USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Peoria > Peoria city and county, Illinois; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 54
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97
William C. White, the subject of this sketch, is a banker of the type which makes for the greater industrial and financial magnitude of the city. He is at present the president of the Illinois National Bank, located at the corner of Fulton and Adams streets, and is carrying out the policy of his predecessors in making that institution one of the safest and most solid banks in the city.
William C. White was born in Peoria in 1868, the son of Andrew J. and Amanda C. White. His father was a prominent contractor of this city, having come here from Pennsylvania in 1856. William C. White's early education was received in the primary and grammar schools of this city, and was supplemented by three years of work in the Peoria high school. Mr. White left school in his junior year to accept a position in the implement firm of George M. Moore & Company, where, however, he remained but a short time, resigning in a few months to become a messenger in the Commercial National Bank. Mr. White was nineteen years of age at that time, and has remained in the banking business ever since with the exception of two years which he spent on the farm, and has now attained one of the highest positions that the city of Peoria has to offer. He is possessed of a rare, if not distinctive business character. Thoroughly acquainted with the details of his profession, he is today undoubtedly among the men whose lives and personal exertions have done so much toward the material and commercial prosperity of Peoria.
Mr. White spent several years with the Commercial National Bank, leaving that institution to join his father on his farm six miles out of Peoria. Here Mr. White remained for two years, at the end of which time he returned to Peoria, and entered the Peoria Savings Loan & Trust Company as teller. From that time on, his rise was rapid. His life is a fair example of the rewards which are the result of concentrated industry and hard work. Mr. White soon gained the confidence and respect of all with whom he came in contact, and his excellent banking ability, and his thorough acquaintance with the details of the business
=
484
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
led to his appointment as assistant cashier upon the organization of the Illinois National Bank in 1900. His rise in this bank has been steady since that time. He was elected cashier in 1908, and took up his present position as president in January, 1912, upon the death of Frank Trefzger.
In 1896 Mr. White married Miss Mary Bigham of Peoria, and they are the parents of two children, Herbert and Virginia, both at present students at the White school.
Mr. White has never taken any active part in political controversies or sought public office, although his political affiliations have always been consistently re- publican. The responsibilities of business engross his whole attention but he takes an intelligent interest in public policies and is an active supporter of any- thing conducive to the municipal improvement of the city. He is a prominent member of the Board of Trade, and is the treasurer of the Association of Com- merce. Mr. White is also well known in social circles of the city, and is a mem- ber of all the important clubs of this character, holding membership in the Creve Coeur Club, the Illinois Valley Yacht Club and the Peoria Country Club.
During his years of banking activity in Peoria, Mr. White has gained for himself a reputation for strict honesty, and fair dealing among his friends and business acquaintances. He is known to be a dependable man in any relation and any emergency. He is ready to meet any obligation of life with the confidence and courage that comes of conscious personal ability, right conception of things and a habitual regard for what is best in the exercise of human activities.
HENRY G. TRIEBEL.
In presenting to the public the representative men of the city of Peoria and the state of Illinois, who have by a superior force of character and energy to- gether with a combination of ripe qualities of ability and excellency made them- selves conspicuous and commanding in private and public life, we have no ex- ample more fit to present and none more worthy a place in these volumes than Henry G. Triebel. Not only does he rise above the standard of his line of busi- ness, but he also possesses in a high degree those excellent qualities that make men worthy of regard among their fellows. He is a high-minded and liberal man; one who is keenly alive to all the varying requirements of trade, and one of those who conduct the operations of the most extended and weighty character and who, above all others have succeeded in making Peoria one of the great commercial centers of the middle west.
Henry G. Triebel was born in Peoria on November 10, 1856. His father was Otto Triebel, deceased, a biographical record of whose life appears on another page in this book. In the public schools of Peoria, Henry G. Triebel partially pursued his education, but also attended German schools. His busi- ness training was received under the practical direction of his father, who in- structed him in the best methods of making monuments and in all of the work of the stone cutter's trade. He learned not only to chisel the stone but also to make designs and since about sixteen years of age has had active charge of the business. Among his public works was the designing of the public square of the city of Peoria, while he also laid out walks and designed a number of monu- ments. A good many public monuments and a number of mausoleums are the result of his activity, not only in Peoria but in many other cities of the state. The firm is today the most prominent in the state outside of Chicago. His partners are his brothers and they occupy their own building, which is one hun- dred and seventy-six feet deep by forty feet in width. It is three stories in height and they rent the second and the third floors, while they utilize the first floor and basement for their business. Their patronage comes not only from
485
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
Peoria, but also from the wide surrounding territory and the excellence of their work, their attractive and appropriate designs and the high grade of marble used are features which have made their business one of the growing concerns of the city.
Mr. Triebel was united in marriage to Miss Ida Schwab, of Peoria, a daugh- ter of John Schwab, and unto them have been born four children: Albert, who is with his father in business and is married and has two children, Lucille and Henry ; Elise ; Martha, the wife of Rogers Humphreys, of Bloomington, Illinois ; and Carl.
Mr. Triebel is very prominent socially and is a valued member of the Creve Coeur Club, the Illinois Valley Yacht Club and the Peoria Rifle Club. In Ma- sonry, he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite, and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs likewise to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is also connected with the German Free School Association and is a public-spirited citizen, whose cooperation can always be counted upon to further progressive public movements. He served on the first board of park commissioners of Peoria and has also been a member of the school board. No element of the city's growth and improvement seeks his aid in vain. He stands for advancement in public as well as in private affairs and the same qualities which have made him a dominant figure in business circles have made him a citizen whose loyalty and support are always to be counted upon. His entire life has been spent in Peoria and those who know him-and his friends are many-entertain for him the warmest regard. As the man and the citizen he has vet to be viewed from another standpoint. Of large and liberal views in all matters of business, full of enterprise and believing much in push and perseverance, he can always be found in the van of every movement looking toward the accomplishment of real and practical good. Of extensive acquaintance, and very popular socially ; charitable to an extent altogether disproportionate to his means; unostentatious in everything ; one of the truest men to his friends that ever lived, and one of the most lenient to his adversaries after the combat is over; still in the vigor and prime of manhood and of a remarkably eventful life, the work before him to do and yet unaccomplished is immense, but to the fulfillment of his destiny he will carry in the future, as in the past, the matured and strengthened elements and accessories of a character that 'ultimately is to triumph over all obstacles.
While in his business career Mr. Triebel has passed on to a position of wealth and prominence, he has never neglected the opportunities to assist a fellow tray- eler on life's journey, his hand being often down-reaching to aid one to whom nature, fate or environment has seemed less kindly. His life has in large measure been an exemplification of his belief in the brotherhood of mankind. He has never allowed questionable methods to form a part of his business career, while over the record of his official life there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. Kindliness and appreciation for the good traits of others have constituted salient features in his career and his life illustrates the fact of the Emersonian philosophy that to have friends you must be one.
MRS. ALVIRA D. PATTEN.
Mrs. Alvira D. Patten, who resides on an excellent farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Logan township, was born in Rosefield township in 1841. She is a daughter of Major S. and Esther ( Dickenson) Bohanan, both of whom were natives of the state of New York, the father being born August 27, 1800, and the mother, September 5, 1808. The parents were married in New York and in 1834 moved to Rosefield township, where they purchased eighty acres of
486
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
land and later added to it two hundred and thirty acres, making in all a farm of two hundred and fifty acres. In their family were eight children, of whom Mrs. Alvira D. Patten was the fourth in order of birth.
Alvira D. Bohanan was reared under the parental roof, remaining at home until twenty-three years of age. On the 2d of March, 1864, she gave her hand in marriage to Samuel S. Patten, who was born in Adams county, Ohio, February 15, 1832. He came with his father, Joseph G. Patten, to Logan township in 1848 and remained with his parents until he was twenty-four years of age. At that time his father gave him forty acres of land and he later made additional purchases, making a total of one hundred and sixty acres in his farm. He resided on this place the rest of his life and became a very prominent and successful farmer, assuring Mrs. Patten of a handsome income. On October 24, 1902, at the age of seventy years, Samuel S. Patten passed to his final rest and his death was deeply regretted by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr. and Mrs. Patten became the parents of one son, Frank A., who was born Jan. 4, 1865, and is married to Miss Ella Cornelous of Adams county, Ohio. He now operates his mother's farm, having yearly fifty acres in corn, twenty-five acres in wheat, forty acres in oats and the remainder of the land in pasture. He also has about one hundred head of hogs and thirteen head of horses. A daughter of Mr. Patten by a former marriage, Lois Belle, is now the wife of Luther S. Patterson, of Piqua, Ohio. Mrs. Patten is a faithful member of the Presby- terian church and is a lady of much culture and refinement, who stands high in the regard of all in the community where she is well and popularly known.
AUGUST WAHLFELD.
Success in any line of endeavor is not so much a matter of discriminating brain and extraordinary efficiency as it is the result of continuous labor, a mas- tery of detail and a love of hard work. These qualities, possessed in an eminent degree, make success almost inevitable and it is to their possession that Mr. August Wahlfeld, president of the Wahlfeld Manufacturing Company, IIOI- I125 South Washington street, owes much of his progress and success. He has been identified with this line of business in Peoria for a number of years and has been president of the enterprise with which he is now connected since its inauguration in 1893. He is a native of Germany, having been born in the province of Hanover, on October 5, 1857, and is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Wahlfeld, who both died in Germany.
August Wahlfeld went to school in his native country and received the effi- cient education which the public institutions of Germany afforded. He im- mediately afterward learned the trade of shriner and when he had mastered fully all its various details he came to this country, settling first in Havana. Illi- nois, where he worked as a journeyman builder and carpenter for a year and a half. He came to Peoria in 1882 and entered the firm of Kogers & Company as a cabinet-maker, with which he retained his connection until 1891. He be- came an expert workman in all kinds of furniture and cabinet-making during his nine years of employment with this company. He started in business for himself in 1891, manufacturing building material and furniture of all kinds, in- cluding office and bank fixtures. The business was organized on a small scale. giving employment at first to only two men, but today August Wahlfeld is at the head of a great manufacturing firm employing over one hundred men in its different branches. The plant of the company occupies a space of one hundred and fifty feet by one hundred and forty feet, has three stories and a basement, and is one of the largest institutions of its kind in the city. The progress and development of the Wahlfeld Manufacturing Company is purely the result of
中中華中学
AUGUST WAHLFELD
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LE. TILDAN FI VI
489
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
the ability and energy of its president. Ile controls and directs the policy of the company, has an active and personal knowledge of the details of the business and is an expert workman himself. His power of organization and his capacity for hard and unremitting labor have developed the concern from a little shop with its two employes into a great manufacturing plant which is a dominating factor in the industrial and commercial life of Peoria.
On November 21, 1882, August Wahlfeld was united in marriage to Miss Anna Wahlfeld, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wahlfeld, who at the time of their daughter's marriage resided in Germany. They have two sons, Ernest, secretary of the concern of which his father is the president; and Otto, vice president of the Wahlfeld Manufacturing Company. Mr. Wahlfeld affiliates with no particular political party, maintaining an independence of idea and a freedom of thought in this respect which has characterized his dealings in all relations of life. He takes an intelligent interest in public affairs but his absorp- tion in business precludes any active part in political affairs. He is a thirty- second degree Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. His success in the business to which he has given time and attention during his active life is not a matter of mere chance. It has its foundation in close attention to the matter which he has in hand, steady habits, ability and energy, and in the policy of an honorable and upright business career.
JAMES GAUL.
The spirit of romance is an eccentric and capricious thing. We are accustomed to think that we must go to the lives of the kings and noblemen of ancient time, to the warriors of the middle ages, to the knights of the Round Table, to the old lands of fair women and brave men, before we meet it in its truth and beauty. But the spirit of romance is all about us. It finds its place in the most com- monplace histories, in the lives of plain business men, in the humble homes of a city.
The life history of the subject of this sketch, James Gaul, holds its share of the glamor of romance. It reaches back to ancient times, when the old Gauls swarmed into Briton and Ireland and settled there, in the time of Caesar. Mr. Gaul traces his name and his descent to these ancient warriors, who conquered by strength of arms, and founded a mighty country as a result of their deeds. There is a curious story current in the annals of James Gaul's family that a tribe of these warriors left Ireland for Asia Minor, after the invasion of Caesar. where they flourished to such an extent that the country became over-populated, and the men were obliged to draw lots to see which should set out with their families for a new country. After the drawing of the lots, the little band went down to the sea in flimsy ships, and after many hardships and much loss of life, the survivors landed in America and were positively the first inhabitants of this country, and the ancestors of the American Indians which Columbus found here on his arrival. This story is unsubstantiated, but has subsisted in the Gaul family for many generations, and its claim to truth gained force when fifty years ago, an old Indian, one hundred years of age, died on an Oklahoma reservation, claim- ing to have been a direct descendant of one of the Gauls of that little band.
The family in Peoria today is represented by the subject of this sketch, James Gaul, and his brothers, John and David Gaul. James Gaul was born in Peoria on November 16, 1858. His father was John Gaul, a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, where there are still many families of his name. John Gaul came to America in 1842 and settled in Louisville, Kentucky, where he married Miss Ellen Phelan. They came to Peoria in 1847, and opened a little bakery at 514 Merriman street. Vol. II-23
490
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
Later this shop was moved to 313 Merriman street, where the family resided, and where the father died in 1882.
James Gaul, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of Peoria, finishing the eighth grade in the old Sixth Ward school, which is now the Webster. When he was twelve years old, he left school and entered his father's bakery, where he was employed until his father died, when he opened a saloon and grocery store at 313 Merriman street. In this business he continued for three years, when he was appointed by Mayor Warner as meat inspector, which office he held for two years. He held successively several government positions. He was guard at the house of correction, and was appointed by . Grover Cleveland as government store keeper under Wilson in 1887. In 1888, he opened a butcher store at 317 Merriman street, and inside of a year this busi- ness had expanded into two shops, the other being at 915 Hurlburt street. The following year, he traded his two shops for a fine farm in Fulton county, near Middle Grove, where he moved and gave his attention to farming for five years. He returned to Peoria after this period as manager of the real-estate business of his brother John Gaul. This business was originally located in the German Fire Insurance building, but it now occupies beautiful offices on the eleventh floor of the Jefferson building. Mr. Gaul's business ability is remarkable. He is bold and aggressive, but cool and prudent ; wide-reaching, but exact; prompt to the minute in all engagements ; instant in his intuitions of men's characters; a natural negotiator, a keen and concise talker; at work early and late; always coming out right in practical results. He has added many departments to his brother's business, until it now includes a renting agency, an agency for farm lands, a guaranty rent agency, and a department for the care of estates. Besides these activities, Mr. Gaul is also connected with his brother David in a house-building business.
On May 15, 1905, at St. Charles Catholic church, in Bloomington, Indiana, occurred the marriage of James Gaul and Miss Grace Olive Duncan, of that city. Mrs. Gaul is a charming woman, and has won hosts of friends in her husband's native city.
Politically, Mr. Gaul owes allegiance to no party. He votes independently for the best man. He subscribes to no religious doctrines except the doctrine of broad-minded tolerance for all men. Masterful men always forge ahead. In tribal conditions they become chiefs; in war they are generals; in politics, the statesmen and the party leaders; in the professions, they command the honor of their fellowmen ; in journalism, they control public opinion; and in business they rise from nothing to be financiers, merchants, millionaires. Mr. Gaul has still many years of life before him. If the beginning of his life shadows forth the end, the badge of preeminence among his fellows is already his.
MENNO E. ARENDS.
Menno E. Arends, who since 1890 has been associated with agricultural pur- suits in Logan township, was born in Germany, March 2, 1852. In the fall of 1871, when he was nineteen years of age, he came to America and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was employed for five years in a tannery. Subsequently he removed to Limestone township, Illinois, where he worked for four years as a farm hand, receiving as compensation for his services two hundred dollars per year. In 1880 he rented in Limestone township one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he farmed for ten years. In 1890, in Logan town- ship, he purchased his present farm of seventy-two acres, which was at that time all in timber land. He has cleared and improved the same until he now has fifty acres under a high state of cultivation and the rest in pasture. He has
491
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
an excellent house and barn on his farm and also has the best of facilities for tilling the soil. He engages quite extensively in raising stock and grain.
In 1880 Mr. Arends wedded Miss Johanna Dorenbus. In politics Mr. Arends gives his allegiance to the democratic party and he has served as pathmaster of Logan township for eight years. He is greatly interested in and gives his sup- port to all measures which further the cause of education. He is known as a public-spirited and progressive man who has the welfare of the community at heart and, as the years have gone by, he has won for himself a creditable position in the community.
WILLIAM J. VOGELSANG.
William J. Vogelsang, who since 1891 has been engaged in farming and stock- raising in Logan township, was born in Canton, Stark county, Ohio, March 20, 1856. In 1864, when only eight years of age, he removed with his parents to Tazewell county, Illinois, where he was reared and edticated. He there resided until 1881 and in that year removed to Logan township, where he purchased ninety-nine and two-thirds acres of land to which he later added an equal number making in all one hundred and ninety-nine and one-third acres, which constitute his present farm. At the time of the purchase of his land it was worth only forty dollars per acre buit is now valued at one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre. His land is highly cultivated and in the best improved condition. The family residence is comfortable and modern and his outbuildings and barns in good repair. It is a grain and stock farm and has on it a spring of running water. Mr. Vogelsang engages quite extensively in raising thoroughbred hogs, cattle and horses. He has sixteen head of horses of the Percheron-Morgan breed and one stallion of the Percheron-Norman stock, which is sixteen and one-half hands high and weighs nineteen hundred pounds.
Mr. Vogelsang wedded Miss Lena Thede and to them have been born five children. They are Howard, Henry, Elmer, Mary and Carl. In politics Mr. Vogelsang casts his vote with the democratic party, and he has served as con- stable for eight years. He is greatly interested in all measures that pertain to educational advancement and for the past twelve years has been a school director of his district. He is known as a man who uses his influence and support for the progress and prosperity of Logan township and is counted as one of its stib- stantial citizens.
MRS. ROANIA BIRD.
Mrs. Roania Bird, residing in Trivoli, was born in Rosefield township, Peoria county, December 19, 1856. She is a daughter of Otis and Phoebe ( Brown ) Bagg, the former born in New York state in 1826 and the latter in Rosefield township in August, 1837. In 1836, when the father was ten years of age, he removed with his parents to Rosefield township, where he grew to manhood. In 1863 he came to Elmwood township, where he later became one of the leading and prosperous farmers of his community, owning nine hundred acres of land. He now lives retired in Hanna City, his wife having passed away in 1905. In his family were seven children: Mrs. Mary Ramshaw, of Hanna City; Mrs. Bird, of this review, and Mrs. Rosina Holt, who are twins ; Mrs. Isabel Cattin. of Brimfield ; Mrs. Clara Moody and Mrs. Jennie Mallett, both of whom are deceased ; and Charles, who resides on the home farm in Elmwood township
Roania Bagg, of this review, was reared and educated in Elmwood town- ship and remained at home with her parents until her first marriage. On Sep-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.