Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. II, Part 85

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 85

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visor of Burton Township, and while living on the farm was nominated for county treasurer, but was defeated. IIe and his wife had a large family of children, nine of whom are still living. Their son Reynard died at the age of twenty-four of typhoid fever. He was in the West at the time and started to drive home, but was taken ill en route and came home on a train, dying soon afterward. Agnes is now Mrs. George Pearce, of Camp Point. Emily is Mrs. A. N. Pearce, of Camp Point. Walter O. lives at Quiney and is connected with the International Harvester Company. Charles W. is also in the local office of the Harvester Company. The next in age is Willis. Robert was a railway engineer living at Boulder, Colorado, and was killed when his engine rolled down a steep mountain embankment. Cynthia May and Mabel are both un- married and living in Quincy. Edith is Mrs. Walter Schroeder, of Chicago. Ethiel married Elmer Geisel, of Mendon.

Mr. Willis Cook grew up on his father's farm, and received his early educa- tion in the common schools. Soon after attaining manhood the Spanish-Ameri- can war broke out and he volunteered his services. He was with a contingent of the American forces sent to Porto Rico and had some interesting service on that island. On February 25, 1908, Mr. Cook married Miss Berdina Lawless, daughter of James S. Lawless, concerning whom a separate sketch is published on other pages.

Mr. Cook continued to operate the old Cook homestead until 1915, when it was sold. He then bought his present home in Paloma, where he has a sub- stantial residence and twenty-four aeres of land. In partnership with C. C. Lawless he now gives much of his time to the grain and livestock business, with market centers at Paloma and Coatsburg. He and Mr. Lawless have equal inter- ests in an eighty acre pasture which they use in their stock business. Mr. Cook is a breeder of Jersey Red hogs, and for a number of years has fed stock on a large scale.

He has filled the chairs in his lodge of Odd Fellows and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Paloma. Mr. and Mrs. Cook have one daughter, Clara Margaret, born in 1911.

EDWARD C. WELLMANN. The important things to know about men in any community is whether they are among those who did or did not. Among the doers in Adams County one whose record is exceptional is that of Edward C. Wellman, a farmer and fruit grower seven miles southeast of Quiney in Mel- rose township.

Mr. Wellmann, a son of the late Frank Wellman, whose history is given in detail on other pages, was born July 2, 1873, on a farm adjoining his present home. His boyhood was spent at the homestead and he acquired his education in the parochial schools of St. Antonius Church. He lived at home and worked for his father until he was twenty-nine. His wages during that time was $100 a year. In 1904 Mr. Wellman, having married a short time before, bought the Ehrick Brothers farm of 154 acres. The purchase price was $4,300. He could pay only $300 in cash, and went in debt $4,000. He steadily reduced the deht and at the same time carried forward improvements that have vastly increased the value of the farm. He erected a large barn, constructed from timber grown on his place, but costing an additional $1,000. He also built tool sheds and other buildings. One of his most noteworthy improvements was the settling out of twelve acres of apples and four acres in peaches. His apple crop was sold in 1918 for $900. Mr. Wellmann is a stockman. having twenty-three head of cattle, keeps a dairy, and has employed cement liberally in the construction and improvement of his barn and feed lot. His dairy barn has cement floors. All of this Mr. Wellmann has accomplished in spite of unusual handicaps. He lost his wife when his children were small, and had to assume the responsibility of rearing them without a mother, at the same time paying off his debts and keep- ing matters moving on the entire farm. That he is one of the ablest hustlers in the county admits of no question. He is a democrat, but has had no time

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for public office. He and his family are members of St. Antonius Catholic Church, 115 miles from his home.

June 30, 1903, Mr. Wellmann married Miss Rosa Kamphaus, of Melrose Township, daughter of Joseph and Louisa Kamphaus. Mr. Wellmann was born in Melrose Township, was eighteen years of age at her marriage, and she died December 3, 1912. She was the mother of five children: Coletta, Leo, Ruth, Raymond and Luke. The youngest has been reared by his grandmother, mother of Mr. Wellman. Coletta was only nine years old when her mother died, and she bravely assumed the responsibility of taking her mother's place and has been invaluable to her father in looking after and caring for the younger children.

IIENRY FLEER. One of the best evidences of real ability in farming and farm management is furnished by the man who does not own the land and vet makes a success of its productive activities. Such a case is furnished by Mr. Henry Fleer, a farmer and stock raiser in section 9 of Ellington Township. He operates 160 acres of the William H. Govert estate, and has not only been able to make a profit on the invested capital there in the form of rent, but has made a good living and more for himself. Mr. Fleer does not pin his faith to one special line, but handles his farm on an all around basis. He keeps good grades of Poland China hogs, Shorthorn cattle, good horses, and feeds every pound of grain he grows on the place, except wheat. He practices rotation, and his arrangement of crops would run about twenty-five acres of wheat, thirty acres of corn, twenty acres of oats, twenty acres of grass, and fifteen acres of clover. He depends entirely upon the natural fertilizer system, buying no richness which cannot be obtained from his own stables and by proper cropping. His home has been on this farm for eight years.

Mr. Fleer was born in Quincy March 28, 1868, and has spent all his life in Adams County. He was educated in Quincy and as a youth learned the trade of carpenter. For some years he was also a teamster, and has the judgment and industry which enables a man to make a success of whatever he undertakes.

llis parents were Peter and Rica (Heithold) Fleer, both natives of West- phalia, Germany. Their respective families came at an early day to America and located at Quincy. Peter's father, William Fleer, and his wife died in Quiney when quite old. All the family were Lutherans in religion. Rica Heithold's father. Barney Heithold, came to this country in the '50s, and he and his wife bought a farm in MeKee Township, where they spent the rest of their days. Peter Fleer and Rica IIeithold were married in this county and lived for many years in Quincy. He followed various lines of employment, including teaming, and later was a farmer in Ellington Township on the old Ingram farm. IIe died there December 25, 1915, at the age of seventy-six. His wife passed away in April. 1909, at the age of sixty-five. Both were devout members of St. James Lutheran Church at Quincy. Mr. Henry Fleer was the oldest of his parents' children.

In February, 1898, he married Clara A. C. Beekman, who was born in River- side Township of this county April 1. 1882, and as a girl attended the Bowles School. Her parents were William H. and Anna (Schlipman) Beckman, both natives of Germany. They came to America when still single, were married in Quincy, and spent the rest of their days in Adams County as farmers. Her mother died September 2, 1898, at the age of fifty-five. Mr. Beckman is still living in Riverside Township, aged eighty years. HIe proved his patriotism as an American citizen by enlisting at St. Louis during the Civil war and served three full years. He was in many campaigns and battles and had a number of narrow escapes, returning home with his blanket shot full of holes. Mr. Henry Fleer's father also served in the latter part of the Civil war.

Mr. and Mrs. Fleer have two children : P. William Clarence, born in Quincy March 22, 1901, and has had a good education and is still at home. Florence

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was born in Quincy January 20, 1907, and is still attending school. They are members of St. James Lutheran Church and Mr. Fleer is a republican.

JOHN EDWIN SUMMERS. By a residence of nearly fifty years in Adams County there is not a place in the world so dear to John Edwin Summers as this picturesque and beautiful section of Western Illinois. His successes have been gained here, he reared his family on his farm, and practically all the asso- ciations of his life are in this one loeality. It is a place that means all the more to him because of the long residence of the Summers family in Adams County, where they were pioneers.

John Edwin Summers was born in Adams County January 1, 1869. The paternal ancestors were of English stock. He is fourth in age and youngest of the four sons and five daughters of Henry and Martha ( Alexander) Sum- mers. His sister Jessie was educated in the public schools of Adams County, is an active member of the Methodist Church and is the wife of Herman Sehaberg, a commercial man of Quiney. His brother George W. is an agrieul- turist in Melrose Township, and by his marriage to Miss Mamie Tuttle has three children.

The late Henry Summers, who was grandson of a Revolutionary soldier, was born in Hardin County, Kentucky, on December 12, 1815. He died March 24, 1884. He was a young man when he came to Adams County during the '30s, and found this region still a wilderness and only a village where the stately eity of 40,000 now stands. He spent his years as a practical farmer, and acquired 127 acres in Melrose Township, located in two different farms. His son John now resides on part of the original place. A portion of the pres- ent residence there was erected sixty-five years ago. Henry Summers was a democratie voter, and he and his wife were members of the Christian Church. He arrived in Adams County early enough to find the woods filled with wild game, and during one of his hunting expeditions he killed a deer. He was laid to rest in the Green Mound Cemetery. His wife was born in Lewis County, Missouri, and she lived in that state until young womanhood. She was edu- eated in the common schools. Her death occurred February 2, 1880.

John E. Summers supplemented his training in the common schools by a course in the D. L. Mussellman's Business College at Quiney. After complet- ing his edueation he took up the work which has proved his life eareer, farming and stoek raising.

September 20, 1905, he married Miss Clara Elizabeth Raukohl. Three chil- dren have been born to them, a son and two daughters, and the two living are Marian M. and Henry H. Marian is now in the third grade of the public schools.

Mrs. Summers was born at Quiney January 31, 1883, daughter of Herman II. and Elizabeth (Voth) Raukohl. Her parents had nine children, three sons and six daughters, and the eight are here mentioned: Paul, who was edneated in public schools and business college, is now a stockholder in the Peek-Raukohl Company of Hannibal, Missouri, and is assistant superintendent of a shoe factory in that eity. He is married and has two children. Mrs. Summers is second in age ; Albert is one of the employes in the Ford Motor Company at De- troit. Anna is the wife of Albert Dinkheller, an engineer living at Detroit. Fred, who is a stock food salesman, lives at Holstein, Iowa. He is married and has three children. Henry, who was an engineer in the oil industry at Nowata, Oklahoma, died October 30. 1918. He was married and had two sons. John is a resident of Detroit, Michigan. Emma is living at Detroit.

Mrs. Summer's mother is a resident of Detroit, and was born at Quincy. Her father was born at Quincy and died December 5, 1912, his remains being interred in the Green Mound Cemetery. She attended the local schools, the Gem City Business College and Elmhurst College. Mr. Raukohl and his wife were active members of the German Evangelical Church at Quincy, and for twenty-seven continuous years he taught the parochial school of Salem Church. He was a republican.

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Mrs. Summers was well educated, and her quick perceptions and intelligence would have brought her much snecess as a teacher. She has found her sphere of usefulness in the home and in assisting Mr. Summers in his business as a farmer. Besides twenty aeres which he inherited Mr. Summers bought the other interests to the old homestead, and now has a complete farm of eighty- four acres growing and producing an abundance of fruit and grain crops. Mr. Summers is a democrat, easting his first ballot for Grover Cleveland. He is one of the sturdiest admirers of President Wilson and his policies both do- mestic and foreign. Mr. Summers has served a number of years as sehool director and does all he can to promote the cause of public education. He and his wife are active members of the Melrose Chapel of the Methodist Episcopal Church and its Sunday school, and through their church connections, their hospital home, and their energetie management of the Walnut Valley Farm have contributed not a little to the welfare and well being of Adams County.

LAMBERT J. FREDERICK. Of a family whose lives of integrity and industry have identified them permanently with the best interests of Adams County, one that deserves special mention is that of Lambert J. Frederick, whose years have been spent profitably in this county since 1869, and who with his good wife and some of his children still near him live close to the city limits of Quincy in Melrose Township.

Mr. Frederick was born December 18, 1841. His birthplace was just fifteen miles from the shores of the North Sea in East Friesland, German Empire. His parents were Albert and Margaret (Schmidt) Frederick. They had eight children, five sons and three daughters, four of whom are still living: Henry, a cigar maker by trade, who lives with his family at 718 Payson Avenue in Quincy ; Lambert J .; Margaret, wife of Barney Hillsher, a retired resident of Quiney at Eighth and Jefferson streets; and Mary, wife of Herman Wittland, a retired farmer at Holden in Adams County. All the children are members of the German Lutheran Church.

Albert Frederick, their father, spent all his life in his native land, and was identified with farming pursuits. His memory went back to a time when Napo- leon Bonaparte was a power in the world's history, and he had seen the first Emperor Wilhelm and also General Von Moltke, another prominent figure in the early German Empire. The mother of Lambert J. Frederick came to Amer- ica with her daughters, Anna and Mary, and spent her last years in Adams County. She was laid to rest in Green Mount Cemetery, where a stone stands sacred to her memory.

Lambert J. Frederick was reared in his native land, had a practical educa- tion in the German schools, and spent three years in the German army. In 1869, when twenty-eight years of age, he left Bremerhaven with his brother Ralph and a neighbor boy, and crossing the ocean they reached New York City and from there came to Quincy, arriving on April 11, 1869. Here he found himself a stranger in a strange land, and had only $5 in eash to start him in a commu- nity of new and strange conditions. He began at the bottom of the ladder, and with the aid of the good wife he married has made a comfortable fortune and has reared a family that do him honor.

April 18, 1879, in Melrose Township, Mr. Frederick married Mary A. Keim. Nine children were born to them, seven sons and two daughters, and eight are still living. A brief record of these children is perhaps the best reflection of the honor and worth of their parents. The Frederick home has a service flag of two stars, indicating two of the brave sons who are fighting for the honor of their native land. The oldest of the children is Albert V., a carpenter by trade, now living at Davenport, Jowa, is married and has two sons, Ralph and Roy. Albert is a republican. Anton C., the second son, is one of the prosperous young farmers in Melrose Township, is married and has two sons, named George and Roma. Lambert, the third of the family, was educated in the com- mon schools and is a prosperous merehant at Twenty-Fourth and State streets

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in Quiney. William George is foreman in the shipbuilding industry at Seattle, Washington, and is married but has no children. Carl H. is a practical farmer of Melrose Township, is married but has no children. The two sons in the army are Samuel J. and Benjamin J., twin brothers. Samuel has been in the regular army for seven years, holds the rank of first sergeant and at this writing is stationed at Camp Greene in North Carolina. The other son, Benjamin, is already in France with the American Expeditionary Forces. The youngest of the family is the daughter Eva, wife of Robert Burroughs, and they live at Seattle, Washington, where Mr. Burroughs is an electrician in the shipbuild- ing yards.

Mr. and Mrs. Frederick performed a great deal of self denying industry in order to give their children good practical educations and otherwise equip them for the serious duties and responsibilities of life. Mrs. Frederick was born in Adams County December 19, 1853, daughter of Valentine and Mary (Ulrichs) Keim. She is one of five children, three sons and two daughters, four still living, the oldest being Christopher, formerly a farmer and now a resident of Quincy; Mrs. Frederick, second in age; Valentine, a prosperous farmer living with his family in Montrose Township; and William, a farmer in Melrose Township.

Valentine Keim, father of Mrs. Frederick, was born in Germany and when nineteen years of age came to the United States and settled in Adams County. He had very little capital but advanced to rank among the first-rate farmers of the county, and he was a member of the German Lutheran Church. He died at the age of fifty-seven, and he and his wife now rest in the Green Mount Cemetery, where one of the appropriate monuments mark their graves. His wife was also a native of Germany and was sixteen years old when she came to this country. She lived to the age of seventy-five.

When Mr. and Mrs. Frederick began their married career they had a very simple equipment and had to deny themselves practically all the luxuries. They lived as farmers in Melrose Township for about forty years and now that their children are grown they are led to enjoy the comforts and quiet of a happy home and the products of their little farm of forty-one aeres, which is just at the city limits.

Mr. Frederick is a republican in national affairs but endeavors to exercise his ballot to help eleet the man best fit for office in township and other local offices. He and his wife are members of the Salem Church of the German Evangelieal Association.

WILLIAM F. DINGERSEN. Perhaps to no one nation does America owe more for the successful development of its farms than to Germany. No better or finer class of people ever came to this country than the German colonists of forty to sixty years ago. On the broad prairies and in the forests of the West, in peace and in war, in every branch of human endeavor and human achieve- ment, by brave and honest service they made compensation for the land of their adoption.

One of these families in Adams County is represented by Mr. William F. Dingersen, who was born in Westphalia, Germany, October 10, 1855, son of Gottlieb and Elizabeth (Arenbrink) Dingersen. Of the children only two are now living, Louis and William. The former was for many years engaged in the teaming business and is still living at Quincy and has a family of eight children.

Gottlieb Dingersen brought his family to the United States in 1875. They left the old country on the steamship Bremerhaven, landing in New York and coming thence to Quiney, Illinois. Gottlieb Dingersen was a farmer, and he and his wife were members of the Salem Lutheran Church at Quiney. Ile died at Quiney in 1884 and his wife in 1889, and both are now at rest in the Green Mount Cemetery.

William F. Dingersen was twenty years old when he came to America. He

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had accordingly been educated in the German schools and was ready to take up the real work of life on reaching Adams County. Here he spent six continu- ous years in the employ of a German farmer, beginning without capital and without experience, and gradually putting himself in a condition to be master of his own destiny. During his first years in this country he worked during the winter months at $5 wages and in the summer was paid $12 a month. He has always been an agriculturist except for twelve years when he did teaming for the Limestone Company of Quincy.

On February 27, 1883, Mr. Dingersen married Miss Mary A. Ellermanu. To their marriage have been born nine children, three sons and six daughters. Eight of the children are still living: Laura E. is the wife of William Neuer, a farmer of Melrose Township, and they have two children, Elsie and Elmer. They are members of the Salem Lutheran Church and in politics Mr. Neuer is a republican. Walter G. is a practical farmer of Melrose Township, and by his marriage to Mrs. (Reuder) Timme has one son, Frederick. Lydia R. is the wife of John Eekenkamp, a farmer of Fall Creek Township. They have two sons, Lawrence and Adelbert. William is a farmer of Melrose Township, and was ealled into the service of the United States Army but was granted an honorable discharge. Carl is now in the service of his country in France. The younger children, all at home, are: Mary L., Edna H. and Flora E. Edna and Flora are still in school, in the sixth grade. All the children have been given the best of advantages in the local schools and all have been confirmed in the Salem Lutheran Church.

Mrs. Dingersen was born in Quincy May 19, 1863, daughter of Gottlieb and Elizabeth (Worman) Ellermann. It will be noted that the parents of both Mr. and Mrs. Dingersen bore the same Christian names and a further coinci- denee in the family history is that both Mr. and Mrs. Dingersen are the young- est children of their respective parents. Mrs. Dingersen was educated in Quiney, attending the German schools of that eity.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dingersen lived at Quincy for twelve years and in 1897 they courageously faced the future and went in debt for their present home of 160 acres. They labored hard and faithfully and out of the proceeds of their toil they were able to add another forty aeres, all in Melrose Township. At one time they bore the burden of debts amounting to $6,000, but have gone steadily ahead scaling their obligations down and at the same time carrying on good improvements in the way of building of barns and other structures, and the entire farm now stands clear of debt and a monument to their industry. Mrs. Dingersen has borne a noble part in all this work, not only as a kind and affectionate mother, but as a home maker and provider in every sense of the term.

Mr. Dingersen is a republican and has upheld those principles steadily since casting his first vote for James A. Garfield. The family are members of the Salem Lutheran Church at Quincy and Mrs. Dingersen is active in the Ladies' Aid Society.

ALBERT E. HECKLE has had the good fortune to call Adams County his home from birth to the present time, and his life's activities have been chiefly ex- pressed through the business of farming, of which he has made a notable success. He and his wife have a fine homestead known as Evergreen Fruit and Dairy Farm, located just a mile from the city limits of Quincy in Melrose Township. This farm is splendidly adapted to fruit and all kinds of grain, and in its present care and improvements it represents years of labor and study on the part of Mr. and Mrs. Heckle.

Mr. Heckle was born at his present home April 30, 1884. He is the young- est of the ten children, three sons and seven daughters, born to Joseph and Anna Mary (Mast) Heckle. The three living daughters are: Clara, who was educated in the parochial schools, is a member of St. Mary's parish and lives with her parents at 1101 Adams Street in Quiney; Frances, who was similarly

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edueated and also lives with her parents; Rosina, who was edueated in the parochial schools and is the wife of A. Ed Rupp, a farmer near Hannibal, Mis- souri, and they have two sons, Carl and Herbert, and a daughter, Mary Ann. Albert E. Heckle had a twin brother, Alfred, now deceased.

The Heekles and Masts are among the oldest and best known German fami- lies of Quincy and vicinity. Joseph Heckle, who is now living retired in Quincy, was born in Baden, Germany, in February, 1837. His parents were Theodore and Mary Anna (Meyer) Heckle. Mary Meyer's parents were farmers, millers and bakers. All the children of Theodore Heckle and wife were born in Germany. In 1851, at the age of fifteen, Joseph Heckle eame to the United States with his married sister, Mrs. Mary Anna Rush. They took ship at Havre, crossed the ocean in four weeks to New York, traveled up the Hudson River to Albany, thence by rail to Buffalo and again by boat to De- troit. Joseph Heckle lived in the county near Detroit with the Rush family for one year, and then went into the city and learned the trade of wood worker in a wagon shop. In 1854 his father, Theodore, and other members of the family joined him in this country, and all of them in the spring of 1855 started west to Iowa. They bought a partly improved farm in Scott County of that state, and later secured Mississippi bottom lands fourteen miles south of Davenport, where Theodore Heekle laid out an addition to the Village of Buffalo. Mrs. Theodore Heckle died in 1863, at the age of fifty-four. In 1864 Theodore Heckle eame with his family to Quincy, Illinois, and lived here until his death in 1878, when past eighty-one. He was a member of St. Boniface Catholic Chureh.

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Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. II, Part 85

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