USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 36
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Mr. Collins laid the foundation of a happy married life when, on the 23rd day of De- cember, 1872, he was united in marriage in Cape Girardeau county, Missouri, to Virginia Weast, daughter of Samuel and Fannie Weast and who was born in the Old Dominion and came to Missouri as a child with her parents. The sons and daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Col- lins are as follows : Birdie, wife of A. F. Blan- ton, of DeSoto, Missouri; Myrtie, who be- came the wife of H. E. Homan, of Marquand, Missouri ; Hartford, who is located at Sabula,
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in the lumber business, and who married Nel- lie Johnson; Etta, wife of Frank Willett, of near Sabula, Missouri, farmers; Stella, wife of J. T. Dunn; the Misses Mamie, Ina, Virgie and Hazel, an attractive quartet of young ladies still residing beneath the home roof; and one child who died in early infancy, unnamed.
Mr. Collins has ever taken an active and intelligent part in the affairs of any com- munity in which he has resided and his in- fluence in affairs of public moment is of the most important character. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, his membership being with the An- napolis lodges.
LEE W. ROOD. A man of versatile talents and vigorous mentality, Lee W. Rood, of Caruthersville, has gained distinction for his activity in advancing the educational status of this part of Pemiscot county, and is now an important factor in promoting the finan- · cial welfare of the city, as cashier of the Peo- ples Bank being associated with one of the leading institutions of the kind in Southeast- ern Missouri. Mr. Rood organized this bank in 1905, and served as its president until 1909, in the meantime placing it on a sub- stantial basis. He was born March 18, 1865, in Guernsey county, Ohio, and was brought from there to Missouri in infancy.
Robert D. Rood, Mr. Rood's father, was born in Wisconsin, August 18, 1833, and married Nellie J. Wilson, who was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, October 10, 1834. Soon after the close of the Civil war he came to Missouri, bought land in Callaway county, and on the farm which he improved has since resided, he and his good wife hav- ing a pleasant home.
Growing to manhood on the parental farm, Lee W. Rood gleaned the rudiments of his education in the rural schools of his district, subsequently continuing his studies at West- minster College, in Fulton, Missouri. At the age of seventeen years he began life on his own account as a school teacher, and for seventeen years was actively associated with the schools of Caruthersville, first teaching in the rural schools for seven years and later serving as superintendent of the schools for ten years. He taught first in a small frame building, among his fellow-teachers having been the charming young lady who subse- quently became his wife. During Mr. Rood's
superintendency of the Caruthersville schools he organized the present efficient public school system, properly grading the schools from the primary through the high, and in- troduced newer methods of teaching, not only raising the standard of the Caruthersville schools, but increasing their value and effic- ieney.
In 1905 Mr. Rood was instrumental in founding the Peoples Bank, of which he was elected president, as above mentioned. This sound institution has a capital of $50,000; a surplus of $25,000; and deposits amounting to over $300,000. It is carrying on a large and constantly increasing business, and pays large dividends. Mr. Rood is a large prop- erty owner, having title to four hundred acres of land, a part of which he rents, and owning several business houses. He also deals extensively in real estate, in this line of work having a lucrative patronage.
Mr. Rood married, March 16, 1887, Belle Gregory, who was born in Montgomery coun- ty, Missouri, October 8, 1866, and they have one child, Robert F. Rood, whose birth oc- curred January 9, 1902. In his political af- filiations Mr. Rood is a stanch Democrat. Fraternally he belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and to the Modern Woodmen of America. He was formerly vice- president of the State Teachers' Association, and a member of its executive committee, and for a time was president of the Southeast Missouri Teachers' Association. Religiously he is an elder in the Presbyterian church, to which Mrs. Rood also belongs, and is a faith- ful worker in its Sunday school.
JOHN JOSEPH ANDREW HILGERT. A young man who is coming to be known as one of the leading educators of Southeastern Missouri is Prof. John Joseph Andrew Hilgert, who has brought to his several charges a wise and pro- gressive leadership which has resulted in the most definite and excellent results. As it has been said of another educator, it is his aim to teach the younger generation to be "of quick perceptions, broad sympathies, and wide affinities; responsive, but independent ; self-reliant, but deferential; loving truth and candor, but also moderation and proportion ; courageous, but gentle ; not finished, but per- fecting."
Professor Hilgert is a native of Jefferson county, Missouri, his birth having occurred at House Springs, July 31, 1884. His father, Andrew Hilgert, was also born at House
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Springs, in the year 1859. The elder gentle- man was reared on the country homestead of his father, John Hilgert, who died when An- drew was a boy. The little family, left so suddenly without a head was in sore predica- ment, but the young shoulders of Andrew and his brother. John C., accepted a large share of the burden, these two lads assuming the greater part of the work and responsibility of the farm. There they grew to manhood and became worthy citizens. Audrew Hilgert was married in 1881 to Mary Leight, of Jef- ferson county. and their union has been blessed by the birth of nine children, eight of whom are living, and the immediate subject of this biographical record being the second in order of birth. The family is as follows: Katie M. (now Mrs. Gus Diehl), the subject, Joseph V. R., Henry E., Lizzie K. (Mrs. Fred Flam), Louis F., Leo F., and Albert. The father and mother reside upon the old homestead, secure in public esteem and in the enjoyment of a host of friends. The father is one of Jefferson county's Democratic standard bearers, but up to the present time he has steadfastly refused nomination for office, although urged on several occasions to make the run for county judge. He and his family are communicants of the Catholic church. He affiliates with the Modern Wood- men of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen,
The early life of Professor Hilgert was passed upon the farm, an experience which he shares with the majority of our national heroes. He received his earlier education in the public schools, continuing as a student of the same until the age of seventeen years. HIe then matriculated in the Cape Girardeau Normal Training School and there took an extended course. Ile began his career as a teacher in 1904 at the Heads Creek School, and then accepted a position in the schools of House Springs. where he continued for period of one year. In Kimmswick since 1906 he has assumed his present position in the Kimmswick schools, of which he is superin- tendent. During his regime the school has won more prizes than any other in the coun- ty and it is conducted along the most up- to-date and enlightened lines. Its enrollment has increased from seventy to one hundred and twenty, two rooms being for the white pupils and one for the colored.
Professor Hilgert was married on the 18th day of September. 1907, the young woman to become his wife being Miss Dollie Crom-
well, of Eureka, Missouri, and they are both prominent in the affairs of the community. Mrs. Hilgert is a daughter of Henry and Mary Brimmer, Cromwell and a native of Jefferson county, Missouri.
Professor Hilgert, like his brothers, is a self-made man, and has made his own way unaided to his present high standing. He was asked to accept the county superintend- ency of schools, but declined, refusing the trust on account of his youth. He is Demo- cratic in his political conviction, attends the Catholic church and fraternizes with the Court of Honor.
ISADORE W. MILLER. One of the vigorous, progressive and successful business men who are contributing most distinctively to the in- dustrial and civic prosperity of southeastern Missouri is this well known and highly es- teemed citizen of Desloge, St. Francois coun- ty, where he conducts a large and prosper- ous general merchandise business, his es- tablishment being known as the Globe store. His initiative energy and administrative pow- ers have found various other avenues of en- terprise and his capitalistic and business in- terests are of broad scope and importance. He is liberal and public-spirited as a citizen and commands the high regard of those with whom he has come in contact in the various rela- tions of life. He is a young man whose ster- ling character and fine business ability have enabled him to achieve large and worthy suc- cess, and he is well entitled to representation in this history of southeastern Missouri.
Isadore William Miller was born in the province of Nomakst, Russia, on the 14th of February, 1880, and was about three years of age at the time of his parents' immigration to America. He is a son of Ruben and Ida (Bloom) Miller, both of whom were likewise born in that same Russian province, where the respective families have lived for many generations. Ruben Miller was born in the year 1857 and was twenty-six years of age at the time when he came with his family to America. Of the nine children Isadore W., of this sketch, was the first born, and of the number three sons and one daughter are now living. The parents now maintain their home at St. Louis, Missouri, where the father has lived virtually retired since 1909, after a long and successful business career. Soon after his arrival in America Ruben Miller located in the vicinity of Nashville, Tennessee, where he turned his attention to agricultural
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pursuits and where he continued to reside for several years, after which he engaged in the mercantile business in the state of Kentucky. After there maintaining his home for eight years he removed to Greensburg, Pennsyl- vania, where he was engaged in the same line of enterprise until 1895, when he came to Missouri and located at Elvins, St. Fran- cois county, where he built up a large and sub- stantial general merchandise business, to which he continued to give his attention until 1909, when he sold the same to his two sons, Isadore W. and Harry A., and he has since lived retired, in the enjoyment of the just rewards of former years of earnest endeavor. He had practically no financial resources when he came to America and thus his suc- cess stands as the direct result of his own efforts, the while he so ordered his course as to gain and retain the respect and good will of those with whom he has come in con- tact in the land of his adoption. He is a staunch adherent of the Republican party, and both he and his wife are devoted to the religious faith of their ancestors, being lib- eral in the support of the Jewish church and appreciative of its noble history.
The boyhood days of Isadore W. Miller were passed principally on his father's farm in Tennessee, and after duly availing him- self of the advantages of the public schools he was enabled to attend for a time Vander- bilt University, in the city of Nashville, though in the meanwhile he had initiated his association with practical business affairs. When but twelve years of age he began to assist in his father's store, and two years later he found employment in a mercantile es- tablishment at Davis, West Virginia. Later he was similarly employed at Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and at the age of seventeen years he came to the west. He resided for a short period in Arkansas and then located in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, where he secured a position as salesman in a men's furnishing goods establishment. Later he was engaged with a mercantile business at Bloomfield, this state, and still later he en- gaged in the general merchandise business at Columbus, Kentucky, where he remained un- til 1901, when he sold his interests in that place and came to St. Francois county, Mis- souri, where he soon afterward became as- sociated with his brother in the purchase of their father's mercantile business at Desloge. Here he has since continued the enterprise with marked success, and the Globe store con-
trols a large and representative patronage, based upon fair dealings and punctilious serv- ice in all departments. Mr. Miller is also president of the Citizens' Bank of Desloge; is vice-president of the Herculaneum Mercan- tile Company, which conducts a prosperous general merchandise business at Herculane- um, Jefferson county ; and is associated with his brother in the ownership of a flourishing general store at Elvins, St. Francois county, where the enterprise is conducted under the firm name of Miller Brothers. He is the own- er of a substantial business block at Bonne Terre, this county, and he is senior member of the firm of Miller & Grady, which is en- gaged in the real-estate business and which has valuable properties at Bonne Terre, Des- loge, Flat River and Leadwood. He is in- dividually the owner of valuable realty in his home town of Desloge, and is one of its most progressive and public-spirited citizens. His energy is indefatigable and his wide- awake, progressive policies have gained him marked success and prestige as a business man of sterling character. He is one of the heaviest stockholders of the Lead Belt Tele- phone Company and is ever ready to lend his aid and influence in the support of measures and enterprises projected for the general good of the community. Mr. Miller gives his sup- port to the principles and policies of the Re- publican party, and is affiliated with the Mod- ern Woodmen of America, the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and its adjunct organization, the Daugh- ters of Rebekah, and also with the Royal Neighbors and the Select Knights.
On the 26th of June, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Miller to Miss Jennie M. Dehovitz, of St. Louis, and they have a win- some little daughter, Helen Sarah.
ED ANDERSON, whose general merchandise establishment at Hornersville is one of the growing business enterprises of the town, has been identified with Southeast Missouri since 1896 and is one of the well known and esteemed citizens of Dunklin county.
He was born in Tennessee, November 20, 1870, and was reared in Hickman county, in the middle of that state. There he attended school. When he came to Missouri in 1896 he was without money, and the substantial prog- ress he has since made is the best evidence of the qualities of industry and business judg- ment which he possesses. At that time there was no railroad at Hornersville, and he has
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lived here long enough to witness the prin- cipal development of the country. For one year he worked at Nesbit, for four years at Cotton Plant, two years at Senath and five years at Kennett, and then in July, 1909, came to Hornersville and established his pres- ent business. Being well known and enjoy- ing the confidence of the people in this vicinity, he has a good trade and one that he is constantly increasing.
Mr. Anderson was married at Nesbit in 1899 10 Miss Mande Parker, daughter of Mr. IIenry B. Parker, of Hornersville. They are the parents of two children: Nellie Lee and Mary J. Mr. Anderson affiliates withi" the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a Democrat in his political beliefs, and he and his family belong to the Methodist church, South.
E. M. THILENIUS. One of the great prob- lems of the age is the color question and it is just as much a problem today as it was fifty years ago when the negroes were the cause of contention between the north and the south. For the most part those who were influential in freeing the slaves have passed beyond the difficulty and to their descend- ants is left the task of deciding what shall be done with the colored race. George C. Thilenins, member of the convention which abolished slavery in the state of Missouri, had no more difficult task than his son, who lives in the age whose business it is to establish the status of the negro in the state and country.
George C. Thilenius was born in the king- dom of Hanover, Germany, August 10, 1829. His father, who was also named George C. gave him all the advantages that were afforded hy the private schools in his native country. At that time there was no public school system. After his general education was completed, he was apprenticed for a term of four years in the city of Gottingen, Hanover., to learn the merchandise business, completing his apprenticeship when he was nineteen years of age. That same year he, his father and his mother (whose maiden name was Charlotte Stuhldrehen) with his three sisters, all embarked on a sailing vessel and started for America. After a stormy passage of eight weeks the family arrived at New Orleans, full of hopes and fears. The weather was warm and favorable, and the flowers seemed to smile a welcome to the weary travelers. They took a boat and made
their way up the river to St. Louis where they looked around them and considered the prospects in the mercantile line. The follow- ing year, in 1849, George C. Thilenius, Jr., with his father opened a store in what was then the village of St. Louis. This arrange- ment continued until 1853 when George C. Jr. was engaged by W. H. Belcher, sugar refiners of St. Louis, to go to Matanzas, Cuba, in the interests of their branch refinery at that city, where he remained three years. At the end of that period he returned to St. Louis and engaged in the wholesale business until 1857, at which time he removed to Cape Girardeau and entered into partnership with William Bierwirth in the general mercantile business. The following year, in 1858, he bought out the interests of his partner, put in a larger line of goods and did a flourishing business until 1863. When the war broke out, in 1861, he took an active part in organizing the first troops that were raised at Cape Girardeau in defense of the Union. In 1862 he received the commission of Captain by Governor Gamble and later in the same year he was promoted to the position of Lieu- tenant Colonel of the militia and placed in command of the fourth military sub-district of Missouri by Governor Fletcher, who later gave him the commission of Colonel. In 1865 he was elected by the counties of Bollinger, Cape Girardeau and Perry to the constitu- tional convention which abolished slavery in the state of Missouri. In 1865, after the close of the war, he commenced the erection of the far famed Cape City mills. His success in the new venture was assured from the very start. The mills became famous for the quality of flour prodneed, carrying off first premiums at almost all competitive exhibits. In 1873 he sent some of his flour to the World's Exposi- tion at Vienna in Austria and was awarded a medal of merit and a diploma for the best flour. At the exposition at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1876, he received similar recognition.
In 1857 he married Miss Margaret Fromann of St. Louis. She was a native of Cobourg, Germany, having come to this country when she was a young girl. Mr. and Mrs. Thilenius had one son and three daughters.
The Colonel was always active in public affairs. He was mayor of Cape Girardeau in 1867, 1869 and 1871. He was greatly inter- ested in all educational matters, realizing that it was there, with the school boy and school girl that the future of the nation lay.
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He was instrumental in establishing the public schools in Cape Girardeau. He died July 7, 1910, having lived a good life, full of usefulness for his fellow men.
His son, Emil M. Thilenius was born June 17, 1869, at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where he was brought up and educated, attending the public schools which his father was the means of introducing into Cape Girardeau. After leaving school he was in business with his father for about three years, but later took full charge, leaving his father free to attend to his many other duties. Mr. Thil- enius is now the proprietor of the Cape City Bottling Works, located at 228 North Pacific street.
December 27, 1896, he married Miss Emma Dittlinger, the daughter of Alphonse and Katie Dittlinger, old· residents of Cape Girar- deau. Four children were born to this union, Eona, Paul, Arthur and Herbert.
Mr. Thilenius is a member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, of the Eagles, of the Knights of Pythias and of the Sons of Veterans, having a very high stand- ing in all of these organizations. He is a Republican in politics and has always been greatly interested in public affairs. For sev- eral years he was township committeeman and was a member of the board of education for three years and reelected for three years. more. He has by no means reached the limit of his capabilities and as he is always ready to do anything that will promote the good of his native town, where both he and his wife have spent the whole of their lives, his party will undoubtedly keep him as busy as he will permit. Mr. and Mrs. Thilenius are both very hospitable and like nothing better than to entertain their numerous friends at their home. They are both extremely popular.
JUDGE JESSE H. SCHAPER. The history of a nation is the history of its people; like- wise, the history of Southeastern Missouri is the history of its people, and not one of the least known of these is Judge Jesse H. Schaper, of Washington. On the contrary Judge Schaper is prominently and effectively identified with this section of Missouri, in connection with the valued service he has rendered in his capacity as probate judge of Franklin county, a position he has held since 1902.
Judge Schaper was born near Troy in Lin- coln county, this state, on the 21st of No- vember, 1865, a son of William and Julia Vol. II-13
(Sandfos) Schaper. The father, William Schaper, was a native of Hanover, Germany, born in 1820, from whence he came to the United States at the age of twenty-one and began farming, making of this vocation a con- siderable success. When the clouds of the Civil war began to lower, Mr. Schaper en- listed as a member of the Home Guards and served in the interests of the Union until the close of that war. As above stated, the mother of our subject was Julia (Sandfos) Schaper, whose father fought with Blucher's army in the battle of Waterloo and thus helped save all Europe from the domination of the French. For this service Mr. Sandfos was presented with a medal upon the battle- field, which he always treasured. He sub- sequently came to the United States and settled in Lincoln county, Missouri, a neigh- bor to Mr. Schaper, and in friendly neigh- borhood gatherings began the acquaintance of William Schaper and Julia Sandfos, which culminated in their marriage. To this worthy couple were born six children, as follows : Henry, of Lincoln county; Louis, deceased; Mary, who became the wife of Henry Gerdemann; William, who died in 1907, leaving a wife and family in Warren county ; Charles, of Lincoln county; and Judge Schaper, of this review. Mrs. Schaper passed on to the Great Beyond in 1867. Mr. Schaper took for his second wife Mary Poll- mann, by whom there were two children: Frank and Jennie, and the daughter married Theodore Schemmer of Warren county, Mis- souri. The father of William Schaper and the grandfather of our subject was also named William, and he had two other sons, Hermanu and Henry, both of whom married and reared families in Lincoln county, this state.
Judge Jesse H. Schaper can therefore most truthfully be called a "son of Missouri," being born in Lincoln county, that state, in which county his father and grandfather also passed most of their lives. And he is no prouder of Missouri than Missouri is of him. His career as a lawyer had its birth when he decided on that profession as his life voca- tion when he was still a youth in the rural schools of his native county. Accordingly. when he was but seventeen years of age, he entered Central Wesleyan College at War- renton, and graduated therefrom in 1889, re- ceiving his degree of B. A., whereupon he im- mediately matriculated in the Missouri Uni- versity department of law, graduating from
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that institution in 1892, his diploma admit- ting him to practice in the courts of the state and to the federal courts of St. Louis. De- termined to upset the theory that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own coun- try," he began the practice of his profession in his own state, settling in Washington, Frank- lin county, and here he has pursued his pro- fessional activities for almost two decades, gaining an enviable record as a modern type of the enterprising, progressive and honorable attorney. His criminal as well as his civil practice has gained him favorable comment and professional fame beyond the limits of his own judicial circuit, which is reflected by an ever-growing and ever-widening clientele.
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