USA > Illinois > Macon County > Decatur > City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, volume II > Part 45
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JOHN JOSEPH FIEREK.
John Joseph Fierek, for six years past manager for the Postal Telegraph & Cable Company, at Decatur, was born at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, February 15, 1880, and is a son of August and Johanna (Kropidlowski) Fierek, natives of Poland and Germany respectively, who, seeking to improve their condition, came to America about 1872 and settled at Stevens Point, where they are both now living. Nine children have come to brighten their home. The father has been for many years in the railway service, acting as foreman of construction work for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and Lake Shore Railways, and also in a similar capacity for the Chicago & Northwestern road. Under his direction the steel rails were laid for the tracks throughout the region of the great iron ore mines of the Gogebic range. He is a man of fine mental capacity and one who thoroughly understands all the details of the important department of rail- way construction to which he has devoted many years of his life.
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John Joseph Fierek was the fourth child of the family and was educated in the public schools. At eighteen years of age he entered the office of the Western Union Telegraph Company at Ironwood, Michigan, and one year later was sent to Aberdeen, Washington, continuing at various points in the northwest. In March, 1904, he changed his allegiance to the Postal Telegraph & Cable Com- pany and has since been constantly in this city. The company opened an office here about seventeen years ago and six years ago employed one operator besides the manager. At present the manager requires the assistance of three operators. While in charge Mr. Fierek has largely increased his company's business and each year it shows a steady percentage of growth. By his courteous attention to all callers, he has made many friends, the public generally finding him to be eminently capable and obliging and thoroughly adapted to the position he so ably fills.
In 1904 Mr. Fierek was united in marriage to Miss Anna Margaret Kennedy, a daughter of Edward and Margaret Kennedy, of Decatur. She was tenth in a family of twelve children and was born November 14, 1880. Her parents were born in Ireland and came to America in 1864, settling at Decatur, where the father became an employe in the freight department of the Wabash Railroad. He departed this life April 13, 1909, in his eighty-third year, but Mrs. Kennedy is still living at the family home, having arrived at the age of sixty-seven years. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fierek: August Edward, born October 30, 1905; Mary, born August 23, 1907; and Anna Margaret, born August 6, 1909.
Mr. Fierek is not allied to any political party but votes independently. He and his wife are worthy members of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic church of Decatur, and by their upright lives and interest in all good works have made many friends whose confidence and respect are to be valued more than any- thing that could be purchased with money.
WILLIAM RITCHIE.
A history of the agricultural interests of Macon county would be incom- plete and unsatisfactory were there failure to make reference to William Ritchie, one of the extensve landowners of central Illinois, his holdings embracing about twelve hundred acres of rich and productive land that returns to him an annual income and is the visible evidence of his life of well directed energy, thrift and capable management. He has now reached the seventy-second milestone on life's journey, his birth having ocurred in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of February, 1839.
His parents were Samuel and Susan (Henson) Ritchie, who in the year 1856 removed westward, settling first near Bearsdale, Illinois, on what is known as the old Ritchie homestead. The father was a man of considerable prominence in local affairs as well as one of the representative farmers of the community. He carried forward to successful completion what he undertook and in his dealings was ever straightforward and reliable.
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Lessons of industry and integrity were early impressed upon the mind of his son, William Ritchie, who in his youthful days pursued his education in the public schools of Pennsylvania. As a young man he came to the middle west. He worked for his father for a time and then purchased about four hundred acres of land adjoining the old homestead. Laudable ambition prompted his persistent effort and intelligence actuated his industry so that in course of time he was able to add to his holdings. Additional purchases have made him the owner of twelve hundred acres, he being now one of the most extensive farmers of this part of the state. His land, too, is very productive and valuable and re- turns to him a most gratifying annual income. Not only is Mr. Ritchie en- gaged extensively and successfully in farming but about 1861 he also embarked in the grain business and is the owner of an elevator in Warrensburg. He has also met with substantial prosperity in connection with the grain trade but in a few months expects to retire from that business.
In 1875 Mr. Ritchie was united in marriage to Miss Mora D. Funk, a daugh- ter of John J. and Catharine Funk. Two children have been born unto them, Lynn; and Vonna, the wife of Ted Brown. The family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Ritchie has ever been known as a man of business integrity and of personal worth. His success has never been reached by taking advantage of the necessities of another nor has his path been strewn with the wrecks of others fortunes. He has won his prosperity by legitimate methods through his persistent, earnest labor, and his example should serve to in- spire and encourage others who have to start out empty-handed to win their way in the business world. His holdings of twelve hundred acres, aside from his grain business, make him one of the prosperous farmers of this part of the state and the methods which he has employed in the conduct of his interests commend him to the confidence of his fellowmen.
WILLIAM H. CURRAN.
Thoroughness in all that he undertakes has ever been characteristic of Wil- liam H. Curran, since at an early age he began learning the blacksmith's trade-a business in which he has since engaged and in which he has made such sub- stantial progress that he has gained therein a gratifying measure of prosperity. A-native of Decatur, Mr. Curran was born September II, 1865, a son of Joseph Curran, who was born in Ireland but came to the new world as a young man. Here he took up railroad work and about 1860 removed to Decatur, where he was made road foreman for the Wabash Railroad, in which position he served acceptably and continuously until the time of his death in 1875.
William H. Curran was unfortunate enough to lose his father, mother and a sister all in the same year. He was then taken by Thomas Hughes, by whom he was reared to manhood, being left an orphan when a little lad of ten sum- mers. Under the direction of Mr. Hughes he afterward learned the black- smith's trade and after completing his apprenticeship as a blacksmith and farrier he remained in business with Mr. Hughes until the latter's death on the 7th
WILLIAM H. CURRAN
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of August, 1909. The business then reverted to Mr. Curran and Miss L. M. Knox, a niece of Mr. Hughes. For twenty-five years prior to the death of his foster-father, Mr. Curran had had the active management of the business, Mr. Hughes being practically an invalid. The business was established about 1868 and had become one of the most extensive enterprises of this character in the city. The work is confined almost wholly to horseshoeing, in which Mr. Cur- ran is a past master, his expert workmanship being such that he is called upon to do shoeing of the most expert character upon some of the finest horses of this section of the state. He now employs four men and from two to four boys.
In 1900 occurred the marriage of William H. Curran and Miss Jane Knox, who was born in Lake City, Colorado, January 14, 1877, and is a niece of Mr. Hughes. They have become parents of four children, of whom three are liv- ing, Mary I., Margaret C. and Elizabeth L. Aldyth died in 1902.
The parents are active members of the Catholic church and Mr. Curran is a stalwart republican in politics. His life has been a very busy, active and useful one, and in his work he has manifested an unfaltering spirit of progress that has been one of the chief sources of his sucess.
SAMUEL H. PHILLIPS.
While Samuel H. Phillips is now living retired, his home being at No. 1060 West Decatur street in the city of Decatur, he was for many years closely identi- fied with farming interests and is still the owner of valuable farm property which is cultivated under his supervision. He owns one hundred and ten acres of rich land on the Macon road about three and a half miles southwest of Decatur.
He was born upon his father's farm in Wheatland township, May 22, 1862. The place was known as the Joseph Bird farm and was the old home place of the family. His parents were Madison D. and Sarah Catharine (Elder) Phillips. The former was born in Kentucky and came to Illinois about 1853. Casting in his lot with the early settlers of Macon county, he was for a long period identi- fied with farming interests. His energy and perseverance served to develop his place into one of the finest properties of the county and he continued as an active representative of agricultural interests until his death, which occurred about twelve years ago in March, 1898, his remains being interred in the cemetery at Salem, Illinois. In the family were six children, of whom Samuel H. Phillips was the second in order of birth. The others are as follows: Sarah Elizabeth is the wife of George Geddes and has two children, Ida and Pearl, the latter the wife of Claude Connett, by whom she has one child, Raymond. Mrs. Lillie R. Britton is now deceased. Etta A. lives with her mother in Decatur. Elmer D. married Minnie Bowman and has three children, Ora, Raymond and Freda. Marcenia M., the youngest, has also passed away.
Samuel H. Phillips attended the rural schools and worked upon his father's farm in the periods of vacation and in the morning and evening hours, doing the chores and other light labor until he was able to assist in the work of the 28
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fields. He always gave his father the benefit of his services up to the time that he was twenty-four years of age, when he rented land and began farming on his own account. He continued to cultivate a rented farm for six years and on the expiration of that period he took up his abode in Decatur, where he remained for about three years. He owned at the time about seventy acres near the city and to it gave his personal supervision. Later he sold that property and pur- chased his present farm of one hundred and ten acres about three and a half miles southwest of Decatur on the Macon road. He took up his abode there and continued the cultivation of the place for eleven years, at the end of which time he rented his farm and returned to the city, where he is now living retired. He engaged in raising some stock and both branches of his business proved prof- itable. His progressive spirit prompted him to add modern improvements to his place and to secure the best machinery with which to carry on the work of the fields. The success which he attained through his well directed efforts at length enabled him to put aside active cares and he is now living retired.
On the 24th of November, 1886, Mr. Phillips was married to Miss Ida Price, a daughter of Thomas M. and Tryphena (Cox) Price. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips are well known in Decatur and are prominent in the social circles of the city. They hold membership in the Cumberland Presbyterian church, taking an active interest in church work and doing all in their power to promote the growth and extend the influence of their denomination. Mr. Phillips gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has served as a member of the school board and as township assessor but has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his busi- ness interests and private affairs. A life-long resident of Macon county, he has a wide and favorable acquaintance and enjoys the high regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact.
ALBERT G. WEBBER.
In the past decade there has been a notable awakening throughout the coun- try concerning the opportunities and the obligations of individuals toward their cities and among those who are foremost in promoting the welfare and progress of Decatur is Albert G. Webber. Not that his efforts have only been manifest during the last ten years, for at all times he has been loyal to the city of his resi- dence. In later years, however, he has been connected with many organized movements, the efforts of which are manifest in tangible results.
A native of Wurtemberg, Germany, Mr. Webber was born in the year 1853 of the marriage of Frederick and Margaretha (Wenkle) Webber, who were also natives of that kingdom. The father was a weaver of cloth and also served as a soldier and officer in the imperial army, remaining a resident of Germany until his death. Subsequently the mother with her two children, Albert G. and Frederica J., sailed from London, England, in the spring of 1862 on the little sailing vessel, Rhein. They were forty-two days on the voyage ere they reached the harbor of New York. From the eastern metropolis they proceeded to
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Williamsville, Sangamon county, Illinois, where they remained that year and then came to Decatur, the mother here residing until called to her final rest in December, 1897.
Albert G. Webber was a lad of nine years when brought to the United States. He could not speak a word of English at the time but with a natural quickness of the child he picked up a knowledge of the language, which was promoted by his attendance in the ward schools of Decatur. At that time there were but two schools in this city and no high school. His mother greatly desired that he should learn a trade and twice apprenticed him but the effort proved futile. His tastes were not in that direction and his nature rebelled at being forced into a work entirely uncongenial. For seven and a half years he engaged in railroading in connection with the Rock Island and Wabash Railway Companies, spending two years as telegraph operator with the Wabash and five and a half years as passenger conductor on the Rock Island. It was during his connection with the latter that he turned his attention to what really became his life work. His interest in the study of law was aroused and he began devoting his leisure hours to the mastery of those text-books which are fundamental elements in the science of jurisprudence. He became a law student in the office of Gilmore & Ander- son, distinguished attorneys of Keokuk, Iowa, closely applied himself to the work in hand and in June, 1878, successfully passed an examination that se- cured his admission to the bar. He at once located for practice in Decatur and has gradually built up an extensive clientage. He feels that he ought to express great gratitude for the kindness and cooperation he has received from the people of Decatur and Macon county, who have bestowed upon him uniform confidence during the years of his business career. On the other hand they have recognized his ability and felt that in giving him their patronage they were placing their legal interests in safe hands. He has ever been most careful in the preparation of cases and his devotion to his clients' interests is proverbial.
Mr. Webber is well versed in the various departments of the law and in other fields has also done capable and resultant work. He has acted as trustee and attorney for the Decatur Chamber of Commerce since its organization and is in thorough sympathy with its object to build a greater and better city. There is little doubt of the fact that to the members of this body is largely due the growth of Decatur, which has increased more than fifty per cent in the last few years, for various industrial and manufacturing enterprises have been in- duced to remove here, bringing with them many trades people. They are many who accord to Mr. Webber the credit of being instrumental in establishing the Tract Index System and abstract books of Macon county, and in association with Dr. Hawkins and Dr. J. W. Darby he was given credit with the diplomatic service for bringing about the union between the industrial school of James Millikin and the university under the control of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. The Thomas Davis drinking fountain had its inception in the sug- gestion and was later built under the direction of Mr. Webber by Thomas Davis, its location being between the two railroad stations.
In the spring of 1886 occurred the marriage of Mr. Webber and Miss Alice M. Roth, of Butler county, Pennsylvania. Their family numbers three sons and
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three daughters, namely: Frederick R., who will graduate in June, 1911, from Thiel College, Greenville, Pennsylvania; Gilmore R., Margaretha S. and Albert G., who are all in their junior year at Millikin University; Helen A., a junior in the Decatur high school; and Mary F., in the eighth grade in the ward schools. Mr. Webber has always been a strong advocate and supporter of education, as evidenced by the fact that he had given his children every opportunity for ad- vancement in that direction.
Fraternally he has been connected with Macon Lodge, No. 8, A. F. & A. M., for more than thirty years. He has been a member of the Lutheran church of Decatur for forty-six years and has seen its growth from a half dozen emi- grant families until there are now three church organizations, with a member- ship of nearly two thousand, and two parochial schools. His wish is to live long enough to contribute of the best thought and efforts of his life, to see and make the city of Decatur a "jewel" upon the bosom of the great state of Illinois, desiring its advancement not only in material but also in intellectual and moral progress. His efforts are bent in this direction and while he is known as a successful and able lawyer of Decatur, he is equally widely known because of the value and effectiveness of his public service.
WILLIAM BARNES, M. D.
There are occasional proofs of the fact that America is not entirely given over to the spirit of commercialism as many believe, for there are here and there men to whom the attainment of material success is but a means to an end. Dr. Barnes has won prosperity, but above and beyond all this, he is the scientist in his surgical practice, in which broad humanitarianism often plays a strong part, and in his collection of butterflies, for he is one of the eminent lepidopterists of the country. In this he finds recreation as well as keen interest, and his labors have constituted a valuable contribution to science, inasmuch as his collection surpasses in number and perfection that of any other in the United States.
Dr. Barnes is one of Decatur's native sons, born September 3, 1860. His father, Dr. W. A. Barnes, was a pioneer resident and also a prominent physi- cian of Macon county and the son's interest in the science of medicine was early aroused and stimulated. After his graduation from the Decatur high school in 1877, he pursued a regular scientific course in Harvard University, and is numbered among its alumni of 1883. He next entered the Harvard Medical School of Boston, and on the completion of the regular three years' course, was graduated as honor man of the class of 1886. His theoretical knowledge was then put to the practical test in actual service as house surgeon of the Boston City Hospital, with which he was thus connected for two years. As long as there is something to be known and learned concerning the human body and of the onslaughts of disease, Dr. Barnes will remain an interested student of the profession. His researches have covered a wide field. He studied under Prof. Alexander Agassiz, to whose encouragement and inspiration he has ever attribu- ted much of his success, and under the direction of the Newport professor, pre-
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pared a thesis from original investigation on the subject of the development of the spinal cord.
For two years Dr. Barnes was connected with the Boston hospital, which brought him broad and practical experience, but with unexplored fields before him he again resumed his studies in Europe, visiting many of the clinics and coming under the instruction of a number of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of the old world. For a year he was in a hospital in Vienna and pur- sued a course of study in Munich, Germany, winning a special diploma for his work in gynecology. He was also for five months at Heidelberg, where he acted as assistant to the celebrated surgeon Czerny. He returned to Decatur in Octo- ber, 1899, and opened an office.
Dr. Barnes has practiced continuously in Decatur since his return to America and at times has gone into other fields where his professional service has won him recognition. One who wrote of him ten or more years ago, said: "What- ever his ambitious nature and determined labor can accomplish in the line of his work, he has done. He will never cease to be a student of his profession, and a brilliant career seems open before this young physician, who has already gained a patronage which might well be envied by many an older practitioner." The prediction of ten years ago has been more than verified. Ceasing to practice in the general field of medicine, he has confined his attention to general surgery and his hospital work monopolizes all of the time which he cares to give to his profession. He is chief of the staff of St. Mary's Hospital, with Dr. William M. Fitzpatrick and Dr. J. H. Spyker as his assistants. His ability today places him in a prominent position in the ranks of the eminent surgeons of the middle west and has also gained him wide recognition in the east. In his work he has made a specialty of transplanting bone, in which connection he has success- fully performed some most difficult operations, such as taking a piece of the bone of the leg for use in the nose. He is consulting surgeon of the Wabash Railroad and possesses one of the most complete medical libraries in the state.
Dr. Barnes is by nature a scientist. From his boyhood days he has been in- terested in entomology, and in other fields he has carried his investigations; his specialty, however, being lepidoptera. He has a collection of butterflies and moths not only unexcelled but also unequalled in the entire country. Even in the Brooklyn Institute Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, New York, the National Museum in Washington, the Field Museum in Chicago and the Holland collection in Pittsburg, there is nothing to equal in extent and beauty the collection which Dr. Barnes has secured of North American lepidop- tera. His splendid museum is housed in fireproof rooms in his home at No. 500 West Main street, where he employs as curator Dr. McDunnough, originally from Canada, who recently, however, has spent many years in study in Ger- many. At the present time John A. Grossbeck, of the New Jersey agricultural experimental station, is engaged in classifying Dr. Barnes' geometridæ, and Paul S. Welch, assistant biology professor in James Millikin University, also devotes his leisure time to assisting these two. Besides there are many field men and collectors who give all or a part of their time to adding to the collection of Dr. Barnes. It is estimated that his collection contains one hundred and fifty thou- sand secimens, representing about seven thousand species. On one occasion,
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Dr. Barnes was asked when he began collecting. He replied, "I was born on the 3d of September. I think I began collecting on the 4th." Indeed, it has been a lifelong interest, and he is now building an addition to his museum, a fireproof room sixteen by twenty feet. His specimens include species from the Arctic to Mexico. Each year lepidopterists from various parts of the country meet at Decatur to view the collection of Dr. Barnes and to promote their own knowledge in scientific discussion. The Doctor's library upon this subject is one of the most complete in the country. His work among his butterflies is an ideal change from his professional life. On several occasions he has made trips to California, returning with valuable additions for his collection. On a recent oc- casion Dr. Barnes said: "Nine men out of ten on the street think a man who puts in much of his valuable time and some money in collecting bugs is bug- house, but that is because the glories of doing other things than chasing the almighty dollar is unknown in this country. We are a young nation, and the anxiety to make money is still paramount. Collecting butterflies is a comparative rarity in this country as yet. In Germany and England, however, it is quite com- mon and there are plenty of people who find time to bring together butterfly collections. Some Englishmen who have emigrated to Canada also are adept to the sport." Few men are so entirely free from the desire for large material success. He looks at life, however, from other standpoints than that of ac- quiring wealth. He knows how to "make of labor a delight." He enjoys life fully and his pleasures as well as his work constitute a valuable contribution to the progress of science.
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