Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 88

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

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His health beginning to fail, he was advised by a physician to try the climate of Pennsylvania, and he accordingly removed to that state, where he remained four years. While in Potter County

In 1862 he returned to Chicago, bringing his wife and two children with him. He found em- ployment with the Eagle Iron Works, a concern which was succeeded by the firm of Fraser & Chalmers. He was with them four years, at the end of which time he went into the shops of the Illinois Central Railway Company, where for two and one-half years he worked by the piece and earned large wages, being able to save about fif- ty dollars per month, which he invested in Gov- ernment bonds. In 1864 he leased property on Brown Street, paying an annual ground rent of twenty-four dollars. Here he built a cottage, which in 1869 he moved to the premises which are now No. 304 Blue Island Avenue, and which he purchased, from Samuel J. Walker.

In 1866 he became a canvasser for the Ameri- can Tea Company and not long afterward opened a tea and coffee store of his own, in a modest way. Business prospered, and in 1878 he had accumulated sufficient means to enable him to retire. He was one of the victims of the Fidelity Savings Bank's failure, and with the other depos- itors was paid forty-five cents on the dollar. He managed his real estate investment on Blue Is- land Avenue so judiciously that when he disposed of it he found that he had netted a clear profit of twelve hundred dollars. He bought more prop- erty on West Van Buren Street, and is at present owner of Nos. 780, 781 and 785 on that thor- oughfare.

In politics he is a Republican, and his services have been in request as a campaign speaker. He was once an unsuccessful candidate for alder- man of the Seventh Ward on his party ticket, He was a warm supporter of Monroe Heath, and has always been a public-spirited citizen, having the best interests of the city at heart, and being instrumental in bringing about many local im- provements.

602

CHRISTIAN DIETERLE.

Mr. and Mrs. Schmeltz were the parents of two sons, Henry G., who has been in the employ of the Durand family, wholesale grocers, twenty- seven years, and Albert C., who is credit man for the firm of Jaeger & Company, wholesale grocers.

Mr. Schmeltz has been a successful man. He

is a man of unusually keen intellect, possessed of untiring industry and perseverance; yet he as- cribes his success, in no small measure, to the energy, frugality and wise counsel of his excel- lent wife, who was in every sense of the word a helpmeet to him. In 1896 they visited the Fath- erland together.

CHRISTIAN DIETERLE.

HRISTIAN DIETERLE isof German birth and parentage. He was born at Weiblingen, near Stuckhardt, Wurtemberg, Germany, March 18, 1830, the son of Michael and Katharine Dieterle, and one of a family of six children. He is the only one who has made his home in the New World. The father operated a vineyard, and farming and gardening occupied the atten- tion of the son after leaving school, his elementary training being received at the Lutheran parochial schools, and at those maintained by the govern- ment. He left school at the age of sixteen years and for several years worked upon a farm.

Thus his life passed until the spring of 1854, when he resolved to emulate the example of many of his compatriots by wooing Fortune in "fresh fields and pastures new." May 2 of that year he turned his face toward the setting sun, and set out for Havre, France. From that point he sailed for New York, which city he reached June II. He made no pause at the eastern metropolis in his westward journey, but at once departed for Chicago. On reaching that city he found all avenues of employment closed, because of a plethora of either unemployed or misdirected energy.

, Being informed that better opportunities were to be had at La Porte, Indiana, he went fromn Chicago to that town, where he obtained work as a farm hand. . At the end of the busy season in

agricultural labor he returned to Chicago, and found work in a livery stable. His task was far from congenial, and after eight months he aban- doned it to enter the employ of the Gates Iron Works, in whose machine shops he worked eight years. After leaving the employ of this concern he went to work as a cooper, mastering the mysteries of the trade and becoming a fairly good workman within three months. His employer and teacher was John Hess. He liked the work and after leaving the employ of Mr. Hess he opened a shop of his own in the rear of No. 555 West Fourteenth Street, which property he has since purchased and improved.

Shrewd common sense and inborn industry in- sured the success which naturally followed. For twenty years he did a prosperous and remu- nerative business in his rather modest shop, the pressure of his orders frequently calling for the employment of a large number of hands. He also owned and conducted a cooper shop on Seventeenth Street, on the present site of the Jirka School.

Mr. Dieterle is a man of comparatively simple tastes, and in 1885, having accumulated a com- petence, he retired from active business, to enjoy the ease which he had richly earned by a life of industry, prudence and integrity. His business record is one of which he may well be proud, and the story of his private life is without a stain.

603

JOHN GADEN.

As a citizen he is deeply interested in public affairs, although neither an aspirant for office nor a party worker. Politically he has always been an ardent and consistent Republican, having cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincolnin 1860. He is not a member of any society, al- though he was once affiliated with the Sons of Hermann and the Germania Society.

Mr. Dieterle married Dorothy Keenle, October 9, 1854. His wife was born in the same town as himself and they crossed the ocean on the same

vessel. She died December 15, 1896. Five chil- dren, four sons and a daughter, were born to them, of whom the youngest son, Albert, died in Denver, Colorado, in September, 1897, leaving two children, who are cared for by Miss Dieterle. Those yet living are: Henry E., Edward A., William and Emily C. Edward is a machinist, and William is in the employ of Marshall Field & Company. The family was reared in the Luth- eran faith, and all its members are devout and consistent worshippers in that church.

JOHN GADEN.

OHN GADEN, a well-known property owner of the section in which he is located, was formerly of Germany, having been born June 10, 1842, in the village of Wolkenwehe, a place of four hundred people, near a city of five thousand, Oldesloe, in Holstein, Germany. His parents were Frederick and Dorothea Margareta (Relling) Gaden, and his paternal grandfather, August Gaden.

The last named-August Gaden-was the fa- ther of five children-Frederick, Johann, Carl. Henry and Dorothea. Dorothea married Henry Homan and their children are accounted for as follows: Henry, John and Dorothea. Their daughter married Henry Wieser and their son, Henry, is in Iowa following the occupation of a farmer. John, who married Wilhelmina Apple, remained in Germany. His children were named John, Henry, Sophia, Minnie, Lottie, Louise and Dorothea. Henry is a farmer in Iowa, and Doro- thea married John Clausen and resides in Daven- port, Iowa. Henry, of the family of August Gaden, never married, and Charles went to Australia.

Henry Relling, father of Dorothea M. (Rell-

ing) Gaden, was the father of a family which in- cluded a son named Henry Relling. The last named married and remained in Germany. His children were: Hans, John, Christoph, Diedrich, Fritz, August, Ferdinand, Margaret, Mary and Louise. None of this family ever emigrated.

Frederick Gaden was born in 1795, near Olde- sloe, and died in 1873. He was an extensive farmer, operating two hundred acres, and raised stock, finding market for his products in Ham- burg. He was a German Lutheran in religious principles, and a worthy and highly respected man. He was a man of fine physique, weighing one hundred and sixty pounds and well able to take care of his large property, which afterward fell into the hands of his son, Henry.

His wife, the mother of the man whose name heads this article, was born in 1811, and died in 1881. She was the mother of a large family, of each member of which short mention is made. Dorothea died at the age of thirty-five years. Henry, who is on the old homestead, married Dorothea Gerken, and their children are: Fred- erick, Claus, Mary and John. Frederick is a wealthy contractor in Christiana, Norway. He

604

JOHN GADEN.

was twice married and the children by his first marriage were Andrea and Mary. There were no children by the second marriage of this man.

Claus Peter Heinrich, born April 1, 1838, was married March 7, 1876, to Harriet Westensee, daughter of Herman John and Anna (Knack) Westensee. She was born February 4, 1854, in the village of Merkendorf, Holstein, Germany. The children of this couple are accounted for as follows: Ernst Diedrich, born May 30, 1889; Emil, born November 20, 1894, died August 12, 1895. Claus P. H. Gaden and his brother, Herman, were the first of his father's family to emigrate. The former reached New York in November, 1869, journeying west to Omaha, Nebraska, where he worked at the trade of car- penter. After one subsequent year in New Orleans he came to Chicago and was occupied at his chosen trade until 1880. Later, with his brother, Diedrich, he started a store at No. 160 Centre Street, in 1888, dealing in delicacies, which has commanded his attention since.

Marie, the next in order of birth of the cliil- dren of Frederick Gaden, died at the youthful age of fifteen years. John was the next born, and Herman Nicholas, born September 25, 1844, the seventh born. He learned the trade of car" penter and joiner in Germany and in his work as journeyman visited Bremen and Hamburg, Copenhagen and Christiana for his brother Fred- erick in the last-named city. After his arrival in America he visited Omaha, New Orleans, and came to Chicago in February, 1872. He was employed for wages until 1875, at which time he established a contract business for his own inter- ests, with shop on North Clark Street, near Turner Hall, where his headquarters were located two years. He then moved to East Chicago Avenue, near Clark Street, remaining four years in the same place. After one year in Harlem, he was six years at No. 600 West Indiana Street, and since that time has been at No. 795 Fulton Street. His business is mostly done with archi- tects, and residences on the south side have taken his attention to a great extent.

H. N. Gaden has built about one hundred residences, and among other buildings Saint

Luke's Hospital. He was married September 15, 1877, to Wilhelmina Schroeder, daughter of Carl and Marie (Seekamp) Schroeder. Mrs. H. N. Gaden was born March 24, 1858, at No. 282 Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago. Her father came over in 1847. The children of Mr. and Mrs. H. N. Gaden are three in number: Arthur Henry Ernst, born June 30, 1878; Frederick Louis, born June 7, 1880; and Adelia Emma Roslind.

Margaret Marie, eighth child of Frederick Gaden, was born July 10, 1850, and died Sep- tember 10, 1895, her remains resting in Forest Home Cemetery. March 28, 1873, this lady was married to Theodore Clamer, who was born De- cember '14, 1845, in Oldesloe, Germany. With his wife and three children lie reached New York December 24, 1881. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Clamer are accounted for as fol- lows: Frederick William Henry, born May 13, 1874; Henry Frederick Theodore, known as Theodore, Junior, born October 27, 1876; and Henry Julius, born September 8, 1877.

August, the next child of the parents of John Gaden, was born September 7, 1848. He never married, and died Angust 18, 1897. This was the favorite brother of John, and they were asso- ciated in nearly all their business transactions. He was quite prominent and served as alderman in Harlem from 1884 to 1891. Heinrich Died- rich, born January 3, 1854, landed in New York October 10, 1883. He had learned the trade of a tanner in Germany, but abandoned it after one year in America. In Jefferson Township he kept twenty-two cows and established a milk route, which lie retained three years. He subsequently started a store at No. 151 Clybourn Avenue, which occupied him two years, when he joined his brother Clans, as is mentioned above.

John Gaden, of whom this article is a biog- raphy, learned the trade of brick-laying, and fol- lowed it in his native land. With his brother, August, he reached New York in June, 1871, and traveled to Omaha, Nebraska, where a brother, Gustav, had preceded them. Mr. Gaden re- mained there five months, and was employed on a government steamer the same length of time.

605

HENRY GILBERT.

He went to St. Louis and for some months fol- lowed his former trade there. He was similarly occupied in New Orleans one year, and the same length of time in Galveston, Texas. He spent some months in New Orleans and Davenport, Iowa, subsequently coming to Chicago to change his occupation.

He located a restaurant on Clark Street, near Chicago Avenue, which he carried on two years, and then bought a lot in Harlem and erected a ' building for the purpose of starting a saloon and general merchandise store. This was in 1876, and he continued, with success, until 1884, when he built at No. 193 Madison Street and became identified with his brothers, August and Herman, who had built at Nos. 195-197. In 1884 he sold out the mercantile portion and made a restaurant of the place. In 1888 he built a business block near Altenheim Station with his brother, Her- man, to whom he sold out later. In 1891 Mr. Gaden established a fine resort and picnic grounds,

hall, theatre and bowling alley, all of which oc- cupies one acre of ground.

March 9, 1875, Mr. Gaden married Rosa Johanna Wilhelmina, daughter of Ludwig Died- rich Hann. For further mention of her ancestry refer to sketch of her father, in this volume. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Gaden are accounted for as follows: Infant boy, infant girl, Rudolph August Herman, born August 6, 1877, lives at home; Martha Matilda Wilhelmina Albina Sophia, born August 27, 1879; Henry Frederick, born July 22, 1881; Edwin Henry August, born May 4, 1883; Anton Herman, born November 6, 1886; and an infant boy.

Mr. Gaden is a member of Olympia Lodge, No. 477, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He conducts one of the finest resorts in Harlem be- cause he is careful of the reputation of the place. He caters only to the first-class people. He is blessed with a charming wife and daughter and energetic, intelligent boys.

HENRY GILBERT.

ENRY GILBERT, foreman in the tin de- partment of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company's shops, has spent almost his entire life in Chicago. He was born in Os- wego, New York, January 12, 1834. His par- ents, Sherrod and Elizabeth Ann (Acres) Gil- bert, were natives of England. They were mar- ried in Oswego, and in the year 1826 came to Chicago, when Henry was two years old. . Both died in this city, the mother in 1854, and the father in 1869. Their remains rest in Graceland. They were the parents of two children, Henry and Matilda.

Henry Gilbert was educated in the public schools of this city. He learned the trade of tin and copper smith with Thomas George, on Lake

Street, and worked as a journeyman until 1863, when he entered the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, and was given charge of the tin department, which position he has held ever since.

In 1855 he married Mary Jane Muldoon, of Chicago, a native of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and of Irish parentage. Of this union four daughters and two sons were born, of whom three daughters died in childhood. The surviving children are: William Henry; Charles, a machinist; and Anna Mary.

Mrs. Gilbert died January 7, 1897. The mem- bers of the family are connected with the Bethany Congregational Church, where they are highly respected by the congregation.

606

C. H. MARTENS.

Mr. Gilbert has seen many charges and has twice witnessed the building of the city. Previ- ous to the fire of 1871 he lived on LaSalle Ave- nue, and was burned out there, losing all of the improvements he had put upon the property. In the spring of 1872 he purchased a lot at No. 19 Iowa Street and erected a residence where most of the surrounding country was unbroken plain, thus becoming one of the first settlers in this now populous portion of the city.

Mr. Gilbert is a member of Cleveland Lodge

No. 211, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons. His political faith is Republican and his vote is always cast for the Republican national electors, but in local affairs he votes independently.

Mr. Gilbert's life has been spent in promoting the commercial and financial interests of the country by improving the means by which the products of this great country are moved from one point to another. By the labors of such men as he have the arteries of commerce been devel- oped during the present century.

CHARLES H. MARTENS.

HARLES HENRY MARTENS was born on a farm in section 27, of Leyden Town- ship, Cook County, on December 10, 1852. His family relations and descent are set forth in the biographical sketch of his father, Charles Martens, elsewhere in this work.

He was educated in the public and parochial schools, and passed the first thirty years of his life at his parents' home, but in the spring of 1883 built the house where he now lives, and on the thirteenth of the following June took to him- self a wife. He then began the cultivation of a farm of sixty acres, which he afterwards increased to eighty by the purchase of twenty additional acres. April 19, 1889, he disposed of this prop- erty, with the exception of the homestead and a plat of two acres surrounding it, obtaining four hundred and fifty dollars an acre for the land in section 22, and three hundred and fifty dollars an acre for that in section 21. He still deals, to some extent, in real estate, as to the value of which his judgment is seldom at fault.

Reference has been already made to Mr. Mar- tens' marriage. His wife was Louise Mary Popp, a daughter of Adam Popp, who was born in that township, January 31, 1861. The issue

of the marriage has been as follows: Walter, born May 13, 1884, died September 12, 1886, and 1

buried at Eden Cemetery; Eva Frederika, born May 7, 1887; Elsie Louise, born August 24, 1890.

Mr. Martens is a member of Waldeck Lodge No. 674, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the German Lutheran Church. In politics . he is a Republican, and has held several offices. For two years-1884 and 1885-he was collector of the township, for a like period assessor, and for three years school director and for eighteen months president of the village.

Mr. Martens has one of the most attractive sub- urban homes to be found around Chicago. Everything about it has been planned, laid out and built under his own personal supervision, and the evidences of refined taste and skilled workman- ship are to be seen on every hand. Since dispos- ing of his original farm to aid in the building up of Franklin Park, he has engaged more or less in farming for his own pleasure, though never with an eye to profit. His reputation for integrity and business sagacity is an enviable one, his word be- ing regarded as equivalent to his bond, while his commercial judgment has been repeatedly shown to be well nigh unerring.

LIBRARY OF THE .'IVERSITY OF ILLIN

MAJ, L. S. RASMUSSEN

607

L. S. RASMUSSEN.

LAURITZ S. RASMUSSEN.

M AJ. LAURITZ S. RASMUSSEN was born at Copenhagen, June 5, 1837. He comes of a line of military ancestors. His father, Hans Peter Severin Rasmussen, who was a na- tive of Jutland, was an officer in the Danish navy, while many others of his progenitors served with distinction as soldiers or sailors under the flag of their country. His father died at the age of seventy, and his only sister when but four years old. He has no brothers.

Major Rasmussen graduated from the Danish Military Academy at the age of twenty, and was at once commissioned a lieutenant in the Seven- teenth regiment of infantry. In 1861 he was granted leave of absence at his own request and came to America, where he enlisted as a private in Company D, First New York Infantry Volun- teers. In 1862 he re-enlisted-once more as a private-in the One Hundred and Nineteenth Regiment, New York Infantry, and served to the close of the Civil War. He took part in the Potomac campaigns, and in the battle of Gettys- burg. Later his regiment was sent West, where he participated in the fierce fight at Lookout Mountain and marched with Sherman to the sea. He was transferred to the One Hundred and Nineteenth United States Colored Infantry, made second lieutenant for gallant service, and attached to the command of General Stoneman. He re- ceived his majority in 1865, and was assigned to duty at Louisville, Kentucky, to aid in muster- ing out Sherman's army. He next re-joined his

regiment at Brownsville, Texas, and from there was ordered to Arizona Territory, where he saw service in fighting the Indians.

In 1866 he resigned his commission and went to New York, coming soon afterward to Chicago. He soon accepted the general agency of the Great Western Life Insurance Company, of New York, with headquarters at St. Paul. A year later he returned to this city and entered the employ of the Burlington & Missouri River Rail- road Company as local agent. He remained with the company until 1871. Since then he has been connected with the various newspapers, and him- self published, for two years, a journal called the Daily Northwest. Since the year 1894 he has been engaged in the real-estate business, his present location being at No. 1379 Humboldt Boulevard.

In 1877, when the famous riots occurred in Chicago, Major Rasmussen, then a captain of the state militia, was the first officer to report for duty. During seven days he was on guard, until relieved by a regiment of regulars.

Major Rasmussen has been a widower since 1882, and all his eight children are deceased. He is an active worker in the Grand Army of the Republic, being a member of Butler Post No. 754, and having organized many others, of several of which he has been commander. His first presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln in 1864, and he has since supported the Republican ticket in national contests.

608

CONRAD TAUBERT.

D ONRAD TAUBERT, one of the highly re- spected and esteemed citizens of Chicago, has for the past fifteen years been a valued and honored employe of the Chicago French Embroidery Company, and is a skilled and ex- perienced fringe-maker. He was born July 14, 1844, in the village of Kaiserroda, in Saxon Weimer, Germany. His parents were Conrad, Senior, and Christina (Kaiser) Taubert.

The grandfather of the man whose name heads this article was Herominus Taubert, and he was a weaver. The maternal grandfather had four children. Conrad Taubert, Senior, was a weaver in his native land and died when in the prime of manhood, in 1863. His wife died January 23, 1872, at the age of fifty-three years. Her chil- dren were: Conrad and Henry, the latter being a resident of No. 78 Maud Avenue, Chicago.

Conrad Taubert, of whom this commemoration treats, was the first of his father's family to emi- grate to America and he went directly to Mendota, Illinois, and four weeks later, November 7, 1865, located in Chicago. He followed the occupation of his fathers and was a weaver, but there being no special demand for men of his occupation, he became a fringe-maker. For a short time he was with Henry Went, at the corner of Polk and Jef- ferson Streets, after which he entered the employ of Mr. Fiedler, cord and tassel maker, and re- mained thus occupied three years. He then be- came identified with Mr. Jacobs, at the corner of Michigan and Wells Streets, and was with him until April, 1871, when he started a catering es-

tablishment on Sedgwick Street. He was burned out some months later by the great fire and re- moved to New York, where he became an em- ploye of Mr. O'Brien, at No. 66 Bowery. He remained but three months, when he was back in the service of Mr. Jacobs, of Chicago, and con- tinued in his employ a period of five years. He was ten years subsequently in the service of Mr. Peters, at No. 61 Washington Street, and since that time, a period of fifteen years, has been identified with the Chicago French Embroidery Company, at the southwest corner of Madison Street and Fifth Avenue. This concern moved their place of business to No. 71 Market Street.

August 4, 1868, Mr. Taubert married Mary Muther, daughter of Alouiwse and Josepha (Jely) Muther, who was born April 15, 1843, in Aus- tria. Alouiwse Muther died in 1846, at the age of thirty-two years. He was a tiller of the soil and his children were four in number. Mrs. Taubert is the oldest. Lawrence Muther, the next in order of birth, is a partner and superin- tendent of the Union Special Sewing Machine Company. He resides at No. 406 Forest Ave- nue. Joseph conducts a catering establishment at No. 187 Washington Street, his home being at No. 193, the same street. Alouiwse died at the age of seventeen years, in Chicago.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 88

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