Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 105

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : La Salle Book Co.
Number of Pages: 908

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uary 7, 1854. His father, who was a laborer, was born in 1817, and died in his native place, at the age of seventy-seven years. His mother died in her seventy-third year. Of the five children of this couple, three attained maturity.

Andrew Skau was educated in the public

734

H. G. KIRCHHOFF.

schools, which he attended until he was fifteen years old. He then began working as a farm hand, which occupation he followed until he en- tered the army at the age of twenty years. His term of military service was two years, and on its completion he returned to farming. In 1881 he determined to emigrate to America, and bidding adieu to parents and Fatherland, he set out for Chicago, a city of which he knew little but had heard much, and where he was destined to achieve that success which rightfully belongs to men of brain and nerve, of energy and probity. For the first eighteen months after reaching Chi- cago he worked in a lath factory, and in 1884 he opened a livery and boarding stable at No. 2814 Calumet Avenue. From there he removed to No. 2843 Indiana Avenue and thence to No. 128

Thirtieth Street, and later to No. 159, on the same thoroughfare. He remained at the last mentioned location five years, when he made an- other removal, taking possession of the premises in the rear of No. 3020 Calumet Avenue, which he still occupies.

In 1883 he was married to Anna Maria Holdt, who came from Denmark to America on the same vessel with himself. Four sons and a daughter have been born to them: Christian Fritz, Niels, Anna, Charles and George. The eldest is in the employ of Madigan Brothers, dry goods merchants.

Mr. Skau is a member of the Walhalla Society, having joined that organization while it was in its infancy, and of the Independent Order of For- esters.

HENRY G. KIRCHHOFF.

ENRY GEORGE KIRCHHOFF. The gen- tleman whose name appears above is a son of Henry Kirchhoff, in whose biography the reader may find an interesting account of his genealogical and collateral family connections. He was born July 19, 1866, in Leyden Township, Cook County, and shortly after leaving school, in 1886, he went to work for the well-known wholesale paper house of Thomas Brothers, now . of Nos. 96-98 West Randolph Street, but former- ly of Nos. 43-45 West Lake Street. He entered their employ as a driver, and continued in that capacity for six months. From this position he was promoted to be shipping clerk, and in 1893 was given a position as city salesman. He is still with the same firm, and their estimate of his worth may be judged from the fact that in the course of twelve years he has risen from so humble a position to become one of their confi- dential and most trusted employes.

April 9, 1888, Mr. Kirchhoff was married to Miss Grace Katerbau, who was born in Chicago, June 14, 1867. They have one child, Herbert Matthew, born December 10, 1889. His home is one of refinement, suited to the tastes and pur- suits of a Christian gentleman, as Mr. Kirchhoff is recognized to be by all who have the honor of his acquaintance, and by none so thoroughly as by those who know him best. The residence is one of the finest in the handsome suburb of Franklin Park.

His fellow-townsmen, recognizing his personal and civic worth, have shown him many marks of their confidence and esteem. He was director of school district No. 9, in Leyden Township, from 1893 to 1896, and has been a member of tlie Board of Village Trustees since 1895, having been chosen President in 1899.

He is a member of Franklin Park Council No. 107, of the Royal League. He is also connected

735

MARTIN HANSEN .- W. H. KIRCHHOFF.

with several fraternal organizations in the city of Chicago: the Royal Arcanum, Council No. 1,540 of Ben Hur, and Council No. 26 of the North American Union.

In politics Mr. Kirchhoff isa Republican. He

has been prominent in church and charitable work and is an active member of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. In social pleas- ures he finds much enjoyment, and in the social life of Franklin Park he is one of the leaders.

MARTIN HANSEN.

M ARTIN HANSEN is a native of Haderslev, North Schleswig, Denmark, as were also his parents. He was born November 1, 1866, and is one of a family of three daughters and three sons born.to James and Christina (Scott) Hansen, being the youngest son and the fifth in order of birth. His father was an express- man by occupation, and died in the land of his birth, at the age of sixty-one years. Mrs. Han- sen, Senior, is still living and makes her home at Lake View, Iowa.

Martin Hansen left school when he was four- teen years old and for the next three years worked in a grocery store. In 1883, when but a boy of seventeen, he bade adieu to his native shores and to his kindred, to venture for him- self in a strange land. Immediately on reaching . America he set out for Chicago. Here he first found employment as a coach driver, and con-

tinued to follow that pursuit until, through in- dustry, sobriety and thrift, he had accumulated sufficient capital to enable him to embark in the coal, wood and feed business. In this line of trade he has since continued, his present place of busi- ness being located at No. 3454 Halsted Street.

He was married January 4, 1888, to a Danish lady who came to this country at about the sanie time as himself, Miss Hannah Christensen, who was at the time of their union a resident of Chi- cago. . She has borne him two daughters, Jennie and Mabel.

Mr. Hansen was among the earliest members of the order of Walhalla, and has always taken an active part in promoting the interests of the organization. He is a member of Faith Mission, a Baptist society, with house of worship near his , home. He supports the political principles of the Republican party.

W. H. KIRCHHOFF.

ILLIAM H. KIRCHHOFF, a son of Henry Kirchhoff, was born January 24, 1868, within the walls of the old homestead in Leyden Township, now a part of the village of

Franklin Park. A course of training at the pub- lic schools was supplemented by a course at Bryant & Stratton's Business College in Chicago, and in 1887 he entered upon the real work of

736

PETER LAWSON.

life as an employe of the L. H. Thomas Company, at Rogers Park, Illinois. In 1889 he resigned his position with that concern to connect himself with the Davis Sewing Machine Company, in whose employ he continued about three years. The year following his leaving the Davis Com- pany was passed in the service of the Machinists' Supply Company as correspondent, and during the next five years he was assistant purchasing agent for the Crane Company.

His next move was in the direction of starting in business on his own account. He became one of the organizers of the Steel & Iron Metal Coat- ing Company, of West Chicago, of which com- pany he was made treasurer. The company has a capital stock, of fifty thousand dollars and a plant located at West Chicago, IlInois. It con- trols some valuable patents for the coating of iron

and steel with an aluminum alloy, and enjoys tlie distinction of being the only concern of the kind in the world.

Mr. Kirchhoff was married to Miss Alice Mar- garet Martens, October 22, 1893. She was born in Chicago September 14, 1873. For detailed ac- count of Mrs. Kirchhoff's parentage and family connections see sketch of her father, Henry Mar- tens. Three children were born to them: Eleanor Alice, July 3, 1894; William Martens, May 26, 1897; and Elizabeth Louise, on the 5th of Decem- ber, 1898.

Mr. Kirchhoff's religious affiliation is witlı the Methodist Episcopal Church of Franklin Park; in his political creed is a Republican. He is a member of Court America, No. 873, United Order of Foresters, Chicago, and of Franklin Park Council, No. 107, Royal League.

PETER LAWSON.

ETER LAWSON, at one time in command of Engine Company No. 70, is one of Chica. go's life residents. He also enjoys the en- viable distinction of having earned an honorable record as a fireman, through thirty years of .un- selfish, gallant and heroic service. It is difficult to bestow too high encomium upon the mere risk of personal safety, home, happiness, life itself, through devotion to duty and paramount anxiety to save the lives of others. It is of this class that the Captain is an exponent.

To the credit of Cook County, it may be said that he was born within its limits, the date of his birth having been November 7, 1847. John Lawson was his father, and his mother's maiden name was Ann Pierson, both being natives of Norway, from which country they came to Chi- cago in 1836. They settled upon a farm in the town of Thornton, Cook County, and reared a

family of six children, only two of whom-Peter and Albert-are living. The mother died Janu- ary 13, 1882, and Mr. Lawson, Senior, on the same date in 1887. The coincidence is rendered yet more striking by the fact that both died at nearly the same hour of the day.

Peter Larson's early education was obtained at a country school house, and through a brief at- tendance at one of the Chicago public schools. He learned the trades of carpenter and roofer, but April 8, 1869, he joined the city fire depart- ment, and has ever since followed the perilous life of a fireman. He was made lieutenant in 1880, and in 1892 promoted to the captaincy of Engine Company No. 70, of Ravenswood, being its first Captain. In 1897 he was transferred to his present post, and made Captain of Company No. 79.

His record as an officer is one of personal

737

RASMUS JENSEN.

courage and marked executive efficiency, as a long series of promotions attest. Heis a member of the Firemen's Benevolent Association and of the Mutual Aid Society. He takes comparative- ly little interest in politics and usually votes in- dependently of party lines. In religious belief lie is a Lutheran.

Iu 1870 he was married to Catherine Roze,

daughter of Charles and Catherine Roze, natives of Germany, who came to Chicago in 1852. The latter is still living here. Mrs. Lawson was a native of this city, and became the mother of five children, two of whom are living-Ella and Vic- tor. Mrs. Lawson died in 1894, and October 27, 1897, he married Carrie M. Sprecht, who was born in Chicago, of German parents.

RASMUS JENSEN.

R ASMUS JENSEN was left an orphan while yet a child of very tender years, his mother dying when he was but three years old, and his father two years later. Both his parents were natives of Sjelland, Denmark, where he was born August 25, 1840. His father, whose bap- tismal name was Hans, was a small farmer, widely known and universally respected, who served with distinction during the war of 1807.

After the death of his parents, Rasmus Jensen was reared by an elder sister until he reached the age of eleven years. Since that time he has buffeted with the world alone. That he has suc- cessfully resisted the manifold temptations and overcome the innumerable obstacles that beset the pathway of boys and young men thus situ- ated, is due to his indomitable pluck and his high inoral sense. He enjoyed the advantages of the public school until he reached the age of fourteen years, although during two years he was forced to attend evening sessions, being compelled to earn his own daily bread and nightly shelter.

At the age of fifteen years he quit the farm where he liad been employed and worked at any- thing he could find to do until 1864,' when lie entered the army, and took part in that memor- able struggle between Denmark and Germany. On his return to Copenhagen he took ship for Greenland, where for one year he was employed

in a mill, and from that land of perpetual snow and frost he came to America, settling first at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Two years later, in1 1870, hie resolved to go further west, and caine as far in that direction as Chicago, which has been his home since that time. For four years he had no steady employment, working for a contractor on carpenter work, and again at any honest toil that offered.

In 1874 he obtained a position with the late Jaures H. Rice, from whom the present James H. Rice Glass Company takes its name. For eleven years he remained in Mr. Rice's employ, and in 1882 he started in business for himself at No. 5716 Wentworth Avenue, where he still remains. He has, however, replaced the old structure by a handsome, two-story building, the upper floor of which he occupies as a dwelling. He carries a general line of hardware, as well as lamps and other household necessities.

August 4, 1872, he became the husband of Christiana Andersen, a resident of Chicago, but a native of Denmark. Four daughters have been the fruit of their union: Maria, now Mrs. August Moller, of Chicago; Annie, the wife of Louis Oppel, of the same city; Lizzie and Hattie, who live at home.

Mr. Jansen has had his home in Chicago for nearly thirty years, and may be properly called

738

JOHANNES TOPP .- OLE NIELSEN.

an old settler. Here it is that he married and reared his offspring, and here he has valiantly fought his own way to financial success, and,

which he values more highly, to the sincere respect of his fellow-citizens. He is a member of the North Congregational Church of Englewood.

JOHANNES TOPP.

OHANNES TOPP, who is commonly known as James Topp, was born at Copenhagen, Denmark, January 26, 1871, and is the only child of Jacob and Marsine (Ditlewsen) Topp, both of whom were born in that city. His father was a well-known photographer, and served in his country's army during the war with Germany in 1864. He died in Copenhagen at the age of forty years, his widow is still living, and makes her home with her son in Chicago.

Mr. Topp left school when he was fourteen years old, and was apprenticed for four years to a grocer of Kjoga, Denmark, to learn the busi- ness. On leaving his employer he opened a store of his own in another town, but after a year he concluded to emigrate to America. I11 1890 he reached these shores and went at once to Clinton, Iowa, where he began work in a saw mill. In 1892 he removed to Chicago, and found employment in a coal yard. Mr. Topp looks back upon these days as the darkest in his life,

but his is not a nature to succumb before difficul- ties such as might easily dishearten a weaker nature. He next secured the position of wagon driver for the Chicago Public Library, his work being the delivery and collection of books to and from stations. This occupation he followed for three years, and then engaged in the sale of oil, which he carried on for two years and one-half.

He was married in 1899 to Miss Christine Hendricksen, who, like himself, is a native of Denmark. At the same time he engaged in his present business, that of expressage, in connec- tion with conducting a place for the sale of coal and feed. His business is prosperous, and he runs four wagons for moving furniture and the delivery of coal and express matter.

He is a member of Atlas Lodge No. 261, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Wal- halla Society. He has a wide circle of acquain- tances and is highly respected by all who know him.

OLE NIELSEN.

LE NIELSEN, the son of Jens and Petrea (Smith) Nielsen, is a native of Schleswig- Holstein, having been born at Skjöbeck, September 14, 1865. He inherits his rare musi-

cal talent from his father, who was for twenty- five years director of a band in the Danish army, and a musician of recognized ability. He (the elder Nielsen) is still living in the land of his

739

J. C. H. SMITH.

birth, at the advanced age of seventy-five years, as is also his wife, mother of the subject of this sketch, whose hair has been silvered by the frosts of eighty winters.

Of the six children born to this couple, two sons and a daughter are yet living: Ole Nielsen, a brief sketch of whose life is here given ;. Niels A., a resident of Pontiac, Illinois; and Bodil Aliene Sydicksen, whose home is still in the old country. Ole is the fourth child and second son.

Until twelve years old Ole Nielsen attended the common schools of his native village, acquir- ing the rudiments of a general education. His musical genius having early begun to manifest itself, his father then sent him to Copenhagen to study music under better masters than were to be found in the country districts of Denmark. For a year he was a pupil of Professor Forup, and then resolved to cross the ocean and seek a home in another hemisphere. He was but thir- teen years of age when he landed in New York. From that city he went at once to Chicago; and after a brief stay there, to Decatur, Illinois, and later to Dwight, in this state. There he re-

mained four years, during which time he passed through the grades of the grammar school. From Dwight he went to Elkhorn, Iowa, where for a year he was a pupil in the high school; and then returned to Chicago.

His natural bent led him to seek employment as a musician, and this, skill-native and culti- vated-soon secured. For several years he played in various bands, and in 1889 he organized one himself, becoming its director. Since then he has continued in this line of professional work, in which, although not yet thirty-four years of age, he has already won distinction. The organiza- tion of which he is at present (1899) the head is a handsomely uniformed, well equipped body; allied with the Federation of Labor, and its serv- ices are in constant request, because of its justly earned reputation.

In 1899 Mr. Nielsen was married to Miss Laura Andersen. Mrs. Nielsen was born in Denmark, but her girlhood was passed in Clinton, Iowa. He is an active member of the Walhalla Society aud of the Danish Brotherhood, No. 35. In the latter body he has served as trustee.

JOHN C. H. SMITH.

OHN CHARLES HENRY SMITH was born at Kenosha, Wisconsin, December 1, 1848. His parents, Theodore and Mary Schmitz, were natives of Prussia and settled in Southport, now Kenosha, the year before his birth. The fa- ther carried on gardening there until he removed to Chicago, where he died, in 1896, at the age of seventy-six years.

Mr. Smith's boyhood was passed in assisting his father and attending the district school, and at the age of fifteen years and two months he en- listed in Company B, Seventeenth Wisconsin In- fantry Volunteers. His regiment was attached

to the Army of the Tennessee and followed Sher- man to the sea, participating in the siege of At- lanta and many of the engagements which pre- ceded. He was mustered out July 18, 1865, and returned to Kenosha.

When he reached the age of nineteen years he learned the trade of a blacksmith, and later found work in the wagon factory of E. Bain, until 1875, when he decided to remove to Chicago. On arriving here he formed a partnership with his brother, A. A. Smith, and opened a grocery at the corner of Ohio and Noble Streets. Their business prospered, and three years later they

740

S. P. PETERSEN.

built a store at the corner of Cornell and Holt Streets, and two years afterward Mr. Smith sold his interest to his brother. He next opened a grocery and saloon at the corner of Paulina Street and Chicago Avenue, which lie conducted seven years. His next move was to his present place of business, at the corner of Chicago Ave- nne and Robey Street, where he has built up an extensive and profitable trade in liquors and also in horses. He is an enthusiastic sportsman and expert in the use of the rifle.

In politics he is a Republican, but although an active party worker, he has never been an as- pirant for office. In religious faith he is a Ro-

man Catholic. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and of Winfield Scott Post, No. 445, Grand Army of the Republic. In the year 1872 he was elected an alderman in Kenosha, being the first native resident to receive an elective office in that city, and said to be the first native American.

He was married August 3, 1872, to Miss Eliza- beth Neiderprim. She was born in New York State, of German parents, who removed to Keno- sha when she was a child. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had three children, one of whom died at the age of two years. The names of those yet living are: John T. and Mary K.

SORN P. PETERSEN.

ORN P. PETERSEN is one of those Danish- American citizens whose success attests at once their capability and the rugged persis- tence which seems to be inherent in the rugged, resolute Scandinavian character. He was born on the peninsula of Jutland, April 8, 1869. His father, Andrew Petersen, was a common laborer, and young Sorn's educational advantages were no greater that his father's purse allowed. The elder Petersen died in Denmark, at the age of forty-four years. Sorn's mother's inaiden name was Marie Christine Christensen. She survived her husband, and is still living in Denmark, aged fifty-nine years (1899). Nine children were born to them, of whom Sorn P. was the fourth in order of birth, and the only son.

At the age of fourteen years he was duly ap- prenticed to the miller's trade, and after serving a term of three years resolved to emigrate to a land where better opportunities offered themselves to the rich and the poor, the capitalist and the mechanic. In 1888 he landed on these shores, and his first halting place was at Oconto, Wis-

consin. For three years he worked there as a common laborer, and in 1891 came to Chicago. For some time he found little better here, but be- fore long he began handling the beer of several breweries as a commission merchant. In 1899, such had been his success, and so thoroughily had he demonstrated his ability, industry and in- tegrity, that lie was given the general agency of the Monarch Brewing Company for the Wood- lawn district. He also does general teaming on his individual account.

In 1895, at Chicago, he married Kittie Ag- holm, a native of Denmark, like himself. She crossed the ocean in 1891, and settled in Chicago the same year. He is a prominent member of the Maennerchor, and has been president of the Danish Brotherhood, as well as treasurer of that order. For two years he was a trustee, and he has also served on many important local com- mittees. At one time he was a member of the Walhalla Society.

Mr. Petersen's success is the result of his own untiring effort. Throughout his entire life he

741

JAMES SMITH .- J. A. KNUDSEN.

has been an industrious, indefatigable worker. While young in years, he has achieved an expe- rience of rare practical worth, and in the broad

school of experience he has more than compen- sated for any latent deficiencies in his early scholastic training.

JAMES SMITH.

AMES SMITH, a respected member of the Danish-American colony in Chicago, is the eldest child of Jacob. and Sophia Smidt, of Schleswig-Holstein, in which principality he was born September 7, 1841. His father was a tin- ner by trade, and served in the Danish army dur- ing the war of 1848. He died in his native coun- try at the age of fifty years, leaving a widow and children, and the former still survives. To this couple were born two sons and two daughters.

James' early life did not greatly differ from that of most youths of his native place. At the age of fourteen he had completed his scholastic training and for eight years thereafter he worked upon a farm. In 1864 he formed the resolution to begin a new career across the sea, where num- bers of his countrymen had already found a home and competence. From New York he came at once to Chicago, and here his first employment was as a common laborer in connection with the building trades. He was industrious, willing

and observant, and it was not long before he had mastered the details of the plasterer's trade, which he yet follows. That he has succeeded is due to his own unaided efforts. He also mastered the intricacies of brick laying and is at present a prosperous contractor.

He has been twice married. His first wife was Martha Nielsen, to whom he was united in 1870. She bore him four children who are now deceased. After her death he married Anna Bundesen, a native of North Schleswig, Denmark. By her he became the father of nine children, six of whom are yet living-Andrew, John, Charles, Arthur Jens and Anna. All were born in Chicago and still reside in this city.

In politics he is a Republican and in religious faith a Presbyterian.

He ranks among the old settlers of Chicago, hardy men and women who are rapidly passing away. Perseverance, pluck, probity and indus- try have been the guiding principles of his life.

JENS A. KNUDSEN.

ENS ANDERS KNUDSEN was born in Aarhus, Jutland, Denmark, October 6, 1868. For a somewhat detailed account of his par- entage and family relations the reader is referred to

the biographical sketch of his brother, Knud R. Knudsen, which may be found upon another page. He is the youngest living child of a fanı- ily of twenty-three born to Rasmus and Anna

742

CHRISTIAN STERNDORF.

(Martens) Knudsen. On leaving school he en- tered upon an apprenticeship of five years to the butcher's trade. After serving his full term he went to Germany, where he worked at his trade at various places four years. He then returned to Denmark, but once again visited Germany and sailed from that country for America in 1890.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 105

Author: Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago : La Salle Book Co. Number of Pages: 908

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : La Salle Book Co.
Number of Pages: 908