USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume II > Part 61
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HONORABLE R. GUY KNEEDLER. There is no lawyer in the state of Illinois who has a higher , Robert, engineer for the Douk Brothers Coal standing than the Honorable R. Guy Kneedler, of Collinsville, Illinois. He has had an inter- esting career, but throughout it has been be- yond reproach. No one has been able to cast any aspersions on his character, either in a private or public capacity. Since his first en- try into the field of law he has set himself to run the course with singleness of purpose. His goal was not a crown of glory for himself, but he strove to perform each day the duties which were nearest. This course he has kept without deviating to the right or to the left. To such honors will come without being sought, as in- deed they have to Mr. Kneedler, but in his mind the contentment which comes with the knowledge of a life well spent means much more than the positions of honor which he has filled.
He was born on a farm in Collinsville town- ship in May, 1873, a son of Christopher D. Kneedler, one of the old and respected citizens of Collinsville, Madison county, Illinois. There is no one who stands higher in the esti- mation of the people than Mr. and Mrs. Kneedler, who have been residents of this county for many years. Christopher D. Kneed- ler was born in Pennsylvania, June 30, 1833. His father, John Kneedler, was one of the Pennsylvania Dutchmen. His wife's maiden name was Dome ; she, like John Kneedler, grew up in Pennsylvania. They came to Illinois in 1844, locating in Collinsville township, at a time when this country was very newly settled. John Kneedler died a year after they came to Illinois, leaving to his widow the task of rais- ing the family. This was no light task, con- sidering that there were ten children, of whom Christopher was the youngest. At a very early age he began to assist on the farm, going to school whenever he could be spared. There were no public schools in Illinois at that time,
but some of the people in the neighborhood clubbed together and built a log cabin which they used as a school house, then hired a teacher to instruct the children. This was the school that Christopher attended, at the same time doing all he could to help his mother. Early in 1852, when he was nineteen years old, Christopher was fired with a desire to make a stake. He started to California, where he en- gaged in farming and teaming. After four years spent in that state he returned to Illi- nois, where he was united in marriage with Miss Lauretta Penney, a lady of great energy, born in Collinsville township, of Irish descent. She is the mother of six children, as follows : Company; William, proprietor of the Air- dome; Harry, who is a physican in the Phil- ippine Islands; Lauretta, the wife of Fred Gade; Don, who is dead. Mr. Kneedler is a Democrat in his political views and when a younger man he served as alderman in his ward. He has always been a farmer from his childhood days. He owns a farm in Collins- ville township of one hundred and sixty acres. Until nine years ago he farmed there; he then moved into Collinsville, where the family are residents at 421 Vandalia street, enjoying the fruits of their early labors. Mr. and Mrs. Kneedler are quiet, unassuming people, honest in their dealings with everyone.
R. Guy Kneedler was the fourth in the fam- ily of six children, one of whom is now dead. Guy was brought up on his father's farm, at- tending the district school until he was four- teen years of age, when he entered the graded school at Collinsville. He was graduated from the high school in the class of 1889. For a time he worked on the farm, then he worked in the coal mines in the capacity of check weighman. He held this position for two years, during which time he made up his mind that he should like to be a lawyer. He entered the law department of the Northern Indiana University at Valparaiso, from which institu- tion he was graduated in 1901. He was ad- mitted to the bar in the state of Illinois and began to practice at Collinsville. While he was still in school he was elected city attorney of Collinsville, in which capacity he served from 1901 to 1907. During this time he was appointed master in chancery of Madison county, Illinois, in 1906 and 1907. He prac- ticed his profession until April 18, 19II, when he was elected mayor of Collinsville.
In 1901 he married Olive Anderson, a life- long resident of Collinsville. Three children
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were born to this union, Richard, aged six, Josephine, four years old, and the baby Maude, only eighteen months old.
Mr. Kneedler is a member of the Collinsville Lodge, No. 712, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Chapter, Royal Arch Ma- son. He is a member of the Knights of Pyth- ias, standing high with both fraternal orders. In politics he is a Democrat, the party having in him a most able supporter. The duties which devolve on him in his capacity of mayor have so far been performed to the satisfaction of both Republican and Democratic parties. Inasmuch as he has proved himself so fully qualified for each of his other offices, it is safe to predict that he will go on as he has begun, with an earnest desire to do his best, than which no man can do more.
T. F. LEYDEN. Among Granite City's most prominent and progressive citizens must be numbered T. F. Leyden, the well-known real estate and insurance man. He is a product of New England, that cradle of so much of our national history, his birth having occurred at Bath, Maine, January 31, 1866. He is the son of Patrick and Margaret ( Considine) Leyden, natives of Ireland, who immigrated early in life to the land of the stars and stripes. They reared a family of sons and daughters, as fol- lows: Minnie, Nettie, Elizabeth, Kate, Anna, Nellie, Agnes, Edward, and T. F., the imme- diate subject of this review.
When Mr. Leyden was two years of age his parents removed from Maine to Carrollton, Illinois, where the father engaged in railroad work, and there the children drank of the "Pierian spring" of learning. When he bade farewell to his desk in the school-room Mr. Leyden learned telegraphy, and in 1888 he came to Venice, Illinois, where he secured a position, being agent for the Chicago & Illi- nois and then for the Big Four. Subse- quently, in 1891 and 1892, he was employed as dispatcher at Roodhouse, Illinois. In 1894 Mr. Leyden was united in marriage to Made- laine Youree, born in Venice and the daughter of Dr. C. S. Youree. Two children were born, both dying in infancy. In 1899 the death of Mrs. Leyden occurred and Mr. Ley- den removed to Granite City in the fall of 1899. Here he engaged in the real estate busi- ness with C. D. McCasland and Dr. Youree, these gentlemen purchasing the Wulfmeyer tract, platting it and selling the lots, under their judicious management a live town springing up from the prairie.
On December II, 1907, Mr. Leyden was
united in marriage to Miss Lulu G. Jones. She was born in 1882, in Moberly, Missouri, and is the daughter of the late Charles H. and Dora (Schultnoir) Jones, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Iowa. Mr. Jones' occupation was that of superintendent of the Gray Iron Founderies of the Madison Car & Foundry Company, now known as the American Car & Foundry Company, of Madi- son, Illinois. He came to Madison from Ar- mourdale, Kansas, where for a number of years he had been superintendent of an iron works. In 1893 his death occurred and in 1903 that of his wife. They were good peo- ple, kind neighbors, indulgent parents and they are vividly remembered and regretted by a wide circle of friends. They are laid to rest in St. John's cemetery in Granite City. Mr. Jones was active in the Masonic and Odd Fel- low lodges. His children consisted of Rodney O., Earl R., Kenneth W. and Lulu, the latter the wife of the subject of the sketch. Mr. and Mrs. Jones reared their children with great care and the admirable citizenship of the younger generation is largely due to their early training. Mrs. Leyden pursued a busi- ness course in the Home University of St. Louis, Missouri, and the sons finished their education with courses in the Scranton, Penn- sylvania, Correspondence Schools.
Mrs. Leyden's first public work was in the real estate office of C. D. McCasland, in Madi- son, Illinois, at the time when the new addi- tion of West Madison was being laid out and platted. Later she was employed for seven years by the firm of McCasland & Leyden, and during that period the firm purchased the aforementioned Wulfmeyer tract and laid it out. The long acquaintance of Mr. Leyden and Miss Jones led to marriage, their union being celebrated on December II, 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Leyden began their married life in a delightful new home on Missouri avenue in West Granite City, the attractive and commo- dious structure having been personally super- vised by Mr. Leyden for the reception of his bride.
Mrs. Leyden's life has ever been one of ac- tivity and service for others. In youth, bereft of her parents by death, she was left with the care of two younger brothers, Earl and Ken- neth, to whom she was both father and mother. In 1901 she was appointed by Gov- ernor Yates to the office of notary public in Madison county, and was again appointed to the office in 1905 by Governor Deneen. She had the distinction of being the notary who
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
received the complaint of the crusaders against the pool rooms which resulted in their closing. In the highest degree she enjoys the respect and confidence of the people.
Mr. Leyden's business principles also have been such as to win him the confidence of the people. He was city councilman at Granite City for a number of years and was five times elected assessor and three times collector of Venice township. He was elected one of the trustees of the East Side Levy district and is serving in such capacity for a term of four years. In all these offices he has proved an honor to his constituents and a credit to him- self. He has numerous fraternal affiliations, belonging to the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Royal Arcanum, the National Union, and the Commercial Club of Granite City. He is one of the trustees of the Granite City Trust & Savings Bank.
Mrs. Leyden is a devoted member of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal church of Granite City and active in church, guild and club work. She is one of the beloved associates of the Girls' Friendly Society of the Episcopal church.
The lives of Mr. and Mrs. Leyden are so closely and helpfully identified with the his- tory of Granite City that its record would be seriously incomplete without detailed mention of them. They are public-spirited and pro- gressive, kindly and altruistic. Mrs. Leyden is a true type of American womanhood, with fairest gifts of mind and heart. Their home on Missouri avenue is the center of gracious hospitality and they enjoy the esteem and popularity of the community. The Leydens may well be included among the flower of Madison county, whose helpful and represen- tative men and women form the subject mat- ter of this Centennial History.
WILLIAM FLETCHER, president of the First National Bank of Collinsville, is an instance of the way in which a foreigner (if we may speak of the English as foreigners) can come to this country, apply himself to his chosen calling and come to the front, taking prece- dence over many American-born citizens. Collinsville is bound to have the best man to fill any vacant position. If the best man hap- pens to be an American citizen, American born, well and good, but if he is born across the water it makes no difference to Collins- ville. If he is the best man. him they must have. Mr. Fletcher has been shown honors, and no one can doubt that the preference was not justified by the man himself.
William Fletcher was born at Poynton in Cheshire, England, May 19, 1844. He is the son of James and Hannah (Bold) Fletcher, neither of whom came to this country. Mr. Fletcher was a miner, but was only getting very low wages, barely enough to buy bread and clothing for his four children. They are all living now; William and Selina (Mrs. Hig- ginbotham) live in Collinsville, but the other two never came to America.
It is to be supposed that William Fletcher was not able to get much schooling; there were no public schools when he was a boy and his father could not afford even to buy books, let alone pay the fee that was necessary. When he was only ten years of age he began to work in the mines, that being the only way that little boys could earn any money in that mining district of England. For seven years he worked as a trapper boy and a miner, earn- ing a mere pittance. He was not content to live the rest of his life as his father had be- fore him, struggling for mere existence. He had heard of the wages to be procured in the mines in America, nearly double what a man could earn in England ; he had a little sweet- heart whom he expected to marry some day and he did not mean to subject her to the same poverty which had been his mother's lot. He, therefore, found some kind friend who lent him enough money to buy a suit of clothes and the money to come to America. He bade farewell to his family and his sweetheart and started for Liverpool. There he took steer- age passage in the vessel called the Great Eastern. He was brought up to live frugally and without any luxuries, but the privations of that crossing were beyond anything that he had ever thought of. The quarters were close and dirty. The food was plentiful but most unappetizing. The seasickness was terrible, but the homesickness was worse. However, he landed in New York, and his spirits began to revive. He was only seventeen and it is hard to keep a boy of seventeen down hearted very long. He went direct to Belleville, Illi- nois, of which he had been told as a probable place to get work. He commenced immedi- ately upon his arrival to work as a mule driver, that being the only work he could ob- tain at first. At the end of five months he ob- tained work as a regular miner and gradually, by dint of hard work and strict attention to details, he worked his way up, saving all the money he could spare that he might have something for the future, that he might not have to toil all of his life and that his children
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might have a better bringing up than his had been. He and four other miners put their earnings together and in 1870 they bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in St. Clair county, Illinois, where they were certain there was coal. They had not enough money to pay for the land in cash, but paid one-third cash and the balance in installments. They sank a shaft and began to operate, Mr. Fletcher be- ing the mine manager. After three years' time he obtained a position in the same capac- ity with the Abbey Coal Mining Company and was with them until 1882. He was then ap- pointed superintendent of the mines until 1886. At that time a change was made and larger operations engaged in, he becoming superintendent of the entire company. In March, 1904, he retired from the mining busi- ness, having spent his whole life in mining. In 1902 a company was organized to buy up the Collinsville Bank and merge it into the First National Bank. James H. Bett was the president of this amalgamated bank and Will- iam Fletcher was the vice president. In 1903 Mr. Fletcher was elected president, a position he is holding at the present time. In addition to his'bank stock Mr. Fletcher has one hun- dred and seventy-six acres of land in Madison county, Illinois, and one-third interest in two hundred and fifteen acres of land in St. Clair county, Illinois, the site of his coal mine. He is also interested in one hundred and sixty- three acres of land in St. Clair county, Illinois, besides possessing other smaller interests.
Five years after his arrival in America Mr. Fletcher went back to England to marry his little sweetheart, to whom he had been truc. Her name was Julia Ridgeway, and she was a typical English girl, affectionate and true as steel. William's sister Selina joined him in America two years after their arrival, and lived with them in Collinsville and is now married there. Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher had four children who lived to grow up, John J., Thomas C., William C. and Bertha, the latter the wife of John Willett. In April, 1882, Mrs. Fletcher died; two years later he mar- ried Mrs. Maria Hatfield, a widow, who was born in Derbyshire, England, and came to the United States in 1876. She and Mr. Fletcher had two children, one of whom died. The other, Arthur Fletcher, is a professional ball player, now on the National League, playing with the New York Giants.
Mr. Fletcher is a member of the Collins- ville Blue Lodge, No. 712, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; of Unity Chapter, No. 182,
Royal Arch Masons, and of the Tancred Com- mandery, No. 50, Knights Templar. He has taken the thirty-second degree in Masonry. In politics he is a Republican and served as township school treasurer for thirteen years. He is greatly interested in all matters that tend to the welfare of the state, but he is per- haps more interested in educational progress than in anything else. Having had the ad- vantage of next to no schooling himself, he realizes, as none other could, the advantages that come with education. Not that he is an ignorant man by any means, but his knowl- edge has come through his association with people and through his reading. There is no man in Collinsville who has made more prog- ress than Mr. Fletcher, who began life at the age of ten as a little trapper boy. It is en- tirely by his own efforts and natural abilities that he has attained the prominence lie now enjoys. He is a man the city could ill afford to spare.
GABRIEL PEPPER. The fertile lands of the American Bottoms in Madison county at- tracted many of the early settlers to this re- gion, and many of the leading citizens who have been identified with the history of the county made their first locations on these Bottoms. While not among the earliest set- tlers, Mr. Gabriel Pepper, of Madison, has resided in that locality for the past half cen- tury, and few survivors of the early times have been more active workers and interested observers of the affairs of this vicinity than he. He has had a career of honorable and well rewarded industry, and enjoys a high place of esteem in this community.
Mr. Pepper was born in Shelby county, Missouri, on the 6th of February, 1839. His parents, Elijah and Elizabeth (Calvert) Pep- per, were both Kentuckians by birth, and his mother was a descendant of Lord Baltimore. His father became a settler in Missouri be- fore the Indians had moved to the west. He was a lifelong farmer and made a fair suc- cess of it. On his way to Missouri from Kentucky he stopped near St. Louis and worked for a time in splitting rails at six bits a hundred. Besides Gabriel the other chil- dren of the family were John, Joseph, Frank- lin, William and Sarah. They were all brought up in a time and country when pub- lic schools had not come into existence, and they received their education in a log school- house in the woods, the school being con- ducted on the old subscription plan. The best thing they learned was the value of in-
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dustry and the ability to perform hard, hon- est labor. When Gabriel was thirteen years old his mother died. The father later mar- ried a widow who had four daughters. The two sets of children did not agree very well, and with his oldest brother, John, Gabriel left home and they began shifting for themselves.
In 1861 they came to the American Bot- toms, where, as determined and energetic young men, they rented a hundred and fifty acres of land and began raising produce. They had a crop of fifty acres of potatoes, besides other crops, and they employed half a dozen men in the labor of their truck farm. Provisions that would keep were in great demand at that time by the government, which paid them three and four dollars a barrel for all their potatoes. They raised thousands of dollars' worth of produce during the war. In 1875 Gabriel Pepper made the overland trip by railroad to California. This experi- ence was undertaken primarily for his health, and after a year he returned with body well restored to its normal capacity, when he con- tinued farming with his brother. He was later engaged at a salary of a thousand dollars a year as overseer for the five hundred acre farm of Judge I. Z. Smith, of St. Louis, with whom he remained three years, after which he retired from a business life.
In 1889 Mr. Pepper established his own home by his marriage to Miss Ellen Fehan. She was the only child of John and Catherine (Woodlock) Fehan, natives of Ireland, and she was born in Madison county, in 1850. She was reared and educated here, and with her marriage she became an energetic assist- ant in making a success in business and also a comfortable home for her husband and chil- dren. They purchased a hundred and sixty acres of land on Gabrett Island, where they prospered as farmers for a number of years. This land was in recent years bought by the Niedringhaus interests.
Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Pepper, named Kate, John, Elizabeth, Elijah, Sarah and Mary. Kate died in infancy. Soon after the birth of the youngest, the mother was called by death and was laid to rest in the Calvary cemetery of St. Louis. Under the father's care the children were reared in a comfortable home and given good advantages, attending the public schools of Venice, and they have since taken places of honorable activity in the world. The sons, John and Elijah, and the daughter Mary as housekeeper, now comprise the family circle
at home. Elizabeth is the wife of Joseph Kraft, a contractor of Venice. The daugh- ter Sarah died in 1908. She was the wife of John Boyer, a moulder at Venice, and she left one daughter, Ruth.
Mr. Pepper comes from a family of stanch Jefferson Democrats, and throughout his ca- reer has been a firm adherent to that party. In public affairs of his community he has taken a public-spirited part. He held the office of school director several years, and was also a member of the village board. At the present time he is a highway commis- sioner of Madison county. He has held one unique distinction for many years in this vicin- ity. From his long residence in the lowlands he has become an authority on the rises of the river, and his warnings have on numerous occasions been the signal for the people to retire to higher grounds. Mr. Pepper is a citizen of sterling character, has been success- ful in his business, and has long been a posi- tive influence for good and advancement in his community. Personally he is very popular among the people of this portion of the county. His quiet humor, his kindly nature and hos- pitable manners have gained him a large cir- cle of firm friends.
DAVID JONES, ex-sheriff of Madison county, Illinois, is not the original Davy Jones of whom the sailors are so terrified, but he is nevertheless a Welshman. Judging of the Welsh people as a whole by the few who have crossed the ocean and settled in Amer- ica, they must be a remarkably enterprising nation. When Wales was a separate coun- try, ruled over by a native prince, the people spoke the Welsh tongue, and as there was very little intercourse between the two coun- tries, England and Wales, for the most part they understood only their own language. Now that the country is part of Great Britain and travel has become more general, the in- habitants of Wales speak the English lan- guage and the Welsh is gradually dying out. It is not taught in the schools and the only way in which it is kept up at all is by its being spoken in the homes and thus handed down from generation to generation. Since none but a born Welshman could pronounce the tongue twisting words, it is not a lan- guage that is studied by other nationalities. As soon as we know that a man is a Welsh- man we immediately think of some one who is industrious, enterprising, faithful, affection- ate, brave and religious. David Jones has all of these qualities and a great many others
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that make up a good citizen and a success- ful man.
He was born in Wales, August 31, 1875, in the same village where his father and his grandfather were born and had lived. His grandfather, David Jones, is still living in the old home, speaking the old language and sur- rounded by his old friends. His son Noah was not satisfied to remain quietly in his own country and live the life his parents had lived. He wanted to see the world and to try and make a fortune in the new world, as he had heard others had done. He was brought up in the mining district in Wales and his imagi- nation was fired by the stories he had been told of the high wages that miners get in America. When he was quite a young man he crossed the ocean in a sailing vessel, landed at New Orleans, came up the Mississippi river to St. Louis and thence across the bor- der into the mining district of Illinois. He had no difficulty in obtaining work, as he understood his business thoroughily and the wages, too, were as high as he had expected, but he had not realized that the cost of every- thing was proportionately high. The fortune did not come as fast as he had anticipated, but he was able to get some money ahead. His thoughts turned often to those hills in his little home town and to the little girl who was waiting for him there. As soon as he could get enough money together he went back home and married his little sweetheart, Margaret Morgan. She was not anxious to leave her home and her friends, so they set- tled down in Wales. Two children were born to them, David, named after his grandfather, and John. Although they lived in a very healthy locality David was not a very strong child and the specialist whose medical opinion they asked advised them to try a change of climate. Naturally Noah suggested a return to America, where he felt he could be con- tented with his wife and babies. Accordingly, about five years after they were married, Mr. and Mrs. Noah Jones, with their two little boys, came to the United States. They went to Kentucky and located in Beaver Dam, where Noah worked in the coal mines and the little boys spent their time in the warm sun- shine. Two years later he moved to Iowa and mined, but he also got a little land and farmed. The family remained there until 1891 and in September of that year they came to Troy, Illinois. Noah worked then in the Illinois coal mines, going from Troy to Venice and from Venice to Elwood and back to Taylor-
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