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 38
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G EORGE W. SHIPMAN, proprietor of the Western Kog Works, near the Louisville & Nashville passenger depot, is one of the successful men whose history forms the glory of St. Clair County. One of the prominent features of the business men of Belleville, Ill., is their energy and push. Mr. Shipman is no exception in this respect, but affords a striking example of the truth of the assertion. lle is a man of excel- lent business qualifications and good habits, and a citizen who has the Inghest regard of all who know him.
Our subject was born near St. Clairsville, the rounty seat of Belmont County, Ohio, on the 10th
of September, 1821, and is a son of Walter and Ann (Wilson) Shipman. The father was a car- penter by trade, but in connection was also en- gaged in farming and was the owner of eighty acres of land. on which he made his home. lle died in Belmont County, and left a family of nine children, all but one now living. Our subject re- ceived his early education in the log schoolhouse of pioneer days. but as the schoolhouse was two miles distant from his home and in the woods, his scholastic training was limited to about four months in all. However, he had a naturally bright and active mind, and by observation and study later in life, he became quite well posted on all subjects of moment.
Our subject was only about eighteen years of age when his father died, and he subsequently be- gan learning the machinist's trade in Martin's Ferry, Ohio. He was the first man who ever put a threshing-machine on wheels and threshed with it in that position, and this created a demand for his machines. Ile became a member of the firm of Shipman, Bales & Co., and continued in this bus- iness until 1860. At the breaking out of the war, he enlisted in Company F, Fiftieth Ohio Infantry, and was in the army of the Cumberland through Kentucky and Tennessee. He served his country faithfully for three years, and during that time he never received a wound nor was he taken prisoner. Ile served as wagon-master for about twenty-two months. After returning from the war, he worked at the machine business, and in 1869 established a manufactory of nail kegs at Martin's Ferry, which he conducted until 1871. From there he moved to Port Clinton, Ohio, thence to Wood County, Ohio, in 1874, and in 1877 he located in Belle- ville, Ill., where he engaged in the manufacture of nail kegs. lle soon established a manufactory of his own near the Western Nail Works, with steam power and all the improved machinery for the manufacture of kegs. He built all his machines but two. llis manufactory has a capacity of twenty-five hundred kegs per day, and he employs about sixty hands, making a pay roll of about 81,200. This is one of the most flourishing insti- tutions of the city, and is the principal keg fac- tory, Mr. Shipman is thoroughly alive to the
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business interests of this busy city, and his factory reflects the highest credit upon his management.
On the 26th of July, 1873, Mr. Shipman was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Ann Brown, of Colerain Township, Belmont County, Ohio, and she now presides over his fine home at No. 522 D Street, Belleville. This is one of the loveliest places in the city, and attracts the eye of all. Mr. Shipman was previously married to Miss Martha Smith, of St. Clairsville, and six children were the fruits of this union: William; Martha, wife of George Fowler; Lillian, wife of E. J. Smallwood; George W., Charles and Stephen E. Mr. Shipman owns several lots and two houses in the city and other real estate. Socially, he is a member of Belmont City Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., at Mar- tin's Ferry, Ohio, and the Grand Army. Mr. Ship- man was Alderman of the First Ward for one term. By his last union, he became the father of one son, Jefferson Brown.
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R OBERT CUNNINGIIAM. It is an undenia- ble truth that the life of any man is of great benefit to the community in which he resides, when all his energies are directed toward ad- vancing its interests, and when he lives according to the highest principles of what he conceives to be right. Mr. ('unningham is one of these men. Hle has been prominently identified with every en- terprise of importance in the county, and no laud- able movement is allowed to fail for want of sup- port on his part. At present he is serving as Alderman from the First Ward of East St. Louis, and is discharging the duties incumbent upon that position in a very satisfactory manner. He has been a resident of East St. Louis since 1865, and has been with the Wiggins Ferry Company since 1872. Throughont St. Clair County he is well known, and is regarded as one of its representa- tive men.
Like many of the prominent citizens of East St. Louis, Mr. Cunningham is of foreign birth. He was born in County Louth, Ireland, March 17, 1845.
His father, John Cunningham, who was also born in that county, was a stonemason and contractor, contracting for stone and brick work. He lived to the good old age of seventy-eight years, and died in 1887. Upright and honest in every walk of life, he won and held the respect of all. He married Bridget Gorman, also a native of the green isle of Erin, and her death oeeurred in 1847. Three children were born of this union, but our subjeet, the youngest child, is the only one in America. One of his brothers, Bernard, resides in the old place, and is a stonemason. Patrick. the other brother, is a machinist of Dublin.
Robert Cunningham was reared and educated in his native country. When eighteen years of age he decided to cross the ocean to America, and in July, 1863, he took passage at Liverpool with his unele, Patrick Gorman. Thirteen days later they landed in New York City, and went from there to Toledo, Ohio, where our subject was en- gaged in different occupations for two years. In December, 1865, he removed further West, and engaged as a steamboat hand between St. Louis and New Orleans. Hle was on different boats until the spring of 1867, when he came to East St. Louis, and made a trip of thirty-five hundred miles in fifty-seven days, on the steamer " St. Luke." Later, he ran on the Upper Mississippi River, on the steamer " Key City," of St. Paul, and was thus engaged one year. Returning to East St. Lonis he was with the Vandalia Railroad for one year, and subsequently was engaged in driving transfer wagons for the St. Louis Transfer Com- pany two years.
In 1872, Mr. Cunningham engaged with the Wiggins Ferry Company as deckhand, and worked his way up to foreman, which he has held sinee 1875. lle is in charge of a set of men, and thor- oughly understands his business. He is also quite extensively engaged in the real-estate business in this city. In 1870, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Hoey, a native of Ireland, and nine children have resulted from this union: Mary: who is a teacher in the Douglas School; Jolin, a time-keeper for the Wiggins Belt Line; Robert, Katie, Agnes, Joseph, Edward, Annie and Thomas, all but the two eldest at home.
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In 1883. Mr. Cunningham was elected Alder- man from what was then the Third (now the First) Ward, and has filled that position ever since. Ile has served on different committees, and is Chairman of the Railroad Committee. Mr. Cunningham is an earnest advocate of the im- provement and advancement of the city, has per- formed honorable and efficient service, and is en- titled, with others, to feel a pride and satisfaction over the result of efforts and labor that have cul- minated in the East St. Louis of to-day. In 1876 he was elected School Director. Ile is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and in poli- tics, is a strong Democrat. Ile has frequently been a delegate to county conventions, and has been President of the Democratic convention for years. Mr. Cunningham is a member of the first Building and Loan Association of East St. Louis, and has been a member of the Grand Jury. He is a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church, and contributes liberally to its support.
h ON. GUSTAVUS KOERNER, ex-Lieuten- ant-Governor of the State of Illinois, is a distinguished German-American writer and statesman, and was born at Frankfort-on- the-Main, Germany, November 20, 1809, in which country his father, Bernhard Koerner, was a book publisher and a prominent citizen of Frankfort. The latter was repeatedly elected to the Legislative body of this frec city, in which he became conspicu- ous for liberalism. Gustavus attended the academy (gymnasium) of Frankfort and became a student at Jena, whose university was then the center of the students' association known as "Burschenschaft." Ile was a stanch adherent of that patriotic body of students. and became imbued with a warm and sincere devotion to the cause of German liberty and unity. In 1830, he pursued his studies at the University of Munich, and with others was charged while there with having resisted the police, and was arrested and imprisoned for four months. Upon being released and discharged by judgment
of the Supreme Court of Bavaria, he went to Hei- delberg, where he finished his studies, being grad- nated in 1832 and receiving the degree of LL. D. Soon after this, he was admitted to the Supreme Court of his native eity to practice his profession.
In 1833, the movement to place the Govern- ment on a Republican basis met his hearty ap- proval, as it did that of thousands of other young professional men, and he became involved in the uprising at Frankfort, April 3, 1838, and in the conflict with the soldiers was wounded. Upon his recovery, with the assistance of friends, he escaped to France, but was not permitted to stay in that country, and was sent by the French Government, under escort, to Switzerland. Hle soon after, how- ever, returned to France, and from the city of Paris went to Havre, where he found old friends in the Englemann family about to embark for America. Ile joined them and June 18, 1833, arrived in New York City. In July, he reached Belleville, St. Clair County, where he settled and where he continued to reside. Ile entered the law school at Lexington, Ky., and in 1835 was admitted to the Bar, and through his undeniable ability soon at- tained a reputation that called him into many cases of importance in the local and Supreme Courts. In 1845, his reputation as a clear and log- ieal reasoner and a sound jurist received com- mendable and honorable recognition, and he was appointed by the Governor of the State to a posi- tion on the Supreme Bench, and the next year was elected to the same position by the Legislature. He wore the judicial ermine with dignity, ability and ease, and upon retirement from the Bench in 1849, when the office was made an elective one, he bore with him the respeet and good-will of all, and the consciousness that he had done his duty so far as he saw it.
Our subject declined to be a candidate for re- election and returned to Belleville and resumed his praetiee. llis judicial opinions while on the Bench were marked by great clearness, and exhib- ited thorough research and careful analysis, and are yet held in high esteem by the Bar of the State. Being in accord with the Democratic party, he was elected to the Legislature by it in 1842. and ten years later was elected to the honorable
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and responsible position of Lieutenant-Governor of the State, his majority being very large. lle was the first German in the State to be so hon- ored. As a presiding officer in the Senate, he was distinguished for the correctness of his rulings, and his thorough knowledge of parliamentary law. In 1854, he took a decided stand against the ex- tension of slavery and made it a point to be in constant touch and sympathy with the advanced of the age, who abhorred mental or physical slavery in whatever form it appeared. Ilis course was exceedingly unpopular, and he and many other able men found themselves outside their party by their refusal to subscribe to the principles and up- hold the tenets as represented by the slave oli- garchy of the South, who represented the domi- nant wing of the party. The active and positive position he took on the Kansas-Nebraska ques- tion brought him in sympathy and accord with Abraham Lincoln, Lyman Trumbull, John M. Palmer, and all the great leaders of the progressive thought of that day, and together they constituted the leaders through whose agency the Republican party was formed and brought into organization and power. Mr. Koerner became the acknowl- edged leader of the party throughout 'Southern Illinois,
In 1858, he was a member of the convention that nominated Lincoln for United States Senator, and stumped the State in his behalf. In 1860, he was a delegate-at-large to the Chicago convention, and was a member of the committee that wrote the memorable platform, upon which committee were also Gov. Boutwell, Carl Schurz and Horace Gree- ley. In 1861, he was active in raising the Forty- third Illinois Infantry, but was appointed Colonel of Volunteers by President Lincoln and was assigned to the staff of Fremont and later to the staff of HIalleck. Illness compelled his resignation in March, 1862, but his influence still continued to be felt and he did much to induce the mass of Germans to remain loyal to the Government. In June, 1862. Lincoln again manifested his confidence in one who had remained so loyally his friend, and Mr. Koerner was appointed Minister to Spain, which position he filled with distinguished ability for two and a-half years, when he resigned. He did much to
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maintain a strict neutrality on the part of Spain, and his services to his country were very valuable and of a most satisfactory kind.
In 1868, he was Elector-at-Large for the State and presided over the electoral college of Illinois, cast- ing the electoral vote for Grant. In 1871, he was appointed by the Governor of Illinois one of the newly-created Board of Railway & Warehouse Commissioners, of which body he became Chairman and did much valuable services in working and guarding the interests of the people. In 1872, he became a Liberal in his political views, and in that year was the Liberal Democratic candidate for Governor of the State, his name adding much strength to the new party, which was born at Cin- cinnati and of which Horace Greeley was the cham- pion. Ile ran eleven thousand votes ahead of the Presidential candidate. With a record untarnished and integrity and honesty of purpose unquestioned, he again assumed the duties of his profession, in which he still continues and gives every evidence of a much longer period of usefulness. During his long and busy life, he has found much time to devote to literary pursuits, and in 1833 he wrote some valuable articles for a monthly magazine, Das Ausland, published at Stuttgart, Germany, correcting erroneous ideas of this country which were entertained in Germany. He has contributed many other articles of note to leading magazines and periodicals, all of which show the workings of a scholarly and active mind that has been strength- ened and enriched by the highest culture. ITis style in writing and speaking is smooth, forcible and convincing. and in 1840 he translated into German all the general laws in the revised code of Illinois of 1833. After his ministry in Spain, he published at Frankfort, Germany, reminiscences of "Aus Spanien," and in 1880 "Das Deutsche Ele- ment in den Vereinigten Staaten von 1818-1848," a large and exhaustive work which was printed in Cincinnati.
June 15, 1836, he married Miss Sophia. daughter of Frederick Theodore Engelmann, late of St. Clair County, and his union resulted in the birth of five sons and three daughters, one son and two daughters of whom are living. This, in brief, is a sketch of one of the old settlers of St. Clair
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County and one who has been conspicuous for half a century in the political affairs of his adopted country. Few men living have been more promi- nent in the State or have extended more influence or been more thoroughly representative than has he. He has grown old gracefully, and his declin- ing years are being spent in the bosom of an affec- tionate family and in the circle of an extended friendship.
OIIN S. CARSON. Prominent among the shining lights of the legal profession stands the subject of this brief sketch, who has made the beautiful little city of Belleville his home for several years past.
Mr. Carson is a native son of Illinois, having been born in this State, at Nashville, June 10, 1851, the son of Robert and Nancy C. (Mitchell) C'arson. The last-named persons were both na- tives of Todd County, Ky., who came to Washing- ton County with their parents, and married soon after arrival. Here they entered land that now is a part of the suburbs of Nashville, and lived and died on the farm they reclaimed from the prairie, the father dying February 10, 1889, and the mother in 1860. When the death of the mother occurred, there were two children left the sorrow- ing father: our subject and a daughter, Sarah Jane. wife of Richard Snead, of Nashville. Mr. Robert Carson was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
John Carson was educated at Mckendree Col- lege, Lebanon, Ill. After graduating, he engaged in the mercantile business at Nashville, but, feel- ing that his attainments fitted him for greater things, he abandoned his occupation and removed to Belleville in 1884, in order to engage in the study of law under Mr. Winkleman. After several years of hard and persistent study. he was ad- mitted to practice at the Bar by an examination of the Appellate Court at Mt. Vernon. Before taking the examination, he was engaged for two years in the real-estate business, but finally opened
his office for practice at No. 18 South Illinois Street with Mr. Winkleman as a partner. Since that time, so successful has he been, that the busi- ness is in a flourishing condition, and Mr. Carson and his partner have more practice all the time than they can possibly attend to.
In addition to his professional duties, Mr. Car- son has served in several public capacities, having been United States Gauger during 1885 and 1886; he was also elected a member of the City Council by the Democratic party, to whom he owns allegiance.
The marriage of Mr. Carson and Miss Mary J. Eckert, daughter of Leonard Eckert, of Monroe County, occurred September 5, 1872, and there have been four children added to their family since then: Robert L., Jessie, Frank Houston and John Edward.
Mr. Carson is one of the leading members of the Knights of Pythias, and is now holding one of the chairs in that order. Ile and his interesting family occupy a comfortable residence at No. 917 Park Avenue. Mr. Carson is one of the most re- spected business men of Belleville, much of whose prosperity is due to just such men as our subject.
ANS SCHWARZ, editor and proprietor of the Tageblatt und Arbeiter Zeitung at Belle- ville, was born April 23, 1851, in Neustadt, near Nuremberg, in Bavaria. Ilis educa- tion was gained in the schools of his native vil- lage, where in his youth he learned the trade of a printer, becoming a skillful compositor, and famil- iar with the "art preservative." For eleven years he was editor and business manager of a paper in Germany, in which he gained a practical exper- ience that has been of inestimable value to him in this country.
In the year 1883. Mr. Schwarz emigrated to the United States, coming West to St. Louis, where he remained for one year. During the following year he came to Belleville, of which city he has since been a resident. In 1885, he established the Arbeiter Zeitung, which he first conducted as a weekly issue,
yours very respectfully thr. Koenig
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but one year later added a daily paper, which has since been under his personal supervision. The weekly journal contains eight pages, devoted to news of general interest, as well as matters of local importance only. The daily paper, which is a four- page sheet, has a large number of readers, and is a favorite among the citizens of Belleville and vi- cinity. It is published in German, and is consid- ered authority by the people of that nationality who reside in St. Clair County.
Although he retains a deep regard for the Father- land, Mr. Schwarz is also devoted to the interests and welfare of the country of his adoption, and represents our best type of German-American cit- izens. Hle is identified with several German organ- izations, among them being the Hlarugari, the Arbeiter Unterstuetzungs Verein, and the Ger- man-American Typographieal I'nion No. 18, and the Treubund.
R EV. FATHER CHRISTOPHER KOENIG, who has been a well-known and public- spirited resident of East St. Louis since January 27, 1869, is a man of education and refinement, highly respected and esteemed, not only by his congregation, but by all who know him, and he has ever manifested a deep in- terest in the noble work in which he is engaged. Ile was born in Attendorn, Westphalia, Germany, October 6, 1842, a son of Christopher and grand- son of Frank Koenig, the latter having been a tiller of his native soil and a soldier in Bonaparte's army. He was in the Russian campaign for a short time but was taken sick and returned home. He was called from the scenes of his earthly labors in 1854, at which time he lacked four months of be- ing one hundred years old. His mind was unim- paired up to the day of his death, his memory bright, and in his latter years he showed a remark- ably vigorous constitution, for even at the age of ninety-nine years he did considerable work.
Christopher Koenig, the father of the subject of
this sketch, was the owner of a small farm in Ger- many, but the prospects offered to men of enter- prise and push in America were alluring, and in 1863 he came to this country with his wife and two children, one son having preceded them hither. They embarked on the sailing-vessel "Thesco" at Bremen and landed in New York at the end of twenty-eight days. They at once pro- eceded to Columbia, Monroe County, Ill., to join their son. Their father died in 1877, at the age of seventy-three years, at the home of our' subject, in East St. Louis. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Tillmann, was a daughter of Peter Till- mann, a school teacher of Germany, and died in the year 1882. Father William was educated for the priesthood in Germany, came to America in 1860, and died in Columbia, Ill., where he was pastor of a church, in 1864; Elizabeth is the widow of Mr. Goelz and resides in this city with Father Christo- pher Koenig, her brother. The latter attended the common schools until he was fourteen years of age, after which he remained with his parents and as- sisted them on the farm, being compelled to give up the Latin studies which he had commenced. Ile became a resident of Columbia, IN., in 1863, and at once resumed the study of Latin under his brother. At the end of one year, he entered St. Franeis Seminary of Milwaukee, Wis., where he re- mained until 1868. Hle was then ordained by Archbishop Hennis, receiving his first appointment to East St. Louis on the 27th of January, 1869. At that time his congregation consisted of forty families, and services were held in a frame build- ing on Colhnsville and St. Louis Avenues, which had been erected in 1866 by Father Rinkens.
In 1873, the erection of the present beautiful church was commenced and on Christmas morning of the same year the first services were held. At the same time this commodious and handsome house of worship was erceted, the parochial residence was also built, and in 1887 the parochial school build- ings of St. Henry's Church were established. Four teachers are kept constantly employed, and the pupils number two hundred and sixty. The church occupies one block on Broadway, between Fifth and Sixth Streets, the congregation of which now numbers three hundred families, and when this is
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taken into consideration, together with the many expensive improvements that have been made, it indicates a praiseworthy spirit among the people and earnest and persistent efforts on the part of the pastor. St. Mary's Hospital on Missouri Avenue, between Eighth and Ninth Streets, was erected in 1889, it being a two-story brick and basement building 80x40 feet in dimensions. It was opened in 1890 and is in charge of nine Sisters, who are in every way fitted to care for those who may come under their care. Father Koenig in a Democrat, is a believer in America and Americans and advo- cates their attendance at the polls.
R EV. C. Il. A. VAN DER SMISSEN. This prominent and much-esteemed minister of the Gospel is a native of Germany, and was born in Fredericksstadt, Schleswig-Ilol- stein, December 4, 1851, and is a son of C. J. and S. C. (van der Smissen) van der Smissen, the latter being the second cousin of her husband. The fa- ther was at first a book-binder, but in 1837 he be- came a minister in the Mennonite Church and continued in the active discharge of his ministerial duties until 1890, He came to America in 1868, as Professor of Theology in Wadsworth Mennonite College, Medina County, Ohio, and was a man of much more than ordinary ability, being educated in some of the best colleges of his country. lle continued in the above-mentioned college until 1879, when he went to Ilayesville, Ohio, where our subject had a charge. While a resident of the old country, Mr. van der Smissen was considered one of the finest preachers in the province, and was noted for his eloquence, deep reasoning and true piety. His death occurred on the 29th of May, 1890, when seventy-eight years of age. The mother was born on the 15th of March, 1814. Their children were as follows: Elizabeth, who married M. D. Homey, a Director of the Idiot Asylum at Nassau; Wilhelmina F. became the wife of Henry Schwacke, a school teacher in the Ft. Wayne, Ind., schools, and they reside in that city; Gilbert
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