Peoria city and county, Illinois; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II, Part 7

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 7


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HENRY MEANS PINDELL.


Henry Means Pindell whose name figures prominently in the history of journalism in Peoria being now and for many years owner and proprietor of the leading paper of the city-the Peoria Journal-was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, December 23, 1860. He is a son of James Morrison and Elizabeth Pindell and comes of an ancestry honored and distinguished, various representatives of the family having figured prominently in connection with events that have left their impress upon American annals. His great-grandfather, Dr. Richard Pindell, served on the staff of General Washington in the Revolutionary war and dressed the wounds of Lafayette when the French patriot was injured in battle and when twenty years afterward he visited America for the second time, he was enter- tained in Lexington, Kentucky, at the home of Major Thomas. R. Pindell the Doctor's son. James Morrison Pindell was an own cousin of Senator Thomas Hart Benton, of Missouri. He became a warm and personal associate of Henry Clay who was his guardian and with whom he was closely connected through Clay's political career. In fact, the Clays and Pindells were for years very in- timate and their burying lots in the Kentucky cemetery adjoined. The great- grandmother of Henry M. Pindell was a relative of Virginia's first governor. James M. Pindell made the practice of law his life work and his professional career added laurels to an honored family name. In theory, in person and in character, Henry Means Pindell is a worthy scion of his race. His intellectual training, so far as the work of the schoolroom went was completed in the De Pauw University at Greencastle, Indiana, from which he was graduated with the class of 1884. All through his life he has followed journalism, and during President Cleveland's first administration was editor of the Wabash (Indiana) Times. Later he was connected with The Chicago Tribune and from that paper went to The State Register at Springfield, Illinois, as its city editor. While residing at the capitol he was elected city treasurer, serving from 1887 until 1889, under Mayor Charles E. Hay, a brother of the late Honorable John Hay, secretary of state during President McKinley's administration.


Mr. Pindell removed from Springfield to Peoria in 1889 and founded The Peoria Herald. Subsequently he purchased The Peoria Transcript and The Peoria Times, but sold the latter to J. B. Barnes, proprietor of The Peoria Jour- nal and consolidated The Transcript and The Herald under the name of The Herald-Transcript. On the 13th of July. 1902, he purchased The Journal and in October of that year sold The Herald-Transcript to a number of business men, republicans. Mr. Pindell continued the publication of The Journal and has developed it according to the most modern and progressive methods of news- paper publication until it is today the strongest Peoria newspaper, stalwart and vigorous in its policy in keeping in touch with the advance movements resulting from the wise and careful consideration of the vital and significant problems of


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the day. The Journal's plant is the best equipped in the city. The policy of the paper has ever been characterized by fearlessness and this quality has ever featured in the journalistic and private activities of Mr. Pindell. In 1896 and again in 1900, associated with The Herald in the former year and with The Herald-Transcript in the latter. Mr. Pindell repudiated William Jennings Bryan and became an independent with democratic leanings. He fought the free silver craze. He was wholly responsible for the death of the infamous Illinois Allen law which gave corporations the right of the use of the streets for fifty years. He has always vigorously opposed corporate greed. He stands for the interests of the people at large, holding also to the policy that political organizations should be operated for the benefit of the majority rather than for the few. In fact, at all times, Mr. Pindell has been a champion of progress and improvement and this spirit has led to his official interest in the Peoria Public Library and the Peoria Association of Commerce, in both of which he is a director. He was active in the management of the movement for the commission form of govern- ment in the state and Governor Deneen gives him credit for putting the law on the statute books of Illinois.


On the 29th of October, 1890, Mr. Pindell married Miss Eliza Adelia Smith, a daughter of Honorable P. W. Smith of Springfield, whose people were early pioneers of Illinois, representing a prominent southern family. Mr. and Mrs. Pindell have two children, Elizabeth and Frances, both attending school in the east. The parents hold membership in the Second Presbyterian church.


Mr. Pindell is a member of the Creve Coeur Club and the Peoria Country Club. He was one of the organizers and for two years was president of the Illinois Daily Newspaper Publishers Association. For years he was a member of the board of the Western Division of the Associated Press. His strongly marked personal characteristics are of the highly sensitive nature of the southern type ; a keen and analytical mind that recognizes the advance features and phases of any subject to which his attention is closely directed, and therefore arrives at a largely impartial opinion ; a generous appreciation of the rights and privileges of others ; and a deep and commendable interest in ancestral and historical records as well as in modern day events. He is a lover of a good horse and all manly out-door sports. He enjoys a game of golf and in fact, likes a game of chance which calls forth his metal and his ability. His is the success which comes to those who, as a Chicago journalist has put it, "are willing to stand by their stand- ards, who are ready to endure the siege of misjudgment, who are prepared to face thie fire of criticism and to accept defeat until they become vaccinated against it." Such men not only win but deserve their success.


CALVIN C. SCHNEBLY.


Throughout the years of his residence in Peoria county-years that covered his entire life span-Calvin C. Schnebly was connected with agricultural in- terests. He was a representative of one of the old and prominent families of this part of the state, his father, Henry Schnebly, having arrived in Peoria county in 1833. in which year he traveled across the country from Pennslyvania to Illinois. He found that all this section of the state was largely wild and un- improved, its prairies covered with its native grasses and starred with a million wild flowers during the summer months while in the winter season the plain presented the appearance of one dazzling and unbroken sheet of snow. Here and there a hardy pioneer had braved the difficulties of frontier life to establish a home in the far west, and Henry Schnebly, wishing to become identified with farming interests in this part of the state, secured one hundred and sixty acres of land adjoining Peoria, which was then but a tiny hamlet.


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It was upon the old homestead farm that Calvin C. Schnebly was born and reared, his natal day being March 10, 1845. His education was largely acquired in the district schools of that early day, although for a short time he attended Dixon (Illinois) College. In the meantime he assisted his father on the farm, and after permanently putting aside his text-books he remained on the old home- stead, bearing his part in the work of converting the tract into rich and productive fields. Following his father's death he became owner and manager of the prop- erty which he continued to cultivate until his own demise on the 15th of Septem- ber, 1905, when he was sixty years of age. He was a progressive agriculturist, following modern methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops, and in his cultivation of the fields he used the latest improved machines. He was a man of rather quiet and retiring disposition, yet his friends ever found him congenial and hospitable, extending a hearty welcome to all who passed his threshold. He enjoyed nature in all its forms and life in the open fields under the blue sky and in the clear air was ever a source of joy to him.


Mr. Schnebly was twice married. He first married Miss Jennie Chambers and they became the parents of five children, two of whom reached adult years, namely, Lucy C. and Alice W., but the latter is now deceased. The mother passed away September 18, 1890, and Mr. Schnebly afterward married her sis- ter, Miss Lucy Chambers, who still survives him as does his brother, Joseph Schnebly, of Peoria, and two sisters, Mrs. T. C. Rounds, of Chicago, and Mrs. George Treadwell, of Albany, New York.


Politically Mr. Schnebly was a republican, indorsing the principles of the party from the time age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He served as school trustee for many years, and the cause of education ever found in him a stalwart champion. Shortly before his death he was elected supervisor of Peoria county, and in that position was proving capable and faithful. He was also a trustee of the First Presbyterian church and one of its active and devoted members to the time of his death which occurred when he was sixty years of age. He had always been a resident of Peoria county, and was a witness of or par- ticipant in many events which, to the majority, are merely matters of history.


JOHN CONRAD WOELFLE.


Among the highly esteemed pioneer business men of Peoria who are now living retired must be numbered John Conrad Woelfle, who has resided here for fifty years, during forty of which he owned and successfully conducted a jewelry store. He was born in Baden, Germany, on the 16th of January, 1843, and is a son of John Jacob and Agnes (Kienzle) Woelfle, likewise natives of Baden, where they passed away during the early childhood of our subject.


Reared in the land of his birth, after the completion of his studies in the com- mon schools, John Conrad Woelfle was apprenticed to the watchmaker's trade, which he followed in Germany until he was eighteen years of age. In the au- tumn of 1861, together with his sister, Anna Marie, he took passage for the United States to join his brother John J., who had emigrated to this country about three years previously. John J. Woelfle was then located at Peoria, but he subsequently removed to Pekin, where he is now engaged in the jewelry busi- ness. Being unfamiliar with the language and customs of the country, John Con- rad Woelfle followed various occupations after coming to this country. Finally he took a position with his brother at Pekin as watchmaker, but he later entered the employ of John C. Wieting of Peoria, It was his ambition to have an estab- lishment of his own and with this thought in mind he practiced the most rigid economy until he had accumulated the necessary capital. He achieved his desire on the Ist of December. 1871, when he resigned his position and engaged in


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business for himself at 122 Adams street, this city. Owing to his limited means it was necessary for him to begin in a small way, but he used excellent judgment in investing his money, and when he threw open the doors of his little shop to the holiday trade, he had on display an attractive assortment of silverware and jewelry. The Peoria of forty years ago bore little resemblance to the thriving populous city of today, and in the smaller community the excellent skill and workmanship that Mr. Woelfle had manifested during the years of his clerkship, had made him favorably known and enabled him in winning recognition with little difficulty and building up a trade. He remained at his original stand for thirty-two years and then removed to number 112 South Adams street. Here he continued to engage in business until the 8th of May, 1911, when he sold his store to Welte & Wieting and retired from active business, having acquired during the long period of his connection with commercial activities sufficient means to warrant his retirement. When he sold out, his was the second oldest jewelry store in the city, the oldest being that of Jacob Faber. As he had but limited capital when he started out Mr. Woelfle had more or less of a struggle to get his business established, meeting with the obstacles and difficulties that confront practically every young man. However, he possessed the determination of purpose and optimism that enabled him to forge ahead until he was perma- nently established on a paying basis. The methods he pursued and his business policy together with his high standards of commercial integrity won for him the respect and cooperation of those with whom he had transactions and enabled him not only to win customers but to retain them, so that many of the names appearing on his books when he retired had been there for more than a quarter of a century.


On the Ist of November, 1888, Mr. Woelfle was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Hesler, a native of Peoria and a daughter of August Hesler, who was well known among the early settlers in Peoria and is now deceased. One daughter has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Woelfle, Amelia, who is eighteen years of age and a junior in the Bradley Polytechnic. The family home is located at 413 North Jefferson street, where they own a very comfortable and pleasant residence.


Both Mr. and Mrs. Woelfle hold membership in the Lutheran church, and fraternally he is affiliated with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, while in politics he is a democrat. During the long period of his connection with the business interests of the city, Mr. Woelfle witnessed practically a transforma- tion in commercial methods owing to the advent of modern inventions and ap- pliances that have revolutionized trade conditions and placed the United States in the front rank among the nations of the world. Although he has always been loyal to the land of his birth, which he deeply admires, Mr. Woelfle has never had occasion to regret coming to America, where he has achieved more than a moderate degree of success.


E. E. HARDING.


E. E. Harding, a representative of the legal fraternity in Peoria, with offices at No. 107 South Adams street, has here practiced his profession continuously and successfully for almost three decades. His birth occurred in this city on the 13th of January, 1858, his parents being John J. and Jane (Greenough ) Hard- ing. In 1845 the father crossed the Atlantic from England to the United States, making his way direct to Peoria. He came here with less than a dollar in his pocket but by dint of unremitting industry and careful expenditure gradually augumented his financial resources and acquired over four hundred acres of valuable land in Peoria county. In politics he was a stanch republican, loyally


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supporting the men and measures of that party. He reared six sons, one of whom, Robert G., passed away and was buried in this county. All of the others, with the exception of our subject are agriculturists by occupation. They are as follows : John J., who acts as supervisor of Logan township; Henry W., who was formerly supervisor and now holds the office of assessor of Rosefield town- ship; William W., residing in Brimfield township, who is engaged in the raising of Duroc Jersey hogs ; and Judson, who resides at Trivoli, near where is located the Texas cemetery, in which the family has a burial lot.


E. E. Harding obtained his early education in a district school on one of his father's farms and remained under the parental roof until nineteen years of age. He then came to Peoria and attended the Peoria County Normal School until graduated from that institution in 1879. During the next three years he followed the profession of teaching in this county, imparting clearly and readily to others the knowledge he had acquired. Subsequently he began reading law with Julius Star, former city attorney, and was admitted to the bar at the end of two years-on the 26th day of February, 1883. From that time to the present he has devoted his attention to the practice of law in Peoria and has enjoyed an enviable clientage. At no time has his reading ever been confined to the limitations of the question at issue. It has gone, beyond and compassed every contingency and provided not alone for the expected but for the unex- pected, which happens in the courts quite as frequently as out of them. Mr. Harding is also a prominent factor in business circles, acting as secretary of the WV. U. Hanford Company and the E. L. Stevens Company.


On the 28th of November, 1883. at Trivoli, Mr. Harding was united in mar- riage to Miss Emma Linck, daughter of Jacob Linck, a pioneer settler of Peoria county. Mr. and Mrs. Harding have two daughters and a son, namely : Agnes, who is a graduate of the Whittier school and also has an excellent musical edu- cation, is now soloist at the First Baptist church; Edith, a graduate of the Tri- voli high school; and Jacob Weston, a lad of seven. The family residence is at No. 323 Pennsylvania avenue, our subject owning the property.


At the polls Mr. Harding supports the men and measures of the republican party, believing that its principles are most conducive to good government. For a period of four years, from 1893 to 1897. he held the offices of justice of the peace. Fraternally he is identified with the Maccabees and the Moose, while in the line of his profession he is connected with the Peoria Bar Association. In the county where his entire life has been spent, he is well known as an able attorney, enterprising business man and public-spirited citizen.


RUDOLPH A. SCHIMPFF.


It is appropriate that mention be made of Rudolph A. Schimpff among the German-American residents of Peoria, for through an extended period covering the greater part of his life he resided in this city and for many years was well known here as a leading grocer, in which connection he developed a business of extensive and gratifying proportions that enabled him to spend his later years in quiet retirement. He was born March 13, 1836, in Landau, Bavaria, Germany, a son of Carl W. and Elizabeth (Schimpff) Schimpff, who, upon coming to America in 1850, at once made their way into the interior of the country with Peoria as their destination. The father was one of the pioneer grocers of this city and ranked with the leading business men of that early day.


Rudolph A. Schimpff began his education in the schools of his native land where he remained until fourteen years of age when he accompanied his parents on their immigration to the new world. He also pursued a course of study for a short time in the schools of Peoria, and afterward became his father's assis-


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tant in the business, working for him until 1859. Desiring to enter upon an independent career he then opened a grocery store on his own account and con- tinued in that line of trade until a few years prior to his death. As time passed on he developed a business of large and growing importance. In all his trade dealings he was strictly reliable, never taking advantage of the necessity of an- other, and his well selected line of goods and his earnest desire to please his patrons were features in his success. He was justly accounted one of the prom- inent and well known merchants of Peoria during the latter part of the nine- teenth century.


On the 8th of February. 1865, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Schimpff and Miss Henrietta Haedicke, who was born in Woodford county, Illinois, on October 1,. 1843, a daughter of Adolph and Hanna ( Brautigam) Haedicke, who were early settlers in this part of the state, coming from Germany to the new world. Mr. and Mrs. Schimpff became the parents of four children, of whom Earnest G. and Harriet W. are now deceased. Those still living are Louise, who was born October 4, 1868, and Anna, born January 17. 1876, both yet at home with their mother. Mr. Schimpff was devoted to his family, spending his happiest hours at his own fireside.


Mr. Schimpff's political indorsement was given to the republican party, yet the honors and emoluments of office had no attraction for him. He was a man of unfaltering honor whose word was as good as his bond. He died August 18, 1891, when fifty-five years of age, having for forty-one years been a resident of Peoria. He had witnessed the development of the city from a comparatively small town to one of the metropolitan cities of the middle west, and as the years passed on he cooperated to the extent of his opportunity in all that pertained to public progress and improvement. At the same time he carefully conducted his business interests, knowing his first duty was to his family for whom he pro- vided a comfortable living and at his death left them a goodly competence.


JAMES M. MORSE.


Among the permanent business and professional men of Peoria is James MI. Morse, an extensive owner of real estate, with offices at No. 105 South Jefferson street, who has been operating here since 1884. Mr. Morse was born in Peoria, Illinois, August 22, 1854, a son of John H. and Almira C. (Childs) Morse. The father, from 1844 to 1875, was a well known jeweler in this city. He was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, March 13, 1823, and was reared and educated in the state of his nativity. His tastes and inclinations were toward the jewelry business and he became a goldsmith while yet a young man. Shortly after mas- tering the details of his trade he married at Jacksonville, Illinois, May 3, 1847, Miss Almira Childs of West Woodstock, Connecticut, and with his wife, came to Peoria on their bridal tour. They were so much pleased with the then western city that they decided to locate here and remained residents of Peoria until 1875. when they moved to Evanston, Illinois, where Mr. Morse was made superinten- dent of Rose Hill cemetery, a position which he held until his death in 1897. Subsequently Mrs. Morse returned to Peoria, where he is now making her home with the subject of this review. She is now eighty-three years of age, her birth having occurred in Connecticut in 1829. Her husband, John H. Morse, was also well known in Peoria as an inventor of unusual talent. In 1858-1860 he received from the government patents on many of the safe and vault locks of that day, some of which are still in use. In 1872-1873, he patented the first "hollow-arm" twine grain binder.


James M. Morse was reared in Peoria, attending the graded and high schools of the city until graduated therefrom. He then took up the reading of law with


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Major Wells, with whom he practiced until 1884, having been admitted to the bar in 1875. In 1884 he gave up the practice of his profession to enter the real estate business with John Comstock. This partnership was continued until the death of Mr. Comstock in 1905, whereupon Mr. Morse succeeded to the entire business. The real estate activities of the firm included practically the handling of their own properties, and since the death of his partner Mr. Morse has handled not only his own affairs but also the former business interests of Mr. Comstock. His holdings and dealings in city property, which has always been his specialty, are extensive and varied.


In 1875 Mr. Morse was united in marriage to Miss Agnes L. Armstrong, of Peoria, a daughter of Alexander Armstrong. Mr. Morse is identified with the Masonic fraternity and is also a member of the Creve Coeur and Peoria Country Clubs, being active and prominent in these organizations. As the entire life of Mr. Morse has been passed in Peoria, he has by his geniality and many other good qualities attracted to himself a large number of business and social friends and not many men in the city are held in higher esteem.


CLIFFORD U. COLLINS, M. D.


The medical and surgical profession finds one of its most eminent and capable representatives in Dr. Clifford U. Collins, whose offices are located in the Jeffer- son building and who is now concentrating his energies entirely upon surgical work, in which connection he manifests superior skill as the result of wide study, thorough research and long experience. He was born in Batavia, Ohio, Decem- ber 17, 1867, and is a son of John D. and Martha (Cox) Collins. His father was a native of Clinton county, Ohio, born September 17, 1838, and was a son of Samuel P. Collins, a native of New Hampshire, who wedded Nancy Dalton, who was also born in the old Granite state. Removing westward he settled in Clinton county, Ohio, in 1830, becoming one of the pioneer residents of that district, which was then a wild and undeveloped region in which the work of improvement had scarcely been begun. He became the owner of a large farm and devoted the greater part of his life to its cultivation and improvement. The death of the grandfather occurred when he was sixty-nine years of age and his wife passed away at the age of forty-two years. The maternal grandfather of Dr. Collins was Aaron Cox, who was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, June 6, 1800, and whose life record covered the intervening span of years to the 3d of February, 1883. He wedded Mary Bailey, who was born in March, 1820, and died at the age of seventy-nine years. They were of the Quaker faith and were stanch advo- cates of the abolition cause.




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