Peoria city and county, Illinois; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II, Part 86

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 86


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Peter A. Johnson was only a year old at the time of the removal of the family to Farmington, and there much of his youth was spent. his time being largely devoted to the acquirement of a public-school education. In February, 1885, how- ever, when in his nineteenth year, he returned to Peoria and became an active factor in commercial circles of this city as an employe in the Wilson Grocery Company. His position was that of order clerk and he remained with the house for about three years. Subsequently he served a three years' apprenticeship at the tinner's trade and was employed as a traveling man for about three years or until he joined his brother in organizing the present firm under the name of the Charles Johnson Hardware Company. They opened an establishment at No. 2023 South Adams street with Charles Johnson as the president, Peter A. John- son as vice president and William Johnson as secretary and treasurer. The sub- ject of this review devoted every energy to the upbuilding of the business which is now one of the extensive hardware enterprises of the city, having a large trade which is constantly growing in volume and importance. A high standard is main- tained in the personnel of the house, in the line of goods carried and in the char- acter of service rendered to the public and promptness and reliability have constituted salient factors in their success.


Peter A. Johnson continued to devote his entire attention to the business until April, I911, when he was elected to the office of city treasurer. His previous official experience had been secured during four years' representation of the sixth


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ward in the city council. Of him it has been written: "Living in the strongest democratic ward in the city, he created a political sensation when he entered the lists as a republican candidate for the office of alderman and seemed to lead a forlorn hope. His personality and his popularity, however, were such that he was elected by a remarkable majority, considering the political complexion of the ward. He retired from office at the close of his term but a year later was again the nominee of the republican party and again was elected, a fact that indicated the approval of his course during his first term by his fellow townsmen." Indeed his political service as councilman was such that when he was brought forward for the office of city treasurer there was no opposition to his candidacy in the primary. The democrats put up one of the strongest men in their party as his opponent but the election gave him a large majority and he is now the custodian of Peoria's public funds. His public duties are discharged with the same care and appreciation with which he protects his individual interests. His integrity as a business man and citizen are above question and Peoria is fortunate in having in one of its municipal offices a man of such calibre, force and reliability.


In Peoria, in 1891, Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Henrietta Riegel, a daughter of Antone Riegel, who came to this city from Germany when eighteen years of age and as a carpenter was identified with its building opera- tions for many years. He died in July, 1911. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have been born four daughters: Mabel J., Edna M., Grace and Johanna. The family attend the German Lutheran church of which Mr. Johnson is a member, and his high principles are further indicated by his loyalty to the Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen of America, in both of which organizations he holds member- ship. Ile has been a lifelong resident of Peoria and his warmest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood to the present time, indicating that his career has ever been characterized by those personal qualities and business principles which in every land and clime awaken confidence and regard.


CHARLES A. ROBERTS.


Charles A. Roberts, who since 1898 has filled the position of clerk of the probate court, at Peoria, was born in Yates City, Illinois, on the 10th of Au- gust, 1862. He came from New England ancestry, the parents, Charles and Caroline (Metcalf) Roberts, both being natives of Maine. The father devoted a quarter of a century to the profession of school teaching, spending that time in Maine, New York and in Iowa. During the period of his residence in this county he held a number of school offices, serving as school treasurer of Salem town- ship for twenty-five years. He likewise filled the office of police magistrate for twenty years and in that position he rendered decisions that were strictly fair and impartial. His public service was ever characterized by faithfulness to duty that was above question, and wherever he was known he commanded the respect, confidence and good-will of those with whom he came in contact.


Charles A. Roberts pursued his education in the public schools of his native city and no event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of life for him through the period of his minority. He started out to earn his own living in 1881 when nineteen years of age, becoming telegraph operator of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy line, at Canton, Illinois. He remained there for three years, after which he was appointed agent at Elmwood, where he continued for a year and a half. On the expiration of that period he secured the position of superintendent of the stock yards at Quincy, Illinois, where he remained for three years and then again went to Elmwood, where the succeeding decade was passed in the position of station agent and telegraph operator. He left that place in Peoria, having been made clerk of the probate court in the election of 1898. Vol. II-36


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Previous to that time the office had never been a paying one but he placed it upon a profitable basis and has been the worthy incumbent in that position to the present time. He was called to this office as a candidate of the republican party, of which he has always been a supporter since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He is careful, methodical and systematic in the discharge of his duties, which are always performed with a sense of conscientious obligation that has made his record a most creditable one.


In Quincy, Illinois, in 1889, Mr. Roberts was united in marriage to Miss Mary Woolcott, of that city, and unto them have been born two children, Seacorde and Woolcott. Mr. Roberts has become well known in political circles and in other connections and has gained a large circle of warm friends among those who recognize his sterling worth.


ANDREW G. FORBES.


Andrew G. Forbes is senior proprietor of the Forbes Boiler Works on Soutlı Washington street in Peoria, but not only as a business man does he occupy an enviable position in the regard of his fellow citizens. He has made an equally creditable record in office and is now serving as an alderman, representing the fourth ward of the city for the third year. Peoria has numbered him among her residents since April, 1861. He is the oldest practical boiler maker here and has equal skill as a general machinist and engineer. He claims Scotland as the land of his nativity, his birth having occurred on the 10th of June, 1842. His parents were Daniel and Jennie (Gordon) Forbes, who sailed for the United States when their son Andrew was about ten or twelve years of age. They landed at New Orleans and from the Crescent City made their way up the Mississippi to St. Louis, Missouri, where the father engaged in business as a stationary engineer. At the time of the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted for active service at the front but died soon afterward, being among the first who laid down their lives on the altar of the country in 1861.


Andrew G. Forbes was at that time nineteen years of age. He had learned the boiler-maker's trade in St. Louis and in April, 1861, he came to Peoria, where he sought and obtained employment. His patriotic spirit, however, was aroused by the attempt of the south to overthrow the Union and in 1862 he en- rolled his name with the members of Company G, of the Sixty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered in at Camp Douglas, Chicago. He served for about seven months in guarding prisoners at Chicago and was then sent down the Mississippi river with the fleet to Vicksburg to exchange prisoners of war. Upon his return he was mustered out at Chicago and thence came again to Peoria. As previously stated, he is the oldest practical boiler maker of the city, having for more than a half century been identified with the business here. His capability gained him recognition and won him positions of responsibility. He was foreman of the boiler works for the Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville Rail- road at Pekin, Illinois, for ten years, or from 1870 until 1880, when he was transferred to Peoria as general foreman in the shops of the Peoria & Pekin Union Railroad. There he again served for ten years, at the end of which time he was made division master mechanic of the St. Louis, Peoria & Northern Rail- road, continuing as such until the road was merged into the Chicago & Alton Railroad system. At that date he took charge as master mechanic of the Peoria Rolling Mills, in which capacity he continued for about six months, when he resigned and was succeeded by his son, W. S. Forbes. The father was then joined by another son, George A. Forbes, in establishing the Forbes Boiler Works. This association still continues. W. S. Forbes, however, has now left the rolling mills and is engaged in the plumbing and heating business in Pueblo,


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Colorado. The Forbes Boiler Works erect tanks, smoke stacks, etc., and employ ten or more men. Their business has grown along substantial lines and the thorough practical training of the father has been an element in its success. Whatever prosperity has come to him is well merited, for his life has been one of unfaltering industry, determination and fidelity.


In 1863 Mr. Forbes was united in marriage, in Peoria, Illinois, to Miss Ella R. Albert, who was born in this city and is a daughter of Peter Albert, one of the pioneer residents here. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Forbes have been born eight chil- dren, of whom six are now living: D. John, who is treasurer of the Peoria Water Works Company; Cora O .; Elizabeth, the wife of Jacob W. Fisher : George A., who is a practical boiler maker and engineer and is in partnership with his father ; W. S., living in Pueblo, Colorado; and Catherine, the wife of W. E. Persons, general manager of the Larkin Company. Mr. Forbes is well known in fraternal circles. He has been an exemplary representative of the Masonic lodge since 1865 and his two sons are also affiliated with Temple Lodge, No. 46, F. & A. M., in which the father has his membership. Andrew G. Forbes has also attained to the Knights Templar degree of the York Rite and is a member of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to Peoria Camp of the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica and maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. His political allegiance has been given to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He has ever kept well informed concerning political questions and issues of the day and yet cannot be said to be a politician. He has held some offices but these have come to him in recognition of his merit. For six years he was a member of the board of supervisors and for two years acted as chairman of its building committee and as such made a remarkable financial record, saving to the county many thousands of dollars. It was his record in that connection that led his fellow townsmen to insist upon him becoming a candidate for the office of alderman. He was elected from the fourth ward and is now serving for the third year. In this as in the other offices which he filled he is laboring earnestly and effectively to prevent useless or extravagant expenditure and yet he does not hold to the side of conservatism to the extent of blocking public prog- ress or improvement. He believes in straightforward and honorable administra- tion of municipal affairs and over his public record there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil.


D. B. PRICE.


D. B. Price, who resides on his farm, which is situated one and one-half miles north of Hanna City, was born in Virginia, September 20. 1849, the son of Wil- liam and Norah (Baldwin) Price, the former a native of Wales and the latter of Ireland. The parents came to America in 1840, settling in Virginia, and in the spring of 1863 removed to Illinois, locating in Limestone township. In their family were eleven children, of whom D. B. Price, of this review, was the ninth in order of birth.


D. B. Price was reared under the parental roof and remained at home until twenty-two years of age, when he began working by the month as a farm hand, being thus employed for four years and receiving from twenty to twenty- three dollars a month. In 1875 he rented one hundred and sixty acres of land in Limestone township and was engaged in farming it until 1883, when he bought eighty acres for thirty-five dollars an acre in Rosefield township, on which he re- sided for nineteen years. In 1892 he purchased an additional one hundred and twenty acres, paying for it forty-six dollars an acre, and in 1901 he sold forty acres of his first tract of land for four thousand dollars. He raises quite ex-


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tensively corn, wheat, oats and hay and he also raises live stock, making a spe- cialty of hogs, cattle and horses. His farm is in an excellent state of cultivation and he is a very prosperous man.


On the 24th of June, 1874, Mr. Price was united in marriage with Miss Jemima E. Bishop, who was the daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Brewer) Bishop, of Richwoods township. Mrs. Price is a very capable and cultured lady and for several years was a teacher in the public schools of Hollis, Limestone and Rich- woods townships. Being very energetic and ambitious, she obtained her educa- tion by working by the week during the summer and also by working for her board in the winter time while she attended the district school. In the year 1871 she was a student at the Normal School at Peoria. To Mr. and Mrs. Price have been born five children: Mrs. Lola Hunthorn, who was born June 24, 1875, and died November 9, 1909; Mrs. Eva Nora Siegel, who was born January 27, 1877, and who previous to her marriage was a teacher for ten years in the Rosefield, Logan, Kickapoo and Radner townships; Thornton E., who was born Decem- ber 17, 1879, and is engaged in farming in Logan township; Harrison A., born September 18, 1883, who is married and is now living in Peoria ; and Margaret, born November 29, 1885, who has learned the trade of dressmaking and is now at home. Mr. Price is greatly interested in the cause of education and has rendered efficient service as a member of the school board for fifteen years. He and Mrs. Price and their family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Hanna City and are widely known throughout the community, having a large circle of friends, in whose regard they stand very highly.


STUBER & KUCK.


The growth of industrial institutions is a fair index of the progress and prosperity of a city. Peoria's productive industries have been the source of her greatness and prominent among the commercial concerns of this character is the great Stuber & Kuck tinware factory, a plant extending from No. 2800 to No. 2824 South Adams street, where the business has been carried on since December 1, 1887. The men who are dominating its activities, shaping its policy and direct- ing its trade are recognized as among the foremost representatives of industrial life in Peoria. The business was founded upon a small scale when the senior partner, Joseph Stuber, associated himself with Henry G. Kuck, buying out the interests of his former employer, Isaac Brandenburg. They carried on a tin- ware manufacturing enterprise upon a small scale for some time for the total capital of the two partners at the time of the purchase amounted to about five hundred dollars and all their equipment and supplies were proportionately small. The business, however, gradually grew until it is today one of the largest insti- tutions of this kind in Peoria. Every year new factories are added and new branches and departments installed. The building occupied today is one hun- dred and seventy by one hundred and sixty feet and six stories in height with basement. The factory is modern in all its equipment, being supplied with the latest improved machinery necessary in their line and the excellence of the prod- uct commands a liberal trade. The present plant has developed from a little factory twenty by ninety feet, on the second floor of a business block on South Adams street. The gradual growth of the business in indicated by the several removals necessary to meet the growing demands of the.trade. From the original quarters a removal was made to the corner of Hamilton and Water streets, the plant occupying a building fifty by thirty feet and three stories in height. Addi- tional space was secured by a second removal to a two-story building one hun- dred and twenty by one hundred and seventy-one feet, at the corner of Water and Walnut streets, and when the business outgrew its quarters there it was


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removed to the river bank, occupying the old Glucose building with one hundred and thirty-three by one hundred and eighty feet, four stories and basement. At length the firm sold that property to the railroad company and sought a site upon which to build. The result was the present commodious factory with its modern equipment, where is now conducted an extensive business that is grow- ing in volume year by year. The firm owns the entire block on Adams street and one hundred feet on Washington street and something of the scope of the industry is indicated by the fact that employment is furnished to an average of one hundred and fifty people. There is no kind of tinware or tin product which the Stuber & Kuck factory does not make. The firm specializes in the manu- facture of various kinds of self-sealing patented cans and has an extensive trade in cracker cans, pieced tinware, japanned ware and brass specialties. At the head of the enterprise are business men of well known ability, the labors of the one ably supplementing and rounding out the labors of the other. Both Mr. Stuber and Mr. Kuck have practically given their entire time and attention to expanding the business, shaping its policy and controlling its output, and their united efforts have brought them a most gratifying measure of success. The firm holds stock in the Illinois National Bank of Peoria and both Mr. Stuber and Mr. Kuck are members of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, in the affairs of which organization they have always been prominent.


EDWARD E. CORKEN.


Edward E. Corken, who has since July 19, 1910, occupied the position of secretary of the Peoria Gas & Electric Company, with offices at 310 Jefferson street, has been a resident of this city since 1902. He was born in Rock Island, Illinois, August 9, 1880, a son of Daniel H. and Mary E. Corken. The family is of Irish descent, the grandfather, John Corken, having come from County Cork, Ireland. The father was a molder by trade and has the distinction of having made the columns for the capitol at Washington, D. C., the gates to the grounds and many other things which are still in use. He was for thirty-five years super- intendent of the Rock Island Plow Works and during his residence in Rock Island was honored by the people of that city who for eighteen years kept him in office as a member of the city council. Both he and his wife are yet living and make their home in that city.


Edward E. Corken was reared at Rock Island, where he received a good edu- cation, finishing at Augustana College at the age of seventeen years. His busi- ness taste seemed to incline toward railroading and his first employment was in the general offices of the Rock Island & Peoria Railroad Company, where he remained until that system was absorbed by the Chicago, Keokuk & Peoria. He also had the distinction of being the last man to receive pay from the com- pany with which he first was connected as an employe. His removal to Peoria occurred in 1902, coming as cashier of the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad Company, a position which he held until April, 1906. The efficiency and re- liability of Mr. Corken has made his services desired by numerous well known corporations, for in addition to his connection with the Peoria Gas & Electric Company he is secretary of the Pekin Light, Heat & Power Company and also of the Citizens Gas & Electric Light Company of Pekin and the Washington Light & Power Company.


Mr. Corken was married in Peoria to Miss Minnie Ortell, of Rock Island, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. T. Ortell, who at present reside in Freeport, New York. Mrs. Corken, however, was reared in Rock Island where her parents re- sided for many years. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Corken.


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Harry D., Dorothea and Cecilia, the two eldest attending the parochial school of Peoria.


Mr. Corken gives his political allegiance to the democratic party, of which he is a stanch supporter. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. The family reside at 425 Peoria avenue. The accuracy which has always characterized Mr. Corken in his work, his untiring industry and his entire reliability, have been prime fac- tors which have enabled him to hold excellent positions and make his services indispensable to the concerns with which he has been connected. He has become well known and popular in Peoria and is among those who are held in high es- teem in all the circles in which they move.


WILLIAM E. WOLGAMOTT.


William E. Wolgamott, city electrician, now in his second term of office and well qualified by previous experience and thorough training for the work that devolves upon him, was born in Sacramento, California, September 2, 1876, a son of John and Albina (Bennett) Wolgamott. The mother was a daughter of the late James Bennett, for many years coroner of this county. In both the pa- ternal and maternal lines William E. Wolgamott comes of old families of this part of the state. The parents were married in Peoria and removed to Cali- fornia, where they resided for several years, returning, however, to this city when their son William was six years of age. Through an extended period the father has been prominently connected with industrial and commercial activity here, being engaged in the manufacture of harness, which he sells both to the wholesale and retail trade, his business being established at 1306 South Adams street. He bought out his father-in-law, Mr. Bennett, with whom he had learned the trade and the latter, after engaging in harness making for many years, turned his attention to the undertaking business and also filled the office of coroner.


William E. Wolgamott was reared in Peoria and attended the local schools, after which he pursued a course in Brown's Business College. He was gradu- ated from that institution, and thus well equipped for life's practical duties he started out in the business world, working at the plumber's trade for a year and a half. He then entered the employ of Robert Clark in the gas and electrical business, continuing in that service for two years, and when his employer sold out to the Central Electrical Company, Mr. Wolgamott remained with the latter during the succeeding three years. He next worked for a year for C. E. Wheel- ock, in the electrical fixture business and for a year or two more followed his trade in Chicago and in Wisconsin. On the expiration of that period he re- turned to Peoria and entered the employ of R. L. Fair & Company, electrical contractors, with whom he continued for a year or more.


About that time Mr. Wolgamott was united in marriage to Miss Anna M. Hart, of Peoria, a daughter of Michael Hart, and unto them have been born three children, Ruth Anna, Robert Alonzo and Dorothy Albina. After his mar- riage Mr. Wolgamott purchased the business of R. L. Fair & Company, which he conducted in partnership with L. Van Neyes, under the firm name of the Peoria Electric Company, at 102 Madison street. There he carried on business for two years in that relation, after which he bought out his partner and was sole proprietor for two years. He then sold out and went to California, being employed for two years in the southern part of the state and also in Oakland and San Francisco. He returned to Peoria about a year before he accepted his pres- ent position as city electrician, and during that year conducted an electric con- tracting business. He was called to his present position as city electrician by




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