USA > Illinois > Adams County > Quincy > Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. II > Part 20
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Mr. Daugherty is a demoerat in polities and is an active member of the Vermont Street Baptist Church, which he has served as trustee. as chairman of the Board of Trustees and recently was elected to a life position as deacon.
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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JOSEPH J. FREIBURG. An old and honored name in the business life of Quincy is that of Freiburg, and for more than half a century it has been identi- fied with enterprises which have contributed to the prosperity and well being of the city. Its leading representative at the present time is Joseph J. Freiburg, who, it is the privilege of the publishers to note by way of grateful recognition, is one of the advisory editors of this publication.
His parents were Joseph J. and Elizabeth (Quinkert) Freiburg, both natives of Westphalia, Germany. They came to America and located at Quincy in 1866. The father was a cabinet maker by trade and followed that occupation until July 1, 1876, when with his brother Frederick he engaged in the furniture and undertaking business. In 1892 Joseph J. Freiburg, Jr., bought the interests of his unele, and the firm was continued as Joseph Freiburg & Son, though about that time they gave up the furniture department and concentrated all their efforts upon undertaking. This name continued until February 8, 1906, when at the death of the father Joseph J. Freiburg bought all the remaining interests in the business. Mrs. Joseph J. Freiburg, Sr., died July 28, 1917. They were the parents of eight children : Joseph J .; Henry J., deceased ; Anna, wife of Frank Wachtel, of Quincy; Bernard J., deceased ; Herman, associated with his brother in business; Mary, wife of Joseph H. Tushans, of St. Joseph, Missouri ; Elizabeth and John, both deceased.
Joseph J. Freiburg was born at Quincy April 7, 1867, and this city has always claimed his loyalty as a resident and public spirited citizen. He lived at home, attended the parochial schools, and at the age of thirteen began work- ing for his father. Later for two years he attended a local business college, and then entered the Clarke College of Embalming at Cincinnati. When he gradu- ated from that institution he had the distinction of being the youngest man ever to receive a diploma in embalming from that school. After that he returned to Quincy and became associated with his father, but was also a co-worker with Professor Clarke in lecturing on anatomy and embalming from 1896 to 1905. About the latter time he assumed the entire responsibilities of the business, and he has made the name Freiburg synonymous with a perfect service in under- taking and embalming. He was the first to introduce auto hearses at Quincy, and has always studied to keep his equipment and service up to date.
November 25, 1890, Mr. Freiburg married Anna E. Brinkman. She was born at Quincy, daughter of W. M. and Elizabeth (Terlisner) Brinkman, her father a native of Germany and her mother a native of St. Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Freiburg enjoyed a happy marriage companionship for over a quarter of a century until her death on July 22, 1916. Seven children were born into their home. The oldest, Adelaide, is the wife of Rudolph J. Weltin, of Quincy. The other children, still at home, are Margaret, Gertrude, Odelia, Lucile, Edna and Marion.
As to politics Mr. Freiburg maintains an independent attitude. He is supreme treasurer of the Western Catholic Union, is active in the Knights of Columbus, is president of the Columbus Home Building Association, a member of Quincy Lodge of Elks, of the Rotary Club, the Quincy Ad Club, and is treasurer of the Big Lake Hunting and Fishing Club, an organization con- trolling 300 acres of fine game preserve. Mr. Freiburg and family worship in St. Boniface Catholic Church at Quincy.
ROBERT A. ROCHESTER. An active and conspicuous figure in the industrial life of Quincy, Robert A. Rochester has for nearly forty years been prominently associated with the advancement of the manufacturing interests of Adams County, and as superintendent of the American Straw Board Company has been instrumental in building up a business scarcely surpassed in this section of the country by any other of a like nature. A native of Illinois, he was born Janu- ary 23, 1855, in Rockford, Winnebago County.
James Rochester, his father, was born and reared in England. Immigrating
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when young to this country, he learned the miller's trade, which he followed until after the outbreak of the Civil war. Soon after that event he enlisted in the Union Army, joining the Second Missouri Cavalry, and died while in service. His wife, whose maiden name was Jane Hislop, was born in Scotland, and died in Rockford, Illinois. Of the nine children born of their union the subject of this brief sketch was the only boy.
Left fatherless when a child, Robert A. Rochester began life as a farm hand when but ten years of age, working hard during seed time and harvest, and attending the winter terms of school. When sixteen years old he entered a paper mill in Rockford, Illinois, and during the years that he remained there became thoroughly acquainted with the details of paper making, and an expert in the industry. In 1878 Mr. Rochester accepted a position with the American Paper Straw Board Company of Quincy, and has since served most acceptably as superintendent of the concern, devoting his time and energies to the duties devolving upon him in the position.
Mr. Rochester married in 1879 Mary Calkins, a native of Quincy, and they are the parents of two children, Bessie, wife of George Springer, of Beloit, Wis- consin, and Helen. Politically Mr. Rochester invariably supports the principles of the republican party. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
WILLIAM H. EBER. Fortified with the prestige of many years and by the enterprise of a family of unusual business talents, the Eber Seed Company is one of Quincy's oldest and best known commercial houses. At one time it was the only exclusive seed house in Quincy and the largest institution of its kind in the Middle West.
The founder of this business was the late William Eber, Sr., who died in April, 1910, after a residence of more than half a century in Quincy. He was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1829, and came to the United States twenty years later. For several years he lived in Pennsylvania and was in the clothing busi- ness while there. In 1856 he located at Quincy, and from 1861 to 1873 carried on a general grocery and seed business. From 1873 his entire time and attention was given to the fruit and seed business and to developing a supply house for garden and farm seeds. His business partner and associate until 1868 was Mr. Charles A. Koenecke, and later the firm was conducted as Eber & Walters. In 1885 William Eber, Sr., took in William H. Eber as business associate, and the firm was William Eber & Son until after his death. His success was not only due to specializing in one line, but also to the integrity and character which he put into all his work. William Eber, Sr., was eighty-one years of age when he died. His death occurred at his home 2608 Maine Street, having erected that residence for his family some years before his death.
In 1856 William Eber, Sr., married Susan Eber, who was also born in Bavaria, Germany, but was not related to the family of her husband. She came when a young woman to the United States by way of New York and located at Quincy, where her parents lived and died. Both the Eber families were Prot- estants in religion. Mrs. William Eber is still living in Quincy at the age of eighty-four. She and her husband were married in and were always faithful members of St. John's Lutheran Church. Nine children were born to them, two of whom died in infancy. The other children were named William, Eugene, Emma, Sophia, Sadie, Fredericka and Nellie. The son Eugene died at the age of fifty years. They all reside at the old family home. Sadie is secretary of the Eber Seed Company.
William H. Eber, who is now president and treasurer of the Eber Seed Company, was born in Quincy in 1863 and was educated in the city schools and the Gem City Business College. At the age of sixteen he went to work for his father and in 1885 was taken into partnership under the name William Eber & Son. In 1912 the business was incorporated, with Mr. Eber as president and
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treasurer and his sister Sadie as secretary. They have a large store at 234-236 North Sixth Avenue and Vermont Street, the building being 40 by 75 feet. This has been occupied by the firm since 1900. It is still continued on the plan established by the father of the family, and is both a wholesale and retail secd house.
OSMON B. GORDON. Inheriting in no small measure the many virtues and excellent habits of his sturdy New England ancestors, Osmon B. Gordon, of Quincy, holds a position of prominence and influence among the substantial business men of the city, and as a member of the Gordon Shoe Company is an important factor in advancing its mercantile interests. He was born July 7, 1845, in Fremont, New Hampshire, a son of Rev. Loren H. and Elizabeth A. Gordon, on the maternal side of the family being of the same lineage as John Quincy Adams, their immigrant ancestor having been the same. His father, who for fifty years was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Confer- ence, came to Adams County, Illinois, with his family in 1860, and was for some time engaged in the shoe business in Quincy, but later was a Bible agent. Both he and his wife died in Quincy.
Completing his early education in the Quincy public schools and college, Osmon B. Gordon obtained his first knowledge of mercantile pursuits in his father's store. In August, 1867, he accepted a position as traveling salesman for the shoe store of C. Brown, Jr., & Company, and in 1872, having proved himself capable and efficient, he acquired an interest in the business. In 1878 Mr. Gordon formed a partnership with Mr. Upham, and the firm of Upham & Gordon purchased the stock and good will of C. Brown, Jr., & Company, who retired from active pursuits. The business of the new firm rapidly increased, and owing to its demands was transferred from Hampshire Street to its pres- ent commodious quarters on Third Street. In 1909 Mr. Gordon, with character- istic enterprise, took over Mr. Upham's interest, and has since conducted an extensive and remunerative business, the Gordon Shoe Company being one of the more prosperous and busy firms of Quincy.
Mr. Gordon has been twice married. He married first Elvira A. Wright, who spent her entire life in Quincy, her death ocenrring February 6, 1881. Mr. Gordon married for his second wife, June 23, 1887, Harriet E. Adams, and they have one son, Osmon B. Gordon, Jr., who is associated with his father, they being sole owners of the Gordon Shoe Company. Mr. Gordon is now serv- ing as president of the Gem City Building & Loan Association, and is also presi- dent of both the Woodland Home and the Anna Brown Home for the Aged. Religiously he is a member of the Congregational Church, of which he is the treasurer.
WILLIAM SCHLINKMAN. Quiney's well known business men include William Schlinkman, who has for over twenty years been in the drug business, is one of the ablest pharmacists of the city, and has gained a large trade and a large business through his well directed efforts. He has been established at 900 South Eighth Street since 1896. Mr. Schlinkman is a registered pharmacist and gradu- ated from the Chicago School of Pharmacy in 1896. He is a thoroughly prac- tical man in his business, and his store is one of the real mediums of service in the city. In connection he operates an ice cream plant and manufactures about 4,000 gallons of ice cream every year.
Mr. Schlinkman was born in Quincy February 23, 1872, and was reared and educated here, attending the city public schools and high school. He entered his present business through the avenue of drug clerk, and thus had a practical foundation before he entered a school of pharmacy.
His parents were Henry and Hannah (Beck) Schlinkman, both natives of Germany. They married in the old country and three of their children were born there. While they were on the ocean, ten weeks en route, another child
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was born. They came immediately to Quincy and located their home at the corner of Twelfth and Monroe streets. Here they lived long and useful lives, and the father died in Mareh. 1900, when past seventy, and his widow died in 1888 when about the same age. They were members of the Salem Lutheran Church and in polities he was a republican. In their family were twelve chil- dren, eight daughters and four sons, all of whom grew to maturity. Julia is the wife of Jack Russell. of St. Louis. Anna is the deceased wife of William Reed. Rica married Frank Little, and they live in Quincy and have a family of sons and daughters. Lizzie married James Blades, of Quiney. Minnie and Emma both died of pneumonia about the same time, their respective ages being twenty-four and twenty-six. The next in the family is William. Henry was a Quincy business man, now deceased, and left two children. Bertha is the wife of Henry Kalber, of Quiney, and has a family of children. Clara died leaving a son and daughter. Herman lives in Wyoming and is a rancher. Edward, also unmarried. lives at Quincy.
In 1902 William Sehlinkman married at Quincy Miss Lulu Fredericks. She was born in Quincy, and was reared and educated here. Her father, Henry Fredericks, is still in business and is the oldest cigar manufacturer in Quiney. He was born in Hanover. Germany, in 1836, came to America in 1864, and arrived in Quincy in March, 1866. On May 25, 1871, he married Anna Grimmer, who was born in Westphalia February 3. 1850. and came to Quincy with her parents in 1855.
Mr. and Mrs. Schlinkman have a daughter. Margaret L., who was born in 1903. in the building where her father now has his drug business. She is a stu- dent in the Quincy High School. and plans to complete her education in the State University. The family are members of the Salem Lutheran Church and Mr. Schlinkman is a republican.
I.EWIS L. BOYER. There is hardly an official position in which are concen- trated more of the vital interests of the publie than that of superintendent of highways. The business of making roads is one of the first if not the first community improvement undertaken by the people of a new district. Next after making their rude log cabins the pioneers busied themselves with blazing trails through the forests. constructing corduroy roads through the swamps and devising means to get aeross the creeks and rivers. There has been no cessation in that work since those early beginnings. Adams County, like other counties in Illinois, has far from reached an ideal perfeetion of roads and highways. and in former years it suffered from the haphazard and loose system or lack of system which left road making to the individual enterprise of town- ships or other smaller localities, without any centralized supervision or plan.
In 1913 there was created the office of superintendent of highways for the purpose of providing a centralized authority through which a general plan of county highways might be devised, and through which efforts and money might be expended systematically to realize the greatest benefits to the greatest num- bers. To fill this office a young man of great energy and thorough technical qualifications was selected. Lewis L. Boyer, a eivil engineer and a man thoroughly alive to the needs and responsibilities of his office. He entered upon his duties in Mareh, 1917. and has already done much to justify the expectations of his supporters. Adams County has 1.650 miles of highways of all kinds, and has 287 miles of what is known as standard highways, and of these more than 100 miles are in the state highway system, including three roads which eonverge at Quincy. These state highways in particular will be recipients of some share of the recently passed $60,000.000 bond issue. Improvements on all the impor- tant highways in the county, so far as means justified, have been energetically pushed by Mr. Boyer. He has drawn up a standard road map of Adams County. which tells at a glance the highway situation, and is of invaluable aid to all interested in the publie road situation. In 1917 he also laid out a system of roads, 135 miles in length, which it is supposed shall be improved with maeadam
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or conerete or other forms of permanent construction. Adams County has 3,000 bridges and enlverts, 1,000 of them being of concrete construction, and ninety bridges are of more than 100-foot span.
Mr. Boyer was born in Richfield Township of this county May 19, 1885, and was elected to his present offiee from Liberty Township. He attended the publie schools to the age of sixteen, and at the age of eighteen qualified as a teacher. He taught in the Douglas School two years, one year in the Franklin School, three years at Pin Oak and five years was principal at Liberty. Every summer he attended Normal School, and received a supervisory certificate. Besides perfecting himself in the branches which would better qualify him for teaching he also studied engineering, and was thus well qualified for the techni- eal as well as the administrative features of his present work.
Mr. Boyer is a son of John and Louisa (Koetzle) Boyer, both natives of this state. They were married in Liberty Township, and occupied their old home there until four years ago, when they moved to the Village of Liberty, where they are now living. Mrs. John Boyer is a member of the Lutheran Church. Besides Lewis L. they had a son Chester A., who died of influenza in November, 1918. He lived in Iowa and was a commercial salesman for Swift & Company. He married and his son Robert is three years old. Roscoe L. Boyer lives in Quiney, where he sells agricultural implements and Ford auto- mobiles. Harvey died at the age of nine months. Robert E. is a rural school teacher in Fall Creek Township of this county. He married in November, 1918.
In Liberty Township Lewis L. Boyer married Miss Effie Proctor, who was born in Adams County in 1889, and was reared and educated here. At the age of eighteen she also was certified to teach school, and taught in the rural dis- tricts for several years and for five years was connected with the Liberty public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Boyer have one son, John, born in November, 1915. Mr. Boyer married for his first wife in Liberty Township Miss Nettie Brubaker, daughter of Rev. David Brubaker, a minister of the United Brethren Church now living in Ohio. Nettie Brubaker was born in Westerville, Ohio, in 1886. She died eleven months after her marriage.
Mrs. Boyer is a member of the Baptist Church while Mr. Boyer is active in the Christian denomination, being choir leader, Sunday school teacher and otherwise interested. He is affiliated with Bodley Lodge No. 1, Aneient Free and Accepted Masons, and was formerly its secretary, and is affiliated with the Eastern Star, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Rebekahs, the Eagles, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Adams County Mutual. In polities he is a demoerat.
JACKSON R. PEARCE. The present generation at least need no enlightenment as to who Mr. Jackson R. Pearce is or the position he has held in the commu- nity for many years. His protracted services as county clerk of Adams County brought him the acquaintance of practically every loeal citizen, and since leav- ing that office his career has been distinguished by able administration of bnsi- less affairs and banking. He is viee president of the Rieker National Bank of Quiney.
He came into the larger public notice of the county after a youth spent on the farm in Houston Township. He was born there October 28, 1862, son of Augus- tus F. and Mary E. (Woods) Pearce, the former a native of a Kentucky and the latter of Illinois. The Pearce family came to Adams County in 1851, and Augustus Pearce was for many years an agrieulturist in section 23 of Houston Township. There were eight children : Jackson R. ; Martha, wife of James Mil- ler, of Augusta, Illinois; Samuel O., a resident of Chicago; Sarah A., wife of William J. Cromwell, of Adams County; and four who died in infancy.
The first eighteen years of his life Jackson R. Pearee spent at home, working on a farm while attending the district schools. For two years he himself was a teacher and then entered merchandising. In 1882 he became a general merchant. dealer in grain and agricultural implements at Chatten, the postoffice center of
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his old country home. In the fall of 1890 he eame to Quiney and began work in the county clerk's office on October 23d, and in December was appointed deputy county clerk. He filled that office under several administrations, and in 1898 he himself was elected eounty clerk. His tenure of that office was continued by the voters of Adams County through twelve successive years. He then resumed active control of his various business affairs and for several years has been vice president of the Rieker National Bank. He is also a director of the Farmers National Life Insurance Company of Chicago, and of the Gem City Building and Loan Association.
In politics Mr. Pearce has always been identified with the democratic party. He has acquitted himself creditably as chairman of the local exemption board. All the demands placed upon him for the support of war activities have been generously met. He is also president of the Board of Trustees of the Chaddock Boys' School, and is a director of the Quincy Y. M. C. A. He is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is affiliated with the Masonic, Odd Fel- lows and Elks fraternities.
Mr. Pearce is more than willing to merge his own achievements in his pride for his children. September 15, 1884, he married Miss Elizabeth MeGin- nis, a native of Adams County, and daughter of Solomon W. and Mary (Fie- field) MeGinnis, now deceased. The oldest of the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Pearee is Dr. Warren Frederick, born August 9, 1885. As a young physi- cian and surgeon he beeame interested in military affairs, was senior surgeon of the Quincy Naval Reserves, United States naval surgeon on the reserve list, and on April 8, 1917, was ordered out as senior surgeon on the flagship of a fleet of war vessels. Later he was returned to land duty, was made executive of a base hospital in France, and at the close of the war was in command of a naval base. Only second to the achievements of the boys in the trenches has been the wonderful service rendered by the army surgeons, and in the glory attaching to this branch of modern warfare Doetor Pearce has his own special eredit.
The two daughters of Mr. Pearce are Nina May and Edna Ruth. Nina May is the wife of Bert E. Chatten, of Quincy. Edna Ruth is a graduate of Knox College at Galesburg, and is now industrial secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association at Detroit, Michigan.
HERMAN E. NELSON. One of the popular young business men of Quincy is Herman E. Nelson, who is well known in the motion picture world and as the manager of the leading motion picture theaters in this city. He is the oldest continuous man in the business at Quiney. He has been identified with pictures sinee his sehool period ended and few phases of the industry are unknown facts to him.
Herman E. Nelson was born at Sioux City, Iowa, November 17, 1890. His parents are Edward and Mary (Davidson) Nelson, both of whom were born in Norway. Edward Nelson came to the United States and located at Sioux City, Iowa, when a young man and for a number of years was a building con- tractor there. At present he fills a very responsible position, that of overseer of the construction of all buildings for the J. Deere Plow Company at Ottumwa, Iowa. Of his seven children, Herman E. is the fourth in order of birth, the others being: Norman, who is associated with his father at Ottumwa; May; who is the wife of Edward Earle, of Ottumwa, Iowa; Arthur, who is well known on the vaudeville stage; Aliee, who resides at home; Roy, who is interested at Hannibal, Missouri; and Esther, who lives with her parents.
Herman E. Nelson beeame first interested in his present line of business at Ottumwa, Iowa, and afterward spent a year at Galesburg, Illinois, as film operator and assistant manager. In 1910 he came to Quiney as manager of the Colonial Theater and then took over the Colonnade Theater, which he bought in association with William A. Schwindeler, when they named it the Star, and it is a comfortable and attractive playhouse. Mr. Nelson was one of the organizers
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of the Belasco Theater Company. He is interested financially in this house also with Mr. W. A. Schwindeler and Will H. Sohm.
Mr. Nelson was married June 24, 1913, to Miss Rose Weltin, of Quincy, and they have two children : Rose Mary, who was born in April, 1914; and Edward, who was born January 17, 1916.
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