USA > Illinois > A history of southern Illinois; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests > Part 53
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94
The boyhood days of George W. Lackey were spent on the farm of his father in Russell township, where he lived a happy, wholesome exist- ence, going to school in the old log school house and helping on the farm when he was not in school. He attended this country school until he was eighteen, and then he went to the Danville Normal School, at Danville, Illinois. He remained there for two years, and then the money gave out, and he was forced to stop. He turned to teaching as a means of earning the necessary funds, and then returned to school. He attended the Dan- ville ( Ind.) school, and took courses in the academic, law and commercial departments. He finally graduated from the classical course in 1890 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in addition taking the degree of Bachelor of Science. Before he was graduated he had had much experi- ence as a teacher, and had held executive positions, being principal of the schools in Lawrenceville for a year.
In 1890 he was elected county superintendent of schools of Lawrence county, and served in this position for four years. Mr. Lackey's po- sition in educational matters was that of a progressive. He established the state course of study in schools. He raised the standard, both of the teaching and in the eonrses offered, at the same time advancing the salaries of the teachers. An innovation for which he was laughed at at the first was the introduction of music into the schools, but how popular it has become. For one year he was occupied as United States postal service inspector. During all this time, busy as he was, he was diligently studying law, and in January, 1897, he was admitted to the bar.
He began the practice of his profession in Lawrenceville, and in 1900 recognition of his ability came to him in his election as state's at- torney. Since the end of his four years' term in this office he has been conducting a general law practice in Lawrenceville and is one of the most popular lawyers in this section of the country. During his term as state's attorney he set before himself the task of ridding the county of the "blind tigers" with which the district was infested. He was suc- cessful in this by no means easy job, and this triumph will redound to his glory For years to come. On the 12th of February. 1912, Mr. Lackey was appointed master in chancery.
In the business world Mr. Lackey is well known for his good com- mon sense and the facility with which he is able to grasp the salient points of a question. He is director and vice-president of the Farmer's State Bank. He is director of the Lawrence County Lumber Company, and is a stockholder of the Shaw Oil Company. He for many years argued and pleaded for establishment of a township school, and after a long time he saw his wish realized. He is now president of the town- ship high school board. He is a strong supporter of higher education, and urges a college course on every one who ean possibly take one. In reply to the famous speech of the late Mr. Crane against colleges, Mr.
Nicholas Sauer
1439
HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
Lackey says, "You can't put a thousand dollar education on a ten cent boy and make a man of him."
Mr. Lackey is a Democrat in his political beliefs, and has been active in behalf of the party. He has served on the county committee, and has been a delegate to the judicial, congressional and state conven- tions. He is a member of the Christian church, as are likewise his wife and his two eldest children. For fifteen years Mr. Lackey has been superintendent of the Sunday-school. His chief pleasure is in being with children, and keeping in touch with their ever growing minds. In all educational circles his influence is felt, and it is always one of in- spiration. He is a firm believer in the principles of brotherhood as ex- emplified in the fraternal orders, and is a member of the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of Ameriea.
Mr. Lackey was married on the 1st of April, 1891, to Theresa White- naek, a daughter of Abraham and Caroline Whitenack, of Hendrieks connty, Indiana. They have four children: Rush, Kate, Alice and George A.
NICHOLAS SAUER. Of the late Nicholas Sauer, who died at his home in Evansville, Illinois, on the 21st of October, 1908, it may well be said that he coveted success but scorned to gain it except through industry and honest means. He acquired wealth without fraud or recourse to equivocal ageneies, and the results of his life are full of inspiration and incentive. Mr. Sauer was a native son of Southern Illinois and a scion of one of its most honored pioneer families. Here he passed his entire life and here he attained to distinctive prominence and influence as a citizen of progressive ideas and marked publie spirit. He was the prime factor in the development and upbuilding of one of the most important industrial enterprises of the county; he was one of the founders and president of the Bank of Evansville; his was the positive and dynamic force which secured to Evansville its railroad facilities; it was through his untiring efforts that the river at Evansville was bridged and his life was guided and governed by those exalted principles of integrity and honor that ever beget objective confidence and esteem. He did much to foster the eivie and material advancement of his home town and county, and no shadow rests on any portion of his career, now that he has been called from the scenes and labors of this mortal life. His success, and it was pronounced, was principally gained through his connection with the milling industry, and the extensive business enterprise which he thus developed is still continned by his sons. He was a man of broad mental ken, marked circumspection and mature judgment. He placed true valuations on men and affairs; and his character was the positive ex- pression of a strong, resolute and noble nature. His death left a void in the business and civic activities of his native county and in its history his name merits a place of enduring honor. From the foregoing state- ments it may well be seen that there is all of consistency in according in this volume a tribute to the memory of this honored and valned citizen.
Nicholas Sauer was born on the old homestead farm of his father, near Redbud, Monroe county, Illinois, on the 21st of March, 1841, and was a son of Philip Sauer, who was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany. Philip Sauer was reared and educated in his native land and as a young man he immigrated to America, which he looked upon as a land of better op- portunities for the gaining of independence and prosperity through in- dividual effort. He landed in the city of New Orleans and thence made the voyage up the Mississippi river to St. Louis. Ile finally secured a traet of land in Monroe county, Illinois, the same being located near the
1440
HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
present city of Redbud, and he reclaimed the same into a productive farm, to the work and management of which he continued to give his attention until after the elose of the Civil war. He then joined his eldest son, Nicholas, subject of this memoir, in the purchase of the mill property in Evansville, but after a brief active association with the enterprise he retired from aetive business. He passed the residue of his earnest and worthy life on his farm, where he died in 1891, at the age of eighty-six years. His devoted wife was summoned to the life eternal in 1878, at the age of fifty-six years, both having been consistent members of the Evangelical church. Of their children Nicholas was the first born; Wil- liam is one of the proprietors of the Evansville flouring mills, in the oper- ation of which he was long associated with his elder brother; Philip is a resident of Redbud, this county ; Mary became the wife of John Ritter and her death ocenrred at Redbud; Catherine is the wife of August Steh- fest, of Hecker, Monroe county; Elizabeth is the wife of George Homrig- hausen, and they reside in Redbud; and Sophia is the wife of Frank Homrighausen of Redbud.
Nicholas Sauer was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm which was the place of his nativity, and after availing himself of the advantages of the common schools of the locality and period he pursued higher academie studies in a well ordered institution in the city of St. Louis. As a young man he put his scholastic attainments to practical test by teach- ing two terms of country school, but pedagogy made no special appeal to him and he soon found a more productive field of endeavor. He en- gaged in the general merchandise business at Mascoutah, St. Clair county, in 1865, but in the following year he diseerned a better opportunity in connection with the milling business at Evansville. Here, prior to the Civil war, John Wehrheim had erected and placed in operation a flour mill, equipped with the old-time stone buhrs, which were still utilized at the time when Nicholas Sauer beeame associated with his father in the purchase of the property, in 1866. The new firm inaugurated operations under the title of N. & P. Sauer, which was retained until 1868, when William Sauer succeeded his father and the firm name of N. & W. Saner was adopted. It was incorporated as The Sauer Milling Com- pany in 1899, with a capital of $60,000. As has already been noted, the younger of the two brothers, William, is still interested in this old established and important industrial enterprise.
When the mill came into the possession of N. & P. Sauer its daily out- put did not exceed one hundred barrels, and it was conducted purely as a merchant mill. Under the new ownership the plant was forthwith enlarged and otherwise improved, and the same progressive policy has been continued during the long intervening years, with the result that the equipment and facilities of the plant have been kept up to the best standard. This was among the first mills in the state to adopt the new roller-process and to install the best modern machinery of this order. The Sauer Company was also one of the first in the state to utilize the improved Corliss engine, one of these engines having been installed within a short time after they were put on the market.
In 1904 the fine plant of the company was destroyed by fire, which started in the cooper shop and compassed the complete obliteration of the principal industrial plant of Evansville. Undaunted by this mis- fortune, the owners of the property promptly began the erection of the present fine plant, the building being substantially constructed of briek and being four stories in height. The most approved modern mechanical equipment was installed, with all improved accessories, inehiding an in- dividual electric-lighting plant and steel bins for the reception and stor- age of grain. These bins have a capacity of one hundred and fifty thou-
1441
HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
sand bushels, and the output of the mill now averages seven hundred barrels of flour a day, the superior quality of the products constituting the basis on which has been built the large and prosperous Isiness of the concern, the high reputation of which is its best commercial asset. In connection with the various departments of the enterprise employ- ment is given to a corps of thirty-five men.
The excellent success attending the operation of the Evansville mill inspired Nicholas Sauer and his sons to expand their sphere of operations in this line of industry. At Cherryvale, Montgomery county, Kansas, a point accessible to the hard-wheat district of that extensive wheat belt, Nicholas Sauer purchased and remodeled a milling plant, and the same has sinee been operated under the original title of The N. Sauer Milling Company. the while the success of the enterprise has been on a parity with that at Evansville. Nicholas Sauer continued as the executive head of the company until his death. Realizing the imperative demand for banking facilities at Evansvile. he effected, in 1894, the organization of the Bank of Evansville, and under his supervision the same was conducted along conservative lines, with the result that it soon became known as one of the substantial financial institutions of this section of the state. This bank. of which he continued president until his demise, is a private institution, with a capital of twelve thousand dollars and with individual financial reinforcement behind it to the amount of nearly four hundred thousand dollars.
Mr. Sauer was distinctively a man of initiative and constructive abil- ity .- a man of action. What he believed should be accomplished, in- dividually or in a generie way, he promptly began to work for. The in- dustrial and commercial advancement of Evansville was handicaped by the lack of transportation facilities. A railroad was an imperative need and none had greater cause to realize this than Mr. Sauer. Vigorously and with marked discrimination he planned and labored to bring about the desired improvement. From the time he conceived the idea until the realization of the same was effected in a practical way there was a lapse of about fifteen years,-years marked by insistent agitation and determined promotive work on his part. He was a member of the com- mittee representing Evansville in the raising of the necessary cash bonus and the securing of the right of way for the present Illinois Southern Railroad, and in addition to his earnest labors he contributed liberally to the fund required to gain the desired end.
All that touched the material and social welfare of his native county was a matter of definite interest to Mr. Sauer, and, in an unostentatious way, he was ever ready to lend his influence and co-operation in support of measures and enterprises projected for the general good of the com- munity. A man of broad views and well fortified opinions, he was a staunch supporter of the cause of popular education and served for twenty-one years as a valued member of the Evansville board of educa- tion. Others fully realized his eligibility for publie office, but he had naught of ambition along this course, as was shown by his positive derlin- ation to become his party's candidate for nomination as representative of his district in the state senate. Ile was unswerving in his alleganer to the Republican party and. from personal experience, knew the value and expedieney of the protective tariff policy of the party.
In the social phase of his life Mr. Sauer was an interesting man, with democratie and genial personality. His mind was matured by well di- rected reading and by the lessons gained in the school of experience. so that he was able to draw upon a large fund of information. the while his conversational powers were liberally developed. His interests. aside from business, centered in his home, the relations of which were of ideal
1442
IHISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
order, and to those nearest and dearest to him his passing away was the greatest possible loss and bereavement, besides which the entire com- munity manifested the same attitude, appreciative of his sterling char- acter and of his usefulness as a citizen. With strong religious convic- tion and an abiding faith, Mr. Sauer was a devout member of the German Evangelical church, as are also his wife and children, and he was liberal in the support of the various departments of church work. He was also a Mason and a firm believer in its teachings and precepts.
The fine family residence erected by Mr. Sauer is a substantial briek structure standing on an eminence above the mill, and the grounds have been beautified with shade trees, shrubbery and beautiful lawns, the entire appearance of the place signifying peace and prosperity. This home has long been known for its graeions and unostentatious hospitality and has found a most pleasing chatelaine in the person of Mrs. Sauer, a devoted wife and helpmeet.
On the 22d of July, 1866, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Saner to Miss Elizabeth Gerlach, who was born in Virginia and reared in Monroe county, Illinois, and whose parents, early settlers of this state, were natives of Hesse-Cassel, Germany. In conclusion of this memoir is entered record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Sauer, but it should be stated prior to giving such data that the death of Mr. Sauer was the result of an accident. He fell through a trap door that had been left open at night on a porch of his home, and in falling to the cellar beneath he received internal injuries which resulted in his death three days later, on the 21st of October, 1908, as has previously been noted in this context.
John, the eldest of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Sauer, was educated in Europe as a mining engineer, and for six years after his return to America he followed the work of his profession in Colorado. He is now manager of the milling business of the N. Sauer Milling Company at Cherryvale, Kansas. He married Miss Leonora Wolff, of New Haven, Missouri. Miss Magdalena E. Sauer remains with her widowed mother in the beautiful home in Evansville. Philip E. the next in order of birth, is more definitely mentioned in the appending paragraph. Dr. William E. was graduated in the St. Louis Medical College, after which he com- pleted post graduate courses in leading universities in Berlin and Vienna, and he is now engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of St. Louis, as a specialist in the diseases of the ear, nose and throat, besides whiel he is a leeturer in the medical department of Washington Univer- sity, in that city. He wedded Miss Irene Borders of Sparta, Illinois, and they have one son, William Nicholas. George N., the youngest of the children, is one of the active factors in the Saner Milling Company, and concerning him more specifie mention is made in the closing paragraph of this memoir.
Philip E. Saner was born at Evansville, on the 11th of January, 1873, and after duly availing himself of the advantages of the public schools of his native town he prosecuted higher academic studies in the Southern Illinois Normal University and in Shurtleff College. He gained his early business experience in connection with the milling business con- ducted by his father and uncle and has been actively identified with this enterprise during the intervening years. After the death of his father he became president of the company, which has brought to him much of the responsibility of administering the practical and executive affairs of the business. 1Ie is also vice-president of the Bank of Evansville and is a man of great public spirit and civic progressiveness. On the 18th of September, 1907, he married Miss Alice Harmon, of Chester, Illinois, and they have a winsome little daughter, Elizabeth.
1443
HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
George N. Sauer, who is secretary and treasurer of the Sauer Milling Company, was born in Evansville, on the 10th of February, 1879, and as a citizen and business man he is well upholding the prestige of the honored name which he bears. He completed his educational discipline in Shurt- leff College and after the death of his father he was elected president of the Bank of Evansville, in which position he has since given effective ad- ministration of the business of this institution as chief executive. He is a bachelor. Both he and his brother Philip E. are unwavering in their allegiance to the cause of the Republican party and both are affiliated with Kaskaskia Lodge, No. 86, Free & Accepted Masons, the headquarters of which were changed from Ellis Grove to Evansville. At the time of its organization, as the first Masonie lodge in Illinois, this body was located at Kaskaskia, which was then the capital of the territory.
HON. HENRY M. KASSERMAN. Perhaps at no time in the history of the United States have both people and communities been so awake as at the present to the necessity of progress and reform, and this sentiment has grown so universally that it is reflected in the choice made of all publie officials. Thus it has fortunately come to pass that the choice of the publie for men to fill high offiee, in the majority of eases, re- sults in the eleetion of individuals who have personal standing, un- blemished character and also the ability not only to initiate reforms where needed, but also the courage to push them forward to acceptanee. Such a man in every particular is Hon. Henry M. Kasserman, county judge of Jasper county, Illinois, a prominent member of the bar at New- ton and for two years mayor of that eity.
Henry M. Kasserman was born January 4, 1864, in Monroe county, Ohio, and is a son of Stephen and Annie (Tomi) Kasserman. Stephen Kasserman was born in Switzerland, August 16, 1829, and was a son of Stephen Kasserman, who brought his family to America and died in Ohio in 1891, at the age of ninety-two years. Stephen Kasserman, the seeond, grew to manhood in southeastern Ohio and followed farming and also steamboating on the Ohio river. In 1864 he moved to Ricliland county, Illinois, where he followed farming for a time but later became a general contractor at Olney, Illinois. He was married in Ohio to Annie Tomi, who died in 1895, having survived her husband for two years. They were the parents of nine children.
Prior to his fifteen birthday Henry M. Kasserman attended the public schools at Olney and then aecompanied his parents to Jasper county, where the family resided for several years and then he returned to Olney, where he attended the high school, after which he taught school in Jasper and St. Clair counties. Having made choice of the law. he entered MeKendree College, at Lebanon, where he was graduated with his degree of LL. B. in 1891, and in the same year he was admitted to the bar. In 1892 he opened his law office at Mt. Vernon and entered upon praetiee. In February, 1893, owing to delieate health in a member of his family, Mr. Kasserman made a change of residence, at that time coming to Newton. With the exception of a period of eighteen months spent in the South he has been a continuous resident of Newton ever sinee and has been a useful and representative citizen, active in business and professional life and prominently identified with Democratie polities.
In January, 1894. Judge Kasserman was appointed county judge by the late Governor Altgeld ,and later was elected to the bench for the full term of four years. At the elose of this period he partially retired from politics and for some time gave his entire attention to his law practice and to his large real estate interests, since 1901, when for one year he
1444
HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
was a member of the Fithian Land Company, having handled extensive tracts of land in different counties in Southern Illinois. In the spring of 1905, however, Judge Kasserman was recalled to public life and he was elected mayor of Newton, with a handsome majority. It required courage to face the problems of municipal governing at that time. The city was practically in a bankrupt condition, it had no publie utilities and but indifferent sidewalks. A dilapidated and totally inadequate sys- tem of water works had once been installed and to the improvement of this utility the new mayor first devoted his efforts, and during his two years of inenmbeney succeeded in satisfactorily extending the water mains and greatly improving the system. The same might be said of the electric light plant and other needed improvements. Without authorizing undue taxation or unnecessarily burdening the people, he brought about much better conditions and paved the way for still fur- ther improvements. During his first year as mayor he secured the con- struction of three miles of concrete sidewalks. After a satisfactory ad- ministration of this office for two years Mayor Kasserman found the strain on his health too heavy and resigned and afterward spent some months recuperating on his large farm in Arkansas. In 1909 he was elected city attorney of Newton, and in the fall of 1910 was elected county judge, when he resigned his former office. Judge Kasserman seems particularly well qualified for the bench, seldom having had an appeal made from his judgment and possessing the confidence of the public in his integrity. He is a citizen in whom Newton takes justifiable pride.
In 1889 Judge Kasserman was married to Miss Lizzie Doty, of Wil- low Hill, Illinois, and they have six children, namely : Frederick, who is teaching school in Jasper county; Don Henry, who is a member of the class of 1912 of the Newton high school; Lulu B., who is also a high school student; and Rush A., John J. and James S. Judge Kasserman and family attend the Baptist church. He belongs to the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.
MONTREVILLE HEARD. One of the enterprising and energetic busi- ness citizens of Thompsonville, Illinois, Montreville Heard, is the pro- prietor of the leading hardware establishment at this place, where his activities during the twenty years in which he has been engaged in business here have been such as to develop the best resources of the com- munity, and whose integrity and ability have been recognized by his elections to various positions of public trust.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.