Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 4

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

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On September 14, 1892, the subject of this sketch was married to Miss Caroline Esther Dodd, daughter of Francis Dodd and Boadicea

M. Hurssell. Francis Dodd was born in London, England, February 4, 1835, and died in Toronto, Canada, on the 5th of December, 1894. He was a manufacturer of shirts and the pioneer gen- tlemen's furnisher of the west side of Chicago, his store being located in Madison Street, near the corner of Morgan Street. Boadicea M. Dodd was born in York, Canada. She is still living, in Greenwood Avenue, Chicago. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dodd, as follows: Caroline E., Mrs. Morrison; Ethel is the wife of Dr. William J. Brownlee, of Ottawa, Canada; Genevieve; Francis, who died in October, 1895, at the age of twenty-one years, and Lewis Hurs- sell. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison have two children, Genevieve Lyman, born September 8, 1893, and Elizabeth Ethel, June 13, 1897. The family is connected with the Protestant Episcopal Church of Berwyn.

Mr. Morrison has taken part in many of the social and fraternal organizations of his commun- ity. He is a member of Berwyn Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Berwyn Council of the Royal League, Garden City Council of the Royal Arcanum, the Berwyn Republican Club, the Berwyn Improvement Club, and the Church Club of Berwyn, of which he is treasurer.

GEORGE N. TOFT.

G EORGE N. TOFT. Mr. Toft has been a resident of Chicago for over thirty years. Coming here in 1868, he witnessed the all- devouring conflagration of 1871, and has since seen the upbuilding of the great metropolis from its ruins. Better than this, he has seen his own fortune rise from the slender resources with which he reached the city to the comfortable competence which he enjoys to-day; a competence which he has achieved through his own unaided

effort. The story of his life is not only interest- ing in itself, but at the same time instructive, as punctuating and emphasizing the possibilities which the Great West holds out to every intelli- gent, earnest worker.

He was born in Schleswig-Holstein, August 9, 1848, and was the fifth of the six children born to Andrew and Mattie C. (Andersen) Toft, of the same duchy. His father, who was a farmer, died at the age of sixty-eight years; his mother

J. H. HOLDT.

entered into rest after passing lier seventy-second milestone. Three of their offspring reside in America.

George N. Toft received the usual school training given to the boys of his native village, and at the age of sixteen years he began active life as clerk for a grocer. For three years he devoted his time and energy to familiarizing him- self with the business. Then-as has been said --- he bade adieu to his native land, to seek fortune in the great republic of the Western Hemisphere.

For a short time after reaching this city lie worked for a firm at the corner of North Wells and Kinzie Streets, and then resolved to acquire the trade of a mason. Such was his industry and so resolute his application that within two years he was able to command journeyman's wages. Later he was able to take contracts in his own name, and through industry and thrift he began

to accumulate capital. His tastes, however, in- clined him toward mercantile pursuits, and he chose the business of a grocer. For seven years he conducted a store at Des Moines, Iowa, but returned to Chicago in 1892. In that year he erected the three-story brick building, which he yet occupies, at No. 5649 Cottage Grove Avenue, where he still carries on a prosperous business. He had previously invested in real property in Des Moines, having built a store and three dwellings, which he still owns.

He was married, at Chicago, July 24, 1875, to Katharine Hansen, a lady born in Denmark. They have one son-James A. Toft-who is in business with his father.

Mr. Toft has been a member of the society " Walhalla " for twelve years, and is also a member of the Danish Brotherhood and of the Independent Order Odd Fellows.

JACOB H. HOLDT.

ACOB H. HOLDT was born in North Schleswig, Denmark, on March 1, 1873. He was the youngest of a family of seven children, trained in the public schools, and re- ceived those early impressions, which go so far toward moulding character, among the rugged landscapes and amid the sturdy, stalwart, honest peasantry of the peninsula which gave him birth. In 1890, when but a boy of seventeen, he set out, with firm resolve and a courage beyond his years, to shift for himself in a field which, though yet to be explored by himself, had yielded an ample harvest to many of his countrymen who had pre- ceded him.

His brother-in-law, Anders Skau, was already in Chicago conducting a livery business, and it was to this city that he came immediately after

landing. For the first seven months after his arrival here he worked for him, and at the end of that time became private coachman for a lumber merchant, in whose service he continued, with occasional intermittent interruptions, for two and one-half years.

A subservient position, however, was not con- genial to him, and he resolved to invest his sav- ings in the establishment of a milk depot and delivery route. The location which he selected was at No. 2914 Vernon Avenue. From there he removed to No. 4217 St. Lawrence Avenue, and thence to his present situation at No. 3816 Alden Court. To the conduct of his business lie brought pertinacity and pluck, qualities which, when joined to sterling honesty, ensure success.

ALBERT FOELSCH.

Not until 1897 did he take to himself a wife. In that year he married Miss Johanna Nielsen, a young lady of Danish birth. She died Septem- ber 8, 1898, leaving a baby daughter of six months to his care.

Mr. Holdt has been a member of the Walhalla Society since 1890, the year of his arrival in Chi-

cago. He is modest, unassuming, and in no sense a self-seeker, yet his native worth, which cannot be concealed, has made him many friends, while those who know him best hold him in the highest esteem. He has been the architect of his own fortunes, and his success is attributable to his own undaunted efforts.

ALBERT FOELSCH.

LBERT FOELSCH. Of .only two crucial facts is any son of Adam sure-that he has been born, and that he must die. He may or may not rejoice as he thinks of the former; he may, perhaps, shudder if he ever takes time to direct his thoughts toward the latter. Yet the wings of the Angel of Death are never folded. He kisses alike the golden curls of the sleeping child and the wrinkled brow of old age. But to the mourning friends about the couch where rests all that was once precious comes the earnest promise of the future, "I am the resur- rection and the life."

Yet the silent dead mutely demand the last offices of love, and to the appropriate rendering of these the task of the undertaker-sad and sol- emn-is an indispensable adjunct in modern civ- ilization. It is to this profession (for it is vir- tually a profession) that Albert Foelsch had de- voted himself.

He was born in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, April 24, 1848, the son of Carl Foelsch, who emigrated from Germany and settled in Chicago in 1854. At that time the coming metropolis of the West gave little hint of its potentialities. It was marshy, dirty and altogether unpleasant. Such as it was, however, the sturdy German resolved to make the best of it. For two and one-half years he found employment in a brick yard at the northwest corner of Jackson and Clinton

Streets. From Chicago the elder Foelsch removed to Palos, Cook County, whence he went to Le- mont (then called Athens), where he worked seven years. He was overtaken by two great misfortunes: his wife died, and he became totally blind, in which pitiable condition he remained about thirty years, when death came to his relief. He was the father of three sons and three daugh- ters, Albert being the second child in order of birth, but the oldest son. A brief notice of the other children will be found of interest.

Hannah died and was buried at sea while the family was en route to New York, and only three days before landing Christina married Joseph Windhausen, but is now a widow. Charles died at Chicago when only one year old. Philipina was taken from earth's troubles at the age of four weeks. William died before he had seen his eighth birthday.

Albert was in his fifth year when his parents brought him across the ocean. He attended school at Palos and Lemont, but after his mothi- er's death (1872) came to Chicago to look for work. He was not a stranger. Before going to Lemont he had worked for several parties here,' and had already established a reputation for in- dustry, sobriety and honesty. On his return to the city he found a place with Fairbank, Peck & Company, at the corner of Eighteenth and Black- well Streets. Finally he found congenial employ-

AUGUST WILKEN.

ment with Mr. Schneider, at No. 2125 Archer Avenue, who was engaged in directing funerals, and Mr. Foelsch remained with him three years.

Meanwhile, June 15, 1875, he had married Miss Bertha Feldman, who was born on Long Island in the state of New York. Their union has been blessed with nine children, of whom six, four sons and two daughters, are yet living: Albert J. is a well known physician; Charles C. is a bookkeeper and cashier, holding a position of high responsibility and trust; Arthur is attend- ing school; Robert, Bertha and Maria are at home with their parents.

For seven years after his marriage Mr. Foelsch worked as a car driver on the West Madison Street line, under the superintendency of James K. Lake, after which he returned to the employ of Mr. Schneider, who had removed to No. 3825 State Street. He remained with him three years and nine mouths, when he started in business for

himself. For three years he had a partner, but for the eight years continued alone. He estah- lished himself at his present location, No. 261 Thirty-fifth Street, May 4, 1886. That same year he suffered the loss of all that he had, including a considerable sum of money, through a fire. He carried no insurance, but he contrived to repair his fortunes and start in business anew. Since then he has greatly prospered. In 1900 he ad- mitted a partner, and the business is now con- ducted by Foelsch & Morton.

He is a member of Apollo Lodge, No. 642, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; of the American Order of United Workmen; a deputy in the Independent Order of Canadian Foresters; and belongs to Apollo Tent, No. 63, Knights of the Maccabees. Heis a graduate of the Lafayette College of Embalmers, and holds a certificate from the Chicago Undertakers' Association, at- tested by the Chicago Board of Health.

AUGUST WILKEN.

UGUST WILKEN. Mr. Wilken has been a resident of Chicago for nearly forty-five years, having taken up his residence here in 1855, when it required strong faith to believe in the city's future. At that time he was a mere boy of but fifteen years, baffling against the world and hewing out, with patient industry and untir- ing effort, the first steps on his road to success.

He was born August 12, 1840, in Schleswig- Holstein, which principality was then tributary to Denmark. For this reason he calls himself (and with natural and legitimate pride) a Dane; and among the Danish-American colony of Chicago he is highly esteemed. It is a trite saying that "nothing succeeds like success," yet it is no less true than trite.

His parents, Jurgen and Henrietta (Halter-

mann) Welken, were also natives of the same principality. The life of the elder Welken lad more than the ordinary tinge of romance. As a sailor before the mast he spent his youth. On one of his voyages he touched at New Orleans. Finding a promising opening at that port he turned landsman and engaged in business. His venture proved prosperous, and from New Orleans he went to Charleston, South Carolina, where he was also successful. Gradually he accumulated a competence, yet he never lost his inborn love for the "Fatherland," and after a while once more returned. The outbreak of the war of 1848 turned the current of his thoughts, and he re- turned to America, bringing his family with him. He was a man of considerable financial means, and his first venture after reaching Chicago was

H. G. MARTENS.

the purchase of a farın in Elk Grove Township upon the advice of Mr. Prussing. After five years of successful farming he tired of the life, and came back to Chicago, where he died, in 1873. His wife followed him to the grave four years later.

Of their seven children, August was the second in order of birth. Two died in infancy, but five are yet living: Doris (widow of Andrew Gill), August, Emil, Theodore and Ernst.

The early school advantages of Mr. Wilken were not of the best, although he improved them fairly well. A few years in the public schools of Denmark comprised the course which the judg- ment of bis parents permitted him to take, although the curriculum covered English as well as German. He began the battle of life early, and for many years he earnestly combated adverse circumstances. The first seven years which he passed in active business were spent in the con- duct of a grocery at Bridgeport. From that locality he moved to West Chicago Avenue, where he also succeeded, his industry, honesty

and "grit" always aiding him in forging to the front. After some twenty-three years spent in the grocery trade he opened a wine store, at No. 49 La Salle Street, which has proved successful for the reason that he has brought to its manage- ment the same sterling qualities which have made him the earnest, successful man that he is to-day.

While affiliating with the Republican party in national issues, he is in no sense a bigoted parti- san. In local elections he votes without regard to party dictation. His nature is generous and his temperament genial; his heart always sympa- thizing with the poor, and his purse strings never tightly tied against a true friend. His voice is rich and sympathetic in tone, and he is in request for both chorus and solo singing in the several singing societies of which he is a valued member.

On December 6, 1888, he was married to Miss Minnie Tegge, a maiden of German birth. Four children have been born to them. Edward, Amanda, Dora and Alma. In religious faith the family is Lutheran.

HENRY G. MARTENS.

ENRY GEORGE MARTENS, a prominent resident and tradesman of Franklin Park, was born at Chicago, August 20, 1868, his birthplace being the premises at Nos. 591-93 Wells Street. For a somewhat extended account of his ancestry, the reader is referred to the bi- ography of his father, also named Henry Martens.

As a boy he attended the Chicago public schools, and supplemented the education obtained there by a twelve months' commercial course in the Metropolitan Business College. He entered his father's store, and remained with him until the elder Martens removed to Franklin Park. Thereafter he continued to conduct it on his own account for three years, when he sold out and

went to live with an uncle, Valentine Ruh, where, for three years, he devoted himself chiefly to acquiring a knowledge of, and profi- ciency in, the plumber's trade. A severe attack of pleurisy forced him to abandon this line of work, and he gradually picked up a familiarity with house painting and decorating, calcimining and paper-hanging, and he has followed these branches of business ever since.

October 23, 1897, he was married to Miss Effa B. Sibert, a daughter of James and Delilah (Snyder) Sibert, who was born at Shannon, Ill., August 26, 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Martens have one child, Sibert William, born October 7, 1898. In politics Mr. Martens affiliates with the Republican party.

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLIN"

JACOB LENGACHER.

(From Photo by W. J. Roor).

CAPT. JACOB LENGACHER.

APT. JACOB LENGACHER, who has been engaged in fire insurance in Chicago ever since the year 1865, is an honored pioneer of this city, well known for his shrewd intellectual endowments, integrity of moral character, suavity of manner and painstaking care in the conduct of his business. A common- wealth made up of such men as he would be a "State" indeed.

Captain Lengacher is a native of that ambitious and prosperous little republic, Switzerland, born in Diemtiten, canton of Bern, June 26, 1833. His parents, David and Magdalena (Knute) Lengacher, were also natives of that canton, and members of very old and honored Swiss families. The captain's mother passed to the invisible ·world at the comparatively early age of forty- seven years; but his father reached the venerable age of eighty-five years. They had eight chil- dren, namely: David, who was clerk of the circuit court in his native place for many years and is now deceased; Johann, also deceased; Jacob, of this sketch, who is next in order of age; Samuel, who still resides in Switzerland; Christian; Gottfred; Magdalena, who is now Mrs. Karlen; and Rudolph, who is a prominent citizen in his native canton, being now sheriff of his district.

Capt. Jacob Lengacher, the only member of his father's family who emigrated from his native land, received a common-school education and after the close of his school days was occupied as a coachman, for a time driving the mail coach between Bern and Kirchberg. Conforming to the laws and usages of his country, he served his time in the national militia.

Influenced by a friend who was coming to the United States, he decided to cast his lot in the New World, the land of opportunity, and accord- ingly, in April, 1857, launched from Havre on a sailing ship, and after a voyage of forty-two days was landed at New York. In June he arrived in Chicago, and here was employed as a day laborer for about two years; next he was engaged in a brewery at La Porte, Indiana, until August 24, 1861, when he demonstrated his patriotism and love for his newly adopted country by enlisting for the term of the war in support of the regular government.

Joining Company I of the Thirty-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, a German regiment commanded by Colonel Willich, he was in the Army of the Cumberland and participated in all the engagements in which that regiment took part. May 26, 1864, in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, he was very painfully injured in one of his lower limbs just below the knee, which wound laid him up in the hospital for two months. Recovering, he rejoined his company, at Atlanta, Georgia, and served until January 28, 1865, when, after the close of the war, he resigned, at Chatta- nooga. He was so brave and faithful that he was promoted from the ranks as a private through the various positions in line to that of captain.

After leaving the army he returned to La Porte, Indiana, where he was married. Coming again to Chicago, he was employed for a time by George Schneider, who was then collector of customs. In the fall of that year (1865) he engaged in fire insurance, in the employ of the Garden City Fire Insurance Company, which in-

JOHN TELLING.

stitution was wiped out in the great conflagration of 1871. His own residence also, at No. 366 Sedgwick Street, was entirely consumed in the same fire. The following year he erected another building, this being the first cottage built after the fire, and he resided at that number for eight- een years, when he sold the property and located at his present home, No. 277 Fremont Street. He has continued in the fire insurance business until the present time, representing a number of the best American and English companies and enjoying that success which follows industry and good judgment.

On becoming a citizen of the United States the captain espoused the cause of the Republican party and in 1860 voted for Abraham Lincoln for president of the United States, and ever since then, in state and national elections, he has uniformly supported that party. In 1871 he was elected alderman of the Sixteenth Ward, which section of the city is now embraced within the Twenty-second Ward, and he was re-elected in 1873 and again in 1875. During all the six years of his service in the city legislature he served his constituents satisfactorily. He has been a delegate to many district and state Republican conventions, also attended others, and has always been influential in the interests of his party.

In 1866 Captain Lengacher became a member of Robert Blum Lodge No. 58, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was one of the charter members of Lincoln Park Lodge No. 437, on its organization in 1873, and passed through the various chairs, and was its repre- sentative at the Grand Lodge for many years. Fraternally he has been a member of Mithra Lodge No. 410, Free and Accepted Masons, ever since 1867, and is a member of U. S. Grant Post No. 28, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Sharpshooters' Association. In 1890 he visited the land of his nativity, spending four months among the scenes of his childhood and among friends and relatives there.

March 5, 1865, is the date of the captain's marriage to Miss Margaret Haffer, a native of Indiana and of German parentage, her parents being Kasper and Margaret (Kesselmann) Haffer. Captain and Mrs. Lengacher have three sons, viz .: William, Robert and Oscar F. The last- named is associated with his father in business, the firm being Lengacher & Son. All the members of the family are highly respected by everyone who is acquainted with them. Socially the captain is an exceedingly pleasant man, with whom it is a great satisfaction to hold con- versation.

JOHN TELLING.

OHN TELLING, one of the successful mer- chants of Chicago, was born January 6, 1844, in Kidderminster, England. His father, Henry Telling, was a carpenter, who resided all his life at Kidderminster. Elizabeth Aliban, wife of the last-named, was left an orphan at an early age and was reared by and made her home with her brother, John Aliban.

Jolin Telling was placed in the care of private

tutors until he was twelve years old, when he went into the office of Brinton & Son, large car- pet manufacturers of Kidderminster. At the age of fourteen years he came with his parents to America and located at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Here he was assistant bookkeeper at the foundry office of Turton & Sercombe two years. At six- teen years of age he entered the employ of At- kins, Steele & White, wholesale shoe dealers of

JOHN TELLING.

the same city, and here laid the foundation of his long and remarkably successful business career. After three years in this house he engaged as traveling salesman with Page & Crosby, dealers in the same goods.

He was at once successful, and moved with that firm to Chicago in 1868. Here the house began business under the title of Page, Lyman & Company, and went out of business about 1870. Mr. Telling then engaged with Greensfelder, Rosenthal & Company, with whom he continued seventeen years, being a partner in the business during the last three years of that period.

His next connection was with Guthman, Car- peuter & Telling, in which he continued as junior partner until the time of his death-which occurred November 16, 1895-a period of ten years. At the time of his demise he was the oldest commercial traveler on the road, and was still able to excel all his competitors in sales in his line of goods, facts of which he was justly proud.

Mr. Telling was very popular with his asso- ciates, was a most genial and companionable man, as well as a faithful and affectionate hus- band and tender parent. He joined the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows at the age of twenty-one years, becoming a member of Excel- sior Lodge of Milwaukee. At twenty-three he was made a Mason by St. John's Lodge of the same city, and subsequently affiliated with Me- dinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine of Chicago. He was a charter member of the Traveling Men's Insurance Association, organized in 1871, and a member of the North Shore Club, of Lake View. From earliest childhood he was reared in the Episcopal Church, and continued to be a most devout member of that body until a few months before his death. He then became interested in Christian Science, and associated himself with the propagation of that faith, giving up his church ties entirely. He was always an en- thusiastic Republican and an active political worker, especially during the presidential cam- paign of 1876.

July 31, 1866, Mr. Telling was married in All Saints' Church, at Milwaukee, to Miss Annie

Just, eldest daughter of Capt. William A. Just and Ellen Bromley. Captain Juist was a son of William and Anna Just, of Mellin, Prussia, where they lived and died. Their son was but ten years old when the father passed away. His wife survived him but two years, and thus the youthful William was early left to his own re- sources. Ellen Bromley was a daughter of Thomas and Eleanor (Berry) Bromley, of Liver- pool, England, the former a steward in a gentle- man's family in Liverpool.

Capt. William A. Just followed the sea until 1845, making his home at Liverpool in the mean- time, and was married there in January, 1843, to Miss Bromley, in St. Peter's Church of that city. He came to America in 1845 and settled in Mil- waukee, and immediately became a navigator on the Great Lakes, where he commanded vessels until the time of his death, being then owner of the schooner "Wayne." He died of cholera October 10, 1854, leaving a widow and five chil- dren. He was a remarkable man, and was wide- ly mourned in Milwaukee, where his family oc- cupied a prominent social position.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 4

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