USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Portrait and biographical record of St. Clair County, Illinois : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 29
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cate in a marked degree to what good purpose the owner has labored and expended at least a por- tion of his capital.
Alexander Ruemmler is one of a family of eight children born to Adam and ,Iulia ( Heist) Ruemmler, both natives of Germany. Adam Ruemmler was born in Germany, April 3, 1800. Hle was a shoe- maker by trade. Ilis wife, Julia ( Heist) Ruemmler, was born in Germany in the year 1802, and died in Germany in 1846. Soon after the death of his wife, Adam Ruemmler joined his son Alexander, who had preceded him to America, and who at that time was living in St. Louis, Mo. Adam Ruemmler followed his trade of shoemaker in this country until the time of his death, which occurred in 1869. Ile was reared in, and always elung to, the Lutheran belief. Ilis father was John Peter Ruemmler, born in 1760, and a respected citizen of the community in which he lived in Germany. To the parents of our subject were born eight children, four of whom are yet living.
The subject of this notice remained with his parents until he was fourteen years of age. Ile had received the advantages of a good common-school education, and choosing to follow in the footsteps of his father, sought the trade of shoemaker, as the vocation he should pursue through life. He left his parents and Fatherland in 1848, making the voyage across the Atlantic ocean in a sailing- vessel. Ile landed at New Orleans, and proceeded from that point up the river by boat to St. Louis. No man understands more thoroughly than he the hardships endured by a stranger in a strange country, who, with limited means, has the pluiek and energy to start for himself. After reaching St. Louis, he sought occupation at his trade, and his first work brought him the munificent sal- ary of $4 per month; but thrifty German in- dustry is very strongly exemplified in his char- aeter, and in the year 1854 we find him, at the age of twenty-six years, owner of his own shop and assuming the cares of a business life for him- self.
The same year which bereaved him of his father finds him a new settler in Darmstadt, St, Clair County, his present home. In 1869 he invested his savings in property here, and started the bust.
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ness which he has so successfully manipulated, and founded the home which is to-day a monu- inent to his energy and ability.
The 29th of June, 1852, was made an interest- ing day in the life of our subject by his marriage with Miss Dora Stroh, a daughter of Adam and Dorah Stroh, all natives of Germany, To this union were born three children, namely: Christian L., Henry F. and Mrs. Miller. After the death of the estimable mother of these children, Mr. Ruemm- ler married Miss Mary May Miller, and to them have been born six children: Elizabeth, wife of Mr. George Schlesinger; Alexander, Mary, Julia, Charles (deceased) and Leonard.
At the outbreak of our late National unpleasant- ness, Mr. Rnemmler enlisted in the Fourth Regiment of the Fourth Corps of Missouri, and went to the front with his comrades. Ile, however, returned to his family before the close of the war.
A man of more than ordinary intelligence, he is looked up to in his community as a self-made man and a broad thinker. Beginning life dependent upon his own resources, he has achieved his pres- ent position solely by hard work and good man- agement,
Ilis religious belief is founded on the tenets of the Lutheran Church, of which body he is an active member. In polities, he is a Republican, and a strong believer in, and exponent of, the course adopted by his party.
LBERT MOOTZ. No special department of commerce is of more importance to a community than that of a pharmacist, and in such connection attention is called to the popular and prosperous pharmaceutical estab- lishment of Mr. Mootz, located on Missouri Ave- nue. In all ages of the world, the art of prepar- ing compounds for the alleviation of pain and the healing of the sick has been regarded as among the highest of human functions, and it is for this reason that so much attention is paid to the call- ing of the druggist in our own day. Mr. Mootz
was born in Hoheneggelsen, Province of Hanover, Germany, December 20, 1844, a son of August Mootz, a native of Brunswick, and an apothecary by calling, which occupation he first followed in the city of Hanover, and later in Salsderhelden, Hanover, where he died in the year 1872, a mem- ber of the Lutheran Church. Ile was married to Miss Dorothea Peine, who was born in the city of Celle, Hanover, and died in the year 1877, after having become the mother of five children, three of whom survive her. The paternal grand- father of the subject of this sketch was a court official in Brunswick.
A. Mootz, whose name heads this sketch, was reared in Germany, and, when eleven years of age, entered the gymnasium at Eisenach, where he studied the classics until sixteen years of age, or until 1860, when he began serving an apprentice- ship at the apothecary's trade at Holzminden, Brunswick, where he remained four years, after- ward clerking for three years. In that time he had to pass several examinations, but did so successfully. In 1870-71, he was an apothecary during the Franco-German War in the place of the regiment apothecary at Dingelstadt, Saxony, but after some time he returned home, and worked at his profession until 1874, when he decided that America offered a better field for a man of energy and brains, and he accordingly took passage on a steamer at Bremen, and, after a stormy voyage, landed at New York City. After five weeks' resi- dence in that eity, he removed to Greenville, Miss., where he for some time conducted a store in connection with his brother. After a short time, his brother came to East St. Louis, but our subject continued there one year longer in partnership with a physician. In October, 1876, he also came to East St. Louis, and, after being in business with Ins brother for about a year, he, in October, 1877, started in business for himself on Missouri Avenue.
In 1881, he ereeted his present fine business block, a brick building with a frontage of forty- three feet. His store is very handsomely and con- veniently fitted up, and he carries a large line of everything connected with his line of business. lle has a large and influential patronage from the best classes of society, popular prices prevail, and
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polite and attentive assistants serve his customers intelligently and promptly. Mr. Mootz was first married in East St. Louis to Miss Theresa Wol- ters, who was born and spent her life in this town. After her death, he took for his second wife Miss Anna Jackiesch, who was also born in this city, and by her has two children, Dorothea and Else. Mr. Mootz and his family are Lutherans in reli- gion, and, politically, he is a pronounced Republi- can. He belongs to the State Pharmaceutical As- sociation, and is one of the leading pharmacists of East St. Louis.
G OTTFRIED NUETZEE, a prosperous farmer on section 6, Caseyville Township, is a native of Bavaria, Germany, his birth occurring December 8, 1832. Ile is a son of Jolın and Margaret (Boush) Nuetzel. Both of the parents were likewise born in Bavaria, the father in 1803, and the mother on the 1st of December of the same year. The father was reared on a farm and in the neighboring village, where he received a good education. He made farming his chief occupation through life, and for many years occupied the responsible position of Land Appraiser of the locality in which he lived. He never removed to the United States, but in 1869 made an extended visit to this country, returning in the following year to Germany. When he reached manhood, he was married to Miss Boush, in the year 1827. They reared a family of four children: John, now deceased; Andrew; Gottfried, the subject of this sketch; and John George, who still resides in his native land. Two other children died in infancy. Mr. Nuetzel was reared in the Lutheran faith, and was a mem- ber of that church.
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Until twenty-two years of age, Gottfried Nuet- zel remained under the parental roof. In 1854, believing that the Western World offered greater opportunities for acquiring a fortune, he left his home and friends and came to the United States. He first located in St. Louis, where he worked in
a finishing shop of the iron works for nearly three years. He next came to St. Clair County, Ill., and decided to make agricultural pursuits his life work. Accordingly, he rented land for a few years near Caseyville, which he operated quite successfully. Encouraged by this success, he then rented a large farm in Madison County, which he tilled for eleven years. Ile then returned to this county, in 1871, and purchased the farm on which he is now located. In addition to his farm of ninety acres, he carried on a bar room.
Our subject was first married in 1860 to Catherine Christ, and to them was born a family of four children, who are now all deceased. The mother passed away in 1871. Mr. Nuetzel was again mar- ried, his bride being Anna M. Soellner, daughter of John M. and Anna B. (Sængenberger) Soellner. This worthy couple have become the parents of five children: John G., Gottfried F., Anna M., Caroline L. and George L.
Believing in the ability and trustworthiness of Mr. Nuetzel, his fellow-citizens have a number of times called upon him to fill local positions of more or less responsibility and honor. The duties of these positions he has discharged with zeal and to the satisfaction of all. In respect to politics, he is a stanch supporter of the Republican party. He was reared in the faith of the Lutheran Church, and with that denomination holds membership. For a period of nearly forty years, Mr. Nuetzel has been a resident and valued citizen of this State and county and is an example of the worthy men whom Germany has so often furnished to America and who are esteemed among her best friends and citizens.
HOMAS BURKE, proprietor of the Dublin Ilouse of East St. Louis, Ill., is an able and efficient manager, and has made his hotel a veritable symbol of all that constitutes the com- fort and pleasure of guests. Mr. Burke was born in County Roscommon, Ireland, in 1842, a son
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of Thomas, and grandson of John, Burke, both of whom were born in the same county, and there followed the occupation of farming. The father was called from the scenes of his earthly labors in 1882, at the age of eighty-six years, his widow, whose maiden name was Mary Shauney, surviving him until 1888, when her death occurred at the age of eighty-seven years. Four of their six children are living, the subject of this sketch be- ing the only one in America.
Thomas Burke was reared on the home farm in the Emerald Isle, and his education was such as could be obtained in the common schools. lle re- mamed at home until eighteen years of age, then joined the civil service, and for six years was a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Suc- creding this, he attended a training school for two years in Dublin, after which he again entered the civil service, and was stationed at different times at Belfast, Antrim, Durham and Tyrone. He was in the riots of 1864 in Belfast, when it took ten thousand men eighteen days to keep the peace. He remained on duty until July, 1865, when he tendered his resignation, which was accepted, and he at once came to America, taking a steamer from Belfast to Liverpool, and there the steamship "Baltimore" for the New World, which he reached at the end of eleven days. Ile remained in New York City one month, then went to Galena, Ill., where he was engaged in the grocery business with his uncle, and in the fall of 1867 went to St. Louis, Mo., remaining there and in East St. Louis off and on for some time.
About 1870, he removed to Belleville, Ill., where he engaged in mining, and made considerable money, which he later invested in a grocery and liquor establishment at Ogle Station, removing to Belleville at the end of two years. He conducted the Farmers' Ilouse of that place for three years, but in the spring of 1881 he came to East St. Louis and bought the site of his present business house, which was then improved with a commo- dious frame building. He opened his hotel, but in 1883 put up his present brick building, which is three stories and a basement in height, has a frontage of fifty feet and is seventy-two feet drep. This house is furnished in a tasteful manper,
suited to the demands of his patrons, and his ta- bles are always spread with the delicacies of the season. Ilis rates are very reasonable, and he is an attentive and courteous host. He is interested to some extent in real estate, owns a small improved farm in Effingham County, and is a stockholder and Director of St. Patrick's Building and Loan Association, as well as the owner of his present popular hotel. lle was a member of the School Board for three years, was Assistant Supervisor for one year of the Fourth Ward, and politically has always been a Democrat.
llis marriage, which occurred in St. Louis ,Janu- ary 2, 1869, was to Miss Sarah J. McDonald. a na- tive of Pennsylvania, who became an early settler of Belleville. He and his wife have five children : Thomas, Charles, Mary E., Julia and Annie. Mr. Burke and his family worship in St. Patrick's Catholic Church, and he is a member of the Catho- lic Knights of America.
IIILIP MOESER, M. D. This gentleman is a popular physician and surgeon of the little village of New Athens, where he has made his home since 1882. He is the son of Henry Moeser, one of the early settlers of St. Clair County. (See sketch elsewhere in this book). The Doctor is a native of this State and county, having been born on the home place in Smithton Township, where he continued to live until he was ten years old, when he left home to reside with his sister, Mrs. Philip Skaer, with whom he remained until he was fifteen years of age. He secured his primary education in the common schools of the county and afterward took a course at Bryant and Stratton's Business College at St. Louis, finishing his literary education at Mckend- ree College, Lebanon, IN. After this he began the study of medicine with Dr. Cunningham, at Leb- anon, Ill., and later pursued his studies under the supervision of Dr. Barnum, at Freedom, Ill. Ile graduated from the American College, at St. Louis, in 1882, and immediately began the practice of
Jeunes Affleck.
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his profession in New Athens, where he has contin- ued to make his home ever since, building up a large and successful practice, excelling any other physician of New Athens in the number of his patients. In his practice Dr. Moeser makes a speci- alty of throat and lung diseases, applying what is known as the inhalation of oxygen treatment, in which he has been exceedingly successful.
Our subject was married to Miss Betty Fries, the accomplished daughter of George Fries, of New Athens, She bore her husband one child, George, but the bright, promising little flower was cut down by death. when only five years of age, July 4, 1889, and this national holiday will ever be a day of sadness to his afflicted parents.
Politically, our subject adheres to the principles of the Democratic party and is a stanch member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which order he has filled all the chairs. He is one of the leading men of the village and promises to make himself heard, both in the professional and political world.
7.
AMES AFFLECK. The subject of this notice has lived longer in the city of Belle- ville than any other resident, for he came here in 1820 and has made it his home ever since.
Ilis birth occurred either in North Carolina or Tennessee, and his parents were David and Ann (Gillespie) Affleck. who were born and reared in Scotland. Soon after their marriage they came to America and settled in Wilmington, N. C., but af- ter a short sojourn there they removed into Ten- nessee. The father taught school on Stone River, not far from where Murfreesboro now stands. When the Illinois "boom" started, they came to St. Clair County, where he bought land and resided until his death, in 1819. The mother's death oc- curred one year earlier. They were the best of people and showed to the world how the Scotch- Presbyterian faith can carry believers through ad- versity.
Our subject was born August 15, 1813, and was 1
left an orphan in a new country before he was six years of age, with one relative, Robert Gillespie Affleck, now of Bolivar, Mo. In those days the houses of the pioneers were small, but their hearts were large, and no matter how overflowing the hearthstone might be, there was always some hom- mny and a corner for the orphan or stranger. In 1820, our subject came to Belleville with a kind Tennessee family, and in this city he grew to man- hood, meanwhile learning the trade of cabinet and furniture making. After reaching maturity he earned money enough to pay his board, and then entered school, where he applied himself so closely that he obtained a fair education. Thus equipped, he commenced to work at cabinet-making and soon had a shop of his own, in which he continued until he thought he could make more by farming. For a short time he followed agricultural pusuits, and later engaged in business as a contractor and builder. The offer of a position as foreman in the Harrison Machine Shop seemed too good to refuse and, being accepted, was filled by him for some eighteen years. That his services were valued is sufficiently proved by the fact that they were retained for so long a period. In public affairs, he is always inter- ested and does his part toward promoting the wel- fare of the city. For years he has been Alderman from the Fourth Ward, and has served in other places of trust.
November 12, 1835, Mr. Affleck married Hester Ann, a daughter of Wesley Coleman, and to them have been born five children, namely: Charles D .; Mary, wife of Edwin Park, an attorney of Decatur; Jason, deceased; Amanda, the wife of Judge Wil- derman; and James R. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Affleck married Miss Ann E. Richardson, a native of Ohio. Their family is as follows: Cora, the wife of Frank L. Stewart, of Carmi, Ill .; Es- telle, who was married to John A. Logan, a second cousin of the lamented John A. Logan, and lives at C'armi; Ben F. is now a Cairo Short Line officer at St. Louis; Edward G. is in the Harrison Machine Shop; and Susie R. is attending the Normal School.
Mr. Affleck is a member of the church of his countrymen, in which he has served as Deacon. Ilis son Edward holds the positions of Elder and Trustee in that church. Although Mr. Affleck is a
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thorough American and proud of the progress made by the city of his choice, he lakes great interest in all Scoteh-Irish affairs, and has just returned from Atlanta, Ga., where there was a meeting of the clans.
DAM FUNK. The subject of this sketch is the largest land-owner in this section of the county. He resides on section 14, Freeburg Township, and owns nine hun- dred and forty acres of land in one place, and has a two-thirds interest in one hundred and sixty acres in another part.
Our subject was the son of George Funk, who was born and reared, and also married, in Germany. his wife being Catherine Routh; he came to America in 1833, and first settled where our subject now lives and where he entered land of the Government. At first a log cabin was erected in the wilderness, and there the family lived until 1861, when Mr. Funk erected the brick residence which is now standing. Then the land was wild, and deer and wild turkeys abounded, and the family went through the hard experiences of pioneer life in a new and unknown country. Of the five children born to Mr. Funk, four are yet living. Catherine is the wife of lleury Friess: Philip lives in this county; Margaret is the wife of Henry Ronth. The son who died was George. The father of our sub- ject owned over seven hundred acres of land here before his death.
The gentleman of whom we write was born Oc- tober 11, 1830, in Germany, and was three years old when he came to America. He was reared on the place where he now lives and never had the advantage of any schooling. Our subject was married in 1858 to Catherine Routh, who was the daughter of Adam Routh and was born and reared in Germany and came here in 1851. After his marriage, he brought his wife to this place, where he has remained ever since. His wife died after fourteen years of married life, and his second companion was Christina Schnure, who also was born in Germany, Five children were born dur-
ing the life of his first wife. They are George and Adam, twius, who now are farmers in this towu- ship; Henry also lives in this township; Mary is the wife of John Dickhaut, and Charles lives at home. Eight children have been born during his present marriage: Willie, Philip, Anna, Battie, Emma, Katie, Louisa and August.
Mr. Funk is general farmer and stock-raiser, giving particular attention to hogs, as he finds them more remunerative than any other kind of stock. He has seen great changes in his long life in this county and loves to tell of the times when it was all a wilderness. Ile remembers when the land was still forest, for he helped his father clear it. This large and respected family is well known in the neighborhood and has many friends.
UDGE BENJAMIN BONEAU. Judge Bon- eau's father, Joseph Boneau, whose name indicates his Freueh extraction, came from Logansport, Ind., in the early part of the present century, and settled in French Village, where, in connection with farming, he followed the occupation of a coal miner until his death, which occurred in October, 1834, he having been crushed and instantly killed by falling slate while inspecting his own mine. He settled in the above- mentioned village in 1806 or 1807, and was indeed the pioneer in the coal business in this section, for he was the first man who ever inined and sold a load of coal in St. Louis, He opened and operated the first coal mine in Illinois, and at the time of his death was doing a large and lucrative coal business in the St. Louis market. Ile was a man of wealth. owning six or seven hundred acres of land, and a drift mine in the bluff near French Village. He sold coal to the Wiggins Ferry Com- pany, and got out two or three loads per day for St. Louis and the other market demands. Ile was about thirty-six years of age at the time of his deathı.
Judge Boneau's mother was born in Prairie du Rocher, Randolph County. IN,, about the
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year 1796. Iler maiden name was Felicite Cal- liot, and she was descended from a long line of French ancestors, some of whom came to Kas- kaskia, Ill., and St. Genevieve, Mo., early in the last century. She died in the month of January. 1850. Her son, Judge Benjamin Boneau, is one of the county's representative men, and is in every way qualified for the honorable position he is now hold- ing. In the year 1852, he was graduated at St. Xavier's Jesuit College, Cincinnati, and imme- diately afterward entered the Cincinnati Law School, from which he received his diploma in 1855, having in the meantime been a student in the law office of King & Anderson, two of the most prominent attorneys in the State of Ohio.
In 1856, our subject was admitted to the Bar in Belleville, when Judge Breese was on the Bench, and also the St. Louis Bar, during Judge Hamil- ton's incumbency as Circuit Judge in that city. This was also in 1856. He practiced law for one year in Chicago, and for ten or fifteen years in Belleville, meeting with unusnal success in his pro- fession while engaged in it; but finding the prae- tice of law too sedentary and confining, he in course of time sought other and more active pur- suits, better suited to his taste and more beneficial to his health. In the meantime, however, he al- ways kept up his stock of reading and his study of law, and is regarded by the members of the Bar as possessing a clear and analytical legal mind, which eminently qualifies him to fill acceptably the office of County Judge, to which the people of this county elected him in 1890, with a majority of five hundred over Frank Perrin, who was Presi- dent of the Board of Supervisors of the county.
Judge Bonean's eloquence is natural, fluent and persuasive. His veneration for the law, and his high sense of moral responsibility, invest his manner with peculiar grace, and this, combined with his accuracy of legal knowledge. lucidity of statement. felicity of illustration, and copious- ness of vocabulary, renders him one of the popular orators of the Hlinois Bar. The Judge has ever been an earnest supporter of Democratic principles, and takes an active interest in all political cam- paigns. Ile was married on the 12th of January, 1858, to Miss Helen A. Lacroix, a lady reared in
Belleville, and the daughter of R. M. and Mary Ann (Hopkins) Lacroix, the father an old mer- chant, and a prominent man of Belleville. To Judge and Mrs. Boneau have been born five chil- (ren, as follows: Benjamin C., of the electric light plant of Minneapolis, Minn .; Mary A., at home; Charles W., in the railroad department of the C'hi- cago post-office, being the only Democrat left in the office; William C .. at home, clerking in St. Louis; and Leo Ogle, now attending school. This family holds membership in the Catholic Church.
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