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 57
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llenry Roewe was the youngest of the family, was reared on a farm, and from the time he was six until he had attained his fourteenth year he was an attendant of the common schools. At the age of sixteen years, he became an apprentice at brick-laying, and this occupation received his at- tention until he was twenty years of age, princi- pally in Oldenburg. At the above-mentioned age, he enlisted in the German army, in the Fifth Company, Seventh Regiment, and served during 1863-64;
during the fourteen months that he was in the ser- vice his time was principally spent in protecting the North Sea. Ile was in two engagements but returned home in February, 1865, and again began working at his trade. In the fall of 1866, he left Bremen for Hull, England, and after four months spent at his trade in that city, he went to London, and then to Southampton, where he took passage on board a steamer for New York City, which place he did not reach for sixteen days, owing to the stormy weather they encountered. He immedi- ately came to East St. Louis, Il., which was at that time only a small place, and, as money was a rather scarce article with him. he entered the em. ploy of James Smith, and until the following sum- mer drove one of his delivery wagons. Succeed- ing this, he was in a mill, a grocery store and the coal yard of Dunk Bros., but in 1869 began deal- ing in flour and feed on his own responsibility, be- ing associated with a Mr. Kemper, on Collinsville Avenue. This partnership continued harmoni- ously until 1883, when their establishment was un - fortunately burned and they did not again resume business relations. In the latter part of the same year. Mr. Roewe began doing business at his pres- ent stand at the corner of Fourth Street and Broad- way and has done well. The house is built of stone and brick and has a frontage of fifty feet and a depth of one hundred feet.
Mr. Roewe has identified himself with the inter- ests of East St. Louis and is a stockholder and Director in the Workingmen's Bank; he served as Alderman from the Third Ward, his election tak- ing place in 1878, and in 1889 was again elected to the position of Alderman on the Citizens' ticket. and served two years, during which time he was on a number of important committees and was Chairman of the Finance Committee. Ile warmly espoused the movement for the improvement of the streets. and has, in numerous other ways, showed himself an active worker for the good of the city. Ile was married, in 1869, to Miss Caro- line Seimer, a native of Oldenburg, Germany, but who came to America with her parents in 1867. To Mr. and Mrs. Roewe the following children have been born: Lizette, who is in a convent; Caroline, who is a clerk in a dry-goods store;
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Henry, Jr .; Herman, Cecelia, Christine, August and Josephine. They have also reared an adopted son, Theodore Wiesman. Mr. Roewe was one of the building committee of St. Henry's Church, is now a Trustee, and for many years past he has been Judge of Elections. He is a wide-awake man of business, but is strictly honorable in every respect, as his thriving business would indicate. He and his family are members of the Catholic Church.
UGUST LENZ is a progressive German of Belleville and is the President and sole owner of the Rogers Foundry & Stove Company, which was incorporated with a capital stock of $75,000. These works cover nearly three acres, about one-half of which is under roof, or the whole front of six hundred and twenty-four feet, and are in close proximity to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, which affords fine shipping facilities. Stoves are manufactured exclusively and are exceptionally well made and perfect, as this line of industrial activity has reached some- thing closely akin to perfection. Employment is given to one hundred and fifty skilled workmen, and in few branches of trade has the march of progress wrought sneh a veritable revolution. This house has made an immense amount of street-ear cable for St. Louis, Kansas City and Denver. and is thoroughly prepared to continue its manufac- ture whenever it receives contracts. The works are lighted up by electricity, and if occasion de- mands it work is conducted successfully at night as well as in the daytime.
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Mr. Lenz first became connected with this plant in 1884, simply as a stockholder, at which time it was a machine foundry. He is the owner of the Lenz Wire Nail Mill, which was erected about 1887 with a capital stock of about $20,000. It is fitted up with the finest machinery for the manufacture of wire nails from one-half to seven inches in length. He conducted that business until 1891, when it was leased to other parties, the power being furnished by płaut. He is Vice-president of the
Brosious Belleville Oil Company, which was estah- lished in 1856 with a capital stock of $80,000, which manufactures principally castor oil, although linseed oil and nut oil are largely manufactured. These works are located on West Main, near Mas- contah Street. Mr. Lenz is a gentleman of push and enterprise, thoroughly conversant with the wants of the trade and popular alike with his patrons and trade competitors. No Western com- pany has been more fortunate in establishing and maintaining a high reputation, both as to the superiority of the goods made and handled and the excellence of the work executed.
Our subjeet has a beautiful home situated on fifty acres of land four miles from Belleville on the Rock Road, the grounds surrounding his residence being especially beautiful and well kept. All kinds of fruits are raised in abundance, and his is an ideal country home, well removed from the din and bustle of city life. Mr. Lenz was born near Cologne, Prussia, July 17, 1827, but is a remarkably well preserved man for his years and looks much younger than he really is. He is a son of Arnold and Maria Lenz, and prior to their removal to America in 1832, he had acquired the principal part of his education. After coming to America, the father settled on a farm in Missouri and passed from life at his old home in Franklin County, in the vicinity of which the most of his children yet reside. He was a useful and progressive eitizen and was honored and respected alike by his ac- quaintanees and family.
The boyhood days of August Lenz were spent in following the plow on the old homestead, but he afterward became an employe in the firm of F. Dings & Co. on Main Street, St. Louis, with which he remained from 1849 to 1872, becoming a mem- ber of the firm in later years which was known as Ziock & Lenz. They started in business on Main Street and continued as business associates from 1862 to 1872, and Fortune smiled on their connec- tion. In 1872, Mr. Lenz bought and built a fine residence, to which he wished to retire from the active duties of life, but so active was his nature that he was not satisfied until he was again in busi- ness, and since that time he has conducted his affairs in an energetic and praiseworthy manner. lle is
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the sole manager of the Rogers Foundry & Stove Company, and has developed a flourishing trade, that has penetrated into many States of the Union and has assumed proportions of flattering magni- tude. The low scale of priees renders every ens- tomer a permanent one, and Mr. Lenz is to be con- gratulated upon the large measure of success achieved in his undertaking.
Mr. Lenz was united in marriage with Miss Amelia Ilalbach, of St. Louis, on the 21st of Sep- tember, 1851, and by her is the father of the fol- lowing five children: Rosa, wife of F. M. Preston, of East St. Louis; William and George, who are as- sociated in business with their father; Carl and Emma. Mr. Lenz is a shrewd financier and always grasps at any opportunity for bettering his financial condition, but, withal, is not in the least penurious, and is the soul of honor. Ile is of that class of foreigners whom America gladly welcomes to her shores. for he is not only industrious and enter- prising but he is also public-spirited and loyal, an American at heart, although of foreign birth.
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OSEPH C. BURR. Probably no man in St. Clair County has a higher reputation for thorough honesty and reliability than the above-named gentleman, lle is the owner and occupant of one of the finest farms in this section of the State, and numbers among his pos- sessions eight hundred acres of land, the aceumu- lation of which was actuated by a desire to obtain and vest in himself all land ever owned by the Burr family in Illinois.
Mr. Burr is a native of St. Clair County and was born on the farm where he now lives in 1836. lIere he became of age and began his own work in life, earning the confidence of those with whom he came in contact, and becoming the possessor of not only a competence, but sufficient of earth's good things to place him in the foremost ranks of the rich men of his county. In politics, he is a Repub- lican, a stanch adherent of the principles of Ins
party, and keenly interested in all that pertains thereto.
Chauncey S. and Parmelia ( Yoeman) Burr, the parents of our subject, were both born in the city of Hartford, Conn., the father in the year 1802, and the mother in 1801. The parents of Chauncey S. Burr died when he was very young, and he made his home from early infancy among stran- gers, lle, however, received an excellent common- school education, and when about eighteen years of age started in life for himself. His first venture was as a merchant in a small way, or as the people of his distriet termed the enterprise, he commenced as a book peddler. After six years of traveling with various wares, Mr. Burr, Sr., settled for a short time in Hartford, Conn., where he married. To him and his estimable wife were born eight children : August and Julian C., deceased; . Joseph C .; Adeline and Emeline, twins; Julia P., Sophronia, and Montgomery, who is deceased. Miss Emeline Burr has never married but is housekeeper for her brother Joseph; Adeline is the widow of Newton Bratney; Sophronia is the widow of Ebenezer Lih- ingworth, and Julia P., now deceased, was the wife of Raley Rawls.
After emigating to Illinois, Mr. Burr, Sr., located in Randolph County where he kept tavern for six years. Hle afterward bought eighty aeres of land in St. Clair County from a Mr. Jones, and after moving here he entered all the land that the Gov- ernment would allow him. He was a great student of the political history of our country, and, being the possessor of a good memory, was authority among his neighbors and friends for information referring to matters of the nation and Govern- ment.
After removing to St. Clair County, Chauncey Burr established himself as a thorough farmer and stoek-raiser. In politics, he was first a Whig and in his later years his sympathies and support were given to the Republican party. Ile held the office of Justice of the Peace in his township creditably to himself and acceptably to the community. The demise of his wife in 1871 was one of the saddest features of his prosperous career. For some years previous to his death, which occurred in 1877, he retired frem active life, and his son, our subjeet,
RESIDENCE OF JOSEPH C. BURR, SEC.27, LENZBURG TP., ST. CLAIR CO., ILL
RESIDENCE OF GEORGE P. LIEBIG, SEC.12, ENGLEMAN TP., ST.CLAIR CO., ILL.
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assumed all the care and responsibility of his fa- cher's business.
So much of the character is foreshadowed in the history of one's ancestors. that it will not be amiss to record the fact that this branch of the Burr family can trace their descent to one of the earliest New England families, their ancestors coming to the l'nited States in the "Mayflower," which landed at Plymouth Rock. Aaron Burr was a scion of the same family and the subject of our sketch, Joseph (. Burr, is a lineal descendant of this distinguished Revolutionary character.
By his economy and industry, Joseph C. Burr is now the owner of one of the most attractive homes in this county, both in its external sur- roundings and in the home life under its roof. Ile is a man of broad intelligence and progreseive ideas, a practical and successful agriculturist and one who in every department of life fulfills the duties that lie before him in a creditable manner. He has never married, his home being presided over by his sister, a lady of housewifely skill and many estimable traits of character. llis life has exhibited the qualities of sturdy man- hood, which are certainly the heritage of estimable ancestors as well as the development of surround- ings, and laudable ambition.
G EORGE P. LIEBIG, who owns a fine farm of three hundred and seventy-two aeres ou section 12, Engelman Township, was born on the 5th of December, 1836, in Baltimore, Md., and is of German descent. His father, Valentine Liebig, was a native of Darmstadt, Germany, and emigrated to America in 1836. Hle spent about a year in Baltimore, Md., and then removed with his family to St. Louis, where he resided for a year and a half. When he came to this country he was married and had three children. On loca- ting in St. Clair County, he took up his residence in what is now Freeburg Township, where he pur- chased forty acres of land. This he sold on re- moving to Engelman Township. In 1847, he pur-
chased the farm on which our subject now resides. and made it his home until 1864, when he removed to Mascoutah, and there resided until his death in 1876. Ilis wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Schuehmann, is also deceased. They were highly respected citizens, widely and favor- ably known in this community. Their family numbered eight children, seven of whom are yet living.
We now take up the personal history of our sub- ject, who has spent almost his entire life in this county. He was reared to manhood under the parental roof, and in the summer months worked upon a farm, while in the winter season he at- tended the common schools, where he acquired his education. He remained at home until his mar- riage, which was celebrated on the 23d of April, 1863, Miss Margaret Weaver becoming his wife. She is a daughter of Frederick Weaver, who came to America when sixteen years of age, and resided in Clinton County, III., where Mrs. Liebig was born and where she spent her maiden- hood days. The young couple began their domes- tic life upon his father's farm on section 13, En- gelman Township, where they spent about a year and a half, when, in the autumn of 1864, they re- moved to the farm which has since been their place of residence.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Liebig has been blessed by the presence of ten children, nine of whom are yet living, Fred having died at the age of six months and eight days: Henry V. is married, and resides on section 13, Engelman Township; Philip aids his father in the cultivation of the home farm; Lizzie is now the wife of John Brown, a telegraph operator on the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad at Baden, Il .; Emma, John, Mary, George, Annie and Susanna are still under the parental roof.
As before stated, Mr. Liebig owns a farm of three hundred and seventy-two acres, of which two hundred and eighty aeres are under a high state of cultivation. Ile is engaged in general farm- ing and stock-raising, and the neat appearance of his place indicates his careful management, while all the improvements upon the farm stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprise, Socially,
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Mr. Liebig is a Mason, and has always taken an ac- tive interest in the work of that fraternity. Ile is also an active member of the Farmers' Mutual Benefit Association, and was the first Viee-presi- dent of the first society started in this township. In politics, he is a Democrat, and has been honored with the offices of School Director, School Trustee and Ilighway Commissioner, which he filled for five years. Perseverance and enterprise are among his chief characteristies, and by good management and excellent business ability he has won success in his life work.
C HARLES P. FLEISCHBEIN. Any citizen of Belleville would speak of the subject of our sketch as one of the most respected and prominent of her many fine men. Ile deals exten- sively in fine imported wines and eigars, and does a very successful and flourishing business.
Our subject was born in this city October 22, 1840, and was the son of Jacob and Louisa (Lutz) Fleischbein. Jacob Fleischbein was born in Rhenish Bavaria and there married Miss Louisa Lutz. They came to this county in 1833, and here Jacob engaged in farming at Shiloh Val- ley, being among the party who settled that place. Ile remained there but a short time and then came to Belleville and established the first brewery in this vicinity, it being located near the corner of Illinois and First Streets. Here he con- tinned until 1855 and built up a large trade. He died in 1856, leaving a widow and seven children. They are: Catherine, widow of .lohn Wilding; Rosa, widow of M. Ellerman, of Chicago; Louise, wife of ('harles Becker, of this city; Fred 11 .; Theodore (., who is Deputy County Clerk; and the subject of this writing.
The latter was educated in this city and for a time was engaged in railroad work. In 1861, he became one of Uncle Sam's defenders and joined Company D, Ninth lilinois Infantry. Ile was taken sick at Cairo and brought to Belleville, where he remained until his recovery, when in 1862 he re-
enlisted and with Company F, Seventh Illinois In- fantry, was sent to guard prisoners at Camp Butler in Alton, and was also employed in taking prison- ers to Vicksburg. He served as First Lieutenant of Company F. lle was mustered out in October, 1863, and returned to St. Louis but later went to Madison, Wis., where he went into business. Hereturned in 1872 and spent some time in traveling for a St. Louis house and for the Western Brewery Company. In 1884 he first established his present business on Illinois Street, opposite the City Hall, but after- ward moved to East Main Street.
JIe has been an active worker in the Democratic party for many years, and for fourteen has been a member of the Central Committee and is now one - of the Executive Committee and Treasurer of the same. 1Ie is a member of the order of Knights of Pythias and is a member also of the Grand Army of the Republie.
Our subjeet was married to Miss Joanna Mabry, of this eity, June 26, 1864. They have four daughters, as follows: May, wife of Joseph Ammerman, of Leb- anon; Sarah, wife of Edgar Sager, of Lebanon; Alma and Luella.
FG REDERICK EDWARD RICHTER, who is now living a retired life in Maseoutah, is one of the extensive land-owners of the county and a self-made man, whose example is well worthy of emulation and should serve to encour- age others who, like himself, have to begin life at the lower round of the ladder. A native of Ger- many, he was born on the 4th of October, 1825, and when about five years of age removed to Ilesse-Darmstadt, where he acquired his education. lle was a young man of nineteen years when, in 1844, he bade good-bye to home and Fatherland and sailed for America in company with a brother, sister and their mother. On landing in this country, they made their way to Ilinois and located about a mile and a half northeast of Mas- coutah, where they purchased forty acres of land and a ten-acre timber tract. The brother, Louis,
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now resides north of the city. The sister is the widow of Adam Stock and makes her home in Maseoutah.
On coming to this county, Mr. Richter of this sketch worked in the fields for a-half dollar per day. At that time the farm produce was sent to market at St. Louis, and during the Mexican War they got only about sixteen cents per bushel for oats. Our subject shared in the hardships and trials of pioneer life and is familiar with the history of the county from that early day. Ile was first married to Miss Mary Blum, and unto them were born three children: Louis, who resides on his father's farm; Charles, who also carries on agricultural pursuits; and George, who operates a part of his father's land. The mother of this family was called to her final rest in March, 1854, and Mr. Richter was married in the autumn of the following year to Miss Elizabeth Rheinhart, daughter of Conrad Rheinhart, who resided in Maseoutah Township, about a mile south of the city. Five children graced this marriage, but the first-born died in infancy; Philip, is now living in Mascoutah Township; Mary is the wife of Ernest R. llagist, a business man of this place; Lizzie is the wife of Fred Justus, who is engaged in general merchandising in Mascoutab; and Matilda Cather- ine, now the wife of John Mann, a resident farmer of Clinton County, Ill.
Mr. Richter resided on the old homestead until 1865, when he removed to a farm six miles north- cast of Mascoutah, there making his home for a period of twelve years. On the expiration of that time, be bought a farm near the old homestead, to which he removed, engaging in the cultivation and improvement of his land until about a year ago, when, in the latter part of August, 1891, he re- moved to the city and has since lived a retired life. Hle now owns five hundred and ninety-seven acres of valuable land, all of which is under a high state of cultivation, with the exception of his timber tracts. This yields to him an excellent in- come.
Mr. Richter is a member of the Presbyterian Church, is President of its Board of Trustees, has always been an active worker in the church, and is one of its liberal supporters. In politics, he is a
Republican, and for five years served as Supervisor of his township. He was Sehool Director for many years, and the cause of education finds in him a warm friend. His life has been a busy and useful one. He came to this country empty-handed, but depending on his own resources, he has steadily worked his way upward, overcoming all the diffi- eulties and obstacles in his path, and making his way gradually to a position of wealth and af- fluence. Ile is now enjoying a well-earned rest, surrounded by all the comforts of life, which he has won through his well-directed efforts. He is one of the prominent citizens of the county, a man widely and favorably known, and one of its early settlers, who for almost half a century has wit- nessed its progress and upbuilding.
F. METELMANN. This gentleman is one of the rising merchants of Darmstadt, St. Clair County. Ilis first acquaintance with this mundane sphere began in St. Louis, Mo., in the year 1861. He is a descendant of an old respected German family, and came to his present location when he was twenty-three years old, settling here and entering into mercantile life with sufficient vim and energy to found a business of which he is to-day the successful proprietor.
Rev. Jolin II. Metelmann, father of our subject, was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, in 1814. Ile was a prominent man in the part of the country where he lived, and was called on to represent his district in Congress. Ilonest, firm and unyielding in his views, the dark days of the revolution ne- cessitated his leaving his native land and fleeing to the shores of this new and more Democratic country. John Il. Metelmann was a very highly educated man, he having been a student at the noted schools of Sweerin and Ludwiglust. Ilis political earcer ended with his exile from his native land, and after settling in the United States he adopted the ministry as his chosen profession and life work. He espoused the Lutheran creed and
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was known during his life as an earnest and devont exponent of the life and principles of the founder of his church. His most successful pastorate was that of the Lutheran Church, at Highland. Ill., where he preached the Gospel for thirteen successive years, organizing a church. and building up a community which to-day bears evidence of his ability as a scholar, and as the pastor of a people who appre- ciated his efforts in their behalf and recognized in him a help and counselor to the community.
Our subjeet's father was married in his native land to Miss Elizabeth Hanke, and to them were. born five children, only one of whom survives, namely Mrs. Mary Bush, wife of Jacob Bush, who is Master Machinist in the shops of the Chicago, Burlington & Quiney Railroad Company at Keokuk, Iowa. His first wife dying in Germany, Rev. Mr. Metelmann was again married, this time to Emma Karlsburg. daughter of Carl and Elizabeth ( Ratul- fia) Karlsburg, and to them were born five children, three of whom are yet living: Paul A., general man- ager of a large wholesale establishment in St. Louis; Louisa, wife of William Popp, of Biddleborn, III .; and M. F., the subject of this sketeh.
Mr. M. F. Metelmann began the career for which nature intended him at the age of fourteen. At vari- ons periods of his early boyhood, he held positions as newsboy and clerk in a store. Such were the fields in which he sought to gain his future fortune. Ile moved to his present location from Highland in the year 1879, and then opened a general store in a small way. Prudence, industry, economy and thrift have ever characterized his undertakings, and the growth of his small business enterprise ought eer- tainly to be a source of pleasure to Mr. Metelmann, as he looks back over the years and views in memory his small starting point.
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