Peoria city and county, Illinois; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II, Part 4

Author: Rice, James Montgomery, 1842-1912; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 930


USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Peoria > Peoria city and county, Illinois; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 4


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At the usual age Douglas H. Bethard began his education in the public schools and during the periods of vacation worked in his father's store. He afterward came to Peoria, where he spent a year's study in the high school and also a year in Brown's Business College of Jacksonville, Illinois. When but a lad he entered the employ of S. H. Thompson & Company as errand boy at a salary of three dollars per week and that he was faithful, diligent and reliable is indicated by the fact that he was continued in Mr. Thompson's employ until the latter went out of business, when he became one of the owners of the store in which purchase he was associated with Charles Jobst and Charles E. Fulks. Taking over the business of S. H. Thompson & Company, they organized what is now the Jobst-Bethard Company. Through intermediate positions Mr. Bethard had been advanced from errand boy to department manager and was occupying the position of sales manager when Mr. Thompson retired. His services in the meantime had covered the positions of shipping clerk, billing clerk, assistant bookkeeper, bookkeeper and traveling salesman. For fifteen years he remained upon the road and then returned to the house to accept the position of depart- ment manager, although even then he devoted half his time to traveling. Several years thus passed and gradually he worked into the position of general manager. for he was practically filling that position when the firm of S. H. Thompson & Company sold out. The business at that time was located at Nos. 116 and 118 Main street. Their capital was small but the partners felt this an excellent opportunity to embark in business on their own account. W. P. Gauss and Herbert Simpson also entered the partnership and the new firm was originally


DOUGLAS H. BETHARD


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known as Gauss, Jobst, Bethard & Company, but a little later the first named sold his interest to Messrs. Jobst, Bethard and Fulks, who soon also purchased the interest of Herbert Simpson. It was in 1895 that the interest of Mr. Gauss was taken over and in 1902 that of Mr. Simpson, in which year the firm of Jobst-Bethard Company was incorporated under the laws of the state, at which time the three principals arranged to take in some of their old and trusted em- ployes under a mutually satisfactory working arrangement. The experience of the men who constituted the company well qualified them for the successful conduct of the business, and from the outset the new enterprise prospered. Their original building was a double store with fifty feet frontage and three stories in height, at Nos. 114 and 116 Main street. The growth of their trade necessitated the acquirement of another building after a year or two and nearly every year saw an additional building until they occupied practically the entire north half of the block on Main street between Washington and Water streets, and also a three story warehouse at No. 106 South Washington street. Again their facilities were found to be entirely inadequate in 1909 and at a meeting of the board of trustees it was decided to erect a building of their own. The pre- liminary work of the architects was approved in the spring of 1910 and about the rst of June of that year ground was broken and work was begun in the con- struction of their present mammoth, modern, up-to-date, reinforced concrete and strictly fireproof warehouse, which was ready for occupancy on the Ist of May, 1911. The dimensions of the building are one hundred and five by one hundred and sixty feet, six stories in height, with basement. The floor space comprises one hundred and fifteen thousand, one hundred and ten square feet, their private tracks from the Peoria Railway Terminal and Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad furnishing direct switch connections with the sixteen rail- roads entering Peoria. In the year in which the new building was begun the capital stock of the company was also increased. At its incorporation in 1902 it had been capitalized for two hundred and fifty-five thousand, and in 1910 this was increased to four hundred thousand, and in addition the building was erected at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars. The present officers of the company are: Douglas H. Bethard, president : Carl Jobst, vice president ; and Charles E. Fulks, secretary and treasurer, and in addition, Alexander Furst, George W. Fulks and C. G. Cole are on the board of directors. Since the or- ganization of the present firm a high standard has been maintained in the per- sonnel of the house, in the class of goods carried and in the character of service rendered to the public. A large and efficient office force is employed and there are between twenty and thirty traveling salesmen upon the road. Theirs is a splendidly equipped plant with handsomely outfitted offices and large store rooms for the various kinds of goods handled, everything being most modern and at- tractive in appearance and orderly in arrangement, while the handling of all goods is done in a most systematic manner.


In 1887 Mr. Bethard was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Daugherty, of this city, a daughter of James Daugherty, an early shoe merchant of Peoria who came here in 1840 and died in 1909, at the very venerable age of ninety-three years. Mr. Bethard is a member of the Creve Coeur Club, the Madison Ave- nue Golf Club, the Illinois Valley Yacht Club, the Chicago Automobile Club and the Peoria Country Club, associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and recreation. He is popular wherever known and is best liked where best known. He is always approachable, genial and courteous. He is treasurer of the Peoria Country Club and a member of its board of governors. and also serves as a director of the Creve Coeur Club. He was the first pres- ident of the Peoria Association of Commerce which was organized in 1910, Mr. Bethard becoming its first chief executive officer. He is now the chairman of the ways and means committee of this association, on which committee are serving two hundred and fifty of Peoria's prominent men. His fitness for the position none questioned, as his reputation in commercial circles is too well


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established. He also served as a member of the executive committee of the Peoria Association of Commerce. He is, further, the first president of the Illi- nois Federation of Commercial Organizations and from 1903 until 1908 served as chairman of the advisory committee of the Illinois Wholesale Grocers Asso- ciation, resigning to become president of the national body called the National Wholesale Grocers Association, of which he was president for one year-the longest term for which a president may hold office according to the by-laws of this association. He has also been a member of the executive committee since the organization of the association. In this connection he has become known throughout the entire country. Business is after all necessarily the principal feature in a man's life and in the department in which he chose to concentrate his energies and his attention Mr. Bethard has made continuous progress, nor has he ever sacrificed to success the high ideals which he holds as a man and citizen.


WILLIAM H. SOMMER.


William H. Sommer, vice president and general superintendent of the Key- stone Steel & Wire Company, was born in Tremont, Illinois, June 25, 1882, a son of Peter and Mary ( Breisacher) Sommer. He received his early education in the public schools of Peoria, Illinois, and subsequently entered Brown's Business College. As soon as he had completed the course of study offered at that institu- tion he started upon his independent career as a draftsman and pattern maker. He also did some experimental work from 1901 until 1907 for four months each year. During the summer he went west to Utah and also spent six years in Colorado where he superintended improvements on the various ranches the family owned. In July, 1909, he returned to Peoria and assumed management of the factory of the Keystone Steel & Wire Company and was elected vice pres- ident and general superintendent.


At Monte Vista, Colorado, on the IIth of June, 1911, Mr. Sommer was mar- ried to Miss Emma Getz, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Getz. The former was at one time an agriculturist of Tremont but is now living retired in Colorado.


Politically Mr. Sommer is a republican. He holds membership in the Creve Coeur Club. The family reside at 122 Columbia terrace.


JOHN WALKER.


Among the enterprises of Peoria which are being successfully conducted and contribute to the city's material growth and prosperity as well as to individual success is the large industrial concern of Walker & Werner, carriage manufac- turers. The scope of their business, however, also includes the building of buggies, automobiles and all kinds of repair work appertaining thereto. Their establishment is one of the important industries of the city and places its owners in a prominent position among Peoria's leading business men. Mr. Walker has resided here continuously since 1881. He is a native of England, his birth having occurred at Stockport on the 5th of June, 1875. His parents were George and Sarah Ann Walker, who in 1881, when their son was a little lad of six years, sailed for the new world with Peoria as their destination.


In that city John Walker entered the public schools and when he had mastered the branches of learning that are regarded as essential in laying the foundation for success in later life, he started out in the business world as an employe of E. L. Bigham & Company, under whose direction he learned the carriage trade. He worked for three years in the paint shop, three years in the trimming shop


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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY


and then entered the blacksmith's shop, thus acquainting himself with all the different departments of carriage and wagon making. He has a most compre- hensive and practical knowledge of the various branches of the trade. His con- stantly developing and increasing skill made him in time an expert workman and for several years he was in the service of the Enterprise Carriage Company, just prior to the establishment of his present business. Ile was joined by Joseph P. Werner in organizing the firm of Walker & Werner for the manufacture of carriages, to which they have since added the manufacture of buggies and auto- mobiles. They do all kinds of repair work in their line and they own and occupy a fine brick building which they erected during the summer of 1902 and which was ready for occupancy in September of that year. It is located at Nos. 207-213 Fayette street and on its completion they left their old quarters at Nos. 211-215 Hamilton street, where they had started in business in 1900, and came to their present location, where they now have a splendidly equipped plant. The building is a brick structure two stories in height, with well appointed offices and a factory supplied with all modern equipments and improved machinery necessary for the successful conduet of their work. It covers a floor space one hundred by seventy- two feet and they employ about twenty-five men.


Mr. Walker was united in marriage to Miss Clara Ulrich, the daughter of John Ulrich, of this city, and they now have one child, Neva Luella. Mr. Walker belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and also to the Modern Woodmen Camp and is held in high esteem by his brethren of those organizations as well as by his business colleagues and contemporaries.


JOSEPH P. WERNER.


For a period of twelve years Joseph P. Werner has been junior partner in the well known firm of Walker & Werner, carriage and automobile builders. He was born in Peoria, September 22, 1873, and is the son of Valentine and Catharine Werner. At the usual age he entered the public schools, wherein he passed through the consecutive grades until he felt it incumbent upon him to provide for his own support, at which time he entered business life. He was then, in fact, very young to assume the burdens and responsibilities that are to be met with in the business world but necessity and ambition both urged him to the step and for ten years, from the age of eleven to the age of twenty-one, he was employed in the office of the Manhattan Distilling Company of Peoria. On leaving that position he became shipping clerk with the American Glucose Company, with which he continued for six years, after which he entered into partnership with John Walker, in 1900, under the present firm style of Walker & Werner. They have since conducted a carriage and automobile manufactory and repair shop and their business has steadily developed. They were originally located at Nos. 21I- 215 Hamilton street, where they remained until September, 1909, when the new


building which they had been erecting was ready for occupancy. Its situation is at Nos. 207-213 Fayette street and this removal to a larger building indicates something of the growth of their trade. They have a fine modern two-story brick structure well equipped for office and factory purposes. It has a frontage of one hundred feet and a depth of seventy-two feet and its equipment includes all that will facilitate their trade. Thoroughness is demanded on the part of all their employes and the substantial character of their manufactured goods insures them a liberal sale. They now employ twenty-five workmen and the business returns to them a gratifying annual income. Mr. Werner's long experience as an office man naturally led him to assume the office management of the business, while Mr. Walker, trained in the practical lines of the trade, superintends the manufactur-


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ing. Thus the labors of the one ably supplement and round out the efforts of the other and their interests are conducted with the utmost harmony.


On November 6, 1894, Mr. Werner was united in marriage to Miss Ida Lane, of Peoria, and they now have two children, Ralph and Russell. Mr. Werner is well known in fraternal circles, holding membership with Victor Lodge, K. P., with the Modern Woodmen Camp, the Royal Neighbors and the Travelers' Pro- tective Association. He has been a lifelong resident of this city and his record commands the admiration of those who know aught of his career, for he started out empty-handed and has depended entirely upon his resources and ability for the attainment and achievement of success.


OTHO BOYD WILL, M. D.


Advancing in his profession to a point where scientific research and investiga- tion have supplemented the ordinary knowledge gained from the text-books, Dr. Otho Boyd Will is recognized as one of the eminent physicians of Peoria, spec- cializing in practice in gynecology. He has known equal renown as a medical writer and in his labors as a member of the State Medical Society has done much to inspire and systematize the labors of the profession.


His birth occurred in Mercersburg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, June 27, 1846, his parents being William S. and Elizabeth (Baxter) Will, who were also natives of the Keystone state. The former was a son of David and Elizabeth Will, and the mother was a daughter of William Baxter, a native of Ireland, who after coming to the new world served an apprenticeship in the printing office of Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. In the year 1856 the parents of Dr. Will left their home in the east and removed with their family to Illinois, settling at Canton, Fulton county where the residue of their days was passed.


Dr. Will, then a lad of ten summers, pursued his education in the public schools of Canton and afterward pursued a course of scientific study under the direction of John Wolf and other private tutors. In 1866 he entered upon the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. William M. Swisher, of Canton, and the following year was enrolled among the students of Rush Medical Col- lege of Chicago, in which he completed the regular course and won the M. D. de- gree at his graduation with the class of 1869. He afterward did post-graduate work in gynecology and nervous diseases in New York and all through his pro- fessional career he has sought advancement wherever he has believed that knowl- edge would promote the skill and efficiency of the profession.


In 1869 Dr. Will located for practice at Kickapoo and in addition to his pro- fessional duties assisted in building up the town of Dunlap in Peoria county. In 1881, however, after pursuing his special studies in the east, he came to Peoria and with Dr. J. L. Hamilton and Dr. T. M. McIlvaine assisted in organizing the Cottage Hospital. In this connection his work has been of a most important character and an extensive practice has been accorded him. That Dr. Will oc- cupies a prominent position as a physician and surgeon is indicated by the fact that he was elected in 1894 to the presidency of the Illinois State Medical So- ciety, of which he has been an active member for a number of years. He has also been president and secretary of the Military Tract Medical Society and president of the Rush College Alumni Association. He belongs also to the North Central Illinois Medical Society, the Peoria City Medical Association, the Ameri- can Medical Association and the Chicago Gynecological Society.


In his practice he has made a specialty of gynecology and his study and work along that line have carried him far beyond the ranks of the average practitioner. He has always been deeply interested in biology in its kindred relation to the medical profession. He has spent considerable time studying abroad under emi-


DR. OTHO B. WILL


THE NEW Y. . K PUBLIC LIBRARY


ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.


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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY


nent physicians and surgeons of the old world and in investigating the leading hospitals of Europe. For a number of years he was editor of the Peoria Medical Journal and his contributions to the literature of the profession in this and other connections have awakened widespread interest and consideration.


On the 14th of April, 1870, Dr. Will was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Grant, of Brimfield, this county. To them were born four children, Maud, Otho, Charles and Irene, all of whom are now deceased. In politics the Doctor is an independent republican, being allied with that movement which seeks the general welfare rather than the success of party. Socially as well as professionally he is prominent.


GEORGE HOGG MCILVAINE.


Among the builders and promoters of Peoria George H. Mcllvaine was num- bered. His activities touched many of the general interests of society and proved a factor in business development and in educational and moral progress. His name was, indeed, an honored one in banking circles, for the policies which he pursued and the methods which he inaugurated as vice president of the Peoria National Bank and as president of the Clearing House and Bankers Association commended him to the confidence and high regard of all. The extent of his use- fulness cannot be measured until the many interests with which he was actively associated have reached their full measure of fruition in the world's work.


Mr. Mclvaine was a native of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, born August 10, 1834, his parents being the Rev. W. B. and Elizabeth ( Breading) McIlvaine, who were natives of the Keystone state. The mother died in Pittsburg in 1851 and the father was afterward for many years a resident of Peoria but eventually passed away here.


In his native city George H. McIlvaine spent his youthful days and there acquired his preliminary education, which was supplemented by a course of study in Washington College of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1853. winning the Bachelor of Arts degree, while later his alma mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. His collegiate training well qualified hin to enter upon life's practical and responsible duties and in 1854 he started for Illinois, hoping to find better business opportunities in the middle west. Estab- lishing his home in Peoria, he here became connected with the hardware and iron business, becoming the successor of H. Lightner in the well established firm of Walker & Lightner, at which time the firm style was changed to Walker & Mc- Ilvaine. They conducted business along both wholesale and retail lines until 1872, success attending their efforts so that at the end of that period Mr. McIl- vaine found himself in a financial position to enter banking circles. Withdraw- ing from commercial pursuits, he became connected with the Second National Bank, of which he was the manager, vice president and cashier until 1883, when its charter expired and the bank went into liquidation. He was in control of its interests during the widespread financial panic of 1872-3 and such was the con- servative business policy upon which he conducted its interests that the bank suffered the loss of not a dollar during that period and, in fact, continued upon its progressive course and paid in liquidation one hundred and seventy-five dol- lars and a half for each one hundred dollars of stock. In 1883 the Peoria Na- tional Bank became the successor of the Second National Bank and with the newly formed institution Mr. Mellvaine remained as cashier until the Ist of November, 1888. At that time he turned over the active management to others, although retaining official connection therewith as vice president. This insti- tution prospered from its organization, being based upon the sound and con- servative methods instituted by Mr. McIlvaine, who ever recognized the fact


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that the bank which is most worthy of patronage is that which most carefully safeguards its depositors. His standing in banking circles is indicated in the fact that he was elected president of the Clearing House on its organization and so continued until a few years prior to his death, when he retired.


There was no public enterprise of Peoria that sought in vain the aid and co- operation of Mr. McIlvaine, if his judgment deemed it worthy of support, and at all times he was actuated by a public-spirited devotion to the general good that none questioned. He was one of the organizers of the Peoria Library As- sociation and assisted in the erection of the building which stood at the corner of Jefferson and Main streets. He figured for many years as one of the direc- tors of the Chamber of Commerce and was in hearty sympathy with its projects for furthering the trade interests and promoting the welfare of the city. He dealt quite extensively in real estate and erected the first modern building on Adams street, a three story brick structure. He sought success along legitimate lines nor failed to accomplish what he undertook, for his carefully formulated plans had their root in good judgment and progressiveness.


On the 18th of August, 1857, Mr. McIlvaine was united in marriage to Miss Priscilla J. McClure, a resident of Peoria and a sister of Colonel John Dixon McClure. She was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1834, her parents being Josiah E. and Jane McClure, who became early residents of Peoria county, the father engaging in pork packing here during the pioneer epoch in the city's development. The names of the children of Mr. and Mrs. McIlvaine are enumer- ated below : William B. is an attorney of Chicago, a member of the firm of Wil- son, Moore & McIlvaine, and has four children, Romain, Madaline, Priscilla and William B. Elizabeth is the wife of Albert T. Johnson, formerly of the Peoria National Bank, whose children are: Elizabeth, the wife of Lincoln J. Scales and the mother of one child, Elizabeth McClure Scales; Harry McClure; and Albert T., Jr. Emma is the wife of Lewis E. Rollo, of Chicago. Priscilla became the wife of Mack Merriam, of Albion, Michigan. George H. makes his home in Chicago.


Mr. McIlvaine provided his family with a beautiful home at No. III North Madison street, situated in the midst of a fine lawn, rendering this one of the most attractive residences of the city. He found his greatest happiness in pro- viding for the welfare of his family and spared no effort or expense if he could promote their best interests. He was a man of broad mind, who always kept informed concerning the current events and vital political issues of the day. He had no ambition for office, yet kept abreast with the best thinking men of the age in his understanding of political conditions. He was an unwavering advo- cate of the Union cause during the Civil war and was a member of the Christian and Sanitary commission organized by the Young Men's Christian Association of Peoria. To this he gave freely of his time and means and to other branches of Christian work he was equally loyal. For many years he was a devoted and faithful member of the Presbyterian church, was an earnest worker in the Sunday school and for a number of years served as its superintendent. He was also particularly interested in the fourth ward mission, which developed into Grace church and of which he was also superintendent. He always recognized the truth of the proverb "train a child up in the way he shall go and when he is old he will not depart from it." He, therefore, believed most firmly in educating the young that their moral teaching might bear fruit later in life. He was as persistent, earnest and zealous in his different lines of church work as he was in the conduct of his business interests. His labors were never actuated merely by a sense of duty but rather by a deep interest in his fellowmen and a most earnest desire to aid them to reach a position where individual worth commands respect and honor. He regarded a promise made as too sacred to be broken and his word was as good as any bond ever solemnized by signature or seal. While his ideals of life were high, he never manifested a spirit of superiority and his




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