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
r
G' c/Ui'-tX-'')'-'^
f 77, 3VV
^■^
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
979074
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
7/^^^
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
^■p
"V^Hj
w
»s
'''^^^^^^l
^^^^H^^
If^^^P^^
^^' ' "ti ■.
■
f^^^fl
1
^^^^^H
i
1
7-
<
^,
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. Nels 
