USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume II > Part 46
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wife passed the residue of their lives, and their names merit enduring place on the roster of the honored pioneers of the county and state.
James W. Beall was born in Alton and here be eventually became a representative busi- ness man, the while he contributed his quota to the industrial and civic upbuilding of Alton, where he was engaged in the furniture busi- ness for a number of years and where he con- tinued to reside until his death, which occurred January 30, 1855. His name holds honored place in the annals of Madison county's his- tory and he was a man who well merited the unqualified esteem in which he was uniformly held. In Alton was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mary J. Hodges, who came with her widowed mother and older brothers from Tennessee to Alton in 1834, the journey hav- ing been made with wagons and ox teams. Mrs. Beall survived her honored husband and was summoned to the life eternal on August 26, 1896, secure in the affectionate regard of all who had come within the sphere of her gentle influence. Of the three children, Ed- mond, subject of this review, was the third born; Charles, the first-born, was long associ- ated with him in business; and Georgiana, the second born, died in infancy. Edmond Beall, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, founded the first Methodist church in the city of Alton, which was then located near the corner of Fourth and Belle streets. He was much opposed to slavery and was with Elijah Lovejoy at the time he was killed, prayed with him when he died and officiated at his grave. The Beall family were all Methodists and the Hodges family were Baptists.
Senator Beall is indebted to the common schools of Alton for his early educational discipline and was but seven years of age at the time of his father's death. The circum- stances of the family were such that he early found it incumbent upon him to assume prac- tical responsibilities, and before he had at- tained to the age of twelve years he assumed the dignified office of "devil" in the office of the Alton Daily Telegraph, in which he con- tinued to be employed for four years, during which he gained a thorough knowledge of the "art preservative of all arts," the discipline of which is justly accounted equivalent to a liberal education. He continued to be em- ployed at the printer's trade under the con- ditions noted until he felt the call of higher duty and went forth in defense of the Union. On the 12th of May, 1864, about four
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months prior to his fifteenth birthday anni- versary, this youthful patriot left the printer's case to enlist in Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and at that time he was the youngest Union soldier from Illinois. He continued in active service with his regiment until the close of the war, and during the greater part of this inter- vening period his command was located in Rock Island. He was mustered out at Camp Butler, near Springfield, on the 24th of Sep- tember, 1865, and duly received his honorable discharge. His last patriotic service was in assisting in the decoration of the old home of the martyred president, Abraham Lincoln, be- fore the arrival of the latter's funeral train in Springfield, and he attended his funeral.
After the close of the war Senator Beall returned to Alton, where he learned the man- ufacturing of miners' tools under the direction of his step-father, John Millen. Later he resumed his association with the printing busi- ness, and for several years he was employed in the office of the Alton Daily Telegraph, in which he had learned his trade and finally became the owner of the job department.
In 1872 Senator Beall associated himself with his brother, Charles, and engaged in the manufacturing of miners' tools on a modest scale, under the firm name of Beall Brothers. The operations were initiated on a capital of but seventy-five dollars, but they brought to bear the ability, energy, determination and ambition that are ever the forerunners of success. From a small nucleus has thus been evolved the splendid industrial enterprise now conducted under the corporate title of Beall Brothers, and the plant of the concern now comprises three large factories,-Factory No. I, for the manufacture of all kinds of miners' tools and supplies ; Factory No. 2, for manu- facturing all kinds of shovels, spades and scoops; and Factory No. 3 for the produc- tion of a full line of railroad track tools, rail- road. picks, heavy hammers and washers. This corporation, of which Senator Beall was president, gives employment to a large force of operatives and the enterprise is based on ample capitalistic resources, making it one of the extensive and important industrial enter- prises of the state.
Senator Beall has also given his capitalistic support and fine administrative powers to the upbuilding and maintenance of other import- ant industrial and business enterprises in his
native city, and has shown a full appreciation of the fact that the civic and material pros- perity of any community is best conserved through such agencies. In the midst of the manifold exactions of large business affairs he has found time and opportunity to give effective service in offices of public trust, be- lieving such interposition a matter of civic duty. For fourteen years in succession he was elected to the office of city alderman, as representative of the Fourth ward, and in IQII he closed his third successive term as mayor of the city, being the first mayor to be elected thrice in succession under the pres- ent system of a two-year incumbency for each term.
The period of Senator Beall's tenure of the mayoralty is marked in the annals of Alton as an era of distinctive progress, growth and improvement. No small part of this splendid achievement was due to the enterprise and forceful spirit of Mayor Beall, whose pro- gressiveness and loyalty were on a parity with his mature judgment and wise municipal policies. Within the interval of 1905 to 1911 was effected the paving of twenty miles of streets, the construction of nearly half as many miles of sewers, a good start made in the building of concrete walks, the construc- tion of two new hose houses entered upon, and the installation of auto fire trucks. The acquisition of Rock Springs Park and the large tract of adjacent land, so generously donated by the late William Eliot Smith, was made during the administration of Mayor Beall, and is rapidly becoming one of the show places of the city. A twenty-five year fran- chise was granted to the Alton Water Com- pany, the system rebuilt, more fire plugs were installed, at a greatly reduced rate, and today the people of the city are receiving the finest water in the country at reasonable rates. An indebtedness of twenty thousand dollars on the water-works system was liquidated, and the financial condition of the city was marked by stability. Alton, as a result of many mun- icipal improvements, emerged during Mayor Beall's tenure of office as a brighter, more attractive and more desirable place of resi- dence. Within his regime also the city was enlarged by the annexation of North Alton and Upper Alton, and the "Greater Alton" was redistricted into wards. Many other municipal, industrial and commercial improve-
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ments were undertaken and carried to suc- cessful completion within the period of Mayor Beall's tenure of the position of chief exec- utive of the municipal government, and con- cerning these adequate details are given on , other pages of this publication.
It cannot be doubted that the admirable record made by Senator Beall as mayor of Alton marked him as specially eligible for higher official honors, and no citizen of this section of the state has a stronger hold upon popular confidence and esteem. On the 8th of November, 1910, he was elected to the State Senate as representative of the Forty- seventh Senatorial District, and he entered upon the discharge of his duties with char- acteristic zeal and ability. At the first session of the Legislature subsequent to his election he introduced in the Senate the bill provid- ing for the erection at Edwardsville, the ju- dicial center of Madison county, of a monu- ment in memory of Governor Ninian Ed- wards, who was the first territorial governor of Illinois and for whom the town of Ed- wardsville was named. This monument will be dedicated on the 12th of September, 1912, and will prove a worthy and enduring tribute to the memory of Governor Edwards. The site selected is near the spot where the first territorial assembly was held, and thus the monument serves a double purpose from an historic standpoint. Governor Ninian Ed- wards was a son of Benjamin Edwards and was born in 1775. He died of cholera in 1833 and was buried in Belleville, Illinois. His mother's maiden name was Margaret Beall. She was a daughter of Ninian Beall, a brother of the Edmond Beall who was the grand- father of the subject of this article. (See Ford's History of Illinois and Wm. Wirt's Obituary, published in the Historical Sketches of the Beall and Edwards families). While traveling in Europe in the summer of 191I Senator Beall was further honored by being appointed honorary president of the Centen- nial Commission, which has in charge the mat- ter of properly celebrating the centenary of the founding of Madison county. Everything that touches the well being of his home city and county is a matter of vital interest to the Senator, and as president of the Home Build- ing and Loan Association of Alton, a posi- tion of which he is still the incumbent, he has done much to further the building of sub- stantial and attractive homes in the city. In politics he has ever given an unswerving al- legiance to the Republican party and he is
well fortified in his opinions as to matters of economic and political import.
On the 10th of September, 1868, was sol- emnized the marriage of Senator Beall to Miss Mary E. Harris, a daughter of Benja- min Bray and Margaret Harris, of Alton. Senator and Mrs. Beall became the parents of eight children, of whom Edmond, Charles and Frank are deceased. The names of the surviving children are here given in respec- tive order of birth: Hattie May and Abbie Lou (twins), Edward Wesley, Edmond Har- ris and Charles Roy. Hattie May was mar- ried December 20, 1893, to John H. Gill, whose occupation is traveling salesman. Their resi- dence is Alton, Illinois. Abbie Lou was mar- ried March 10, 1897, to Lysanias Caywood, whose occupation is credit man for Beall Brothers. Their residence is Alton, Illinois. Edward Wesley Beall is the superintendent of the forging department, Edmond Harris Beall is treasurer and in charge of the order department, and Charles Roy is superintend- ent of the shovel department, of the corpora- tion of Beall Brothers.
NICHOLAS OCHS. Our country owes 110 mean debt to Germany, whose sons have come to us in great numbers, bringing with them their national traits of sturdy industry, sound thinking and wise management, which have everywhere put them in the forefront of our citizenship. Nicholas Ochs, whose name has stood for many years in the county for honor and industry, was of such stock, for he was born in the kingdom of Prussia in the Ger- man empire in 1838. He was the son of Peter and Mary (Schneider) Ochs and the brother of one sister, Katarina Ochs. When Nicholas was sixteen years old the stories of the land of opportunity beyond the sea spurred him to go to the more favorable location for. a young man without fortune, and in 1854, he embarked in a ship sailing from the port of Neiderwilder. The journey consumed thirty- two days, though today with the great twin screw steamers of modern navigation the trip is almost always made in five. Instead of reaching New York harbor safely, the boat was caught in severe storms and grounded on an island off the New Jersey coast, so that passengers had to be taken off and sent to harbor in smaller boats. After landing in New York, Nicholas Ochs spent one night in the American metropolis before going to Philadelphia in search of work. He was young and strong, but he was in a strange land whose tongue he could not speak, with
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a capital stock of seven coppers. For nine days he was able to get work at a coal yard, but, for a lad of sixteen, the work was too heavy, and so taking the thirteen dollars and a half in gold and silver that he had earned, and which seemed to him a veritable fortune, lie crossed the Delaware river to the city of Trenton, New Jersey, and there became an apprentice in a cabinet maker's shop. For two years he remained with his employer, a good man who took a sincere interest in the ambitions of the young German and set him extra work so that the boy was able to make extra money. After two years, during which Mr. Ochs had become very proficient at the trade, he determined to go farther west to the state of Illinois. With his fellow-country- men and fellow lodgers of his New Jersey boarding house, Mr. and Mrs. Jaggerman, he came to Madison county, Illinois. Mr. Ochs found, however, that the call for cabinet mak- ing was slight, and so for five months he worked on the farm of a Mr. Wetzel, from there going to Pana, Christian county, where he worked two years as a carpenter before returning to work at his trade in Madison county.
In 1859 Mr. Ochs laid the foundations of his attractive home by his marriage in that year to Miss Ida Ruegger, who was born in Switzerland in 1838. She was the daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Ruegger, who left Switzerland and immigrated to this country when their daughter Ida was fifteen years old. Besides Ida, there were in the Ruegger fam- ily three other girls and one son, Paulina, Emma, Mary (deceased) and Edward. Jacob Ruegger was a teacher in the Swiss schools, and it was in that country that his daughter Ida received her education. Upon settling in this country he and his family located in Monroe, Wisconsin, where the parents spent the rest of their lives.
Upon their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ochs established themselves in Alhambra, where Mr. Ochs went on with his work as a car- penter. The country was new and a growing progressive spirit demanded many new build- ings. Mr. Ochs did a thriving business, and, indeed, it may be said that he erected most of the buildings in Alhambra, buildings that stand today as monuments to the quality of his workmanship. Notable among the build- ings for which he is responsible is the German Evangelical church, a beautiful building that stands as a memorial to the good taste and liberality of its German membership.
Into the happy household of Mr. and Mrs. Ochs have been born five sons and three daughters, all of whom attended the public schools of Alhambra. Lena, August and Ed- ward passed away in childhood. Bertha be- came the wife of August Gerig, a prosperous farmer of Alhambra township, and is the mother of Augusta, Alma, Martha, Erhard and Russell Gerig. August Gerig, at the present time, is a teacher in the Alhambra schools. John Ochs married Miss Paulina Berger, a daughter of Rev. Berger, who died leaving two sons, Arthur and Walter Ochs. Their father married again, his present wife being Mrs. Ida ( Brensing) Ochs, a daughter of Henry Brensing, one of Alhambra's oldest and most highly thought of citizens. To Mr. and Mrs. John Ochs have been born the following children :- Edwin, Adala, Orville, Olivia and Alma. John Ochs is the proprietor of the Alhambra lumber-yard. Emma Ochs became the wife of the Rev. Hauck, the pas- tor of the German church in Oakville, Mis- souri, and is now the mother of six children, -Nora, Theodore, twins named Clara and Hulda, John and Selma. Otto Ochs was united in marriage to Miss Margaretta Leu, and is now a carpenter residing in Edwards- ville. He and his wife are the parents of three children,-Irma, Oscar and Leo Ochs. Adolph is unmarried and is at present em- ployed by the Big Four Railroad Company in the tower-house at With, Illinois.
Mrs. Nicholas Ochs died October 31, 1911. Mr. Ochs is a devoted member of the German Evangelical church of Alhambra as was his wife, and he is interested in every good work promulgated by the faith. Mr. Ochs' political affiliations are with the Republican party. A visit to the present substantial and attractive residence of the family makes one want to take off one's hat to the plucky little German boy who came to this country so many years ago and has carved for himself a place so full of honor in the esteem of his neighbors.
G. F. HELMKAMP, a prominent farmer in Moro township, Madison county, Illinois, spent the early years of his independent ca- reer engaged as a locksmith, and subsequently determined that the farm should be the scene of his life work. Every year there are more men who become farmers on their own ac- count, which is a very desirable condition of affairs. It seems suitable that the man who works should receive the rewards of his own labor, and there is no class of work in which this is so much the case as in farming.
Par Dinny
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The birth of Mr. Helmkamp occurred in Hanover, Germany, on the 5th day of August, 1829. His parents, H. H. Helmkamp and Lena (Barkherber) Helmkamp, were both of German nativity and education. They there spent the early years of their wedded life and they became the parents of five children, Father Helmkamp followed the occupation of a laborer . but he felt that he did not have fair scope for the exercise of his abilities, and determined to come to America. In the spring of the year 1843 he bade fare- well to his native land and to the restrictions formed by prejudice and custom, took passage on a sailing vessel, and after a long, weary journey he arrived at New Orleans, with his wife and children. Not tarrying long in that city, he embarked on a river boat and arrived in St. Louis, Missouri. He took up his resi- dence amongst the Germans who had formed a settlement in that city, and was preparing for a happy, prosperous career when the death of his wife, in January of the following year, brought trouble to the family. After her de- mise the father redoubled his efforts and suc- ceeded in raising his children to be a credit to him. He remained in his St. Louis home until 1871, when he died.
The first fourteen years of the life of G. F. Helmkamp were spent in his native land, where he received his educational training in the public schools of Germany. In 1843 he came to the United States with his family. He was apprenticed to a locksmith and brass moulder in St. Louis, and in the course of his three years of service he made himself thor- ough master of the trade. He then worked for himself for a time, and later filled orders for the government, making brass spurs and stirrups for saddles. He was industrious and a skilled workman, so that he was able to save money. He subsequently abandoned his trade and bought a farm in St. Louis county, Mis- souri, and for the ensuing thirteen years he was engaged in improving his one hundred and ninety-four acre tract where he. resided. In 1866 he sold his farm and bought another, a tract of two hundred and seventy acres, in Moro township. He has continued to live on this place and has added to his holdings, later buying thirty acres, so that he now has a fine farm of three hundred acres, where he does general farming. He has proved as capable in the management of his farm as he was at his trade, and is now enjoying the fruits of his work in his younger days.
Mr. Helmkamp was twice married. On
May 29, 1851, he was united to Miss Anna Schrader, of German birth, who came to the United States in 1845 and located in St. Louis, where she met and later was married to Mr. Helmkamp. She became the mother of eight children, six of whom are living (191I) : john, Henry, Fred, Herman, Anna and Louis. Mrs. Anna Helmkamp died in 1869, while the family were living on the farm in St. Louis county, above mentioned. Later Mr. Helm- kamp married Mrs. Catharine Selsling, who became the mother of six children. Their first born, George A., lived to be twenty-nine years of age, was highly educated and had already shown marked abilities as a physician, when he was summoned to another sphere. The names of the five children who are living (19II) are: Edward, a farmer at Moro; Emma, wife of Albert Miller; Amelia, single, at home with her father; Amanda, married to William Cooper; and Rudolph, who also lives with his father. On the 4th day of April, 1907, the mother of these children died, and the father was again bereaved.
Mr. Heimkamp has remained true to the faith in which he was reared and trained --- the German Evangelical church, where for many years he served as trustee. In politics he is a Republican, but has never taken any active parts in public affairs, finding his time fully occupied by the duties of farm, home and church life. He has a high standing in the community where he has resided for so long a period.
ROBERT WEBSTER BINNEY, M. D. There is perhaps no profession which affords a wider field for the careful and never-tiring student, or in which a strong, fine character is more of an essential than the medical profession. The great state of Illinois has just reason for pride in those talented and conscientious physicians in her possession, and representative among them is Robert Webster Binney. This gentle- man, one of the ablest and most successful physicians of Madison county, has been a resi- dent of Granite City for fourteen years, dur- ing which time he has devoted his entire pro- fessional services to Granite City and vicinity. He located here when it was little more than a village and has witnessed its rapid growth to one of the largest centers of population in Madison county. He holds rank among the foremost representatives of his profession in this city.
Dr. Binney was born in Madison county, Illinois, November 26, 1872, his parents being Walter P. and Christina (Webster) Binney,
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the former a native of Sheffield, England, and a relative of the Binneys of the Binney Cut- lery Company of Sheffield, the largest manu- facturers of the kind in the world. His mother, Christina Webster, was a native of Scotland. Walter I'. Binney immigrated to America with his parents and two brothers, John P. and Charles, before the Civil war, when nine years of age, and located in Madi- son county, Illinois. John P. became a suc- cessful physician of the county, and Charles a prosperous farmer near Douglass, Madison county. Walter P. Binney was a prominent school teacher, a thorough scholar, and con- sidered one of the best posted men of his day. His knowledge of the dictionary was a matter of general comment and he had the ability to expound any word that was pro- pounded to him. He was also a careful and thorough student of the Bible and with his wife was an honored member of the Episcopal church.
His wife's parents came to America when she was but seven years of age and settled in St. Louis, Missouri, where she received her education. They were wedded in Macoupin county, Illinois, and began their married life on a farm in Madison county, where the town of Binney, which was named in his honor, now stands. He became in time one of the most extensive land owners of the place, own- ing over two thousand acres. Their family consisted of seven sons and three daughters, of whom Robert W. was the youngest. John and Charles became practicing physicians, the former dying at the age of forty-five years, and the latter locating near Fort Worth, Texas. Harry, Joseph and Walter became successful farmers, the former residing at Bin- ney Station, where he is engaged as a breeder of fine English shire horses; Joseph, at Black- well, Oklahoma; and Walter, at Pierre, South Dakota. Another brother Thomas, is the pro- prietor of a large grocery store at Springfield, Illinois. Bessie married Dr. C. G. Elliott, de- ceased, of Oklahoma ; Martha became the wife of Thomas Williamson, a prominent attorney of Edwardsville, Illinois ; and Jessie married G. W. Benn, of Dallas, Texas. The meeting of Walter P. Binney and his future wife is a pretty story. When a young man he was rid- ing his favorite horse along a country road and came very unexpectedly upon a pretty young girl who was wading barefoot in a stream of water and who blushed at the unex- pected intrusion. Looking back at her with admiring glances, he vowed he would win her
for his bride. Soon after he sought her acquaintance and a friendship was formed, which ended in their marriage and happy wedded life. Mr. and Mrs. Binney took pains in the education of their children, giving them a careful training and equipping them for an honorable and loyal citizenship. Their first schooling was at the Pleasant Hill school in Olive township, which is said to have turned out more doctors, lawyers and preachers than any other school in Madison county.
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