USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Peoria > Peoria city and county, Illinois; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 84
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Politically Mr. Moody gives his allegiance to the republican party. He is a stanch friend of education and is rendering most efficient service as school trus- tee, being elected in 1910. He is widely known in the community where he has spent many years of his life, is one of its substantial farmers and is much esteemed for his many splendid qualities. He is greatly interested in the welfare of Rosefield township and of Peoria county, and uses his influence in support of all measures of reform and progress.
GEORGE T. PAGE.
George T. Page is not only one of the best known but also one of the best loved citizens of Peoria. Many lines of activity claim his cooperation and profit by his judgment. While recognized as an eminent member of the 'Peoria bar he is equally well known by reason of his activity in social circles and along charitable lines. His vision of life is broad and his recognition of the obligations of the individual to society at large has made him a helpful factor in many pro- jects which ameliorate the hard conditions of life for the unfortunate.
Mr. Page was born in Spring Bay, Woodford county, Illinois, September 22, 1859, a son of T. C. S. and Cordellia E. (Shope) Page. For several genera- tions his ancestors on the paternal side had been residents of New Hampshire. His great-grandparents, Andrew and Elizabeth Page, and his grandparents, John and Betsy Page, having all been natives of that state. T. C. S. Page, was, likewise, born there, and became the father of the family in Illinois. The great- grandfather of George T. Page in the maternal line was Andrew Richmond, who was born in Mississippi. His grandfather, Simon P. Shope, was born in Penn- sylvania. His grandmother, Lucinda (Richmond) Shope and his mother, Cor- dellia E. (Shope) Page, were both natives of Mississippi.
The family having been established in Woodford county, Illinois, George T. Page pursued his early education in the public schools and afterward spent six months as a student in the State University. He later followed the teacher's
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profession in his native county but soon afterward went to Metamora, Illinois, where he entered upon the study of law under the direction of his brother, who was a senior member of the law firm of Page & Ellwood. On the 14th of Jan- uary, 1882, he was admitted to the bar at Ottawa but impaired health prevented him from at once entering upon active practice. He was ordered to a higher altitude to recuperate and went to Denver, Colorado. There he followed the pro- fession of law until able to return to Illinois when he joined his brother S. S. Page, for practice in the courts of Peoria. Subsequently he became a member of the law firm of Worthington, Page & Brady and later senior partner of the firm of Page, Wead & Ross. He is now at the head of the firm of Page, Wead, Hunter & Scully with offices in the Jefferson building. He has attained great prominence as a representative of the legal profession here and in fact is one of the best and most favorably known members of the Illinois bar. Dignity marks him in all his professional relations, conservatism is manifest in his practice and his comprehensive and accurate knowledge of the law is evidenced in his clear and careful presentation of his cause. The high regard entertained for him by his professional brethren was evidenced in his election to the presidency of the Illi- nois Bar Association of which he is now the head. He is also a member of the general council of the American Bar Association.
George T. Page was married in Decatur, Illinois, on September 7, 1887, to Miss Jennie S. Stevens, and they have one child, Gerald H. Page. In politics Mr. Page is an independent democrat with belief in most of the policies of the party, yet reserving for himself the right of exercising his franchise according to his personal convictions. He is active in the affairs of the Association of Commerce and is serving on the board of its directors. He is socially prominent and is a leading member of the Presbyterian church. Religion means more to him than Sabbath observance and his recognition of the truth of the universal brotherhood of man finds expression in an active and adequate interest in charitable work in Peoria. While extremely unostentatious in that connection, it is well known that he has been a liberal supporter of many benevolent movements and societies. He is now the president of the Peoria Associated Charities and Philanthropies and no movement looking to the relief of the poor and needy seeks his coopera- tion in vain. His perceptive faculties enable him to understand the individual and approach him according to the needs and situation of the case. He has al- ways been one of the world's workers yet there is nothing spectacular in his ca- reer. Duty and the higher manifestation of human interest and sympathy have shaped his life and guided him in all his relations with his fellowmen.
JOHN C. STREIBICH.
Various important business interests feel the stimulus of the enterprise and energy and profit by the cooperation of John C. Streibich, who in his business career has made steady progress and is now conducting a large and profitable enterprise as a dealer in commercial supplies and in wrapping, building and roof- ing paper. He is also a director of the Illinois National Bank and president of the Schembs Printing Company of Peoria and has important business connec- tions outside of this city. He was born in Peoria, November 25, 1858, and is the son of Friederich and Sarah Streibich, the former one of the early citizens here, arriving about 1845.
John C. Streibich was reared in this city and in his boyhood attended the public schools. Throughout his entire business career he has been connected with the paper trade. In 1873 he began to work in a paper store, continuing in that line until he established a business of his own. He acquainted himself with the trade in principle and detail and won gradual advancement through his
JOHN C. STREIBICH
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IHISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
capability, his industry and his fidelity. At length when the capital saved from his earnings was sufficient he embarked in business on his own account, handling commercial supplies and all kinds of wrapping, building and roofing paper, com- mercial stationery and printing paper. Ile is the exclusive agent in Peoria for the Globe Wernicke letter files and elastic cabinets and for the Herring-Hall- Marvin fire and burglar proof steel safes and vaults. With the development of his business as a dealer in paper lie naturally extended his efforts to kindred lines and became president of the Schembs Printing Company of Peoria and a director of the Usona Manufacturing Company of Aurora, Illinois, manufacturers of prepared roofing. His original paper store was located at No. 301 South Wash- ington street and was opened in 1884. It was then but a small enterprise but lias gradually grown and is now many times larger. In addition to handling in Peoria all kinds of wrapping and building paper and commercial stationery, blank books, etc., he handles the Usona roofing papers manufactured at Aurora. These are of various kinds, supplying every need known to the trade.
In 1885 Mr. Streibich was married to Miss Camilla Klewe, a daughter of H. Klewe, of Peoria, and they have one child, Anna Adele. Mr. Streibich is prominent in fraternal organizations. Ile has taken the Knight Templar degree in Masonry and is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He is a Knight of Pythias, belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, of which lodge he is a charter member, the Fraternal Reserve, and the Improved Order of Red Men. In more strictly social lines he is connected with the Creve Coeur and the Peoria Country Clubs. His social and commercial prominence are well merited, for in him are those commendable traits of character which work for progress along business and individual lines. Notably energetic, prompt and reliable, he possesses the quality of commercial sense, which is too often lacking in the business world, combined with resistless will power. His methods, too, have always been of a constructive character and, never seeking success at the cost of another's failure, he has gained not only material prosperity but the good-will and confidence of the public.
BERNHARD DORENBUS.
Bernhard Dorenbus, who is a prosperous farmer of Rosefield township, was born in Germany, May 10, 1857. His parents were John and Mary ( Charles) Dorenbus, who came to America in 1861, locating in Peoria, where the mother died the following year, leaving five children. For the following four years the father kept his children together and then had to make other provisions for them.
When Bernhard Dorenbus was nine years of age he was taken to the home of Henry Heuermann, in Limestone township, where he remained for three years. Afterward he was employed as a farm hand for eleven years, working for different men in Limestone and Logan townships. In 1884 he rented a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Kickapoo township, where he was engaged in farming for three years, and in 1887 he bought eighty acres in Logan township, for which he paid twenty-four dollars per acre. He cleared, cultivated and im- proved his farm and resided on it ten years. In 1894 he exchanged that tract of land for one hundred and sixty acres in Trivoli township, which he sold after seven years at eighty dollars per acre, in 1901 purchasing for four thousand dol- lars one hundred acres in Logan township, where he engaged in farming for four years and then sold the same for seven thousand dollars. In 1909 he bought for fifty-one hundred and fifty dollars one hundred and six acres in Rosefield town- ship, where he now resides. His farm is all in hay and pasture except thirteen acres, on which he raises corn. He has an excellent house and also a splendidly equipped barn, having about eight head of horses and an automobile.
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Mr. Dorenbus wedded Miss Cecilia Doubet, who was a daughter of Joseph and Mary Ann (McRie) Doubet, of Logan township. Mr. and Mrs. Dorenbus have become the parents of two children: Edward, born September 22, 1893; and Mary Ann, born October 5, 1895. Mr. Dorenbus has served for two years as road overseer. He is greatly interested in school work and is now filling his second term as school director. Mr. Dorenbus deserves much credit for the work he has accomplished and may truly be called a self-made man, for he started in life empty-handed and has worked his way up until he is now numbered among the substantial farmers of Rosefield township.
S. M. MILLER.
S. M. Miller, inventor and manufacturer, who is the president of the Miller Safety Lock Company of Peoria, was born on August 4, 1851, on a farm in Morrow county, Ohio, a son of Samuel and Sarah Ann (Call) Miller. He is a descendant of the early pioneers and noted Indian fighters and is related to the Poe family to which Adam and Andrew Poe belonged, who killed the Big Foot Indian chief and were therefore famous as Indian fighters. His two great-grandfathers on his mother's side fell in action in the Revolutionary war. His grandfather, David Call, served as captain in the War of 1812 under General Harrison, who afterward became president. The family is of Pennsyl- vania-German descent. The father of S. M. Miller was a carpenter and me- chanic and was during his lifetime thus identified with industrial pursuits. In 1856 he came with his family to the city of Peoria and remained here until the following spring, when he moved to McDonough county, Illinois, settling on a farm on which he made his home for one year. In 1858 he removed to a farm one and a half miles east of Dunlap in Peoria county, where he remained until the spring of 1861. His next move was to a place two miles east of Princeville, in this county, where he purchased a farm, besides renting adjoin- ing land, and carried on farming there extensively until the fall of 1867, when he sold his land and moved to Benton county, Missouri, where he settled on a large property and remained for three years. At the end of that time he bought land in Henry county, Missouri, and engaged in agricultural pursuits until August 8, 1873, S. M. Miller, the subject of this sketch helping his father with the work on this place.
The son accompanied his father on his various removals and early became familiar with the labors which fall to the lot of an agriculturist. At the age of twenty-two years he drove a team of horses from Missouri to the eastern part of Ohio and was forty-five days in making the trip. He remained in Ohio for three years and in the spring of 1876 drove back to Peoria county, arriving in June. He then purchased a farm in Hallock township in the northern part of Peoria county, of which he remained the owner until 1901. As a farmer he was very successful, brought his fields under a high state of cultivation, kept his buildings and fences in good repair and his mechanical skill and inclination were of great advantage in doing many things around the farm and keeping it neat in appearance. His live stock also looked well cared for and he took pride in his herds and treated his animals kindly. He was con- sidered one of the enterprising, progressive and successful farmers of the com- munity. In the meantime, however, he had turned his attention to industrial pursuits, having in 1892 become the owner of a portable sawmill which he operated in Woodford, Marshall and Peoria counties for twelve years. Early in his career, in 1887, he spent a year in Florida, leasing his farm, and while in the south followed the carpenter's trade as contractor and builder until he
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went into the sawmill and lumber business. He found a market for his output in the large coal mines and carried on an extensive business there. In 1891 he exchanged his farm for land in Nebraska. He moved to Peoria in 1904, where he has ever since lived. Through his skill and ingenuity he has given to the public various useful and valuable mechanical devices, some of which are now upon the market finding a ready sale. He has succeeded in invent- ing the only practical mechanical elevator safety lock that is on the market and working successfully. It makes it impossible for an accident to occur, thus preventing ninety-five per cent of elevator accidents which happen by reason of open doors, people getting on or off of cars or falling down the open shaft. The device compells the operator to stop his car at a safe landing for receiving and discharging passengers before the door can be opened. It also locks the power while the door is open so that it must be closed and locked before it is possible to start the car. Mr. Miller has other inventions now perfected and patents applied for which he expects soon to place upon the market. We can justly class him with the public benefactors and he prides himself on being a useful member of society who will leave something to bene- fit humanity long after laying aside his earthly labors.
On the 14th of June, 1883, S. M. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Clara E. Brown, the only child of Elder S. H. Brown, who formerly edited the Christian Gleaner, a Peoria paper, and later on published the Chillicothe Enquirer, published at Chillicothe, Illinois. Ile was a minister of the Christian church and filled the pulpit of that denomination for twenty-seven years. He was first appointed to the ministry of that church in Brunswick, McDonough county, where he was residing with his family at the time of the marriage of his daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have become the parents of eight children : Mabel E., the wife of Fred Hunt ; and Frank E., Emmett S., Lyman H., Alma E., Merrion M., Howard B. and Earl C. The three eldest sons are engaged in business with their father, and are of great assistance to him, having become skilled mechanics. Mr. Miller prefers to concentrate his energies upon his inventions, which promise gratifying returns. He may well be proud to have by his life work contributed great benefits to his fellowmen and his life may rightly be called one of great usefulness.
EMIL H. SCHIMPFF.
The efficient secretary and treasurer of the Illinois Automobile & Parts Com- pany, the headquarters of which are at 828 Main street, Peoria, Illinois, is Emil H. Schimpff, a skilled machinist and a good business man. He was born in Peoria, January 2, 1883, a son of Henry and Caroline Schimpff, the former of whom came from the vicinity of East St. Louis with his parents about 1850. The father for the greater part of his life was a retail grocer, a business which he continued until his death, which occurred in 1909, at the age of fifty-nine years. His remains were interred in the Springdale cemetery, Peoria, in the family lot.
Emil H. Schimpff received a good education in the public and high schools of Illinois and at the age of seventeen years put aside his text-books and began learning the machinist's trade, in which he developed much proficiency. After learning his trade he became interested in the automobile business and in 1904 became a stockholder in the company of which he is now secretary and' treasurer. Two years later, having taken an active interest in the affairs of the company and exhibiting in a marked degree his broad knowledge of the machinist's trade. a competent master of that trade being desirable in the personnel of the com-
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pany, he was elected secretary and treasurer, a position which he has since held. He is of great value to the company and now practically manages the business. Since his election as secretary and treasurer the company has grown in the amount of business it handles and has become one of the prominent con- cerns of the kind in the city of Peoria, yielding its owners a very satisfactory in- come.
Mr. Schimpff was married in Peoria, Illinois, October 6, 1908, to Miss Ella Aylesworth, a daughter of Dr. Aylesworth, of Peoria, and one daughter has been born to them, who is about two years old.
The beginning of Mr. Schimpff's business career in Peoria promises well, as his thorough knowledge of everything connected with his business is so essential to a successful management of such an establishment. His business relations with the many customers of his company are most pleasant and by his geniality of manner as well as his careful attention to business detail he has become popu- lar with the automobile owners not only in Peoria but in many parts of the sur- rounding country. He resides at the corner of Calendar and Cooper streets, which is the homestead of the Schimpff family.
EDWARD H. D. COUCH.
Edward H. D. Couch, an officer of the Peoria police department, has for years been prominent as a military man and police officer. His father was Dr. Harriman Couch, a physician who was born in West Boscawen, New Hamp- shire, May 20, 1824, and was a son of Benjamin and Sally ( Morse) Couch, who were also natives of that place. The great-grandfather was Jacob Couch. He and his son Benjamin were farmers, but the latter also worked at the joiner's trade. When seventeen years of age Harriman Couch left home and went to Concord, New Hampshire, where he was employed by Governor Hill as a com- positor on the paper known as Hill's New Hampshire Patriot. He then removed to Boston, where he took up the study of medicine, and while pursuing his course he worked at the printer's trade in order to meet his expenses. Later he shipped as a sailor for California around the Horn, but at Rio de Janeiro went ashore and was there left on shore with two companions. He next obtained em- ployment in the Brazilian government printing office, and while in Rio de Janeiro assisted Emperor Don Pedro in the study of English. After a few months he started on the voyage to Cape Town, South Africa, on what proved to be a slave vessel, but she was overhauled by a British man-of-war, whereupon Dr. Couch was released. He then returned to Rio de Janeiro, from which city he made his way to Mobile, whence he sailed a spar laden English vessel for Brest, France. Arriving there he afterward sailed for Ireland and thence to Boston. Later he made a voyage to Mobile, New Orleans, and from the Crescent city proceeded up the Mississippi river, reaching Chicago in 1848. He did not tarry in the future metropolis of the west, however, but continued on to Wisconsin, where he re- mained for two years, working on a paper at Lake Geneva. It was while there that he married Phebe Ann Macomber, and later they removed to Peoria. In 1852 Dr. Couch became proprietor of a weekly paper, called the Voice of the Peo- ple, and he also worked on the Daily Republican. Finally he opened a job office, which he conducted until 1863, when he entered the government service as man- ager of the Ninth Military cemetery at Chattanooga. At the close of the war he returned to Peoria, where he resumed the practice of medicine.
His first wife died in 1852 and on the 20th of May, 1855, Dr. Couch was united in marriage to Mrs. Margaret A. Gilbert, a widow.
Their only child was Edward H. D. Couch, of this review, who was born October 1, 1859. He has been a lifelong resident of Peoria, in which city his
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father remained for more than fifty years the occupant of the same house at No. 312 South Jefferson street. It was there that the youth of Edward H. D. Couch was spent and as the years passed he became widely known in the city. For many years he has been connected with the police department of Peoria and served under Mayor Allen as captain of police and at the present time is an efficient officer of the traffic squad. He has been identified with the Illinois National Guard for twenty-five years, seventeen of which he served as captain of Company L, Fifth Infantry, I. N. G., which was the first company that was mustered into the United States volunteer service in 1908. This made our sub- ject at that time the ranking captain in the volunteer service of the United States. He was captain of Company H of the Twenty-eighth Regiment of the United States Volunteers in the Philippines and on active duty during the Spanish- American war. At the close of the insurrection he was appointed captain of police in Manila, P. 1., during the years 1901 and 1902 but finally had to leave the islands on account of ill health. As indicated Captain Couch has been and is very prominent in military circles. He is a man of fine military bearing, in whose life courage and discipline have ever had a prominent place, while his fidelity to duty has made him both a valued civil and military official.
ROBERT H. AVERY.
It is peculiarly refreshing, in these days of defections, when names that once were regarded as synonyms of commercial honor, have become disgraced or tainted with suspicion, to turn to those who have closed their earthly account, leaving a record unassailed and unassailable. They restore our waning confi- dence in men, and encourage us still to strive after legitimate success, which as they have shown is really attainable. Among these none have left a brighter record than Robert H. Avery, founder of the immense business which is now the Avery Company of Peoria.
Peoria has been remarkable for many years for the extent and rapid develop- ment of its manufacturing industries, especially along the line of agricultural implements. Peoria is recognized today as the center for this industry in the middle west, and the rich farm regions around the city owe much of their growth and development to the implements manufactured there, for tilling the soil and harvesting the crops.
The Avery Company today is the largest manufacturer of agricultural imple- ments in the city, and it owes its success to the business qualities and strict integ- rity of its founder, Robert H. Avery. A good portion of the history of our country is preserved in the biographies of leading and active men who have borne an important part in the various enterprises of their time. The characters and good deeds of good men should be sacredly preserved, not only for the happi- ness and satisfaction which a record of them will give to all those immediately related to them, and their posterity in after generations, but also for the good example which the lives of such men furnish to the young of our land, to follow in their footsteps, and thus further advance the true interests of our country.
Robert H. Avery was born in Galesburg, Knox county, Illinois, January 21, 1840. He grew up on a farm, familiar from youth with all the needs and wants of the farmer. He was educated in the common schools of his home town, and had barely completed his education when the Civil war called him, as it did so many of the young men of his time to fight for the preservation of the Union. He served honorably for three years. Eight months of his service was spent in Andersonville prison. The long days, utterly without work, offered ample op- portunities for his active mind to devise and invent. The result of the eight months' imprisonment was the plan of his first farm tool-a cultivator. He com-
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