Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, Volume 1899, Part 102

Author: La Salle Book Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : La Salle Book Co.
Number of Pages: 910

USA > Illinois > Cook County > Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, Volume 1899 > Part 102

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Swan Swanson died July 22, 1897, at the age of seventy-two years. He never emigrated from his native land and was a tiller of the soil. His wife died August 28, 1883, at the age of sixty -. two years. His children were: Mary, Andrew

Gustav, Nils Johann (see biography on another page of this work), Carolina, who married Gust Danielson and lives in Michigan; Edwin, who has for seven years kept a catering establish- ment at No. 2400 Wentworth Avenue; Louis, who married Bertha Anderson and still resides in his native land; Otto, who is with his brother; Edwin and Bertha, the latter of whom married Gust Carlson and still lives in Sweden.

Andrew G. Swanson was the first of his father's family to emigrate, and landed in New York, traveling straight through the country to Ish- peming, Michigan, arriving there June 13, 1873. He was employed in the iron mines two years. That is the region of mines and lumber camps, and Mr. Swanson also spent one year employed in one of the latter.

He came to Chicago in April, 1876. The first work Mr. Swanson did in Chicago was in the service of E. A. Shedd & Company, now the

712

JOHN SYMONS.

Knickerbocker Ice Company. He drove a wagon for this company five and one-half years and subsequently entered the employ of Anderson, Freeman & Company, now connected with and a part of the Knickerbocker Ice Company. He remained thus occupied until January, 1888, when he was given a position as gripman by the Chi- cago City Railway Company and still retains this place, filling it creditably.

Mr. Swanson was married April 12, 1883, to Miss Hannah, daughter of Joyce and Phoebe (Jenson) Johnson. Mr. Swanson was born June 22, 1858, in Sweden, and came to Chicago in 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Swanson make a worthy couple, with congenial spirits, and both have .strength of character and nobility of mind that

causes the respect of everyone who comes in con- tact with their hospitable natures. Their chil- dren are as follows: George Willianı, born April 13, 1884; Annie, February 15, 1886, died June 17, 1890; Lillie Matilda, February 16, 1888; Annie Josephine, February 4, 1890; and Hazel Isabella and Helen Elizabeth, twins, July 22, 1896.

Mr. Swanson is a member of J. Ward Ellis Lodge No. 447, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. He is also connected withi General Custer Council No. 129, Royal League. He is a consis- tent member of the Swedish Lutheran Church, where his services and valuable influence are recognized and he is honored by all others of the congregation.

JOHN SYMONS.

OHN SYMONS. Of those successful busi- ness men and citizens who have taken part in the political as well as business pursuits of Chicago, and made a success of whatever they undertook, is John Symons. His school education was limited, but in the college of experience he became an apt scholar. He was born May 6, 1862, 011 a farm near Lockport, Illinois. For his ancestry see the biographies of Alexander Sym- ons and James Storms.

At the age of fifteen years he left school, and for two years was employed on the farni of Alexander Storms. He next came to Chicago and was in the service of his uncle, John L. Storms, in Hyde Park (see biography of John L. Storms in this work), and with him learned the trade of calcimining and paper-hanging. Two years subsequently he began business for his own interest, and did contract work, with headquar- ters at his father's house, No. 7410 Langley Ave- n11e. He was always a very ambitious man and

when business in his line was dull he did not hesitate to turn his hand to other, even though not so pleasant, work. At such time he was em- ployed by Mr. Everett, a dealer in coal, and one year had charge of the ice business of Mr. Ever- ett. For one year he was in the service of the Illi- nois Central Railroad Company, first as gatemanı and later as baggage master.

Mr. Symons was one year patrolman on the Hyde Park police force and then entered the fire department of the city, and after three months was promoted to the position of captain of the Grand Crossing Engine Company, abandoning this pursuit after one year for a position as assis- tant health officer in Hyde Park, under Dr. Steb- bins, which he held for the same length of time. At the time of the reign of pleuro-pneumonia among cattle he was made deputy-sheriff to ac- company the inspectors in Cook County to locate the origin of the disease. After seven months he was made bailiff of the county court, under

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G. W. BLOOM.

Sheriff Watson, and occupied the office two years. In the spring of 1891 he was elected for a terni of one year to the office of supervisor of the town of Hyde Park, and in 1892 was elected town assessor, being re-elected in 1893.

In the spring of the year 1894 Mr. Symons opened a coal yard in West Pullman and since that time has conducted a first-class business, being very successful. He has the finest equip- ped yards in the vicinity, and is prepared to take contracts for building material or any kind of fuel. In 1896 he removed his residence to this section, and built the Symons block at Nos. 12003-5 Halsted Street, in 1898. This three- story building is partly occupied by the West Pullman postoffice. In 1896 he built his residence, which is located at No. 11941 Lowe Avenue.

June 24, 1896, Mr. Symons was married to Miss Dolly Grace, daughter of William MacSwain, whose biography appears in this work. Their only child is named Grace Carrie. Mr. Symons is connected with Colfax Lodge No. 198, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also a charter member of West Pullman Lodge of the Home Forum Benefit Order, and of Logan Council of the North American Union. His po- litical sympathies are with the Republican party and he has served its cause well. He has at all times proven himself to be a true business man and a gentleman, fair in his dealings with his fellow-men, being beloved alike by family and friends. He sanctions all moves tending toward the uplifting of the minds of the people, and is a strong mover in all charitable interests.

GEORGE W. BLOOM.

C EORGE WASHINGTON BLOOM was born in Canton, Bradford County, Pennsyl- vania, December 11, 1822. His grandfa- ther, George Bloom, came from Germany during the Revolutionary War as a soldier in the service of Great Britain. He was taken prisoner early in that war and before its close was found doing service on the side of the Americans. He after- ward settled in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, where Elisha, father of George, was born and lived a farmer during his life, which came to its honorable close in 1881. His wife was Beersheba Blakesley.

George W. Bloom lived in his native county until 1850, when he removed to the new country and almost wilderness of Sauk County, Wiscon- sin, where he was a pioneer and is still a mem- ber of the pioneer society. His home was near Greenfield, and five years later he removed to Baraboo. In 1856 he purchased quite a tract of

timber land, where the village of Freedom now stands, and in 1860 removed to it and erected a sawmill and started the village of Bloom Station (now Freedom).

He built a sawmill in the spring of 1868, which he operated for some twenty-four years and did an extensive lumber business. He employed a considerable force of men in his lumbering and farming enterprises, and was the means of build- ing up a thriving and intelligent community, of nearly a thousand population. He erected his tuills there before the railroad was built, and an- other station being laid out, it was doubtful about his securing a station; but having wide personal acquaintance and being a particular friend of the chief engineer he secured the station which as- sured the continued growth of his village. He was the active spirit and financial supporter of every enterprise, and constructed a general store and operated it extensively along with a feed

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G. W. BLOOM.

mill, invested in lumber lands, built schools and churches and in many ways the result of his energy and influence is plainly revealed in the present condition of that village and the sur- rounding country.

Coming into the wilderness with little capital, he knew its hardships and privations. To add to the difficulty, while scoring timber for his father- in-law's house, his right arm was accidentally and severely injured by an axe in the hands of a fellow-workman. For nearly a year he lost the use of that arm, yet in that time he put thirty acres of land into wheat and at its ripening assisted in harvesting it with one arm in a sling. This crop he hauled one hundred twenty- five miles, to Milwaukee, selling it for fifty cents per bushel, which barely paid expenses in- cident to the trip itself. Many similiar disad- vantages were encountered, and while they seemed and really were great obstacles to progress, they were not insurmountable and it lay in the hardy pioneer's power to overcome them and in time to some extent to come off victorious. At the completion of the railroad better market was had for wood and produce, and more prosperous times were at hand. Valuable improvements and establishments grew up around him, so that in the course of thirty years he found him- self in easy circumstances.

Realizing the possibilities of the suburbs of the magic city, in 1892 he invested largely in real es- tate at Harvey and at once made that his home. He immediately began to erect substantial im- provements in the shape of double brick stores and residences, and to these he has in the last few years devoted his whole attention, largely in connection with coal aud wood yards, which he has conducted two years. Mr. Bloom has ever affiliated with the Republican party and while residing in the old Wisconsin home was an active participator in the official life of that town, serving it as supervisor and in the minor offices.

His family relations have been of the pleasant- est character. His first marriage was January 20, 1847, to Harriet Wilkinson, who was a fit- ting advisor and helpmate to a man of ambition and determination. Together they strove and

economized in those early days and united af- fluence and ease were theirs. Sharing the priva- tions and difficulties of pioneer life with him, her influence reached every home about her, and few women ever lived in that part of Sauk County who were more truly loved or more universally lamented when passed away to life's other shore. She died October 7, 1890, and was buried on the Ioth-just forty years, to a day, from the date of their location at Baraboo. She was the mother of five children, who are accounted for as follows: Deborah J. died at the age of nine years; Selinda D. married Charles W. Clark, and resides at Baraboo; William H. is a real-estate dealer at Watertown, South Dakota; James E. died in in- fancy; and Hattie F. is the wife of Hart Veer- husen, a grocer at Harvey.

Some two years later Mrs. Nancy Hudson, wife of the late James Hudson, of Janesville, Wisconsin, and whose maiden name was Stone, became Mrs. Bloom, and together this genial couple are passing in comfort their declining years, surrounded by many warm friends. Mr. Bloom has found time to see something of this great country. Health somewhat failing in 1860, he took the overland trip to Pike's Peak, with a freighting train from Council Bluffs. This was at a time when the Indians were on the war path, and trains both ahead and behind were at- tacked, but the one he was on was left un- molested, owing to the number on board.

In pursuit of the abundant game in early days, he became an expert hunter, and has the record of killing "Old Golden," the largest deer ever killed in that section of Wisconsin, which weighed two hundred fifty-two pounds, dressed. He killed sixteen deer in one season, and has a record of forty prairie chickens in one afternoon. Lack of space precludes further details of a life that affords abundant material for interesting nar- ratives, illustrative of the true pioneer life that has gone over, never to be repeated in the coun- try's history. These lives afford valuable ex- amples and lessons to the young of to-day, who could read the stories with profit and would be materially benefited had they the personal ac- quaintance of such men as Mr. Bloom.

715

CAPT. CHRISTIAN SCHIMMELS.

APT. CHRISTIAN SCHIMMELS, of Fire Engine Company No. 25, is a native Chica- goan and has done much for the general in- terests of the city, and especially in regard to the success of the department in which he lias been interested since 1864. He has lived his entire life in the city, having been born here May 11, 1845, and never going out of the state of Illinois, and seldom out of Chicago. He has grown with the city and lias seen it at all stages of its his- tory. His parents were Jacob and Margaret (Smith) Schimmels, and resided at the corner of Desplaines and Meridian Streets at the time of the birth of their son. The latter has lived in but two different houses beside that one. He has a photograph of the house he was born in, which he prizes as a souvenir of the early days of Chica- go. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Schimmels were both natives of Prussia, and born on the River Rhine.

Mrs. J. Schimmels was born in Betterfeld, Trier, in 1810, while her husband was born in Graes Down, Trier, in 1808, and they were married in Prussia in 1835. Mr. Schimmels was a member of an old and well-known family in his native land, and attended the parish school. He later learned the trade of carpenter and was occupied with it many years, in the different branches. In 1843, with his wife and three children, lie came to America, six weeks being occupied in making the trip. They settled in Chicago and Mr. Schimmels began to work at his trade, soon be- coming a contractor in the city. There was

plenty to be found to do in the thriving, growing city, and being a typical representative of his native land, with his rugged, energetic tempera- ment, he was soon recognized at his worth. He was the first German carpenter in the city to have men employed under liis direction. He was the contractor for the construction of the first Ger- man Catholic Church in Chicago, St. Peter's, on Washington Street, between Fifth Avenue and Franklin Street.

He retired from active life in the labor world in 1863, and died in the city January 30, 1877. His good wife survived him until May 14, 1878, botlı reaching the age of seventy years. Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Schimmels, the three youngest were born in Chicago and the fol- lowing are now living: Christian, of this sketch; Caroline, wife of Anthony Enzenbacher; and Lena, wife of M. J. Lillig, all of Chicago.

Christian Schimmels was educated in St. Peter's German parish school. He attended the Foster public school from 1857 to 1862. Subsequent to this time he tried the carpenter's trade, being employed two years with his father. In 1864 he joined the fire department under his brother, Capt. Peter Schimmels, and in 1869 was promoted to captain. He has continuously been in the serv- ice since that time and is deservedly popular. In the great fire of 1871 he worked faithfully, long and well, doing more than his duty in work- ing sixty-five consecutive hours, without sleep or rest.

Captain Schimmels has never taken special in-

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A. A. STAFFORD.

terest in politics, being independent in voting in local affairs. He has been twice married, taking for his first wife Elizabeth Hasser, by whom he had three children: Lena, wife of J. P. Daliedan; Jacob J., who married Miss May Kurtz; and Katie, who died in childhood. Mrs. Schimmels died October 28, 1885.

May 11, 1895, Captain Schimmels married Net- tie Bean, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, born March 12, 1861, who belongs to an old New Eng- land family. They were married in Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church, and are con.

nected with St. Francis Church, of the same de- nomination. Captain Schimmels is well known on the West Side, where he has resided his entire life, and is an extensive property owner. He is an acknowledged authority on all matters regard- ing fire and has kept a complete record of all fires, as to box and other details, since 1869. The city records of fires kept previous to 1871 were burned in the great fire of that year, and Captain Schimmels' record was the only one then extant, and has enabled the department to make an au- thentic record of the fires of 1871.

ALMON A. STAFFORD.

LMON ALMERON STAFFORD. It re- quires ambition to follow any occupation to success in Chicago, and no man is possessed with more natural ability and stamina than the ex- cellent manager and horseman whose name heads this article. Almon Almeron Stafford was born November 5, 1844, in Elizabethtown, New York. For his ancestors, see biography of F. P. Staf- ford on another page of this work.

He began life for himself in 1862, when he was employed one year on a farm. In 1863, in the early spring, he went to Fort Henry, but in the summer he removed to Nevada, and was em- ployed by his brother in Washington City. After two months he entered into partnership with his brother in furnishing timber for mines, and after two months extended the business by establish- ing a branch in Virginia City. In December, 1869, he returned to his former home in New York, and purchased a farm of one hundred forty acres in that state. After three years he sold this and became occupied with teaming in Westport, New York.

In the spring of the year 1874 he came to Chicago and entered the employ of the Chicago

City Railway Company, as foreman in charge of all teams used by that company. He was trans- ferred to the Archer Avenue car barns as fore- mau, and after one year was driver and later con- ductor until 1877. He then secured a position with the Wilson Sewing Machine Company, as driver of their six-horse team. This was a very difficult team to manage and was made up of the best horses in the state of Illinois, of Norman stock. They drew a load on an average of one hundred machines. The man who had driven them previously was killed by a runaway acci- dent. Mr. Stafford is an excellent horseman, understanding horse flesh perfectly, and ruled them with a will of iron, using the best jndg- ment at all times with regard to the manage- ment of the team. He was in the service of this company five years, and eighteen months prior to the time he left it entered into a partnership with his brother, F. P. Stafford. They conducted an express business at Grand Crossing, and after one year A. A. Stafford purchased the interest of his brother, and April 1, 1894, sold the whole concern and started a boarding house at No. 2226 Wabash Avenue. In the fall of the same year he

717

CHARLES SODERBERG.

returned to Grand Crossing and resumed team- ing. He has continued in the same business up to the present time, contracting for teaming and doing expressing in general.

Mr. Stafford was married May 2, 1871, to Esther Jane, daughter of Enoch and Susanna (Bard) Gregory. Mrs. Stafford was born in Ferrisburg, Addison County, Vermont, and came west in the spring of 1875. Her mother's ances- tors came to Vermont from Poughkeepsie, New York, and were Quakers. Her maternal grand- father, William Bard, married Miss Deborah Cronkhight, whose parents were natives of Ger- many. Mrs. Stafford's paternal ancestors were of Scotch lineage and her grandfather was John Gregory, who was born in North Carolina. He ran away at the age of eleven years and went to sea, remaining on the ocean eight years. He

subsequently married a Miss Van Curler, who was possessed of some wealth.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Stafford are de- ceased. Bert Thomas was born April 30, 1873, and died January 9, 1875. Reynor, who was born October 30, 1879, died April 14, 1880.

Mr, Stafford was connected with the Masonic Order at Westport, New York, joining Sisco Lodge No. 259, and was later demitted and joined Apollo Lodge No. 642, Chicago. He is a charter member of Grand Crossing Lodge No. 776. Mr. Stafford is greatly interested in Tem- perance work and is a constituent member of a Good Templar lodge in Chicago. He is vice- president of the Workingman's Republican Club of the Thirty-fourth ward, but is an independent thinker, being ever guided in action by calmn judgment.

CHARLES SODERBERG.

x D HARLES SODERBERG. Many of the most capable business men of Chicago are not in business, but are hidden under a pri- J mary occupation and are managers of the busi- ness of some other man, whose name gets all the fame, and reaps all the success which is altogether due to the excellence of character and ability of the one behind the scenes. Charles Soderberg, who was born April 14, 1858, in the city of Westervik, Sweden, is the son of Charles Fred- erick Anderson and Anna Christina (Moland) Anderson, of Sweden.

Charles Frederick Anderson, father of the mall whose name heads this article, died in January, 1896, at the age of eighty-three years. He was a painter and a maker of shoes. His wife died at the age of twenty-nine years, when their son, Charles, was but three years old.

Charles Frederick Anderson married for liis

second wife a lady who bore him three children: Emil, who emigrated from his native land and located in Brooklyn, New York; Amand and Sexton. Charles Soderberg reached Chicago October 20, 1880, and learned the trade of cal- cimining, painting and paper-hanging. His first work in that line was done in Pullman, where he was occupied at general jobbing until the spring of the year 1881. He then secured a position with Olson & Samuelson, who were located at the corner of Larrabee and Division Streets. The following year he was sick, but after his recovery returned to his former employers and continued until 1884. He then entered into business with Mr. Samuelson, and after one year interested with him, continued one year by himself. For eleven years subsequently he was foreman for Oleson Brothers, located at No. 2624 Princeton Avenue. Later lie occupied tlie position of fore-

FREDERICK STELTER.

718

inan for Perkins Brothers, at the corner of Cot- tage Grove Avenue and Twenty-sixth Street, six years.

Charles Soderberg was married February 19, 1887, to Emma Trauberg, daughter of John and Christine (Boline) Trauberg. Mrs. Soderberg was born June 14, 1865, in Sweden, and came to America in 1882. Their seven children are as fol- lows: Emma Alvina, Jennie Hildegarde, Esther Olivia, Bertha Christina (deceased), Charles Os- car and Bertha Christina.

Mr. Soderberg is a member of the North Star Order, and was a charter member of the Iduna,

Lodge No. 4. He is a member of the Brother- hood of Painters, Union No. 191, which is made up of painters and paper-hangers. Though never seeking public office or prominence in political matters, Mr. Soderberg is a strong upholder of the principles of the Republican party, and at all opportunities supports the candidates of that party by his vote and voice. He is one of the most ambitions men of his class who reside in the city of Chicago at the present time, and though he has not gained an immense fortune, he has managed lis financial affairs well and his efforts are worthy of emulation.

FREDERICK STELTER.

REDERICK STELTER, who has for many years been a quiet, law-abiding citizen of the city of Chicago, was born November 11, 1832, in the village of Detmold, Westphalia, Prussia. His parents were Frederick and Minnie (Brandt) Stelter, and he is the only one of his father's family who emigrated from their native land.

Frederick Stelter, senior, was one of five chil- dren: Conrad, Henry, Amalie and Florentina being the other four. He was born in 1802, and died in the year 1875. He was a land-owner and farmed his own property. His wife was born in 1798,and died in 1860. Her children were Au- gusta and Frederick. The former never left her native land and married Frederick Niebur. One of her children, Louis Niebur, came to America and now resides near Seward, Nebraska. He has a brother, Gustav, who is a priest in the German Lutheran Church and resides in Colo- rado.

Frederick Stelter, whose name heads this biography, reached Chicago in December, 1867. His first work in this section was on a farm, and

he was later employed in a sawmill in Michigan. He subsequently located a catering establishment at No. 265 West Kinzie Street, with Ferdinand Sander as partner. The concern continued five years under the name of Stelter & Sander. For four years Mr. Stelter conducted a like establish- ment at the corner of Curtis Street and Austin Avenue, and then removed to No. 6064 State Street, where he continued in the same capacity until 1886, when he started a boarding house, which he kept until 1890. He has since been located at No. 6560 Michigan Avenue.

Mr. Stelter was married April 7, 1870, to Miss Minnie, daughter of Simon and Henriette (Brock- manı) Meyer. Mrs. Stelter was born in the same neighborhood as her husband, in Germany, No- vember 25, 1844, and emigrated from her native land in 1868. Her children were named as follows: Annie Minnie Laura, born February 10, 1871, died August 3, 1887; Emma, born February 5, 1873, and Frederick, January 15, 1875.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, Volume 1899, Part 102

Author: La Salle Book Company (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : La Salle Book Co. Number of Pages: 910

Author: La Salle Book Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : La Salle Book Co.
Number of Pages: 910