USA > Illinois > Shelby County > Stewardson > Stewardson, the first 100 years : history of the village of Stewardson, Prairie Township and vicinity > Part 7
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FRY EQUIPMENT CO., Route 32-33 North, Effingham
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Weber's Store was an important general store for many years. This picture shows the interior of the store. Notice how items were displayed. From left to right: Martha Weber, Andrew Weber, unidentified lady, Wm. Krumreich, Elmer Shumard, Louis Weber, and Fred Schultz.
ed a Variety Store, at his original loca- tion. In addition to the Variety Store, Mr. Mautz operated a coal business along the Wabash tracks and a poultry business on the site of the present day fire house on S. Cedar. The poultry house burned, but he, with the help of his daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Ira (Hap) Gawthorp, continued with the Variety Store until 1929.
Henry H. York was another well- known business man of early Steward- son. He moved from Windsor to Stew- ardson in 1877 and entered into business with Fredrick Hoese as York, Hoese, & Co. A price list of York, Hoese gives some indication of prices in the 1870 era.
Heavy domestic, good 7- 9¢ Bleached Domestic, good 10¢ Good prints 5¢ per yard
Best Coffee 41/2 - 5 lbs. for $1.00
Good Brown Sugar 10 Ibs. for $1.00
York and Hoese dissolved partnership on July 17, 1878. J. A. Tull purchased Mr. York's interest and the firm con- tinued for several years as Tull & Hoese. It is general opinion that the store was just north of T. N. Robin- son's Drug Store. This site was the later location of the Theater. Mr. York continued as a business
man until about 1903. Mr. York bought a Dry Goods Store and housed it in the Opera Hall building in early 1900. This store was operated by his sons, Milian and Charles. By 1910, the York boys accepted employment with the U.S. Postal Department and moved to St. Louis, Mo.
H. R. Keller and L. H. Keller were also early business men during the 1870's and early 1880's. They sold Gro- ceries, Dry Goods, and a variety of items. Apparently their business was on the south side of W. Main St. be- tween the Wabash R.R. and S. Cedar St. This business probably ended in the Iate 1880's.
Other General Merchandise business in the 1870 era included: R. E. Miller & Sons and Henry Wolf. R. E. Miller and sons operated a grocery and dry goods business in the Reed Walker building during the latter 1870's. They sold their business in 1879 to Daniel Cross of Shel- byville. Cross advertised in the Stew- ardson Enterprise that he would sell groceries for cash, cheaper than anyone in town.
Henry Wolf and John W. Falk started a general merchandise store in a two- story frame building on the Southwest corner of West Main and S. Cedar, dur- ing 1870's for approximately one year.
Mr. Falk moved to Herborn on a farm and Mr. Wolf went to work as a sales- man for T. P. Mautz. Some of the old- er people remember Mr. Wolf for his salesmanship ability. It was believed that he could have sold snow to the Eskimos if he had the opportunity. Mr. Wolf was the father of Ralph and Cleve Wolf and the family lived on the South- east corner of South Pine and S. First Street. Their yard and home was the site of many dances and social events including the collapse of Ed. Ruff's Merry-Go-Round. Mrs. C. A. Mietzner tore down the old store after the turn of the century and built the brick house that now serves as the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Boldt.
I. W. Long, John Richards, and C. T. Reeder were familiar names in the gen- eral store business during the 1880's. I. Long started his business in 1886, carrying fresh groceries and a full line of dry goods. Apparently he sold his business in the first part of 1890 or be- fore. John Richards sold groceries, clothing and boots throughout the eighties. C. T. Reeder operated a gen- eral store until 1884. Four years later, on Aug. 24, 1888, he re-opened for busi- ness on W. Main Street selling gro- ceries, dry goods, clothing, glass and a variety of other merchandise. Mr. Reeder was known to the local men as "Caleb of the Boots." It was the cus- tom in those days for all of the business men to have nicknames. Bill Milligan purchased the store later and changed it to a harness shop. Mrs. Bernadine Milchman now resides in Mr. Reeder's residence on South Cedar Street.
Dan Ressler and Bill Hideman oper- ated a general merchandise store on the N.E. corner of E. Main and N. Pine in the 1890's. Mr. Ressler tore down the old building and rebuilt a new two-story brick structure about 1895. John Rick- etts ran a cafe in the basement of the new building. Although the Bauers bought the building around the turn of the century, most people remember the building as Weber's Store. John Back- er, Wm. Frede, and the Weber Broth- ers, Louis and Andrew, were some of the people that ran grocery and dry goods businesses at that location. The second story of the buliding was re- moved during the 1950's. An adjoin- ing building was constructed to the east in the early 1900's and Wm. Frede operated out of both buildings and re- ferred to his business as the "Big Dou- ble Store." Barrels of crackers, a big
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FALK REPAIR SHOP, Strasburg-Farm Machinery Overhauling & Welding
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This is a picture of the store buildings that stood where Baumgarten Construction, Masonic Lodge and the This and That Outlet are now. Henry Ulmer had the Hardware Store.
coffee grinder and other bulk foods were featured in the west half; while dry goods, shoes, clothing, and carpets were sold in the east half. Louis and Andrew Weber continued this tradition until the early 1950's under the names of Weber Brothers and Weber and Co. During 1950, Ervin Moran used the store to sell household appliances and then Byron Graham used it is a warehouse. Today, Baumgarten Hardware & Ap- pliance Store, operated by Steve Baum- garten, is located in the west part and the Masonic Lodge Hall is in the east section.
The building joining the east side of the Lodge Hall was orginally built by Henry Ulmer as a saloon. Mr. Ulmer and Rufus Drapper operated restau- rants in the building and Mr. Ulmer ran a hardware store in 1917. However, many people remember this building as the site of Floyd Whitacre's and Elmer Falk's Store. Clinton Storm ran a gro- cery store in the building during the early 1920's, prior to Mr. Whitacre's creamery and egg station. Elmer Falk took over from Mr. Whitacre in the 1930's and continued as part of Falk's Produce Co. Part of the Produce Co. also operated out of the old stables on N. Pine St. They would ship several truck loads of poultry and eggs to Chi- cago every week. Gilbert (Gib) Brum- merstedt, Falk's son-in-law, continues to maintain this business under the name of Falk's Produce Co. Today he spe-
cializes in livestock feed, Veterinary supplies, lawn mowers and still buys some eggs from the local farmers at the N. Pine site.
Mr. Falk also sold groceries in the building east of the Masonic Hall and other occupants of the grocery store were: Fred Gruntman, Orval Cohea, Everett Gordon, Jake Dunteman and Arthur and Nellie Ullrich. Today, Wil- lie Miller operates a "This & That" store with a pool hall in it.
The present day site of the Depot Sample Store was another prime loca- tion for early business in Stewardson. The building on this corner housed mil- linery shops, harness shops, hardware, furniture stores and a roller rink over the years. There were also a number of general merchandise stores on this location. Bill Hideman operated a grocery, Mr. - ran a variety store and Jack Ashenbramer ran a grocery store in later years. Probably the best known mechant to have a store at this location was C. A. Mietzner, Sr. He ran a general store in the brick building on the corner during the early 1900's. He later turned the business over to his nephew, Chas. A. Mietzner, Jr. during the teens. Charles and Rose Mietzner sold dry goods, groceries, and Kimball pianos in their store on "Qual- ity Corner." They later moved their store across the street. The "Quality Corner" building was used as a feed store by Gib Brummerstedt, a creamery
by Bud Schultz, and as a meeting place for the Christian Ladies Aid and the American Legion.
Just across the street, Frank Williams built an additional store, located be- tween his Hardware Store and the Wa- bash Depot on West Main. This build- ing was built of lumber from the 1904 World's Fair. Charles and Rose Mietz- ner moved their grocery and dry good business in the building in the early 1920's and continued until their retire- ment in 1947. Clinton Friese bought the building and converted it into a self- service store, a novelty for the citizens of Stewardson. Somehow the idea of self-service didn't really seem to catch on and Clinton found himself still get- ting the items off the shelves, for his customers in the old traditional manner. Walter and Arnieta Strohl purchased the business from Mr. Friese on Sept. 2, 1949. Four years later, they moved to their present location, 110 W. Main The old store stood vacant until it was razed.
The Opera Hall, a two story building which is still in existence today, housed a number of clothing and general mer- chandise businesses during the first quarter of the 20th Century. Otis Friz- zell, from Cowden, operated a grocery store on the first floor of the Opera Hall in 1902. He was followed by Chas. and Milian York's Clothing Store, Bradley and Tallae's Clothing Store and Curry & Grove. Charlie Grove and Sam Elliott ran a grocery store around 1914 and were followed by Donaldson Mer- cantile Co. and Ralph Whitacre during the latter teens and twenties. In later years, the first floor was used as a Post Office, a plumbing shop and cafes. Today, the Dwight Kesslers operate a cafe in it.
During the 1940's, Jim Brady ran an ice business and a small shop that sold tobacco, soda, candy, and a few gro- ceries in the bulidnig just South of Jun- ior Hobson's present day barber shop on S. Pine. Dean Roley ran an up- holstery shop from 1952 to the mid 1960's and at times is was occupied by Jeff Webb, Paul Kaase and Albert Weber for a shoe repair shop. Prior to shoe shops, Mr. Hartman used the building as a grocery, Mr. Johnson for a 10¢ variety store and the Torcen Brothers for their harness shop. The oldest known business in the building was Joel Shelton's Saloon.
Mr. Fred Milchman erected a brick building on the west side of S. Pine that
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he used for a grocery store. Along with Milchman's store, Mr. Robey used part of the building as office space for his Insurance Co. and Gerald Brandt cut hair (plain and fancy) for a few years in the building. Mrs. Grace Falk Cecil purchased the building in Feb- ruary, 1952 and opened a dry goods store. This was discontinued and the building stood vacant until the Rail & Truck Salvage Store moved in.
In more recent years, Melvin Sterling purchased the old T. N. Robinson Drug Store on South Pine from Russell Turn- er. In addition to the usual products sold in a drug store, Mr. Sterling also added a small line of groceries. Bob King took over the business in 1962 and later bought the two buildings to the south. Bob's Market featured meat, a line of groceries, as well as dry goods and shoes. Mr. King closed his market and moved from the Village in 1973.
Fred Gruntman operated a large grocery store in the corner of the Block Building which burned down in 1948, lo- cated at S. Pine and W. Main. Mr.
Gruntman later rebuilt part of the old building and reopened his grocery store. The new building is now used as the American Legion Hall.
HUCKSTER WAGONS
In the early days, hucksters were an important part of the rural community. Huckster wagons were loaded with all kinds of staples, such as spices, smoked meats, materials, thread, and many other articles.
The huckster wagon was an enclosed wagon, drawn by a team of horses with shelves built on both sides leaving an aisle through the center. Drawers were under the shelves for holding many items, and there were doors to enclose the shelves, since it was neces- sary to keep the items from bouncing out.
Charles Fluga ran regular delivery routes around the Stewardson area for Wm. Frede.
When he arrived at a farm home, the homemaker would bring out eggs and
chickens to trade for the needed mer- chandise. The chickens were placed in coups along the aisle of the wagon. Eggs were placed in cases on top of the huckster wagon. Smoked sausage was hung from the ceiling.
The huckster man was popular with children, because he would treat them with candy.
Mr. Fluga would be gone for a cou- ple of days on his route. He would start out east of Stewardson and go as far as the Green Creek community. He would stay all night at Barney Nux- oll's and then start back to Stewardson the next morning. He would arrive in Stewardson during the evening band concert. After he arrived, he had to unload the poultry and eggs that he had traded for.
When Weber Brothers and Company bought out Wm. Frede, Louis Weber ran the huckster. Later George B. Schultz ran the last huckster for them. Through the years Elmer Falk and John Falk also ran the huckster wagons.
Manufacturing, Commerce and Agriculture
HOOP-POLE SHOP
Leffler Bros. started a Hoop-Pole Shop in Stewardson sometime in the mid 1870's and developed it into a thriving industry by 1878. It is thought that the business may have been located just north of the origi- nal town near Voris Elevator. How- ever, they moved the business to a newly constructed Hoop-Pole shop on their lots in the southpart of town in 1887. Barrel hoops were in great demand during the latter 1800's and this was a rather lucrative business. Between April 1877 and 1878, Leffler Bros. shipped 200 freight cars of Hoop-poles to the State penitentiary at Joliet. It seems as if they were sending out at least a car load of hoops per week through the late 1880's.
Hoop-poles were 7 to 8 foot long willow or hickory poles cut near the little Wabash River. The pole had to be at least 3/4" in diameter at the smallest end. These poles were split and made into barrel hoops. Wood barrels were used in those days to store and ship most food stuff, in- cluding flour, meat, and apples.
PACKING PLANT
Mr. F. X. Gress and Joseph Sheidl built a square framed packing plant south of town in 1876. F. X. Gress sold his interest to Wm. Mietzner in 1887. Albert Mietzner then bought Mr. Steidle's interest in 1888. Mr. Steidle moved to Paris, Illinois and started an- other plant a few years later. Wm. and Albert Mietzner did most of their own butchering, without extra employees, and sold the fresh meat through their meat shop on West Main Street. This building was later replaced with Dr. Holmes office. Mr. Phingston, father of a future teacher, bought the old packing plant and ran it for a few years
in the late 1890's. Mr. Phingston ex- panded the slaughtering business and employed eight to ten men.
D. M. Duddleston took over the busi- ness from Phingston and operated it until 1926. The old frame building burned down in the early 1920's and Mr. Duddleston built the brick packing plant. Duddleston also installed a huge diesel engine to power the new pack- ing plant. The pistons in this engine were about eighteen inches in diameter. It was necessary to pump several hun- dred pounds of air into the engine to get the piston moving fast enough to start the engine. Duddleston sold meat locally and to the surrounding towns. He would travel as a salesman to the
The Stewardson Packing House.
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surrounding towns on the train and then later ship the meat by rail.
Mr. F. F. Yakey bought the packing plant in 1926 and expanded production and the size of the territory served. A novel twist was added when Mr. Yakey brought a fleet of trucks to sell his pro- ducts in 1929. The meat business be- came less profitable and the old Stew- ardson Packing Plant closed in 1934. The plant was reopened just before the start of World War II and continued in operation until 1949. During the peak years 50 head of cattle a day and 400 head of hogs a week were processed in the plant. An area covering a 100 miles radius from Stewardson received the benefits of fresh meat from this in- dustry.
BRICK YARD & TILE FACTORY
Mr. Lawrence Zerr was born in Alsace, Germany August 10, 1850 and came with his family to America in 1852. They first located at Vincennes, Ind. His mother, Mrs. Mary Zerr died in New Orleans upon their arrival in this country. Mr. Michael Zerr, Lawrence's father, died in 1863. Sometime around 1864, Lawrence left for East St. Louis and worked in a brick yard. In 1867 he came to Shelby County with William Telgman and 10- cated in Strasburg. Mr. Telgman started a brick yard and Mr. Zerr worked for him for several years and later became a partner in the business for two years. In 1879 Mr. Zerr lo- cated in Stewardson in the north part of town approximately where Clete Nosbisch had his junk yard. He operated a brick yard for four years and then moved to Carroll County, Mo. Eleven years later he returned to Stewardson and started manufacturing bricks again. Zerr's brick yard was a small business that made brick only for local use. It was difficult for them to keep up with the local de- mand since they made bricks by hand with a two brick wooden cutter and operated only one kiln.
In 1907, Zerr's son Otto started in the concrete business and in 1908 joined his father as a partner, be- coming L. & O. Zerr. They added to the business and manufactured con- crete blocks and conducted a general contracting and building business.
Mr. D. M. Duddleston who was born in Fairfield County, Ohio in 1857, moved with his parents to Shelbyville
in 1864 and soon settled on a farm in Prairie Township. He married Louisa Triece in 1874 and went into farming. They started a brick and tile business in Stewardson in 1884. It was located approximately where the Yakey Trailer Court is now. This was a thriving business at that time and several car loads were shipped out each day by rail. At the height of production, they ran three kilns which were fired at night by Tom Duddles- ton and Sol Blue. Clay was scooped into a machine that molded the brick, cut them to size with a system of cutting wire, and pushed the finished brick out at the other end of the ma- chine. They were then put in long sheds to dry before going into the kilns to bake.
It took three days to burn a kiln of brick, and longer for hard brick, which were put in seven to a rack. One kiln held about 1300 brick. After the bricks had cooled, Tom Duddles- ton would toss seven lose brick at a
time to the stacker. There were many a smashed finger. For a short time C. T. Reader was a partner with Dud- dleston and in 1888 William Dikeman purchased Mr. Reeder's share. The tile factory went out of business some time in the late twenties.
Henry H. York also ran a brick factory before 1900. This factory was located just across the Cloverleaf tracks from the elevator and south of Delta Debolt on the old Fluga place. They got their clay for the bricks from Jack Fluga's pond and a pond behind Eldo Tate's house.
Brick making in early Stewardson and the surrounding area was a widely conducted business since many people built their own brick yard when they constructed a house. They would sell a few bricks and then go out of busi- ness. However, York's, Duddleston's and Zerr's brick kilns were the pri- mary ones in this area, since they al- so shipped brick out of town.
An inside picture of one of the creameries in Stewardson. Wm. Friese is the man in the middle.
CREAMERIES
Lars Johnson was born October 10, 1854 in Ystad, Sweden. He was the youngest of eleven children. He settled in Prairie Township in 1876, and bought 100 acres in Section 36. Mr. Johnson retired from farming and moved into Stewardson in 1903.
In 1904 he started a Creamery busi- ness in Stewardson under the name of Johnson Sanitary Creamery Co. and sold Clover Blossum Dairy Products. This creamery became the largest in this part of the State.
This business was located west of the present Prairie Township Hall. Ice
was cut from the Baumgarten ponds in
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Johnson's Creamery that stood on the west side of the Wabash Railroad tracks south of Main Street.
the winter and hauled to the Johnson Creamery. In 1922 the Johnson Cream- ery made vast improvements and addi- tions to their creamery and ice plant including an ice cream plant.
Prior to the 1900's the Farmer's Co-op creamery started in the south part of town near the Church blacksmith shop. This was located east of the South Pine Street on Wolf Creek, just north of Lake Paul. This served as a collection sta- tion for milk only, however cream was apparently separated from the milk al- so,
The Union Dairy was also started in
UNION DAIRY
This dairy was north of the Nickel Plate tracks on Spruce Street. It was called the Union Dairy and was owned by a St. Louis firm. The Plug would stop in front of the dairy to pick up their butter. They had a track from inside the plant through the wide door in front out to the rail- road tracks, so that they could haul cart loads of butter to the train.
the early 1900's. It was located where Russell Mueller now lives. This cream- ery had a number of owners and changed names several times. The Union Dairy was owned by Union Dairies in St. Louis. Later it was bought by another out of town firm and called the City Dairy.
In 1922 the City Dairy built an addi- tion to their creamery. The last owner was Bill Denn and Bill Friese man- aged it.
CHEESE FACTORY
Wayne Huffmaster owned the farm that Glenn Huffmaster now lives on, one and one-half miles north and one mile east of Stewardson, and he has told us that Robert and John Manhart had a cheese factory on this farm. They had a two-story building in which the farmers drove up onto the top part to empty the milk. The cheese was haul- ed to Mattoon to be sold.
Mr. Huffmaster, one of our older citi- zens, told us that his family moved here in 1890 from Owaneco. They had to lead the cows behind the wagon. It was a two-day trip. He says that he work- ed in the post office on the Doug Spain farm. It was moved to Kingman.
LUMBER COMPANY
The first record of lumber dealers in Stewardson was sometime between 1874 and 1878. Moberley Smyser and Tull located their business on the west side of North Pine Street approx-
imately where the lumber yard now stands. John Moberley, Hugh Smy- ser, and John W. (big John) Tull were the men involved. Along with the lumber business Mr. Tull was a notary public and a Loan and Insur- ance agent selling Aetna of Hartford, Home of New York, and Phoenix of Brooklyn N. Y.
Jacob F. Bauer moved to Illinois in 1865 and purchased 40 acres in Prairie township and begin working as a carpenter. He added to his farm and finally owned 220 acres of mostly original wild prairie. In 1885 he traded 120 acres of land for his lum- ber business. Along with the lumber business he sold farm machinery, builders hardware. and paints. He owned five acres in Stewardson where the Baumgarten addition is lo- cated and lived where the John Man- hart home used to be. This house was built by Joe Falk, grandfather of the present Joe Falk. Jacob Bauer was the father of "Tob" Bauer and Martha Weber, wife of Andrew Weber. Tob Bauer built the brick building known as the old Engel Building on North Pine.
The first record found of the F. T. Engel Lumber Co., owned by F. T. Engel was dated June 12, 1901. F. T. Engel died in 1930. The company was owned by C. C. and E. W. Engel from 1936 to 1946 and continued to operate under the name of F. T. Engel Lumber Co. They sold hardware, lumber coal, and furniture. E. W. Engel died in 1937.
In 1946 ownership changed to C. C. and E. V. (Voris) Engel and later to include C. R. Engel. The name of the company was changed to the En- gel Co., in 1947. The Milchman Build- ing on Main St. was bought that same year and appliances were added to the selling list. In 1954 Anne En- gel (wife of E. Voris Engel) deed- ed her interest in the business back to C. C. Engel. Mr. C. C. Engel died in 1958
HARDWARE-FARM IMPLEMENTS
Shafer, Turner, and Baldwin moved to S'ewardson, erected a building, and put in a stock of hardware in early 1874. It appears Mr. Shafer may have left the partnership sometime in 1875 and the business continued as Turner and Baldwin. By 1878 Mr. Baldwin had
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