Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. II, Part 13

Author: Wilcox, David F., 1851- ed
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 952

USA > Illinois > Adams County > Quincy > Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. II > Part 13

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The late Leonard M. Schmitt was born in Quincy March 24, 1848. He was educated in the parochial schools and St. Boniface school, also St. Francis College, and in 1862 he went to work in a drug store, spending three years with Dowry & Morton. He then became connected with the house of Rogers & Malone, and was with that firm for twenty years. In 1882 he moved to Chicago and was a partner in the Hulburt Drug Company until 1887, when he returned to Quincy and bought a store at 629 Hampshire Street. He developed that as one of the best centers for drugs and drug merchandise in the city and con- tinued active in its management until 1910, when he sold out to Mr. Kiefer, and from that time until his death lived a rather retired life. He was an early member of the Knights of Columbus, was also identified with the Western Catho- lie Union and the Catholic Knights of America and in politics was a democrat. He was a member of St. Francis Catholic Church.

In 1882 Mr. Schmitt married Frances K. Koenig, of Jacksonville, Illinois, where she was born and where she was educated in parochial schools. She finished her education in the Ursuline Academy at Springfield, Illinois. Mrs. Schmitt is a daughter of August and Anna (Busold) Koenig, both of whom were natives of Hesse Darmstadt and came to America when young people. They married in Louisville, Kentucky, and on settling at Jacksonville, Illinois, Angust Koenig engaged in the grocery business. Mrs. Schmitt's mother died at Jacksonville more than fifty years ago, when the danghter was only four years old. IIer father died in March, 1896. Mrs. Schmitt is one of two chil- dren, her sister being Mrs. Enoch Yentzer, of Ottawa, Illinois. Her father by a second marriage had four children, all now deceased except Mrs. Paulina Keating, of Jacksonville.

Mrs. Schmitt is the mother of three children. Augusta was educated in St. Mary's Academy and is the wife of Edward B. Moller, a Quincy lumberman. Mr. and Mrs. Moller have a daughter, Lucile, aged five and a half years. Lenore, the second child, is the wife of William C. Walter, of Peoria. They have a son, William Leonard aged six years. Raymond G., the youngest child, was educated in St. Francis College and is a machinist by trade and his home is still with his mother. He has been serving his country in the war. The children were all confirmed in St. Francis Catholic Church at Quincy.

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AUGUST C. STROOT. Noteworthy for his keen business intelligence, ability and taet, August C. Stroot holds high rank among the prosperous merchants of Quincy, where he is conducting an extensive trade in hardware, his well- stoeked store being conveniently located at 1139 and 1141 Broadway. A son of the late Bernard Stroot, he was born April 24, 1860, in Hanover, Germany.

Born, reared and married in Germany, Bernard Stroot came with his wife and children to America in 1867, locating in Quincy, Illinois. Working a few years, he added considerably to his previous savings, and subsequently lived retired until his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Helen Bendixen, was born in Germany and died in Quincy. They reared four children, as follows: Bernard, deceased ; John H., of Quincy : Mary, a Sister in Notre Dame Convent; and August C.

But seven years of age when brought to Quincy by his parents, August C. Stroot was edneated in the city, attending the parochial schools and Saint Francis College. Beginning life as elerk in a dry goods establishment, he continued thus employed until eighteen years old, when he found similar em- ployment in the hardware store of H. and J. H. Tenk. Faithful in the per- formance of his duties, he won the confidence and regard of his employer, and when the business was incorporated as the Tenk Hardware Company Mr. Stroot was made secretary, and continued thus officially identified with the firm for sixteen years, at the end of which time he was forced, on account of ill health, to resign the position. Subsequently opening a hardware store at the corner of Eleventh Street and Broadway, he managed it successfully for a few years. His constantly increasing business then demanding more commodious quarters, Mr. Stroot bought the large brick building at the corner of Broadway and Twelfth Street, and having erected a warehouse in the rear has continued his operations with characteristic enterprise and success. His new residence, a fine brick house of modern construction at 433 North 20th Street has just been com- pleted and is a fine example of architectural beauty and utility.

On June 6, 1887, Mr. Stroot married Anna Kathmann, a most attractive and estimable woman. She died December 21, 1891, leaving one child, Alphons C. Stroot, now engaged in business with his father. On October 11, 1893, Mr. Stroot again married, taking for his second wife Matilda Ridder. Of this union seven children have been born, namely : Rosalia, wife of Carl A. Kollmeyer, of Quincy : Helen ; Edgar, with his father ; Loretta; Edith; August and Carline. Mr. and Mrs. Stroot are members of Saint Francis Church. Politieally Mr. Stroot is identified with the democratie party. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Columbus and to the Western Catholic Union.

JOSEPH G. EIFF. A prominent business man of Quincy, Joseph G. Eiff is especially well known as a contractor and builder. He has always been a hard and indefatigable worker in anything he has undertaken and has earned and deserves the confidence and esteem of his neighbors, associates and co-workers.

Born in Quincy September 1, 1858, he was educated in the public schools, acquiring when young a practical knowledge fitting him for a business life. At the age of abont seventeen he began learning the trade of plasterer and was an apprentice for about four years. After that he worked as a journeyman and about 1880 began contracting for plastering work. Most of his business was in this line until about 1906, when he added paving and sewer building, and gradually as experience has dictated he has built up a large and complete organization for contraet work in these lines. He has put down some of the important paving and sewer construction in several parts of the city. In 1908 he took his son Edward J. into partnership, and in 1918 they added to their other lines a wholesale and retail yard at 1013 Broadway, where they handle all kinds of building material. In the early '80s Mr. Eiff became a stockholder and organizer of the Quincy Sand Company, and has held stock in that well known corporation ever since. In 1900 he was one of the organizers of the

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Quincy Grocery Company, and was its vice president until about 1909, when he sold his interest.

Mr. Eiff married Miss Mary Vogel. She was born in Melrose Township of this county. They had two children, Edward J. and Emily, the latter the wife of William Strauss of Quincy.

Edward J. Eiff was educated in the parochial schools, in Quincy College and in the Gem City Business College. At the age of seventeen he entered the office of the Quincy Grocery Company and was employed by that firm about seven years. He left there to go to Chicago, and spent a year as auditor in the general offices of the National Association of Traveling Salesmen. After resigning that work he returned to Quincy and formed the partnership with his father under the name of Joseph Eiff and Son, as above noted. Edward now looks after the larger part of the contract work and outside work of the firm. He is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

WILLIAM A. SCHWINDELER. The habit of industry carly acquired no doubt has had much to do with the subsequent success in life of many rather notable business men, and in this light, necessity of work in youth may be called rather a blessing than a hardship. For an interesting example one may go no further than Quincy, finding in one of her prominent citizens a typical case in proof, William A. Schwindeler, president of the Illinois Association of Ice Cream Manufacturers. His whole business life has been one of continuous industry and he became a wage earner almost in childhood.

William A. Schwindeler was born in this city February 2, 1883. His parents, Henry and Louisa (Meyer) Schwindeler, were also born at Quincy, where the mother yet resides and where the father died in 1886. He was a shoemaker by trade. a hardworking man all his life and one who was universally respected. Of his family of six children William A. was the fifth in order of birth, the others being: Mamie, who is the wife of George L. Timmerwilke, of Quincy ; Anna, who is deccased; John, who is in business at Kansas City, Missouri; and Fred and Henry, both deceased.

For many years every boy fortunate enough to be a resident of Quincy, has had exceptional educational advantages in her public schools, and the parents of William A. Schwindeler provided for his attendance although they also encouraged him in his endeavors to provide for his own support. He was only eleven years old when he joined the newsboy colony and few complaints were ever received because of non-delivery of papers from patrons on his route, and what he earned thereby he supplemented by working on Saturdays for a local grocery house. He was found thoroughly reliable and when thirteen years old was accepted as a regular grocery clerk and continued to work in that capacity for three years. From the grocery trade he went with the Reliance Tca Company, and through this connection, when only seventeen years old, received a flattering offer from a grocery house in New York City and went there to accept it.

Mr. Schwindeler did not remain long in New York but returned to the Reliance Tea Company and subsequently went on the road for the grocery house of Durand, Kasper & Company of Chicago, which firm he successfully represented for three and a half years over a wide territory. In 1906 he embarked in the grocery business for himself on Fourth Street and Payson Avenue, and then hegan the manufacture of ice cream, two and a half years later moving to No. 119 North Sixth Street, going into the ice cream business extensively and exclusively. Ever since he has continued the manufacture of this delicacy and has through his enterprise and good judgment built up an enormous business which has required great expansion of facilities. He still carries on his retail business at the above address, hut on May 1, 1917, took possession of his wholesale quarters, a new factory of pressed brick construction, two stories high, situated at No. 1009 Maine Street. This is one of the finest

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plants of its kind in the country and is equipped with every kind of special machinery known to the trade and his product, of superior quality, is known and in demand all over the state. As an indication of his prominence in the ice eream business and as proof of the confidence and esteem felt for him by his associates, it may be mentioned that at Chicago, November 15, 1917, at the meeting held by the ice cream manufacturers of the state, he was elected president of the Illinois body. At the same mecting a committee, including Mr. Schwindeler, was appointed to aid in the Y. M. C. A. drive for funds, in which he subsequently was such an important factor, meeting with ready response in his patriotie appeals.

Mr. Schwindeler was married April 21, 1904, to Miss Bertha Liebermann, who was born at Quincy, and they have one child, Willma, who was born October 12, 1906.

In addition to his large manufacturing business Mr. Schwindeler has other interests. In association with Heman Nelson he is interested in the Star and Belasco Motion Picture theaters at Quiney. In his political affiliation he is a republican but he has never had any desire for public office, his business, home and fraternal interests filling up a full measure of activity and usefulness. He is a Thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner, and is secretary of the Quiney Rotary Club.

THOMAS J. FRAZIER. In the words of appreciation spoken by some who know him best, Thomas J. Frazier is just naturally a good farmer, a good business man and a good all around citizen. The American farmer has been accused of much inefficieney, and no doubt justly, but Mr. Frazier is an example of the very opposite. There is no slackness or looseness about his farm, and what- ever he does he does well.

The Frazier country home and farm is in Ursa Township, nine miles north of Quiney. It consists of 240 acres, formerly known as the Michael Daugherty Farın. Michael Daugherty came to this eounty in 1850, acquired nearly 500 acres of land, and built the house now occupied by the Frazier family in 1860. Mr. Frazier acquired this farm in 1903, and for the past fifteen years has been steadily increasing its improvements and facilities. In 1904 he ereeted what has been called by competent judges one of the finest and most complete barns in the county. It is 44 by 80 feet, with a full height basement and with 20-foot posts. The foundation wall is of stone and other walls of eonerete, and aside from the permanence of its construction the barn is characterized by an ar- rangement of facilities seldom equalled. The hay loft has a capacity for 120 tons, and there are also five storage places for grain. Much of the flooring and other woodwork is of hard wood, some of it of hard maple. Mr. Frazier has done mueh construction work with cement. He uses cement wherever possible and most of his fences are wire stretched on solid eement posts. The crops that grow on his generous fields are all fed at home to cattle and hogs, and he is one of the leading men in Adams County in the raising, feeding and ship- ping of livestock.

Mr. Frazier is of pioneer stock, and his father, Lemuel G. Frazier, was one of the first inhabitants of Ursa Township. Lemuel G. Frazier was born at Cynthiana in Harrison County, Kentucky, February 18, 1811. His parents were George and Lucretia (Blackburn) Frazier. Lemuel G. Frazier arrived in Adams County April 13, 1827. He located in the southern part of Ursa Township, and later bought a farm in section 29 just north of the place where his son Thomas resides. Here Lemuel G. Frazier passed away October 5, 1880. He was a man of prominence in the county, owned a large farm, served at one time as county coroner and in other capacities, was a democrat in polities and a member of the Christian Church. He married twice, his first wife being Mary Jane Roberts, of Ohio, who became the mother of three children. On August 19, 1853, Lemuel G. Frazier married Eva M. Ahalt, who was born in

Som y Frazier

LIBRARY . THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

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Frederick County, Maryland, September 10, 1829. She was a daughter of Isaac and Margaret (Remsberg) Ahalt. To this second marriage were born nine children, five sons and four daughters, one of whom was Thomas J.

Thomas J. Frazier was born in Adams County June 25, 1857. His early education was supplied by the public schools of Ursa Township, and when starting out for himself he did farming as a renter. While he acknowledges some assistance from his father and others, Mr. Frazier has in fact been de- pendent upon his own energies and forcefulness for the success he has won. A man of his ability would probably succeed in farming no matter what the con- ditions or obstacles he had to contend with. Nearly all his farming has been done in Adams County, though in 1897 he bought 260 acres of land in Lewis County, Missouri, but never lived upon that property, which he sold in 1901. Mr. Frazier is a stockholder and director in the Mid-West Insurance Company of Quincy. He is a democratic voter, but his only office has been that of school director. IIe is affiliated with Lodge No. 114, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Marcelline, and his family are members of the Christian Church at Ursa.

June 15, 1881, Mr. Frazier married Miss Belle Woodruff, who was born February 3, 1859, daughter of Freeman and Frances (Harrison) Woodruff, of Ursa Township. Mr. and Mrs. Frazier have an interesting family of three children : Mabel E., who was born December 10, 1882, was educated in the local schools and is now the wife of Ira Powell, a farmer at Carthage, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Powell have a son, Paul .. Ida M., the second daughter, born August 27, 1885, completed her education in the high school at Quiney and is the wife of Albert Wissman, of Ellington Township. They have a son, Glenn. The youngest of the family is Grover L. Frazier, born December 16, 1890. He is associated with his father as a partner in the farm, and Grover L. has also recently just bought forty acres adjoining his father's place. This son married Jennie Daugherty, and their four children are Kennett, Merle, Melvin and Thomas G.

ALFRED KURZ. As manager of the business of one of the larger and more important mercantile firms of Quincy, Alfred Kurz displays unquestioned ability, sagacity and sound judgment, having built up a far-reaching and profitable trade not only as a bookseller but as a dealer in plate glass and window glass. A son of Joseph Kurz, he was born in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, October 29, 1861.

Joseph Kurz was born, bred and educated in Germany. Immigrating to the United States about 1856, he settled first in Pennsylvania. In 1867, accom- panied by his family, he came to Quincy, Illinois, and for a while followed his trade of a butcher. Subsequently opening a boarding house, he managed it until his death, which occurred April 24, 1884. He married Walburga Weis- enhorn, who was born in Germany, and is now a resident of Quincy. They were the parents of three children, as follows : Joseph, deceased ; Alfred ; and William, of Quincy.

Acquiring his elementary education in the parochial schools, Alfred Kurz completed a course of study in the Gem City Business College, after which he embarked on a mercantile career, beginning as clerk in a store. In 1880 he entered the employ of Mr. Oenning, a dealer in books, window glass and plate glass. Interested in his work and eminently faithful to the duties of his position, Mr. Kurz gradually worked his way upward, and in 1908 was made manager of the entire business of the firm, which under his supervision has already assumed large proportions and is each year growing in extent and value.

Mr. Kurz married, June 4. 1889, Elizabeth R. Mast, a most estimable woman. Mr. and Mrs. Kurz have no children. In his political relations Mr. Kurz is a democrat. Religiously he is a member of Saint Boniface Catholic Church. Vol. II-6

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Fraternally he belongs to the Western Catholic Union, and to the Travelers Protective Association.

CHARLES W. MILLER is identified with an old farm and an old family of Ursa Township, and is a son of the late William E. Miller, whose tremendous energy and great usefulness in the county are still widely appreciated. The Miller farm one-half mile west of Marcelline it is no exaggeration to speak of as one of the best in the township. The Millers as a family have been people of means, of influence, and of distinctive leadership in community affairs.

The late William E. Miller was born in Ursa Township June 7, 1835, a son of Bradshaw and Rebecca (Keith) Miller, Bradshaw Miller was a native of Virginia and his wife of Kentucky, and they came to Adams County in 1833, settling in Ursa Township, where Bradshaw acquired large tracts of land.

William E. Miller was educated in the Ursa Township schools and when a young man acquired the fine farm now owned by his son Charles. This land has been in the family possession for over eighty years. William E. Miller spent all his life on that farm until the death of his wife in 1911, and he passed away in honored remembrance July 4, 1917, at the age of eighty-two. On August 5, 1862, he enlisted in Company B of the Seventy-Eighth Illinois Infantry, and though wounded kept his place in the ranks until practically the end of the war. After the war he resumed farming and planned and executed many of the improvements which are now found on the 190 acres comprising his estate. He was a democrat in politics and for a number of years filled the office of school director, though he was not a seeker for public honors. For thirty-eight years he was a well known hog buyer and his neighbors and friends refer to him frequently as "Hog Bill Miller" and also "Big Bill Miller," and he was in faet big in body as well as in mind and heart and deserved all the hosts of friends who still live to pay his memory tribute. William E. Miller was the youngest of eight children. His father, Bradshaw Miller, had moved to Morgan County, Illinois, in 1827 and died in Adams County in 1857. Mrs. Bradshaw Miller died in 1864.

January 7, 1858, William E. Miller married Miss Sarah Ann Anderson, who was born near Powersville in Breckenridge county, Kentucky, October 21, 1838. Her parents were Capt. John C. and Nancy Anderson. Captain Anderson was commander of Company B, of the Seventy-Eighth Illinois In- fantry during the Civil war, William Miller being a private in that company. William E. Miller and wife had ten children, those now living being as follows : U. K. Miller, of Quincy ; Charles W .; John B., of Los Angeles; Bert, of Laid- low, Oregon ; Fred, of Macomb, Illinois; Mrs. Dollie Loughlin, of Tillamook, Oregon ; and Dora Worley, of Macomb, Illinois.

Charles W. Miller was born on his father's farm, and has always lived there and is a worthy successor of his father as a stock raiser. He handles a large bunch of hogs every year and gives his active supervision to 190 acres. His farm is well improved, the house having been built in 1887 and the barn in 1880 by his father.

March 2, 1892, Charles W. Miller married Alta Agard, daughter of W. I. and Jennie (Wade) Agard. Mrs. Miller was born July 21, 1872. They have a family of children named as follows: Clyde E., who now operates the old Agard home: Hazel D., wife of Luther Sauble, of Lima Township; and Ray, Olive, Alva, Wade and Dean, who are all still in the family circle.

ELISHA JAMES VINSON. On the farm in section 7 of Lima Township where he was born eighty years ago, and in the house that was erected by his father when he was two years old, Elisha James Vinson is now passing the declining years of life and enjoying that retrospect which is one of the delights of old age, comprising years of substantial industry, productive effort, the rearing of family and the worthy fulfillment of obligations which beget community esteem.

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Mr. Vinson was born September 30, 1838, a son of Isaac D. and Kittie (Orr) Vinson. His father was born in Giles County Tennessee, May 26, 1804, and his mother in Bourbon County, Kentucky, October 8, 1807. They married in Kentucky. Kittie Orr was the daughter of William Orr, who figures promi- nently as one of the earliest settlers of Lima Township. He came to this county in 1829, and put in a crop that season. The Orrs and the Vinsons had adjoin- ing farms and William Orr laid out the town of Lima and the Vinson farm also covered part of the village site. Isaac Vinson was identified with the com- munity from 1830 until his death on June 9, 1847, while his widow survived him until November 9, 1862. Isaac Vinson at one time operated the pioneer carding mill at Lima. The old home in which Elisha James Vinson now lives was built by his father in the fall of 1840. Isaac D. Vinson and wife had a family of six sons and two daughters. The sons were: William Daniel, who died in Oklahoma at the age of seventy years; Grayson Thomas, who was born in 1834, was one of the successful farmers and influential citizens of Lima township, and died at his home there at the age of eighty-one; Elisha James, the third son: Jesse Albert, whose death occurred recently, as noted on other pages of this history; Isaac Morldonis, who lives in Sullivan County, Missouri ; Eliab Smith Vinson, who is also a resident of Sullivan County. The two daughters were Elizabeth, widow of Frank Stoker, and at the age of ninety- three still living at Yuba City, California, and Nancy, who died in Chariton County, Missouri, the wife of Benjamin Pollard.

Elisha J. Vinson was educated in the public schools of Lima and with the exception of five years has spent all his life on the old homestead farm. He has been owner of the land comprising that farm for about fifty years, having bought the interests of the other heirs and having also added fifty acres. In earlier days he was an extensive wheat grower, having a large part of his farm of 175 acres in that crop. In later years he has turned the management of his farm over to his sons.

On January 2, 1861, at the age of twenty-two, Mr. Vinson married Miss Achsah Ormsby, who was a neighbor girl and had come to Adams County at the age of twelve years from Indiana, where she was born. Her parents were Robert and Elizabeth (Cherry) Ormsby. Her father died soon after coming to Adams County, and her mother reached old age. Mrs. Vinson was born December 22. 1842. Mr. and Mrs. Vinson had eleven children, but only three are now living. The oldest is Isaac Morldonis, a widely known citizen and farmer of Lima Township, who married Alice Jacobs and their four children are Bertha, John, Corinne and Vernie. Isaac M. Vinson was born March 26, 1864. The second child, Milly, born November 15, 1866, is the wife of William Fletcher, of Lima, and their four children are Beatrice, James, Bertha and Mabel. Bertha died December 14, 1918. when twenty years of age. The youngest of the family is Smith Vinson, who married Mary Lewis and has one child, Fred. The Vinson home is a quarter of a mile east of Lima, but is in- cluded in the village corporation.

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Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. II, Part 13

Author: Wilcox, David F., 1851- ed Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 952

Author: Wilcox, David F., 1851- ed
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 952