USA > Illinois > Cass County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Cass County, Volume II > Part 70
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SMITH, Ira A .- Like most of the counties in this section of the state, the county of Cass con- tains many farms that, besides their special adaptability for a high degree of cultivation, show the evidence of notable industry and thrift on the part of those well known agricul- turists who own and operate the land. Among these is the fine tract near the village of Oak- ford, lying in section 32, township 19, range S, which belongs to Ira A. Smith. Here, in addi- tion to general farming, its owner is engaged in the raising of stock. He buys stock and feeds it for market, and also makes a specialty of pure-bred Jersey Duroc hogs.
Ira A. Smith is a native of Menard County, Ill., where his birth took place December 5, 1879. His father's name was Samuel M. Smith, born in Norristown, Pa., December 23, 1853. The maiden name of the mother was Sophia Jane Kirby, born in Menard County, Ill., August 26, 1858. Samuel M. Smith was a farmer by occupation, and was engaged in this work and stockraising throughout his active life, being successful in all his undertakings, and leaving, besides material possessions, the heritage of a good reputation to his son. In early life Ira A. Smith attended the country schools, and subsequently devoted his time to the operation of the home farm, which is com- posed of 310 acres of very desirable land, where he remained until he was twenty-one years of age. lle then bought 11S acres in Menard Coun- ty, which he sold and bought his present farm ot 240 acres.
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On November 21, 1900, Mr. Smith was united in the bonds of matrimony with Ida M. Ishmael, who was born August 31, 1883, and is a daugh- ter of Charles M. and Lydia Alice (Lane) Ishmael. Her father was born in Cass County, Ill., September 8, 1850, and her mother, in Schuyler County, Ill., May 5, 1862. They have three children, namely : Alice Bernice, born August 22, 1901; Samuel M., born October 17, 1903; and Ira A., born April 7, 1914.
Politically Mr. Smith is a Democrat, and as such was elected school director in his town- ship, in which capacity he served acceptably for a period of six years. His religious faith is that of the Baptist denomination. He is affiliated with the A. F. & A. M., Chandlerville Lodge No. 724; and Eastern Star, De Witt Chap- ter 119, R. A .. of Petersburg, Ill. Mr. Smith is a very industrious man, and his pleasant dis- position makes him popular among his numerous acquaintances.
SMITH, Isaac N .- In whatever sphere of life one's lot may be cast, earnest effort, directed with energy, prudence and constancy, is almost certain to have its reward in gaining a comfort- able subsistence, and in the course of length- ening years, to result in the acquisition of a snug competency. Such an experience is man- ifest in the career of Isaac N. Smith, a well known farmer and stockraiser of Cass County, where he has been thus engaged for the past twenty-four years. The farm of Mr. Smith, consisting of 120 acres of good land, is located in section 32, township 19, range S, and his resi- dence address is Oakford, Ill., R. F. D. No. 1.
Isaac N. Smith was born in the county where he makes his present home, on February 6, 1848. His father, Larkin B. Smith, a coll- tractor, millwright and farmer, was born in Washington County, Ky., January 14, 1816, and the maiden name of his mother was Nancy Jane Nash, born in Coles County, Ill.,. in the mouth of June, 1823. The father continued to live in Kentucky until 1832, when he accompanied his parents to Illinois, moving overland by wagon to Morgan County. In the course of his boy- hood he became accustomed to the use of car- penter's tools under the instruction of his father, and was employed at the -carpenter's trade for eleven years. At the end of this period he applied himself to farming. He had received a common school education, and re- mained in Morgan County until he reached the age of twenty-six. Then he moved to Logan County, INl., and after remaining there three Years, located in Cass County, where he bought the farm which he now owns and operates.
On November 21, 1869, in Morgan County, Ill., Mr. Smith was married to Sarah F. Moss, born January 14, 1840, who died August 26, 1914. She was a daughter of John B. and Elizabeth (Stanley) Moss. The parents of Mrs. Smith were natives of Tennessee, where the father was born July 16, 1816, and the mother, June 29, 1820. They were pioneers of Morgan County. Her ancestry dates back to the Stanleys of
Stanleydale, Scotland. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, namely : Jennie E., born September 5, 1870, married J. C. Lynn ; Alfred T., born October 3, 1872; Lawrence B., born November S, 1877; and Isabell, born June 18, 1882.
In religious belief Mr. Smith's father and mother were Methodists, and their son Isaac was reared in that faith, but in later years, he became a member of the Baptist church. His political affiliation has always been with the Democratic party, and he has rendered efficient and acceptable public service in the capacity of school director. He has always been very fond of reading. and his leisure hours have been largely devoted to the perusal of instructive books and periodicals. From these sources he has derived a considerable fund of useful in- formation, and bears the reputation of being well versed in practical knowledge. He is a man of liberal disposition. and his hospitality is well known. He enjoys the respect and good will of his neighbors, and of all who have made his acquaintance.
SNYDER, John Francis .- Dr. John F. Snyder, a retired physician well known throughout the state, was born at Prairie du Pont, St. Clair County, Ill., March 22, 1830, a son of Adam Wilson and Adelaide (Perry) Snyder, the former of whom was born at Connellsville. Pa., and the latter at Prairie du Pont, Ill. The birth of Dr. Snyder occurred in the huge log building erected by the monks of St. Sulpice in 1759, at Prairie du Pont, a mile south of Cahokia. It was in this same building that his mother was born January 24, 1803, and her mother was born in the nearby village of Cahokia in 1784. At the time of their son's birth, Dr. Snyder's par- ents resided on their "Square Mound" farm, five miles south of Cahokia, from whence they moved to Belleville in the spring of 1833. Mrs. Snyder was of French ancestry, being the granddaughter of Capt. John Francis Sancier, the architect of Fort Chartres. His father, a son of Adam Snyder, a German soldier of the Revolution, was born October 6, 1799. In 1817 he came, penni- less and afoot. to Cahokia, and in 1820 married Miss Perry. Although he possessed but limited educational advantages, he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and became a man of dis- tinction in Illinois. During the Black Hawk war he served as a captain, was repeatedly elected to the state senate, was sent to congress, and at the time of his death. May 14, 1842, he was the candidate of the Democratic party for Governor of Illinois.
Dr. Snyder was educated at the subscription schools of Belleville, McKendree College, and the St. Louis (Mo.) University. During his boy- hood he was fond of his books and a close ob- server of nature and natural history, and early began collecting fossils, minerals, archaeological relics, etc. During the winter of 1849-50 he was a student at the McDowell Medical College at St. Louis, and the following summer he crossed the plains to California, visiting the Sandwich
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Islands in 1852, and returning home that year by way of the Isthmus of Panama, Havana, and New York, arrived at Philadelphia in time to attend the medical session of 1852-3, graduating in medicine in the spring of 1853.
For a short period thereafter, Dr. Snyder was in the government medical service in the west- ern territories ; and he went over the old Santa Fe trail to Taos and Albuquerque in New Mex- ico; but resigned and located in the practice of medicine at Bolivar, Polk County, Mo. He abandoned the profession of medicine and com- menced the practice of law there in the fall of 1859. _ In June, 1861, Dr. Snyder joined Gen. Sterling Price with a battalion of mounted men. After the battle of Wilson Creek, his term of service having expired, he was appointed ord- nance officer of the Sixth Division, and was in the battles of Lexington, Pea Ridge, Helena, Corinth, Iuka, and Baldwin, as a Confederate
officer. Although he had no inclination or taste whatever for public life, he was elected a member of the Thirty-first Illinois legislature ; but at the expiration of his teri, he retired from further participation in party politics, and at- tended strictly to the duties of his medical prac- tice, which he resumed after the war. And though always a Democrat, he was long ago convinced that unswerving allegiance to party platforms and servile adulation of party leaders are not the paramount objects of existence. It is but justice to Dr. Snyder to state that although he was reared in the institution of slavery (French "indentured" slaves), served in the Confederate army, and was himself a slave- holder on a small scale, he always abhorred slavery, never defending it excepting upon the meagre ground of expediency.
On September 27, 1854, Dr. Snyder was mar- ried at Bolivar, Polk County, Mo., to Miss Annie E. Sanders, who was born at Jacksonville, Ill., January 21, 1837, a daughter of Landon N. and Eliza A. (Houston) Sanders natives of Lexing- ton, Ky. One son and three daughters have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Snyder. He was never a member of any secret society, but was one of the founders of the Illinois State' Historical So- ciety, and of its Journal, serving as the first vice-president of the society, was then its pres- ident, and he has been a frequent con- tributor to its transactions. From boyhood he has been a devoted student of history, par- ticularly that of his native state, Illinois, and also an amateur delver in the natural sciences. He was elected a member of the St. Louis Acad- cmy of Sciences, and of the Illinois Academy of Sciences, and for years was a correspondent of the Smithsonian Institution. He is well versed in the science of geology, and is a recog- mized authority on American archaeology.
Dr. Snyder is not a member of any church, or a believer in the existence of the supernatural, but endorses what he holds to be the rational philosophy of Hume, Spencer, Huxley, and Hegel. He has never used tobacco in any form, and is a total abstainer from the use of all liquors. With a sufficient competency, a pleas-
ant home in the city of Virginia, and an ample library, he is passing the evening of a long and very active life in the enjoyment of good health and the respect of his fellow citizens.
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SOULE, Charles E., M. D., physician and busi- ness man of Beardstown, whose prestige extends all over the county, has made a success of what- ever he has attempted tor he possesses just those qualities which make for individual ad- vancement, and the consequent improvement of huis community. He was born in Racine County, Wis., June 11, 1863, a son of Elvirus and Mary Jane (Thomas) Soule. The father was born in New York state in 1830, and the mother in Wales. They were married at Milwaukee, Wis., and until 1880, were farming people of Racine County, but in that year moved to Wal- worth County. Later they returned to Racine County, and there he died November 14, 1898, but the mother survives, and makes her home in Racine County.
Charles E. Soule attended the public schools of his native county, and Rochester Seminary, and taught school for two years, beginning when twenty-one years old. In the meanwhile he began the study of medicine, and entered the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Chicago, from which he was graduated in the class of 1889. Immediately thereafter he began the practice of medicine at Mt. Vernon, Wis., rc- maining there until in June, 1892, when he took up some post graduate work until February of the following year. He then located at Sher- idan, Ill., and remained there until 1902, when he went to Byron, Ill. Two years later he lett there for Beardstown, where he has since re- mained. In 1912 he entered into the manufac- ture of cement posts, with Curtis Logsdon, under the firm name of the Beardstown Cement Tile and Post Company, and this concern owns its own boats that pump the gravel from the river bottom, as well as large barges for carrying it to the plant.
On January 26, 1885, Dr. Soule was married in Waukesha County, Wis .. to Mary Hollister, and she bore him two children, namely : Enla, who is Mrs. Milton Schute, of Beardstown ; and Edgar M., of Beardstown. On September 27, 1906, he was married (second) to Nellie C. Spaulding, who is a native of Ogle County, Ill., and a daughter of Simeon S. and Elizabeth (Ellis) Spaulding, a cousin of Albert E. Spauld- ing of Chicago, the well known maker of sport- ing goods. Dr. Soule belongs to the Masonic order, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Court of Honor, and the K. L. of H. A Repub- lican in politics, he was elected on that ticket a member of the board of education, and is a man of wide interests and decided ability.
SOWERS, Jesse J .- The successful supervision of an extensive manufacturing establishment requires peculiar qualities in the person upon whom the responsibility of such management is imposed. As a preliminary qualification, he must have mastered the valuation of the varions
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qualities of the new material involved and have been trained. through patient and diligent effort, to understand the details of the varions proc- esses of mannfacturing through which the goods pass in their development from the crude stage. He must have, moreover, a certain faculty of penetration of the characteristics of applicants for employment, and finally, an amount of business knowledge that gives him some insight into the financial problems of the , undertaking in hand. That Jesse J. Sowers is justly credited with the possession of these elements of fitness is manifest in the results that have attended his conduct of the business known as the Elk Pearl Button Co., of Beards- town, Cass County.
This is one of the most notable and successful industrial enterprises of Cass County, and is owned by Harvey Chalmers & Sons, of Amster- dam, New York. The Elk Pearl Button Com- pany works are located near the B. & O. Rail- road station, and cover seven lots, 62x100 feet each, in dimensions. The mannfacture is car- ried on in a building two stories in height, and in it are employed at present 65 persons who turn out from 6,000 to 10,000 gross of nnfinished buttons per week. Snch a factory with such an output constitutes one of the liveliest indus- trial centers of this thriving city. The business is fortunate in being under the direction of Jesse J. Sowers who is in every respect com- petent for the task.
Mr. Sowers is a native of Adams Connty, Ohio, where his birth took place August 2, 1SS5. He is a son of James and Miriam (Shields) Sowers, and grew to manhood in his native place. receiving his mental training in the public schools. He afterwards learned the but- ton business of G. B. Anthony, and then, in 1911, came to Illinois for the purpose of assum- ing charge of the concern which he has since so well managed. Mr. Sowers is a young man of much enterprise, of sound judgment and honor- able character, and in him his employers have a man in whom they can repose implicit confi- dence. He is identified with the I. O. O. F., lodge and encampment, and the I. O. R. M., in which he has passed all the chairs.
Mr. Sowers was married May 23, 1914, to Ruth (Brown) Draper, of Virginia, Ill., daugh- ter of Frank and Jane Brown, natives of Maine and of Cass Connty.
SPRINGER, L. D., who is clerk of the Circuit Court of Cass County, has been the representa- five of the Democratic ticket in the office since 1908, when he was first elected. His adminis- tration of the affairs of his office have been of such a character as to win for him the approval and support of the public generally, and he is admittedly the right man in the right place. Mr. Springer was born in Cass County, Ill., July 27, 1870, a son of J. S. and Emily (Johnson) Springer.
After passing through the common schools of his native county. he attended the high school, and then the Valparaiso University of Indiana,
being gradnated therefrom in 1910. Having pre- pared himself for a scholastic life, Mr. Springer began teaching at the school near his father's homestead which bears the family name, and then was an instructor in the eighth grade in the public school at Virginia for two years. He was also a teacher at Blnff Springs, and then for one year was principal of the Arenz- ville High school. Elected first to office by the Democrats, he was again the nominee of that party and was elected to succeed himself.
In 1909 Mr. Springer was married to Nellie Yaple, a danghter of J. W. Yaple. Mr. and Mrs. Springer have one child, John W., who was born September 26, 1911. Fraternally, Mr. Springer is a Mason and a member of the Eastern Star, and belongs also to the Knights of Pythias, Elks and Red Men. His association with these orders is mntnally pleasant, and he is recognized as one of the popular men of Virginia and Cass County.
SPRINKLE, Charles J., whose success as a farmer and stockraiser speaks well for his abil- ity and the fertility and valne of his farm, re- sides on section 6, township 1S, range S. He was born in Cass County, July 28, 1S6S, a son of George and Alvina (Hostick) Sprinkle, the former born in Menard Connty, Ill., February 2, 1844, and the latter in Germany in 1846. The father moved from Menard to Cass County, but in a few years returned to Menard County, where he is now living retired at Petersburg. Charles J. Sprinkle was educated in the conn- try schools, and learned farming in all its details. He began farming on his own account when he attained to manhood's estate, and in 1902 returned to Cass County, where he took charge of his father's farming property. So suc- cessful was he that he earned the money to buy his 240-acre farm, and he has also im- proved it to a considerable extent, now having a property of which any man might well feel proud.
On February 13. 1890, Mr. Sprinkle was mar- ried to Anna Malinda Hickey, born December 27. 1SGS, a member of one of the oldest families in Cass Connty. Mr. and Mrs. Sprinkle have olle son, Ernest Ernway, who was born Angnst 21, 1892, in Menard County, and is living with his parents. He was married to Emma E. Cooper. September 10. 1913, who was born Sep- tember 27. 1891. Mr. Sprinkle has served as road commissioner for six years, as school director for twelve years, and has also been judge of election upon many occasions. He belongs to Chandlerville Lodge No. 724, A. F. & A. M. In religions faith the family are Baptists. Genial by nature, Mr. Sprinkle is a man who makes and retains friends and he stands very well in every way among his neighbors.
STEUERNAGEL, Werner, president of the First State Bank of Beardstown, and a man of unusual ability as a financier. through whose sonnd judgment and conservative methods the people of Cass Connty have an able administra-
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tor, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, December 10, 1837, a son of Conrad and Cather- ine Ann (Koehler) Steuernagel. The mother dying when Werner was a child, the father mar- ried a second time, and with his new wife and his only child left Germany for the United States. After their arrival here, the party located at Pittsburg, in 1854, moving from there to Wheeling, W. Va., where the father died in 1875. Although he had been a farmer in his native land, he lived in retirement after comuing to America. His second wife also passed away at Wheeling, in 1891, having borne him the following children : Elizabeth, who is Mrs. Jacob Efter of Marietta, Ohio, died in Wheeling, W. Va .; John, who died at Belleville, Ill .; George, who died in Newport, Ky. ; Jacob, who is of Wheeling, W. Va .; Mary, who is Mrs. Henry Mason, of Wheeling; and Henry, who is de- ceased.
When he was seventeen years old, Werner Steuernagel engaged as cabin boy and cook on packet boats plying on the Ohio, Illinois and Mis- sissippi rivers, and at the age of twenty years, he located at Jacksonville, Ill., where he acted as cook in hotels and restaurants. The year 1862 found him at Beardstown, and having saved some money, lie opened a grocery and conducted it very successfully until 1902, when he retired, selling his business. He was one of the organ- izers of the First State Bank of Beardstown, and has been its president since about 1908, and has been instrumental in its growth and develop- ment.
On September 18, 1859, he married at Jack- sonville, Margaret Kelly, a daughter of Michael and Bridget ( Comisky ) Kelly. Mrs. Steuernagel was born in Ireland, but was brought to the United States by her parents at the age of five years. They located at New York and she came to Jacksonville, Ill., when she was seventeen years of age. The death of this lady occurred in April, 1907. Mr. Steuernagel married (sec- ond) July 16, 1913, Catherine Kinney, who was born April 7, 1857, in Cass County, a daughter of John and Isabelle (McKillips) Kinney, natives of County Antrim, Ireland. Mr. Steuernagel is a member of the German Catholic church. In politics he is a Democrat and has served as alderman of his ward, giving faithful service in that office, as he has done in other relations of life. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Columbus at Beardstown.
STIELER, John .- The demand for first-class foodstuffs has grown with the increasing knowl- edge on the part of the general public as to the value of wholesome eating, and the business of supplying the needs of the people of Virginia and the adjacent territory, is consequently an important one. One of the men who has devoted his efforts for a number of years to- wards meeting the demand of the public in this and kindred directions, is John Stieler, of Vir- ginia, who was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger- many, January S, 1869, a son of William and
Julia Ann Stieler, parents of three children: William, Katie and John.
When he was sixteen years old, John Stieler left his native land, where he had been educated in its public schools, for America, and located first at Kansas City, Mo., where he attended a business college to gain a knowledge of com- mercial methods. Having learned to be a cook in his native land, he followed this calling while gaining added knowledge, and so con- tinued for ten years. Taking advantage of an opening at Deep Water, Mo., he conducted a bakery and restaurant for six years, when he sold, and went to Springfield, Ill., where he was in a bakery business until 189S, then selling, he came to Virginia, and opened a bakery and res- taurant here. For the next fourteen years he was thus successfully engaged, but once more sold and in partnership with Jacob Davis, em- barked in a grocery business. Two months later Mr. Stieler bought out his partner, and has since continued alone.
On April 25, 1891, Mr. Stieler married Bertha Kemmler, born February 5, 1868, at Wurt- temburg, Germany. She came to the United States in 1SS7. She is a daughter of Gottlieb and Kathrina (Wagner) Kemmler. Mr. and Mrs. Kemmler had nine children : Henry, Marie, Katherine, Martin, Matilda, Ernestine, Louisa, Carl and Mrs. Stieler, and of these Carl, Ernestine and Mrs. Stieler are the only ones in the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Stieler have had seven children, namely : Lillian, born November 16, 1892, who is Mrs. Harry Maxwell, of Astoria, 111., and they have one daughter, Dorothy E., born May 23, 1912; Carl, born Feb. 21, 1894; Louisa, who was born October 13, 1895, died at the age of seventeen years, July 19, 1913; Emil, born March 21, 1897; Otto, born June 4, 1899 ; Grace, born August 19, 1901; and Freda, born October 4, 1903. Mr. Stieler belongs to the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, of which lie is vice chancellor, and the Modern Wood- men, and has passed the chairs in the Odd Fel- lows and Modern Woodmen, and represented them in the Grand Lodge. Mrs. Stieler is a member of the Rebekalis, the W. C. T. U., and the Woman's Club. The Presbyterian church holds their membership. At present he is a member of the city council and of the school board and is a public-spirited man whose in- terest is centered ' in his home community. Politically he is a Republican. He is a director in the Virginia Building and Loan Association, and is treasurer of the Commercial Club. He owns a fine residence in Virginia.
STOUT, Philemon .- Among the oldest families of which the pages of this volume bear testimony, who still survive to honor the community with their presence in Virginia, Cass County, Ill., one of the most prominent is that of Stout and a representative is Philemon Stout. He is a son of Philemon and Tacy (Phillips) Stout the former of whom was born near Trenton, N. J., in 1S04. When about thirteen years old he was taken from New Jersey to Ohio, where he lived
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