USA > Illinois > Adams County > Quincy > Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. II > Part 39
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WILLIAM A. FIFER. Many of the substantial enterprises that flourish at Quincy have been founded, capitalized and entirely developed here, not always by the present generation, which, however, with more favorable opportunities, have built up on the old foundations commercial structures of surprising im- portance. An instance is the Quincy Show Case Company, of which William A. Fifer is president and treasurer, and C. Arthur Fifer is secretary. For over forty years the name of Pfeiffer has been honorably identified with busi- ness in this city.
William A. Fifer was born at Quincy, Illinois, May 18, 1881. His parents were Henry Charles and Augusta (Apel) Pfeiffer. Both were born in Ger- many and when twenty-one years of age came to make their home in the United States, locating permanently in the City of Quincy. By trade the father was a molder, but he also had knowledge along other mechanical lines, and in 1876 he gave up work as a molder and went into the business of manufacturing show cases, organizing what is now the Quincy Show Case Company in associ- ation with J. F. Pieper. He invested largely in the company and continued its secretary and treasurer up to the time of his death in 1910. He was also a stockholder and a director of the Mercantile Trust & Savings Bank, one of its first directors, and had additional minor interests, as he was a man of great business enterprise. His wife survived him four years, her death occurring June 21, 1914. They were the parents of the following children: Lillie, Lillie (2) and Amelia, all deceased; Augusta, who is the wife of M. T. Koelsch, of Quincy ; a daughter who died in infancy; Henry, who is a resident of Mem- phis, Tennessee; William A .; C. Arthur; and Herbert, who is deceased.
William A. Fifer attended school at Quincy until he was fourteen years old and then went into his father's factory and learned the business from the ground up. As he deserved them one office after the other became his until he at length became vice president and treasurer of the company. Associated with him is his younger brother, C. Arthur Fifer, who is secretary of the company. A large business is done, the name and reputation of this firm being known all over the state.
William A. Fifer was married October 21, 1903, to Miss Nettie Stubbs, who was born at Springfield, Illinois, and they have one daughter, Martha Jane. Mr. Fifer is a republican in his political views. He is an advanced Mason and belongs to some special business organizations, while socially he is president of the Quincy Country Club and is also president of the Rotary Club.
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JOHN J. MORIARTY is a well known figure in the commercial life of Quincy, manager for Bolles and Rogers, one of the largest firms in Illinois dealing in hides, tallow, fur and other products. The plant of this company is at 101 Front Street and it is a branch of the main business whose headquarters are in Chicago. The business was established in Quincy in July, 1905, and since that date Mr. Moriarty has been general manager.
Mr. Moriarty was born in Seneca, Kansas, June 26, 1860. Both his parents were born in Ireland, were reared and married there, and came to the United States in 1848. He grew up in Kansas, attending public and parochial schools, and was a student of St. Mary's College at St. Mary's Kansas. He began his business career as a salesman in Cincinnati, and later went to the far South- west in New Mexico Territory, and was with the Charles Blanchard Company at Las Vegas. From there he returned home, but soon went back to the South- west and was in the employ of Don Pandaries in the wilds of Mora County, New Mexico. Four years later he returned to the Middle West and spent one vear as a traveling man in the northwestern states. At Kansas City he then became associated with Benjamin McClain and Company, hide dealers. They sent him as their buyer to New Mexico. While in New Mexico he had acquired a fluent command of the Spanish language and the Mexican dialect and he proved a valuable representative to his firm. After five years he left the South- west permanently and in 1892 located at Quincy.
This city has been his home for over a quarter of a century. For some years he was traveling representative of the Hirsch Ilide Company of Quincy, and when that company was taken over by the Bolles & Rogers Company he continued with them as traveling representative and buyer for three years, until he was made local manager.
Mr. Moriarty has served as a member of the Board of Aldermen for eight years from the Fifth Ward, and is an active democrat. He owns one of the good homes of the city at 1418 Hampshire Street, the residence having been erected three years ago.
In St. Louis Mr. Moriarty married Miss Ida Harriott. She was born in St. Louis, and was educated in the public schools there. They have two daugh- ters: Nora A. was educated in the parochial schools and St. Mary's Academy and is at home ; Opal May was educated in St. Mary's Academy at Notre Dame, Indiana, also in the public and parochial schools of Quiney, and is the wife of Forrest Knipe, of Oklahoma City. Mr. Moriarty is a member of St. Rose Catholic church and is a charter member and fourth degree Knight of Columbus. He is also affiliated with the Woodmen and with the local post of the Travelers' Protective Association.
CHARLES F. Loos is one of the firm of Pape & Loos, the largest and most widely known millers in this section of Illinois. Mr. Loos is as busy as the typical miller is supposed to be, has a great many details at his finger's ends, and manages everything with system and order. Pape & Loos own and operate the Gem Mills and the Acme Roller Mills, the former at Eleventh and Broadway and the latter at Twelfth and Broadway. These mills for many years have manufactured an extensive output of flour and feed stuffs of various kinds. Their best known brand is Acme flour, which is sold and consumed all over the Middle West. The capacity of the mills is 125 barrels per day. In recent years they have also used their plant according to Government regulations for the manufacture of many flour substitutes, including corn meal, corn flour, and rye flour, and this has of course been one of the big features of the industry. About thirty people are employed in this milling industry.
Mr. Loos has been an active member of the firm for twenty-three years. He is an Adams County man, having been born in Melrose Township, September 4, 1871. He grew up on a farm and received his education in the public schools. He started in the milling industry at the bottom and has acquired a masterful knowledge of the entire technique.
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His father, George F. Loos, was born in Melrose Township August 10, 1848, and was one of the early settlers of Adams County. George F. Loos married November 16, 1869, Auralia Louisa Heidenrich, who was born February 2, 1851. They had twelve children, eight sons and four daughters, ten of whom are still living.
Charles F. Loos married in Fall Creek Township of this county Emma Ileithold. She was born in that township in 1876 and was reared and educated there. Her parents were J. Henry and Elizabeth (Speckhart) Heithold. Her father was born in Germany and her mother in Adams County. They married in Adams County and were prosperous farmers of Fall Creek Township, where both died when past seventy years of age. Mrs. Loos died in October, 1914. She was the mother of the following children : Lela, a graduate of the Quincy High School and still at home; Mildred, a graduate of the city high school, the Gem Business College, and is now employed in the office of the business college; Raymond, a graduate of high school and now taking a course in the Gem City Business College; Thelma, a high school student ; Erma and Delbert, both attend- ing the Webster grammar school. Mr. Loos married for his present wife Anna Schmidt. She was born in Quincy and of German parentage, and was reared and educated in this city. Mr. and Mrs. Loos have one daughter, Virginia, born in 1916. They are all members of the Salem Lutheran church. Mr. Loos served as trustee of the church four years. He is a democrat in politics.
THEODORE W. WAND. While financial institutions are absolutely necessary in carrying on justly and honestly as well as efficiently the transactions that represent a city's commereial life, not one day would these institutions fulfill their designated duties without integrity and ability being woven into their business fabric. A large measure of distinction attaches to those who have proved deserving of any trust. and banking institutions plaee high value on their proved and experienced employes. One of Quiney's well known business men in this connection is Theodore W. Wand, who has been identified with several of the important banking institutions of this city for many years, and further- more is active and interested in all that concerns the progress of Quincy along other lines.
Theodore W. Wand is a native of this city, born April 1, 1874, son of Christian and Elizabeth (Duker) Wand. His father, now a retired resident of Quincy, had a long and active association with Adams County both in its commercial affairs and as a citizen. He was born in Marion County, Missouri, March 7, 1849, a son of William and Margaret (Bergmann) Wand. William and Margaret. were both natives of Germany. William Wand came to Ameriea in the early '40s, and though farmer he went out to California in the days of forty-nine and spent about two years on the Pacific coast. In the meantime his wife had moved her family to Melrose Township of Adams County, Illinois. In 1878 William Wand and wife moved to Quincy, where both of them died in 1881. They were the parents of eight children: William, who died in 1916; Christian ; John, who still occupies the home farm in Melrose Township; Nicholas, de- ceased ; Mary, of Quincy ; Elizabeth and Veronica, both deceased ; and Margaret, wife of Garry Vandenboom of Quincy.
Christian Wand grew up on his father's farm, had a common school educa- tion, and at the age of nineteen left home to clerk in a general store at Quincy. That was his employment and source of experience until the age of twenty-three, when he engaged in general merchandising in a store at 718 Maine Street in Quincy. Christian Wand continued this business until 1887. In the following year he became a factor in the local pork packing industry, and followed it actively for about five years. Since then he has spent his time looking after his private interests, his farm and city properties. He is a democrat, a member of the Knights of Columbus and is active in St. Francis Catholic Church. April 29, 1873, Christian Wand married Elizabeth Duker, who has been a resident of Quincy all her life. Six children have been born to their marriage, and of the
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five now living all are residents of Quincy except one. The oldest is Theodore W .; Franees lives with her parents; Bertha is deceased; Arthur J., who was assistant manager of the New Willard Hotel at Washington, D. C., died October 13, 1918; Ida E. is wife of Robert Soebing, assistant eashier of the Mercantile Trust & Savings Bank; and Florence is at home.
Theodore W. Wand was afforded many educational as well as social advan- tages in his youth. After attending the parochial school he entered St. Francis College and pursued his studies there for three years and then took a course cov- ering one year in the Gem City Business College at Quincy. He then entered the employ of W. T. Duker as bookkeeper, but shortly afterward was appointed to the office of special tax collector, in which he served for two years, following which he was deputy county recorder and remained in the recorder's office for 31/2 years. For the past fourteen years Mr. Wand has been with the State Savings, Loan & Trust Company and for nine years has had charge as cashier of the Broadway branch of this bank, at all times meeting every demand made upon his ability.
Mr. Wand was married May 9, 1900, to Miss Mathilde Damhorst, a daughter of George Damhorst, and they have the following children: Theodore C., Rosalie, Harold, Clarence, Dorothy, Virginia, Mildred and Paul Robert. Mr. Wand and his family belong to St. Francis Catholic Church.
Politically Mr. Wand is a staunch democrat and exerts considerable influence in eity polities without ever desiring any politieal favors for himself. He is a member of the Western Catholic Union and for many years has been a member of that great Catholic organization the Knights of Columbus.
D. LAFAYETTE MUSSELMAN. The building of a great educational institution is a noble achievement. It means wide opportunity to the individual and untold advantages to a community. Quincy, Illinois, is the fortunate home of such an institution. Here the Gem City Business College was founded in 1870 by D. L. Musselman, Sr., and each passing year has added to its fame as it has grown in usefulness.
D. L. Musselman was a delightful character, respected by his fellow citizens and loved by his students. On June 16, 1910, he passed out of life in his home at Quiney. Besides his wife, Mary M. (McDavitt) Musselman, he left one daughter, Hattie V., who resides with her mother, and three sons, D. Lafayette, who is president, Virgil George, who is vice president and Thomas Edgar, who is secretary of the great school which the father founded.
D. Lafayette Musselman, Sr., was born April 21, 1842, in Fulton County, Illinois. His people were in humble circumstances and unable to afford him the educational advantages he craved, and the efforts he made on his own behalf in boyhood might well serve in its overcoming of hardships, as the basis of an encouraging story for others similarly situated. In 1862, when twenty years old, he enlisted for service in the Civil war then in progress, entering the Eighty- Fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and upon the organization of Company C was elected first sergeant and shortly afterward was advanced to second lieutenant, which rank he held throughout the war. He was present at every battle in which his regiment participated and these ineluded the mighty struggles at Perryville, Missionary Ridge, Resaea, Dallas, Peach . Tree Creek, Chickamauga, Rome, Kenesaw Mountain and Jonesboro. The annals of his regiment tell of no more valorous deeds than he performed on many occasions.
Having been careful and provident, Lieutenant Musselman returned to private life possessing some capital, a part of which he used in taking a complete course in a Chieago business college. Following this he taught in the Bryant, Stratton and Bell Business College, and in the old English and German College of Quiney, which was situated where the Jefferson School is now located.
It was in 1870 that he started the Gem City Business College with three students, which were increased to thirty-three by the end of the year. The success of the venture gave encouragement and largely through hard work and
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judicious management the attendance steadily increased. As the outlook grew wider Mr. Musselman met the new demands, and when he had a registry of 800 students he found he required more commodious accommodations. In September, 1892, the present magnificent building was opened to students. The present enrollment numbers some 1,400, coming from nearly every state in the Union. This $100,000 building, which is thoroughly modern in all its appoint- ments, is the home of a school that has a national reputation. Its successful graduates are numbered by the thousands and are located in every section of the globe. Bookkeeping, actual business practice, banking, shorthand, type- writing, mathematics and penmanship are thoroughly taught by a large faculty of experienced teachers.
The eldest son, D. Lafayette Musselman, was born at Macomb, Illinois, March 31, 1879. He attended the public schools of Quincy and after completing the high school course became a student in Shattuck Military Academy at Fari- bault, Minnesota. He then read law under Judge MeCrory of Quincy. He took a commercial and stenographic course in the Gem City Business College, in which institution he was an instructor from 1898 until 1900. From 1900 until the death of his father in 1910 he served as secretary and treasurer of the school, at which time he was elected president of the school, which position he has held since. In 1898 he was the representative of the L. E. Waterman Foun- tain Pen Company of New York City at the Omaha Exposition.
Mr. Musselman has other important interests and in many ways is one of Quincy's most valued and trusted citizens. In 1907 he was president of the National Commercial Teachers' Association. He is a member of the Quincy Chamber of Commerce, the Quincy Rotary Club, chairman of the business col- lege section of the International Rotary, is a member of the Quincy Board of Education, is vice president of the Chaddock Boys' School at Quincy, is a di- rector of the Quincy Park and Boulevard Association, is a trustee of the Wood- land Home for Orphans, and is continually called upon to serve on committees and commissions in relation to benevolent movements here and in other places. He is chairman of the Adams County Chapter of the American Red Cross and a director of the Quincy National Bank. He is a trustee of the Vermont Street Methodist Church, a Knight Templar, a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner.
The second son, Virgil George, attended the Quincy High School, the Uni- versity of Illinois, and the Gem City Business College, following which he taught in the school, later becoming secretary. Since the death of his father he has been vice president of the school.
He is also secretary of the Board of Trustees of Blessing Hospital, secretary of the Board of Directors of the Young Men's Christian Association, and is secretary of the Sunday school of the Vermont Street Methodist Church as well as steward of the same church. He is, also, a Knight Templar. He is very active in all public matters and has acted as captain in several of the Liberty Loan drives.
The youngest son, Thomas Edgar, attended the Quincy High School, is a graduate of Shattuck Military Academy, and received his B. A. degree at the University of Illinois in 1910 and his master's degree from the same university in 1913.
He is an authority on bird life, butterflies, etc. He is, also, an athlete of unusual ability, having been tennis champion of the University of Illinois two years and for five years was tennis champion of the Iowa-Missouri-Illinois Tour- nament. Besides being secretary of the Gem City Business College he is princi- pal of the bookkeeping department and lecturer on business English and letter writing. He is secretary of the Quincy Country Club and a member of the Lambert Lodge of Masons.
J. GRANT STUART. A large part of J. Grant Stuart's business career has been in financial institutions, and as cashier of the Broadway Bank at Quincy he is considered able, reliable and trustworthy. He was one of the original or-
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ganizers of this bank in 1910 and has been identified with it ever since, and through courtesy and just discrimination has made firm friends for the institu- tion as well as for himself.
J. Grant Stuart was born in Indiana, July 5, 1867. He is a son of Henry and Abigail (Lassiter) Stuart, both of whom were born in North Carolina. With other members of the Society of Friends they left the Old North State during the Civil war and located in Indiana, and the father was engaged in farming and milling during the rest of his active life. His death occurred at Plymouth, Illinois, December 14, 1905, he having moved to Illinois in 1868. The mother makes her home at Augusta in Hancock County. They were the parents of seven children. as follows: Julian L., who lives at Lewistown, Montana ; Zelinda, who is the wife of Walter H. Peck, near Lewistown; Thomas C., who lives at Conway, Texas ; Rebecea, who is the wife of E. J. Pickens, of Mendon, Illinois ; Margaret, who resides with her mother at Augusta; Willa, who is the wife of Frank Morrison, of Loraine, Illinois; and J. Grant, of Quiney.
J. Grant Stuart attended the country schools and helped his father on the farm during boyhood, after which he assisted in his brother's butcher shop at Plymouth for one year, and then spent a year in college at Dixon, Illinois, where he completed a business course. Returning then to Plymouth he became a farmer and also a dealer in stock, buying and shipping in that vicinity and at Loraine for some time. Realizing the lack of good banking facilities at Loraine, which had become an important shipping point, Mr. Stuart in partner- ship with Jacob Klepper and George H. Eastman organized the Loraine State Bank. Mr. Stuart became cashier of the institution and served continuously for the next three years and then resigned because of failing health. Subsequently he served as assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Augusta and then resigned and took a period of needed rest. A quiet life, however, soon palled and in 1910 he re-entered the banking field as one of the organizers of the Broadway Bank at Quiney and has filled the office of cashier ever since.
Mr. Stuart was married September 4, 1894, to Miss Eugenia Cady, who was born at Camden in Schuyler County, Illinois, and they have one daughter, Roxie Katherine, who was born in April, 1900.
Mr. Stuart has never been a politician in the accepted sense of the word, but, believing in the principles of the republican party, he has never hesitated to proclaim them and give hearty support to this political organization. For many years he has been a member of the Masonic Lodge, No. 1, of Quiney and of the order of Knights of Pythias, and with his family belongs to the Christian Church.
JOSEPH B. C. FREIBURG. A trade that provides for an actual need of nine- tenths of the human race is the manufacture of shoes and deserves to stand, as it does, among the world's important industries. Materials and form differ in different countries because of custom and elimate, but protective covering for the feet is a general necessity. From tropical lands where this covering may be largely ornamental to the rigorous climates where only the cold-defying skins of fur-bearing animals are adequate, show material is husbanded. Hol- land still clings to her picturesque wooden shoes, and grass supplies material for the Chinese coolie, but in home markets and in the United States leather has never been superseded. Other countries have laid claim to fine bootmaking and dainty footwear, but without doubt this country with its enormous factories and marvelous shoemaking machinery provides not only the greatest number of substantial shoes but the most attractive and best fitting styles.
It is easily within the memory of present residents of Quincy when the shoemaker's shop and the busy cobbler would be found on every business street, and it was such a shop that was the beginning of the extensive shoe manu- facturing business of Joseph B. C. Freiburg, one of Quincy's large enter- prises, located at 729 Maine Street. The original shop was established here many years ago by his father, Henry Freiburg.
Jos Ble. Freiburg.
LIBRARY Of THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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This being an age of specialization and as few small shops can compete with the enormous output of machine shoe factories, Mr. Joseph Freiburg has modified his business into a high class specialty that gives his enterprise a special distinction. He is a graduate chiropodist and orthopedist, having attended courses in several of the well known institutions, and his chief diploma bearing date August, 1914. An expert shoe maker, for years he has specialized in making custom boots and shoes to fit abnormal feet, and in order to get the advantage of scientific training as an additional equipment for this work he began the special study of how to treat and handle unusual cases of foot deform- ity. His reputation in this line has spread beyond local limits, and his shop is patronized by many of the best people of the city. He graduated from the Illinois College of Chiropody and Orthopedies in March, 1918, and is a mem- her of the National Association of Chiropodists and a member of the Illinois Orthopedist Association. He has neglected no opportunity to make the most of his highly specialized trade. It is interesting to note that Mr. Freiburg in the course of his experience made shoes from every species of hide from the human skin to an elephant hide.
Mr. Freiburg was born December 14, 1862, at 717 Maine Street, in the same block where he now has his business. His parents were Henry and Josephine (Meyer) Freiburg, the latter a native of Quincy. His father was born in Westphalia, Germany, and was the first member of his family to come to America. He traveled by sailing vessel to New Orleans, and later located at Quincy, where he resumed his trade as shoemaker. He conducted a shop and was active in his work steadily until five days before his death, which occurred June 21, 1917, when he was past eighty-two years of age. His widow is still living at Quincy, where they married. She was born on Hampshire Street between Eighth and Ninth streets, this city, of German parentage. Her mother died here when ninety-six years of age. All the family were active Catholics. Henry and Josephine Freiburg had the following children: Joseph B. C .; Christian, of Quincy; Verona, wife of Joseph Geers, of Quincy; Mary, wife of Barney Brinks, of Quincy; Alphonse, of Quincy; Agnes, wife of Lawrence Wavering, of Quincy ; Rose; Ledvina, wife of Joseph Adrian, of Martinsburg, Missouri ; and five who are deceased.
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