USA > Illinois > A history of southern Illinois; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests > Part 85
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quite natural for a man to desire success and material prosperity for himself and family, yet there was more than this behind the work of C'ap- tain Murphy. He had a deep love for the land of his birth, and desired nothing so much as the prosperity of the country and her people. For this, therefore, the people of Perry county and of Southern Illinois owe him a debt of gratitude which they can not repay, except by their en- deavors to be as public spirited and to give as freely of themselves as did their benefactor.
William Kinney Murphy was born on the 12th of July. 1535, on "Four Mile Prairie, " on a farm now owned by Porter Baird. His father was the Honorable Richard G. Murphy, who came from White county, Tennessee, in 1821, and settled in Perry county. William K. Murphy was brought up on the farm, but his father was determined that he should have an education, so his school days were spent in the private school conducted by the famous Benjamin G. Roots, who later became renowned through his work as a civil engineer and as chief engineer of the con- struction work of both the Illinois Central and of the Wabash, Chester and Western railroads. When his father considered him old enough to leave school he decided to give him a chance to try his wings in the busi- ness world, and to that end sent him to the cattle markets of Minnesota with a drove of fine cattle. Other drivers were along. but the lad had a good opportunity to learn how to take care of himself, and see how busi- ness of this type was carried on. He later took up the study of law with William MeKee, but the swift pace of events brought about the hom- bardment of Fort Sumter before he was admitted to the bar, and he for- got that such a man as Blackstone ever existed. He was soon engaged in the attempt to raise a regiment. and after he had succeeded a weary wait followed, while he tried to get it accepted by the war department. At last this end was accomplished and his enlistment took place on the 15th of Angust, 1862. He was commissioned captain of Company H. of the One Hundred and Tenth Ilinois Infantry.
Captain Murphy was forced to resign from the army in April of 1863. on account of ill health. He went reluctantly back to his deserted law books and was admitted to the bar. He formed a partnership with the Honorables John and Thomas Boyd, the firm being known as Mur- phy and Boyd Brothers. This association was continued for many years. and Captain Murphy became a noted lawyer and one of the most success. ful in Southern Illinois. He was particularly well known as a criminal lawyer. As a public speaker and effective advocate his fame was wide- spread. This success at the bar laid the foundations of his later success as a financier and business man. The qualities that brought him the confidence of his clients and the esteem of the brother lawyers, brought him later the trust of those who had money to invest, and the regard of his confreres.
It was an easy step from the law to polities, and he entered this field to become the recognized leader of Democracy in Perry county. The first political office that he held was master-in-chancery in his county, Il. was presently elected to the lower house of the general assembly and after the expiration of his term in that body was sent to the state senat He was almost universally a delegate to all of the conventions in which his county participated, showing how unbounded was the confiden in which he was held by the people. In 1922 he was nominated for Con gress and was defeated by only two hundred and sixty one votes in a dis triet that normally polls three thousand Republicans He was a regnlir delegate at the national Democratic conventions, and was one of the mini ber who brought about the third nomination of Grover Cleveland The president partially rewarded him by appointing him collector of internal
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revenue for his district. This post he accepted in 1893 and made his headquarters at Cairo. One year of his service was held under the Me- Kinley administration, five years in all being spent in this capacity. In 1896, when the money question was the leading issue, Captain Murphy became a "sound money" man, and was a delegate to the convention that nominated Palmer for president and Buckner for vice-president upon that platform. He was a warm friend of General Palmer's and the general was only one of the many prominent politicians and business men of the state of Illinois who were proud to elaim Captain Murphy as a friend.
Deciding that the world of business was more interesting than that of the law courts, Captain Murphy resolved to abandon the practice of law. He had previous to this time been a factor in the development of the coal mining interests in this section, along the route of the Illinois Central Railroad. He had organized the Beaucoup Coal Mining Com- pany, and opened up a mine on the old Cairo Short Line Railroad, two miles north of Pinckneyville. He was the president and maager of this plant until the resources of the mine were exhausted, and then, although he continued to acquire and maintain other mining interests, he never went into the industry again as an operator. Instead he decided to take up banking, and he immediately took the initial steps towards the organi- zation of a string of banks aeross Southern Illinois. His maiden venture in this direction was the organization of the private bank of the Murphy- Wall Company, which in recent years has been converted into the Mur- phy-Wall Bank and Trust Company. Until the end of his life he was always president and leading stockholder in this reliable old institution. Ile next organized the First National Bank of Murphysboro, Illinois, and after several years' service as president of this bank resigned to take charge of newer ventures. The First State Bank of Thebes, Illinois, owes its existence to this man, and he became its first president. He was also the organizer and first president of the First State Bank of Illmo, Illi- nois. For a time he was president of the City National Bank of Mur- physboro, and he was one of the leaders in the establishment of the Citi- zens State and Savings Bank of Murphysboro, as well as of the Savings Bank of the same city. In all of these institutions he was a director and the leading spirit up to the time of his death.
Banking alone did not engage his attention through these years. He was active in numerous business enterprises. He organized the Murphys- boro Electric Light and the Gas Light Companies, and was chosen first president of both coneerns. In these enterprises he showed the true pio- neer spirit, and how urgently he felt the need of progress. Ile was one of the organizers of the Southern Illinois Milling Company, of Mur- physboro, and was a heavy stockholder in the company. He aided in the organization of the Pinekneyville Milling Company and was a chief stockholder. In both of these firms he was a prominent member of the board of directors. In the launching of the Hinke, Ismery Milling Com- pany of Kansas City, Kansas, he was one of the most conspicuous, and later as treasurer and one of the directors of the company had a large share in its success. In all of these industries Captain Murphy held large interests until he passed away. Ilis wide experience and sterling com- mon sense made him a man to whom to defer in any gathering. He pos- sessed the necessary initiative ability and the power to influence others through the force of his own enthusiasm. A remarkable man, in his death the county suffered a loss which ean scarcely be estimated.
Captain Murphy was married to a girl with whom he had grown up on "Fonr Mile Prairie." This was Penina Ozburn, a daughter of Haw- kins Ozburn. Mrs. Murphy was born on the 16th of December, 1836, and
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she became the mother of two children: Hawkins O. and Sarah V., the latter of whom married Joseph Crawford, of Pinckneyville, and died at the age of thirty-six years. Captain Murphy died in December, 1911. He was a member of Mitchell Lodge, No. 85, of the Masonic order.
Hawkins O. Murphy, the only son of Captain Murphy, was born in Pinckneyville, Illinois, on the 6th of December, 1862. He first attended the publie schools, and after the completion of his preparatory work he was sent to Washington University, St. Louis, and later to Georgetown College at Washington, D. C. After the completion of his education came his introduction to the business through the medimn of the firm of C. H. Glister & Company. He was a member of this firm of merchants for eight years and then he embarked in business for himself as a men's furnisher and clothier. He ran this business for five years and then leaving Pinckneyville went to Murphysboro, where he opened the Mur- phy Shoe Store. After condneting this business for three years he turned to banking. He became assistant cashier of the First State Bank of Thebes, and two years later took the position of cashier of the First State Bank of Illino, Illinois. He remained here for three years, and then his father and business associates having acquired large timber interests in Louisiana Mr. Murphy was sent to that state to take them in charge. He made his headquarters at Maryville, Louisiana, and stayed there for several years, overseeing the sawmill and the cutting and handling of the timber. When the industry was abandoned he returned to Pinckney- ville and took up the management of Captain Murphy's farming inter- ests, which were extensive. Captain Murphy had purchased large quan- tities of farming land throughout Southern Illinois, and had been oper- ating it on the tenant system. He had taken especial pride in the fine horses and andes with which he had stocked some of his places, and his importations of stoek from time to time had done much to raise the stand- ard of horses and mules in the county. Mr. Murphy is now continuing his father's policy and since his death. being one of the three beneficiaries under the will. has had a great deal to do in the settling and managing of the estate.
Unlike his father, Mr. Murphy is a Republican in politics. He was a member of the city council of Thebes and during his short residence at Illino. Illinois, was elected mayor of the town.
On the 12th of September, 1900. Mr. Murphy was married to May Roberts, a daughter of A. H. Roberts, one of the oldest and most promi- nent merchants of Murphysboro, where the ceremony took place. Mr. Murphy is prominent in the fraternal world. He is a Mason, being a member of the Blue Lodge. He organized the Knights of Pythias lodge at Pinckneyville and was its first chancellor commander. He also organ- ized the Elks lodge in Murphysboro, was its first exalted ruler and repre- sented the order in the national convention. The universal opinion is that Mr. Murphy is a worthy son of his father, and when one stops to con- sider what this means one is certain that no higher compliment conk be paid him.
F. M. BROCK, the present postmaster of Fairtiekl. Ilinois, was born on a thriving farm in Wayne county of that state. on the 15th day of January, 1852. His early education was in the common schools of his native county. At the age of twenty young Broek went to Missouri to pay a visit to his sister, and he passed the next two years in traveling about that state. From Missouri, in 1871, he went to Texas, where he became traveling salesman for a hardware house in the southern part of the state, and he continued to be thus employed for four years, Rail- road development in Southern Texas in that day had not reached its
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present state of completion, and the duties of Mr. Brock made it neces- sary for him to make his trips between towns by means of the horse. For four years he lived this wholesome life in the open, sometimes riding or driving more than fifty miles in one day, so great was the distance between towns. Fortunately, however. Texas roads, unlike those of Southern Illinois, are quite passable at all seasons. His headquarters during his sojourn in the Lone Star state were at Austin, the capital eity, and at the eharming old town of San Antonio, where the Alamo still rears its walls and the ruins of missions of the past vie with a modern army post in points of interest. It was near this interesting city that Colonel Roosevelt chose, in later years, to equip his famous company of Rough Riders.
The attractions of Texas might have claimed Mr. Brock for an in- definite period but that old Wayne county held for him a still greater charm in the person of Miss Ella Collins, the daughter of Major Collins, an old settler of that district. Thus in 1878 he returned to the home of his birth, where he was united in marriage with Miss Collins. Two years after their marriage they located at Cisne, where Mr. Brock en- gaged in the seed and grain business, a line for which his experience had peculiarly fitted him. Later he extended his stock to include general merchandise, and he continued in business at Cisne until in 1886 when he was elected to the office of county clerk on the Republican ticket. In that year he moved to Fairfield, which has sinee represented his home and the center of his business activities. He served the county in the office of clerk for eight years, two terms of four years each, and at the expiration of the second term he engaged in the lumber business. Ten years later, in 1904, he became cashier of the First National Bank of Fairfield, and he was still acting in that eapaeity in December of 1910 when he was appointed by President Taft to the office of postmaster of Fairfield. He thereupon resigned the eashiership of the bank to assume the duties of postmaster at Fairfield, of which office he is still in charge. The office is of the second elass variety and employs four elerks, sup- porting ten mail routes. Mr. Brock has not entirely severed his connee- tion with the First National Bank, still being a member of the direeto- rate of that organization, and he is also president of the Southern Illinois Lumber Company. In addition to his other business enterprises, Mr. Brock has been engaged in the mercantile business with J. A. Cox of Fairfield for the past twenty-three years, and he owns and personally supervises the management of a fine farm of one hundred and eighty aeres in Wayne county. He is active in the political life of the eom- munity, being a Taft Republiean, and for fourteen years he served as chairman of the county central committee. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, and is a member of the Christian church, as is also his wife.
Their three children, all of whom were born in Illinois, have now grown to maturity. The eldest daughter, Mabel Glen, now the wife of S. T. Pendelton, is the mother of two children,-Marion and Aliee. Edna married R. A. Cox and they have two daughters .- Elinor and Roberta. The son, Frank Leslie Broek, is in the forestry service of the government, and is most enthusiastie in the work. He is at this writ- ing located at Fraser, Colorado, in the Araphoe reservation.
Five generations of the Brock family have thus far been reared in Ameriea. The first American progenitor of the family was Andrew Broek, who came from England while the colonies were yet under British rule, and settled in Pennsylvania. His son, Isaac, was born in the old Indian Fort of the bloek house at Cineinnati, Ohio, just following the Revolution, where he was reared and where he remained until about 1851, when he moved to Illinois where he lived until his death which
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occurred in 1867. In 1827 Isaac's son. Jacob, was born, and in 1851, he with his family, of which Jacob was the second oldest son. migrated from Monroe county, Ohio, to Wayne county in Illinois, settling on a farm near Jeffersonville. Before leaving Ohio, however, Jacob Brock. who became the father of F. M. Brock of this review, was united in marriage with Rebeeea Flick, a native of that state. They reared a goodly family of seven children, all of whom are living but two. Al- mira and Minerva being deceased. F. M. Brock is the eldest of the boys. Charles, the next oldest son, is manager of the Colonial Mercantile Com- pany of St. Louis. Mrs Jennie Brock Niekell, the widowed daughter. assists her brother in the postoffice, holding the position of money order clerk, while Irvin E., the youngest son is engaged in railroad con- struction work in Jacksonville, Florida. Viola. the wife of W. 11. Cisne. lives at Cisne, Illinois. The father passed away in 1901 at his home in Fairfield, Illinois, his widow thereafter making her home with her son, F. M., of this review, for ten years. She died at his home, surrounded by her devoted family, on October 19, 1911, at the venerable age of eighty-four, and her memory is tenderly cherished by those to whom she was nearest, as well as by a large circle of friends, many of whom she had retained throughont her lifetime.
EDWARD SCHURMANN. A man of marked financial and executive ability and judgment, Edward Schurmann, secretary, assistant manager and part owner of one of the largest flour mills of Southern Illinois, is a splendid representative of the prominent and thriving business men of Germantown, where he is held in the highest regard and esteem. A son of Henry Schurmann, he was born May 19, 1874, in Carlyle, Hinois, of German ancestry. His paternal grandfather. Peter Schurmann, a na- tive of Westphalia, Germany, immigrated to the United States in early manhood, and settled in Clinton county. Illinois, in pioneer days. remain- ing there until his death, while yet a comparatively young man. His wife, who survived him many years, married a second time, and died in the fall of 1872.
Born in Germantown, Illinois, in Looking Glass township, October 12. 1847. Henry Schurmann there acquired his elementary education in the parochial schools which he attended until twelve years old. Then, soon after the death of his father, he spent a year in college in Indiana. Re- turning then to Germantown. he lived with his mother and stepfather three years, when he seenred a position in a flour mill at Hanover, where he was employed in nailing up boxes and barrels for a year. He after- wards served an apprenticeship of three years at the miller's trade, and then took a full course of study at the Jones Commercial School. in Saint Louis.
Returning then to the mill. Mr. Henry Sehrmann accepted a position as second miller in the plant with which he had previously been con- neeted. and early in 1869 was promoted to general manager of the mill On November 10 of that year the plant was sold, Mr. Sehrmann buying a third interest, his partners being Messrs. Esselmann and Sprehe. In 1878 Mr. Usselmann died, and his interest in the mill was bought by the remaining partners on January 19. 1579. The business was then con- tinued by the new firm of Sprehe & Schumann until December, 150. when the senior member passed to the life beyond, since which time the mill has been owned by the Sehurmann family, and has carried on a sub stantial business under the name of the " Hanover Star Mills "
These mills were first started in 159 by Messrs Lampen, Kleinkorte & Nemmeyer as a saw mill, and was afterwards changed to a flour mull, having a capacity of one hundred barrels every twenty-four hours. it
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being operated by a burr-millstone. In 1881 Mr. Henry Sehurmann changed it to a roller mill, increasing its capacity to three hundred bar- rels daily. The present mill building is five stories in height, and is equipped with the most modern approved machinery, being up-to-date in every respect, its running capacity now being four hundred and fifty barrels each day. The productions of this plant, the Schurmann Pat- ent Flour, the Hanover Star Flour and other brands, were formerly shipped not only to Boston and other important New England points, but to foreign markets, but are now sold almost entirely in the Southern states. In 1885 the plant was operated by a stock company, of which Henry Schurmann was the president, but at the present time is a private concern, controlled by the Schurmann family. In addition to the twelve men employed in the coopering department of the plant, twenty men are employed in the mill, and a large force of men are kept busy in the offiee.
Mr. Henry Schurmann at one time owned the Bartelso Creamery, and had an interest in the Germantown Creamery, but is not now identified with either industry. In his earlier life he was a strong supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, but since the introduction of the free silver plank into its platform has severed his connection with that party. He has been active in public affairs, and has filled various town and county offices. In 1873 he was elected county clerk of Clinton county, and served acceptably nine years ; from 1886 to 1890 he occupied the same position; in 1893 he was president of the village; and for two years he served as president of the Carlyle city council, and at the same time was a member of the Carlyle school board.
On February 8, 1870, Henry Schurmann was married and nine chil- dren blessed the union, of whom eight are living, as follows: Annie, now known as Sister Thomasine; J. Henry; Edward; August; Carrie, wife of Matt Boevingloh ; Payla ; Celia ; and Leona.
Spending his childhood days in Carlyle, Edward Schurmann there attended the parochial school until nine years old, the ensuing five years continuing his studies in the Germantown schools. Going then to Saint Louis, he spent two years at the Jones Commercial College, and on re- turning to Germantown became a bookkeeper in the office of his father's mill. Ilis ability soon brought him deserved promotion, and he is now part owner of the immense milling business, in addition being seere- tory and assistant manager of the mill. Mr. Schurmann is a member of the Southern Illinois Millers' Association; of the Operative Millers' Association ; of the Saint Louis Millers' Club; and of the Merchants Exchange. He is an active member of the Republican party, belonging to the central committee of Germantown township, and is judge of elec- tions. Religiously he belongs to the Catholic church, and is a member of Saint Henry's Sodality, a benevolent and charitable organization.
Mr. Sehurmann married, in 1904, Annie Rolfes, of Germantown, and they have one child, Henry Lewis Schurmann.
CHARLES W. SHAW. The history of a nation is nothing more than a history of the individuals comprising it. and as they are characterized by loftier or lower ideals, actuated by the spirit of ambition or indif- ferenee, so it is with a state, eounty or town. Sueeess along any line of endeavor would never be properly appreciated if it eame with a single effort and unaecompanied by some hardships, for it is the knoeks and bruises in life that make success taste so sweet. The failures aeeen- tuate the successes, thus making recollections of the former as dear as those of the latter for having been the stepping-stones to achievement. The career of Charles W. Shaw, at the present time trainmaster of the
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Illinois Southern Railway at Sparta, Illinois, is a combination of ambi- tion, brains and a willingness to work.
Charles W. Shaw came to Illinois in 1885 from Evansville, Indiana. where he was born on the 12th of April, 1867. His father. Rev. Jos- eph W. Shaw, was a Methodist minister and he passed the major portion of his life time at Evansville, Indiana, where he was summoned to the life eternal in the year 1873. Rev. Shaw was strictly a self-made man. his early educational advantages having been of the most meager order. Hle made the most of his opportunities for study, however, and after being ordained as a minister in the Methodist church, filled a number of charges and did much effective religions work in southern Indiana. He was a son of John Shaw, who brought his family to America from England in an early day, settling at old Mechanicsburg. now String- town, Indiana. The senior Shaw was a blacksmith by trade and he passed the declining years of his life in the old Hoosier state, where he lies buried. The Rev. Shaw married Cornelia Clark, who passed to the great beyond in 1871. There were seven children born to this union and concerning them the following brief data are here incorporated : Mrs. R. O. Wood is a resident of Oakland. California : John W. main- tains his home at Ihumboldt, Iowa ; Elizabeth is the wife of W. F. Under- hill, of Oakland, California: George II. resides at Cairo, Illinois ; Ilettie is Mrs. M. H. Bilyer, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Ruel A. resides at Fort Dodge, Iowa; and Charles W. is the immediate subject of this review.
Having been early orphaned, Charles W. Shaw was reared to the age of twelve years in the home of an unele at Evansville, Indiana. where he attended the public schools. His first employment was with a local ice company, and when sixteen years of age he came to Illinois. settling at Cairo, where he secured his first job in the railroad service and where he was a diligent student in a commercial night school. Through successive promotions he was engine foreman, yardmaster. con- ductor, bridge and building foreman, trainmaster and eventually super- intendent of the terminals in East St. Louis, to which place he was transferred from Carbondale, Illinois. On the 1st of May. 1911. he beeame the efficient and popular incumbent of his present position-that of trainmaster of the Illinois Southern Railway at Sparta. His railroad service has extended over a period of twenty-six years, and as he ap- proaeles middle life, rewards for the strenuous service of former years are seeking him in a substantial way. Mr. Shaw is deeply and sin- cerely interested in community affairs. In the time-honored Masonic order he is a valued and appreciative member of the Chicago Consistory and of Mohammed Temple at Peoria. He became a Mason on the even- ing of his twenty-first birthday at Carbondale, Illinois, where he holds his junior membership.
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