USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume II > Part 91
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TRABAND, Joseph F., a merchant, of Leb- anon, St. Clair County, was born in that vil- lage in 1879. His father, L. Traband, was born in St. Louis, and his mother, Augusta (Campe) Traband, in St. Clair County. The former was
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
engaged, for the four years preceding Decem- ber, 1903, in the manufacture of cigars. At that period he entered into the general mer- chandise business, under the firm name of L. Traband & Son. Joseph F. Traband is one of a family of four children. After attending the public schools and pursuing a course in McKendree College, he spent three years in the employ of William Kolb, after which he be- came associated with his father, as above stated. In 1902 Mr. Traband married Hulda Hoffman, who was born and educated in Lebanon.
TRAUTMANN, William Emil, lawyer, Post- office Building, East St. Louis, was born at Caseyville, St. Clair County, August 16, 1872, a son of Frederick and Dorothea (Deck) Traut- mann, natives of Hatten, Alsace, Germany, the former born November, 1838, the latter De- cember, 1835. Frederick Trautmann settled in St. Clair County in 1858, and his wife, Doro- thea Deck, in 1855. They were married at Ca- seyville, December 24, 1860. Mrs. Trautmann died February 7, 1902. Her husband became successful as a farmer and influential as a citi- zen, serving several years as Township School Trustee.
William E. Trautmann was educated in the Caseyville public school and at McKendree Col- lege, taking courses in both the scientific and law departments of that institution. His younger years were spent on the farm. He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court at Ottawa, Ill., in March, 1894, opened a real es- tate office in East St. Louis, July 1, 1895, and began the practice of his profession there in January, 1897. Politically, he is "a Republican all the time." He was elected Representative, successively, to the Forty-first, Forty-second, Forty-third and Forty-fourth General Assem- blies, from the Forty-ninth District (St. Clair County), in 1898, 1900, 1902 and 1904, and on May 24, 1905, was appointed by President Roosevelt as United States District Attorney for the Eastern District of Illinois. He was a candidate for Mayor of East St. Louis in April, 1905, but defeated by Mayor Silas Cook by 249 votes. His religious affiliations are with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, an Elk, a Knight of Pythias, a Modern Woodman and a member of the An- cient Order of United Workmen, the Tribe of Ben Hur and the Improved Order of Red Men.
"TRENDLEY, John .- Long identified with the interests of East St. Louis, during which time nothing of public moment was started but that had a share of his attention, Capt. John Trend- ley was looked upon as one of the fathers of the city. To adopt his language, he 'wore out in the service of ferryman five horse-boats.', He was born in the Black Forest, Germany, June 20, 1804. Came to America in 1817, landing first at Alexandria, Va. Two years after he came up the Mississippi from New Orleans, and located here. He was married, March 28, 1828, to Harriet Aberle, a Swiss lady, who died March 21, 1869. Captain Trendley preserved his faculties to a remarkable degree and de- lighted in living in the past, recounting the in- cidents of an active and well-spent life. His contributions to the upbuilding of his adopted city were notable." (Brink's History, 1881.)
TRIEB, John, was born in St. Clair County, April 14, 1872, a son of Philip and Anna E. (Lippert) Trieb, natives respectively of Ger- many and of this county. He received his edu- cation in the public schools and when about thirteen years of age began working in the grocery store of J. C. Koska, where he re- mained for over eleven years. In December, 1896, he established a business of his own, opening a grocery store at No. 408 East Main Street, where he is still located and carries a full line of groceries and provisions.
In his political affiliations, Mr. Trieb be- longs to the Republican party, and in his re- ligious belief is a member of St. Paul's Evan- gelical Church. On September 25, 1898, he was united in marriage to Emma Dittmann, who was born in Belleville, Ill., and there received her common school education. They are the par- ents of one child, Florence, who was born June 11, 1899.
TURNER, Lucius D., a prominent attorney of Belleville, St. Clair County, was born October 5, 1849, three and a half miles southeast of that city, on the old Turner homestead. He is a son of Lucius D. and Matilda Virginia (Stuntz) Turner. The Turner family origin- ated in Ireland, and settled in Virginia before the Revolutionary War. Trump Turner, grand- father of Lucius D., was a planter and slave- holder, but liberated his slaves in Botetourt County, Va. In 1829, when thirty years old,
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
his son, Lucius D. Turner, came to Illinois and settled on a farm of 120 acres southeast of Belleville. In 1832 he was married to Ma- tilda Virginia Stuntz, who was born in St. Clair County in 1811. She was a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Hill) Stuntz, both natives of Pennsylvania. Her grandfather, John Stuntz, was born in Germany, and was a sol- dier in the Revolutionary War. His son, Capt. John Stuntz, came to Illinois about 1804, and pre-empted land, some of which he afterward donated for educational purposes. He was the father of four children. In politics, he was a Whig, and served in the Legislature. He was Captain of a company in the Black Hawk War. Lucius D. Turner, the father, was a Democrat in politics, and served as Justice of the Peace in Freeburg, Ill. He was a char- ter member of the Belleville Blue Lodge of Ma- sonry. At the time of his death, he was eigh- ty-one years old, and his wife passed away at the age of eighty-nine. They had seven chil- dren, as follows: Frances B., Mrs. Euphrasia Jane Potter, John J., Mrs. Elizabeth H. Hill, Mrs. Nancy S. Costello, Mrs. Mary H. Hill and Lucius D.
Lucius D. Turner attended the public schools of Freeburg, and afterward pursued courses at McKendree College and Washington Univer- sity, and graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan. He was admit- ted to the bar in 1873, opened an office at Belle- ville in June of that year, and has practiced successfully here ever since. From 1891 to 1895 he was Master in Chancery. Mr. Turner was married at Waterloo, Ill., to Josephine Eck- ert, daughter of Leonard Eckert, a well known and prominent citizen of Monroe County. Mr. and Mrs. Turner are the parents of five chil- dren, namely: Waldo, who died at the age of three years; Lucius D., Jr .; Zilphia; Josephine and Mary. Politically, Mr. Turner supports the Democratic party. Socially, he is a member of the Belleville Liederkranz. Mr. Turner is recognized as an able lawyer, and one in whose faithful ,efforts in their behalf his clients may repose implicit confidence. He is much re- spected throughout the community.
TWEED, James Renwick, M. D., who, in the consensus of public opinion in that city, is re- garded as the most efficient and successful phy- sician in Marissa, St. Clair County, was born
in Randolph County, Ill. He is a son of David and Amelia J. (Moreland) Tweed, of whom the former was a native of County Antrim, Ire- land, and the latter was born in Cedarville, Greene County, Ohio. Grandfather Hugh Tweed was of Irish nativity, and Grandfather More- land was a South Carolinian by birth. David Tweed was reared to the occupation of a weaver in his native country, and on coming to the United States, in 1841, entered land and began farming. He was a man of intelligent mind, sound information, upright character and industrious habits. His wife was a woman of excellent traits, possessing rare discretion, and being endowed with superior domestic qualities. The former died in August, 1898, and the latter passed away in February, 1898, aged eighty-one and seventy-eight years re- spectively.
In early youth, Dr. Tweed received his pri- mary education in the public schools of his native State, afterward pursuing a course of literary study at West Geneva, Ohio. His la- ter youth was spent in Randolph County, Ill., and in 1883 he went to Chicago, where he matriculated in Hahneman Medical College, being graduated with the class of 1886 and entering upon practice in the same year. In 1887 he located in Marissa, where he has since followed his profession with constantly in- creasing success, building up a reputation sur- passed by that of few physicians in Southern Illinois. On June 8, 1887, Dr. Tweed was unit- ed in marriage with Blanche Wilson, who was born in Sparta, Ill., and educated in the local schools. To Dr. Tweed and his wife have been born three children, namely: Gladys Aline and Inez Aldwyth, aged, respectively, nine and six years, who are attending school; and one son, who died in birth. The daughters named are remarkably interesting and promis- ing girls.
In politics, Dr. Tweed is a supporter of the Republican party. In fraternal circles, he is identified with the A. F. & A. M. The Doctor is a man of high moral character, and is great- ly esteemed for his conscientious adherence to the dictates of duty, in all the relations of life. On the various questions of public interest and policy which constantly arise, he may always be found on the right side. He is an earnest and liberal friend of schools, churches and be- nevolent enterprises, and his record is in all
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
respects that of an exemplary and useful citi- zen. Having practiced his profession in Ma- rissa for twenty years, his intense devotion to its duties is fully recognized throughout the community. The faithful and considerate at- tention manifested in his care of the sick has endeared him to all his patients, and his skill- ful treatment of manifold diseases has won for him a high rank in the medical fraternity.
TWITCHELL, R. A., M. D., East St. Louis, is a son of La Fayette and Harriet A. (Steele) Twitchell. The father, La Fayette Twitchell, born in Hardin County, Ill., in 1829, was the son of a native of Maine, who was one of the early settlers in that county, and was a pio- neer miller who has taken his place in local history. In 1849 Lafayette Twitchell was one of an adventurous party who walked to Cali- fornia, occupying five months in making the journey. After three years of satisfactory suc- cess as a gold-hunter, he returned via Panama and New York, and bought a tract of land on the Ohio River near Elizabethtown and built a mill in that vicinity. In 1859 he went to the Pike's Peak region in Colorado, but was not as successful there as he had been in California. Returning he enlisted in the Union service as a private in the One Hundred and Thirty-first Illinois Infantry. He served in that regiment and in the Twenty-ninth Illinois, with which it was consolidated, until the close of the war, rising to a captaincy. He was Circuit Clerk and filled other important offices and became promi- nent in the Grand Army of the Republic, is an Odd Fellow and politically a Republican. His wife (Dr. Twitchell's mother) was a daughter of James Steel, a native of Ireland of Scotch extraction, who came to South Carolina in his boyhood and later to Hardin County, Ill., where he was a farmer.
Doctor Twitchell gained his primary educa- tion in the common schools, and at seventeen became clerk in a crockery store in Evansville, Ind., where he took a course in a commercial college. Later, for four years, he was a book- keeper at Rosiclare, Ill. He read medicine five years under the direction of Dr. R. R. Lacy, and was a student at the Medical College of St. Louis during 1888-90, graduating in June of the latter year with the degree of M. D. He has been in successful practice in East St. Louis for sixteen years. Dr. Twitchell mar-
ried Miss Laura L. Simmons, April 13, 1882. Politically, he is a Republican; is a member of the Eclectic Medical Society of St. Louis, the Eclectic State Association of Illinois, the Na- tional Eclectic Association and of the East St. Louis and Southern Illinois Medical Associa- tions, and affiliates with the order of Modern Woodmen, the Knights and Ladies of Honor, and other social and beneficiary orders.
UHL, George P., a contractor and builder of Belleville, this county, was born in that place January 11, 1866, a son of Andrew and Margar- ete (Weingartner) Uhl, natives of Krohnberg, Nassau, Germany. He was educated in the public and the Press Architectural schools, taking a commercial course and entering the Architectural School when but fifteen years. old. At the age of nineteen, he was taken into partnership with his father, who was one of the foremost builders in this part of the State. He built the first sewer in Belleville, as well as most of the fine structures in St. Clair County. George remained with his father for seventeen years, and has conducted the busi- ness alone since 1897, retaining many who were his father's customers forty years ago. An- drew Uhl died February 18, 1898, and was bur- ied in Walnut Hill Cemetery.
On November 20, 1890, George P. Uhl was united in marriage to Amelia Medart, who was born in Belleville, and there obtained a public school education. The five children born of this union are Clara, Andrew, George, Amelia and Margaret. Mrs. Uhl died February 18, 1902, and was interred in Walnut Hill Ceme- tery, Belleville. On June 24, 1903, he was mar- ried to Hulda Medart, a native of St. Louis, Mo. Mr. Uhl casts his vote with the Repub- lican party, and in his religious belief affiliates with the St. Paul Free Protestant Church. Fra- ternally, he is associated with the K. P. and Modern Woodmen of America.
VAN DYKE, Thomas. - Through the praise- worthy efforts of Thomas Van Dyke, Chief of the East St. Louis Fire Department, that im- portant municipal adjunct has undergone marked improvement, its life and property-sav- ing devices comparing favorably with those of older and larger communities, and its large band of fire fighters furnishing a standard of unsurpassed bravery and ability. Of old Ken-
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
tucky stock, Mr. Van Dyke was born in Taylors- ville, Spencer County, Ky., October 6, 1862, and was educated in the public schools and at St. Joseph's College. His parents were George and Mattie (Moore) Van Dyke, both natives of Kentucky, and his father spent practically his entire active life in the distilling business. George Van Dyke was equally successful as a land owner and stock and horse raiser, ac- cumulating extensive holdings in the most val- uable part of the State.
Notwithstanding his
father's prosperity, young Van Dyke was reared to an appreciation of his own responsibilities, and was not en- couraged in any dependence upon the paternal purse. From the home fireside he went forth to earn his living on a Mississippi River steam- boat as an engineering apprentice, a couple of years later becoming assistant engineer at the Anhauser Busch Brewing Company's plant, St. Louis. After three years of experience in this giant enterprise he became chief engineer in a Kansas City (Mo.) brewery, and two years afterward began a four years' service as assist- ant engineer of the Lempe Brewery. About fifteen years ago he became identified with the Heim Brewing Company, at East St. Louis, as master mechanic, resigning from this posi- tion to accept the large responsibility of Fire Chief of the town. Mr. Van Dyke is frater- nally connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and the Eagles. In 1882 he mar- ried Mollie Manning, and four children have been born into his family: Ernest, Mattie, George and Thomas. Mr. Van Dyke is one of the substantial and highly honored men of East St. Louis, is a conscientious and capable manager of the department of which he is chief, and in his private life is a kind hus- band, an indulgent father and a faithful friend.
VOEGTLE, Jacob, a pioneer resident of Belle- ville, St. Clair County, where he is engaged in coal mining, was born in Baden, Germany, March 29, 1849. His parents came to this country when he was four years old, and pro -. ceeded directly to Belleville. After attending the public school a short time, at a very early age Jacob went to work in the coal mine. In 1870 a stock company was organized for min- ing, consisting of sixteen members, which number was soon increased to twenty. In this concern, which was called the West Belleville
Mining Company, Mr. Voegtle held an interest. This he sold out three years afterward, and has since continued at work in the mines. On October 24, 1871, Jacob Voegtle was married to Louisa Bilger, who was born and schooled in Germany. The children resulting from this union are as follows: John, William, Jacob, Philip and Annie. Mr. Voegtle is fraternally connected with the I. O. R. M., U. M. W. of A., and K. & L. of 11.
VOELLINGER, Michael, a well-known and highly respected farmer of St. Clair Township, was born October 17, 1856, in this county, being a son of Jacob and Anna M. (Meyer) Voellinger, the former a native of Bavaria, and the latter of Alsace-Lorraine, Germany. In 1842 the father emigrated from Germany and located in St. Clair County, where he bought a tract of land in St. Clair Township and there followed farming until his death, which oc- curred in 1885. Michael Voellinger was edu- cated in the district schools of St. Clair County and remained on the home farm until attain- ing the age of twenty-two years, when he went to Europe and traveled on the Continent for six months. He then returned to the old home- stead in St. Clair Township, where he contin- ued to reside until his marriage, after which he moved to a farm comprising 350 acres on Section 1, northeast corner of St. Clair Town- ship. Here he devotes his time and attention to agriculture, the most of his land being planted in wheat and corn. In his religious views he is a firm believer in the doctrines of the Catholic Church, and politically, supports the Republican party. On May 17, 1881, he was married to Mary E. Gundlach, a native of St. Clair County, where she was educated in the Immaculate Conception Academy. By this marriage the following five children have been born: Ida, Agnes, Margaret, John and Thecla.
VOGT, Frank M., who is the proprietor of a boot and shoe store in O'Fallon, St. Clair County, was born in St. Louis, Mo., in 1874. His father, Henry Vogt, and his mother, who was a Miss Beauman, were natives of Germany. The former, on emigrating to this country, set- tled in St. Louis and entered into the real estate business. After finishing his studies in the public schools in St. Louis, Frank Vogt was employed as a clerk by the Simmons Hard-
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
ware Co., with which he remained six and a half years. Subsequently, he entered a shoe factory, where he learned the trade of a shoe- maker. In April, 1904, he opened a boot and shoe store in O'Fallon, in connection with which he also conducts a repair shop. Mr Vogt was married at St. Louis, in 1896, to Lily Cornwall, and they have one child, named Ethel.
VOIGT, Franz, brewmaster at the Western Brewery, Belleville, is a native of Germany, born in 1865, and there obtained his education in the public schools. Since leaving school his life story may be briefly told as follows: He was employed in a brewery at Leutenberg, Ger- many, 1881-83; worked in other breweries 1883- 85, served in the German Army, 1885-88; was employed in breweries in Berlin and Hamburg, 1888-90; came to America in 1890; was em- ployed in S. Liebmann Sons' brewery, Brooklyn, N. Y., 1890-93; took a course in the United States Brewers' Academy, New York, 1893; was brewmaster in a brewery at Rhinelander, Wis., 1893-94; was brewmaster for the Minneapolis Brewing Company, Branch No. 2, 1894-96; was brewmaster in a brewery at Pomeroy, Ohio, 1896-99; held a similar position in a brewery at Steubenville, Ohio, 1899-1901; took a course at Hantke's Brewers' School, Milwaukee, 1901; was expert brewer in that institution, 1901-03; went to Germany, visiting schools there, and took a special course at the Berlin Brewers' School, 1903, and became brewmaster at the Western Brewery (his present position) August, 1903. Mr. Voigt is interested in Gerinan sing- ing societies and is President of the Barenriege from Belleville Turnverein. In 1893 he mar- ried Miss Fannie Stiefel. There are few, if any, brewmasters in America better fitted for their responsible positions than is Mr. Voigt.
WACHSMUTH, Frederick, one of the pioneer farmers of St. Clair County who has achieved success in his chosen vocation, is a native of Prussia, where he was born in 1831, and ob- tained his early education in the public schools of the kingdom. He served two years in the Prussian army, on January 1, 1854, emigrated to America, and for two years was employed in the copper mines on Lake Superior. In 1857 he came to St. Clair County and engaged in farm- ing, in 1859 purchasing the place on which he
at present resides, consisting of 192 acres of land located about three miles southeast of Lenzburg. Although he has been a hard work- er all his life, at the age of seventy-three years, Mr. Wachsmuth is today hale and hearty, pos- sessing that rugged constitution which comes from rightful living and days of youthful labor. Age has deprived him of none of his faculties, and he is spending the later years of his life in the enjoyment of the fruits of his earlier industry and wise foresight. In 1859 Frederick Wachsmuth was married to Paulina Schulder, a native of Prussia, in whose splendid public schools she was educated. Three children were born of this marriage, namely: Mrs. Sirdina Beimfohr, Edward and Mrs. Amanda Schrader. In religion, Mr. Wachsmuth's faith has always been that of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, while politically, he supports the Democratic party.
WACHTEL, Valentine, member of the Saegar Cigar Company, manufacturers and dealers, East St. Louis, this county, is a native of Illi- nois, born in 1879, and received his early edu- cation in the parochial schools of the city named. His parents, Frederick and Catherine (Hertz) Wachtel, were born respectively in Germany and France. When the elder Wachtel settled in St. Clair County, he followed the trade of a carpenter, but subsequently engaged in agricultural pursuits. Valentine Wachtel learned the carpenter's trade, and followed it for two and a half years. He subsequently served for two terms as Deputy Tax Collector in East St. Louis, and then started in the com- mission business. On relinquishing this he opened a saloon on the corner of Seventh Street and Missouri Avenue, and later entered into partnership with John Saegar, forming the Saegar Cigar Company, whose place of busi- ness is No. 110 Collinsville Avenue.
WALLACE, J. A., was born in Lebanon, Ill., in 1866, a son of John and Mary Wallace, the former a native of Germany and educated in the common schools, later assisting his father in the livery business, which he organized in 1880 and conducted until his death, in 1896. The son has carried on the business since, the livery consisting of eleven horses and com- plete rigs, with a full equipment for funeral service. In 1889 Mr. Wallace was married to
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
Alvira Grauel, who received her education in the schools of Lebanon, and to them have been born the following children: Eleanor, Ralph, Delphean and Harold.
WANGELIN, George F .- One of the most in- dustrious, as well as most successful business men of Belleville, is George F. Wangelin, own- er and proprietor of a confectionery and fruit store at No. 122 East Main Street. Mr. Wan- gelin believes in doing well whatever is worth doing at all, and thus his store is well kept, his fruit is the best procurable, and his tempt- ing confections are made of wholesome and pure materials. He understands the obliga- tions and amenities of the successful trades- man, is tactful and courteous, and has a repu- tation for fairness and honesty in both his busi- ness and social life. On both the paternal and maternal sides of his house Mr. Wangelin had representatives among the very early settlers of St. Clair County. His paternal grandparents, August and Minnie (Tillie) Wangelin, located here in 1835, soon after their arrival from Ger- many, while his maternal grandfather, John Eckert, turned up sod in the wilderness as early as 1816. The latter was born in Wil- liamsville, Ky., married Ara Williams, of But- ler, Montgomery county, Va., and succeeded to large country lands in St. Clair County, where he was recognized as one of the most prosper- ous and influential men of his time and place. Charles F. Wangelin, the father of George F., was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and accompanied his parents to Illinois in 1835, in young man- hood marrying Lucinda Eckert, born in Water- loo, that State. The youth of George F. Wan- gelin permitted of little leisure or educational opportunity, for at the age of fourteen he com- menced work as a machinist, and two years later went to St. Louis, where he secured a position as clerk in a dry goods store. Five years later he renounced trade in favor of a government claim in South Dakota, but after living on his land a couple of years, he disposed of it and for five years was a postal clerk for the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad Company. He started his present business in Belleville in 1893, locating first at No. 12 East Main Street, and a year later moving to his present store, two blocks distant. Mr. Wangelin is an enthusiastic fraternalist, being identified with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, and the Court of Honor.
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