Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 87

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

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but his patriotic spirit would not suffer him to avail himself of the privilege, and he insisted up- 011 paying three hundred dollars for a substitute who might represent him among the boys in blue.

After receiving his discharge, he joined a wag- on train bound for St. Louis, as a guard. The journey proved itself a most exciting one. Mr. Martens had a friend named Michael McGlone, a typical long-haired frontiersman, a capital fellow when sober, but a demon when crazed by drink. Mr. Martens insisted that he, too, should be taken as a guard, agreeing to become security for his good behavior. The two friends first pro- ceeded to Santa Fe, to receive the money due them from the Government, and joined the party at Las Vegas. After leaving that point Mc- Glone's unfortunate habit overcame him. He got drunk, started a disturbance of mammoth di- mensions, and came near killing several of the travelers, whom he had come to protect, before he could be overpowered, disarmed and secured. At Kansas City Mr. Martens left the train, and there he had an experience with tin-horn gam- blers, not easily forgotten. He was decoyed, on

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H. C. MARTENS.

a pretext that he was to meet some of his friends, into a room filled with gamblers and thugs, who locked the door and made him a prisoner. He had a large sum of money upon his person, whichi fact was probably known to his warders. The old frontier soldier's presence of mind, how- ever, did not desert him. Quietly drawing a re- volver he ordered them to open the door, or suf- fer the consequences. The door was opened without further parley.

From Kansas City he returned to Chicago, reaching the city toward the close of 1855. At that time the Ruh brothers-John, Valentine and Joseph-were conducting a bakery on North Wells Street. Mr. Martens bought the interest of John and Joseph, and formed a partnership with Valentine, devoting himself to a mercantile life one year. But the business, with its attend- ant confinement and monotonous routine of duties, was not to his taste. He was naturally of a roav- ing disposition, and his life and adventures on the plains had not tended to alter or curb it. Leaving the business in the hands of his partner, he went to New York, and after spending most of his ready money, took passage to Australia. After a voyage of one hundred and thirty-nine days he landed at Melbourne, and set out for the gold fields, about eighty miles distant. For the first month he worked for a miner, earning fifteen dollars. He then started to prospect on his own account, but not meeting with the hoped-for 'suc- cess, at the end of a year he shipped before the mast on the vessel "Red Jacket," reaching New York after a passage lasting one hundred and forty days. On her homeward voyage the ship touched at Saint Helena, where he visited the grave of Napoleon. His spirit of investigation led him to climb down into the vault, but on be- ing discovered by the guards he was forced to beat a hasty retreat. A stop of four weeks was also made in London.

On returning to Chicago, Mr. Martens resumed the bakery business with his brother-in-law, Val- entine Ruh. The partnership continued for about three years, when Mr. Martens opened a grocery store at Nos. 591-93 Wells Street, which. he conducted until 1890, establishing a record of

thirty years of success as a retail grocer. In the year last mentioned he retired, and having erect- ed his present residence at Franklin Park, he re- moved to that suburb, which has been his home ever since.

September 18, 1860, he was married to Miss Elizabeth McCormack, the daughter of James McCormack and Mary Jane (Lind) McCormack. Mr. McCormack was born in County Down, Ire- land. He was a hatter by trade, and was reared in the Church of England, although in later life he became a Presbyterian, out of deference to the wishes of his wife. Hedied in 1841, at the age of thirty-nine years. His wife had preceded him to the grave in the spring of 1838, aged thirty-eight years. She was born in Belfast and was the mother of Violet Isabella, who was born Novem- ber 14, 1829, died March 29, 1887, and was buried at Graceland Cemetery. She was the wife of John Gilmore, a brass finisher, and lived both in Chicago and in New York. Their daughter, Margaret, was born February 14, 1852, and married Richard Houlihan. Their home is at No. 865 Osgood Street, Chicago. Their children are: Richard, Henry, John and Edmund. The second child of Mr. and Mrs. McCormack was named George Lind. He was born in 1831, is a glass blower by trade, and lives at Homestead, Pennsylvania. He was three times married. His first wife was Esther Corbit, who bore him two sons, George and William.

Mrs. Elizabeth (McCormack) Martens is the youngest child. Three others died in infancy. Mrs. Martens' paternal grandfather was a glass worker and blower in Belfast. His son, Thomas, also a glass worker, reared a large family; his daughter, Margaret, married a Mr. Thompson and now lives in Toronto, Canada. Mrs. Mar- tens' maternal grandfather married Violet Milli- ken, by whom he had two children, James and Mary Jane. James was a lieutenant in the Brit- ish army and fought at Waterloo. He married Isabella Harrington, but the couple had no chil- dren. Mary Jane was the mother of Mrs. Mar- tens. She made her home with her brother be- tween the ages of four and eight years. Mrs. Martens' great uncle on the maternal side was

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AMOS SMITH.

named Israel Milliken, a man of no little note in Belfast. He began life as a linen manufacturer, but converted his factory into public baths, and came to be familiarly known as "Doctor." He erected the first illuminating gas plant in Belfast, which he operated himself. He voted with the United Irish Party.

Mrs. Martens herself was born September 8, 1838, on Peters Hill, in Belfast. She came to New York with the family of John Greenlees, consisting of father, mother and a daughter, Mary, who married John Calvert.

The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Martens: Johanna Martin, born July 12, 1862, died February 6, 1865; Dora Violet, born October 25, 1863, and living at home; Char- lotte Fredericka, born March 8, 1865, died April 27, 1866; Elizabeth Caroline, born January 26, 1867, married Julius Grubb, a postal clerk, and lives at Franklin Park; Henry George, whose bi- ography may be found elsewhere; Helena Isabella, born April 29, 1870, graduated from the Chicago

North Division High School in 1888, is a teacher of nine years' experience and for the past seven years has been employed as a teacher of the fifth grade at the Ella Mitchell School, Chicago; Vio- let Louise, born September 29, 1871, died Sep- tember 7, 1873; John Frederick Albert, born No- vember 28, 1875, died August 18, 1876; and Alice Maggie, born September 14, 1873, married William H. Kirchhoff, whose sketch appears 011 another page.

In politics Mr. Martens is a Republican, though he never held or sought office. He was for many years an earnest and active member of Grant Place Methodist Episcopal Church, Chica- go, toward the building of which he contributed liberally, both in time and money, and of which he was for many years a trustee. He is a man of clear and vigorous intellect, keen insight and accurate judgment; generous and charitable. His tastes are artistic and refined, a fact which is abundantly attested by the furnishings and sur- roundings of his delightful home.

AMOS SMITH.

MOS SMITH, one of Chicago's well known business men, and a gallant soldier of the Civil War, first saw the light in New Jersey, having been born in Elizabeth, that state, Feb- ruary 7; 1847. His father, Louis R. Smith, was a sea captain, and in the course of his life visited nearly every important port on the globe. Both he and his wife, Louisa, were natives of Ger- many.

The early opportunities for study which young Amos enjoyed were very meager. Until he reached the age of fourteen years he accompanied his father upon his voyages, attending school while at home, but only after desultory fashion. In his fifteenth year he went to work in a tan-

nery, but the employment was not to his taste, and he set himself to learn the trade of an uphol- sterer, at Newark, New Jersey.

The outbreak of the Civil War aroused his patriotic impulse, and September 1, 1861, al- though a mere boy, he enlisted in Company F of the Thirty-fifth New Jersey Infantry, for ninety days. At the expiration of that time he re-en- listed for the war, and served until its close, being mustered out at Washington in August, 1865. He shared all the fatigues and trials of his regiment, taking part in all the battles and skirmishes in which it was engaged, and at Gettysburg receiving a slight wound.

After receiving his discharge from the army

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J. L. WAGENBERGER.

he came to Chicago, where he worked at any honorable labor that presented. He found em- ployment in various upholstering establishments, and was for eleven years at "The Fair," where he was in charge of the window shade depart- ment. In 1895 he started in business for himself, at the same location where he now is, No. 405 North Clark Street, where he has built up a large and remunerative business.

Mr. Smith is a member of Lake View Lodge No. 774, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons,

and of Court America, Independent Order of Foresters. In politics he is independent in thought and action.

April 5, 1874, he was married to Carrie, a daughter of Mr. Jacob Miller, and an old settler and highly esteemed citizen of Chicago, a more detailed mention of whom may be found in the biographical sketch of George B. Miller, on another page. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born three children-Emma, Fred and Robert.

JOHN L. WAGENBERGER.

OHN LOUIS WAGENBERGER. This ven- erable man, now looking back upon sixty- seven years of a well-spent life, has been a resident of Chicago for more than half a century, having accompanied his parents hither in 1847, when but a boy of fifteen years.

His parents were John and Katharine (Paul) Wagenberger, natives of that portion of Bavaria which lay upon the frontier of France. There; in the village Schweisweiler, he was born, May 31, 1832. His father was a farmer, and emi- grated to America in 1842, bringing with him his wife and three children, Katherine, John L. and Margaret. The family first settled near Allentown, Pennsylvania, where the father found work as a farm hand, and where Joseph; the youngest child, was born. The mother died in Chicago in 1853, six years after the removal to this city, her husband surviving her until 1888. Of other members of the family it may be re- marked that Katherine is now the widow of Henry Miller, living in Chicago; Joseph has his home in California; and Margaret, widow of William Miller, resides in Chicago.

Of scholastic training John L. Wagenberger received but little. He attended school for a

short time in Pennsylvania and for a few months in Chicago, at the corner of Clark and Harrison Streets, but the straitened circumstances of the family forced him to encounter the stern realities of contact with the world before his boyhood was completed. Before leaving Pennsylvania he worked on the Lehigh canal and, for five years after coming to Chicago he toiled at any honest labor that he could find to do. In 1852 he be- came an apprentice to John L. Gerber to learn the trade of a carriage painter, serving a term of three years. To-day Mr. Wagenberger enjoys the distinction-which he justly values-of being the oldest carriage painter in Chicago who has learned his trade in this city. For a time he worked as a journeyman, and for many years conducted a shop of his own, but in 1897 failing health necessitated his retirement from active business cares.

Sitting now in the richly earned quiet of his own home, he looks back upon the changes which he has witnessed since coming here, a poor boy of ten years. They have been as marvelous as they have been numerous, and in not a few of them he has played an important part. In his early days of hard work, before learning his

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HENRY KIRCHHOFF.

trade, he worked on the Illinois & Michigan Canal and in lumber yards, and in 1851 operated a ferry boat at Rush Street. He joined the old Volunteer Fire Department that same year, being a member of Metamora Engine Company No. 2, and was its foreman at the date of the disband- ment of the volunteers in 1859.

Mr. Wagenberger was originally a Democrat, but immediately after the firing of Fort Sumter he transferred his political allegiance to the Re- publican party, and has acted with that organi- zation ever since. Since 1864 he has been a member of the Ancient Order of Druids, and also belongs to the Ancient Order of United Work- men. On joining the Volunteer Fire Department in 1857 he became a member of the Firemen's Benevolent Association, with which he yet retains

his connection. He is a man of quick percep- tions and remarkably clear memory.

He was married January 5, 1859, to Miss Lydia Roemer, the ceremony being celebrated at Osh- kosh, Wisconsin. Mrs. Wagenberger was born in New Jersey. They have had three children, one of whom, George, died in childhood. The other two, John and Julia, grew to maturity. The former died, leaving a widow, in 1897, from dis- ease resulting from an accident received while rendering gallant service as a fireman, he having inherited his father's love for the risks, the dan- gers and the glory attending such a life. Julia became the wife of Mr. Charles Thiele, a con- tracting mason, and lives in Chicago.

The family is connected with St. Paul's Evan- gelical Lutheran Church.

HENRY KIRCHHOFF.

ENRY KIRCHHOFF is a retired and repre- sentative German-American citizen, a thor- ough business man, and loyal to the inter- ests of his adopted country. Born March 30, 1835, in the village of Bennevos, near Hanover, Germany, he is a son of Henry and Christina (Pingston) Kirchhoff.

The paternal grandfather died when his son, Henry, was two years of age, and he was still a young man. His widow supported their two sons after his death and both grew up to fight for their country against Napoleon. Henry, the father of the man whose name heads this article, fought at Waterloo, and his brother went to Russia and was never heard from again. The latter was not married.

Mr. Pingston, the maternal grandfather, be- came the father of two daughters. His wife died the day her grandson, Henry, was born. Mr. Pingston was a distiller and farmer in his native

land and became wealthy. One daughter mar- ried and remained in her native land.

Henry Kirchhoff, Senior, born February 20, 1796, opened his eyes for the first time in the town of Lelute, Hanover. This town was then a small village, but has grown a great deal since. This worthy gentleman died April 5, 1870, and was buried in St. John's Lutheran Cemetery in Addison, Du Page County. He was ten years in the army and later farmed until he emigrated from the Fatherland. With his wife and eight children, on a sailing vessel, he left Bremen for a strange land, and arrived in Chicago October 5, 1846, coming by way of New York and Buffalo, by canal and boat.

The first home of the family of which Henry, Junior, was a member, was a small frame build- ing of four rooms, 20x36 feet in dimensions. Mr. Kirchhoff brought lumber from Chicago and ripped out the shingles himself. The land was

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HENRY KIRCHHOFF.

seminary land and located in section 21, Leyden Township. In 1864, when this land came into market, he purchased it. Later he bought eighty acres in section 27, of Mr. Blanchard, making his possessions ninety acres, all told. A man of splendid physique, Mr. Kirchhoff was five feet, eleven inches in height, and weighed two hun- dred pounds. He spent his last days in the home of his son. It may be said of him that he was ever devout and a worshipper in the Lutheran Church, of which he was a member. He was a Republican in politics.

Mrs. Christina (Pingston) Kirchhoff was born February 20, 1801, in the village of Vesburg, Hanover, Germany. She died August 14, 1880, and her remains were interred by the side of her husband's. The children of this union were nine in number, and brief mention is made of each.

William married Sophia Prelbing and became the father of one son, William, and a daughter, Katharine. His widow lives with her son. Mary became the wife of Henry Korthauer. She was born July 13, 1824, and died May 1, 1873, and was buried at the same place as her parents. Her husband survived her until January 8, 1891, when he also died and was buried with his wife. The children of this union are accounted for as follows: Herman H. is a dealer in hardware in Bensenville; Caroline married Edward Avers, a farmer in Du Page County ; George and an infant, twins, died young; William is a single man and lives in Bensenville. Louis, the third child of Henry Kirchhoff, Senior, was born April 8, 1827, and married Mrs. Sophia Bender. He is a capital- ist, and resides in Astoria, Oregon, and is the fa- ther of Alvina and Paulina. Christina was the fourth child and died in Germany. Doretta died at sixteen years of age. She was an invalid and lived only two years after the emigration of the family. Henry, Junior, is the next. Ernestina married George Korthauer and lives at Whatcom, Washington. Her children are: Martha, Henry, Ernest, Alvina, Laura and George. Sophia, born October 22, 1840, died April 18, 1892, and was buried in Rosehill Cemetery. She married Frederick Schule, of whom further mention is

made on another page of this volume. August, the youngest, was born April 5, 1843, and died in July, 1856. His remains were buried with those of the family, interred at the Addison Lutheran Church.

Henry Kirchhoff, for whom this article is com- posed, remained at the home of his parents until he reached the age of twenty-five years. He subsequently undertook the cultivation of two hundred and forty acres of land in section 21. He purchased this land from the Agricultural College, and later bought eighty acres of his fa- ther in section 27, the land all adjoining. In 1873 he erected a brick residence in which he lived seventeen years. This building still stands, but is unoccupied. In 1890 Mr. Kirchhoff built his present home in Manheim, and has been located there since 1891. He sold two hundred and eighty acres to Lester Franklin, which became a part of the Franklin addition, and retains the balance. Since 1890 Mr. Kirchhoff has lived re- tired, but has given some attention to investments and different enterprises since. Among these may be mentioned the Elgin Breakfast Food Company, located at Spalding, Illinois. Mr. Kirchhoff is the financial backer and practically the owner. The concern was established in Au- gust, 1898, with a capacity of one hundred and twenty-five barrels of oatmeal in twenty-four hours. George Ward is the manager and is also a small stockholder.

May 17, 1861, Mr. Kirchhoff married Mary Ann Franzen, daughter of John Henry and Eliza- beth (Diekoff) Franzen. The family of Fran- zen is mentioned further on another page of this volume. Mrs. Kirchhoff was born January 20, 1840. Of each of the twelve children of Mr. and Mrs. Kirchhoff brief mention will be made.

Herman Henry, born January 27, 1862, lives at Hampshire, Illinois. He is a dealer in flour and feed. He married Maggie Scheddin and their only child, Florence, was born January 17, 1895. Of August Bernhardt, born May 13, 1863, further mention is made in an article headed by his name. Emma Katharine, born November 16, 1864, mar- ried Thomas Henry Tiedmann, October 29, 1890. Her husband is a sou of Peter Theodore and

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JOHN SCHMELTZ.

Anna (Fortman) Tiedmann, and was born Jan- uary 23, 1864, on Wells Street, Chicago. In June 1889, he went into the employment of Guth- mann, Carpenter & Telling, as cashier, and is with this concern at the present time. The chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Tiedmann are: Elmer, Henry, Arthur and Theodore, the last two being twins, born December 17, 1891, and Peter Thomas, born May 6, 1896.

Henry George, the next in order of birth, was born July 19, 1866, and is further mentioned in an article headed by his name. William Her- man, born January 24, 1868, is also mentioned elsewhere. Frederick Gustavus, born November 3, 1869, is a partner with his brother, Herman, at Hampshire, Illinois. · Albert Gustav, born November 8, 1871, resides with his parents. He has charge of the Elgin Breakfast Food Com- pany at Spalding, Illinois. Julius George, born

September 14, 1873, died September 25, 1890. Frank William, born July 25, 1875, is head mil- ler at the works at Spalding, Illinois. Carl Ed- ward, born March 30, 1878, is a bookkeeper for Schultz & Lemly, on Indiana Street, and resides with his parents, as do also Mary Dorothea, born March 16, 1880, and Robert Frank, born April 8, 1883.

Mr. Kirchhoff is a member of the Evangelical German Reformed Church. He is a Republican and has served as Road Commissioner of Leyden Township, twenty-four years as school commis- sioner of the sixth district and township trustee of Franklin Park three years. He is one of Cook County's influential citizens and it can truly be said that his word is as good as his bond. His success is due to his sagacity and integrity, in a large measure, and his income is founded on sub- stantial ground. -

JOHN SCHMELTZ.

OHN SCHMELTZ is one of the German- American citizens of the city of Chicago, whose industry and integrity reflect credit alike upon the land of his birth and the country of his adoption. Upon a rather slender founda- tion he has reared a superstructure of success, built upon the corner stones of his own energy and fidelity. He was born in the city of May- ence, Germany, May 21, 1829. His father's name was Andrew and his mother was Barbara (Blum) Schmeltz.

He attended the public schools until he was fourteen years old, when he was apprenticed to learn the wall paper printer's trade. His quick perception and ready adaptability to surroundings stood him in as good stead here as it has in after life. His apprenticeship lasted three and one- half years. Then came the Revolution of 1848,

with its accompanying disturbance of the coun- try's industries. The paper printing houses were closed, one and all, and he found himself forced to seek a new field of industry. An apprentice- ship of three years at the blacksmith's trade fol- lowed. This was succeeded by work in the rail- road shops of the Taunus Railroad Company, in the employ of which corporation he remained five and one-half years. At the end of that period . circumstances combined to stimulate, if not to in- spire, his wish to emigrate. His sympathies had been with the Revolutionists, and he had written many articles for the liberal journals, the publi- cation of which had given great offense to the government, and he became unpopular.

He was born within the pale of the Roman Catholic Church, and had been reared in that faith, but had abjured the tenets and teachings

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JOHN SCHMELTZ.

of the church, and had advocated unlimited free- he bought fifty acres of land, on which he paid dom of thought and its expression. His change one hundred and ten dollars, and erected a log house which is still standing. It was while liv- ing in Pennsylvania that he was married, his bride being Margaret C. Schaus, who was born in Wies Baden, Germany, October 26, 1827. She died in Chicago, September 7, 1898. of views and fearless championship of new ideas involved him in a conflict with the ecclesiastical authorities, whose hostility assumed the form of positive persecution. The struggle was long and wearisome, but in the end he decided to abandon it and emigrate to a country where no restriction is placed on either thought or speech. To obtain a passport was not easy for a man in his position, but he secured one through aid of political friends. He had been cited to appear before a civil tribunal, but on the day set for the hearing of his case, when he was expected to be person- ally present, he was serenely floating down the Rhine, a passenger on an American sailing ves- sel, bound for New York. The name of the ship that bore him was "Helicon," and her command- er was Captain Goodwin.

The voyage occupied fifty-two days, and not until he set foot ou American soil, at Bangor, Maine, did he feel fully assured that his personal liberty and freedom of conscience were to be for- ever inviolate. He landed March 1, 1854, with a cash capital of five dollars, in the shape of an American half eagle. For 'a few months he worked at his trade in the east, and as soon as his purse permitted came to Chicago, which city he reached September 5, 1854, with eight cents in his pocket and an utter stranger. Here he readily found employment at his trade.

He was frugal and saved his earnings, but his slender means suffered depletion through an at- tack of illness induced by a cold contracted while shoeing horses in the rain. After his recovery he went to Downer's Grove, where he remained a few months, and on his return to Chicago was inade foreman over twenty-two men, in a shop where horseshoeing and the building and repair- ing of wagons was carried on. He received high wages, but they were paid in the "wild cat" cur- rency of the times, and one hundred dollars were frequently worth but seventy-five dollars.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 87

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