History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part 75

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 948

USA > Illinois > Union County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 75
USA > Illinois > Pulaski County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 75
USA > Illinois > Alexander County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 75

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

BIOGRAPHICAL:

he came to Cairo and established a gardening business, which is fully noticed elsewhere. In 1851, he was married in Canada to Miss Har- menia Beauchamp. She was born in Canada in 1836, and died in 1869 in Jackson County, Ill., leaving four children-Arthur, Oscar, Henry and Josephine Desrocher. The oldest son, Arthur, married Miss Thompson, and has two children, named Oscar and Francis Gideon. The second son, Oscar, married Miss Mary Scott, and has one daughter -- Emma Des- rocher. Mr. Desrocher was married to his present wife, Eliza Tippet, in 1872. She was born in England in 1847. Frank Desrocher is the only child by the second marriage.

CHARLES W. DUNNING, physician and surgeon, Cairo. The greatest genius of which any one can boast is the power of molding circumstances-of being able to turn them to good account, and of using his talents to bet- ter the condition of others and develop in him- self a true manhood. Such reflections natur- ally come to us as we study the life-histories of such men as he whose name heads this arti- ele. He was born April 15, 1828, in Auburn, N. Y. His father, Lucius Dunning, died in 1834, and his mother, Mary Dunning, who was born in 1807, is still living. His father died when he was but six years of age, and he was left to battle with the world, stimulated only by a mother's devoted love and his own energy. He was educated in Gambier College, Ohio, and immediately after finishing his course at that institution, he determined to gratify his desire to become a physician, and to that end entered upon the study of medicine. He un- derwent the usual preparatory reading with Dr. G. W. Hotchkiss, of Nashville, Ill., and Prof. Joseph N. MeDowell, of St. Louis. In 1850, he graduated from the Medical Depart- ment of the University of Missouri. Imme- diately after, he accepted the position of Assist- ant Resident Surgeon of a private hospital in St Louis, known as the "Hotel for Invalids,"

where he remained for two years, and then re- moved to Centralia, Ill. During a residence here of four years he won for himself many ar- dent friends, and established a lucrative prac- tice. From Centralia he removed to Cairo, which has since been his permanent home, though his business and profession frequently calls him away. He was connected with the United States Hospital at Mound City, Ill., dur- ing the years of 1861 and 1862, returning to his home in Cairo when his services there were no longer a necessity. In 18 63, he was hon- ored with the appointment of Professor of Sur- gery in the Hahnemann Medical College of Chi- cago, which he declined, and in 1865 he was appointed Professor of Physiology and Materia Medica in the University of Missouri. This position also he was forced to decline, on ac- count of business and professional connections here which he could not sever. Dr. Dunning is often called to attend critical cases remote from and beyond the circle of his usual prac- tice. His popularity as a man and as a phy- sician has been fairly and honorably earned, and his professional success no less due to his knowledge and ability than to his purely sym- pathetic nature so indispensable in the sick chamber and in the character of the true phy- sician. While he devotes his attention closely to his practice, he also takes an unselfish but hearty interest in the politics of the day, and exerts no small influence, the benefits of which are enjoyed by the Democratic party. He wields a commanding influence in the Masonic fraternity, in which he is an honored member. He is an officer in the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar for the State of Illinois, be- ing Grand Captain General of that august body. He has been ten times elected Eminent Com- mander of Cairo Commandery, No. 13, which position he now fills. Dr. Dunning was first married in 1840 to Amanda Shannon, of Spar- ta, Ill. She died in 1859. leaving one son, who is now living. His present wife was Miss El-

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len O. Dashiell. They have one child-a daughter.

WILLIAM EICHHOFF, wholesale and re- tail dealer in parlor, office and kitchen furniture, on the corner of Seventeenth street and Washington avenue, Cairo, was born in Westphalia, Prussia, June 19, 1835. He is a son of Casper H. and Anna Eichhoff, both of whom were natives of Prussia, the former born in 1789, and the latter in 1796. They married in Prussia, and to them were born a family of six children, William being the fourth. He was educated in Prussia, and came to the United States with an elder brother, Charles Eichhoff, in 1854, and the same year located at Cairo, Ill. Here he engaged at his trade, that of carpenter and cabinet-maker, and worked on the first storehouse erected on the Ohio levee. In the year 1856, he went to Dongola, Ill., where for several years he followed contracting and building. He returned from there to Cairo, Ill., and in 1865, established a planing mill on Eighteenth street, which he operated success- fully for about two years, discontinuing this to place the machinery in a furniture manufactory, which he erected on the corner of Seventeenth street and Washington avenue, which has been his business location since, and which has been converted from a manufacturing to a wholesale and retail establishment. Mr. Eichhoff was first married in Union County, Ill., to Miss La- vina Casper, who was born in Union County March 4, 1840. She died in Dongola, of small- pox, April 3, 1863. His second wife, Rachel Fleshman, to whom he was married February 3, 1870, was born near Manheim, on the Rhine, in Germany, June 12, 1844, and died in Cairo, Ill., April 12, 1873, leaving two children, viz .: Sibilia Eichhoff, born February 9, 1873, and Walter Ellsworth Eichhoff, born April 17, 1871. Sibilia died June 20, 1873. Mr. Eichhoff is a member of the order of Masons.

EUGENE E. ELLIS, job printer and book- binder, of Cairo, and son of Henry B. and Otti-

lini (Waugh) Ellis, was born in Rock Island, Ill., on the 20th day of June, 1859. His father, Henry B. Ellis, was born in Devonshire, Eng., in August of 1829, and, while an infant, came with the parents, Richard and Mary Ann Ellis, to the United States, where, after brief resi- dences in various places, settled at Rock Island. Mr. H. B. Ellis, while a young man, learned the trade of marble cutter, in Cincinnati, Ohio, at which he worked for eight years, when he be- came interested in the iron foundry business in St. Louis, which he conducted for a term of fifteen years. From St. Louis he came to Mound City, Ill., and took charge of a foundry at that place, which he ran for two years, com- ing thence to Cairo, which is still their home. He was married in Rock Island, in March, 1858, to Miss Ottilini Waugh. She was born in Canada, on the 4th of March, 1839. She is a niece ofSam- uel Waugh, the celebrated painter of Philadel- phia. Eugene E. is the oldest of a family of nine children born to these parents, two of whom are deceased. He established, a few years since, a job printing and book-binding house in Cairo, which is doing a very successful business. He was married on the 16th of May, 1883, to Miss Edith L. Martin, daughter of Jacob Martin, of Cairo, Ill., and is a member of the American Legion of Honor.

ISAAC FARNBAKER, merchant. Cairo, was born in Bavaria, Germany, son of Solomon Farnbaker and Zerlina Teldhahn. He grew to manhood and received an education in Ger- many, learning the trade of weaver when young. In 1840, heing then twenty years old, he came to the United States, and for four years made his home in the city of New York, though en- gaged during the time to travel, two years in Maine and two years in the South. He then made a permanent settlement or residence in Mississippi until 1856, at which time he came to Cairo, and cast in his lot with the pioneers of that city, which at that time contained but few of the present buildings of Cairo. The

BIOGRAPHICAL:

town of Cairo was in need of just such enter- prise and energy as Mr. Farnbaker possessed, the impress of which has been realized and felt for years. He embarked in the clothing trade in 1856, and has been actively engaged in that line since, a portion of the time having two stores in Cairo, and one in Paducah, Ky., be- sides, from 1864 to 1872, he was conducting a wholesale establishment in the city of New York. In 1862, he paid $10,000 in currency for the lot on corner of Levee and Sixth streets, now occupied by Mr. F. Korsmeyer. His present location is corner of Commercial ave- nue and Seventh street. He was married, 1849, at Natchez, Miss., to Mrs. Eliza A. Flippen. She was born at the above named city on No- vember 22, 1826. Their family consists of three sons, viz., Solomon, Joseph and Morris Farnbaker ; the latter married in Cairo, in 1880, to Miss Ellen Torrence, daughter of Smith Tor- rence, of that place. They have one child-a daughter.

GEORGE FISHER, lawyer, Surveyor of Customs and ex officio Collector of the Port of Cairo, Ill., was born April 13, 1832, in Chester, Vt. His father, Joseph Fisher, was a native of New England, though of Scotch origin, and his mother, Orythia (Selden) Fisher, was a lin- eal descendant of the eminent English states- man, John Selden, who figured prominently in literature and politics in the first half of the seventeenth century. The family name upon both sides was represented in New England at an early date. Mr. Fisher's elementary educa- tion was obtained in the common schools of his native town; he fitted for college at the Chester Academy. He afterward entered the Middlebury College, where he continued for four years, receiving the degree conferred by that institution in 1858. Immediately after the completion of his collegiate course, he be- came the Principal of an academy in Vermont, where he remained three years, winning for himself a name among the leading teachers of

his State. His next position was as Principal of one of the grammar schools of Alton, Ill., where he also took rank among the leading educators of Illinois. During the three years that he taught in Alton, he pursued the study . of law, under the instruction of Hon. H. W. Billings, and later of Seth T. Sawyer. In 1864, having been admitted to practice, he removed to Cairo, Ill., which has since been his perma- nent home, and where he has enjoyed a lucra- tive practice, as well as the confidence and esteem of an extensive circle of friends. While his court practice has not, perhaps, been as extensive as some members of the Cairo bar, he has proven himself especially able as an office lawyer, and in the settlement of estates, which he has made a specialty. His ancestry, for several generations, have been noted for their ability and enthusiasm in political issues, and it is but natural to expect that Mr. Fisher would have inherited some of their character- istic zeal; while he is not a politician in the accepted sense of that term, he takes an ardent interest in public affairs, and his natural abili- ties afford no small aid to the Republican party, with which he has always acted. In 1869, he was appointed Surveyor and ex officio Collector of the Customs for the Port of Cairo, Ill., and has held the position ever since. For several years he has served as a member of the Board of Education, and takes a lively and unselfish interest in the advancement morally, intellectually and politically of the community in which he is an honored citizen. He was married, November 29, 1860, to Miss Susan G. Copeland, of Middlebury, Vt.

NICHOLAS FEITH, undertaker, on the corner of Eleventh street and Washington avenue, was born on the 6th of December, 1819, in Echternech, Luxemburg, Europe. He is the fifth of a family of eight children of Peter Feith and Catherine Nea. But three of the family are now living. The father was born December 25, 1777, and the mother on

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the 6th of December, 1787. On arriving at manhood, Nicholas adopted the trade of cabi- net-maker, in which he acquired a great profi- ciency, and is without a superior, if, indeed, he has an equal in the United States, on inlaid work. He worked extensively in Paris, France, and in Brussels, Belgium, where, on the 26th of July, 1845, he married Miss Su- sanna Feller. She was born in Medernach, Luxemburg, February 12, 1820. There was one child born to them in the old country- Anna Feith, born on the 23d of June, 1847, and is the deceased wife of William Kluge, of Cairo. Mr. Feith came to this country in the fall of 1848, and lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, until 1854, in which time three children were born to the family-Madeline, born November 17, 1849, deceased ; Nicholas, born January 5, 1851, deceased, and Katie Feith, present wife of William Kluge, born August 10, 1853. In 1854, he removed to Southeast Missouri, where he purchased a farm and resided until 1862, and at that place were born John Feith, Au- gust 24, 1857, and Eddie, January 29, 1860. In December, 1862, the family came to Cairo, Ill., but, being unable to procure a house, they again went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where, on the 17th of August, 1863, William, the youngest child, was born. They returned to Cairo in 1864, and the following year Mr. Feith opened a shop for the manufacture and sale of coffins, and has ever since been engaged in that line of business. The family are members of the Catholic Church of Cairo, Ill.

WILLIAM B. GILBERT, lawyer, Cairo, Ill., is a son of Hon. Miles A. Gilbert, whose biography appears elsewhere in this volume, and Ann Eliza (Baker) Gilbert. He was born September 24, 1837, in Kaskaskia, Ill. ; ob- tained a classical education in Shurtleff Col- lege, of Upper Alton, and began the study of law in the office of his grandfather, Judge David J. Baker, Sr. At the age of twenty, he became a student in the law office of Krum &

Harding, of St. Louis, continuing his reading with them for one year. In May, 1859, he was admitted to practice, and soon after en- tered the senior class in the Law Department of Harvard University, graduating therefrom, with the degree of LL.B., in July, 1860. In the summer of 1861, he took the degree of A. M. from St. Paul's College, Mo. He began the practice of his profession in Genevieve, Mo., associated with Hon John Scott, one of the most eminent and able lawyers of Mis- souri. In the spring of 1862, owing to the suspension of the Missouri courts, he removed to Illinois, and located at Alton, forming a partnership with his uncle, H. S. Baker, which continued until March, 1865, when he came to Cairo, and associated himself with Gen. I. N. Haynie and B. F. Marshall. By reason of Mr. Haynie's appointment to the office of Adju- tant General of Illinois, Mr. Gilbert became the leading member of the firm, and continued in the chief control of its immense and im- portant business until May, 1867, when, by the withdrawal of Haynie and Marshall, he was left in the possession of a practice sec- ond to none in Southern Illinois. In June, 1867, he formed a partnership with Judge Will- iam H. Green, and still continues an active member of the firm of Green & Gilbert, which includes a junior partner in the person of his brother, Miles F. Gilbert. They have charge of the legal business of the Illinois Central, New Orleans, St. Louis & Chicago, and the Cairo & St. Louis Railroad Companies, the Cairo City Property Company, City National Bank and other corporations. Mr. Gilbert was admitted to practice in the Federal courts in 1865, and to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1873, and in that court represented his firm as counsel for Phillips in the case of the Grand Tower M. M. & T. Co. v. Phillips and St. John, involving a judgment of $200,- 000. He was married, in 1866, to Miss Kate Barry, daughter of A. S. Barry, and has a fam-

BIOGRAPHICAL.

ily of three sons, viz. : Miles S., William C. and Barry Gilbert. The genealogy of the Gilbert family traces back to some of the most distinguished characters in English history, and was first represented in the United States by five brothers, who settled in Virginia, Mas- sachusetts and Connecticut, the father of our subject being a descendant of the Connecticut branch. Mr. Gilbert is an influential member and a Vestryman in the Protestant Episcopal Church.

MILES F. GILBERT, lawyer, Cairo, is the junior partner of the law firm of Green & Gil- bert ; was born September 11, 1846, at Alton, Ill. He received a high school education in Alton, Ill., and entered the Washington Univer- sity, but was compelled to quit this course on account of failing health. He then became a student in the Pennsylvania Military Academy, where, through the rational discipline of that institution, he was restored to health. He be- gan the study of law in 1866, and after two years' reading was admitted to the bar. He then became a member of the senior class in the Law Department of Harvard University, and received the degree conferred by that in- stitution in 1869. He has been a member of the well-known law firm of Green & Gilbert since 1870, in which year he was married to Miss Addie L. Barry. He is a Vestryman in the Protestant Episcopal Church.

JACOB A. GOLDSTINE, Cairo, Ill., was born in Hungary August 17, 1832, and is the second member of a family of seven children born to Abraham and Rachel (Kohn) Goldstine. Of these seven children, two are deceased, and the remaining ones are residents of the United States. The father, Abraham Goldstine, was born in Hungary, in the year 1805, and died July 24, 1873. The mother was a native of the same country, born 1807, and died on the 30th of the same month as her husband ; both died of the cholera. In 1847, in the time of the Hungarian war, Jacob A. left his home

and attended school in the cities of Werpclet, Gyöngyös and Presburg, being absent from his home for more than nine years, during which time he acquired a liberal education. He was married in the old country, May 22, 1859, to Miss Mary Roth. She is the eldest of a fami- ly of five children, of Ignatius Roth and Hanie Moscovitz, all of whom, including parents, are residents of the United States. Mrs. Goldstine was born September 18, 1842. They have two interesting daughters-Annie B., born August 25, 1860, and Rosa G., born November 16, 1862, both of whom are being educated in Vas- sar College. Mr. Goldstine, with his little fam- ily, left their native country for the United States on the 7th of July, 1863, arriving at New York City August 3, 1863, and on the 9th of the same month located in Cleveland, Ohio, and during a short residence there was engaged in merchandising, in the meantime making his home with Mr. M. Black, of the firm of D. Black & Co., from whom he received some material assistance. February 10, 1864, Mr. Goldstine re- removed to Cairo, and the year following he formed a business connection with his present partner, Mr. Rosenwater, which has since exist- ed and grown into one of the most substantial business firms of Illinois. Mr. Goldstine has for several years been an active member of the Board of Education for Cairo, and is an hon- ored member of the Masonic order. He wields a potent influence in the local politics which benefits are enjoyed by the Republican party.

J. J. GORDON, M. D., Cairo, was born in Perry County, Ohio, January 6, 1835. His parents, Adam Gordon and Eleanor Shriver, were natives of Pennsylvania, where they were reared and married, soon after which they moved into Perry County, Ohio. There the father died in 1836, leaving but one child, the subject of this sketch. His mother was sub- sequently married, reared a family and is now living at the old homestead, in Perry County, in her sixty-ninth year. J. J. Gordon grew to

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maturity in his native county, receiving the ad- vantages of a common school education, and then took a three years' course in the St. Joseph College of same county. He then en- tered the office of W. W. Arnold, M. D., of Ohio, under whom he pursued the study of medicine for four years. He graduated from the Cleveland Medical College in 1859, and im- mediately began the practice of his profession in the town of Somerset, Ohio, where he re- mained but a brief period, coming to Cairo, Ill., in the fall of 1859. Since that time he has been in active practice ; from 1863 to 1868, he was associated with Dr. W. R. Smith, but with that exception, he has practiced alone. Office on Commercial avenue. He was married, Feb- ruary 27, 1862, to Mrs. Isadore Burke, widow of William Burke, and daughter of Dr. Henry Delaney. She was born in Kentucky Febru- ary 23, 1838, died November 14, 1875, leaving two children-Mary Adella, born March 29, 1863, and Joseph J., born February 6, 1866. The family are members of the Catholic Church, and enjoy the confidence of many warm friends.

HORACE A. HANNON, dealer in and gen- eral agent for sewing machines, being the dis- tributing agent for Southern Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky of the White Manufacturing Company. He is a native of Illinois ; was born in Springfield on the 14th day of June, 1843. Daniel Hannon, father of H. A., was born in Charlestown, Mass., in 1810, where he grew to manhood and received the benefit of a liberal education. He early adopted the business of architecture, for which he became very noted. He came to Illinois and located in Springfield about 1840. He was married in Charlestown, Mass., to Miss Welthea Ewell, a native of Massachusetts, and born in 1809. They had a family of six children, one of whom, Daniel Hannon, was born in Massachusetts, and who is deceased ; Mary, wife of B. F. Parker, of Chicago ; H. A. Hannon, of Cairo ; Lucy, wid-

ow of George T. Cushing, of Dubuque, Iowa ; Charles, deceased ; Eva, wife of G. W. John- son, of Dubuque, Iowa ; were born, reared and educated in Springfield. The mother is still living, and is a resident of Dubuque. The father died in Cleveland, Ohio, 1863. H. A. Hannon, in company with the family, came to Cairo, Ill., in 1857, the father having come the year previous. He early learned the business of printing in the office of the Cairo Gazette, and afterward became a salesman in the drug store of J. B. Humphreys & Co., and the pre- scription clerk. In September 6, 1861, he enlisted in the United States Navy, in the capacity of " first class boy," and was mustered out, January, 1866, as Captain of a gun-boat. He participated in much of the active service of the Mississippi Squadron, and was in seven- teen engagements, receiving a wound at the battle of Greenwood. At the close of the war, he returned to Cairo and engaged in the book business, associated with W. J. Yost, un- der the firm name of Yost & Hannon, in which he continued until 1868, when he bought the interest of Mr. Yost and continued the busi- ness until 1872, and sold to B. F. Parker. Since the latter date, he has been in the sewing machine and real estate business. Ile was married, September 19, 1872, in Caledonia, Ill., to Mrs. Sallie Wood, daughter of B. F. Echols and widow of L. Wood, of Iowa. She was born in Caledonia June 14, 1845. They have one son, Horace Blake Hannon, born in Cairo May 18, 1874. Mr. Hannon is a member of the Episcopalian Church, and is a Master Mason, and a member of the A. L. of H.

A. HALLEY, merchant, Cairo, was born February 6, 1837, in Monroe County, Ark. He is the sixth of a family of ten children of David and Elmira (Jacobs) Halley. the father a native of Virginia. Our subject was in early life left an orphan, and compelled to face the realities of life for himself. In 1852, he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where, although among

BIOGRAPHICAL:

strangers, he managed to avail himself of the advantages of a common school education, and then turned his attention to learning the tin- ner's trade, but after serving two years his em- ployers failed, and he went to St. Louis in 1858, where he completed his trade, and where he remained until the breaking-out of the war, when he became connected with the Quarter- master's Department. In 1863, he came to Cairo, Ill., and was here employed in the navy yard until its removal to Mound City, in which city he worked until the fall of 1864, when he returned to Cairo and opened a tin-shop on a small scale. After two years, he was able to add a stock of stoves to his business, and in 1875 extended the business to embrace a full line of hardware. Mr. Halley has been very successful, and is entirely the architect of his own fortune. He was married in Cairo on the 1st day of December, 1869, to Miss Mary Hart- man, daughter of Daniel Hartman, of Cairo. She was born in 1844. Their family consists of four children, viz .: William, born Novem- ber 4, 1870 ; Leah, born April 30, 1874 ; Da- vid, born March 11, 1879 ; and Pearl Halley, born August 31, 1881. Mr. Halley is a mem- ber of the I. O. O. F.

EDGAR C. HARRELL. Among those who in an early day came to Cairo and assisted in its subsequent development was Isaac L. Har- rell. He was married in Missouri to Miss Mil- dred E. Keesee, a native of Tennessee. To these parents were born six children, but one of whom is now living-Edgar C. Harrell, of Cairo. He was born in Cairo, Ill., on the 5th of January, 1856. His father was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1824, and came to Cairo on arriving at manhood. After his mar- riage, he resided in Cairo for some years, but before the war removed to Missouri, where he was engaged in mercantile business until 1872, returning that year to Cairo. Here he em- barked in the furniture trade, at which he con- tinned until his death, which occurred Novem-

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History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part 75

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 948

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 948