USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume II > Part 55
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John H. Kreuter was reared on the farm and had the usual experiences of the farmer's son, attending the district school in the winter and working on the farm in the summer. He was not drawn to the great basic industry suffi- ciently to choose to make it his own, and at about the age of sixteen years he secured a clerkship in a store at very small wages, the business man by whom he was employed being Henry Trares. He remained with Mr. Trares until he became twenty-one and upon the occa- sion of the attainment of his majority he lo- cated in Livingston, where for about a year and a half he worked at Mine No. I. He saved his earnings, being by nature thrifty and a good manager, and in 1904 he established a meat market, which has since developed into a general store and meat market. This has proved most successful and Mr. Kreuter is one of the most prominent young business men of the place.
In 1904 Mr. Kreuter laid the foundation of an independent household by his marriage to Lillian Hiedkamp, of Staunton, Illinois, a a striking exemplification of the energy and . young woman born in Olive township, in Jan- ability of the old New England stock which has done much for the progress and develop- ment of the west.
uary, 1880. Their two small sons are Delmer and Melvin, aged six and three years, respec- tively.
Mr. and Mrs. Kreuter are valued members of the Lutheran church, to whose support and
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to whose campaigns for good they give their heartiest co-operation. In politics he is an en- thusiastic Democrat and holds the position of one of the trustees of Livingston.
F. M. HAUSKINS. On Christmas day of the year 1837 F. M. Hauskins was born in St. Clair county, Illinois. His father was a native of this state, too, but his mother, Elvira Law- rence, came with her parents from North Carolina in the early days and settled in the county where the subject of this review was born. When Lucian and Elvira Hauskins set up housekeeping in Illinois there were no roads and game was plentiful. It was easier to get venison then than beefsteak at the pres- ent. Mr. Hauskins was the owner of a coal mine on the Mississippi river, which supplied the town of St. Louis with fuel, in part. The coal was hauled into the city by ox teams and a ferry was the means of crossing the river. Mr. Hauskins was once offered two acres of ground in St. Louis where the court house 110w stands in exchange for his yoke of oxen. He unhesitatingly refused such a manifestly poor bargain, saying that he wasn't going to be fooled out of his oxen.
There were six children in the family of Lu- cian and Elvira Hauskins: Ivin, Elizabeth, James, Allen, William and F. M. The latter and James are the only ones now living. The children attended the subscription school of the pioneer days. The term was three months in duration and the teacher was paid by the parents of his pupils. The school house was a log structure, but so were the homes of the pupils. Chimneys were constructed of split timber standing on end and mortared. It seems remarkable in contemplation that all our for- bears were not burned.
Lucian Hauskins died at the age of fifty-five and F. M., who had stayed with him helping on the farm until his death, continued to re- side at home and to care for his mother in her widowhood. In 1864 he was married to Mar- garet Welch, born in 1838 in Dillentown, county Louth, Ireland. She came to America at the age of eighteen, with some friends. Af- ter his marriage Mr. Hauskins still remained at home for a time but later the young couple moved to Ellengrove, where he purchased fifty acres of his father's land and built a log cabin.
Five children were born of the union of F. M. and Margaret Hauskins: John H., Charles F., Alice A., Margaret A. and Mary Elizabeth. From Ellengrove Mr. Hauskins and his family moved to Alhambra, where he purchased one hundred and seventy-seven acres of land
southwest of Kaufman about three and a half miles. The untiring idustry of the owners ef- fected rapid improvement of the place and the lively young folk made the home a centre for merry doings.
In 1896 Mrs. Hauskins succumbed to the effects of a prolonged illness and passed away on May 12, at the comparatively early age of fifty-eight. She was a member of the Cath- olic church and brought up her children in that faith. She fulfilled all the duties of a loving and devoted wife and mother and her death deprived a large circle of a valued friend.
Mr. Hauskins is still on his farm, but his sons relieve him of much of the responsibility of the place. They are successful farmers and their fields show the application of the prin- ciples of agriculture to its practice. The daughters attend to the housekeeping, with Miss Alice as manager, and the father, who used to drive his little folk to school when the weather was bad, now enjoys the ministrations of that devoted family, having prospered in his work and having won the esteem of all his fellow citizens.
REV. CHARLES A. O'REILLY, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic church at Edwardsville, has faithfully served this parish since October, 1893. Catholic services in Edwardsville were first regularly instituted about 1843, and in 1847 the frame house of worship on Main street was built. In the earlier years there were frequent changes of pastors. In 1889,
under the pastorate of Father Daw. the build- ing on Main street was torn down and the site changed to Park street, where the present mod- ern brick church was erected in 1890. Father Daw was succeeded by Rev. T. M. Connolly, and the latter by Father O'Reilly.
Under Father O'Reilly's administration, St. Mary's has become one of the best parishes of this diocese. Its membership has increased to ninety-eight families, with eighty Sunday- school children. Many improvements have been made. The heavy debt which burdened the parish for a number of years after the erection of the new church has been liquidated and the church has become an efficient instru- ment in performing its spiritual and benevolent purposes. A fine pipe organ is one of the fea- tures of its modern equipment.
Father O'Reilly was born at Amboy. Lee county, Illinois, May 29, 1867. His parents, Patrick and Ann (Lee) O'Reilly, were natives of Ireland, coming to this country when young, and were married in Deposit, New York. The father was a merchant and contractor in New
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York city and is now living retired in Iowa. In der) Cauger was a native of . Trenton, New politics he is a Democrat. The family of twelve children were as follows: Bernard J .; William J .; Rev. John A .; Patrick; Michael ; High (I) ; Hugh (II) ; Mary, now Mrs. J. M. Meagher ; Charles A .; Elizabeth, now Mrs. P. J. O'Connor ; Peter and Richard.
Father O'Reilly began his education in the district school at Fort Dodge, Iowa, and was then a student for three years at St. Joseph's College, Dubuque, Iowa, and in 1883 graduated from St. Ambrose College at Davenport. It may be well to add that the family had removed to Iowa from the Empire state at an early day, locating in Fort Dodge, where the father was identified with the building of railroads. His father is now a venerable gentleman, ninety years of age, and is one of the best known and best beloved citizens of Fort Dodge. He was born in county Cavan, Ireland, May 29, 1812, and came to this country in 1832.
Father O'Reilly's philosophical and theolog- ical studies were pursued at the Catholic Uni- versity at Niagara Falls and on June 11, 1892, he was ordained. His first appointment was as a curate under Bishop Ryan at Alton, where he remained a year and three months, and dur- ing that time was chaplain of the Ursuline convent. He then came to Edwardsville. Prior to 1889 Father P. J. Smith, pastor of St. Mary's church at that time, established a church fund for the erection of a new church and the present handsome building is the re- sult. It is now undergoing repairs and will be frescoed.
Nearly twenty years of service at Edwards- ville have made Father O'Reilly one of the in- fluential citizens. Among his congregation his character and personality have made him a beloved pastor and friend, and citizens of all creeds esteem him for his zealous work and public-spirited attitude towards all movement for the general good.
FRANK M. CAUGER. As a successful busi- ness man and a public-spirited official Frank M. Cauger's career has been closely identified with the best interests of Granite City for nearly twenty years, through practically all the years that Granite City has had import- ance as a center of population and industry.
Mr. Cauger was born in Miami county, In- diana, in 1853, a son of Jacob and Sarah (Snyder) Cauger. His father, who was born in Carlyle, Pennsylvania, in 1809, belonged to an old family of the state, and his grand- father on the maternal side laid out the town of Little York, Pennsylvania. Sarah (Sny-
Jersey. Frank M. had the following brothers and sisters: Sophia, James, Hannah, Charles, Laura and Belle. Jacob Cauger was a farmer of Miami county, Indiana, and later a manu- facturer of sash and doors in Peru. In the latter city the children received their educa- tion, and there Frank M. grew to manhood and as a basis of his business career learned the trade of a tinner.
On the 31st of January, 1877, he was united in marriage with Miss Rose B. Lewark, whose capacity as a home maker and ability and energy in business have been the largest factors in their subsequent success. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1857, a daughter of John and Nancy (Loughery) Lewark, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Cauger had one sis- ter, Emma. Both were educated at Wabash, Indiana, and Mrs. Cauger was also a student in the State Normal at - Terre Haute, after which she was engaged in teaching in Wabash county until her marriage. Their wedded life was begun at Peru, where Mr. Cauger fol- lowed his trade for eight years. After a brief period of residence in Nebraska they re- turned to Peru and made that their home five years longer. In January, 1894, they took up their residence at Granite City, which was then one of the small towns of Madison county and just beginning to expand as an industrial center. Towards the end of Cleve- land's second administration Dr. J. S. Chase, then postmaster of Granite City, appointed Mr. Cauger and wife as his deputies in charge of the office, and with the beginning of the Mckinley administration Mr. Cauger re- ceived appointment as postmaster, with his wife as assistant. He served until 1908, and his wife continued in charge of the postoffice when he took up work for James A. Rose, secretary of state. He later was appointed the first collector on the new Mckinley Bridge, but soon resigned and has since en- gaged in the mercantile business in Granite City, being one of the successful and popular tradesmen of this locality.
Two sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cauger, under whose care and direction they were trained to usefulness and were educated in the schools of Peru and Granite City and are now independent business men. Arthur V., the older, a resident of Kansas City and is proprietor of the Kansas City Slide Com- pany. He married Miss Nina Deardorff, of Granite City, and they have two children,
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Helen and Louise. F. Garfield, the younger son, is employed in the great steel plant at Gary, Indiana. Ile married Miss Marietta Brown, of Nashville, Illinois, and they have two sons, Marion and Edward.
Mr. Cauger and wife are members of the Christian church of Granite City. His politi- cal affiliation has always been with the Repub- lican party, and he is one of the influential men of the party in this part of Madison county. As a citizen he has always been among the first to encourage and support those larger undertakings and movements which enrich the community life and make for progress. He and his wife are among the most popular residents of Granite City, and they have worked together in the public ser- vice and private business affairs through which they have won success. Mrs. Cauger is a fine example of the modern woman who has succeeded in combining the practical in- terests of the business world with the tasks and responsibilities of home management.
CHRIST F. SCHROEDER. Glen Carbon is a cosmopolitan village. It is a place in which true merit and ability in any line will surely be appreciated and rewarded. It has drawn its inhabitants from all over the United States and from different parts of the Old Country. Perhaps there are no foreigners who make better American citizens than the Germans. They are industrious to a fault. They are honest and enterprising. They are ambitious and capable. Christ F. Schroeder, the well known merchant in Glen Carbon, is possessed of all of these characteristics and a great many more that go to make up suc- cess. He has made his life happy and useful. He has given of his best, and the value of a man's work is gauged by how well he per- forms it. His present prominent position is an indication of his efficiency.
He was born in Germany, February 10, 1861. His father, Anton Schroeder was a wagon maker in Germany. He married Caro- line Taple, but soon after his marriage they made up their minds to come to America, as soon as they could get together enough money. They tried to save, but it was very difficult ; wages were low and babies kept coming and adding to his expenses. In 1870 he decided to cross the ocean alone and make a home for his family, while they stayed with their friends in Germany. He landed at New Orleans and came up the river to St. Louis, Missouri, but did not stay there. He went to Prairie Town, Illinois, and soon found work
Ile knew his business thoroughly and in the course of a year he had enough money to send to his family to pay their expenses to America and across the continent. In 1871 his family joined him in Prairie Town, Illi- nois. They lived there for several years and in . 1880 they came to Edwardsville. Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder had nine children, some born in Germany and some in this country. There are six living at the present time ( 1911) : Christ, Charles, Ernest, Anton, Louise, and Lena. Mr. Schroeder and all of his children are living at Edwardsville, but the wife and mother died in 1907, having lived long enough to see all of her six children grow up and be- come noble men and women, all with a feel- ing of thankfulness for the mother at whose knee they learned lessons which have stayed with them in all their later years.
Christ. the eldest of the nine children, was nine years old when he came to America with his mother and little brothers and sisters. He remembers his German home, but vaguely. He went to school there for a short time and then had to leave when the family came to the States. He was unable to speak the American language and was at an age when he felt diffident about going to school amongst boys whose tongue he could not speak; the result was that his education was very much neglected and most of what he knows to-day has been learned through his observation and his reading. He is, however, a well-informed man and possesses a mind of great intelli- gence. When he was twenty-one years of age he learned the butcher trade at Edwardsville and for several years he worked for others. In 1891 he went into business at Glen Carbon and since that time has been very successful, the firm now being known as Schroeder Brothers. He has made money at almost everything he has undertaken. He owns one hundred and eighty acres of land in Missouri and he has cultivated it so well that it is very productive. He is a director of the Citi- zens State & Trust Bank at Edwardsville, Illinois, and he has other interests in the county.
On April 24, 1884, he married Anna Cas- tien, a native of Bunker Hill, Illinois, where she was educated in the public schools. Nine children have been born to this union, all of whom are living: Ed, Emma, Laura, Mary, Albert, Anna, Mildred, Freda and Walter. Mr. Schroeder is happy in the midst of his large family and he is fortunate in that he has the means to give them the advantage of
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a good education. He realizes that education is a capital which every man or woman must have in order to succeed. If he cannot get it in school, he must do so in later years and in other ways.
Mr. Schroeder is a member of the Knights . Mary, and Anna. A rented farm of fifty- of Pythias lodge at Glen Carbon and was one five acres was the first home of Mr. and Mrs. Vorwald. This was in Nameoki township, where Granite City now stands. The young people were not afraid of a humble beginning, for they had the example of their parents, who had worked for five dollars a month at the beginning of their career, and had acquired two hundred and eighty acres of fine land by dint of prudence and hard work. They set to work to emulate this inspiring example. of the charter members. In politics he is a Republican, but he has never taken any very active part. He is, however, intensely inter- ested in everything pertaining to the welfare of his foster country and does all that he can for the good of Madison county. He is abso- lutely honest and upright in all of his deal- ings. All that he has gained has been obtained by means of square deals and he has employed no means but his own natural good business abilities to gain his present prominent position in the community. He and his family attend the Brockmeyer Evangelical church and are very loyal supporters of the different under- takings of this church. Indeed every worthy cause finds a friend in Mr. Schroeder and he delights in helping along any good work.
FRANK VORWALD, a retired farmer, was born in Madison county in 1856. His par- ents, Casper and Katy Buckwinkle Vorwald, were pioneers in the county, coming from Germany in the '40's and being wedded in this country. They shared the sometimes try- ing experiences that are the lot of those who settle new countries and they were of those who have the steadfastness and the industry to reap the rewards of those who hew down the prime forests and break the virgin soil. Frank Vorwald was one of a family of nine children, whose names were Ferdinand, Frank, John, Henry, Lizzie, Anna, Mary, Margaret and Casper.
After finishing his course in the district school Frank attended the parochial school in St. Louis, where he was confirmed. Until the age of twenty-three he assisted his father at home and then decided to start out for him- self. He and a friend of his, whose name was Fred Leders, rented a farm together. They were their own housekeepers for the three years during which they farmed in part- nership, and whatever may be said of the housekeeping, the farming was a decided suc- cess. Mr. Leders became one of the pros- perous and wealthy citizens of the state also.
In 1884 Mr. Vorwald was married to Miss Frances Zellermann, whose parents, like his own, had immigrated from Germany in the early days of the county's history. There were four daughters and one son in the fam-
ily of Joseph and Margaret Solgenschneider Zellermann. They all received their educa- tion in the German parochial school of Alton. August was the brother's name and the sis- ters of Mrs. Vorwald were called Lizzie,
There were eleven children born to them, three of whom died in infancy. Four sons and four daughters grew to maturity. . These are Anna, Mary, Frances, Celia, Bernard, Henry, Joseph and Frank. They attended the same school as their father did, the Deter- ing public school, and supplemented the course there by one in the German Parochial school of Granite City. They were thus trained to the use of both the German and the English languages. The parents prospered in their undertakings and in five years were able to buy the farm they had rented. Their chil- dren, too, have inherited the qualities of in- dustry which have brought their parents such success. Bernard is at present renting the farm of his uncle Ferdinand, and his sister Anna is acting as his housekeeper. Frances is learning the millinery trade in St. Louis and Henry is employed as inspector in the steel foundry in Granite City. The other chil- dren are at home with their parents.
In 1910 Mr. and Mrs. Vorwald decided to give up the active management of their farm and to move into the city. Accordingly, they came to Granite City and took up their' resi- dence at 2225 D street and here they are planning to take life easy and to enjoy the competence they have attained.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Vorwald are members of St. Joseph's Catholic church of Granite City and liberal contributors to it. Mr. Vor- wald is one of the trustees of the institution. Politically he belongs to the Democratic party. For twelve years he filled the position of school director and showed himself truly in- terested in the advancement of the cause of public education, commending himself to the entire community by his faithful devotion to its interests. He is also a director in the Granite City Trust and Savings Bank, in
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which he is a stockholder. Like the most of our best citizens, his success is of his own making and has therefore been a real con- tribution to the progress of the country.
AUGUSTA KAUFMAN. The richest heritage of a state is the lofty character of its citizens, and in the treasury of lives of golden deeds Illinois has no fairer gem than the career of Augusta Kaufman. "To visit the widows and the fatherless in their affliction" is defined by the Apostle as "pure religion and undefiled," and in such ministrations Augusta Kaufman has spent her time and her strength.
She is a daughter of Gustav Kaufman, of Germany, and Mary Jehle Kaufman, born in St. Louis, Missouri. Augusta Kaufman grew up in the happy companionship of her two sis- ters and three brothers. The parents were married in 1859, when Mary Jehle was nine- teen and her husband seven years older. They were people of industry and foresight and these qualities were rewarded by material prosperity. Beginning with an eighty acre farm, they acquired a thousand acres by work
and good management. Mr. Kaufman was one of the most enterprising farmers of Madi- son county and his varied activities brought him into contact with all the prominent men of the county. The town of Kaufman was named in his honor by the railroad company. Gustav and Mary Kaufman were privileged to spend a long and useful life together, sur- rounded by their children and enjoying the competence their industry had won for them. Their home was often the scene of joyful gatherings when the boys and girls were at home and it was hallowed, too, by their sor- rows. On March 21, 1905, after a lingering illness, the mother, Mary Kaufman, devoted wife and mother as well as helpful neighbor, was laid to rest. The number to whom her loss was a personal grief was a large one, but it was her husband on whom the blow fell heaviest. During the five years which he sur- vived his life's companion, he never ceased to feel the pain of bereavement until he was laid at her side in the churchyard of Marine, on January 25, 1910. He was a man whose work counted for much in the community and whose kindness was even more of value.
It was Augusta Kaufman whose presence cheered her parents in the last years of their lives. It was her thoughtfulness which antici- pated their every wish and lightened their bur- dens and it was her love which smoothed the path to its very end and eased them to their final rest.
Augusta Kaufman seems to have been called to the noble work of a "ministering spirit." When her sister Bertha was made a widow by the sudden death of her husband, Robert Herman, who was killed by a boiler ยท explosion in his grain elevator at Kaufman, Augusta left her home and remained seven years with her bereaved sister, to whom her helpful presence was a solace and an inspira- tion.
Another instance of her generous kindness is her care of an aged German who had been an employe in her father's family for over forty years. Ignatz Oenkhaus became broken in health and dependent in 1911, at the age of seventy-five. It was suggested that he be sent to some charitable institution, but this Miss Kaufman, with characteristic benevolence, re- fused to allow. It was no part of her idea that a servant of her family should be cared for by strangers. His place, to her mind, was in her father's house, and she herself attended to him. Her care elicited constant expres- sions of gratitude from the pensioner of her bounty, who did not cease to tell how blessed he was to find in a place far from his fatherland and kindred one who recognized in him a child of the Father of us all, and who was to him a veritable ministering angel. The wish of the great writer, George Eliot, seems fulfilled in the life of Augusta Kaufman, "May I reach that purest heaven ; be to some other soul the cup of strength in some strong agony." On October 14, 1911, Ignatz Oenk- haus, after an illness of six months, entered into rest. The funeral services were con- ducted at the Kaufman home, the Kaufman sons acting as pall-bearers. Numerous beau- tiful floral offerings attested the sympathy of friends and neighbors. Thus in the land of his adoption he received the kindest attention and care that loving hands could bestow.
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