USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume II > Part 101
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For almost forty-four years Mr. Moore has been a justice of the peace, elected to this office in November, 1868. He has filled many other positions of responsibility and has been the promoter of many of the public measures which have been beneficial to his township and county. He was one of the first members of the school board that organized the Pettin- gill school district; was one of the directors that built the schoolhouse at Mitchell and he was school trustee for eight years of Chou- teau township; served two terms as collector of that township and was elected a third time, but resigned in order to become one of the commission that built the levee there in 1883, and for four years was commissioner and col- lector of the levee district. He has been ad- ministrator of several of the largest estates in Madison county and in their settlement has satisfied all concerned. In 1884 he was ap- pointed postmaster at Stallings by President James A. Garfield, and has held this position ever since, after which he helped to organize the Stallings school district. He is of the Universalist faith, while ` Mrs. Moore was reared in the Methodist Episcopal church. He belongs to Nameoki Lodge No. 87, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows. A cherished member of the family of Mr. and Mrs. Moore is Mrs. Moore's brother, Thomas Stallings.
JOHN G. KALBFLEISCH. If those who claim that fortune has favored certain individuals above others will but investigate the cause of
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success and failure it will be found that the former is largely due to the improvement of the opportunity, the latter to the neglect of it. Fortunate environment encompass nearly every man at some stage of his career, but the strong man and the successful man is he who realizes that the proper moment has come, that the present and not the future holds his opportunity. The man who makes use of the "Now" and not the "To Be" is the one who passes on the highway of life others who started out ahead of him and reaches the goal of prosperity in advance of them. It is this quality in John G. Kalbfleisch that makes him a leader in agricultural interests in Collinsville township, where he has long resided and where he has won an enviable name in connection with many substantial im- provements projected for the good of the community. In addition to considerable real estate in Collinsville, he is farming three hun- dred acres of finely improved land in Collins- ville township.
John George Kalbfleisch was born at Col- linsville, Illinois, on the 15th of March, 1863, and he is a son of John C. and Anna Mary (Schoettle) Kalbfleisch, the father born in this country and the mother in Germany, both of German extraction. Conrad Kalbfleisch, grandfather of him to whom this sketch is dedicated, was born in the great Empire of Germany, whence he immigrated to the United States about the year 1835. After landing in New York City he remained in the Empire state for a short time and thence he procceded to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1843, where he en- gaged in the work of his trade-that of tailor. After sojourning in St. Louis for eight years he came to Collinsville, where he passed the remainder of his life. In this village he opened a general store and a tailoring estab- lishment, and with the passage of time gained recognition as a decidedly prosperous busi- ness' man and as a loyal and public-spirited citizen. In due time his son John C. was admitted to partnership in the business enter- prise initiated by Conrad, and for many years after the latter's retirement John C. Kalb- fleisch conducted the store and tailor busi- ness on his own account. Subsequently John George, of this notice, became associated in business with his father, and after the latter's death, in the year 1894, he conducted the store individually for a year. The business was eventually closed out, however, and then the mother removed with her family to St. Louis, where she is living at present, in 1911. Mr.
and Mrs. John C. Kalbfleisch became the parents of nine children, of whom seven are living at the present time, their names being here entered in respective order of birth: John George, Mary. Sophia. Henry C., Wil- liam C., Emma and Arthur.
John George Kalbfleisch was reared to ma- turity in Collinsville, where his carly school- ing consisted of such advantages as were af- forded in the German Lutheran parochial schools. When fourteen years of age he be- gan to attend public school in this town and three years later he entered his father's store, continuing to be employed therein until 1894, as previously noted. After his father's death he became interested in farming operations and he is now the renter of a fine estate of three hundred acres of fine land eligibly lo- cated about a mile distant from Collinsville, the same being in Collinsville township. On this well equipped farm Mr. Kalbfleisch is engaged in diversified agriculture, his prin- cipal crops being cereals, potatoes and cab- bages. He has two hundred and twenty-five acres of land under cultivation. In addition to his farming interests he is the owner of considerable valuable real estate in Collins- ville.
In his political convictions Mr. Kalbfleisch accords an uncompromising allegiance to the principles and policies promulgated by the Democratic party, and during his active career he has been the able and popular incumbent of a number of important public offices. In 1907 he was honored by his fellow citizens with election to the office of township super- visor, and in 1896 he was appointed road overseer, of which latter office he has con- tinued in tenure during the long intervening years to the present time. As road overseer he supervised the building of the Bluff Hill highway, a work he and other influential citi- zens had been urging for a number of years. The work is highly commendable and is a monument to Collinsville township. He is also drainage commissioner of the Canteen drainage district and his work in this connec- tion has also been of marked value to the township. The excellent drainage system which has been marvelously developed under his direction means the redemption of some eighteen hundred acres of otherwise unusable swamp land. He is now filling his third term as township supervisor. In fraternal and so- cial circles Mr. Kalbfleisch is affiliated with a number of representative organizations and his religious faith is in harmony with the
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teachings of the Lutheran church, to whose charities and benevolences he is a liberal con- tributor. In the various relations of life he has so conducted himself as to command the unqualified regard of his fellow men and no one is more popular as a business man and citizen than is he.
At Collinsville, in April, 1887, Mr. Kalb- fleisch was united in marriage to Miss Fannie E. Bridges, who was reared and educated in Madison county, Illinois, a daughter of Horace Bridges, who was a prominent citizen of Girard, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Kalbfleisch have four children-Albert, whose birth oc- curred in 1889; Ruth Adele, born in 1892; George Louis, born in 1898; and Chester, born in 1900.
HENRY BRUENE. It is a noticeable fact that the agriculturists of any section who have the best farms are those who take the most pride in the prosperity of their com- munity and the most active part in the up- building and development of the section in which they reside, and this is true of the farmers of Madison county, one of whom!, Henry Bruene, of Nameoki township, is deserving of more than ordinary mention in that he has the distinction of being a self-made man. Mr. Bruene was born in this township in 1857, and is a son of Louis and Johanna Bruene, natives of Germany, who immigrated to America at an early day, settling in Nameoki township, where the father died when Henry was seven years of age, the mother passing away soon after.
Left alone in the world, the orphan lad seemed to have little chance to become a successful citizen, or to even gain an edu- cation, but he was eventually adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Snell, who reared him as their own child, sending him to the pub- lic schools and training him to become a man of honesty and integrity, and after Mr. Snell's death young Bruene hired out on the Snell farm, where he continued until he had attained his majority. At that time he went back to the old homestead of his father, of which he became superintendent, and soon thereafter was united in marriage with Miss Minnie Brockman, daughter of Christian and Christina Brockman, and they began their wedded life on the Bruene es- tate. This tract of seventy-five acres, lo- cated near Stallings, was in very poor shape at that time, having but few improvements and boasting of but several small frame buildings in a bad state of repair, but with
the industry and thrift which he had inher- ited from his sturdy German parents, Mr. Bruene settled down to cultivate the land and put the buildings in repair, and with the assistance of his young wife soon had matters in much better shape. Two daugh- ters were born to this union, Amelia and Carrie, but when the latter was four years of age, the loving wife and helpmeet died, having been sick but two weeks with pneu- monia. Later Mr. Bruene married Miss Caroline Brockman, a cousin of his first wife, and daughter of Henry Brockman, and four children were born to this mar- riage: Henry; Emma; Walter, who is de- ceased ; and Arthur. Mr. Bruene took pains in giving his children good educational ad- vantages, and he has lived to see them grow into honorable men and women, well fitted for whatever position they may desire to take in life. Amelia and Emma still reside with their father, for whom they keep house ; Henry is assisting his father in work- ing the home property; and Carrie is em- ployed in the office of the Granite City Press and Herald, and is an exceptionally bright business and literary woman. On November 9, 1910, the death angel again vis- ited the happy home, Mrs. Bruene being called to her final rest. She was interred in St. John's cemetery, and the Rev. Plass- man, pastor of St. John's German Evangel- ical church of Nameoki, preached a touch- ing sermon, dwelling on the womanliness and lovely character of this kindly, Chris- tian woman.
Mr. Bruene has demonstrated that he is . an energetic, enterprising agriculturist, and a friend of progress in all things. He has one of the finest homes in this township, the large residence being surrounded by well- kept lawns and luxuriant shade trees, with fruit trees of all kinds scattered about. The buildings are in the best of repair, the prop- erty well drained, tiled, graded and fenced, and everything about the place suggesting the presence of excellent management. Modern machinery and methods have been brought into the operation of this farm, and as an adherent of intensive, scientific farm- ing Mr. Bruene's advice is often sought on matters of agricultural importance. His fellow-citizens have shown that they hold him in the highest esteem by electing him to the office of district overseer, and know that their interests will be well looked after. He ranks as a representative type of the
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good farmer-citizen, and personally is popu- lar, having many warn, personal friends in the community.
GOTTLIEB BRATVOGEL. Germany, that hardy, vigorous country that has given this land so many noble men, has placed us un- der heavy obligations, and those of our citi- zens who are natives of the Fatherland are proud of the fact, although when they have become citizens of the United States they give their loyalty freely to their adopted country and proceed to make a place for themselves in their chosen line of endeavor. Madison county, Illinois, has its full quota of German-American citizens, and among these may be mentioned Gottlieb Bratvogel, a prosperous agriculturist of section 3, Nameoki township, who was born in West- phalia, Germany, in 1879, a son of William and Caroline (Bineford) Bratvogel. Mr. Bratvogel has three sisters, Ricka, Minnie and Mary.
Gottlieb Bratvogel received his education in the schools of his native land, and as a youth heard of the splendid opportunities offered for success in the new world, but could not manage to arrange to come to this country until he had reached his twen- ty-fifth year. At that time he took passage to New York, from whence he made his way to St. Louis, and then came to Nameoki township, where he secured- employment with his uncle, at wages of fifty cents per day. Being of an industrious and thrifty nature, he saved his earnings, and went to Quincy, Illinois, for one year, in the mean- time studying the English language and fa- miliarizing himself with American methods of carrying on business. On his return from Quincy he again began to work with his uncle, and in 1885 laid the foundation for a home of his own by his marriage with Miss Amelia Meier, who was born in 1867, in Nameoki township, the estimable daugh- ter of Louis and Rika Meier, farming people of this locality. The Meier children were Fritz, Louie, Henry, Herman, Ernst, Char- lie, Alvin, Hannah, Emma and Amelia, and were educated in the Central school. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bratvogel be- gan their wedded life on a farm of one hun- dred and twenty acres on Long Lake, a tract which had been left Mr. Bratvogel by his uncle, who had no other heirs, in con- sideration of the many years of faithful la- bor which he had spent in his uncle's em- ploy. The young couple experienced all
of the troubles incidental to those trying to establish a home, but their persistent en- deavor, industrious habits and economy earned a substantial reward, and the Brat- vogel farm is now one of the best to be found in Nameoki township. Energy, good business management and expert knowledge of soil and crop conditions have placed Mr. Bratvogel among the leading agriculturists of this section, while his reputation among his neighbors is that of a man whose word is as good as his bond. He is a Republican in his political views, supporting the prin- ciples of his party on all occasions and tak- ing a good citizen's interest in all matters that pertain to the welfare of his commun- ity, but he has never found time from his farming activities to engage actively in pub- lic affairs. Mrs. Bratvogel has been an able and willing helpmeet, her early training having been of excellent aid to her, and both she and her husband are looked upon as kind neighbors, always willing to help those who have been less fortunate in their undertakings. They belong to St. John's Evangelical church, which they support lib- erally, and from their comfortable home have come many charities that the world outside has never heard of.
Fourteen children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bratvogel, of whom one, Louie, is deceased, while the others are: Anna, Caroline, Clara, William, Amelia, Dora, Henry, Tillie, Harold, Arthur, Helena, Ewalt and the baby, Irene. The children have received good educational advantages, all attending the Central schools.
MICHAEL F. NOONAN. Perhaps there is no family in Madison county, Illinois, that is bet- ter known or more generally esteemed for its general sterling character than that of Noonan. They are progressive, successful and honor- able business men, kind, hospitable and help- ful neighbors and liberal supporters of schools and church. Of this family Michael F. Noonan is a worthy representative. He was born at Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1842, a son of Michael and Bridget (Fleming) Noonan.
It is probable that the ancestors of the Noonans came to America from Ireland. The parents of Michael F. Noonan, however, are traced to Ohio, from which state, in 1855, they moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and the father engaged in farming for two years in St. Louis county. The family then moved to Gasconade county, Missouri, where the elder Michael Noonan purchased two hundred acres of land
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and that remained the family home during the lives of the parents of these following chil- dren : Barney, Thomas, Louis, David, Maria, Henrietta and Michael, Jr.
Before the family left Ohio, Michael F. Noonan had attended school for a short time and had further school opportunities after his father settled in Missouri, none to be com- pared with the advantages pressed upon chil- dren and youths of the present day, but enough to lay a fair foundation. He remained with his father, helping in the various farm activi- ties, until he was about nineteen years of age, when he decided to take an active part in the stirring events of the times which had resulted in the precipitation of civil war. He enlisted in the Union army, in Gasconade county, Mis- souri, in what was known as the Second Brigade, which, three months later, was organ- ized for militia service and became the Thirty- first Regiment, Missouri Volunteers. Com- pany C, to which Mr. Noonan was assigned, was one of the bravest and most reliable bodies of the regiment. It was sent to various points in Missouri, Steelville, Cuba and Salem, to guard railroads and bridges, and it was while his command was at Salem that Mr. Noonan, by an honest act while performing his full duty, made a lasting friend of a Con- federate soldier. He was ordered by his cap- tain to accompany a number of his comrades into the surrounding country and to confiscate horses to be used by the Feedral soldiers, ac- cording to the rules of war, and Mr. Noonan secured his from a very reluctant Confederate sympathizer, who represented that he needed it on his farm. Mr. Noonan, however, was obeying orders and rode his captured animal away and made use of it for several months, when he managed to return the horse to its owner. On his father's farm he had known and loved horses from boyhood and had cared well for his borrowed mount. That reflected credit on Mr. Noonan, but is not quite the end of the story. Many years afterward, when Leon C. Noonan, a son of Michael F. Noonan, was at Salem, Missouri, on a business trip, he happened to meet a Mr. Bauman, who, in his conversation said to the young man : "Your father took my horse from me in 1861, but he returned it in better shape than he got it, and he was all right." This is one of the events to pleasantly recall but Mr. Noonan passed through many experiences that he yet shrinks from telling. He took part in numer- ous engagements fought by the Federal sol-
diers against two of the noted guerilla leaders of the Confederate army-Quantrell and Mis- kel Johnson, and was in the sharp battles of Third Creek and Wilson's Creek, in the former of which he was wounded in the eye, which made it necessary for him to return home for a time, but as soon as somewhat recovered, he rejoined his regiment and was with his com- rades at Pacific City when so many soldiers died in an epidemic of measles. In 1863, be- ing disabled on account of the loss of his eye, from which he had suffered untold anguish, he was mustered out of the service at Cuba, Mis- souri. He had worn his country's uniform with faithfulness and honor and only laid it off because he was no longer able to help fight her battles.
Mr. Noonan returned to St. Louis county, where he engaged in farming until 1868, when he married and with his wife began house- keeping in Lafayette county, Missouri, where they continued to live for seven years, both husband and wife exerting strength and energy and practicing strict frugality, and thus they acquired independence. In 1875 they moved to American Bottom, Illinois, where for a quarter of a century he continued to be an active farmer, his home having been in Chouteau township all these years. With in- terest he has watched the development of this section and has always done his full share in the way of public responsibility. He can re- member when Ninth street, in the city of St. Louis, was a plank road and all west of it was covered with a dense forest of blackjack trees.
In 1868 Mr. Noonan was wedded at St. Ann's church, Normandy, Missouri, to Miss Margaret Mayher, who was born in St. Louis county, Missouri, in 1850. She is a daughter of Matthew and Nancy (Slattery) Mayher. The Slatterys were important people at St. .Louis and the name is perpetuated there by Slattery avenue. Mrs. Noonan was the young- est born in her parents' family, the others be- ing: Michael, Gerald, Mary and Elizabeth, all of whom were educated in Catholic schools at St. Louis, Mrs. Noonan being a member of the Catholic church. To Mr. and Mrs. Noonan five children were born, three sons and two daughters: George, Charles, Leon, Anna and Ida. All were given excellent school advan- tages. George is deceased. Charles was acci- dentally drowned while bathing, in 1887. He was a favorite with every one, a bright, love- able youth of sixteen years. While out on a
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
hunting trip he stood his gun on the bank of the stream, where it was found after his death. Leon spent three years at college in St. Louis and also took a business course and then went into the roofing business for a time and is now in business for himself in San Francisco, Cali- fornia. He is a Master Mason. He married Miss Rosa Hoerth, and they have two chil- dren: Charles and Alvin. Both daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Noonan fitted themselves for the profession of teaching. Anna completed her education at Barnes' College, St. Louis, in the bookkeeping and stenographic department and for four years was employed by the Mer- chants' Exchange. She married George Hoehn, a happy union which was terminated nine years later by her sudden and deplored death, from heart disease.
The second daughter, Ida, after taking the teacher's course at Bushnell, took a commer- cial course at Bryant & Stratton's Commer- cial college, St. Louis. She taught school for six years, two years in her home neighbor- hood and four years at the Franklin school. She then married Henry Krauskopf, who was born on Chouteau Island, in 1879, a son of Theodore and Theresa (Stinsmeyer) Kraus- kopf. They were natives of Germany, who came to America in 1866 and settled in the American bottom and engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs. Krauskopf had the following children: Theodore, who died in infancy ; Theresa, who died when aged twenty-two years; Dorothy, who married William R. Marsh, who is manager of the Pittsburgh Steel Company, of Chicago, and they have one daughter, Dorothy Helen; and Henry. The father of the above family died in 1897. His widow continues to live on the home place with her son Henry and his wife. The latter have two children: Hazel Irene and Dorothy. In politics Mr. Krauskopf is a Republican. He belongs to the Odd Fellows and is a mem- ber of the German Evangelical church. His wife was reared in the Catholic faith.
Mr. Noonan has always been a Republican and zealously supports the candidates of his party. He has never been willing to serve in any public capacity except that of school di- rector, and in that office he was very accept- able for some ten years and still takes an interest in school matters.
JOHN AMBUEHL. Born in Switzerland, the little mountain peaked home of republican liberty, John Ambuehl is the son of John Lucius and Menga (Grapp) Ambuehl, and the date of his nativity was November 3, 1836.
When he was only a baby of three years his parents chose to immigrate to America and essay a hazard of new fortunes. In the land of their adoption Mr. and Mrs. Ambuehl set- tled first at Deck's prairie, later removing to Saline township, where they continued to make their home.
In those days life in Saline township and elsewhere in the middle west was one that tried the courage and strength of the most hardy, for comforts and easy opportunities are not the attendant features of pioneer life. The nearest market in those days was Saint Louis, and, of course, there were no iron rails to shorten the journey. But John and Menga Ambuehl were of the stuff that meets hard- ship with a smile, and with true Swiss spirit they made their home on the frontier. Their children were as follows: Anna, John, Lucius, Katarina, Benedict, Andrew, Christian, Jo- seph and Peter. For the most part the chil- dren enjoyed the advantages of the Kaufman school. John also attended this school and remained at the old home until he established a household of his own by his marriage, No- vember 7. 1863, to Miss Fredericka Roniger.
Fredericka Roniger was born in Baden, Germany, February 19, 1843. She was the daughter of Karl and Magdalina ( Bernbach) Roniger, who immigrated to America in 1854, when Fredericka was eleven years old. The family settled in Illinois, and after a number of years the mother died, leaving four chil- dren, namely: Fredericka, Frederick, Felix and Wilhelmina. Later Mr. Roniger made a second marriage, and of his union to Miss Barbara Ambuehl one child was born, Mar- garet. He later moved to Saline township, and after that to the state of Kansas, to the home of his son Frederick, and in that state he died.
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