History of Effingham county, Illinois, Part 52

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, O. L. Baskin & co.
Number of Pages: 650

USA > Illinois > Effingham County > History of Effingham county, Illinois > Part 52

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MICHAEL REIS. grocer, Altamont. Of the several grocers in the town of Altamont that supply the people with the necessaries of life in his line, is Mr. Reis, who, though having a small store, yet there are none that aro bringing in the possessor more satisfae- tory returns for the amount invested than the store of the above-mentioned gentleman. His stock of goods, consisting of groceries, queens, stone and wooden ware, tobaccos, pipes and cigras, etc., are all well selected and sold at prices inviting competition. He was born June 2, 1837, in the Province of Starken- burg. Prussia, eldest son of Bartholomew Reis and Anna Hertling. He came to Amer- ica in 1553, arriving in New York February S, in company with his parents, and removed

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with them to Portage County, Ohio, and after a brief sojourn, they located two years in Tuscarawas County; afterward removed to St. Louis, living one year, finally locating in St. Clair County, where he followed the coop- er's trade, which he began learning at the age of nineteen, first, in St, Louis, complet- ing the same after his removal to St. Clair. February 29, 1870, he married Gertrude Summerfield, a native of the Province of Po- sen, in Prussia, who has borne him one child -Frank Member of the Catholic Church. J. A. REYNOLDS, express agent, Alta- mont. The obliging agent of the American Express Company of Altamont was born Jan- uary 8, 1854, in Fayette County, this State, son of Joseph Reynolds, a native of Knox County, Ohio. His mother's maiden name was Cynthia Ray. Subject was raised upon a farm and when a young man began clerk- ing in a store for Samuel Rhode, of Browns- town, and continued with him until Novem- ber 1. 1876, when he took charge of the rail- road office and express business and ran the same for four years. In 1880. he came to this place, and has since had charge of Amer- ican Express Company's business here. De- cember 23, 1876, she was married to Carrie Pearce, who was born in Attica, Ind., daugh- ter of John Pierce. She died August 24, 1878, having borne him two children-Pearl and Blanche. His last marriage was May 5, 1881, to Laura V., daughter of Ambrose Besse. She has borne one child-Mabel. He is a member of the Christian Church and of the Legion of Honor.

JOHN RHODES, grain dealer, Altamont. Among the business men of this town is Mr. Rhodes, who is a native of this State; he was born in Fayette County March 9, 1843, the youngest son and child of Joseph and Mar- garet Rhodes, both natives of Fayette County. Penn., and settled in Perry County, Ohio, re-

maining there several years; about the rear 1840, removed to Greene County, Illinois, and removed to Fayette County, where he settled and has since remained. To them were born nine children, of whom two sons and daugh- ters are living. John remained at home on the farm until twenty-eight years of age, when he engaged in farming on his own ac- count, continuing here until the fall of 1872, when he came to Altamont and engaged in the livery business with his brother Jacob, under the firm name of Rhodes Bros .: this continued about four years, when he engaged in the saloon business, which he still runs. Since March, 18S2, he has been associated with Samuel Cooper in the grain and stock business. He was married. October 1, 1571. to Samantha White, daughter of J. M. White and Desdemona Shell. He has two children -John and James E. He is a member of the American Legion of Honor, No. 160.

SYLVESTER STUART RICE, physician, Altamont, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, July 4, 1834, son of Jonathan Stuart and Martha (Mathews) Rice, he born in Doyles- town, Bucks Co., Penn., September 20, 1808. and died January 20, 1852; she born near Gunpowder, Md .. June 10, 1810, and died September 30, 1867. The parents were farmers, and moved to Trumbull County, Ohio, in May, 1834. They were married Au- gust 28, 1833, and were the parents of seven children, three of whom are living-Mary J., Marian L. (Rice) Smith, and our subject. The latter received his early education in the public schools, and afterward studied at Sa- lem and Mt. Union, Ohio. He attended med- ical lectures in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1855 and 1856, and afterward took a post-graduate course in the Missouri Medical College in 1882. He taught school in Burkesville, Ky., from the fall of 1852 to the spring of 1854;

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in North Vernon, Ind .. in the winter of 1854 -55. and commeneed the study of medicine with Dr. J. W. Parrish, of that place in 1854. He was married, May 24, 1874, in Greenville, Bond County, this State, to Sarah E. Hennin- ger, born in Fayette County, Ill., October 2, 1850, daughter of William and Mary Isabel (Oglesby) Henninger, he a native of Virginia, born in Washington County, that State, July 9 1817, moved to Fayette County, this State in 1833, and resided there until his death, which occurred January 20, 1882; she, born in Ma- son County, Ky., in 1819, was married to Mr. Henninger October 28, 1845. Our subject commenced the regular practice of medicine in August, 1858. at Collinsville, Ill .: contin- ued there until 1872, since which time he has resided and practiced in this county. Ho has two children-Mary Stuart, born June 26, 1875; and Eugenia H., born June 22. 1881. Our subject is the present Presi- dent of the Town Board, and has also been a member of the School Board for several years. He is liberal in his religious views, and in political matters is a Democrat of the Jack- sonian type. He has been for several years a member of the I. O. O. F., and is also an A .. F. & A. M.

THOMAS B. RUCH, farmer, P. O. Alta- mont. This gentleman is a native of Colum- bia County, Penn., born April 13, 1828. His father, Joseph Ruch, was born in Penn- sylvania in about 1783. He was a mechanic, following the occupation of a shoe maker. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. He died in 1848. His parents were natives of Germany. His wife was Ann Hess, of Ger- man parentage, born in Pennsylvania in 1783, and died in 1845. They were the par- ents of seven children, of whom Thomas was the youngest son and sixth child. He was educated in the common schools of his native county. At sixteen years of age, he left home

and went to Wayne County, Ohio, where he served three years' apprenticeship at the shoe maker's trade with John C. Briggs. He continued working at his trade until 1850. when he began farming, thinking it would benefit his health, which had become im- paired by his working too steadily at his trade. In 1856, he moved to Indiana and located in Wabash County, where he re- mained until 1865. when he returned tb Wayne County, Ohio, and in the spring of 1868 came to Illinois and located on his present farm, where he has since remained actively engaged in farming. When he first came to the county. he lived with C. S. Moore, until he could erect a house and make some improvements on his farm. His farm consists of 120 acres of land. located in Sec- tion 9, Mound Township. In 1849, in Wayne County, Ohio, he married Miss Kuffel. who died March 31. 1877. She was the mother of twelve children. of whom ten are now living, viz., Harriet P., Henrietta. William W .. Rosa, Sarah V., Jennora, Charles C .. Mary A .. Gertrude and Jesse B. His second marriage occurred April 24. 1878. in Effing- ham County, to Mrs. Margaret Banister. a native of New York City. The result of this union is two children, viz .. Orla Otis and an infant not named. Mr. Ruch is religously connected with the Methodist Church. D. G. M. of the I. O. O. F., and, in 1878, 1879, 1880 and 1881, represented his lodge at Alta- mont at the Grand Lodge. Ho has been a member of the order for thirty years. "He is a Democrat, and cast his first vote for Frank- lin Pierce.

JOHN C. RUSSEL, merchant, Altamont, was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Octo. ber 3, 1834. When about four years old, he moved to Belmont County, where he grew up, until the age of fourteen, on a farm, and was educated in the common schools. His

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parents then moved to Morgan County, Ohio, where our subject became a school teacher and taught school ten terms in Morgan County, Ohio, and one term in Linn County. Iowa. whither he had gone on a visit in 1856, and there cast his first Presidential vote, in 1856, for Gen. Fremont. He taught until the war broke out. He enlisted, in the summer of 1862, as a recruit for the Seventy-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, dismissing his school. and served until the close of the war in the Department of Tennessee. He was first at the battle of Raymond. Jackson. Miss .. Champion Hills, where subject received a flesh wound in the thigh by a minie-ball. and was disabled from May till September. when he joined his command at Vicksburg. in 1863, and was at Marietta and the great march to the sea, and was discharged in the summer of 1865 and came direct to Effing- ham, where he opened a store, and tied up the first goods behind his own counter, open- ing in September, and remained there until the next March, when he moved back to Free- manton, and sold goods there two years, with D. Boyer. and later with Jesse H. Said, to whom he sold and removed to Moccasin, and opened a store in the spring of 186S, and conducted business there for three years. He came to Altamont in April. 1871, and, with Mr. Boyer, engaged in selling goods and buying grain for over two years. He then bought ont the stock of Will Snook, and conducted business alone for some time. He built his present storeroom in 1875, and has conducted business here ever since, carry- ing a general stock of goods. He was a charter member and first W. M. of Freeman- ton Lodge, A., F. & A. M., No. 533, which is now Altamont Lodge. He is a member of the Effingham Royal Arch Chapter, No. 87. In politics, he is a Republican. He married the only daughter of D. Boyer, Lydia A.,

March 17, 1859, and they have two children living-Ardelia B., wife of E. Fancher, of Chapman, Kan., and Daniel C. The first marriage that was celebrated in Altamont after its laying out was at the residence of our subject. on Grove street. The parties were Sallie E. Russel, sister of subject, and Frank Williams, then of Henry County. Ind., Rev. J. D. Crum, M. E. Church, now of California, officiating.

JOHN M. SCAIEFE, liveryman, Alta- mont, was born in Clay County, Ill., Novem- ber 28, 1821. He came with his parents to this county when about three years old. They settled on the Wabash in what is now Jackson Township, where the parents lived about five years, near where James Turner now lives, and the father died while working on the old National road. abont 1835. The mother moved back to their first settlement, on Crooked Creek, near Iola, Clay County, where she lived until her death, which oc . curred about three years after her husband's death. This left six small children, of whom only one daughter and our subject are living. She. Lucinda, is the widow of the late Charles Lee, of Idaho Territory. Our subject was abont seven years old when his mother died, and he then went to live with his uncle Jesse Scaiefe, of Clay County, and lived with him till the age of eighteen years old, working on the farm and going to school in all about six montlis. At the age of eighteen, he hired to his cousin, Judge J. W. P. Davis, at the time County Clerk of Clay County, Ill. He was in his employ at $100 per annum, for about three years, at all kinds of farm work. July 20, 1851, our subject married Miss Bishop, daughter of Jesse and Hannah (Thrash) Bishop, and removed to Pike Coun- ty, III., where he only lived about six months, when he returned to Effingham County and settled ou raw prairie land, on Fulfer Creek,

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in West Township, and made a crop on rented land. He took a contract on the Eastern Branch of the Illinois Central Railroad, near Edgewood, and worked on it about one year, when he went to his farm and began improv- ing it, when his wife took sick and died, in about March, 1854. Our subject went into business for Presley Funkhouser, buying, collecting and feeding cattle, for about a year, and then he became a partner in the stock business, and took charge of the Blue Point farm for about six years. In 1857. he married Harriet C. Kitchell, of this county. In February, 1862, he moved onto his own land. in West Township, where he lived un- til the fall of 1870, and put 250 acres in cultivation. He moved to Vandalia in 1870, and went into the livery business, in which he was engaged for three years, and was Dep- uty Sheriff of Fayette County during about two years of that time. In 1873, he moved back to his farm, and resided there until July, 1SS2, when he moved to Altamont. Ill .. and went into the livery business, and conducts the only livery stable in the city He has ten horses, with eight good vehicles. His stable has a capacity for twenty-five horses. In politics, he is a Democrat of the Jaek- sonian school, and has filled many offices of trust in his township. He has two sons living of the last marriage-Rollin Ray and Lennon Ellsworth. His parents, William and Nancy (Cleary) Scaiefe, came here from Tennessee; she was born in Virginia, and the father in North Carolina. They were married in Smith County, Tenn., and came to Clay County, Ill., in about 1825.

T. J. SCOTT, express and railroad agent, Altamont. The trustworthy and obliging agent of the Wabash & St. Louis Railroad, also of the Adams and Pacific Express Com- panies at this point has been in the employ of the same company for over ten years.

Considering the changing vicissitudes inci- dent to the life of the average railroad man, this speaks well for Mr. Scott: that he has been found true to the trusts and responsi- bilities that have been placed upon him. He was born March 8, 1852, in Clermont Coun- ty, Ohio, the fourth son of a family of ten children. His parents were Thomas D. Scott and Catharine Griswold, who are yet resi- dents of Ohio. He began learning telegraphy at Martinsville, Clinton Co., Ohio, before he became of age, and, in September, 1872, he came to Lovington. Moultrie County, this State, where he took charge of the railroad office and express business of that place, and continued here until August, 1877, when he was transferred to Altamont, where he has since had charge of the company's business at this point. He was married, September 1, 1875, to Sarah, a native of Blanchester, Ohio, daughter of J. C. Constable. He has four children-Musa J., George S., Arthur D. and Nina. Is a member of the I. O. O. F. and A. L. of H. of this place.

DR. G. SCHLAGENHAUF, Altamont. was born in Stuttgart, Germany. April 12. 1849, to John and Mary Schlagenhauf, both natives of Stuttgart. Our subject was brought to America by his father. in 1854. who located in Hamilton County, Ohio, near Cincinnati, where the father died when our subject was quite young. The mother died in Europe previous to the emigration. They had only four children, viz .. John, a minis- ter at Quiney, Ill., formerly of St. Louis: Anna, living at the old homestead. in Hamil- ton County, Ohio; Jacob, an M. D., of Frank- lin County Mo., and George, our subject. After the death of his father, he went to St. Louis to live, with his brother John, and while there attended the common and high schools, and then entered the Warrenton Col- lege, in Warren County. Mo .. where he grad-

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uated, after a three-years course, in 1867; he then entered the Rohrer College at St. Louis, taking a commercial course, graduat- ing in 1868. He then entered the St. Louis Medical College, graduating from the same March 12, 1874; he then went to Missouri and assisted his brother in his profession un- til the fall of 1874, when he again entered the Medical College, and took a post-graduate course. On September 1, 1876, he came to Altamont and entered upon the practice of his profession. On September 16, 1880, he associated with Drs. Clark and Groves, the firm being Clark, Groves & Schlagenhauf. He is now practicing by himself. He is a member of the State Medical Association.

AUGUST SCHROEDER, farmer, P. O Altamont, was born in Prussia, Germany, February 5, 1835, to Frederiek and Mena (Schroeder) Schroeder. His father was in Prussia December 12, 1812, where he was educated and raised. He learned the tailor's trade and worked at the same the most of his lifetime. In 1835, he married, and, in 1844, with his wife and two children, emigrated to America by sailing vessel, from Hamburg to New York, being eight weeks and four days en route; there were three days' storm, but they arrived sate. He immediately went West, to Buffalo, and, in February, 1845, removed to Niagara County, N. Y., where he remained until he died, in November, 1858. He was a son of Samuel Schroeder, who was killed in 1827 by falling through a barn. The mother of our subject was born in Prus- sia, Germany, April 23, 1803, and died in Effingham County, Ill., in March, 1876; she was a daughter of George Schroeder, who died in 1SOS, sixty years old. He was a farm- er in Germany, and died in Prussia. Sam- uel Schroder was engaged in the war on the French side; was wounded in the arm, which caused him to lose the use of his elbow. The

parents had five children, of whom subject was the oldest child; two died in Germany and one in Illinois. Fred and our subject are the only living ones in the family. Au- gust was educated from the Lutheran schools of Germany and America. After fourteen years of age, he commenced working on a farm, and has continued the same till the present time, with the exception of three years, one in a store and two in a brick-yard. He left home for himself at twenty-one years of age. He came to Effingham County in 1864, September 1, and then settled on his present farm, which he has improved. He is the owner of seventy-seven acres of good land. In Effingham County, in May, 1866, he married Miss Minnie Wendt, a native of New York State, born March 9, 1845; she is a daughter of Frederick and Minnie (Sholtz) Wendt, both living, and natives of Germany, who came to America in 1843, and to Illinois in 1866. Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder have had eight children, of whom six are now living, viz., Samuel, George, Ernest, Amanda, Ed- ward, Gustavus (Elizabeth and August died). Himself and family are members of the Lu- theran Church. In politics, he is independ- ent. He has been Road Commissioner three years, and Township Assessor one year. The grandmother on the mother's side was Char- lotte (Sprunck), who died in 1870, aged eighty- nine years, in Germany. Grandmother on the father's side was Mary (Rex), died in about 1867, seventy-eight years of age. Samuel Schroeder's grandfather had a small property in Germany, worth $1,000.

CHARLES SCHUMACHER, grain-dealer, Altamont, son of William and Sophia (La- bahn) Schumacher, was born July 20, 1844, in the village of Bassendorf, Prussia. He learned the trade of gardener in Prussia, serving three years. In 1861, he came with his parents to the United States, his father

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locating in Cook County, Ill., living, until 1865, on a farm. In the spring of 1865, they came to this county, and settled in Mound Township, the father buying land in Section 10. Subject assisted his father on the farm un- til 1871, when he entered the employ of C. F. Sillery, and worked in his warehouse for about two years. He worked two years on a farm, and afterward worked for Jennings & Minor, for about five years, conducting their entire business here in grain. In the spring of ISS1, he formed a partnership with Mr. Snook, and built the present warehouse oper- ated by Snook & Schumacher, and have oper- ated with good success since. Our subject started in this county without any capital whatever. His father died in this county in 1866, leaving three sons and two daughters living. Our subject was married, in 1869, to Miss Louisa Sutter, of this county, and has six children living-Emma, Mary, William, Minnie, Edward, Frank.

J. W. SEVERNS, farmer, P. O. Altamont, was born in Knox County, Ohio, May 30, 1831, to Stephen and Mary (Workman) Sev- erns He was born in Virginia in 1810, re- moved to Knox County, Ohio, with his par- ents when a boy, where he remained actively engaged in farming to the time of his death, which occurred in 1874. The mother of our subject was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, in 1815, and died in 1865. They were the parents of ten children, of whom six are now living, J. W. being the fourth child. His early life was spent at home in receiving such an education as the common schools of Knox County afforded, and assisting in till- ing the soil of his father's farm. In 1854, he left home and embarked on his career in life as a farmer in Effingham County, Ill .; and settled on the same farm where he is now residing, where he has since remained, with the exception of six months spent in Fayette

County. He is now the owner of ninety-tive acres of land in this county and 160 acres in Iowa. When he came to his farm, it was un- improved. In 1855, in Ohio, he married Catharine Klein, a native of Herkimer Coun- ty, N. Y., born in 1829, November 21, to Catharine and Peter Klein, natives of Europe. Mr. and Mrs. Severns have had eight chil- dren, seven of whom are now living, viz., Emma E., wife of A. Sproet, a farmer in Nebraska; L. W .; Byron L., married and farming in Mound Township; Mary Cathar- ine, Elizabeth J .. Sarah A., John Ellsworth. Our subject was the second Assessor after the township organization, one year: Constable for four years. His wife is a member of the M. E. Church. Politically, he is a Democrat. He is the owner of a fine stallion, of Norman Bill, and he makes a specialty of breeding stock.

VALENTINE SHAB, deceased, was born in Germany July 9, 1833, to John and Cath- arine (Rice) Shab, both natives of Germany. He was raised on a farm, and brought to America by his parents when about eleven years of age, who located in Holmes County, Ohio, where he received a common school education. Here he remained at home until sixteen years of age, when his father died, and being thrown on his own resources he removed to Wooster, Ohio, and apprenticed himself at the carriage-maker's trade, serving three years, and continuing the same until the breaking-out of the war, when he enlisted in the Sixth Missouri, Company B, Cavalry, and serving three years. He worked the first year at blacksmithing, and afterward was forage master. After the close of the war, he came directly to Effingham County, where his family removed the previous month. Here he remained, actively engaged in farm- ing and blacksmithing. His death occurred January 29, 1875. In Wooster, Ohio, Octo-

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ber 5, 1856, he was married to Mary M. Wer- net, a native of Pittsburgh, Penn., born January 9, 1834, to Charles F. and Catharine (Rome) Wernet, both natives of Germany. He was a farmer and died in August, 1872; she died in January, 1879. Mrs. Shab is the mother of eight children, of whom six are living. viz., Charles J., in a sugar refinery at St. Louis; John L., attending to the home farm; Valentine M., Lewis P., Joseph W., Mary A .; Frances H. and Matilda L., dead. He was a Republican, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. John was married, in Altamont, November 13, 1882, to Martha E. Dow, a daughter of Ben- jamin and Sarah (King) Dow, residents of Fayette County.

WILLIAM SHENEFIELD, farmer, P. O. Altamont, was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, December 28, 1829, to John and Eliza- beth (Widdis) Shenefield. He was born in Pennsylvania; was brought to Ohio by his parents when a boy. He was born in 1791, and is the only one of the first settlers of Ma- honing County. He has always followed the occupation of a farmer. He is the owner of 230 acres of land. He was a son of John, a native of Pennsylvania, near Maryland. He was a soldier in the war of 1812; he served in the place of his son. The mother of our subject was born in Ireland, of English de- scent. She died in 1879, September 27, in her eighty-sixth year. She was the mother of eight children, of whom six are living, our subject being the youngest son and the fifth child. He was raised in Mahoning Connty, Ohio, on his father's farm. He at- tended the common schools, but received most of his education from observation. After he was of age, he took the management of his father's farm, and just before the war he spent one year in the South, in Davie County, N. C., and was with a company put-

ting up wheat-fans; he went there to benefit his health, the doctors advising him to go, and returned home after one year. In 1856, he removed to Indiana and located in St. Jo- seph County, and engaged in the merchan- dising business, but, as it did not pay, soon after engaged in the saw-mill business in this county, with two other gentlemen, and con- tinned the same until 1867, when he sold his interest in the mill and bought a farm, but did not find it satisfactory, so he, in 1868, removed to Illinois and located in Effingham County. He first bought 320 acres with his cousin, but was obliged to keep the whole of it. He sold 100 acres, and has now 160 acres near Altamont. In Indiana, in 1859, he married Ruth Craven, who died in Feb- ruary, 1870. She was the mother of four children, of whom two are now living, viz .. Ollin and Steward. In 1870, he married, in Effingham County, Mary Ann Oliver, a na- tive of Pennsylvania. She is the mother of four children-Albert, Martin, Lotta May and an infant. In Indiana, was two terms Township Treasurer. He is an active mem- ber of the I. O. U. W. Politically, inde- pendent.

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History of Effingham county, Illinois, Part 52

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? ed Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, O. L. Baskin & co. Number of Pages: 650

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, O. L. Baskin & co.
Number of Pages: 650