USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois : biographical and pictorial, Volume II > Part 25
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GEORGE B. ARNETT.
The name of George B. Arnett in business circles of Carlinville is a synonym for enterprise and progressiveness and, as he has been remarkably successful in a number of business ventures, he is well and favorably known in other parts of the state outside of Macoupin county. He was born in Bird township, Macoupin county, February 16, 1868, a son of George W. and Serena E. (Lasiter) Arnett. The father was a native of Tennessee and the mother of Illinois. In their family were four children : Viola A., the widow of E. P. Deeds, of Carlinville; Horace
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W., who died in 1880; Lilly M., who married H. C. Wilhite, of Greenfield, Illi- nois ; and George B., of this review.
The father of our subject was brought to Macoupin county by his parents when he was four years of age and has ever since made his home in this county, being now eighty-two years old. He engaged successfully in farming and accumu- lated about two hundred and fifty acres of land in Bird township, which he devel- oped into a valuable property. In 1889 he took up his residence at Carlinville, where he and his wife are now living. He was formerly actively interested in local affairs and for a number of years was supervisor of Bird township, serving in that capacity for a number of years. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church.
Thomas Arnett, the grandfather of our subject on the paternal side, was born in Tennessee, the family originally coming from Virginia. He married a Miss Reader and they both passed their declining days in Macoupin county, the grand- father dying when he was about sixty-five years of age. Their children were : George W .: William D .; John H. ; Paschal L .; Thomas; Martha, who married John Wiggins : and Nancy. The grandfather on the maternal side was also a na- tive of Tennessee and was an early settler of Greene county. Illinois. He married Charity Hill. He was killed accidentally in middle life by the running away of a team which he was driving. In his family were five children : Eliza, who married Joseph Bird ; Serena E., the mother of our subject ; Mary, who became the wife of W. R. Fitzgerell; Myra, who married Joseph Casteel; and Jennie, who married Horatio Peebles. Mrs. Lasiter, the mother of these children, was mar- ried again, her second husband being John Courtney, and they had two children, Carroll and Cyrus B.
George B. Arnett was reared on his father's farm and possessed advantages of education in the district schools. Later he attended Blackburn University and the Northern Indiana Normal school at Valparaiso, Indiana, completing a business course at the latter institution. He paid his expenses at the higher institutions by teaching school and, being a young man of ambition and energy, it did not require him long to secure a position in the business world. He began his active career as a traveling man for D. M. Osborn & Company, selling binders, mowers, reapers, etc., and later was employed in expert work by the company for a year. He was then appointed general agent of the same company for Kentucky, Tennes- see and southern Indiana, with headquarters at Louisville, Kentucky, and con- tinued in that position from 1890 to 1895. In the latter year he accepted appoint- ment as manager of the office of the Smith Premier Typewriter Company at Louisville and six months afterward was promoted to the Cincinnati office, which controlled a number of other city offices. He spent a year at Cincinnati and then, in 1896, came to Carlinville and accepted a position as traveling man for the Parlin & Orendorf Company, in which capacity he continued for five years. During this time he also was at the head of a retail implement and vehicle business in this city. In 1903 he bought out R. R. Simmons, of Green- field, who was the owner of one of the largest hardware stores in Greene county, and conducted the store until 1908, when he disposed of it to the Melvin Hardware Company. He continued in Greenfield for a year, being engaged in the real-estate business, and then purchased a beautiful residence at
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Carlinville, which was known as the.W. O. Steimeyer property. He has since lived in this city and gives his attention to the real-estate, loan and insurance business. He owns eighty acres of land in Mississippi county, Missouri, and also the Greenfield Opera House and other property in Greenfield and Carlin- ville.
On the 19th of October, 1892, Mr. Arnett was married to Miss Olive J. Sang- bush, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Cutler) Sangbush. Six children have been born to this union, Irene Esther, George Clifford, Henry Howard, Olive Adaline, Cleo Frances and Thomas Russell. Mrs. Arnett was born in Woodford county, Illinois. Her father was born in Germany and came to this country as a boy, while her mother was born in Woodford county. The mother died in 1906, but the father is still living and makes his home at Washburn, Illinois. They had three children, Mrs. Arnett being the only one now living.
Mr. and Mrs. Arnett are valued members of the Methodist church. He is identified with the Knights of Pythias and during his life in many ways has practically exemplified the beneficial teachings of that order. In politics he is in close sympathy with the principles of the democratic party. He has never sought to avoid responsibility and in the discharge of his duties has shown a clearness of judgment and a knowledge of conditions which have been produc- tive of generous financial returns. Hence, he ranks as one of the leaders in busi- ness circles of this section-a position which he has attained by methods entirely legitimate, as he has never sought to advance his own interests to the injury of others.
FRANKLIN MEYER.
The name of Meyer is recognized as a synonym for high character and marked business enterprise in Carlinville and Macoupin county. For seven years Franklin Meyer has engaged in the music business in this city and Meyer's Music House is one of the most popular establishments in this section of the state. Mr. Meyer is a native son of Illinois, born at Belleville, July 21, 1852. His parents were Jacob and Josephine (Glatz) Meyer. They were born in Baden, Germany, and lived near Muenstenthal. They came to America in 1845 and Mr. Meyer engaged in farming near Belleville. He died in 1854, when his son Franklin was about two years old. Mrs. Meyer survived her husband many years and died near Damiansville, Clinton county, at the age of eighty-six. She and her husband were devout members of the Catholic church. They were the parents of two children, the subject of this review being the only survivor of the family.
Franklin Meyer was reared on the farm near Damiansville and in the dis- trict schools secured his preliminary education. He took private lessons and later attended Christian Brothers' College at St. Louis. After completing a course of study at that well known institution he taught school and also pursued his studies further at Normal, Illinois. In 1872 he took charge of the parochial schools at Breese, Clinton county, a position which he occupied to the entire satisfaction of patrons for eight years. He came to Carlinville in 1880 and took
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charge of St. Joseph's Parochial School, being principal of this school until June, 1902, a period of nearly twenty-three years. He then resigned on account of impaired health, having displayed an ability as an instructor and school man- ager that gained for him a wide reputation throughout the state. He traveled for one year for a St. Louis music house and in 1904 associated with C. L. Hamilton in the music business at Carlinville under the title of Hamilton & Meyer. On April 24, 1905, he purchased Mr. Hamilton's interest and has con- tinued the business alone under the name of Meyer's Music House. He main- tains a general music store and handles all kinds of musical instruments and musical goods at prices consistent with the quality of merchandise offered.
On the 16th of April, 1872, Mr. Meyer was married to Miss Henrietta Miller, a daughter of Colonel Burchard and Agnes (Hafkenmeyer) Miller. Mrs. Meyer was born at Houston, Texas. Her parents were natives of Germany and both died in Texas before the Civil war. After the death of the mother the daughter Henrietta came to St. Louis and lived with an uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Gerhardt Droege. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Meyer : Eulalia, who died when she was sixteen years of age; Frank, who died at the age of eighteen months; Henrietta, who married Joseph Scholl, of Carlinville, and is the mother of four children, Marsolette, Rosa Mary, Hubert and Stan- ley; Rosa, who is a Sister of Mercy and is identified with the Franciscan Order at St. John's Hospital, Springfield, Illinois; and Alexander, who assists his father in business. He married Rosa Peek, of Breese, Illinois, and they are the parents of two children, Raymond and Mary Magdalene.
Mr. and Mrs. Meyer are both earnest members of the Catholic church. Mrs. Meyer is a highly talented musician and was organist of St. Dominic's church at Breese while her husband was in charge there. She has for twenty-seven years past been organist of St. Joseph's church at Carlinville. Mr. Meyer, as is indi- cated by the work he has accomplished, is a man of great industry and per- severance. He has made it a principle of his life to do to the best of his ability whatever he undertakes, and as he is thoroughly conscientious, he has won a high place in the esteem of the people of Carlinville. As a teacher he made many personal sacrifices in behalf of his pupils, his chief reward being the ap- proval of his conscience. It is scarcely necessary to say that he is revered by hundreds of young men and women who were inspired to noble lives by his un- selfish labors.
JAMES WALKER.
One of the oldest citizens of Scottsville is James Walker, who has passed the seventy-seventh anniversary of his birth, which occurred in Greene county, in the vicinity of Athensville, Illinois, on the 4th of November, 1833. His par- ents were John A. and Nancy (Hall) Walker, both natives of Nelson county, Kentucky. The father was born on the 15th of January, 1804, and the mother on the IIth of April, 1811. In the paternal line the family is descended from one of three brothers who emigrated to America from Scotland during colonial
JAMES WALKER
MRS. JAMES WALKER
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days. One went west, another settled in the east and the third disappeared and was never heard from. Joseph Walker, the paternal grandfather of our sub- ject, was born in Maryland in 1765, whence he migrated to Kentucky about 1780, where he took up government land, settling in the vicinity of Bardstown, in Nelson county, Kentucky. He married Sarah Coons about 1789, both spend- ing the remainder of their lives in the Blue Grass state, where they passed away about 1840. Their son, John A. Walker, came to Illinois, settling on Mova Star creek, six miles east of Jacksonville. He remained there until 1831 and then removed to Greene county, where he entered one hundred and twenty acres of government land. ' In 1866 he came to Scottsville, Macoupin county, and there lived retired until his death on the 15th of May, 1885, at the age of eighty-two years. He was twice married, his first union being with Miss Nancy Hall in 1825, while residing in Kentucky. She passed away in Greene county, this state, on the 15th of February, 1838, having become the mother of five children : Henry, Nathaniel, Jane, Sarah and James. In 1839 Mr. Walker married Miss Elizabeth Sears, a daughter of Samuel Sears, a farmer of Macoupin county, and one of the pioneer settlers. . She also died on the homestead in Greene county, on the 7th of November, 1857. Of this marriage there were born four children : Mary, Samuel, Isabella and Christina. Henry and Nathaniel Walker served in the Mexican war and Nathaniel and Samuel took part in the Civil war.
Upon James Walker devolved all of the hardships which fall to the lot of pioneer farmer lads. At the age of nine years he began assisting in the work of the fields, his summers thereafter being devoted to agricultural pursuits, while in winter he attended a subscription school near by until he had mastered the commmon branches. In 1852 he left home and went to California in search of gold. The three years there spent in prospecting, however, were not alto- gether fruitless as upon his return he had sufficient means to become associated with J. J. Sears in the purchase of four hundred and eighteen acres of land, for which they paid eighteen dollars per acre. In 1856 he bought what was known as the Redfern farm and there he has ever since resided. He engages in general farming and stock-raising, while for over forty-five years he has been feeding both cattle and hogs for the market. He is one of the most extensive feeders in the country, using annually from fifteen to twenty-five thousand bushels of corn for this purpose. His shipments each year average one hundred head of cattle and four hundred hogs, most of which go to the Chicago markets but some are sent to New York and Boston. Unusual success has attended his efforts and Mr. Walker is regarded as one of the most successful and prosperous agricul- turists of Scottsville township, where he owns five hundred and eighty acres of land.
On the 4th of January, 1858, in Scottsville, the Rev. J. W. Austin made James Walker and Miss China M. Owens man and wife. Mrs. Walker is a daughter of James and Hannah (Van Bebber) Owens. Her father was born in Overton county, Tennessee, his natal day being the IIth of April, 1800, and the mother in Claiborne county, the same state, on the 30th of January, 1802. They came to Illinois in 1837, locating in Sangamon county, where they spent a year and then went to Greene county. After six years' residence in the latter place they came to Macoupin county, purchasing land in Scottsville township. Vol. II-13
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Here they both passed away, the mother's death occurring on the 17th of August. 1877, and that of the father on the 26th of December, 1878. During the entire period of his active life Mr. Owens devoted his attention to agricultural pur- suits.
To Mr. and Mrs. Walker there were born six children: Eugene E., who was the eldest of the family, died on the 15th of July, 1874, at Scottville. Nancy A. married Samuel Hettick, a farmer and stock-raiser in Scottville township, and they have had eight children. Dora A. was married on the 8th of Novem- ber. 1880, to Albert Ogg, who at that time was farming in. Scottville town- ship but is now deceased. He left six children. Fannie M. became the wife of Samuel Hawkins, who died on the 15th of June. 1905, and by whom she had five children, two now deceased. James A., who is farming in Scottville township, was married on the 23d of October, 1895. to Miss Sarah Dugger. Vena Gertrude married Lee Ruyle, also a farmer of Scottville township, and they have two children. Mr. and Mrs. Walker also have seven great-grandchil- dren, three of Mrs. Hettick's children having married, as follows: Clara, the wife of T. M. Turner, who has two daughters, Mildred and Ruth; Nellie, who married Harry Redfern and has three sons, Ralph, Gilbert and John ; and Ruth. the wife of John Edwards, a resident of Bird, who has two children, Samuel and a babe, not yet named. Mr. and Mrs. Walker have been married for fifty- three years and on the 4th of January, 1908, they celebrated their golden wed- ding.
They are both members of the Christian church, in the faith of which de- nomination they reared their family. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Ma- sonic order, belonging to Scottville Lodge, No. 426, A. F. & A. M. He has never taken a very prominent part in political affairs in the township, but has served as trustee and school director, giving his support to the republican party. Mr. Walker has always led an active life and commands the respect and good- will of all with whom he has been associated in both a business and social way.
WILLIAM M. GROSS, M. D.
Dr. William M. Gross has been for over a third of a century engaged in practice in Macoupin county and during a large part of the time has been lo- cated at Gillespie, being now the oldest physician and surgeon of the city. He is a native of Bollinger county, Missouri, born March 24. 1842, a son of Chris- topher and Sophia (Yount) Gross. The father was a native of Lincoln county. North Carolina, his parents having come to that state from Northampton county, Pennsylvania. At the age of five years he removed with his parents to Bollinger county, Missouri. There he grew to manhood and was married to Sophia Yount. a native of Lincoln county. As the years passed Mr. Gross became one of the successful farmers of Missouri. He died at the age of seventy-nine years, his wife having preceded him long before, when she was only thirty years old. They were both old-school Presbyterians.
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William M. Gross was educated in the public schools of St. Francois county, Missouri, and later became a student at Carleton College at Farmington, Mis- souri. In December, 1863, he started out to see the world, going aboard a vessel at New York city which was bound for the Isthmus of Panama. Crossing the isthmus, he went up the coast in another ship and spent thirteen months in Cali- fornia, a portion of which time he passed in San Joaquin county, later going to Eldorado county and finally to Napa county. He engaged in teaching school and also in mining for gold, as opportunity presented. While in California he cast his first ballot, supporting Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States. In the spring of 1865 he gave up his ambition to become wealthy through search for the yellow metal and returned east via the Isthmus of Panama. In the meantime his parents had removed to Montgomery county, Illinois. The young man taught school for one term and, having selected medicine as his pro- fession, began reading in 1866 under Dr. M. S. Davenport, of Walshville, Illi- nois. After completing the usual course under competent instruction he became a practitioner in partnership with his preceptor at Walshville, and from the be- ginning showed an interest in his vocation which indicated a special aptitude for the healing art. In 1869 he removed to Wayne county, Missouri, where he practiced until the fall of 1874. He then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, graduating from that noted institution in February, 1875. Immediately after leaving college he came to Macoupin county and located in the village of Hornsby, where he soon acquired a good patronage. After the death of Dr. Floyd, a prominent physician and Mason of Gillespie, in 1878, Dr. Gross was urgently solicited by a number of business men and citizens to take up his permanent residence in Gillespie and, accordingly, he removed to this place July 10, 1878, having ever since engaged in active practice here. For the past fifteen years, notwithstanding the demands of his profession, he has made a special study of electrical science and is confirmed in the belief that it is possible to extract electricity from the earth. Several years ago he was in- vited to Blackburn University to lecture on electrical science, and he has gained wide recognition among students of electricity as an original investigator. He is also deeply versed in chemistry and takes a great interest in astrology. He has made many interesting observations and discoveries in the laws of nature of which he may at the proper time make announcement to the world.
In April, 1867, Dr. Gross was married to Miss Mary C. Sitton, of Walsh- ville, and by this union five children were born, namely: Sarah S., who is the wife of Milton Mitchell, a farmer of Macoupin county ; Martha F., who married Fred Opie, engineer of mine No. I, Gillespie; E. Guy, who was educated at Blackburn University and is now engaged in the brokerage business at St. Louis ; Herbert A., a graduate of the Gillespie public schools, who is now identified with the St. Louis Refrigerating & Cold Storage Company, being prac- tically at the head of that business; and Dean I., at home.
Dr. Gross was called upon to mourn the loss of his beloved wife April 16, 1906. She was a woman possessed of many rare qualities of mind and heart, and her death was deeply regretted by the entire community. She was a valued member of the Baptist church, with which her husband is also connected.
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Politically the Doctor is identified with the republican party and, although he has never sought public office, he served with marked ability as a member of the school board for a number of years. He is a member of Gillespie Lodge, No. 214, A. F. & A. M., and also of the Order of the Eastern Star, with which !
his wife was connected. He has a host of friends throughout Macoupin county and stands very high among his professional brethren, having been for many years a member of the state and county medical societies. He served in 1907 as president of the Macoupin County Medical Society. In his various duties as a professional man and private citizen Dr. Gross has shown an unusual capac- ity and ranks as one of the leaders whose efforts are always directed toward the upbuilding of the best interests of his fellowmen.
H. C. DETTMERS.
A continuous residence of forty-seven years in Illinois has given H. C. Dett- mers the opportunity of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the resources of the state, and being a man of good business sagacity, he applied himself in such a way as to become financially independent. He acquired an established reputation as a competent and reliable business man and he and his wife are now living retired in the enjoyment of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life, in a beautiful home which occupies forty acres in Cahokia township. He is a native of Hanover, Germany, born August 14, 1843, a son of George and Mary Elizabeth (Johnson) Dettmers, both of whom were born in Germany. The mother died in the old country but the father came to America in the '70s and died in Macoupin county about 1893.
H. C. Dettmers grew to maturity in his native land and there received a good common school education. In 1865, at the close of the Civil war, when many bright young men were attracted to the northern states from foreign countries, he decided to cast his lot with the republic and, accordingly, crossed the ocean, landing at New York April 12th of the year named. He came direct to Alton, Illinois, and readily secured employment in the mercantile establishment of Joe Sting & Sachtleben. He gave such good satisfaction to his employers that he continued with the firm for thirty-one years, a record of faithful service that has seldom been equaled in this part of the country.
In 1868 Mr. Dettmers was married to Miss Mary Trintje and to this union six children were born, four of whom survive, George, Herman, Mary and Minnie. The mother of these children died January 15, 1902, and in October, 1902, Mr. Dettmers was married to Mrs. Henry Cordum, whose maiden name was Miss Rika Mohlman. She is a native of Germany and a daughter of Richard and Wuebke (Bruns) Mohlman. The father died in Germany about 1851 and in 1866 the mother came to America with her family of six children, locating at Gillespie, Illinois. The daughter Rika was married at Gillespie in 1868 to Henry Cordum, also a native of Germany and a son of Louis Cordum who came to the United States with his family when the son Henry was a small boy and settled in Ma- coupin county, Illinois. Here Henry grew to manhood and beginning practically
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without a dollar, acquired two hundred and forty acres of land in one of the most productive regions in Macoupin county. He died in 1893, leaving his family in affluent circumstances. He was a democrat in political affiliation but never an office seeker, although highly influential in party councils. He served for many years as a member of the school board and also was an active worker in the Lu- theran church and a liberal contributor to religious and charitable objects. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Cordum were nine children, six of whom are now living, namely: Louis, a farmer of Cahokia township; Henry, a merchant of Gillespie; Fred and Edward, who are also engaged in farming in Cahokia township; Han- nah, the wife of John Weyen, of Cahokia township ; and Minnie, who married W. Osterkamp, also of Cahokia township.
After the marriage of Mr. Dettmers to Mrs. Cordum they lived for a year at Alton and since that time have resided in their home in the country, Mr. Dett- mers having retired from active business affairs. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church and fraternally he is identified with the Odd Fellows, being also a member of the Alton Turnverein. A man of fine address and genial characteristics, he can claim many friends in Macoupin county. Mrs. Dettmers is a woman of many admirable and attractive traits of character and the home over which she presides is one of the pleasantest in this section, being the abode of cheerfulness and hospitality.
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