Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 3

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

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CHARLES H. BOESENBERG.

HARLES HENRY BOESENBERG, who , takes a prominent place among the business men of western Cook County, was born July 9, 1844, at Plum Grove, in the Town of Palatine, Illinois, and is a son of Henry Ferdinand and Marie (Heinsoth) Boesenberg. The family has long been known as one of intelligence and good business sense. Henry F. Boesenberg was born September 23, 1819, in Stockendreber, Amt Neustadt, Ruebenberg, in the kingdom of Han- over, Germany. He was a son of John Henry Boesenberg, also a native of Hanover, who died in 1852, aged eighty years. He owned a mill and a small farm of ten acres. His mill was run by wind power, and was patronized by the farm- ers of thelocality. It is still in the possession of one of his descendants. The original owner worked and earned the money with which he bought the property, three years after his mar- riage. His farm was worked by oxen, as his tract was too small to support horses. He married Louisa Magars, a native of the village of Welwelah, Hanover, who was about the same age as her husband, and who died at the age of forty-five years. They had several children, ac- counted for as following paragraphs relate.

Henry John married Mary Grossman and succeeded his father in the old mill. His chil- dren were: Henry, Mary, Alvina, George and August. The last-named came into possession of the mill and remained there until his death, about 1889. A daughter who married a Mr. Robbe now has the property.

Frederick learned the trade of miller, but never followed it. He entered the army, where he remained forty years, gaining the rank of sergeant. One of his sons emigrated and lives in Missouri. Rudolph and Karl died while still young, the latter at the age of twenty-five years. William married at the age of thirty-five years. He was a miller and rented a mill until his death. Henry Ferdinand is the father of the man whose name heads this sketch. George Adolph, born April 15, 1822, was baptized May 19, the same year, by Rev. C. H. Batchen. He married, January 29, 1851, Katharine Louise Dorothea Seeman, daughter of Philip and Margarita (Leseberg) Seeman, who was born January 14, 1831, in the village of Suttorp, Amt Neustadt, Hanover, Germany. Their children were: George August, born January 7, 1852, died August 15, of the same year; Heinrich Herman,

C. H. BOESENBERG.

born January 24, 1853, who is mentioned on an- other page of this work; Marie Frauzista, born February 19, 1855, died in January, 1880; Mar- guerita Helena, born October 29, 1856, married June 18, 1876, Heinrich Stellman, and has the following children: George, Herman, Stella, Francis and Lydia; Louise Marie, born January 1, 1859, died May 20, 1881; Frederick, born February 24, 1861, died within forty-eight hours; Alvina Louisa, born February 18, 1862, married Henry Hartmann, a wholesale merchant residing in Irving Park, Chicago; George Frederick, born October 18, 1864, resides at No. 505 Lincoln Street, Chicago; Sophia Wilhelmina, born April · 12, 1867, married Henry Damm, and died Au- gust 14, 1898, leaving three children, Leonard, Alma and George; Johann Heinrich, born Oc- tober 2, 1869, married Lydia Luther and has two children, Earl and Beatrice. Sophia was married to Frederick Fabbe and remained in her native land. They had two sons and a daughter. Louise (Magars) Boesenberg was the daughter of a farmer. She had a brother, Henry.

Henry F. Boesenberg remained at home until he was of age, learning the miller's trade. He left his home in 1841 and journeyed to Chicago, which was then but a small city. He tilled much wild land in the vicinity, which was not at all inviting. He was acquainted with Mr. Fred Rosemond, who settled in Du Page County, but otherwise had few acquaintances. He hired out to a physician as hostler, and remained with him for some time.

March 23, 1843, he married Katherine Marie Heimsoth, in Chicago, and at once proceeded to Plum Grove, in the township of Palatine, where he bought one hundred and forty acres of much broken land, of Mr. York, for three hundred dol- lars. He erected a log house and after two years sold to Henry Kreiter. He then removed to Leyden, where he bought eighty acres of gov- ernment land at a dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. In 1845 he built a small house, which is still standing, being the sitting room of the residence of his son, William. Later he made additions, one to the north and one to the east. He bought sixty-nine acres in the northwest

quarter of section 28, twenty-nine acres of the Government and forty acres of Fred Schmidt. He also purchased one hundred and twenty acres where his son George now lives, of Henry Hart- man. He built a house now occupied by a tenant, and lived there at the time of his death. He gave up active farming in 1875. He was a large, broad-shouldered, smooth-shaven man, weighing about two hundred pounds, and pos- sessed of considerable education and great in- telligence. He was a good judge of agricultural matters and his opinion was much sought. For many years he acted as auctioneer among the farmers for several miles around. He was of a kindly disposition and ever ready to do a neighborly act. He was trusted by all his asso- ciates and frequently honored with public office. He held most of the township offices and was assessor for the fifteen consecutive years preced- ing his death. He was a Republican in politics. A member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Addison, Illinois, he found his last resting- place near it. The date of his death was Novem- ber 23, 1886.

Katherine Marie (Heimsoth) Boesenberg was born February 15, 1817, in the village of Haven- averbergen, Amt Norden, in the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany. Her father, Karsten Heim- soth, married Elizabeth Heimsoth, a distant cousin. He owned a farm in Germany, where he remained. His children were: Herman, a farmer and land owner, married Margarita Mueller; Margaret married Henry Docker and has two children-Mary and Henry; Henry married Meta Heimsoth, a distant relative, and emigrated in 1841, locating in Elk Grove, Illi- nois, where his son, and only living child, Will- iam, how resides; Karsten came to America in 1842 and located in Leyden, where he bought eighty acres of land. Twenty years ago Kar- sten, Junior, removed to St. Louis. He was a soldier in the Civil War. His wife's name was Minnie and their children were named Caroline and Elizabeth. Odelheit, another child of Kar- sten and Elizabeth Heimsoth, married Herman Heimsoth, a farmer, and with her children- Henry and Elizabeth-remained in Germany.

E. H. HANN.

Elizabeth, next in order of this family, also re- mained in Germany. Maria, the youngest, was mother of the subject of this sketch. The last named, in company with her brother Karsten, left Germany in the ship " Paulina," and after spending seven weeks on the ocean and three weeks on the Erie Canal and Great Lakes, arrived in Chicago in November, 1842. Henry F. and Marie Boesenberg were the parents of eight chil- dren. Charles Henry's name heads this article. Louisa Rosetta, born August 9, 1846, married Diedrich Muenstermann and lives on section 5, Leyden Township. Louise Maria, born January 16, 1849, died five days later. Louise Maria, the second by that name, was born August 29, 1851, and died September 24, 1853. Herman, born December 3, 1853, married Albertina White and resides at Rockford, Missouri. He is an attorney. He has six children living and has lost four. George Adolph and William will be found repre- sented elsewhere in this volume.

Charles H. Boesenberg, whose name heads this notice, remained on the old farm until his mar- riage in 1871. He was not satisfied with farm work and resolved to enter into business. Ac- cordingly lie went to Chicago and started a grocery at No. 266 West Chicago Avenue, where he continued two years. He followed the same business at No. 279 West Chicago Avenue six years. He then sold the establishment to liis uncle, George Boesenberg, and removed to Man- lieim. He erected a cheese factory which proved

very successful, turning out as high as twenty cases of cheese per day. This enterprise he con- tinued eight years. At the same time he opened a store which he still owns. This he has con- ducted very successfully and carries a large and varied stock of general merchandise, including coal and farm machinery. His various enter- prises have ever been established on strict busi- ness principles and have been uniformly success- ful. His judgment concerning value is of the best, and his advice is frequently asked and always carries weight. He still possesses twenty- three acres of the sixty-three which he received from his father, the other forty having been sold to the Franklin Park Land Association. In 1890 Mr. Boesenberg was chosen township assessor and has served continuously since. He is a Republican in national affairs, and served as postmaster during the Harrison administration. He and his family are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

October 5, 1871, was celebrated the marriage of the subject of this biography and Miss Matilda Hann, daughter of Ludwig Hann, of whom a sketch will be found on another page of this work. Mrs. Boesenberg was born March 8, 1852. Four children were born of this marriage and all those living reside at home. Their names with dates of birth are: Edgar Herman, May 2, 1872; Emil George, August 19, 1873, died March 4, 1874; Othelia Margareta, June 4, 1875; and Adolph George, April 9, 1878.

EDMUND H. HANN.

DMUND HENRY HANN. A detailed ac- count of the parentage and family connec- tions of Edmund Henry Hann may be found in the sketch of his father, Ludwig Dietrich Hann, which appears elsewhere in this volume.

He was born upon his father's farm, in Leyden Township, January 11, 1870. He attended school at Oak Park and after receiving a sound, rudimentary education, entered the employ of Jolını Seeger, grocer, at No. 244 West Indiana

A. C. CALKINS.

Street, in the city of Chicago. After remaining with Mr. Seeger for four years lie entered the employ of Edward Drissinghaus at the corner of North Avenue and Leavitt Street; and seven months later that of Martin Dammauer, at No. 2 Franklin Street, Harlem, where he remained for three years. He then accepted a situation with John Gadin, proprietor of a restaurant, but after four months returned to Mr. Dammauer, by whom he was again employed for three years, and for six months by William Wicke, who bought out the business. August 31, 1895, he formed a partnership with his brother, Herman H., and under the firm name of Hann Brothers they opened a grocery at No. 193 West Madison Street. Business prospered with them, and May 21, 1896, they opened a branch store at No. 319 Randolpli Street. Since January 1,

1900, Edmund H. has been proprietor of the lat- ter establishment, the partnership having been dissolved at that date.

Mr. Hann was baptized and reared a German Lutheran; in politics he is independent. · He is a member of General Grant Lodge No. 116, of the Royal Arcanum, and of the Harlem Singing Society.

November 9, 1897, he was married to Elvira Elizabeth, daughter of William and Matilde Boelke, who was born in Germany, March 26, 1873. A daughter, Clara Amanda, was born to them August 8, 1898.

Mr. Hann's business prospects are of the best. To the performance of his daily duties as a mer- chant and a man he brings an earnest purpose, tireless energy and unswerving fidelity, that rarely fail to bring success.

ALLEN C. CALKINS.

A LLEN CRAIG CALKINS, a pioneer lum- berman of Chicago, was born March 27, 1823, at Waterbury, Vermont, and was a son of William and Rosalinda (Craig) Calkins. The father was a teacher at Burlington, Ver- mont, and afterwards a lawyer at Ticonderoga, New York, where he settled about middle life. He was for many years a deacon in the Presby- terian Church. His father, John Prentice Cal- kins, was a pioneer settler of Vermont. The amily carries some of the blood of Elder William Brewster of the " Mayflower.".

Allen C. Calkins' education was obtained in the common schools of his native town, and in the academy of Shoreham, Vermont. After leaving school he was employed as a clerk in a general store for some years by Wilson & Calkins, the junior partner being a brother of, Allen. Subsequently he engaged in business for himself

at Ticonderoga, and later moved to Albany, where he remained about four years. He then took charge of a lumber business at Lockhaven, Pennsylvania, which he was obliged to give up on account of climatic influences at the end of three years.

In 1855 he came to Chicago and entered the employ of Holt & Mason, lumber dealers, which firm was succeeded by that of Holt & Calkins, of which Allen C. Calkins was junior partner. This was succeeded by the firm of Calkins & Stone, which later became Calkins & Fisher, and was located on Archer Avenue. In1 1873 Mr. Calkins retired from the lumber trade.

For several years lie was engaged in the man- ufacture of brick at Galesburg, Illinois. He, witlı Judge Tuthill, Jesse Hildrethı, George N. Harlow and others, organized the Consumers' Gas Company of Chicago, of which he was sec-

H. D. KOLZE.

retary. Mr. Calkins was a member of the Board of Education under Mayor Heath, and also served as alderman of the old Fourth Ward in the ear- lier City Councils.

On the 30th day of August, 1847, he was mar- ried to Miss Sophia Jane Larrabee, at Ticonde- roga, by Rev. Henry N. Davis. Miss Larra- bee is the daughter of Lucius Callender and . Calista W. (Bugbee) Larrabee. Mr. Larrabee was a teacher and surveyor, and was for a period of seven years captain of a steamboat on Lake George, one of the most beautiful sheets of water in the world. The Larrabees, for generations, had been citizens of Connecticut and Vermont. For genealogy see biography of Charles R. Lar- rabee in this volume.

Sophia J. Larrabee was born on the first day of the year 1827. She and her husband were the parents of seven children, one of whom died in infancy, and six grew to adult age. Charles R., one of these, is a real estate dealer of Chicago. Mary J. resides in Racine, Wisconsin. Rosalind C. passed away soon after attaining her majority. Lucius A. is a member of the Chicago Board of Trade. William L. is a partner in a wholesale grocery house at Freeport, Illinois. Edward C. is connected with Armour & Company in New York.

Mr. Calkins was one of the first Chicago men to build a summer home at Lake Geneva. His death occurred there in the early hours of No- vember 19, 1899. He superintended some work about his summer residence, preparatory to clos- ing it for the winter, and in so doing contracted a cold which developed into pneumonia, which proved fatal.

He was a life-long Republican, and stood high in the councils of his party. His service in the offices he held was straightforward, prompt and unsullied by any mercenary act. Both he and his wife were members of the Protestant Episco- pal Church. The latter has sustained this relationship ever since she was twelve years old. He joined in 1852, and for many years past had been a member of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Illinois. For a period of forty years or more he was a delegate to the annual conven- tions of the church. He was one of the most active and efficient members of Trinity Church of Chicago, to which he was very strongly at- tached.

He was a man of strongly marked but pleasing physiognomy, of attractive and entertaining per- sonality; a man full of force and energy; liberal and kind, and devoted to his friends and family. His chief pleasure was in making others happy.

HENRY. D. KOLZE.

ENRY DIEDERICK KOLZE belongs to that class of worthy German emigrants who have been able, in this land of great opportunities, to win wealth and comfort for them- selves and great advantages for their children. . He was born July 7, 1839, in the village of Nien- hagen, Amt-Nenstadt, Ruebenberg, Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, a son of Frederick and Louisa (Koch) Kolze. The former was a son of Kurth

Henry Kolze and Anna Marie Luehrs. This couple were also grandparents of William and Frederick Kolze and Mrs. Louisa Wolff, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this work.

They are parents of three sons, Frederick, John Henry and Diederick Henry. A history of the first will be found below. The second is men- tioned in the history of Henry Kolze. Diederick Henry emigrated to America in 1846, this being

H. D. KOLZE.

the first of the family to leave his native land. He located in Chicago, where he followed the trade of a cabinet maker. He married Margaret Fee and had five daughters and one son. The latter is a painter and resides at No. 1386 Har- vard Street, Chicago.

Frederick Kolze was born in the village of Nienhagen, November 22, 1802, and passed away in the town of Leyden, Cook County, Illinois, November 28, 1878. He is buried at Saint John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Du Page County, Illinois, where his faithful wife rests beside him. He was a small farmer in his native land, own- ing about ten acres. His wife, Louisa Koch, born June 15, 1807, in the village of Stocken, Hanover, and died January 22, 1881, was the daughter of an innkeeper. She had one sister, Katharina Dorothea, who married Diedrick Hurfer and re- mained in Germany, where she died while still a young woman.

Frederick Kolze resolved to leave the Father- land and seek his fortune in America, where so many of his countrymen had already found wel- come and homes. With his wife and seven children he sailed June 10, 1849, on the ship "Seneca," and after a long ocean voyage landed in New York. He arrived in Chicago, his objective point, October 15 of the same year. He proceeded at once to Leyden Township, where he rented several farms in succession, first of Mr. Draper, then of Robert Dunlop, and then of Fred Krunwilde. In 1853 he bought eighty acres of Christoph Meyer, the west half of the southeast quarter of section 7, which was mostly broken up. The land was originally entered by M. L. Dunlop, who sold his title to Meyer. The first house built on the land is still standing, being used as a storehouse.

On this farm Frederick Kolze made his home until the time of his death. He was a prominent member of Saint John's Evangelical Lutheran Church and helped build the edifice near which he is buried. He joined the Republican party when it was first organized and continued to sup- port its policy. The family of Frederick and Louisa Kolze is accounted for in the subsequent lines of this paragraph. Marie, born November 28, 1828, married Elijalı Peacock and was the

mother of Charles D. Peacock, the well known jew- eler of Chicago. Katherine Dorothea, born July 24, 1831, married Diedrick Plesse April 1, 1855. The latter was born May 8, 1810, in the village of Markendorf, Hanover, Germany, came to America in 1849 and died in Leyden, Illinois, July 7, 1893. Their only child is Emma, born October 30, 1856, who married Simon Cronemeier, April 10, 1892; Arthur and William Cronemeier, born respectively October 24, 1893, and August 7, 1896, are her children. Aunie, the third child of Frederick Kolze, was born in 1833, married Lawrence Bo- walskee and lives in Golden City, Colorado. Their children are: Lawrence, Elizabeth, Max and Henry. Frederick, the fourth child, is represented on another page of this work. Henry is the sub- ject of this notice. Louisa married Professor Gus- tav Earhorn, a music teacher at No. 3716 Wabash Avenue, Chicago. Dora, born in 1844, died at the early age of fifteen years.

Henry Diederick Kolze, of whom this sketch is written, always remained with his father. He carried on farm work as a boy and later took most of the responsibility, though he was not nominally placed in control until he reached the age of twenty-seven years. He has made farming his business and has made his farm among the most productive in his locality. He erected his present convenient and comfortable residence in 1894.

December 1, 1865, Mr. Kolze married Mary Biermann, who was born September 23, 1845, in Germany. She died August 18, 1869, leaving two children, Bertha Caroline, born February II, 1867, and George Diederick, born December 31, 1868. The daughter married Ernest Will and lives at Richland, Illinois. The son married Freda Geier and resides in Addison, Illinois, and has two children, Ralph and Lawrence. Mr. Kolze was married a second time July 22, 1870, to Sophia Henrietta Frank, daughter of Joachim and Fredericka (Hoppe) Frank, who was born June 30, 1847, in Dielsdorf, Prussia. Six chil- dren were born of this union. Anna Marie, born . November 16, 1871, married Edwin J. Walters, lives at No. 777 Woodbine Avenue, Oak Park, and has two children, Clarence and Edwin. Henry

F. W. MORRISON.

Charles, born February 12, 1874, lives with his parents. Those remaining of this family are: Ida, born January 21, 1877; Frederick, December 31, 1878, died January 2, 1879; Hulda Marie and Arthur Herman, twins, September 19, 1882.

The subject of this sketch is connected with

Saint John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, as are the members of his family. He is a Republi- can in politics, but not an office seeker, preferring the peace of private life to the turmoil of politics. He takes a great interest in the common schools and was four years a school trustee.

FREDERICK W. MORRISON.

REDERICK WILLIAM MORRISON, a na- tive of Chicago, and a life-long resident of Cook County, was born in Chestnut Street, in the vicinity of the old Ogden School, June 13, 1866. His parents were of good American stock and were named James Winthrop and Elizabeth (Lyman) Morrison. James W. Morrison was born in East Owego, New York, and at the early age of sixteen years was called upon to assist in the care and support of his widowed mother and eight small brothers and sisters. He was faith- ful to this trust, and guarded the interest of those dependent upon him with a wisdom worthy of a much older man. He subsequently removed to Indiana and later to Chicago.

During three years he was a clerk in the office of the Michigan Central Railway, and then secured a position in the postoffice department, where he was employed over twenty years. This long term of service, where honesty and regu- larity were essential, is a sufficient testimonial of his trustworthiness and integrity. In 1882 he was made an Odd Fellow in Fort Dearborn Lodge of Chicago, and soon became an influ- ential member, passing through the successive offices to the chair of Noble Grand. Later he became a charter member of American Lodge of the same order. He was also connected with the National Union and the Royal Arcanum. He passed away March 13, 1894.

Mrs. E. L. Morrison survives her husband,

and has been for several years superintendent of the Odd Fellows' Orphans' Home at Lincoln, Illinois, which, under her efficient management, has been a great source of good to the homeless children of deceased members of that order. Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Morrison were the parents of three children: Charles, who on account of his health resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he is employed in the postoffice; Fred- erick W., of whom this sketch is written; and Lillian, wife of Joseph Warner Brown, who is in the employ of S. T. Fish & Company, in South Water Street, Chicago, and is one of the most noted whist players in the state. Mr. and Mrs. Brown reside at No. 2199 Washington Boule- vard.

Frederick W. Morrison received his elementary education in the Washington, Hayes and Skinner Schools of Chicago, and then took up a course in pharmacy in the Illinois College of Pharmacy, a department of Northwestern University. After completing his studies lie had practical expe- rience in various drug stores of this city. He was with C. B. Wilson, at the corner of Madison and Robey Streets five years; with R. M. Barber, at the corner of Laflin and Van Buren Streets, over four years, and conducted a branch store for the latter two years. Wherever he was engaged he made himself valuable to his employers and became popular'witlı patrons, besides gaining a valuable experience in the dispensation of drugs.

G. N. TOFT.

About fifteen months he was in charge of sub- station No. 27 of the Chicago postoffice, at the corner of Garfield Boulevard and Wright Streets, where he owned and conducted a drug store dur- ing that period.

In April, 1895, he opened a pharmacy at the corner of Oak Park and Windsor Avenues in the new suburban village of Berwyn. Since that time his interests have been united with those of his home village, and he has been active in every movement for its improvement. His excellent business methods and genial personal qualities have made him one of the most popular citizens of Berwyn, and as he has been a life-long Repub- lican, it was very natural that on the expiration of the term of the Democratic postmaster, his name should be mentioned favorably for that office. After a spirited contest between the members of the two parties, Mr. Morrison. was appointed through the influence of Congressman Lorimer, and took charge April 1, 1898. He has since conducted the office in a business-like and considerate manner, which has been satis- factory to all parties.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 3

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