History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 111

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084

USA > Illinois > Sangamon County > History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 111

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B. Franz, meat market, Springfield, Illinois, was born in Baden, Germany, May 10, 1847. Mr.

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Franz is a son of Fred and Maria Franz, natives of Germany. In the year of 1865, at the age of eighteen, he left his home for America, and landed at New York City, where he remained a short time, and from thence to Springfield, in October, and began the work of butchering, and in 1869 commenced in the same business for him- self on Fifth street, from which time was located in the market house, up to 1876 and subsequently in the same street where he built a brick build- ing in which he is located at present. Mr. Franz is doing a good business and he sells fifteen head of beeves each week, and ships two hundred pounds of sausage each day to different points. Was married in Springfield, October 19, 1869, to Miss Mollie Reisch, born in Germany, 1849, and daughter of Joseph and Josephine Reisch, natives of Germany, who came to America and landed at New Orleans, from which place they came to Springfield in 1855. Mr. Franz was educated in Germany and Mrs. Franz in Springfield. They have four children Rosalie, Adolph, Heinierak and Louisa.

Mr. and Mrs. Franz are members of the Catho- lic Church.

C. G. French, a native of New York, was born at Painted Post. Emigrated to Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1835. Was married in 1844 to Elizabeth C. Welsh, of Washington City, commenced housekeeping at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, but shortly after removed to Waynesboro, where he resided for a number of years. From thence he moved to the city of Washington and continued to reside there till the spring of 1856, when he arrived in Spring- field. He has been engaged in the practice of dentistry about 35 years, and was one of the few engaged in that profession at the beginning of his professional career outside the large cities. He is one of the oldest dentists in Illinois, and has practiced in Springfield over twenty-five years. He is the author of many devices and several patents pertaining to the business. His family consists of four daughters and three sons. He was one of eight brothers. His father was a native of Massachusetts, and his mother from Connecticut.

James Furlong, dry goods merchant, has had a mercantile experience in Springfield of about sixteen years. He was born in Ireland thirty- five years ago; was educated there in the busi- ness of an iron monger-in American parlance, hardware business. He immigrated to Canada in January, 1865, and came to Springfield in April of that year; but before settling here per- manently, spenta year in Omaha keeping books.

He arrived in Springfield forty dollars in debt, with no cash capital; obtaining a position as clerk continued to work for others till he opened his present store at 128 South Sixth street, east side of the square, with an entire new stock of goods in 1879. Three stories and basement of the building, one hundred feet deep, are devoted to his large stock, which embraces every article kept by a first-class dry goods house. His large retail trade requires the labor of seven salesmen, and has grown from $32,000 to $60,000 per annum. Mr. Furlong married Miss Kate Arm- strong, a native of Springfield, Illinois, in 1875. They have one surviving son, Thomas Furlong, and have buried one.

Ernest F. Gehlman, contractor and builder, located in Springfield in 1849, and has been car- rying on his present business since 1862. He is a native of Germany, and is fifty-four years of age. Having learned the trade of cabinet mak- ing in the old country, he crossed the Atlantic and came via New Orleans to Beardstown, and from there walked across the country to Spring- field arriving in February, 1849. Notwithstand- ing he was unable to speak a word of English, he soon obtained employment and continued working as a journeyman at cabinet and carpen- ter work about thirteen years. The first days labor he performed in Springfield was in making gates, on the same ground where he erected the palatial residence of Hon. James C. Conkling, twenty years later. Starting in contracting in 1862, Mr. Gehlman's superior knowledge of the construction of buildings, and conscientious dis- charge of his obligations in executing contracts soon earned for him a deserved popularity, and gave him an extensive business. In 1863, he erected the residence of D. A. Brown, at Bates, Illinois, costing $4,000; the following year built the elegant farm house of W. B. Huffaker, near Berlin, in Sangamon county, costing $26,- 000. Mr. E. Myers furnished the plan, which was exhibited at the Paris Exposition and took the prize. The Catholic school building, in Springfield, was erected by him in 1867, and in 1868, he built an addition to Blackburn Uni- versity, in Carlinville, at a cost of $32,000; in 1869, built the dwelling of Hon. James C. Conk- ling, on South Sixth street, costing $30,000. In 1871, Mr. Gehlman was awarded the contract for building the Illinois State Industrial Uni- versity, at Champaign, which he completed in 1873, together with the Drill Hall and Mechan- ical building. The main superstructure cost about $200,000 and the latter about $20,000. Immediately after completing these he built a

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

bank and a business block in Champaign, costing respectively, $14,000 and $32,000; at the same time erected a building in Urbana, at a cost of $20,000, and two costly buildings in Chenoa. In 1876, he built B. F. Caldwell's residence in Curran township, at a cost of over $20,- 000; in 1879, rebuilt the opera house in Spring- field, for George W. Chatterton, Jr., at an ex- pense of about $50,000, making it one of the finest theatrical buildings in Illinois. Upon the completion of this work Mr. Chatterton pre- sented Mr. Gehlman with a fine watch and chain as a testimonial of his appreciation of his work. In 1880, Mr. Gehlman remodled the St. Nich- olas Hotel, which was done without closing or materially disturbing the business of the house. In 1881, he erected the Passfield block, corner of Adams and Fifth streets at a cost of about $35,000, the most elegant business block in Springfield. Besides the buildings mentioned, he has erected many others of like character in this city, among them the dwellings of Bluford Wilson and John T. Peters, which stand as monuments of his mechanical skill and in- dustry.

In 1850, Mr. Gehlman united in marriage with Mary C. Sidener, of Springfield, a native of Kentucky, who died in 1865, leaving three sons. In 1868, he married Martha Gourley. Five children have born of this union. Mr. Geblman has been a member of the Masonic order since 1853.

Charles A. Gehrmann, dry goods merchant and wholesale dealer in millinery, numbers 113 west side, and 507 north side of square, started in the dry goods business in Springfield August 1, 1861, and has continued with firm name and sign unchanged for twenty years. Mr. Gehr- mann is a German by nativity, born in Nord Hausen in 1835. At fourteen years of age he began mercantile life as an apprentice in a store, and spent several years in Berlin; came to America in 1858, and after stopping a few months in St. Paul, Minnesota, and visiting sev- eral other cities, settled in Springfield in June, 1859. The first two years he was employed as salesman in a dry goods store; then opened his present store at 113 South Fifth street. Early in the summer of 1881 he purchased the lot and building he occupies, 20x160 feet in area. In 1880 he bought the dry goods stock of the old firm of John Williams & Co., on the north side of the square, and has since carried on business there also as a branch house. Mr. Gehrmann keeps a heavy stock of dry and dress goods, and in connection has a wholesale and retail notion

and millinery department, in which twelve to fourteen milliners are employed. The trade in the two stores requires a force of fourteen sales- men, who transact a large volume of business. These extensive mercantile establishments, as well as his elegant homestead, comprising seven acres in the north part of the city, artistically improved and ornamented, and one of the most beautiful places in Central Illinois, are the result of Mr. Gehrmann's industry, economy and busi- ness tact. He married Minnie Jahnke in Spring- field, a native of Berlin. They have two sons and three daughters, Charles A., aged seventeen; Clara Minnie, fifteen; Adele Agues, twelve; Ella A., ten, and Paul Morton, three years old.

Frank Godley, proprietor of the Springfield Shoddy Mills, was born in Yorkshire, England, and from ten years of age began learning the manufacture of woolen goods, and steadily pur- sucd the business until he immigrated to the United States, in the fall of 1864. Arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in October, he entered the employ of David Hay & Brother, at Chestnut Hill, proprietors of a woolen and shoddy mill. At the end of a year he came West and engaged in mining coal at Duquoin, Illinois; came from there to Springfield in Feb- ruary, 1867, and was employed as one of the foremen to sink Beard, Hickox & Co's. coal shaft, north of the city, in which he broke away the first entry. Leaving that company, he opened a coal and wood-yard in 1868 and continued that business nine years, then sold out, bought the site on which his factory stands, comprising one hundred and fifty-seven by five hundred feet of ground on the corner of Madison and Fifteenth streets; erected buildings and established his shoddy manufactory in 1877. Under his skillful and energetic management the business has rapidly developed until he now uses about four thousand pounds of rags per day, the woolen ones being converted into an article called shoddy, sold to many of the woolen manufacturers in various parts of the country, and used in small proportions with wool in making cloths, cassi- meres, etc. Mr. Godley has invested in the plant and premises $16,000. He married in England at twenty-one years of age, Elizabeth Lister. They have two daughters and a son. Mr. G. has served as a member of the fire department of Springfield nine years, and seven years in Eng- land. In the spring of 1881 he was elected to the Board of Supervisors on the Democratic ticket. He is a Mason, member of Tyrian Lodge No. 333.

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

William II. Good, grocer, Sixth street and North Grand Avenue, became proprietor of the business at his present location in February, 1879, purchasing the stock from D. A. De Vares. He has from fifteen years of age been connected with that line of trade as clerk, chiefly for G. A. Ballou. He keeps in store a fine assortment of family groceries; also a stock of queens and glassware, and conducts a prosperous local retail business, employing two assistants. Mr. Good was born in the city of Springfield, in the resi- dence still occupied by his parents, in 1854. Three sons and a daughter compose the family of James and Mary ( Fenstermaker) Good, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest son. His school opportunities were not ample, and his education has been chiefly obtained by prac- tical business, of which he has a good knowledge. In September, 1879, he married Miss Laura Clark, of Williamsville, Sangamon county. One son has been born to them, Clinton Edward Good. Mr. Good's father is a native of Chris- tian county, Illinois; his mother, of Pennsylvania.

George W. M. Gordon, grocer, corner Eleventh and Jackson streets, has been associated with that branch of merchandising about six years, formerly with J. M. Forden for nearly five years, and since March 1, 1880, on his own account in his present store. It contains a nice stoek of goods for the local retail trade, of which he en- joys a liberal and increasing share, doing a busi- ness of $10,000 a year. Mr. Gordon is the son of Aaron Gordon and Sarah C. Bickford, of Maine, in which State he was born in 1850. He was brought to Springfield, Illinois, when five years old. He was educated in the city schools, to which was added a course in book-keeping and telegraphy. In September, 1878, he mar- ried Alice Chandler, of Springfield, who has borne him one son, William Gordon. Mr. G. is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Lodge 4 and Chapter 1. His parents are residents of the city.

Albert F. Gourley, watchmaker and jeweler, north-east corner of Sixth and Monroe streets, has been identified with this branch of business in Springfield for eleven years as proprietor and several years previously in the employ of others. He located at the above number in 1875. He keeps in stock a full line of watches, clocks, jewelry, silverware and optical goods, averaging about $4000 in value. He makes a specialty of optical goods and of wateh repair- ing. He has a prosperous growing retail trade. Mr. Gourley was born in Springfield in 1846; is the son of James Gourley, who came to Sanga-

mon county a young man, forty year ago from Pennsylvania. He married Lucy A. Poe, who came from North Carolina to Springfield when quite young. Four sons and six daughters were born to them, one of whom is deceased. Mr. Gourley was a boot and shoe merchant. He filled the office of deputy sheriff several years, and served as Deputy United States Marshal a number of years. He died in 1876, aged sixty- six years, his wife having died a number of years before. Albert learned his trade in Spring- field, and has steadily pursued it sinee. In May, 1871, he married Jennie Craig, a native of Ham- ilton, Canada. They have one son, Roy, aged seven years. Mr. Gourley served five months in the army as a member of the One Hundred and Thirty-third I. V. I.

Isaac H. Gray, was born at Tiverton Rhode Island, Sunday, 11 o'clock a. m., May 21, 1815; when some seven years of age he moved with his parents to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he attended school, and graduated at the Quaker Academy in 1828; he was engaged in the mercantile business there until 1832, when he went to Galesburg, Michigan, where he was en- gaged in the mercantile trade until his marriage to Miss Charlotte May Clary, March 3, 1836. She was born at Whitehouse, New Jersey, Feb- ruary 4, 1819, the fruits of this marriage are five children, four living, viz: Lotta A. Gray, resid- ing in Springfield, Illinois, Mrs. Lon I. Ridgley, resides in Springfield, and is the wife of Henry Ridgley, they have three children, George W., Howard G. and Miss Kate M .; Charles B., was married to Miss Bell Fisher, whose parents re- side in Detroit, Michigan; he was teller in the Ridgley National Bank, Springfield, for six years, and is now a partner in the firm of Fisher, Baker & Co., wholesale carriage manufacturers, Detroit, Michigan; they have one child, Edith. Lidia M., now Mrs. Mason, resides in Emporia, Kansas; they have one son, Fred G. The father of Isaac Gray, Philip Gray, was the grandchild of Philip Gray, who was one of the Pilgrims, from Edinburgh, Scotland, who came over in the " Mayflower" and landed at Plymouth Rock, his wife, an English Quaker, came with her husband in the Mayflower, from Cologne, on the Nile river; they are both buried side by side at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. Philip Gray, father of Isaac Gray, the subject of this sketch, was born in Tiverton, Rhode Island. He was highly educated and held many prominent offices, he was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church forty years. His wife, Susannah Irish, was born in Little Compton, Rhode Island, she

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was a member of the Quaker Church, and the mother of seven boys and three girls. Mrs. Isaac Gray was a daughter of James McCleary, born in New Jersey, and Gertrude Van Horn, born at Whitehouse town New Jersey, they were both members of the Baptist Church, and had a family of ten children. After Mr. Isaac Gray was married, in 1836, he began in the mer- cantile business, where he remained until 1849, when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, Cali- fornia. He took a steamer from New York for California, crossed the Isthmus of Darien to Panama, a perilous journey through canyons, gulches and the Chagers river, a distance of twenty-three miles, encountering great peril at that date; he took a steamer from Panama to San Francisco, and was seventeen days on the Pacific Ocean. From San Francisco he went up the Sacramento river to Sacramento, and from there to the north and middle fork of the Ameri- can river, and was there chosen "Alcada," and held that office during his stay in California. He worked a mine with fourteen men one year, then returned to his family at Fall River, Massa- chusetts, where he remained until 1851, when he moved with his family to Carlinville, Illinois, and bought a quarter section of land at Girard's Point, which he soon after exchanged for a hotel in Carlinville; in 1853 sold out and moved to Springfield, and bought the National Hotel, which he sold, and bought the American, after- wards known as the Central House, which he sold to R. D. Lawrence, for $23,500 cash, March 1880, and where Mr. Lawrence has erected one of the most splendid buildings in Central Illinois. Mr. Gray bought the Pike House in Bloomington, Illinois and ran it one year, when he leased it for a number of years, and while on his second trip to California in '64, it burned down; the insurance was ample to cover the loss; he then platted the ground and sold it for $22,600. In 1867 he took his wife and daughters to the Paris Exposition, and traveled with them all over Europe, went through France, Norway, Sweden, Prussia, Russia, Denmark, Holland, Bavaria, Scotland, Finland, Ireland, Wales, England and Switzerland; visited Mount Vesuvius, crossed the Alps and saw where Bona- parte's army encamped; they stopped at Vienna, the queer streets of rivers; was there during King Emanuel's visit. From Europe Mr. Gray and family returned to Springfield, Illinois, where he has since remained. While away he made notes of dwelling houses in various coun- tries, and how built, and is just completing one of the most beautiful and convenient residences

in the city, at 422 South Sixth street, where he resides. In politics he is an Old Line Whig and Republican, and he cast his first vote for HIar- rison for " Tippecanoe and Tyler too," in the days of log cabins and hard cider.

Bluford S. Graves, confectioner and proprie- tor of the Farmer's Restaurant and Eating House, 224 South Sixth street, opened business in Springfield in the fall of 1871. He keeps a stock of confectioneries, nuts and cigars for the jobbing trade, and also conducts a restaurant and eating house, where meals are served to order at all hours. He does a business of $15,000 to $18,- 000 a year. Mr. Graves was born in Racine, Wisconsin, in December, 1836; was reared on a farm in Vermilion county, Illinois, and engaged in agricultural pursuits until he went into the army. In July, 1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois Infantry, and fought in twenty-one battles and skirmishes, among them, Perryville, Stone River, Chick- amanga, Mission Ridge, Graysville, and Buz- zard's Roost; received a gun-shot wound in the left thigh at the battle of Kennesaw Mountain, in June, 1864, and gangrene setting in, he was unable for active duty thereafter. He was hon- orably discharged early in June, 1865. He car- ried on the grocery business in Vermilion county before moving to Springfield. In December, 1867, Mr. Graves married Lizzie Smith, of Ver- milion county. Politically, he has always been a Democrat.

Charles W. Green, retired wholesale boot and shoe merchant, residence corner Cook and Fifth streets, was born in Spencer, Worcester county, Massachusetts, in 1828, and took a full English course in the schools of his native town. His father, Josiah Green, was one of the pioneer New England manufacturers of boots and shoes by machinery, and carried on the business very extensively in Spencer. A large stock of goods having accumulated in his father's factory, Charles, after making a prospecting tour through the West in 1849, proposed to establish a whole- sale boot and shoe house in the city of St. Louis. This met the approbation of the senior Green, the stock was shipped, and the subject of this memoir opened an extensive store, in 1850, on the corner of Main and Vine streets, and after conducting a heavy business for a number of years, was joined by his brother, Jonas H. Green, and they continued the house together until 1873, when they closed it out, and he removed to Springfield, Illinois, since which time he has not engaged in any steady business. During this period of merchandising in St. Louis, Mr. Green

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

traveled extensively through the Western States, and sold large quantities of boots in Springfield and other towns of Illinois. He and the other three brothers, Jonas H., Henry R., and Josiah Jr., are all practical manufacturers, and the brothers are carrying on large factories in Wor- cester and Spencer, with capacity of 1,000 pairs of boots per day, each.

In December, 1850, Mr. Green married Miss Emily Kibbe, daughter of one of the early and leading merchants of Jacksonville, Illinois. They have four children, namely, Emily, now Mrs. Ryan, Edward, Charles, Jr., and Lillie.

Benjamin M. Griffith, M. D., is a native of Shelby county, Kentucky; born in 1831; read medicine in Louisiana, Missouri, beginning at twenty-one years of age, and after practicing three years in Pike county, Illinois, graduated from St. Louis Medical College, in the spring of 1859, and located in practice in Louisiana, Mis- souri, remaining there till he moved to Spring- field, Illinois, in 1865, where he has carried on an extensive practice till the present time. Dur- ing his twenty-six years of professional life, Dr. Griffith has made surgery a prominent feature, and has performed a number of capital opera- tions, among which was that of dissecting out the shoulder joint in the case of a compound fracture of the shoulder, attended with a com- plete recovery; and a case of ovariotomy, in which he removed an ovarian tumor from a lady of Sangamon county, weighing eighty-six pounds. She was twenty-nine years of age; the tumor had been twelve years growing, and adhered throughout the entire front to the abdominal walls. The Doctor is a zealous advocate of con- servative practice in surgery, and has performed some remarkable cures by this method; one case just recovered was that of a young man who had his foot crushed at the Springfield Rolling Mills. The toes were amputated, and erysipelas setting in, the flesh sloughed off, leaving a large portion of the bones of the foot bare; but by conservative treatment the Doctor induced the integiments to grow over them sound and healthy, thus saving the foot. Another triumph in this plan of treatment was in the case of a young man whose arm was mangled in a threshing machine, and by dissecting out the ulna of the fore arm he saved the hand and restored its action in a great measure.

Dr. Griffith was one of the originators and or- ganizers of the Sangamon County Medical So- ciety, and has served two years as its President, is a member of the Illinois District Medical So- ciety, of the Illinois State Medical Association,

and of the Tri-State Medical Society, comprising Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky; has filled the office of Vice President in the two latter Socie- ties, and President of the District Society; in 1877, was Chairman of the Committee of Ar- rangements for the Tri-State Society. He mar- ried Miss Alice A. McElroy, a native of Rawles county, Missouri, but a resident of Sangamon county, Illinois, in June, 1859. Three children have been born of their union; the living are Elsie A. and Benjamin Barret. The son is pre- paring for the medical profession. Mrs. Griffith is a graduate of Jacksonville Female College, Illinois, is a lover and devoted student to the sciences and English literature. She and the daughter are members of the Springfield Art Society, and she is also an active worker in be- half of foreign missions.

William P. Grimsley, Secretary of the Ele- vator Milling Company; was born in Rochester, Sangamon county, Illinois, May 9, 1841; is the son of Alexander Grimsley, a native of Virginia, who settled in Sangamon county, Illinois, in his young manhood in 1832. He married Caroline McCoy, born in Kentucky, of Virginia parentage. They had but two children, the subject of this sketch, and a sister. William has been in the milling and grain business from his boyhood, erected the old Grimsley Mill on the corner of Madison and Tenth streets; ran the Hickox Mill on East Adams street from 1875 till Feb- ruary, 1881, when he became a member of the Elevator Milling Company, which handles a large amount of grain, and manufactures a great quantity of flour, a fuller account of which appears in the chapter on manufactures in this work. Mr. Grimsley married Mary F. Burch, a native of Springfield, in June, 1877, who has borne him one daughter, Fannie, aged three years. Mr. G. is a member of A. O. U. W., and is Guide in Capital City Lodge No. 38. His parents both died in 1842, and his home through childhood and youth was with his uncle, William P. Grimsley, Sr.

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History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 111

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084