and Heat Company at Quincy and has
a son, Emmett. The daughter, Cora, married Herman Lubbe, and they live
in St. Louis. Mr. Lubbe is commercial salesman for a St. Louis wholesale house.
They have a family consisting of Richard, Margaret, Robert and Mary, all the
children being well educated. Maude, the youngest child, is the wife of
Fred Moller of Quincy, a member of the Moller Lumber Company. They havQ
two children, Lawrence and Mildred Moller, both of whom have completed
the work of the parochial schools.
Henry H. Stein.\gel. One of the most interesting farms of Gilmer Town-
ship is that occupied by Henry H. Steinagel and his sister. Mr. and Miss
Steinagel have had their home a mile east of Fowler for many years and have
combined their efforts most profitably and have a great volume of productive
service credited to their energies and intelligence.
Henry H. Steinagel was born in Melrose Township October 11, 1861, fourth
among the five children of Adam and Minnie (Fisher) Steinagel. A more com-
plete account of the Steinagel family will be found on other pages. Henry H.
Steinagel was a small child when his father died, and during his youth he owed
much to the self-sacrificing work and care of his widowed mother, who kept
her children about her until they were grown and ready to do an independent
part in the world. Henry H. Steinagel had experience in working out for
different employers, and many years ago he and his brothers bought land in
partnership and finally he acquired as his individual share ninety acres, consti-
tuting his present farm. Since then he has added forty acres to this place,
and also has seventy acres three miles distant adjoining the farm of his brother
William H., and another half interest in twenty acres of timber land. His
home farm is the old John Stewai-t fruit farm of Gilmer Township. John
Stewart was one of the pioneers in the development of Adams County land to
fruit growing, and forty years ago had a nursery and a large acreage in various
fruits. Henry H. Steinagel bought this farm, improved with good house and
788 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
barn, and has continued to improve it and keep it up to an even higher stand-
ard than under its previous ownership.
As already indicated, he has had a valuable assistant in his sister Margaret
Caroline, who has been his housekeeper, and they have always lived together
and neither have married. Miss Steinagel for many years has been a noted
butter maker, and for a long time one merchant took all the product of ten or
twelve cows. She also owns a fine farm of 160 acres near her brother's place,
and a half interest in all the livestock on the homestead. Mr. and Miss Steinagel
are active members of the Lutheran Church at Fowler.
Alois W. Dxtker. Industrious and capable and endowed with good busi-
ness ability and judgment, Alois W. Duker has had a busy career and is now
actively associated with the industrial interests of Quincy, which is his native
city, his birth having occurred here on January 23, 1881. He is a son of
Theodore and Elizabeth (Brinkhoi?) Duker, and a brother of W. T. Duker, in
whose sketch, which appears on another page of this volume, further parental
history may be found.
As a boy and youth Alois W. Duker received excellent educational advan-
tages, attending first the parochial school, then St. Francis College, and being
prepared for his future career at the Gem City Business College. Starting then
in life as a clerk in the department store of J. S. Slusher of Quiuey, he remained
thus employed for five years. The following two years Mr. Duker had charge
of the shoe department of the Ebert & Freed store at St. Louis, Missouri. Re-
turning to Quincy, he was engaged in the shoe business on his own account for
about four years, and later, in partnership with his brother, was engaged in
mercantile pursuits for two years. Disposing of his interest in the firm, Mr.
Duker bought the Mills Brothers' Bottling Works, which he has since operated
with success.
Mr. Duker married December 8, 1902, in Saint Louis, Missouri, Lulu Dorothy
Sullivan. Her father, James Sullivan, a native of Virginia, located in Quincy
in 1877, and for several years was emploj'ed as a mail clerk. His wife, whose
maiden name was Nancy Dorothy Lightner, was born and bred in Lewis Count}%
Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Duker have one child, Olivia Margaret, born Febi-u-
ary 18, 1909. Politically Mr. Duker is a democrat and an earnest advocate of
the principles of that pai-ty. Socially he is a member of the South Side Boat
Club, and of the Quincy Turnverein. Religiously he is a member of Saint
Boniface Church.
Frederick "W. Knollenberg, president of the Knollenberg ^Milling Compan.v,
was born in Quincy, Illinois, December 2, 1849. As a boy he attended the public
schools, later attending the commercial department of Quincy College, now the
Gem City Business College, where he was awarded the first diploma issued by
Professor Mus.selman.
On November 27, 187.3, he was married to Miss Louisa M. Pfanschmidt, of
Quincy, Illinois, who died in 1908. To this union were bom seven children.
Clara, the eldest, who died in infancy.
Fred C, a graduate of the Gem City Business College and of the Law
Department of the University of Michigan, now a very prominent lawj'er of
El Pa.so, Texas, where he has built up a very extensive legal practice. He mar-
ried Miss Florence Cox, of ^Monmouth, Illinois, and they have one daughter,
Elizabeth.
Bertha M. was man-ied to William H. Paul in 1898. She died in 1901, leav-
ing an infant daughter, Gladys, who has made her home with :Mr. Knollenberg,
graduating from the Quincy High School in 1918 and now a student in Knox
College at Galesburg, Illinois. Mr. Paul is now living in Colorado, where he
owns and operates a 900 acre ranch.
Cora E. married Charles H. Johntz, of Kansas City, Missouri, where they
LIBRARY
)r THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 789
now reside and where ilr. Johntz holds a responsible position with Ai'mour &
Company. They have one daughter, Margaret.
Mary E. married Dr. Loran E. Orr, a practicing physician of Petersburg,
Illinois, who has been in service as a first lieutenant in the Medical Corps, United
States Army.
Luella M. is at home. She is a graduate of the Quincy High School and of
the Quincy Conservatory of Music and is a teacher of that art in her alma mater-
She is also connected with the school, being secretaty and treasurer.
Florence K. married Phil S. Herr who is the efficient superintendent of the
Knollenberg Milling Company. They have two children, Robert W. and Jeanne
Louise.
Mr. Knollenberg is a republican and he and his family attend the Congre-
gational Church. He is a member of Quincy Lodge 296, Ancient Free and
Accepted ilasons; Quincy Chapter No. 5, Royal Arch Masons; Quincy Com-
mandeiy No. 77, Knights Templar, and also of Quincy Lodge No. 100, Benevo-
lent and Protective Order of Elks.
In 1872 Mr. Knollenberg established a flour and feed store at 1026 Maine
Street. In addition to handling flour and feed, he packed apples, bouglit wheat,
corn and other grains besides handling considerable poultry. These varied enter-
prises made him a very busy man and brought him considerable success. Then
in 1876, in company witli Jacob Williams and J. H. "Wavering, a flour milling
company was organized under the firm name of Knollenberg, Wavering & Com-
pany, in the construction of the mill at this time, the services of the well known
millwright, the late Henry Grimm, were secured. In 1878 Mr. Williams, who
is now deceased, sold his third interest and the mill was then operated under
the firm name of Knollenberg and Wavering for a period of twenty-eight years.
In 1883 the mill was remodeled, introducing the gradual reduction system and
at the same time the capacity was increased to 100 ban-els per daj'. An elevator
was erected in 1891, having a storage capacity of 30,000 bushels. In 1902 the
mill was again remodeled at which time the capacity was again increased to a
capacity of 200 barrels per day.
In 1904 Mr. Knollenberg purchased the interest of J. H. Wavering and incor-
porated the present company as the Knollenberg ililling Company. The com-
pany has erected two new storage steel clad warehouses 40 by 180 feet with a
combined floor space of 14,400 square feet. These warehouses permit the expedi-
tious handling of all kinds of commercial feeds and are built adjoining the
Wabash industrial swatch. They are connected with the railroad by platform,
so that two or three cars can be loaded or unloaded at one time. A train shed
has been built to cover the track so that loading and unloading goes on without
any interference because of bad weather.
' The company has also constructed an underground conveyor for carrying
wheat and other grains from the cars across the street to the elevator, where
the grain is elevated and weighed in an automatic scale before being stored
in bins.
Thousands of families in this part of the country as well as some of the south-
ern states are familiar with the soft wheat flour put oi;t under the names of
"Citj'," "Excellent" and "Banner" brands and the hard wheat flour under
the names of "Star" and "Crescent."
This enterprising concern is under the efficient management of the following
named officers: F. W. Knollenberg, president and treasurer; Grover G. Jones,
secretary- ; Phil S. Herr, superintendent.
James A. Martin. All the years of his life Adams County has been the
home of James A. Martin, and those have been j^ears of achievement in the
material sense and also in the acquisition of community esteem paid him for
his worthy life and the influence he has exerted for good.
The Martin family has been longest identified with Gilmer Township. Mr.
Martin's home is fifteen miles east of Quincy and 3i/4 miles from Columbus.
790 QUIXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
He has been a successful farmer, and has been equally successful in handling
eorammiity obligations. He is now road commissioner of the township.
Mr. Martin was born on the old Columbus Road near St. Joseph Catholic
Church in Gilmer Township, January 1, 1860, son of Gregory and Mahala
(McAfee) Martin. Gregory Martin was born in Loudoun County, Virginia,
January 1, 1816, was reared in Kentuekj-, spending ten years in Bracken
County and lived in Grant County from 1832 for five years. In 1837 he first
came to Adams County, Illinois, but went on to Clarke County, Missouri, where
he lived over seven years and while there he married Miss McAfee. She was
born in South Carolina in 1826. She moved with her parents to IMissouri at
the age of seventeen and was eighteen when she married Gregory Martin. In
1846 they came to Adams County and settled on the old farm where their only
son and child, James, was born. Gregory Martin died on that homestead April
7, 1887, at the age of seventy-two. His widow died there in 1908 aged eighty-
three. He was a member of the Baptist Church at Columbus and his wife was
a Methodist.
James A. Martin lived at home with his parents to the age of twenty-five.
On March 30, 1887, he married Mary E. McConnell. She was born in Gilmer
Township December 1, 1859, daughter of John and Margaret (Woods) McCon-
nell. Her parents were both natives of County Monaghan, Ireland. Margaret
Woods was brought to Gilmer Township in 1837, when six years of age, by her
parents, William and Sarah Woods. John McConnell came to this county at
the age of twenty-one. John ilcConnell died here about 1868, and his widow
afterwards married James McConnell, his brother. James McConnell died
in 1912, at the age of ninety-seven, and his wife in 1908, aged seventy-seven.
Mrs. ilartin has three sisters and a brother: Margaret, Mrs. David West, of
Wyoming ; Sarah J., who is unmarried and lives in Nevada ; Leona, widow of
Dr. James Cornish and living with Mrs. Martin ; and W. J. McConnell, of
Gilmer Township.
After his marriage Mr. Martin spent one year on the old homestead and was
a renter for fourteen years. He was sole heir to the old Martin farm, and at
his mother's death acquired that estate. In 1905 he bought his present farm,
consisting of 160 acres, from Ed Yeargin. It was well improved with house
and barn, but Mr. Martin has given closest attention to every detail of keep-
ing up the buildings and other improvements of the place. He has done much
to increase the value of the farm.
In the way of public service Mr. Martin served as tax collector, as constable
twelve years, and for the past four years has been road commissioner. He is
a republican living in a democratic community and it is personal popularity
and a recognized eiificiency in getting public work performed that have brought
him his frequent honors in politics.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin have three children: Edna M., wife of Clarence Ram-
sey, a machinist living in Nevada ; Harry J., who is first sergeant in the Field
Artillery of the United States Army; and William Eldon, still at home with
his parents.
William 0. McCormick. As noted elsewhere in this publication, some of
the biggest work in modern times besides the improvement of Adams County
land has been the reclamation of wet areas and swamps by the construction of
drainage ditches and levees against the encroachment of river and creek waters.
A large part of this work has been carried on within the present century, and
credit for the improvements belongs especially to the Board of Levee Commis-
sioners, one of whom since 1910 has been William 0. ilcCormiek. Mr. McCor-
mick is a practical farmer and knows the problems of drainage in the bottom
lands by long and practical experience. He has one of those bottom farms,
located five miles west of Ursa. His own residence is in the Village of Ursa.
Mr. McCormick has come to success in business and civic affairs from a
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 791
humble begiuning as au orphan boy. He was born near the Village of Loraine
iu Keene Township August 4, 1868, a son of William and Emily (Pryor)
McCormic'k. His parents were both natives of Ireland but were married in
Adams County. William 0. MeCormiek was only three years old when his
mother died and at the age of fourteen he was left an orphan by his father's
death. His father was twice married, and by his first wife had five children :
Mary, living at Dayton, Ohio, widow of James Loynds; Mrs. George Simmer-
macher, of Keene Township ; Rose, who lives at Loraine, widow of Joseph Hart-
man ; Thomas, who died at the age of fourteen ; and William 0., who was
the youngest of his mother's family. The father married for his second wife
Jane Taylor, who is still living. Her children are: EUa, Mrs. Thomas Payne,
of Nebraska ; Theresa, who is married and lives in Nebraska ; and Phil, a rancher
at Julesburg, Colorado.
After his father's death William 0. MeCormiek had little opportunity to
attend school and was soon in the ranks of wage earners. He worked at fai-m
labor, and for three .yeai-s was in the employ of one man, and was paid $17 a
month, then considered high wages for farm hands. At the age of twenty-one
he married Miss Cora A. Green, daughter of James and Catherine (Black)
Green of Ursa Township. James Green was born in New York State October
21, 1829, and was a railroad man for a number of years, locating in Adams
County in 1862. In that j'ear he married Miss Catherine Black, a native of
Ireland. James Green acquired a large tract of land, about 400 acres, in the
bottoms of Ursa Township, and before his death had converted much of it
into a productive farm. He served with the Missouri State Militia in the Civil
war, and was a democrat in politics. James Green died May 28, 1891, at the
age of sixty-two, and his wife at the age of sixty-five. They had two children,
Laura and Cora A. Mrs. MeCormiek was born December 8, 1869. After his
marriage Mr. MeCormiek began cultivating a portion of the Green farm and
has succeeded in bringing that tract of bottom land into cultivation and has
placed some very valuable improvements there. He also owns 140 acres in
the Conner Island District that borders the Indian Grove District in Ursa
Township. For the past five years his home has been in Ursa, from which
point he superintends the operation of his 100 acre farm. He was made levee
commissioner in 1910 for a term of three years, his associates being Doctor
Nickerson and Selden G. Earl. In September, 1916, he was again appointed
to this office, his associates being Doctor Nickerson and William Griser, both
of Quincy. Mr. MeCormiek is a democrat. He and his wife have two daughters.
Goldie, widow of Fred Gnuse, who died in May, 1917; and Ivy, at home.
Herman W. Fleer is one of the live and progi-essive agriculturists of Elling-
ton Township, with a well improved and ably managed farm in section 3. He
is on Quincy rural route No. 3. The farm is kept in first class order in every
respect, and he is one of the younger generation of men who now carry the
heavy burdens of agriculture in Adams County.
He has lived on his present farm of 120 acres for the past four years. He
grows abundant crops and feeds all the stuf? raised in the fields to his livestock.
He has been a practical farmer all his life and has always lived in Adams
County, and since he was five years of age in Ellington Township.
Mr. Fleer was born August 17, 1886, in Quincy. For twenty-eight years
his home was on the Ingram farm iu Ellington Township, where his father was
a tenant. While growing up there he attended the district school, the Washing-
ton Schoolhouse. ^Ir. Fleer is a son of Peter and Frederica (Heithold) Fleer,
both natives of Herford, Germany. His father came to Adams County with
his parents, while the mother came to this country alone. They met and married
in Quincy, and lived here until their children were born, including five sons
and two daughters. After they moved to the Ingram farm they spent the rest
of their lives in Ellington Township. Mr. Fleer's father died at the home of
792 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
his son, December 26, 1915. He was born May 24, 1838. The mother died on
the old farm April 9, 1911. She was born September 22, 1845. They were
members of the St. James Lutheran Church. Two of their children, Anna and
Walter, died in childhood. A son, Henry, is now a tenant farmer and by
bis marriage to Clara Beckman had the following children, Aurena, deceased,
Florence and Clarence. Lydia Fleer married Ed Whittler and lives in Elling-
ton Township. They have three sons and four daughters. Edward is a teamster
in Quincy, is married and has one son. William is also in the teaming business
in Quincy and has a family consisting of one son and three daughters.
Herman W. Fleer married in Quincy May 5, 1909, Laura Spilker. She
was born April 6, 1885, and attended the public schools there from the eighth
grade. Her parents were Henry and Anna (Pohlman) Spilker. Henry Spilker
came to America with his parents at the age of twelve years. Ann Pohlman
came to Quincy at the age of twenty-four with her uncle, Philip Guessling, and
she married Mr. Spilker one year after arriving in Quincy. They then located
in Quincy and Mrs. Fleer's father died there in the spring of 1909, at the age
of sixty-five. Her widowed mother is still living in Quincy at the age of
sixty-three. The Spilkers were long identified with St. Jacoby Lutheran
Church. Mrs. Fleer's father by his first marriage to Anna Altheide, who
died in the prime of life, had three daughters, all of whom are now married.
Mrs. Fleer's brother George is married. Her sister Helen died after marriage.
Lillie is the wife of Herman Snock, of Quincy, and they have one son. Harry
Spilker is unmarried and living in Chicago, Illinois.
Mr. and Mrs. Fleer are the parents of three children : Irene, born in 1909,
now in the public schools ; Walter, born in 1911 ; and Milton, born in 1915.
Mr. and Mrs. Fleer are members of the St. Jacoby Lutheran Church. In politics
he votes as a republican, and is especially interested in the welfare of the local
schools, serving a.s one of its board of directors.
Francis Marion Jacobs. The story of Francis ilarion Jacobs is that of
a man whose life was passed entirely within the limits of Adams County from
birth until death. In that period, covering more than seventy years, he became
known as a man of performance, of that sound industry which is the basis for
all the things prized by civilization, was faithful to his obligations, and fully
merited the esteem in which his name was held and is remembered.
He was born near Ursa August 10, 1838, a son of William and Caroline
(Kirkpatrick) Jacobs. William Jacobs was one of the real pioneers of Adams
County. A native of Kentucky, he came to Western Illinois in 1832 and for
a time lived in Quincy when it was a mere village. The story is told that he
was once offered the lot upon which the Newcomb Hotel now stands for $3. A
blacksmith by trade, he followed that occupation in Quincy and afterwards in
other sections of the county. He built the first blacksmith shop at Lima, and
sold that about 1844 to Theophilus Crenshaw, whose name and whose family
have a further connection with this history to be noted in following paragraphs.
William Jacobs also had a shop at Marcelline, and died in that place in 1871,
at the age of seventy -five. The mother of Francis Marion Jacobs died in 1839,
when her only son and child was about a year old. William Jacobs later married
Louisa Nicholson.
There were few good schools in Adams County when Francis Marion Jacobs
was a youth, but such advantages as were at hand he utilized both in Ursa and
Mendon Townships, and at the age of eight was for a brief time a pupil in the
schools of Quincy. He learned the cooper's trade and followed that for a number
of years. His half brother, James, conducted a shop at Lima and the cooperage
business was then a thriving industry, owing to the fact that Quincy was a big
pork packing center and required thousands of barrels in which to pack the
pork. Ha was also a merchant for a couple of yeafs at Warsaw, and then
bought land on Bear Creek in Ursa Township, which he occupied only two years.
QUIXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 793
In 1878 he bought a farm in section 18 of Lima Township, which he sold in
1892 and bought the old Crenshaw property-, which is still owned by his familj-.
After that farming was his chief business, and he acquired two or three other
tracts of laud in the county, including some of the land formerly owned by his
father. In his old homestead he had 196 acres, part of it developed to fruit,
and erected a model residence there with his own hands. In that environment,
which his labor and industry had done so much to improve, he spent the peaceful
years of his later life and passed away December 17, 1914. His widow Mrs.
Jacobs still occupies the old farm.
October 31, 1861, he married Celatha Crenshaw, who was born at Lima
October 31, 1841. She was married on her twentieth birthday. Her parents
were Theophihis and Martha (Martin) Crenshaw, the former born in 1815
and the latter in 1822. Theophilus Crenshaw, who was a native of Jefferson
Count.y, Illinois, was also a blacksmith by trade, and in 1845 bought the shop
at Lima from William Jacobs and was one of the pioneer mechanics in that
part of the county. Later he bought the farm now kno\\Ti as the Jacobs farm
and he also kept a hotel at Lima. He died May 25, 1891, his wife passing
away November 18, 1894. Mr. Crenshaw was one of the early members of Lima
Lodge of Masons and was a democrat and a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. His only son died at the age of sixteen. There were two daughters
in the Crenshaw family. Jincy first married Isaac Frazer and is now the wife
of Perry Spencer of Lima.
Mrs. Jacobs became the mother of six children and also has a large number
of gi'andchildren and six great-grandchildren. Her children were: Alice M.,
who was born March 9, 1863, married Don Vinson, occupying a nearby farm,
and is the mother of four children. Bertha, Corinne, John William and Verna
Frances. Carrie M., the second child, born May 25, 1865, is the wife of William
Bolt, and her six children are Eva, Edward V., Frank H., Marion Jacob, Cecil
Eugene and Blanche. Edward F. Jacobs is cashier of the State Bank of Lima
and has a separate sketch in this publication. John T., the fourth child, was
born April 12, 1871, and died August 9. 1892. James W., born June 5, 1874,
is a well known citizen of Lima Township, and by his marriage to Daisy Clark
has one child, Maxine. Jincy L., better known as Dollie, was born February
10, 1880, and in 1896 became the wife of Frank Gi-iffin. but is now the wife of
Edward C. Hill, who operates the old Jacobs farm. Mrs. Hill is the mother
of four children : Harrv M. Griffin, Celatha Estelle, Francis Irving and Hershel
Everett.
The late Francis M. Jacobs was one of the prominent members of Lima Lodge
No. 135, Ancient Free and Accepted Z\Iasons, and he and his wife were affiliated
with the Eastern Star. Both were active members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. In politics he was a democrat, and for six years was township super-
visor, commissioner of highways six years and a school director three years.
Edward Francis Jacobs, a son of the late Francis Marion Jacobs, whose life
story is told on other pages, has been identified with the Lima community of
Adams County for over a quarter of a century as a practical and progi-essive
farmer and a.s a business man. He is now cashier of the State Bank of Lima.
The State Bank of Lima was organized in 1910, and was operated for busi-
ness on the 15th of December of that year. The first officers were George W.
Frazer, president, E. F. Jacobs, vice president, and A. B. Deeper, cashier. In
1912 a change was made, at which time ^Ir. Leeper became president, L. S.
Frazer vice president, and Mr. Jacobs cashier, and these men are the executive
officers of the institution at the present time. The other directors at present
are W. L. Wade, C. R. McNay, W. T. Frazer, H. F. J. Rieker. Jackson R. Pearce,
all well known men of Adams County and their handling of the bank has brought
it the confidence and patronage it deserves. The bank has a capital stock of
.$25,000, surplus of $2,500 and carries deposits of over $100,000. Its total
resources aggregate about $140,000.
794 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Mr. Jacobs, the cashier, was born at Lima August 22, 1868. He grew up on
a farm, attended the local public schools and also the Gem City Business College
at Quincy. For a year and a half he was associated with I. M. Vinson in the
general merchandise business at Lima, and then took up a career as a farmer.
Abo\it the time of his marriage he began farming the Bolt place adjoining
Lima, this being the farm of his wife's father. In 1897 he bought eighty acres
of that land, and has developed one of the high class farms in that vicinity.
The buildings, which he erected, are within the corporation limits, and he still
gives close attention to the management of his farm and livestock in addition
to superintending the bank.
Mr. Jacobs has also been prominent in local affairs. For several years he
was a member of the school board, was township tax collector, and in 1911 was
candidate for the nomination for county treasurer, there being five other candi-
dates for the same office. He is a democrat, and is affiliated with Lima Lodge
No. 135, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. At the age of twenty-three he
was elected master of the Lodge and at that time was the youngest to enjoy
such an honor in Illinois. In 1891-2 he represented the Grand Lodge. He is
also affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. Mrs. Jacobs is an active
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and takes an active part in Red
Cross work.
December 7, 1892, he married Miss Effie A. Bolt, daughter of David and
Nancy (Howse) Bolt. Her mother is still living at Lima. Mrs. Jacobs was
born in Adams County March 14, 1870. Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs have two children :
Ellett May, born May 12, 1895 ; and Henry Francis, born November 30, 1902.
Oliver P. Dickiiut, proprietor of the Richland Farm a half mile south of
Paloma in Gilmer Township, represents one of the old and prominent families
of Adams County. At this point it is unnecessary to repeat information con-
cerning the family which appears on other pages, and which details the various
experiences and the membership of the family since they came to this countj'.
Oliver P. Dickhiit was born at the old Dickhut homestead a mile and a half
south of his present home on August 25, 1880. He is a son of John A. and
Eleanor S. (Booth) Dickhut. As a boy he lived with his parents and attended
local schools and made his independent start in life in 1908, having at that time
a cash capital of about .$5,000. Having been trained from boyhood to farming,
and looking upon it as the most useful of all vocations, he has kept his mind
and all his energies concentrated on this one line, and doubtless to this fact is
due his success. For his permanent home Mr. Dickhut acquired the Orville
Lawless farm of 160 acres, a half mile south of Paloma on the Cannon Ball
Trail. It was a high quality of land and cost $100 per acre, but his method of
handling it has full.v justified the acquisition of this high priced Illinois soil.
He has managed it as a combination grain and stock farm, and in 1917 he put
up one of the best stock barns in the township, a bank barn 36 by 72 feet with
a full basement under all. The barn cost .$4,000 and meets every pur-
pose demanded of a place for housing and handling stock. Mr. Dickhut feeds
about a carload of cattle every year, and also specializes in Poland China hogs,
having about 100 of those high price animals for market every season.
October 26, 1910, about two years after he bought his farm, Mr. Dickhut
married Miss Clara Morton, who was then twenty-four years of age. She is a
daughter of Zelma and Olive Morton of Honey Creek Township. Mr. and Mrs.
Dickhut have had two children, but one died in infancy. The living daughter
is Judith ^Mildred. Mr. Dickhut is a republican and is a steward in the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Dickhut is of the same religious faith.
Jesse Albert Vinson. The death of Jesse Albert Vinson on July 17, 1918,
served as a reminder to the people of northern Adams County not only of an
upright and stalwart citizen who had gone to his reward, but of a family who
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 795
were identified with this county from earliest pioneer times and whose name
has always been kept in honor and respect.
The earlier Vinsons were allied by marriage with the Orrs, whom local
history credits with the founding of the village of Lima. The Orrs were also
from Kentucky and "William Orr had visited this region of Western Illinois
at a very early date. He settled here contrary to the advice of many friends
in Kentucky, who believed that this district was very unhealthy.
The father of Jesse Albert Vinson was Isaac D. Vinson, who was born in
Giles County, Tennessee, May 26, 1804. He married Kittie Orr, who was born
in Burton County, Kentuctv, October 8, 1807. Their first home in the West
was in Missouri, but in 1830 they moved to Adams County and Isaac Vinson
became identified with some of the pioneer manufacturers in Lima Township.
He conducted a horse power carding mill at Lima, and one time had a leg broken
by the power machinery. Isaac Vinson died June 9, 1847, and his wife Novem-
ber 9, 1862. They had a family of eight children, six sons and two daughters.
Jesse Albert Vinson was the first child of the family born in the house
erected by Isaac Vinson on the old homestead in section 12. His birth occurred
April 15, 1841, and he was about five years old when his father died. He was
reared and educated in that community' and later turned his energies to farm-
ing, which occupied his time the greater part of his life. For fourteen years
before his death he lived largely retired, though keeping his home on the old
farm. He was made a Mason at Lima, and took much interest in the lodge,
serving as pa.st master and representative to the Grand Lodge. He was a
democrat, but not an office seeker, though he served on the village board.
On May 1, 1864, he married Sarah Tripp, who was born in the State of
Maine and was brought to Adams County at the age of four years by her
parents, Mr. and Jlrs. Alvin Tripp. Her father was a farmer and cooper and
the Tripp family home was on the Hancock County line, 2i^ miles northeast
of Lima. Mr. Alvin Tripp died at the home of Mrs. Vinson at the age of
seventy-four, while her mother passed away at seventy-eight.
Mrs. Vinson died twelve years before her husband. Of her children only
two reached maturity, Charles S. and Lottie M. Lottie is now the wife of
John Harness, and for the past ten years they have operated the old Vinson
homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Harness have two children, Thomas and Joseph.
Charles S. Vinson, the only son of Jesse Albert Vinson, has figured in the
community chiefly as a merchant, and is proprietor of one of the principal
general stores of Lima. He was born May 25, 1865, in the same house as his
father, and gi-ew up in that country community. For the past thirty years
he has been a merchant. At one time he was in business at Loraine, but moved
his store to Lima, and now has a large new building completely stocked with
general merchandise required by this commiuiity. He gives all his time to his
biisiness and has never been a candidate for public office.
October 29, 1884, Mr. Vinson married Anna Lutman. She was born at
Lima March 14, 1864, a daughter of Daniel and Rose (Reese) Lutman, both
now deceased. Her father was a native of Virginia and her mother of Mary-
land, and they married at Tully, Missouri, and settled at Lima before the war.
Her father died at the age of forty-one, and her mother survived many years.
]\Ir. and Mrs. Charles Vinson are the parents of eight children. Norma, Nina,
Albert, Pearlie, George, Howard, Hazel and Mabel. The three older daughters
all taught school in Adams and Hancock counties before their marriage. Norma
is now Mrs. Joseph Albert Conover of Lima. Nina is Mrs. Joseph B. Nelson of
Lima, and Pearlie is the wife of Claude Miller. The only married son is
Albert, whose wife was Elsie Beekman.
Edward Sohm. In considering the important men of Quincy, immediate
attention is called to Edward Sohm, president of the Ricker National Bank. Mr.
Sohm has passed a long, busy and useful life in his native city and his business
796 QUINCT AND ADAMS COUNTY
activities have always been of large commercial value, and at the same time his
unblemished personal reputation has added prestige to every enterprise with
which he has been identified.
Edward Sohm was born in the old family homestead on the corner of Third
and York streets, Quincy, October 2, 1845. His parents were Pantaleon and
Rosina (Specht) Sohm, the former of whom came to Quincy in 1840 and the
latter in 1834. Their lives were spent here and they comfortably reared a
family of children. They belonged to that dependable element that had mucli
to do with the upbuilding of Quincy from a village to a city of wide importance.
The father died in 1885.
Private tutors directed Edward Sohm's early education and at the age of nine-
teen he became an instructor himself and later took charge of St. Boniface
school and conducted it acceptably until he formed other plans which necessi-
tated resigning his position as principal of the school. In 1865 he accepted a
position in the queensware house of Henry Ridder, and three years later became
a partner in the firm of H. Ridder & Company, continuing until 1884, when
the china and crockery firm of Sohm, Rieker & Weisenhorn was organized. This
enterprise proved very successful and in 1894 removal was made from quarters
that had become too constricted to the commodious building especially prepared
for them. For a number of years Mr. Sohm continued to be identified with that
firm and his name was widely known in both the wholesale and retail trade.
In the meanwhile Mr. Sohm became interested in other gi'owing enterprises
contributive to the city's prosperity. He was one of the first directors of the
Rieker National Bank, an institution founded in 1858 by Henry P. Joseph
Rieker. In 1881 the bank was nationalized and in the same year Edward Sohm
became its vice president and served as such until 1883, when he assumed the
presidential responsibilities and has been at the head of this institution ever
since. The present officers of the bank are : Edward Sohm, president ; Jackson
R. Pearce, vice president ; H. F. J. Rieker, cashier.
In every movement of public importance Mr. Sohm has stood ready to
co-operate with his fellow citizens. He has never been willing to enter the
political field but his influence in business circles and in the city's substantial
development has been marked. He was one of the organizers of the Quincy
Freight Bureau and its treasurer.
In 1868 Mr. Sohm was married to Miss Mary Barbara Helmer, and to this
marriage were born three sons and four daughters : Katherine, William H., man-
ager of the Bolaska Theater of Tunay, Thirisie Brockman of New Sterling,
Illinois, Edward, Jr., of "Waterloo, Iowa, Dr. Albert H., a dentist of Iowa,
and tlie two youngest died in infancy.
A. C. BiCKHAUs. A worthy representative of the industrious, thrifty and
enterprising men who have come to Illinois from countries far across the sea,
A. C. Bickhaus, of Quincy, is well known in industrial circles as an expert file
cutter, his large and well-equipped manufactory being located at 1110 Broad-
way, where he is carrying on an extensive and profitable business. He was
born May 5, 1849, in "Westphalia, Prussia, a son of Ernest and Christina (Yeas-
ing) Bickhaus. When he was a very small child his mother died, and when he
was 3% years old his father died, leaving him an orphan with several brothers
and sisters, he having been the tenth child in order of birth of a family of
eleven children.
After leaving school A. C. Bickhaus served an apprenticeship of three years
at the baker's trade, which he subsequently followed for a year in his native
land. In 1867, following in the footsteps of his brother Frank, who had im-
migrated to the United States in 1864, he came to Illinois, locating in Quincy,
where for four months he was employed in a bakery. A natural mechanic and
skillful in the use of tools, Mr. Bickhaus then made use of his native talent by
learning the trade of file cutting, serving an apprenticeship of two years. Then,
LIBRARY
or THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 797
ill partnership with his former employer, William Dienstuhl, he established
himself in business under the tirm name of Dienstuhl & Biekhaus. Three years
and nine months later, about 1S74, the partnership was dissolved, and Mr.
Biekhaus moved to his present fine building on Broadway, where he has estab-
lished a large and constantly increasing business.
On September 3, 1867, J\Ir. Biekhaus was united in marriage with Emma
Seifert, and into their household thus established the following children have
been born, namely: Elizabeth, deceased; Henry, foreman in his father's fac-
tory; Joseph, associated with his fatlier in the factory; Clem, deceased; Dena,
deceased; Clem, deceased; Amelia, wife of Max Scott, of Quincy; Lydia, wife
of William Dover, of Quincy; Emma, deceased; G. Roy, who died in infancy;
George, deceased ; a daughter that died in infancy ; Julia, wife of Theodoi'e
Stigeman; and Ernest, associated in business with his father.
In polities prominently identified with the democratic part.y, Mr. Biek-
haus served as foreman of the old fire department, and since 1883 has repre-
sented the Fifth Ward as alderman, during wiiieh time he has been loyal to
the interests of his constituents and lent his influence toward the establish-
ment of beneficial enterprises. Fraternally he belongs to the Court of Honor,
to the Knights of Columbus, to the Prairie Benevolent Association, and to the
Travelers Proteetive Association. Religiously he and his family are members of
St. Boniface Catholic Church.
Hexry L. ;Miciielm.\nn is secretary and general manager of an industry
which was founded in Quincy the same year he was born and which for thirty
years under his virile enterprise has achieved rank among the most importaiit
of the city. This is tlie Michelmann Steel Construction Works. It was estab-
lished on a small scale by his father, the late John H. Michelmann, buf the
great degree of its prosperity and its widening scope in local industries is the
direct result and product of 11. L. Michelmann 's broad technical understanding
and executive administration.
Henry L. Jlichelmann was born in Quincy February 13, 1865. In that year
his father, John H. Michelmann, started a small shop for the manufacture of
boilers, and more particularh- the repairing of boilers. John H. Michelmann
was born in Prussia, Germany, in 1830 and came to the Ihiited States at the
age of twenty-three, in 1853. He first located at Evansville, Indiana, and in
1855 came to Quincy. In the old country he had learned and had followed the
trade of blacksmith, but after coming to America he learned boilermaking.
Thus in 1865 he was thoroughly cpialified by experience in the trade and as a
general business man to establish an independent concern. At the beginning
the shop was conducted under his individual name as J. H. Michelmann. His
location was at the corner of Spring and Second streets. In 1900 the works were
incorporated as the Michelmann Boiler Company, with John J. Michelmann as
president and treasurer and Henry L. Michelmann secretary and manager. In
1906 a new incorporation was made under the name Michelmann Steel Construc-
tion Works.
Henry L. ?Jichelmanii was educated in the Quincy public schools and in
the Gem City Business College, and at the age of sixteen went into his father's
shop. He learned boiler making and sheet metal work as thoroughly as his
father had done before him, and his skill in the trade and an apt comprehension
of everything connected with the business brought him to increased promotion
until he was secretary and manager of the works.
As early as 1886 he was foreman in the shops and he gradually took upon
himself tlie greater part of estimating and management of the business both
inside and outside. When he first took charge it was a small concern doing a
business valued at from -tl 5,000 to $20,000 a year, whereas now the company's
annual business is about $200,000. Chief credit for this achievement is un-
doubtedly due Henry L. Michelmann and his career stands out prominent be-
voi. n— 8
798 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
cause of his singular devotion to one line of work. He started as a boy, learned
all the technical processes by actual experience, and his own knowledge, charac-
ter and business experience have been worked into the large plant of which he
is today the active head.
Mr. Michelmann married June 21, 1893, Miss Ida Meyer, a native of Quincy.
They have four children, Ruth, Irene, Flora and Ada. Another child, the first
born, Robert, died at the age of six and a half years. Mr. Michelmann is a
republican in politics, is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a
Knight of Pythias and a member of the local Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion.
Otis Johnston, M. D. A native of Quincy, Doctor Johnston has for nearly
thirty years been identified with his calling as a physician and surgeon, and his
work as a surgeon in particular has brought him a front rank in the profession.
He is now chief of the staff of St. Mary's Hospital.
Doctor Johnston graduated from the Quincy Medical College twenty-nine
years ago and has given all his services in his home city. One indication of the
rank and esteem he enjoys is that for a number of years he was president of the
Adams County Medical Society, and is also a member of the State Society and
the American Medical Association.
Doctor Johnston was born at Quincy in 1868, and was reared and educated
here, attending high school. He is a son of John W. and Isabel (White) John-
ston, both of whom were born in Kentucky of old Scotch ancestry. His people
have been Americans for several generations. John W. Johnston after his
marriage started for Missouri, and had to cut a road through a long stretch of
timber in order to reach his land in Lewis County. He went there in 1856,
subsequently settled in Marion County, and when still a young man came to
Quincy. He and his wife spent their last years in Quincy. John W. Johnston
was prominent in the tobacco industry of Quincy for a number of years. He
was a maker of the old Navy Plug and the American Twist. Doctor Johnston
has a brother, Virgil V., who is a rice grower and planter at Stuttgart, Arkan-
sas. He also has two sisters, Exia and Ida, the former a teacher and the latter
a stenogi-apher, both living in Quincy.
Doctor Johnston married at Quincy Maude Harrington Grieser. Her parents
were natives of Baltimore, and Mrs. Johnston was only three years old when
her mother died at the age of twenty-eight. Her father, who died at Quincy
ten years ago, was John L. Grieser, one of the largest land owners and most
prominent citizens of the county. At one time he owned over 2,000 acres of
land south of Quincy, and he was the principal promoter and after years of
advocacy and educational campaigns he brought about the construction of the
Indian Drain Levee, which at that time was regarded as the greatest improve-
ment in and around Quincy. It resulted in the draining of thousands of acres,
and changed the value of land from about $10 an acre to $150. Doctor and Mrs.
Johnston became the parents of two children. One son, Emmett, died in 1897,
in infancy. Their only living son, Eugene A-, aged fourteen, is a student in the
Quincy High School. Doctor Johnston is a member of the Christian Church
while Mrs. Johnston belongs to the Congregational denomination. He is affili-
ated with the Masonic Lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the
Knights of Pythias and Elks, and he and his family have always taken an active
part in social affairs.
Milton S. Cabell is one of the most sterling citizens Quincy has ever had.
He represents in one sense some of the older activities and older spirit of
Quincy when this was a typically river town. Mr. Cabell was an engineer on
river steamboats for a number of years, and his father was a noted captain of
river boats from pioneer times. Milton S. Cabell until he retired was in ser-
vice as an engineer for fully half a century. He won an ample competence for
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 799
all his needs by his work and has connection with a number of Quincy financial
institutions.
For twenty-two years Mr. Cabell was in service as engineer for the Quincy
postoffice, and perhaps the larger number of people in the city associate that
service with his name, though it constituted only about half his active lifetime.
He was first appointed to the ofSce by Judge Thompson, then postmaster, in
1892. He served under successive postmasters, James Montgomery, Chet Wil-
cox, David P. "Wilcox, editor of this history, and finally resigned his office while
Mr. Wilcox was still postmaster. Mr. Cabell enjoyed the personal friendship
of all these men, and holds them and their memories in the highest regard.
^Ir. Cabell was born in Quincy, on Vermont Street, back of the present
Blackstone Building, May 27, 184:7. He attended local schools here, and at the
age of fifteen went to work on ^Mississippi river boats and learned the trade
of engineer. He was employed on the boats of the St. Louis and Keokuk packet
line for about seven years, and on leaving the river he went to work as engineer
in the Castle mills. He was also with the Telco mills, the Gem City mills, the
Dick Brothers mills, and from that branch of sei-vice entered the engineering
plant of the local postoffice. Through fifty years Mr. Cabell was never with-
out a job, and that speaks highly of his efficiency and skillful ability and also
the faithfulness with which he has done his chosen work in life.
His father was the well known old river man Capt. Samuel G. Cabell, who
was born in Virginia and married Sadie Harris, a native of Kentucky. Both
were of old southern stock and possessed many of the traditions of the best of
southern families. Captain Cabell and wife were married at Carrolton, Illinois,'
and soon afterward moved to Quincy. Captain Cabell served as chief engineer
on the St. Louis and Keokuk Packet Line, at first with headquarters at Carrol-
ton, and it was at the suggestion of Governor Carlin, a lifelong friend, that
he moved to Quincy. He was chief engineer on river boats for a dozen 3'ears,
and after tlmt was owner and captain of many of the best known vessels on
the Mississippi. He was also captain of the St. ]\]^ry and the William Camp-
bell, two boats well known on the Missouri River between St. Joseph and Omaha
just before the war. He was captain and owner of the Sparrow Hawk, the
Georgetown, the H. T. Yateman, the Ed I\Ianning, all of which plied on the
^Mississippi. Captain Cabell spent the last twenty years of his life in retire-
ment, and died in 1898, at the venerable age of eighty-four. His name is still
spoken with respect by the old time Mississippi River people. He survived his
wife a number of years, she passing away at the age of about sixty. Captain
Cabell was a democrat and a Methodist, while his wife was a Baptist.
Milton S. Cabell is the only surviving child of six in his father's family. He
had a brother, John, who married, but had no children, and a sister, Emma, died
unmarried at the age of forty-two.
In 1867 Milton S. Cabell married at St. Louis Miss Nellie M. Martin. She
was born at Camden, Missouri, in 1850, was educated there, and during more
than half a century of married life she and Mr. Cabell have enjoyed a rich
and rare companionship, have labored together, have made their lives worth
much to the community as well as to themselves, and without children of their
iown they have done much to brighten life for others less fortunate. Mrs.
Cabell's father, Thomas Martin, died in California when about seventy-five
years of age. Thomas Martin married Miss Humphrey, who died at the home
of her daughter when about seventy-five. Her parents were both natives of
Indiana. IMrs. Cabell has a sister, Mrs. Gus Bowman, a widow, and mother of
a .son, William B. Bowman. The latter has two sons, William Bowman, Jr., and
Charles, the former now serving in the aviation corps in France, while the
latter is employed on a Mississippi River boat in Government service, the William
Eastman. Mr. and Mrs. Cabell are members of the First Baptist Church of
Quincy. He has been a Mason of high standing for forty years and is affiliated
800 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
witli the Lodge, Chapter, Council and Consistory, having been a Scottish Rite
JMason for tliirty years.
, IIk.vky F. SriiENGER. Careful, methodical and scieutitic farming at its
very best is perhaps nowhere in Adams County better illustrated than on the
plaee of Henry P. Sprenger in Honey Creek Township. This is in every sense
a practical farm. Mr. Sprenger is not a wealth}" business man running a farm
for a diversion or pleasure, and his place has all the more significance and value
as an examjtle wlicn it is remembered that he went in debt for the land when
he ac(iuired it, and made the farm pay for itself and bring the enviable pros-
perit.v he now enjoys.
Mr. Sprenger was born in Gilmer Township of this county, November 5,
1863, son of Frederick S. and Ida (Payraour) Sprengei*. His parents were
natives of Germany, his father born in Prussia and his mother in Hanover. As
soon as they were married they started for America in 1858, landing at New
Orleans, and coming north by boat to St. Louis. After a brief residence in
<^uincy they moved to Gilmer Township, and in 1862 moved to the old Sprenger
homestead in section 23 of Honey Creek Township. Here Frederick Sprenger
lived a busy and profitable life, which came to a close in February, 1897. In
the family were five children: Henry F. ; Mrs. Mary Wiegmann ; Frank, who
died March 21, 1905; Mrs. Ida Dinklage ; and Mrs. Minnie Bauers. Mrs. Ida
Dinklage still occupies and owns the old homestead farm in section 23. The
Sprengers are of old German stock, and some of the interesting relies they
brought with them from the fatherland are still in the family possession, includ-
ing some (ierman books which are more than a century old.
Henry F. Sprenger grew up in Honey Creek Township, was educated in the
local schools and in the German school at Coatsburg, and was with his parents
until he was about twenty-seven years of age. He bought the land included in
his present farm in 1890 from the John Byers estate, but it was not until 1896
that he occupied it, in the meantime having operated his own land as well as
his father's homestead. Oft November 18, 1896, Mr. Sprenger married Miss
Mai-y Linkerman, daughter of Henry and Louisa (HoUe) Linkerman. Her
fathei- was born in Germany and came to the United States in the '60s and died
in 191)! in Camji Point Township. Her mother is still living. Mary Linker-
man was born in Hancock County, and was twenty years of age at her marriage.
She died .laniiai-y 15, 1906, leaving one son, William Henry, who is still at home.
On June 15, 1910. ^Ir. Spi'enger married Frederieka E. Liukerman, sister of
his first wife.
It was in 1910 that Mr. Sprenger rebuilt the original home and that gives
him the neat and attractive house in which he and his family now reside. In
1904 he erected the barn. His barn is now well supplied with a complete equip-
ment and perfect ari-angement of buildings, including hog barns, garage and
granary, and he has carefully looked after and provided for an uninterrupted
water snj^iily, obtained from a deep drilled well 275 feet, and brought to the
surface and distributed by means of a combination of windmill and gas engine.
Mr, Sprenger has carefully giadetl up and improved his own livestock, market-
ing about a hundred head of Pohuul China hogs every year, and occasionally
feeding some cattle for market. All his own corn is fed on the farm. For his
work horses he has some good grades of Percherons.
When Mr. Sprenger bought his present farm in 1890 he had only $800 to
invest, and had to shoulder a big debt for the remainder. By steadily keeping
at his work and always studying to better his land and his method of handling
it, he has gradually emerged from all his obligations and his farm today would
be hard to equal in the matter of eftieiency and general value. He is a member
of the Farmers Imiu'oveinent Association of the county and takes pride in trans-
forming his own farm enterprise and efforts toward the general betterment
of the communitv. He served as a director of the Center School Board fifteen
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 801
years, is a deiuocrat. a iiicinlici- and ti'tistee of Coatstnii-n: Lutheran Clnircli. and
all ill ail is one of the most suljstantial citizens of the county.
Chakles II. Wood. As a farmer and Imsiness managrer Adams County has
few men to compare with the late Clyu-les II. Wood. For many years he was
one of the most influential citizens of Ellington Township.
He wa.s born on his father's farm in section 4 of tiiat township, ^March 20,
1842, lived there all his life and died February 10, 1898. His parents were
Charles aiul Ann Wood, both natives of Enjiland and of old Enolish ancestry.
They were married in England and their children born in tlie old country
died before the parents came to America in 1S40. They came to this country in
a sailing \cssel and after nuiny weeks landed at New York and came on to
Adams Comity. In England Charles Wood. Sr., had been a skillful weaver by
trade, but in Adams County he bought land in Ellington Townsliip and
developed his property and owned a large and profitable estate. Both he and
his wife died on the old farm, he at the age of fifty-six and she when seventy-
six. They were members of the Episcopal Church.
Charles II. Wood was the only child of bis jiarents to reach maturity. Wlicn
a young man he took the management of the home farm and later became its
owner. He increased his ])ossessions and at one time had more than 400 acres,
all well iinprovetl and con.stituting a most valuable jiroperty. He did general
faj-ming and was also an extensive fruit raiser. He dcvelo])ed several acres to
fruit. His home was a substantial ten room house and there were other sul)-
stantial buildings.
Jlr. Wood was a stanch republican but never sought any office. He was a
member of the United Rrefhren Church.
He first mai-ricd Mary Kinkade, who was born and educated in Adams
County. She died at the home in Ellington Township in 1884, when in the
prime of life. Of her children the oldest, Enoch, is a resident of California
and is the father of four dauglitei's. S. Edmond has one of the finest farms in
the vicinity of Augusta, Illinois, and is married and has two sons and four
daughters. Abraham L. is a bachelor living in California. Isaac X. has a
truck garden in Riverside Township of this county, and his family consists of a
.son and daughter. Lewis died at the age of twenty-three.
In the fall of 1886, in Gilmer Township, Mr. Wood mari'icd .Miss Sarah
McKec. Mrs. Wood since her husband's death has shown remarkalile abilities
in the handling of her affairs, and is regarded as one of the shrewdest business
women in the county. She was born in Ellington Townsliip and has s] cut ail
her life in this county. Taking property left fo her managemeiif by her hus-
band, she has greatly improved it, and has also ar(|uired miicji ])ropcrty in
Quincy. She now lives in Quiney at 524 North Ninth Street.
Mrs. Wood is a daughter of Samuel and -Alartha (McKeeman) McKee. Both
parents were born in Ireland. Her mother was first married to William Boyle.
They came fo the United States and settled in Adams County, wliere Mr. Boyle
died, leaving two sons, John and Daniel. She later married Mr. Mc-Kee, who
had come to Adams County when a young man. Mr. and ^Irs. ^JIcKec were
Adams county farmers. He died in IS.'i.'i, and his widow passed away at the
age of seventy. Both were members of the Presl)\teriaii Church, ^frs. Wood
was the only child of her father.
I\Irs. Wood has three children: ;\Iartha .M., who graduated from the (,)uiucy
High School in 1910. was a teacher for two years and is now the wife of William
Shriver of Ursa Township. Their children are Eva May, William L. and Myrtle
R. Ralph MeKee Wood, born in 189:!. graduated from high school in 1913 and
is now a soldier at Camp Funston. ]\Iary Luciiula graduated from the Quincy
High School in 1915 and is at home with her mother. ]\Irs. Wood and her
eliildren are Pre.sbj'terians.
802 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Eugene Weisinger. The men who desei've greatest credit for the immense
productiveness of American agriculture are those who are in actual contact with
the work and processes of the farms. An increasing part of American farms is
owned by men who do not reside upon them and to only a limited degree are
responsible for the fruits gathered from tJieir lands. It is in the class of farm
managers and those whose time and resources are concentrated upon the trying
processes that Mr. Eugene "Weisinger has his place. Mr. "Weisinger is one of the
finest types of American citizens. He is of German birth, but has lived in this
country since boyhood. He signalized his devotion to American ideals by ser-
vice in the Spanish-American war, and the degree of community esteem in which
he is held is well reflected by his present position as supervisor of Gilmer Town-
ship.
Mr. "Weisinger and family reside in section 35 of Gilmer Township, fourteen
miles east of Quinc.y. He was born in the Kingdom of Wuertemberg May 29,
1875. He was educated in the German common schools and was seventeen
j^ears old when he came to the United States. He wa,s the only member of his
immediate family to come to this country. His uncle, Carl Eppinger, was at
that time a resident of Quincy. ilr. "Weisinger arrived at Quincy July 2, 1892.
A machinist by trade, he worked for the Plow Company and the Gardner
Pump "\^'o^ks for one year, but since then has applied his efforts steadily to
farming. He went to work as a farm laborer by the month, spending two years
with "\Villiam Zanger of Burton Township, two years with J. S. Lawless in
Gilmer Township, and in 1898 took employment with J. R. Ferguson of Burton
Township.
In the meantime Mr. "Weisinger had been a member of the Naval Militia
Company at Quincy, serving as acting boatswain's mate. At the outbreak of
the Spanish-American war he enlisted in the United States Na\y, and was in
active service from May 25 to November 13, 1898. He was on the flagship
Newark, first commanded by Commodore "Watson and later by R^ar Admiral
Schley. He was an ordinary seaman, and was in charge of the poop deck or
admiral's quarters. During his service in the Naval Militia he had been granted
a gold medal for proficiency as a seaman.
"When he received his honorable discharge from the navy Mr. "Weisinger re-
turned to farm work. In December, 1902, he married Sophia Page, of Burton
Township, daughter of Michael Page. She was boi-n in Burton Township and
was twenty-two when she married. Up to the time of his marriage ]Mr. "Weis-
inger had been a rather easy going and a "good fellow," and consequently his
accumulations and capital amounted to only the savings from a year's earnings
and a horse and buggy, "^"ith the responsibility of a home he set himself seri-
ously to providing for the future. For three years he farmed in Burton Town-
ship and in the fall of 1905 came to his present place, then the "^^ alter Gate
farm in Gilmer Township. At that time he had the management of 140 acres
and at present he has 300 acres under his control. This fine farm is owned
b}' C. M. Henry. Mr. "Weisinger has made a splendid success as a farm man-
ager, and handles his fields and livestock with profit both to himself and the
owner of the land. About every year he sends two carloads of his own hogs
to market and also buys and feeds both cattle and hogs.
Mr. Weisinger has given much of his time to public affairs. He served as
township clerk two .years, was township collector of Burton Township the
first year after his marriage, and was elected to his present office as supervisor
of Gilmer Township in 19iS. He is also a director of his home school district.
Mr. "Weisinger is a republican and is affiliated with the ]\Iasonie Lodge and
Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Columbus. In the Odd Fellows Lodge
he has passed all the chairs and has been representative to the Grand Lodge.
He and his family are suppoi'ting members of the Pleasant Grove Methodist
Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. "Weisinger have a happy family of seven
QUIXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 803
children, the oldest aged fifteen. Their names in order of birth are Carl, Gladys,
Emmett, Page, Clifton, Rosiua and Ruth.
Fred "William Albsmeyer. One of the interesting old timers of Adams
County is Fred William Albsmeyer, now living retired at Quincy, and whose
active life was spent on a farm in Melrose Township. The story of Mr. Albs-
meyer 's career illustrates what may be accomplished by a man of determination
and without capital, and in spite of vicissitudes and circumstances in the highest
degree discouraging.
Mr. Albsmeyer came to Adams County over fifty years ago. He was born
in Kreis Hertford, Prussia, in May, 1845. His parents were farming people
and spent all their lives in German.v. In 1867 Fred was persuaded by a couple
of young men then revisiting in Germany to come to America. Arriving in
Adams County his friends took him to the home of George Beilstein of Melrose
Township. Mr. Albsmeyer had a $10 gold piece on landing in this country.
He had worked at low wages on farms and in the coal mines in Germany, and
after coming to Adams County he spent four years working at $15 a month
in Melrose Township for William Beugert. He was thrifty, looked to the
future, saved his money, and at the time of his marriage had $400 for capital
and also a team and an interest in a threshing machine.
February 21, 1872, Mr. Albsmeyer married Miss Charlotta Dickmann. She
was born in Prussia, and came to the United States in 1871. After their
marriage the.y rented a farm in Melrose Township five or six years. Mr. Albs-
meyer then arranged for the purchase of the Peter Shear farm of 115 acres.
This farm was in the very southeast corner of Melrose Township, cornering on
Fall Creek, Burton and Payson Township. The purchase price was $6,300. Mr.
Albsmeyer had only $300 to pay down, and went in debt for the balance at 8
per cent interest. The land had few improvements, chiefly a log stable and a
small house. For several years there were no crops, and hog cholera swept away
the few hogs he had. He was nnable to pay even the interest and had to borrow
money for that purpose. Later he bought forty acres more at $70 per acre and
the land had no building whatever. He kept steadily at work, clearing and
improving his land, and using his fields for the production of wheat, oats and
corn. In spite of losses he kept raising hogs, though two or three times his
bunch was cleared out by the cholera. Gradually his debts shrunk, and in the
meantime his farm increased in value. He built a new barn, enlarged the house,
and made as fine a body of land as could be found in that communit}\ Later
Mr. Albsmeyer bought 160 acres in Harper County, Kansas, and his son lived
there for several years. Mr. Albsmeyer still owns this Kansas property. In
1907 he retired from the farm and has since enjoyed the comforts of a good
home in Quincy, his son William being manager of the farm.
Mr. Albsmeyer early became an American citizen and has regularly voted
the democratic ticket. He is a member of the Salem Evangelical Lutheran
Church at Quincy.
The only son of Mr. and Mrs. Albsmeyer is William F. They have three
daughters: Anna, wife of Ed Stockheke, of Mendon, and mother of one child,
Grace; Lydia, who married William Speckhart, of Fall Creek Township and
has four children, Alfred, Ralph, Alma and Wilma; and Clara, still at home.
William F. Albsmeyer mari-ied Catherine Speckhart, daughter of Adam
Speckhart, one of the best known citizens of the county. For the past eleven
years the son has operated the homestead farm. He and his wife have four
children : George, Ebner, Esther and Marie. The son George is now a member
of the Students Army Training Corps at the State University in Urbana.
James MejVliff, owner of Fairview Stock Farm, has been a resident of
Adams County over half a century, and from farm hand at low wages has
progressed through many years of strenuous effort to the ownership of one of
804 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
the excellent places in Honey Creek Township, and has independence in material
circumstances and at the same time has reared and helped the children who
have grown up around him. Mr. Mealiff has had to work for all he got, but
while out of necessity attending closely to his own affairs he has had an im-
selfish and public spirited attitude toward the community and has done what he
could to help forward the wheels of progress.
Mr. Mealiff was born in County Cavan, Ireland, February 7, 1843. He grew
up on a farm and the knowledge of farming as acquired in Ireland was prac-
tically the only asset he brought to America. He was not j'ct twenty-one when
he landed at New York December 22, 1863. He remained in the east two months
and in February, 1864, arrived in Mendon Township. At that time he was
$35 in debt, and while this is an insignificant sum in the present day it required
Mr. Mealiff the better part of a half year to pay off the obligation. For the
first year in this county he worked for Abraham Chittenden at wages of $12.50
per month. Having a special use for his money and not enjoying a large social
acquaintance which required its expenditure, he saved practically all that he
earned. In the spring of 1865 Mr. Mealiff enlisted to serve his adopted country
as a soldier in the Union Army. He enlisted in Company D of the One Hun-
dred and Fifty-Fifth Illinois Volunteers, and was sent to Tullahoma, Tennessee.
He .spent his time there drilling and doing guard duty, and was still thus
employed when Lee's army surrendered. When the news of Lincoln's assassina-
tion reached him he was standing on the picket line. He also did some duty
in guarding bridges and railroads and was discharged in September, 1865,
after eight months of service.
After the war l\Ir. Mealiff: continued work for Mr. Chittenden two years,
and continued to give his labor to other farmers in the county for six or seven
years longer. He commanded about the highest wages paid for farm labor,
$22.50 a month for nine months out of the year. Among his other employers
were Percy Sproat, Clark Strickler and W. W. Benton.
December 28, 1871, seven yeai-s after coming to Adams County, Mr. Mealiff
married Jane Hewitt, daughter of William Hewitt, whose family also came
from County Cavan, Ireland. Mrs. Mealiff died in 1886, at the age of thirty
years. Mr. Mealiff in May, 1888, married his first wife's sister, Eliza Hewitt.
Early in his married career Mr. Mealiff and his cousin, William ilealiff
bought 200 acres of wild land, and the.y were partners in its ownership and
development for about ten years. James Mealiff then sold his interest to his
cousin and invested the proceeds in his present farm of 160 acres, located 31/2
miles east of Mendon. Later he boiight another forty acres, so that his farm
comprises 200 acres. His land has been carefully handled and improved with
a good house, barn and other buildings, and has been the scene of some profitable
mixed farming, gi-ain crops and the raising of Shorthorn cattle, hogs and horses.
It would be one of the interesting stories of individual experience could all
the details be presented of Mr. jMealiff's struggle toward independence. When
he married and bought his first land he had saved about $500 from his wages.
Naturally he assumed a big debt, and for years paid 10 per cent interest. Care
and provision for his family used \\p most of his earnings and it was thirty
years before he could call himself entirely clear of debt. He also experienced
the eras of low prices. Many times he sold his hogs at 3 cents a pound after
feeding them 50 cent' corn, so that there was absolutely no reward for his labor
and care. Mrs. Mealiff also raised a flock of turkeys, and the best price that
could be obtained for these birds was 4 cents a pound. Mr. Mealiff is a vestry-
man in the Episcopal Chiirch at Mendon and while a republican voter has
avoided any mention of office for himself.
By his first wife he had five children: William A., a bachelor, who is now
handling the farm for his father; Elizabeth, who died at the age of twelve years;
Sarah Jane, who died at the age of twenty-five, the Avife of John F. Diekerman ;
James Edward, a fanner in Mendon Township who married Julia Talcott ;
LIBRARY
jr THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 805
and Rol)ert II.. who for the past fifteen years has lived at Monte Vista, Colorado.
By his second wife Mr. ^lealiff had one son, John K., a fanner in Keeue Town-
ship. This son married Ruth Cliittenden, daughter of H. F. Chittenden.
Charles E. Delaplain is a Quiney business man who has the reputation
of having made a success in practically every one of life's undertakings. He
has been a very busy man, was formerly a stock buyer and dealer, but has
found his chief and most profitable field of operations as a real estate man.
His offices are in the Sterns liuilding at Quiney, where he has been located
since establishing his business at Quiney in 1916.
Mr. Delaplain was born at Plainville in Payson Township of this county
April 27, 1868. His father, John Delaplain, was a native of West Virginia,
of French ancestry. When a young man lie came West and settled near Quiney,
and for several years followed his trade as a carpenter. He helped build the
old Scheers barn, the largest in the county at that time. For some years he
was also associated in trade with i\Ir. Watt, a merchant at Payson. Later John
Delaplain built the first store at Plaiiiville in the south end of the county. In
order to clear the site for his store building he had to cut and carry away part
lof a field of corn there. Thus he was in a business sense the originator of
Plainville and conducted a general merchandise store for the benefit of that
community thirty-six years. Finally selling out, he moved to Winfield, Kan-
sas, and died there two years later, in 1894. He was a democrat, and for six
terms held the office of postmaster at Plainville. He was a very active man in
his community and his influence was especially directed to the building and
support of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which his wife was also very
active. It was in the Plainville community that John Delaplain married Miss
Lucy Monroe, daughter of Elijah Monroe. Her father was born in Ross Coun-
ty, Ohio, and married a Miss Hendershot. Elijah Monroe came to Illinois
and lived on the line between Adams and Pike counties. He died at the age
of seventy-four and the mother at eighty-six. Mrs. John Delaplain was born
near Zanesville, Ohio, and is still living at Winfield, Kansas, bright and active
at the age of eighty-four. Her children are three in number : Ida, Ollie and
Charles E. Ida married D. D. Iladzcll, of Oklahoma, and has reared to adult
years three sons and four daughters. The daughter Ollie still lives with her
■widowed mother in Winfield.
Charles E. Delaplain spent his j-outh and boyhood at Plainville in the
southern part of the county and while there learned the trade of butcher, and
that occupation introduced him to the general business of stock buying. He
also had some experience as a general merchant, and the various things
he undertook seemed to prosper in his hands. For the past nineteen years
he has been giving nearly all his energies to the real estate 1)usiness. He is
affiliated with the Odd Fellows Lodge and the Woodman Camp at Plainville.
Mr. Delaplain has been twice married, but has no children. His pi'csent wife
was formerly Miss Imo N. McEntee, who was born and reared near Barry,
Illinois.
August Basse. For over sixty years the name Basse has been identified in
the minds of many Quiney pcojile with the jewelry business. The Basses are
a remarkable family, remarkable for their genius as artistic workmen in different
kinds of material, and also as thorough business meu, upright citizens and people
who are worth while in any community.
The late August Ba.sse was born in Essen, Germany, January 15, 1840. His
people for many years had lived in the great German art center of Duesseldorf,
and for years they had conducted a business for the manufacture of pewter ware.
August Basse, Sr., was born at Essen and in 18.36 he man-ied Henrietta Huls-
mann, also a native of Essen. August Basse, Sr., learned the trade of wood-
worker and wood carver. He had much of that wonderful skill which is attrib-
806 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
uted to the world famous carvers in wood and other materials in Germany.
Some of the rare pieces he executed are still extant. He brought to America
with him a wonderfullj' intricate and interesting sample of wood carving,
representing a spread eagle in wood and a Dutch hound in ivory. He attached
these to a beautiful cane. He and his family came to America in 1855, and from
Philadelphia came west to Illinois. In 1856 he established a jewelry store at
518 Maine Street in Quincy and there built up a large and successful business.
His brother-in-law Mr. Henry Hulsmann, was associated with him as gold and
silversmith.
This business was finally acquired and succeeded by August Basse, Jr. who
had grown up and learned the trade in New York and Boston. He gave the
best years of his life to its management and was one of the prominent business
men of Quincy. He died in this city June 15, 1907. He was reared a Lutheran
and was a republican in politics.
March 19, 1864, at Quincy, August Basse married Marie Kespohl, who was
born in Germany May 21, 1842. She was reared and educated in Germany, a
daughter of Henry and Augusta (Kuster) Kespohl, natives of the same place.
The Kespohl family came to the United States and located at Quincy, where her
parents spent the rest of their days. Her father died iii 1881 and her mother
some j'eai-s later at the age of seventy. They were members of the Lutheran
Church and reared a large family of children, four of whom are still living.
To Mr. and Mrs. August Basse were born six children : Clara died when one
year old. August is now in business at Salt Lake City and is married but has
no children. Bertha, who like her brothers and sisters was well educated in the
city schools of Quincy, has alwavs lived at home with her mother. Sophie, who
died March 12, 1916", was the wife of E. Roy Harris, of Perry, Illinois. Mr.
Harris died July 28, 1914, and they left two sons, Richard A. and Lloyd E.
Richard A., who enlisted in the army medical corps at Jefferson Barracks, was
a student in chemical engineering at the University of Illinois. Lloyd E. is a
member of the Quincy High School class of 1919 and lives with his grand-
mother. Henry Basse is successor to his father's business as a jewelryman,
and thus continues a line of trade which has been in this one family for three
generations. He married Valinda StoUberg. Marie L., the youngest of Mrs.
Basse's children, is the wife of Henrj' Pieper, and they have two children,
Marie L. and John H.
Edward N. Monroe. In all respects a worthy representative of the industrial
and manufacturing interests of Adams County, Edward N. Monroe is numbered
among its more active and successful business men, the large and well equipped
plant in which he manufactures dye stuffs of all kinds being advantageously
located on the bay, near Quincy. Coming from a long line of honored New
England stock, he was born April 7, 1855, in Chillicothe, Ohio, where his child-
hood days were spent.
His father. Edward Monroe, was born and bred in Massachusetts. For a
time during the Civil war he was connected with the Union army in Wash-
ington District of Columbia, but after the surrender of Lee he moved with his
family to Putnam County, Missouri. Buying a tract of wild land, he improved a
good farm, and there resided until his death. His wife, whose maiden name was
Mary Hard, was born in Vermont, and died on the home farm in Missouri.
The only child of his parents, Edward N. Monroe acquired a practical edu-
cation in the public schools, and soon after entering his teens, about 1870, began
work in a drug store at Unionville, Missouri. In 1876 he embarked in business
on his own account, and subsequently experimented largely as a manufacturer
of dyes, meeting with exceptionally good results in his undertakings. In 1907
Mr. Monroe located in Adams County, Illinois, and established his present manu-
facturing plant in, or very near, Quincy, the factory covering an area of 40,000
square feet, while his chemical rooms and laboratory occupy a space of about
QUIXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 807
100,000 square feet. In the art of manufacturing dyes ^Ir. Monroe has met
with rare success, the products of his factory equalling in beaut}- and durabil-
itj'' of color the dyes that were formerly imported into this country from foreign
lands.
Mr. Monroe married Flora Waggoner, a native of Pennsylvania, and into
the household thus established three children have been born, namely: Neal E.,
who is associated in business with his father, having charge of the manufactory ;
Burk C, deceased; and Octavia, wife of Lawrence P. Bonfoey, of Quincy. Mr.
Monroe is a republican in politics, and is a director and the vice president of
the States Savings Loan and Trust Company.
August H. Heidbreder. The prominent and prosperous business men of
Adams County have no more able or worthy representative than August H.
Heidbreder of Quincy, a leading druggist who has established a chain of stores
in the city and is carr.ving on an extensive and substantial business. He was
born March 6, 18.56, in Quincy, Illinois, of German ancestry.
His father, John H. Heidbreder, was born, bred and educated in Germany.
Soon after his marriage with Hannah Schaeffer he immigrated to the United
States, and following the march of civilization westward to Illinois, he located
in Quincy, where he at first engaged in teaming, and in 1875 he sold his teaming
business and engaged in the drug business, with his son August H., with whom
he was prosperously associated until his death. To him and his wife ten chil-
dren were born, as follows: Louisa, deceased: August H., the special subject
of this brief sketch ; Wilhelmina, deceased ; Minnie, widow of Philip Breer, of
Salt Lake City, Utah ; Reeka, widow of Rev. William Meigar, of Quincy ; Mary,
deceased : Hannah, of Quincy ; Emma, of Quincy ; George H., who died July 9,
1917; and Elizabeth, deceased.
Receiving his preliminary education in the public and parochial schools,
August H. Heidbreder fitted himself for a business career at the Gem City
Business College. In 1875 he embarked in the drug business with his father,
being located at the corner of Eighth and State streets, and continued there for
a numl>er of years. In 1892 Mr. Heidbreder admitted his brother. George H.
Heidbreder, to partnership, the firm name becoming Heidbreder Brothers. In
1907 Mr. Heidbreder 's oldest son Albert H. Heidbreder, became a member of
the firm, and the name was changed to Heidbreder Brothers and Company.
Three years later this firm, with characteristic enterprise, built a three-story
brick and stone building, more commodious quarters being needed to meet the
demands of his trade. Mr. Heidbreder has founded five drug stores in Quincy,
and in their management is actively and profitably interested.
He married Mary Niekamp, a native of Quincy, and into their home eight
children have been born, namely: Albert H., associated with his father in the
drug business; Charles A., secretary of the Quincy Stove Company, of which
Mr. Heidbreder is president ; Frank H., deceased ; Minnie, wife of William
Evers, of Quincy; Mamie, deceased; Ella, wife of Albert Niemeyer, a druggist,
located at the corner of Twelfth and State streets, Quincy; and Herbert H. and
Edgar Phillip, now serving in the United States Army, being members of
the Medical Corps. Mr. Heidbreder is a valued member of the Saint Jacobi
Lutheran Church, and of which his father was for thirty-two years the treasurer.
He succeeded his father and served eight years in that office, a total of forty
years for father and son to hold the same position.
Benjamin F. C.\te lives a mile south of Paloma in Gilmer Township, and
ha-s been a factor as a farmer and good citizen of that locality all his active
career. The Cate family came into Adams County about eighty years ago and
they and their family connections have exercised an important influence in
the various communities where they lived, always in behalf of better farming
and better improvements, schools and churches.
808 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
The place where Benjauiin F. Cate was born September 29, 1862. is six
railes south of his present home. His parents were "Walter and Jane (Pierce)
Cate. Walter Cate was born at Greenfield, New Hampshire, and was twelve
years of age when in 1836 he accompanied his parents by wagon and ox team
to "Western Illinois. His father, "U'alter Cate, Sr., and wife both died in Gilmer
Township. "VS'alter Cate, Jr., gi-ew up here as a frontier youth and before his
marriage managed to accumulate a few acres of land and build a small house.
He married Jane Pierce, daughter of David Pierce. She was born in Tennessee
and came with her parents to Gilmer Township about 1840. The Pierce family
also drove through with wagon and team. David Pierce died after reaching
advanced years. Though "Walter Cate and wife began their housekeeping in
limited circumstances, their thrift and industry enabled them to make a fine
farm of about 300 acres, and this they finally sold, and for the last twelve years
jNIr. Cate lived retired at Camp Point, where he died at the age of eighty-nine.
His wife, who was sixteen when she married, died at the age of sixty. Walter
Cate served as a .justice of the peace for a number of years, was a democrat
in politics, and a Baptist in religious faith, though his last years were spent in
the Methodist Church. He and liis wife had a large family, twelve children, and
eleven of them reached maturitj- : Levi, a retired resident of Camp Point ;
Nannie, who married R. L. Booth of Camp Point, where she died in 1918, at the
age of sixty-one : Arthur, living retired at Camp Point : ^lary, Sirs. J. T. Sims,
of Augusta, Illinois ; Ben.iamin F. ; George, an undertaker at Redondo Beach,
California ; David, a resident of San Diego, California ; Emma. !\Irs. Clifford
Richards, of El Centro in the Imperial Valley of California ; Lou, who is
unmarried and lives with her brother George; Nona, IVIrs. A. B. Childs of
Olathe, Kansas; and Iva, Mrs. Charles Tajior, living on a farm at Plymouth,
Illinois.
Benjamin F. Cate was reared at the old home, attended the local schools,
and remained with his father on the farm for several years after reaching his
majority. "When twenty-four years old on January 19, 1887, he married iliss
Emma Lummis, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Lawless) Lummis. The Lura-
mis and Lawless families have been factors in Adams County since early days,
and further reference to them will be found on other pages of this publication.
Mr. and Mrs. Cate were married in a house that formerly occupied the site of
their present home. Mrs. Cate has lived in this one locality since she was seven
years old. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cate farmed for five years on
a part of his father's place and in 1892 they bought her father's farm, at which
date her father retired. This farm contains eighty acres and it has since been
improved with a new house, barn and garage, and is operated up to the maxi-
mum of productiveness by Mr. and ]\Irs. Gate's son-in-law Ed Kopsieker.
Recently Mr. and Mrs. Cate bought a home at Paloma, where they intend to
spend their last years in comfort. Mr. Cate served as township clerk for seven
years, and as supervisor eleven years, and for four years was deputy sheriff
under Sheriff John Tombs. He is an active democrat, is a trustee of the
Methodist Episcopal Church of Paloma and for many years was superintendent
of the Sunday School.
Mr. and ili-s. Gate's oldest child, "Walter, was a young man of much promise
and was drowned at the age of twenty-two, while on a fishing expedition to the
Mississippi River. Their daughter Alta is the wife of Ed Kopsieker, already
referred to as the manager of the Cate farm. Mr. and Mrs. Kopsieker have a
daughter, Alice Florence. The younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Cate, Florence,
is a graduate of the Coatsburg High School and is still at home.
Leonaed M. Schmttt, wIio died July 2, 1915, was for a long period of years
an active merchant and druggist at Quincy, and represented one of the sterling
German families that were identified with the pioneer upbuilding of this com-
munity. He was a good business man and was always straightforward in his
QUINCT AND ADAMS COUxXTY 809
relations and a sustaining worker in every public spirited movement that had
a worthy cause behind it.
His parents were Leonard and Margaret (Jost) Schmitt, both natives of
Hesse Darmstadt, Germany. The}' came to America in 1836. Leonard Schmitt.
Sr., had learned the trade of cabinet maker and carpenter in early life, and
after locating at Quincy he was a follower of his trade, and much of his work
was manufacturing coffins as needed in the town. About 1845 he became a
contractor and builder, and many of the homes and other structures of the city
dating from that year were monuments to his enterprise. He continued in busi-
ness until 1865, when he retired with an ample competence and after that lived
in the city until his death in April, 1898, at the age of eighty-seven. His wife
died in March, 1896, at the age of eighty-one. They had been married over half
a centurj' and practically all their married lives were spent in the home at
810 Hampshire Street which Leonard Schmitt, Sr., built. Tliey were earl,y and
prominent members of St. Boniface Catholic Church, and he was identified with
the Western Catholic Union and in politics was a democrat. They were the
parents of a large family of children, all of whom grew up except one that died
in infanc}'. Elizabeth, wife of Safford Dehner, lives on Hampshire Street;
Mrs. Catherine Pireo died in St. Louis; Mrs. Lucy Denkhoff died at Quincy;
Mrs. Margaret Schwantz died at Poplar Grove, Arkansas; Sister Hyacinth, of
the Order of St. Francis, is connected with St. Elizabeth's Hospital at Louis-
ville, Kentucky ; ilrs. Joseph Jacoby lives at Quincy : ilrs. Gerry Jausen lives
in St. Louis; Leonard JL ; George died in Chicago; and Nicholas lives in St.
Louis.
The late Leonard M. Schmitt was Ijorn in Quincy March 24, 1848. He was
educated in the parochial schools and St. Boniface school, also St. Francis
College, and in 1862 he went to work in a drug store, spending three years with
Dowry & Morton. He then became connected with the house of Rogers &
Malone, and was with that firm for twenty years. In 1882 he moved to Chicago
and was a partner in the Hulburt Drug Company imtil 1887, when he returned
to Quincy and bought a store at 629 Hampshire Street. He developed that as
one of the best centers for drugs and drug merchandise in the city and con-
tinued active in its management until 1910, when he sold out to Mr. Kiefer,
and from that time until his death lived a rather retired life. He was an early
member of the Knights of Columbus, was also identified with the Western Catho-
lic Union and the Catholic Knights of America and in polities was a democrat.
He was a member of St. Francis Catholic Church.
In 1882 Mr. Schmitt married Frances K. Koenig, of Jacksonville, Illinois,
where she was born and where she was educated in parochial schools. She
finished her education in the Ursuline Academy at Springfield, Illinois. Mrs.
Schmitt is a daughter of August and Anna (Busold) Koenig, both of whom
were natives of Hesse Darmstadt and came to America when young people.
They married in Louisville, Kentucky, and on settling at Jacksonville, Illinois,
August Koenig engaged in the grocery business. Mrs. Schmitt 's mother died
at Jacksonville more tlian fifty years ago, when the daughter was only four
years old. Her father died in March, 1896. Mrs. Schmitt is one of two chil-
dren, her sister being Mrs. Enoch Yentzer, of Ottawa, Illinois. Her father by
a second marriage had four children, all now deceased except Mrs. Paulina
Keating, of Jacksonville.
Mrs. Schmitt is the mother of three children. Augusta was educated in St.
Mary's Academy and is the wife of Edward B. MoUer, a Quincy lumberman.
Mr. and Mrs. Moller have a daughter, Lueile, aged five and a half years.
Lenore, the second child, is the wife of William C. Walter, of Peoria. They
have a son, William Leonard aged six years. Raymond G., the youngest child,
was educated in St. Francis College and is a machinist by trade and his home
is still with his mother. He has been serving his country in the war. The
children were all confirmed in St. Francis Catholic Church at Quincy.
810 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
August C. Stroot. Noteworthy for his keen business intelligence, ability
and tact, August C. Stroot holds high rank among the prosperous merchants
of Quincy, where he is conducting an extensive trade in hardware, his well-
stocked store being conveniently located at 1139 and 1141 Broadway. A son
of the late Bernard Stroot, he was born April 24, 1860, in Hanover, Gei-many.
Born, reared and married in Germany, Bernard Stroot came with his wife
and children to America in 1867, locating in Quincy, Illinois. Working a few
years, he added considerably to his previous savings, and subsequently lived
retired until his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Helen Bendixen, was
born in Germany and died in Quincy. They reared four children, as follows:
Bernard, deceased; John H., of Quincy; Mary, a Sister in Notre Dame Convent;
and August C.
But seven years of age when brought to Quincy by his parents, August C.
Stroot was educated in the city, attending the parochial schools and Saint
Francis College. Beginning life as clerk in a dry good;? establishment, he
continued thus employed until eighteen years old, when he found similar em-
ployment in the hardware store of H. and J. H. Tenk. Faithful in the per-
formance of his duties, he won the confidence and regard of his employer, and
when the business was incorporated as the Tenk Hardware Company Mr. Stroot
was made secretary, and continued thus officially identified with the firm for
sixteen years, at the end of which time he was forced, on account of ill health,
to resigii the position. Subsequently ojiening a hardware store at the corner
of Eleventh Street and Broadway, he managed it successfully for a few years.
His constantly increasing business then demanding more commodious quarters,
Mr. Stroot bought the large brick building at the eoi-ner of Broadway and
Twelfth Street, and having erected a warehouse in the rear has continued his
operations with characteristic enterprise and success. His new residence, a fine
brick house of modern construction at 433 North 20th Street has just been com-
pleted and is a fine example of architectural beauty and utility.
On June 6, 1887, Mr. Stroot married Anna Kathmann, a most attractive and
estimable woman. She died December 21, 1891, leaving one child, Alphons C.
Stroot, now engaged in business with his father. On October 11, 1893, Mr.
Stroot again married, taking for his second wife Matilda Ridder. Of this union
seven children have been born, namely: Rosalia, wife of Carl A. Kollmeyer, of
Quincy ; Helen ; Edgar, with his father ; Loretta ; Edith ; August and Carline.
Mr. and Mrs. Stroot are members of Saint Francis Church. Politically Mr.
Stroot is identified with the democratic party. Fraternally he belongs to the
Knights of Columbus and to the "Western Catholic Union.
Joseph G. Eifp. A prominent business man of Quincy, Joseph G. Eiff is
especially well known as a contractor and builder. He has always been a hard
and indefatigable worker in anything he has undertaken and has earned and
deserves the confidence and esteem of his neighbors, associates and co-workers.
Born in Quincy September 1, 1858, he was educated in the public schools,
acquiring when young a practical knowledge fitting him for a business life.
At the age of about seventeen he began learning the trade of plasterer and
was an apprentice for about four years. After that he worked as a journeyman
and about 1880 began contracting for pla.stering work. Most of his business
was in this line until about 1906, when he added paving and sewer building,
and gradually as experience has dictated he has built up a large and complete
organization for contract work in these lines. He has put down some of the
important paving and sewer construction in several parts of the city. In 1908
he took his son Edward J. into partnei-ship, and in 1918 they added to their
other lines a wholesale and retail yard at 1013 Broadway, where they handle
all kinds of building material. In the early '80s Mr. Eiff became a stockholder
and organizer of the Quincy Sand Company, and has held stock in that well
known corporation ever since. In 1900 he was one of the organizers of the
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 811
Quincy Groeeiy Company, and was its vice president until about 1909, when
he sold his interest.
Mr. Eiff married Miss Mary Vogel. She was born in Melrose Township of
this county. They had two children, Edward J. and Emily, the latter the wife
of William Strauss of Quincy.
Edward J. Eiff was educated in the parochial schools, in Quinc.y College
and in the Gem City Business College. At the age of seventeen he entered the
office of the Quincy Grocery Company and was employed by that firm about
seven years. He left there to go to Chicago, and spent a year as auditor in
the general offices of the National Association of Traveling Salesmen. After
resigning that work he returned to Quincy and formed the partnership with
his father under the name of Joseph Eiff and Son, as above noted. Edward
now looks after the larger part of the contract work and outside work of the
firm. He is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
William A. Schwindeler. The habit of industry early acquired no doubt
has had much to do with the subsequent success in life of many rather notable
business men, and in this light, necessity of work in youth may be called rather
a blessing than a hardship. For an interesting example one may go no further
than Quincy, finding in one of her prominent citizens a typical case in proof,
William A. Schwindeler, president of the Illinois Association of lee Cream
Manufacturers. His whole business life has been one of continuous industry
and he became a wage earner almost in childhood.
AVilliam A. Schwindeler was born in this city Febi'uary 2, 1883. His parents,
Henry and Louisa (Meyer) Schwindeler, were also born at Quincy, where the
mother yet resides and where the father died in 1886. He was a shoemaker
by trade, a hardworking man all his life and one who was universally respected.
Of his family of six children William A. was the fifth in order of birth, the
others being : Mamie, who is the wife of George L. Timmerwilke, of Quincy ;
Anna, who is deceased ; John, who is in business at Kansas City, Missouri ; and
Fred and Henry, both deceased.
For many years every boy fortunate enough to be a resident of Quincy,
has had exceptional educational advantages in her public schools, and the
parents of William A. Schwindeler provided for his attendance although they
also encouraged him in his endeavors to provide for his own support. He was
only eleven years old when he joined the newsboy colony and few complaints
were ever received because of non-delivery of papers from patrons on his route,
and what he earned thereby he supplemented by working on Saturdays for a
local grocery house. He was found thoroughly reliable and when thirteen j'ears
old was accepted as a regular grocery clerk and continued to work in that
capacity for three years. From the grocery trade he went with the Reliance
Tea Company, and through this connection, when only seventeen years old,
received a flattering offer from a grocery house in New York City and went
there to accept it.
Mr. Schwindeler did not remain long in New York but returned to the
Reliance Tea Company and subsequentl.v went on the road for the grocery
house of Durand, Kasper & Company of Chicago, which firm he successfully
represented for three and a half years over a wide territory. In 1906 he
embarked in the grocer^' business for himself on Fourth Street and Payson
Avenue, and then began the manufacture of ice cream, two and a half years
later moving to No. 119 North Sixth Street, going into the ice cream business
extensively and exclusively. Ever since he has continued the manufacture of
this delicacy and has through his enterprise and good judgment built up an
enormous business which has required great expansion of facilities. He still
carries on his retail business at the above address, but on May 1, 1917, took
possession of his wholesale quarters, a new factory of pressed brick con.struetion,
two stories high, situated at No. 1009 Maine Street. This is one of the finest
812 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
plants of its kind in the country and is equipped with every kind of special
machinery known to the trade and his product, of superior quality, is known
and in demand all over the state. As an indication of his prominence in the
ice cream business and as proof of the confidence and esteem felt for him by
his associates, it may be mentioned that at Chicago, November 15, 1917, at
the meeting held by the ice cream manufacturers of the state, he was elected
president of the Illinois body. At the same meeting a committee, including Mr.
Schwindeler, was appointed to aid in the Y. M. C. A. drive for funds, in
which he subsequently was such an important factor, meeting with ready
response in his patriotic appeals.
Mr. Schwindeler was married April 21, 1904, to Miss Bertha Liebermann,
who was born at Quincv, and they have one child, Willma, who was born
October 12, 1906.
In addition to his large manufacturing business Mr. Schwindeler has other
interests. In association with Heman Nelson he is interested in the Star and
Belasco I\Iotion Picture theatei's at Quincy. In his political affiliation he is a
republican but he has never had any desire for public office, his business, home
and fraternal interests filling up a full measure of activity and usefulness. He
is a Thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner, and is secretary of the Quincy
Rotary Club.
Thomas J. Frazier. In the words of appreciation spoken by some who know
him best, Thomas J. Frazier is just naturally a good farmer, a good business
man and a good all around citizen. The American farmer has been accused
of much inefficiency, and no doubt .justly, but Mr. Frazier is an example of the
very opposite. There is no slackness or looseness about his farm, and what-
ever he does he does well.
The Frazier country home and farm is in Ursa Township, nine miles north
of Quincy. It consists of 240 acres, formerly known as the Michael Daugherty
Farm. Michael Daugherty came to this county in 1850, acquired nearly 500
acres of land, and built the house now occupied by the Frazier familj' in 1860.
Mr. Frazier acquired this farm in 1903, and for the past fifteen years has been
steadily increasing its improvements and facilities. In 1904 he erected what
has been called by competent judges one of the finest and most complete barns
in the county. It is 44 by 80 feet, with a full height basement and with 20-foot
posts. The foundation wall is of stone and other walls of concrete, and aside
from the permanence of its construction the barn is characterized by an ar-
rangement of facilities seldom equalled. The hay loft has a capacity for 120
tons, and there are also five storage places for grain. Much of the flooring and
other woodwork is of hard wood, some of it of hard maple. Mr. Frazier has
done much construction work with cement. He uses cement wherever possible
and most of liis fences are wire stretched on solid cement posts. The crops
that gi'ow on his generous fields are all fed at home to cattle and hogs, and
he is one of the leading men in Adams County in the raising, feeding and ship-
ping of livestock.
Mr. Frazier is of pioneer stock, and his father, Lemuel G. Frazier, was one
of the first inhabitants of Ursa Township. Lemuel G. Frazier was born at
Cynthiana in Harrison County, Kentucky, February 18, 1811. His parents
were George and Lucretia (Blackburn) Frazier. Lemuel G. Frazier arrived
in Adams County April 13, 1827. He located in the southern part of Ursa
Township, and later bought a farm in section 29 just north of the place where
his son Thomas resides. Here Lemuel G. Frazier passed away October 5, 1880.
He was a man of prominence in the coiinty, owned a large farm, served at
one time as county coroner and in other capacities, was a democrat in politics
and a member of the Christian Church. He married twice, his first wife being
Mary Jane Roberts, of Ohio, who became the motlier of three children. On
August 19, 1853, Lemuel G. Frazier married Eva "SI. Ahalt, who was born in
OlcryyZ /yJ ry^9-
LIBRARY
jr THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAJMS COUNTY 813
Frederick County, Maryland, September 10, 1829. She was a daughter of Isaac
and Margaret (Remsberg) Ahalt. To this second marriage were born nine
children, live sons and four daughters, one of whom was Thomas J.
Thomas J. Frazier was born in Adams County June 25, 1857. His early
education was supplied by the public schools of Ursa Township, and when
starting out for himself he did farming as a renter. While he aclinowledges
some assistance from his father and others, Mr. Frazier has in fact been de-
pendent upon his own energies and forcefulness for the success he has won. A
man of his ability would proliably succeed in farming no matter what the con-
ditions or obstacles he had to contend with. Nearly all his farming has been
done in Adams County, though in 1897 he bought 260 acres of land in Lewis
County, Missouri, but never lived upon that property, which he sold in 1901.
Mr. Frazier is a stockholder and director in the Mid-West Insurance Company
of Quincy. He is a democratic voter, but his only office has been that of school
director. He is affiliated with Lodge No. 114, Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons, at Marcelline, and his family are members of the Christian Church at
Ursa.
June 15, 1881, Mr. Frazier married Miss Belle Woodruff, who was born
February 3, 1859, daughter of Freeman and Frances (Harrison) Woodruff", of
Ursa Township. Mr. and Mrs. Frazier have an interesting family of three
children : !Mabel E., who was born December 10, 1882, was educated in the
local schools and is now the wife of Ira Powell, a farmer at Carthage, Illinois.
Mr. and Mrs. Powell have a son, Paul. Ida il., the second daughter, born
August 27, 1885, completed her education in the high school at Quincy and is the
wife of Albert Wissman. of Ellington Township. They have a son, Glenn.
The youngest of the family is G rover L. Frazier, born December 16, 1890. He
is associated with his father as a partner in the farm, and Grover L. has also
recently .just bought forty acres adjoining his father's place. This son married
Jennie Daughcrty, and their four children are Kennett, Merle, Melvin and
Thomas G.
Alfred Kurz. As manager of the business of one of the larger and more
important mercantile firms of Quincy, Alfred Kurz displays unquestioned
ability, sagacity and sound judgment, having built up a far-reaching and
profitable trade not only as a bookseller but as a dealer in plate glass and window
glass. A son of Joseph Kurz, he was born in Mauch Chunk, PennsvlvEinia,
October 29, 1861.
Joseph Kurz was born, bred and educated in Germany. Immigrating to
the United States about 1856, he settled first in Pennsylvania. In 1867, accom-
panied by his family, he came to Quincy. Illinois, and for a while followed
his trade of a butcher. Subsequently opening a boarding house, he managed it
until his death, which occurred April 24, 1884. He married Walburga Weis-
enhorii, who was born in Germany, and is now a resident of Quincy. They were
the parents of three children, as follows: Joseph, deceased; Alfred; and William,
of Quincy.
Acquiring his elementary education in the parochial schools, Alfred Kurz
completed a course of study in the Gem City Business College, after which he
embarked on a mercantile career, beginning as clerk in a store. In 1880 he
entered the employ of Mr. Oenning, a dealer in books, window glass and plate
glass. Intei-ested in his work and eminently faithful to the duties of his
position, Mr. Kurz gradually worked his waj' ujnvard, and in 1908 was made
manager of the entire business of tlie firm, which under his supervision has
already assumed large proportions and is each year growing in extent and
value.
Mr. Kurz married, June 4, 1889, Elizabeth R. IMast, a most estimable woman.
Mr. and Mrs. Kurz have no children. In his political relations Mr. Kurz is a
democrat. Religiously he is a member of Saint Boniface Catholic Church.
Vol. II— 6
814 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Fraternally he belongs to the Western Catholic Union, and to the Travelers
Protective Association.
Charles W. Miller is identified with an old farm and an old family of
Ursa Township, and is a son of the late William E. Miller, whose tremendous
energy and great usefulness in the county are still widely appreciated. The
Miller farm one-half mile west of Marcelline it is no exaggeration to speak of
as one of the best in the township. The Millers as a family have been people
of means, of influence, and of distinctive leadership in community affairs.
The late William E. Miller was born in Ursa Township June 7, 1835, a son
of Bradshaw and Rebecca (Keith) Miller, Bradshaw Miller was a native of
Virginia and his wife of Kentucky, and they came to Adams County in 1833,
settling in Ursa Township, where Bradshaw acquired large tracts of land.
William E. Miller was educated in the Ursa Township schools and when a
young man acquired the fine farm now owned by his son Charles. This land has
been in the family possession for over eighty years. William E. Miller spent
all his life on that farm until the death of his wife in 1911, and he passed away
in honored remembrance July 4. 1917, at the age of eighty-two. On August 5,
1862, he enlistetl in Company B of the Seventy-Eighth Illinois Infantry,
and though wounded kept his place in the ranks until practically the end of the
war. After the war he resumed farming and planned and executed many of
the improvements which are now found on the 190 acres comprising his estate.
He was a democrat in polities and for a number of years &\\ed the office of
school director, though he was not a seeker for public honors. For thirty-eight
years he was a well known hog buyer and his neighbors and friends refer to
him frequently as "Hog Bill Miller" and also "Big Bill Miller," and he was
in fact big in body as well as iii mind and heart and deserved all the hosts of
friends who still live to pay his memorj' tribute. William E. Miller was the
youngest of eight children. His father, Bradshaw Miller, had moved to Morgan
County, Illinois, in 1827 and died in Adams County in 1857. Mrs. Bradshaw
Miller died in 1864.
January 7, 1858, William E. Miller married Miss Sarah Ann Anderson,
who was born near Powersville in Breckenridge county, Kentucky', October
21, 1838. Her parents were Capt. John C. and Nancy Anderson. Captain
Anderson was commander of Company B, of the Seventy-Eighth Illinois In-
fantry during the Civil war, William Miller being a private in that company.
William E. ililler and wife had ten children, those now living being as follows:
U. K. IMiller, of Quincy ; Charles AV. ; John B., of Los Angeles ; Bert, of Laid-
low, Oregon; Fred, of Macomb, Illinois; Mrs. Dollie Loughlin, of Tillamook,
Oregon ; and Dora Worley, of Macomb, Illinois.
Charles W. Miller was born on his father 's farm, and has always lived there
and is a worthy successor of his father as a stock raiser. He handles a large
bunch of hogs every year and gives his active supervision to 190 acres. His
farm is well improved, the house having been built in 1887 and the barn in
1880 by his father.
March 2, 1892, Charles W. Miller married Alta Agard, daughter of W. I.
and Jennie (Wade) Agard. Mrs. Miller was born July 21, 1872. They have
a family of children named as follows : Clyde E., who now operates the old
Agard home ; Hazel D., wife of Luther Sauble, of Lima Town.ship ; and Ray,
Olive, Alva, Wade and Dean, who are all still in the family circle.
Elisha James Vinson. On the farm in section 7 of Lima Township where
he was born eighty j^ears ago, and in the house that was erected by his father
when he was two years old, Elisha James Vinson is now passing the declining
years of life and enjoying that retrospect which is one of the delights of old age,
comprising years of substantial industry, productive effort, the rearing of family
and the worthy fulfillment of obligations which beget community esteem.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 815
Mr. Vinson was born September 30, 1838, a ison of Isaac D. and Kjttie (Orr)
Vinson. His father was bom in Giles County Tennessee, May 26, 180-4, and
his mother in Bourbon County, Kentucky, October 8, 1807. They married in
Kentucky. Kittie Orr was the daughter of William Orr, who figures promi-
nently as one of the earliest settlers of Lima Township. He came to this county
in 1829, and put in a crop that season. The Orrs and the Vinsons had adjoin-
ing farms and "William Orr laid out the town of Lima and the Vinson farm also
covered part of the village site. Isaac Vinson was identified with the com-
munity from 1830 until his death on June 9, 1847, while his widow survived
him until November 9, 1862. Isaac Vinson at one time operated the pioneer
carding mill at Lima. The old home in which Elisha James Vinson now lives
was built by his father in the fall of 1840. Isaac D. Vinson and wife had a
family of six sons and two daughters. The sons were: William Daniel, who
died in Oklahoma at the age of seventy years; Grayson Thomas, who was born
in 1834, was one of the successful farmers and influential citizens of Lima
township, and died at his home there at the age of eightj^-one ; Elisha James,
the third son ; Jesse Albert, whose death occurred recently, as noted on other
pages of this history ; Isaac ilorldonis, who lives in Sullivan County, Missouri ;
Eliab Smith Vinson, who is also a resident of Sullivan County. The two
daughters were Elizabeth, widow of Frank Stoker, and at the age of ninety-
three still living at Yuba City, California, and Nancy, who died in Chariton
County, Missouri, the wife of Benjamin Pollard.
Elisha J. Vinson was educated in the public schools of Lima and with the
exception of five years has spent all his life on the old homestead farm. He
has been owne'- of the land comprising that farm for about iifty years, having
bought the interests of the other heirs and having also added fifty acres. In
earlier days he was an extensive wheat grower, having a large part of his farm
of 175 acres in that crop. In later years he has turned the management of his
farm over to his sons.
On January 2, 1861, at the age of twenty-two, ]Mr. Vinson married Miss
Aehsah Ormsby, who was a neighbor girl and had come to Adams County at
the age of twelve years from Indiana, where she was born. Her parents were
Robert and Elizabeth (Cherry) Ormsby. Her father died soon after coming
to Adams County, and her mother reached old age. Mrs. Vinson was born
December 22. 1842. Mr. and Mrs. Vinson had eleven children, but only three
are now living. The oldest is Isaac Morldonis, a widely known citizen and
farmer of Lima Township, who married Alice Jacobs and their four children
are Bertha, John, Corinne and Vernie. Isaac M. Vinson was born ]March 26,
1864. The second child, Milly, born November 15, 1866, is the wife of William
Fletcher, of Lima, and their four children are Beatrice, James, Bertha and
Mabel. Bertha died December 14, 1918, when twenty years of age. The
youngest of the family is Smith Vinson, who married Mary Lewis and has one
child, Fred. The Vinson home is a quarter of a mile east of Lima, but is in-
cluded in the village corporation.
John T. Inghr.\m. Within the past quarter of a century it is doubtful if
the services of any lawyer of Adams County have more frequently been called
into public responsibilities and duties than those of John T. Inghram. Mr.
Inghram is well entitled by abilities and experience to his place of leadership in
the Adams County bar.
He was born at Quincy July 11, 1870, a son of John T. and Mary (Rock-
well^ Inghram, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio.
John T. Inghram, Sr., came to Quincy about 1867, was a resident of the city
thirty years, and at the time of his death in 1898 was one of the city mail
carriers. His widow is now living at Los Angeles, California. There were seven
children: John T. ; Grace, wife of Roy A. Morehead, of Los Angeles; James S.,
of St. Louis, Missouri; Jessie H., of Los Angeles; Ira S., of Long Beach, Cali-
816 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
fornia ; "William R., of Yuma, x\rizona ; and Psyche, wife of Albert C. Higgins
of Redoiido Beach, California.
John T. Inghram is the only member of the family to retain a residence in
Adams County. As a boy he attended the local pnblic schools of Quincj',
graduated from high school in 1889, and from that entered the University of
ilichigan Law Department, where he was graduated LL. B. in 1891. Returning
to Quinoy he at once opened an office and has been practicing law steadily ever
since. While handling a large private clientage he served as assistant states
attorney from 1900 to 1904, spent four years as a member of the Cit.y School
Board, and since 1906 has been special attorney for Adams County. From
1915 to 1917 he was also corporation counsel of Quincy, and is now member of
the Water Works Commission of the City of Quincj-. A high degi'ee of public
spirit and a warm interest in evei\ything affecting the welfare of Quincy has
pervaded every technical duty he has performed in the interests of the com-
munity, ilr. Inghrani is a democrat in politics and is now chairman of the
Democratic Central Committee of Adams County.
February 16, 1898, he married Miss Lillian C. Brown, a native of Quincy and
daughter of John H. and Sarah (Norris) Brown. Her father has for many
years been a grocery merchant at Quincj-. Mr. and ]Mrs. Inghram have one
child, John T., born August 15, 1901, and now a student in Dartmouth College.
Mr. Inghram has attained the thirty-third and supreme honorary degree in
Scottish Rite Masonry, is also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Joseph Dickhut. A career that meant much to Adams Count.y was that
of the late Joseph Dickhut, who was one of a large family of that name identified
with agriculture and home making in Adams County from pioneer days. Mr.
Joseph Dickhut developed a good farm that is now owned and occupied by
Mrs. Dickhut, two miles east of Fowler in Gilmer Township.
Joseph Dickhut was born at Quincy January 7, 1858, a son of Adolph and
Augusta Dickhut. The father, John Andrew Adolph Dickhut, was born at Muel-
hausen, Thueringen, Germany, October 13, 1823, and died February 22, 1899. In
his twentieth year he came with his parents to America, arriving at Quincy No-
vember 24, 1843. They located in the southern part of Adams County, and on
July 25, 1847, Adolph Dickhut married Margaret Maus. She died June 6, 1856.
On March 5, 1857, he married Augusta ]\Ieuselwitz. Her death occurred Septem-
ber 29, 1885. In March, 1859. Adolph Dickhut and wife located on a farm in Gil-
mer Township a mile and a half east of Fowler, and that was the scene of his
earnest efforts at home making for many years. He was a republican and
was active in the ilethodist Episcopal Church and helped found the Jersey
Street Church of that denomination in Quincy, now known as the Yates and
Kentucky Street Church. Still later he was identitied with the Fowler Methodist
Episcopal Church. Adolph Dickhut acquired 240 acres. He started with very-
little and had to practically reconstruct all the buildings on the land and
redeem nuich of it from the wilderness. At first he and his family drove to
church in an old dilapidated farm wagon. By his first marriage he was the
father of the following cliildren : John A., born January 20, 1850; Catherine,
who is the only surviving member and is the widow of William Beutel, of Camp
Point; Frank, who died at the age of sixty-five on his farm a mile east of Fow-
ler; Matilda, who died at the age of twenty years, the wife of Andrew Howden,
son of Captain Ilowdcu of Quitman, Missouri. Adolph Dickhut by his second
wife had the following children : Joseph ; Louise S., who married Isaac S. Wool-
len and lives at Meadsville, Missouri; Amelia, wife of William Reutzel, of
Martinsburg, Missouri; Arthur, who died February 8, 1911, married Hannah
Stachel; Clara is the wife of William E. O'Neal at Fowler; Alice died at
Bloomington, Illinois, the wife of Samuel L. Petrie ; Andrew L., who is con-
nected with the Knittcl Show Case Company at Quincy and married Ella B.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 817
Long; Clarence A., a farmer in Camp Point Township, married Cora J. Becket;
Hnldah Gertrude, who is a registered nurse at the Mayo brothers hospital in
Rochester, ]\Iinnesota.
Joseph Diekhut when one year old was brought by his parents to the farm
where he grew up and where his widow still resides. He grew to manhood on
that place and at the age of twenty-three, on January 1, 1881, married Jliss Ella
S. Woollen, of Ellington Township, daughter of James A. "Woollen.
James Anthony Woollen, father of Mrs. Diekhut, was born in Doi'chester
County, ^Maryland, November 13, 1821. His mother, Eugenia Whiteley was of
Quaker ancestry and religion. She died in 1826. In 1828 James A. Woollen's
father married Amelia Lane. In the same fall, in company with three brothers-
in-law, Isaac and Daniel Whiteley and William Berry, he moved to Wayne
County, Indiana, but three years later entered eighty acres, six miles south of
Newca.stle in Henry County that state. He was identified with the pioneer
epoch there, and reared his family in a log cabin. James A. Woollen recalled
one incident of his boyhood, the remarkable display of falling stars on Novem-
ber 13, 1833. In October, 1842, James A. Woollen started west by way of
Indianapolis, Tei-re Haute, and Beardstown to Burlington, Iowa. He had only
$2 and had to borrow $1 to pay his hotel bill of 75 cents. Through some mis-
take on the part of a hotel clerk he missed the boat down the river to Quincy
and walked all the way to Keokuk without passing a single house. That night
he spent with a young Mormon couple, paying 15 cents for his lodging. From
there he worked his passage on a boat to Quiney, and at the end of the
vo3'age the mate handed him 75 cents. In the meantime his brother Isaac had
bought an island, six miles below Quiney, and was operating a wood supply
station for the steamboats. James A. Woollen joined his brother, whose home
was at Bloomfield, ten miles northeast of Quiney. While there he met his future
wife, and he soon went to farming with F. W. Borgoethaus. In the fall of
184-1 he visited his parents back in Indiana, driving a buggv' to and from that
state. On September 7, 1845, he married at Columbus Susie Borgoethaus. He
then worked her father's farm and in 1852 his prosperity enabled him to buy
for the convenience and comfort of his family a double seated carriage, for
W'hich he paid $255, regarded at that time as almost as gi-eat an extravagance
as a !J!5,000 automobile would be today. In 1892 he bought a farm near Laclede,
Missouri, and lived there until his death. Mrs. Diekhut 's mother died March
22, 1909.
Mrs. Diekhut was born in Ellington Township January 12, 1861, and was
just twent.v years of age when she married. At their marriage they bought
eight.y acres of the old Diekhut homestead, and afterwards aecpiired from his
brother Clarence the old home of 160 acres, thus giving them 280 acres. In
1899 he built the good home that now adorns the place, doing his own carpenter
work. In 1908 he had also given a contract for the construction of the sub-
stantial barn that is now part of the farm equipment. Mr. Diekhut served as
a road commissioner, but was never a seeker for public honor and frequently
refused the urgings of his fellow citizens to become a candidate for office. He
was a trustee and steward of the Saloma ]\Iethodist Episcopal Church.
Joseph Diekhut died April 28, 1918. His death came suddenly, though he
had had warnings for some months and frequently expressed his opinion that he
would not live beyond sixty. He died at the home of his daughter in Quiney,
and had kept busy with some useful employment practically to the last.
Mr. and ilrs. Joseph Diekhut had the following children : ]Mabel Edna, at
home : Alvin James, who now has the active management of the home farm ;
Inez II.. wife of J. AV. White, a postoffice employe at Quiney ; Elmer Adolph, a
farmer in T'amp Point Township who married Alma Hyer; Alta Amelia, who
completed her education in the ilacomb Normal School and for four years has.
taught in Adams County.
818 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
John Thomas Wyatt. One of the conspicuous instances of individual entei*-
prise in acquiring a farm and providing for those dependent upon him is that
afforded by Johu T. Wyatt of Honey Creek Township, whose productive and
valuable farm is a mile east of Mendon.
Mr. Wyatt was born in Mendon Township a half mile south of the village
of that name December 25, 1863, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Cherry)
Wyatt. His father was born in Northamptonshire, England, and about 1855
came to the United States. He and his wife married in England and they
came at once to Quincy. Her father, William Cherry, had previously located
in Mendon Township. Thomas Wyatt came here without means, worked at
day's labor for a time, later had a farm of his own three miles north of Mendon,
and finally retired to that village where he died when about seventy years of
age. His wife died iu 1898, aged sixty-five. They had a familj' of five childi-en :
Annie, who died when thirteen years old ; William, who lived in ]\Iendon ; Sarah,
who is unmarried and lives with her brother William; George W., a dentist at
Guthrie, Oklahoma ; and John T.
John Thomas Wyatt grew up in a home of fair comforts, had such education
as the local schools provided, but otherwise had to start life dependent entirely
upon his own resources. He is one of the old time farm hands, that class of
hien who labored from suu to sun, much of the time without the help of any
modern implements to lighten the burden of agriculture, and his wages ranged
from .$18 to $20 a month with board and washing. That was the service he
rendered between the ages of twenty and twenty-four. For all that he managed
to save $100 every year. In 1894 Mr. Wyatt and his brother William became
partners in the purchase of 120 acres of land in Honey Creek Town-
ship. The contract price was $7,000. J. T. Wyatt had about $800 in
cash and a horse, while his brother had $1,500. For the balance they went in
debt and continued seven years as partners. John T. Wyatt then bought
out his brother, and again incurred a debt of $6,000. That sum he has
since paid off, and he has also kept the farm up to a high standard of improve-
ment and cultivation. In earlier years he made progi'ess very slowly, but was
in a situation to reap the best advantages of the present era of high prices in
the agi'icultural industry. Some years ago Mr. Wyatt sold his hogs at 2i/o cents
a pound, wheat at 45 cents a bushel, oats at 15 cents a bushel and corn at 17
cents a bushel. Having labored under the disadvantages of the older oi'der,
none will gainsay the fact that he is thoroughly deserving of all the prosperity
that may come to him in the times in which he is now living.
Mr. Wyatt has the reputation of a very public spirited citizen, has served
as school director fourteen years and is still on the board as clerk of the district.
He is a republican and a deacon in the Mendon Congregational Church. He
is also affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America.
October 28, 1894, Mr. Wyatt married Miss Eunice Hoskins, of Mendon Town-
ship. Mrs. Wyatt from the age of nine was reared in the home of R. B. Starr.
She is a daughter of Benjamin and Clara (Spencer) Hoskins. She was nine
years of age when her mother died, leaving four children : Charles Hoskins,
of LaGrange, Missouri; John, who died in Missouri at the age of fifty; Drusilla,
Mrs. Ed Nelson, of Houston Township, this county; and Eunice. Mr. and Mrs.
Wyatt have two sons and one daughter, Thomas R., Willis G. and Pearl
Elizabeth. They are all at home and Thomas is a student in high school.
William H. Hobby. The name of William H. Hobby serves to recall the
experience and deeds of a gallant soldier and old timer of Adams County, whose
children and other relatives are still found here, all constituting one of the
notable family groups of the county.
William H. Hobby was born in New York City May 6, 1830, and came to
Adams County in 1850. He was only two years old when his father died of the
cholera. His mother afterwards married Captain John Oliver, and the Oliver
QUINCY AND ADA:MS COUNTY 819
family came to Adams County and located in Mendon Township. Captain
Oliver died at the age of seventy-four years, five months, fourteen days, and
Mrs. Oliver passed away October 15, 1884, aged seventy-five years, six months.
When William H. Hobby was twelve years old he ran away to sea, became
a cabin boy and for eight years had all the varied experiences and hardships of
the sailor when such a life had much more of the romance and adventure than
now belong to the seafaring vocation. In 1845 he made a whaling voyage
through the northern seas and also went through many of the southern seas,
visiting the ports of South America and Cuba. During the Civil war he .joined
the Federal Navj- and was in the service about eight months. He was on Com-
modore D. D. Porter's flagship the Blackhawk, and participated in the Mis-
sissippi River campaign at Vicksburg and Arkansas Post.
After the war he returned to Adams County and settled on his farm in
Honej- Creek Town.ship, in section 3. He continued to be identified with this
locality until his death October 6, 1903. William H. Hobby married JIartha
Odear, who was born in Tennessee April 9, 1837, and died May 15, 1910. Their
son Oliver died September 19, 1887, aged twenty-nine years, two months and
seven days. Two daughters died young, Susan at the age of twenty-two and
Ellen at eighteen. Nancy died November 13, 1918, in St. Louis, Missouri, as
Mrs. John H. Shepherd. Hattie is now Mrs. William S. McArthur.
William H. Hobby served as justice of the peace, constable and school
director in Honey Creek Township, and was affiliated with the Masonic Order.
Hattie Hobby was married August 12, 1888, to William S. McArthur. Mr.
McArthur was born in Hancock County, Illinois, May 13, 1869, and after his
marriage he farmed at Lima until the death of Mr. Hobby, when he and his
wife took the old homestead farm. Mr. McArthur was a very capable man as
a farmer and was always interested in community affairs. He served as a
school director. He died July 21, 1913. Since his death ]\Irs. McArthur has
retained the old Hobby homestead, and has rebuilt and remodeled the old home.
She has shown the capacity of a real business woman in handling the affairs of
the farm and she is also owner of considerable property in the village of Mendon.
I\Irs. McArthur has five living children. Her son Rex died at the age of
eighteen, while her oldest child, Mae, died January 12, 1918, at the age of
twenty-nine, wife of William McKay. The living children are: Elf a, Mrs.
James Littleton, of Loraine, this county ; Dora, at home ; Mack R., who is
a locomotive fireman with headquarters at Galesburg, and by his marriage to
Grace Rathbun has one son. Mack, Jr.; Goldie and Bessie, both at home, the
latter attending school.
Herman Hokamp began making barrels when only sixteen years of age,
and has been in the cooperage business continuously at Quincy all his active
life. There is no family name that has been longer identified with the cooper-
age industry than that of Hokamp. His father was at one time regarded the
oldest cooper in the city, and that too, had been his lifelong occupation. It
was one of the hea\'iest disappointments he ever had to bear when he gave up
active work at his trade at the insistence of his son Herman, who felt that his
father at the age of seventy-five had well earned a period of rest and leisure.
During his retirement the father was supplied with every comfort, partly by
his own savings and also b.y the devotion of his son.
It is such families as these that supply a service that cannot be dispensed
with in the world of affairs, and their contributions to human welfare cannot
be estimated in dollars and cents.
Casper Hokamp was born in Germany, married there, and learned the trade
of cooper. He came to America seeking better opportunities in the new world,
and after getting located at Quincy his wife came on, bringing their children.
One of these children died at sea and was buried from the ship. Casper Hokamp
and wife lived happily together for a great many years, and both were nearlj^
820 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
eighty-five when they died. They were people of the finest qualities of heart
and mind, exceedingly industrious, always paying their way, and exemplified
the good old fashioned qualities of Christianity. They were active members
of St. Jaeobi Lutheran Church. No more kindly people ever lived, and they were
friends of everyone. Casper Hokamp voted as a republican. Among their
children besides Herman is William Hokamp, a resident of Quincy, who has
a family of three sons and two daughters. The sisters are Mary and ilinuie
Hokamp and are still unmarried.
Herman Hokamp was the third of his father's children, and was born in
Quincy August 19, 1860. He learned his trade under his father and was
associated with him until about twenty-five j'ears of age. At the age of sixteen
he made the first barrel made at the old Menke lime kiln, and later made the
first barrels for W. D. Meyers. He was also employed by the 0. Lambert
cooperage firm. Another associate at different times was Mr. Stilley. When
Mr. Stilley died Casper and Herman Hokamp continued the work of the shop
for some years, and then Herman and Charles Ertel took over the Stilley busi-
ness. Four years later this plant was burned, this disaster befalling them on
August 19, 1885, when Herman Hokamp was twenty-five years old. Through the
kindness of friends and a small insurance they rebuilt the plant, and continued it
together for some years. Thej- also established as a side line a grocery store at
the corner of Wasliington and Ninth streets, and three years later Mr. Hokamp
bought out his partner, Blr. Ertel. Later he took in as partner Mr. John
Gainer and they bought the Bartel plant at 908-910 Madison Street. This is
where the business is located at the present time, and they have a thoroughly
modern cooperage plant on a lot 80 by 220 feet. Formerly there were a num-
ber of cooperage firms in Quincy, but now practically all that line of Imsiness
is transacted through Mr. Hokamp 's enterprise. Mr. Hokamp also conducted
a grocery business at 927 State Street until Jul.y, 1918, when he sold out. The
cooperage business now has an output of 300 barrels per day, and tliey employ
about ten expert workmen. The chief output is apple barrels and poultry
containers, and there is a steady demand for all they can make in the states
of Missouri and Illinois.
Mr. Herman Hokamp married at Quincy Miss Minnie Golm, who was born
and reared and educated here. Her parents came from Germany and died in
this city in advanced years. Mr. and Mrs. Hokamp have an interesting family
of children. Esther A. is a graduate of Knox College at Galesburg and is now
one of the instructors in the Quincy High School. Dorothy is a graduate of
the Quincy High School and Gem City Business College and is now attending
Knox College. Delia, who graduated from the Quincy High School with the
class of 1919, and Herman J., aged fourteen, a student in the grammar
school, are the younger members of the household. The family attend the
Washington Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Joseph W. Nicholson. In the changing developments of six or seven dec-
ades in Ursa Township one of the families that have contributed mo.st to these
improvements are the Nicholsons. The Nicholson home from a time almost
beyond memory of the oldest inhabitant has been in section 20 of Ursa Town-
ship, nine and a half miles northeast of QTiincy.
It was on that farm that Joseph W. Nicholson was born December 6, 1849,
nearly seventy years ago. At one time there was a blacksmith shop on the land
operated by his grandfather, William Nicholson, whom Joseph W. Nicholson
remembers as an old man. The parents of Joseph W. Nicholson were John and
Hester (Orr) Nicholson. His father was born at Falmouth, Kentucky', August
27, 1811, and was brought by his parents to Adams County. At that time
Quincy contaijied only a few buildings. John Nicholson was iong a prosperous
farmer in section 20 of Ursa Township, and died there March 3, 1890, at the
age of seventy-nine. His wife, Hester R., was born in Indiana December 27,
^"^ oA^^^^^^-^"^
LIBRARY
;r THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 821
1823, and died June 16, 1884. Their descendants, both children and grand-
children, are still living in Adams County. Theresa, their oldest child, born in
1847, is the widow of Francis Roan, and is living at Qufncy with a daughter.
The second in age is Joseph W. John, born in 1851, married Seralda Nicholson,
and is now a resident of Mendon, having no children living. Saville, born in
1853, died in infancy. Susan, born in 1855, married Napoleon Orr and she died
in 1894. Lafayette, born in 1857, married Emerine Long, a resident of Quincy.
Olive B., born in 1859, is the widow of Henry Morris, who died in 1917. George,
born in 1861, lives in Quincy and lias been twice married. Kate, born in 1864,
was the wife of ^Yilliam Jlitchell and died in 1892. Hester E., born in 1866,
married William Darnell, of Quincy.
Joseph \Y. Nicholson has been the member of the familj- who has practically
always kept his interests at the old homestead. His farm consists of 160 acres,
all of which his father once owned. For a number of years it was one of the
principal centers of fruit production in Adams County. At one time there was
a pear orchard of twenty-five acres, and altogether more than 100 acres were
planted in fruit. The fruit business was highly profitable in its day, and Mr.
Nicholson ranked as one of the foremost horticulturists of Western Illinois.
Within recent years the orchards have been destroyed, their vitality and use-
fulness having been exhausted, and now practically all the land is devoted to
general farming, ilr. Nicholson has lived in three houses, two of which were
destroyed by fire, and his present good country home was erected in 1888. His
barn was built in 1870.
Mr. Nicholson has not neglected the public welfare and has responded to
those calls made upon his services by the community. For several years he
was school trustee, is a democrat in politics, and he and his wife are members
of the Christian Church of Ursa.
August 26, 1880, Mr. Nicholson married Miss Idealia King. Mrs. Nicholson
is member of an old and prominent Adams County family. She was born
October 2, 1863, a daughter of William L. and Eliza (Gallamore) King. The
career of her father deserves special mention here. William L. King was born
in Pulaski Count.y, Kentucky, April 11, 1811, and arrived in Quincy in March,
1830. He was then nineteen years of age, and had nothing but his health and
willingness to work as capital. For twenty-three years he was a resident of
Quincy, and for the first seven years of that time he worked out at monthly
wages. It was the strictest economy and splendid native intelligence that
enabled him to get an independent start. He built a small flour mill, which he
conducted for a time, and is credited with having made the first barrel of flo\ir
that ever passed inspection in the county. He also built and operated several
distilleries in the county. The last twenty-five years of his life were spent as
a farmer in section 19 of Ursa Township. He there expended much money as well
as time and patience in developing a beautiful estate. He had 240 acres of
land and also owned much property in Quincy, and was rated as one of the
county's wealthy citizens. He died November 14. 1879. His old farm is now
known as the Henry Cram farm, a mile and a half south of Ursa, and most of
its improvements were erected during the time of Mr. King. I\Ir. King also
about 1872 built the King Block at Hampshire and Fifth streets in Quincy, a
property that is now owned by Mrs. Nicholson. William King married for his
first wife Miss Salina Edgerton. of Connecticut. She was the mother of four
children. For his second wife ifr. King married in March, 1846, Eliza Galla-
more, who became the mother of eleven children, only two of whom reached
maturity, Idealia and William. William King died April 6, 1918. Mrs. Nichol-
son's mother was born in North Carolina Februarv 14, 1820, and died February
15, 1879.
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholson became the parents of five children. LTna Opal, born
August 27, 1881, was married October 15, 1903, to Vernon Inman, and they
now live in Portland, Oregon, and have three children. Je.ssie E., born August
822 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
13, 1883, was married November 12, 1902, to Elmer Daugherty, who for the
past eight years has been the active manager of the Nicholson farm. Mr. and
Mrs. Daugherty have four children. Fern V., Russell E., Helen Idealia and
Eva Ruth. Fay King Nicholson, born August 5, 1895, is the wife of Mr. Harold
Grimes, an Ursa Township farmer, and has one child, Leroy. Mr. and Mrs.
Nicholson lost two of their children young.
Mr. Nicholson's grandfather, it should be recalled, was a volunteer soldier
in the Blackliawk Indian war and also served in the campaign against the
Mormons at Nauvoo in 1846.
George D. Roth. Coming to Quincy in 1890, from that time forward
George D. Roth made himself known in an ever increasing circle of friends
and associates as a man of great business energy, of complete integrity, and
his success in life was only a due reward for all that he had achieved therein
and the service he had rendered.
Mr. Roth was born in Warsaw, Illinois, March 9, 1870, and died at his home
401 South 12th Street in Quincy October 27, 1918, at the age of forty-eight.
His parents were Henry P. and Maria (Luedde) Roth, both natives of Illi-
nois and of German ancestrj-. They were married in Warsaw, Illinois, and his
father was a grocery merchant there for some years, dying in 1876, at the age
of thirty-six. He had served as a soldier in the Union army, was a republican,
and he and his wife are both members of the Lutheran Church. His widow sur-
vived him and passed away in 1902, when about sixty years of age. They had
four children. One, Frank, died in infancy. Two are still living. Ella is
the wife of Frank E. Cook, of Warsaw, Illinois. Harry W. is employed in the
government arsenal at St. Louis. He married Margaret Schwabe of St. Louis.
George D. Roth grew up in Warsaw, attended the gi-ammar and high
schools there, and came to Quincy in 1890 to enroll as a student in the Gem
City Business College. After his course of training there he found employment
as bill clerk with the J. B. Sehott Saddlery Company. Later he was bookkeeper
for Risto and Fick on the west side of the Square, and later for the Quine.y
Showcase Works. All that was valuable experience, but the real opening of his
business career came when he entered the service of the Wabash Coal Company.
For a number of years he was iu that company's office and during that time
acquired such a comprehensive knowledge of the business that upon the death
of Will C. Fick he became a member of the firm Fick Coal Company, associated
with John Fick. He was secretary and treasurer and office manager and much
of the success of that firm was due to his apparently infallible knowledge of the
coal business, and his characteristic industry and faithfulness in handling the
company's afi'airs. For nearly six years after he first became aware of his
serious condition of health he protracted his life and usefulness by careful
living, but none the less his death was regarded as a distinct loss to the busi-
ness and citizenship of Quincy.
He was well known fraternally, being affiliated with Lambert . Lodge No.
659, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Quincy Chapter, Royal Arch Masons,
Quincy Commandery, Knights Templar, Quincy Consistory of the Scottish
Rite, and the M.ystic Shrine at East St. Louis. He was a faithful member and
a trustee of the Kentucky Street Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics
he was a republican.
For nearly twenty years Mr. Roth made his home at Quincy with Rudolph
Wilms. During that time a relationship developed between the two men which
was unsurpassed in affection and friendship by the closer ties of blood and kin-
ship. June 29, 1910, Mr. Roth married Miss Clara Sprick, of Fontanelle,
Ncl)raska. Tliey had first met and become acquainted in Quincy. Clara
Catherine Sprick was born at Fontanelle, Nebraska, February 23, 1882, re-
ceived part of her schooling in her native county, also attended school iu Kan-
sas, and was well educated. She is a woman of distinctive culture and refine-
QUINCT AND ADAMS COUNTY 823
ment, and she and her two children are still living at the Roth home on South
Twelfth Street. IMrs. Roth is a daughter of Henry and Sophia (Wilkenniug)
Spric'k. Both were natives of Germany but were married in Quincy in 1858.
Henry Spriek was one of the first pioneer settlers of Nebraska, going there in
1855, about the time Nebraska was first proposed for settlement as a result of
the discussion in Congress over the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Henry Spriek be-
came a man of afi'airs in Nebraska, served as a representative and state senator,
and was a republican elector in the Blaine campaign of 1884. More details
concerning the Spriek family history will be found on other pages of this pub-
lication under the name Henry C. Spriek, the well known banker of Quincy.
ilrs. Roth's two children are: George Alan, born December 4, 1911, now
in the second grade of the Webster school ; and Margaret Helen, born December
29, 1914.
Edward B. Moller is one of Quincy 's younger business men, is a lively
and enterprising citizen, and is well known in the city both for his own achieve-
ments and for the prestige associated with the family name.
He was born here August 28, 1883, a son of the late Henry H. ]\Ioller, else-
where referred to in this publication. Edward Moller attended the parochial
schools, the St. Francis College, and the Gem City Business College, after which
he began his active business experience, and since Jul}- 15, 1901, has been a
member of the firm.
November 22, 1905, he married Augusta C. Sehmitt. They had three
children : Florence A., born April 18, 1909, and died September 24* 1909 ; Mary
Lucile, born December 3, 1912 ; and Edward B. Jr., born May 4, 1917, and died
June 24, 1917. Mr. Moller is independent in politics and he and his family
are members of the Catholic Church.
John F. Dickerman. Several generations of the Dickerman family have
played their part and played it well in Mendon Township. The founder of
the family here was Ira R. Dickerman, who was born in New Haven, Connecti-
cut, August 7, 1814. On August 17, 1838, he married Miss Laura Smith, who
was born at Chardou, Geauga County, Ohio, May 28, 1819, the oldest of twelve
children. Ira Dickerman and wife arrived at Mendon November 5, 1839, and
traversed the entire distance from Ohio by overland conveyance. Both pos-
sessed the real pioneer spirit (hard working and industrious, and in course of
time had their homestead of 140 acres highly cultivated, with an orchard of
fruit and capable of producing a good living. Their home was in section 1 of
the township, a mile and a half north of Mendon, and Ira Dickerman and wife
spent their last days in the Village of Mendon, where they died. They had
three sons, and at their death they were survived by seven grandchildren and
seven great-gi*andchildren. Their three sons were named DeLanie, DeWitt
and Franklin. DeLanie Dickerman served as a Union soldier in Company D
of the One Hundred and Fifty-Fifth Illinois Infantry. He was also a teacher,
and later engaged in the hardware and general merchandise business at Mendon
with C. B. Garrett. Out of his prosperity he bought a section of land in Chari-
ton County, Missouri, and was one of a rather numerous colony from this section
of Illinois that settled in that county, and the Town of ]Mendon, Jli-ssouri, was
named because of the place of origin of so many of the first settlers there.
DeLanie Dickerman usually spent a part of each year for twenty years on
his Missouri farm. He served as justice of the peace, notary public, and was
entrusted with the settlement of manj- estates. At the time of his death he was
president of the Village of Mendon. For twenty-five years he was active in
Sunday school work and for nearly fifty years sang in the choir of the Congrega-
tional Church. In 1864 he married Estella Van Valkenlnirg, who died in 1918.
Franklin Dickerman married Julia Smith, and was a farmer north of Mendon,
but finally retired in the Village of ]\Iendon and for many years was a well
824 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
known auetioneer. He died at Mendou and his widow is still living in that
village.
DeWitt Difkerman was born May 1, 1841, on a farm two miles northwest of
Mendon and on December 24, 1863, married ^Margaret L. McCormiek, a daughter
of John McCormiek. She was born at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and was six-
teen yeai-s of age when her family came to Adams County. i\Irs. DeWitt Dick-
erman is still living, at the age of seventy-live, and occiipies the old home in
Mendon. In 1864 DeWitt Dickerman moved to a farm of sixty acres, and made
such good use of his opportunities that he eventually owned 305 acres. In 1905
he retired from the farm into Mendon, and died there June 21, 1913. He served
as a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was active in the Lodge
and Chapter of Masons and the Eastern Star. He was a republican in politics,
as were his father and brothers. His children were : Laura E., wife of Fred
Ralph, of IMendon, Missouri ; John F. ; Nellie May, wife of C. A. Nutt, a farmer
(of Mendon Township ; Joel M., who lives in Mendon and is a mail carrier on
rural route No. 3 out of Mendon.
John F. Dickerman was born at the old homestead Januarj- 14, 1870, and
practically all his life has been spent on the home farm. In 1902 he took the
management of the farm in partnership with his father, and after the latter "s
death he inherited 140 acres constituting the original homestead and has since
acquired other land to give him a place of 258 acres, sufficient in size and
equipped with ample facilities for his biisiness a,s a stockman and general
farmer. The old home was built here in 1873, when he was a boy three years old,
and the main barn was erected in 1875. He has done much to improve and keep
up all the buildings and has added much to the equipment. He handles cattle
and hogs, and all the grain and other crops produced on his land are fed on the
place.
February 3. 1902, Mr. Dickerman married Sarah Mealiff, who was reared
in the same locality of Adams County. She died in 1905, leaving one daughter,
Ada. February 21, 1906, Mr. Dickerman married Grace Mealiff, a relative of
his first wife and daughter of William Mealiff. To this marriage have been born
Arthur and William. Mr. Dickerman is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church and his wife of the Episcopal Church. He is affiliated with the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows.
Jesse E. Weems. Identified prominently for many years with railroad
affairs and i-ailroad building, Jesse E. Weems, one of Quiney's most highly con-
sidered citizens, is still active in business here although in another direction,
being interested with his two sons in the Quincy Pure Ice and Cold Storage Com-
pany, of which he js manager. There are many men in Adams County of Mr.
Weems' years who can tell of wonderful changes having been made during
their lifetime in this and other sections of the country, but it has not been the
privilege of all to so prominently take part in substantial developments and to
sustain business relations for so long and continuous a period.
Jesse E. Weems has never followed an agricultural life, but he was born on
a farm August 21, 1831, his parents, Jesse E. and Nancy (Otis) Weems, living
at that time in Virginia. His grandfather. Rev. ]\Iason Lock Weems. was pastor
of the churcli at Mount Vernon of which General Washington was a member.
Dr. Weems was a writer of note and a biographer of General Washington, who
was also his personal friend.
When Jesse E. Weems was eighteen years old he left the home farm and
went to Washington City in order to study civil engineering. Later he was
attached to the boundary line commission which located the division line between
the United States and ^Mexico and in this work of national importance the young
engineer was first tested. In 1853 he came to Illinois and located at Augusta
in Hancock County, engaging in railroad work in the construction of what was
called the middle division, between Camp Point and ilacomb, of the Northern
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 825
Cross Railroad. In 1859 he was the engineer in the building of the Quincy &
Palmyra between West Quincy and Palmyra, which was subsequently bouglit
by the officials of the Wabash system and became a part of the Hannibal & St.
Joseph Railway.
ilr. Weeras then served Hancock County two years in the office of count}'
surveyor, but his railroad building was not yet over, for afterward he was the
engineer in charge of the construction of the Illinois & Southern Iowa Railway
from Clayton to Keokuk, which was later consolidated with the Wabash. He
continued his connection with the railroad affairs until 1893, resigning then and
moving to Texas. There he became interested in the manufacture of ice and in
189-t returned to Illinois and since then has been connected with this business
at Quiney and has the management of the Pure Ice and Cold Storage Company
of Quincy. The original plant, with dimensions of 30x100 feet, was built for
cold storage in 1894 but the business has gi'own to such large proportions that
the present quarters, a six-story building 11x400 feet in dimensions, are none
too large, for the company not only supplies local consumers but ships to other
points. It has become one of the most prosperous industries of Quincy.
Jesse E. Weems has been twice married, first to ]\Iiss Louisa Kimball, who
at her death left two sons, Milton K., who is president of the Weeras Laundry
Company of Quincy and Springfield, and treasurer of the Pure Ice Company,
of Quincy; and Frank H., who is president of the Pure Ice Company and
secretary and treasurer of the Weems Laundry Company. Mr. Weems was
married second to ]\Irs. Brawner, widow of James Brawner. Their comfortable
residence stands on Hampshire Street, Quiney. Mr. Weems is a republican in
his political views and fraternally was made a Mason in 1854 and has been
identified with this organization since early manhood. He is a member of the
Congregational Church. No history of this part of Illinois would be complete
without extended mention of the men who have been history builders here, and
to this class belongs Jesse E. Weems.
Oscar Schmelzle. Opportunities are always open to the thrifty and hard
working young man trained to practical farming, and the yeai's inevitably bring
independence and prosperity to such a man. A case in point is that of Oscar
Schmelzle. who began his career with merelj- the labor of his own hands and
the savings from his industry, and is now proprietor of one of the fine farm
homes of Gilmer Township. His place is thirteen miles east of Quiney.
Mr. Schmelzle was born in Baden, Germanj-, May 20, 1870. His parents
were John and Amelia Schmelzle. His father served as a soldier of the German
Empire in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 and in 1878 brought his family
to the L^nited States, taking a steamship from Havre to Naw York City. The
family were eleven or twelve days in crossing the ocean, and from New York
they came direct to Quincy, where they had acquaintances. John Schmelzle
had been a farmer in Germany, and in order to get a start in the new world he
worked at day wages in a lumber yard at Quincy. Five years later he moved to
a rented farm in Burton Township ten miles east of Quiney, and later bought
140 acres three-quarters of a mile from Burton Bridge on Mill Creek. In that
locality he remained long enough to enjoj^ the friiits of his well directed farm
enterprise, constructed new buildings, and otherwise improved the land, and
when he sold it he retired to Quincy with, a competency. He is now living
among his children. He is a Catholic in religion. In his family were the fol-
lowing children : Oscar ; Gus, of Melrose Township ; Emil, of Quincy : Cath-
erine, wife of William Weelman, of Gilmer Township ; Anna, wife of Lewis
Steekeman, now a hotel proprietor at Colfax, California ; and Joseph, who lives
near Quiney.
Oscar Schmelzle lived at home until he was past twenty-one and nearly
all of his experiences up to that time were farming. As a farm laborer he was
in the employ of Sam Hastings three years, for Press Stump two years, and
826 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Samuel Thompson two years. The quality of work he performed for these men
gave him a good reputation and this credit was a big asset when he started
life as a married man.
February 16, 1898, he married Miss Lena Dietrich, daughter of Nicholas and,
Mary Dietrich of Melrose Township. Nicholas Dietrich was born in Germany
seventy-five years ago, and at the age of six years accompanied his parents,
Jacob and Elizabeth Dietrich, about 1849, to America. His parents settled
where Nicholas now lives on the State Road, 61/0 miles east of Quincy in Mel-
rose Town.ship. Nicholas Dietrich has always lived in that vicinity and is one
of the prosperous farmers there. At the age of twenty-seven he married Mary
Zanger, who was then seventeen years of age. Nicholas and Mai'y Dietrich
have eight children, four sons and four daughters : Jacob, of Melrose Township ;
P^rances, wife of John Ehrhart, of Melrose Township ; Lena, Mrs. Schmelzle ;
Carrie, wife of Lawrence Wellman, of Palmyra, Missouri ; William, of Melrose
Township ; Catherine, wife of Al Wolf of Melrose : Rome, of Burton Township ;
and Alois, who is unmarried and lives on the old farm.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Schmelzle rented the Booth farm in
Gilmer Township for fifteen years. In the meantime they bought their present
place of eighty acres, have owned it fourteen years, but moved to it as their
permanent home only five years ago. This farm was the old Jacob Murphy
place, and Mr. and Mrs. Schmelzle bought it at forty dollars an acre. They
have since added other land until they now have a complete and well balanced
farm of 120 acres, and practically all its improvements have been made by
^Ir. Schmelzle. He has a good house, barns and other buildings, representing an,
investment of fully $6,000, and these various facilities have been added not only
with a view to working the land to tlie best advantage, but also for the purpose
of aifording an attractive and comfortable home. The farm is one of the out-
standing features in the landscape, the buildings standing on a fine ridge, and
the barn is visible for miles around. Mr. Schmelzle is a si;ccessful general
farmer, handling the usual grain crops, and feeding a large drove of Poland
China hogs every years. He and his family are members of St. Joseph's Catholic
Church, and he assisted liberally in building the present church. Mr. and Mrs.
Schmelzle have three sons and one daughter, all at home, named Raymond,
Clarence, Laura and Alvin.
Dudley H. !Myers. Several localities in as many different townships of
Adams County learned to appreciate the good citizenship and sterling qualities
of the Myers family. The branch of this family represented by Mr. Dudley H.
Myers, who is proprietor of one of the best rural homes in Honey Creek Town-
ship, 21/0 miles northeast of Mendon, was founded in Adams County by his
grandfather, Henry Myers.
Henry Myers was born June 25, 1802, and died in 1869. He married Anna
Tinsman, who was born May 31, 1811, and died at the age of eighty-eight. They
were married January 3, 1828, and came to Western Illinois about 1851. Other
pages of this publication contain a more complete record of the family in its
different branches.
Among the sons' of Henry Myers was Cyrus C. Myers, who was born in
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and came to Adams County at the age
of twelve years. When he was twenty-two he married Sarah L. Dudley, who
was at that time twenty. They then settled on a farm near Mendon and in
1882 moved into Honey Creek Township and bought the 225 acres now owned
and occupied by their son Dudley. Cyrus C. Myers died on this old homestead
at the age of fifty-six. His widow is still living, a resident of Mendon. His
career M'as a comparatively brief but a successful one, and his prosperity was
the result of good farming methods and much enterprise as a stock feeder.
He held the township office of supervisor two terms and in politics was a repub-
lican, though practically all his brothers were democrats. He was also an active
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 827
member of the Congregational Church at Mendon. Cyrus C. Myers and wife
had eight children, seven of whom survived infancy : Abbie, wife of Samuel
Taleott, of Honey Creek Township ; Myrta, who married J. B. Frisbie, of
^Mendon ; Dudley H. ; Fred C, who is a general merchant at Conway Springs,
Kansas ; Irving A., a physician practicing at Cottage Grove, Wisconsin ; Homer
S., who died at the age of twenty years ; and "Walter M., a mining engineer in
British Columbia.
Dudley H. Myers was born on his father's old home place in Mendon Town-
ship, three miles from his present home. May 31, 1867. When he was fourteen
years old his parents came to the land whose cultivation has been the principal
object of his energetic labors for a number of years. At the age of twenty-
six Mr. Myers married Cora J. Noyes, of Mendon, daughter of Chauncey
Noyes. Mrs. Myers when a child of three months lost her father, who in the
meantime had become a farmer in Kansas. Her widowed mother, Mary J.
Fowler Noyes, then returned to ilendon Township, where her daughter grew
to womanhood and was married at the age of twenty-four. For the first fifteen
years of their married life Mr. and Mrs. Myers lived on a farm adjoining
their present home, and in 1908 occupied the old Myers homestead. ^Ir. Myers
bought this place from his mother, and he also owns his former home, giving him
366 acres, which he operates as a single farm. It is not only one of the larger
farms but one of those distinguished by its improvements and the efficient way
in which every department is handled. Mr. Myei-s knows the farming game
by lifelong experience and has never hesitated to avail himself of modern meth-
ods when he was convinced that such methods were an improvement over old
ones. He is a thoroughly successful and enthusiastic son of the soil. He is
endeavoring to manage his farm resources in a manner to meet the demands
made upon them by the Government in its present crisis, and is stanchly allied
with the war spirit which is moving American farmers to almost superhuman
efforts. Mr. Myers on his homestead has a group of old and substantial build-
ings, the house having been erected fully forty years ago, and he has kept all
of them in a thorough state of repair. As a stockman he breeds Shorthorn and
Polled Durham cattle, from fifty to seventy-five head, and also has a large num-
ber of big type Poland China hogs. He is not a willing office holder, but for the
past ten or twelve years has been accorded the responsibilities of justice of the
peace. He is a republican. He is also president of the Farm Bureau of Adams
County, and through that is closely co-operating with state and federal organi-
zations. He has also been president of the Mendon Township District High
School Board since it was organized and this board is now erecting a model
high school building at Mendon. He and his wife and family are members of the
Congregational Church.
Mr. and Jlrs. Myers have the following children : Chauncey C, operating
one of his father's farms, married Aletha Nutt. and has two children. Vera and
Arthur D. Harold N., who is the family representative in the war, being in
the radio department of the United States Navy ; Kenneth H. who is a grad-
uate of high school, as are all the four older children, since September, 1918,
has been a member of the Student Army Training Corps of Illinois Univer-
sity. ; Marjorie D., wlio is now a student in Oberlin College in Ohio; and Wilfred
S., a high school student at Mendon.
Robert Montgomery has been a resident of Quincy since the close of the
Civil war. Though eighty-eight years of age, he still seems as young as many
men twenty-five years his junior, and his life though identified with many
important business affairs has exemplified that simplicity of living and physical
sturdiness which promote old age and honor among men.
Mr. Montgomery was born at Philadelphia October 12, 1830, and is of
Scotch-Irish ancestry. In the latter years of the eighteenth century his great-
grandfather, William Montgomery, Sr., brought his family to the United States
828 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
and landed at Boston, where he died. William IMontgomery, Jr., was liorn in
Londonderry, Ireland, and was about six years old when he left the family seat.
He was reared in Boston, and married there Elizabeth Mitchell. They then
moved to Philadelphia, where she died, her only son, Henry, afterwards going
to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. William Montgomery, Jr., married for his second
wife at Philadelphia Amelia ilosier, a native of that city. She was born Jan-
uary 29, 1778, and died in Philadelphia October 25, 1829. * William Montgomery,
Jr., died January 22, 1824, at the age of fifty-six. Both were Scotch Presbj'-
terians in religion.
Robert Montgomery, Sr., father of the Quinej- business man, was born at
Philadelphia June 17, 1808, and died in that city of pneumonia December
29, 1846. For a number of years he was a teller in the Jlechanics Bank of
Philadelphia, and later an exchange broker. In 1830 he married at Philadel-
phia Miss Sarah Pierce. She was born near that city in May, 1807, of English
ancestry, a granddaughter of Samuel Pierce, Sr., and daughter of Samuel
Pierce, Jr. Her father was a native of New Jersey and a prominent farmer and
owner of a splendid property in that state. Mrs. Sarah Montgomery in 1867
came west to join her son at Quincy and died there in 1879. Her husband was
a Presbyterian, while she was a member of the Episcopal Church.
Robert Jlontgomery was the oldest of his father's family. His only living
sister is Mrs. Rebecca Wood, who has been a resident of Quincy since 1863, and
is the mother of Howard and Ernest Wood, both well known Quincy men.
The early life of Robert Montgomery was spent in Philadelphia, where he
completed the course of the public schools. For about five years he worked in
a general merchandise store in New Jerse.y. In February, 1852, he came west
and located at St. Louis, and six years later moved to Palmyra, Missouri, where
for a year or two he was clerk in a drug house. He then located in business
at Selliina, Missouri, and in 1862 by appointment from President Lincoln became
postmaster of that Missouri city.
It was January 1, 1865, that Mr. Montgomery began his residence at Quiney.
With Mr. Ferdinand Flaek he engaged in the drug business. About that time
he sold his Missouri property for .$9,000 and soon afterward bought the interest
of his partner in Quiney. He had other associates, including Charles Kies.
In 1873 he sold his interests in the firm to Aldo Summers, and in September
of the same year bought an interest and became a partner with Hiram Rogers.
Mr. Rogers died soon afterward and his interests were acquired by Mr. Mont-
gomery December 20, 1881. In 1892 Mr. Montgomery returned to New Jersey,
and became administrator for his uncle's extensive property there, devoting
a part of his attention to it until 1902. Some years ago his son James was
appointed postmaster of Quincy under Cleveland and Mr. Montgomery filled
the nfifiee of chief of the money order department six years. Since then he has
lived retired at his home at 2303 Maine Street.
At St. Louis Mr. IMontgomery married Elizabeth Wichert, a native of Ohio,
but reared in St. Louis. Her father. Dr. James Wichert, was a prominent
physician of that city. Mrs. Montgomery died at her coTintry home Thanks-
giving Day, 1904, after they had been happily married for forty years. She
was the mother of four children : Robert ]\rontgomery, Jr., who died in 1901,
left four sons and one daughter. Three of these sons are now in the service of
their country, one being an ensign at Annapolis, another a yeoman at the Great
Lakes training station, and still another a sergeant quartermaster at San An-
tonio, Texas. James Montgomery, the second son, who died in March, 1916,
married IMiss Emma Cox, who is living in St. Louis, and of her family two
sons. Frank and James, are soldiers. Thus Mr. Montgomery has six grand-
children i-epreseliting the family in the present great war. The only living
sou of yir. ilontgomery is Dr. Edmund B. IMontgomery, who graduated in 1879
from the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, and for many years has
successfully practiced medicine at Quincy. Doctor Montgomery married Emma
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 829
Cox, aud their son Ilosmer is uow in the medical corps in France. Doctor Mont-
gomery and wife also have three daughters : Amelia, Ella and Elizabeth.
Eobert Montgomery for his present wife married Mrs. Catherine (^Murray)
Rogers, widow of William T. Rogers. She was born in Salem, Ohio, and was
educated there. Her father, Capt. Gilbert Murray, was an officer in an Ohio
regiment in the Civil war and was killed in battle. By her first marriage Mrs.
Montgomery had six children. Mr. Montgomery is a Unitarian and for sixteen
yeai-s served as treasurer of his church. His wife is a Baptist. In politics he
is an independent democrat.
S.UHXIEL Tallcott. One of the oldest and best known families of Honey
Creek Township are the Tallcotts, whose homes and worthy activities have
Iwen centered there since pioneer days. The permanance and stability of the
family is interestingly reiiected in the fact that the house which now furnishes
the home to Samuel Tallcott and family is the same one in which he was born
May 1, 1857. This farm is two miles east of the Village of Mendon.
His parents were Chester and Harriet (Stringham) Tallcott. Chester Tall-
cott was born at Glastonbur3', Connecticut, in 1810, and during his youth learned
the trades of bricklaying and plastering. He came to Illinois in 1831, and at
Jacksonville worked with a brother who was in the contracting business there.
In the same year, during a prospecting tour, he bought his first tract of land
in Adams County. He was attracted to this section of Illinois largely by the
presence of other Connecticut people here. His first purchase of land was on
the edge of the prairie in Honey Creek Township. He continued to work at
Jacksonville for some months and in 1832 rode a horse back to Connecticut,
being accompanied by Richard Starr's father and Henry Fowler. He sold his
horse in Connecticut and bought a team, and that team drew the wagon in
which he and his young bride rode out to Western Illinois. His wife, whom he
married in Connecticut, was Mary Hale. He lived at Jacksonville and followed
his trade until 1834, and then settled on his land. With his mechanical skill
he constructed a large barn and house on his place. Money was exceedingly
scarce in those days, and it is said that he paid out only 50 cents in currency.
The large frame house with its brick lining, built more than eighty years ago,
is still standing. At that time there was not another house between his place
and ]\Iendnn. His first wife died there about three years later. In the mean-
time her sister, Elizabeth Hale, had come west, and she was the second wife of
Chester Talcott. She died during a cholera epidemic and one of her daughters
and one son by Mr. Tallcott 's first marriage were stricken with the same disease.
The other son, Asa, grew to maturity, served as a Union soldier in the Civil war,
spent a number of years in Kansas and at the age of seventy-six retired to
Mendon. A daughter, Anna, married Horace Hulburd, and lived in Iowa,
where she died.
In the fall of 1855 Chester Tallcott sold his original farm and came to the
location where his son Samuel now resides. This land he had also acquired in
the year 1831, and in 1855 he undertook to build and improve the place. For
a time he lived in a cabin, but in 1856 erected the substantial brick hoiLse in
which Samuel Tallcott was born and where he still lives. The brick for this
building was made in a yard two miles south, and most of them were hauled to
the building site by Chester Tallcott 's oldest son, Asa. At that time it was one
of the largest homes in this part of the county. After 1855 Chester Tallcott
lived on this farm, supervised its cultivation, but also employed himself at his
trade. He died there in 1871, at the age of sixty-one. For his third wife he
married Harriet Stringham, who survived him many years and pa-ssed away
January 1, 1901. Her children were: Mary, who married Wesley Clair, and
died at the ase of forty; Julia M., who married Amos Scranton and moved
to Chariton County, Missouri, where she died : Ella, who is unmarried and
lives at the old homestead : William, who spent thirty-five years at ifendon.
Vol. n— 7
830 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Missouri ; Samuel ; Elma, who died in infancy ; and Albert, who died when
about thirty years old.
Samuel Talleott has spent all his life since birth on the farm above described,
excepting for six months in 1881-82 when he traveled and sojourned on the
Pacific Coast. His energies have been successfully devoted to general farming.
He handles high grade Red Polled cattle, Percheron horses and Poland China
hogs, and keeps good utility stock and gets most of his profits from cattle
and hogs sold from his farm. He is one of the modern and progressive farmers
of Adams County who have a silo as part of their farm equipment. Mr. Tall-
eott 's father was school director for many years, road commissioner, and an
independent republican in politics, and his son Samuel has played almost a sim-
ilar part, serving on the school board, twice was assessor of the towTiship, and
the fact that he was a republican in a democratic township is sufficient testimony
to the adequacy and satisfactoriness of his public service. Whenever a can-
didate he made no special effort to secure his election, and he once refused the
nomination for supervisor. The Tallcotts have long been identified with the
Congregational Church at J\Iendon.
December, 24, 1885, Mr. Talleott married Miss Abbie Myers, who at the
time of her marriage was twenty-two years of age. She is a daughter of Cyrus
and Sarah (Dudley) Myers, of a well known family elsewhere referred to in
this publication. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Talleott are given brief record
as follows : Fred, who was kicked by a horse and died at the age of twenty ;
Cora, Mrs. Albert Evans, of ilendon Township ; Julia, Mrs. Edward ^lealiff,
of Mendon Township ; Charles, who married Pearl Rowbotham and lives at
Mendon in Chariton County, ilissouri ; Chester, at home ; Arthur, who is in
the United States Army, assigned to the division of motor mechanics and now
in England in the service ; Walter, at home ; Sarah, who died in childhood ;
and Elizabeth, at home.
Frederick Rupp. One of the most interesting stories told on other pages of
this publication is that which deals with the growth and development of Rupp
Brothers & Company, iron and steel merchants. One of the factors in that
history was the late Frederick Rupp. He started out poor, as do most iron and
junk dealers, driving a horse and small wagon throughout the country and
gathering up commodities that in wasteful American fashion are thrown away,
and he kept at the business until with his brother and others saw a great plant
established, and he was personally rated as one of Qviincy's very successful and
prosperous citizens. The history of the business is told elsewhere, but here
should be noted some details of his personal career.
Frederick Rupp was born in Hesse Nassau, Germany, October 19, 1848, and
died in Quincy August 18, 1917. He came with other members of the family
in 1867, by sailing vessel, and from New York came westward to Quincy. Here
he entered business with his brother George, and gave it his complete time and
energies practically until his death.
The late Mr. Rupp was an esteemed member of St. Francis Catholic Church,
and in politics was a democrat. In 1883, at Quincy, he married ]\Iiss Theresa
Hoene. Mrs. Rupp, who survives her honored husband and resides at 502 North
Twelfth Street, was born at Quincy in June, 1863, and was reared and educated
here in the public schools. Her parents were H. Frank and Mary (Laacke)
Hoene. Her mother was a native of Quincy, while her father was born in
Germany and came as a young man to the United States and was married in
Quincy. For a number of years he was connected with the Ricker Bank and
later engaged in the mining business, but lost his property in that venture. He
spent his last years at Warrior Station, Alabama, and died September 1, 1910,
at the age of sixty-seven, and his widow passed away at the same place.
Mr. and Mrs. Rupp had nine children : Rose E., who is a well educated young
woman and still at home; Carl 6. and Fred B., both of whose names appear on
LIBRARY
jr THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOI
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 831
the Quincy honor roll of soldiers now serving the cause of democracy in France ;
Theresa M., who is a member of the Order of St. Francis; Margaret L., wife of
Henry Frank Driiffel, who is also a soldier in France, and during his absence
his wife lives with her mother and has one son, Eugene H. ; Edith A., William
F. (a graduate of the Gem City Business College), Bertha M. and Julius C,
all at home. The family are members of St. Francis Catholic Church.
John C. Ye.irgaix is a prominent and successful stock breeder and farmer
in Honey Creek Township. His farm, two miles northeast of Fowler, is widely
known among stockmen, especially those interested in the highest type of the
Shorthorn cattle. Mr. Yeargain is proprietor of one of the largest individual
farms in the county, and is member of an old and notable family.
The Yeargains were real pioneers in Gilmer Township, where John Yeargain
and wife settled in the fall of 1831. John Yeargain was not only among the
tirst to clear away the woods and erect his log cabin home, but from the first
carried the torch of religion and saw to it that religious service was not neglected
among the pioneers. His house was the place of preaching and the scene of
the organization of the First Methodist Church in Gilmer Township. John
Yeargain was born in Virginia and in March, 181.5, moved to Jefferson County,
Kentucky, near Louisville and later lived in Shelby County, Kentucky, until he
came to Adams County. He married Elizabeth Bain. John Yeargain died
November 30, 1845, and his wife April 1, 1855. They had four sons, William
T., who was born in Kentucky in 1815, Johu P., Milton M., born June 3, 1828,
and Edward A. William T. Yeargain came into possession of the old Yeargain
homestead in Gilmer Township in 1842 and lived on that farm until his death
in his ninety-third year. One of his .sons, William, resides at Camp Point and
another, James, in Brown County, Illinois. John P. Yeargain lived and died
in Gilmer Township and his son Thomas is a resident of Paloma. The last
survivor of these four brothers, and by that token, the oldest resident of
Gilmer 't'ownship, was ililton JI.
Edward A. Yeargain, father of John C. Yeargain, married Ruth Pearee,
daxighter of David and Elizabeth Pearee. David Pearee was born in Baltimore
County, Maryland, I\Iareh 18, 1807. February 27, 1829, he married Elizabeth
Stabler, who was born in York County, Pennsylvania, September 15, 1808.
The Pearee family moved to Butler Count.y Ohio, in 1835, and in 1848 came to
Adams County. David Pearee died here December 16. 1878. Edward A. Year-
gain lived for many years on a farm three miles southwest of Columbus in
Gilmer To-miship, but spent his last years in Quincy, where he died at the age
of sixty-eight. His first wife died aged thirty-six, and for his second wife he
married Sarah Norris, who is still living. Edward A. Yeargain acquired a
splendid farm of 340 acres in Gilmer Township, and was as successful in his
generation as a farmer and stock raiser as his son John C. has been. This old
farm has since been sold. He was a republican and his brothers were of the same
political faith except William T., who served in the State Legislature as a demo-
crat. Edward A. Yeargain by his first marriage had five children : Mary, wife
of C. L. Anderson, of Gilmer Township ; Louisa, Mrs. W. S. Hall ; Edward, who
died on the home place when twenty-two years of age ; David P., who for the
past twenty years has lived at Long Beach, California : and John C. By his
second wife Edward A. Yeargain had six children : Lorenzo, of Quincy, who
died in November, 1918; Ruby, ]\Irs. Hirsh, of New York, and four children
who are deceased, Catherine dying when twenty-two years of age.
John C. Yeargain was born December 3, 1864, on the old homestead farm
in Gilmer Township. In that environment he lived until he was twenty-one,
and attended the local schools for his education. After leaving home he spent
two years in Hancock County and then with a cash capital of $200 rented the
old homestead for three years. He then rented a portion of his present farm,
the old Peter G. Horn estate. On February 12, 1890, he married Miss Harriet
832 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Horn, who was born at the old Horn farm December 15, 1864, daughter of
Peter G. and Drusilla M. (Stahl) Horn. Peter G. Horn was a prominent citizen
of Honey Creek Township, was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania,
July 14, 1825, son of Adam and Mary Horn, and settled in Adams County
April 15, 1857. His wife was born in Pennsylvania January 26, 1831. Peter
Horn was recognized even forty years ago as one of the ablest and most pro-
gressive farmers of Honey Creek.
The Horn farm after being rented by Mr. Yeargain for two years was
bought by him. Besides his wife's interest he assumed a heavy debt contracted
with the other heirs. It was a large farm of 400 acres, and at the time of his
purchase represented almost a maximum of land value in Adams County. It
contains some long standing improvements, including the house built by Mr.
Horn in 1860, and the barn about 1863.
This is now the Yeargain stock and grain farm. Mr. Yeargain 's Short-
horn cattle comprise a herd of about thirty-five thoroughbreds. For a number
of years he has made a practice of selling breeding animals, many of which
are shipped to distant states, and he holds both public and private sales. Some
of his bulls and heifers have commanded most attractive prices. He is also
an extensive breeder and feeder of hogs. Besides making this farm pay for
itself Mr. Yeargain has invested his surplus in many other tracts of land, so
that his present estate comprises about 800 acres, practically in a body, and so
arranged as to be conveniently directed under his individual management. He
has two other building sites on the farm, one occupied by a tenant, but he main-
tains general supervision over the entire domain. Mr. Yeargain is a member
of the County Improvement Association, has been a delegate to the Farmers
Congi-ess at Rock Island, is a trustee of the United Bi-ethren Church at Fowler,
is a supporter of all the war activities, including Red Cross and Young ]\Ien's
Christian Association, and while these constitute, together with the manage-
ment of the farm, the full meed of a citizen's service, he had no inclination for
the honors of office and is content to vote as a republican.
John L. Soebbing. Banker, merchant and public citizen, John L. Soebbing
occupies a prominent place at Qi^incy, where he has long been identified with
important interests. He is a native of Quincy, born February 2, 1861, has
spent his life here, and it has been his privilege to contribute through his busi-
ness ability and undiminished industiy to the foiinding and forwarding of
numerous enterprises that have had much to do with substantial development
here.
The parents of John L. Soebbing, Anton and Catherine (Buddie) Soebbing,
were of German extraction. They came to Quincy, Illinois, in 1853 and 1847,
respectively, and during their long subsequent residence here were respected
and esteemed. They were the parents of six children, namely : A son that died
in infancy ; John L. ; Anton G., who is a rsident of Kansas City, Missouri ;
Elizabeth, who is deceased; Catherine, who is the widow of William Tempe,
of Quincy ; and Henry A., who is a resident of Quincy. After attending the
parochial schools at Quincy John L. Soebbing entered the employ of Dr. Rittler,
a well known medical practitioner of this city at that time, and then started to
learn the drug l)usiness with P. Cams, a druggist located on Elaine Street, and
continued with Mr. Carus until the latter 's death. His next position was with
the grocery house of C. R. Oliver, and from there entered the employ of John
H. Metzger. At this time, realizing that a thorough knowledge of practical
business methods was almost a necessity for a young man contemplating a
business life, he entered the Gem City Business college in 1876 and completed
the course, after which he returned to the grocery line and between that time
and 1887 was a clerk with Strickling & Company, Jacob Scholz and John
Altmix, in these standard houses securing a very thorough knowledge of this
line of trade.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 833
lu 1887 Mr. Soebbing bought the grocery house of John Winkeljohn and
carried on a tirst class retail store at Twelfth and Vine streets for three
years, and then built a spacious store building on the opposite corner and moved
into it with his brother Anton Soebbing as his partner. The enterprise was
carried on with business caution and ability and prospered greatly. In 1896
]\Ir. Soebbing retired from the retail line and was one of the incorporators of
the N. Kohl AYholesale Grocery Company, and became secretary of this com-
pany. He sold his interest in December, 1899.
In January, 1900, Mr. Soebbing organized the Quincy Grocery Company,
of which he is now treasurer and general managei-.. On Februarj' 6, 1900, he
bought out the W. S. Warfield Company, taking over the entire stock, building
and sales force. Mr. Soebbing is president of the Merchants Trust and Sav-
ings Bank, and a director and the treasurer of the Columbus Home Associa-
tion. He w^as vice president and a director in the Excelsior Stove Manufac-
turing Company and is secretary and treasurer of the Quincy Sand Company
and other concerns.
For many years interested in politics, a republican voter, Mr. Soebbing has
been honorable and useful in public office. From 1889 to 1890 he served on
the board of supervisors; from 1891 to 1893, was a member of the city council,
serving on the auditing, water and light committees, and in 1896 was re-elected
but resigned in the fall of that year. In 1899 he was elected again to public
office as alderman of his ward, his admirable business qualities making him par-
ticularly useful on the finance, water and light committees.
Mr. Soebbing was married October 30, 1883, to Miss Clara Altmix, and they
have had children as follows : Leo A., who is associated with his father in many
business enterprises ; Robert J., who is teller in the ^Merchants Trust and Sav-
ings Bank; Clara M., who resides at home; George F.. who is a bookkeeper in
his father's emploj'; Helen, who is the wife of A. R. Russell, of ]\Iuscogee,
Oklahoma; Edith, who is the wife of Charles Pritzlaft', of Quincy, now in the
United States Navy; John R., who was traveling salesman for the Quincy Gro-
cery Company and is now in the mechanical department, Balloon Division,
T'nited States Army; Ralph J., who is in his father's employ; Eugene, now at
San Antonio, Texas; and three who died in infancy.
Mr. Soebbing and his family are members of St. Francis Roman Catholic
Church at Quincy. and through that medium he has made generous contribu-
tions in charity. He is identified with the Knights of Columbus and the Western
Catholic Union, and formerly was treasurer of St. Andrew's branch.
William A. Richardson. For man,y years the name of Richardson has been
one of marked distinction in Illinois, and Quincy numbers among her citizens
the present head of the family, Hon. William A. Richardson (Jr.). He was
born in the capital city of the United States, while his honored father was
serving as a member of Congress, June 24, 1848. His parents were William
A. and Cornelia H. (Sullivan) Richardson, his father a native of Kentucky and
his mother of Yincennes, Indiana. In 1831 the elder William A. Richardson
came to Illinois and was married January 18, 1838, and his family numbered
seven children, four of whom lived to manhood and womanhood: Helen Rich-
ardson Dwight, George J.. William A. and John S.
Four years after coming to Illinois from Kentucky, the Legislature of Illinois
elected Colonel Richardson state's attorney for the fifth judicial circuit; in
1836 he was elected to the Legislature from Schuyler County; in 1838 was chosen
a member of the State Senate ; and in 1844, again a member of the Lower House,
was made speaker. When the Mexican war broke out he raised a company and
led it to the front and for gallant conduct at Buena Yista was made a lieutenant
colonel. While yet in Mexico he was nominated as a candidate for Congress,
and on his return home was elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resigna-
tion of Senator Douglas, and served in that representative body for ten years
834 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
and in 1856 was put forward by the democratic party of Illinois as its nominee
for governor. In 1857 President Buchanan appointed him governor of Nebraska.
In 1860 he was returned to Congress from the Quincy District and in 1863 was
chosen to fill the vacancy in the United States Senate caused by the death of
Judge Douglas and for more than thirty years was a prominent factor in public
affairs. Colonel Richardson's death occurred December 27, 1875.
After finishing his education in the private schools of Quincy, Palmyra and
Chicago, William A. Richardson (Jr.), obtained a position with the railroads,
first in the freight and afterward in the engineering departments. He was
connected with the survey of the Quincy, Alton & St. Louis Railway, now the
Louisiana branch of the C. B. & Q., and afterward on the construction of the
same ; with the survey of the Chillicothe, Council Bluffs & Omaha Railway,
now a branch of the Waba.sh ; with the survey and construction of Sni Levee in
Adams and Pike counties in the state ; with the survey and construction of the
Atchison branch of the old Hannibal and St. Joseph Railway, now a part of the
C. B. & Q. system ; and with the survey of the Chicago, Quincy & Western
Railway, which was never built.
Mr. Richardson commenced the study of law in office of the Hon. 0. H.
Browning at Quincy in the year 1874 and was admitted to practice in 1876,
in April of the .same year being appointed master in chancery, which office
he held for nine years. In 1878 and 1879 he was city attorney of Quincy. In
1880 he was elected a member of the Illinois Legislature. In 1885 he was
appointed United States commissioner, and served in this capacity until im-
paired health compelled him to resign, and devoted himself to his farm in Min-
nesota.
Mr. Richardson was married January 3, 1881, to Miss Anna D. McFadon,
of Quincy. This cit.y has always been their home.
Henry H. Garrelts is secretary and treasurer of the Henry G. Garrelts
and Sons Company, one of the oldest established concerns in Quincy, with a
record of fifty years of growth and service. One distinctive feature is that
it is and always has been a family concern, and it is today a close corporation,
all the stock being owned by the Garrelts family. Quincy people need hardly
be informed that it is a wholesale and retail paint, wallpaper and supply house,
and also operating a general department store for different cla.sses of household
furnishing. The store, 38 by 75 feet, is one of the prominent South Side con-
cerns, located at 813-815 State Street. The company also have three ware-
houses and a large paint shop in the rear of the store. The main building was
erected by the late Henry G. Garrelts in 1905. In 1915 the business was incor-
porated and its founder died in December, 1916, nearly fifty years after he
came to Quincy and went to work as a master painter. After incorporation
Henry H. Garrelts was made secretary and treasurer, and the president of
the company became at that time his lirother George Garrelts, who died October
9, 1918, the mother succeeding him to the presidency of the company.
Henry G. Garrelts was a native of Germany, and while in the old country
learned the trade of baker. He came to America in 1866 and during one year
spent at Pekin, Illinois, followed the trade of painter. In 1867 he located at
Quincy, and his work and trade as a painter proved the basis on which the
present business was built. For a time he was associated with Daniel Lynds
and later with the Young Brothers, finally establishing a liusiness of his own.
Henry G. Garrelts was one of the leading members of the Lutheran Church
and prominent in many civic affairs and movements at Quiney. His widow is
still living.
The children comprise an enterprising group of younger people, all active
workers, good citizens, and valued members of the community. The oldest
child, Mary, who was educated in the public schools and a business college, was
a stockholder in the comjiany and head clerk of the department store. She
QUIXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 835
passed away October 16, 1918. Anna, the second daughter, lives at the old home
with her mother. The third child is Henry H. Garrelts. Lena is manager
of the picture and to.y department in the store. The next in age was George,
while the youngest is Clara, who has distinguished herself by special skill and
efficiency as a stenographer. She is a graduate of the Gem City Business Col-
lege, and is now private secretary for Secretary of State Emerson of Illinois.
Mr. George Garrelts married Anna Schulte and a son, George, Jr., was born
in 1918. The brother of Mrs. Garrelts will always have a high place in Ameri-
can history as the first American soldier to be killed in the front line trenches in
France.
Henry H. Garrelts, like his brother, was educated in the local public schools
and business college, and practically grew up in the atmosphere of his father's
store. In 1902 he went to Des Moines. Iowa, and for two years was shipping
clerk and salesman for a wholesale paint company there. In Des Moines in
1903 he married Martha Borkenhagen. She was born in Pomei'an, Germany.
Her father, ilaj. Gustav Borkenhagen, was an officer in the Franco-Prussian
war, and was at one time a very successful manufacturer of cloth in Germany.
He accumulated a fortune, but lost nearly all of it through the dishonest actions
of a partner. Mrs. Garrelts came to the United States when twelve j-eai-s of
age and finished her education at Brunswick, Missouri. Henry H. Garrelts
and wife have two daughters, ^laria D., aged twelve, and Dorothy A., aged
eleven. Both are now attending school.
The family are all members of Salem Lutheran Church at Quincy. The
late Henry G. Garrelts and wife were early members there and did much to build
up the church. The father served as an officer, and has since been followed in
that by his sons. For the past ten years Henry H. Garrelts has been an active
member of Herman Lodge of Masons and has filled chairs in the lodge, as did
also his brother. The firm has membership in the Quincy Chamber of Commerce.
Joseph Barlow. In the invention and use of appliances and devices for
saving time and labor in the agricultural industry, America has led the world
for many years. Hence, in part, has come the wonderful prosperity that has
made the United States the granary of the world, her inventions making it possi-
ble to far outdistance other lands where primitive methods of agriculture have
been retained. One of the exceedingly valuable inventions is the corn-planter,
which piece of machinery is indispensable in the great corn belt of the country,
and which, with a few improvements, is constructed practically on the same
lines as those manufactured in Adams County, Illinois, seventy years ago, by
Joseph C. Barlow. He was the father of Joseph Barlow, one of Quincy 's rep-
resentative business men of today, who is manager of the Quincy Foundry &
Novelty Company.
Joseph Barlow wa.s born in this city, April 19, 1868. His parents were
Joseph C. and Eveline (Streeter) Barlow, the former of whom was born
in 1836, in Genesee County, New York, and the latter in Kentucky. Of their
family of ten children there are four survivors, namely : John W., who is a
resident of Kansas City, Missouri ; Ella M., who is the widow of James W.
Fairman. of Kan.sas City; Joseph; and Emily L., who is the wife of J. 0. Glenn,
of Quincy, Illinois. In 1848 Joseph C. Barlow came to Adams County, Illinois.
He had been reared on a farm but the possession of mechanical ability led him
finally into a manufacturing l)usiness and he produced some of the first corn-
planters used in this section, and in the study of his product he found where a
better planter could be made and set about its invention. In time he was
successful in securing a patent for this invention, which became known as the
Barlow Corn Planter, and Mr. Barlow establi.shed his manufacturing plant for
the same on Front and Cedar streets, Quincy. For many years he continued in
the active conduct of his business there, his corn-planter meeting with a wide
sale and continuing in favor long after later patented machines came upon
836 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
the market, because of its practical qualities and reasonable cost. Mr. Barlow died
in 1895. His widow survived many years afterward, passing awav at Quiney
in 1905.
Joseph Barlow was educated in the public schools of Quiney. With an
inherited taste for mechanics he then entered his father's foundry and from
the age of nineteen years to thirty he was connected with the business of the
Barlow Corn Planter Company. In 1898 he came to the Quiney Foundry &
Novelty Company, and has continued manager here ever since.
Mr. Barlow was married October 25, 1893, to Miss Georgie H. Ben-y, who was
born in Illinois. They have had two children, neither of whom survived infancy.
Mr. Barlow belongs to the Rotary Club and politically is a republican but has
never been particularly active in political life and has never sought public oflSce.
It is a matter of some pride to him that on the paternal side he can claim rela-
tionship with so gi-eat a man as Stephen A. Douglas, who was his father's first
cousin.
Edwin P. Osgood, a resident of Quiney since 1905, is a man of wide and
thorough experience in business affairs. He has been a trader and dealer since
early youth, has also done some practical farming, has sold and operated in real
estate and as a lumber manufacturer and dealer, and is now handling industrial
investments, his offices being in the Majestic Building at Quiney.
Mr. Osgood was born at Plymouth, Illinois, in 1874. He attended school
there, biit at the age of seventeen started out upon his omti resources and has
won his way by hard work and honest dealings. He has made good in prac-
ticalh' every undertaking. After coming to Quiney he completed a course
in the Gem City Business College, and has constantly used even,' oppor-
tunity to improve his ability and give him a broader outlook.
One of his early experiences was as a farmer in Lewis County, Missouri,
where he bought some land and for several years worked almost night and
day to manage it and improve it. He bought it for fifteen dollars an acre and
sold it for thirty dollars an acre. He then became engaged in business as a
trader in merchandise stocks. He bought and sold twenty-six stocks of goods
within a few years, and made a profit on nearly every transaction. During
the same period he bought and sold fifty-two farms. From early boyhood he
has been a hustler and has a great liking for business transactions, a trait
which he no doubt inherited from his New England Yankee ancestry.
On coming to Quiney in 1905 Mr. Osgood entered the lumber and real
estate business. For six years his time was largely confined to real estate work
and for two years he lived in Kansas City. ]\Iissouri, and operated as a man-
ufacturer and dealer both wholesale and retail, in lumber. In 1915 he returned
to Quiney and until February, 1917, was engaged in lumber manufacture.
After long and careful study Mr. Osgood in February, 1917, became iden-
tified with the work of industrial investments and securities, especially with
the International Industrial Securities Company. He has well earned the con-
fidence of the people and has allied himself with a very interesting phase of
industrial promotion.
The Industrial Securities Company has promoted the American Mineral
Production Company, which has the largest deposits of magnesite in the world
in Stephens County, Washington. This company was organized in the fall
of 1916, and by October, 1917. the capitalization of $1,500,000 has been sold
to the public except a one-third interest held by the Industrial Security Com-
pany. Magnesite is a material used in the lining of all steel furnaces, in the
hardening of rubber, in extracting metallic magnesium and salts obtained from
magnesium. A superior roofing is made at Springfield, Illinois, from mag-
nesite. The American Mineral Production Company is on a 12 per cent per
annum dividend basis. The Industrial Securities Company built a railroad
leading to the magnesite deposits. Another promotion of the Industrial Secur-
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 837
ities Company is the Perfection Tire and Kubber Company, wliieh holds
patents covering the use of asbestos for the construction of tires. The Curtis
Brothers Handle Company is another promotion of the Industrial Securities
Company. This capital stock is now owned by the public and is on an earning
basis estimated at 18 per cent per annum. Another concern promoted by the
company of which Mr. Osgood is a member is the Karamoid Container Man-
ufacturing Company. This company manufactures on patents a varied line
of containers constructed of magnesite, wood pulp and chemical compounds.
They have perfected a process by which containers can be made so cheaply that
while suitable for such usage as milk bottles, and also for the canning and
preserving of fruits, lard, butter and meat, the containers are used only once.
Tlie plant for the manufacture of these articles is being built at Fort Madison,
Iowa, which is also the home of the Perfection Tire & Rubber Company and
the Curtis Brothers Handle Company.
Mr. Osgood states that the Industrial Securities Company guarantees each
stockholder against loss for two years, and at the expiration of that time they
have the privilege of returning their stock and receiving their money back
with 6 per cent interest. Mr. Osgood became interested in this company in
February, 1917, and took up the work believing he could benefit each and
every individual who bought stock. He has given up the lumber business
and other lines so as to devote all his time to the new field.
In Lewis County, Missouri, Mr. Osgood married Miss Leona Lay, a native
of that county. She was educated in the city schools of Canton. They have
one daughter, of whom they are justly proud, Hazel, bom December 25, 1910.
She is now a student in the grammar schools of Quincy. Mr. and Mrs. Osgood
are active members of the Baptist Church and he is one of the church trustees
and for several years has been superintendent of the Sunday school. He is
affiliated with Lambert Lodge No. 15, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at
Quincy.
Charles Eberhardt. To work .steadily in one line and one occupation for
forty-tive years is to render a service that needs to be appreciated in any com-
munity, since it is such men and such services that do most to insure all ele-
ments of welfare. That has been the distinction of Mr. Charles Eberhardt, a
carriage trimmer by occupation, and who as a boy began his trade in 1872
with the old E. M. Miller Carriage Company on South Sixth Street. He learned
the trade there and with the exception of brief trips as a journe>nnan to the
■ West and South was employed steadily until 1890, when he established a busi-
ness on his own account at 902 Maine Street. This is his business home today,
and he has not only been materially prospered, but has gained the esteem of a
host of Quincy people.
Mr. Eberhardt was born in Germany July 5, 1854. His parents, Adolph
and Mary Eberhardt, when their son Charles, their first born, was not yet two
years old. in 1856 crossed the ocean and established their home in Quincy, so
that Mr. Charles Eberhardt has been a resident of this city for over sixty years.
Adolph Eberhardt was a cabinet maker by trade, and followed that line chiefly
in Quincy. He retired about ten years before his death, which occurred in
June, 1911, at the age of eighty-four. His wife died in Quincy December 31,
1884, aged fifty-eight years, six months. They were members of the Lutheran
Church. Their children were: Charles; Anna and Mollie, both unmarried;
Adolph J., who for many years was a worker with the E. ]\I. Miller carriage
shop, and by his marriage to Anna Bregger, daughter of Thomas Bregger, has
three children, Louise, Grace and Caroline.
]\Ir. Charles Eberhardt married in Quincy Miss Emily Gasser. She was
born in this city of German parents. She was a small child when her father
died and her mother died later. I\Ir. and Mrs. Eberhardt and family are all
members of St. John 's Lutheran Church and he is a democrat in politics. Their
838 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
children are: Cordelia, a graduate nurse from Blessing Hospital has been
active in her profession for ten years ; Mollie, a well educated young woman liv-
ing at home and a bookkeeper for the Quiney Produce Company ; Louise, who
for several years was secretary and treasurer of the Quiney Produce Company
and is now at home ; and Elsie, who married Lewis Tredder, of Quiney, and has
a son, Donald, born June 7, 1915.
Philip Gentemaxx, A skilful and practical horticulturist aind florist,
Philip Gentemann is intimately associated with the development and advance-
ment of that branch of industry that relates to the growing of flowers, plants
and shrubs, a work that he is canying on after the most approved scientific
methods. A son of C. Frederick W. Gentemann, he was born in Quiney Novem-
ber 15, 1877, and was educated in the parochial and public schools of the
city.
C. Frederick W. Gentemann was born in Germany, and as a young man came
with his parents to Illinois, locating in Quiney. '^\Tiile working for Governor
"Wood, having charge of all of the horticultural work of the place, he accumulated
quite a sum of money, and when ready to invest it bought land and built the first
greenhouse in Adams County. He began the nursery business on a modest
scale, but enlarged his operations each year, carrying at firet a line of trees and
.shrubbery, but subsequently putting in a stock of potted plants and making a
specialty of cut flowers. In 1901 he retired from active pursuits, giving up the
business to his sons, Herman A. and Philip. He continued his residence, how-
ever, in Quiney until his death in April, 1909. He married Anna ]\Iinerva
Goesling, a native of Germany, and she survived him, at the present time making
her home with her son Philip. They were the parents of eight children, as fol-
lows: Henry, a prosperous farmer and dairyman of Kansas; William, who laid
out the grounds for the Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home at Quiney, and of
which he had charge .several j'ears, is now living in St. Louis, being there engaged
in the manufacture of librarj' tables and kitchen cabinets ; Hannah, wife of
W. L. Coulson, of Memphis, Tennessee; Reicke, wife of William C. Smith, of
Galesburg, Illinois ; Minnie, who is interested with her brothers in the nursery ;
Herman, who has charge of the downtown ofiice of the nursery ; Philip, who
superintends the growing department of the nurserj' ; and Lennie, who died in
gii'lhood.
Working in the greenhouse with his father from his boyhood days, Philip
Gentemajin found the occupation congenial and profitable and with his brother
Herman has succeeded to the business founded by his father and has devel-.
oped a large and constantly increasing trade. The plant is large and- finely
equipped, containing 35,000 feet of glass, under which are grown choice plants
of all kinds, the enterprising firm of Gentemann Brothers catering to an exten-
sive and appreciative public, its patronage extending over a large territoi-y,
covering not onh' Quiney but numerous other cities and towns.
Mr. Gentemann married. May 9, 1917, ilary Orr, a native of Lima, Illinois.
Mr. Gentemann is a stanch repuljlican in politics. He is a member of the Order
of Eagles, and of the North Side Boat Club. He and his family are members
of St. Jacobi Church.
Crayton Sl-^de is a veteran Union soldier, a resident of Adams County
more than sixty years, and is now surrounded with the comforts and plenty of
a fine farm, the result of many years of persevering toil and good management.
This farm home is in section 25 of Gilmer Township, fourteen miles east of
Quiney, on the Columbus Township line.
Mr. Slade is a native of Maryland, born in Baltimore County May 14, 1830.
He was nine years old when his father died leaving his mother with seven chil-
dren, and he only fifteen when his mother passed away. He had to get out and
make his own living, and as a boy he worked six years in a woolen factoiy.
.-<^-^^^2y^2S^. ^^i-Ci^-^^iM-i
LIBRARY
-,; THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 839
Otherwise all his active career has been spent as an agriculturist. Mr. Slade
came west to Butler County, Ohio, in 1852. Three years later he went back to
Maryland, but in 185.5 came on to Adams Covmtj', which he had first visited in
1852. His sister was ilrs. James 0. Lj'tle, who with her husband had come to
Adams County down the Ohio and up the Mississippi rivers. Mr. Slade and
his brother-in-law bought in partnership seventy-five acres in Burton Town-
ship at $30 an acre. This land contained a new house, and it is now the farm
of J. P. Spangler. They located there in the spring of 1856, and continued their
partnership operation until 1862.
In August, 1862, Mr. Slade enlisted in Company E of the Eighty-Fourth
Illinois Infantr.y, under Col. L. H. Waters, Captain Tousley, while his first
lieutenant was Hiram Roberts. Among his comrades who also went from the
same township were George and Jared Stabler, James Plowman, William Hughes,
James Hughes, Wash Wilson, James Malone, William Malone, Anson Malone and
Joseph Pond. Several of these were killed or died in service. Mr. Slade served
from the time of his enlistment until the end of the war. He was in the Atlanta
campaign, and then went with Thomas' army in the chase after Hood, in-
eluding the battles of Franklin and Nashville. At Chickamauga September 19-
20, 1863, Mr. Slade 's knapsack stoj^ped an enemy bullet. He was promoted to
sergeant of his company.
At the end of the war he returned home and on February 28, 1866, mar-
ried Mary Pearee. She was also a Maryland girl, but had come to Illinois at
an early daj' with her parents. In the spring of 1867 Mr. Slade settled on his
present farm, starting with fifty-three acres bought for $2,400. Later he
rounded out his possessions to make a full quarter section, and he also owns
188 acres three quarters of a mile away in Columbus Township. This second
farm has a complete building equipment of its own. Mr. Slade never paid
more than .$52 per acre for land, but his holdings are worth much more than
that at the present time. His original farm had a very poor house and no other
buildings at all, and in the course of half a century he has expended much
money and his own labor in equipping and fitting out his farms with improve-
ments that are of the best. He has put his chief reliance in such money making
enterprises as stock raising, handling hogs, cattle and horses. He has always
been a lover of good horse-flesh, and has had some very fine horses. For the
past ten years Mr. Slade has turned over the heavier responsibilities of farming
to his children.
Of the four children born to him and wife one died in infancj^ and one at
the age of fifteen. The daughter Ada is Mrs. Walter Frey, and his only son is
William Slade, a bachelor. Mr. Slade and his children all live together.
In an official capacity he has been township supervisor several times, road
commissioner, tax collector and member of the school board. He is a democrat.
His mother was a Presbyterian, but he has never affiliated with any church.
Mrs. Slade died in 1902, after they had lived happily together for thirty-six
years. Mr. Slade served a number of times on the grand and petit juries. He
has been a witness to all the changing developments in his part of the county
for over sixty j'cars. One of the interesting landmarks of Columbus Township
was the old Dutch windmill which was built on a brick foundation. There was
no arrangement to shut ofl:' the mill, and as it kept turning constantly, whether
in use for grinding or not, it eventually ran itself to pieces. One of the owners
of the property refused to sell the brick as he wanted to preserve the tile as a
monument to his grandchildren. Mr. Slade is a remarkable man for eighty-
eight years of age, active as many men of only fifty. He often walks miles and
back to visit his neighbors. He was educated in the old time subscription
schools, with their slabs for seats and walked two and three miles to school.
Theodore Dougherty. While he has relaxed somewhat the strenuous toil
of earlier years, Theodore Dougherty is still one of the capable business men and
active citizens of Keene Township, and still lives on the fine farm that reflects
840 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
his good management and industry. This farm is five miles northeast of Mendon
and 41/^ miles south of Lorain.
Mr. Dougherty was born in Carbon Count}', Pennsylvania, May 21, 1854,
son of Mathew and Mary (Edmonds) Dougherty. His father was born at
Coleraine, County Derry, Ireland, in 1812. His wife was born at Timby,
Wales, and went to Ireland when a young woman. Her father was an old sea
captain. Mathew Dougherty with two children immigrated to America, land-
ing at Quebec, and from there went to Carbon County, Pennsylvania. He
worked in the anthracite coal mines for several years, until about 1838. He had
served eight years on the coast service in Ireland. He was an engineer for a
time with the famous Inclined Plane Railroad over the Allegheny Mountains
in Pennsylvania. He lived on top of Mt. Jefferson, and from his home there
was an unrivalled expanse of scenery and landscape to be beheld. He helped
haiil the cars over the mountains, pulling them up by cable and letting them
down by gravity. In 1868 Mathew Dougherty came to Adams County, locating
in Honey Creek Township a mile south of the present home of his son Theodore.
He died there in January, 1885. He and his wife had thirteen children. Three
daughters and three sons still survive: Clara, Mrs. Willis ]\Iorris, of California;
Mrs. Martha Mclllmorrell, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania ; Mrs. Sarah Gibson,
of Summit Hill, Pennsylvania ; Arthur, at Douglass, Wj-oming ; Andrew J.,
also of Wyoming; and Theodore. The oldest son, Thomas, became a Union
soldier and was killed in the battle of Cold Harbor. He served with an artil-
lery company from Philadelphia. The daughter Mary married Thomas Flem-
ing and died in Adams County, her husband still being a resident of Mendon.
Eliza married Andrew McMullen and both died in Keene Township.
Theodore Dougherty married. April 18, 1883, Ellen Campbell. Her parents
were John and Margaret (Owens) Campbell, both natives of County Monaghan,
Ireland. I\Irs. Dougherty was born in Gilmer Township, April 18, 1858, and
when she was ten years of age her parents moved to the Big Neck community,
where her father died at the age of sixty. The Campbells had a family of
twelve children, five of whom are living: Margaret, Mrs. Jacob Gross, of
Camp Point ; Maria, Mrs. Frank Powell, of Bowen ; Hannah, Mrs. IMilton
Kelley, of Wyaconda, Missouri ; Samuel Campbell, who lives on the old home-
stead in Keene Township ; and Mrs. Dougherty.
The year he married Mr. Theodore Dougherty secured his present farm of
eighty acres from his brother Andrew J. He has his farm improved with a
good house. Most of the laud was originally timber, but is now an expanse
of fertile fields. He has been a successful gi-ower of wheat, hogs and other
good livestock, and lias marketed from forty to eighty head every year. His
hog raising has been handicapped by the heavy ravages of the cholera. Mr
Dougherty still retains his home, but rents out his fields for cultivation.
A brief record of his family is a.s follows : Roy, is a telegraph operator with
the Burlington Railway in Knox County, Illinois, and married Zoe Epperson.
Beulah is a very accomplished teacher, having spent ten years in that vocation
in Adams County and having finished a course in domestic science in the
Bradley Polytechnic Institute at Peoria, and is now connected M-ith the schools
of Greenville, Illinois, Floyd married Anna Grosh, and is now farming the
Grosh farm in Keene Township. Alice taught six years in Adams County
•and four terms at ^Marblehead and is now the wife of Wallace Haxel, a teacher
in the Gem City Business College. Both daughters are members of the Eastern
Star and Roy is affiliated with the Masonic Order. Mr. Theodore Dougherty
is a republican, and was reared in the Episcopal Church, but has no church
connections. He is a member of Masonic Order at Mendon.
John E. Miller, ^I. D. For nearly a quarter of a eenturj' Doctor ]\Iiller has
practiced his profession in Illinois, and since coming to Quincy his attain-
ments as a physician and surgeon have spread his fame abroad from this city.
QUIXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 841
He is one of the busiest surgeons of Quinej-, and about four-fifths of his work
is iu surgery.
Doctor Miller is of southern birth and ancestry. He was born at Austin,
the capital of Texas, June 27, 1871, son of George E. and Mattie (McQuiston)
Miller. His father's family came from Virginia while his mother's people were
originally Missourians before they located in Texas. Both Doctor Miller's
parents were born in Texas, were married at Austin, and his father was for
many years a farmer and cattle raiser. He died in Texas iu 1903, at the age of
sixty. His widow later caime north and lived at Quincy until her death in 1915,
at the age of seventy.
Doctor Miller was liberally educated, attending the University of Texas, and
from there entering the Baltimore Medical College at Baltimore, where he
finished his course and received his M. D. degi'ee in 1893. For about a year
he practiced at Lockhart, Texas, but in 1894 came north and settled in Pitts-
field, Illinois. He has a medical license in two states. At Pittsfield he was
prospered in liis work, and steadily improved his opportunities and abilities.
In 1900 lie interrupted his practice to take a tour abroad and spent much
time in the great hospitals and clinics at Vienna. On returning to this
country he resumed his work at Pittsfield, and his trend toward surgery in-
fluenced him to build and manage a private hospital in Pittsfield. Then iu
order to have a wider field for his surgical practice he removed to Quincy iu
1907, and for five years practiced as a partner with Dr. J. H. Rice. Since 1912
he has been alone in practice, and has a fine suite of offices in the Majestic
Building. Nearly everj' daj' Doctor Miller is to be found in the operating rooms
of the two hospitals at Quincy and he handles many of the difficult and compli-
cated major operations.
By his first wife Doctor Miller has two children. Helen and William Estill.
The daughter is the wife of Professor W. A. Schimell, who is now engaged in
the hardware business at Pittsfield. They have two children, W. A., Jr., and
JIargaret. The son, William Estill, was born at Pittsfield, graduated from the
high school there, from the Illinois AVesleyan College at Bloomington in 1918,
and is now a student in Washington University at St. Louis. In 1914, at Pitts-
field, Doctor JMiller married for his present wife Miss Alice Hoos, who was
reared and educated in that city. She is the mother of one daughter, Wilda
Idel, three years old. Doctor Miller is a Knight Templar ilason and also
belongs to the Scottish Rite Consistory at Quincy. He took his first ilasonic
degrees at Pittsfield, but has transferred all his membership to Quincy except
that in the Royal Arch Chapter.
William Mealiff. Long years have been vouchsafed William Mealiflf, and
at the age of more than fourscore it is possible to claim for him a life of useful
activity, honorable dealings with his fellow men, the contribution of something
wholesome and enduring to his community in Adams County, and altogether
his is one of the names entitled to and receiving the respect and veneration
paid to worthy old age. Mr. Mealiff resides in Honey Creek Township 31/.
miles northeast of ilendon.
He was born in County Cavan, Ireland, February 12, 1834. He grew up
in his native country and was twenty-five years old when in 1859 he came to
the I'nited States and joined some cousins and other relatives in Jlendon Town-
ship. The next ten years he was hard at work earning a living, saving some-
thing, and getting familiar with American methods. Two of those years he
spent with the Talcott family, seven years with Mr. Weed, and one year with
Abraham Chittenden. He had some thrifty habits that enabled him to save
from his meager wages about $1,000 altogether, and he used that capital to buy
a tract of wild timber in Honey Creek Township. The i)riee agreed upon was
.$12.50 per acre. There he built a story and a half frame house, containing
five rooms, and shortly afterward, in 1876, married Miss Anna Hewitt. Mrs.
842 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
MealifF was born in Mention Village and was twenty-three years of age at the
time of her marriage. Her parents were Thomas and Sarah (Kells) Hewitt,
of Mendon Village. Thoma.s Hewitt also came from County Cavan, Ireland, in
1849, and for a number of years followed the trade of wagon maker. He settled
on a farm three-quarters of a mile south of Mendon and died there in 1898, at
the age of eighty-eight. In 1852 he married in Mendon Sarah Kells, who had
also come from County Cavan in 1850. She is still living, at the age of eighty-
eight, in Mendon. In the Hewitt family were five children: Anna, Mrs. Mealiff;
Robert, a railroad man at Burlington. Iowa ; ^[artha, wife of G. H. Baldwin, of
Mendon : Sarali, Mrs. Frank Heineke, of Mendon ; and Elizabeth, Mrs. George
Chant, of Strongluirst. Illinois.
After his marriage ilr. Mealiff lived on the farm until 1911. He was asso-
ciated with his cousin James ilealiff in purchasing that land in section 4. but
in 1885 acquired James Mealiff 's interest. James Mealiff is still a resident of the
township. In section 4 of Honey Creek William Mealiff owned 200 acres. In
1909 he Imught his present farm two miles away, consisting of eighty acres, the
purcha.se price of which was $105 an acre. It contained an old home and its
present substantial residence was erected in 1910 and he occupied it in 1911. In
making the move to the new farm Mr. ilealiff was largely intlueneed by the fact
that his first farm was five miles from Mendon over rough roads with few
bridges, while his present land is only three miles from market and the social
center and has an excellent highway between, ilr. Mealiff and son still operate
both farms and are among the large grain and stock raisers of the county. He is
a republican and was reared in the Episcopal Church and for many years has
served a.s vestryman and warden.
ilr. and Mrs. Mealiff have a most interesting family of children. Grace,
the oldest, is the wife of John P. Dickerman. Lawrence is a bachelor and lives
at home, having assumed most of the responsibilities in connection with the
management of the home farm. Lavania Elizabeth was a successful teacher in
Adams County for .seven years and taught altogether ten years, and is now the
wife of John Davidson, a retired ranchman at Salt Lake Citj-, Utah. Gordon
was a teacher for two years in the county and attended the mechanical engi-
neering course at the University of Mis.souri at Columbia two years, and is
now a successful farmer in Honey Creek Township. He married Laura Bogart.
The daughter ilartha Ellen is a graduate in dome.stie science at the Bradley
Polytechnic Institute of Peoria, taught domestic .science classes in the Peoria
public schools, and before taking domestic science taught rural schools. She
is now teaching in high school at Vernon, Kansas. The next member of the
family is Walter, who is serving with the United States Army in the motor
division and now in England. Ada, the youngest, graduated from ilendon
High School with the class of 1917 and is still at home.
John F. Pieper. A prosperous business man of Adams County, John F.
Pieper, of Quincy, president and general manager of the Quincy Show Case
Works, is a substantial representative of the manufacturing and mercantile
interests of both citv and couutv. A native-born citizen, his birth occurred
July 2, 1854.
His father, Semon Henry Pieper, was born in Germany and there spent
the days of his boyhood and youth. Immigrating to the United States in 1848,
he located in Quincy, where he built up a large and lucrative business as a cab-
inet maker, remaining a resident of the city until his death in September, 1905.
He married Alary Folkers, a native of Germany. She survived him but a very
short time, passing away in December, 1905. Of the five children born of their
marriage but one, John F., of whom we write, is now living.
Beginning life for himself poor in pocket but rich in energy and ambition,
John F. Pieper engaged in agricultural pursuits, spending two years as a general
farmer and two years as a dairyman. Locating then in Quincy, he learned the
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 843
cabinet maker's trade, which he subsequently followed for a time. In lSTr> he
bepui tlie manufacture of show cases, and met with such cncourasiiuir results
that in 1S76 he admitted to partnership II. II. Schleeter. with whom he was
associated three ycai-s. Suhsctiucutly. with H. C. Tfciffer as a partner, Mr.
Pieper established the Quincy Show Case Works, with whidi ^Ir. Pfeiffcr was
ideutitied until his death. Mr. Pieper is president and general nuinasrcr of the
company, which under his able and .judicious supervision is in a rtourishin*r
condition, beintr one of the most enterprising and substantial tirms of the kind
in the county.
Mr. Pieper married in March, 1S7S, Louisa Erke, a native of Columbus
Township. Adams County. Illinois. Five children have blessed their union,
namely : Henry F., of Quincy, who is associated in business with his father
as assistant manager of the works; Ida. wife of August Stacklebaeh, foreman of
the cabinet department of the Show Case Works; Clara; Frank J., and Bertha,
who lived but four short yeai^s. ifr. Pieper is a member of several fraternal
organizations of the state, including the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of
ilasons, and is a prominent member of the Salem Evangelical Church, wliicii he
has served as a trustee for the past seventeen years.
J. Leroy Ad.\uj. The profession of law is one to which many aspire, but in
which only a comparatively few secure success in any remarkable degree. Mere
training, industry and persistence do not necessarily make a successfvil lawyer.
He nuist possess inherent ability and talent for his profession, and it is the lack
of this quality that keeps nuuiy in the ranks of the mediocre.
One of the talented among the younger members of the Quincy bar is J.
Leroy Adair, now state's attorney of Adams County, and whose work and
abilities have found constantly growing favor since his early yeai-s.
!Mr. Adair was born at Coatsburg in Adams County February 2;?. 18S7, a
son of PIcnry L. and Sarah E. (Pevchouse'l Adair. Both families came from
Kentuck>-, settling in Brown County, Illinois, in ISIS, the year Illinois was
admitted to the Union, and removing to Adams County in 1S:{0. Henry L.
Adair is now a retired farmer living at Clayton, Illinois. There were two chil-
dren, J. Leroy and Orville Ray, the latter a business man of Clayton.
.1. Leroy Adair graduatetl from tlie Clayton High School in lilO;^ at the age
of sixteen. Following that he taught school a year, had a mercantile experience
as a groceryman at Clayton for two years, and from there entered the Illinois
College at Jacksonville and following tliis spent three years in tlic University
of Michigan Law School at Ann Arbor, where lie was graduated LL. B. in 1911.
Mr. Adair did his first work as a lawyer at ]\Iuskogee, Oklahoiim, where he re-
mained two years, but in 1913 returned to his home county and has been making
rapid progress in his profession. He served as city attorney of Quincy during
1915-16. and in 1916 was chosen to his present responsibilities and dignity as
state's attorney. !Mr. Adair is a democrat and a member of the Masonic Order.
April 15, 1911, he married Miss Maude E. Gruber, of Clayton, Illinois.
Joiix F. Garner came into the honors and responsibilities of membership
in the Adams County bar about a week after reaching his twenty-tirst birthday.
For nearly twentj- years he has borne the reputation of a hard working, earnest
and successful attorney, and many of the best honors of his profession and of
civic life have been bestowed upon him.
A native of Hancock County, Illinois, where he was born October 6, 1878,
^Ir. Garner is a son of James R. and Helen (Finlay) Garner, both natives of
Hancock County. His father is now living retired at West Point, Illinois.
The only child of his parents, John F. Garner attended high school at
Carthage. Illinois, and was a student in literature and law at Chaddock College
of Quincy. He graduated from the law course in 1898, at the age of twenty,
and was admitted to the bar on October 14, 1899. His services as attorney have
844 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
been employed in much of the important litigation in the courts at Quiney and
he is now sharing his practice with Mr. Charles L. Bartlett, under the firm name
of Bartlett & Garner.
From time to time he has been called fi'om the duties of his private profes-
sion to public office. Governor Deneen appointed him to fill out the unexpired
term of Judge McCrory as county judge for nine months. In 1911 he was
elected mayor of Quinc.y, and filled that office two years. Mr. Garner in 1898,
while the Spanish- American war was in progress, enlisted in the Quiney divi-
sion of the Naval Reserve. He held all the petty offices of the division, was
elected Ensign in 1900, Lieutenant (J. G.) in 1901, and a few months later in
that year was elected Lieutenant, commanding the Division, and so continued
until his request to be placed on the retired list. He did much to put the
organization on an efficient basis, knd continued in active service until put on
the retired list January 9, 1913. Mr. Garner is a thirty-second degree Scottish
Rite and a Knights Templar Mason. In politics he is a republican.
March 31, 1903, he married Cora Jansen, a native of this city and a daughter
of Henry H. and Julia (Kendall) Jansen. Her father was born in Adams
County, and was for a number of years a successful member of the bar. The
mother is also a native of this county and is still living at Quiney.
Henry Disselhorst. Through a period of forty years the Disselhoi-st fam-
ily has been identified with Ellington Township, and the name is synonymous
with good citizenship and most effective labors in agi'ieulture and other lines.
The founder of the family here was the late Fred Disselhorst, who was born
in Hanover, Germany, IMay 14, 1850. At the age of twenty-one he embarked
for the United States, landed at New York, and came west to St. Louis. He
lived there for a time and later came to Adams County, where he hired out as
a farm hand. Later he married in Ellington Township Miss Amelia Ahlemeier.
She was born in Adams County April 19, 1857, daughter of John and ]Mary
Ahlemeier, natives of Germany. Her parents on coming to the L^nited States
settled in Adams County, were married there, and spent the rest of their
days in Ellington Township. Both were active members of the Lutheran
Church.
Fred Disselhorst and wife had very little capital when they married and
continued renting until they purchased their first farm of eighty acres in
Ellington Township. Tliis land was greatly improved by Fred Disselhorst and
he provided liberally for his children as they grew up. His industrious career
came to a close September 16, 1914. He was a republican in politics and held
a number of offices in the township. Mrs. Fred Disselhorst now lives at 815
South Fourteentli Street in Quiney. She is a member of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church, of which her husband was also a member. Fred Dissel-
horst 's mother died in Germany. The father and other children came to the
United States and the father died in Adams County when about seventy-five
years of ao'e. Of the other sons and daughters those still living are Ernest,
Cliarlcs, William and :Mrs. William Wittier.
Fred Disselhorst had six children, Henry being the oldest. Minnie is the
wife of Henry Hoehne, living on a farm in Missouri, and has three sons and
two daughters. Mary is unmarried and resides with her mother. Anna mar-
ried Fred Th.yson, a farmer in Ellington Township, and they have a son,
Chester. Lena is the wife of Albert Rottman, an Ellington Township farmer.
Fred is a farmer in Ellington Township, married Lydia Wagner, of Melrose
Townsliip, and has a son, Virgil.
ITcnry Disselhorst grew up on his father's farm in Ellington Township,
attended tlie Washington District School and since his marriage he and his
wife liave lived on his mother's farm in section 9 of Ellington Tovimship. Under
his management this is a very productive property. He conducts it as a stock
and grain farm. Among other buildings he has one of the large barns in the
LIBRARY
•n THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
--^/^tOi-»-'>^-o»'a^ /^^t^^-^^-^
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 845
township, 36 by 5-1 feet. His home is a two-story seven-room house of modern
construction. He grows good stock and has fine crops of cereals.
November 18, 1903, ilr. Disselhorst married Nora C. Schroeder. She was
born in Honey Creek Township of this county and was educated in the Oakland
Grove School. Her parents were Henry and Sophia (Dickhnt) Schroeder.
Her father was born in Germany and was brought to America by his parents at
the age of nine years. His parents spent the rest of their lives in Adams County.
He married an Adams County girl, Miss Dickhut, and farmed in Melrose Town-
ship for several years and later bought a place in Honey Creek Township.
That was their home for a number of years, finally moving to a farm in
Ellington Township and ten years ago retiring to the Village of Fowler. Mr.
Schroeder is now seventy years of age and his wife several years younger. Both
are members of the Evangelical Church. Politically he is a republican.
Mr. and Mrs. Disselhorst have had three children : Walter F., who died at
the age of two years seven months ; Florence Marian, born August 7, 1908, now
in the fifth gi-ade of the common schools; and ilildred Laura, born August
14, 1913. The family are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church at
Fowler, of which Mr. Disselhorst is a trustee. Politically he votes as a repub-
lican.
Joseph Haley. One of the well known farms of Gilmer Township is the old
Myers place, situated at the west edge of the old county seat of Columbus, and
now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Halej'. Mrs. Haley is a
daughter of the late Jacob T. IMyers and is a member of that well known Myers
family whose history and record through the different generations has been
detailed on other pages of this publication.
Before her marriage ilrs. Haley was Anna ]Myers. She was born in this
county ]March 20, 1859, and on November 11, 1885, became the wife of Joseph
Haley. Mr. Haley was born in York County, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1857, and
has lived in Illinois since 1880. All his active career he has spent as a farmer.
Mr. and Mrs. Haley have four children : Ida Jane, wife of Elmer Powell, living
at Philadelphia in ^Marion County, Missouri; Luella, Mrs. Walter Herron, of
LaPrairie, Illinois; Oscar, at home; and Nina, Mrs. Ed Thomas, of this county.
The father of "Sirs. Haley, Jacob Myers, spent the last three years of his
life on the farm where the Haleys now live. After his second marriage his
second wife lived here and was cared for by Mr. and Mrs. Hale.y, and she left
the farm to them at her death. Mr. and ]Mrs. Haley are active members of the
Methodist Epi.scopal Church, are identified with the Red Cross, and Mr. Haley
is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen.
Albert R. Bush. One of Quincy's oldest and most substantial industries
is the Bush Foundry and Metal ~\^^leel Works. It is a business which was estab-
lished on a small scale and gradually developed to larger scope and importance
by Clement Bush, and is still continued under the active management of his sons,
his son Albert R. having the official title of manager.
The founder of this Inisiness during the past eight or nine years lived retired
and spent most of his time in California. Clement Bush was a man whose
character and abilities meant much to Quincy and his name will always have a
worthy place in its history. He was born in Bitton, near Bristol, England, in
1838. son of John Nash and IMarcia (Ford) Bush. His father was a blacksmith
and foundryman, and died at the age of eighty-two, and the mother passed
away at sixty-five. At the age of twelve Clement Bush had all the schooling that
he was permitted to enjoy and began earning his own living. At fourteen he
was an apprentice in a foundr.v and two years later, in 1857, came to America.
He first located at Seneca Falls in New York, working with a foundry there
for two years, and subsequently in a foundr.v at Auburn, New York, for two
and a half j'ears. In 1861, having had some four years of active experience in
Vol. II— 8
846 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
the United States, he returned to England and in 1863 became proprietor of
a foundry near Bristol. He continued in this business for seventeen years, and
while it was a prosperous establishment he lost most of his fortune thi'ough
misplaced investments. In order to recover under new and more auspicious
circumstances what he had lost he came to America, living at Montreal, Canada,
for two years and working in the shops of the Grand Trunk Railway. Because
his wife had a distaste for the rigorous northern winters Clement Bush came
U) Quincy in 1884. He was led to locate here largely through the influence of
the Young Men's Business Association. For two years he took charge of the
foundry of Wright & Adams on Front and Broadway, and then rented the
foundry and operated it on his own account for three years. In 1890 he estab-
lished a new business on Broadway on a lot which he bought, and after nine
j'ears he enlarged his plant by the addition of metal wheel works. His industry
grew, his pay roll increased in number of workmen and aggregate sums paid
out and more and more his products had a wider distribution and reputation.
In one branch of his indi;stry he specialized in the manufacture of Bush wheels
for farm wagons. He was also a stockholder in the Quincy Engine Works.
About eight years ago Mr. Clement Bush retired from business and made his
home at Long Beach, California, where his death occurred May 27, 1918. He
married in 1865 Ellen Lockley Woodland, whose father, Richard R. Woodland,
was an attorney at Bristol, England. Mr. Bush was called upon to mourn the
loss of his wife on May 11, 1903, after they had been happily married for nearly
forty years. Five children were born to their marriage : Clement J., who was
born November 18, 1866, and has long been identified with his father's business;
Albert Richard ; Prank A., also of the Bush Foundry ; Blanche E., wife of
Thomas C. Hughes, of Herscher, Illinois; and Florence, wife of Lionel Hiles,
of Seattle, Washington.
Albert Richard Bush was born at Bristol, England, November 18, 1872, and
was about sixteen years of age when his parents came to the United States. He
received his first advantages in the schools of his native country, and about the
time his father came to Quincy he began learning the general foundry biisiness.
This he has followed actively all his career and always in association with his
father. He took the general management of the plant when his father retired
and has kept it up to the same high standard of workmanship and output that
everything bearing the name of Clement Bush has always enjoyed.
Mr. A. R. Bush is a democrat, member of the Masonic Order and Knights of
Pythias, and was reared in the Episcopal Church. November 19, 1898, he
married Miss Anna ^leyers, a native of Quincy. They have a family of six
children : Harold Lockley, Donald Clement, Grace Lillian, Albert Richard,
Jr., Derrick Sidney and Roger Roland.
George McAdams was born in Ursa Township and during his active career
has made his presence known and felt through a long experience and service as
a grain buyer and grain dealer. With grain elevators at LTrsa and Rock Creek
on the Burlington Road, he handles a considerable share of the grain raised and
shipped out of Adams County.
A number of interesting changes have occurred in the methods of marketing
grain. Up to about forty-five years ago all the grain raised in Ursa and that
section of the county was brought on wagons to the Quincy mills by individual
farmers. About 1877 William Lemmon began arranging with some of the
farmers to bring their grain to the station at Ursa and load directlj' from the
wagon into the cars on the track. As a track buyer he was succeeded b.y John
H. James, who was employed for a number of years by the Dick Brothers
Milling Company on a salary. In 1902 Mr. James and Mr. George McAdams
bought the interests of the Dick Brothers, and in order the better to handle the
grain and give themselves and the farmei's a broader market they built an
elevator at Ursa. In the same year Mr. McAdams built the Rock Creek elevator
QUINCY AND ADAilS COUNTY 847
on his own account. September 9, 1909, the interests of Mr. James passed by-
purchase to Mr. George McAdams, and since then the latter has been proprietor
and manager of both elevators. Through these elevators he handles most of
the surplus grain raised in the surrounding agricultural community, and ships
extensively to the Chicago and St. Louis mai'kets, and also occasionally to
Peoria and Quincy. Corn and wheat with some oats comprise practically all
the grain that goes through the elevators. Mr. McAdams handles an immense
volume of the grain trade in the county.
He was born in Ursa Township in 1863, and was reared and educated in
that locality, completing his education by a course in Carthage College and
graduating from the Gem City Business College in Quincy. He is widely known
over Adams County not only because of his operations as a grain dealer but also
through his capable service for four years as county treasurer. He was elected
to this office in 1894, at the age of thirty years. For eight years he was also
supervisor of Ursa Township.
His father, William McAdams, was born in Logan County, Kentucky, August
1, 1815, of Scotch ancestry. He was a pioneer in Adams County, settling here
in November, 1835. On ^lay 1, 1838, he married ^Miss Elizabeth Taylor, also a
native of Kentucky. "William McAdams acquired a fine estate of over 300 acres
in section 18 of Ursa Township, and for some years was one of the prominent
farmers of that section. He was a democrat in politics and a member of the
Christian Church. He died on the farm at the age of seventy-six and his wife
at fifty-seven. They were the parents of four sons and four daughters. The
only ones now living are, George and his brother John, the latter of whom lives
in Quincy retired from active business.
Mr. George McAdams married in Adams County Miss Blanche K. Leachman,
who was born at L'rsa and educated in the public schools. She is a member
of the old and prominent Leachman family of Ursa Township. The Leaehmans
originated in Virginia, from there went to Kentucky, and came to Adams
County in 1835. Mrs. McAdams' parents were James and Lucy (Selby) Leach-
man, who spent all their lives in Ursa Towniship, where her father died at the
age of sixty-two and her mother at fifty-six. Her father was a democrat,
but in later years was an ardent prohibitionist, and both he and his wife were
members of the Christian Church.
'Mr. and Mrs. McAdams have two sons. William Chauneey, was born in
1896, was educated in the schools of Ursa and Quincy and is now assisting his
father in business. The younger son. George Eugene, born in 1909, is attend-
ing public school at Quincy. The family attend the Christian Church, of which
Mrs. McAdams is an active member. ^Ir. McAdams is a director of the Ricker
National Bank of Quincy.
Joseph Nichol^vs Tibesar, a retired business man of Quincy, is one of the
striking personalities in local citizenship. He comes of an old and prominent
family of Western Europe, long identified with some of the districts in the
immediate war zone of the recent conflict, and as a youth there he was liberally
educated, had a thorough technical training, and has always been a student as
well as a practical man of affairs. He not only inherits the intellectual qualifi-
cations of his ancestors but also their splendid physical stature and manhood.
Mr. Tibesar was born in the Duchy of Luxemburg February 14, 1859. His
father, Maximillian Tibesar, was born in Belgium in 1808, and for generations
the family had lived in and around Brussels. Maximillian married Mary
Sehleimer, of Luxemburg, where she was born in 1824. Her father was a
native of the same Grand Duchy and had served as a soldier under Napoleon
the First. Maximillian Tibesar after his marriage settled in the Belgium dis-
trict known as the Walloon and later lived in Luxemburg on a farm estate.
He died in 1861 and his wife in 1879. Both branches of the family were
Catholics.
848 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Joseph Nicholas Tibesar acquired a liberal training in the schools in Europe,
and was given a thorough technical apprenticeship in blast furnace and the
iron works trade. He was superintendent of a large furnace plant on the
border between Prance and Belgium. At the age of twenty-five he was granted
a two years vacation for the purpose of accjuainting himself with the most
improved technical methods of the iron industry. In 1884 he went to England
to look over the iron districts of that country and later in the same .vear came
to America, through New York and on to South Bend, Indiana, where some
cousins were connected with Notre Dame University as instructors. He him-
self enrolled as a student there, taking a course in elocution under Charles W.
Stoddard and studied chemistry under Professor Zahm. Later for a time he
was in Chicago and from there came to Quincy and was a student in St.
Francis College. A year later he was made a professor in that institution,
teaching French, chemistry, mathematics and natural sciences. For six years
he was one of the men who gave strength and prestige to the faculty of St.
Francis College. He then entered business as a grocer, and in 1898 joined the
Blomer & Michael Packing Company. In 1900 he became a member of the
Wholesale Quincy Grocery Company and i-epresented that house four years.
He then went back to the packing company and continued with it until fire
destroyed the plant on February 14, 1913. Since then Mr. Tibesar has been
practically retired from business, and enjoys the comforts of a fine home at the
corner of Vine and Fifteenth streets.
After coming to Quincv Mr. Tibesar married Miss Christina Blomer. She
was born in Qaincy in 1872, and is a graduate of St. Mary's Academ.y and was
liberally educated in music. Her father was Henry Blomer, a prominent
figure in Quincy affairs to whom further reference is made on other pages. Mr.
and Mrs. Tibesar are the parents of eight children : Maria, who was educated
in St. Mary's Academy and took special work in music; Agnes, a graduate of
St. Mary's Academy in the commercial course; Leopold, who graduated from
St. Francis College with the degi-ees A. B. and A. M., and is now preparing for
the priesthood in a Catholic seminary; Cyril, a graduate of high school and
now a pharmacist student ; Maurice, a student in St. Francis College ; Norbert
and Sevrin, both in St. Francis parochial schools ; and Octavia. The family are
all members of St. Francis Catholic Church.
William Cl.vek Chatten. Of the old American families in Adams County
one that is conspicuous for the high character of its members and what they
have done to improve this region from pioneer times to the present is repre-
sented by William Clark Chatten of Riverside Township.
]\Ir. Chatten was born in this county June 17, 1860, the youngest of five
childi-en, and the onl.y son of Clark and Abigail (Brown) Chatten. He has
three sisters still living. Elizabeth, residing in Riverside Township and mother
of three children, is the widow of Isaac Shinn, a former attorney of Quincy;
Anna is the widow of Frank Chapman. She lives in Quincy, and has two
children. Lucy is the wife of William Bywater, a gardener and grower of small
fruit in Riverside Township. They have two children.
Clark Chatten, the elder, was born in the State of New Jersey July 10,
1813. He grew to manhood there, had a common school education, and on
coming to the west .sought a home in Fall Creek Township of Adams County.
Around his log cabin home in the early days the wolves howled and the deer
ran fearlessly, and even an occasional Indian prowled among the brush. From
Fall Creek Clark Chatten moved to Riverside Township and bought the old
Fair Ground jn-operty. There he lived until his death and accumulated a
farm of 300 acres. This land was sold after his death and the property divided
among his children. He was a republican, but began voting as an old-line vhig.
He showed a special interest in public schools and education, and he and his
wife were active members of the Methodist Church. He was one of the pioneer
A.
I
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 849
fruit growers of the county and the fruit fi'om his farm were awarded a num-
ber of medals in the Fruit Growers Convention and the State Fair. His death
occurred in Fall Creek Township, and his children erected a handsome monu-
ment to him and his wife. His wife was born in Essex County, Ma.ssachusetts,
October 29, 1819, and died February 14, 1903, having survived her husband
nearly thirty years. Clark Chatten died July 2, 1874.
William Clark Chatten grew up in Adams County and most of his knowl-
edge of men and affairs is the product of his own learning, though he attended
the common schools during his .youth.
On September 8, 1885, Mr. Chatten married Miss Carrie P. Edwards. Mrs.
Chatten was born in Adams County October 19, 1868, sixth among the seven
children of Paul and Mary Ellen (Piatt) Edwards. Of this family there was
only one son. Mrs. Chatten was educated in the common schools and in the
thirty-three years since her marriage she has stood faithfully beside her hus-
band in co-operating with him in business and at the same time has been a
splendid homemaker and her children have found in her their best friend and
counselor.
To Mr. and Mrs. Chatten were born six children, four sons and two daugh-
ters. Five of them are still living. Lollie Belle, the oldest, received her train-
ing in the township schools and also took musical instruction. She is now the
wife of Ernest Wisman, a cattle and hog farmer in Riverside Township. They
have a daughter, Mildred, who is now in school and has shown much musical
talent. The second child is Walter C, who was educated in the public schools
and in the National Business College and is now connected with the Interna-
tional Harvester Company. He married Miss Anna Thomas, and they have two
children. Bculah Marie and James William. Beulah ]Marie is a student in the
public schools and has also taken instruction in music. James William is at-
tending the Webster School. Walter C. Chatten is a republican voter. Paul
Glenwood ('batten is a well known citizen of Adams County, a practical fruit
grower, and is manager of his father's estate. He resides in a modern cottage
■which liis father built on the home farm near their own home. Paul Glenwood
married Miss Edith Mclntyre. The fourth of the family is Frank William
Chatten, who was educated in the common schools and in the Musselman
Business College, is a republican voter and married Miss Addie Thomas and
resides in Riverside Township. Ernest Marion, the youngest, was educated
in the common schools and spent two years in the Gem City Business College.
After their marriage Mr. and IMrs. Chatten started farming in Riverside
Township, and went in debt for their first property. They worked hard and
as the fruit of their long continued elforts now have an estate of sixty acres in
Riverside Township and forty acres in Ellington Township. Mr. Chatten was
able to buy the sixty acres in Riverside Township largely through the savings
of his wages earned as a farmer. Though they began life in debt, today they
possess vastly more assets than liabilities, and have also reared a capable family.
Theirs is one of the most beautiful fruit farms in Riverside Township. It is
appropriately known as Orchard Home Fruit Farm. Mr. Chatten is a re-
publican in politics but has never sought any official distinctions. He takes
an active interest in the Farm Improvement Association and the Apple Growers
Association, and is looked upon as an autliority on the subjects connected with
the growing and handling of fruit. j\Ir. and ilrs. Chatten have a fine home,
which means more to them than anything else in the world, and they are also
able to enjoy their friends both near and at a distance by means of their five
pa.ssenger Nash touring car.
Henry II. Moller, who died at Quiney, was for many years one of the
leading figures in the city's lumber interests.
He was born at St. Louis, Missouri, May 29, 1848, and was eight years of
age when his parents settled in Quiney in 1856. He had a fair education and
850 QUINCY AND ADAilS COUNTY
early in life learned to rely upon himself as a means of advancement in the
world. Perhaps his first position was with the Rieker Bank, where he remained
four j-eai*s. Later he worked in the planing mill of Menke & Grimm, and fol-
lowed several other occupations for a time. On July 1, 1875, the lumber firm
of Moller & Vanden Boom was organized, and thereafter Mr. iloller remained
its senior partner and had much to do with the upbuilding of its business. The
firm conducted four large lumber yards in Quincy and also had an extensive
wholesale trade to nearly all the towns and cities in the Quincj' territory.
Mr. Moller was always an unselfish citizen, willing to devote his times and
means to the encouragement of worthy local enterprises, and for five years
was a member of the board of supervisors. He also seiwed as chairman of the
poor farm committee and in many ways sought to improve that county institu-
tion. On Januarj' 10, 1871, he married Miss Louisa Vanden Boom, and they
became the parents of four sons and one daughter.
Fred E. Moller, who practically grew up in the lumber business under
the supervision and direction of his father, the late Henry H. Moller, has made
that industry the chief claim upon his time and energies through his mature
manhood.
He was born at Quincy December 10, 1879, and received a good education
in the parochial schools, St. Francis College and the Gem City Business College.
He was only fourteen when he began working in the yards and around the
offices of the firm of Moller & Vanden Boom, of which his father was senior
partner, and out of experience and a natural adaptability to this special line
of work has become one of the best known lumber dealers in the Mississippi
Valley. He is now treasurer of Moller & Vanden Boom Company.
January 17, 1906, he married Miss Maude Binkert, a native of Quincy.
They have two children : Lawrence, born November 14, 1907 ; and ilildred,
born June 1, 1910. Mr. Moller is independent in politics and with his family
worships in St. Boniface Catholic Church.
Louis Ahlbmeier during a brief lifetime of less than fifty years was
regarded a.s one of the ablest and most successful farmers of Ellington Town-
ship, and a citizen whose name always stood for the best in public spirit and
value to the community.
He was born on his father's farm in section 10 of Ellington Township
December 15, 1861, and died there January 23, 1907. He grew up on the
farm, and in 1900 succeeded to its ownership upon the death of his father,
John. He owned 120 acres, constituting the homestead, and also acquired
160 acres in an adjoining section. These two farms he developed to a high
degree of productiveness. Both were well tilled, well stocked, and each had
a complete set of good farm buildings, including a seven room house and
ample barns and other shelter. The land of these farms is rolling and well
drained, and the estate is still undivided, held in trust for the children. The
original eighty-acre homestead in section 10 is owned by Mrs. Ahlemeier. In
1910 she retired from the farm and has since lived in Quincy, owning a com-
modious brick home on South Fourteenth Street. Mr. Ahlemeier bought the
160-acre farm in section 9 a short time after the death of his father. The
buildings on the original 120 acres in section 10 had been erected by his
father.
Mr. Ahlemeier was a son of John and ]\lary (Brown) Ahlemeier, both
natives of Germany. They came from Hanover and were married either just
before they left that country or after they landed. They made the voyage on
a sailing vessel, being seven weeks in crossing. They arrived in New Orleans
and thence went up the Mississippi River to Quincy. For a time they rented
land, and then bought the original eighty acres in section 10 of Ellington Town-
ship. This land was improved from the bare wilderness, and by hard work
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 851
thej' succeeded in providing liberally for their family and in making a good
home. John Ahlemeier died there in 1900 and his wife in 1892. She was
then sixty-one and he was in his eightieth year. Both were for many years
active members of the Salem Lutheran Church at Ninth and State streets in
Quincy. They were buried side by side in the Greenmount Lutheran Cemetery.
Louis Ahlemeier was the youngest of three children. His sister Amelia is
the widow of Fred Henrj^ Disselhorst and is now living at 813 South Fourteenth
Street in Quincy. The other sister married Fred Peuster, a carpenter, living
at the corner of Fifteenth and Payson Avenue in QuincJ^ Mr. and Mrs. Peuster
have two sons and two daughters, one of the sons being a soldier.
Louis Ahlemeier married September 29, 1891, Miss Sophia F. Drebes. She
was born in Waldeck, Germany, February 10, 1872, and at the age of sixteen
she and her sister Emma, then aged fourteen, crossed the ocean from Bremen,
landing at Baltimore after a rapid passage of two weeks. They then came on
to Quine\'. Emma married John Schafter, and thej- now live on a farm in
Missouri and have six children. A brother, Christ Drebes, was the first of
the family to come to America, and he is a fai'mer near Palmyra, Missouri.
He married Amelia Merker, and they have a family of eight children. A few
months after Mrs. Ahlemeier came to this country her parents, John and
Frederica (Krause) Drebes, followed her by the same route and located on a
farm in Marion Countj', Missouri. The father is still living there at the age
of eighty and is now in quite feeble health. Mrs. Ahlemeier 's mother died in
November, 1906, at the age of sixty-five. The Drebes were all Lutherans. The
six children were: Christ; Mi-s. Ahlemeier; Emma; Charles; Minnie, widow of
Louis Peuster, of Palmyra, Missouri, and mother of two sons and two daugh-
ters; and Fred, a resident of Quincy, who is married and has a family of
children.
Mrs. Ahlemeier is the mother of three children: Frederica A., who was
educated in the Washington District schools in Ellington Township, is still at
home; Jolm W., aged twenty-one, still lives with his mother; Sophia A., aged
seventeen, has completed her education and is also at home. All the family are
regular attendants of the Salem Lutheran Church. Mr. Ahlemeier was a re-
publican in polities.
John H. Steiner. No one has done more to impress and influence the
educational aflfairs of Adams County than John H. Steiner, the present county
superintendent of schools. Mr. Steiner has made education his life work, is a
native of Adams Count.y, and his intense loyalty to all home institutions has
pervaded his work at every point.
Mr. Steiner was born on a farm three and one-half miles northwest of
Loraine in this county, January 5, 1874, the oldest of eight children of George
JL and Elizabeth (Humphrey) Steiner. The family is one of the oldest and
most highly respected in Adams County. The grandfather, Michael E., settled
on the old homestead in 1836. George M., the father, was born here, while the
mother was a native of Kentuckj'. George Steiner here laid the basis of his
prosperity as a fanner. At his death, which occurred December 2, 1917, he
was the owner of over 700 acres in Adams County. He organized the Loraine
State Bank and for thirteen years, up to the time of his death, was the president.
John H. Steiner spent his early life on the farm and received his education
in the public school. After completing the course in district school he gradu-
ated from Loraine High School in 1889 and in May, 1893, completed the course
in Chaddock College in Quincy.
The next year he took up teaching, which was to be his vocation for life.
He taught four years in the rural .schools. He was for five years the principal
of Coatsburg High School and for five years the principal of Jefferson School,
the third largest school in Quincy, with thirteen teachers and enrollment of
over 500 pupils. Having had training and experience all along the line, Mr.
852 QUINCY AND ADA^MS COUNTY
Steiner understands the requirements of the rural school as well as the village
and city schools, and has done much to improve and vitalize school work with
respect to modern needs and conditions.
He was elected county superintendent of schools in 1910, with a majority
of 1,194; re-elected in 1914 with a majority of 1,500; and re-elected 1918 with
a majority of 1,668.
Mr. Steiner is a democrat in politics, is affiliated with the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, Quincy Lodge No. 12 ; the ]\lasonic Lodge in Loraine,
and is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason in Quincy.
On September 3, 1916, he was united in marriage to Miss Anna M. Brosi,
of Coatsburg. They have one child, George Brosi, born July 21, 1917.
Jacob F. Daugherty. No name in Quincy stands for service that is more
appreciated than that of Daugherty. Daugherty is in fact one of the oldest
names of Adams County, and the people of this family liave always been promi-
nent as landholdei-s, farmers, business men and citizens, but that of Jacob F.
Daugherty is especially associated with the undertaking business. Some years
ago it was said that no Protestant American had ever been able to set up a
successful undertaking business in Quincy in competition with Mr. Daugherty.
He was active in the business until 1908, when he turned the business over to
his son. He has handled the funeral arrangements of more than 6,000 Quincy
citizens in the past forty j'ears.
IMr. Danglierty was bom in Westmoreland County, Pennsvlvania, not far
from the City of Pittslturg, March 10. 1840, a son o'f Michael and Elizabeth
(Funk) Daugherty, both natives of Pennsylvania and the former of Scotch
ancestry and the latter of German stock. Michael Daugherty brought his fam-
ily to Illinois in 1851 and settled on a farm in Ursa Township of Adams
County. Michael was a blacksmith by trade, but after coming to Adams County
gave his time to agriculture and developed one of the finest farms of the county.
He died here August 28, 1892, and his wife on June 14, 1900. lie was eighty-
two and his wife was nearly ninety-three when death came to them. They were
the parents of nine children, two of wliom died in infancy. John M., who suc-
ceeded to the owner.ship of the old Daugherty homestead, and the son James
W., who lived in Oregon, both died in the year 1917. Mary, widow of Martin
B. Kuhns, is still living in Adams County, Samuel is a resident of Gilpin, Colo-
rado, Michael has his home in Oakland, California, and Nancy is the wife of
W. H. Barr, of Medford, Oregon.
Brought to Adams County at the age of ten years Jacob F. Daugherty has
l)y personal experience known the changing developments of this part of
Western Illinois for over six decades. Ilf grew up here on his father's pioneer
farm and after his education in the local schools remained at home and assisted
in its cultivation until he was about twenty-eight years old, at which time he
moved to Quincy and engaged in the livery business for about five years, but
in 1876 took up undertaking and embalming which he continued until his retire-
ment. The business is still continued in his old location at 619 Maine Street,
where it has been located over fifteen yeai's and where the firm has some of the
best equipped undertaking rooms found anywhere in the state. Mr. Daugherty
has also for many j-ears been interested in the monument business to which he
lias been giving his attention since 1908.
In 1862 Mr. Daugherty married I\liss Louise Turner, daughter of John
Turner, an old time citizen of Adams County. Six children were born to
their marriage : Bertha, widow of P. B. Porter, of Quincy ; Nellie, wife of A. M.
Brown, of Quincy; Pauline and Leroy, both deceased; Arthur W., who is an
undertaker and succeeded his father in the business; and Grace, wife of W. A.
Bishop, of Los Angeles, California.
^Ir. Daugherty is a democrat in polities and is an active member of the
Vermont Street Baptist Church, which he has served as trustee, as chairman
of the Board of Trustees and recently was elected to a life position as deacon.
LIBRARY
Jr THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADA:\IS COUNTY 853
Joseph J. Freiburg. An old and honored name in the business life of
Qniney is that of Freiburg, and for more than half a century it has been identi-
fied with enterprises which have contributed to the prosperity and well being
of the city. Its leading representative at the present time is Joseph J. Freiburg,
who, it is the privilege of the publishers to note by way of grateful recognition,
is one of the advisory editors of this publication.
His parents were Joseph J. and Elizabeth (Quinkert) Freiburg, both natives
of Westphalia, Germany. They came to America and located at Quincy in
1866. The father was a cabinet maker by trade and followed that occupation
until July 1, 1876, when with his brother Frederick he engaged in the furniture
and undertaking business. In 1892 Joseph J. Freiburg, Jr., bought the interests
of his uncle, and the firm was continued as Joseph Freiburg & Son, though
about that time they gave up the furniture department and concentrated all
their efforts upon undertaking. This name continued until Februar.y 8, 1906,
when at the death of the father Joseph J. Freiburg bought all the remaining
interests in the business. Mrs. Joseph J. Freiburg, Sr., died July 28, 1917.
They were the parents of eight children : Joseph J. ; Henry J., deceased ; Anna,
wife of Frank Wachtel, of Quincy; Bernard J., deceased; Herman, associated
with his brother in business ; Mary, wife of Joseph H. Tushans, of St. Joseph,
Missouri ; Elizabeth and John, both deceased.
Joseph J. Freiburg was born at Quincy April 7, 1867, and this city has
always claimed his loyalty as a resident and public spirited citizen. He lived
at home, attended the parochial schools, and at the age of thirteen began work-
ing for his father. Later for two j'ears he attended a local business college, and
then entered the Clarke College of Embalming at Cincinnati. When he gradu-
ated from that institution he had the distinction of being the youngest man ever
to receive a diploma in embalming from that school. After that he returned
to Quincy and became associated with his father, but was also a co-worker with
Professor Clarke in lecturing on anatomy and embalming from 1896 to 1905.
About the latter time he assumed the entire responsibilities of the business, and
he has made the name Freiburg synonymous with a perfect service in under-
taking and embalming. He was the first to introduce auto hearses at Quincj',
and has always studied to keep his equipment and service up to date.
November 25, 1890, Mr. Freiburg married Anna E. Brinkman. She was
born at Quincy, daughter of W. M. and Elizabeth (Terlisner) Brinkman, her
father a native of Germany and her mother a native of St. Louis. Mr. and
Mrs. Freiburg enjoyed a happy marriage companionship for over a quarter of
a century until her death on July 22, 1916. Seven children were born into their
home. The oldest, Adelaide, is the wife of Rudolph J. Weltin, of Quincy, The
other children, still at home, are Margaret, Gertrude, Odelia, Lucile, Edna and
Marion.
As to politics Mr. Freiburg maintains an independent attitude. He is
supreme treasurer of the Western Catholic Union, is active in the Knights of
Columbus, is president of the Columbus Home Building Association, a member
of Quincy Lodge of Elks, of the Rotary Club, the Quincy Ad Club, and is
treasurer of the Big Lake Hunting and Fishing Club, an organization con-
trolling 300 acres of fine game preserve. ]\Ir. Freiburg and family worship in
St. Boniface Catholic Church at Quincy.
Robert A. Rochester. An active and conspicuous figure in the industrial
life of Quincy, Robert A. Rochester has for nearly forty years been prominently
associated with the advancement of the manufacturing interests of Adams
County, and as superintendent of the American Straw Board Company has been
instrumental in building up a business scarcely surpassed in this section of the
eountn- by any other of a like nature. A native of Illinois, he was born Janu-
ary 23, 1855, in Rockford, Winnebago County.
James Rochester, his father, was born and reared in England. Lnmigrating
854 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
when yoiing to this country, he learned the miller's trade, which he followed until
after the outbreak of the Civil war. Soon after that event he enlisted in the
iJnion Army, joining the Second Missouri Cavalry, and died while in service.
His wife, whose maiden name was Jane Hislop, was bom in Scotland, and died
in Rockford, Illinois. Of the nine children born of their union the subject of
this brief sketch was the onl}' boy.
Left fatherless when a child, Robert A. Rochester began life as a farm hand
when but ten years of age, working hard during seed time and harvest, and
attending the winter terms of school. When sixteen years old he entered a
paper mill in Rockford, Illinois, and dui-ing the j-ears that he remained there
became thoroughly accjuainted with the details of i^aper making, and an expert
in the industry. In 1878 Mr. Rochester accepted a position with the American
Paper Straw Board Company of Quincy, and has since served most acceptably
as superintendent of the concern, devoting his time and energies to the duties
devolving upon him in the position.
Mr. Rochester married in 1879 Mary Calkins, a native of Quincj', and they
are the parents of two children, Bessie, wife of George Springer, of Beloit, Wis-
consin, and Helen. Politically Mr. Rochester invariably supports the principles
of the republican pai-ty. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks.
William H. Eber. Fortified with the prestige of many years and by the
enterprise of a family of unusual business talents, the Eber Seed Company is
one of Quincy 's oldest and best known commercial houses. At one time it was
the only exclusive seed house in Quincy and the largest institution of its kind
in the Middle West.
The founder of this business was the late William Eber, Sr., who died in
April, 1910, after a residence of more than half a century in Quincy. He was
born in Bavaria, Germanj', in 1829, and came to the United States twenty years
later. For several j'ears he lived in Pennsylvania and was in the clothing busi-
ness while there. In 1856 he located at Quincy, and from 1861 to 1873 carried
on a general grocery and seed business. From 1873 his entire time and attention
was given to the fruit and seed business and to developing a supply house for
garden and farm seeds. His business partner and associate until 1868 was
Mr. Charles A. Koenecke, and later the firm was conducted as Eber & Walters.
In 1885 William Eber, Sr., took in William H. Eber as business associate, and
the firm was William Eber & Son until after his death. His success was not
only due to specializing in one line, but also to the integrity and character which
he put into all his work. William Eber, Sr., was eighty-one years of age when
he died. His death occurred at his home 2608 Maine Street, having erected that
residence for his famil.v some years before his death.
In 1856 William Eber, Sr., married Susan Eber, who was also born in
Bavaria, Germany, but was not related to the family of her husband. She came
when a young woman to the United States by way of New York and located at
Quincy, where her parents lived and died. Both the Eber families were Prot-
estants in religion. Mrs. William Eber is still living in Quincy at the age of
eighty-four. She and her husband were married in and were always faithful
members of St. John's Lutheran Church. Nine children were born to them,
two of whom died in infancy. The other children were named William, Eugene,
Emma, Sophia, Sadie, Fredericka and Nellie. The son Eugene died at the
age of fifty .years. They all reside at the old family home. Sadie is secretary
of the Eber Seed Company.
William H. Eber, who is now president and treasurer of the Eber Seed
Company, was born in Quincy in 1863 and was educated in the city schools and
the Gem City Business College. At the age of sixteen he went to work for his
father and in 1885 was taken into partnership under the name William Eber
& Son. In 1912 the business was incorporated, with Mr. Eber as president and
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 855
treasurer and his sister Sadie as seeretarj'. They have a large store at 234-236
North Sixth Avenue and Vermont Street, the building being 40 bj- 75 feet. This
has been occupied by the firm since 1900. It is still continued on the plan
established by the father of the family, and is both a wholesale and retail seed
house.
OsMON B. Gordon. Inheriting in no small measure the many virtues and
excellent habits of his sturdj- New England ancestors, Osmon B. Gordon, of
Quiucy, holds a position of prominence and influence amoug the substantial
business men of the city, and as a member of the Gordon Shoe Company is an
important factor in advancing its mercantile interests. He was born July 7,
1845, in Fremont, New Hampshire, a son of Rev. Loren H. and Elizabeth A.
Gordon, on the maternal side of the family being of the same Imeage as John
Quincy Adams, their immigi-ant ancestor having been the same. His father,
who for fifty years was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Confer-
ence, came to Adams Countj', Illinois, with his family in 1860, and was for
some time engaged in the shoe business in Quincy, but later was a Bible agent.
Both he and his wife died in Quiucy.
Completing his earlj' education in the Quincy public schools and college,
Osmon B. Gordon obtained his first knowledge of mercantile pursuits in his
father's store. In August, 1867, he accepted a position as traveling salesman
for the shoe store of C. Brown, Jr., & Company, and in 1872, having proved
himself capable and efficient, he acquired an interest in the business. In 1878
Mr. Gordon formed a partnership with Mr. Upham, and the firm of Upham &
Gordon purchased the stock and good will of C. Brown, Jr., & Company, who
retired from active pursuits. The business of the new firm rapidly increased,
and owing to its demands was transferred from Hampshire Street to its pres-
ent commodious quarters on Third Street. In 1909 ilr. Gordon, with character-
istic enterprise, took over ^Ir. Upham 's interest, and has since conducted an
extensive and remunerative business, the Gordon Shoe Company being one of
the more prosperous and busy firms of Quinc}^
Mr. Gordon has been twice married. He married first Elvira A. Wright,
who spent her entire life in Quincy, her death occurring Februaiy 6, 1881.
Mr. Gordon married for his second wife, June 23, 1887, Harriet E. Adams, and
they have one son, Osmon B. Gordon, Jr., who is a.ssociated with his father,
they being sole owners of the Gordon Shoe Company. Mr. Gordon is now serv-
ing as president of the Gem City Building & Loan Association, and is also presi-
dent of both the Woodland Home and the Anna Brown Home for the Aged.
Religiously he is a member of the Congregational Church, of which he is the
treasurer.
William Schlinkman. Quincy 's well known business men include William
Schlinkman, who has for over twenty j-ears be«n in the drug business, is one
of the ablest pharmacists of the city, and has gained a large trade and a large
business through his well directed efforts. He has been established at 900 South
Eighth Street since 1896. Mr. Schlinkman is a registered pharmacist and gradu-
ated from the Chicago School of Pharmacy in 1896. He is a thoroughly prac-
tical man in his business, and his store is one of the real mediums of service in
the city. In connection he operates an ice cream plant and manufactures about
4,000 gallons of ice cream every year.
^Ir. Schlinkman was bom in Quincy Februarj^ 23, 1872, and was reared and
educated here, attending the city public schools and high scliool. He entered
liis ])resent business through the avenue of drug clerk, and thus had a practical
foundation before he entered a school of pharmacy.
His parents were Henry and Hannah (Beck) Schlinkman, botli natives of
Germany. They married in the old countiy and three of their children were
born there. While they were on the ocean, ten weeks en route, another child
856 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
was born. They came immediately to Qviincy and located their home at the
corner of Twelfth and Monroe streets. Here they lived long and useful lives,
and the father died in ^larch. 1900. when past seventy, and his widow died in
1888 when about the same age. They were members of the Salem Lutheran
Church and in politics he was a republican. In their family were twelve chil-
dren, eight daughters and four sons, all of whom grew to maturity. Julia is
the wife of Jack Russell, of St. Louis. Anna is the deceased wife of "William
Reed. Rica man-ied Frank Little, and they live in Quincy and have a family
of sons and daughters. Lizzie married James Blades, of Quincy. ilinnie and
Emma both died of pneumonia about the same time, their respective ages being
twenty-four and twenty-six. The next in the family is William. Henry was a
Quincy business man, now deceased, and left two children. Bertha is the wife
of Henrj- Kalber, of Quincy. and has a family of children. Clara died leaving
a son and daughter. Herman lives in ^Vyoming and is a rancher. Edward,
also unmarried, lives at Quincy.
In 1902 William Schlinkman married at Quincy Miss Lulu Fredericks. She
was born in Quincy, and was reared and educated here. Her fatlier, Henry
Fredericks, is still in business and is the oldest cigar manufacturer in Quincy.
He was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1836, came to America in 1S64, and
arrived in Quincy in March. 1S66. On ]\Iay 25, 1871, he married Anna Grimmer,
who was bom in Westphalia Februarj- 3, 1850, and came to Quincy with her
parents in 1855,
Mr, and ilrs. Schlinkman have a daughter, ilargaret L,, who was born in
1903, in the building where her father now has his drug business. She is a stu-
dent in the Quincy High School, and plans to complete her education in the
State University. The family are members of the Salem Lutheran Church and
Mr. Schlinkman is a republican.
I.EWI.5 L. BoTER. There is hardly an official position in which are concen-
trated more of the vital interests of the public than that of superintendent of
highways. The business of making roads is one of the first if not the first
community improvement undertaken by the people of a new district. Next
after making their rude log cabins the pioneers busied themselves with blazing
trails through the forests, constructing corduroy roads through the swamps
and devising means to get across the creeks and rivers. There has been no
cessation in that work .since those early beginnings, Adams County, like other
counties in Illinois, has far from reached an ideal perfection of roads and
highways, and in former years it suffered from the haphazard and loose system
or lack of system which left road making to the indi^•idual enterprise of town-
ships or other smaller localities, without any centralized supervision or plan.
In 1913 there was created the oflSce of superintendent of highways for the
purpose of providing a centralized authority through which a general plan of
county highways might be devised, and through which efforts and money might
be expended systematically to realize the greatest benefits to the greatest num-
bers. To fill this office a young man of great energy- and thorough technical
qualifications was .selected. Lewis L. Boyer, a civil engineer and a man thoroughly
alive to the needs and responsibilities of his office. He entered upon his duties
in March, 1917, and has already done much to ju.stifv the expectations of his
supporters, Adams County has 1,650 miles of highways of all kinds, and has
287 miles of what is known as standard highways, and of these more than 100
miles are in the state highway system, including three roads which converge
at Quincy. These .state highways in particular will be recipients of some share
of the recently passed $60,000,000 bond issue. Improvements on all the impor-
tant highways in the county, so far as means justified, have been energetically
piLshed by Mr, Boyer, He has drawn up a standard road map of Adams County,
•which tells at a glance the highway situation, and is of invaluable aid to all
interested in the public road situation. In 1917 he also laid out a system of
roads, 135 miles in length, which it is supposed shall be improved with macadam
QUINCY AND ADAJIS COUNTY 857
or concrete or other forms of permanent construction. Adams County has
3,000 bridges and culverts, 1,000 of them being of concrete construction, and
ninety bridges are of more than 100-foot span.
Mr. Boyer was born in Richtield Township of this county ilay 19, 1885,
and was elected to his present office from Liberty Township. He attended the
public schools to the age of sixteen, and at the age of eighteen qualified as a
teacher. He taught in the Douglas School two years, one year in the Franklin
School, three years at Pin Oak and five years was principal at Liberty. Eveiy
summer he attended Normal School, and received a supervisory certificate.
Besides perfecting himself in the branches which would better qvialify him for
teaching he also studied engineering, and was thus well qualified for the techni-
cal as well as the administrative features of his present work.
Mr. Boyer is a son of John and Louisa (Koetzle) Boyer, both natives of
this state. They were married in Liberty Township, and occupied their old
home there until four years ago, when they moved to the Village of Liberty,
where they are now living. Mrs. John Boyer is a member of the Lutheran
Church. Besides Lewis L. they had a son Chester A., who died of influenza in
November, 1918. He lived in Iowa and was a commercial salesman for Swift
& Company. He married and his son Robert is three years old. Roscoe L.
Boyer lives in Quincy, where he sells agricultural implements and Ford auto-
mobiles. Harvey died at the age of nine months. Robert E. is a rural school
teacher in Fall Creek Township of this county. He married in November, 1918.
In Liberty Township Lewis L. Boyer married ]\Iiss Effie Proctor, who was
born in Adams County in 1889, and was reared and educated here. At the age
of eighteen she also was certified to teach school, and taught in tlie rural dis-
tricts for several years and for five years was connected with the Liberty public
schools. 'Sir. and ]\Ii"s. Boyer have one son, John, born in November, 1915. Mr.
Boyer married for his first wife in Liberty Township Miss Nettie Brubaker,
daughter of Rev. David Brubaker, a minister of the United Brethren Church
now living in Ohio. Nettie Brubaker was born in Westerville, Ohio, in 1886.
She died eleven months after her marriage.
Mrs. Boyer is a member of the Baptist Church while ]\lr. Boyer is active
in the Christian denomination, being choir leader, Sunday scliool teacher and
otherwise interested. He is affiliated with Bodley Lodge No. 1, Ancient Free
and Accepted -Masons, and was forraerlv its seeretarj-, and is affiliated with the
Eastern Star, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Rebekahs, the Eagles,
the Modern Woodmen of America and the Adams County Mutual. In politics he
is a democrat.
Jackson R. Pearce. The present generation at least need no enlightenment
as to who Mr. Jackson R. Pearce is or the position he has held in the commu-
nity for many years. His protracted services as county clerk of Adams County
brought him the acquaintance of practically everj- local citizen, and since leav-
ing that office his career has been distinguished by able administration of busi-
ness affairs and banking. He is vice president of the Ricker National Bank
of Quincy.
He came into the larger public notice of the county after a youth spent on the
farm in Houston Township. He was born there October 28, 1862, son of Augus-
tus F. and ]\Iary E. (Woods) Pearce, the foniier a native of a Kentucky and
the latter of Illinois. The Pearce family came to Adams County in 1851, and
Augustus Pearce was for many years an agriculturist in section 23 of Houston
Township. There were eight children : Jackson R. ; Martha, wife of James i\Iil-
ler, of Augusta, Illinois; Samuel 0., a resident of Chicago; Sarah A., wife of
William J. Cromwell, of Adams County; and four who died in infancy.
The first eighteen years of his life Jackson R. Pearce spent at home, working
on a farm while attending the district schools. For two years he himself was a
teacher and then entered merchandising. In 1882 he became a general merchant,
dealer in grain and agricultural implements at Chatten, the postoffiee center of
858 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
his old country home. In the fall of 1890 he came to Quincy and began work
in the county clerk's office on Octobei- 23d, and in December was appointed
deputy county clerk. He filled that office under several administrations, and
in 1898 he himself was elected county clerk. His tenure of that office was
continued by the voters of Adams County through twelve successive years.
He then resumed active control of his various business affairs and for several
years has been vice president of the Richer National Bank. He is also a
director of the Farmers National Life Insurance Company of Chicago, and of
the Gem City Building and Loan Association.
In politics Mr. Pearce has always been identified with the democratic party.
He has acquitted himself creditably as chairman of the local exemption board.
All the demaaids placed upon him for the support of war activities have been
generously met. He is also president of the Board of Trustees of the Chaddock
Boys" School, and is a director of the Quincy Y. M. C. A. He is a steward in
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is affiliated with the Masonic, Odd Fel-
lows and Elks fraternities.
Mr. Pearce is more than willing to merge his own achievements in his
pride for his children. September 15, 1884, he married Miss Elizabeth McGin-
nis, a native of Adams County, and daughter of Solomon W. and ]Mary (Fie-
field) McGinnis, now deceased. The oldest of the three children of ^Ir. and
Mrs. Pearce is Dr. Warren Frederick, born August 9, 1885. As a young physi-
cian and surgeon he became interested in military affairs, was senior surgeon of
the Quincy Naval Reserves, Ignited States naval surgeon on the reserve list,
and on April 8, 1917, was ordered out as senior surgeon on the flagship of a
fleet of war vessels. Later he was returned to land duty, was made executive
of a base hospital in France, and at the close of the war was in command of a
naval base. Only second to the achievements of the boys in the trenches has
been the wonderful service rendered by the army surgeons, and in the glory
attaching to this branch of modern warfare Doctor Pearce has his own special
credit.
The two daughters of ^Ir. Pearce are Nina ^lay and Edna Ruth. Nina Jlay
is the wife of Bert E. Chatten, of Quincy. Edna Ruth is a graduate of Knox
College at Galesburg, and is now industrial secretary of the Young Men's
Christian Association at Detroit, Michigan.
Herman E. Nelson. One of the popular young business men of Quincy
is Herman E. Nelson, who is well known in the motion pictui'e world and as
the manager of the leading motion picture theaters in this city. He is the oldest
continuous man in the business at Quincy. He lias been identified with pictures
since his school period ended and few phases of the industry are unknown
facts to him.
Herman E. Nelson was bom at Sioiix City, Iowa, November 17, 1890. His
parents are Edward and Mary (Davidson) Nelson, both of whom were bom
in Norway. Edward Nelson came to the United States and located at Sioux
City, Iowa, when a young man and for a number of years was a building con-
tractor there. At present he fills a very responsible position, that of overseer
of the construction of all buildings for the J. Deere Plow Company at Ottumwa,
Iowa. Of his seven children, Herman E. is the fourth in order of birth, the
others being: Norman, who is a.ssociated with his father at Ottumwa; Ma.v.
who is the wife of Edward Earle, of Ottumwa, Iowa ; Arthur, who is well known
on the vaudeville stage ; Alice, who resides at home ; Roy, who is interested at
Hannibal, IMissouri ; and Esther, who lives with her parents.
Herman E. Nelson became first interested in his present line of business
at Ottumwa, Iowa, and afterward spent a year at Galesburg, Illinois, as film
operator and assistant manager. In 1910 he came to Quincy as manager of the
Colonial Theater and then took over the Colonnade Theater, which he bought in
association with "William A. Schwindeler, when they named it the Star, and it is
a comfortable and attractive playhouse. Mr. Nelson was one of the organizers
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 859
of the Belaseo Theater Company. He is interested financially in this house
also with ilr. W. A. Schwindeler and AVill H. Sohm.
Mr. Nelson was married June 24, 1913, to Miss Rose Weltin, of Quincy, and
they have two children : Rose ilary, who was born in April, 1914 ; and Edward,
who was born January 17, 1916.
While the general name applied to the motion picture business may be
"amusement," it is not amusement from every angle and, in fact, is a very
serious enterprise from the standpoint of both owners and managers. This
industry that has so rapidlj- developed and extended over the world has become
almost one of the indispensable elements of modern life. This art has opened
so many doors to knowledge and enjoj-ment that it is to be hoped no censor
nor any national calamity will ever do away with it. In the management of
the Quincy houses Mr. Nelson has not only shown himself a capable man of
business, but one who is careful to present only the best and most artistic
productions.
Rupp Brothers & Company. This firm is probably the oldest institution at
Quinc.y to exemplify in practical and commercial ways the conservation principle
concerning which so much is now heard on all sides. It is no longer considered a
virtue even in America to throw away and waste valuable material. Rupp Broth-
ers & Company for nearly half a century have been using and utilizing what
the public throws away and counts as waste. The founders of the business,
following the custom of junk dealers from time immemorial, traveled about
over Quinej' ten'itory gathering up their materials with a poor hoi'se and
wagon. Today Rupp Brothers & Company are responsible for the largest
tonnage that goes out of Quincy on the railroads, and most of their material
has right of way on the roads as preferred traffic for government use.
The new plant of the company recently established at Walton Heights in
East Quincy, with ready access and traffic facilities from the Burlington Rail-
road, represents the last word in the construction of a plant of this kind. The
machineiy for loading and unloading comprises several magnet cranes capable
of lifting ten tons of iron at a time. They have also installed wonderful break-
ing and cutting devices for preparing the metal for shipment and subsequent
use. Large boiler irons are cut up rapidly by an acid heating device which
practically melts away the heavy iron by simple contact. The company employs
about eighty people all the time, and their sales run into several hundred
thousand dollars annually. All of this is merely suggested a.s items to show
the remarkable development of a business which started on the simplest scale.
An old Quincy directory of forty years ago indicates the name of the firm
as George Rupp & Brother, Junk Store, at Broadway, corner of 18th Street.
The founders of the business were George and his brother Fred, both natives
of Nassau, Prussia. George wa.s born in 1842, and he and his brother came
to the United States in 1867, locating at Quincy after coming up the ^Mississippi
River from New Orleans. Both were poor young men in a strange land, and
one of the first means they found to earn a living was selling mustard. They
also worked on farms, and in 1870, having managed to acquire a horse and
covered wagon, they started out buying iron and other products, and from
that business both became wealthy. From the original location of 18th and
Broadway they moved to 12th and Broadway, and about 1885 took over a
property at 100 to 112 North 10th Street, where the business was located until
the Walton Heights plant was occupied. The business was incorporated in
1894. George and Fred Rupp were esteemed business men and citizens of
Quincy for nearly half a century. George Rupp died here in 1909 and his
brother Fred in August, 1917. Their widows are still living.
George Rupp married in 1872 Elizabeth Reuraing, a native of Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. She is still living at the age of sixty-seven. George Rupp was a
Catholic and independent in polities. He and his wife had five sons and five
daughters, all of the sons living and four of them married. The president of
860 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
the company is Mr. Fred Rupp, and George A. is secretary and treasurer. At
Walton Heights the company has acquired four acres of ground for their large
buildings. They also operate three Ijranch houses, one at Hannibal, ilissouri,
one at Moberly, Missouri, and other at Chillicothe, Illinois. They have an exten-
sive system of reaching out into the various districts, having two men cover-
ing Illinois as buyers and six men in other fields. The average shiiiment from
Quincj- amounts to over 120 cars a month or 1,500 cars per year. While most
of the product handled is iron, they are also collecting large amounts of paper
and rags and have electric presses which put this material into large bales for
shipment.
Fred and George A. Rupp were both born in Quincy and both attended the
high school and the Gem City Business College. Of these two brothers Fred
is the only one married. He married Anna Schupp, who was born and educated
in Quincy, daughter of Charles Schupp, a native of Germany. Charles Schupp
married iliss Charlotte Schupp, who is still living at the age of sixty-seven.
Fred Rupp and wife have had the following children : Virgil, a student in St.
Francis College; Marion, who died in 1918, at the age of sixteen; Omer, Doro-
thy, Celeste, Anna, Maria and Lawrence. The Rupp brothers and their respec-
tive families are all Catholics, and they are affiliated with the Knights of
Columbus.
C. Henry Wurst. Any business that can live, grow and prosper for more
than half a century has beyond all doubt proved its usefulness and service, and
possesses elements that make it a real institution of any community. The
vitality of such a business, and the quality of the service rendered, are largely
a matter of personal effectiveness. To live so many years a business must de-
pend iipon the loyalty, faithfulness, industry and good judgment of its personal
factors.
Such an institution at Quincy is the C. H. Wurst Company at Seventh and
State streets. It is one of the largest general hardware concerns in Western
Illinois, but far more interesting than its material equipment and growth are
the individuals who founded and have kept up its vitality to the present day.
It was established by the late Christian Gottlob Wurst, who, though he
passed from the living more than thirty-five years ago, is still remembered by
many Quincy people as a scholar and thorough business man, a complete exem-
plification of the old time merchant, with his punctual habits, diligence, and
complete integrity of character. It was characteristic of this gentleman of the
old school that he should keep a diary, and from that diary the story of his life
from childhood has been told.
Christian Gottlob Wurst was the son of a schoolmaster at Sulzbach, Wurtem-
berg, Germany. Wnen a small boy he was left fatherless. The burden of caring
for the family fell on an older brother, who had completed his studies and
become a schoolmaster before the father's death. This brother not only helped
to provide for his j'ounger brother, but supervised his education, teaching him
the elementary branches during the long evenings.
When Christian reached the age of fourteen it was decided that he should
learn the tinner's trade. For a number of years therefore he traveled about
German.v, securing work wherever possible, and in 1850 received his diploma as
a finished tinsmith.
November 17, 1853, he left Bremen on the ship Carolina, arriving in New
York six weeks later. Here he worked in a number of shops until April, 1855.
when he decided to go west to Oquawka, Illinois, county seat of Henderson
County, where a New York acquaintance had referred him to two friends. His
diary states that he had $27 in gold and good, warm clothing when he left New
York. He found 0(|uawka to be a thriving city of about 1,000 inhabitants.
Here he learned the English language.
In the fall of 1856 he journeyed to Quincy by steamboat. He described
LIBRARY
.)r THE
UNIVERSITY OF \LLIN0IS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 861
Quincy as a good city of 18,000 population. Business, however, was dull, and
he left the following spring for Palmyra. This town, he said, had 1,000 in-
habitants, and was the nicest, liveliest little cit.y he had yet visited. Business
continued dull and in the fall he went to La Grange, ilissouri, where he re-
mained until the next spring, when he went back to Palmyra. That was his
home until the spring of 18.59. St. Joseph, Missouri, next attracted his atten-
tion, but he found no work there, so went by steamboat to St. Louis. After
working three months he went on to Na.shville, Tennessee. That city he de-
scribed as being too hot, .so he left a few days later for Quincy, and then decided
to buy some tools and open a shop in Mendon, Illinois.
Business was good and that same year he bought the shop and residence from
Mr. Durfin for $1,000. In 1861 he married in Quincy Miss Catherine Wolf,
who at once returned with him to Mendon.
In the spring of 1866 he started to sell out his holdings in Mendon. He then
returned to Quincy and purchased the brick and frame building that was stand-
ing at Seventh and State streets, and stocked it with merchandise and tools.
The place was opened for business August 20, 1866, fifty-two years ago. There
were bad years and good years but the store and shop steadily grew in popu-
larity. It was sixteen j^ears after he became a business man of Quincy that
Chi-istian Gottlob Wurst died in 1882. He left his widow and son Henry,
then a lad of seventeen years, to care for the business. Under their manage-
ment great progress was made. In a short time the young man found the entire
responsibility resting on his own shoulders. With each succeeding year trade
increased and new patrons were attracted to the establishment.
The late C. Henry Wurst was born at Mendon, Illinois, April 4, 1865. His
boyhood was spent in Quincy attending school and assisting his father in the
store and shop. He was the responsible head of the business for thirty years.
In 1890, when he was twenty-five years of age, the business outgrew the old
building. This building was accordingly wrecked and the east half of the
present structure erected. In 1908 more room was again demanded, supplied
by building the west lialf, making the building 37 by 60 feet, three stories high
with basement, and an extension in the rear of the west side. Fire seriously
damaged the building the next year, but all was quickly restored to the original
condition. Even with this equipment the business found itself cramped, and
later they bought property two doors north of the store, where extensive ware-
houses and shops were erected.
Prior to 1911 the business was conducted as a private institution. It was
Mr. Wurst 's desire that two of his faithful emploj-es be permitted to take an
interest in the business, and accordingly the C. H. Wurst Company was in-
corporated with C. H. Wurst, Herman I. Ehrhardt and A. J. Hermsdorfer as
directors and Mr. Wurst as president.
October 27, 1912, C. Henry Wurst succumbed to injuries received in a street
car accident and passed away at the age of forty-seven, still in the prime of
life, but he had already achieved distinction as one of Quincy 's most successful
business men. Owing to his quiet, modest manners only those who knew him
well realized tlie extent of the business he conducted. Among his friends he
was accepted as a man of sound business judgment, deliberate but painstaking,
quiet but fiirm.
He has a worthy successor as president and head of the board of directors
of the company. This is his wife, Mrs. Wurst, who upon assuming the un-
expected responsibilities proved as capable and resourceful as she had previously
in the management of her home and household. She keeps in close touch with
all details of the business, though in her fellow directors she has two of the
very capable business men of Quincy, formerly associated with her husband.
One is Sir. Herman I. Ehrhardt, now superintendent of the company and one
of its directors since 1911. Mr. Ehrhardt is a man distinguished by great
capacity for detail as well as possessed of all the qualities of tlie good executive.
Vol. n-9
862 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
He has the general management of the retail store and the l)usiness in general.
The other active man in the business is A. J. Hermsdorfer, who like Mr. Ehr-
hardt has been in business for over fifteen years, and who is superintendent of
the mechanical department and has given the tin and metal working shops an
enviable reputation.
At Quincy in 1897 Mr. C. Henry Wur.st married Miss Lillie C. Ebert. Sirs.
Wurst was born and reai-ed and educated in Quincy. She is a daughter of
Jacob and Mary (Schaefer) Ebert. Her father was born in Wuertemberg on the
Swiss border in 1826 and his parents died in Germany. At the age of twenty-
seven he came to America, and after a long voyage landed at New Orleans. He
was possessed of a college education and in Germany had learned the trade of
stone mason. He first located at Bushnell, Illinois, but six months later came
to Quincy and with Mr. Brosi engaged in the quarrying and stone mason con-
tracting business. Mr. Brosi soon left Quincy, ancl ilr. Ebert continued the
business alone. He supplied stone materials for many of the foundations in
homes, business houses and public buildings in Quincy. He was an active
worker and died in the prime of life, at the age of tifty-tive, in November, 1881.
Soon after coming to Quincy Mr. Ebert married Miss Schaefer, who was born
in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and was thirteen years old when her parents,
Wendel and Anna E. (Daum) Schaefer, came to the United States. They
were on the ocean six weeks, landed at New Orleans, and then came up the
Mississippi to Quincy. Mr. and Mrs. Schaefer died here, the latter at the age
of sixty and the former at eighty-six. Wendel Schaefer was an all around
blacksmith. The Schaefers wex-e members of the German Methodist Episcopal
Church. The mother of Mrs. Wurst died June 3, 1916, lacking only a mouth of
her eightieth birthday.
Mrs. Wurst was one of a family of fifteen children, of whom a daughter
and two sons died in early childhood. Twelve grew to maturity, six sons and
six daughters, all Init three married, and all are still living except the oldest son,
George, who died seven years ago and who had succeeded to and conducted his
father's business as a stone contractor.
Mr. and Mrs. Wurst iDceame the parents of six children, and witli these
children they had a most happy home life at 1254 Kentucky Street, where Mrs.
Wurst still resides. Their oldest child, Ella, died at the age of eleven years.
Henry E. graduated from the Quincy High School in 1918, at the age of eight-
een, and a few months later entered the Illinois State University. Katharine,
aged sixteen, is member of the Quincy High School, class of 1920. Emily died
at the age of five years, and was buried on the same day her sister Ella died.
Mary is nine years old and in grammar school, while the youngest, Charles E.,
is seven years old. Mrs. Wurst is a member of the ilethodist Episcopal Church,
and the late Mr. Wurst was one of its trustees.
Louis Dedekt. Few of the veteran farmers of Adams County have a greater
volume of woi-k and production to their credit than Louis Dedert, now living
retired at Quincy. Mr. Dedert 's home is at 1606 Payson Avenue, where he has
lived since August, 1911. This is a comfortable city home, a seven room house
located on a large lot 100 feet square.
Mr. Dedert came to this city home fi'om his farm in section 10 of Ellington
Township, where he owns eighty acres. On that farm he spent most of his life.
He was born December 28, 1859, and was reared and received his education in
Quincy and Ellington Township.
His parents were William and Louisa (Schlippmann) Dedert. Both were
born in Bielfeld, Germany, the father about 1830. They were married in Ger-
many and came to America on different ships, landing at New York and thence
coming to St. Louis. Leaving his wife at St. Louis William Dedert came on
to Quincy during the winter of 1851-52 for the purpose of finding work. Soon
afterward the river froze over and he was unable to rejoin his wife at St. I-ouis
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 863
until the next spring. They rented land, and later bought the eighty acres in
section 10 of Ellington Townsliip where they lived for many years. The wid-
owed mother finally retired to Quincy and died in the spring of 1912. They
were members of the Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church and both are buried
side by side in the Green IMount cemetery. William Dedert was a ro]iublican
but never interested in politics only to the extent of casting his vote. Their
children were Henry, William, Louis, F'rank, John, Edward, Simon, Theodore
and Mary. All of them married except Frank and ^lary.
Louis Dedert, third in this family, grew up on the farm and became an
energetic farmer and stock raiser, and followed that vocation successfully until
he retired. He married for his first wife in this county Cornelia Speckmann.
She was born at Quincy in 1864 of German parentage. Her death occurred in
Ellington Township December 2, 1911. Her two children, Freda and IMabel,
are both unmarried and at home with their father. In the spring of 1913 Mr.
Dedert married at Quincy Lena Ermann, a sister of his first wife and widow
of George Ermann. George Ermann was born in Wuertemberg, Germany,
October 5, 1860, and came to the United States when a young man. At Quincy
he took up his trade as a custom shoemaker, and followed that vocation until
his death when nearly twenty-nine years of age. He was the father of three
children. Walter Ermann, born in Quincy in 1885, is a well educated and
trained musician and is employed in the Weiler's music store at Quincy. He
married Minnie Boehl, and their children are Florence, Wilbur and Charles.
Alfred Ermann, born in 1887, is now in the army ser\ace, attached to the Hos-
pital Corps at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis. Arthur, born in 1889, was, like
his brothers, well educated in the city schools and is now a farmer at LeGrande,
Oregon. He married Hulda Schroeda, of Adams County, and has one daughter,
Anita. The family are members of the Salem- Evangelical Lutheran Church at
Quincy and Mr. Dedert is a republican.
Charles W. Breitwieser. Among the able business men who have contrib-
uted for many years to the commercial importance of Quincy is Charles W.
Breitwieser, for a long time prominent in the grocery line and at present owner
and operator of the Gem City Transfer Company. Mr. Breitwieser has chosen
to spend his life in his native city. He was l)orn at Quincy, Illinois, .March 5,
1862. His parents were John and Amelia (Reinecker) Breitwieser, natives of
Germany.
John Breitwieser for many years was a well known and highly esteemed
resident of Quincy, where he spent his entire life after coming to the United States
in 1837. He was a shoemaker by trade and as he was of industrious habit
acquired a sufficient competency and provided well for his family of nine chil-
dren. Of these two survive and are residents of Quincy : Charles W. and Amelia.
The father of Charles W. Breitwieser was a man with practical ideas and
when his son had reached his thirteenth year decided that it was time he leave
school and learn a trade, hence Chai'les entered a cigar factory with the expec-
tation of becoming a cigar-maker. A year later, however, a more attractive
opportunity presented itself and he accepted a position in a retail grocery .store
and i-emained there for sixteen years. With this preparation in 1892 he went
into the grocery business for himself, having learned its details th.jroughly,
purchasing from William Evers, and for thirteen years he conducted a first
class grocery near the corner of Fifth and Hampshire streets. In 1905 he
embarked in another line by purchasing the transfer business of two companies
here and consolidating as the Gem City Transfer Company. Under all condi-
tions and circumstances this business is conducted in a satisfactory manner and
both visitors and local patrons unite in praise of the service.
]\Ir. Breitwieser was married September 15, 1886, to Jliss Clara R. Rothgeb.
who was bom at Quincy. They are members of the Memorial Lutheran Church
at Quincy, and he is a member of its board of trustees. Fraternally he is a
Blue Lodge ilason, and politically he is a republican.
864 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
JoHK L. Grieser. Some of the valuable and important interests of Adams
County represented in farms and other properties have been built up and accu-
mulated by the late John L. Grieser, and are at present managed by his capable
sons. The family has been a factor in the life and affairs of this country for
eighty years or more.
The late John L. Grieser was only about four years old when brought to this
county. He was born at Baltimore, Maryland, September 3, 1834, son of Leonard
and Dorothy (Hack) Griesei-. His father was a native of Alsace-Lon-aine, then
a part of France, and his mother was either born in that country or of German
parentage. They came to Illinois and located in Quincy about 1837, and some
years later moved to a farm in Ellington Township. Leonard Grieser, Sr., and
wife spent their last years on a farm. They were active members of the Lutheran
Church. All their children are now deceased.
John L. Grieser, who died at his home 401 Elm Street in Quincy, August 26,
1906, aged seventy-tsvo, was the oldest of his parents' children, and grew up in
Quincy and in Ellington Townsliip. After his education he took up the business
of farming, and for many years his enterprise was chiefly centered in the wood
business, with headquarters at Quincy, shipping from wood lots up and down
the river for many miles. At the same time he carried on his farm operations
and was one of the leading stock raisers in Ellington and Ursa townships. He
owned good farms in both townships. He was a man of progressive ideas and
was one of the citizens who took the lead and brouglit about one of the greatest
improvements Adams County has had, the Indian drainage district. L'l-sa Town-
ship land lay in this district, and was highly benefited from the improvement,
though not more so than many other lands adjoining.
Mr. Grieser gave his personal superintendence to his farms and other lines
of business from his home in Quincy. For many years he lived on State Street,
but later moved to the residence on Elm Street where he died. He was a repub-
lican voter and an active member of the Baptist Church.
]\[r. Grieser met and married his first wife, Adelia Davis, at Canton, ^lissouri.
She was a native of ^Missouri and died at the State Street home of the family
in 1873. Her only child, Maude, is the wife of Dr. Otis Johnson, the prominent
Quincy surgeon.
At Taylorville, Illinois, Mr. Grieser married Miss Hattie Ash. Mrs. Grieser,
who resides at 305 South Sixteenth Street, was born in Macoupin County, Illi-
nois, and was educated largely in Christian County and at Quincj-. She is a
daughter of Kankin and Virginia (Clark) Ash, the former a native of Chester
County, Pennsj'lvania, and of an old Pennsylvania family. Her father came
to Illinois and was an early settler in Macoupin Comity, where he married Miss
Clark. Her mother was of Scotch ancestry and a native of Kentucky and when
a young girl accompanied her parents to Macoupin County, where her fatlier
was a carriage maker. Mr. and Mrs. Ash after tlieir marriage lived on a farm
near Gillespie, where their only child, Mre. Grieser, was born. The family
removed to Quincy and ^Irs. Grieser 's mother died at the age of thirty-two
and her father at fifty-five. They were also a Baptist family.
]\Irs. Grieser became the mother of ten children, namely: Maxie, unmarried
and living at home with her mother ; Edward, who died in yoimg manhood -, "Wil-
liam A., who is also a bachelor living with his mother and is managing the family
farms in Ursa and Ellington townships, and is also one of the commissioners
of the Indian Grave Levee district. Nina, who like the other children was well
educated in the Quincy schools : Harry A., who is foreman in one of the depart-
ments of the West Coast Ship Building Company, and thus is doing his part to
help win the war; Leroy 0., who is a g:-aduate of Illinois State University with
the class of 1916 and is associated with his brother William on the farm ; Zoe,
who died at the age of eight years ; Grandison L., a young man of twenty-five
who finished his education in Illinois State LTniversity, later enlisted and is now
in training for wireless service in camp at Indianapolis ; Robert W., aged twenty-
two, has been with the ambulance corps in active duty in France since the
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 865
winter of 1917-18 ; Virginia F., a graduate with tlie class of 1918 from St.
Mary's Academy. Mrs. Grieser is an active member of the Baptist Churcii and
most of her children are likewise affiliated.
Calvin H. White. Glendale Farm, a half mile east of Mendon, has a reputa-
tion for its fine stock by no means confined to Adams County. Stockmen gener-
ally keep in close touch with the tinn of C. II. White & Son, and farmers who
have succeeded in incorporating some of the blooded strains from the Glendale
Farm refer with a special touch of pride to the fact.
Mr. White and his son are specialists and experts in the livestock business.
Calvin H. White is a native of Adams County, and is a member of the well
known AVhite family of Honey Creek Township, in which locality he was born
July 16, 1851, son of John A. and Elizabeth (White) White. His father was
a native of Alabama and his mother of Tennessee. John A. White came to
Adams County in 1833, and grew up and married here.
Calvin H. White remained at home to the age of twenty-one and then started
his independent career as a farmer by renting an adjoining farm for eighteen
years. He then bought ninety acres a mile and a half northwest of Mendon,
paying $6,500, and after holding it twelve years sold for $11,000. Ten yeai-s
ago he bought his present place, the former owner having been Samuel Chitten-
den. This land cost him $100 an acre, and ^Ir. White has invested about $4,000
in buildings, including a new home, his son occupying the old house on the place.
Glendale is especially well known for its Shorthorn cattle and its Poland China
hogs. The head of his cattle is one of the prize bulls from the McDermott herd
of Cahoka, IMissouri. A half-brother of the bull on the Glendale Farm brought
$2,000, while another of the same stock sold for $3,000. :\Ir. White's bull, a fine
roan, weighed 1,300 pounds when one year old. He has twenty head in his herd.
Mr. White is a director of the Farmers State Bank at Mendon.
At the age of twenty-one he married Martha J. Hiuiter, a neighbor girl,
daughter of Hugh and Jane (Edmonds) Hunter, both of whom are now de-
ceased. Her father was born in Scotland and her mother in Wales, and they
were married in Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. White have two children: Isadore
and Richard H. Isadore is the wife of Charles Evans, who lives on an adjoining
farm, and they have a child, Alta. Richard H., who is his father's partner,
lives on the Glendale Farm and though a young man is quoted as an authority
on many branches of the livestock business. He married Ada Chittenden,
daughter of Harry Chittenden of this county. They have one daughter. Hazel.
• Mr. C. H. White has never sought any office, though he has served as a
school board member and road commissioner. He is a republican voter and a
member of the Congi-egational Church.
Frank H. Bredeweg. In the history of the German element in Adams
County as written by Mr. Bornmann on other pages, one of the families credited
to the .year 1812 is the Bredeweg. Thus for more than three quarters of a
century the people of this name have been identified in many worthy and useful
ways with the locality, and their interests and associations have been concerned
with the most substantial affairs of the community.
A representative of the family who is a native son of Adams, County is
Frank H. Bredeweg, probably one of the most successful and prosperous farmers
in the immediate vicinity of Quincy. ]\Ir. Bredeweg was born here February 25,
1853. He is the oldest of the seven children, two sons and five daughtei's, born
to Garrett H. and Hannah Wilhelmina (Stickhorst) Bredeweg. Garrett Brede-
weg, though born in Germany, was reared in Holland, and as a young man
came to the United States in 1842. He arrived in Adams County with only $7
in cash. Though his name aftei-wards became synonymous with large landed
possessions and business influence, he started his career here as a wage earner
at $7 a month. He worked in Jlelrose Township and the first land he bought
was si.xty acres in Riverside Township. That land was in section 26. He had
866 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
to go in debt to make the purchase and rigid economy and thrift were necessary
to relieve himself of his financial obligations. Gradually he added other posses-
sions until he owned about 750 acres in Adams County. He was one of the
prominent and successful men of his time. Honor and business affairs was a
cai'dinal point of his character. He had his home in section 26 from 1848 to
1878 and was successfully engaged in general farming and dairying. A repub-
lican Y0t«r, he never sought official honors and gave his undivided time to his
business affairs. However, he was very liberal in support of church and its
various causes, and was oue of the large contributors to the erection of Salem
Church at Quinc}'. The death of this honored Adams County pioneer occurred
in March, 1893.
His wife, Hannah Wilhelraina Stickhorst, was bom in Germanj-, and was a
small girl when her parents came to the United States. Tlie voyage was made
in a sailing vessel lasting a number of weeks. She distinguished herself as a
splendid housewife and mother, and was equally libei'al and ardent with her
husband in upbuilding the forces of religion in her comnuuiity. One form in
which her liberality took expression was in generous support of the Young
Men's Christian Association at Quincy. In the building of that institution her
portrait hangs a,s the tribute to her liberal benefactions. Her death occurred
ii^ Los Angeles, California, January 1, 1900, but her remains were returned
to Illinois and now rests beside those of her husband in Woodland Cemetery.
Of their family of children six are living, and all reside in Adams County
except Anna, wife of Fred Schulte, formerly a merchant but now retired.
Frank H. Brcdeweg grew up in the home of his parents and was early trained
to agricultural and dairy operations. His has been a most busy and successful
career and for forty years he has assumed his share of responsibilities both
in the business and civic life of his community.
On January 15, 1878, at the age of twenty-five, he married Miss Emelia
Klusemeyer. ]\Irs. Bredeweg was born in Quincy JMarch 12, 1857, daughter
of August and Anna (Ausmeyer) Klusemeyer. A page is devoted to the
Klusemeyers in other parts of this work, but it is appropriate here to introduce
a brief obituary which appeared in the local papers regarding the death of
Mr. Klusemeyer.
"August Klusemeyer of 724 S. 13th Street passed away at 7:15 o'clock at
the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Minnie Viehmeyer. He had been ailing for
some time with diseases incidental to old age to which he finally succumbed
at the age of eighty-three years, three months and thirteen days.
"]Mr. Klusemeyer was born in Herfurt, Westphalia, Germany, ^larch 12,
1825, and died in 1908. He learned the trade of shoemaker in his native prov-
ince. At the age of thirty-one years he came to this country, in a strange land
among strange people and language and a man honest in character, industrious,
but poor in capital. He came direct to Quincy November 8, 1856, since which
time he made his home, a period of fifty-two years, more than a half century.
He was known as a good citizen, honest and law abiding, and he connnanded
the respect of all who knew him. He was for many years in the shoe business
at 813 Payson avenue, Quincy, retiring from business in the year 1893. In
1888 his good wife died and since that time he made his home with his daugh-
ter Mi"S. Viehmeyer. ]\Ir. Klusemeyer was a member of the Salem church ever
since he came to Quincy. He is survived bj- one son, three daughters, twenty-
three grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren, and one brother, Fred-
erick, of ^lelrose township. The children are Henry Klusemeyer, "Sirs. Bert
Wessell and Mrs. Minnie Viehmeyer, all of Quincy, and Mrs. Frank Bredeweg
of North 5th Street in Riverside township. The funeral occurred at the resi-
dence of ]\Irs. Viehmeyer, with services at Salem church and interment at
Woodland cemetery."
Mrs. Bredeweg wa.s reared and educated in her home county. She is a
woman of splendid ability, demonstrated both in the management of her home
affairs and the rearing of her children as also in the assistance she has given
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 867
Mr. Bredeweg in the larger interests of their life. They have every reason to
be happj' and proud of their family, consisting of a son and a daughter. The
daughter, Dollie M., was educated in the Quincy High School and also had
musical training, and is now the wife of John B. Keith, of Davenport, Iowa.
Ml'. Keith is in tlie service of the Government, one of the trusted employes
at the Rock Island Arsenal. The son, Harry A., is a graduate of the Quincy
High School and the Gem City Business College and is a young man of great
ambition and has made good in all his work. For five years he was located at
Pittsburg with the Pittsburg Supply Company and is now a resident of Detroit
with the Wagner Baking Company. He is a republican in politics.
]Mrs. Bredeweg is a member of the Salem Lutheran Church and has been
active in its various organizations, ilr. and Mrs. Bredeweg have one of the
most beautiful estates around Quincy. It is located on North Fifth Street, only
three blocks from the eitj- limits. The home is the equal of many of the best
in the city, having furnace heat, electric light, rural mail deliverj' and every
other modern convenience.
The Bredeweg farm consists of 200 acres in Riverside Township. All the
buildings are modern and thoroughly well arranged for stock raising and farm-
ing. Mr. Bredeweg in addition to farming is a general building contractor and
for a number of years has been one of the busiest men in his township. He has
given mueli time to public affairs, having sers'ed as township supervisor eight
years and also as road commissioner. In politics he is a republican, casting
his fii-st presidential ballot for Hayes. He has done some reclamation work,
and a dam or levee thirty-eight feet high in one place has been constructed and
reclaims 100 acres of bottom land on his farm. Mr. and Mrs. Bredeweg have
used their ample means to benefit themselves and others. One of their inter-
esting excursions from home was made in 1906, when they toured the Far West.
Among the points of interest they visited were Mount Shasta, San Francisco,
San Jose, Monterey, Los Angeles, Pasadena and Santa Barbara, including a
visit to the ^Mexican border. They went west by waj^ of the Union Pacific and
returned by the Southern Pacific route.
Fred C. Turner. The career of the agriculturist has brought Fred C.
Turner many pleasant and profitable experiences, and it is principally through
that vocation that he has made his mark as a citizen of Mendon Township. Mr.
Turner owns one of the excellent farms of that locality, in section 21, two miles
east of Ursa.
The land which he owns and cultivates today has been in the family for
many years. He was born there December 2, 1874, a son of Fred C, Sr.. and
Mary E. (P'letcher) Turner. The Turner family came into Adams County in
1834. One of those who came at that time was Joseph Turner, who was born
at Dedliam. ]Massachusetts, June 12, 1799. Accompanying him to Adams County
were his father, Ebenezer, and three brothers, Edward, Ebenezer and John.
Joseph Turner located near Wesley Chapel, and late in life retired to ilendon in
order to be near the Jlethodist Church of that town, of which he was a very
active member. He died March 16, 1876, at the age of seventy-seven.
Fred C. Turner, Sr., was born in Ursa Township May 17, 1839, and was
well educated, completing his early training in a school at Denmark, Iowa.
He taught school, studied civil engineering, and for a number of years practiced
surveying. On December 23, 1869, he married Mary E. Fletcher, who was boru
on the farm in section 21 of Mendon Township where her son Fred now lives.
Her parents were Ephraim and Mary Jane (^Icilurray) Fletcher. Ephraim
I'letcher sec\n-ed his land in Mendon Township from his father and lived there
until his death when his daughter Mary was only sixteen years old. Mary E.
Fletcher was one of four children. Her brothers died young, and her sister
Louisa never married. Mary E. Fletcher was only eighteen when she man-ied
^Ir. Turner. After their marriage at Galesburg they returned to the Fletcher
farm of eighty-five acres, and Fred C. Turner handled that property with great
868 QUINCY AND ADASIS COUNTY
skill aucl thrift, and subsequently bought 122 acres, combining it with the
Fletcher laud. Ephraira Fletcher had built a barn on this land about seventy
years ago, hewing out the timbers bj* hand. In 1855 he had remodeled his home
to an eight room dwelling, which was considered one of the best houses of the
kind in the township. Mrs. Mary E. Turner's mother died at the age of seventy-
five. Mary E. Turner spent the last thirteen years of her life at Galesburg
and Quiney, and died in March, 1917, at the age of sixty-nine. Of her eight
children seven came to maturity : John F., who is an engineer with the Atlantic
Coast Line at Lakeland, Florida ; Joseph, an engineer with the Wabash Railway,
with headquarters at Brimswick, ]\Iissouri ; Fred C, Jr. ; Herbert, Mho has spent
his life as a fanner ; ]\Iary F., wife of Charles Higgins, a chemist liviug in Chi-
cago ; Everett, a business man of Galesburg ; Enoch, who died in infancj- ; Louise,
wife of Theodore F. Awerkamp, a paying teller with the Bicker National Bank
of Quiney.
Fred C. Turner lived at home with his parents to the age of twenty-one,
when he married !Miss Alice McVay, who was then eighteen j-ears old. After
their marriage they farmed the old Fletcher place, renting it for a time, and
finally bought the entire property, comprising 205 acres. This is the farm
where Mr. Turner has done so well and prospered as an agriculturist and stock
man. It has been his custom for several years to sell about two carloads of
hogs annually. He is a republican, is a member of the Congi-egational Church
at Mendon, and his father was an active Mason. Mr. and ^Irs. Turner have
three children, all at home : Vera E., who gi-aduated from high school with the
class of 1916, spent two years in Knox College at Galesburg and is now a
teacher in Adams County ; Ferol CaiTol, who graduated from high school in
1918 is now attending Knox College ; and Fred Paul.
JoHx H. Tenk was one of the good and solid citizens of Quiney, was known
as honest and tmthful John Tenk, was connected with the mechanical trades for a
number of yeai's, and at his death on October 14, 1911, left not only a legacy
of material good but the reputation and honor of a worthy life and character.
He was born in Westphalia, Germany, January 12, 1855, and came of an old
German family. His parents were Herman and Catherine E. (Buck) Tenk,
who spent all their lives in .Westphalia as farmers. They were Catholics in
religion. They had a number of children, and most of them lived and died in
the old country. John H. Tenk had two sisters, Elizabeth and Christina, who
came to the United States. Christina was the first to come. She located at
Quiney. Elizabeth married Henry Brasing, and they lived in Quiney, where
he died at the age of seventy and she about fifty-five. Henrv' Brasing was a
brick mason. They left sons and daughters. Christina Tenk married Herman
Terstrip, and she died in 1909, when past fifty years of age, while her husband
is still living.
John H. Tenk grew up in his native province, was educated there, and in
1875 came to the United States to join his sister in Quiney. Here he learned
the trade of plasterer and mason and eventually became a master mason. He
was employed to do the plastering work on some of the best homes and public
buildings, including churches and schools, at Quiney. His partner in the plas-
tering contract work was Josiah J. Perry. Later he had as partner Frank
Hilbing, his brother-in-law. Mr. Tenk about six years before his death retired
and spent his last years in comfort at his home at 1328 North Ninth Street,
where the family have lived for forty years. He had accumulated much property
and at the time of his death owned ten houses and also a small farm of tem
acres in Riverside Township. This property has been carefully conserved by
his widow and children since his death. Mr. Tenk was a democratic voter.
At St. Francis Church in Quiney February 26, 1878, he married Miss
Elizabeth Hilbing. I\lrs. Tenk still occupies the old home on North Nintli
Street. She was born in Quiney December 11, 1854, and was educated here
in the St. Francis parochial schools. Her parents were Anthony and Catherine
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 869
(Hestliiig) Hilbiug, both natives of Westphalia. They crossed the ocean to the
United States on the same sailing vessel, making the voyage in nine weeks,
landed at Baltimore, and came west to Quiucy, where they were married in
St. Boniface Church. Mr. Hilbing was a cooper by trade and followed that
vocation until he retired. He was retired about ten years and died at his
home 524 North Eleventh Street, July 31, 1897, at the age of seventy-one. His
widow passed away June 16, 1917, at the age of eighty-tive. They were members
of St. Boniface Catholic Church.
Mr. and Mrs. Tenk had the following children: John H., Jr., died January
8, 1900, at the age of twenty-one; Henry died at the age of three months;
Frank, boi-n April 9, 1881, lives on the Riverside Township farm of his father.
He married Gertrude Yeargensmeyer, and their children are Henry, John,
Raymond and Dorothy, the two older now in school. Catherine Tenk was
educated in St. John's parochial scliools, and is now the wife of William Stein-
kamp. Mr. Steinkamp was born in Quiney, was educated in the St. Boniface
parochial schools, and is a harness maker by trade. They have two children,
E. Deloris, and Olivia M. The next two children, Edith and Edward Tenk,
both died at the age of three months. Addie J. is the wife of Frank Pfietfer, a
gardener in Riverside Township. They had two children, Frank, who died in
infancy, and Virgil F., born in 1916. Edward, the youngest child of the family,
is the soldier representative. He is a boilermaker by trade, and is now serving
in Company B of the Nineteentli Engineer Corps in France. All the family are
members of St. John's Parish.
John A. Dickhut. At different points in these pages references have been
made to the sterling activities and character of various members of the Dickhut
family. One of them was the late John A. Dickhut, whose life requires some
particular attention at this point.
He was bora at Quiney January 20, 1850, and died July 12, 1912. His
father was John Andrew Adolph Dickhut, who was born in Germany in 1823
and died in this county Februai-y 22, 1899, having spent more than half a cen-
tury as a farmer in Adams County. Hte was twice married and John A. Dickhut
was the oldest child of his first wife.
John A. Dickhut grew to manhood in Gilmer Township, and on February
8, 1877, married Eleanor S. Booth. She is a daughter of Stephen and Lavinia
(Gray) Booth. Her mother was a sister of Richard Gray and an aunt of Will
Gray of Coatsburg. Stephen Booth was born in England December 7, 1815,
and in 1828 came with his parents to America and in 1833 settled in Adams
County. He was one of the pioneer farmers in the vicinity of Coatsburg, and
some of the land he had there is still owned by members of the Gray family.
Mrs. Dickhut 's parents were married January 13, 1837. Their four daughters
were: ]\Iary Ann, widow of Chapman Wilson, of Minnesota; Charlotte, who
married Richard Colburn and died at the age of seventy-seven; Louise, who died
at the age of thirty-three, wife of Thomas Powell ; and Eleanor S.
In 1842 Stephen Booth became identified with the Methodist Episcopal
Church and was one of its stanchest supporters the rest of his life. He died at
the age of sixty-eight. His widow survived and died at the home of Mrs. Dick-
hut aged eighty-five.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. John A. Dickhut farmed on rented land,
at the end of which time they bought the old Booth place of her father, and
they lived there, giving Mrs. Dickhut 's mother a home in old age and bringing
up their own children. John A. Dickhut greatly prospered in all his under-
takings, owned a fine farm of 300 acres, and also land elsewhere. While his
energies were devoted to farming, he served as tax collector and school director,
and was always a man of public spirit and willing to support all local enter-
prises.
Mr. and ]\rrs. Dickhut had a family of six children. Mrs. Dickhut remained
on the old homestead until 1918, when she occupied a ta.stefully built and eon-
870 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
venieiit bungalow at Paloma. Her oldest child, Nettie May, is the wife of
Charles C. Lawless, at Paloma. Her daughter Blanche is Mrs. Henry Ogle, of
Gilmer Township. Florence, the third child, lives with her mother and is the
widow of Leon Sivertson. Leon Sivertson was born October 23, 1882, and died
December 31, 1910, at the age of twenty-eight. His parents were William F.
and Laura H. (White) Sivertson, and this is a well known old family in the
vicinity of Paloma. Leon Sivertson and Florence Dickhut were married Novem-
ber 24, 1909, and their onlv son, Donald Frederick, was bom September 28,
1910.
Oliver P. Dickhut, the oldest son of Mrs. Dickhut, has special mention on
other pages. Koscoe Lee Dickhut is the other son and occupies the homestead.
Hazel is living with her mother.
Roscoe Lee Dickhut was born on the old farm where he now resides October
31, 1887, and has spent his life .so far in that one locality. He was well educated,
and on December 12, 1917, at the age of thirty, married Miss Ruby Sivertson
of Paloma daughter of Ed Sivertson. Roscoe L. Dickhut has had the practical
management of the homestead for a number of j-ears, practically ever since his
father's death and even prior to that time. This gives him a large amount of
land and responsibilities in proportion, but he has shown an ability to make the
most out of his opportunities and is one of the productive and resourceful
farmers of the county.
William Wewers. A man of pronounced business ability, judgment and
foresight, the late William Wewers was a conspicuous factor in the upbuilding
of the industrial interests of Quincy, for upwards of a quarter of a century
having been officially connected with the Gem City Stove Works, and the
moving spirit in making it one of the important and prosperous manufacturing
concerns of the city. Born in Quincy July 1.5, 1851, he was not only a fine
representative of the native-born citizens of Adams County, but of the self-made
men of his generation, his success in life having been the result of his own un-
aided efforts.
His father, Bernard Wewers, was born and bred in Germany. Coming as
a young man to America, he made his way to Illinois, locating in Quincy. Learn-
ing the trade of mason and bricklayer, he became an expert concrete worker,
and in that capacity laid much of the good concrete pavement in the city. He
married Adelaide ]Moeller, who was also of German birth, and they reared
three children, as follows: William, the subject of this sketch; Anna, wife of
Henry Lechtenberg. of Quincy; and Bernard, also of Quincy.
Accjuiring his preliminary education in the Saint Boniface parochial school,
William Wewers subsequently continued his studies at the night schools of the
city. Beginning life for himself when qiiite young, he learned the Sadler's
trade, but never followed it to any extent. When twenty-one years of age he
established a chair factory on Eleventh Street, between Jersey and York streets,
and ran it about four years, when he sold out. Then, in company with August
Vanden Boom and Joseph Wewers, Mr. Wewers was for six years engaged in the
milling business, having a plant at the corner of Second and Spring streets.
Mr. Wewers, disposing of his interest in the mill, then accepted the position
of manager of the Gem City Stove Works, of M'hich he was afterwards the
president, having been officially connected with the concern for twenty-eight
years prior to his death, which occurred May 9, 1912.
Mr. Wewers married May S, 1879, IMary Lechtenberg, and of their union
four children were born, namely: Adelaide, deceased; Stevens, deceased; Bertha,
wife of Henry J. Rupp ; and Albert, deceased. Mrs. Wewers, a most estimable
and liighly esteemed woman, built in September, 1914, a beautiful home at 1270
Park Place, and there entertains her friends with a generous hospitality.
Politically Mr. Wewers was independent, voting with the courage of his con-
victions, regardless of party restrictions. Religiously he was a member of Saint
lA^U^i
'iuSL^rr
LIBRARY
;r THE
UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS
QULXCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 871
Francis Catholic Church, and fraternallj- he belonged to the Knights of Colum-
bus and to the Western Catholic Union.
McMuLLEN Brothers. One of the biggest farms and stock enterprises in
Adams County is carried on under the business name of McMuUen Brothers,
George E. and Arthur R. McMuUen, their extensive barns, fields, feed lots and
business headiiuarters being located in Keene Township, six miles east of[
Mendon.
Their father, the late Andrew P. McMuUen, was one of the stalwart and
beloved citizens of Adams County, a man who was a producer and made much
of life from limited opportunities. He was born in Ireland, son of an Irish
blacksmith. He learned to handle the implements in his father's shop when
most boys are not yet going to school, and he sometimes was set to work making
nails by his blacksmith father. At the age of seven years an uncle paid his
passage to America, and on reaching Philadelphia he was turned loose and had
to depend entirely on his own resources. He helped sort coal, and then served
an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade. For twenty-two years he was em-
ployed chiefly in shoeing omnibus horses in Philadelphia. At Philadelphia he
married Elizabeth Jane Dougherty, a sister of Theodore Dougherty, elsewhere
referred to in these pages. While they lived in Philadelphia three children were
born : William, who died at the age of twenty-one ; ilathew, who for twenty-
five years was a street railway employe in Chicago and died in 1911, while on
his way home from his father's funeral; and Mamie, wife of William 0. Gorby,
near Bowen in Hancock County.
Andrew McMullen responded to the inducements held forth by a relative
to come to Adams County and establish a shop at Coatsburg. His wife's aunt,
Mrs. Hugh Hunter, lived in Honey Creek Township and it was through the
Hunter family that the McMuUens came west. Andrew JIcMullen was a black-
smith at Coatsburg five years and then started a shop at what is known aa
Dorsey Corners, one mile east of the old McMullen home. Subsecpiently he
bought foi-ty-four acres in the present McMullen farm, paying $900 for this
tract of timber land. He built his house there and also erected a shop, and
continued industriously at his forge until about 1909, when failing health caused
him to retire. He was a skillful and expert blacksmith in every line, had a
large patronage, and was as popular as he was a good workman. He died
October 9, 1911, at the age of seventy-four. His widow survived him six months,
passing away in April, 1912, when about the same age. Andrew McMullen in-
creased his landed property until he had 114 acres in the homestead, and also
eighty acres a short distance away. He gave all his attention to his shop and
his sons looked after the farm. After Andrew McMullen came to Adams County
five other children wei'e born : George E., born August 20, 1869 ; Ida E., w'ife
of Albert Steiner, a farmer at Bowen ; Theodore G., in the transfer business at
Council Bluffs, Iowa; Lizzie Maj-, who died in childhood; and Arthur R., born
November 25, 1880.
George E. and Arthur R. McMullen bought tlie old homestead from their
father and through their .extensive operations as fanners and stockmen have
greatly increased their holdings, buying first the Turner farm of 116 acres, then
another 40 acres, the Naderhoff farm of 160 acres on the south, coml)ining in
one farm 510 acres. For their land they paid prices ranging from $87 to $125
an acre. It is on this big farm that the ilcMullen Brothers have established
and developed their stock business. They keep their fields under cultivation
for a maximum of crops, liut even at that buy large quantities of feed for the
hundreds of cattle and hogs they fatten for market every season. Besides hogs
they feed from eighty to a hundred head of cattle every year. The McMuUen
Brothers are well known in the livestock markets of Chicago.
Arthur Mc^MuUen married August 29, 1912, Edith Emma Zeiger, daughter
of Henry Zeiger, of Clayton Township. Their children are named Raymond
Leland, Russell Gordon. Elizalieth Marie and Leona Mav. George McMullen
872 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
is unmarried. He is affiliated with the Odd Fellows. The McMullens were
reared in the Episcopal Church and the sons attend worship at Clayton.
Henry F., Chittenden, of Mendou Township, has many of the character-
istics in physique, mind and heart that distinguished his ancestry and served
to make the name Chittenden one of the best known and most honored in the
annals of Adams County from earliest pioneer times. Mr. Chittenden has de-
voted his life's labors to farming and farm management, and as a matter of
course his resources and influence have been sought in other lines of business.
He is now a member of the Board of Eeview, is a bank director at Mendon and
a trustee of the Adams County Mutual Life Association. Mr. Chittenden is a
large man physically, and broadminded as a citizen, one of the best esteemed
of Mendon Township people.
Before touching upon his individual career it is appropriate that the impor-
tant facts should be stated concerning his honored grandfather, Col. John B.
Chittenden, founder of the Village of Mendon. Colonel Chittenden was born at
Guilford, Connecticut, January 16, 1790, fourth of the seven children of Deacon
Abraham Chittenden. He was reared as a farmer and in early life became identi-
fied with the Congregational Church and in his twenty-first year was chosen a
deacon. January 12. 1814, he married Eliza Robinson, daughter of Col. Samuel
Robinson of Guilford. They became the parents of seven children.
In September, 1831, with his wnfe and four sons, in a two-horse covered
w^agon, John B Chittenden stai-ted for Illinois, and Quincy. He was joined by
Samuel Bradley and a number of others in Connecticut, and altogether they
comprised a colony of thirty-six persons and five W'agons. The purpose that
led Colonel Chittenden upon his westward migration has been stated as fol-
lows: First, to establish, strengthen and extend the Christian religion by the
organization of churches, Sunday school and Bible classes ; second, to provide
better for his family of boys in a new country. After three months of trials and
hardships incident to such travel he found himself and family frozen on the
Mississippi River near Hannibal, and thence they were transported by wagon
and team, the last few miles on the ice of the river. Arriving at Quincy in
December they spent the first night in the home of Governor John Wood.
]March 2, 1832, Colonel Chittenden bought from Jacob Gorshong, an old French
settler, the southwest quarter of section 11 in what is now ]\Icndon Township.
Its improvements consisted of a field of about ten acres and a log house. The
log house is historic because in it the Congregational Church of Mendon was
formed, that being the first Congregational churcli organized in the State of
Illinois. In Februar\', 1833, Colonel Chittenden bought an adjoining quarter
in the same section, and soon after laid oiit and started the Village of Jliendon.
Later he sold his interest in the town site and retired to his farm two miles
north of the village. There he lived until the death of his wife October 30,
1862. Mrs. Eliza Chittenden has been described as a most exemplary lady, w'hose
law was the law of kindness and who never allowed herself to speak an unkind
word to anyone. Colonel Chittenden did not long survive the passing of his
beloved wife. He died January 23, 1863. at the age of seventy-three. Of him
it has been written : "He had a clear and logical mind and was an able reasoner,
and was a fluent and interesting piiblic speaker, an eai'nest worker in all causes
of reform, unselfish in everything, thinking always to promote the happiness of
others. His faith in and love for the church was unbounded. He was an honest,
upright man and a sincere Christian."
Abraham Chittenden, a son of Colonel Chittenden and father of Henry
Franklin Chittenden, was born in Guilford, Connecticut, December 1.5, 1824,
and was therefore seven years of age when the family reached Adams County.
Wliile his opportiniities to obtain a formal education were limited, he was given
an excellent practical training, assisted his brothers in the management of the
farm, and finally secured 120 acres of the old homestead in section 36 of Mendon
Township. He bought other land, and in 1881 remodeled the substantial house
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 873
that still adorns the property. He was actively identitied with farming until
1902, when he retired to Mendou and died in that village May 27, 1904. On
December 19, 1852, he married Letitia Barclay, who was born in Lyons County,
New York, and came to Adams County with her parents in 1851. ]\lrs. Letitia
Chittenden is still living, at the age of eighty-two. Abraham Chittenden was a
deacon in the Congregational church. He was a republican, but never sought
official honors. He is remembered by the old timers as one of the most powerful
men phj'sically in the county, and when in his prime he thought nothing of
leaping a fence six feet high. Most of the land contained in his old farm was
sold, but his son Henry Franklin still has forty acres of it. Abraham Chittenden
and wife were the parents of three children : Henry F. ; Sadie E., who died in
San Antonio, Texas, May 9, 1912, wife of George Shupe ; and Abraham L, who
lives at Wichita, Kansas.
On the farm which he still owns, three miles northeast of Mendon, on the
line between Mendon and Keene Townsliip, Henry Franklin Chittenden was
born November 4, 1853. Nearly all his life ha.s been spent in this vicinity. For
two years he attended an academy at Denmark, Iowa, and through seven winters
both before and after his marriage taught school in this vicinity. March 9, 1877,
he married Ella S. Jlills, of Denmark, Iowa. They were schoolmates in the
Academy, and she also taught in her native state before her marriage. After
his marriage ^Ir. Chittenden gave his chief energy to farming until ten years
ago. Besides his homestead he owns a farm of 240 acres a mile east in Keene
Township, and another of 260 acres on the townsliip line between Keene and
Honey Creek Township. He gave his personal supei-vision to these three places
for many years, and has since retired. When in his prime a.s a farmer he kept
about 100 head of cattle, about the same number of hogs, and every j-ear had
about seventy acres in corn, forty acres in wheat and forty acres in oats.
Mr. Chittenden acquired most of his land in the era of low prices, much of it
at about $35 an acre, though for some tracts he paid -$52 an acre. He is a
republican and has served as a member of the County Board of Review for the
past four years. He has always been active in church and Sunday school in his
neighborhood and as a Modern Woodman of America has attended the Head
Camp as delegate.
Mr. and Mrs. Chittenden had a family of five daughters and one son. Nellie
E., who died in young womanhood, after her marriage to James Norris, both
having been teachers; Frank B., who died at the age of twelve years; Ada L.,
who was formerly a teacher and is now Mrs. R. H. White, of Mendon; Sadie E.,
at home ; Mary M., who died at the age of twenty-six, the wife of Emmet Erghott ;
and Ruth E., who taught school and is now the wife of John Mealiff, who manages
one of Mr. Chittenden's farms.
James E. Adams. It was in the old Adams homestead at Quincy, Illinois,
that Maj. James E. Adams, one of Quincy 's most prominent and respected citi-
zens, was born January 15, 1848. Although other sections have also benefited
through his energy- and talents, he has been a permanent resident of his native
city for the past quarter of a century. Aside from his own achievements he
bears an honored name at Quincy, to which place his parents came in 1839, when
New England sent of her best to settle in Illinois. They were James and Mary
G. (Arrowsmith) Adams. The maternal grandfather acquired large tracts of
land and some of this land is now the busiest portions and most highly improved
sections of the Quincy of today.
James Adams, father of ]\Iajor Adams, was a foundryman and in association
with his brother, George Adams, built the first foundry at Quincy and was the
pioneer in the indu.stry that is of such great importance in the city. The
brothers were both men of great business enterprise in many lines. For about
forty years they were the leading pork packers in this section, long before the
marketing of meat assumed anything like its present proportions, and for as long
a time they were exten.sive shippers of grain and produce. For a half centurj-
874 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
the Adams name was held as a synonym for bnsiiiess enterprise and personal
integrity.
James E. Adams was educated in the public schools and the old Quiney
Seminarv", and his education was not completed when, although only sixteen
years of age, he enlisted in 1864, for service in the Civil war, becoming a member
of the One Hundred and Thirty-Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Not-
withstanding his youth he served with the utmost courage and efiiciency until
the war closed.
Before the railroad bridge at Quiney was built the ierry had to be utilized
for the transfer of tho\isands of tons of freight, and one of the companies oper-
ating wa.s the Great Western Dispatch Company, with which the young soldier
became identified after the war as a transfer clerk. Subsequently he accepted
the position of cashier for the Merchants' Union Express Company. He learned
something about civil engineering and went out on .surveys for the Q. JI. & P.
Railway.
In 186D llr. Adams went to Texas, where he became deputy clerk of the
Circuit Court of Parker County, and afterward engaged for a time in mercantile
and banking business at Weatherford, Texas. He had become active in the
republican party and it was in 1872 that he was appointed by President Grant
a post trader in the regular army and was assigned to Fort Griffin, Texas,
where he remained until 1876, when he removed to Edina, ^Missouri. He was one
of the organizers of the Bank of Edina, of which he was cashier until 1892.
He served as mayor of Edina for four years and the city prospered under his
administration. He was also interested in the platting of Marceline, ^Missouri,
being president of the Marceline Town and Land Company, and during this
• period became active in the development of coal properties in that section that
have continued to be of vast importance to the present da.y. In 1892 ]\Iajor
Adams returned to Quiney and here his business interests have since been
mainly centered, banking being his active field.
Major Adams was married at Weatherford. Texas, to Mrs. Sallie (White)
Ellison, a widow. The children were: Josephine W., who is the wife of Henry
E. Long, of Kansas City, Missouri ; Ethel E., who is the wife of Garrett B.
Schuller, of Phoenix, Arizona; Ina D., who is decea.sed; and Mary C, who is
the wife of Frank A. Wilson, of Quiney.
^Major Adams has served in many distinguished public capacities. He
was commissioner of the United States District Court for the eastern district
of Missouri from 1878 to 1892, and was one of the famous 306 who as delegate
to the republican national convention of 1880 from the First Mis.souri District,
cast thirt.y-six consecutive ballots for the reuomination of President Grant.
During the ]\IcKinley campaign he was president of the McKinley Club at
Quiney, and since, in political affairs, has been equally active and conscientiously
interested. He was also a delegate to the Republican National Convention of
1916 from the Fifteenth Congressional District. Illinois. From the time of its
oi-ganization he has been identified with the Grand Army of the Republic and
he is a valued member of the Quiney Post, ^lajor Adams was reared in the
Episcopal Church.
Emmett How.\rd. Possessing in a marked degree the qualifications needed
for successfully conducting large affairs, Emmett Howard, of Quiney, is actively
identified with the adavncement of the mercantile interests of Adams County,
and as a wholesale dealer in house furnishing goods is carrying on a large and
substantial business. A native of New York, he was born August 12, 1867, in
Rathboneville.
His parents, Albert and Jeannette (Knickerbocker) Howard, were lifelong
residents of the Empire state, the father having been engaged in agricultural
pursuits. They reared three children, as follows : Clifton, of Hot Sprinsrs,
Arkansas ; Emmett, the subject of this sketch ; and Albert F., of Farmville,
Virginia.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 875
Educated in New York State, Emmett Howard attended first tlie public
schools of Morrisville and later the Cazenovia Seminai'v. In 1887, with the
restless spirit characteristic of the true American, he started westward in
search of remunerative employment, and for several years wa.s employed as a
traveling salesman, selling household goods. In 1896 he located at Springfield,
Missouri, where he remained three years. Coming from there to Quiney in 1899,
Mr. Howard opened a retail store, putting in a stock of household furnishing
goods. Succeeding well in his venture, he gradually enlarged his operations
and is now carrying on a strictly wholesale business, his establishiiient being
advantageously located at 117-119 North Third Street. He is also prominently
identified with other important industries of the city, being president of the
Quincj' Paper Box Company, and likewise of the E. Howard ilercantile
Company.
Mr. Howard married, ^March 14, 1894, Mrs. Julia Watson, widow of Beverly
Watson, and they have one son, William Howard, who is associated in business
with his father. Politically Mr. Howard is a democrat. Fraternally he is a
thirty-third degree ilason, and is president of the Masonic Association. He
also belongs to the Order of the United Commercial Travelers of America and
to the Travelers' Protective Association.
Fred G. Wolfe, ilost of the successful lawyers of the country have served
at one time or another a period as an official prosecutor. It is considered one of
the most valuable parts of a lawyer's experience, and in Illinois a lawyer who
can retire with a creditable record as a state's attorney has his prospects for the
future well insured. The office of prosecutor is also a splendid opportunity for
public service, and as such it was regarded during Fred G. Wolfe's incum-
bency in Adams County from 1913 to 1917. Mr. AVolfe was a very able man
in office, and has done much to distinguish himself in his profession. He is now
serving as county judge, having l>een elected in November, 1918, on the dem-
ocratic ticket for a four-year term.
He is a gi-aduate of law from the University of iliehigan Law Department
with the cla.ss of 1909. He had been admitted to practice by examination at
Chicago prior to his graduation. He at once located in Quiney, and the first
case in which he appeared publicly as a member of the bar was as attorney for
one party in a litigation over an estate. He won the case for his client.
Judge Wolfe was elected state's attorney of Adams County in 1912. and for
four years gave all his efforts to the duties of the position. After retiring
from that position he maintained his offices as an attorney in the Stenis Build-
ing and commanded a splendid practice.
He was born in Adams County, near Liberty, on a farm. December 20, 1876.
He grew up as a farm boy, and was educated in the public schools until he
entered college.
He represents one of the oldest families of Liberty Township. A record of
things historical in that township states that the first sermon was preached the'Te
by George Wolfe of the Dunkard denomination in 1829, and a Dunkard church
was organized in 1831. It was also Elder George Wolfe who solemnized the
first marriage in the township. This pioneer of the Dunkard faith was the
great-grandfather of Judge Wolfe. As an early settler he patented 160 acres
of land, built a log cabin, and there lived and died. He had come from Union
County, Illinois, and the family lived for a time at Kaskaskia before sojourning
in Adams County. The great-grandfather was born in Pennsylvania in 1780,
and is credited with being the first preacher of the Dunkard Church west of the
Alleghenj' Mountains. He was a leader of a little colony of the brethren who
settled as a gi-oup in Adams County. This pioneer minister was a notable figure
in the early days, a man of great physical strength and equallj- strong in moral
and religious convictions.
David Wolfe, grandfather of Fred G. Wolfe, also came to Adams County as
a pioneer and built a log cabin adjacent to that of his father. This old log
876 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
building is still standing. He died in Liberty Township when iu middle life.
The maiden name of his wife was Permelia McKuight, who lived to be over
ninety- four years of age. Both were active members of the Duukard Church.
David Wolfe was also prominent in public affairs, was a leader iu the demo-
cratic party and at one time represented the county in the State Legislatui'e.
He died in 1879. Jacob B. Wolfe, father of the Quincy attorney, was born in
the old log cabin home in Liberty Township in 1830. For many years he was
a successful farmer in that locality, but for the past twent}' years has been a
general merchant at Coatsbiirg, in this county. He married Emily Grubb, who
was born in this county and died in the fall of 1879, when in the prime of life.
Her people were Presbyterians. Fred G. Wolfe was one of four children. His
sister Nellie married Charles C. Lawless and died leaving two children. Ebert
Wolfe lives in Quincy and has a family of three children. Josephine is the
wife of Arthur Chandler and has two sons.
Fred G. Wolfe married in Quincy Rliss Nita Williams, who was bom in
Missouri but reared and educated in Quincy.
Judge Wolfe is an active member of the County and State Bar associ-
ations, and in Masonry is a member of the various branches, including the thirty-
second degree of Scottish Rite. His father was at one time master of the
Liberty Lodge No. 380. Judge Wolfe has membership iu the Odd Fellows at
Liberty, of which he is past grand, and is a member of the Elks and Moose at
Quincy. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.
Fred W. Heckenkamp, Jr., Supreme President of the Western Catholic
Union, is one of the prominent Catholic laymen in Illinois. He has served four-
teen years as supreme president of this order, with offices in the Illinois State
Bank Building. His name is identified with many other Catholic institutions
and affairs. He is a Kjiight of Columbus, a member of St. Joseph's Benevolent
Society, of St. Aloysius Orphan Society, of the Catholic Federation, and does
much to support and direct a number of activities under the immediate auspices
and management of the Catholic Church.
His positions in the church and the responsibilities with which he has been
honored are in large part a reflection of his sueces.sful private business career.
Mr. Heckenkamp is a member of an old Quincy family and is proprietor of what
is no doubt the largest greenliouse and floral establishment in the city. He
owns two well equipped greenhouse plants on Adams and Jackson streets, and
hundreds of people ever^' year visit his peony and gladiolus fann near Har-
rison Street and Sixth Avenue. He has about five acres in cultivation to these
flowers. It is no unusual thing for him to produce about 25,000 gladiolus bulbs
every season, and he has two acres in peonies. He also grows about 10,000
asters every season. Under glass he has about 40,000 square feet.
This business was originally established in 1S81 by his father. Fred W. Heck-
enkamp, Sr. It was a very small house on Adams Street, but the Heckenkamps
apparently possessed the faculty of succeeding in the production of plants and
flowers with the aid of nature, and when the business was turned over to Fred
W., Jr., in 1891 it was already a growing and prospering concern. The son
has increased it many fold. In 1896 he introduced a seed and produce com-
mission business, but after continuing it for seven years gave it \ip in order to
concentrate all his time and energies on his floral business. His business store
and headquarters are at 126 North Sixth Avenue, where he has a fine plant.
At his greenhouses he has a sea.soning or underground cooler that keeps flowers
in perfect condition after they are picked and before being marketed.
Fred W. Heckenkamp, Jr., was born in Quincy January 21, 1871, and was
reared and educated here. He attended St. Francis College, and since reaching
his maiority has been in the floral business. He is a son of Fred W., Sr., and
Mary A. (Kroner) Heckenkamp, Both were natives of the Kingdom of Han-
over, and were young people when their respective parents came by way of
New Orleans to America, The Heckenkamps arrived iu Adams County in 1849
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 877
aud the Kroners in 1845. They established homes on farms in Melrose Town-
ship, and there Fred W., Sr., and wife grew up. He was the first student
to register in old St. Francis College, now Quincy College. Later he took up
the vocation of teaching, and an old Quincy directory of forty years ago gives
his name with the profession of teacher. For thirteen years he taught in St.
Mary's pai'ochial schools. He also did farming and gradually concentrated his
efforts on the floral business. He finally became president of the German Fire
Insurance Company of Quincy, but after six years retired from that office
and engaged in the general fire insurance business on his own account and
built up an immense patronage all over Adams County. He is now retired and
with his wife lives at St. Vincent's Home in Quincy. Both were early members
of St. Boniface Catholic Church but finally transferred their membersliip to
St. ilary's parish. He has always been an active democrat, and was once an
alderman from the third ward and was defeated after a strenuous campaign
for the office of mayor. His wife first married John Vogelpohl, a native of
Hanover, and an early business man of Quincy, long prominent in the affairs
of the German Insurance Company He died in the prime of life, leaving two
daughters, only one of whom is now living, Sister Wilhelmina, Mother Superior
of St. Elizabeth Academy at St. Louis. Fred W. Heclienkamp, Sr., and wife
had eleven children, including: Mrs. Elizabeth Wiskirehen, who is married and
has a family of sons and daughtei-s; Mrs. Ed. D. Brewer, who is now business
manager of St. Elizabeth Academy at St. Louis and has two daughters, both
teachers; Fred W., Jr.; E. B., who is in the real estate business at Seattle,
Washington, and has sons and daughters; Sophia, wife of William Wavering,
of Wavering Brothers Milling Company at Quincy ; Sister Chrisologa, a teacher
in the parish schools of Quincy.
Fred W. Heekenkamp, Jr., married at Quincy Elizabeth Boll who was born
there January 27, 1875, and was educated in St. Mary's school. Mr. and Mrs.
Heekenkamp have a large family of children. Clara, who is the wife of
Joseph Hutmacher, an accountant with the International Harvester Company
of Chicago, and they have a daughter, Mary K. George, who was educated in
St. Francis College and is now foreman in his father's greenhouse. Frank,
who also a.ssists his father in business. Joseph, a clerk in a city office. Robert,
manager of his father's store; Antoinette and Bertha, both students in St.
ilarv's Academy; Fred W., IIIj and Henrietta, who is attending St. Mary's
school. The family are all members of St. Miary's Catholic Church.
Henry L. Myers. For over sixty years much of the enterprise and well
directed efforts that have gone into the clearing of the land and production
of crops and other matters a.ssociated with the welfare of a well ordered com-
munit}- have come from the families in Gilmer and surrounding townships of
the Myers relations. The name of the first pioneer of the family in this county
was spelled Moyer, but in the present generation Myers is the accepted form.
Henry Moyer or Myers was born in Pennsylvania June 25, 1802. January
3, 1828, he married Anna Tinsman. She was born I\Iay 31, 1811. Henry Myers
died in 1869, at the age of sixty-seven, and liis widow survived to the age of
eighty-eight. The record of their children is as follows: Polly M,, who was
the first wife of Mose Wareman; Jacob T. ; Nancy, who was the second wife of
Mose Wareman; Sarah, widow of Doctor Gilland and living at Coatsburg;
Catherine, who lives in California, widow of William Osborn ; Lovina, a resi-
dent of Oklahoma, widow of Simon Young; Cyrus C. ; Jesse J.; John Henry;
Elvira. Mrs. Frank Dudley, living near ]\Iendon ; Izarra, deceased wife of Frank
Ogle : Leroy. deceased ; Vannatta, Mrs. James Evans of IMendon Township ; and
Lutulles is the only male survivor of this generation and lives at Fowler in
this county.
Jacob T. Mvers, son of Henry I\Iyers, was born in Westmoreland County,
Pennsvlvania, November 1, 1832. In 1851, at the age of nineteen, he accom-
panied his parents to Mendon Township, settling two miles northwest of Fowler.
Vol. n— 10
878 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
It was in that commiinitj' that Henry Myers and wife spent their last years.
On October 30, 1856, Jacob T. Myers married Mary E. Wilhoit. The marriage
ceremony was performed by Rev. H. G. Abernathy. She was born in Columbus
Township of Adams County May 15, 1838, a daughter of William and Delilah
(Currj') Wilhoit, who had come from Kentucky to Illinois about 1835. Jacob
Myers became a highly' successful and prosperous farmer, accumulating 270
acres three miles southwest of Columbus in Gilmer Township. In that com-
munity he passed away July 11, 1909, at the age of seventy-seven. His first
wife died May 3, 1885. In 1887 he married for his second wife ili-s. Mai-y
Gamble, who was a native of Baltimore, Marj-land. She died March 1, 1913.
The children of Jacob Myers by his first wife were : Annie, Mrs. Joseph
Haley of Columbus, her family being subject of separate mention on other
pages ; Melvina Ogle, who died soon after her marriage ; Loretta, deceased wife
of Thoma.s Yeargain, of Paloma ; David Lee, a farmer in Gilmer Towaiship ;
George E., a farmer who lives at Topeka, Kansas; Mary Elizabeth, Mrs. H. B.
Coflfield, of San Diego, California; W^ilbur L., who owns the old ]\Iyers home-
stead ; Henry- L. ; Ida, wife of Elmer Kessler, of Camp Point Township ; Delilah
May, Mrs. G. E. Dickhut, of Topeka, Kansas.
Representing the third generation of the family in this county are the
several sons and danghtei*s just mentioned. At this point reference is made
to Heniy L. Mj-ers, whose home is in Gilmer Township, a mile south of Fowler
and eleven miles northeast of Quincy. He was born in that township February
28, 1874, and his early life was spent on the old farm and in the local schools.
For nine years he provided for his family as a renter, eight years on one of his
father's farms. In 1908 he bought his present place, the old Chase farm of
2IIV2 acres in one body. Mr. Myers is one of the men who paid a high price
for his land, but has jiistified the purchase through his intelligent and thrifty
management. His farm cost him .$14,800 and he ha.s .since rebuilt the house
and added many other improvements. He farms on the general or mixed plan,
and feeds a number of carloads of cattle, hogs and other livestock. Mr. Myers is
a democrat in politics as was his father before him, who filled several local
offices, including that of township supervisor. I\Ir. Myers and family are mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
March 16, 1898, Henrj- L. Myers married :\liss Nellie M. Horner, daughter
of Albert L. and Maria (Seaton) Horner, a prominent family of Camp Point
Township, whose record is given on other pages, ilrs. ;\Iyers was born in this
county September 27, 1877. ' *
One of the matters deserving space in any history of Adams County is the
introduction of blue grass into the county. That important work is credited
to Mrs. Myers' maternal grandfather, John S. Seaton, one of the early settlers
and brother of Richard Seaton, well known in the county as a banker and
former sheriff. John S. Seaton after settling in the county went back to
Jefferson Count}', Kentucky, where he was born, and spent several days in
stripping the seed from a quantity of bluegrass until he had a barrelful. He
brought this to Adams County, and sowed it in fence corners and at other
appropriate spots around his farm, and thus began the cultivation of one of
the most valuable grasses kno^^^^ to mankind.
Mr. and Mrs. Myers are parents of three bright and interesting children :
Horner Seaton, borii January 7, 1899; Wilbur Halford, born March 29, 1903;
and Eleanor, born Februaiy 20, 1908. These children are still at home and
Horner graduated from the Maplewood High School at Camp Point in 1918.
Simon Duker. Inheriting to a marked degree the business ability and in-
tegrity characteristic of his father, the late John Herman Duker, Simon Duker,
of Quincy, is prominently identified with the commercial interests of this sec-
tion of Adams County, which has always been his home, his birth having
occurred June 11, 1858, in Quincy.
His paternal grandfather, Gerhardt Duker, was born in Hanover, Germany,
LIBRARY
;r THE
amVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 879
aaid there after attaining man's estate he followed the carpenter's trade until
his death, while yet in manhood's prime. In 1847 his widow, Elizabeth Duker,
came with her three sons, John Herman, Theodore and lienrj-, to the United
States, landing in New Orleans, Louisiana. Six weeks later she came up the
river with her boys to St. Louis, Missouri, where she lived for two months.
Coming from there to Quiuey, Illinois, in tlie fall of 1847, she continued a resi-
dent of the city until her death.
A lad of fourteen years when he arrived in Adams County with his mother
and brothers, John Hei-man Duker, who had ac(iuired a practical education in
Hanover, Germany, his native place, served an apprenticeship at the saddler's
trade, which he afterwards followed as a journeyman for a few yeare. Sub-
sequently, in partnership with John Kuhl, he established in Quiuey a harness
and saddlery store, with which he was identified until 1859. Selling his interest
in 1859, he was engaged in the grocery business with his brother Theodore until
1871, wdieu they embarked in the wholesale liquor trade under the firm name
of J. H. Duker & Brother, locating at No. 323 Hampshire Street, Quiuey.
lu 1837 John Herman Duker, senior member of the above named firm, became
one of the stockholders of the Quincy National Bank, of which he was made
president a short time later, a responsible position which he filled most ably
and satisfactorily until his death, November 14, 1903.
John H. Duker married, in 1856, Clara Elizabeth Glass, who was born in
Quincy, a daughter of Simon and Margaret (Liebig) Glass, and she died at her
beautiful home in Quincy in Februaiy, 1912. Of the ten children born of
their union, six are now living, as follows : Simon, the special subject of this
brief sketch; Ann M., wife of John C. Ording; Nina il., wife of Doctor Blick-
ham; Ellen M., who with her brother Simon occupies the commodious granite
mansion built by her father ; John, emploj'ed in the Quincy National Bank ;
and Clara, wife of Harry Beatty, of Los Angeles, California. Both of the
parents were members of Saint Boniface Catholic Church. In politics the
father was an influential member of the democratic party, and for twenty-five
years was a member of the Quincy Board of Education, and an important factor
in developing the present admirable public school system.
Finding employment in a general store in 1874, Simon Duker worked in the
establishment a year, after which he resumed his studies, attending school for a
year. The following three years he worked for the firm of J. H. Duker &
Brother, of which his father was at the head, and at the age of twenty-one
years started in business for himself as a dealer in agricultural implements,
continuing for five years, when he had the misfortune to ])e burned out. Mr.
Duker in 1888 entered his father's store, with which he has since been asso-
ciated. In 1904 the business was incorporated under its present firm name,
J. H. Duker & Brother Company, with Simon Duker, presiclent and treasurer ;
Otto Duker, vice president ; and John C. Ording, secretary. Mr. Duker is a
director of the Quincy National Bank, of which his father was formerly presi-
dent. True to the religious faith in which he was reared, he is a valued member
of the Saint Boniface Catholic Church.
WalterT a. Heidbreder. One of the enterprising young business men of
Quincy, who l)ears a name that has been honored here in commercial circles for
many yeai-s, is "Walter A. Heidbreder, w-ho is assistant cashier of the State
Street Bank and is interested in other successful enterprises here. He was born
at Quincy, Illinois, July 22, 1879, and is a son of J. Herman and Anna (Junker)
Heidbreder.
The late J. Herman Heidbreder was among the foremost business men of
Quiuey. He was born in Germany and with other members of his family came
to the United States in 1851 and located at Quincy, where misfortune overtook
the parents, whereby the youth was thrown entirely upon his own resources.
It is well to recall this because of the example he set, through industry and in-
tegrity overcoming great hardships and in the course of time reaching aflBuenee
880 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
and high public esteem. For almost a quai-ter of a century he was engaged iu
the dry goods business, later was interested suecessfulty in handling real estate,
and in 1890, in association with other capitalists, founded the State Street Bank,
of which he was cashier during the rest of his life, his death occurring August
28, 1907. He is recalled as one of the city's generous and public spirited men,
a friend and promoter of educational and religious movements. He married
Anna Junker, a native of Germany, who died March 18, 1911, and eleven chil-
dren were born to them, the following surviving : Walter A. ; William H., who is
secretary of the Gem City Stove Mani;facturing Company ; Clara M., who is
the wife of H. C. Sprick ; Harry J., who is with the State Street Bank ; Minnie,
who is the wife of Charles Seifert, of Quiney ; and Alma, who is the wife of M.
M. Hess, of Saskatchewan, Canada.
Walter A. Heidbreder was educated in the public schools of Quiney and then
took a commercial course in the Gem City Business College. In 1897 he en-
tered the State Street Bank and has been identified witli this financial institu-
tion ever since, with the exception of one year, 1899-1900, when he was with the
Gem City Stove Company. Since 1907 Mr. Heidbreder has been assistant
cashier. He is financially interested in and is a director of the Central Iron
Works at Quiney and of the Gem City Stove Manufacturing Company.
Mr. Heidbreder is a republican in his political affiliation. Fraternally he is
a Thirty-second degree Mason and belongs also to the Order of Moose and to
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of St. Peter's
German Evangelical Church.
John G. Clough. The aiatomobile repair business together with the han-
dling of first class cars, founded on economic necessity, has become so important
in eveiy section of the country that it is not surprising that men of enterprise
and business sagacity have turned aside from other lucrative occupations to
engage in this. Quiney has excellent examples and a prospering firm is that of
Clough, Reihm & Company, the members of which are John G. Clough and
Charles L. Reihm.
John G. Clough was bom at North Amheret, Ohio, ]Ma}- 5, 1875. His parents
were Jolni B. and Jane E. (Gerrish) Clough. The father was a native of Ohio
and the mother was born at Brownlow, Illinois. They had a family of five chil-
dren, John G. being the third in order of birth.
A public school education laid the foundation on which John G. Clough
commenced to rear his business structure. His inclinations and opportunities
led him in certain channels and when twenty-one years of age he was engaged
in a rock quarry business at Griggsville, Illinois, and later engaged in concrete
contracting. He was one of the pioneers in the concrete industry. In 1905 Mr.
Clough came to Quiney and in partnership with his brothers, WaiTcn B. and
Everett S.. of Quiney, went into the business of manufacturing concrete blocks
and continued in the industry until 1911, when he sold out to E. B. Gibson.
In the meanwhile Mr. Clough, as a shrewd business man, had become in-
terested in the automobile business. In 1912 he erected at No. 1738 Broadway
a spacious business structure of re-inforced concrete, 50 by 100 feet in dimen-
sions, two stories in height, one of the most practical and substantial business
buildings in the city. In 1914 Charles L. Reihm became a partner, when the
present firm style was assumed of Clough, Reihm & Company. A general re-
pairing business is done and the firm makes a specialty of handling the Chevrolet
cars and the Republic tracks, and undoubtedly, as far as this firm is concerned,
the motor car industry is in a vei-y satisfactory condition.
Mr. Clougli was married to Miss Emma Bennett, who was born at Kinder-
hook, Illinois. They arc members of the Presbyterian Church. Never very
active in politics, nevertheless Mr. Clough always casts his vote with the re-
publican party, and when called upon as a good citizen beai-s his share of
public responsibility. lie is looked upon as one of Quiney 's reliable and repre-
sentative men.
QUINCT AND ADAMS COUNTY 881
Andrew Jackson Tittle is a man of mai'k iu the coimmuiity of Honey
Creek Township, and his life is significant because it has been lived for others
more than for himself, and for that reason he is thoroughly desei"V'ing of all
the esteem in which he is held by his community. Mr. Tittle's farm home is
21/2 miles east and a mile north of Meudon in Honej^ Creek Township.
It was on this farm and in a house which is still standing as part of the
building improvements that Mr. Tittle was born April 18, 1862. His parents
were A. Johnson and Margaret (Montgomei-j') Tittle. His father was born in
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1809, his parents being
natives of the same county. The traditional accounts that have been handed
down indicate that the family originally had its home in Austria, but remote
generations ago they settled in Ireland and Scotland. Their home was in
Pennsylvania during the colonial period. A. Johnson Tittle came to Illinois
in 1856. His brother Hamilton had settled in Adams County two j^ears before,
establishing a home in Honey Creek To-miship. A. Johnson Tittle in 1858
secured a tract of wild land at $10 an acre, and soon afterward erected the
house in which his son Andrew Jackson was born. Of that land he cleared up
forty-five acres and had most of it under cultivation before overtaken by old
age. He died here April 9, 1899, when in his ninetieth year. He kept his
faculties unimpaired almost to the end. He was never a public man, though
voting as a republican, and at the time of his death was the oldest member
of the Congregational Church at Slendon. He had had an adventurous life
before coming to Adams County. In 1850 he went out to California, being six
months on the vessel which took him around the Horn. His brother Jonathan
crossed the plains to California in 1849. A. Johnson Tittle while in California
was a miner and a charcoal burner. He and a companion with whom he had
burned charcoal on the shores of Lake Superior some years before lived in a
small hut, and this companion was stricken with the smallpox. Johnson Tittle
remained with him, careless of his own danger, and nursed and comforted the
sick man until he died. His experience in California netted him considerable
money but he brought back very little of it. He was there five yeai-s, and soon
after returning to Pennsylvania came west to Adams County. His many travels
and experiences furnished him with interesting anecdotes which made him
popular among the younger generation, and he was also greatly esteemed for
his strict integrity and good citizenship. His ^\•ife died in August, 1870. His
.brother Hamilton died at Mendon July 2. 1877, when about sixty years of age.
A daughter of Hamilton Tittle is Mrs. Henry Worman of Mendon. Of the
four children of A. Johnson Tittle and wife Andrew Jackson is the only sur-
vivor, and was the third in age. His brother William lived in Adams County
until twenty-three years of age and then moved to LaBelle, ^Missouri, where
he died May 4, 1918. Lizzie L. married G. D. Riddle, who for five years was a
farmer and merchant at Oxford, Indiana, and they later moved to Boulder,
Colorado, where Mrs. Riddle died September 25, 1916. Anna A., who died in
Febriiary, 1901, was the wife of William MeGinley, who settled in Keene Towti-
ship five years and then removed to LaBelle, Missouri.
Andrew Jackson Tittle grew up on the old farm, and twelve years before
his father's death took its active management. He succeeded to the ownership
of the place upon his father's death. He remained at home looking after his
]iarents and when relieved of these responsibilities he went out to Guthrie
County, Iowa, and cared for an uncle, Andrew Jackson Tittle, for whom he was
named, until that uncle died at the age of eighty-five. Thus a large part of
his life has been devoted to the care and welfare of others. At the age of
twenty Mr. Tittle went out to the western frontier of Kansas and in Finney
County took up a pre-emption, secured title to the land, and still owns it,
though he lias never had opportunity to develop it as a farm. It is in the wheat
growing and grazing district of AVestern Kansas. Mr. Tittle is most com-
fortable situated, has a good fann, and in 1917 erected a modern coiuitry home.
In 1907 he married Miss Eleanor Taylor, daughter of Paul and Eliza (Kerriek)
882 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Taylor, ilrs. Tittle was boru near Des Moines, Iowa. IMr. Tittle served two
terms as road commissioner, is a republican, and is prominent in the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows at Mendou, tilling all tlie local chairs, and serv-
ing as noble grand and representative to the Grand Lodge.
W. Emery Lancaster is a native of Adams County, in early life was a
farmer, but for the past fifteen years has been steadily adding to his honors and
emoluments as a successful lawyer.
Mr. Lancaster was born June 17, 1875, a son of William and Isabel
(Prather) Lancaster. Both parents were born in this county, were substantial
farming people, and both are now deceased. There were seven children : Warren,
deceased; Martha, wnfe of William Herron, of La Prairie; Mollie, wife of James
Herron, of Bowen, Illinois ; Sherman, of Carthage, Illinois ; Frank, of La
Prairie; Charles, who lives iu Wyoming; and W. Emery.
W. Emei-j' Lancaster spent his boyhood on a farm and received most of
his education in the La Prairie public schools. Later he graduated in 189-i
from the West Normal College at Bushnell, Illinois. He completed the regular
course of study in Knox College at Galesburg, where he graduated Bachelor
of Science in 1899. This was followed by his prepai-ation for the law at the
LTniversity of Michigan, in which he had the degree LL. B., awarded him in 1902. .
He then began practice at Quincy, as a member of the firm Govert & Lancaster.
Besides his present practice Mr. Lancaster is a director of the State Savings
& Loan Company and of the Halbach Schroeder Company. He is a democrat
and a member of the Masonic Order. October 10, 1906, he married Miss Edith
Halbach. They have one daughter, V^irginia, born July 20, 1908.
John Korn. A man of pronounced executive and financial ability, John
Korn occupies a position of note among the prominent and prosperous busi-
ness men of the city, being manager of one of a chain of five bakeries that
have been established by himself, father and brothers, four of them being in
the Central West and one in a far western state. A son of Henry Korn, he
was born September 18, 187-1, in Davenport, Iowa, and was there reared and
educated. •
Henry Korn left Germany, his native land, at the age of eighteen j-ears,
coming to America, the land of hope and promise. Locating in ilaryland, he
worked at the baker's trade in Baltimore for awhile. Subsequently nugrating
to Davenport, Iowa, he started in the bakery business on his own account, and
in the management of his affairs met with rare .success. He accumulated a
competency, and is now living retired from active pursuits, the Davenport
bakery which he established upAvards of half a century ago being now under
the supervision of his oldest son, William H. Korn. Henry Kom's wife, whose
maiden name was Elizabeth Albeit, was born in Germany, and came to this
country with her parents when a girl. Seven children have been born into
their home, as follows: William H., managing the Davenport bakery; Charles,
of Davenport, Iowa; Henry, of Eugene, Oregon; Lina, widow of John Kauf-
mann, of Davenport ; John, with whom this brief sketch is principally con-
cerned ; Bertha, living at home ; and Otto, of Clinton, Iowa.
Acquiring his early education in the public schools of Davenport, his native
city, John Korn was actually reared in the home bakery, he and his brothers
having assisted their father in the upbuilding of an extensive and lucrative
bakery business which is now strictly a family corporation. Five plants have
been established by the Korn family, as follows : one in Davenport, operated
by William H. Korn ; one at Rock Island, Illinois ; one in Clinton, Iowa ; one
in Quincy, Illinois, managed by the son John ; and one at Eugene, Oregon.
Coming to Quincy, Illinois, in 1910, Mr. Korn built his present plant, a two-
story building 100 by 106 feet, witji a capacity of 10,000 loaves of bread a day.
The bakery is amply supplied with the most modern machinery and appliances
QUINCT AND ADAMS COUNTY 883
for carryiug on the work, and its products are in great demand not only in
Quincy but in all villages and towns within a radius of fifty miles.
Mr. Korn married, September 27, 1905, Helen Volkland, and they are the
parents of two children, Elizabeth and Katherine. Politically Mr. Korn votes
for the best men and measures, regardless of party restrictions. He is promi-
nent in fraternal circles, being a Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the
Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and likewise be-
longing to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member
and a past president of the Quincy Rotary Club, which he organized a few-
years ago.
John A. Stillwell, president of the Electric Wheel Company, Quincy, Illi-
nois, was born at Hannibal in Marion County, ilissouri, Januaiy 23, 1861.
His parents were Brison and ilargaret (Duncan) Stillwell, both of whom were
born in Kentucky, probably being of Scotch parentage. For many years the
father was in the pork packing business. His death occurred in 1876, six chil-
dren surviving him and four of these still living. The mother died in 1916.
An only son, John A. Stillwell was given excellent educational advantages.
In 1886 he entered the banking house of L. & C. H. Bull at Quincy as a clerk,
and he continued there for four years when circumstances led to his entering,
in 1890, the employ of the Electric Wheel Company as manager, thus con-
tinuing until he became the president of the company. He is now one of
Quincy 's representative business men and most worthy citizens.
Mr. Stillwell was married in December, 1893, to Miss Elizabeth M. New-
comb, and they have three children, namely: Newcomb, who is a member of the
aAaatiou corps of the National anny; Brison, attending Harvard College; and
Alan, who is a student in the Quincy High School, ilr. Stillwell has never been
particularly active in politics but his opinions on public questions have made
him a democrat and he is loyal in party support.
Stephen Douglas Shipe. The Shipes are one of the oldest and best known
families in Lima Township, where they have lived since pioneer times. Forty
years ago there were some four or five different families of Shipes located on
farms around Lima, and the name is still pi'omincntly represented in that com-
munity by Stephen Douglas Shipe, whose home is IY2 miles noi'th of Lima on
the Hancock County line.
In 1858 Illinois and the nation was aroused over the unique series of debates
carried on by Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas, debates which made
these two figures tlie foremost personalities in the nation. Daniel Shipe was
an ardent admirer of the "little giant" and consequently when a son was bom
into his household on the 23d of September he gave him the name Stephen
Douglas. Stephen Douglas Shipe was born in the house that he still occupies
as a home. It is one of the oldest homes in that part of the county and has
been standing for fully sixty years.
His father. Daniel Shipe. was born in Pennsylvania in 1819. The grand-
father when about eighty years of age came to Adams County and settled in
Ursa Township. A member of the second generation of the family was William
Shipe, known as Uncle Billie, who lived in Hancock County until his death in
October, 1918. at eighty-seven years of age. Daniel Shipe bought a home-
stead north of Lima from Lafayette Frazer, and it was in 1857 that he built
the house in which Stephen Douglas Shipe was born and now lives. Daniel
Shipe went to California in the gold excitement and gained his start by his
operations as a miner in the W^est. He lived to be more than sixty years of
age, and his widow died when past eighty. One of their sons died in child-
hood, and there were two children who reached maturity, Amelia, wlio lives
in Lima, widow of John 0. Perry, and Stephen Douglas.
Stephen D. Shipe as the only surviving son remained with his mother on the
home farm, and as his growing strength permitted aided her in the heavy task
884 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
of handling the fann as well as managing the household. Mr. Shipe married
in 1880 Miss Clara Barton, of Lima, and after his marriage took over the
farm and has since conducted it independently for over thirty years. Forty
acres of the old homestead went to his sister, but he now has eighty -two acres
of that tract and also fifty-five acres of timber land. Mr. Shipe has erected
all the buildings and placed the other permanent improvements on the farm
except the house. He is engaged in general farming, and for eight or ten years
has been a cattle feeder and buys a number of cattle and hogs every year. He
has never sought notice in public affairs and is a member of no society or
church. He and his wife had five children. William Alfred is a fanner near
the old home and married Edith Crow; Bertha Viola is the wife of James Marsh,
a Lima Township farmer; Lenora Ellen lives with her father and is the widow
of George Woodworth. Mrs. Woodworth has two children, Elmer Douglas
and Mary Ellen, who was born after the death of her father, who died from
blood poisoning when not yet thirty years of age. The other two children of
Mr. and Mrs. Shipe are Amelia Frances, who died at the age of sixteen, and
Mary May, who married Paul Brickman, who died September 20, 1918, leaving
one daughter, Wilma Eugene. Mrs. Brickman makes her home with her parents.
Patrick W. Reardon is one of the best known public officials of Quincy
and has been active in politics and affairs for a number of years. He is now
serving his second term as police magistrate of Quincy, having been first elected
in 1911 and again in 1915.
Mr. Reardon was born in Quincy January 29, 1871. His boyhood education
was acquired in the parochial schools. He has always manifested a commendable
degree of public spirit and has been associated with men who earned their
livings by definite and positive service. As a young man he worked for some
time as a freight car checker with the Burlington Railroad. At the same time,
realizing some deficiencies in his education, he attended night school and thus
prepared himself for larger responsibilities. For about five years he also worked
as a freight checker in the local offices of the 0. K. Railway. 'Sir. Reardon in
1895 became a patrolman on the Quincy police force and ten years later was
taken from the police department and made clerk of the Police Court, where he
served six years, until his first election as police magistrate. Judge Reardon
has been one of the local leaders in the democratic party of Quincy for a number
of years.
He is of L-ish parentage, a son of Michael and Amelia (Bums) Reardon,
both natives of County Limerick. His father came when a young man to New
York City. The girl he had grown up with and pledged his troth to in Ireland
followed him somewhat later and they married in New York City and imme-
diately after their wedding came west to Quinc}% where they spent the rest of
their days. They now rest side by side in St. Peter's cemetery. The father
died at the age of sixty-six and the mother at seventy-four. Both were active
members of St. Rose Catholic Church. Of their children, Thomas J. was a rail-
way conductor for many years and died in 1905, leaving a widow, who is also
deceased. James A., who died May 7, 1918, at St. Louis, was a prominent
manufacturer and business man of that city, and had extensive interests in
Old Mexico. He left a widow and three sons and one daughter. One son is
Lieut. Ambrose Reardon in the Aviation Corps. John E. lives at St. Louis
and is superintendent of the Reardon Mantifacturing Company, of which his
brother was the founder. John has seven children, and two of them are repre-
senting the family in the American army. Walter is in a branch of the service
concerned with high explosives, while Lawrence is an enlisted man. ]\Iichael
J. Lives in Kansas City and is assistant yardmaster of the Missouri Pacific Rail-
way, is married and has a son and four daughters.
Patrick W. Reardon, the youngest of the family, married Catherine E.
Daniels, who represents one of the oldest families of Adams County. She
was reared and educated in the country districts. They have two children,
QUINCY AND ADAfilS COUNTY 885
Catherine A., born August 27, 1907, and Johu, bom March 2, 1910. The family
are members of St. Rose Catholic Church and Judge Reardon is a member of
the Knights of Columbus, the Western Catholic Union, the Woodmen of the
World, and for two years, 1916-17, served as president of the local branch
of the Eagles.
Grover C. Miller. For over eighty years the Miller family stood second to
none among the business, social and civic leaders of Ursa Township. Repre-
senting the third generation of the family, Grover C. Miller has applied him-
self successfully to railroading and telegi-aphy, but is now well established
as a general merchant at Marcelline and does a flourishing trade over the sur-
rounding territory.
He was born at ilarcelline December 18, 1884. He is a grandson of Uriah
K. Miller, one of the honored pioneers of Ursa Township. Uriah K. Miller
was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, December 16, 1825, and died Novem-
ber 27, 1899. He w-as brought to Adams County in 1833 when eight year's of
age, grew up on the frontier, and was a successful farmer and a highly ener-
getic citizen. Hje acquired 320 acres of land in section 36 of Ursa Township
and did much to improve that during his active career. In the time of the
Civil war he enlisted in Company B of the Seventy-eighth Illinois Infantry, and
saw active service for 2i/^ years. He was a democrat in politics and a member
of the Christian Church. In 1846 he married Miss Elizabeth Jane Groves, who
was born in Wabash County, Illinois, May 17, 1830, and died May 11, 1916,
when nearly eighty-six years of age. They had three children : John W., Daniel
B. and Martha A. The old homestead of Uriah K. Miller, a half mile south and
11^ miles west of Marcelline, is now occupied by his son Daniel B. Another
well known member of the family was William E. Miller, brother of Uriah K.,
whose home farm was also in section 36 of Ursa Township.
John W. ]Miller, father of Grover C, was born November 13, 1850, and died
October 20, 1914. He spent his active career as a farmer near the old home-
stead, but was chiefly knowTi through his extensive activities as a cattle buyer
and cattle drover. He was one of the largest buyers operating at the Quiney
markets. He also served as highway commissioner and levee commissioner and
was an active democrat. He married Martha Virginia Rockwell, who was born
December 23, 1858, and is still living at Lima. They were the parents of the
following children : Arthur, who lives on the home farm ; Lillie, who was bom
January 24, 1880, married Bert ]\Iiller and died February 24, 1906, at the age
of twenty-six ; Lottie, twin sister of Lillie, became the wife of Arthur Adair,
who is now serving in the United States army ; Minnie, who died after her
marriage to William Anient; Grover C. ; and Elizabeth, wife of William Har-
ness, of Lima.
Grover C. Miller was bom at Marcelline December 18, 1884, and was named
in honor of Grover Cleveland, who had been elected president only a few weeks
before his birth. He lived at home until twenty, and secured his education
partly in the grammar school and the high school at Quiney, and was also two
years in the National Business College. He perfected himself in telegraphy
and did his first practical work as an operator at West Quinc.v. He also spent
six months in California as a warehouseman with the Southern Pacific Com-
pany, and for six months was an operator with the Butte County Railroad,
for IV2 years was operator and cashier in the offices at Chico and Mar3'sville,
California, with the Northern Electric Company, and then resumed employ-
ment with the Butte County Railroad for three years as agent at Pai-adise,
California.
Returning East, he became a relief operator with the Burlington Railway
for six months, and at one time was towerman in the Interlocking plant near
Keokuk. On giving up railroading Mr. Miller returned to Adams County and
for two years was identified with the restaurant and general store business at
Lima. He then came to ]\Iarcelline and succeeded J. B. Taylor as general mer-
886 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
chant. This business is one of the oldest in that village, having been estab-
lished about 1885 by George H. Walker, who built the store building now used.
Several years later he sold out to Jasper and James Me Adams, who in turn sold
to U. K. Miller, a grandson of Uriah K. Miller, Sr. Other successive owners
were William Worley, Bert Miller, John Gerard, Ed EiLsminger, James Inghram,
Elmer Andrews, and Ed Osgood, who were succeeded by Mr. J. B. Taylor and
from him Mr. Miller bought the establishment in 1915. Hie now gives all his
time to his store and enjoys the confidence and patronage of one of the most
prosperous farming communities in the county.
Mr. Miller is an independent democrat in politics. At the age of twenty-
one he married Miss Leah Laughlin, daughter of D. C. and Melissa (Shep-
herd) Laughlin, of Mendon Township. They have a family of two children,
Gerald Edwin and Bruce Russell. The family are members of the Christian
Church of Marcelline, and Mr. Miller is also affiliated with the local lodge
of Masons.
NiKLAUs Kohl. Possessing rare business ability and judgment, with a
capacity for affairs of magnitude, Niklaus Kohl holds a place of importance
anions' the mereliants of Adams County and has also the distinction of being
the pioneer wholesale grocer of Quincy. He was born March 19, 1836, in the
southern part of Germany, where he grew to man's estate. He is a son of the
late John and ^Margaret (Schaeffer) Kohl, natives of Germany, who were the
parents of nine children, a.s follows: Lawrence; Leonard; John; Phillip and
Lawrence, all deceased ; Niklaus, the subject of this sketch ; Margaret ; Adam ;
and Peter.
Having acquired a practical education Niklaus Kohl was variously employed
for a few year.'?. Not content with his limited opportunities for there obtaining
a livelihood, he immigi-at^d to the United States in 1857, coming directly to
Quincy, where he hoped to tind woi-k. He was poor in pocket but rich in energy
and ambition, and for a few years toiled industriously at whatever he could find
to do. In 1860, or thereabout, he secured a position with James T. Baker, a
prominent grocer, with whom he remained seven years, when his employer sold
out. ilr. Kohl then entered the wholesale grocery house of Austin & Company,
which subsequently became Austin & Manson. Industrious and intelligently
interested in his work, he soon became familiar with the details of the business,
and when the junior member of the firm was ready to retire Mr. Kohl purchased
his share, and the firm name was changed to Austin & Kohl. Mr. Austin retiring
in July, 1896, Mr. Kohl organized the N. Kohl Grocer Company, of which he
has since been president, while his son Adam, who is now dead, was vice presi-
dent and his son George ca.shier; Edward is also a member of the firm and a
grandson, Mathew J., is secretary of the wholesale grocery company.
Soon after its organization, this enterprising firm bought on Fourth Street,
between Hampshire and Vermont streets, the large building it now occupies,
and having entirely remodeled it has now one of the most conveniently and
neatly arranged and best stocked wholesale grocery establishments in the Cen-
tral West.
Mr. Kohl has been three times married. He married first Katherine Eva
Kunkle. a native of Germany. She died at a comparatively early age, her death
occurring in May, 1881. Children were born of their union as follows: George,
of Quincj' ; Adam, deceased; ]Maria K., deceased; Eva E., deceased; Edward,
of Quincy ; and Maria, Nicholas A., Anna, Nicholas, Theresa, and Mary, all
deceased, and Emma who is living. The maiden name of his second wife was
Aggie Webber. Mr. Kohl married for his third wife ilrs. Mary (Wielager)
Fischer, who was born in Hanover, Germany. She was the widow of John C.
Fischer, who died November 1, 1887. By her first marriage Mrs. Kohl was the
mother of eight children, namely: Otelia. wife of Theodore Ehaart, of Quincy;
Martha, wife of Otto Duker; John J. Fischer; Rose Henrietta, wife of Fred
Romony, of Saint Paul, Minnesota ; Joseph W. ; William D., deceased ; Frank H.,
T
;::^
LIBRAHY
ar THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
I
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 887
of Quiucy; and Eliza])eth A., deceased. Politically Mr. Kohl is a steadfast
democrat. He is a member of the Western Catholic Union, and of Saint Boni-
face Church, as is also his wife.
Maurice E. Vasen. The name Vasen has been an honored one in the busi-
ness and financial histoiy of Quincy for half a century. The special genius
of the family seems to have exemplified itself in the organization and adminis-
tration of co-operative financial affairs. More than anything else the name is
associated witli building and loan associations, and in that field of finance
doubtless there was not a more accomplished student and authority in the Middle
"West than the late Benjamin G. Yasen, many of whose intei'csts and activities
are carried on today in Quincy by his son ]\Iaui4ce E. Vasen.
Benjamin G. Vasen was born in Philadelphia July 2, 1857, and became a
resident of Quincy when his parents located there ten years later. His public
schooling was supplemented by a thorough course in bookkeeping and mathe-
matics at a commercial college. His business experience began very early when
at the age of thirteen he went to work for the firm of Hirscli & \'asen. For a
time he was bookkeeper and cashier in the branch house of J. Jonas & Company
at St. Joseph, Missouri.
On returning to Quincy in Januai-y. 1875, thougli then only eighteen years
of age, he was put in charge of the Building Association and Loan Department
of the firm of Morton & Nichols. He .soon became an expert in this branch of
the business and became independently established in the insurance, real estate
and loan business in 1881.
In November, 1883, he organized and became the first secretary of the
People's Savings Loan & Building Association, and in December, 1885, was
elected secretary of the Quincy Building & Homestead Association. Those
executive offices he continued to hold up to the time of his death on December
2, 1916. In January, 1875, he had become assistant secretary of the Quincy
Building & Homestead Association. Of this business he made a close study
and his interest and enthusiasm, combined with rare natural gift, served to
make him widely accepted as an authority. Shortly before his death it was
stated that he had handled over ■'t;5.000,000 for the two associations of which he
was secretary, without a single loss. Among his other qualifications he was an
expert accountant. Outside of Quincy Benjamin G. Yasen was probably best
known because of his long temi, beginning in June, 1890, as secretary of the
Building Association League of Illinois. Through that office he became in-
strumental in shaping much of the legislation governing building associations
in the state. In 1893 he also helped organize the LTnited States League of Local
Building and Loan Associations and was its secretary for two years, declining
re-election for a third term.
In 1881 Benjamin G. Yasen married Julia Eschner, of Philadelphia, Penn-
.sylvania, who died October 2, 1900, the mother of four children: Freda J., wife
of Joseph M. Allen, of Chicago; ^Maurice E. and George B. of Quincy; and
Beulah C, wife of H. Archer Wild, of Chicago.
]Maurice E. Yasen was born at Quincy September 21, 1885, graduated from
the local high school in 1903. then entered the University of Illinois, where he
graduated in the Liberal Arts Department in 1907, and in 1909 was awarded
the Master's degree. In the meantime he had entered the Northwestern Uni-
versity Law School at Chicago and finislied his course in 1909. For four yeai-s
he remained in Chicago practicing law with the firm Howe, Fordham & Yasen.
He then returned to Quincy and practiced law, but since his election as secre-
tary of the Quincy Building & Homestead Association and the People's Savings
Loan & Building Association lie lias found his time fully occupied with han-
dling the many responsibilities of the association whose combined assets now
aggregate almost $1,000,000. He is also secretai->' of the Building Association
League of Illinois, where again he was successor to his father.
Maurice E. Vasen is a foraier member of the Hamilton Club of Chicago,
888 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
belongs to the Illini Club of Chicago, is affiliated with the Masouic orders,
including the thirty-second degi'ee of Scottish Rite and the Shrine, with the
Elks, with the local Country Club, the Rotary Club and in politics is a re-
publican.
On November 6, 1913, he was married to Miss lone Ode Ellis, a resident
of Quiney, who has achieved considerable local fame as a vocalist.
Edvfard p. Wittler, a young, ambitious, progressive farmer of Ellington
Township, whose home is in section 4, has already surrounded himself with
many of those possessions and comforts which every ambitious man desires.
His farm comprises 126 acres. It is well situated and naturally drained, and
vdth excellent improvements. There are good farm buildings, including a barn
36 by 50 feet, and a good ten room house. The land gi-ows splendid crops,
com, wheat and oats, besides a three acre apple orchard and seven acres
in mixed fruits. Most of the revenue from his farm aside from the fruit
comes from livestock, and he has good grades of horses, hogs and cattle.
Mr. Wittier has lived on and owned his farm for two years. Prior to that
he farmed on the Hulse and other farms in the township.
Mr. "Wittier was born in Gilmer Township of this county December 8, 1876.
A year after his birth his parents moved to Ellington Township and he grew
up there, attending the Washington schoolhouse. He is a son of William and
Flora (Disselhorst) Wittier. His father was born in St. Louis. His mother
was born in Hanover and came to America with her father, Henry Dissel-
horst, her mother having died in Germany. Her family settled in Adams
County, where her father, Henry, lived to a good old age and died at the home
of his daughter. William Wittier after his marriage began on a small farm
in Ellington Township and by hard work and careful saving made a good
home in section 9. He became owner of eighty a<?res, erected some good build-
ings and was a man of consequence in that community. He died on the old
farm December 6, 1912, at the age of sixty-two. His widow is still living there.
Both were members of the Evangelical Church and William Wittier filled
several minor offices. In the family were seven children, four sons and three
daughters, all of whom are married and all but one live in Adams County.
Edward F. Wittier, the second child in the family, married in Gilmer
Township November 12, 1902, Miss Emma Haxcl. She was born in Adams
County May 18, 1886, and received her education in the Mount Pleasant School.
Her parents were Henry and Anna (Korves) Haxel. both born in this countiy
but of German parentage. Henry Haxel died in 1887, in the prime of life, leav-
ing his widow and two daughters, ]\Irs. Wittier and Carrie, the latter the wife
of Barney Brinkman. Mrs. Haxel subsequently married Joseph Herzog, and
she still lives in Adams County. Her two daughters by her second marriage
are now married.
Mr. and Mrs. Wittier are the parents of four children : Elmer William J.,
bom November 2.5, 1904, is in the sixth grade of the common schools; Edward
C, born October 4, 1910, is in the third grade : Virgil H., born March 22. 1914,
and Florence A., born October 19, 1917. The family are members of the
Lutheran Church at Fowler, and Mr. Wittier is a democrat.
Aldo Sommer. Long before his life came to its peaceful close in death on
August 7, 1916, Aldo Sommer had impressed his character and ability upon
the permanent commercial fortunes of Quiney. He was founder of the Aldo
Skimmer Drug Company, one of the largest wholesale dmg houses in the Middle
West. The fortunes of this organization are now carried on largely by his
family.
It is a business comprising a large office and store at 213-15 North Third
Street. The firm occupies a three-story building and basement 60 by 100 feet,
and the firm emplovs twenty or more persons in the oiifice and store and also
have six commercial salesmen covering the states of Illinois and Missouri.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 889
More than forty years ago Aldo Sommer engaged in business at Quincy,
and with Daniel E. Lynds established a copartnership in 1875. They handled
exclusivelj' a wholesale drag business, and they were located on the south half
of the present location of the store until a fire destroyed the building in 1894.
About that time Mr. Lynds retired and the business was continued as the Aldo
Sommer Drug Companj' and has since been an incorporation. Aldo Sommer was
president and treasurer of the company until his death.
He was born December 13, 1830, in Germany, and left his native land and
came to America at the age of seventeen. He traveled by sailing vessel and
from New York went to Allento\vn, Pennsylvania, and a few years later to
St. Louis, Missouri. He had a training as a druggist and followed his profes-
sion throughout his active career. In 1855 he married Matilda Brauu. She
was of Huguenot French and English parentage. She was born at St. Louis
June 10, 1838, and was reared and educated in that city. She is still living
in Quincy, and has all her faculties except for her hearing. She reads, knits
and does a great deal of Red Cross work. Both she and her husband were
Protestants in religion. Aldo Sommer was an enthusiastic republican, and at
one time was affiliated with the Masonic Order.
In 1870 he and his family went to Europe and lived four years abroad.
"While in the old country two children wei'e born, Walter and Ella.
In addition to his drug business Aldo Sommer established and operated
for a number of years a large nursery at Twenty-fourth and State streets.
He was a man of great enterprise and could successfully conduct more than
one activdty at a time.
He and his wife had five sons and five daughters. One daughter, Alice E.,
died December 2, 1917. Three sons also died early: Edwin died in 1861. at
the age of three years; Gilbert, in 1883, at the age of eight years; and Aldo,
on April 11, 1879, at the age of twenty-two. A brief record of the living
children is as follows: Minna is the wife of W. H. Arthur, who was formerly
a druggist and is now in the insurance business at St. Louis. They have a
son and two daughters. ]\Iatilda is the wife of James L. Martin, ilr. [Martin
was for twenty years representative of the International Harvester Company
at Quincy and for the past ten years has been connected with that organization
at Chicago. Jennie is the widow of Edwin P. Jaquith, and has two children,
Kenneth and Sommer, the former an instractor in the Aviation Corps of the
United States Army. Harry B. Sommer was born in Quincy at the home where
he now resides with his mother on February Iri. 1868, was well educated in
this city and in the Christian Brothers School at St. Louis, and for a number
of years has been actively identified with the Sommer Drug Company. Ella is
the wife of H. L. Beard, who since 1913 has been vice president and trea.surer
of the Aldo Sommer Drug Company. Mr. Beard was born in St. Louis, and is
a public accountant by profession. ]\Ir. Beard's first wife was Mamie Mc-
Sweeney, who died sixteen years ago, leaving two daughters, Mrs. J. Arthur
Twig and ]\Iargaret Mae. Mrs. Twig lives in St. Albans, Vermont, and has a
daughter, ilargaret. Walter B. Sommer, president of the Wliolesale Drug Com-
pany was educated at Alton, Illinois, in the Wjonan Institute and in a militarj-
school at Champaign. He married Pearl Kathan, of Bucklin, Missouri, and they
make their home in Quincy.
Frank A. Freund. For all his fourscore and four years Frank A. Freund
is still hale and vigorous, possessed of a good memory and active intelligence,
and has a long retrospect of years which miist aft'ord him satisfaction and
contentment. Mr. Freund has been a resident of Quincy over sixty years, and
has witnessed and been a part in its development from village times.
He was born in Bavaria, Germany. ]\Iarch 14, 1834, of old German Catholic
stock, son of Anton and Lucinda (Bock) Freund. His parents were also
natives of Bavaria, and his father was a brewer there and died at advanced
years. Frank A. Freund was a boy when his mother died at the age of fifty-six.
890 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
The youngest of six children, and the only one to come to America, he lived
in his native land to the age of eighteen, and in order to avoid the enforced
military duty left there in 1852, crossing the ocean by sailing vessel from
Bremen to Baltimore. He landed in this eouutiy July 5tli and for a year
had employment in Baltimore at the brewer's trade, at wages of $4 per month.
While there he learaed the cooper's trade and in 1855 came to Quiney. Here
he acquired still another mechanical art, brick laying, and was not only a well
qualified workman but a leader among his fellows, and organized the first brick
laying association or union in this part of the state, continuing as its head for
several years. About the close of the Civil war ^Ir. Freund took up brick
contracting, and there are not a few brick structures in and about Quiney
today, including both business and pi'ivate houses, which were constructed by
him.
For over forty years his home has been at the corner of Spring and Thir-
teenth streets, and he owns his home at 1301 Spring Street and also the adja-
cent house at 1303. He also has other property and is now retired in comfortable
circumstances.
In Quiney J\Ir. Freund married Elizabeth Schwebel. She was born in Illi-
nois, and her parents came from Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and were early
settlers in Quiney. For many years her father was a teamster and transfer
man. Both her parents died many years ago. Mr. and ^Irs. Freund after their
marriage proved an ideal working partnership, and they created their pros-
perity by thrifty co-operation. Mrs. Freund died in 1895. Among her children
were: Rose, who married William Markus and died at twenty-eight years of
age, leaving four children ; Edith, widow of Henry Vanden Boom, who died
some years ago leaving children ; Joseph, who is a brick contractor in Quiney
and is married and has a familj'; Estelle, who lives at home with her father.
All the family are members of St. Francis Catholic Church, and Mr. Freund is
affiliated with the Western Catholic Union and St. Michael's Society.
John Fredeeick William Wittlek. A citizen whose life meant much to
his commvinity, where he lived so long and prospered by so much diligence
and toil, wa.s the late John Frederick William Wittier of Ellington Township.
His fine homestead in section 9 is still owned by Mrs. Wittier, and is a well
drained tract of rolling land, with new farm buildings, fields well tilled, good
livestock, and altogether such a home as these prosperous people well de-
served.
The late Mr. Wittier was born in St. Louis, ]Missouri, October 27, 1851, and
died at his homestead in Ellington Township December 9, 1912. His parents
were natives of Hanover, Germany, and were married at St. Louis. His father
was named Schmidt and died when John Frederick wa.s a very small boy.
The widowed mother married a Mr. Wittier for her second husband and the
son took his name. Mrs. Wittier came to Quiney and spent her last years in
that city. John Frederick William Wittier grew up in Adams County and his
early training well fitted him for the business of farming, which he pursued on
his place in section 9 of Ellington Township.
In 1872, at Qiiincy, he married Miss Flora W. Disselhorst. She was born
in Bielfeldt, Hanover, April 7, 1852. Her mother, Clara Swader, died in Ger-
many in 1869. when about forty years of age. Her father, H^enry Disselhorst,
in 1870 brought his six children from Bremen to New York City and thence
to Quiney, and was a farmer on rented land in Ellington Township. He died
at the home of his daughter, ]\Irs. Wittier, at the age of seventy-seven. He was a
member of the Lutheran Church and a republican.
Mr. and ]\Irs. Wittier after their marriage began as renters, and by hard
work and saving habits were enabled to buy their present home of eighty acres
in section 9. ^Ir, Wittier was constantly busied with the improvement and
cultivation of this land until his death. ^Irs. Wittier is the mother of seven
children : Minnie married Leonard Knorr, a farmer in Ellington Towniship, and
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 891
they have five sons and five daughters. Edward F. Wittier, the second child,
is subject of a separate sketch elsewhere. Charles is a farmer in Ellington
Township, and by his marriage to Sarah Allen has a son and two daughters.
Henry William Wittier, now the practical manager of his mother's farm, married
Grace Knox. She was born in Ellington Townsliip in 1888, was educated in the
public schools, and is a daughter of Henry and Emma (JMeyer) Knox. Her
father died in 1902, at the age of fifty-one, and her mother is still living on the
old Knox homestead in section 15 of Ellington Township, at the age of forty-
liine. She is an active member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Knox wa.s
quite prominent in local republican politics and held several offices. Mr. and
Mrs. Henry William Wittier have a daughter, Jane, born ]\Iay 11, 1916.
William Wittier, the next in the family, is a farmer at Fowler in this county.
He married Ida Wittland and has two sons, Gus and Paul. Lena is the wife
of John Eooskamp, of Tioga, Illinois, and they have two sons, Elmer and
Edgar. Etta is the wife of Fred Peuster and lives on a farm in Ellington
Township. They have two children. Earl and Elsie.
John L. Fltnn. One of the business men of recognized importance at
Quincy is John L. Plynn, manufacturer of high class carbonated waters and
owner and proprietor of the bottling works established here almost forty years
ago by liis father, tlie late John J. Flynn, who was one of Quincy 's most popular
and respected citizens for more than thirtj- years.
John L. Flynn was born at Quincy, Illinois, December 12, 1882. His parents
were John J. and ]Mary E. (Larkin) Flynn. The father was born April 9,
1854, at Blackstone in Worcester Count.y, Massachusetts. His home was not
one of wealth and very early he became self-supporting, at the age of ten years
starting to work in a cotton mill. In 1874 he came to Quinc.y, Illinois, where he
completed an iuterrupted education by taking a commercial course in a busi-
ness college. Perhaps it was for that purpose he came to Quincy, but after
becoming acquainted with the sterling residents here he determined to stay
and soon found a business opportunity in the manufacture of those delicious
beverages, spruce and root beer. He had prudently commenced in a small way
but his venture proved successful and his first expansion wa.s the bottling of his
product. In 1881 he established his soda water business, having in the mean-
while taken a course in chemistry in relation to the manufacture of carbonated
waters. As the demand for these non-intoxicating beverages increased, Mr.
Flynn was prepared to meet it, in the course of time erecting his modern plant,
where he carried on business until his death on January 6, 1907. In 1877 John
J. Flynn was man-ied to Miss Mary E. Larkin, who died October 23, 1915.
They had three children : James J., who is a resident of Quincy ; Lillian, who
is the wife of Paul A. Wolf, of Quincy; and John L., who is his father's busi-
ness successor.
John L. Flynn first attended the parochial school cormeeted with St. Rose
Church, and later the Quincy High School, from which he was creditably grad-
uated, and subsequently completed a commercial course under Professor Me-
Kenna in the Union Business College. Thus w-ell prepared, he entered his
father's works and made himself exceedingly useful while studying every
detail of the business, and since he has become its owner has, like his late
father been careful of the integrity of his product. The carbonated waters
manufactured here have a well earned reputation for piirity and their sale
covers the entire country. 'Sir. Flynn has proved able as a business man and
pos.ses.ses other qualities that en.sure him the respect and confidence of his
fellow citizens.
Mr. Flynn was married October 25. 1909, to ^liss Elsa Halbach, and they
have three children, namely: John J., who was born November 3, 1910; William
J., who was born July 16, 1912; and Ruth Mary, who was born November 10,
1914. Politically Mr. Flynn is a democrat and fraternally is a member of the
Elks, the Eagles and the Knights of Columbus. He belongs also to the North
892 QUTNCT AND ADAilS COUNTY
Side Boat Clnb and the Turners, and is a eanmnmieant in St. Peter's R<ian
Cathdie Chnreh.
Jaices Higgixs. An nnnsoal propom<3ii of lire's experiences has been be^
stowed upon James Higgins, one of the viddr knoim and pro^>Qtnis eitizois
aid farmers of Lima town^iip, who now owns and oeeiqties the oid TJiggiiis
homestead a mile and a half south of lima Village.
3ilr. Higgins was bom at Poa^bkee|)se. Dntehes Conntr, New York, March
15, 1S42. He was about fire years of age when his paroits eame west in tihe
fail <^ 1847 and made settlement in Lima Township. His father, Joseidi Hiy-
gins, was btHii in Coonty Antrim, Irdand. His moth^, Margaret Campbdl,
was Ae daa^ter of a BeroTntinnary sddior. Margarrt Campbd^'s mother
had 160 acres of land in Adams County granted her ImeiiMid beeaose of his
senriees in the war. It was this land grant whidi was (me fmebar at least in
bringing the Higgins and Campbdl •famili<'s ont to Western TTKimig Hiif^
MeCarty married TTanTiali H. Campbdl a dster of Margaret Campbefl. and
they had eome to Adams Connty several years before the Higgins party came.
Hn^ MeCarty was a sailor and was dissatisSed with life in this island 'e<>E!i-
mnnity and finally retomed East, never being heard of aftswards.
JoBefik Higgins made the trip West witii his &mi^ hy eanal, stc2 r. -
railroad. The party pa^ed over the famous ineline plane railroad
FoinsylTania. where the cars were drawn op the monntain by eallr
ting aeroes the moontains they stt^ped for a brief time at ^^t^ '
embarking on an Ohio Biro- steamboat. The yoongest diild of
then six miHitiis old. The fatho* and children were all on board,
was temporarily lost, and as the boat eooM not wait it left the — ^iiri
her. 9ie ean^t anoA^ boat immediately fidlowing. and ~ - ~ ~
rejmned her family, the in&nt baby being in great distre-
Joseph Hi^ins crl reaehing Adams County sealed on the
wife's mother. Mrs. Sarah Campbell who later moTed t
there in 184E. Joseph Higgii^ ranained <m that did farm. ^
of the farm <^ his son James, and died there Angnst 16, 1 - '
sixty-Sve. He and his wife had foor srais and two danghtr -
James Higgins was reared and edneated in Lima Townf
of 1861: left ti^ eoonty tar California. He arranged to
neighbor at Council Bhi^ and the party had to wait in __r ._
mder to get ^dr torn to cross the rivs' <m flie fory. There wer-
of teams and Tdneks leaving there for California almost ereiy dav.
his companions a^ed 31r. Hi^ins to stick by him nntil California ws> r
and he kept that ecHnpaet thon^ not without ccmsideraUe ineonve
danger to himsdf. This companicai. thoogh the foet wis not kn
time, was a deserter nom the army. The owner of the teams dis:
man at Pawne? HiM . and Mr. Higgins in ordo- to beep his word lii_ : .--t-
flie party also, and they started alone across fte plains mi foot. ilr. Hizgins
carried aboot srssy poonds of baggage, indnding orereoat ar- -- ""- -^
were maznr trying e:qpQrienee5^ Their food was chie^ driei
reaching lie desert they had no canteen to carry water ahd en^urea Zcmc.i
trials of thirst. The companion finally fdl down exhansted. wtfU Vt- Kie-
gins continued on some two miles until he found a water he
was swdDen and he was so huztgry and ediausted that he cool '
to the water, and he sat there far a time feding that hK las
I^ially a man came up who helped him to water, bnt he was uzi
for a time on account of his swollen tongue. He reriTed and _
also carried a bucket of water to his companion back on the tr^^ .-^
experience they secured a canteen, and thus passed over the danger:
desert stage of the journey. In 1S65 3Ir. Higgins went to West r"
At that time the Indians were hostile and were raiding ranches
tifflis. Thev had sworn hostilities to the whites because of an iner^esiac oi cruelty
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QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 893
perpetrated by some white men who had captured a young friendlj- Indian and
had shot him against the protest of several miners. This murder outraged
the rest of the tribe and brought about hostilities that were quieted with great
difficulty. In the fall of 1865 Mr. Higgins rode his pony from Boise City to
Denver, and then for a time served as a stage driver between Denver and
Buckskin Joe, 140 miles. He was caught in one of the awful blizzards of the
West, the storm striking him soon after leaving the lights of Denver behind, and
it was by a supreme effort that he tinally got his team tui-ned around and reached
safety in the city at daylight, numb and sleepy with cold.
In September, 1866, Jlr. Higgins returned to Quincy, but the following
spring went to Denver again and during that summer helped build a railroad
depot at Cheyenne, Wyoming. He did some railroad work near Nebraska City
at wages of .$1.50 a day. In 1868 he secured his share of his father's old home
and on February 22, 1870, he married Miss Prances Orr, daughter of William
and Martha (Woods) Orr. William Orr was a son of William Orr, Sr.
William Orr, Jr., at one time had a water mill two miles southwest of the
present farm of James Higgins on the White Oak Branch. James Higgins
as a boy frequently went to that mill to get corn ground into meal. Later
steam power was installed and a complete flour mill erected. The mill prop-
erty with a fine bodj- of land was later sold to Allen Wait, who removed the
machinery to a site on Bear Creek in Ursa Township. Wait erected two mills,
one of which had a chimney ninety-nine feet high. Both these mills were
burned, the last about 1874, and that closed the milling history of that place.
The original William Orr farm adjoined the Higgins farm, and on that place
William Orr, Sr., had in pioneer times, operated a small water mill. He died
there at the age of ninety-five, and is buried on a half acre plat on his farm,
several of his family lying in neighboring graves. William Orr, Jr., went out to
California in 1849. but returned to Adams County and lived here until his
death at the age of eighty. His) brothers Peter and Silas also went to Cali-
fornia. Silas died at Mar^-ville, California, while Peter passed away at Wash-
ington, District of Columbia.
At tlie time of his marriage Mr. James Higgins bought the other interests in
the old homestead, except one share, which had been sold in the meantime, and
he has never been able to secure that portion and complete his ownership of
the old place. As it is he has a complete farm of 173 acres, and has made it
both a productive business and a fine home. His house was built in 1875 and
his barn in 1880. For sis or eight years after 1883 Mr. Higgins also operated
a threshing outfit, and at one time he also conducted a hotel at Quincy. Mr.
Higgins lias made his way in the world largely through his individual experi-
ence and with few influences from the outside. He had meager schooling, nearly
all of it from two teachers, James Anderson and Henry Beisel.
ilr. and Mrs. Higgins had five children. Lucy, who was born April 5, 1876 ;
Maude, born October 28, 1878 ; Fanny, who died" at the age of twenty-one ; and
Fred and Bert. The son Bert is a farmer in Lima Township and bj- his mar-
riage to Mary Prazer has two children.
Joseph H. Vanden Boom. There has been no time in the last sixty-five
years when the name Vanden Boom has not been significant of some of the
larger business activities of Quincy. The Vanden Booms have been furniture
manufacturers and lumber dealers, bankers, pork packers, and through these
activities and their public spirited citizenship have contributed notably to the
growth and welfare of the city.
The name Vanden Boom is distinctive of its Holland Dutch origin. The
members of probably two generations of the family preceding that of the pioneer
at Quincy were natives of Holland and spent some portions of their lives in
Prussia, Germany. In Prussia was born Clement August Vanden Boom in 1818.
His parents died in Prussia when nearly ninety years of age. Clement A.
Vanden Boom as a youth was trained to the wood turning trade, and when
Vol. n— 11
894 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
about twenty-seven years of age he sought better opportunities and privileges
in the new world. He traveled to the United States from Bremen on a sailing
vessel. After landing in New York he settled at Cincinnati in 1848, and worked
at his trade there until 1851, when he came to Quiney. His early wages were
only 75 cents a day and half that amount was held out by his employers for
several months. While in Cincinnati he married iliss Gertrude Jessing. She
was a native of the same town in Prussia, and they had come over on the same
boat. On coming to Quiney Clement A. Vanden Boom bought a lot and erected
a small wood-turning shop, offering his services to the community for the
manufacture of any custom made furniture desired. His business prospered
and he built a good home on the same lot which contained his shop. His tirst
wife died there in 1861, at the age of thirty-seven. Her children were: Henry,
Louisa, Joseph, Lizzie, August and Paulina. In 1862 C. A. Yanden Boom
married Elizabeth Ellers, also a native of Genuany. She was a young woman
when she came with her brothers to America, being on the ocean six weeks and
landing in New Orleans, whence they .journeyed up the river to Quiney. After
this second marriage C. A. Vanden Boom and wife continued to live in the old
home at 429 North Tenth Street, and they were the parents of six children :
ilary, Bernard, Gertrude, William, Annie and Katie. The mother of these
children died about 1888. C. A. Yanden Boom who died in 1885, continued a
prospering business as a furniture manufacturer for eighteen years, but in 1870
entered the pork packing industry with Mr. Blomer, under the firm name of
Vanden Boom & Blomer, with plant at the corner of Tenth and Broadway.
That was his chief business interest until his death. C. A. Vanden Boom was
well known in the city's financial affairs, and also as a public spirited citizen
and for eight years served as an alderman. He and his family were members
of St. Boniface and later of St. Francis' Catholic parish.
Joseph H. Vanden Boom, son of C. A. and Gertrude (Jessing) Vanden
Boom, was born at Quiney August 6, 1854. During his youth he attended the
parochial schools and in 1869 graduated from the Bryant & Stratton Business
College. He had some valuable training during the next three years as clerk
in the Rieker Bank of Quiney, and from 1872 to 1875 was bookkeeper for Vanden
Boom & Blomer, pork packers. In July, 1875, Mr. Vanden Boom formed a
partnership witli Henry MoUer and established the lumber business of I\Ioller
& Vanden Boom. In a short time this firm, with jieadquarters at 636 Vermont
Street, was ranked among the leading lumber merchants of the city, handling
many million feet of lumber supplies every year. Mr. Moller of this firm died
in 1900, but there has been no important change in the family membership of
the business to the present time. In 1901 the old firm was incorporated as the
Moller-Vanden Boom Liimber Company, and Mr. Vanden Boom has been presi-
dent from the first. Henry Moller is secretary and Fred Moller treasurer of
the company. Mr. Vanden Boom has been a leader in the lumber business at
Quiney forty-three years. The corporation today is both wholesale and retail
in its organization, and owns and operates a number of branch yards in Illinois
and Missouri. Mr. Vanden Boom has witnessed and has adapted liimself to
many of the changes necessitated by difi'ering conditions in the lumber industry.
Formerly nearh' all the lumber of the firm was brought down the ^Mississippi
River from the northern woods in great rafts, while at the present time their
supplies are brought by railroad from the lumber mills of the south and the
shingle mills of the west and northwest.
Mr. Vanden Boom was one of the incorporators and is a director of the
Rieker National Bank of Quiney, a banking house with which he had some of
his early training. He is vice president of the Modern Iron Works and vice
president of the People's Savings, Loan and Building Association, and presi-
dent of the Barton Realty Company of St. Louis. Mr. Vanden Boom owns and
operates three farms in Saskatchewan, Canada, and also has a large cattle ranch
in the Panhandle of Texas. A prominent and wealthy citizen, he has made his
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 895
influence count in many waj's and in many movements for the welfare and
advancement of Quiucy. From 1878 to 1882 he served as alderman from the
Sixth Ward. He is a democrat in politics. Mr. Vanden Boom and family
occup3' one of the most artistic and complete modern homes in Quiney. His resi-
dence was erected in 1917, and combines all the facilities and improvements
which make for comfort both summer and winter. Mr. Vanden Boom after
business hours is usually at home, and finds his chief delight in the family
circle.
In 1876, at Quiucy, he married Miss Amelia Kaltz, who was born in Quiney,
and was educated in the local schools and a convent at Belleville, Illinois. She
was born in Quiney in 18.52. She died in 1880, the mother of two children:
Arthur, born in 1877 and died at the age of ten ; and Edward, who died when
six years old. In 1885 Mr. Vanden Boom married a sister of his first wife,
Julia Kaltz. Mrs. Vanden Boom was well educated, having finished her school-
ing in St. Mary's Academy at Nauvoo, Illinois. Her parents- were Adolph and
Julia (Delabar i Kaltz, natives of Germany and early settlei's of Quinej', where
they married and spent their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Vanden Boom are the parents
of two children, Joseph H., Jr., and Elvira Louise. The daughter graduated
from St. Mary's Academy in Nauvoo in 1902. Joseph H. Vanden Boom, Jr.,
who is a graduate of St. Canisius College at Buffalo, New York, is a prominent
and progressive young business man of Quiney, being one of the executive
officers of the ]\Iutual Fire Insurance Company, the Livestock Insurance Com-
pany and the Aer Sweep Company of Quiney. He married Gertrude Fisher,
daughter of George Fisher, of a well known Quiney family elsewhere mentioned.
Jfr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Vanden Boom, Jr., have two daughters, Harriet A,
and Mildred A.
Herm.vn H. Stockhecker. One of the older men of Quiney who can best
welcome and appreciate the services and sacrifices of the young soldiers who
return from abroad after the great war is Herman H. Stockhecker, who went
through a portion of our American Civil war, and has lived usefully and well
for the subsequent half century, bearing his responsibilities as a good citizen
and having an efficient business record to his credit.
Mr.- Stockhecker has lived in Adams County sixty-five years. He was born
in Germany, December 29, 1845, a son of Joseph and Anna H. Stockhecker
Joseph Stockhecker served in the German army and died when his son Her
man was only two years old. The widowed mother, ]Mrs. Anna (Bornmann)
Stockhecker, six years after her husband's death brought her children to
America. These children were Ann, Ricka and Herman H. They made the
voyage in 1853 on a sailing vessel, going from Bremen to New Orleans and
thence up the ilississippi River to Quiney. Here the family joined an older
daughter, Louise, who had come with friends some years previous. Mrs. Anna
Stockhecker spent the rest of her days in Adams County and died in 1888, at
the age of seventy-nine. She was a Lutheran, as was her husband. Louise
married Herman Haney and died leaving a family of sons and daughters.
Anna married Casper Haney and also left children. Ricka married John Heid-
breder, and both are now deceased, being survived by four sons and three
daughters.
Herman H. Stockhecker was eight years old when he came to this country
and he grew up in Quiney. He attended the parochial schools, and had been
earning his own living for some time prior to his enlistment for service in the
Union army.
An authentic record of his military experience is as follows : He enlisted from
Quiney February 14, 1865, to serve one year or during the war, and was mus-
tered into the United States service at Quiney on the same day as a private of
Capt. Charles H. Heidbreder's Company H, Fourteenth Regiment, Illinois
Volunteer Infantry, Col. Adolph Dengler commanding. This company was
896 QUINCY AND ADAilS COUNTY
recruited to fill up the quota of the Forty-Third Regiment and joined that regi-
ment at Little Rock, Arkansas. The regiment had been in service from the first
year of the war, and participated in the capture of Little Rock, Arkansas, in the
summer of 1863 and was the first regiment to enter that city. During the latter
period of his sei-vice and while ]\Ir. Stockhecker was a member of the regiment
it was in the operations at Arkadelphia in Arkansas, Okalona, Elkin's Ford,
Prairie De'Ann, Moscow, Camden, Marks Hills and Jenkins Ferry, and from
there returned to Little Rock. He performed guard duty, taking part in a
number of expeditions and raids and was mustered out of the service November
30, 1865, returning to Camp Butler. Illinois, for final pay and discharge. Her-
man H. Stockhecker was always to be found at his post of duty and rendered
faithful and meritorious service, earning commendation for soldierly bearing
and good conduct at all times. He was sick during his ser%'ice and confined
in a regimental hospital at Little Rock about three weeks. He received an hon-
oi-able disehai-ge at Springfield November 30, 1865, by reason of close of the war.
For many years he has been a member of John "Wood Post No. 96, Department
of Illinois, Grand Army of the Republic.
Before enlisting he had worked in the foundry of Thomas "Wick at Quincj',
and was taken back when he returned from the army and continued there two
years. He and Frank West then formed a partnership as wood merchants,
shipping large quantities of wood up and down the Mississippi River. Three
years later he bought Mr. West 's interests and continued the business for sixteen
years. He also acquired some 400 acres of timber land in Pike County and oper-
ated it extensively as a timber man for several years. At one time he had
700 acres of timber land. On selling that property he invested the pro-
ceeds in city real estate. When he left the wood business he and Samuel Woods
engaged in the wholesale and retail brick trade for eight years. Mr. Stockliecker
then bought the interests of his partner and continued the business on his own
account vuitil 1906, at which date he foi-mally retired, and has since looked after
his private afi'aii's. For a number of years Mr. Stockhecker resided at 305
South Eighth Street, but his present home is at 2546 Vermont Street.
March 23, 1868, he married at Quiney Miss Anna Fleer. She was born in
Germany December 28, 1846, and at the age of six years was brought to this
country in a sailing vessel to New Orleans and thence to Quiney by her parents,
Herman and Anna Fleer. Her parents spent the rest of their days in Quiney
and died when about three score and ten years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Stock-
hecker became the parents of the following children : Anna, Herman, Ida, Wil-
liam, George, Lillie, Albert, Edward, Walter and Flora. Anna now lives at
Fort Madison, Iowa, the widow of Peter Werner, and her children are Frank
Louis Paul, Peter and Lillian. Herman H., Jr., aged forty-six, lives at St. Louis
and is a concrete finisher. He married Eva Shoop and has a son, Leroy. Ida
is the wife of Anton Abbott, of Quiney, and their children are George, Edna,
Arthur, Elva, Anton and Clarence. Lillie first married George Pliirman by
whom she had two children, and after his death became the wife of Willis Thoele,
and they now live in Detroit, Michigan. Albert is chief engineer of the Electric
Light and Power plant at Quiney. He married Emma Williams, of Quiney, and
his children are Russell, Ralph and Ruth. Edward is a stove molder and by his
marriage to Nina Gordon has two sons, James and Lloyd. Walter is a night
foreman in the Quinej' postoiSee. He married Lillie Dickhut, and has a son,
Victor, born on Victory Day, November 11, 1918. The j'oungest of the children.
Flora E., married Lawrence William Sturhahn, who is connected with the
Standard Oil Company. They have a daughter, Betty Ann, aged two years.
All the family are members of the Lutheran Church and Mr. Stockliecker is a
republican voter.
John F. Alison. For almost half a century Mr. Alison was a resident of
Adams County and was a real substantial factor in the development of the farm-
ing and civic community of Ellington Township. It would be difficult to find a
QUINCY AND ADA:MS COUNTY 897
more attractive place than the Walnut Dell Farm, and certainly no people are
more highly esteemed in that community than the Alison family.
The Alison family has been in America for more than a century and a half
and have exemplified the sturdy traits of loyal and patriotic citizens. Mr. John
P. Alison's ^audfather, John Alison, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary
war. Mr. Allison's father, Andrew Alison, was bom either in Kentucky or
Virginia, and was a pioneer settler in Nicholas Count}' of the former state. He
grew up with only such advantages as were supplied in an educational way in the
early part of the last century. He was reared and acted as a democrat until the
birth of the republican party, when he was recruited into its ranks. In 1846,
at the time of the Mexican war, Andrew Alison took his family from Kentucky
to Putnam County, Indiana, and on a farm in that localitj^ he spent the rest of
his days. Andrew Alison married Elizabeth Hedges, and both were members
of the Presbyterian Church and died in that faith in Putnam County, where
they have their last resting place. Elizabeth Hedges was also a native of Ken-
tucky'. They were the parents of eight children, seven sons and one daughter,
two of whom are still living, William H. and Robert R. The two brothers are
members of the Presbyterian Church and republican voters. William H. is a
retired farmer living in San Jose, California, and has four children, while Robert
is farming at Paola, Kansas, and his family consists of three children.
John F. Alison was boi-n near the To^'n of Mooi'estield in Nicholas County,
Kentuckv, IMarch 1, 1834. His span of live covered more than fourscore years,
and within his personal recollection occurred many of the most astonishing
events and inventions which have moved the modern world. He was about
twelve years old when his parents moved to Putnam County, Indiana, and the
trip was made in true pioneer style with wagons and teams. In Putnam County
he gi-ew to manhood. His education was acquired in some of the typical old-
fashioned schools that have been so frequently described in the literature of the
period. The school that stood most clearly in his memory was built of logs, had
a clapboard roof, while the seats were made of split logs supported from the
floor by means of pins. He wi'ote his copy with the old goosequill pen, fash-
ioned by the teacher, and used other equipment such as cannot be found in the
modern schools. In one thing the old time schools did excel, and that wa-s
the strict attention paid to the practical and fundamental principles of knowl-
edge. Mr. Alison had little time to attend even siich schools as did exist in his
youth, since much responsibility rested upon him in looking after the farm and
contributing his earnings to the family support.
Mr. Alison married for his first wife Miss Angelina Brown. They had two
children, only one of whom is now living. Lanvel. Lanvel is manager of his
mother's farm in Ellington Township. He was given a good common school
education and also a business course in Musselman's Business College at Quincy.
He married jMiss Charlotte Cook. They had four children, Martha, John C.,
Robert F. and M^-ra Angelina. He and his wife are members and he is an elder
of the Presbyterian church in Ellington To-n'nship. He is one of the leading
republicans in that to^'nship, has served as township clerk and is chairman of
the Town Board and the sale of Liberty Loan bonds. He is one of the men vig-
orously upholding the cause of the great war.
Mr. Alison's first wife died in 1876 and is laid to rest in Putnam County,
Indiana. On March 12. 1879, Mr. Alison married Miss Lucinda Hedges. Mrs.
Alison is a native of Adams County. She was born January 17, 1838, and her
birthplace was a little log cabin that stood on the site of the present home of
Mr. and Mrs. Alison. She has spent all her life in this county and her family
goes back to the truly pioneer times of this section. Her parents when they
first located here saw Indian tepees on their land. She gained her education
in much the same kind of schools attended by her husband. Her first school was
the old brick school, which lay southeast of the Hedges farm. It will serve to
indicate the long span of years which Mr. and Mrs. Alison lived to note that
America has been engaged in four great wars since they were children, the war
898 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
with Mexico, the Civil war, the war with Spain and now the war with Germany.
Mrs. Alison was well educated and from the common schools attended Abingdon
College at Abingdon, Illinois. She was granted a teacher's eertitieate. She was
formerly a member of the Christian Church, but is now active in the Presbyterian
faith, and has served as treasurer of the Ladies' Aid Society, and has done
much to maintain church functions in her communitj-.
Mrs. Alison's father was liorn and reared in Kentucky and was one of the
stanch farmers of Adams County for many years. He bought 160 acres of land
in Ellington Township and his property enabled him to accumulate much other
property. He began voting as a whig and he and his wife were members of the
Christian Church. Both her parents were buried in Ursa Township.
ilr. Alison as a republican cast his first presidential vote for Abraham
Lincoln. With his wife and son he owned 110 acres of fine land in Ellington
and Ursa townships, and this estate is widely known as the Walnut Dell Farm.
It is a center of productive agriculture and is also a home of cordial greeting
to their numerous friends. With his wife Mr. Alison has enjo.yed life as they
went along and accepted opportunity to travel and see their own country.
They spent some time on the Pacific coast in the cities of San Francisco, Los
Angeles and San Jose, and also visited the grasshopper State of Kansas. John
F. Alison died on the 18th of September, 1918.
Henry C. Cupp will go down to fame in Adams County chiefly as "the
apple king." As a specialist in apple raising in this section of the country,
and as a general horticulturist, Mr. Cupp's work and influence have licen of
inestimable value not only locally but throughout the slate and nation. By
years of patient effort and study he developed a magnificent apple orchard
in Pall Creek Township, and not only grew apples by the thousands of barrels
but applied himself to the studj^ and solution of the many problems affecting
the distribution of the apple ci'op and to organizing the fruit growers of the
state and nation for the general welfare of all concerned.
Mr. Cupp about 1875 determined to develop part of his farm in Fall Creek
Townsliip to an apple orchard. Out of that he gradually built up what became
widely known as the Diamond C Fruit Ranch. The nucleus of this ranch was
ten acres of apple orchard. In 1880 he set out seventeen acres, chiefly of Ben
Davis. In 1897-98 he continued his planting by increasing his acreage 120
acres. His crop of 1897 was sold for over !};400 per acre. For a numlier of
years he handled the gx'owing, packing and marketing of the products of his
150 acres of orchard and in that time marketed many thousands of barrels
of the choicest fruit grown anywhere in the Mississippi Valley. ^Ir. Cupp was
both a scientific and practical orchardist. He did much to popularize the
.spraying of trees in Adams County, and it is said that he was the first man
to use a gasoline engine for power in operating his spraying tank. ]\Ir. Cupp
owned a farm of 336 acres, and besides his orchard conducted general farming
and stock raising. He was the first to introduce Poll Angus cattle into Adams
County and was also a successful breeder of Chester White swine. As a busi-
ness man he continued active until 1916, since which year he has lived retired
in Quinc3^
Mr. Cupp was born in Steuben County, Indiana, October 30, 1848. He is
of Holland Dutch ancestry. His father, Jacob Cupp, was liorn in Pennsyl-
vania and married in Ohio Dorcas Ann Smith, who was of French and Eng-
lish lineage. Jai'ob Cu]ip and family moved in 1858 from Steuben County,
Indiana, to Shelby County. Missouri, where he was a farmer. He was a
stanch abolitionist, and it required a great deal of courage to live in that .sec-
tion of Missouri at the time. Some of his property was stolen, and he was
threatened with personal violence, until finally General McNeal made a public
proclamation that if the life of Mr. Cupp was taken he would execute ten of
his rebel neighbors. Jacob Cupp died in Shelby Count.v, Missouri, in 1874.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 899
His wife passed away in 1859. They had seven children: Catherine, Louis,
John S., Theodore, George, Henry C. and Frank.
Henry C. Cupp was a small boy when his mother died, and he has always
looked upon his sister Catherine as his second mother. Catherine Cupp was
born November 18, 1839, and married William Cook, who was born in 1824
and left her a widow in 1876. Mrs. Catherine Cook now lives at Shreveport,
Louisiana. She was the mother of six sons and one daughter: Lewis S., who
is a successful farmer near Slater, Missouri, is married and has a family of
sous and daughters; Jacob E., a fanner also near Slater, is married and has
two daughters; Anna, wife of Benjamin Boring, also a farmer near Slater;
Frederick, Ulrich and Edwin T., who all live near their mother at Shreve-
port, Louisiana, Frederick and Ulrich being married; and Frank C, who
has a large farm under lease near Hannibal, ilissouri.
Henry C. Cupp had three brothers who made records as soldiers in the
Civil war. Lewis C. and John S. were both members of the Third Missouri
Cavalry, and served all through the war. Theodore was a private in the
Thirty-Ninth Missouri Infantry and was out for about one year. Lewis C.
died in Rails County, Missouri, in 1901, leaving a family of children. John
was also a ilissouri farmer and stock raiser, as is Theodore. Henry C. Cupp
received most of his early education in the schools of Shelby County, Missouri,
and also attended Palmyra College at Palmyra, INIissouri. He moved to Adams
County, niinois, in 1870, when about twenty -two years old, and in this county
his active career has reached its most definite achievement. When at the
height of his work as an apple grower he employed about 200 men in his orchard
during the busy season, and the harvest was not infrequently as high as 10,000
barrels. Necessarily he had to provide extensive quarters for housing the
lalioi- during the harvest, and he built a large house on his farm for that purpose.
In 1871 Mr. Cupp married in Adams County Miss Frances L. Rankin, who
was born in Fall Creek Township in 1852. She was reared there, attended the
local schools, and also the college at Jacksonville. She was a daughter of
Robert and Sarah J. (Edmonds) Rankin. Her father was born in Kentucky
of Scotch ancestry and her mother in Tennessee of Irish stock. Robert Rankin
and wife were married in Adams County, Illinois, and he became active as a
farmer in Fall Creek Township and was also one of the pioneer peach growers
in the county. They were devoted Christian people, members of the Methodist
Church, and through their charity assisted many deserving people.
Mrs. Cupp died on the farm in Adams County January 25, 1916. She
was very active in the Methodist Church. To their marriage were born four
children, three of whom died in infancy, and all are buried in the old Fall
Creek Cemetery. The only surviving daughter is Lillie Jane, who was born in
Adams County January 28, 1872, and was educated in the countr.y schools and
four years at Chaddock College. July 26, 1893, she married Perry W. Sapp,
of Macomb, Illinois. Mr. and ]\lrs. Sapp now live at Springfield. Mr. Sapp
has been active in public affairs and is now engaged in the apple commission
business at Springfield. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Sapp are : Stanley C,
now a clerk in the railway postal service on the Santa Fe Railroad, married
and the father of two children: Whitney F., who is connected with the Balti-
more & Ohio Railway, is married and has a son Whitney, Jr. ; Lulu Miriam,
who graduated with the class of 1917 from the Springfield High School and is
a very talented musician, being a violinist.
Mr. Cupp, and the same is true of his son-in-law, ;\Ir. Sapp, is a verj-
radical republican. However, he has seldom sought official honors, though he
was once candidate for state representative. Mr. Cupp is affiliated with Payson
Lodge No. 379, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Quincy, also the Royal
Arch Chapter and Knight Templar Commandery and Eastern Star, and has
been active in Masonry for thirty-nine years. He was formerly identified with
the Independent Order of Odd P'ellows. With all his well deserved fame as
a horticulturist many people in Adams County know Mr. Cupp chiefly because
900 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
of his practical philanthropy, and his charities though extensive have been
unostentatious and chiefly known by their recipients. He was largely responsi-
ble for founding and building the Union Church in Fall Creek. Naturally his
name has been associated with many of the large horticultural organizations.
He was one of the organizers of the Mississippi Apple Growers' Association in
1897, was honored as its present for the first six years and later served another
ioxir years as president and is now vice president. He was one of the organizers
of the National Apple Growers' Association and its first president. The present
head of the national organization is Senator Dunlap of Illinois. Mr. Cupp has
for thirty-five years been a life member of the Illinois State Horticultural
Society, is a correspondent of the State Agricultural Society, and for a number
of years has been reporter of the annual crop, stock and fruit conditions in
Adams County for the National Department of Agriculture. For three j^ears
he served as president of the Adams County Fair Association and has been a
director ten years. For a long period of years he served as delegate to the
National Farmers' Congress. These delegates are appointed by the governor
and Mr. Cupp received the appoiutment both from democratic and republican
executives. Mr. Cupp was candidate for county clerk of Adams County on the
republican ticket in 1918, and went dowTi with all candidates on that ticket.
He, however, feels perfectly satisfied over the results, as there was a 2,000
democratic majority to overcome in the county.
John W. Egbees is one of the best knowTi citizens of Adams and Hancock
counties, and while his chief business interests have been as a farmer he has
also gained something of a public character, because of the ability with which
he prosecuted many cases before justice courts and as an auctioneer. Mr.
Egbers now lives on one of the good farm homes of Honey Creek Township,
21/2 miles northeast of Mendon.
He was born in Kocky Run Township of Hancock County August 8, 1853,
son of Charles and Magdalena Egbers. His parents were both born in Germany
and were married at New Orleans. They settled at Quincy in 1838, and had
many opportunities to .secure choice land at the Government price of $1.25
per acre. They finally settled on the bottoms a mile from the Mississippi
River in Hancock County. Their home was almost destroyed by the flood
of 1851, and they then moved their residence back on the high ground and lived
there the rest of their days. The father died at the age of seventy-two and
the mother at eighty-three.
John W. Egbers grew up on the farm. From boyhood his ambition and
inclination looked toward a public career as a lawyer. However, his mother's
influence and strong will did much to thwart his purpose. His mother fre-
quently said "We have raised seven sons, all farmers" and she made provision
accordingly for her son John "W. Adjacent to the home place she bought land
at $40 an acre, carrying $3,900 debt at nine per cent interest and insisted that
her son should take possession and cultivate it. "While he yielded in this par-
ticular, ]\Ir. Egbers was determined to get the best education possible and
train himself for a position of influence among his fellow men. He read law,
and he also took steps to overcome his retiring and modest disposition. He
attended many local schoolhouse debates, and was especially impi*essed by the
fact that the president of the society at one time was so halting and lacking in
knowledge of parliamentary practice that he could not even put a motion.
It was his painful example that proved one of the influencing causes leading
Mr. Egbers to train himself for public speaking. He took part in the local
debates whenever possible and M'as soon recognized as one of the keenest and
most resourceful speakers of the neighborhood. He also qualified to practice
before the Justice Court and handled many cases for twenty years. He is
disposed to take a somewhat humorous view of some of his eai-ly cases, and says
that what he lacked in knowledge of the law and experience lie made up with
a noisy plea and usually won his contention. At one time he had the reputa-
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 901
tion of being the ablest pettifogger in Hancock or Adams County. He never
carried this work far enough to be admitted regularly to the bar, and that has
been one of the greatest regi-ets of his life. ilr. Egbers for some years was an
able auctioneer and his services were in great demand for that. In the mean-
time the duties of his farm engaged his time and energies, and he also handled
real estate. IVIr. Egbers owned a fine bodv of land, though inconveniently situ-
ated. This 120 acres Mr. Egbers sold in the fall of 1917 for $200 an acre. In
1917 he bought his present place, the old Felger farm in Honey Creek Town-
ship. He has a place of 167 acres, well improved, and has occupied its beau-
tiful home and surroundings since the spring of 1918. The house was built a
number of years ago of the verj' finest of lumber. There is also a lai'ge bank
barn, and the homestead takes on additional attractiveness because of the fine
grove of trees.
Mr. Egbers is a republican and a thorough believer in the protection prin-
ciple. He has always kept in close touch with the world's events by reading
and observation. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World.
For three years he served a.s a member of the local school board and took his
official responsibilities very seriously, visiting school every month.
At the age of twenty-one Mr. Egbers married Addie Massey. Of the three
children born to their marriage two died iu one week from diphtheria. The
only survivor is Oval, now a resident of Lima, Illinois. In February-, 1884,
Mr. Egbers married Viola Peoples. They have three children: James R., who
now wears the uniform of an American soldier and is in France; Ollie, Mrs.
William Williams, of Hancock County ; and John Warren, a fanner in Han-
cock County. Sir. and Mrs. Egbers have as a member of their household Miss
Laura Shaw, a bright and attractive young lady who is very fortunate to eujoy
the privileges of the Egbers home.
John A. Hellee. Actively identified with the history of Quincy, there
will ever be accorded to John A. Heller a tribute of honor as a man of sterling
integrity, and as one who has contributed generously to the progress and pros-
perity of his native city, his benefactions having won for him the title of
"Grand Old ]\ran," a name bj- which he is familiarly known throughout the
city and county. A native of Quincy, he was born February- 1, 1844, in the
house located at the corner of Seventh and Jersey streets, where his parents,
George Philip and Elizabeth D. (Walthaus) Heller, were then living. The
father was accidentally killed by falling from a house in 1850, leaving his wife
with five young children to support.
Left fatherless in childhood, John A. Heller began early in life to assist his
widowed mother in supporting her little family, his first employment having
been in a local hotel, where he received .$1 a week as general utility boy. He
gradually worked his way upward, being successively waiter and cook, and
in 1874 opened a hotel in Quincy. In 1860 'Sir. Heller was cook on a Mississippi
River steamboat, after which he spent four years at sea, being employed as
eook and steward, and in that capacity visited every continent except Australia.
Returning to Quincy, he then opened a greenhouse, and was successfully en-
gaged in business as a horticulturist and florist for thirty years, but is now
living retired from active pursuits, enjoj'ing a well-earned leisure.
A faithful, loyal and public-spirited citizen, believing nothing is too good
for Quincy. Mr. Heller has donated liberally to various worthy causes. He
was the first to contribute toward purchasing a site for the State Armory at
Quincy, and toward the building of the new shoe factory, and later he won the
gratitude of the people by giving ^6,000 in cash towards erecting a permanent
home and exposition building for the Quincy Chamber of Commerce, of which
he is an esteemed and useful member.
An intelligent reader and a keen observer, Mr. Heller is a self-educated man,
having a comprehensive knowledge of science and nature. He has written many
works of note, and in 1912 he presented to the Quincy Public Library 100
902 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
copies of his "Scientific Volumes." He also compiled in 1870 a chart of all
the lines and signs of geometry, and a chart comparing zoology to geologj', and
/both of these charts, and a cabinet containing upwards of 1,000 fossils and
mineral specimens, he gave to the Quincy High School, ilr. Heller is a tirm
believer in evolution, being a faithful disciple of Darwin, Spencer and Draper.
As strong physically as mentally, Mr. Heller enjoys life, and expects to watch
for many more years the wonderful developments of modern science and elec-
tricity yet to come.
Mr. Heller married Martha Jane Weidenhammer, who was born in Ohio,
and died at her home in Quincy November 9, 1910, leaving no children. In
politics Mr. Heller is independent.
John T. Hewitt is one of the most widely known stock men in Western
Illinois. For many years his specialty, carried on at his farm in Honey Creek
Township 2% miles east of IMendon, has been the breeding of the finest of
Percheron horses and the Mammoth Jacks and Jennets. Some of the finest
animals of these types in the world have been kept or produced on the Hewitt
farm, and his industry has been one of the important factors in raising the
.standards of livestock production in Adams County and over a wide territory
around here.
Mr. Hewitt was born in Honey Creek Township March 9, 1856, son of Wil-
liam and Elizabeth (Kells) Hewitt. His parents came from County Cavan.
Ireland, with four children, leaving on a sailing vessel January 1, 18-50, and
on account of storms and other delays spending several months on the ocean
before landing at New Orleans. They came up the river and landed a1 Quincy
on the first of May and soon afterward settled in Mendon Township, where
William Hewitt had relatives including his brother Thomas, who had come in
1849, and Samuel Heaney, who had accompanied Thomas Hewitt to this coun-
try. William Hewitt in order to make a living for his family and gain the
experience necessary for independent agriculture, spent a year working for
Deacon Weed on his farm in Honey Creek Township, and for three years was
with Amos Scranton. At the end of that time he bought a tract of wild land,
using the savings from his wages to make the first payment. He had also ac-
quired one or two teams, and at once took up the improvement and develop-
ment of the eighty acres which constitutes the present home. He built a log
house, and though the land was all in timber except two acres he managed to
live from its proceeds, largely from the sale of wood, which he cut and hauled
from the place. William Hewitt lived honorably and usefully in that commu-
nity until his death January 10, 1884, at the age of seventy-seven. His widow
survived him many years and passed away in 1907. when almo.st ninety-five
years old. William Hewitt built the good substantial house that is now stand-
ing on the farm in 1871, also liuilt and improved the barns from time to time,
and before his death had acquired an additional eighty acres. After getting
American citizenship he affiliated with the republican party and his sons have
followed his example. He was reared in the Episcopal Church and was member
of the vestry of the church at ^tendon. His wife was the oldest member of
that church at the time of her death. William Hewitt and wife had the fol-
lowing children : Mary, who has never married and lives at home with her
T)rother John. Robert, who when a young man went out to Nebraska and died
in the State of Washington at the age of fifty. Eliza, who is the second wife
of James Mealiff^, of Honey Creek To^niship : Jane, who was the first wife of
James ]\Iealiff and died at the age of thirty ; ^Mattie, unmarried and at home :
William, who died at the age of fifteen : John ; and Anna, who lives on the farm
in Honey Creek Township, the widow of William Taylor.
John T. Hewitt since the death of his parents has shared the old homestead
with his two unmarried sisters, and they have always lived together in utmost
harmony and with great advantage and efficiene.y in their co-operation in business
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 903
affairs. So well satisfied have tliey been with their home life that none of them
has so far sought other companionship by marriage.
As alreadj- noted, the principal industry of John T. Hewitt is stock raising
and stock breeding. He has now and has had in the past a number of the splen-
did registered mares and stallions of the Perc-heron breed. In this industry
he is one of the American breeders who are planning and preparing to render
an important service to Belgium when the time for reconstruction begins. The
Percheron horses, as is well known, originated in Northern France and Belgium
and practically all the animals of that strain in the war zone have been de-
stroyed or taken by the Germans. It will therefore devolve upon American
breeders largely, especially those who are members of the National Percheron
Breeders' Association, to restock France and Belgium when the war is over.
During the la.st twenty years Mv. Hewitt has also bred the famous Mammoth
Jacks and Jennets and is a member of the National Association of Breeders of
Mammoth Jacks. While Kentucky and ^Missouri have a great reputation for
their mule production, it is a fact well known among the leaders in that indus-
try that many of the mules that come to maturity in those states are bred in
Illinois. Many of the fine mules as well as the draft horses found on the farms
of Adams County are directly the result of the enterprise carried on by Mr.
Hewitt. He is one of the two men in Adams County who handle thoroughbred
Percheron horses, the other being George Erich of Golden. Mr. Hewitt has
exhibited his animals at many local fairs, and most of the owners and others
interested in Percheron stock all over the country are familiar with some of
the records and results of his farm and stables.
Mr. Hewitt is a republican, attends the Episcopal Church at Mendon. has
filled all the chairs in the local lodge of Odcl Fellows and sat in the Grand
Lodge and his sisters are active in the Rebekahs. He has served as school
trustee for some years and in politics is a republican. The first petition for
a rural free delivery route to go to Washington from Adams County was pre-
pared by ilr. Hewitt, assisted by Mr. David Wilcox, then postmaster at Quincy.
As a result one of the first routes establi.shed supplied Mr. Hewitt and his neigh-
bors. That was about twenty years ago.
George Steixagel was for many years one of the capable citizens, progressive
farmers and homemakers of Gilmer Township. He received inspiration as well
as practical assistance in his work from his very capable wife, who as his widow
still occupies the farm which their joint eft'orts gained for them a mile and a half
east of Fowler on the Cannon Ball Trail.
The name Steinagel has been identified with Adams Countj^ for a great many
years. Originally the name in German was Steuernagel. George Steinagel was
horn August 3, 1855, in Melrose Township and died at his home December 25,
1909, at the age of fifty-four. His parents were Adam and ilinnie (Fisher)
Steinagel. Adam Steinagel was a native of Germany and was married in Adams
County. The principal provisions which marked the festivities celebrating
their wedding consisted of potato pancakes. Adam Steinagel died when his son
George was twelve years old. He left a widow and five children, the oldest
being fourteen. The widowed mother had proved herself a most capable woman
even before her marriage, since she had come alone to America and had pro-
vided the means by which her parents were able to come over. Mrs. Adam
Steinagel lived on a 120 acre farm near Fowler, and gave her children a good
education and upbringing. She died in 1899. Her five children were : George ;
Julia, who died at the age of fifty-one. the wife of August Schroeder; Caro-
line, who lives with her brother Henry, whose home is near Fowler; and William
H., who has the old homestead.
Georare Steinagel on April 9, 1885, married Caroline Lena ]Moolring, daugh-
ter of Henry and Henrietta (Renter) Moolring. After their marriage Mr. and
Mrs. George Steinagel located on a farm which Mr. Steinagel had owned .jointly
with his brothers. He acquired as his share seventy acres and continued the
904 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
partnership relations i;ntil about three years before his death. He and his
wife then bought 172 acres additional, giving them a total of 242 acres. On
part of the present farm Mrs. Steinagel was born September 1, 1865. Her
father was at that time renting this land. When she was a girl eight years
old she* went to another fann in that vicinity. Her father Hemy Lloolring,
was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1827, and was thirty-five years of age when
he came to the United States in 1862. He arrived here with practicallj- nothing,
and did farm work of the heaviest kind, cradling wheat and cutting timber.
He married at Qnincy Henrietta Renter, also of German ancestry, and after
their marriage they rented in Gilmer Township a mile and a half south of
Fowler, and later lived in Ellington Township, and finally moved to the farm
where he and his wife spent their later years in comfort and plenty. Mrs. Stein-
agle's father died November 15, 1900. Her mother died in 1899 aged sixty-five.
They were the parents of five daughters and one son. The son now owns the
old homestead. One daughter died in childhood and Emma at the age of
twenty. Tlie daughter Anna is Mrs. Henry Kollmeyer, while Mrs. Steinagel's
other sister married Mr. W. H. Steinagel, her husband's brother.
Sirs. Steinagel has distinguished herself as a very capable business woman.
Her share of her father's estate she converted into the 172 acres that now com-
prises part of the Steinagel farm, and she was also deserving of much credit in
assisting her husband in paying for the first farm. She now retains the active
management of both places, and is in partnership with her tenant.s. She gives
her close attention to stock and her judgment is one that is seldom at fault in the
practical affairs of farm and stock husbandry, ilr. Steinagel was for some
years a practical thresherman. He was also active in elections and was a repub-
lican, serving as tax collector, assessor and school director and for eight years
as a justice of the peace. He was also a trustee of his church.
Mrs. Steinagel lives in a good counti-y home which was built about 1880.
She has no children of her own, but her nephew, Fred Kollmeyer, who was
with her seven years, is now married and living in the same neighborhood. For
the last year she has also had Martha Hagemeyer as one of her household. ^Irs.
Steinagel is active in the Lutheran Church at Fowler.
Henry Bornmann was born in Quincy May 1, 1846. His parents were
John and Katherine (Bald) Bornmann, who emigrated from the Grandduchy
of Hessen, Germany, and arrived in Quincy November 12, 1845. At the age
of six Henry Bornmann was sent to school, which he attended for seven years.
Then he was apprenticed in the printing office of the Quincy Tribune, a German
daily and weekly paper. After he had served his apprenticeship of three years
he was apprenticed to a tinner to learn the tinner's trade. At the age of
eighteen he answered the call of President Lincoln for "three hundred thousand
more,"' and enlisted in the LTnion army, serving as corporal in Company H,
Forty-Third Illinois Infantry, to the end of the war, returning to Quincy with
his company December 20, 1865. He then completed his apprenticeship with the
tinner and worked as a journeyman until the end of 1867. In February, 1868,
he returned to the printing business and worked for T. M. Rogers on the Rural
"West, an agricultural monthly; then in the job department of the office until
May, 1874, wlien he became foreman in the office of the Quincy Tribune. In
November, 1874, he became foreman in the office of the Germania Printing and
Publishing Company, and continued until November, 1885, when he resigned
to accept the editorship on a new publication, the Quincy Teutonia. A year
later this paper suspended and in Januaiy, 1887, he again entered the office
of the Quincy Germania, finally becoming editor of the paper, which position he
held for many years. September 1, 1914, he accepted a position as reporter on
the Quincy Herald, being engaged as such until .June, 1917.
May 16, 1872, Henry Bornmann married Miss Katherine Uebner, of Pall
Creek Township. She "died March 20, 1881, leaving two daughters, Rosalie
fUyH^ /^
' ^A/Zy''yi^^7y^y7 i^^^Z^^P^^""^—
LIBRARY
K THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 905
Maria, wife of Herman Stork ; and Clara Sophia, widow of Henrj' Budde. May
10, 1883, Henry Bornmaun married for the second time, chosing as his wife
Miss Hanna Niehaus, boi-n in Quiney. Their children were : Ida Johanna, wife
of Professor William Heidbreder; Hilda Wilhelmina, wife of William Lepper;
J. Henrj' Bornmann, a chemist, in the service of the Government; Alma became
the wife of John Rettig and died in 1913 ; Irene, at home ; and Ruth, a steno-
grapher in the service of the Government.
0. Frank Waddell. The original settlement of Adams County was made
by people of the sturdy old American stock, and the pioneers were the more
representative of American ideals because they came from both the south and
north Atlantic states, combining here the ideals and customs of practically all
the original thirteen colonies.
Of that old American stock one of the earliest representatives in Adams
County was the Waddell family, represented by I\Ir. Frank 0. Waddell of Quiney-
His great-grandfather, Jesse, married Elizabeth Griffin, and they had seven
children. He was one of the early settlers of Adams County. Mr. Waddell 's
grandfather was born in Monroe County, Illinois, in 1796, more than twenty
years before Illinois was admitted to the Union. When the second war with
Great Britain came on he entered the service as a scout, and participated in
a number of engagements but escaped unhurt. He married Millie Thompson,
who was born in Pendleton District of South Carolina in 1799. Her family
had come to St. Clair County, Illinois, at an early day and she gi'cw up there.
In Morgan County was born James 0. Waddell on November 8, 1822. He
was seven years of age when his pai-ents moved to Adams County and in 1829
settled on a tract of Govei-nment land four miles northwest of the village of
Paysou. The title to this tract of land was granted during Monroe's admin-
istration. The grandparents spent the rest of their lives there, the grandfather
dying a the age of seventy-nine and the grandmother at about seventy-five.
They were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The grandfather affili-
ated with the democratic party until after 1856, when he joined the republican
ranks. Of nine children three grew up and married and all had families, and
'all are now deceased.
James 0. Waddell was reared in Payson Township and at Paloma in this
county married Miss Lu(nnda Ogle. She was bom in Butler County, Ohio,
April 11, 1835, daughter of Edward and Mary (Young) Ogle, both natives of
Pennsylvania. In 1845 they came west and settled in Gilmer Township of
Adams County, and Edward Ogle died there in 1856, at the age of fifty-two
and his wife in 1879. She was born in 1804. The Ogles were also a Methodist
family, and Edward Ogle was a democrat in politics. Their children consisted
of Jacob, Howard, Lucinda, Frank, Elizabeth, Rettie and Mattie, all of whom
married. Mattie now lives in California, widow of Miles England.
James Waddell after his marriage lived in Gilmer Towaiship on the farm now
owned by his son Frank. He died there February 18, 1894, and his wife on
October 31, 1915. They were active Methodists. Of their children, Charles
lives in Quiney, is married and has two children, Elliot and Bulah. Laura is
the wife of Polk Pierce, and they lived retired at Canyon City, Colorado, and
their daughters Grace and Lula are both married. The next in age is 0. Frank
Waddell. Edward is a farmer at Shelton. Nebraska, and has a daughter, ilabel,
who is married. The youngest child, Marj*, died after her marriage to Joshua
Powell, who is also deceased.
0. Frank Waddell was bom at the old Gilmer Township homestead August
14, 1859, and was reared and ediieated in that communit.v. He succeeded
to the ownership of the old fann and taking it up where his father's improve-
ments left off he has made further improvements and gi'eatl.v enhanced its
value under his ownership and control. To that fai-m he gave the best ener^
gies of his life and it is one of the most valuable country estates in the county,
906 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
comprising 274 acres, fitted out with a full e(iuipment of buildings and other
facilities.
In 1917 ilr. Waddell retired to Quincy and owns a beautiful bungalow home
recently completed at 2040 Broadway. On April 5, 1917, he married Miss Ida
Moellriug. Mrs. Waddell has spent all her life in Quincy and had a very active
and successful business career as an employe and as a business woman on her
own account. She was born in Quincy at the corner of Seventh and Jersey
streets April 16, 1866, and was reared and ediicated in the city. Her father,
Frederick Moellring, was born in the Kingdom of Hanover December 26, 1836,
and died in Quincy September 8, 1914. At the age of seventeen he set out for
the New World, making tlie journey on a sailing vessel to New Orleans and
then coming up the river to Quincy. For a time he worked on a farm and in
1864 married Magdalena Tromm. She was born in Quincy July 22, 1841, and
died December 19, 190.3. After his marriage ^Ir. Moellring became a moulder,
and for many years worked in that line and was also a stockholder in the Excel-
sior Stove Company. He finally retired to his home on South Twenty-Fourth
Street and died there. He and his wife were members of the Congregational
Church. Five of their children died young. Mrs. Waddell's sister Minnie is
the widow of Henry Lagemann, formerly a well known hardware merchant of
Quincy, who died in 1901. Mrs. Lagemann lives at the old iloellring home on
South Twenty-Fourth Street. She is the mother of three children : Herltert F.
is twenty-four years old and a farmer; Clarence, born June 20, 1897. was edu-
cated in the high school and is employed by the Quincy Lubricating Company.
Mildred born in 1901, had a high school education, was a student in the Gem
City Business College, and is now with the Reliable Poultry Journal.
Mrs. Waddell was educated in Quincy and first learned the trade and busi-
ness of hair dressing. After ten years she became a clerk with W. T. Duker &
Company, and five years later joined the Halbach & Seliroeder Company, who
conferred upon her the important responsibilities of buyer for the wash goods
department, and she continued that work fifteen years, until a short time before
her marriage.
Edward Everett Hollister is president of the Hollister-Whitney Com-
pany, one of the firms that have given Quincy distinction in the world as a
center of manufactured products of wide distribution and great value. The
company now confines its output exclusively to elevator machinery and equip-
ment, but formerly manufactured a general line of mill supplies.
The business was established by Mr. Hollister in 1899 and was continued by
him individually luitil 1906, when Mr. Frank H. W^hituey joined him and
they incorporated as the Hollister-Whitney Company. Since then ]Mr. Holli-
ster has been president and ilr. Whitney secretary and treasurer. Later they
discontinued the mill supply part of the business. Their elevators and elevator
equipment are now distributed through agencies at Chicago, Kansas City, St.
Louis and Indianapolis, and their goods are recognized as standard by the
trade all over the Middle West.
The first plant was on the river levee, later they took over the old Herald
Building on South Fifth Street, and in 1915 they constructed their present ex-
tensive plant, comprising a building 100x200 feet, at 211-219 North Second
Street. It is a modern factory, with an immense window space, electric lighted
and steam heated, and with every modern facility and sanitarj' equipment
for the convenience and comfort of the large force of employes.
Mr. Hollister has been a resident of Quincy since 1887. He learned the
milling business in early youth and being a man of great physical equipment was
willing and eager to work at anything that would put him ahead. On coming
to Quincy he was superintendent for the Taylor Brothers Milling Company
four years and since then has been in business for himself.
The Christian names of Mr. Hollister indicate his historic family connec-
tions with old Connecticut. One branch of the family were the Everetts, known
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 907
for many generations as people of distinction in old New England. The old
homestead is at Glastonbury, Connecticut, where the Hollister house is still
standing, one of the oldest homes in the state, and the Historical Society of
Connecticut has officially recognized it as such. In the same village are the
Hollister Mills, owned by the family for many years and still conducted for the
manufacture of Bon Ami, a mineral cleaner taken from the soil of that section.
Mr. Hollister's parents were Richard and Susanna (Hoover) Hollister, both
natives of Connecticut. When Edward Everett Hollister was born they were
living at Felicity in Clermont County, Ohio. Mr. Hollister was born there in
1860. When he was a child his parents moved to Bloomington, Illinois, and
they lived to a good old age iu JIcLean Coiiuty. In this locality Mr. Holli-
ster grew to manhood, accjuitted himself diligently in his work in the schools
and also learned the milling trade. At Bloomington he married Miss Eliza-
beth Hull, who was born in ^McLean County. Her parents came from Virginia,
were married in Illinois and spent most of their years in McLean County, where
they were farmers and where they died when past eighty years of age.
Mr. and Mrs. Hollister have three children: Edward Everett, Jr., was edu-
cated in the city schools and is now chief engineer for the Hollister-Whitney
Company. He married Miss Edna Linz, of Quinc•J^ Gladys, the second child,
was born in Quincy, and is the wife of Harvey G. Richardson, who is in the
oil business at Ponca City, Oklahoma. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson, have two
i-hildren, Edward and Mary J. The third child, Ruth, is the wife of E. Dale
Reynolds, son of W. N. Reynolds, a clothing merchant of Quincy. ilr. and
Mrs. Reynolds live in Kansas.
The family are members of the Congregational Church. 'Sir. Hollister has
long been prominent in ^lasonic circles, being past high priest of the Chapter
and eminent commander of the Knights Templar, and is also a member of the
Scottish Rite Consistory.
Edward H. Dudley. The farm was the scene of Edward H. Dudley's labors
and activities until about ten years ago, since which time he has lived nominally
retired at Fowler, though he still keeps in close touch with business, with civic
affairs, and with the manv interests he has formed and cultivated throughout his
life.
Mr. Dudley was born in IMendon Township of this county April 19, 1849.
His parents were James H. and Eliza Betsey (Bray) Dudley, of Guilford, Con-
necticut. James H. Dudley was one of the early settlers of Adams County,
coming here first in 1835. After prospecting the land he went back to Con-
necticut to claim his bride. Her brother, David Bray, had already become a
resident of Adams County and James H. Dudley's sister was the wife of Joel
Benton, another pioneer of Adams County. James H. Dudley spent a long and
active career in this county and for the last ten years of his life lived at Men-
don. He died in his ninetieth year, and survived his wife nine years. His home
place of 160 acres in Mendon Township is now owned b.y his son Edward H. and
he also had eighty acres in Honey Creek. He began voting a.s a whig, later
changing to the republican party, and was a member of the Congregational
Church. James H. Dudley and wife had five children : Mary, who died in
middle life, the wife of Michael Worman ; Sarah, living at Mendon, widow of
Cyrus Myers ; Franklin F., a prominent farmer and land owner of iMendon ;
Edward H. ; and Carlton, who left this country in early life, was a merchant for
many years and died at Seattle, Washington, at the age of sixty.
Edward H. Dudley remained at home with his parents until he was twenty-
six years of age. January 20, 1875, he married, and then took charge of the old
homestead, and after his father's death bought the interests of the other heirs
and owns a farm that has responded to the enterprise of the Dudley family
for over seventy years. This homestead comprises 160 acres, while he also has
eighty acres of timberland. ]Mr. Dudley did much to improve and develop the
farm, building a substantial home and a complete set of farm buildings. A
908 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
mile from the homestead in Honey Creek Township he bought another place of
eighty acres, and that is now occupied by one of his sons. Mr. Dudley gave his
pei'sonal supervision to his grain and stock raising interests until 1907, when
he left them in charge of his sons and moved to the Village of Fowler, where
he built and now occupies one of the good homes. Mr. Dudley has never been
an office seeker. For many years he has been an active member of the United
Brethren Church of Elm Grove, the church being only half a mile from his old
farm.
Mr. Dudley married Huldah J. Van Dyke, of Mendon Township. They had
grown up in the same neighborhood. Her father William Van Dyke, the family
name having originally been spelled Van Dick, was a native of Westmoreland
County, Pennsylvania. He married in that state Esther Cort and the.v came
to Adams County in the early '40s, having at that time one child, Calvin. Joseph
Cort, father of Mrs. Esther Van Dyke, came to this county in 1855 and lived
in Mendon Township until his death when past eighty. William Van Dyke died
at the age of seventy-nine and his wife, Esther, a few months after the birth
of her youngest child, Mrs. Dudley. William Van Dyke and wife had three
sons and three daughters : Calvin, who died in Mendon Township after he had
attained the age of sixty years; Joseph, who was a farmer in this countj' and died
at the age of seventy ; Mary, who died at eighteen ; Benjamin, who lives in Cali-
fornia ; Mrs. Vesta Thomas, of California ; and Huldah, who was horn August
7. 1855, and after the death of her mother was reared in the home of her aunt,
Mary McGrew. She was nineteen at the time of her mai'riage to Mr. Dudley.
Mr. and Mrs. Dudley have two sons. Herman C. occupies his father's farm
in Honey Creek Township. He married Mattie Strickler. The second son,
Edward Berton, who now has the management of the old homestead and has
been successfully engaged in farming there for eleven years, is one of the pros-
perous citizens of the township and has done much to improve his propert.v.
He married Gertrude Myers, and they have a daughter, Mildred. Beside these
two sons Mr. and Mrs. Dudley reared an adopted daughter, Lizzie Epping, from
the age of six until .she became the wife of Samuel Myers of Mendon Township.
George Starmann. Ha^'ing by means of industry, forethought and sound
business judgment achieved unquestioned .success in his active career, George
Starmann, of Quincy, for many years a dealer in paints, oils and wall paper, is
now living retired from active pui-suits at his attractive home 829 Oak Street,
enjoying all the comforts of life. A native of Germany, he was bom April 21,
1855, in the Kingdom of Hanover.
His father, Beniard Heinrich Starmann, was born and reared in Germany.
Coming to the United States in 1837, he located in Quincy, Illinois, where he
remained for a period of five years. Returning to the Fatherland in 1842, he
there lived and labored during the remainder of his life. His wife, who was
a life-long resident of Germany, bore him the following named children: Lecetta,
of Germany; Henry and Vina, deceased; George, the subject of this brief
sketch ; Marie, of Germany ; August, of Saint Joseph, Missouri ; Clement, also
of Saint Jo.seph, Missouri ; and Ignus, deceased.
• A lad of ambition and courage, George Starmann left home when but fifteen
years of age, crossing the broad Atlantic, and in April, 1870, located in Quincy,
Illinois. He studied for awhile in the public schools, after which he served an
apprenticeship of seven years at the painter's trade. In 1877, in company with
B. S. Lock, he opened a paint shop at the corner of Seventh and Hampshire
streets, and manasrcd it for awhile. He then started a store at 640 Maine
Street, and with his partner ran it successfully six years. Mr. Starmann then
bought out his partner's interests in the business, retaining the building for
himself, however. Subsequently purchasing the building at 618-620 Maine
Street, he entirely remodeled it, naming it the Georare Starmann Building,
and there carried on a large and profitable business until his retirement in 1911.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 909
Mr. Starmann still owns that building, and has much other city propertj- of
value.
Mr. Starmann married, November 16, 1882, Mary Elizabeth Feuck, a native
of Quincy, and they are the parents of two children, George H., a chemist living
in Chicago, and Rudoljih A., of Chicago, an auditor. Politicallj^ Mr. Starmann
is a democrat, and much interested in local and national affairs. Religiously
he is a member of Saint Boniface Church. Fraternally he belongs to the
Knights of Columbus and to the Western Catholic Union.
"William D. Finley was a farmer and prominent citizen whose cai-eer was
chiefly identified with Gilmer Township in this county, and it was on his fine
farm there than he pa.ssed away in 1908. His was a character of great enter-
prise, ability, industry, and it was reflected in generous accumulations of landed
property and also in the good will and esteem paid him throughout his life.
Mrs. William D. Finley now lives in Quincy, and she is interesting as one of the
surviving representatives of the prominent Judy family of this county.
The late Mr. Finley was born in Kentuckj^ in 1840 and was of Scotch-Irish
ancestry. His father, Eli Finley, was born aiid married in Kentuckj' and later
moved to Lewis Count.v, Missouri, where he was a successful fanner and stock
raiser. He died in advanced years at Canton, Missouri. His first wife was
the mother of William D. Finley, who was a small child when she died. He
was the sixth among eight children, all now deceased. By his second marriage
Eli Finley had two daughters, both of whom are still living.
Many families had similar religious experiences to the Finleys. Eli Finley
and wife were what might be called hidebound Presbyterians, zealous in their
own religious devotion and strict in making their children subservient to the
same observations. As a result William D. Finley suffered a reaction after
getting away from the influence of his parents, and while a thorough Biblical
scholar and essentially religious, he was rather liberal in his practice. He was
ten years of age when his father moved to Lewis County, Missouri, and he
grew up there on a farm and gained a fair education. About the time he reached
his majority he came to Gilmer Township in Adams County and was soon in
the full swing of his cai-eer as a .stock buyer and dealer. He was as resourceful
and enterprising as he was industrious, and engaged in few undertakings that
did not prosper. Before the Civil war he drove cattle overland to California,
a journey that required many months. Several years later he took a herd of
eight.v or ninety stock across the plains, and in each trip doubled his money.
From his business he acquired large amounts of land in Missouri, but eventu-
ally sold or traded, and took half price in cash and the other half in whiskey.
This consignment of whiskey came to him at an estimated value of 90 cents
per gallon. Just before the Ci%al war broke out he shipped this liquor to Dallas,
Texas. It was put in a storehouse, and on account of hostilities he could not
look after its further sale or consignment. After the war, much to his sur-
prise, he found the .stock still safe in a storehouse, and he was able to sell it
at $5 a gallon. Some of his proceeds he also used to acquire land in Texas, in-
vesting in about 1,000 acres near Dallas, some of which is now included in
the limits of that gi'cat southern city. But he never realized any profit from this
investment, since Dallas was a long time in recovering from the effects of the
war and in starting its growth, and he finally sold his possessions there at just
about what he had paid.
The old Finley place in Gilmer Township is in section 21, where he had
330 acres, constituting a farm of splendid improvements and value. He and
his brother Lycurgus also bought 600 acres near Loraine, and his brother's in-
terests subsequently came to him. This handsome property is now owned
and occupied by two of Mr. Finley 's sons. Mrs. Finley and her daughter still
own the 330 acre homestead in Gilmer Township. In 1917 Mrs. Finley left the
farm and coming to Quincy built a fine bungalow at 2021 Broadway, where she
910 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
and her daughter now make their home, surrounded with every comfort and
convenience.
In 1860, in Gilmer Township, Mr. Finley married Miss Adelia A. Judy.
Mrs. Finley was born in Gilmer Township in 1844, and was married at the
age of sixteen. Her father was the late Paris Judy, who was born in Clark
County, Kentucky, December 4, 1811, a son of Winepark and Anna Judy. His
grandparents were natives of Germany and early settlers of Pennsylvania,
where Winepark Judy was born in 1770. He moved to Clark County, Kentucky,
in 1801, and died there in 1836. Anna Judy was born in Maryland ilay 15,
177S, was married in Kentucky in 1800, and died in Adams Countv, Illinois,
August 6, 1844.
Paris Judy was one of the interesting pioneer characters of Adams County.
He arrived in the county in 1834, and during that summer taught in Quincy in a
little log house, this being the second school taught there. He also located and
laid out the Village of Liberty in this county. He was not a wealthy man
when he came here, but his good judgrment, industry and economy enabled him to
accumulate about 1,600 acres of land, most of it in Gilmer Township, constituting
a highly valuable property. Some of this land he secured at prices ranging from
■$3 to $5 an acre. He and his wife lived in a log cabin, and they cooked their
meals at a fireplace with a long handled skillet. Mr. Jud.v was also a merchant
at Burton, and at one time kept a hotel at Columbus, when Columbus was on
the stage road and when all travelers put up for the night at the Jud.v place.
Paris Judy died at the old homestead in Gilmer To-miship in 1886. He married
Nancy Markwell, who was born in Fleming County, Kentucky, July 30, 1817.
She died when nearly eighty years of age at her home in Quincy. Both were
active members of the Christian Church and they are laid side by side in Mount
Pleasant cemetery. Paris Judy was a democrat in politics. He and his wife
had seven children, the only son being James M. Judy. Paris Judy was the
first assessor in Gilmer Township, and for many years also acted as ju.stice of
the peace and school director.
Mr. and Mrs. Finley had three sons and one daughter. One son, Eli Paris,
died at the age of twenty-one months. The son William J. now lives on one of
the farms left him by his father at Loraine and has increased his inheritance
to about 800 acres, so that he is one of the largest land holders and farmers in
that part of the county. He married Rose Ewing, and their children are
Theo, Mabel, William J. and Harold. The other li\'ing son, Frisby S., occupies
the other farm formerly owned by his father at Loraine. He married Elizabeth
Rutledge, of Adams Count.v. The only daughter, Sarah Agnes, is a graduate
of the Qviincy High School and the Gem City Business College, and she has
devoted herself to the companionship and care of her mother. Mrs. Finley and
her daughter are members of the Christian Science Church.
W. Henry Heidbreder. A man of versatile talents, active and enterprising,
W. Henry Heidbreder, a well known druggist of Quincy, has had a varied career,
and in the many places where he has resided and the different industries with
which he has been identified he has always been regarded as a man of integrity
and worth, and is highly respected throughout the community in which he now
lives. A native of Adams County, he was born in Quincy November 5. 1858.
His father, Frederick W. Heidbreder, was born in Germany. In 1851 he
located in Quincy, Illinois, being the first member of the Heidbreder family
to settle in Adams County. He was an extensive and successful conti-actor and
builder, erecting many buildings in Quincy, where he continued a resident until
his death, March 21, 1916, at the venerable age of eighty-six years. He was
twice married. He married first Marv Lehman, who died a few years later,
leaving three children. Edward, of Palmyra. Missouri ; Frances, wife of Wil-
liam Sehiichsiech, of St. Louis, Missouri ; and W. Henry. He married for his
second wife Mrs. Maiy ]\Ieyer, widow of Henry Meyer, and to them one child
was born, William, living near Marblehead, Illinois.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 911
Beginniug work at the age of thirteen years, W. H. Heidbreder was for four
years emploj^ed in the grocery of his uncle, Herman H. Heidbreder. He then
took a course of study at the Gem City Business College, after which he was
in an architect's office for six months. The following three years Mr. Heid-
breder was in the emploj^ of Sonimer, Lynds & Company, wholesale druggists.
Going then to Chicago, he was connected with a wholesale drug establishment
for about six months, and then spent a short time in New York City. Return-
ing to Quincy, he traveled for a manufacturing house for nearly a year, and
then resumed his position with Sommer, L^Tids & Company, remaining with
the firm five years.
Making a change of occupation and residence, Mr. Hpidbreder was for six
months employed in the Mallenkrodt Chemical Works at St. Louis. Not espe-
cially pleased with either the work or the city, he became once more a resident
of Quincy and an employee of Sommer, Lynds & Company, with whom he con-
tinued the nine ensuing years. In 1894, in partnership with August and George
Heidbreder, he embarked in the drug business as head of the firm of W. H.
Heidbreder & Company. He was afterwards associated with the fii-m known
as Heidbreder & Drallmeier Drug Store, located at 1707 Broadway. Later he
was associated with Mr. Hagemann, under the firm name Heidbreder, Hage-
mann & Company, their drug store being located at Fifth and Chestnut streets.
The partnership being dissolved, Raleigh Earl bought an interest in the busi-
ness on July 9, 1917, and the firm of Heidbreder & Earl is can-ying on a sub-
stantial trade, being well patronized.
]Mr. Heidbreder married, November 2, 1882, Matilda ]Meyer, who was born
in Quincy. She died December 17, 1912, leaving five children, namely: Bertha,
living at home ; Louise, wife of Raleigh Earl -. Edna, a teacher in the Quincy
High School ; Helen : and Ralph. In polities ilr. Heidbreder is a stanch repub-
lican. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of
Masons, and of the Court of Honor. Both he and family are members of the
Lutheran Memorial Church.
J. "Walter jMeyer is one of the sterling and energetic young business men of
Quincy, and is manager of the Quincy Lumber Company at Fifth Street and
Broadway. A good reason for his success can be found in the fact that he has
devoted all his adult career to one line and one business. In April, 1906, a
■few weeks before reaching his twenty-first birthday, he went with the Quincy
Lumber Company as an employe, and rapidly mastered not only the compli-
cated technique of lumber terms and figures, but acquired a thoroughly prac-
tical knowledge of the business from the commercial side. In September, 1913,
he was promoted to manager of the plant.
This is one of the older lumber firms of Quincy and has been in existence for
a great many years. The business was organized under its present form and
title in 1903. The first manager was E. C. Dickhut, who was .succeeded by ilr.
Meyer. The firm carries a large stock of building materials of all kinds and
has a service that enables contractors and others to supply all their wants for
the building of any t.vpe of structure from cellar to garret.
J. Walter ileyer was born in Quincy, May 25, 1885. He was educated in the
public schools of ^Monroe City, Missouri, and graduated from the Gem City
Business College at Quincy. The date of his diploma of graduation from the
Gem City College is Februarj- 20, 1906. Just a few weeks later he entered the
service of the Quincy Lumber Company, and that service has been continuous
ever since.
Mr. Clever is of the substantial German aneestrj' that has figured so lai-gely
in the life and affairs of Quincy from pioneer times to the present. His grand-
father, Gottlieh Me.ver, came to the I'nited States prior to the Civil war, and
is still living in Quincy, at the age of eighty-three. For many years lie was a
leading cooper, a trade which he learned in Germany. Fred W. Meyer, father
of J. Walter, is still active in Quincy and is connected with the Electric Wheel
912 QUINCT AND ADAMS COUNTY
Works. He married at Quincy Matilda L. Achelpohe, who was born and
reared in Quincj- of German parents. Tlie Meyer family are Lutherans in
religion.
J. Walter Meyer was one of a family of six sons and one daughter. He mar-
ried at Qiiincy Miss Louisa Baumann, who was born in this city in 1887 and
was educated in the public schools. She is a daughter of John and Mary
(Siebers) Baumann, both natives of Quincy and of German parentage. Her
parents still live at Quincy, retired, and are now past sixty years of age. The
Baumanns are Catholics in religion and have furnished as a rule democratic
voters, while the Meyers are republicans. Mr. and Mrs. ileyer have three chil-
dren: Mildred, born November 12, 1909, now in the third grade of the public
schools ; Walton Milton, born February 2.5, 1912, who has also begun his edu-
cation in the public schools; and Russell Vii-gil, born September 21, 1915.
Mr. and Mrs. Meyer are active members of the Memorial Lutheran Church.
He is financial secretary of the Modern Woodmen of America and in politics
votes as a republican.
W. Guy Noll is president and treasurer of the NoU-Hauworth Company,
one of the distinctive manufacturing and wholesale firms of Quincy. The firm
manufacture and handle a complete line of overalls and other working clothes.
The present business is successor to the older C. S. Nichols Company, which
was organized in 1903. with C. S. Nichols as president. ]\Ir. Noll acquired his
early experience as a l)usiness man and commercial traveler with the firm, and
was at one time junior partner. Mr. Nichols died in 1908, but the business
was continued under the old firm name until January, 1911. Early in 1908
Mr. Noll was made vice president of the company, and later, after buying out
the heirs of ]\Ir. Nichols, he reorganized as the NoU-Hauworth Company and
became president and treasurer. His brother Leroy Noll is secretary, while
Silas J. Hauworth is vice president.
The company has offices and salesrooms at 127-129 Noi-th Third Street and
the modern factory is just adjacent on Hampshire Street. The factory is sup-
plied with every convenience and sanitary comfort. The sales are made all
over the west, northwest and southwest.
Mr. Noll practically grew up in the business, having entered this line of
trade soon after he finished his education. Mr. Noll was born in Quincy, August
21, 1875, and was educated here in the grammar and high schools. His father,
August Theodore Noll, was also a veteran commercial nian and died in April,
1898.
W. Guy Noll married at Quincy Miss Mary A. Prince, a native of this city,
and she was educated in the city schools and also at Washington, D. C. Mr.
and Mrs. Noll have two sons, Edward Prince, born April 3. 1908, and William
Theodore, better known as Tedd.y, born Decemher 17, 1917. Mrs. Noll is an
active member of St. John's Episcopal Church. Mr. Noll is a Roosevelt repub-
lican.
Andrew Doerr. For fully half a century the name Doerr has been identi-
fied with the hiisiness enterprise and social and religious life of Quincy. The
late Andrew Doerr was a conspicuous figure in Quincy 's commercial affairs
and a man entitled to the high respect and esteem he always enjoyed.
He was born in Bavaria, German.v, in 1842. He was a small boy when his
father, John Doerr, died, and he gi-ew up the main support of his widowed
mother. During his early life he served three years in the regular army of his
country. About 1868 he and his mother and other members of the family set
sail for the United States, and from New York City journeyed westward to
Quincy, where his mother spent her last days and passed away at the age of
sixty-five. All were members of the Catholic Church.
On coming to this city Andrew Doerr found employment in a cigar store,
and began life on the very bottom round of the ladder. Then for three years
^. ^(fiH.f-r
LIBRARY
)r THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 913
he clerked in the Ruff dry goods house, aud with his experience and a very-
modest equipment of capital he started a business of his own on Main Street.
He was a hard worker, a good judge of merchandise, aud by close attention to
his affairs he built up a large trade, and about thirty j'ears ago he bought a
three story building at the corner of Main and Sixth streets and established
there a complete department store. For a time he also managed a theater in
the same building and booked many of the attractions which entertained and in-
structed the people of Quine.y of that day. Later he retired from the theatrical
business and gave all his attention to his mercantile establishment. This store
stands a monument to his thrift and hard working ability, and it was the source
of the prosperity which the family enjoy.
Andrew Doerr died at his home 519 Oak Street in Quine.y April 22, 1914,
at the age of seventy-two. He was very prominent as a Catholic, member of the
Western Catholic Union and the Orphan Society, and in politics a democrat.
Andrew Doerr and Miss Adelaide E. Schulte were married at the home of
the bride at the corner of Sixth and York streets, now the site of the Quincy
Railway depot. Mrs. Doerr was born and reared in Quincy, and her people were
among the most substantial early residents of the city. She is a daughter of
Herman and ilary Ann (Rieker) Schulte, both natives of Hanover, Germany.
Her father came to this country when about twenty-five years of age and her
mother was fourteen when she came to America. They married in Quincy and
later they built the substantial brick home which at the time was one of Quincy 's
finest residences. Her father died here in 1858, when in the prime of life. He
left two daughters, Mrs. Doerr "and Mrs. Mary Kireher, who are still living.
The mother of Mrs. Doerr married for her second husband John A. Arning, who
soon afterward enlisted in the Civil war and just at the end of three years of
faithful service and on the same day he was discharged died of illness at Baton
Rouge, Louisiana. Two of his daughters are still living, Mrs. Theodore Duker
and Mrs. Dora Schoe.
Since the death of Mr. Doerr Mrs. Doerr has competently aud successfully
managed tlie large business which he established and built up. For j-ears she
had helped her husband in the store and in the management of their affairs,
and much of the success enjoyed by them is to be credited to her good judgment
and co-operation.
Mrs. Doerr became the mother of three children. Josephine died in infancy,
and the two li\'ing daughters are M. Dorothea and M. Helen, both of whom are
graduates of St. Mary's Academy of Quincy, and are also gi-aduates in music
and art. Dorothea is the wife of L. J. Kadeskie, living in Quincy. Helen mar-
ried Francis O'Neil, a business man of El Paso, Texas. Mr. and Mrs. O'Neil
have two children, Mary Dorothea and Marj- Helen.
Lawrence P. Boxfoet is one of the vice presidents of the Monroe Drug
Company of Quincy, an organization that stands in the front rank of Quincy "s
business institutions. The products of the company are known nationally and
consist of Putnam Fadeless Dyes, Putnam Dr_y Cleaner, Putnam Oil, Jlonco,
Glycerated Asafetida, Baking Powders, and Butter Coloi-s. Mr. Bonfoey has
[been a resident of Quincy since January' 1, 1915, coming here from Chicago to
take an executive place in the Monroe Dinig Company. He was born at Union-
ville, Missouri, in 1875, and is member of a verj- prominent old family there.
His father, Beverly H. Bonfoey, was born in the State of Texas of French
ancestrj'. He graduated from Yale College in the civil enginering course and
afterwards moved to ]\Iissouri and became a well known lawj'er at Uniouville,
where he is now li\4ng retired. He served as a member of the Missouri Com-
mission, which handled much of the detail of the Louisiana Purchase Exposi-
tion, and was on that commission for three years. He is a republican in poli-
tics and for two years was mayor of Uniouville. He and his wife are members
of the Presbyterian Church. Beverly Bonfoey married Anna Webb, member
914 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
of tlie prominent Webb family of New York State, where she was born and
reared. They had live sons, all of whom are married except one.
Lawrence P. Bonfoey from high school entered the Missouri State Univer-
sity, and was graduated in the law department in 1905. He was admitted to
the bar the same year after examination before a committee of which Judge
Shelton, chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, was a member. Mr.
Bonfoej^ has never practiced law but has found his most congenial and profit-
able pursuits in a business career. For ten years after leaving college he was
in the insurance business with the Travelers Insurance Company. He had
charge of several of their branch offices, being located at Buffalo, New York,
Boston, Massachusetts, Philadelphia and from there going to Chicago, where he
was in charge of the office in that city until he was assigned to come to Quincy.
Mr. Bonfoey married Miss Octavia Monroe, daughter of Edward N. Monroe,
president of the Monroe Drug Company. Mr. and ilrs. Bonfoey gi-ew up in
the same Missouri town, Unionville, where she was born thirty-three years ago.
She was educated in the high school there and is a graduate of Bryn Mawr
College in Pennsylvania. After completing her college course she spent a year
of travel and study in Europe, and returned home to marry Mr. Bonfoey.
They are the parents of four children : Lawrence P., Jr., Frances Ann, E. Mon-
roe and McBurney Webb. The family are all members of the Presbyterian
Chiarch. Mr. Bonfoey is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite ^lason. having
affiliations with the Lodge and Chapter of the York Rite in Unionville and
with the Quincy Consistorj*. In polities he is a republican.
Henry A. Ridder. The business men of Quincy recognize as one of their
oldest associates Henry A. Ridder, who has been continuously a dealer in gro-
ceries and food stuffs for over thirty years. There is probabh' not a single expe-
rience in the career of a successful grocerj-man which Henry A. Ridder has
not had. For a number of years his store, one of the landmarks in the city,
has been at the corner of Seventh and York streets, at 300 South Seventh.
He began selling groceries from that point in 1890, and in 1895 he comi^leted
the substantial and well appointed two-story structure that adorns the site,
on ground 30 by 55 feet. This store he has filled with stocks of staple and fancy
groceries, and he uses the second floor as his own home.
Mr. Ridder was born in Quincy, at the corner of Ninth and Broadway,
October 23, 1865. He was educated in the parochial schools and St. Francis
College, and at the age of eighteen entered the grocery business, being for three
years associated with Fi-ed Wilier. Since then he has been a groeeryman on his
own account. For seven years he had his business at Ninth and Broadway,
on the same spot where he was born.
His father, the late John Ridder, was one of the pioneer German citizens of
Quincy. He was boi-n in Westphalia, Germany, Pebruarj^ 10, 1831, of old Ger-
man stock. He was well reared and educated, and when a young man came to
the United States, arriving in New Orleans, November 25, 1853. The following
year he was at Cincinnati, and on September 5, 1855, reached Quincy. Here
he entered upon an apprenticeship at the blacksmith 's trade with the well known
pioneer wagon makers, Rogers Brothers. After completing his apprentice-
ship he established himself independently in 1859, and his first shop was at
Twelfth and Broadway in a building of historic interest, the old barracks which
had been constructed years before for the training of soldiers. This building
on the southeast corner of Twelfth and Broadway when first constructed stood
far out on the prairie away from the main business portion of Quincy. John
Ridder continued his business and built up an important manufacturing
establishment, making farm and spring wagons, and also doing general black-
smithing, horse shoeing and jobbing repair. He always had a high reputation
for the quality of his work. For a number of ;\'ears his associate in business
was Edmund Rith, whom he later bought out. John Ridder retired from busi-
ness at the age of seventy-one, and spent his last .years at the old family resi-
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 915
dence in which he had lived from 3872. This home was at 823 North Twentieth
Street, one of the early houses built in that part of the city. John Riddcr died
there February 13, 1904, at the age of seventy-three. On June 16, 1859, he
married Roseua Stuekenburg, a native of Louisville, Kentucky. She died
May 1, 1908, -when about sixty-tive years of age. For a number of years they
were affiliated with St. Boniface Catholic Church, and later were members of
St. Francis parish. John Ridder was a democrat. He and his wife had a large
family of children, six sons and four daughters. One of them died in infancy,
and Lizzie and John are also deceased. One resides in Denver, Colorado, and
all the others in Illinois, most of them in Quiney. These children are named
Henry, Bei'tha, Jlollie, Tillie, Albert and Adolph.
Mr. Henry A. Ridder married in this city Catherine Rolf. She was born
in Adams County and finished her education in St. Francis parochial schools.
Her parents are both now deceased. Mr. and ]\Irs. Ridder have four children.
Henry A. Jr., born in 1891, was educated in St. Boniface School and is now asso-
ciated with his father in the business. He is still unmarried and lives at the
family home. Helen C. was educated in the same school as her brother and is
also at home. Sylvia C. received her education in St. Boniface School and
St. Mary's Academy. Cornelius from St. Boniface School entered the Gem
City Business College, where he is still a student. The family are all active
members of St. Boniface Church and live in that parish. Mr. Ridder is a
democrat and is affiliated with the Western Catholic Union.
Henry C. Mueller, who graduated D. D. S. from the Dental Department
of Washington University at St. Louis with the class of 1899, has for years
been recognized as a leader in his profession at Quiney, and enjoyed the pro-
fessional honor of being president of the Adams-Hancock Dental Society. He
is also a member in good standing of the other professional organizations, and
is a member of the local Dental Club.
He has been in practice at Quiney since he graduated and in 1911 he took
special preparation and training in Anesthesia at the Chicago Dental College.
Since the building was completed he has occupied a suite of offices in the Illi-
nois State Bank Building, the equipment and arrangement of these offices
having been the object of special care, study and expense on the part of the
doctor.
Doctor Mueller was born in Quiney, March 23, 1877, and prior to entering
professional school was a student in the grammar and high schools. His parents
were Stephen and Fredericka (Peiffer) Mueller, both natives of Germany and
of fine old stock. They came to America when young, were married in Quiney,
and spent the rest of their days here. The father learned the trade of gunsmith
in his native country, and in Quiney learned and followed for many years
pattern making with the Stove Works. He was one of the organizers and direc-
tors of the Gem City Stove Company, but for the past two years has lived
retired, having attained the age of seventy years. His good wife died here in
1912, at the age of sixty-four. They were active members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and the father is a very active and decided republican in
politics. There were five children in the family: Emma, widow of Jacob
Feisel, lives in Quiney, and her only daughter died at the age of twelve years;
Doctor Mueller; IMiss Minnie, at home with her father; Lewis, of Montana, is
married ; Anna is the wife of C. E. Brosie, in the monument business at Quiney,
and they have a daughter, Florence.
Doctor ]\Iueller married at Quiney Hester H. Nauman, a native of Illinois
and daughter of Rev. Philip and Melvina (Frederick) Nauman. Her father
is now ninety-one years of age, a resident of Quiney, and a superannuated min-
ister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Her mother died at Quiney in 1910.
Doctor and Mrs. crueller have tliree children : Dorothy, aged twelve, now in
the eighth grade of the public schools ; Lowell C, aged nine, and also a school-
boy; and Virginia, aged five. Mr. and Mrs. Mueller are members of the Ken-
916 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
tucky Street Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is a deacon. Fraternally
he is past master of Herman Lodge No. 39, Ancient Free and Accepted ]\Iasons,
is a Consistory Scottish Rite IMason, and is affiliated with the Woodmen of the
World.
GusTAv M. Jackson. The oldest established retail and wholesale millinery
business in Quincy and in Western Illinois is that now conducted by Gustav M.
Jackson, who grew up in the business under his father and for more than ten
years has .successfull.y directed the enterprise. His large and well equipped
store is at 430 Maine Street on the Public Square. Mr. Jackson has done much
to promote the wholesale feature of his business in the past eleven years, and his
goods now go to retail shops all over the states of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and
Kansas.
Mr. Jackson is a son of Manheim and Caroline Jackson, both natives of
Posen, a German province, originally a part of Poland. They grew up in that
country but as young people before their marriage they came by sailing vessel
to America. Caroline Jackson as a girl learned the trade of milliner, followed
it for several years before her marriage, and her husband then joined her in the
same line of business. They came to Quincy in the early days and were milliners
here until 1866. By that time they had built up a good trade, but decided to
sell out and return with their three children to their native land. Manheim
Jackson soon found that his ideas had greatly changed since he left Posen,
though the country and its people had not, and after three months he returned to
America. Manheim Jackson was an originator in the millinery business. For
a number of years his shop made women's bonnets exclusively. Just before the
outbreak of the Civil war he formed the shape and made the first hat com-
monly called now the sailor shape, and he did much in subsequent years to
give it its well deserved popularity. His first shop was on Fourth Street on
the west side of the Square in a frame building, and he occupied four different
places in the same block. He was a very active biisiness man until the last
seven or eight years of his life. Pie died in March, 1907, when nearly seventy-
five years of age, having been born in May, 1832. He had survived his wife
some years. She was fifty-nine when she died. ]\Ianheim Jackson was a prom-
inent Mason, member of Hei'man Lodge at Quincy, and was buried imder tlie
auspices of that body. There were three children, Gustav M. being the oldest.
Joseph M. is now in the United States internal revenue service at Spring-
field, Illinois. Fannie is the wife of Arthur K. Walker, of Atlantic City, New
Jersey.
Gustav M. Jackson was born in the one hundred block on Fourth Street,
Quincy, November 17, 1860. He attended the public schools of Quincy and also
a college at Atlanta, Georgia. As a boy he was given a thorough training in
his father's shop and is a past master of the millinery business in every detail.
For some years he had a store at 513 Maine Street, but in 1914 located at his
present quarters, where he has his main store room, 25x115 feet, fully stocked
with the best creations of the milliner's art, and also uses the basement of the
same size.
At Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Jackson married Mi.ss Minnie French. She
was born in Iowa in 1869, and at the age of five years her parents, Joseph and
Hannah French, moved to Kansas. Her parents endured all tlie trials and
vicissitudes of life in Kansas during the '70s and '80s, when they were regul-
larly assailed by grasshoppers, winds, drought and blizzard. Her father died
there when Mrs. Jackson was a small girl, and her mother is still living, at
the age of seventy-five, and makes regular visits to her daughter in Quincy.
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson have one daughter, Ruth Elise, born August 6, 1895.
She is a graduate of the Quincy High School, of the Univer.sity of Chicago, and
also took work in the Gem City Business College. She is living at home. Mr.
Jackson is affiliated with Lodge No. 100 of the Benevolent and Protective Order
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 917
of Elks, and has been a member since 1903. In politics he votes as a demo-
crat. The family home is at 424 North Eighth Street.
Eliz.vbeth B. Ball, il. D. The recognition extended by her professional
brethren as well as by the general public indicates that Doctor Ball chose wisely
when she determined upon a professional career, and she has rendered a splendid
service both as a practitioner and as a factor in building up the institutions
and the larger work of the medical fraternity of Quincy.
Doctor Ball is a graduate fi-om the department of medicine of the University
of Illinois at Chicago with the class of 1907. She supplemented this thorough
training by a year as interne in the New England Hospital at Boston, while in
1913 she did postgraduate work in London, England. Doctor Ball began prac-
tice at Quincy in 1908, and for several years has maintained offices in the
Illinois Bank Building, 648 Ohio Street. For nine years she has been a member
of the Blessing Hospital staff, and has been especially prominent in the Adams
County iledical Society, which she has served as secretar.y since 1910. It was
through Doctor Ball's influence that the county society undertook the publi-
cation of the Adams County IMedical News, which is published monthly by the
secretary of the societj^, and contains all the information concerning current
medical and scientific events of interest to the local profession and much that
is informative, instructive and interesting to the general public. The Medical
News has been published for five years, and Doctor Ball is its editor. She is
also a member of the Illinois State Medical Society, and secretary of the med-
ical section, and a member of the American Medical Association, and every
year since she was elected secretary of the county society has attended the con-
ference of the County Society Secretaries in the state.
Doctor Ball was born at Quincy and graduated from the Quincy High School
with the class of 1902. The following year she entered the Uni\^rsity of
Illinois at Champaign, piu-suing a literary course for one year before taking up
her professional studies at Chicago. She is a member of the Greek Letter
sorority of the University.
Doctor Ball represents Irish and English families. Her father, Nicholas
Ball, was born in Ireland, but when a j-oung man went to England and married
at ^lanehester, Jane Kinsella, who was born and reared in that city, member
of a prominent English family. Her brother, Edward Kinsella, was one of
the leading stock holders in the ]\Ianchester Ship Canal. Doctor Ball's parents
three years after their marriage came to the United States in June, 1881, and
from New York came west to Quincy, where her father 's uncle, Mr. John Nolan,
had lived for some years. Doctor Ball is the only child of her parents, both
of whom are still living. Nicholas Ball was for a number of years in the em-
ploy of Senator Browning until the latter 's death, and later with H. F. J. Rieker,
the Quincy banker. Thej' are members of the Catholic Church, as is Doctor
Ball. The.v attend worship at St. Peter's Church at Eighth and Maine streets.
Doctor Ball was formerly director of the church choir and is still a member.
August "W. Werner, M. D. IMember of the Quincy medical fraternity for
the past ten years, Doctor Werner is a graduate of the Bennett Medical College
of Chicago with the class of 1898. Before beginning active practice he served
as interne in Bennett Hospital at Chicago, and a large and valuable patronage
has been bestowed upon his services and abilities since he located in Quincy.
For the past six years his home and offices have been at 1401 State Street, where
he erected a modern two-story, ten-room residence, w^ith a well equipped office
attached. Doctor Werner is a member of the County and State ]\Iedical so-
cieties and the American Medical As.sociation, and is also a member of the Library
Committee of the County Medical Society. For the past four j-ears he has been
a member of the staff of Blessing Hospital.
Doctor Werner was born in Brunswick, Germany, October 27, 1871, and was
reared and educated there as member of a family of the higher classes. He
918 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
graduated from the gj-mnasium of his native town in 1891, and soon after-
ward eaiue to the United States and located at Quiney. Here he took up the
work of wood engraving, which he had leai-ned in German}^ and followed
it until he began the study of medicine.
His parents, August and Louise (Seifert) Werner, are still living in Ger-
many, past sixty years of age, and both were born in the famous Harz Moun-
tains, but have spent most of their lives in Brunswick. During his active career
Doctor "Werner's father was a car master on one of the large railway lines
through Brunswick. He is now retired on a pension. Both are active members
of the Lutheran Church. Doctor Werner was the oldest of three children.
His brother Oscar is manager of a large woolen house at Berlin, and has a
family of two children. The only sister is Elsa, who came to Quiney to visit
her brother and while here met and married Joseph Michalke. They now live
in a town near Berlin, Germany, where Mr. Michalke is son of a prominent
manufacturer of electric goods.
Doctor Werner married at Chicago in 1899 Miss Hedwig A. Almeuraeder,
who was born in that city and was educated in the public schools and a busi-
ness college. Her father was a native of Wiesbaden, Germany, and died in
1908, at Chicago, where he was prominent as a sculptor and artist. He was
a cousin of Max Bruck, the great German composer. Mrs. Werner was only
(nine years old when her mother died and her father afterwards married a
prominent Chicago society woman. Doctor and Mrs. Werner have one daughter,
Dorothy Sophia, born in 1900 and a graduate of the city high school with
the class of 1918. Mrs. Werner and her daughter are members of the Unitarian
Church. Doctor Werner is affiliated with the Royal Arcanum.
James Evans. His friends and neighbors have good reason to speak of
James Evans as one of the fortunate men of Adams County, since he owns a
large amount of its fertile and productive soil and has several farms and one
of the best rural homes in Honey Creek Township. The Evans homestead is
two miles northeast of Mendon. His good fortune is largely of his own crea-
tion. He has lived in Adams County seventy years, his family have been
here eighty years, and while he had some material inheritance besides the worthy
family qualities he acquired from his forefathers, it was a matter of good
judgment, solid industry and long continued effort that brought him to his
present position.
Mr. Evans was born at Quiney, January 27, 1849, a son of George and
Mary Ann (Green) Evans. George Evans is appropriately numbered among
the pioneers of Adams County. He was born in Gloucester, Ma.ssachusetts,
August 19, 1813. A cooper by trade, he came to Adams County in 1837 and for
fourteen years had his home at Quiney. In 1851 he obtained a place four miles
south of Mendon, in the township of that name, and twelve miles northeast of
Quiney. His place was on the line of Mendon and Ellington Township. In 1853
he moved to a new farm, which had a small frame house and a few acres cleared.
The remaining timber he worked up annually into great quantities of barrels
and hoop poles. His barrels were chiefly made for the flour milling industry
and he also hauled many loads of hoop poles to Quiney. At his new home in
section 35 of Mendon Township he acquired 170 acres, built a new house and
barn, and surrounded himself with mucli prosperity. He died there at the age of
seventy-two and his widow survived him several years. He was never a public
man, was much esteemed for his good judgment and was regarded as a valuable
man to the community. In 1848, at Quiney, he married Miss Mary Ann Green,
who was born at Mavsville, Kentuckv, December 17, 1830. She came to Adams
County when a child, and her father, George Green, became a well known
citizen of Richfield Township. Mr. James Evans frequently visited his graud-
fatlier Green at his home in that township. George and Mary Evans had a fam-
ilv of three sons and four daughters: James; Frank, who lived in Mendon
Township and died when about fifty years old ; George, who occupies the old
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 919
farm ; Etta, Mrs. James Rowbotham of Meudou Township ; Liua, Mrs. William
Rowbotham of Meiidon Township ; Emma, widow of John Myers, living at Fow-
ler; and Ida, who died one year after her marriage to DeWitt Wormau.
James Evans was four years old when his parents moved to the countr.y
and being the oldest sou he put his strength to the test at an early age in help-
ing his father clear awaj- the timber and brush. He lived on the home farm
until he was twenty-five. He knows full well the severity of the labor re-
quired to clear and bring much of the land of Adams Count.y into cultivation.
One of his earh' tasks was driving an ox team to a breaking plow. It was im-
possible for an ordinary breaking plow of that day to turn over the hea\'y
virgin soil, filled with roots. Therefore, another team of horses preceded the
breaking plow, hauling a coulter which cut a deep gash in the sod, permitting
the following plow to turn it over. Frequently within his recollection breaking
the land covered with hazel brush was accomplished by using four or five yoke
of oxen to a heavy plow. Mr. Evans made his first independent home on ninety
acres near Mendon, which had been cleared, and for which he contracted to pay
$65 an acre. He went in debt, paid 10 per cent on the principle, and with
abundant crops of corn and wheat met his payments and soon had it clear. He
later sold this land to his brother-in-law, Frank Dudlej", for .$75 an acre.
Mr. Evans then came into Honey Creek Township and bought 140 acres of his
present farm at $65 per acre. There was an old house on the place, and prac-
tically all the land was under cultivation. It was the old Shue.y farm. Since
then he has increased its area to 200 acres, and some of the land cost him only
$50 an acre. His fine rural home was built in 190.3 and his barn two years
later. Besides this place Mr. Evans owns ninety acres three miles south, and
has 100 acres in Ellington Township, each with good improvements. Mr. Evans
has figured rather prominently as a stockman in Adams County. For about
twenty years he bought and shipped stock, and his operations in that field brought
him a wide acquaintance over this part of the state. In those days it was an
easy matter to buy cows at $12 per head. On his own land he has bred and
raised some high grade stock, and in recent years his main dependence has l)een
in hogs. Mr. Evans has always kept close to the land and has never sought ofiSce,
though lie served at one time as constable.
At the age of twenty-five he married. In seeking a wife he did not have to
go among strangers but found in a neighbor girl. Miss Nettie B. Myers, the
most capable and the best woman he has ever known. She is a daughter of
Henry Myers, of IMendon Township. Mr. and Mi's. Evans have a family of
children of whom they may well be proud. Henry G., the oldest, lives near
Coatsburg in Camp Point Township and married Edith Henning: Charles B.
occupies a farm adjoining that of his father and married Isadore Wliite ; George
R. is a farmer two miles southwest of Mendon and married Lena Bogart ; James
D. is still at home : Fred A., who occupies the Ellington Township farm of his
fatlicr. married Elsie Tieken, supervisor of Honey Creek Township ; Ella M. is
the wife of John T. Austin, of the home community; Minnie C. is the wife of
B. J. Brenner and they live at Lewistown, Missouri; and the youngest, Carrie,
is still in the home circle. These children grew up with the advantages of a
good home and with the best opportunities afforded by the local schools, each
faithfully performed his duties while at home, and Mr. Evans assisted his sons
and daughtci's that have married to secure homes of their own.
Theodore E. Mester. The name of Theodore E. Mester is identified with
the biisiness interests of Quincy, where for many years he was a fertilizer
manufacturer and gave substance and vitality to that particular industry and
made it important both to himiself and as a source of added business to the
community.
Mr. ]\rester represents families who came out of Hanover, Germany. His
father, Charles Mester, came to the United States when a young man, and
married his first wife in St. Louis. Her Christian name was Louisa and she
920 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
was born in Germany. They came to Quincy and she died when in the prime
of life, leaving two children, Ferdinand and Charles. Both these sons enlisted
from Adams County for service in the Union army during the Civil war. They
made a record of faitlrful service which is properly cherished by the family.
Charles was taken prisoner at the battle of Chickamauga, put in Libby prison at
Eichmond, and died of stai-vation. Ferdinand served all through the war and
spent his last years in the Soldiers Home at Quincy, where he died in January,
1916. He left three sons, all of whom are now married.
At Quincy Chai-les Mester married for his second wife Henrietta Webber.
She was also a native of Hanover. Charles Mester spent the rest of his years
in Quincy and died more than forty years ago, at the age of sixty-five. His
widow survived him and passed away at the age of seventy-three. He was
employed as a millwright in Germany, and followed the same trade at Quincy
for a time, but later became a manufacturer of bone black, used extensively by
sugar refineries. He shipped this product in large quantities to St. Louis.
Theodore E. Mester is one of a large family, namely: Edward, Louisa,
Theodore, George, Lydia, Albert, Rosie, Melissa, Otto and Hattie. All these
children grew up and married and had children of their own. Those still living,
all residents of Quincy, are Theodore, Albert, Melissa, Otto and Hattie.
Theodore E. Mester was born at the home of his parents on Kentucky Street
between Seventh and Eighth streets in Quincy, November 24, 1854. He attained
his education in the city schools, and followed several diiferent lines until at
the age of twent.y-seven he entered the business of manufacturing fertilizer.
He conducted a factory and also dealt extensively in that commodity, handling
the business under his own name and shipping a large output all over the sur-
rounding counties. He was in business actively for thirty-five years, his plant
being located on the south side. Since 1911 he has lived practically retired,
and now spends most of his time at his pleasant home 1025 Monroe Street.
He built his residence in 1890, and he and his wife have spent nearly all their
married lives in those surroundings.
At Quincy, October 5, 1882, Mr. Mester married Miss Louisa Albsmeyer.
She was born in Westphalia, Germany, November 11, 1855. Her mother died
in Germany and in the spring of 1866 she and her father, Barney, set out from
Bremen and after a voyage landed at New York City and then came on to Quincy.
Barney Albsmeyer died in Quinc.y in 1892, at the age of seventy-one. He was
one of the well remembered old residents of the city and was a faithful mem-
ber of the Lutheran church at Eighth and Washington streets. Mr. and ]Mrs.
Mester have also been active members of the Lutheran Church.
Of their children George, the oldest, is now deceased, and left three sons
and two daughters, namely: Gladys, Earl, Lloyd, Loren and Ethel, all living.
Theodore H. is a resident of Quincy. His first wife was Minnie Bergman, who
died leaving a son, Irving. His second marriage was to Martha Peck, and they
have a son, Howard. Lydia Mester is the wife of Albert Hageman, and they
live at Quincy. Their children are Ruth, Erma, Marian, Louise and one de-
ceased, Cornelia. Malinda Mester is still at home with her parents. Herman
is a resident of Quijicy and by his marriage to Lillian Channell has children
named Harold and Gale, and a deceased daughter, Louise. Llatilda is also at
home. Edna graduated from the Gem City Business College in 1914, and is now
employed as a bookkeeper at Quincy.
Henry A. Williamson. For almost sixty years the name of Williamson
has been identified with important business interests at Quincy, as also with
public movements and worthy enterprises. The late Henry A. Williamson
established himself here in the oil business in 1860, and largely through his
business capacity, unfailing good judgment and personal integrity this industry
was developed so substantially and extensively in this section of the country.
Henry A. Williamson was born September 7, 1828, at Freeport, Pennsyl-
vania, and was a son of Dr. Thomas B. and Harriet (Weaver) Williamson. His
IIKNRV A. WILLIAMSON
LIBRARY
jI TttE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 921
father died iu 1840, leaving a family of two sons and two daughters. Henry A.
attended school until he was fourteen j-ears of age when he became a clerk in
a general store and during his thi-ee yeai's with his first emplo.yer demonstrated
commercial ability. In 1846 he became interested iu a lumber and general
mercantile business iu Jeti'erson County, Pennsylvania, but conditions did not
come up to his expectations and in 1847 he returned to Freeport and there
embarked in the mercantile business and continued ten years.
In 1860 Mr. Williamson was made agent for the Aladdin Oil Company, which
manufactured oil from cannel coal, and continued until this company began
the manxifacture of oil from the product of the natural wells, when he severed
his connection and then went into the oil business for himself and became whole-
sale handler for the Standard Oil Company, his territory covering that part
of Missouri north of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad and in Illinois as far
north as Dallas City and Macomb, east to Beardstown and south into Calhoun
County, following the Illinois River, and having stations all over his district.
]Mr. Williamson had the advantage of possessing the confidence of John D.
Rockefeller, with whom he was on terms of personal friendship. He was not
only the pioneer in this great industi-y in Illinois but iu western sections of
the country and his advice prevailed when new business moves were projected.
As new oil fields were discovered, as production increased, new methods of re-
fining came into use, new by-products were evolved, and, with the invention
and general use of the automobile new demands on the industry were made,
Mr. Williams in his own department kept pace with the times. His extensive
oil interests at Quincy have been profitable to the city and have always been
carefully and systematicalh- managed.
In 1851 Mr. Williamson was married to Catherine E. Robinson, who at death
left one son, Thoraa.s B. The son died while a student at Racine College, when
fourteen years old. In 1858 Mr. Williamson was married to Eliza M. Robin-
son. Of their five children two died in infancy, Helen M. survived until 1894,
and Charles H. died in 1916, shortly after his father. Walter E., resident man-
ager of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, alone survives.
Mr. Williamson's business sagacity led to his association with numerous
other interests, in some of which he was the leading factor. For many years he
was vice president of the First National Bank of Quincy and when that in-
stitution was consolidated with the State Savings, Loan and Trust Company he
became one of the directors of the latter bank. He was president of the Quincy
Building and Homestead Association, the oldest of its kind in this city, was
president of the Arrowrock Mining and Milling Company, a director of the
Newcomb Hotel Company, a director of the Sommer Drug Company, and also
of the Quincy Foundiy and Novelty Company and the Quincy Engine Company,
and was one of the trustees of Blessing Hospital and of the Anna Brown Home
for the Aged.
In his political life I\Ir. Williamson was a republican and was associated with
many of the old party leaders in the state. All his mature life he was identified
with the Masonic fraternity. He was a member of the Chapter of St. John's
Cathedral, and in all matters pertaining to the Episcopal Church was most
active and had much to do with bringing about the creation of the Quincy
diocese in 1877, of wliose standing committee he was a member for manj' years.
Full of years and the recipient of many material honors, Henry A. Williamson
passed out of life on February 7, 1916.
Hon. Samuel H. Thompson. The weight of evidence afforded by statistics
is in favor of the large fann well managed as against the smaller holdings long
advocated under intensive cultivation. Adams County is a region of moderately
sized farms, few if any attaining the great proportions of the individual hold-
ings further west. Compared with the western country the estate of Samuel
H. Thompson, 500 acres in one body, is not large, and yet is three or foh.ir
922 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
times the average size of farm estates in this part of "Western Illinois. Its dis-
tinctive features, however, are not its number of acres but its value as one of the
chief centers of livestock production in Adams County, and also as the home of
a family of splendid citizenship, people awake and alive to all the affairs of
their community and to many of those larger problems which concern the state
and nation.
It was his recognized position as a citizen of ability and of long standing
influence, his successful record as a farmer, and his level headed judgment in all
his relations with men and affairs that brought Hon. Samuel H. Thompson
the honor of election to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1916. He was
one of the representatives of the Thirty-sixth Senatorial District, and though that
district is normally democratic he received a majority of 14,000 votes. The
district comprises Scott, Pike, Calhoun and Adams counties, and he carried
every county except Pike. During the Fiftieth Assembly Mr. Thompson was
a member of the committees on agriculture, charities and corrections, farm
drainage, revenue and temperance. These committee assignments indicate fairly
well the chief object of liis attention and work while in the Legislature, though
as a matter of fact he neglected none of his responsibilities and throughout
a long session of six months he was on duty at every roll call and was con-
st/antly a student of measures both in the committee room and on the floor
of the House. He was assigned to the duty of floor leader during the con-
sideration in the House of the Pure Seed Law. This i^roposed legislation did
not pass, and today it is one of the big and fundamental questions affecting not
only the farmers of Illinois but every citizen of the state whose interest in
agi'iculture is measured by a backyard garden. The essential provisions of the
bill in which Mr. Thompson was interested provided certain safeguards, par-
ticularly the high germination test, to prevent spurious and worthless and old
seeds from being shifted upon purchasers by unscrupulous seed dealers. The
measure from first to la.st was bitterly fought by the big seed houses, and yet the
bill got through both Houses of the Legislature and was defeated onlv through
the Governor's veto, who claimed that the measure was unconstitutional. Mr.
Thompson also advocated every worthy measure and proposal looking to the
improvement of Illinois highways, and voted for the proposed issue of .$60,000,000
of bonds for permanent highway construction. He also favored the constitu-
tional convention, which is still one of the vital issues in Illinois politics.
The Thompson home and farm is in section 34 of Gilmer Township, ten
miles east of Quincy and five miles south of Paloma, which is Mr. Thompson's
postoffice. On a farm adjoining his present home Mr. Thompson was born
August 18, 186.3, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (MeConnell) Thompson. His
parents were both born in Ireland, his father in County Derry and his mother in
County Monaghan. The father came to this country about 184.5 and the mother
in 1850. They were married in Adams County in 1852, and at first located a mile
west of the land to which they moved in 1854. The land was then wild prairie
and Samuel Thompson did his part as a pioneer in reclaiming it and putting
it under cultivation. The price he paid for the land was about $7 an acre. He
had a good farm and provided well for his family, and died with the respect of
an entire community January 10, 1891, at the age of sixty-seven. His wife
passed away September 27, 1903, aged seventy-one. Samuel Thompson was a
republican, and though a member of the Presbyterian Church he worshiped at
the Mount Pleasant Methodist church, which was only a mile from his home,
while the Burton Presbyterian church was five miles away. His children w^ere :
Sarah Margaret, Mrs. Henry Baker of Augusta, Illinois ; Anna Belle and Mary
Jane, who have built up a successfiil business as dressmakers at Quincy; Alex-
ander, a farmer and stock man at Camp Point : and Samuel H.
Samuel H. Thompson grew to manhood on his father's farm and his educa-
tion was such as the home district school supplied. Upon reaching his ma-
jority he took service with his father on the farm and remained at home until
he was twenty-five.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 923
Januarj- 23, 1889, Mr. Thompson married Miss Lemmie Dickhut, who was
born in Gilmer Township, and lived near Coatsburg until her marriage. Her
parents, Charles and Kate (Schnur) Dickhut, are both deceased. Her mother
was a native of Germanj% and was brought to this country when a child. Mrs.
Thompson was nineteen at the time of her marriage.
They began housekeeping on eighty acres adjoining the old Thompson home-
stead. Mr. Thompson paid $75 an acre for this land which had as its chief im-
provement an old house and barn. Later he acquired the interest of the other
heirs in the Thompson farm, and some years ago he and C. L. Anderson bought
as partners the noted Paris T. Judy farm of 504 acres. They paid .$30,000
for this estate, one of the oldest and best known in that section of the county.
In the division Mr. Thompson took 260 acres without improvements in the way
of buildings. He has since acquired a third farm, the J. P. Yeargain farm of
eighty acres. This was a highly improved place, and the purchase price was
$175. These various holdings combined give ilr. Thompson an even 500 acres,
all situated in a body, and so arranged and equipped as to constitute a model
stock and grain farm. AYith the assistance of his son he operates the entire
property and for twenty-five years has been one of the largest stock feeders in
the county. As high as 200 carloads of fat stock have been shipped from Paloma
by Mr. Thompson. The principal product of the Thompson farm for some
j-ears has been hogs, and everj' bushel of grain raised on the land is fed there,
and thousands of bushels of corn are bought every year. During his earlier
life Mr. Thompson for seven years operated a threshing outfit and it is as an old
time thresherman that he is remembered by many farmers over a wide terri-
tory. Mr. Thompson early decided on the strength of his observations that laud
was an iron clad investment and that land values must always increase instead
of decrease, and it was on the strength of this policy that he has never hesi-
tated to invest his surplus in additional lands, even at the highest market price.
He took an active interest in public afi'airs from the time he cast his first vote.
"When he was twenty-two he was elected tax collector of the township and had
the responsibility of collecting about $11,000 every year. For nine years he was
also a county commissioner, and six years township supervisor. Some years
ago Mr. Thompson was in the race for county treasurer but was defeated by a
few votes. He is an active member of the Mount Pleasant Methodist Episcopal
church, and is steward of the church and superintendent of its Sunday school.
^Ir. and Mrs. Thompson had a family of seven children. Charles, the oldest,
married Lois Martin, and their three children are Lawrence, Herbert and Ruth.
Ray married Blanche Neal and has a son, James Robert. Mabel is the wife of
Orin Crossland, who is a lieutenant in the United States anny, now serving his
country in France. The four younger children, all at home, are Grace, Florence,
Edith and Samuel. Grace is a graduate of the local high school and the Illinois
State Normal and is a teacher in the home school. Edith is a graduate of the
Gem City Business College.
William Taylor, who died April 25, 1907, was one of the men of achieve-
ment and high purpose in Adams County, and it is eminently fitting that some
permanent record of his career should be made in this history.
He was sixty years of age when his life came to its close. He was born
January 4, 1847, near Dublin, Ireland, and was an infant when his parents
came to America. His father, Edward Taj'lor, was born in County Kildare,
Ireland, September 29, 1812, and died June 21, 1884. He married in Ireland
ilartha Wilkinson. She was eighteen and he twenty-six at the time of their
marriage. In 1849 they started for America on a sailing vessel. Cholera broke
out during the voyage and thirteen of the passengers died of that dread dis-
ease. One of them was Edward Taylor's sister. From New York the Taylor
family first went to Philadelphia and thence came by railroad and water to
Quincj'. Edward Taylor soon settled on a farm in Honey Creek Township and
eventually developed important interests as a farmer and stock feeder. In
924 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Ireland he had followed the trade of blacksmith. His old homestead is now
owned by his two daughters, Elizabeth and Ann. 'Sirs. Edward Taylor died
in November, 1899, after having lived continuously on the old homestead forty-
three years. Edward Taylor was a democrat and was active in the Episcopal
Church, serving as vestryman. He and his wife had eight children : Thomas,
who died October 27, 1913, at the age of sevent.v; James, who died at the age
of forty-seven, a bachelor ; Edward, who died at the age of twenty-six ; William,
also deceased; Ann Olivia, who died in infancy; Sarah Ann; John, who died
at the age of thirteen ; and Martha Elizabeth.
William Taylor grew up in Honey Creek Township, attended the schools
there, and remained at home and assisted his father in the operation of the
farm. After the death of his father he became an independent farmer and on
April 2, 1894, married Miss Anna Hewitt. Mrs. Taylor was born in Honey
Creek Towoaship, daughter of William Hewitt, of a prominent family from
County Cavan, Ireland, whose membership and experience in Adams County
are given record on other pages of this publication.
In September, 1894, Mr. and Mrs. Ta.ylor moved to the farm five miles
southeast of Mendon in Honey Creek To^aiship where Mr. Taylor was busied
during the remaining years of his life and where Mrs. Taylor still lives. At
that time the place consisted of 320 acres. The farm now embraces 519 acres
all joining. It is one of the leading centers for the production of high grade
stock, and a silo has been added to the farm equipment by the son William E.,
who is one of the most capable and progressive younger men in the agricultural
circles of Adams County. William Taylor was a democrat and served four
years as township supervisor. He was a member of no church or fraternities.
Mrs. Taylor, who is a member of the Episcopal Church at ]\Iendon, is the
mother of four children : Annie W. and Fannie E., twins, both at home ; Wil-
liam E., who since attaining his ma.jorit.v has assumed the business responsi-
bilities of the home farm; and Sara M., who is a graduate of the Mendon High
School and now a school teacher.
David L. Myers. Some of the most interesting family records published
in this work are those of the Myers family. These records show that as a family
they have been for a long period of years identified with several townships,
principally Gilmer, have been workers, producers, have cleared and cultivated
the land, have built good homes, have conducted themselves as public spirited
citizens, and their influence has gone steadily to the betterment of their respec-
tive localities, churches, schools, good roads. The presence of such men and
women mean a great deal to any county.
One of the present generation of this family is David L. Myers, proprietor
of the Prairie View Stock Farm in section 13 of Gilmer Township, his farm
ad.joining the Village of Columbus on the south. ]\Ir. ]\Iyers was born in the
same locality FebruarA^ 25, 1865. For his parentage and other items of the
family history the reader is referred to other pages.
Mr. Myers remained at home until he was twenty-five, working for his
father and also renting. Thirty years ago he began renting the farm which he
now owns, and at the end of five years was able to negotiate a purchase of 197
acres, at a price of $60 an acre. His present farm comprises 208 acres, and it
reflects the wonderful advance in land values when it is noted that Mr. Myers
paid for this additional part of his farm $200 an aore. The Prairie View
Stock Fami has been in cultivation a great many years, and some of its improve-
ments that still stand were placed there by Mr. Myers' predecessors. The
substantial brick house was erected bv the previous owner, Mr. Graves, and has
been remodeled and modernized b.v Jlr. IMyers. Mr. Shephard built the barn,
and that too has been remodeled by its present owner. This %\as one of several
farms under the ownership of Mr. Graves, who is also remembered as having
established and conducted for a number of years a mill in this conuuunity.
QUINCY A\D ADAMS COUNTY 925
The Prairie View Stock Farm has a fine grove of trees, including some pines
set out by ilr. Graves.
Twenty-five years ago, when he bought the farm, Mr. Myers had a capital
of only $900. Hie has made the land pay for itself, and has always relied upon
livestock as his chief source of income. He has handled hogs, horses and cattle
and his best stock are tlie Durham cattle and the Poland China hogs. Some
idea of the business transacted at the Prairie View Stock Farm is gained from
the fact that ;\Ir. ilyera marketed about $5,000 worth of hogs in 1917. While
the management of the farm and the paying for it has constituted a program
sufficient to require his best energies and stock, Mr. Myers has also enacted the
role of a pulilic spirited citizen, has given time to his work as member of the
school board, as road commissioner, and is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
At the age of twenty-five he married Miss Ida Frances Bates, of Camp
Point, daughter of W. I. Bates, a prominent fanner of Camp Point Township.
Mi"s. flyers is a sister of Dr. A. D. Bates of Camp Point, and also of Dr. 0. L.
Bates of the same village, ilr. and Mrs. Myers have two sons and one grand-
child. The sons are Harry R. and Justin T. The latter lives at home and assists
his father in the management of the farm, while Harry operates an adjoining
farm. Harry married Lillian Booth, formerly a successful teacher of the
county. Their child is Ida Elizabeth.
Mr. Myers is affiliated with the ^lasonic Order at Columbus, having taken
his first degrees at the age of twenty-one. He is a past master of the lodge,
and is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. His farm furnishes him his
chief recreation as well as his steady productive employment, and this and his
family and community interests furnish him a busy program from one j^ear's
beginning to the end.
William H. ]Mn>DENDORF. Identified continuously with enterprises of large
importance at Quincy during his entire business life, William H. Middendorf,
president of the Broadway Bank, stands among the city's prominent and repre-
sentative men. He was born at Quincy, Illinois, September 28, 1851. His par-
ents were Bernard H. and Elizabeth (Jelsing) Middendorf, both of whom were
born in Germany.
Bernard H. Middendorf for many years was a prosperous merchant in the
grocery- line at Quincy, an honorable and upright business man and tnistworthy
citizen. He came to the United States early in the '40s and resided until
1849 in the City of St. Louis, ^lissouri, and then came to Quincy. His last
years were passed here in comfortable retirement and his death occurred in
1885. His widow survived until 1905. They had the following children : Eliza-
beth, who is the widow of William Schlagheck, of Quincy; Catherine, who died
in childhood ; William H. ; Henry, who is associated with his brother William
H. in the lumber business at Quincy ; ilary and Frank, both of whom are
deceased : Theodore, who is a.ssociated with his brothers in the lumber busi-
ness; and Joseph, who is a Franciscan monk and rector of St. Joseph's College,
Teutopolis. Illinois.
William H. Middendorf was educated in the Quincy schools and in the
meantime learned the basic principles of business as he served as a clerk in his
father's grocery store. From there he entered the employ of the lumber firm
of Vandorn, Diekhut & Company, where he remained for eight years and ac-
quired such detailed knowledge of that business that later he was able to turn
it to good account when he embarked in the business for himself. Before that,
however, he conducted a grocery business under his own name for almost three
years and after selling the same again became interested in lumber and in
1884, associated with his two brothers, started the lumber business which is
carried on under the style of IVIiddendorf Brothers & Company. As his inter-
ests widened and broadened. Mr. iliddendorf recognized other business oppor-
tunities and was prei)ared to take advantage of them. One of these led to the
Vol. n— 13
926 • QUINCY AND ADA:\IS COUNTY
organization in 1910 of the Broadway Bank, in which enterprise he was asso-
ciated with a number of other capitalists. Tliis financial institution is well
financed and with Mr. Middendorf as president enjoys the fullest measure of
public confidence. This bank, like far too many others within the last decade,
met with a serious loss on July 3, 1915, when a bandit bank robber, under the
guise of a depositor, seized and escaped with .$450, this sura lying within the
cashier's cage. The authorities have not yet apprehended the robber, whose
suspected activities are still in progress in other sections, where bank officials
have lost their lives as well as funds.
Mr. Middendorf was married November 5, 1878, to Miss Josephine "Wismann,
who was boru at Quinc.y, and seven children have been born to them, as follows :
Agnes, who died in infancy ; Mary, who is the wife of Herman H. Rakers, of
Quincj-; Clara, who is the wife of Joseph Kuhlman, of Chicago; Elizabeth,
Roger and Coletta, all of whom are deceased ; and William, connected with the
lumber firm of Middendorf Brothers & Company and now in the United States
service.
Active as he has always been in business, Mr. Middendorf has always found
time to consider the public welfare and to lend his influence to movements of
a public nature that have promised to be beneficial, and this commendable
attitude was clearly shown during the two terms that he served as alderman,
being elected on the democratic ticket once as a representative of the Fifth
Ward and the second time from the Sixth Ward. With his family he belongs
to St. Francis Roman Catholic Church, belongs to the Western Catholic Union,
and is president of St. Aloysius Orphan Society, and in other connections is
known to be open-hearted, generous and charitable.
J. R. Little. Four score and five years old, Mr. J. R. Little is healthy,
hearty and active physically and mentally. Mr. Little is a mechanical engi-
neer and inventor of considerable note. He was the inventor of the all metal
wheel now universally used on agricultural implements and machinery, practi-
cally the world over. He was the pioneer manufacturer in this art, having
made and put on the market the first really successful all metal wheel for farm
purposes, cost, durability and adaptability con.sidered.
Mr. Little is of Scotch descent, born in Sparta, Randolph County, Illinois.
A life long democrat, a Presbyterian, and an Odd Fellow since 1862.
Mr. Little's grandfathers, Robert Little and Samuel Armour (as also their
respective wives, Nesbit and McBride) came from Scotland to America before
the Revolutionary war, in which war both grandfathers served under Francis
Marion.
Mr. Little's father and mother, John Little and Maria Ai-mour, were born
and raised in Chester district. South Carolina. It was there John Little's
parents and I^Iaria Armour's mother died; after which Samuel Armour and the
young people moved to Randolph County, Illinois, where Mr. J. R. Little
was born.
To Mr. John Little and his wife, Maria, were born five children: James R.,
Mary A., Samuel A., William J. and Cinderelle J. Mary A. and Samuel A.
died in Monmouth. In 1840 John Little and family moved from Sparta to
Jefferson County, Illinois, where his wife, Maria, died in 1842, after which
he and family moved to Monmouth, Illinois, where he died in 1888, aged seventy-
eight. It was there Mr. J. R. Little when a boy worked with his father and
learned the carpenter trade, and later with his father engaged in the lumber
and sawmill business.
On February 22, 1853, ^Ir. Little married ^liss Jaline Smith, of near
Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, in the Canton (Illinois) House Hotel. To them
were born nine children, Sarah L., who died in childhood ; James L., who was
killed in an elevator accident in Quincy, Illinois; John A., who died of asthma
in St. Louis, Missouri ; Mary L., who died of cancer in Decatur, Illinois ; twin
girls who died in infancy; Bessie L., who is still with her parents; George G.,
QUINCY AND ADAilS COUNTY 927
who is master mechanic with the Mayo Brothers Clinical Company, Rochester,
Minnesota; and Frank B., who is foreman machinist in the Dick-Daytou
Foundry and ilachine Works, Quincy, Illinois.
lu 1865 ]\Ir. Little assisted William S. Wier in putting the Wier (pioneer)
Straddle-row corn cultivator on the market, and was with the Wier Plow Com-
pany, of iloumouth, Illinois, until 1880, when he accepted a foremaiiship in
the Collins Plow Company works in Quincy, Illinois. He was there nearly two
years, in which time he invented the all metal wheel and much of the machinery
requisite to its maoiufacture. In 1882 was formed the Quincy iletal Wheel
Company for the sole purpose of manufacturing metal wheels.
Mr. Little in Illinois was tirst to advocate an Odd Fellow Home for aged
and indigent Odd Fellows, their wives, widows and orphans. For ten years,
from 1880 till 1890, by word and by pen in hundreds of articles in the Odd Fel-
lows Herald, of Springfield, Illinois, J\Ir. Little agitated the cause which finally,
with the aid of the Rebekahs, resulted in two homes, one at Bloomington, Illinois,
for orphans, and one at Mattoon, Illinois, for old folks.
About 1887 the Quincy Metal Wheel Company sold out to the Bettendorft"
Metal Wheel Company of Davenport, Iowa. After which Mr. Little devised
another process for making metal wheels, for which he received patents on
both the wheel and machinery for constructing it, and upon which was formed
the J. R. Little Metal Wheel Company, now in operation at the foot of Cedar
Street, Quincy, Illinois.
RoM.v T. BoEKENHOFF is a prominent business man of Quincy largely be-
cause he started in a business career when only a boy and has kept his ener-
gies moving along one line and with increasing prosperity ever since.
His own name has many prominent associations in Quincy business life
while the name of the family is associated with pioneer annals of Adams County.
Mr. Boekenhoff was born at Quincy, December 23, 1874, a son of Henry and
Mary (Mehler) Boekenhoff, the former a native of Quincy and the latter of
Pennsylvania. Henry Boekenhoff was born in Quincy about 1847. He was
the only child of his father, who came to this country from Germany and died
in the prime of life in the cholera epidemic at Quincy in 1848. So destructive
was that epidemic that the physician who waited upon him died the day fol-
lowing, and the disease also spread to the infant son Heniw, who, however,
recovered. Henry Boekenhoff 's mother afterwards married three times, but
had children only hy her second husband, ]\Ir. Hollander. She survived all
her husbands and died when past three score and ten years. She was a native
of Germany. All the family in the different generations have been members
of St. Boniface Catholic Church. Henry Boekenhoff was a democrat. His
wife, Mary Mehler, was of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and came to Quincy
when a young woman. She died when past forty years of age. Henry Boeken-
hoff as he grew up learned the trade of baker and followed it as a trade and as
a business from the time he was eighteen yeai-s old until he retired a few-
years before his death, which occurred in 1913. He was well known to the
trade and was one of Quincy 's good citizens. He and liis wife had seven
children: Antoinette, wife of Harry Metz, of San Francisco, California: Harry,
of Des Moines, Iowa ; Lillian, wife of A. A. Hutmacher, of Quincy : Roma T. ;
Estelle, wife of M. A. Hutmacher, of Quincy ; Ilda, wife of Frank Weisenhorn,
of Las Cruces, New ^Mexico; and IMargaret, who is the only one not married.
Roma T. Boekenhoff was educated in the public and parochial schools of
Quincy. His first business employment was one year witli the Gardner Gov-
ernor Works at Quincy, and from that he went into his father's bakery and has
been identified with the baking business ever since. In 1901 he bought a
bakery of his own at 827 ]Maine Street, and that was his business headquarters
and home of a very flourishing trade for about eleven years. In December,
1912, he bought his present store at 626 Maine Street, and has kept this im-
proved up to date and makes a specialty of cakes and rolls, a product in great
928 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
demand all over Quiney, and also of several high grade confections. He has
modern equipment in his shop, which is 20 by 100 feet, and he gives employ-
ment to about ten people.
Mr. Boekenholf married June 1, 1898, Minnie Urban, who was born at
Nauvoo, Illinois, but grew up and was educated in Quiney. They have two
children : Roma Urban, born July .'i, 1900, now a senior in the Quiney High
School ; and Kathryn Mary, born April 10, 1910, and in the grammar school.
Mr. Boekenhoff is a republican in politics, is an active member of the Kotary
Club, the Advertising Club and the Chamber of Commerce, and fraternally is
affiliated with the Masonic Order, Loyal Order of Moose and the Knights of the
Maccabees.
Stevens Nations. Few families of Adams Country have roots more substan-
tially grounded in the pioneer past than that of Nations, numerously represented
now as well as when this country was all new and when the Indians were friendly
neighbors at every cabin and wild game abounded on every section of land.
It was a remarkable instance of brotherly affection, lifelong companionship
and mutual service and sacrifice exemplified l)y the late Stevens Nations and his
bachelor brother Joseph, who grew up as children on a pioneer farm in Liberty
Township, and spent practically all the years of their lives together. Stevens
Nations died at Camp Point, Illinois, May 5, 1912, and his brother Joseph on
January .3. 1915. They were extremely devoted to each other, and together they
owned and opei'ated the old homestead farm of 240 acres in section 3 of Liberty
Township, a place which is still in the family and has had one family owner-
ship through three successive generations.
Both these brothers were born in a log cabin home, Stevens on October 5,
1837, seventy-five years before his death, while Joseph was born in 1840. Their
parents were Isaiah and Barbara (Roe) Nations, the former a native of South
Carolina and the latter of Missouri. They married in Jlissouri in 1818 and a
number of their children were born there, Matilda, David, Rebecca, Clara, Beri*y-
man, James, Mary, Dinah and John. In 1830 Isaiah Nations brought his fam-
ily to Liberty Township of Adams County, and was one of the first settlers in
that then wilderness region, where he took up a Government tract of 160 acres.
This quarter section is part of the 240 acre homestead which the Nations broth-
ers so long owned and occupied. Isaiah Nations lived there the rest of his
industrious days. He died August 6, 1870, having been born Julj' 2, 1796. His
wife died March 10, 1863, and she was then about sixty-three yeai-s of age.
Liberty Township was largely settled by members of the Dunkard Church, and
members of the Nations family were very prominent in that faith. Isaiah and
wife were both buried in a family burying ground on the old homestead. His
parents, Nathan and Tabitha (Stevens) Nations, were also buried in the same
plot. Isaiah Nations' son John lost his life in the Civil war. Most of the
children grew up and a number of them were very old when they died.
Stevens Nations was reared on the home farm, educated in the local schools,
and in the community of his boyhood associations he reared his family. Fifteen
yeai-s before his death he retired to the village of Camp Point. He was a splen-
did type of citizen, greatly beloved by all, and left above everything else the
heritage of a good name to his descendants.
In Liberty Township October 25, 1868, he married Jane Wigle, represent-
ing another prominent pioneer family of this county. She was born in Liberty
Township October 26, 1840, and was reared there, a daughter of Solomon and
Nancy (Potter) Wigle. Her father was born in Union County, Illinois, April
11, 1816, while her mother was born in Pennsylvania, August 11, 1811. Solo-
mon Wigle 's father was John Wigle, who left Germany to avoid militarism, and
settled in Illinois Territory, where in Union County he married Margaret
Wolf, a sister of Rev. George Wolf, one of the pioneer Dunkard ministers of
Adams County. John Wigle and family moved to Liberty Township in 1827,
and their habitation was one of the first to represent the advance of civilized
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 929
men into that region, where Indians were almost as numerous as whites. John
Wigle and wife spent the rest of their days in that connnunity. There Solo-
mon grew up and married Nancy Potter, and he too followed farming and
surrounded himself with the comforts of existence and enjoyed the riclieg of
community esteem. He died October 25, 1881, while the mother of Jlrs. Na-
tions died in 1863. ^Irs. Nations was the only child of her mother. Her
father married for his second wife a ]\Iiss Hewes, and there were two chil-
dren by that union.
Stevens Nations and wife had six children. Florence died when five years
old. Mrs. Maggie "Wells is a widow living at Quincy. Emma is the wife of
Dr. Trotter, a dentist of Quincy, and they have a daughter, Florence. Wini-
fred is unmarried and lives at home, looking after her widowed mother. The
two youngest of the family are Dr. Hugh S. and Dr. Guy J., both prominent
dental surgeons of Quincy. Doctor Hugh married Christine Blersch and has
two sons, Isaiah S. and Joseph.
Dr. Guy J. Nations, son of the late Stevens Nations, was born on the old
homestead in Liberty Township, March 31, 1881, and grew up there, aeciuir-
ing his enrly education at home and in the Camp Point schools. For one year
he was a student in the dental department of the Northwe.stern University at
Chicago during 1898-99, and then entered the dental department of Wash-
ington University at St. Lonis, where he graduated with the class of 1902.
The same year he established himself in practice at Quincy and with the ex-
ception of the years 1904 to 1908 when he practiced at Palmyra, Missouri, has
rendered service greatly appreciated by his large clientele at Quincy. He has
a fine suite of offices at the corner of Sixth and Hampshire streets. He took
his first degree in Masonrj' at Camp Point and is now affiliated with Lodge
No. 296 at Quincy and is also a member of the Scottish Rite Consistory. His
wife and daughter are active in the Vermont Street Methodist Episcopal
Church.
In his home township he married ]Miss Frances Callahan, who was born
in Columbus Township of this county in 1883, daughter of Wesley and Belle
(Jeffrey) Callahan, both natives of Adams County and of Irish parentage
and ancestry. Her parents married in Columbus Township, and Mrs. Calla-
han died there in 1900. An uncle of Mrs. Nations, Frank Jeffrey, is a well
known missionary in India. Mrs. Nations' father has had a very successful
career. For some years he served as supervisor of his township in Adams
County and was once a candidate for the Legislature. For a number of years
he has lived in Kansas, and was manager and owner of artificial ice plants
there. Mr. Callahan now lives in Kansas City, though he still has business
interests in Adams County, being connected with the Peoples Bank of Camp
Point and the Farmers Bank of Liberty. Doctor Nations and wife have three
children: F. Mildred, aged thirteen: Ruth J., aged ten; and Marjory W.,
aged six. The three daughters are attending the Webster School.
Philip J. O'Brien. Quincy people generally are familiar with the life
and career of Philip J. O'Brien, who has been a factor in the city's business
and civic affairs for many years. Mr. O'Brien was born here in 1880, and
earned his first money carrying copies of the old Quincy Journal. He began
that work at the age of ten years and was a newsboy until he was about
fourteen.
In the meantime he attended the local schools, and his first independent
venture was as a grocery merchant at Sixth and Vine streets. He was there
three years, spent four .years with the Mills Soda Works on Cedar Street, after
which he resumed business as a grocer at Seventh and Vine, and was there
seven years or more. He then entered his present line of business operating
a transfer .sy.stem and coal yards. For five years his yards were at Sixth and
Cherrj- streets, and since then his headquarters have been 609 North Fourth
Street. He does general city transfer work, handles some of the leading grades
930 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
of coal sold in the city and is also a general contractor. He has done much
road grading throughont the county and has a business which represents long
experience and adequate organization for everj' department.
In 1907 Mr. O'Brien was elected a member of the City Council from the
First Ward and served continuously for ten years, until May, 1917. At dif-
ferent times he was a member of most of the committees, chairman of the more
important of them, and for thirty days was acting mayor of the city. His
service in the Council was under the administrations of Mayors John H. Best
and W. K. Abbott. He is a member of the City Central Democratic Com-
mittee.
His parents were Daniel and Anna (Meilahon) O'Brien, both natives of
County Clare, Ireland. The3' came to this country when young and were
married in Quincy. Daniel O'Brien spent most of his active career as a con-
tractor on river levee work, but finally retired and died in 1897, at the age of
fifty-eight. His widow is still living, past seventy, and enjoys vigorous health.
She is a devout member of St. Peter's Catholic Church, as was her husband.
Of their children, Philip is the youngest. The others, all of whom are un-
married and living with their mother, are James, Julia, ilargaret and Nellie.
These children now have the actual management of the grocer.y store formerly
conducted by Philip O'Brien.
Mr. Philip O'Brien married in 1912 Mrs. Minnie (Bohney) Sipker. She
was born in Quincy and was educated in St. John's Parochial School. Her
parents were natives of Germany and came to Quincy when young people,
were married and spent the rest of their days here. Mrs. O'Brien by her lirst
husl)and, Clement Sipker, had two children, William and Jessie, the latter
How eighteen years of age and educated in St. Mary's College. The soQi
William finished his ediication at Valparaiso University of Indiana and for
the past eighteen months has been a member of the Marine Corps, being at
present a guard for a wireless station on the New Jersey Shore. Mr. and
Mrs. O'Brien have two children, Phyllis and Philip J., Jr. The family are
all members of St. Peter's Catholic Church and he is affiliated with the Knights
of Columbus and is president of St. Rose Branch No. 52 of the Western Cath-
olic Union.
Resler M. St.vhl. For more than half a century the Stahl family have
been factors in the farm development and civic and social life of Gilmer Town-
■ ship. They are most substantial people and some of the best farm land around
the village of Fowler is now owned by Resler M. Stahl, who grew up in this
community as a boy.
His father, the late Noah Stahl, was widely known in Adams County, and
lived as usefully and honorably as he did long. He was born in Somerset
County. Peinisylvania, Marcli 14, 1823, representing an old Penn.sylvania family.
He married JMary Horn, a native of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. In
1865 Noah Stahl brought his family out to Adams County, where some of his
relatives were already living, including three of his brothers and two brothers-
in-law. These earlier settlers and their families have died in this county and
state. Noah Stahl on coming to Adams County bought 160 acres in section 6 of
Gilmer Township, just north of the Village of Fowler. That land is still in the
Stahl homestead, being owned by his son Resler M. Noah Stahl was chiefly
identified with farming, though for about two years after the war he had a
store at Fowler. He lived to be nearly ninety-two years of age, his death oc-
curring August 18, 1914. He was well preserved in mind and body almost to
the end. The liberal prosperity he accumulated was solely by his own elTort.
When eighteen years of age he was without a cent and for some years he clerked
in a store at $100 a year and also worked in the timber at $3 a month. He was
a republican in politics and filled several local offices. He was a very liberal
supporter of all worthy movements affecting his home community. Mrs. Noah
JrntJc AtaJu,
LIBRARY
:>r THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 931
Stahl died in 1881, at the age of fifty-four. Both were active members of the
United Brethren Church. They had five children, Jennie dying at the age of
twenty-two and Sumner H. at the age of twenty-six. Sumner was a student
at Westfield College, preparing for the bar, and overwork led to his early death.
The three living children are: Elias B., a farmer near Fowler; Resler M. ; and
Mary Elizabeth, wife of Fred M. Barrows, of iMount Sterling.
The late Noah Stahl built the present commodious i-esidence at Fowler in
1891, and this house has since been remodeled and is now modern in every
particular, being lighted with electricity. Its present owner and occupant,
Resler M. Stahl, was born in Allegheny County, near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,
July 19, 1854, and was about ten years old wlien his parents came to Adams
County. He always lived at home and was his father's manager and later suc-
ceeded to the home establishment, comprising 570 acres of rich and fertile soil.
Mr. Stahl has been an extensive grain and stock farmer, and though his land is
now under the supervision of a tenant he still keeps his own stock. This farm
was formerly divided into three separate places, but under his management has
been comluned as one, making for greater efiSciency and productiveness. Mr.
Stahl has always lived in that locality since boyhood, though for two yeai-s he
was a student at "Westfield College. He is a member of the United Brethren
Church, and is a repulilican voter but with no desire for party honors.
In 1891 Mr. Stahl married Miss Louisa King, of Huntsville, Schuyler
County, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Stahl lost one daughter in infancy, and their
only living child is Mary Harriet, still at home.
Frank H. Weems. Among the progressive business men of Quincy few will
be found with a broader or sounder outlook or with more practical ideas than
Frank K. Weems, who is identified with a number of important business enter-
prises, is president of the Quincy Pure Ice and Cold Storage Company, is
largely interested in the dye industrj', and is secretary and ti-easurer of the
Weems Laundry Company.
Frank H. Weems was born at Keokuk, Iowa, where his father was engaged
in railroad building. May 21, 1862. His parents were Jesse E. and Louisa
(Kimball) Weems, who established the family home at Quincy in 1870. As has
been noted in another part of this history, the father of Mr. Weems for many
years was a civil engineer largely concerned with railroad construction, several
important divisions of the present great systems having been built according to
his surveys. Jesse E. Weems is a highly esteemed resident of Quincy and his
business interest and advice have been exceedingly helpful to his sons. Frank
H. Weems was the third born in a family of four children and is one of the
two survivoi-s. The children included : William Lock, who died in 1881 ; Milton
K. ; Frank H. ; and Mary, who died young.
Frank H. Weems began his business career as a newsboy while attending
.school, after which for a time he was employed on the iavm of Sir. Swope. On
July 4, 1879, in association with his brother Milton K. Weems, he entered into
the laundry business, in a small way, in a building on Jei'sey Street near
Seventh, an interesting fact to keep in mind because of the contrast afforded by
the passage of time and the great expansion that has been bi-ougbt about through
business acumen and honest methods.
In 1888 the Weems Company purchased the present site of their large plant,
on Fifth and Jersey streets, Quincy, and here erected one of the largest and
best equipped laundries of that date, to which in recent years additional space
and further improvements have been made use of. A large bi'anch is also con-
ducted at Springfield, and through the use of automobiles laundry service is
given all over the city and environs. It was a wise business idea that the
partners acted upon when the.v added dye works, the operation of which is
carried on largely by utilizing the power used in the laundry. Their facilities
932 QUINCY AND ADA:\IS COUNTY
have been increased recently and this branch of their business promises to be
one of immense importance.
Another example of how men of progressive ideas become successful by tak-
ing advantage of a practical situation was shown when the Weems people in
1894 started their pure ice company, being pioneers in the manufacture of
artificial ice in this city. This business has developed to great proportions
and among the buildings they have erected is a plant including cold storage
warehouse, etc. They also deal in coal. Among Mr. Weems' other interests
is membership on the directing board of the Illinois State Bank.
Frank H. Weems was married June 25, 1885, to Miss Annie Lee, who is a
native of Quincy, Illinois, and they have four children : Louise, who is the wife
of F. Prentice Abbott, of Brooklyn, New York ; Jessie, who is the wife of F.
Montgomery Smith, of New York City: Charles Lee, who belongs to the United
States Navy ; and Frank H., who resides at Quincy. All the children wei'e
educated in the Quincy schools. Politically Mr. Weems is a republican. While
vitally interested as a citizen and an active promoter of movements to add to
the city's importance and also to her people's safety and comfort, he has never
been willing to accept public office. He maintains fraternal relations with the
Elks and the Eagles.
Robert Plebbe Gunther. Conspicuous among the leading .young hard-
ware merchants of Quincy is Robert F. Gunther, an active and public-spirited
citizen, whose influence and assistance are always sought in behalf of under-
takings for the public welfare and the advancement of the best interests of
the communitj''.
His father, Robert C. Gunther, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, Octo-
ber 31, 1851, and died at his home in Quincy, Illinois, April 3, 1916. Com-
ing to Quincy in 1879, he established a hardware business, putting in a line
of tools and builders' supplies. Successful in his undertakings, he enlarged
his stock, putting in a line of sporting goods and kitchen utensils of all kinds,
and at the time of his death was carrying on an extensive business. He mar-
ried first, in Carlinville, Illinois, Clara Flebbe, who was born in ilacoupin
County, Illinois, and was there brought up and educated. She died July 18,
1877, leaving one child, Robert Flebbe Gunther, the special subject of this
sketch. He married for his second wife Miss Flebbe, a sister of his first wife,
and they became the parents of four children, as follows : Elmer, deceased ;
Agnes, wife of Arnold V. Scott, of Quincy : Edward, deceased ; and Felix, of
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, connected with the Pittsburg Crucible Steel Com-
]>any. The father was a man of mi;ch education, and for seven years served
as a member of the school board.
At the age of sixteen years, having acquired a good education in the pub-
lic schools, Robert F. Gunther entered his father's store, and under his tutelage
became thoroughly acquainted with the details of the hardware business, with
which he has since been actively identified. The business of which he is at
the head is now owned by a stock company, with Mr. Gunther as president
and treasurer, two responsible positions which he is filling most ably.
On December 6, 1899, Mr. Gunther was united in marriage with Lillian
Mae Bimson, a native of Quincy, Illinois, and they have one child, Geraldine,
born June 12, 1901. Mr. Gunther is a republican in politics; a member of
the Quincy Rotary Club ; and in religion is a Christian Scientist.
Charles H. L.m'ter. As president of the J. B. Schott Manufacturing Com-
pany at Quincy Charles H. Lauter has given to that business, one of the largest
in Quincy and one that has served to make the name Quincy significant of busi-
ness enterprise all over the IMiddle West, the best of his own energies and
abilities for thirt.v years. He became president eight years ago when the
founder of the company died.
Mr. Lauter was born in St. Louis, Missouri, February 16, 1861, a son of the
QUINCY AND ADA:MS COUNTY 933
late Phillip D. Laiiter. His father, a native of Treves, Germany, received excel-
lent educational advantages in his native land, becoming quite proficient in
mathematics and kindred studies. In 1857 he came to the United States. For
six years he was an accountant at St. Louis. In 1863 he moved to Quiney, and
for seventeen years was a.ssociated with the tirm of S. J. Lesem Brothers &
Company, wholesale dry goods. Returning then to St. Louis, in 1882, he
engaged for a short time in the grocery- business. After that he resumed his
former profession, and did not really retire from active work as an accountant
until eighty-five years of age. He died January 16, 1915. His wife, whose
maiden name was Louise Puehs, was born in Berlin, Germany, and is now
living in St. Louis, a venerable and highly esteemed woman of eighty-six years.
Nine children were born to their union : Bertha, widow of John F. Spaethe, of
Chicago; Charles H.; Lena, at home; Emil and Arthur, of St. Louis; ilarie,
Louise, Albert and Phillip, all deceased.
Acquiring his preliminary education in the public schools, Charles H. Lauter
afterward continued his studies in the Quincy High School, and subsequently
while assisting as bill clerk he became familiar with bookkeeping and account-
ing, and broadened this technical knowledge b.y a course of study in the Gem
City Business College. In 1877 he entered the employ of the Ricker Bank,
and was connected with that Quincy institution for fourteen months. From
1879 to 1884 he had charge of the books of the Herman Hirsch Hide Company.
The next three years, with St. Louis as his headquarters, he traveled for an
upholstery and saddlery establishment, covering a wide territor.y and getting
an experience that has been of inestimable value to him in his subsequent busi-
ness career.
On returning to Quincy in 1887 ^Ir. Lauter became associated as copartner
with the J. B. Schott Saddlery Company. This, one of Quincy 's oldest mer-
cantile houses, was established by John B. Schott in 1856. Mr. Schott, after
interesting his sons and daughters in the business, retired in 1905, and the
firm was incorporated under the present name. However, Mr. Scjiott continued
as president until his death in 1910, when Charles H. Lauter succeeded him.
On January 18, 1906, a disastrous fire entirely destroyed the plant, entailing
a heavy loss. The firm immediately rebuilt and re-erected a fine four-story
brick and stone building, 75 by 120 feet. This building was ready for occupancy
in Januar\% 1907. In the rear of the main building, at 225-227 Hampshire
Street, was also erected a three-story building 45 by 55 feet, where horse collars
are manufactured largely, the output being marketed all over the I'nited
States.
ilay 24, 1888, Mr. Lauter married ]\Iiss Julia M. Schott. Three children
have blessed their union : Carl J., a graduate of the University of Illinois, now
following chemical engineering, water survey and bacteriological work; Mar-
garet L. and John L., twins, the former at home and the latter now deceased.
Politically Mr. Lauter is independent, and is broad and liberal in his religious
views, affiliating with the Unitarian Church.
Frank E. Bird. An enterprising, energetic and able business man of Adams
County, Frank E. Bird, a well-known pharmacist of Quincy, is actively identi-
fied with tlie drug trade of the city, having a well stocked and well managed
store at the corner of Eighth and Hampshire streets. He was born February
4, 1884, in Hannibal, Marion County, ^Missouri, a son of Abraham and Alice C.
Bird, natives, respectiveh', of Kentucky and Missouri. His father, who fol-
lowed the brick mason's trade for many years, is now living retired from active
pursuits in Quincy, Illinois, where he and his wife have a pleasant home. They
have one other child, Hamilton Bird, now a resident of Denver, Colorado.
An active and sturdy lad, Frank E. Bird began life as a wage earner at
the early age of seven years, going into a parsnip patcli with his hoe and
bravely fighting the noxious weeds, thus earning his first suit of store clothes.
Four years later, in 1895, he was working hard in a drug store in Quincy, satis-
934 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
factorily performing liis duties as clerk after school hours and attending both
the day school and the evening school. Jlr. Bird took up the stud.y of phar-
macy after clerking for several years, aud successfully passed his examinations
in both Chicago and Springfield. In 1913 he bought his present .store in Quiucy,
and though comparatively young in the business has built up an extensive and
highly remunerative trade in his community, the people having the greatest
confidence in his ability. Politically Mr. Bird is a consistent supporter of the
principles of the democratic party. Fraternally he belongs to the Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons, and is a Knight Templar. Religiously Mr. Bird is a
valued member of the Episcopalian Church.
Ferdinand F. Gieping is an expert in the electrical trade, especially in
storage batterj^ manufacture, and has utilized his skill to put him in a very
satisfactory and commendable business position when still luider thirty years
of age. He is manager of the Columbia Battery Service Company, which was
recently incorporated, and now has a well appointed shop and plant at 219
North Sixth Street in Quincy. They furnish and charge batteries of every
type and for every purpose, their capacity being -±00 batteries per day. These
batteries are distributed to garages and for other purposes of the ten-itory
surrounding Quincy to a distance of even 150 miles, and they send their work
everywhere in this field.
Mr. Giefing is a very practical man in electrical work and has some splendid
natural ciualifications as a business man. He was born in Quiucy January 15,
1890, was educated in the parochial schools and the St. Francis College, from
which he graduated with the class of 1909, and since then all his time and en-
thusiasm have been taken up with his special trade. However, for two years
he was a clerical worker in the Ricker National Bank, and for two years also
repi'esented as a traveling man in Oklahoma the well known wholesale hard-
wai'e house of Wyeth Company of St. Joseph, ilis.souri. Several years ago
Mr. Giefing built a large garage 100 by 50 feet at the corner of Twentieth and ■
Hampshire streets, and conducted it for one year. He also conducted storage
battery business in a retail way and then opened in a wholesale way in the
storage battery service and was active in organizing the present corporation.
He is a son of Ferdinand and Frances (Bennig) Giefing. His father was
born in Austria, Hungary, and came to Quincy when twelve years of age. He
was an expert accountant and became well known in Quincy, where he died in
1912. at the age of fifty-eight. His wife was a native of Quincy and she died
here in 1894. They were members of St. Boniface Catholic Church. Their
only other child, Frances, died at the age of thirteen.
In September, 1913, Mr. Ferdinand Giefing married at St. Joseph, Missouri,
Miss Ethel Gladys Carson. She was bom in Albany, Missouri, but was reared
and educated at St. Joseph. Missouri, where her parents Newton and Lucy
f Duncan) Carson, reside. Mr. and Mrs. Giefing have one daughter, Julia "Slay,
born January 18, 1917. ilr. and Mrs. Giefing are members of St. Boniface
Catholic Chui'ch aud he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus.
William A. Martin. In the past twenty years the people have come to
look upon William A. Martin as the source of administration and personal direc-
tion of the Quincy Street Railway System. Mr. Martin is a veteran in experience
with the operation and management of public utilities, is a trained mechanical
engineer and has been in the profession for thirty years or more.
He was born in New York City in September, 1867, son of George and
Elizabeth (Rose) ^Martin, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of
Canada. George I\Iartin came to America when a young man and in 1877 went
to Chicago. He has been an auditor and accountant and is now living retired
in Florida. There were three children : William ; Lome, deceased : and George
Bruce, a resident of Zanesville, Ohio.
William A. Martin has been dependent upon his own resources since he
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 935
was a boy, and gained most of his teclinieal education through his own earn-
ings. When about sixteen years of age he was working for the Pullman Palace
,Car Company at Philadelphia. He remained there alxiut five years, and later
entered the State University at Champaign, where he graduated as a mechanical
engineer in 1892. For a time he was coimeeted with the electric light and street
car service at Omaha, was an employe of public works at Chicago, and in 1898
came to Quincy and for the first two years was connected with the Gas and
Electric Company. He then took charge of the street car service, and now for
a number of years has been its general superintendent.
Mr. ]\Iartin is a republican, a member of the Ma.sons, Elks, Rotary Club and
Congregational Church. In June, 1895, he married Mary L. Shaw, who died
in August, 1912, mother of four children: Mabel L., wife of William J. Schlagen-
hauf, of Bushnell, Illinois ; Edith, at home ; George and William, both deceased.
Joseph Oertle. Eminently deserving of mention in a work of this char-
acter is Joseph Oertle, an esteemed and respected resident of Quincy, who is
carrying on an extensive business as a manufacturer of candies of all kinds, the
products of his factory being widely and favorably known throughout Adams
and adjoining counties. He was born April 9, 1859, in Quincy, which he lias
alwa.ys claimed as home.
His father, the late Joseph Oertle, was born in Herbolzheim. Baden, Ger-
many, and was there bred and educated. Coming from there directly to Quincy,
Illinois, in 1856, he followed his trade of a butcher until 1907, when, haying
acquired a fair share of this world's goods, he gave up his business and lived
retired from active pursuits until his death in 1915. He married Caroline
Haas, who was born in Eichstettin, Baden, Germany, and died at her home in
Quincy in 1912. Six children were born of their union, as follows: Joseph,
the subject of this brief sketch; Anna, wife of David Riediugcr, of Quincy:
Emma, who became the wife of Robert A. Gardner, ;M. D., of Quincy, now
decea.sed; Bertha, wife of John Schoeneman, of Journal; Rosa, wife of Frank
Dick, of Quincy ; and Charles F., also of Quincy.
A bright and active lad, full of vim and energy, Joseph Oertle began at
the early age of fifteen years to do business on his own account, and until 1887
was profitably engaged in the buying and shipping of cattle. IMaking a change
of occupation in that year, he formed a partnership with D. Redinger, and
has since been successfully engaged in the manufacture of candies, in which he
is an expert, the confectionery made by his firm being in great demand by both
wholesale and retail dealers.
;Mr. Oertle married first, July 28. 1907, Miss Jennie Price. She died Decem-
ber 6, 1911, at an early age. Mr. Oertle married for his second wife, June 30,
1917, Miss Alice Riley. In his political affiliations Mr. Oertle is a democrat.
He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and also
belongs to the Turnverein. Liberal in his religious views he is a consistent
member of the Unitarian Church.
J. Henry Hellmer. One of the olde.st and best kno«^l citizens of Quincy
was taken away by death when J. Henry Hellmer was gathered to his reward
April 13, 1913. The service for which he was best known and appreciated was
the trade of barber. He was engaged in that occupation for sixt.v-five years
and was the oldest man in length of service in Quincy, if not the State of
Illinois. He left a good name, an honorable record, and that record is being
continued in the life of the city today by his worthy children.
Mr. Hellmer was born in Bavaria, Germany, June 17, 1836. The home in
which he died at 837 Oak Street was built bj' him nearly forty years ago.
It is a large two-story brick house, containing eight rooms, and is still the home
of Mrs. Hellmer and some of her children.
When J. Henry Hellmer was eight years of age his parents, Simon and
Catherine (Godmyer) Hellmer, embarked on a sailing vessel at Bremen and
936 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
crossed the ocean to New York City, going thence to St. Louis, and in 1S57 the
entire family established their home in Quiney. While at St. Louis J. Henry
Hellmer and brother Adam learned the trade of barber under their father.
After coming to Quiney all three of them were associated in the l>arber shop
of the Tremont Hotel. While there the father and his wife died and the sons
afterwards dissolved partnership. Henry Hellmer then had the l)arber shop
of the Quiney Hotel, his brother Adam working for him. When tliat hotel
burned he moved to Maine Street, and continued his work until he had put in
sixty-five years at the trade. The brief remaining time allotted to him in mortal
life he spent in quiet retirement at his Oak Street home. He had many friends
in Quiney and many of the most prominent men of the city had been his cus-
tomers and friends. He was active in the Catholic Church, was a charter
member and organizer of the Western Catholic Union, and was long affiliated
with St. Boniface Church.
"Sir. Hellmer married for his first wife at Quiney Magdalena Schwenden-
hann. She was born in Quiney. was educated in St. Boniface School, and died
in 1869, after ten years of happy married companionship. She left two sons:
Simon Henry, who was well educated and had learned the trade of barber,
but died at the early age of twenty-one; and George J., who is now a resident
of Boulder, Colorado, and by his marriage to Irene Murphy of that city has
three children, Harry, George, Jr., and Anna M.
In 1871, at Quiney, Mr. Hellmer married for his present wife Miss Bertha
Benz. Mrs. Hellmer represents an old and solid family of ilelrose Township.
She was born in Quiney, however, sixty-nine years ago, but was reared at the
farm of the Benz family in Melrose Township. She was educated in the public
schools and in St. Anthony's School. Her father, Joseph Benz, was born in
Germany March 19, 1819, was educated there and in 1847 came to America and
after living in Quiney four years moved to Melrose Township. In the same
year that he came to America he married Miss Chrissensia Nodler, who was
born in Germany May 31, 1824. Their voyage to America wa.s in the nature
of a wedding journey, but it was marred by a shipwreck and ninety-six days at
sea before they landed at New Orleans nearl.y starved. Joseph Benz was a
very active citizen, and though he died October 11, 1869, when only fifty years
of age, he had developed a fine estate of 200 acres in Melrose Township. He was
a democrat in politics and reared his family in the faith of the Catholic
Church. His widow survived him many years and passed away in 1896,' at the
age of seventy-two. They reared a family of four sons aud five daughters, all
of whom grew to adult years except one, four are married, and two sons and
three daughters are still living.
The concluding part of this record must pertain to the children of ilr. and
Mrs. Hellmer, all of whom are held in the greatest respect. They are all
membei-s of St. Boniface Church, and they acquired good educations in the local
public and parochial schools. Edward J., the oldest, is connected with the Quiney
store of Halbach & Schroder. He married Catherine Delabar and has one son,
John E., aged eleven. Catherine L. is the wife of George D. Stratman. an
employee of the Electric Wheel Works of Quiney, and they have two daughtei-s.
Vary F., aged fifteen, and Rosemar\% aged five. Frank X., who is a jewelry-
man at Springfield. Illinois, married a Quiney girl, Ethel Kickert. and has a
daughter, Audrey R., aged eight years. ]\lary O. was educated at Quiney and
is now connected with a large store at Lincoln. Nebraska. Sophia H. is an usher
in the Belaseo Theater at Quiney. Emma C, twin sister of Sophia, married
Joseph Kiefer, a printer at Quiney. Bertha M. is the wife of Iven Kurz, of
Lincoln, Nebraska, an automobile salesman there. Leona R. is employed in a
book store at Quiney.
Wii^LiAM Edw.\rd Wright is said to be the largest stock feeder in Mendon
Township, and that means that he is also one of the largest in Adams County.
He has the farm and acreage and all the facilities required for his extensive
operations. His home place is midway between Mendon and Ursa.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUXTY 937
Mr. Wright was born in Mendou Township November 19, 1865, and is a sou
of Neheniiah and Marian (Taylor) Wright. The Wright family has been
prominent since early times in Adams County, and Nehemiah had several
brothers who were also early settlers of the county.
Nehemiah Wright was born near Banbury in Oxford Countj% England,
November 4, 1823, a son of Abraham and Anna (Hyden) Wright. Anna Hy-
den's mother was a witness to the battle of Hedge Hill, and lived to a remark-
able old age. One of Abraham Wright's brothers served eighteen j'ears in
the British Army and was a veteran of the battle of Waterloo. Nehemiah
was the youngest of ten children, five of whom came to the United States.
One sister died soon after coming to this country and was buried at Mendon.
Nehemiah 's brother Joseph moved to Southwestern Missouri, and two of his
brothers remained in Adams County. The parents of Nehemiah died at the
i-espective ages of eighty-three and seventy-eight. Their old stone house at
Banbury is said to be .500 years old.
Nehemiah Wright as a boy learned the trade of shoemaker. He came to
America in 1839 in company with a brother, and he paid his passage monej' of
$-iO from wages earned after he located in Columbiana County, Ohio. He lived
there until 18-14, when he came to Adams County. In 1855 Nehemiah Wright
returned to England and married Marian Taylor, a native of the same locality
as her husl^and. He brought his bride back to the country in 1856. In com-
pany with his nephew, John Wilcox, Nehemiah Wright cleared up forty acres
of land, using ox teams to perform the heavy work. He added to that nucleus
until he had a large estate, and his life was an exceedingly busy one. His
wife died at the age of sixty-seven, and after that he lived among his children.
He was one of the acting supporting members of the Congregational Church
at Mendon. Nehemiah Wright died at Citronelle, Alabama, Januaiy 15, 1915,
at the venerable age of about ninety-two years. He was the father of twelve
children, ten of whom survived early infancy : John, who died in Kansas at
the age of thirty-two; Walter, of Colorado; AVallace, an agricultural imple-
ment dealer at Mendon ; Mrs. Alice Trask, of Citronelle, Alabama ; William E. ;
Edith, wife of George Jarman ; Frank, who lives in Iowa ; Arthur and George,
both in Colorado ; and Julia, who died at the age of nineteen, just after her
marriage. As noted, three of the sons are residents of Colorado and are suc-
cessfully engaged in stock ranching in that state.
William Edward Wright was reared and educated in Adams County and at
the age of twenty-one went out to Kansas and spent a year in Wichita Count}*.
Returning, he worked on a farm in Adams County for wages 2yo years. The
owner of this farm was Josiah Wihle of Ursa Township. On October 1, 1890,
Mr. Wright married his employer's daughter, Laura Wible, who was at that
time twenty-two years of age. Josiah Wible came to this county from Penn-
.sylvania, when a boy.
After his marriage Mr. Wright conducted a meat market at Ursa for six
years, and that venture was attended with very little success. Seeking a new
avenue for his efforts, he bought a tract of timbered land included within his
present farm and soon erected a mill which cut the timber for his own house
and converted a large part of the timber growth of the thirty acres into lumber.
Gradually he used the cleared land for farming, and has kept adding to his
purchases until he now owns 420 acres and forty-five acres in another tract.
His experience as a land buyer reflects the notable rise in values in farm prop-
erty. At one time he could purchase land at about $33 an acre, while now
some of his own soil is worth $210 an acre. Mr. Wright some years ago built
a fine home on the main road 2iA miles west of Mendon, not far from the Bur-
lington Railroad.
As a stock man he handles hogs, horses, mules and cattle. He feeds about
ten carloads of cattle and five carloads of hogs every year, and is an extensive
buyer, picking up animals of all sizes and ages both in the local community
938 QUINCY AND ADAJIS COUNTY
and in the larger markets. His feed lots usually have 100 or more cattle, and
he frequently has about fifty head of horses and mules. There was a time not
so many years ago when ]\Ir. Wright sold wood at -$1.25 a load in order to keep
his family in groceries, and his prosperity as a land owner and stock feeder
has been a matter of steady progress and advancement for a period of about
eighteen jears. He is a republican in politics but is no office seeker. His wife
is a member of the Christian Church at Ursa. Mr. Wright has spent several
delightful vacations in the mountains of Colorado.
He and his wife have two children. Glen is a gi'aduate of the Mendon
High School and is now farming part of his father's place. He married Eluora
Corn well and they have a daughter, Eloi.se. Mr. Wright's daughter Flossie
is also at home.
At this point some further matters should be noted concerning Mrs. Wright's
family. Her father, Josiah R. Wible, long well known in Adams County, was
born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, February 10, 1840. The first
member of the Wible family to come to Adams County was grandfather John
Wible, who came West in 1850 and acquired the land which was later owned by
Mr. Wible and is now the Wright farm. Josiah Wible was twelve years old
when he accompanied his father and other members of the family to Quincy.
They made this interesting journey, which he well remembers, by boat down
the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois, and thence up the Mississippi to Quincy,
where they landed on the 22d day of November. Mr. Wible was one of a
family of five children, three sons and two daughters. One son died in infancy
and the others reached maturity. The oldest daughter was the wife of H. S.
Loucks, who far over thirty years or more was a merchant at Ursa. The young-
est son, Frank, died in 1916, at May wood, Missouri. The youngest daughter,
Mrs. Anna L. Huston, is still living in Adams County, at Mendon, occupying
the old home there. Josiah R. Wible grew up in Adams County and in 1863
married Mary E. Beam, daughter of W. W. Beam. Mr. and ]\Irs. Wible had
their home near Ursa and Mendon until 1899, when they moved to Chicago
and have since lived retired in that city. Their summer months they have
spent regularly for a number of years at St. Joseph, Michigan. Of their nine
children, eight daughters and one son, three died in infancy and one at the
age of twenty-two. The living children are all residents of Chicago except
Mrs. Wright, who is therefore almost the sole repi'esentative of this old and
well known family still living in the county.
Albert H. Sohm, D. D. S., who holds the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery
from Washington University of St. Louis, has been busily engaged in practice
in his native City of Quincy for fourteen yeai's. He is a leader in his profession,
one of the young men looked to for an active part in all civic and social matters,
and belongs to the well known Sohm family, his father being Edward Sohm, the
president of the Ricker National Bank.
Doctor Sohm was born in Quincy August 14, 1882, and was liberally edu-
cated. He attended the grammar and high school of Quincy College, the
National Business College, and from there entered the dental dejiartment of
Washington University, where he completed his work with the class of 1904.
Doctor Sohm has done much to pvit himself among the leaders in the most
progressive branches of modern dental surgery. He recently completed a special
course under Doctor James at Chicago, who has a national reputation as a
pyorrhea specialist. Doctor Sohm has not only kept in touch with every
method and new discovery in the science of dentistry but has also supplied
himself with every equipment req\;ired for the most expert service, including
the X-Ray.
Doctor Sohm married twelve j'cars ago Miss Lyda A. Troja. She was born
and reared at Ft. Madison, Iowa, and is a daughter of the late John J. Troja,
one of the early wholesale and retail grocery and commission men of that city.
■QUINCY AND ADAiMS COUNTY 989
Doctor and Jlrs. Sohm are active members of St. Peter's Catholic Church.
He is a member of the local, state and national dental societies, is a member
of the Country Club and the Chamber of Commerce, and is a fourth degree
Knight of Columbus and past exalted ruler of the local lodge of Elks.
WiLTOx Ephr.mm AVhite is president of the Quincy Coal Company, one
of the oldest organizations of the kind in Illinois, having over sixty years of
history. The business was established at Quincy in 1857, being financed orig-
inally by Boston parties. William Morris was the first president when the
company was incorporated in 1869. In 1875 he was succeeded by H. S. Os-
born, followed some years later by his son C. C. Osborn, and still later by his
grandson F. W. Osborn, who sold his interests to W. E. White, the subject of
this sketch, in 1911. For many years the company operated mines in the Col-
chester and Farmington fields of Illinois, at the same time looking after the
wholesale and retail distribution of coal. The company at present handles
anthracite and bituminous coals from the different producing states, supply-
ing Quincy and contiguous territory and reaching into Eastern Missouri and
Southern Iowa.
Mr. White has resided in Quincy since 1891, and for many years carried
heavy responsibilities in connection with the management of the famous Gem
City Business College. He was with that school twenty years as instructor in
general commercial subjects and lecturer on commercial "law and mathematics.
He is the author of several text books on mathematical and commercial sub-
jects. During the last fifteen years of his work there he was vice president
of the college and a member of its executive board. On accepting the presi-
dency of the Quincy Coal Company, he sold his interests in the .school and
resigned his educational work. Thousands of young men and women who
have been his pupils are now in useful and honorable positions as the result
of his conscientious endeavors.
ilr. White's parents, J. A. White and Nancy (Ellis) White, were born in
Ohio, and after thej- began housekeeping moved to Missouri and later to Iowa.
His father enlisted in the Thirty-first Iowa Volunteer Infantry and gave three
and a half years of strenuous service to his country in the Civil war. He
participated in more than sixty battles, including Shiloh, where he was wounded.
For a time he was with the armies of Grant, later he was under Gen. "Pap"
Thomas, and finall.v marched with Sherman to the sea, and was present at the
Grand Review at AYashington at the close of the war. He returned to Iowa,
residing on a farm near llarion in Linn County. Here, on February 14, 1866,
Wilton E. White was born. In 1872 the family migrated to Jewell County,
Kansas, where the father preempted a homestead, and accepted the hardships
of the early pioneers of that state. The family lived in a sod house, and the
children attended school in a sod school house. At that time the settlers were
frequently molested by Indians, and the coyotes were much in evidence. The
settlers had no trouble in supplying their tables with buffalo meat killed from
the herds that roamed at will over the broad prairies and ofttimes destroyed
their crops. In 1873 the scourge of gra.sshoppers destroyed every vestige of
green in that part of the state, and the unfortunate settlers would liave starved
had it not been for "aid" sent from other states to relieve their distress. As
an instance of the inadecpiacy of haphazard philanthropy Mr. White remem-
bers that included in the carloads of supplies for cold and hungry people,
taking up valuable space, were numerous large boxes of books, consisting
chiefly of state and congressional reports and other statistical matter that
was good for nothing but fuel. 'Sir. White's father and mother, now past
eighty, still reside on the old homestead in Jewell County.
Wilton was but six years old when the family joiirneyed to Kansas, and
there his real experience may be said to have begun. His school privileges
were limited, but he was a diligent student and made the best use of every
opportunitj-. When seventeen years of age he learned the printer's trade and
940 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
was compositor and job printer for a number of years. He soon recognized
his need for a better education than he had been able to get in the pioneer
country school, and laid plans for a college course. By saving his earnings
and by following his trade while pursuing his studies he took a course at the
Kansas State Agricultural College at Manhattan and later at the University
at Saliua, where for a time he edited and did the mechanical work on the
conference paper of the Methodist Church. After finishing his college work
he took up teaching, and followed that for several years before coming to
Quincy.
Mr. White's wife was Miss Mary Frances Loss, of Marshalltown, Iowa. She
is of the highly intellectual type and takes an active interest in social and
club life. She is a member of Dorothy Quincy Cliapter, Daughters of the
American Revolution, a member of the Round Table and of the Friday Club.
They are members of the Vermont Street Methodist Church. The children are
Wilton P. and Virginia E. The son enlisted in the Navy on completing high
school in 1916, and is now a petty officer on Dewey's old flagship, the Olympia,
and is "Somewhere Across." The daughter, aged fourteen, is now in high
school. The family residence is at 803 Sixth Avenue, North.
Mr. White is a thirty-second-degree Mason, a Knight Templar and
a Shriner, and takes a great interest in all branches of the craft. He has
served two years as master of Lambert Lodge No. 659, Ancient Free and Ac-
cepted Masons, and has held numerous offices in the various bodies of the rite.
He is at present sovereign prince of Quincy Coinieil, Princes of Jerusalem.
Mr. White takes a great interest in literary matters, is a lover of Shakes-
peare and the poets, and is an interpretive reader of no mean abilitj'. He has
written a number of poems on patriotic and other subjects that have found
their way into print, and have called forth considerable praise. The Quincy
Herald of January 12, 1918, says: "Wilton E. White, former teacher, present
merchant, scholar, litterateur, interpretive reader, has tried his hand at blank
verse writing and has .succeeded in producing, under the title 'War and Prog-
ress,' a composition that shows an intimate knowledge of prosody as among
the attainments of the author. Not only this. Also it shows Mr. White versed
in the pliilosophy of life, versed in a world-embracing system of cause leading
to effect, versed in world-history of humankind from brute-man in jungle
and in cliff and his progress onward and upward— ever onward, ever upward
— slaying and destroying each and all opposing forces that obstruct his path-
way into the sunlight of a perfect civilization. In his blank verse composi-
tion, Mr. White has added to what is best in the literature of the day." The
poem is too long for reproduction in this article, Init a few stanzas will serve
to show its high character:
But count not all the gain as lost
Of nations gone before ; for as, in turn.
Each ancient race has struggled up the slope.
Her warlike deeds have hewn a higher step
And built the stairway nearer to the top.
Where the sun of freedom shines ; and from
The ashes of these hoai-y states, Phoenix-like,
Have risen the great republics that today
Are grappling at the throat of tlie last
Great dragon — the last and fiercest.
And what shall be the fruit of present victory.
When bleeding Plurope's wounds are stanched;
And the frightful havoc Mars has wrought
Is summed up ; and the staggering total
Of fallen soldierv, of old men exiled.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 941
Of women wronged, of starving babies, of ruined homes,
Of desolated cities, of nations bankrupt,
Of law and order turned to anarchy?
From this red chaos what of good may come?
Shall all this rnin count for naught?
patriot ! turn thy face toward the light.
And put thy hand unto the plow. The past
Is ruined, but thy destiny is fair before thee.
The despot is no more ; and on these shattered
Fragments of the past, thou and thy fellows
Shall build the fairest temple of democracy
That ever lifted crenelated spire
To the starry vault of freedom.
With thy loved ones gone, and only tender memories
To steady thee, and a strong, clear faith
To lead thee on, what canst thou not accomplish?
Henry Knapiieide. The late Henry Kuapheide was born in Lengerieh,
Muenster, Germany, August 16, 1824, grew to manhood in that coimti-y and
was taught the trade of wagon worker. After completing his masterpiece, he
traveled as journeyman through various cities of Europe and in 1845 left
the old country with America as his destination. After arriving at New Or-
leans he found employment and worked at his trade some two years. He then
departed from New Orleans and arrived at St. Louis, where he again worked
at his trade. At St. Louis he met and was married in 1847 to Catherine Ache-
pohl.
Catherine Knapheide was born in Borgholzhausen, Minden, Germany, March
16, 1823, and came to this country in 1844. Ocean travel in those days waS
usually made by slow sailing vessels and to add to the hardships of her joiirney
she was taken down with typhoid fever and had barely recovered on her ar-
rival at the port of New Orleans. In her weakened condition she was carried
oflE the vessel by friends and taken on a steamer about to leave for St. Louis.
Under the kind treatment of her friends, assisted by her youthful vigor, she
soon regained her strength.
After the marriage in 1848 they came to Quincy, which city they found
to their liking and made it their future home. Henry Knapheide associated
himself with another native of his country in the building of farm wagons,
their shop being located in the 600 block on State Street.
It was about this time Mr. Knapheide introduced to the trade the first cast
skein farm wagon in this part of Illinois, which proved a large success and
resulted in its being adopted by all wagon manufacturers as the standard
skein for farm wagons. This business was carried on for a number of years
at this location, after which the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Knapheide
became associated with George Goodapple in the same line of work in the
700 block on the same street. This business was continued until after the
Civil war, at which time Mr. Knapheide bought his partner's share in the
business. Coming from the old country, skilled in his trade, possessing the
thoroughness and thrift for which his race was noted, with an ambition to
build the best wagon, and with a Christian's faith, success was assured him.
The trade soon recognized his work as the best and in a few years time the
business grew to such proportions that considerable additional help was re-
quired to turn out the work.
Henry Knapheide became a naturalized citizen of the United States and
usually voted the republican ticket. He and his wife were some of the charter
mem])ors of the Kentucky Street Methodist Episcopal Church. Henry Knap-
heide died August 4. 1890, having reached the age of sixty-six years. His wife
reached the age of ninety-two years, dying February 9, 1915.
Vol. 11—14
942 QUINCY AND ADA:\IS COUNTY
This worthy couple are represented by a family of six living children. The
oldest is Mrs. J. H. Hoffman, of Sigourney, Iowa, the mother of three sons and
two daughters, all having received a university education and the sons are in
educational work.
The second in age is Henry E. Knapheide, who was boi-n in Quincy, April
15, 1856. He attended the city public schools and is a gi-aduate of the Gem
City Business College. Under the direction and skillful eyes of his father
he mastered and became an expert in the wagon buildei-s' trade and after the
death of his father took charge of the business. He was married at Quincy
to M. Augusta Beck. Mrs. Knapheide was born at Brooklyn, New York, being
the daughter of Fred W. Beck and wife. Her father was a pharmacist and
chemist, traveled extensively and for several years was a drug buyer in China.
His wife died while Mrs. Knapheide, her brothers and sisters were quite young,
after which he placed the children with friends. Rev. and Mrs. C. G. Lieber-
herr, who had charge of the Berea Orphanage at Berea, Ohio. Mr. Beck en-
listed in the Federal Army during the Civil war and soon won his spurs as
first lieutenant. After the war he again took up his profession of chemist.
He was stricken with j'ellow fever and died at New Orleans in 1872.
Mr. Knapheide, endowed with his father's ambition to produce nothing
but first class work, his thoroughness and Christian faith, in addition to a good
education, began to build where his father had left off. As the trade was
brought to realize that the son's intentions to build the best were like unto
his father's, the business continued to grow, imtil it was found necessary to
seek larger quarters where the work could be turned out more rapidly in larger
quantities. A new plant was erected on Sixth and State streets, and as the
trade increased additional buildings were made necessary and today this firm's
products are known all over the Central West in a class among the best. Mr.
Knapheide is today surrounded by a host of friends and in his business and
recreative activities is recognized as a leader. He is president and treasurer
of the Henry Knapheide Wagon Company, and a member of the board of di-
rectors of several of Quincy 's leading business enterprises and banks and is
affiliated with the Masonic fraternity.
Mr. and Mrs. Knapheide have both children and grandchildren to do them
honor, namely: Ruby Clara, who is the wife of David C. Ganz and is the
mother of Carlisle, Robert and Jack. She is a graduate of the Quincy High
School. Oliver Carl is also a graduate of the high school and the agricultural
department of the University of Illinois, and is a successful farmer and stock
raiser in South Dakota, was married to Miss May Brown of Springfield, Illi-
nois. To this union were born three sons, Oliver, Jr., Donald and Henry.
Harold WaJdemar Knapheide acquired his education in the public schools and
is now secretary of the Henry Knapheide Wagon Company, and is ably as-
sisting his father in managing the plant. He married Miss Mai-y Frances
Ganz. Their children are Harold, Jr., and Marcia Kathryn. Irma Helen is the
wife of A. B. Parker, both high school graduates, and they have one son, Arthur
B. Jr. Besides being a high school graduate Mrs. Parker is a graduate of the
Columbia School of Expression and Dramatic Art. Jessamine Augusta, a
gi'aduate of Quincy High School and the Macomb State Normal, is the wife
of Paul 0. Botts, who is now serving in the aviation section of the United
States Army. Mildred Carrie is a graduate of the Quincy High School and
University of Illinois. Lowell Lester is at this time attending high school and
is a member of the Farmer Boys' Reserve. Mar.jorie Ilortense, the youngest
of tlie family is also attending high school.
' Mr. Knapheide 's sister. Emma, is the next younger and is the wife of John
Hoffmeister, a successful farmer and stock raiser living near Liberty, Illinois.
This couple has two sons and three daughters, all well educated.
Edward J. is unmarried, living with his sister at Sigourney, Iowa.
Melinda C. has achieved an enviable reputation as one of the oldest and
best known woman physicians in Illinois and is the wife of Henrj^ Germann,
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY !)4:{
who is vice president of the Broadway Bank. ilr. aud Mrs. Germaun have a
son and daughter, both graduates of universities and schools of medicine and
surgery.
The youngest of the family is William S., now a prominent physician and
surgeon of Quincy. Doctor Knapheide married May Brenner, of Quiuey, and
they now have one living son, who is attending school. Doctor Knapheide is
a member of the Masonic fraternity and he and family belong to the Methodist
Church, of which all his brothers and sisters are members.
Otto H. Duker. Noteworthy for his good citizenship and many excel-
lent traits of character, being especially a good salesman, Otto Duker is well
known in the business circles of Quincy, being vice president of the J. H.
Duker & Brothers Company, wholesale liquor dealere. A son of the late Theo-
dore Duker, he was born in Quincy, Adams County, Illinois, July 23, 1868.
He is one of twelve children, eleven of whom are still living and "seven being
residents of Quincy.
Otto Duker attended Saint Boniface school as a child and later was a grad-
uate of the Saint Francis College. Upon leaving school his wish was to follow
the blacksmithiBg trade, but through his father's persuasion, became familiar
with the details of the wholesale liquor trade, with which he has since been
actively identified. In 1904 changes were made in the original firm, the new
firm of J. H. Duker & Brothers Company being incorporated with Simon
Duker, Otto 's cousin, as president and treasurer ; Otto Duker, vice president ;
and John C. Ording, secretary and office manager. Mr. Duker immediately
assumed the duties of his position, and as one of the official members of the
firm is carrying on an extensive and prosperous business.
Mr. Duker married Miss IMartha Fisher, daughter of Mr. and ^Irs. John C.
Fisher, on January 28, 1897. Miss Fisher was born, bred and educated in
Quincy. Mr. and Mrs. Duker have one daughter. Miss Esther.
Politically Mr. Duker is a loyal supporter of the principles of the demo-
cratic party. Religiousl.y he is a member of the Saint Boniface Catholic Church
and also a member of the Saint James Branch of the Western Catholic Union.
He is also a member of the Saint Aloysius Orphan Society. Fraternall.y he is
a member of the Order of Eagles and of the Travelers' Protective Association.
Thomas Will Turner. In the fine farming district of Ellington Towmship,
where the possession of land spells prosperity, one of the active factors today
is Thomas Will Turner, who ha.s spent his life in Adams County and is thor-
oughly practiced in every pha.se of experience as a farmer.
He was born in this county August 13, 1859. youngest of the seven children,
four sons and three daughters, of John T. and Harriet (Barnes) Turner. Five
of these children are still living: Louisa, wife of J. F. Daugherty, the well
known undertaker of Quincy, and they have a family of four children : Emma
J., w^ho is a resident of Long Beach, California, and is a professional decorator
and also active in Evangelistic work mth the Baptist Church; George 0., a
farmer at Omaha, Nebraska, and father of two children ; and Ella, wife of Lewis
Wilson, a grower of prunes, cherries and walnuts at Sunnyvale, California.
John T. Turner was bom at Livermore Falls in the State of Elaine in
1820 and died in 1900. He was only fourteen years old when his parents
crossed the country in pioneer style with wagons and teams to the Jlississippi
River and found a home in Adams County. The mother traveled all the way
in a chaise. In 1834, when they arrived. Adams County was a wilderness, with
some of the red men still in the forest, and not a single line of railway in the
Middle West. As a hoy John T. Turner frequently saw deer jumping through
the brush and timber and he knew Quincy when it was a small village with
none of the pretentious streets and buildings of the present time. Grandfather
Turner made his first purchase of land in Burton Township. The deed of
that land, written on an old parchment and executed by President Martin Van
•J44 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Buren under date of August 6, 1838, is now a much prized possession of Mr.
Thomas "\Y. Turner, who also has another similar deed. The Turners owned
several pieces of land in Adams County and were prominent early farmers and
land owners here. John T. Turner first affiliated with the whig party and
when that party died out became a republican and was enthusiastic in his
membership and a devoted admirer of the great Lincoln. He attended the final
obsequies of the martyred president at Springfield. He and his wife were
members of the Baptist Church and both are now at rest in Wesley Cemetery.
Thomas W. Turner attended the public scliools and academy of Quincy and
the Gem City Business College, and since then has been busied as a farmer
and stock raiser. June 16, 1887, he married Miss Edith Davenport. They are
the parents of two highly educated and cultured daughters, Harriet B. and
Margaret. Harriet was educated in the common schools, spent two years in the
Quincy High School and a year in the W^inona Park School at Warsaw, Indiana,
and for a number of years was engaged in teaching. She is active in the Pres-
byterian Church of Ellington Township and superintendent of the primary
department of its Sunday school. The daughter Margaret is a member of the
class of 1920 in the Illinois Woman's College at Jacksonville.
jMi"s. Turner was bom at Chelsea, Maine, August 27, 1860, the only child
of Charles H. and Harriet R. (White) Davenpoi-t. When she was about nine
years old, in 1869, her parents came west and settled in the State of Missouri
and afterwards moved to Kansas, where her father died in 1872. Mrs. Turner
has since lived in Adams Comity and was educated here and in the Academy
at Galesburg.
Mr. Turner is a republican in polities, though in local affairs he supports
the man best qualified for office. For many years he has served as township
clerk of Ellington Township, for ten or fifteen years was a school director, and
has done his full share of public work and helping forward community enter-
prises of different kinds. He is affiliated with Camp No. 995 of the Modern
Woodmen of America at Ursa. He and his wife are active members of the
Ellington ilemorial Presbyterian Church, and are active patrons of its Sunday
school. Tlie farm of Mr. and Mrs. Turner is widel_y known as the Hunkadory
Farm, comprising 174 acres, and with buildings and all the facilities well
fitted and accommodated for perfect and adequate service. It is a home in
which friends and acquaintances like to gather, and as a farm it is one of the
most productive and best improved in the towniship.
John E. Andrew. A man of much force of character and of strong per-
sonality, John E. Andrew, superintendent of the Sailors' and Soldiers' Home
at Quincy, possesses in a marked degree the ability and other qualifications
fitting him for the responsible position, and is performing the duties devolving
upon him with rare fidelity and efficiency. A son of the late John Andrew,
he was born June 6, 1849, in Clinton County, Ohio.
John Andrew was born and bred in North Carolina. Going from there to
Ohio, he bought a tract of land, and on the farm which he improved spent
the remainder of his life. His wife, whose maiden name was ^lary Smitli,
was born in North Carolina and died in Illinois. Of their family of seven
children, three sous served in the Civil war, and all of the cliildren excepting
the subject of this sketch are dead.
At the age of ten years, having been left fatherless, John E. Andrews was
bound out, and thus forced to work earl.v and late for his board and clothes.
When fourteen years old he ran away and enlisted in the Seventy-ninth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry. Although but a boy, he took part in several engagements,
and at the battle of Peach Tree Creek. Georgia, he was wounded. He continued
in service until receiving his honorable discharge July 22, 1865. Locating then
in Piatt County, Illinois, Mr. Andrew found employment on a farm, and for
four years worked for one man. In the meantime by close application to his
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 945
books he acquired a practical knowledge of the common branches of learning,
and subsequently taught school a number of terms.
Becoming active and prominent in public affairs, Mr. Andrew was elected
sheriff of Piatt County in November, 1882, and served in that capacity for
four years, his residence being in Monticello. He was very popular in public
life, and later became mayor of Monticello. On Ma3' 20, 1913, he assumed
charge of the Sailors' and Soldiers' Home at Quincy, and has since continued
as managing officer of the institution.
Mr. Andrew has been twice married. He married first, October 22, 1873,
Fannie Heath. She died at a comparatively early age. May 13, 1902. Of this
union five children were born, namely: ilariou, of Houston, Texas; Arthur,
of Bloomington, Illinois; John, of Deti'oit, treasurer of the Wallace-Hagenbach
Circus Company ; Metta, wife of Dr. C. M. Bumstead, of Monticello ; and Ethel,
deceased. Mr. Andrew married second, November 7, 1907, Mrs. Lavonia
(Duvall) Reeser, whose first husband, Charles Reeser, died in early life, leaving
her with one child, Gladys, now living in Des Moines, Iowa. Politically Mr.
Andrew is a democrat and active in party work. Fraternally he is a thirty-
second degree Mason, and prominent in Lodge, Chapter, Council, Commandery,
Shrine aud the Consistory. Religiously he was brought up a Quaker, the faith
of his parents, but he is now a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
John H. Geers. The career of John H. Geers might be analyzed and sub-
jected to a thoroughly fair trial and it undoubtedly would reflect success at
ever}- count and test. Mr. Geers went to work when thirteen years of age.
He represents one of the old and substantial families of Quincy of German
origin. At the age of thirteen he began handling and selling meats in a packing
house at Quincy. This training was a long and extensive one of twenty-two
or twenty-three years, and gave him a knowledge of the meat business that has
had as much to do with his success as an independent merchant as any capital
lie has invested. Then, twenty-six years ago, Mr. Geers opened a meat market
at the corner of Vine and Eighteenth streets, and subsequently added a stock
of groceries. In that one location he has been known to a widening circle of
patrons for fully a quarter of a century. He has done well, owns his home
and store, holds stock in banks and other industries, and those who keep in
touch with patriotic activities of Quincy citizens know that "Sir. Geers has sub-
scribed at least $1,000 worth of liberty bonds, besides varioiis other funds for
patriotic purposes.
Mr. Geers was born in the Sixth Ward of Quincy October 6, 1857, and was
reared and educated in this city, attending St. Francis Parochial School. His
parents were Henry and Elizabeth (Jliddendorf ) Geers, both natives of the
Kingdom of Hanover. Henry Geers came to America at the age of eleven years.
His wife was eighteen when she came and after landing at New Orleans alone
came north to join sisters who had previously located at Quincy. Henry Geers
and wife met and married at Quincy and for many years lived in St. Francis
Parish of this city and in the Sixth Ward. The father died here in 1914, at the
age of eighty-two, and his wife in 1911, aged seventy-six. They were married
in St. Boniface Catholic Church of this city, and Henry Geers helped build the
present church edifice. By trade he was a brick molder and verj- skilled work-
man. During the winter season he worked in local packing houses at a lard
Tenderer. Of their children, two, Josephine and Herman, are now deceased.
Henry B., the oldest of the three now living, is married and lives in Quincy,
at Thirteenth and Oak streets. Joseph H., the youngest, lives at Sixteenth and
Chestnut streets. Both these sons are married and have families.
Mr. John H. Geers married in Quincy Miss Mslyj Graweman. She was
born in St. Charles County. Missouri, in 1859, was reared and educated there,
and at the age of seventeen came to Quincy. Mr. and Mrs. Geers had twelve
children, one of whom, Frank, died in infancy. Elizabeth is the wife of Henry
Weaver and has three children. Louisa married Edward IMusian and lives
946 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
near Chicago, and they have three children. Henry B. operates two gi'ocery
and meat market stores in Qniney, and by his marriage to Effie "Wilson has
two sons. Joseph H. is associated with his father in business, and married
Elizabeth Fritz, their family consisting of one son and one daughter. Otto is
a meat cutter with Beiler Brothers, and married Carrie Willhock, and has a
sou and daughter. Clara is the wife of Frank Wattering. Olivia lives at home.
Edward is mari-ied and has one sou. Jlaria is living at home. Theodore, a
machinist, and Cecelia, a student in St. Mary's Academj', constitute the younger
children. The family are all members of the Catholic Church. Mr. Geers is a
democratic voter and for two years served as aldenuan and had places of re-
sponsibility on sevei'al of the important committees. He is affiliated with the
Western Catholic Union.
Oscar "W. Shannon. A live, wide-awake young man. full of push and
energy, Oscar W. Shamion, of Quincy, is identified with the business life of
Adams Coiuity as a representative of various prominent insurance companies,
and is widel.y known in the sporting world through his counectiou with base ball
activities and as lessee of Baldwin Park. He is a native born citizen, his birth
having occurred May 7, 1884, in Quincy, where his father, the late James T.
Shannon, settled in 1872.
James T. Shannon was born, bred and educated in Delaware. As a young
man he entered the railway service, and gradually worked his way upward
iiutil made conductor on a passenger train, being thus employed after coming
to Illinois on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. While in the service
on the Quincy, Omaha & Kansas Citj^ branch, he was accidentally killed at
Green City, Missouri. He married Mary Belle Ross, who was born in Kentucky,
and died in Quincy, Illinois, in 1907. Of the seven children bom of their
union three have passed to the life beyond, and the following named are
living: Effie May, of Seattle, Washington; Bertha, wife of William Corley,
also of Seattle: Oscar W., with whom this brief sketch is chiefly concerned; and
Mary, wife of William Grouert, of Chicago.
Exhibiting as a boy not only decided literary tastes, but much business
ability, Oscar W. Shannon at the early age of fourteen years entered the
jo^irnalistic world, and for three years thereafter edited and published The
Little Gem, a w^eekly newspaper, said to be the smallest that ever passed
through the United States mail. He met with rare success in his venture, having
when he discontinued the publication of his paper, 2,200 paid subscribers at
25 cents per anuiun, the gTeater part of his profits, which amounted to $1,000
per year, coming from the advertisijig section of his sheet.
On his retirement from journalism Mr. Shannon, then a youth of seventeen
years, entered the Union Business College, from which he was graduated two
years later. The ensuing four years he was employed as stenographer and
bookkeeper by an insurance firm. Forming then a partnership with Mr. Hofer,
he was engaged in business under the firm name of Harn- F. Hofer & Company
for four years, after which he bought his partner's interest in the concern.
Mr. Hofer in the meantime had been activel.v interested in the financial affairs
of the Quijicy Base Ball Club, and Mr. Shannon served as its secretan- for
three years. Realizing the possibilities of the association, ]\Ir. Shannon then
bought the Quincy Ball Club, and soon afterward astonished the athletic world
by giving for the insignificant sum of .$2 a book entitling the purchaser the
privilege of witnessing sixty-seven ball games, it being the first and only time
that price was ever known in organized base ball. Mr. Shannon sold his interest
in the club in 1917, and is devoting a part of his time to Baldwin Park, of which
he has been the lessee for the past two years. Under his regime horse racing
has been revived in this section of the state, and on his Baldwin Park track
the half-mile record was broken in 1917. Mr. Shannon is still actively engaged
in the insurance business, handling every branch of insurance, and is largely
patronized throughout Adams and surroimding counties.
LIBRARY
jr THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
^(Jl<M/m/(^^
QUINCY AND ADA:MS COUNTY 947
Mr. Shannon married, October 5. 1916, Charlotte Walbriug, of Mendon,
Adams County. Politically he is a democrat; fraternally he is a member of
the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; and religiously both Mr. and Mrs. Shan-
non are Episcopalians.
^YiLLiAii Booth. The name Booth has been a familiar one in Gilmer Town-
ship for many years, and has always suggested traits of sturdy industry, good
citizenship and sterling integrity which are invaluable assets to the community
as well as to the individuals possessing them.
The late William Booth, who died at the Booth farm July 12, 1904, was
one of the oldest men in the county at the time of his death. He was born at
Feversham, near Loudon, England, July 12, 1813, and lived to the age of ninety-
one, dying on his ninety-first birthday. The Booth farm where he spent most
of his active life in Aclams County is situated 21-. miles south of Paloma in
Gilmer Township, and within one mile of the county farm.
"William Booth came to America with his parents at the age of thirteen. He
started life with no capital and only his hands and his ambition to make him-
self useful. He was twice married, his fir.st wife being a Miss Shields. Their
only child was Jliss Eliza Booth of Paloma. On September 23, 1846, William
Booth married Mar}' Ann Jeffery. She was born in England February 23,
1825, daughter of Richard and Mary Jeffery, who came to America and settled
in section 10 of Gilmer To^\Tiship. The parents of Mrs. Booth both died in
advanced years in this county. One of their sons, James Jeffery, is now living
near Oklahoma City.
After Mr. Booth's marriage they located on a farm near Coatsburg in
Gilmer Township, moved later to another farm near Paloma and then bought
the farm where his death occurred and where his son Wesley now lives. On
the old Jeffery farm in about 1860 William Booth erected the comfortable
old house which still stands there. He was a verj^ active man in the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church at Paloma, serving as class leader and steward.
The children of William Booth and wife were : Sarah, widow of WiUiam
Lohr, a Gilmer Township farmer; William, who was assistant postmaster,
merchant and during his last j^ears telephone operator at Paloma, where he
died unmarried at the age of sixty-six ; Mary, widow of Marsh Fisher, of Gilmer
Township ; Amelia, Richard Wesley, Hannah and Stephen, all of whom reside
at the old homestead ; and George, who is a railroad man with the Burlington
Road at Galesburg.
The sons Wesley and Stephen have bought the interests of the other heirs
in the old farm, and are associated as partners in its management, their sisters
keeping house for them. Stephen also owns an adjoining farm of eighty acres.
These brothers are numbered among the progressive farming element of Gilmer
Township. They are republican voters as was their father before them and
the family all attend the Methodist Episcopal Church at Paloma. Stephen is
a trustee and steward of this church.
Edward F. Schullian's name is best known in Quincy through his long
and active career as a merchant. Twenty years ago he established a general
grocery store at the corner of Twentieth and Chestnut streets, and used such
good judgment and prosecuted his enterprise with such energA- that in a few
years his business had an assured patronage and was performing a welcome
service in the community. His success enabled him to build his present large
store of stone and wood diagonally across from his old business home, and thus
he is still at the corner of Chestnut and Twentieth streets, where he carries
a coniplete line of staple groceries and meats and every year is extending the
service of his store to new homes and larger patronage.
Mr. SchuUian was bom in Quincy at Eleventh and Hampshire streets in
1866. He grew up and received his education in the parochial schools of St.
Boniface Parish and as a voung man went to work for J. B. Schott as a collar
948 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
maker, but finally gave up that work to manage a garden and milk route in
Quincy. He was in that line of business for about fourteen years, and then
used his accumulated capital in starting his grocery business, as above noted.
Mr. Schulliau is a son of John I. and ]Mary (Schupp) Schullian, the former
a native of Wuertemberg and the latter of Baden, Germany. They came over
with their respective parents at different times and in sailing vessels. The boat
that brought the Schupp family was lost at sea before reaching port at New
Orleans, and the family barely escaped with their lives with a very meager
stock of clothing that could not be replaced fully until they arrived in Quincy.
The parents of both John Schullian and his wife spent their last years in
Quincy, and attained ripe ages, some of them dying when past eighty. They
were early members of St. Boniface Catholic Church. John I. Schullian and
wife after their marriage located in a small home in Quincy and for many
years he was a stationary engineer in the employ of the old Gardner Governor
Works. He died when past sixty, being survived by his widow sevei'al years.
For a number of years they had their home in St. Francis' Parish. In their
family were five sons and three daughters. The son Hei'man died before his
father. Those still living are John, Joseph, Edward F., Frank, Anna, wife of
Barney Brinks, Catherine, widow of Alexander Reardon, and Rose.
Edward F. Schullian married at Quincy Miss Margaret Fredericks, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. George Fredericks, both of whom are now deceased. To their
marriage have been born a son and daughter, George F. and Ruth M. George
F., who was born in 1890, was educated at St. Rose School, and since attaining
his majority has been a member of the firm Schullian & Company. He married
Henerietta Brinks at Quinc.v, and they have a son, Norbet E., boi-n in 1917.
The daughter, Ruth, was educated in St. Rose Parish and is also a member
of the firm and contributing to its success. All the family are members of
St. Francis Church. Mr. Schullian is affiliated with tJie Western Catholic
Union and he and his son are independent in politics.
Landolin Ohnemus has contributed to the commercial enterprise of Quincy
as a grocery merchant, and has one of the well patronized and progressively
managed stores at 2001 Brady Avenue.
He is member of a family that has been numerously identified with Adams
County for many years. He was born in Ellington Township, not far from
Quincy, on August 11, 1859, son of John George and Mary A. (Ohnemus)
Ohnemus. His parents were both natives of Baden, and though of the same
family name were not related. John George Ohnemus was born in Febmary,
1832, and his wife a month later. Both were of Catholic ancestiy. They came
to this country when young people. John G. Ohnemus took passage on a
sailing vessel, a small craft, but bringing 500 passengers from Havre to New
Orleans. He arrived at New Orleans forty-two days later and in 1852 came to
Quincy. At that time he was in debt $35 and to support himself and repay
his obligation he went to work cutting wood along the banks of Bear Creek
near the Mississippi River in Adams County. His wife had come to Quincy
to join her brothers Matthew, Conrad and Frank J. and her sister Frances.
John Geoi'ge Ohnemus also had several brothers who were residents of Adams
County, including Landolin, Theodore and Andrew. All of them became
useful and hard working citizens, and all ai-e now deceased except John George
Ohnemus. The latter after his marriage went to work on a farm in Ellington
Township, and by his indnstrj' and the co-operation of his good wife bought
and paid for a farm of 160 acres known as the old Ubanks farm. On that
homestead he is still living at the age of eighty-six, and his wife died there
September 7, 1905, at the age of seventy-three. They were married in St.
Boniface Catholic Church at Quincy, and for a number of years were membei"s
of that parish. John G. Ohnemus has been a democrat ever since he acquired
American citizenship. He and his wife had fourteen children. Among those
now deceased were Elizabeth ilary and ilrs. Theresa Gebhart. Those still living
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 949
are: J. George; Landolin; Mrs. Lillie ^Mallard; Frank; Caroline, who is the
wife of Mr. Herring, and her oldest son is now in the Government service;
Elizabeth, widow of Oscar Holmes, has a son who is a lieutenant in the Elec-
trical Corps at Key West, Florida ; Pauline, unmarried ; Charles, who is at the
old homestead with his father; John Michael, who with his brother Theodore
works the home fann; and Frances, uumai'ried and living at home.
Landolin Ohnemus grew up and received his education iu the country dis-
tricts of Ellington Township and Quincy. In 1903 he came to Quincy and
since 1905 has been successfully engaged in the gi'oceiy business. He is a live
and progressive merchant and has identified himself with every movement of
the local business men to promote the best interests of the citj'. His family
are members of the St. Francis Parish, and he is affiliated with the Western
Catholic Union and is a democrat in politics.
He married at Fort Madison, Iowa, Dorothy Mansheim, who was born near
that city August 11, 1872. Her parents, natives of Gei-many, were Iowa
farmers and are now deceased. Mr. and ]\Irs. Ohnemus had six children :
Walter, who died at the age of two yeai's ; Adolph, who is twenty years old and
is now helping his father in the groceiy Inisiness; Bertha F., a graduate of
St. Mary's Academy; Carl V., a schoolboy; J. Roy, also in school; and Eugene
M., who was born in 1914.
Richard Burgis Stiver. The name of this prosperous farmer citizen of
Mendon Township, whose home is 2i/2 miles .southeast of the village of that
name, serves to recall some of the pioneer characters who gave their strength
and fortitude to the founding of Adams County's most typical New England
community, a community where New England ideals and principles have largely
predominated down to the present time. Mr. Stai'r is the only son of the Adams
County pioneer, Col. Richard William Starr.
Colonel Starr was born at Guilford, Connecticut, April 30, 1809. He was
descended from Dr. William Starr, of Ashford, County Kent, England, who
settled at Guilford, Connecticut, as early as 1640. At least one uncle of
Colonel Starr served in the Revolutionary war. Richard W. Starr began
teaching when only seventeen years of age. At the age of twenty-two, in 1831,
he went to Erie, Pennsylvania, and resumed his work as a teacher thei'e for
about two years. In the fall of 1833 he made the long and toilsome journey
to Western Illinois. He was attracted to Adams County no doubt by the pres-
ence here of a Guilford, Connecticut, colony headed by Col. John B. Chittenden,
who had come to this county two years previously and was the founder of the
Village of Mendon. Arriving in this community Colonel Starr entered and
bought 160 acres of Government land at the regular price of $1.25 per acre.
He then started back for Connecticut. The entire distance he traversed on
horseback, having as companions two other young men of old Connecticut,
Chester Talcott and Henry Fowler.
At Guilford, Connecticut, April 27, 1834, Richard W. Starr married Sarah
Robin.son Benton. She was born October 11, 1811, and was a niece of Colonel
Chittenden, whose wife wa.s a Robinson.
Immediately after their marriage they started west to their new home,
a wedding tour such as was not unusual in that time and generation, but
one involving more hardships than most bridal couples of the present day
would care to endure. The entire joui-ney across half the continent to Adams
County was made by water. Accompanying them were several other Con-
necticut people, including some members of the Benton family. There is an
interesting letter extant, dated at Quincy, June 12, 1834, which recounts the
interesting features of this journey and serves to tell how it was possible at that
time to travel from Connecticut to Adams County entirely by water. Of course
a railroad journey for any part of the distance was out of question. The first
stage was made by boat over the Long Island Sound, thence up the Hudson
950 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
River, from Albany to Bxiffalo by the Erie Canal, across Lake Erie probably
to Cleveland, where they re-embarked on a canal boat down the Ohio and Erie
Canal to Cincinnati. Thence they went down the Ohio River and came up the
Mississippi to Quincy. It was a voyage of a month, involving three weeks of
constant travel and a week spent in the transfer points along the wa}-.
During his previous visit to the county Mr. Starr had contracted with a
man to erect a cabin on his land. But as is often the case the contractor had
failed to perform his duty, and not a single stick of timber had been cut for
the purpose. In absence of such a shelter Colonel Starr and his bride lived
during the summer with her uncle, Colonel Chittenden, three miles away. The
husband spent many bnsy days in building his cabin and by fall it was ready
for occupancy. The following winter was a very severe one, and as the house
was not tightly constructed the snow freciuently drifted in and covered the
floor. Their situation was also a lonely one, and their nearest neighbor was
the Chittendens three miles away. But both of them were sti'ong and vigorous,
in the prime of life, and had the determination and courage that enabled them
to endure and make a cheerful lot of their pioneer circumstances. In the
thirteen years that Colonel Starr was permitted to live he put forth strenuous
exertions and improved his land in many ways. In 1841 he erected a com-
fortable frame house. He had had some experience in surveying and possessed
a set of instruments, and was therefore frequently asked to perform work of
this kind. He assisted in platting the Village of ]\Icndon, which was originally
called the Bear Creek Settlement and later Fairfield. The events of the Black
Hawk war were still fresh, and every western community had its military
organization. Mr. Starr was active in such matters and Gov. Thomas Curtin
in 1841 appointed him colonel of the Thirty-seventh Regiment of Militia. He
held that rank and responsibility until his death. His sword is still owned by
his son. A vacancy also occurred in the district representation of Adams
County in the State Legislature, and in 1839 Colonel Stan- was appointed to till
that vacancy. He became a member of the first Legislature that met in session
at the new capital at Springfield, and was there when Abraham Lincoln was
also a member of the House and Stephen H. Douglas state senator. During the
'30s, as is well known, Illinois like other western states had entered upon a
great program of internal improvement. The tasks undertaken were greater
than the meager resources of the state justified, and furthermore much reck-
less appropriation and expenditure had been permitted, so that about the time
Colonel Starr entered iipon his legislative career railroads and canals had come
to be regarded as an expensive luxury. Tlierefore, in 1840, when he was a
candidate for re-election he made his platform one of opposition to further
railroad grants and increased taxation, and on that platfonn he was easily
elected. He was also re-elected in 1842. His name appeared on the whig-
ticket, and he was an active partisan of that party. Colonel Starr died in 1846.
His death was the result of a chill following overheating in the harvest field.
He came of a family noted for its longevity, both his parents living to past
ninety, and his imtimely death therefore cut short a career which was just be-
ginning to be useful. He possessed a keen mind, and it was well cultivated
by extensive reading. Colonel Starr had a fine collection of books, such as was
seldom found in the country homes of Illinois at that time. It included a copy
of the Iliad, Plutarch's Lives, the \Yorks of Josephus, one or two histories of
Rome, and was also rich in the standard English autliors, including Shakespeare,
Cowper, Bxirns and Byron. All these books he knew as few men now know
them, and his conversation as well as his fonaal utterances fi'om the public
platform were adorned and elucidated by ready quotations from his favorite
authors.
Colonel and Mrs. Starr had four children : Susan ^laria, who died in in-
fancy; Sarah Cornelia, who lives at Sioux Falls, Soutli Dakota, widow of
Walter R. Kingsbur\-: Caroline Elizabeth, who resides at Oak Park, Illinois,
widow of Moses J. Pitch ; and Richard Burgis. the onlv son.
QUINCY AND ADA:MS COUNTY 951
Richard Burgis Starr was borii on the site of his present residence June 25,
1842. He was only four years of age when his father died. His widowecl
mother was left with the care of three cliildren, tlie oldest being nine. It was
a heavy task which she assumed to keep the farm and rear her children. She
was a woman of great native capacity and intelligence, and had all the courage
and resourcefulness usually associated with the women of pioneer epoch. As a
result of her thrift and industry she was able to send her oldest daughter
to an institute at Guilford, Connecticut, and thus afforded licr advantages not
to be had in Illinois at that time. Mrs. Starr was a daughter of Isaac Benton,
who came to Illinois to make his home with liis daugliter, and he was of great
assistance to her in bringing up the family. He died at the venerable age of
eighty-seven. Mrs. Starr died November 18, 1879, at the age of sixty-eight.
As a result of the conditions and circumstances thus described, some un-
usually heavv' responsibilities awaited Richard Burgis Starr when a boy. He
was only fourteen when he took practically all the management of the home
farm. In the meantime his education had been limited to a few terms each
winter in the district school at Mendon. After reaching his majority he bouglit
the interests of his sisters in the old homestead, and has lived continuously in
that locality all his life. He has extended his possessions until the farm now
comprises 240 acres. In 1881 he erected a modern home to replace the one
built by his father forty years before. Mr. Starr is engaged in general farming
and stock growing, and during the last half century he has been identilied
with all the worthy interests and improvements of his community. He is a re-
publican and a strong temperance man. His partisanship is not so strict as to
prevent him from supporting a worthy man for ofSee, and he was one of tlie
many Illinois republicans who supported Mr. Wilson for the presidency. He
has served one term as justice of the peace and also as a.sses.sor, and used his
official power in the latter position to rectify many eases of tax dodging. He lias
been a member of the Congregational Church at Mendon, the First Congrega-
tional Church established in Illinois, since he was twenty-one years of age, and
for half a century has been active in its Siuiday school either as a teacher or
superintendent.
November 9, 1871, Mr. Starr married Althea Elizabeth Taylor, of Urbana,
Illinois. She was born at Dayton, Ohio, January 31, 1848, and died November
24, 1909. She was reared in Illinois and was a successful teacher before lier
mari'iage. There were three children bom to them: Gilbert Taylor Starr,
born April 9, 1873, is now the active manager of his father's farm. He married
Leota Quinn, and they hare one child, Charles Taylor, born April 24, 1911.
Charles Burgis Starr, bom October 24, 1877, is in the real estate business at
Los Angeles, California, and he married Rose Dillon. "Willis Fitch Starr, the
youngest child, was born August 24, 1881, and died February 14, 1884.
John Franklin Sloniger is an Adams County citizen who has shown
ability to handle his own affairs successfully, to establish a home and win a
most substantial promise of continued prosperity and usefulness. Mr. Sloniger
has one of the good fanns of Honey Creek Township, located three and a half
miles northeast of Mendon.
In the same township he was born March 11, 1873. His birth occurred in a
building that had been used as a smoke house on Jim Sloniger 's farm. His
parents were John and Sophronia Jane (Miller) Sloniger. John Sloniger
was a son of Oliver Sloniger, who had brought his family west and settled in
^Marshall County, Illinois. Oliver remained in that count.y, while his three
brothers, Joel, Joshua and Jacob, all became residents of Honey Creek Town-
ship. John Sloniger came to Adams County when a young man, married the
daughter of Sanniel F. Miller, of Honey Creek Township, and then returned
to ^Marshall County. One child was born in that county, and the family tlien
came back to Adams County and John Sloniger worked for his cousin, Jim
Sloniger, and was so engaged at the time of the birth of John Franklin Sloni-
952 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
ger. John Sloiiiger was an expert mechanic and machinist, and one of the
best qualified men in Adams County handling a separator. He operated a
threshing outfit of his own for a few years. He was a man of fine principles,
had many friends, but was not actuated by the spirit of acquisitiven&ss and
was well satisfied to go through life with little property to encumber him.
His death occurred in Honey Creek Township in 1917, at the age of seventy-
two, and his wife died six months later. The first death to break up the family
circle occurred only a year before the father passed away. Their family of
four children were: Eva Ellen, wife of Robert Hastings; John Franklin;
"William, who lives at Mendon and married Sallie O'Dear; and Anna May,
who died in 1916, at the age of twenty-nine, wife of Fred Hastings.
John Franklin Sloniger lived at home with his parents to the age of four-
teen. When eleven years old his skill in handling the plow and proficiency
in setting up bundles caused his services to be in demand by some of the
neighboring farmers at the small wages then paid boys and farm hands. At
the age of fourteen he regularly began emplojonent at a monthly wage, and
received what was then considered the best wages for that service, eighteen
dollars a month, board and the keep of a horse. When he was eighteen he took
the next step in his progi-ess, renting Charles Towers' farm. While there his
mother kept house for him two years, and one of his sisters was also with him
part of the time.
At the age of twenty-one Mr. Sloniger married Miss Cora Elizabeth Hast-
ings, who was then twenty years of age. She is a daughter of William Ha-stings,
of one of the old and honored families of Adams County. The first year after
his marriage Jlr. Sloniger worked roads for Dan Hawe, then commissioner of
highways. During that time he lived on the same place where he was born.
He then rented again, worked roads for two years, and for six years occupied
as a tenant the 120-aci-e farm of P. S. Judy. For two years he was on the
William Kells farm and then for two years rented his present place from its
owner, Alfred Schill. In 1907 Mr. Sloniger was able to put a long cherished
plan into effect to acquire a financial interest in the soil. He bought from Mr.
Schill 108 acres, at a price agreed upon of .$69.50 an acre. He had only $.500
as cash payment, as shortly before the sickness of his wife had cost him $600.
Though he had little capital he had gathered considerable stock and farm
implements, and he started out bravely with $7,000 indebtedness. Since then,
with continued work, he has cleared away practicallj^ all his debt and at the
same time has greatly increased the value of his home. Four j'ears ago he
built a new house, and he also has a new barn. His land lies partly in Keeue
as well as in Honey Creek Township. Mr. Sloniger handles some good stock,
including about fifty head of Jersey Red hogs.
For seven continuous years he served as road commissioner, his district
in the northwest part of the township containing many large bridges, and for
nine years he was also a school director, ilr. and Mi-s. Sloniger have one son,
Chester Earl, who is farming in Gilmer Township and married Elfa Shepard.
Mr. and Mrs. Sloniger also have two boys in their home. Gilbert and Albert
Shay, who were taken at the respective ages of five and six and are now thir-
teen and fourteen. These are children of his wife's sister. Still another mem-
ber of the household is Merle Hastings, the child of I\Ir. Sloniger 's sister. Merle
was taken into the home at eleven. Thiis considering his public service the
way he has worked to win a home, and the young people who have enjoyed the
benefits and comforts of that home, it is evident Mr. Sloniger has not lived to
himself wholly, but has exemplified a commendable degi-ee of public spirit and
a spirit of doing something for others.
Theo. Ehrhart. By its products the Excelsior Stove & ]\ranufacturing
Company, of Quiney is known practically around the world. It is a great cor-
poration, an immense plant, in normal times employing between 450 and 500
men. and it goes without saying that it requires a man of superior ability and
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 953
experience to handle all this immense establishment. Its general superintendent
is Theo. Ehrhart, who began his career as an iron or stove molder, and by
gradual processes as his merits justified raised himself to a position where he
is one of the leading business men of Quincy.
Mr. Ehrhart wa.s born in St. Louis, October 17, 1866. He attended the
common schools of his native city, and learned the trade of molder with the
Bridge & Beach Stove Company. He was in their employ until he came to
Quincy in 1887, and here began work for the Channon-Emery Stove Company.
He followed his trade actively until about 1895, and then was sent on the road
as salesman of repairs, and as such traveled for three j'ears over portions of the
states of Kansas and Missouri. In 1898, when the Excelsior Stove & Manufac-
turing Company was incorporated, Mr. Ehrhart was one of the men most active
in the organization and became superintendent of the manufacturing depart-
ment, a position which entails the general supervision of the plant. Mr. John
J. Fisher is president and general manager of the company.
Mr. Ehrhart 's parents were Matthew and Magdalena (Vogel) Ehrhart.
They were born in Rhenish Bavaria, Germany, and came to America when
young people. At St. Louis they were married in old St. Mary's Catholic
Church. The father was a cooper by trade and conducted a shop of his own
in St. Louis from 1866 until he retired in 1899. He died at St. Louis in 1902,
at tlie age of seventy-five. His widow passed away in 1911, and was of the
same age. They were for many years members of SS. Peter and Paul Catholic
Church in St. Louis, and they were laid to rest in the family plot of the church-
yard in that parish.
Theo. Ehrhart married at Quincy Miss Ottilia Fisher, a sister of John J.
Fisher, president and manager of the Excelsior Stove & jManufacturing Com-
pany, whose individual career is the subject of a separate sketch published
elsewhere. Mrs. Ehrhart was born in Quincy, attended St. Mary's Parochial
School, and the marriage of IMr. and Mrs. Ehrhart was the last celebrated in
old St. JIary's Church before it was burned. They are now active members of
St. Boniface Church. Mr. and Mrs. Ehrhart have an interesting family of
eight children. Matthew J., who was educated in St. Mary's Parochial School,
the Irving Public School and National Business College, is now secretary of
the N. Kohl Grocer Company, of Quincj'. He married Agatha Kohl, of Quincy,
and their son, ilatthew, Jr., was born in 1918. Lieut. Theodore F. Ehrhart
was educated in the same schools as his brother, is a graduate of Gem City
Business College, and for nine years was connected with the clerical depart-
ment of the Excelsior Stove & Manufacturing Company, being in charge of
their claim and billing departments. He is stationed at Camp MeClellan,
Alabama. Herbert W., the second soldier of the family, had an education sim-
ilar to that of his brothers, having finished school in 1913. For four yeai-s
he was connected with his father's company in a clerical capacity, then went
with the International Harvester Company, and is now stationed at Camp
Bragg, Fayetteville, North Carolina, a member of the Forty-sixth United States
Infantry. Irene H. is a gi'aduate of St. Mary's Parochial School and the
Quincy High School. Paul F. is a member of the class of 1919 of the Quincy
High School. ]\Iae M. is a student at St. Mary's Academy, while the youngest
of the family are twins, Edna Ottilia and John J., and both in St. Boniface
Parochial School. Mr. Ehrhart and his three eldest sons are members of the
Knights of Columbus. Matthew J. and Theodore F. are fourth degree mem-
bers of that order, and Tlieodore F. has a prominent place among the Knights
of Columbus of Illinois. He has served as chancellor and deputy grand knight
of Quincy Council, being elected grand knight of that council at the age of
twenty-two.
Lkroy a. Noll is secretary of the Noll-IIauworth Company, a liusiness that
would be immediately classified as one of Quincy 's important and most dis-
tinctive manufacturing and wholesale firms. They are manufacturers of a
954 QUINCY AND ADA:MS COUNTY
large line of overalls and workingmen's clothes, and they also do a big whole-
sale business in manufactured furnishing goods. Their output is distributed
all over the Central West. Mr. Leroy A. Noll in addition to his duties as
secretary of the company is also its commercial representative on the road,
and is the man primarily responsible for the maintenance of cordial and profit-
able relations with the retail trade through the states of Nebraska, Kansas and
Eastern Illinois. He has been secretary of the companj^ since January, 1914.
Jlr. Noll was born in Quincy, December 3, 1876, and grew up here, being
a graduate of the high school and of the Philbrick Business College. After
leaving school he went into the railroad service and was with the general offices
of the Burlington and also the Northern Pacific. He was in the railroad and
transportation work from 1894 to 1915. During eight years of this time he
had charge of the ti-affic department of the United States Steel Corporation at
Duluth, Minnesota.
His gi-andfather was one of the early settlers of Quiney, and died here when
past eighty years of age. Mr. Noll is a son of August Theodore Noll, who was
born in Quincy about sixty-five years ago and died here in 1898. He was for
many years a commercial salesman, and became well known over a large ter-
ritory as well as in his home City of Quincy. August Theodore Noll married
Alice Hildebrand. She was born in Moline, Illinois, but was reared and edu-
cated in Quincy, where she is now living at the age of sixty-five. She and her
husband have been members of the Methodist Church and in politics most of
the family have been republicans.
Leroy A. Noll has a brother, W. G. Noll, who is head of the Noll-Hauworth
Company. Their only sister, Frances Elvira, is the wife of Arthur "Wehmeyer,
a traveling salesman with home at Jacksonville, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Weh-
meyer have a son, Noll.
Leroy Noll married at Brookfield, Missouri, Matilda M. Gardner. She was
born there in 1878, and was educated in the high school and the Brookfield
College. Her parents, J. C. and Jane E. (Spivey) Gardner, were natives of
Virginia, were married in that state and two years later moved to Brookfield,
Missouri, where they are still living. Their five children are all married, and
one of them. Dr. A. J. Gardner, a graduate of the medical department of the
University of ^Michigan, . is now enjoj-ing a success practice in medicine and
surgery in Soiithwestern Nebraska. Mrs. Noll is a member of the Presbyterian
Church. Mr. Noll is a republican and is affiliated with the United Commercial
Travelers.
Judge Benjamin Heckle. In the annals of Adams County the name of
Benjamin Heckle, of Quincy, will long occupy a place of prominence, he hav-
ing in his official career filled many important public positions with credit to
himself and to the honor and satisfaction of his constituents. A native of Ger-
many, he was born June 18, 1847, a son of Theodore and Marnana (Meyer)
Heckle.
In 1851 Theodore Heckle came with his family to the United States, locat-
ing first in Detroit, Michigan. Subsequently migrating to Scott County, Iowa,
he bought a tract of land near the present site of the town of Buffalo, which
he laid out, and there both he and his wife spent their remaining days. Of the
twelve children born of their union, three are now living, as follows: Joseph,
residing in Quincy ; Katherine, widow of Henry Springmeyer, lives in Buffalo,
Iowa : and Benjamin, the subject of this sketch.
Coming from Iowa to Adams County, Illinois, soon after the death of his
mother, Benjamin Heckle completed his early education in the parochial schools,
and on attaining man's estate engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1882, at the
urgent solicitation of friends, he became candidate for sheriff of Adams County,
and being elected to the office served acceptably for four years. He was after-
ward appointed internal revenue collector by President Cleveland, and ren-
dered excellent service in that capacity from 1888 until 1892. Being then
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 955
elected county recorder, Judge Heckle served satisfactorily for four years.
Just after the expiration of his term of office as sheriff' he had for a time been
engaged in the manufacture of shirts and overalls, and in 1896 he again turned
his attention to his private intei'ests. In 1900 he once more entered the public
arena, and being elected county recorder served faithfully for four years. He
was then elected justice of the peace, and has served continuously in that ca-
pacity ever since, a length of time that bears visible evidence of his ability and
fidelity.
Judge Heckle married, November 7, 1871, Victoria S. Mast, a native of
Adams County, Illinois. Eight children have been born of the union of Judge
and Mrs. Heckle, namely: Cecelia, wife of A. ;\I. Simons, of Visalia, Cali-
fornia; Alois, with whom the judge is associated in the insurance business in
Quincy ; Joseph, who was accidentally killed ; Carl, living in Quincy ; Benjamin
J.; Edith, wife of Harry Kirtley, of Bushnell, Illinois; Robert F., of Bush-
nell ; and Theresa, wife of Robert ^Mueller, of Quincy, now serving as county
surveyor. Politically Judge Heckle is a steadfast democrat. Fraternally he is
a member of the Knights of Columbus. Since early manhood he has been con-
spicuously identified with religious matteiis, and is an active member of St.
John's Catholic Church, to which Mrs. Heckle also belongs.
The Merkel Hardw.vre Comp.\ny is a Quincy firm with which nearly all
the people of Adams County are familiar. It is a business that has had a" sub-
stantial growth and for several years has represented the enterprise and initia-
tive of four splendid young business men, brothers, who combine with their
business ability a high degree of patriotic fervor. All but one are of draft
age, and two are now serving with the colors. They are the material of which
good soldiers are made. All the brothers stand about six feet in height, are
X^hysically perfect, and all of them have a wonderful fund of robust energy at
their command.
The president of the company is Carl E. Merkel. The vice president is
Albert 0. Merkel, now serving with the rank of sergeant and stationed at Camp
Logan. The third brother, Arthur C, is secretary and trea.surer of the com-
pany and is manager of the company's branch store at 1203 State Street. The
other member of the firm is Allen H., who is now in the army at Camp Dodge,
Iowa.
The business was established by the honored father of these brothers, John
J. Merkel, who began it as a partner with William Heim. They opened their
stock of goods at the present location of the main store, 1711 Broadway, in
1902, and later the business was incorporated. In 1908 John J. Merkel acquired
Mr. Heim's intei-ests and took in his son Arthur C. as a partner. In 1908 the
Merkel Hardware Company was organized, and the father continued a gen-
eral supervision of the business until his death in June, 1911. He had care-
fully trained his sons so that they have been worthy successors of their father.
Continuing the main store, they have added the branch store on State Street,
both being about the same size. They have these stores stocked with staple
hardware of all kinds, auto accessories, fencing, roofing and other materials.
All the ]\Ierkel brothers were born in Quincy and all were educated in the
high school. Allen H. and Arthur C. also attended the Gem City Business
College. Allen H. is a Mason and Shriner and Elk, while Arthur C. is af-
filiated with the Elks. Arthur married Jessie Abbott, of Quincy. Mr. Carl E.
Merkel married in January, 1918, Miss Helen I. McDonnell, who was born in
Quincy and educated in the city schools. She is of Irish and French ancestrj-,
and both her parents are still living in Quincy, where her father is a gas spe-
cialty man representing the Russell Engineering Company of St. Louis.
John J. Merkel, father of Merkel Brothers, was born in Pennsylvania of
German parentage, and was a small child when the family located in Quincy.
He grew up here, learned the tinner's trade, and later was the commercial
traveling representative for the Gem City Stove Company. He was one of
956 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
their leading salesmen for twenty-five years, and one mark of the esteem in
which he was held by the company was a fine gold watch presented him for his
services. While on the road for this concern he established the hardware busi-
ness so that his sons might have it as their business opportunity when they
came to age. John J. Merkel married at Quincy Miss Mary Lepper, who was
boim in this city of German parentage. She died at Quincy in 1912, at the
age of fifty. John J. Merkel was about forty-eight when he died. He was a
member of the Congregational Church and his wife of St. Jacobi Lutheran
Church.
"William Levi Rutledge. A more enviable class can not be found in
America today than the farm owners, those especially M'ho went through many
trials and hardships to acquire and develop their land, and in recent years
have come to realize worthy i-ewards for the many sacrifices they made in earlier
life. One of this class is William Levi Rutledge, who now past three score and
ten lives in comfortable retirement on his farm two miles south of Paloma and
fourteen miles northeast of Quincy in Gilmer Township.
Mr. Rutledge has been a resident of Adams County for over sixty years. He
came here when a boy of eight. His birth occurred in Baltimore County, Mary-
land, July 25, 1847. His parents, Benjamin and ^lavy Ann (Rutledge)
Rutledge, came West and arrived at Quincy April 19, 1855. They soon after-
ward settled on the farm that is now owned by J. B. Thomas south of Columbus
in Gilmer Township. Benjamin Rutledge acquired 255 acres in that locality,
and one of his pioneer experiences was hauling corn sixteen miles to a distillery
near Quincy and then selling it for 121^; cents a bushel. On that farm the
father built the comfortable home that still stands in 1877. The previous
residence was burned in that spring. Three years before he had erected a
good barn. Benjamin Rutledge spent the last six years of his life in Columbus,
and finally sold his farm to Judge John C. Broady. He died at Columbus
September 4, 1905, at the age of eighty-four. His widow survived him until
October, 1916, and died at the age of eighty-six. In Maryland Benjamin Rut-
ledge had operated a paper mill in company with his wife's father. The latter
was a millwright b.y trade. Their establishment was twenty-four miles north
of Baltimore. Benjamin Rutledge 's father-in-law, Levi Rutledge, also came
to Illinois and bought land adjoining that of his son and daughter, and died
there at the age of seventy. Benjamin Rutledge and wife had seven children :
AVilliam L. ; Adam T., who lives in the State of Oregon; Frank, a resident of
Kansas: Elizabeth, wife of Steve Pollock, of Colorado; George W., of Clayton,
Illinois; Laura, wife of Grover Haley, of Kansas; and John H., who has greatly
prospered as a farmer and land owner at Smithfield, Xebra.ska.
William Levi Rutledge grew up on his father's farm and besides his train-
ing in the local schools was well fitted for the tasks of a practical agriculturist.
On February 28, 1867, at the age of nineteen, he married Miss Mary Etta
Wiseman. Mrs. Rutledge was born near Taylor in Marion County, Missouri,
February 15, 1846. Her brothers moved to Illinois on account of conditions
growing out of the Civil war. After his marriage Mr. Rutledge lived one year
on the home farm, then spent seven yeai's in Burton Township, two years at
Columbus, and in 1877 came to his present home, comprising 160 acres. For
this land he paid $52 an acre. He began his home making embarrassed with
a heavy load of debt and it was bearing 10 per cent interest, and it seems
almost incredible to the present generation how he paid it off and lived when
hogs sold at 21/0 cents a pound and corn at 16 cents a Ini.shel. But he suc-
ceeded in making the land pay for itself. Gradually from year to year many
improvements were made. His first necessary improvement was the construc-
tion of a barn. Tlie old house which stood on the land when he bought it has
undergone many changes until it is now modern in comforts and conveniences.
Mr. Rutledge, it should be mentioned, bought this land in partnership with
Wl 1,1.1 A.M I.. IJl'TLEDGP:
LIBRARY
;r THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 957
his brother Frank, and soon acquired his brother's interest. The land when
they took possession did not have a single cross fence, but is all now divided
into twenty acre fields with most substantial fences, and is an efiSciently
arranged stock and grain farm. Mr. Rutledge has marketed between 150 and
200 hogs per year, and frequently turns out a carload of cattle. Gradually
he has turned over the heavier responsibilities to younger men, and for the
past eight years the farm has been operated either by his son or his son-in-law
or both.
Mr. Rutledge lost his good wife June 11, 1905, after they had been married
nearly f oi"ty years. She was the mother of eight children : Zilla, wife of
Samuel Martin, of Columbus; Clara, wife of William Gibbs, living near Men-
don; Frank Henry, now at Smithfield, Kansas; Lizzie, who died in May, 1917,
in Houston Township, the wife of F. S. Finley; Nellie, wife of Thomas John-
son, of Keene Township ; Lula, wife of Floyd Tilton, Mr. Tilton having had the
active management of the Rutledge farm for six years; Iva, wife of John C.
Hoeamp, of Liberty Township ; and William A., of Columbus Township. Mr.
and I\Irs. Tilton are the parents of three children, Ruth, Grace and Loretta.
In addition to his achievement in acquiring and paying for a farm Mr. Rut-
ledge has been liberal of his time and efforts in behalf of community improve-
ment. He served nine years as road commissioner and was treasurer of the
board all that time, handling about $2,000 or $2,500 annually. It was during
his official membership on the board that the first real efforts toward permanent
road making were achieved. Mr. Rutledge served two years as township clerk
and was elected and re-elected assessors for eighteen years and is now serving
in that office. He is a democrat, but locally independent in politics, and he has
been identified with the Christian Church at Columbus for forty years. It was
also the place of worship for his parents. His father was identified with the
building of the old church. Mr. Rutledge acknowledges as his chief outdoor
sport fishing, and he is a skillful disciple of Izaak Walton. He and 0. P.
Lawless and Ben Wilhite are a trio with a great reputation as fishermen.
GoRHAM J. CoTTRELL, whosc death occurred in January, 1906, was for
many years identified with Quincy business affairs as a hardware merchant.
He was successful, prosperous, energetic, and his memory is one that is treas-
ured by his many friends and former associates. His widow, Mrs. Cottrell,
is still living in a fine home at 1801 Maine Street.
The Cottrell family is of English ancestry. Lemuel Cottrell, father of
Gorham J., was a native of Chautauqua County, New York, and spent his life
there. He was twice married and by his first wife had four sons, including
Gorham J. as the second. The latter 's brothers were Norman, Charles and
Nahum. Nahum is still living at Aurora, Illinois.
Gorham J. Cottrell was born in 1830 in Chautauqua County, grew up there,
and came to Illinois for the purpose of recovering his health. Later he went
back to Chautauqua County and married there Sarah Cole. She was a native
of that count.y. After his marriage he again came to Illinois, locating at ]\Ia-
comb, where he had previously entered business with his brother Charles. They
were associated for some years, and then dissolved partnership about the close
of the Civil war, Charles keeping the business at Macomb, while Gorham J.
moved to Quincy and entered the hardware trade with his brother-in-law,
Mr. Havens. That business association was continued until 1877.
Mrs. Sarah Cottrell died in Quincy, and some years later Mr. Cottrell mar-
ried for liis second wife ]Mrs. Lavina (Cole) Havens, sister of his first wife and
widow nf his former business associate, Hiram T. Havens. Mr. Havens had
first entered business as a hardware merchant in Chautauqua County, where
his father had been in a similar line for a number of years.
Mrs. Cottrell by her first husband had one daughter, Sarah Cole Havens.
She was bom in Chautauqua County, New York, and was two years old when
Vol. n— 15
958 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
her parents moved to Macomb, Illinois. She received most of her education in
Quiney. In 1877 her father and mother moved to Texas and lived in Fort
Worth, where her father died fifteen years later, in 1892. Mr. Havens was
laid to rest in Woodland Cemetery in Quiney. Mrs. Havens then moved to
Quincj'.
Mrs. Cottrell's daughter was married at Fort Worth, Texas, to George H.
Dashwood. He was born in England and was brought to the United States at
the age of six years. He lived in Kentucky and took up the biLsiness of phar-
macist. He was in that business at Fort Worth, Texas, and some years ago
returned to Quiney, where he continued the drug business until eight years
ago, when he sold out and has since been one of the live real estate men of this
city. Mrs. Cottrell and her family attend the Congregational Church.
Orson H. Cr.\nd.\ll. M. D. One of the oldest men in the medical fraternity
in the State of Illinois is Doctor Crandall of Quiney, now retired, and who is
still bright, vigorous and active, occasionally looking after some patient who
will have the services of no other doctor. Doctor Crandall is ninety-two years
old, and has lived in Quiney nearly half a century.
He was born in Onondaga County, New York, son of Beman and JIary
(Tuttle) Crandall. His father was a native of the same state and his mother
of Ohio and both were of English ancestry. They married in New York State
and were farmers there. When Doctor Crandall was four years old, in 1830,
his parents came to the western wilderness and settled on the prairie thirty-
eight miles northwest of old Fort Dearborn, the incipient Village of Chicago.
Their home was near Crystal Lake, Illinois. They put up with the primitive
circumstances of that time and place, lived without immediate neighbors for
some years, traveled miles to get their grain ground into tlour, and as years
passed they saw the country develop and grow into one of the richest farming
districts of Illinois. Doctor Crandall's parents both died when old, and they
had long been identified with the progressive and enlightened citizenship of
their community.
It was in this now rich agi'icultural section of Illinois that Doctor Cran-
dall grew to manhood. He had all the experiences of the old border times in
Illinois, and began life with only such advantages as were afforded by the
common schools of seventy or eighty years ago. In 1851 he received his license
to practice and for several years was located at Crystal Lake and subsequently
at Elgin. He received his first diploma from the Eclectic School of Medicine
at Cincinnati, but finally took up homeopathy, and has practiced according to
that school of medicine for a great many years. He became known as one of
the most progressive medical men in his part of the state. Recently he re-
ceived a certificate of membership in the American Association of Progressive
Medicine, and has certificates from various schools and medical societies.
At the outbreak of the war Doctor Crandall enlisted in the Twenty-Fourth
Illinois Infantry, and served as a surgeon. During Banks' expedition he was
captured in April, 1863, and was held within the Confederate lines until ex-
changed on the 13th of August in the same j'ear. During that time his diet
as a pri.soner of war was chiefly raw and sour corn meal. On being exchanged
he reported to General Butler at New Orleans and was placed in a regiment
under the command of Gen. A. J. Smith, with whom he remained until hon-
orably discharged in the summer of 1865.
Immediately after the war Doctor Crandall was assigned to the dutj' of
incorporating and organizing at Milwaukee the first soldiers orphans home in
the country. From there he came to Quinc.y, and practiced here steadily until
he was eighty-five years of age.
Doctor Crandall has been happily married since 1880, when Mrs. Ruth A.
Curtis became his wife. Her maiden name was Patchin and she was born in
Steuben County, New York, October 10, 1842, and was reared and educated
there. Her father was Warren Patchin, Jr., and her grandfather, Warren
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 959
Patehin, Sr., both of whom were prominent farmers and millers in Steuben
County. Her grandfather at one time was known as the richest man in the
county, and died when past ninety-two years of age, while her father was
seventy-one when he died. ]\Irs. Crandall's mother bore the maiden name of
Jane Crawford, and she also spent her life in Steuben County. Her parents
were members of the Methodist Church. By her first marriage to Albert D.
Curtis, a Union soldier, who died soon after the war, Mrs. Crandall has one son.
Grant D. Curtis. He is editor of the well known Poultry Journal published at
Quincy. Grant Curtis is married and has four sons, Norman and Warren,
both of whom are now in France with the Amei'ican Expeditionary Forces;
and Donald and William at home. Doctor Crandall was for many years asso-
ciated with the Masonic order but has given up his membership.
WiLLi.Mi J. HiRTH was for a quarter of a century active in business affairs
at Quincy, but for the past half dozen years has been prosperously and pleas-
antly engaged in tJie management of a fine farm in Ellington Township.
Mr. Hirtli represents one of the sterling German-American families of Adams
County, and personally represents the undiluted Americanism w'hicli has given
this county such an enviable record in support of all war measures and financial
contributions.
He was born in this county September 15, 1858, son of Jacob and Catherine
(Mause) Hirth. His parents were both natives of Germany and his father
for many years occupied a farm in section 18 of Ellington Township, ilr. Hirth
is third in a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters. Four
of these are still living, all residents of Adams County.
Prior to taking up an active business career Mr. Hirth had a liberal edu-
cation in the public schools and the Gem City Business College. Many will
recall his activity as a hardware merchant. For thirteen years he was in busi-
ness at 528 Maine Street in Quincy. After leaving that he was local repre-
sentative of the Adams Express Company for thirteen years. In 1912 Mr. Hirth
bought his present farm of 100 acres, situated two and a half miles from the
city limits of Quincy on the extension of Twelfth Street. It constitutes a
property valuable for its productive energies and also is a splendid home, pro-
vided with all the comforts that make life worth living.
Mr. Hirth began life with limited capital and his success has been a mat-
ter of gradual accumulation on the part of himself and his worthy wife. May
28, 1890, he married Miss Amanda Pfanschmidt. They have a son and two
daughters. The oldest is Laura E., who has distinguished herself for her
scholarship. P^rom the public schools she entered the Illinois State University
at Champaign, where she is a graduate. She is now head of the household
science department at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois. She is a mem-
ber of her college sorority and of the Baptist Church. Mildred 0., the second
daughter, is now in the sophomore year of the Illinois State University. She
is also active in college social circles and a member of the Baptist Church. The
son is Delmar H., a graduate of the Quincy High School and now associated
with his father on the farm.
Mrs. Hirth was born in Adams County, September 20, 1857, and was reared
and educated here. Her parents, Herman C. and Charlotte (Meise) Pfan-
schmidt, were both born in Germany and are now deceased.
Mr. Hirth is a republican, having cast his first vote for President James A.
Garfield. Office holding has not been in his line and he has kept away from
politics and given all his time to his business affairs. Fraternally he is af-
filiated with Camp No. 219, Modern Woodmen of America, at Quincy. Mrs.
Hirth is active in .sharing the duties and responsibilities of membership in
the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Hirth still retain a city prop-
erty at 621 Vine Street. They have been industrious workers and have tried
to live as they went along, a fact which is in much evidence at their home.
960 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
In 1903 they took a vacation and visited the Pacific coast, including such cities
as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Denver and Salt Lake City.
Chardes C. Osborn. One of the oldest names of the commercial life of
Quincy is that of Osborn. The Osborn family came here over seventy years ago
and they have been successively identified with milling, the coal business, and
other extensive affairs.
The founder of the family was the late Henry S. Osborn, who was Iwrn
in London, England, in 1814. He settled in Rochester, New York, in 1834,
moved in 1837 to Pike County, Ohio, where he was in the milling business, and
in 1846 came to Quincy and erected the Eagle Mills. He came to Quincy by way
of canal and river. His partner in the Eagle Mills was John Wheeler. Their
first plant was at the foot of Broadway on Front Street. .Wlien the Burlington
Railroad was built to Quincy they moved their property to Second Sti'eet and
Broadway. The mill was burned about 1855, and soon afterwards the railway
acquired the property for their present freight house. About that time Mr.
Wheeler retired from the business. Henry S. Osborn then became interested
in the coal business about 1859, and for many years was president of the
Quincy Coal Company, a wholesale and retail and mining business. The com-
pany had extensive mines at Colchester, Illinois, where they sunk and drained
thirty-one coal shafts. The product from these mines was widely distributed
at Quincy and for many of the river boats then plying up and down the
Mississippi. The mines were continued until they were exhau.sted in 1912.
For many years the Quincy Coal Company has had its offices at the foot of
Broadway. Henry S. Osborn continued the active management of the business
until his death in 1895, and he was then succeeded by his son Charles C. Osborn,
who finally sold his interests to Mr. M. E. White.
Henry S. Osborn married Sarah A. Carter. Henry S. Osborn was a re-
publican and served a number of years as alderman from the First Ward.
He and his wife had two sons, William H., born in 1840 and Charles C, born
in 1842.
After selling his interest in the coal business Charles C. Osborn retired, and
is now spending his declining years in a comfortable home at 816 Spring Street.
He has always been one of the good and stanch citizens of Quincy, and has con-
tributed largely to the hospitals and other worthy causes. His brother William
was for a number of years a Mississippi River boatman and was clerk on the
old ' ' Divernon ' ' running between St. Louis and Keokuk. He died in 1877, leaving
a widow and two sons.
On April 14, 1864, Charles C. Osborn married at Quincy Miss Mary Arthur,
who was born in St. Louis June 30, 1841. The,y lived together a happy period
of half a centurj' and on April 14, 1914, were privileged to celebrate their
golden wedding anniversary. Mrs. Osborn died a few months later, in November
of the same year. She was reared and educated in St. Louis. Her parents were
natives of Ireland but were members of the Methodist Church. Mr. and ilrs.
Osborn had their church home in the Vermont Street Church for many years.
Mrs. Osborn was a teacher of the primary department of the Sunday school for
twenty years. For over a dozen years Mr. Osborn served as trustee of the
church. When his wife died the church presented him and his children with a
splendid testimonial as to her long continued and faithful membership.
Mr. Osborn 's oldest child is Charles A., born Januaiy 19, 1865. He is a
resident of Quincy and married Olive Smith. Frank W., the second son, was
born August 24, 1867, and is now in the real estate and loan business at Kansas
City under the firm name of Lemley and Osborn. He married Jennie Hull and
they have a son, Arthur, born in 1900. Alice Osborn, born ]\Iay 24, 1872, is
the widow of Mr. Hedges, and she and her daughter ]\Iary E. Hedges, now a
student in the Quincy High School, reside with her father. Mary Ann, the
youngest child, born November 24, 1876, is the wife of William R. Lemley,
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 961
of the firm Lemley & Osbom at Kansas City. Mr. and Mrs. Lemley have two
sons, Frank and Eobert, both students in the Kansas City High School.
Samuel Smith Nesbitt, M. D. In the eightieth year of a long and well spent
life Samuel Smith Nesbitt is enjoying a well earned retii'ement at Paysou.
He was a physician, a man of high standing in his profession for many years, but
finally gave that up to go to farming, and the modern genei'ation knows him
almost entirely as a farmer.
Mr. Nesbitt was bom at Orangeville, Wyoming County, New York, Feb-
ruary 10, 1839. His father, Henry Nesbitt, came from County Cavan, Ireland,
when a young man and married in New York State Eleanor Smith, a native of
that state. Henrj- Nesbitt died in 1888, at the age of eighty years.
Samuel Smith Nesbitt at the age of twenty, in the fall of 1859, came to
Illinois with his older brother George. George was already a successful physi-
cian, having located at Sycamore in DeKalb County several years before. He
was one of the first practitioners to practice medicine there, and died an hon-
ored and respected member of the community when about sixty years of age.
Dr. Samuel S. Nesbitt had been reared on a dain- fann, and his first work
in Illinois during the winter of 1859 was teaching a term of country school.
The custom still prevailed of the teacher boarding around with the parents
of his pupils, and every week he had to change boarding places. The following
spring he went to Knox County, Missouri, and taught near Novelty until the
spring of 1862. At that time war conditions made it almost impossible to
collect taxes and he therefore return-ed to Illinois and found a school in Burton
Township of Adams County. This was the Tandy School. He taught there
during the winter of 1862 and also taught a school at Payson. In the mean-
time he had studied medicine and during 1863-64 he attended a course of medi-
cal lectures in the medical department of the Tfniversity of Michigan. In the
interval he taught another term at the Tandy School, and then entered Buffalo
University, from which he was graduated M. D. with the class of 1866. Doctor
Nesbitt did his first practice at Virginia in Cass County, Illinois. The county
had become so filled with tenant farmers that collections were almost impossible
and he finally decided to abandon medicine and take up farming.
In the spring of 1867 Doctor Nesbitt married ]\Iiss Emily Wheeler. She had
been a pupil of his while he was a teacher in the Tandy School. Her parents
were William B. and Matilda Wheeler. The old Wheeler home was a half
mile west of the Tandy Sehoolhouse, and Mrs. Nesbitt was born there. She was
one of nine children, only four of whom reached maturity. George Wheeler
lived and died on the old farm in Burton Tow^lship and was only twenty when
his life was terminated. Elizabeth married George Morris, of LaGrange, ^lis.-
souri, and died at the age of thirty-five. Of her children William and Thomas
are in Quiney, the latter a street railway man, while Will is connected with
the Herald. Another brother, Jacob, is a carpenter at Hannibal. Emily
Wheeler Nesbitt is the only sur\avor of her parents' children. Scott died at
the age of eighteen on the old farm.
In 1870 Doctor Nesbitt and wife returned to the old Wheeler farm of 214
acres. The land of the old Wheeler home was pre-empted by Mrs. Nesbitt 's
grandfather in early days, and the old house built about 1842 was constructed
of brick burned on the land. Mr. Nesbitt 's son Harry E. now occupies this old
farm. Mr. Nesbitt himself retired from the farm in 1911. after having managed
its resources steadily since 1880. He was a general farmer and gave particular
attention to the raising of hogs.
Doctor Nesbitt served as a.ssessor of Burton Township and for six years
was supei-visor of that township. He was also a director of the old Tandy
School District and is now president of the Board of Education of Payson
Village. The new high school building was erected during his administration.
He has always been a democrat in politics and attended as a delegate many
county and state conventions. In 1863 he was made a ^lason in Payson Lodge,
962 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
while a teacher in the local schools. He is the oldest member of that lodge to
receive Ms degrees there. He and his wife have always supported the Christian
Church.
]Mr. and Mrs. Nesbitt had five children: Walter S. is a harnessmaker at
Payson ; Lemuel V. is in the grocery and feed business at Sixth and Kentucky
streets in Quincy; Lillie May married Henry Seehom, in the railway mail
service but living in Fall Creek Township ; Harry E. is on the old Wheeler
farm; Leona Ada is the wife of Henry Eugene Barry, a railway mail clerk
living at Quincy.
Jacob Young. For fiftj' years Jacob Young has been a farm worker and
farmer in Adams County, and after many years of thrifty co-operation with the
soil has earned the competencj' that now enables him to enjoy life and leisure
in his attractive home in Quincy.
Practically all his farming was done in Melrose Township. In 1872 he
made his first purchase of land, a small tract in section 25 of Melrose Townshij).
Later he increased it to eighty acres and kept constantl.y adding to its value
by the addition of good buildings, fences and other improvements. He built
a house, a barn 32 by 40 feet, and had practically all of it in cultivation. The
land is well drained, and has for many years produced abundant crops. In
1900 he sold this farm to his son William H. Young, who is still its proprietor.
In 1881 Mr. Young had also bought eighty acres in the South Quincy drainage
district, a greater part of which is tillable. He continued his farming career
until 1900, when he built a six room brick house at 1112 South Ninth Street,
and has made that his home and has been largely retired or has mei-ely devoted
his time to his private affairs.
Mr. Young was born in Bavaria, Germany, April 17, 1851, and received
part of his education in the old country. His father, Ludwig Young, also a
native of Bavaria and a farmer there, died in 1861, at the age of fifty-seven,
when his son Jacob was ten years old. He had married Catherine Wagner, and
she was left with six children : Henrietta Catherine, who is married and still
living in Bavaria; Ludwig, Jr., who married in Adams County, but died in
Missouri, leaving one child; Louisa, who married at Quincy, died in 1876 and
left a son and daughter, her husband being Lawrence Ludwig ; Jacob is the
next in the family; Adams is a cigar maker at LaSalle, Illinois, and has two
daughters; and Minnie died in 1876, at the age of eighteen.
After the death of the father the children gradually broke away from home
towns in Germany and all but one came to America. In 1869 'Sirs. Catherine
Young, her son Jacob and her daughter Minnie sot out from Hamburg on the
steamship "Simbria" and made the voyage from Hambui-g to New York and
thence came direct to Quincy, where the daughter Louisa had ali'eady located.
The mother spent the rest of her years in Adams County and died in 1891,
at the age of seventy-two. She had reared her family in the faith of the Evan-
gelical Lutheran Church.
Jacob Young came to manhood in this county, was a farm laborer for some
years, and when about twenty-one years of age bought his first land, as above
noted.
He married in Melrose Township Mrs. Mary Boelling. She was born in
Westphalia, Germany, March 1, 1841, and came to this country with her sister
Anna in 1867. They sailed from Bremen and were nine weeks in crossing the
ocean to New Orleans. They came up the Mississippi River and in the fall of
1867 reached Adams County, where Mrs. Young has now lived for over half a
century. Her sister Anna married Herman Boelling, and they are now i-etired
farmers in Sumner County, Kansas, and have six living children, all married
and all with families of their own.
Mrs. Young first married in Quincy Philip Merker, a native of this country
of German parentage. He was a farmer and died in Melrose Township in the
prime of life. His only child, Fred Merker, is now living in the South. He
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY . 963
also had a daughter. Eiiuna, that died in 1876, when four or five years old.
Mr. and Mrs. Young have a son, Ludwig, now a farmer in Arkansas, and is
married. "Wilhelmina, who was educated in the public schools and is the wife
of George Schauffnit and lives on a farm in ]\Ielrose Township. Their children
are Clara, Freda, Arthur, Flora, Henry and Esther. William H. Young above
mentioned is proprietor of the old homestead, married Tillie Kappner, and has
three children, Albion, Walter and Elsa. Anna ]\L, the youngest of the chil-
dren, is the wife of Harry Spelker, a machinist at Quincy. They have a daugh-
ter, Ella M. and an infant son. The family are members of the Salem Evan-
gelical Lutheran Church at Quincy. Mr. Young and sons are democrats in
polities.
A. Otis Arnold is publisher and manager of several of Quincy 's best known
journals, one or two of which have a circulation practically national and serv-
ing to acquaint the people of America with this splendid Mississippi River city.
Success seems to create success, and a number of other interests have been at-
tracted to and have grouped themselves around the name of ]\lr. Ai-nold. He is
one of the leading republicans of Adams County and men of all parties are
gaining an increased confidence in his judgment and ability. He is also promi-
nent in fraternal affairs, being one of the leading Masons of Western Illinois.
He represents an old South Carolina family. His grandfather, Fleming
Arnold, was born in that state, and in early manhood moved to Tennessee.
Later, about sixt.v years ago, he came to Illinois and settled at Columbus in
Adams County. After the war he moved to the Big Xeck community in north-
ern Adams County and for a time conducted a general store in that village.
He died at the age of seventy-four. Fleming Arnold married Miss Mary
Pierce, and he survived her several years.
John T. Arnold, father of the Quincy publisher, was born in Illinois in
1854, and was a small child when his parents came to Adams Coiuity. He
married at Big Neck Miss Nancj- R. Nelson. She was boi*n in the same neigh-
borhood and both her grandfather and her father James Nelson, had lived there.
Before coming to Adams County her people lived in Kentucky and in later life
moved to ^Missouri and died in that state. Her father died at Loraine, Illi-
nois, when in advanced years. He was a farmer and had married in Adams
County Miss Frances Willard. The mother of Jlrs. John Arnold was born in
the northern part of Adams County September 12, 1837, and died in 1909, in
California. The Nelsons were Methodists.
After their marriage John T. Arnold and wife located on a farm at Big
Neck near Loraine, and lived there manj- years. He finally moved into the
Village of Loraine, where they are now living, and he is giving his attention to
the coal business. They are members of the Methodist Church. John T. Arnold
has been identified with the democratic part.v in politics. He served as assessor
of Houston and also collector in Kecne Township a number of years. He and
his wife had three sons. The second, I. Otho, is a resident of Quincy, was con-
nected with the Quincy postoffice twelve years, and is now with the Standard
Oil Company. He married Cora Thompson, of Mendon, and they have chil-
dren named Wanda May and Otho, Jr. Roy Arnold, the youngest son, is a
farmer in the Big Neck community. By his marriage to Lona Lowary he has
children Maxine, Myrtle, John Thomas. Leaffie M. and Robert B.
A. Otis Arnold was bom in the northern part of Adams County in Janu-
ary, 1878. He was educated in the country schools, attended village high
school at Camp Point, and for two years was a teacher. Coming to Quincy in
1902, he at once became associated with John 'SI. Stahl, publisher of the Farniers
Call. He was in the business office of that publication, and later acquired a
half interest. In 1915 he became sole proprietor, the name of the paper having
been changed five years previously to the Illinois Farmer. That name is well
chosen, since the circulation of the paper is now practically state wide. In
1904 Mr. Arnold established the Home Instructor. In 1907 he acquired the
964 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
Quincy Record, a local paper which has since been published and man-aged
by him. His latest acquisition in the way of a publisliing medium was made
in 1917, when he took over the Poultry Keeper, which is published through his
office and which is one of the best mediums of news, information and advertis-
ing for everj^hing connected with the poultry industry. Mr. Arnold is now
owner of the majority of the stock of the Globe Printing Company, a business
that has been in existence more than forty years, and has a complete modern
printing plant at 520 Hampshire Street.
In politics Mr. Arnold has affiliated with the republican party since reaching
his majority and casting his first vote. Tliree years ago he was a candidate
for nomination for state representative, and with the enhanced prestige gained
by increased age and business prominence his name went before the party pri-
maries in September, 1918, when he wa.s nominated and later elected a member
of the Fifty-First General Assembly of Illinois.
Fraternally Mr. Arnold is affiliated with Quincy Lodge No. 12 of the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He soon became interested in lodge work
throughout the state and was elected Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of
Illinois in 1914, in 1915 was Deputy Grand Master, in 1916 became Grand Mas-
ter. He is also a member of Lambert Lodge No. 659, Ancient Free and Accepted
!!Masons, at Quincy, and is affiliated witli the Scottish Rite Consistory. He is
also a member of the Quincy Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club, being
one of the organizers and the first secretary of the local organization of the
Rotarians. In Adams County he married Miss Leaffie B. Lowary, who is also
a native of northern Adams County. They have one daughter, Nancy A., who
was a member of the class of 1920 in the Quincy High School but is now attend-
ing Carthage College. Mr. Arnold and family are members of the jMethodist
Church.
Henry Long in the flush of young manhood, only recently married, located
in Adams County seventy years ago, and was one of the leading citizens of
Payson Township for nearly half a century. Prior to the Civil war he located
in the Village of Payson, and he lived there until his death May 8, 1896. Mrs.
Long has survived him more than twenty years and it is now seventy years
since her marriage. Mrs. Long, now in the shadow of her ninetieth year, is
still occupying the old home in Payson Village, tenderly cared for by her de-
voted daughter Ada V.
Henrj' Long was born in Hampshire County, West Virginia, then tlie State
of Old Virginia, October 25, 1823, and was seventy-three years of age when
he died. He was the fourth of six children of Clawson and Rachel (Wagner)
Long, also natives of Virginia. Henry Long grew up on a Virginia plantation,
and on September 12, 1848, at the age of twenty-five, married Miss Elvina C.
Baker. Mrs. Long was bom in the same county of Virginia as her husband, on
February 2, 1829. Her parents also came to Adams County. They were George
and Anna (Lyon) Baker. Her father bought land in Payson Township and
located where his son George W. L. Baker is still living, just south of Payson.
Mrs. Long was the oldest of ten children, three of whom are still living, includ-
ing George W. L. Her brother Michael is a resident of the State of Louisiana.
Two other brothers of Mrs. Long came west, Frederick, who practiced medi-
cine in Missouri for a number of years, and Edward, who also lived in Missouri.
Henry Long and bride reached Payson Township in the spring of 1849.
Here they began farming, having 160 acres four miles from Payson Village on
Pigeon Creek, but sixty-two years ago he moved into the Village of Payson,
where he had a residence and about ten acres of ground. Mr. Long was a
prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, serving as a member of
its official board for many years.
He and his wife became the parents of eleven childi'en, five of whom reached
mature years. George W., the oldest of these, is a carpenter now living at
Fort Collins, Colorado. Curtis B. is a street railway employe at Los Angeles,
ilBRARY
-ir THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOI<;
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 965
California. Eugene died July 1, 1907, at the age of fortj'-two. Anna M. mar-
ried Charles W. Coughlan, editor of the Pike County Times at Pittsfield, Illi-
nois. Ada v., the youngest, has always made her home with her mother. ^Irs.
Long is a great lover of flowers, and for many years has found pleasure, health
and recreation in tending her plants and shrubbery both inside and outside the
house. She has produced some wonderful roses. Mr. and Mrs. Long while
they had a large family of their own always kept something of an open house
for other people not blessed with homes of their own. They reared an adopted
child, Charles W. Long, -who for many years ran the hack to Quincy and is still
living at Payson.
Capt. Gerald M. FinLiAT. For over half a century one of the honored
and conspicuous figures in Adams and Hancock coiinties was the late Capt.
Gerald M. Finlay, who was an honored veteran of the Civil war, in which he
organized and led a company, and for many years gave faithful and diligent
attention to his affairs as a merchant and property owner. He was a man well
fitted for leadership, but aside from tlie services he rendered when his country
was in danger and one or two honorary offices he was content to remain a
private citizen.
Captain Finlay was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, December 29, 1836,
and died at his home, 411 South Twenty-Fourth Street, in Quincy September
29, 1914. Rev. "William B. Finlay was born in County Cavan, Ulster, Ireland,
February 15, 1809, and was of Protestant ancestry. He married Charlotte
Best, of the same community in Ulster, and both the Best and Finlay families
have furnished other citizens to this section of Illinois. Rev. "William B. Finlay
was carefully reared and trained, was educated in Kildare College prior to his
ordination as a minister of the "Wesleyan Church. In 1839 he brought his
family to the United States by sailing vessel, and soon afterward located in Mel-
rose Township of this county. Here he entered upon his services as a local
preacher in September of the same year, and was regularly ordained in 1849
by Bishop Jones. In 1857 Rev. Mr. Finlay moved to Chili, Hancock County,
bought a farm there, and gave his time to farming and preaching for many
years. He subsequently moved to "West Point, Adams County, where he died
when past ninety-two years of age and his wife also died at "West Point. Two
of his daughters are Mrs. Mary "Woods and Mrs. Helen Garner of Adams County.
Gerald M. Finlay was not yet three years of age when brought to Adams
County. He attended school here, and in 1857, at the age of twenty-one, moved
with his parents to Hancock County. At the age of eighteen he united with
the Methodist Episcopal Church and was a faithful and consistent member of
that denomination until his death.
On August 12, 1861, he enlisted in Company I of the Tenth Missouri Vol-
unteer Militia, and was active in organizing that company. iWTien it was
mustered into the Union Army he was made first lieutenant. He was with
that command during the fall and winter of 1861-62 and participated in a
number of military movements through Missouri. In the meantime some re-
organization occurred in the regiment, and he was assigned as first lieutenant
of Company C. From that time forward he was with his command in all its
marches and battles, except at the battle of luka. He was not in that engage-
ment because he was then convalescent from an attack of typhoid fever. On
the advice of his surgeon he resigned his commission in January, 1863. Dur-
ing his service he was in actual command of his company the greater part of
the time, owing to the absence of the regular captain, and was always known
as Captain Finlay, though he never held a regular commission with that rank.
After the war Captain Finlay engaged in the grain and general merchandise
business at Augusta, but from 1877 to 1887 lived at Quincy and built a home
at 1622 Hampshire Street. In 1887 he returned to Augusta, and resumed the
grain business, to which he devoted his attention for manj- years. After re-
966 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
tiriug he and his wife spent two years in travel and in 1904 they retired to
Quiney and lived in their home at 411 South Twenty-Fourth Street until his
death.
Captain Finlay was a very public spirited citizen. He was one of those
most influential in promoting the George Rogers Clarke Monument, served as
chairman of the commission, and was influential in having that monument
erected in Quiney. The only other public position he ever held was as super-
visor of the census for the Warsaw District in 1900. He was a stanch republi-
can after attaining his majority, was a member of John Wood Post, Grand
Army of the Republic, member of the Masons and the Knight Templar and
also a Scottish Rite Mason. Captain Finlay owned considerable valuable real
estate in Quiney.
At Augusta, Illinois, September 15, 1864, Captain Finlay married Miss
Martha J. Rice. Mrs. Finla3' was born in Augusta March 30, 1841, and was
reared there, finishing her education in the old Methodist College at Quiney.
For a short time before her marriage she taught school. Her parents were
David and Clarinda (Wilson) Rice, both natives of Missouri and of southern
families. Her parents at one time owned a fine farm at Augusta. Her father
was a skilled blacksmith, but in later years gave his attention chiefly to the
development of coal veins which underlaid his property, and became a very
well-to-do citizen. He died in Augusta at the age of seventy, while Mrs. Finlay 's
mother died at the age of sixty-two. Both were members of the Methodist
Church and her father was a republican.
Mr. and Mrs. Finlay eelebi-ated their golden wedding anniversary on Sep-
tember 15. 1914. This celebration took the form of a trip to St. Louis, and
it was while returning that Captain Finla.y was taken ill, his illness develop-
ing into pneumonia and just two weeks later he died. His prominence as a
citizen is well reflected in the fact that the Quiney Whig used part of its
first page to tell the details of his death and publish an interesting photograph
taken when Captain Finlay was in the Civil war. Captain and Mi-s. Finlay
had no children. Mrs. Finlay still occupies the old home on South Twenty-
Fourth Street. She is a member of the Vermont Street Methodist Episcopal
Church, and Captain Finlay among other instances of his generosity gave
$2,000 to this church and also donated a similar sum to his Masonic Lodge.
Albert Akers was born on a farm in Columbiis Township, Adams Count.v,
Illinois, on the 26th day of September, 1849. His parents were of that sturdy
pioneering stock that pushed westward across prairies and into the forests,
making them habitable for those generations to come. It was a life of priva-
tion and self-sacrifice and oftentimes povert.y. Such indeed were the environ-
ments of Albert Akers' early life. He was the eighth child of a large family
and his opportunities for anything other than hard labor were very meager.
Schools were few and of a poor quality compared to the modern school. Up
to the age of twelve years he attended the district school about three months
in the year, working on the farm the rest of the time. When tlie Civil war
broke out his four older brothers enlisted in the Union Anny and the respon-
sibility of the care and support of his widowed mother and the younger chil-
dren devolved upon liim, his father having passed away a short time previously.
It was a Inirden imder which many a lad of twelve would have faltered, but his
earlier training and privations now became an asset of no mean value for the
task thrust upon him and enabled him to perform his part manfully and uncom-
plainingly. He continued as a farm laborer until he was twenty4wo years
old, when he entered school at Camp Point. He studied there for seven months,
when he was granted a license to teach, and )\v teacliing in the winter and
attending nonnal schools in the summer he acquired a fair education.
In 1878 he entered the office of Carter & Govert, where he studied law for
a year, and then went to Shelbyville, Indiana, where he completed his law
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 967
studies and was admitted to the bar, and entered upon the practice of his
chosen profession in 1880. He continued the practice of law in Shelbyville
eight years, during the latter part of which time he was editor and part owner
of the Shelbyville Times, and was a member of the city council always taking
an active interest in political affairs.
Judge Akers returned to Quincy in 1888 to practice his profession in his
native county and soon became one of the leading and aggressive practitioners
at the Adams County bar as a member of the firm of Akers & Swope. He was
elected state's attorney in 1892 and served as such the full term of four years.
Among the important cases which he prosecuted were those of the Kingston
white-cappers, and George Coward, who was sent to the penitentiary for life
for murder. He was elected alderman from the Sixth Ward in 1897, and was
one of the influential members of the cit}- council. In 1903 he received the nomi-
nation on the democratic ticket as candidate for judge of the Adams County
Circuit Court and was elected to that office on June 18, 1903, was re-elected in
1909, and again in 1915. His popularity throughout the entire district is the
strongest possible testimonial that in his administration as judge of the Eighth
District he has been fearless, impartial and has administered the law as he
finds it, tempered with such justice as the exigencies of the case will allow.
His ability to retain clearly within his mind the evidence submitted in long
and complicated litigation enables him to winnow the wheat from the chaff
and strike squarely at the heart of the matter in hand, basing his decisions
upon the actual facts in the case, giving dpinious that are accorded more than
usual respect by the bar as a whole.
Upon the resignation of Mr. Justice George A. Cooke in December. 1918,
Judge Akers has been prominently mentioned as a candidate for the Supreme
bench, but promptly and emphatically refuses any such additional lionors.
At Cincinnati, Ohio, September 8, 1876, Judge Akers married Miss Ida
May Silver. Mrs. Akers was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, October 9, 1857,
and died at Quincy, November 13, 1917. She was reared and educated near
Cincinnati, and came as a bride to Quincy after her marriage. ]\Irs. Akers was
a member of the Baptist Church and widely known throughout (Quincy for
her many splendid traits of character and personal kindness. Judge and Mrs.
Akers had four children, three of whom are living: Mrs. Alice Durant, wife of
Carl Durant, of Brookfield, Missouri ; Albert Earl Akers, of Quincy : and Ida
May Akers, still at home. There is also one grandchild, Richard V. Akers.
H.\RLow Mills Spencer. In the death of Harlow Mills Spencer, which
occurred at his home a half mile south of Payson August 15, 1915, the services
of one of the valuable men of Adams County were lost and at a comparatively
early age. Mr. Spencer was not yet fifty years old. All his neighbors knew
his ability and success as a farmer, but it is impoi-tant to remember not only that
fact of his career, but the steady influence he radiated for good in the communi-
ties where he lived.
He was born on the old Spencer home farm now occupied by his brother
Glenn on March 7, 1866. He lived there during his boyhood and up to the
age of twenty-four. After reaching his majority he determined to secure a
better education than that furnished by the common schools and paid his way
during his course at Oberlin College in Ohio. When he went to farming it was
in Pike Cnnnty on Sni Island, in the Draining District of that name. He and
his wife lived there in a community of rather backward social conditions, and
their influence did a great deal to elevate and improve the social standards of
their neighborhood. Mr. Spencer raised wheat on the bottom lands. Decem-
ber 31, 1891, he married Olive Beiniett, of Pa.yson, daughter of George E. and
Delilah V. (Baker) Bennett. Her father was long a prominent citizen of
Payson Township. Mrs. Spencer was second in a family of three children,
her brother Edgar E. being a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and identified
with oil production. Her sister, Hester A., married William Inman and died
968 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
at the age of twenty-nine. Her father married for his second wife Mary E.
"Williams, who is now living in Ohio. George E. Bennett died May 17, 1917.
Olive Bennett was 41/0 years old when her mother died, and she was carefully
reared bj^ her stepmother. She was twenty years old at the time of her mar-
riage.
For twelve years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Spencer lived in the
Mississippi Bottoms. They added to their possessions until they had 277 acres,
all devoted to corn and wheat crops. The experience was a successful one and
on selling out their farm they bought the present home of Mrs. Spencer, a half
mile south of Payson. This farm was originally owned by his gi-andfather,
Joseph Elliott, one of the prominent pioneers of Payson Township elsewhere re-
ferred to. The farm comprised 160 acres. Mr. Spencer was always progres-
sive and though he took the farm in a good condition he did much to further
improve it. He supplied it with buildings of all kinds and made it especially
well known as the home of high class livestock. He was the pioneer in intro-
ducing into this part of Adams County the full blooded Polled Duram cattle.
He obtained the nucleus of his herd from Knox City, Missouri, about 1911, and
devoted much time and study to improving and maintaining the stock. He
kept his animals registered and many of them have since been acquired by
neighboring farmers, with resultant benefit in raising the general standard of
livestock in that community. Mr. Spencer's son has continued the operation
of the farm and has bestowed equal care and effort upon the livestock.
The late Mr. Spencer was active until within a few weeks of his death. He was
never an aspirant for official honors for the sake of the honor, but was for a
number of years employed in some official duty. He served as road and bridge
commissioner in Pike Countj^ as school director and school treasurer, and
when he was elected school treasurer his wife succeeded him as director. In
polities he was a republican.
Mr. Spencer was married at the age of twenty-four and from that time until
his death he was never away from his wife for a longer time than a week, while
engaged in jury duty. He was veiy unselfish, always wanted his wife with
him and sharing in all his pleasures, and they took many trips together. Mr.
Spencer was a member of the Congregational Church from boj'hood, and he
succeeded his father as deacon of the church at Payson. He was a splendid
bass singer and for many years sang in the church choir, in the Sunday school
and also in the Payson quartette. He was exceedingly faithful to all his duties
in church and Sunday school, and he apparently never found time to ally him-
self with any fraternity. He was a member of the County Farm Improvement
Society, and he took a gi-eat deal of pride in keeping his own farm improve-
ments to the very highest standard. Mrs. Spencer has remained on the farm
since her husband's death, and a son is now handling its affairs very com-
petently.
Mrs. Spencer is the mother of five children. Samuel George Spencer, oper-
ating the home farm, wa.s liberally educated, taking a special agi-icultural
course in the University of Champaign. He is an expert machinist, and is one
of the farmers of Adams County w-ho have been successful in managing the
tractor. He also has a feed mill, and has made his farm a factory as well as a
source of raw production. He married Miss Ella Speckhart, and they have
one child, Hai'low George. Esther L. Spencer, the oldest daughter of Mrs.
Spencer, married Paul Reinebach, and the>- live on the old Reinebach home-
stead in Fall Creek Township. Mary J. Spencer is the wife of Carl Speckhart,
a farmer of Fall Creek Township, and has one son, Harlow Adam. Olive Ruth
Spencer is a graduate of the local high school and attended the Nomial at
Macomb, and is a teacher. Lois E. is now in the sophomore class of the Payson
High School.
Mrs. Spencer has been active in church work, served as church organist
eleven years, is a member of the Missionary Society, Red Cross and the
Women's Christian Temperance Union. The late Mr. Spencer was always a man
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 969
of literaiy interests, in spite of the absorbing nature of his farm interests. He
constantly read magazines and good books and kept in close touch with the big
questions of the day and enjoyed nothing better than the society of his friends
and the discussion of affairs which always marked these meetings. Reference
has already been made to the value of his presence in the bottom land district
of Pike County. He and his wife were among the very few land owners then
cultivating the lands of the district, most of the land being owned by non-resi-
dents and worked by tenants and transient labor. Naturally the instituions
of a settled communitj^ had made little progress there. Mr. Spencer as soon
as possible secured a minister to hold service, and in a year's time had built
the Spencer Chapel on his o^vti fann. This is still a prosperous congregation
and is now a Methodist church, ^Ir. Spencer giving the land for the building
site. The church was more than a source of religious inspiration, and became
in fact an educational center for the entire community. It has done a gi-eat
deal to elevate the standards of the community. Within a few years after
the Spencers located there the people were buying buggies, the women were
wearing good dresses, and there were many other evidences of an enlightened
spirit. The late Mr. Spencer had a fine mind, and an especially good memory,
arid though exceedingly busy with practical details he ean-ied much choice
literature in his mind, and could quote at length many verses and fine examples
of the standard poetry which he had learned as a boy in school.
William A. Fifer. Many of the substantial enterprises that flourish at
Quincy have been founded, capitalized and entirel.y developed here, not always
by the present generation, which, however, with more favorable opportunities,
have built up on the old foundations commercial structures of surprising im-
portance. An instance is the Quincy Show Case Company, of which William
A. Fifer is president and treasurer, and C. Arthur Fifer is secretary. For
over forty years the name of Pfeiffer has been honorably identified with busi-
ness in this city.
William A. Fifer was born at Quincy, Illinois, May 18, 1881. His parents
were Henry Charles and Augusta (Apel) Pfeiffer. Both were born in Ger-
many and when twenty-one years of age came to make their home in the United
States, locating permanentl.y in the City of Quincy. By trade the father was a
molder, but he also had knowledge along other mechanical lines, and in 1876
he gave up work as a molder and went into the business of manufacturing
show cases, organizing what is now the Quincy Show Case Company in associ-
ation with J. F. Pieper. He invested largely in the company and continued
its secretary and treasurer up to the time of his death in 1910. He was also
a stockholder and a director of the ^Mercantile Trust & Sav'ings Bank, one of
its first directors, and had additional minor interests, as he was a man of great
business enterprise. His wife survived him four years, her death occurring
June 21, 1914. They were the parents of the following children : Lillie,
Lillie (2) and Amelia, all deceased; Augusta, who is the wife of M. T. Koelsch,
of Quincy: a daughter who died in infancy; Henrv, who is a resident of Mem-
phis, Tennessee; William A.; C. Arthur; and Herbert, who is deceased.
William A. Fifer attended school at Quincy until he was fourteen yeai-s
old and then went into his father's factory and learned the business from
the ground up. As he deserved them one oifice after the other became his until
he at length became vice president and treasurer of the company. Associated
with him is his younger brother, C. Arthur Fifer, who is secretary of the
company. A large business is done, the name and reputation of this firm
being known all over the state.
William A. Fifer was married October 21, 1903, to Miss Nettie Stubbs, who
was born at Springfield, Illinois, and they have one daughter, Martha Jane.
Mr. Fifer is a republican in his political views. He is an advanced Mason and
belongs to some special business organizations, while socially he is president of
the Quincy Country Club and is also president of the Rotaiy Club.
970 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
John J. Moriarty is a well known figure in the commercial life of Quiney,
manager for Bolles and Rogers, one of the largest firms in Illinois dealing in
hides, tallow, fur and other products. The plant of this company is at 101
Front Street and it is a branch of the main business whose headcpiarters are in
Chicago. The business was established in Quiney in July, 1905, and since that
date Mr. Moriarty has been general manager.
Mr. Moriarty was born in Seneca, Kansas, June 26, 1860. Both his parents
were born in Ireland, were reared and married there, and came to the United
States in 1848. He grew up in Kansas, attending public and parochial schools,
and was a student of St. Mary's College at St. Mary's Kansas. He began his
business career as a salesman^ in Cincinnati, and later went to the far South-
west in New Mexico Territory, and was with the Charles Blanchard Company
at La-s Vegas. Prom there he returned home, but soon went back to the South-
west and was in the employ of Don Pandaries in the wilds of ]\Iora County,
New Mexico. Four years later he returned to the iliddle West and spent one
year as a traveling man in the northwestern states. At Kansas City he then
became associated with Benjamin McClain and Company, hide dealers. They
sent him as their buyer to New Mexico. While in New Mexico he had acquired
a fluent command of the Spanish language and the Mexican dialect and he
proved a valuable representative to his iirm. After five years he left the South-
west permanentl.y and in 1892 located at Quiney.
This city has been his home for over a quarter of a century. For some
years he was traveling representative of the Hirseh Hide Company of Quiney,
and when that company was taken over by the Bolles & Rogers Company he
continued with them as traveling representative and buyer for three years,
until he was made local manager.
Mr. Moriarty has served as a memljer of the Board of Aldermen for eight
years from the Fifth Ward, and is an active democrat. He owns one of the good
homes of the city at 1418 Hampshire Street, the residence having been erected
three years ago.
In St. Louis Mr. Moriarty married Miss Ida Harriott. She was born in
St. Louis, and was educated in the public seliools there. They have two daugh-
ters : Nora A. was educated in the parochial schools and St. Mary's Academy
and is at home; Opal ilay was educated in St. ilary's Academy at Notre Dame,
Indiana, also in the public and parochial schools of Quiney, and is the wife of
Forrest Knipe, of Oklahoma City. Mr. Moriarty is a member of St. Rose Catholic
church and is a charter member and foiirth degree Knight of Columbus. He
is also affiliated with the Woodmen and with the local post of the Travelers'
Protective Association.
Charles F. Loos is one of the firm of Pape & Loos, the largest and most
widely known millers in this section of Illinois. ]\Ir. Loos is as busy as the
typical miller is supposed to be, has a great many details at his finger's ends,
and manages everything with s.vstem and order. Pape & Loos own and operate
the Gem Mills and the Acme Roller ilills, the former at Eleventh and Broadway
and the latter at Twelfth and Broadway. These mills for many years have
manufactured an extensive output of flour and feed stuffs of various kinds.
Their best known brand is Acme flour, which is sold and consumed all over the
Middle West. The capacity of the mills is 125 barrels per day. In recent years
they have also used their plant according to Government regulations for the
manufacture of many flour substitutes, including corn meal, corn flour, and r.ve
flour, and this has of course been one of the big features of the industry. About
thirty people are employed in this milling industry.
Mr. Loos has been an active member of the firm for twenty-three years. He
is an Adams County man, having been born in Melrose Township, September
4, 1871. He grew up on a farm and received his education in the public schools.
He started in the milling industry at the bottom and has acquired a masterful
knowledge of the entire technique.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 971
His father, George F. Loos, was born in Melrose Township August 10, 1848,
and was one of the early settlers of Adams County. George P. Loos married
November 16, 1869, Auralia Louisa Heidenrieh, who was born February 2,
1851. They had twelve children, eight sons and four daughters, ten of whom
are still living.
Charles F. Loos married in Fall Creek Township of this county Emma
Heithold. She was born in that township in 1876 and was reared and educated
there. Her parents were J. Henry and Elizabeth (Speckhart) Heithold. Her
father was liorn in Germany and her mother in Adams County. They married
in Adams County and were prosperous farmers of Fall Creek Town.ship, where
both died when past seventy years of age. Mrs. Loos died in October, 1914.
She was the mother of the following children : Lela, a graduate of the Quincy
High School and .still at home ; Mildred, a graduate of the city high school, the
Gem Business College, and is now employed in the office of the business college ;
Raymond, a graduate of high school and now taking a course in the Gem City
Business College; Thelma, a high school student; Erma and Delbert, both attencl-
ing the Webster grammar school. Mr. Loos married for his present wife Anna
Schmidt. She was born in Quincy and of German parentage, and was reared
and educated in this city. Mr. and Mrs. Loos have one daughter, Virginia,
born in 1916. They are all members of the Salem Lutheran church. Mr. Loos
served as trustee of the church four years. He is a democrat in politics.
Theodore W. Wand. While financial institutions are absolutely necessary
in carrying on justl.y and honestly as well a.s eiSciently the transactions that
represent a city's commercial life, not one day would these institutions fulfill
their designated duties without integrity and ability being woven into their
business fabric. A large measure of distinction attaches to those who have
proved deserving of any trust, and banking institutions place high value on their
proved and experienced employes. One of Quincy 's well known business men
in this connection is Theodore W. Wand, who has been identified with several
of the important banking institutions of this city for many j-ears, and further-
more is active and interested in all that concerns the progress of Quincy along
other lines.
Theodore W. Wand is a native of this city, born April 1, 1874, son of Christian
and Elizalieth (Duker) Wand. His fatlier, now a retired resident of Quincy,
had a long and active association with Adams County both in its commercial
affairs and as a citizen. He was born in ^Marion County, Missouri, March 7, 1849,
a son of William and Margaret (Bergmann) Wand. William and Margaret
were both natives of Germany. William Wand came to America in the early
'40s, and though farmer he went out to California in the days of forty-nine and
spent about two years on the Pacific coast. La the meantime his wife had moved
her family to Melrose Township of Adams County, Illinois. Li 1878 William
Wand and wife moved to Quincy, where both of them died in 1881. They
were the parents of eight children : William, who died in 1916 ; Christian ;
John, who still occupies the home farm in Melrose Township ; Nicholas, de-
ceased ; Mary, of Quincy ; Elizabeth and Veronica, both deceased ; and Margaret,
wife of Garry- Vandenboom of Quincy.
Christian Wand grew up on his father's farm, had a common school educa-
tion, and at the age of nineteen left home to clerk in a general store at Quincy.
That was his employment and source of experience until the age of twenty-three,
when he engaged in general merchandising in a store at 718 Maine Street in
Quincy. Christian Wand continued this busines.s until 1887. In the following
j'ear he became a factor in the local pork packing industry, and followed it
actively for about five years. Since then he has spent his time looking after his
private interests, his farm and city properties. He is a democrat, a member
of the Knights of Columbus and is active in St. Francis Catholic Church. April
29, 1873, Christian Wand married Elizabeth Duker, who has been a resident of
Quincy all her life. Six children have been born to their marriage, and of the
972 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
five now living all are residents of Quincy except one. The oldest is Theodore
W. ; Frances lives with her parents; Bertha is deceased; Arthur J., who was
assistant manager of the New Willard Hotel at Washington, D. C, died October
13, 1918 ; Ida E. is wife of Robert Soebing, assistant cashier of the Mercantile
Trust & Savings Bank; and Florence is at home.
Theodore W. Wand was afforded many educational as well as social advan-
tages in his youth. After attending the parochial school he entered St. Francis
College and pursued his studies there for three years and then took a course cov-
ering one year in the Gem City Business College at Quincy. He then entered
the employ of W. T. Duker as bookkeeper, but shortly afterward was appointed
to the office of special tax collector, in which he served for two years, following
which he was deputy county recorder and remained in the recorder's office for
SYo years. For the past fourteen years Mr. Wand has been with the State
Savings, Loan & Trust Company and for nine yeai-s has had charge as cashier
of the Broadway branch of this bank, at all times meeting every demand made
upon his ability.
Mr. Wand was married May 9, 1900, to Miss Mathilde Damhorst, a daughter
of George Damhorst, and they have the following children: Theodore C,
Rosalie, Harold, Clarence, Dorothy, Virginia, Mildred and Paul Robert. Mr.
Wand and bis family belong to St. Francis Catholic Church.
Politically Mr. Wand is a staunch democrat and exerts considerable influence
in city politics without ever desiring any political favors for himself. He is a
member of the Western Catholic Union and for many years has been a member
of that great Catholic organization the Knights of Columbus.
D. L.VFATETTE MussELMAN. The building of a great educational institution
is a noble achievement. It means wide opportunitj' to the individual and untold
advantages to a community. Quincj% Illinois, is the fortunate home of such
an institution. Here the Gem City Business College was founded in 1870 by
D. L. Musselman, Sr., and each passing year has added to its fame as it has
grown in usefulness.
D. L. Musselman was a delightful character, respected by his fellow citizens
and loved by his .students. On June 16, 1910, he passed out of life in his home
at Quincy. Besides his wife, Mary M. (McDavitt) Musselman, he left one
daughter, Hattie V., who resides with her mother, and three sons. D. Lafayette,
who is president, Virgil George, who is vice president and Thomas Edgar,
who is secretary of the gi-eat school which the father founded.
D. Lafayette Musselman, Sr., was born April 21, 1842, in Fulton County,
Illinois. His people were in humble circumstances and unable to afford him
the educational advantages he craved, and the efforts he made on his own behalf
in boyhood might well serve in its overcoming of hardships, as the basis of an
encouraging .story for others similarly situated. In 1862, when twenty years old,
he enlisted for service in the Civil war then in progress, entering the Eighty-
Fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and upon the organization of Company C was
elected first sergeant and shortly afterward was advanced to second lieutenant,
which rank he held throughout the war. He was present at every battle in which
his regiment participated and these included the mighty struggles at Perrj^ville,
Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Dallas, Peach . Tree Creek, Chickamauga, Rome,
Kenesaw Mountain and Jonesboro. The annals of his regiment tell of no more
valorous deeds than he performed on many occasions.
Having been careful and provident. Lieutenant Musselman returned to
private life possessing some capital, a part of which he used in taking a complete
course in a Chicago business college. Following this he taught in the Bryant,
Stratton and Bell Business College, and in the old English and German College
of Quincy, which was situated where the Jefferson School is now located.
It was in 1870 that he started the Gem City Business College with three
students, which were increased to thirty-three by the end of the year. The
success of the venture gave encouragement and largely through hard work and
QUINCY AND ADAilS COUxXTY 973
judicious management the attendance steadily increased. As the outlook grew
wider Mr. Musselman met the new demands, and when he had a registry of
800 students he found he required more commodious accommodations. In
September, 1892. the present magnificent building was opened to students. The
present enrollment numbers some 1,400, coming from neai'ly evei'y state in the
Union. This $100,000 building, which is thoroughly modern in all its appoint-
ments, is the home of a school that has a national reputation. Its successful
graduates are numbered by the thousands and are located in every section of
the globe. Bookkeeping, actual business practice, banking, shorthand, tj-pe-
writing, mathematics and penmanship are thoroughly taught by a large faculty
of experienced teachers.
The eldest son, D. Lafayette Musselman, was born at Macomb, Illinois,
March 31, 1879. He attended the public schools of Quincy and after completing
the high school course became a student in Shattuck Slilitary Academy at Fari-
bault, Minnesota. He then read law under Judge McCrory of Quincy. He
took a commercial and stenographic course in the Gem City Business College, in
which institution he was an instructor from 1898 until 1900. From 1900 until
the death of his father in 1910 he served as secretary and treasurer of the
school, at which time he was elected president of the school, which position he
has held since. In 1898 he was the representative of the L. E. Waterman Foun-
tain Pen Company of New York City at the Omaha Exposition.
Mr. Musselman has other important interests and in many wa.ys is one of
Quincy 's most valued and trusted citizens. In 1907 he was president of the
National Commercial Teachers' Association. He is a member of the Quincy
Chamber of Commerce, the Quincy Rotary Club, chairman of the business col-
lege section of the International Rotary, is a member of the Quincy Board of
Education, is vice president of the Chaddock Boys' School at Quincy, is a di-
rector of the Quinc.y Park and Boulevard Association, is a trustee of the Wood-
land Home for Orphans, and is continually called upon to serve on committees
and commissions in relation to benevolent movements here and in other places.
He is chairman of the Adams County Chapter of the American Red Cross and
a director of the Quincy National Bank. He is a trustee of the Vermont Street
Methodist Church, a Knight Templar, a thirty-second degree Mason and a
Shriner.
The second son, Virgil George, attended the Quincy High School, the Uni-
versity of Illinois, and the Gem City Business College, following which he
taught in the school, later becoming secretary'. Since the death of his father
he has been vice president of the school.
He is also secretary of the Board of Trustees of Blessing Hospital, secretary
of the Board of Directors of the Young Men's Christian Association, and is
secretary of the Simday school of the Vermont Street Jlethodist Church as well
as steward of the same church. He is, also, a Knight Templar. He is very
active in all public matters and has acted as captain in seversil of the Liberty
Loan drives.
The youngest son, Thomas Edgar, attended the Quincy High School, is a
graduate of Shattuck Military Academy, and received his B. A. degree at the
Universitv of Illinois in 1910 and his master's degree from the same university
in 1913. '
He is an authority on bird life, butterflies, etc. He is, also, an athlete of
unusual ability, having been tennis champion of the University of Illinois two
years and for five j'cars was tennis champion of the lowa-^Iissouri-IUiuois Tour-
nament. Besides being secretaiw of the Gem City Business College he is princi-
pal of the bookkeeping department and lecturer on business English and letter
writing. He is secretary of the Quincy Country Club and a member of the
Lambert Lodge of Masons.
J. Grant Stuart. A large part of J. Grant Stuart's business career has
been in financial institutions, and as cashier of the Broadway Bank at Quincy
he is considered able, reliable and trustworthv. He was one of the original or-
974 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
ganizers of this bank in 1910 and has been identified with it ever since, and
through courtesy and just discrimination has made firm friends for the institu-
tion as well as for himself.
J. Grant Stuart was born in Indiana, July 5, 1867. He is a son of Henry
and Abigail (Lassiter) Stuart, both of whom were born in North Carolina. With
other members of the Society of Friends they left the Old North State during the
Civil war and located in Indiana, and the father was engaged in farming and
milling dm-ing the rest of his active life. His death occurred at Plymouth,
Illinois, December 14, 1905, he having moved to Illinois in 1868. The mother
makes her home at Augusta in Hancock County. They were the parents of
seven children, as follows: Julian L., who lives at Lewistown, Montana ; Zelinda,
who is the wife of Walter H. Peck, near Lewistown : Thomas C, who lives at
Conway, Texas; Rebecca, who is the wife of E. J. Pickens, of ilendon, Illinois;
Margaret, who resides with her mother at Augusta ; Willa, who is the wife of
Frank Morrison, of Loraine, Illinois ; and J. Grant, of Quiney.
J. Grant Stuart attended the country schools and helped his father on the
farm during boyhood, after which he assisted in his brother's butcher shop
at Plymouth for one year, and then spent a year in college at Dixon, Illinois,
where he completed a business course. Returning then to Plymouth he became
a farmer and also a dealer in stock, buying and shipping in that vicinity and
at Loraine for some time. Realizing the lack of good banking facilities at
Loraine, which had become an important shipping point, Mr. Stuart in partner-
ship with Jacob Klepper and George H. Eastman organized the Loraine State
Bank. Mr. Stuart became cashier of the institution and served continuously for
the next three years and then resigned because of failing health. Subsequently
he served as a.ssistant ca.shier of the First National Bank of Augusta and then
resigned and took a period of needed rest. A quiet life, however, soon p'alled and
in 1910 he re-entered the banking field as one of the organizers of the Broadway
Bank at Quiney and has filled the office of cashier ever since.
Mr. Stuart was married September 4, 1894, to Miss Eugenia Cady, who was
born at Camden in Schuyler County, Illinois, and they have one daughter, Roxie
Katherine, who was born in April, 1900.
Mr. Stuart has never been a politician in the accepted sense of the word, biit,
believing in the principles of the republican party, he has never hesitated to
proclaim them and give heart.y support to this political organization. For many
years he has been a member of the Masonic Lodge, No. 1, of Quiney and of the
order of Knights of Pythias, and with his family belongs to the Christian
Church.
Joseph B. C. Freiburg. A trade that provides for an actual need of nine-
tenths of the human race is the manufacture of shoes and deserves to stand,
as it does, among the world's important industries. Materials and form difl'er
in different countries because of custom and climate, but protective covering
for the feet is a general necessity. From tropical lands where this covering
may be largely ornamental to the rigorous climates where only the cold-defying
skins of fur-bearing animals are adequate, show material is husbanded. Hol-
land still clings to her picturesque wooden shoes, and grass supplies material
for the Chinese coolie, but in home markets and in the United States leather
has never been superseded. Other countries have laid claim to fine bootmaking
and dainty footwear, but without doubt this country with its enormous factories
and marvelous shoemaking machinery provides not only the greatest number
of substantial shoes but the most attractive and best fitting styles.
It is easily within the memory of present residents of Quiney when the
shoemaker's shop and the busy cobbler would be found on every business street,
and it was such a shop that was the beginning of the extensive shoe raanu-^
facturing business of Joseph B. C. Freiburg, one of Quiney 's large enter-
prises, located at 729 Maine Street. The original shop was established here
many years ago by his father, Henry Freiburg.
^f^ . /3 ^ , <i2Cc<:/^<y^ .
LIBRARY
jr THE
ONIVERSnV OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 975
This being an age of specialization and as few small shops can compete with
the enormous output of machine shoe factories, Mr. Joseph Freiburg has
modified his business into a high class specialty that gives his enterprise a
special distinction. He is a graduate chiropodist and orthopedist, having
attended courses in several of the well known institutions, and his chief diploma
liearing date August, 1914. An expert shoe maker, for years he has specialized
in making custom boots and shoes to fit abnormal feet, and in order to get the
advantage of scientific training as an additional equipment for this work he
began the special study of how to treat and handle unusual cases of foot deform-
ity. His reputation in this line has spread beyond local limits, and his shop
is patronized bj' many of the best people of the city. He graduated from the
Illinois College of Chiropody and Orthopedics in ilarch, 1918, and is a mem-
ber of the National Association of Chiropodists and a member of the Illinois
Orthopedist Association. He has neglected no opportunity to make the most
of his highly specialized trade. It is interesting to note that Mr. Freiburg in
the course of his experience made shoes from every species of hide from the
human skin to an elephant hide.
Mr. Freiburg was born December 14, 1862, at 717 Maine Street, in the same
block where he now has his business. His parents were Henry and Josephine
(Meyer) Freiburg, the latter a native of Quincy. His father was born in
Westphalia, Germany, and was the tirst member of his family to come to
America. He traveled by sailing vessel to New Orleans, and later located at
Quincy, where he resumed his tradfe as shoemaker. He conducted a shop and
was active in his work steadily until five days before his death, which occurred
June 21, 1917, when he was past eighty-two years of age. His widow is still
living at Quincy, where they married. She was born on Hampshire Street
between Eighth and Ninth streets, this city, of German parentage. Her mother
died here when ninety-six years of age. All the family were active Catholics.
Henry and Josephine Freiburg had the following children: Joseph B. C. ;
Christian, of Quincy ; Verona, wife of Joseph Geers, of Quincy ; Mary, wife of
Barney Brinks, of Quincy ; Alphonse, of Quincy ; Agnes, wife of Lawrence
Wavering, of Quincy ; Rose ; Ledvina, wife of Joseph Adrian, of Martinsburg,
Missouri; and five who are deceased.
Joseph B. C. Freiburg attended the parochial schools until thirteen years
of age, when he went into his father's shop and learned the shoemaking trade
in every detail. After his father sold that place the son started a shop of his
own at 705 Maine Street and conducted it about four years. He then went to
Chicago and for nine months was employed in the factory of C. M. Henderson
& Company, shoe manufacturers, and subsequently spent about an equal length
of time with the factory of John ]\Ieyer of St. Louis. On returning to Quincy
he and his father engaged in shoe manufacturing for themselves, and con-
tinued to expand until they had the largest shoe shop in the city, equipped
with modern machinery. In 1910 Mr. Freiburg bought the entire business.
He keeps seven skilled workmen at steady employment, and practically all his
work is special shoes made to measure and for the particular comfort of the
wearer. Mr. Freibiirg has the professional knowledge and skill that enables
him to treat almost every type of diseased foot or leg from the hip down. He
is inventor of a leather leg top for varioeose veins. An enthvisiast in his work,
he gives all his time to advanced study as well as to the closest supervision of
his work and the management of his factory.
Mr. Freiburg married, September 25, 1890, iliss Anna B. Blomer, who was
born at Quincy and was reared and educated here. She is a sister of Dr. Joseph
and John Blomer, elsewhere referred to in this publication. "Sir. and Mrs. Frei-
burg had the following children : Irene, Robert, Raymond, Andrew, Hen-
rietta, Helen, Gerald and Joseph. Only three of them are now living. The
daughter Irene lost her life at the age of nine years when the St. Francis
School was destroyed by fire. Four of the sons died in early childhood. The
976 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
daughter Henrietta is a graduate of St. Mary's Academy and Gem City
Business College and is a stenogi-apher and bookkeeper. Helen is a graduate
of St. Elizabeth's School in St. Louis. Gerald is a gi'aduate of St. Francis
College of Quiney. Mr. Freiburg and family are members of St. Francis
Catholic Church. He has never taken a very active part in politics, although
being a loyal democrat and as a good citizen demonstrates his willingness to
co-operate with others in forwarding movements for the general good. He is
affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Western Catholic Union.
Chrisiian Becker. A man of good business capacity, industrious and
enterprising, Christian Becker, a weU-known citizen of Quiney, has accumulated
a competency through his own efforts, and is now living retired from business
cares, his commodious and modernly constructed home being one of the most
attractive in the citv. He is a native born citizen, his birth having occurred in
Quiney May 9, 1869.
His father, Charles Becker, was born in Germany, and was there educated.
Determining in earlj- life to trj- and seek his fortunes in a newer world, he immi-
gi-ated to America, the poor man's paradise, settling in Illinois. Taking up
his residence in Quiney, he embarked in business as a butcher, and was thus
employed until his death, January 2, 1891. He married Margaret Keim. who
was also of German birth and breeding, and of the twelve children born of their
union but two are now living, Anna, wife of Charles F. Rambrechts, of Quiney,
and Christian, the subject of this brief sketch.
Having obtained a good common school education. Christian Becker learned
the trade of a butcher while working with his father. Turning his attention to
agi-iculture on land inherited from his father in Missouri, he was there engaged
in general farming for sometime. After the death of his father ilr. Becker
bought his brother's interest in the butcher shop established by his father, and
managed it successfully for a short time. He subsequently ran a sand boat on
the river for two years, but has since lived retired from active pursuits, de-
voting his time to the care of his private affairs. Mr. Becker has valuable farm-
ing interests, owning 318 acres of good land in Lewis County, Missouri, from
which he receives a good annual income. He has a beautiful home at No. 1435
State Street, Quiney, and on it he and his family delight to entertain tlieir many
of Salem Church.
Mr. Becker married in September, 1891, Anna Barbara Boehl, a native of
Adams County, Illinois, and they are the parents of four children, namely:
Charles M., of Quiney; Lewis M., a student at the LTniversity of Colorado in
Boulder, Colorado ; Edna L. ; and Edwin H. Politically Mr. Becker supports
the principles of the republican party. Religiously he and his wife are members
of Salem church.
NiCHLAs Heintz. a venerable and highly esteemed citizen of Quiney, and
one of its leading merchants, Nichlas Heintz has been in truth the architect of
his own fortunes, bj' his untiring energj- and the diligent use of his faculties and
opportunities having risen from a state of comparative poverty to a position
of affluence and influence. He was born Maj^ 25, 1839, in Alsace Lorraine. Ger-
many, where he spent the first fifteen years of his life.
His parents, Peter and Mary (Sieren) Heintz, were born, reared and mar-
ried in Germany. In 1854, accompanied by their three children, they came to
the United States and located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they hoped to
make a permanent home for themselves and family. That dread disease, chol-
era, was then raging in that vicinity, and they soon fell victims to the malady,
both dying within a week after arriving in that city. They left three children,
as follows : Margaret, widow of Nicholas Miller, of Mankato, [Minnesota ; Annie,
deceased ; and Nichlas, the subject of this sketch.
While living in his native country Nichlas Heintz acquired a public school
education, and while assisting his father on the home farm obtained a good
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 977
kaowledge of agi'iculture. Left an orphan in a strange country when still a
youth, he began working at the shoemaker's trade in Milwaukee, receiving his
board in compensation for his labor. At the end of ten months he went to
St. Paul, Minnesota, where he continued at his trade for a year, getting not
only his board but $1 a week for his work ; his wages being subsequently some-
what increased, he remained there five years. In 1859 Mr. Heintz came on
board a steamer to Quincy, Illinois, in search of a favorable location, having
$17, only, to his name. Entering the employ of Mr. Kettler, he continued
at his trade two years, and was afterwards a clerk in the shoe store of C. Brown,
Jr., & Company for six years, and proved himself so efficient in that ca-
pacity that he was then given an interest in the business, the lirm being very
desirous of retaining his services, and he remained with the house for eleven
years more. In 1878, the partnership being dissolved, Mr. Heintz opened his
present establishment on Maine Street, being head of the fii-m of Heintz &
Markley. A year and a half later Mr. Heintz bought Mr. ]\Iarkley out and
admitted to partnership Mr. Bowen, who remained a member of the firm for
414 years, when the partnership was dissolved, and his four sons were made
members of the well kno^v^^ firm of Heintz & Sons. A man of sterling integ-
rity and good business ability, Mr. Heintz has accumulated a fine property in
the city, and has been active and prominent in public affairs.
Fifty-four years ago, in 1863, Mr. Heintz married Wilhelmina Einhaus,
and in 1913 this worthy couple celebrated the golden anniversary of their wed-
ding, receiving the congratulations of hosts of friends. Of the ten children
bom of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Heintz, one has passed to the life beyond and
nine are living. Mr. Heintz is independent in politics and takes a great interest
in all matters pertaining to the public welfare. Fraternally he is a member
of the Knights of Columbus. Religiously he and his wnfe are faithful members
of Saint Boniface Church.
Milton K. Weems. Among the industries that make Quincy important in
the commercial and industrial world there are several that are oAraed and con-
ducted by Milton K. and Frank H. Weems, these being the Pure Ice Company
and the Weems Laundry Company, Milton K. Weems being president of the
latter and treasurer of the former.
Milton K. Weems was born near Augusta, Hancock County, Illinois, Decem-
ber 1, 1859. His parents were Jesse E. and Louisa (Kimball) Weems, and his
grandparents were Je&se E. and Nancy (Richards) Weems, while his great-
grandfather was the biographer and historian. Rev. Mason Lock Weems, who
is credited with relating for the first time the story of George Washington and
the cherry tree. This is probably correct, as Dr. Weems was pastor of the
church at Mount Vernon and was a personal friend of General Washington.
The father of Milton K. Weems is a highly respected resident of Quincy and
in former years was identified as a civil engineer with railroad construction in
several states. The mother of Mr. Weems survived only into middle age. There
were four children in the family, namely : William Lock, who died in 1881 ;
Milton K. ; Frank H. ; and Mary, who died at the age of nineteen.
In June, 1870, the Weems family came from Clayton to Quincy, where Mil-
ton K. was an ambitious, industrious youth and while attending school, he pi'O-
vided partially for his owni support by carrying newspapers, which has been
the foundation of many a fortune. He proved steady and reliable and found
no difficulty in securing a position in the banking house of L. & C. H. Bull, and
entered upon his duties there in September, 1877. He was still ambitious, how-
ever, and kept seeking an opportunity to go into business for himself and two
years later recognized it in a chance to start a first class laundry. Associated
with his brother, Frank H. Weems, he secured a small building on Jersey
Street and they launched their entei-prise on July 4, 1879. Prosperity attended
the careful management of the infant industry and within less than a decade
the firm found it necessary to greatly expand. They purchased their present site
978 QUINCY AND ADAilS COUNTY
on Fifth and Jersey streets and erected a commodious building and put in
equipments that make it one of the finest in this section.
In 1894 the Pure lee Company was organized and this too has become an
exceedingly important enterprise, with trade connections all over the country,
with immense warehouses and refrigerating plant and with adequate railroad
facilities.
For some years Milton K. Weems was intei'ested also in Colorado land but
subsequently closed out his holdings there and returned to Quincy. Although
eontinuouslj^ connected with the enterprises above mentioned, for some ten
years Mr. Weems was not active but has again entered the business field and
his influence continues as formerly.
Mr. Weems was married September 16, 1885, to iliss ^Mattie Matthews, who
died February 27, 1896. They had one sou, Jesse E., who lived but six months.
Mr. Weems was married August 3, 1901, to Miss Florence Moore, and they have
three children, namely: Elizabeth I\I., Nancy 0., and ;\Iary Virginia Patricia.
Mr. Weems has never been very prominent in politics but nevertheless has been
an earnest citizen and when matters of principle must be decided definitely,
either in public afi'airs or in business, he is firm and unyielding in support
of right. He belongs to the Christian Science Church.
Henry Harmon Beck. At a time when the world is laying extraordinary
and unprecedented demands upon the agricultural producers, it is a good augury
and promise of results when it is known that some of the agricultural enterprise
of Adams County is in the hands of such capable people as Mr. and Mrs. Henry
Harmon Beck of Rivei*side Township. Their industry has enabled them to
accumulate a large amount of land in this locality, and how expertly they have
managed it from the point of view of production needs no comment to their
many friends and neighbors, who have always looked upon Mr. and Mi's. Beck
as among the most substantial residents of their locality.
Mr. Beck is a native son of Adams Count}', and both he and his wife represent
old German stock long identified with this part of Illinois. He was born Feb-
ruary 26, 1860, third among the two sons and two daughters of August and
Anna (Walbrink) Beck. He is now the only survivor of the family. His father
was a native of Germany, born in 1827, and died in 1886. When a boy he
came to America, and spent the rest of his life in Adams Couut.y. Quincy
was only a village when he was growing to manhood. He frequently told his
children that he might have purchased for a pair of boots the block of land
where the Hotel Newcomb now stands. However, he made his ultimate choice
of land in Ellington Township, where he bought 112 acres, going in debt heav-
ily. In early j-ears he was a wage earner, working by the month, and his expe-
rience and industr_y enabled him to accumulate a good property, including sixty
acres in Riverside Township. He was a republican voter and he and his wife
were active members of the Salem Evangelical Church at Quincy. He aided
in the erection of this house of worship and he and his wife were members the
rest of their lives. He was a man of honor and integrity, and held in high
esteem. His wife was also a native of Germany and came to America when a
yovuig woman. Both she and her husband made this voyage in an old fashioned
sailing vessel. It required about twelve weeks to cross the ocean at that time,
whereas now the voyage can be accomplished in five daj's. One of the monu-
ments in the Green Mount Cemetery mark the last resting place of Augrust and
Anna Beck.
Henry H. Beek grew to manhood on his father's farm and was educated in
the common schools. He also has a reading knowledge of the German language.
His life has been along the lines of agricultural effort and in his business he
finds a most capable coadjutor in his good wife.
January 25, 1899, Mr. Beck married Miss Christina Wattman. They are
justified in the pride they take in their two sturdy younsc sous, named William
Henrj' Roy and John H. The former was educated in the common schools and
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 979
has a life scholarship in the Gem City Business College. He is now actively
'associated with his father ou the farm. He is a republican aud a member of
the EUiugton Presbyterian Church. The younger son has also completed the
work of the common schools and is preparing to take a business college course.
Mx"s. Beck was born in Adams County November 23, 1868. She was next
to the youngest of ten children, four sons and six daughters, born to John Henry
and Anna Louise (Sowerhidie) Wattmau. Four of these children are still liv-
ing, all in Adams County. Mrs. Beck's parents came from the same part of
Germany as Mr. Beck's parents. Her father and mother are now deceased and
lie in Green Mount Cemetery, where a monument stands sacred to their memory.
Jli-s. Beck was educated in the common schools. She is a most capable woman
in every respect, has excellent business judgment and a large fund of common
sense, and has devoted her years since mari'iage to the making of a home and
the rearing of her sons.
When Mr. and Mrs. Beck were married they possessed little cash capital,
and their present prosperitj' is the result of thrift aud honest industry kept
up through a long period of years. Their present farm in Riverside Township,
comprising sixty acres, was bought in 1916. In 1913 they had acquired eighty
acres east of their present home and they have another eighty-four acres in
Ellington Township. Their sons have become interested in the raising of
Shropshire sheep.
In politics Mr. Beck cast his first vote for James A. Garfield and has been
steadily identified with the republican party ever since. He and his wife are
very active members of the Salem Lutheran Church at Quincy.
William H. Pape. Adams County is a many sided industrial community,
and its long continued prosperity is doubtless due to this very fact that the
people have not depended primarily upon one pre-eminent line of manufactur-
ing but upon a varied assortment of substantial mills and factories that in the
aggregate have known few periods of depression and have furnished oppor-
tunity for all the working energies at hand. Keeping pace steadily with the
growth and development of other modern factories has been the milling of
grain products. Quincy is today one of the important centers of grain milling
in the Mississippi Valley and one of the best knov\ai and oldest of these mills
is the Acme Roller Mills, of which the firm of Pape & Loos are proprietors.
Probably no one family name has been longer associated with milling in
Adams County than that of Pape. The pioneer representative of the name in
the local milling industry was the late Frederick Pape, who was born in Han-
over, Germany, August 24, 1820. He came of good family stock and was reared
and educated in his native eountrj'. At the age of sixteen he began an appren-
ticeship to the miller's trade, and in 1847 he immigrated to America, crossing
the ocean in a sailing vessel seven weeks over from Bremen to New York.
As a miller he followed his trade up and down the Mississippi River at Quincy,
Keokuk, Dubuque and other places. After about two years he located at Paysou
in Adams County, and bought what was known as the Payson windmill. It was
a grist mill, operated with an old fashioned wind power. He paid .^500 for this
rather crude in.stitution, and conducted it until about 1864, when he sold it
and its improvements for $3,000. In June, 1864, he bought the Melrose Mills
in section 28, Melrose Township, remodeled the property, and continued its
operation until his death on October 3, 189.5. The Melrose Mills under his
management became noted for the high quality of their flour products. Fred-
erick Pape was a man of distinction n the county, Iiore the reputation of being
an honest miller and an honest man, was highly skilled in his special trade,
was a democrat in politics and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
In 1851 he married at Payson Miss ]\largaret Acton, who was born in Scotland
in April, 1826, and died "at Payson, Illinois, July 14, 1862. She came to the
United States when a ;>'oung woman. She was the mother of five children, Herman
980 QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
dying at the age of four years and Fred, Jr., as an infant. The daughter Jane
married a Mr. Pohl, a native of Adams County of German parentage, and
after their marriage they moved to Kansas, where she died and where her
husband still lives. She was the mother of eight children. Emma died in
Melrose Township at the birth of the last of her four sons and four daughters.
William H. Pape is the oldest of the living children. On June 5, 1878, the late
Frederick Pape mari-ied for his second wife 3Irs. Jennet Paliiier, widow of
John Palmer. She was bom in Scotland IMaj- 1, 1828.
Mr. William H. Pape was born at Payson in Adams County, August 15,
1857. He was about seven years old when his father moved to Melrose Town-
sliip and bought the Melrose jMills. After getting his education in the local
schools he learned the trade of miller under his father and became his father's
active assistant. They were partnei-s luitil the death of Frederick Pape in 1895
and Mr. Pape then continued the operation of the old mill until April, 1897,
when he moved to Quincy and took over the Acme Mills. At that time Charles
Loos was admitted to partnership as junior member of the firm of Pape &
Loos. The Acme IMills have been in operation at Quincy since 1897, and in
the past twenty yeare the business has grown luitil it is no longer a merely
local enterprise. They manufacture a large and varied line of cereal products,
handle grain, and their package and bulk products are flours and meals made
of wheat, rye, buckwheat, entire wheat, graham flour, cornmeal, etc. Mr. Pape
also does a large business as a dealer in Kansas and northern hard wheat flour,
hay, straw, corn, oats, clover seed and stoneware. The Acme Mills have a
capacity of 100 barrels per daj^ and they have all the special machinerj^ re-
quired for grinding their specialty products.
For a number of j-ears the power has been electrieit.y. The firm employs
from twenty to twenty-five men, and under war conditions it is probable that
the business will increase in importance rather than diminish. JMr. Loos has
charge of the sales and collections, while Mr. Pape is the practical and expert
miller and administrator of the general management and the manufacturing end.
December 4, 1881, Mr. Pape married IMiss Emma Eeeder, who was born in
Melrose Township, daughter of Addison and Lusetta (Frasier) Reeder. The
Reeders are a prominent old family of Adams County, having come here about
eighty years ago. Her parents married in Ursa Township, and subsequently
had a farm in Melrose Township. In 1881 they went west to Kansas, and spent
their last years in Missouri. Mrs. Rape's mother died at the age of eighty-two.
The Reeders were Methodists, while the Rapes were Lutherans in religion.
Mr. and Mrs. Pape are the parents of four children. Jessie, born in Melrose
Township and educated in the rural schools and the public schools of Quincy,
including a business college education, is now the wife of ]Mr Christian Mast
of Melrose Township. They live in Quincy and have two sons, Frederick and
Harry, the former now in school. Laura A., the second child, also a native
of Melrose Township, completed her education at Quincy and was a teacher
in Melrose until her marriage to Moses Crocker, a native of Adams County
and a business man of Quincy. Mr. and ^Irs. Crocker have one daughter, Doro-
thy L., attending school. Archie L., born in 1890, was reared and educated in
Quincy and acquired a thorough knowledge of the trade of millwright. In
July, 1917, he enlisted in the American Expeditionary Forces, landing in
France in December of the same year, and is now a sergeant in the Aviation
(Corps. Frederick Addison, the youngest child, was bom March 9, 1895, is a
graduate of the Gem City Business College and for several years has been
assistant bookkeeper in his father's mill. The head bookkeeper of this estab-
lishment is Mr. George Kelker, who married a niece of Mr. Pape. Mr. Kelker
has been for twenty years in charge of the compam-'s books. Politically Mr.
Pape is a democrat, and though not an office seeker has served as a member of
the local Food Commission. He and his family are members of the Methodist
Church.
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 981
C. Arthur Fifer is probably as widely known as any other Quincy citizen.
At home his chief business is as secretary of the Quincy Show Case Company,
of which his brother William A. Fifer is vice president, and an industry- of great
importance and long standing founded bj- their father over fortj' years ago.
Other particulars concerning the business will be found on other pages of this
publication.
C. Arthur Fifer is also president of the C. Arthur Fifer Music Publishing
House of Quincy and New York City. Mr. Fifer organized this music company
in 1916. It has been chiefly the medium for publication of some of his own
popular songs. Mr. Fifer is known as author of "Now I Lay Me Down to
Sleep," "We're Going Over," "Wait for Your Honey Boy," and other songs,
the words and music of which have stirred the pulses of millions within the
last two or three years.
Mr. Fifer was bom at Quincy September 20, 1884. He was educated in
the local grammar schools, the high school, and attended Dartmouth College.
He is a member of the Beta Theta Pi College Fraternity. After school he
worked in Boston and Chicago with the Western Electric Company for about
two years. Then returning to Quincy he took his father's place in the office
of the Show Case Company, and has been steadily with that business now for
the past eleven years.
Mr. Fifer married :March 30, 1912, ]\Irs. Susan (Warfield) Tibbets, widow
of C. J. Tibbets. She has one son, Capt. Paul W. Tibbets, who is with the
Thirty-Third Division in France. Mr. Fifer is a thirty-second degree Scottish
Rite Mason. He is a member of the Quincy Country Club, the Rotary Club.
August R. Dick. An eminently capable and prosperous business man of
Quincy, August R. Dick, president of the enterprising firm of Dick Brothers,
is actively identified with the manufacturing interests of Adams County, the
company of which he is at the head having one of the most extensive and finest
equipped brewing plants in the county. A native of Quinc}', he was bom Octo-
ber 14, 1873, of German ancestry.
Jacob Dick, his father, immigrated when young from Germany to the United
States. Locating in Saint Clair County, Illinois, he lived for a time in Belle-
ville, from there coming to Quincj'. With two of his brothel's, John Dick and
Mathew Dick, he embarked in the brewing and milling industry-, establishing
the original firm of Dick Brothers, of which he was a member until his death
in 1876. His wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Redmond, was })orn in
Quincy, where she is still a resident. She bore him six children, namely : Amia,
wife of J. B. Ellis, of Qiiincy; Catherine, deceased; August R., the subject of
this sketch ; and Thomas, Julia and Jacob, all of whom died in infancy.
August R. Dick was educated in Saint Francis' College, and subsequently
learned the brewing and milling trade under his uncle's wise supervision. In
1902 he became secretary in the old firm of Dick Brothers, and subsequently,
after the death of the two remaining members of the firm, the present firm of
Dick Brothers was established, its members consisting of one son of each of the
former members of the organization. The new firm sold the milling plant and
has since confined its activities to the brewing business, which it carries on suc-
cessfully, its large plant covering one whole block and being amply furnished
with buildings for all departments, including a brewery, ice house, bottling
house and warehouse. As president of the companj', Mr. Dick is devoting
his time and energies to the development and advancement of its interests, and
is widely recognized as a practical and successful business man.
George William Menke. In the building material line few firms at Quincy
have made more substantial progress than the F. W. Menke Stone & Lime Com-
pany, of which George William Menke is president. It was founded many years
ago by his father and on such a sound basis that it has continued to expand
982 QUINCY AND ADAilS COUNTY
until its plant covers a \\ide area at Quincy and has the liest of transportation
facilities. George William Menke became president of the concern on the death
of his father, having previously been secretary, and has been identified with the
business all his active life.
George William Menke was born at Quincy, November 6, 1858. His parents
were Frederick W. and Louisa (Wulfme.yer) llenke, both of whom were born
in Germany, the father on August 12, 1832, and twenty years later he came
to the United States and by way of New Orleans and the Mississippi River
reached his objective point, Quincy, Illinois. This city remained his chosen
home during the rest of a busy and useful life. He became a leading factor in
the stone industry and for many years was the contractor entrusted with the
construction of numerous ]iublic buildings as well as private residences not
only at Quincy but in neighboring cities. He became a man of importance also
in local politics and in 1899 was urged to become the republican candidate for
mayor. He served in numerous oiSces of trust and responsibility and his ap-
pointment as one of the commissioners of the insane asylum at Peoria, in 1897,
was very generally commended because of his high personal character. In
1855 he was married to Louisa Wulfmeyer, who died at Quincy June 28, 1916,
and the following children were born to them : Amelia, who is the widow of
Frank Hagenbruch, of Los Angeles, California ; George W., Edward H. and
John H., all of Quincj-; Annie, who is the wife of Edward Ruff, of Quincy;
Frederick C. ; and Benjamin, who died in infancy.
George William Menke attended the public schools and then took a com-
mercial course in the Gem City Business College, following which he began to
assist his father and has continued in the stone and lime business ever since.
Inheriting business tendencies, he has developed his talents and is now num-
bered with the sound, reliable, judicious men of business here.
Mr. Menke was married in November, 1884, to Miss Sophia H. Brehm, who
was born at War.saw, Illinois. They have three children, two sons and one
daughter, namely: Edgar; Helen, who is the wife of William Rupp, Jr.; and
Ralph B., all of whom were educated here and still reside at Quinc.y. The
family attends the Congregational Church. Politically Mr. Menke is a repub-
lican and fraternally is a Mason. He has never accepted any public office but
every moment that promises to be beneficial to the city may be sure of his
interest and, if his judgment approves, of his hearty support.
Joseph J. Michael. The prominent, progressive and useful citizens of
Quincy have no more worthy representative than Joseph J. Michael, who,
though now practicall.y retired from active pursuits, is officially and financially
connected with many of the leading business organizations of city, and
is ever a generous contributor to projects tending toward the betterment of
the community. A native of Quincy, his birth occurred ^lareh 25, 1856.
Herman H. Michael, Mr. Michael's father, was born in Hanover, Germany,
and as a child was brought by liis parents to America. Brought up in Cin-
cinnati, Oliio, he served an apprenticeship at the cooper's trade, wliich he after-
wards followed for a time in Chicago. Coming from there to Quincy about
1852, he continued as a cooper until the introduction of machinery for making
barrels, when he retired from business. He continued his residence in Quincy,
however, until his death, November 8, 1909. He married Bernardine Klathe,
who was born in Oldenburg, Germany, and died. May 14, 1917, in Quincy.
Nine children blessed their marriage, as follows : Joseph J. ; Anna, wife of
Fred Ruten. of Quincy; John B., whose death occurred October 18, 1915; Eliza-
l>etli, living in Quincy: Rev. William Michael, pastor of a church at Carlin-
ville, Illinois; Henry H., of Quincy; Mrs. Kathcrine Brinks, of Quincy; and
Frank and Edward, who died in infancy.
Wishing to partly pay his way through college, Joseph J. Micliael worked
when he had leisure, being employed during the summer of 1868 in his father's
cooper shop. During the summer of 1869 he worked for Flachs & Reiman in
LIBRARY
jr THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY 983
their soap factory on Cherry Lane, and during 1870 was employed as gardener
in Henry Bull's greenhouse. Taking u 
