USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume II > Part 107
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
The young Charles L. Faires was a child of but eight years of age at the time of his father's death. He continued to attend school until he had reached the age of seventeen years and he then was matriculated as a stu- dent in Eureka College, at Eureka, Illinois. After a one-year course in college, he re- turned to the homestead farm, where he has since resided. He is an extensive land owner and now devotes his attention to farming and stock-raising. In politics he accords a stal- wart allegiance to the cause of the Demo- cratic party and while he has never mani- fested aught of ambition or desire for public office of any description he was honored by his fellow men in 1891 with election to the offices of township supervisor of St. Jacob township, a position of which he remained in- cumbent for three successive terms. As a public official he acquitted himself with all of honor and distinction and it may be noted here that he has always stood well in county politics.
On the 15th of March, 1882, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Faires to Miss Mattie Craig, a daughter of Thomas Craig, of St. Clair county, Illinois. To this union have been born two children. Ethel C. Faires, who after completing the curriculum of the neighboring public schools, attended Stephens College at Columbia, Missouri, and subse- quently pursued the study of music and ex- pression at Beethoven Conservatory at St. Louis. Leland S. Faires was graduated in McKendree College, at Lebanon, Illinois, and he is now attending the University of Illinois, at Champaign, in which institution he is a member of the law class of 1912.
HERMAN C. PERRY, as an enterprising and progressive citizen, stands out among his fel- low men in Madison county, Illinois, where he occupies a representative position and is held in high favor.
Mr. Perry hails from Ohio and takes a just pride in coming from that old Buckeye state which has been the birthplace of so many of America's leading men. He was born in Bel- mont county, Ohio, in December, 1868, son of Lemuel and Emma J. (McEndree) Perry. Mr. Perry was an only child and was reared on his father's farm, receiving his early edu- cation in the near-by district school, which he attended until he was sixteen. Later, feeling the need of further education, he entered a commercial college at Zanesville, Ohio, where he pursued the full course prescribed by that institution and graduated in due time. Then
he engaged in the grocery business at Zanes- ville, in which he was successful in building up a growing trade. He disposed of his store to advantage and from Zanesville came to Illinois and entered the employ of the Spring Valley Coal & Coke Company. That was in the spring of 1894. While with this company he was elected to the responsible position of chairman of the local executive board of miners' organizations. So well did he per- form the duties of this office that he was soon elected district president, and in the spring of 1904 he was elected state president of District No. 12, U. M. W. A., and served in that ca- pacity about two and a half years. While the incumbent of that office he accepted his pres- ent position, that of assistant manager of Donk Brothers Coal & Coke Company, where he has already proved himself a valuable man for the company.
Mr. Perrry is the owner of fifteen acres, a choice location near Collinsville, where he and his family reside. He has been twice married. His first wife, who was Myrtle Stewart, a native of Ohio, and whom he mar- ried in April, 1890, died in 1894, leaving two children, Roy H. and Goldie. In March, 1901, he married his present companion, who was Miss Amy Watts. She was born in Eng- land, but never knew any other home than one in the United States, having been brought here by her parents when she was eight months old. This happy union also has been blessed in the birth of two children, Russell and Dorothea.
Politically Mr. Perry has always cast his vote and influence with the Republican party and is looked upon as a staunch member of this organization. He is, fraternally, iden- tified with Spring Valley Lodge, No. 178, K. of P., of which he is a past chancellor, and with East St. Louis Lodge, No. 664, B. P. O. E.
JOHN FAIRES. One of the oldest families of St. Jacob township is that represented by John Faires, the prosperous and well known farmer, who has himself lived here for about sixty-five years. The family name has al- ways been associated with solid, substantial worth and good citizenship, and no better men have lived in the township than the bear- ers of this name.
This branch of the Faires family came from Ireland to the United States in the per- son of the great-grandfather of the above named. William H. Faires, the grandfather, was a native of North Carolina, whence he
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
moved over the mountains to Tennessee and thence to Madison county, at a date not now recalled, but certainly during the first quarter of the last century. He entered land in St. Jacob township, and, being a wagon-maker by trade, he carried on farming and had a shop for his trade at the same time. This shop was a resort of all the residents of the vicin- ity, who brought their wagons and other implements to him to be repaired. William H. married Elizabeth Orr, and one of their children was Elam Faires, who was born in Tennessee and came to Madison county when a boy. Reared on the old farm, he also learned his father's trade, and throughout his active career followed the same pursuits as his father. He married Elizabeth Cuddy, a native of Union county, Illinois, and they were the parents of eight children, of whom three daughters and two sons are still living.
John Faires, who is the older of the two living sons, was born in St. Jacob township, January 9, 1847, and grew up in this vicinity, attending the common schools and also taking a commercial course at St. Louis. A success- ful farmer and the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of land, he has for many years occupied an influential place in his commun- ity. He is the present highway commissioner and has also served as school director of his district.
Mr. Faires married Miss Ellen Adams, who was born in St. Clair county, Illinois, De- cember 24, 1847, and received her education in the common schools. Six children were born to them, and five are living, namely : Dr. E. O., who is a graduate of the Chicago Veterinary College; Dr. O. K., who is a grad- uate of the same institution and at the same time with his brother; John A., a farmer; Jennie L., the wife of O. C. Dake, and Anna, at home. The two sons who are vet- erinaries are associated with their father in the breeding of trotting horses, and they have made a profitable enterprise of this. They have one horse with a mile record of 2:161/2. In politics Mr. Faires is a Democrat.
HENRY WEITKEMP. There is no better gift to his county that a man can present than a well-ordered family, fitted to take up its duties in the order of things and to assist its community in advancing in every way. Thus is the new blood fused into the country's veins and its future prosperity assured. One of Madison county's best known families is that of Weitkemp, a worthy representative of which is found in the person of Henry
Weitkemp, a prosperous agriculturist of Nameoki township, owning a farm in sec- tion 17. Mr. Weitkemp was born in Mad- ison county in 1858, and is a son of Henry and Mary Weitkemp, natives of Germany, who immigrated to America in 1858 and set- tled in Madison county. There they engaged in agricultural pursuits, and their industrious habits earned them the respect of the people of their community, among whom they had many warm, personal friends. Their chil- dren were: Mary, Anna and Henry.
Henry Weitkemp was still a child when his mother died, and he attended the Bethlehem school at St. Louis until he was sixteen years of age, at which time he commenced working for himself. Always eager to learn, alert to grasp details, progressive and enterprising in whatever he did, Mr. Weitkemp gained a world of experience which has been of great value to him in the years that have followed, and built up a reputation for honesty and in- tegrity that made him known as one of the leading members of his community. In 1886 he laid the foundation for a home of his own by his marriage to Miss Barbara Inglebright, a native of Germany, who came to America as a child with her parents, Fred and Eliza- beth Inglebright. One child, Henry, was born to this union. Mrs. Weitkemp's death occurred during the same year, and in 1890 Mr. Weitkemp was married to Mrs. Emma Beckman, the widow of August Beckman, born in Madison county, daughter of Fred- erick and Katherine Kahl, natives of Ger- many. Mrs. Weitkemp had three children, August, Anna and Katie, by her first mar- riage, and to her union with Mr. Weitkemp there were four children born, Ida, William, Frederick and Herman. Mrs. Weitkemp died in 1908. Her pastor, Rev. G. Plassman, delivered the funeral sermon, and she was laid to rest in the beautiful German cemetery at Nameoki. Ida is keeping house for her father ; Anna married Henry Kohlmeyer, a fireman on the Chicago & Alton Railroad, resides at Madison, and has one child, Chris- tina. Katie married Henry Brockman, an engineer on the Clover Leaf Railroad, and they reside in Madison; August is assisting his uncle in the recorder's office, Recorder Charles Kunnemann, and has purchased an alfalfa ranch in Wyoming, on which he ex- pects soon to settle ; and Henry W .. married Ida Frurksen, and is employed in a grain elevator at Wellsburg, Iowa.
Mr. Weitkemp is a faithful member of the
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WILLIAM COOK
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
German Evangelical church of Nameoki, and he has been actively interested in the work of that body. He takes a liberal, broad-minded stand in political matters, preferring to vote for the man rather than the party. A reliable citizen and a good, practical farmer, Mr. Weitkemp is worthy of special mention in this volume as the founder of one of Madi- son county's foremost families and a man who in every walk of life has displayed the traits of honesty. and integrity.
WILLIAM COOK. Born in 1818, the his- toric year when Congress admitted the terri- tory of Illinois to the privileges of statehood, William Cook may well be esteemed one of the pioneers of the southern portion of the state, for he grew to young manhood in the formative period of the new state, when his home county of Madison was contributing famous men to the councils of the state and nation, a time when neither forest nor prairie had been won to the peaceful pursuits of ag- riculture, a time when the Indian was still to be reckoned with, and when wild beasts fre- quently made off with the domestic animals from the all too scantily stocked barnyard of the settler.
Madison county, within whose confines at varying periods during the less than a century of statehood that Illinois has known eight governors resided, was the home of Mr. Cook, who was contemporary with many of the fa- mous men of those early days and who watched their fortunes wax and wane. He was born on August 3, 1818, in Jarvis town- ship, about three and one-half miles east of Collinsville, and after a long and useful life was called to his reward on July 27, 1891.
His parents were John and Catherine (Cox) Cook, the former a native of Germany. The parents of his mother were of English de- scent. The senior Cook was a native of Hesse-Homberg, Germany, and came to the United States while the War of the Revolu- tion was raging. His birthday was January 1, 1769.
Settling in Madison county in 1810 the Cook family immediately began by their in- dustry to make a place for themselves in the citizenry of the new country. The father John Cook built the first house in Collinsville. This cabin, a one-room affair, built entirely of logs, without nails or anything of that sort, and in the most primitive fashion, stood on a spot that is now the northwest corner of Church and Orient streets. The logs were "notched" so as to hold together at the four corners, and
the cracks were chinked and daubed with mud. The roof was of clapboards, and held in place with poles, made of saplings, laid across, and held down by cleats at the ends. The chimney was built of sandstone taken out of the hills close to the spot. The excava- tion where the cabin stood is still noticeable and is covered with beautiful blue grass. It is near the business part of the city.
William, the son, attended school and helped his father during his youthful years. When the time came to strike out for himself he bought forty acres of land and improved it. He had a firm and abiding faith in real estate values and considered land the founda- tion of real wealth. Starting with an humble sixteenth of a section he accumulated during his life time 1400 acres of fine land, all but 120 acres of it being located in Madison county.
Agriculture did not limit his horizon, how- ever, although his principal pleasure was in looking after his fine farms. He was a di- rector of the State Bank at Collinsville from its organization, and was well versed in ap- proved banking methods, his advice concern- ing loans being always sound and reliable and much sought after. He was an industrious man and although his early efforts rewarded him with a splendid fortune this did not in the least effect his personal routine nor cause him to long for other scenes than those with which he had been familiar. He pursued his regu- lar round of activities and contributed his presence, cooperation and support to the up- building of the community. He served well and faithfully on the school board, but never had any desire whatever for political prefer- ment. He was a believer in the fundamental principles of the Republican party and sup- ported its tenets consistently. He was a Bap- tist in belief but was not a regular attendant at service.
Mr. Cook's personal code was governed by the two allied attributes-honor and integrity. He was fair and impartial in his dealings and applied the touchstone of honesty to every transaction in which he was concerned. Those who had dealings with him knew that they might repose confidence in his word, and he appreciated strict honesty in others just as much as he valued it for himself. He is re- membered among the people of Madison county as that sterling example of worth-a just and upright man.
On the 21st of April, 1844, Mr. Cook was married to Miss Mary VanHooser, a native
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
of Madison county, her home having been in Jarvis township. Of their family of eight chil- dren, five have passed away, four daughters, Kate, Jennie, Amanda and Nellie, and one son, John, who was vice president and cashier of the State Bank at Collinsville. Three chil- dren are living today. The eldest is Captain Isaac W. Cook, for many years one of the leading residents of the city of Troy, but who removed a few years ago to Arkansas, where he carries on agriculture on a large scale. The daughters, Miss Matilda Cook and Mrs. Anna Cook Maurer, live in Collinsville.
ANTON WIENEKE, farmer and stockman, now living a retired life in Edwardsville, after half a century of active connection with the great agricultural industry of Madison county, claims as his birthplace that good old mother country, Germany, whence have ema- nated so many of the interesting, historic characters now found in this section of the country. His industry and progressive spirit have done much towards the upbuilding of the community in which he has so long re- sided.
On the 16th day of April, 1831, Anton Weineke was born in Prussia, Germany. His parents, Conrad and Mary Wieneke, were life-long residents of Germany, where they brought up their family of three children. Their son Anton was educated in the schools in his neighborhood and after the termination of his educational training he followed the occupation of farming. He remained at home
until he attained his majority, at which time he determined to seek other and broader spheres for his activities. In the year 1852, therefore, he took passage in a sailing vessel bound for America and after a long, weari- some voyage of ten weeks he landed in New Orleans alone. The chatter of the French and the slower talk of the Americans were alike unintelligible to the young German, but he was not discouraged by the strangeness of everything which he encountered. He had come to the United States resolved to win out, and he lost no time in wonderment at any- thing which he saw or heard, but secured passage in a river barge, came up the Missis- sippi river to St. Louis and thence direct to Madison county, Illinois, of whose agricul- tural possibilities he had heard. He gained employment with a certain George Barnsbark, one of the first settlers in Madison county and during the ensuing five years he remained with this pioneer farmer, learning the Amer- ican language, the customs of the people
amongst whom he expected to make his per- manent home, and in particular he looked about for chances of investment. He bought one hundred acres of land in Hamel township at twenty-five dollars per acre, and moved on to the farm. The ground was pretty well cov- ered with timber and he set to work to cut down the trees and put the land under culti- vation. From 1857 to 1896 Mr. Wieneke successfully managed the working of his farm, adding to his holdings from time to time until he owned six hundred and forty acres of fine, cultivated land. He made many improvements and was especially interested in planting fruit and shade trees. Standing in the yard near the doorway is a pear tree which was planted more than fifty years ago, and still bears fruit.
In the year 1858 Mr. Wieneke was married to Miss Dena Lewis, of St. Louis, Missouri. She is a daughter of Anton and Lena Lewis, both natives of Germany, who came to the United States in their youth. They were among the pioneer settlers in the hamlet of St. Louis; they saw the hamlet develop into a village, which in time grew into a city. When the couple first took up their residence there Mrs. Lewis used to pick hazel nuts in the identical spot where the St. Louis court house now stands. Mr. Lewis was a druggist for many years, commencing his business life at a period when there was very little commer- cial activity in the vicinity of St. Louis. and continuing long after the place had become a business center. Mrs. Weineke, carefully trained by her affectionate and worthy father and mother, proved a faithful helpmeet to her husband, and contributed her share towards the progress that they made. With the pas- sage of years nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wieneke; four of these have been claimed by the angel of death, John. Ida, Frank and Anton C. The names of those liv- ing are Mary, Henry, Anna, Lena and Lizzie.
Mary is now the wife of John Bloemecke and the mother of three children, Leo, Joe and Francis. The family lives in St. Louis, Missouri.
Henry married Miss Johanna Shaffer, born in Hamel township on the 5th day of January, 1868; her parents were Henry and Augusta (Speckman) Shaffer, natives of Germany. Mr. Henry Wieneke is in the produce busi- ness. He is a member of the J. E. Stewart Produce Company of St. Louis, Missouri, a firm handling several thousand carloads of potatoes yearly. Mr. Wieneke, in the capac-
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
ity of purchasing agent, travels from the Ca- nadian line to the gulf in the interests of this company. He maintains his residence at Ed- wardsville, where he is well known to his fellow citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wieneke are the parents of two children; their daugh- ter, Frances, was graduated with honors from the Edwardsville high school in 1911, while their son, Herbert, is an interesting student in the grammar school.
Lena married Conrad Bloemecke of St. Louis, and to this union four children were born : Anna, Clotilda, Eugene (deceased) and Mabel.
Lizzie, the wife of Benjamin Bange, has a family of six children : Wilbert, Agnes, Rosa- line, Leona, Alvin and the baby.
Anna is living with her parents in Ed- wardsville and is their devoted companion and housekeeper.
Anton C. (deceased) married Mary Hotz, and they became the parents of seven chil- dren : Clara, Adella, Antoinette (who died at the age of nine years), Virgil, Edward, Mary and Catherine. In 1896 Anton C. ac- quired an insight into the methods of farm- ing employed by the Illinois agriculturists. It is not often that a man cares to relate a story at his own expense, but Mr. Wieneke, in his simple, humorous manner, told the fol- lowing little anecdote of one of his own early experiences. He was possessed of an intense longing to kill a deer, which animals were very plentiful in the section of the country where he lived. More with a desire to grat- ify this wish of the young man than for any other reason, his employer one day sent Mr. Wieneke out alone to bring in some venison. With the utmost confidence he sallied forth, gun in hand, climbed a tree and waited for some deer to pass that way. Before very long his vigilance was rewarded by seeing a drove of twelve deer coming directly towards the tree where he was perched. Not feeling any too sure of his aim, and at the same time ambitious of winning everlasting glory in the eyes of his employer, the hunter determined to wait until the deer came so close to the tree that he could shoot two at once. In the short time that elapsed before the drove were sufficiently near, the young man began to shake with nervousness; his gun was pos- sessed with like inquietude, and in despera- tion he shot right over the backs of the whole drove; he was forced to return home without the venison. Mr. Wieneke himself said noth- ing in regard to his later hunting exploits, but
if he had not subsequently become an excel- lent marksman, possibly he would not have been so willing to recount this story of his first efforts in shooting. At the expiration of Mr. Wieneke's five years' service with Mr. Bransback, the young man found himself possessed of almost all the wages that he had earned during that time, and, desirous of com- mencing to operate a farm of his own, he and his family moved on to the old homestead and assumed the active supervision of the farm, which for several years prospered un- der his management. In 1907, after a long illness, Anton C. Wieneke died. About a year later Father Wieneke divided his prop- erty between his heirs, and in this division Mrs. Anton Wieneke received the old home- stead. She is now successfully superintend- ing its management.
The whole Wieneke family belong to the Catholic church, the father and mother honored members of the St. Boniface church in Edwardsville. In his political views Mr. Wieneke favors the Democratic party, but does not blindly ascribe to its platform. He believes in voting according to principle rather than party and thinks the man who will best serve the public is the one who is worthy of support. Although eighty years of age, Mr. Wieneke is hale and hearty ; there is nothing that affords him greater enjoyment than a drive from the city to his old home to visit his daughter-in-law and her children. He can look back on years of happy activity, years when he labored for the family who are now grown and are themselves successfully fulfilling the duties of citizenship.
WILBUR C. HADLEY. In every commun- ity which is characterized by the spirit of progress and enterprise there are citizens who ' are recognized as having contributed of their time and efforts to promote the prosperity and well-being of the community. It is to such as these that thought is directed when a new enterprise, or a momentous proposition comes up for consideration. They are looked to as the natural leaders of new movements of civic importance, or to lend their moral and material support to anything which con- cerns the welfare of all. They are expected to exhibit at all times that public spiritedness which is the life of municipal progress, and in the colloquial parlance of the day they are grouped under that general and somewhat vague designation of "leading citizens."
One who truly deserves to be termed in its best sense a leading citizen of Collinsville is
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
Wilbur C. Hadley, president of the State Bank of Collinsville, whose antecedents and whose personal career are noteworthy in many respects. He was born on a farm in Collinsville township, Madison county, Illi- nois, August 28, 1842, a son of William and Diadema (Mckinney ) Hadley. William's father, John Hadley, came to Collinsville township from Kentucky in 1817. He settled in what is known as Pleasant Ridge, and lived there until his death. His family comprised three sons and three daughters, two of the sons being preachers. William Hadley was a local preacher, and became the father of three sons and two daughters, of whom Wil- bur C. is the only surviving member.
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