Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, Part 79

Author: Collins, William H. (William Hertzog), 1831-1910; Perry, Cicero F., 1855- [from old catalog] joint author; Tillson, John, 1825-1892. History of the city of Quincy, Illinois. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1228

USA > Illinois > Adams County > Quincy > Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois > Part 79

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of the firm of Schafer, Lummis & Company, dealers in agrienltural implements. Subse- quently changes occurred in the ownership of the business, the original firm being succeeded by Lumis. Rump & Company and later by Inunmis, Earhart & Company. The business was incorporated in 1895 under the name of the Lummis Implement Company and Henry F. Lummis was chosen secretary and treasurer, which has been his connection with the business to the present time. In 1896 the company re- moved to their present quarters on Sixth avenue, where they have the largest and best arranged agricultural implement house in the city. Under careful management and in accordance with modern progressive ideas the business has been developed to extensive proportions and is to- day one of the leading commercial concerns of Quincy. The policy of the house has always been such as would bear the closest investigation and serntiny and the company sustains an unassail- able reputation in commercial circles. Mr. Lum- mis is also manager of the mercantile depart- ment of the Collins Plow Company of Quincy and thus occupies a prominent place in connec- tion with the trade interests of his native county.

As a citizen Mr. Lumis has ever displayed a most publie-spirited interest in the welfare and progress of Quincy. lending active co-op- eration and aid to many measures which have been of direet benefit in promoting the substan- tial upbuilding and improvement of the city. Retaining a deep interest in the public schools he was appointed a member of the board of edu- cation in 1897 and was made chairman of the committee on buildings and grounds, and a mem- ber of the committee on rules and on teachers. His previous experience as an educator well qual- ified him for the active work which he undertook and which made him one of the most valuable members of the city school board.

EDGAR C. SIVERTSON.

Edgar C. Sivertson, a well known farmer of Honey Creek township, was born on his present farm. April 8. 1853. Ilis father. Christian F. Sivertson. now deceased, was for many years a prominent farmer of Adams county, living for a long period in Honey Creek township. He was a native of Denmark, born in 1809, and when a young man he came to the United States, attracted by the business opportunities of the new world. Locating first in Cincinnati, Ohio, he removed in 1840 to Quiney and soon after- ward located in Honey Creek township, where he secured a tract of land and successfully car-

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ried on farming for a number of years. His death occurred in Paloma, August 26. 1891. Ile was married, October 22, 1840, to Marcia Lakins, a native of Ohio, and they became the parents of four children, of whom two are living: Wil- liam F., a resident farmer of Honey Creek town- ship : and Edgar (.

In the schools of this township Edgar C. Sivertson was educated and throughout his en- tire life he has followed farming, gaining prac- tieal experience in the best methods of cultivat- ing the fields during his early boyhood days, through the assistance which he rendered his father in the summer months. He is now the owner of eighty acres of land on section 22. Iloney Creek township, and forty acres of tim- ber land on section 21. The place is devoted to general farming and to the raising of cattle. hogs and horses. His crops are mostly corn, oats and hay, and the well tilled fields give prom- ise of good harvests, while his stock-raising busi- ness is also a profitable source of income.

In 1889 occurred the marriage of Mr. Sivert- son and Miss Mary Gummis, a native of Gilmer, Ulinois, and a daughter of Joseph Lummis, now deceased, who for many years was a prominent farmer of Gilmer township. Mr. and Mrs. Sivertson have one child, Ruby M. The hos- pitality of many of the best homes of this lo- cality is cordially extended to them. Mr. Sivert- son is a republican in his political views, but the honors and emoluments of office have little attraction for him and he prefers to devote his energies to his business affairs.

WILLARD KEYES.

Willard Keyes, the eldest son of Ashley Keyes and Anna ( Willard) Keyes, was born in New- fane. Windham connty, Vermont, October 28, 1792. His father was a farmer who removed from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, where the fam- ily had long lived, to Vermont about 1790. Wil- lard, having received the usual practical school education of New England, worked on the farm, also learned the business of woolen dyeing, and taught school for several winters, until, at the age of twenty-five years (quoting his own words from the commencement page of his diary), "On the second day of June, A. D. 1817, being im- pelled by curiosity and a desire to see other places than those in the vicinity of my native town, I. Willard Keyes, started from Newfane, Vermont, intending to travel into the western parts of the United States." Traveling by vari- ous means through Canada and by the northern lakes, he reached Prairie du Chien on the 30th of August, 1817. There he remained, engaged

in teaching, milling and other pursuits, until the spring of 1819, when, with one companion. he started on a raft for St. Louis, floating by the site of Quincy. May 10, 1819.

In March, 1820. to quote again from his diary : "JJohn Wood and myself formed a partnership to go on the frontiers and commence farming together: accordingly, prepared ourselves with provisions, farming utensils, etc., as well as our slender means would permit ; two small yoke of steers, a young cow, and a small though promis- ing lot of swine; our whole amount of property did not probably exceed two hundred and fifty dollars. Paid fifty dollars and sixty dollars per yoke For small four-year-old steers, seventeen dol- lars for a small heifer, six and a quarter cents per pound for fresh pork, seventy-five cents per bushel for corn, eight dollars per barrel for flour, four dollars per bushel for salt, and other things in proportion." At this place, in Pike county, thirty miles southeast of Quincy, he remained until the spring of 1824, when he removed up to Quiney and built the second cabin of the city- sixteen by sixteen feet in size-which was after- ward used as the first courtroom. On the forma- tion of the county, in 1825, he was chosen one of the county commissioners and acted earnestly and usefully for the interests of the infant settle- ment for many years. He was one of the first members of the first church association formed in Quiney, in 1830, of which he was made deaeon. a position faithfully maintained for forty-two years. Hle died on the 7th of February, 1872. Ile was married December 22, 1825, to Miss Laura Harkness, who died May 8, 1832: and again to Miss Mary C. Folsom, who died Novem- ber 4, 1864.

In the latter part of a Quiney directory for 1864-5. published by S. B. Wyckoff, is a brief "History of Quiney," written by Willard Keyes. The important historical facts stated by Mr. Keyes are given in Colonel Tillson's History of Quincy, but the following account by Mr. Keyes of Quiney's first pioneer festival is worth pre- serving :

"We sometimes hear nowadays of splendid parties in Quiney; but, surely, we think they cannot (to use a homely expression ) 'hold a can- dle' to some that are chronieled in the primitive times in Quincy. Take one that came off in the month of May, 1825. All the elite of the county were present ; some eight or ten pair of unmar- ried and enough married ones to preserve de- corum. The day was beautiful, and the most ample feast was provided by the hostess, Mrs. Jeremiah Rose. John Wood was Master of Cere- monies-the 'Feast of Reason and the Flow of Soul' presided over the festive board. After dinner a pleasure excursion up 'Boston Bay' was the order of the exereises. Two large canoes

WILLARD KEYES

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were firmly secured, side by side with transverse timbers, and the whole party embarked. The way they enjoyed the excursion can only be real- ized by those who were participants. Landing at a famous spring and rambling through the verdant groves, the first consciousness they seemed to realize was the low-descending sun and a black, ascending cloud in the west. It was some time before all could be rallied and aboard, and then more frolic than fear prevailed, until the sky was overspread with darkness. the thun- der rolled, and the winds roared in the distance. The boys then began to pull the oars in right good earnest.

"But the wind. the rain and the darkness all came on their devoted heads at once. The waves began to intrude: 'To shore' was the word: the bow strikes land, and the boys jump overboard to hold the craft, while the girls (we mean the ladies) were helped ashore. They had about a mile to run. following a deer path, made visible only by vivid flashes of lightning: the rain poured in torrents, and the white dresses flut- tered in the wind. The cabin which at last shel- tered them had two rooms and a loft in the peak of the roof. Mrs. Rose and the other ladies re- siding with her brought forth their ample ward- robes, and the saturated ladies ascended to the loft and were soon arrayed in dry clothing, some perhaps not so nice a fit as fastidious milliners of the present day might desire. It was feared that serious consequences might result from such a drenching and the tea kettle was placed over the fire to prepare some 'herb drink' to counter- act the 'malaria,' and report says that the Master of Ceremonies ( whether by mistake we cannot sayı filled the tea kettle mostly with aqua vitae; but. to make amends, he put in an ample supply of sugar. This beverage was dealt out to the ladies in the loft to keep them from 'cotchin' cold.' And the . Major' says their chattering soon resembled a flock of blackbirds in a cornfield. Suffice it to say that none took cold, and some that had the agne were completely cured.

"The next morning they formed a cavalcade with buggies, horses and such conveyances as were at hand. and took a grand excursion about two and a half miles northeast to the 'big spring' on the prairie. from which point. in the course of the forenoon, the party diverged to their re- spective homes. But the end is not yet : 'tall oaks from little acorns grow.' So here observe : 'Great events from little causes flow!' This Pioneer Festival did not end in smoke. Twiee six con- genial minds here found their mates, and most of them tied the hymeneal knot within the year. After the lapse of thirty years, we trust to be pardoned for the liberty we take of enrolling their names in the order of 'events' as near as recollected :

"Amos Bancroft married Miss Ardelia Ames. "Truman Streeter married Miss Maria Jack- Son.

"Willard Keyes married Miss Laura Hark- ness.

"John Wood married Miss Ann MI. Streeter. "Fernando Slayton married Miss Louisa Had- ley.

"JJotham Streeter married Miss Olive Whipple. " There were three or four misses as the festi- val whose 'mates' we presume were unfledged at that time or, in plain prose, were schoolboys, but. as they have since married. we give their names in order seriatim':

"Miss Nancy Groshong married to George Campbell, of Ursa.

"Miss Jane Streeter married to Samuel Holmes.

" Miss Lucy Rose married to George Brown.

"The question has been asked and may be asked again: 'What did you do for a minister to solemnize the nuptial ceremony ?' Well, neres- sity is said to be the mother of invention, and the civil magistrate 'yelept' justice of the peace (of which we had a small sprinkling was put in requisition, and, so far as we know. made a tolerable substitute : we shall briefly recount but one as a specimen of weddings in those days; it was the second in the foregoing catalogue; the first had already been quietly consummated. It was but a few short weeks after the festival be- fore signs and indieations were manifested that a wedding was in the wind and likely to come off, near what is now the village of 'Chili.' in Han- cook county, which, recollect, was attached to Adams county for judicial purposes. Accord- ingly, about two o'clock in the morning of the appointed day, some of the 'larks' about Quincy were ready mounted at the dormitory of the more staid 'Justice,' rallying him for not rising earlier. However, he was soon in the saddle, and the way they skylarked over the prairies was a caution to horseflesh. The distance was about thirty miles. They arrived about nine A. M., to the no small annoyance of the 'Chilians,' who did not expect or desire their presence until the after- noon : and the good landlady. Mrs. Whipple, gave them a severe reprimand for their premature intrusion. She was in the very midst of her pies and puddings, and now she need expect no further aid from the girls. However, to propiti- ate, the young men proffered their services in any way they might be serviceable.

"In due course the wedding was consummated with all the solemnity the orcasion would com- mand. 'invoking God and the assembly present to witness their mutual obligation to love. honor. cherish. sustain and comfort each other through life: to this you each solemnly assent, and now, by the authority invested in me by the state of Illinois. I pronounce you husband and wife.

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What God hath joined together let no man put asunder.' closing by the time-honored custom of kissing the bride and wishing her much felicity and happiness in her new condition of life. The feast that followed was worthy the hostess and the occasion. Fort Edwards (now Warsaw ) was the nearest point of settlement, abont twenty miles. A garrison was stationed there at that time for the protection of the frontier, com- manded by Major Marston. And the 'infair,' or bridal tour, took that direction. The officers Were very courteous, said they had especial in- structions to hospitably entertain travelers and extend aid to those who were in need, and they were ever ready to greet visitors with great cor- diality, as it served to diversify the monotony of a garrison life: and on an occasion like this the Major, Captain Stowe and lady and Lieutenant Wilcox gave a suitable entertainment, and the close of the week brought the progress of events around into their accustomed channel."

PROFESSOR D. L. MUSSELMAN.

The position which Harvard and Yale occupy in connection with the professions, the Gem City Business College of Quiney occupies in relation to commercial eireles. It is an institution which is a credit alike to the city and to its president, Professor D. L. Musselman, who for thirty-five years has been owner of the institution and has stood at its head, molding its policy and shaping its progress. Long has it maintained a fore- most place among the institutions which prepare the young for entrance into business life and in this direction Professor Musselman has had direct bearing upon the development and con- trol of important business enterprises.

Without favorable environment in his youth and unaided by inheritance or the influence of friends, he started out to make his own way in the world at an early age. He was born in a log cabin in Fulton county, Ilinois, April 21, 1842, of humble parentage. The opportunities of a district-school education were largely de- nied him and instead of spending the days of his youth with his text-books, he labored in the fields npon his father's farm or at the carpenter's bench, thus assisting his father in the support of a large family. He early manifested a love of books, however, and eagerly embraced every op- portunity for reading and study, often poring over such books as he could secure through the evening hours, sitting hy a lard lamp or by the blazing open fire. Ile attended the district schools when it was possible for him to do so,

and later he enjoyed the advantages of several winters of instruction in the Fulton County Seminary, meeting the expenses of his education with funds saved from his meager earnings in the summer months.

Thus toiling on year after year, he continu- ously broadened his knowledge until his mental equipment equalled that of many a college-bred young man. His great ambition seems to have been to gain a thorough knowledge of penman- ship and business and he made rapid advance along the former line, so that his skill in this direction caused him to be chosen orderly ser- geant of the company after his enlistment, in 1862, as a member of the Eighty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was twenty years of age when he joined the army. He soon won promotion to the rank of lieutenant and at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, he commanded the company and, later in the service, receiving a captain's commission, served until after the ces- sation of hostilities in 1865, when he received an honorable discharge.

The money which Captain Musselman saved during his military service enabled him to carry ont his long-cherished ambition of pursuing a course of study in a business college, and going to Chicago he entered such an institution and pursued his studies with such assiduity that he finished the course in less than the prescribed time.

For a year thereafter Professor Musselman engaged in teaching in Eastman's Business Col- lege and then accepted a position as teacher of penmanship in the schools of Messrs. Bryant, Stratton and Bell, who sent him first to Spring- field, Ilinois, and then to Quincy. After the death of Mr. Stratton and the consequent change in the management of the school, Professor Mus- selman engaged to teach penmanship and book- keeping in the old "Quincy English and German College," with which he was connected until 1870, when he purchased the Gem City Business College, of Quincy, of which he has since been proprietor and president. His undivided time and attention have since been given to the de- velopment and upbuilding of the school with the result that it has hardly a peer in the country in regards to attendance and efficiency. In writ- ing of Professor Musselman, Rev. David Gay said: "What he desired and determined to do he has accomplished. He has so arranged his studies, improved methods and devised plans that now, without question, he has the most successful school of the kind in the western states, if not in the Union. The people of Quincy are justly proud of a college that has no peer in the land. A school which numbers twelve hundred students yearly, representing no less than thirty-three

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states and territories, is an honor to the man whose energy and genius built it up and a credit to the city where it is located. In every- thing pertaining to a business education he is unequaled. For superior penmanship he has received the silver medal from the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition, medal and diploma from the Omaha Exposition, 1898, and from the Illinois and Iowa State Fairs, from the St. Louis Fair and at the World's Exposition in New Orleans in 1885.

The Gem City Business College owns its own building, which is constructed in the Romanesque style of architecture, is fifty-one by one hundred and eighty-eight feet and five stories in height. It is the largest and most elegant edifice erected in the United States for business college work, with splendid equipments of every character for the convenience and comfort of the students and for facilitating their work. There are three dis- tinet courses of instruction : that of the business department, the shorthand and typewriting de- partment and the normal penmanship depart- ment. There is a faculty of experienced teach- ers, and with their assistance Professor Mussel- man has compiled and published all the commer- eial text-books for the business department, and these have been adopted and used in hundreds of other business colleges, as well as in his own.

Professor Mussehnan has succeeded in his work beyond his most sanguine expectation. IIe has not only made a financial success of his enter- prise and succeeded in thoroughly equipping thousands of students for the responsibilities of a business career, but has also left upon them the impress of his own individuality and high moral character. lle is a member of the Ver- mont Street Methodist Episcopal church, of Quincy, and was chosen a lay delegate to the general conference of the church which met in New York city, in May, 1888.

HON, WILLIAM SCHLAGENHAUF.

Hon. William Schlagenhanf, for three con- seentive terms a member of the general assembly of Illinois with a strong constituency expressive of his high standing in public regard and his unfailing devotion to the general welfare of his community and of the commonwealth. was born in Belleville, Illinois, March 8, 1867. His father, the Rev. John Schlagenhauf, of the German Methodist Episcopal conference of St. Louis, was for over a quarter of a century actively engaged in the work of the ministry, but now holds supernumerary relations with the church. HIe filled many important charges, exerting strong influence in the building up of the

various church organizations with which he was connected and he now makes his home in Quincy. He married Margaret Rohn and in their family were four sons: Henry, a practic- ing physician of St. Louis: William; Edward, a dentist of St. Louis: and Philip, who is en- gaged in the practice of law in Quiney.

Owing to his father's removals in connection with his ministerial work William Schlagenhauf spent his youth at various places, pursuing his studies as opportunity offered in the public schools and eventually entered the German Col- lege at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, from which insti- tution he was gradnated. Becoming imbued with a desire to enter upon the practice of law he prepared for the profession as a student in the law department of the Michigan State Uni- versity and after the completion of his course there was admitted to the bar and in June. 1890, entered upon practice in Quincy. Here he opened a law office in connection with Colonel Berry, now deceased, and soon made for himself an enviable reputation as a legal practitioner. Ilis preparation of cases is most thorough and exhaustive : he seems almost intuitively to grasp the strong points of law and fact, while in his brief and arguments the authorities are cited so extensively and the facts and reasoning there- on are presented so cogently and nnanswerably as to leave no doubt as to the correctness of his views or of his conclusion. No detail seems to escape him: every case is given its due prom- inence and the case is argued with such skill, ability and power that he rarely fails to gain the verdict desired.

While well known as a lawyer of Adams county Mr. Schlagenhauf has perhaps formed a wider acquaintance in the state through his po- litical service. His first office was in connection with his profession, he acting as assistant city attorney under Homer Swope. Deeply inter- ested in the issues and questions of the day and taking an active part in the work of the republi- ran party he was in 1892 chosen president of the Southside Republican Club, the largest political organization ever formed in Quincy, while in 1896 he became secretary of the organization. In 1899 he was elected to the state legislature, where he served so capably that in 1901 he was re-elected. and again in 1903. In 1901 he re- ceived the popular democratic vote and had no opposition when his name was presented for the third term, thus being elected by a constantly increasing majority. He soon became recog- nized as a leader of the house, winning promi- nence first through the defeat of the Jewell bill. Ile gained further fame by his opposition to over thirty useless bills, among them being the levy tax bills. Ile instituted and secured the passage of a bill providing for the selection by

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the people of Quiney of its board of education ; also a bill whereby the inmates of the Soldiers & Sailors Home were entitled to vote without leaving the grounds. This bill went before the supreme court but a mandamus was served under which conditions the soldiers and sailors enjoyed the voting privilege. He has had the honor of voting for two United States senators, Shelby M. Cullom and Albert J. Hopkins, both now holding office. In the house he has been a member of the committee on claims, elections, judiciary, revenue, municipal corporations, state institutions and fish and game and was chair- man of the committee on Soldiers' Home and Soldiers' Orphans Home. He was invited as a guest of Governor Tanner to attend the dedica- tion of the soldiers' monument at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ile opposed the nomination of Gov- ernor Yates in 1904 and is recognized as one of the influential men of the republican party.

Mr. Schlagenhauf was married in Quincy in 1892 to Miss Lillie M. Locke, of this city, and they had three children : William J. : Margaret, who died October 1. 1901, in her eighth year ; and Lily E. Mr. Schlagenhanf was made a Ma- son in 1901, holding membership with Herman lodge at Quincy. In community affairs he is deeply interested and is now serving his fourth vear as assistant secretary of Blessing Hospital. Ile is a man affable in demeanor, of strong de- termination and winning manner, and he nsu- ally accomplishes all that he undertakes. At the bar he has a distinctively representative client- age and he is now ably and capably serving in the state legislature, taking an active part in the business that is transacted in the conneil cham- bers of the commonwealth. His course has ever been above suspicion, the good of the state he places before partisanship and the welfare of his constitueney before personal aggrandizement. Ile commands the respect of his fellow members of the house and at home-in the city of his resi- dence -- where he is best known, he inspires per- sonal friendships of unusual strength and all who know him have the highest admiration for his good qualities of heart and mind.

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Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, Part 79

Author: Collins, William H. (William Hertzog), 1831-1910; Perry, Cicero F., 1855- [from old catalog] joint author; Tillson, John, 1825-1892. History of the city of Quincy, Illinois. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1228

Author: Collins, William H. (William Hertzog), 1831-1910; Perry, Cicero F., 1855- [from old catalog] joint author; Tillson, John, 1825-1892. History of the city of Quincy, Illinois. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1228