Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. II, Part 50

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 50

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The two daughters of Silas Enlow are Cle and Sarah E .. the latter the widow of Shaw Buttz. Shaw Buttz was born in Liberty July 31, 1854, and at the age of twenty-one married Sarah E. Enlow. who was then eighteen years old. Mr. Buttz died Mareh 6, 1916. Most of his life was spent on the old Meacham homestead at the edge of Liberty, where Mrs. Shaw Buttz and her sister Cle Enlow still live. Mrs. Buttz having lost her only child in infancy took into her home Dottie, her niece, at the age of six years, and reared her. This niece is now Mrs. Atchley, of Los Angeles, California, and is the mother of two daughters, Nora and Evelyn. Mrs. Buttz reared another girl from the age of six years. Della May Moore, now a woman grown and still with Mrs. Buttz and Miss Enlow. Miss Cle Enlow was a teacher in Adams County for a few

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years. She has given much of her time generously and self sacrifieingly to the care of other people. She looked after her mother, and was devoted to her father, who in old age had lost his sight and hearing. Her mother needed her constant eare for ten or fifteen years. Miss Cle Enlow also looked after her father's sister, Eliza Enlow Leach, during her old age. Mr. Shaw Buttz built the present brick home in which his widow and Miss Enlow reside. It is the center of a fine farm of 109 acres, adjoining the Village of Liberty on the north.

GILBERT VANCE STEWART. One of the valuable and productive farms in Payson Township is the Golden Rule Farm a half mile south of Plainville, with Gilbert Vanee Stewart proprietor. The farm has many other interests aside from its value and produetiveness. It has been the home of a family of sturdy citizenship, characterized by keen progressiveness and mental ability for a great many years. The present proprietor was born on that farm October 3, 1854. He is a son of Gilbert and Catherine ( Merrill) Stewart.

Gilbert Stewart, Sr., was born in County Down, Ireland, April 20, 1815, fifth in a family of five sons and one daughter of John and Isabel (Vance) Stewart. John Stewart died in the old country. Gilbert Stewart when ten years of age came to America in company with a brother, sister and mother and the family settled in Maine and lived there about twelve years, then came on west and located in Adams County. Gilbert Stewart reached this county in 1837, when he was twenty-two years of age. His brother William, above referred to, was one of the early day nursery men of the county, having the first nursery in the county outside of Quincy, his place of business being just north of Payson. He did much to furnish the original stock and stimulate fruit growing all over the county. William Stewart died of typhoid when about fifty-five years of age, December 13, 1857. Alexander Stewart, another brother of Gilbert, moved to Chariton County, Missouri, just north of Salis- bury. Still another brother, John, died in Maine. A sister, Isabel, married Jasper Whitcomb, and died October 30, 1899. Mrs. Isabel (Vanee) Stewart who came to America with her children died while with her son Gilbert in Feb- ruary, 1856, aged seventy-four years. Her body was the first interment in the Stewart Cemetery, for which Gilbert Stewart, Sr., donated half an acre of ground. The Stewart Cemetery is now incorporated, having been so since 1916 with one acre added.

Gilbert Stewart, Sr., had a very limited education, but was a man of supe- rior intelligence and read and observed so as to make up largely for early deficiencies. On May 6, 1851, he married Catherine Merrill. She was born in Cattaraugus County, New York, January 31, 1830, daughter of Nathaniel and Lucinda (Bassett) Merrill. She died December 14, 1896, aged sixty-six years. Soon after her birth her parents moved to Pennsylvania, lived there seven years, and then came to Adams County. The Merrills and Stewarts were neighbors in Payson Township. Catherine Merrill's mother died in Han- cock County, Illinois, March 8, 1859, aged fifty-six years, and her father died at the age of seventy-eight, October 17, 1874, and with him the name Merrill ceased to exist in Adams County except in the female line. Catherine Merrill's sister Julia married into the Hibbard family. Her brother, Nathaniel B. Mer- rill, was killed in battle at Memphis, Tennessee, September 16, 1863.

Gilbert Stewart, Sr., died August 4, 1890, at the age of seventy-five. He was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church and his wife was a Methodist. On the old farm he had built a stone house in 1850, close to the west side of the farm near a spring. He set out one of the early orchards and his place was famous for its fruit in those days. In 1874 he built the house that still stands on the farm, and in 1876 erected the substantial barn and after that various other ont buildings. His business life was spent on the farm. From 1837 to 1840 he had owned land in partnership with his brothers, and came to what is now the Golden Rule Farm in 1840. The family of Gilbert Stewart and wife consists of the following children : Emily F., who died September 7, 1895, at the

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age of forty-three, wife of David Hulsizer, who has since died in New Jersey; Gilbert Vance, second of the family; Charles W., a resident of Palmyra, Mis- souri ; Russell B., of Anthony, Kansas; Roscoe E., who bought half of the old homestead farm, improved it, and died there July 18, 1910; George M., who for seventeen years was a merchant at Plainville and is now living retired in that village; and Arthur M., who died November 13, 1918, aged fifty-two.

Gilbert V. Stewart has in his home one of those rare antiquities that some people often pay large sums of money to secure. It is a Grandfather's clock, brought by the family from Ireland, and known to have been in the family possession for at least 118 years. It is a splendid specimen of skilled cabinet workmanship. Its walnut case is hand carved and stands seven feet high. Just before he died Gilbert Stewart, Sr., willed this clock to his son Gilbert V. For a quarter of a century it was silent, but for forty years it has kept time with an accuracy hardly surpassed by modern timekeepers. It is a living link between the eighteenth and the twentieth centuries, and five generations of the Stewart family have regulated their daily lives by its voice.

Gilbert V. Stewart grew up in Adams County, attended the local schools, and for five years of his early manhood lived on his uncle William's farm near Payson Village. In 1884 he went to Anthony, Kansas, and in company with his brother Russell had some experience in farming in that state. In 1891, after his father's death, he returned to the old home and bought sixty-five acres, including the house and homestead and also the Gilbert Stewart Ceme- tery. He has cleared out fully twenty acres from heavy timber and devotes the Golden Rule Farm to the staple crops and the raising of cattle, hogs, mules and horses. Mr. Stewart is a democrat and a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church.

December 1, 1878, he married Miss Susie Delaplain, a cousin of C. E. Dela- plain of Quincy, and daughter of Isaac and Hannah (Horn) Delaplain. Mrs. Stewart was born in Hampshire County, West Virginia, November 3, 1848. In 1871 she came to Adams County with her uncle, Levi Delaplain, and her parents came on two years later, locating in Payson Township. About 1882 the Isaac Delaplain family moved to Kansas, where they spent ten years, after which they returned to Plainville and her father died there in March, 1892. The mother afterward lived with her daughter, and died at the home of a daughter in Benton, Arkansas, November 27, 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Delaplain were married March 23, 1841.

Columbus F. Stewart, oldest of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert V. Stewart. was born December 5, 1879, and resides at Frankfort, Illinois. He is employed by the Interurban Railway. He married Vesta Wagy, and their five children are Stanley Vancil, Edna E., Paul A., Ruth S. and Lewis F. Lurah B. Stewart, born March 5, 1881, married Oscar E. Stewart, son of Albert and Maggie Stewart. He was born February 14, 1877, and was educated in the Quincy High School and Business College. He lived in Missouri four years and then returned to Illinois, and died from typhoid at Quincy four months later, February 20, 1910, at the age of thirty-three, and when life held out its hest promises to him. He left his widow with three children, who now live with Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, his parents. These three grandchildren are Ralph Allen, a freshman in high school, Gilbert Vance, Jr., aged twelve, and Esther Mary, aged nine.

VALENTINE J. KIEM, resident of Melrose Township for a long period of years, has had a career that challenges admiration and respect. It has the solid basis of industry and is crowned by a success of his own achieving, won by the strictest regard to honest principles and integrity of character.

He is of the third generation of the Kiem family in Adams County. His grandfather. Justinus Kiem, came to America from Saxony, Germany, in 1847, and soon afterwards located on a farm in Melrose Township. The family still

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possess that original homestead, owned by the different generations for over seventy years.

Valentine J. Kiem was born June 26, 1858, third in the family of four chil- dren born to Valentine and Anna Marie (Ulrich) Kiem. His father was born in 1828, and lived in Adams County as a practical farmer from the age of twenty until his death in 1885. Further reference to the Kiem family will be found on other pages of this publication.

Valentine J. Kiem was reared and educated in his native township, and for many years has been noted as one of the leading fruit growers of the township. He specializes in the tree crops of apples, peaches and pears, and has a fine estate of forty acres, mostly in fruit.

June 21, 1899, Mr. Kiem married Catherine M. Vollmer. Of their two chil- dren only one is now living, Irma Mildred, who was well educated in the com- mon schools and also in the country high school, and received instrumental musical instruction. She lives at home with her parents, and is a member of the Lutheran Memorial Church at Quincy and of the Red Cross Society.

Mrs. Kiem was born in Adams County June 16, 1869, daughter of George W. and Anna Mary (Balzer) Vollmer. Her parents had five children, all living but one: George W., who is a farmer at Salt Fork, Oklahoma, and has three sons, Elmer Ellis, Harry Dick and Scott E .; Daniel Edward, who is janitor for Carthage College at Carthage, Illinois, and is married but has no children ; Mrs. Kiem; and Dora Louise, wife of Frank Stockseck.

George W. Vollmer, father of Mrs. Kiem, was born in Germany and came to America as a young man. He was a harness maker and saddler by trade and followed those lines in Liberty and Quincy. He was a republican voter. Both he and his wife were members of the Lutheran Church at Liberty. His wife was only thirteen years old when she came to the United States, and is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Kiem.

Mrs. Kiem was educated in the common schools, and was well qualified by training and by natural aptitude for the work of professional nurse. She took her training for that profession in Blessing Hospital in Quincy.

Mrs. Kiem's first husband was William E. Bartholomew. She had two chil- dren by that union, one of whom is still living, Helen Lucile, wife of Howard F. Petrie, a commercial salesman living at Wichita, Kansas. Mrs. Petrie is a graduate of the Quincy High School. William E. Bartholomew died in Sep- tember, 1896, after he and his wife had been married only three years. He had completed a liberal education in the Lutheran College at Springfield, Ohio.

Mr. Kiem married for his first wife, March 29, 1882, Miss Mary Ann Erke. Three children were born to their union, all of whom are living. Alice Anna is a nurse and modiste in Los Angeles, California. She was educated in the public schools, and is a member of the Lutheran Church at Los Angeles. Jessie C., the second daughter. is the wife of Eldon Kidson, a salesman in a departmental store at Louisiana, Missouri. Mrs. Kidson was educated in the public schools. They have a daughter, Beulah. They are members of the Pentecostal Church of Louisiana. Louise, the third daughter of Mr. Kiem by his first wife, was educated in the common schools and is now the wife of Earl Abel, a farmer at Burton, Illinois. They have a son, Russell Earl.

Mr. Kiem is a republican in politics. His first presidential vote went to James A. Garfield and he has always supported his party loyally and has served as a delegate to various county conventions. For two terms he was township clerk, for three years was road commissioner, and for twelve terms was a school trustee. His fellow citizens have appreciated his ability and judgment in pro- moting every matter of local benefit. He and his wife are active members of the Quincy Memorial Church of the Lutheran faith.

Their homestead is known as the Orchard Grove Farm, located 134 miles from the city limits of Quincy. In the fall of 1917 Mr. and Mrs. Kiem and daughter Irma took a vacation and visited friends and relatives at Wichita, Kansas, and in Oklahoma, and while there Mr. Kiem was a close observer of

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many phases of the great oil industry of the Mid-Continent oil fields. Mr. and Mrs. Kiem were also visitors to the World's Fair at St. Louis in 1904, and Mrs. Kiem and her daughter Helen traveled through the East in 1899. They are people who keep up with the advance made in the world's knowledge and affairs and they stand for the good things of life in general.

GEORGE WILSON HUNSAKER. Probably there is no more widely known eiti- zen over Adams County and up and down the Mississippi Valley than George Wilson Hunsaker of Fall Creek Township. Mr. Hunsaker represents a family that was established in that township more than eighty years ago. His own life has been spent there, not only as a successful farmer and farm manager, but as a citizen who has gained a host of friends by his genial fellowship and interests in hunting and outdoor life. Hundreds of devotees of the rod and gun know Mr. Hunsaker and have delighted in his companionship on many excursions through the woods and fields and in the favorite fishing places.

Mr. Hunsaker, who now lives retired at Marblehead, was born 11% miles south, on the old Hadley farm, January 15, 1854.

The Hunsaker family originally had their home in Pennsylvania. Daniel Hunsaker, Sr., came from that state to Illinois, where he was a pioneer. Daniel Wilson Hunsaker, father of George W., was born in Union County, Illinois, September 25, 1820. When he was at an early age his parents moved to Jeffer- son County, Missouri, where he attended school, and four years later in 1834, established their home in Adams County. Daniel Wilson Hunsaker grew up in Fall Creek Township, a mile west of Marblehead. On July 24, 1850. he married Miss Frances Shurte. They were married at Marion City, Missouri. She was born in South Bend, Indiana, October 30, 1828.

At the time of his marriage Daniel W. Hunsaker had no eapital, and he first lived in a log house and rented the Hadley farm. When his son George was four years of age he moved to Maeon City, Missouri, and lived there until 1862. He left Missouri on account of war conditions. In the center of that town was erected a pole with a broom at the top, signifying it was the intention of the community to sweep out all northern people, and as a matter of faet most men of northern sympathies did leave. At Alexandria, Missouri, while on the return to Adams County, his horses while on pasture were stolen. Thus he returned to Adams County and began life again at the bottom of the ladder.

In 1873 he bought his first tract of land, fourteen aeres at $100 an aere and later he purchased more land, going in debt for it. His security in that transae- tion was A. E. Bebee. The land had no buildings, but he went ahead and made im- provements, and after getting it pair for traded for part of the farm now owned by his son George. In that neighborhood extensive deposits of stone were quarried, some of which was used for the courthouse at Quiney, the statehouse at Des Moines, the customhouse at St. Louis and the bridge over the Mississippi River in Louisiana. There were nearly 300 workmen employed in these quarries, and as their presenee offered opportunity for trade, Daniel W. Hunsaker started a saloon and was in that line of business about six years. When the stone proved unsuitable for building purposes, not being frost proof, other parties set up lime kilns, and there was established the Marblehead Lime and Cement Com- pany.

The profits from his business enterprise D. W. Hunsaker invested in bottom land, acquiring about 250 aeres covered with heavy timber. He sold large quantities of wood for use in the lime kilns, a cord bringing $4. Eventually he had about 160 aeres in cultivation.

The present residenee on the home farm was built in 1881. D. W. Hunsaker was a democrat but never in publie serviee. He died March 27, 1904, and his wife on April 18, 1906.

George Wilson Hunsaker was the only child of his parents to reach mature years. His boyhood was spent at home. and as a youth he learned telegraphy at the home station of the railroad, and at Quiney he learned that art under

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S. E. Mills, the agent at Marblehead. For eight or nine years he was an oper- ator, from 1873 to 1881, and during that time was in the employ of the Bur- lington, the Hannibal and St. Joe, the Chicago and Alton, the Denver and Rio Grande railways.

December 20, 1881, Mr. Hunsaker married Elizabeth Bowers, of Marble- head, daughter of Franklin and Sarah A. Niekerson Bowers. She was born at Marblehead November 24, 1864. Mr. Hunsaker for over thirty-five years has managed the home farm, though his father was nominally its responsible head until his death. Mr. Hunsaker has consented to serve in but one office, that of township collector. For the past sixteen years he has been a republican in polities.

His favorite diversion as a hunter and fisherman has been referred to. Hc is a very companionable sportsman, and has enjoyed the friendship of all the leading hunters of Quiney and other cities. His land was the home of a hunt- ing elub that had among its membership many well known men of Quincy. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

Mr. Hunsaker had a family of five children. Malinda Viola married Law- rence M. Poor, a foreman for the Atlas Cement Company at Hannibal, Missouri. Osear C. enlisted in the army as soon as the United States deelared war against Germany, his enlistment being made at Chieago, and after a brief training in a North Carolina eamp he was sent overseas and has been on the battlefront in the Heavy Artillery ever sinee. Franklin W. Hunsaker married J. Goodwin, and lives at Marblehead. Emma married Frederiek Wittland and died at the birth of her seeond ehild, when only nineteen years of age. Her first ehild was Mildred Catherine, and the second, George Henry, was reared by Mr. and Mrs. Hunsaker and is now eleven years of age. The present wife of Frederick Wittland was Sally Hunsaker, the youngest ehild of Mr. and Mrs. Hunsaker.

WILLIAM G. KIEM. One of the old and honored families of Adams County is that which bears the name Kiem and which has been represented here for seventy years. Its members have been mainly engaged in agricultural pursuits and have been noted for their honorable and upright dealings and their good eitizenship. A worthy representative of the name is found in William G. Kiem, who was born in Melrose Township and has made that locality the seene of his industrious life as a farmer and stoekman. He and his worthy wife have reared their children and have reached a point in their affairs where comfort and pleasure share equally with the demands for labor and productive effort.

Both his grandfather, Justinus, and his father, Valentine Kiem, were na- tives of Germany and eame to Madison County in 1848. Valentine Kiem was born near Gotha in Saxony, Germany, on Mareh 6, 1828, and was nineteen years old when he and his father, Justinus, and other members of the family set sail from Bremen and after a voyage of eight weeks landed at New Orleans. From there they eame up the river to Adams County and soon bought eighty aeres in Melrose Township, land now oeeupied and owned by William G. Kiem. Valentine Kiem was an honored resident and practical farmer in Adams County, at one time owned a place of 160 aeres of fertile and productive land, and lived here until his death October 31, 1885. He was an independent voter, and he and his wife were members of the Salem German Evangelieal Church. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Ulrich, was born in Saxony, Germany, October 6, 1833. She died in October, 1898, and both she and her husband now rest in the Green Mount Cemetery. Mary Ulrich was a daughter of Christopher Ulrich, who after coming to Adams County joined a party of gold seekers and went to California during the days of '49, crossing the plains, and that was the last ever seen or heard of him by his people. The report that eame baek was that he had been murdered. Valentine and Mary Kiem had five children, three sons and two daughters. The four now living are : Christian, who was educated in the German and English languages and is a

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retired farmer living in Quincy. He is a democrat and is married and has eight children. Mary, the second of the family, is the wife of Lambert G. Frederick, of Melrose Township. Valentine J. is one of the leading citizens of Melrose Township. The fourth and youngest is William G.

William K. Kiem was born in Melrose Township on the land that he now occupies March 9, 1864. He attended the common schools and now for over thirty years has applied himself with diligence and successful ability to the business of farming. On November 20, 1890, he married Miss Minnie F. Erke. They are the parents of four children, two sons and two daughters. Of the three now living the oldest is Edna M., who went from the common schools to the Illinois Western Normal at Macomb, and is one of the talented public school teachers of Illinois. During the past three years she has been identified with the Jefferson Junior High School, and altogether has spent seven years in the profession. She is also prominent in social and war activities, is president of the local committee of the National Council of Defense, is a member of the Red Cross, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. She accompanied her parents when the family made an interesting trip to the San Francisco Expo- sition in 1915. Ruth L., the second child, a member of the class of 1918 in the Quincy High School, is the wife of Russell D. Herleman and she is now teaching. She is a pianist, a graduate in music from St. Mary's Academy, is affiliated with the Melrose Chapel Church and is also a participant in Red Cross activ- ities. The only son, Edgar C. E., a graduate of the class of 1918 in the Quincy High School, is now attending college at Champaign. He was in the enlistment for the war.

Mrs. Kiem was born October 6, 1866, daughter of William and Louisa (Fleiskamp) Erke. She has one living brother, William, a resident of Melrose Township living on the old Erke Homestead. He is a republican and a member of the Salem German Evangelical Church.

Mrs. Kiem's father was born in Germany and came to the United States with very little capital. He began at the bottom of the ladder, afterwards bought eighty acres in Melrose Township and was one of the well situated farmers of that locality. He died January 4, 1899, and his wife passed away in 1873, when Mrs. Kiem was only seven years old. They were members of the Salem German Evangelical Church, and were laid to rest in Mount Carmel Cemetery.

Mrs. Kiem was educated in the German and English schools and grew up in her native county. She has been a splendid wife and mother to her family, and the prosperity of the Kiems is a tribute to her energy and good judgment.

Mr. Kiem has always been a republican in political affiliations, but gives his vote independently in matters of local moment. He has been selected as delegate to county conventions. The welfare of the public schools always makes a strong demand upon his spirit of helpfulness and for from twelve to fifteen years he has served as a school director. The Kiem family divide their church allegiance between the Salem Evangelical and the Melrose Chapel churches.

In 1915 Mr. and Mrs. Kiem and their children took a vacation which brought them rest and recreation as well as many opportunities to see their native land. Their chief destination was the San Francisco Exposition. Going west, they journeyed through St. Louis, Kansas City and El Paso to Arizona and Los Angeles, which gave them an opportunity to see the homes and surroundings created by the vast wealth represented in the cities of Los Angeles and Pasadena, and then after attending the exposition at San Francisco they returned east- ward by way of Ogden and Salt Lake, inspected the wonderful Mormon Temple with its vast auditorium and its perfect acoustics, and also spent a few days in the famous mountain resorts of Colorado. They returned home after an absence of four weeks.

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Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. II, Part 50

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