Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. II, Part 29

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 29

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Edward H. Dudley remained at home with his parents until he was twenty- six years of age. January 20, 1875, he married, and then took charge of the old homestead, and after his father's death bought the interests of the other heirs and owns a farm that has responded to the enterprise of the Dudley family for over seventy years. This homestead comprises 160 aeres, while he also has eighty acres of timberland. Mr. Dudley did much to improve and develop the farm, building a substantial home and a complete set of farm buildings. A

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mile from the homestead in Honey Creek Township he bought another place of eighty acres, and that is now occupied by one of his sons. Mr. Dudley gave his personal supervision to his grain and stock raising interests until 1907, when he left them in charge of his sons and moved to the Village of Fowler, where he built and now occupies one of the good homes. Mr. Dudley has never been an office seeker. For many years he has been an active member of the United Brethren Church of Elm Grove, the church being only half a mile from his old farm.

Mr. Dudley married Huldah J. Van Dyke, of Mendon Township. They had grown up in the same neighborhood. Her father William Van Dyke, the family name having originally been spelled Van Dick, was a native of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He married in that state Esther Cort and they came to Adams County in the early '40s, having at that time one child, Calvin. Joseph Cort, father of Mrs. Esther Van Dyke, came to this county in 1855 and lived in Mendon Township until his death when past eighty. William Van Dyke died at the age of seventy-nine and his wife, Esther, a few months after the birth of her youngest child, Mrs. Dudley. William Van Dyke and wife had three sons and three daughters: Calvin, who died in Mendon Township after he had attained the age of sixty years; Joseph, who was a farmer in this county and died at the age of seventy ; Mary, who died at eighteen ; Benjamin, who lives in Cali- fornia ; Mrs. Vesta Thomas, of California ; and Huldah, who was born August 7. 1855, and after the death of her mother was reared in the home of her aunt, Mary MeGrew. She was nineteen at the time of her marriage to Mr. Dudley.

Mr. and Mrs. Dudley have two sons. Herman C. occupies his father's farm in Honey Creek Township. He married Mattie Strickler. The second son, Edward Berton, who now has the management of the old homestead and has been successfully engaged in farming there for eleven years, is one of the pros- perous citizens of the township and has done much to improve his property. He married Gertrude Myers, and they have a daughter, Mildred. Beside these two sons Mr. and Mrs. Dudley reared an adopted daughter, Lizzie Epping, from the age of six until she became the wife of Samuel Myers of Mendon Township.

GEORGE STARMANN. Having by means of industry, forethought and sound business judgment achieved unquestioned success in his active career, George Starmann, of Quincy, for many years a dealer in paints, oils and wall paper, is now living retired from active pursuits at his attractive home 829 Oak Street, enjoying all the comforts of life. A native of Germany, he was born April 21, 1855, in the Kingdom of Hanover.

His father, Bernard Heinrich Starmann, was born and reared in Germany. Coming to the United States in 1837, he located in Quincy, Illinois, where he remained for a period of five years. Returning to the Fatherland in 1842, he there lived and labored during the remainder of his life. His wife, who was a life-long resident of Germany, bore him the following named children : Lecetta, of Germany; Henry and Vina, deceased; George, the subject of this brief sketch ; Marie, of Germany; August, of Saint Joseph, Missouri; Clement, also of Saint Joseph, Missouri ; and Ignus, deceased.

· A lad of ambition and courage, George Starmann left home when but fifteen years of age, crossing the broad Atlantic, and in April, 1870. located in Quiney, Illinois. He studied for awhile in the public schools, after which he served an apprenticeship of seven years at the painter's trade. In 1877, in company with B. S. Loek, he opened a paint shop at the corner of Seventh and Hampshire streets, and managed it for awhile. He then started a store at 640 Maine Street, and with his partner ran it successfully six years. Mr. Starmann then bought out his partner's interests in the business, retaining the building for himself, however. Subsequently purchasing the building at 618-620 Maine Street, he entirely remodeled it, naming it the George Starmann Building, and there carried on a large and profitable business until his retirement in 1911.

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Mr. Starmann still owns that building, and has much other city property of value.

Mr. Starmann married, November 16, 1882, Mary Elizabeth Fenek, a native of Quiney, and they are the parents of two children, George H., a chemist living in Chicago, and Rudolph A., of Chicago, an auditor. Politically Mr. Starmann is a democrat, and much interested in local and national affairs. Religiously he is a member of Saint Boniface Church. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Columbus and to the Western Catholic Union.

WILLIAM D. FINLEY was a farmer and prominent citizen whose career was chicfly identified with Gilmer Township in this county, and it was on his fine farm there than he passed away in 1908. His was a character of great enter- prise, ability, industry, and it was reflected in generous accumulations of landed property and also in the good will and esteem paid him throughout his life. Mrs. William D. Finley now lives in Quincy, and she is interesting as one of the surviving representatives of the prominent Judy family of this county.

The late Mr. Finley was born in Kentucky in 1840 and was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His father, Eli Finley, was born and married in Kentucky and later moved to Lewis County, Missouri, where he was a successful farmer and stock raiser. He died in advanced years at Canton, Missouri. His first wife was the mother of William D. Finley, who was a small child when she died. He was the sixth among eight children, all now deceased. By his second marriage Eli Finley had two daughters, both of whom are still living.

Many families liad similar religious experiences to the Finleys. Eli Finley and wife were what might be called hidebound Presbyterians, zealous in their own religious devotion and strict in making their children subservient to the same observations. As a result William D. Finley suffered a reaction after getting away from the influence of his parents, and while a thorough Biblical scholar and essentially religious, he was rather liberal in his practice. He was ten years of age when his father moved to Lewis County, Missouri, and he grew up there on a farm and gained a fair education. About the time he reached his majority he came to Gilmer Township in Adams County and was soon in the full swing of his career as a stock buyer and dealer. He was as resourceful and enterprising as he was industrious, and engaged in few undertakings that did not prosper. Before the Civil war he drove cattle overland to California, a journey that required many months. Several years later he took a herd of eighty or ninety stock across the plains, and in each trip doubled his money. From his business he acquired large amounts of land in Missouri, but eventu- ally sold or traded, and took half price in cash and the other half in whiskey. This consignment of whiskey came to him at an estimated value of 90 cents per gallon. Just before the Civil war broke out he shipped this liquor to Dallas, Texas. It was put in a storehouse, and on account of hostilities he could not look after its further sale or consignment. After the war, much to his sur- prise, he found the stock still safe in a storehouse, and he was able to sell it at $5 a gallon. Some of his proceeds he also used to acquire land in Texas, in- vesting in about 1,000 acres near Dallas, some of which is now included in the limits of that great southern city. But he never realized any profit from this investment, since Dallas was a long time in recovering from the effects of the war and in starting its growth, and he finally sold his possessions there at just about what he had paid.

The old Finley place in Gilmer Township is in section 21, where he had 330 acres, constituting a farm of splendid improvements and value. He and his brother Lycurgus also bought 600 acres near Loraine, and his brother's in- terests subsequently came to him. This handsome property is now owned and occupied by two of Mr. Finley's sons. Mrs. Finley and her daughter still own the 330 acre homestead in Gilmer Township. In 1917 Mrs. Finley left the farm and coming to Quincy built a fine bungalow at 2021 Broadway, where she

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and her daughter now make their home, surrounded with every comfort and convenience.

In 1860, in Gilmer Township, Mr. Finley married Miss Adelia A. Judy. Mrs. Finley was born in Gilmer Township in 1844, and was married at the age of sixteen. Her father was the late Paris Judy, who was born in Clark County, Kentucky, December 4, 1811, a son of Winepark and Anna Judy. His grandparents were natives of Germany and early settlers of Pennsylvania, where !Wincpark Judy was born in 1770. He moved to Clark County, Kentucky, in 1801, and died there in 1836. Anna Judy was born in Maryland May 15, 1778, was married in Kentucky in 1800, and died in Adams County, Illinois, August 6, 1844.

Paris Judy was one of the interesting pioneer characters of Adams County. He arrived in the county in 1834, and during that summer taught in Quincy in a little log house, this being the second school taught there. He also located and laid out the Village of Liberty in this county. He was not a wealthy man when he came here, but his good judgment, industry and economy enabled him to accumulate about 1,600 acres of land, most of it in Gilmer Township, constituting a highly valuable property. Some of this land he secured at prices ranging from $3 to $5 an acre. He and his wife lived in a log cabin, and they cooked their meals at a fireplace with a long handled skillet. Mr. Judy was also a merchant at Burton, and at one time kept a hotel at Columbus, when Columbus was on the stage road and when all travelers put up for the night at the Judy place. Paris Judy died at the old homestead in Gilmer Township in 1886. He married Nancy Markwell, who was born in Fleming County, Kentucky, July 30, 1817. She died when nearly eighty years of age at her home in Quincy. Both were active members of the Christian Church and they are laid side by side in Mount Pleasant cemetery. Paris Judy was a democrat in politics. He and his wife had seven children, the only son being James M. Judy. Paris Judy was the first assessor in Gilmer Township, and for many years also acted as justice of the peace and school director.

Mr. and Mrs. Finley had three sons and one daughter. One son, Eli Paris, died at the age of twenty-one months. The son William J. now lives on one of the farms left him by his father at Loraine and has increased his inheritance to about 800 acres, so that he is one of the largest land holders and farmers in that part of the county. He married Rose Ewing, and their children are Theo, Mabel, William J. and Harold. The other living son, Frisby S., occupies the other farm formerly owned by his father at Loraine. Ile married Elizabeth Rutledge, of Adams County. The only daughter, Sarah Agnes, is a graduate of the Quincy High School and the Gem City Business College, and she has devoted herself to the companionship and care of her mother. Mrs. Finley and her daughter are members of the Christian Science Church.

W. HENRY HEIDBREDER. A man of versatile talents, active and enterprising, W. Henry Heidbreder, a well known druggist of Quincy, has had a varied career, and in the many places where he has resided and the different industries with which he has been identified he has always been regarded as a man of integrity and worth, and is highly respected throughout the community in which he now lives. A native of Adams County. he was born in Quincy November 5, 1858.

His father, Frederick W. Heidbreder, was born in Germany. In 1851 he located in Quincy, Illinois, being the first member of the Heidbreder family to settle in Adams County. He was an extensive and successful contractor and builder, erecting many buildings in Quincy, where he continued a resident until his death, March 21, 1916, at the venerable age of eighty-six years. He was twice married. He married first Mary Lehman, who died a few years later, leaving three children. Edward, of Palmyra, Missouri; Frances, wife of Wil- liam Schuchsiech, of St. Louis, Missouri; and W. Henry. IIe married for his second wife Mrs. Mary Meyer, widow of Henry Meyer, and to them one child was born, William, living near Marblehead, Illinois.

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Beginning work at the age of thirteen years, W. H. Heidbreder was for fonr years employed in the grocery of his uncle, Herman H. Heidbreder. Ile then took a course of study at the Gem City Business College, after which he was in an architeet's office for six months. The following three years Mr. Heid- breder was in the employ of Sommer, Lynds & Company, wholesale druggists. Going then to Chicago, he was connected with a wholesale drug establishment for about six months, and then spent a short time in New York City. Return- ing to Quiney, he traveled for a manufacturing house for nearly a year, and then resumed his position with Sommer, Lynds & Company, remaining with the firm five years.

Making a change of ocenpation and residence, Mr. Heidbreder was for six months employed in the Mallenkrodt Chemical Works at St. Louis. Not espe- cially pleased with either the work or the city, he became once more a resident of Quincy and an employee of Sommer, Lynds & Company, with whom he con- tinued the nine ensuing years. In 1894, in partnership with August and George Heidbreder, he embarked in the drug business as head of the firm of W. H. Heidbreder & Company. He was afterwards associated with the firm known as Heidbreder & Drallmeier Drug Store, located at 1707 Broadway. Later he was associated with Mr. Hagemann, under the firm name Heidbreder, Hage- mann & Company, their drug store being located at Fifth and Chestnut streets. The partnership being dissolved, Raleigh Earl bought an interest in the busi- ness on July 9, 1917, and the firm of Heidbreder & Earl is carrying on a sub- stantial trade, being well patronized.

Mr. Heidbreder married, November 2, 1882, Matilda Meyer, who was born in Quincy. She died December 17, 1912, leaving five children, namely : Bertha, living at home : Louise, wife of Raleigh Earl; Edna, a teacher in the Quiney High School ; Helen : and Ralph. In politics Mr. Heidbreder is a staneh repub- liean. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, and of the Court of Honor. Both he and family are members of the Lutheran Memorial Church.

J. WALTER MEYER is one of the sterling and energetic young business men of Quincy, and is manager of the Quincy Lumber Company at Fifth Street and Broadway. A good reason for his success can be found in the fact that he has devoted all his adult career to one line and one business. In April, 1906, a few weeks before reaching his twenty-first birthday, he went with the Quincy Lumber Company as an employe, and rapidly mastered not only the compli- eated technique of lumber terms and figures, but acquired a thoroughly prac- tieal knowledge of the business from the commercial side. In September, 1913, he was promoted to manager of the plant.

This is one of the older lumber firms of Quiney and has been in existence for a great many years. The business was organized under its present form and title in 1903. The first manager was E. C. Diekhut, who was sneceeded by Mr. Meyer. The firm earries a large stock of building materials of all kinds and has a service that enables contractors and others to supply all their wants for the building of any type of strnetnre from cellar to garret.

J. Walter Meyer was born in Quincy, May 25, 1885. He was educated in the public schools of Monroe City, Missouri, and graduated from the Gem City Business College at Quincy. The date of his diploma of graduation from the Gem City College is February 20, 1906. Just a few weeks later he entered the service of the Quiney Lumber Company, and that service has been continuons ever since.

Mr. Meyer is of the substantial German ancestry that has figured so largely in the life and affairs of Quincy from pioneer times to the present. His grand- father, Gottlieb Meyer, came to the United States prior to the Civil war, and is still living in Quincy, at the age of eighty-threc. For many years he was a leading cooper, a trade which he learned in Germany. Fred W. Meyer, father of J. Walter, is still active in Quiney and is connected with the Electric Wheel

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Works. He married at Quiney Matilda L. Achelpohe, who was born and reared in Quincy of German parents. The Meyer family are Lutherans in religion.

J. Walter Meyer was one of a family of six sons and one daughter. He mar- ried at Quiney Miss Louisa Banmann, who was born in this city in 1887 and was educated in the public schools. She is a daughter of John and Mary (Siebers) Banmann, both natives of Quiney and of German parentage. Her parents still live at Quiney, retired, and are now past sixty years of age. The Baumanns are Catholics in religion and have furnished as a rule democratie voters, while the Meyers are republicans. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have three chil- dren : Mildred, born November 12, 1909, now in the third grade of the public sehools; Walton Milton, born February 25, 1912, who has also begun his edu- cation in the public schools; and Russell Virgil, born September 21, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer are active members of the Memorial Lutheran Church. He is financial secretary of the Modern Woodmen of America and in politics votes as a republican.

W. GUY NOLL is president and treasurer of the Noll-Hauworth Company, one of the distinctive manufacturing and wholesale firms of Quiney. The firm manufacture and handle a complete line of overalls and other working clothes.

The present business is successor to the older C. S. Nichols Company, which was organized in 1903, with C. S. Niehols as president. Mr. Noll acquired his early experience as a business man and commercial traveler with the firm, and was at one time junior partner. Mr. Nichols died in 1908, but the business was continued under the old firm name until January, 1911. Early in 1908 Mr. Noll was made vice president of the company, and later, after buying out the heirs of Mr. Nichols, he reorganized as the Noll-Hauworth Company and became president and treasurer. His brother Leroy Noll is secretary, while Silas J. Hauworth is vice president.

The company has offiees and salesrooms at 127-129 North Third Street and the modern factory is just adjacent on Hampshire Street. The factory is sup- plied with every convenience and sanitary comfort. The sales are made all over the west, northwest and southwest.

Mr. Noll practically grew up in the business, having entered this line of trade soon after he finished his edueation. Mr. Noll was born in Quincy, Angust 21, 1875, and was educated here in the grammar and high schools. His father, Angust Theodore Noll, was also a veteran commercial man and died in April, 1898.

W. Guy Noll married at Quiney Miss Mary A. Prinee, a native of this city, and she was educated in the city schools and also at Washington, D. C. Mr. and Mrs. Noll have two sons, Edward Prince, born April 3, 1908, and William Theodore, better known as Teddy, born December 17. 1917. Mrs. Noll is an active member of St. Jolin's Episcopal Church. Mr. Noll is a Roosevelt repub- liean.

ANDREW DOERR. For fully half a century the name Doerr has been identi- fied with the business enterprise and social and religious life of Quincy. The late Andrew Doerr was a conspicuous figure in Quiney's commercial affairs and a man entitled to the high respeet and esteem he always enjoyed.

Ile was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1842. He was a small boy when his father, John Doerr, died, and he grew up the main support of his widowed mother. During his early life he served three years in the regular army of his country. About 1868 he and his mother and other members of the family set sail for the United States, and from New York City journeyed westward to Quincy, where his mother spent her last days and passed away at the age of sixty-five. All were members of the Catholic Church.

On coming to this city Andrew Doerr found employment in a cigar store, and began life on the very bottom round of the ladder. Then for three years

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he clerked in the Ruff dry goods house, and with his experience and a very modest equipment of capital he started a business of his own on Main Street. He was a hard worker, a good judge of merchandise, and by close attention to his affairs he built up a large trade, and about thirty years ago he bought a three story building at the corner of Main and Sixth streets and established there a complete department store. For a time he also managed a theater in the same building and booked many of the attractions which entertained and in- structed the people of Quincy of that day. Later he retired from the theatrical business and gave all his attention to his mercantile establishment. This store stands a monument to his thrift and hard working ability, and it was the source of the prosperity which the family enjoy.

Andrew Doerr died at his home 519 Oak Street in Quincy April 22, 1914, at the age of seventy-two. He was very prominent as a Catholic, member of the Western Catholic Union and the Orphan Society, and in politics a democrat.

Andrew Doerr and Miss Adelaide E. Schulte were married at the home of the bride at the corner of Sixth and York streets, now the site of the Quincy Railway depot. Mrs. Doerr was born and reared in Quincy, and her people were among the most substantial early residents of the city. She is a daughter of Herman and Mary Ann (Ricker) Schulte, both natives of Hanover, Germany. Her father came to this country when about twenty-five years of age and her mother was fourteen when she came to America. They married in Quincy and later they built the substantial brick home which at the time was one of Quincy's finest residences. Her father died here in 1858, when in the prime of life. He left two daughters, Mrs. Doerr 'and Mrs. Mary Kircher, who are still living. The mother of Mrs. Doerr married for her second husband John A. Arning, who soon afterward enlisted in the Civil war and just at the end of three years of faithful service and on the same day he was discharged died of illness at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Two of his daughters are still living, Mrs. Theodore Duker and Mrs. Dora Schoe.

Since the death of Mr. Doerr Mrs. Doerr has competently and successfully managed the large business which he established and built up. For years she had helped her husband in the store and in the management of their affairs, and much of the success enjoyed by them is to be credited to her good judgment and co-operation.

Mrs. Doerr became the mother of three children. Josephine died in infancy, and the two living daughters are M. Dorothea and M. Helen, both of whom are graduates of St. Mary's Academy of Quincy, and are also graduates in music and art. Dorothea is the wife of L. J. Kadeskie, living in Quincy. Helen mar- ried Francis O'Neil, a business man of El Paso, Texas. Mr. and Mrs. O'Neil have two children, Mary Dorothea and Mary Helen.

LAWRENCE P. BONFOEY is one of the vice presidents of the Monroe Drug Company of Quincy, an organization that stands in the front rank of Quincy's business institutions. The products of the company are known nationally and consist of Putnam Fadeless Dyes, Putnam Dry Cleaner, Putnam Oil, Monco, Glycerated Asafetida, Baking Powders, and Butter Colors. Mr. Bonfoey has been a resident of Quincy since January 1, 1915, coming here from Chicago to take an executive place in the Monroe Drug Company. He was born at Union- ville, Missouri, in 1875, and is member of a very prominent old family there. His father, Beverly H. Bonfoey, was born in the State of Texas of French ancestry. He graduated from Yale College in the civil enginering course and afterwards moved to Missouri and became a well known lawyer at Unionville, where he is now living retired. He served as a member of the Missouri Com- mission, which handled much of the detail of the Louisiana Purchase Exposi- tion, and was on that commission for three years. He is a republican in poli- tics and for two years was mayor of Unionville. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. Beverly Bonfoey married Anna Webb, member

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Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. II, Part 29

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