USA > Illinois > Adams County > Quincy > Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. I > Part 32
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.J. Philip Bert, the oldest son of Jean Philip and Elizabeth Bar- bara (Liebig) Bert, was born in Gross-Biberau, December 28, 1829, came to Quiney with his parents, grew up in this eity, was educated in the schools of the town and learned the tailor's trade from his father. In the course of time he married Fannie S, Brown. After the death of his father he continued the tailoring business until 1900, when he retired from business. Some years ago he died, while his wife is still among the living.
Jean Philip and Elizabeth Barbara ( Liebig) Bert had a daughter born to them in November, 1833, while they were still at sea on board
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of the sailing vessel Leontine. This daughter was named Leontine after the vessel on board of which they spent eleven weeks crossing the Atlantic, reaching Baltimore in December. Leontine grew to womanhood in Quincy and in the course of time became the wife of Frederick J. Reinecker, for many years prominent as contractor and builder.
John L. Bert, the secoud son of Jean Philip and Elizabeth Bar- bara (Liebig) Bert, was born in St. Louis April 7, 1835, and was brought to Quincy by his mother when three months old, on July 4th of said year. He grew up in Quincy, acquired his education in public and private schools, and when fourteen years of age entered night school to prepare himself for the business world by learning bookkeeping. He then accepted a position as clerk in a dry goods store. Later entering the employ of Henry Root, he remained with him until 1865, when the latter sold his business to the newly organ- ized firm of Shinn, Bert & Hill; still later, after the death of Mr. Shinn the firm continued as Bert & Hill, until in 1871 Mr. Bert bought Mr. Hill's interest, conducting the carpet business for years until he finally retired. In 1860 John L. Bert married Mary E. Fox, a daughter of Oliver H. Fox, a farmer who came to Adams County from Massachusetts in 1838. One son, Harry Leon, was born to them June 9, 1863; he in the course of time married Nannie Wil- liams, who died March, 1903, leaving three children: Mary, now Mrs. Neal Monroe, Elizabeth and Archie. John L. Bert died Jan- uary 21, 1918.
Other children of Jean Philip and Elizabeth Barbara (Liebig) Bert were: Emilie, who was married to William Abel, March 27, 1864, and died five years ago. George Oswald Bert, who became a machinist, served in the Tenth Illinois Infantry during the Civil war, and later married Caroline Tribbe : his wife died many years ago, while he is still among the living, also a daughter, Lillian, the wife of Edward Donahue, in Quincy. Christian Bert, who served in the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry during the Civil war, is a music teacher, and married Sophronia Worth; he, with his wife, resides in Parkinson, Indiana. Daniel Bert, the youngest son of Jean Philip and Elizabeth Barbara (Liebig) Bert, for many years with his brother, John L. Bert, is at present living in Quincy, re- maining single.
Adam Schmitt was born September 25, 1805, in Georgheim on the Bergstrasse, Grandduchy of Hessen, and came to America in 1831, landing at Baltimore. From there he went to Chambersburg, Penn- sylvania, where he followed his trade as a cabinetmaker at $1 per day. In the year following he married Maric Margaret Herlemann. born in Gross-Biberan, Grandduchy of Hessen, August 12, 1808, who had come to America with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Andrew Ilerlemann, in 1832. Later the family moved to Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania. where Adam Schmitt erected a furniture factory, which
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was destroyed by fire. Having lost almost everything, Adam Schmitt and the HIerlemann family decided to go west. The party, consisting of fifteen persons, came down the Ohio and up the Mississippi River by boat, landing at St. Louis, from where they went overland to Belleville, Illinois, where relatives of the Herlemann family lived. Then Adam Sehmitt and William Diekhut, who had accompanied the party from Pittsburgh, started out afoot looking for a suitable place to settle down. They came to what now is St. Charles, Missouri, but did not like the surroundings. Wandering to the shore of the Mis- sissippi, they hailed a boat northward bound and came to Quiney, at that time a town of several hundred inhabitants. Adam Schmitt rented a loghouse at Third and Hampshire streets, with one room on the ground floor and one room above under the roof, to which the denizens had to ascend by means of a ladder. Returning to St. Louis with the next boat, Adam Schmitt went to Belleville and brought the party, consisting of fifteen persons, to Quiney, where all had to accommodate themselves to that loghouse with the two apartments. This was in April, 1834. William Andrew Herlemann, the father-in- law of Adam Schmitt, soon afterward took his family to the country, where they settled down near Mill Creek in Melrose.
Adam Schmitt soon aequired a piece of ground at Tenth and Broadway, where he ereeted a dwelling and a workshop, and began to make furniture. In this workshop the first mass was read in Quiney by a Catholie missionary, Adam Schmitt at that time being Catholie, while his wife and her family were Lutherans. Later he ereeted a briek building on Fourth Street, between Maine and Jersey streets. Finally he located on Hampshire, between Fourth and Fifth streets, where he eondueted a furniture store until he retired from business. Adam Schmitt died in 1885, while his wife departed this life in 1889.
Adam and Marie Margaret (Herlemann) Schmitt had three sons, who became prominent, especially during the Civil war. John Adam Schmitt, born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1833, assisted his father in business until the Civil war broke out, when he enlisted in Company A, Twenty-seventh Illinois Infantry. being elected as see- ond lieutenant, and serving nearly three years, when he was severely wounded at the Battle of Missionary Ridge and received an honorable discharge as first lieutenant. Later he went west, locating at Helena, Montana, where he still lives.
GEN. WILLIAM A. SCHMITT
William A. Schmitt, born in Quincy. JJune 30, 1839. at the begin- ning of the Civil war rallied to the first call of President Lincoln. serving three months as first sergeant of Company E. Tenth Ilinois Infantry. Then he came home and recruited Company A, a German company, of the Twenty-seventh Ilinois Infantry, being elveted as captain of the company, serving through the whole war, and taking
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part in all the engagements of the regiment. At the Battle of Mur- freesboro, Tennessee, the Twenty-seventh Illinois Infantry suffered heavy losses. Roberts, the commander of the brigade, fell, also Colonel Harrington, commander of the Twenty-seventh, consequently William A. Schmitt, who then was major of the regiment, had to assume com- mand. He soon saw that in following the retreating enemy, the troops under his eommand had gotten into ambush. To save his men, he gave orders to retreat, which was carried out successfully. When they reached the headquarters of General Rosecrans at the Murfrees- boro and Nashville Pike, their ammunition was exhausted. To save the headquarters, a bayonet charge was ordered, the enemy repulsed and thus the day saved for the Union army. General Roseerans issued a general order the next day, especially thanking those men for their bravery. At the close of the war William A. Sehmitt received an honorable discharge as brevet brigadier general. After the war Gen. William A. Schmitt held a position in the postal department in Quincy for a number of years, and later moved to Chicago, where he held a similar position until his death fourteen years ago.
Philip Leonard Schmitt, the youngest son of Adam and Marie Margaret (Herlemann) Sehmitt, born in Quiney in 1845, also served in the Union army during the Civil war, enlisting in the One Hun- dred and Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry, which, pursuant to a call of President Lincoln, was organized and mustered into service June 5, 1864, to serve for 100 days. Ex-Governor John Wood, the founder of Quincy, was colonel of the regiment. Philip Leonard Schmitt was selected as corporal of Company A. After the war he removed west and died in Denver, Colorado, four years ago. One daughter of Adam and Marie Margaret (Herlemann) Sehmitt is living in Quincy, Mrs. Mary L. Miller, wife of George F. Miller, for many years in business, now retired.
The Pfanschmidt family was among the early pioneers of this eonnty, and their history is very interesting, as the established records of the family date back to the Thirty Years' war. In January, 1901, the writer of this narrative called on Mrs. Johanna M. Jansen, widow of the early pioneer Frederick William Jansen, for information about the Pfansehmidt family, she being one of the descendants. Mrs. Jansen had in her possession some of the old pewter ware, made by her ancestors in former centuries. The name originally was written Pfannenschmidt, designating the trade they followed, namely, making pans, plates, cups, pitchers, teapots, ete., out of pewter and other metal. Mrs. Jansen also had a book, published in Berlin in 1896, by some members of the family in that city, giving a complete history of the family. From this book the writer gleaned the following data :
Andreas Pfannenschmidt lived during the Thirty Years' war in Eickendorf near Kalbe on the River Saale. IIe was a judge of the court and also a farmer. ITis son bore the same name as the father, was a master of his trade and as such became a citizen of Kalbe. The
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grandson of the first mentioned Andreas Pfannenschmidt was born in Kalbe April 13, 1759, received the name Christian Frederick, and changed his family name to Pfannschmidt. Later he moved to Erfurt. where he married Carolina Rosina Reinhardt, the daughter of a master coppersmith. On February 21, 1791, a son was born to them, who was named Christian Henry Philip. Christian Frederick Pfann- schmidt transferred his business to Muehlhausen, Thuringia. Here the name was changed to Pfanschmidt.
Gottfried Sebastian Pfanschmidt, born October 26, 1792, in Mucht- hansen, was a tanner by trade. For three years he served in Gen- eral Bluecher's army, and fought in the battles of Leipzig and Water- loo. Ile married Eva Elizabeth Kleinschmidt, born in Muehlhausen, February 22, 1794. In 1834 the family came to America, landing at Baltimore. From there they traveled overland by wagon, crossing the Allegheny Mountains. In Pittsburgh they were detained for thirteen weeks, until the Ohio River was open to navigation in the spring. They then traveled by boat down the Ohio and up the Mis- sissippi to St. Louis, where the children remained until the parents found a suitable place to locate. Arriving in Quiney December 1, 1834. the place made a favorable impression on Mrs. Pfanschmidt, and so they settled here. The children were sent for and by Christmas all the members of the family were in Quiney, where they remained during the winter, which was a very severe one, making their home in an old frame house on the bluff, west of Third Street. In the fol- lowing spring Gottfried Sebastian Pfanschmidt acquired 160 acres of land from the Government seven miles east of the city near Mill Creek, in Ellington Township, where he settled down and went to farming, ploughing the land with oxen. In the course of time he became very successful as farmer. Gottfried Sebastian Pfanschmidt died in Quiney, April 8, 1847, while his wife lived thirty years longer. her death occurring June 2, 1877.
The children of Gottfried Sebastian and Eva Elizabeth (Klein- schmidt ) Pfanschmidt were: Marie Eleonore, born in Muehlhausen, January 12, 1819, died in Quiney September 25, 1835 : Emilie Pauline, the first wife of the pioneer Frederick William Jansen, died in Quines -July 10. 1851: Herman Christian, born in Muehlhansen March 8. 1825, followed farming, residing on the home farm until 1884, when he retired, moving to Quiney in 1884. His wife was Charlotte, nce Meise, born in Germany March 19, 1826, and came to AAdams County with her parents, who were among the carly pioneers: December 10. 1847. she was married to Herman Christian Pfanschmidt. Their chil- dren were: Edward, merchant in Chicago; William, who with his brother George remained on the home farm: Pauline, the wife of .J. Louis Pfan of Chicago : Laura : Mrs. William Wirth : and Ottilia, who ‹lied in her infaney. Herman Christian Pfanschmidt died in Quiney April 18, 1899. his wife died in Chicago October 21, 1898.
Johanna Mathilde Pfanschmidt, born in Muehlhausen September 25. 1829, came to Quincy in 1834 with her parents, and in the course
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of time was married to Frederick William Jansen, one of the pioneers of Quincy, who preceded her in death in 1871. She died about ten years ago.
Charles Christopher Pfanschmidt, born in Muehlhansen, January 31, 1831, the youngest son of Gottfried Sebastian and Eva Elizabeth (Kleinschmidt) Pfanschmidt, grew up on the home farm. When twenty years of age he came in possession of eighty acres of his father's farm, and later acquired more land, being very successful as farmer. He married Mary Limb, born in England in 1833, daughter of James and Anna (Todd) Limb, who came to this county in 1839, locating on a farm in Ellington. Charles Christopher and Anna (Limb) Pfanschmidt, who both have departed this life, had ten children : Henry, Charles A. and Fred Pfanschmidt, sons, and Mrs. Louisa Knollenberg, Mrs. Hannah Niekamp, Mrs. Clara Ebert, Mrs. Mary Geisel, Mrs. Elizabeth Petrie, Mrs. Ida Cook and Minnie Pfan- schmidt, daughters.
John Philip Schanz, born in the year 1800 in Lichtenberg, Grand- duchy of Hessen, and his wife, Dorothea, nee Merker, born in Gross- Biberau, Grandduchy of Hessen, emigrated to America in 1830, locat- ing in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1834 they came to Quincy and soon settled near Mill Creek, where they went to farming. John Philip Schanz was a powerful man, of extraordinary strength, as the writer of this narrative was repeatedly assured years ago by persons who were neighbors of the man, having known him for years, and thus had an opportunity to form his intimate acquaintance. Accord- ing to the statements of eye witnesses, John Philip Schanz could lift up a barrel of cider, drink out of the bunghole, and then place the barrel in a wagon, the endgate having been taken out. One day Henry Schuchmann, a farmer living near Mill Creek, was hauling a load of wood to town, his wagon was mired in the road, when John Philip Schanz came along, put his shoulder under the rear axle and raised the wagon with the wood up out of the rut, so that Schuchmann could proceed with his team. One evening at dusk, while John Philip Schanz was walking along the bottom road south of Quincy, he was met by a bear, that came from the jungle, Bruin rising up on his hind feet, while Schanz retreated behind a tree to escape the embrace of the beast ; the bear at the same time with his paws reached around the tree, not much more than a sapling, when Schanz, under the spur of the moment, grabbed the bear's paws, holding them with his vise-like grip; several friends, who happened to come along the road about at that time, came to the rescue of Schanz, and found that both paws of the bear were broken. A very severe storm passed over the Mill Creek region one day, raising the roof off the log cabin of George Philip Beilstein, who lived near the creek, the roof being shoved out of place. Beilstein appealed to his neighbors for help, to put the roof back into its former position ; among the eight men that came was John Philip Schanz, and while seven men lifted one end of the roof, Schanz alone
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raised the other end. The foregoing are only a few of the instances as they were related many years ago, proving the hereulean strength of the man.
The wife of John Philip Sehanz having died in 1845, he in 1848 married the widow Henrietta Hellermann, nee Letz, of Muehlhausen, Thuringia. He died in 1854, and his second wife also died many years ago.
Ilenry Schanz, the eldest son of John Philip and Dorothea (Merker) Sehanz, was born in 1844, and grew up on the home place near Mill Creek. When the Civil war broke out, he enlisted in Company A, the German company of the Twenty-seventh Illinois Infantry, in which he served for three years, taking part in the many battles, in which his regiment was engaged. At the Battle of Stone River he was struck on the head by the fragment of a shell and left for dead on the battlefield, but later regaining eonseiousness, fell into the hands of the enemy; being paroled, he soon was exchanged, returned to his regiment and served until his term of enlistment expired, when he was elected as first lieutenant of Company H, Forty-third Illinois Infantry, an entirely German regiment. After the war Henry Sehanz married Anna Jansen, daughter of one of the pioneers of Adams County. They live on their farm near Mill Creek at present. Wil- liam Sehanz, the youngest son of John Philip Schanz, lives in Quiney, he being a eigarmaker by occupation. Two daughters of John Philip and Dorothea (Merker) Schanz, who were born in this county, were married to pioneers, the eldest to Frederick Pfeiffer, a farmer near Mill Creek, the other to Arnold Michels, a contractor and builder in Quiney.
Philip Amen. born 1809 in the Grandduehy of Hessen, and his wife, Magdalen, nee Ilagen, also born in the Grandduchy of Hessen, 1817. came to Adams County in 1834, where they went to farming in McKee Township, living on the farm for forty years, until the death of Mrs. Amen in 1885, her husband departing this life in 1886. Frank Amen, a son of Philip and Magdalen (Hagen) AAmen, was born March 10, 1843, in McKee Township. He married Marie Gruber, born in 1850 in the principality of Kurhessen, who came to this county with her parents in 1852, her mother dying in 1875, her father in 1883. Lawrence Amen, a son of Frank and Magdalen (Hagen) Amen. is at present coroner of Adams County.
John Frederick Steinbeek, horn March 28, 1811, in Osnabrueck, Hanover, was a cooper by trade and came to this country in 1831, where he married Louisa Barbara Roff, born in Wuerttemberg, Ger- many, October 20, 1815. In 1834 they came to Ursa Township in this county, where they at first lived on Lemuel Frazier's farm. 216 miles southeast of the Village of Ursa. Later Mr. Steinbeck bought a farm at Ursa, containing ahont 250 acres, which he cultivated. He also conducted a cooper shop, and employed as many as sixteen men at a
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time, making pork barrels for C. M. Pomeroy, the pork packer in Quincy. In the fall of 1862 John Frederick Steinbeck packed many barrels of apples, and also prepared a big amount of applebutter, which he stored in C. M. Pomeroy's pork house during the winter, to be sent south in the spring of 1863, and it must have been a large amount, for the freight bill was $1,800. Taking everything into con- sideration, there was a great risk connected with the venture, the uncertainty of navigation on the Mississippi, etc. The shipment was intended for Vicksburg, where General Grant at that time had an army of 71,000 men ; the actual siege of the city began May 18, 1863, and on July 4th the place surrendered. When Steinbeck's shipment finally arrived at its destination, Grant's army had left for other fields, and the goods spoiled on account of the hot weather, causing a great loss. John Frederick Steinbeck died March 14, 1878, and his wife followed him in death, April 12, 1902.
The children of John Frederick and Louisa Barbara (Roff) Steinbeck were: Mrs. Elizabeth Montgomery, who died several years ago near Joplin, Missouri; Joseph Ludwig Steinbeck, in Mendon, Missouri; James Steinbeck, who served in the Sixteenth Illinois In- fantry during the Civil war, after which he settled down in Missouri, and in 1876 was killed by a man by the name of Winton; Louisa, wife of Joseph Ralph, Mendon, Missouri; Frederick William Stein- beck, who from 1897 until 1903 was postmaster at Ursa, and at present resides in Quincy; Christiane Adelheid, wife of William Hendry, Maryville, Missouri; Alexander David Steinbeck, proprietor of a sheep ranch at Burdette, Colorado; Mary Catherine, wife of Rev. William Blaneke, Lutheran minister in Davenport, Iowa; and John Frederick Steinbeck, in Le Grande, Oregon.
Damian Hauser, born September 27, 1803, in Constance, or Kost- nitz, City of Baden, on the Lake of Constance, came to America in 1833, landing at New Orleans, locating in Quincy in 1834. His first wife, Katherine Groninger, was born in Amoltern, Baden, and died after a number of years of wedded life. Later he married Juliane Steinagel, born in the Grandduchy of Hessen, who came to Quincy in the early '40s. Damian Hauser in the course of time became prom- inent in publie life; he served as registrar and receiver of the United States landoffice in Quincy, and was repeatedly elected as harbor- master, during a period when traffic on the upper Mississippi was very lively and the office of great importance. In the Mormon war he served as lieutenant. Damian Hauser was an intimate friend of Stephen A. Douglas, who often was a guest at his home. For many years he conducted a store at Front and Maine streets, and furnished all kinds of supplies for steamboats. In 1874 he moved to Denver, Colorado, where he died June 24, 1895, while his wife followed him in death June 12, 1901. Two sons, Damian and John, moved to Chicago, while another son, George, located in Silver City, New Mexico. Three
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daughters, Mrs. J. Q. Naylor, Mrs. A. G. Hood and Miss Julia Hauser, all made their home in Denver, Colorado.
Christian Ruoff, born in Stuttgart, Wuerttemberg, a descendant of Huguenots, who were persecuted in France and found refuge in Germany, came to this country in 1834. On the sailing vessel which brought him to this country, he became acquainted with Franciska Mast, born in Forchheim, Baden, and later married her in Quincy. For a number of years he was in business in this city, and in 1844 took part in the Mormon war. During the "gold fever" of 1849 Christian Ruoff went overland to California, where he located, and his family followed him in 1852. Hle conducted a sawmill in California, and, while swimming across the American River on horseback, con- tracted a eold, eausing an ailment which terminated in death the latter part of the '50s. The family lived in Petaluma and Stockton, Cali- fornia. Mrs. Ruoff died eighteen years ago. One son, John Ruoff, condueted a general store at Fort Ross on the Paeifie, where two daughters, Marie and Franeiska, also made their home.
SETTLERS OF 1835
Among the early German pioneers of Quiney was John IIobreeker, for many years an inhabitant of this eity. The history of his family reads like a romanee. His father, John Casper Hobreeker, born in the year 1772 in Hamm, Westphalia, was a machinist by trade and eame to America at the beginning of the last century. Landing in New York, he soon made the acquaintance of Robert Fulton, the builder of the first serviceable steamboat, the Clermont, and the two men beeame intimate friends, which may be accounted for by the fact that John Casper Hobreeker was an expert mechanie and machinist. When Fulton in 1807 made the first really successful long voyage by steam up the Hudson, he asked Hobrecker to accompany him. John Casper Hobreeker served in the War of 1812 against the British. After that war he returned to his home in Westphalia, where he in 1816 met Mary Ann Stephenson and married her. She was born in Sunderland, County of Durham, England, and was a nieee of George Stephenson of Neweastle, the builder of the first railroad in England.
JOHN HOBRECKER AND CHIEF KEOKUK
John Hobrecker, the son, who gave the facts related here to the writer of this narrative, was born in Hamm, Westphalia, in 1817. In 1833 John Casper Hobrecker decided to come to America for the second time, accompanied by his son John, landing at Baltimore in July, where they saw President AAndrew Jackson riding along the street on horseback. Leaving Baltimore, they crossed the Alleghenies by wagon to Pittsburgh, where they boarded a steamboat, going down the Ohio, up the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers to Beardstown, V1. 1-20
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at that Ere a prosperous place, owing to the lively river trame pre- railing in those days. Then they went overland to Hancock County, Illinois, where they located at Dallas, serling down on eighty aeres of land. which John Casper Hotrecker Lad acquired. There it was where they Erst came in conta :: with Indians. aboni which John H:brecker made the following interesting statement: "At Dallas I had the bomor to make the acquaintance of Keokuk. the famous chief of the Sas and Fox Indians, who with his four wives, his daughter Sas-Ka-Zee, and twenty braves. had started on a journey to visit the Great White Father in Washington. The party had gone into camp at Dallas for a short time, and father and I were allowed to sleep in the wigwam of Chief Keokuk for a week while we were building cur log cabin. The Indians carried many scalps attached to their belas. besides caber trophies. Being young and of a romantic disposi- Son. I took a great interest in those Indians. especially in Sus-Ka-Zee. the chief's daughter. a beautiful girl of eighteen summers. confessed my love to her and asked her to marry me. She referred me to her father, the chief.
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