USA > Ohio > Memoirs of the lower Ohio valley, personal and genealogical : with portraits, Volume II > Part 24
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CAPT. WILLIAM P. GREANEY, teller in the Alexander County National bank, Cairo, Ill., was born Feb. 19, 1869. He is the son of the late James Greaney of Cairo, who died in 1890. William P. quit school at the early age of eleven years and went to work to fight life's battle. For ten years (1880 to 1890) he was in the employ of the New York Store Mercantile Company, a large wholesale and retail house of Cairo. Beginning as cashboy, on a salary of a few dollars a week, he was regularly promoted to higher positions and finally was made bookkeeper of the concern. He held this posi- tion until Jan. 7, 1891, when the establishment was completely destroyed by fire. On Jan. 21, 1891, he became bookkeeper in the Alexander County National bank. In 1902 he was promoted to the still more responsible position of teller in that bank. Being a suc- cessful business man he was called upon by his fellow-citizens to serve them for six years in the city council. For two years he filled
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the responsible position of city treasurer, and for the past four years he has filled the position of deputy city treasurer. In religious affairs he has always been identified with the Catholic church, of which he is a devoted member. He is also an active member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks. On Nov. 14, 1894, he married Miss Loretto Carroll of Cairo. Two interesting and lovable girls have been born to this union: Gertrude Lynette and Margaret Marian, aged nine and six years respectively. Captain Greaney is captain of Company K, Illinois National Guard, which company he organized in 1904.
CHRISTOPHER BECK, president of the Cairo Brewing Company, Cairo, Ill., was born in Germany, June 1I, 1860. He is the son of Conrad and Catherine Beck, both of whom are living, now residing in St. Louis, Mo. The subject of this sketch attended school in Germany until he was fourteen years old. After quitting school he was employed for four years in learn- ing the wine, whisky and brewing busi- ness in his native country. In 1879 he emigrated to the United States, being the first of his immediate family to come
over the ocean. The following year he was followed by his father, mother, two sisters and one brother, who located in St. Louis, Mo., where they still reside. His first work in this country was in a brewery in Wheeling, W. Va., where he worked for nine months. In the spring of 1880 he came on westward to St. Louis, Mo., where he at that time spent one year, a part of the time in the employ of the Lemp Brewing Company and the remainder of the year in a wholesale whisky house. In the spring of 1881 he went to Leadville, Col., at the time of the great silver excitement, where he remained for about eleven years in the wholesale whisky business. In Decem- ber, 1892, he returned to St. Louis to become one of the organizers of the Columbian Distilling Company, and was made secretary and treasurer of the concern. He held this position until 1897, when he organized the Union Brewing Company of St. Louis, of which, for the next three years and a half, he was president. Selling his inter- est in, this company to Otto F. Stifel in 1902, he spent a brief time in recuperating his health, which had become somewhat impaired,
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and in March, 1902, he came to Cairo, purchased a site for a new brewery and set out at once to build. On the last day of the follow- ing September the Cairo Brewing Company was organized with Mr. Beck as president, a position he yet holds. The buildings, located on the corner of Fourth street and Commercial avenue, were com- pleted and fully equipped with the most modern and up-to-date machinery, and the result is the present fine brewing plant, one of Cairo's best institutions as well as a substantial improvement to the city. The capital stock of the Cairo Brewing Company is $200,- 000, a majority of the stock being held by Mr. Beck. He is an active member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias.
JOHN B. GREANEY, secretary and treasurer of the New York Store Mercantile Company, of Cairo, Ill., was born in that city Nov. 21, 1873. He is the second son of the late James Greaney; was educated in the public schools of his native city, graduating from the high school department in 1892, at the age of eighteen years. Immediately after leaving school he went to work as assist- ant shipping clerk of the New York Store Mercantile Company, with which well known firm he is still connected. He filled various minor positions with such ability and fidelity that his promotion naturally followed, until now he holds one of the most important positions in the gift of his employers. As bookkeeper and traveling salesman he discharged his duties so well that he was made a stock- holder in the company. At the election of officers after his promo- tion he was made secretary and treasurer, which position he still holds. This rapid advancement demonstrates the possibilities open to any young man of intelligence and enterprise. The firm, in which he is now a partner, is one of the largest business concerns of Cairo, its trade being both wholesale and retail. Mr. Greaney is a stock- holder in and one of the organizers of the Bank of Moscow, at Moscow, Ky. The fact that he is an active member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, the Travelers' Protective Associa- tion, the Alexander club, and the Knights of the Mystic Krew of Komus shows that he is prominent in social and fraternal circles. On Oct. 21, 1903, he was united in marriage to Miss Kathryn Moran, of Cairo, and one daughter, Kathryn, was born to this union Aug. 13, 1904.
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EBERHARD BUCHER, of the Bucher-Woodford Packing Company of Cairo, Ill., was born in Germany, March 4, 1857. His father, Alois Bucher, a farmer, died in Germany in 1883. His mother came to the United States and joined her children in Cairo in 1885, and died there in 1895. The historic city of Ravensburg, in the kingdom of Wurtem- berg, Germany, is the birthplace of Mr. Bucher. He learned the butchers' trade in his youth in Switzerland, and came to the United States in 1880, being the first of his family to emigrate to this country. His mother, four brothers and two sisters came later. His brothers living in Cairo are Joseph and Carl Bucher. Silas Bucher, another brother, lives at Mounds, Ill. Stephen, a fourth brother, is a farmer near Freeport, Ill. His sisters are Mrs. Theresa Becker, of Freeport, and Mrs. Mary Love, of Sparta, Ill. Upon coming to this country Eberhard first worked for a year in, a sausage factory in Cincinnati, O., and then in 188I came to Cairo. Here he worked at his trade six months and then started a meat market at Clinton, Ill., but at the end of three months sold out and returned to Cairo, where he has since lived. After spending a year in the saloon business he sold out in 1883 and started a meat market here which he conducted successfully for sev- eral years. He made considerable money in this business and in 1892 embarked in the meat packing business as a partner in the firm of Bucher Bros. & Co. In 1901 he bought the interest of his brother Joseph and that of the company in the business. On Sept. I, 1903, he sold a half interest to B. F. Woodford, and on Jan. I, 1905, a stock company was formed and the business incorporated under the firm name of the Bucher-Woodford Packing Company, with Mr. Bucher as president and Mr. Woodford as secretary and treasurer. The capital stock was fixed at $50,000. It is the only meat packing industry in Cairo. Mr. Bucher is an active member of the Catholic church. On April 14, 1884, he married Miss Dora Duncker of Cairo. To this union five children have been born: Carl E., Eberhard Silas, Mary Martha, Anna and Dora, aged respectively nineteen, eleven, sixteen, thirteen and eight years. Mr. Bucher's career demonstrates clearly what can be accomplished by push and perseverance.
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BENJAMIN F. WOODFORD, secre- tary and treasurer of the Bucher-Woodford Packing Company of Cairo, Ill., was born in Syracuse, N. Y., Aug. I, 1855. He is the son of Alanson Woodford, a native of New York, of English parentage, and whose occupation was farming and thor- oughbred stock breeding. He removed from New York to Whiteside county, Ill., ยท in 1867. There the father spent the re- mainder of his life, dying March 22, 1884, aged seventy-two years. The mother of the subject before her marriage was Mary Elizabeth Lawrence, a native of New York State. She was the daughter of Eusephus Lawrence, a native of Connecticut and the son of John Lawrence, an Englishman by birth. The mother died in September, 1885. There were four children born to this union, of whom the subject of this sketch is the youngest. The other three are James E. and Alanson A., of Burlington, Kas., and Mary Eliza- beth, who died in infancy. From this sketch it will be seen that only the three sons are left. Benjamin spent his youth on his father's farm in Whiteside county, Ill., graduated from the Rock Falls high school at the age of eighteen and then went to work as an assistant to his father in the breeding and trading of fine stock and in general farm work. He acquired an interest in his father's business on reaching his majority, and it was conducted under the management of Alanson Woodford & Son, until the father's death. Their spe- cialty was the breeding of thoroughbred Poland-China hogs and Short- horn cattle. Shortly before his father died Benjamin F. engaged in business for himself by purchasing a meat market at Rock Falls, Whiteside county. In 1886 he traded his interest in this business for a 240 acre farm in Lee county, Ill. He then devoted himself for a time to trading and dealing in live stock. In 1888 he entered the employ of T. M. Sinclair & Co., of Cedar Rapids, Ia., a large packing concern whose export trade in fine meat products is probably equal to that of any other firm in America. He was with this well-known house for two and one-half years, being its buyer most of the time. He resigned this position in 1891 and purchased a fine market in Cedar Rapids. A few months later he sold this business to accept a lucrative position with Swift & Co. of Chicago. He remained with this firm seven years in all. Beginning as sales-
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man he soon worked his way to the front and was finally given a highly responsible position with the house. For one year he was in the employ of the Hammond Packing Company, a period sandwiched in between two periods with Swift & Co. Early in 1900 he entered the employ of Armour & Co. as traveling salesman. On May 7, 1902, he came to Cairo as manager of the Cairo branch of the con- cern, a position, which he held until Sept. 1, 1903, when he resigned against the urgent solicitation of the house. Declining a liberal sal- ary, he embarked in the packing business on his own account. He had purchased a half interest in the packing business of Eberhard Bucher, and it was to give his entire attention to this enterprise that he resigned his position with Armour & Co. On Jan. 1, 1905, the Bucher-Woodford Packing Company was organized with a capital stock of $50,000, Mr. Eberhard Bucher becoming president and Mr. Woodford secretary and treasurer. This concern does an extensive business in the packing and jobbing of beef, pork, veal, mutton and provisions. Mr. Woodford has recently identified himself with the Masonic order.
WILLIAM NICHOLS BUTLER, one of the three judges of the First circuit of Illinois, was born in Green Lake county, Wis., Aug. 16, 1856. He is the son of Comfort Edgar and Celestia Ann (Carter) Butler. With his father he removed to Columbia county, Pa., where the family resided until the breaking out of the Civil war. The father first enlisted in the Thirty-first Pennsylvania volunteer in- fantry and afterward in the Seventy-ninth regiment of the same state, fighting gallantly in the defense of the Union. During the father's absence in the army the family resided with friends and relatives in Canandaigua, Ontario county, N. Y. A few years after the close of the war the family removed to Texas, but not liking the country returned to the North, locating at Anna, Union county, Ill., where William grew to manhood, attending school, clerking in stores, work- ing at the carpenter and printing trades and teaching school. On June 7, 1879, he graduated from the University of Illinois at Cham- paign, having paid his own way out of money earned by teaching and working at his trades. After graduating he determined to enter the legal profession. The same steadfast persistence that characterized him in his efforts to obtain an education is one of the chief secrets of his success in life. After reading law in the office of Monroe C. Crawford, of Jonesboro, Ill., he, in the fall of 1881, entered the Union College of Law in Chicago, being a classmate as well as seat-
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mate of Hon. W. J. Bryan. The following fall he entered the senior class of the Albany, N. Y., law school, receiving therefrom the degree of Bachelor of Laws, May 25, 1883. In August of the same year he came to Cairo as a clerk in the internal revenue service under Gen. Charles W. Pavey, holding the position one year. On Sept. 10, 1884, he was nominated by the Republican party for the office of state's attorney .of Alexander county and triumphantly elected. He gave such general satisfaction that he was re-elected in 1888, 1892 and 1896. The only defeat that he suffered was in the year 1900. These repeated marks of confidence in him by his fellow-citizens afford the best comment on his efficiency and faithfulness to duty. For six years he was honored with the chairmanship of the Republican cen- tral committee of Alexander county ; also served as chairman of the congressional district committee; the Republican judicial committee of the First district and the committee of the First supreme court district. Mr. Butler was at the head of the judiciary committee of the supreme court district when his fellow-townsman, David J. Baker, was elected a member of the supreme court. This fact is worthy of mention because it was the first and only time that a Republican was elected from this district, and because it was the first time in the history of the state that the supreme court was Republi- can. Interested in the welfare of the public schools of Cairo, Mr. Butler has served on the board of education for six years. From December, 1884, to February, 1886, Mr. Butler was the senior mem- ber of the firm of Butler & Linegar, the firm being dissolved by the death of David T. Linegar. He was then associated with W. H. Boyer, but this connection was also terminated by the death of his partner. In the multiplicity of honors which Mr. Butler has enjoyed none has been more highly appreciated by him than that of the presi- dency of the alumni association of the University of Illinois, in which capacity he has twice acted. For one year he was adjutant of the Ninth regiment, Second brigade, National Guards of Illinois, rank- ing as captain. On the death of Joseph P. Roberts, one of the three circuit judges in this, the First circuit, in October, 1903, a vacancy on the bench occurred. Mr. Butler was one of the seven candidates for the nomination and was chosen on the sixty-fourth ballot. The election took place on Dec. 12, 1903, his opponent being Monroe C. Crawford, his preceptor in the beginning of his legal studies, and resulted in the election of Mr. Butler by a majority of 2,181 votes. He at once qualified, and is now serving in that capacity. As a lawyer Mr. Butler has been eminently successful, having among his
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clients some of the largest establishments in Cairo. His practice extended to the highest courts of the state and nation. Thor- oughly qualified and eminently fitted for the position he now holds, Mr. Butler has fully demonstrated that no mistake has been made in his election, for he is administering the duties of this exalted office as successfully as he cared for the interests of his clients when prac- ticing law. On Oct. 28, 1882, Mr. Butler married Miss Mary Mat- toon of Fairbury, Livingston county, Ill. The names of the children are as follows: Comfort Straight, born in 1887; William Glenn, in 1889; Franklin Mattoon, in 1892; Mary, in 1894; Helen, in 1897 and John Bruce in 1900.
JOSEPH W. WENGER, commercial agent for the Illinois Central railway, Cairo, Ill., was born in Lacon, Marshall county, Ill., Sept. 28, 1851. He is the son of Dr. Elias Wenger, born in Rock- ingham county, Va., in June, 1821. In 1855 Doctor Wenger graduated from Rush Medical college, Chicago, and practiced medicine in Northern Illinois for thirty- two years, dying Aug. 29, 1887. He served as a member of the Illinois legis- lature in the year 1862-63, and at the time of his death was president of the Illinois State Medical society. The mother of Joseph W. was Eliza Smith, born in Augusta county, Va. She was married to Elias Wenger in that state and died in 1879. Joseph W. Wenger is the fourth of seven children-four sons and three daughters, all living. He was educated in the public schools, and at the age of twenty entered the employ of the Illinois Central Railway Company at Gilman, Ill., serving in the capacity of switchman and clerk for three or four years. In 1873 he entered the office of the general freight and pas- senger agent of the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield railroad, at Springfield, where he was a clerk for two years. From Springfield he went to Peoria, Ill., where he served until 1879 as clerk in the general freight office of the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad Company. He then re-entered the service of the Illinois Central as clerk in the freight office at Cairo, where he has been ever since. In 1882 he was made chief clerk in the superintendent's office. In 1887 he received the appointment of commercial agent, his present II-17
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position. Thus it will be seen that he has been in the continuous employ of the Illinois Central for twenty-five years, and its com- mercial agent for eighteen years. He is a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight Templar and a Shriner, and is an ex-president of the Alex- ander club. He is actively affiliated with the Hoo Hoo order, a fraternity whose members are made up of the railway men and lumber men throughout the United States and Canada. Mr. Wenger is a Democrat in politics and a vestryman in the Episcopal church. On Sept. 28, 1881, he married Miss Mary Bainbridge Taylor of Cairo. She is the daughter of Augustus F. Taylor, a former well known citizen of Cairo, and granddaughter of Col. Samuel Staats Taylor, who was very prominent in the early history of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Wenger have three children: Joseph Bainbridge, of Chi- cago; Miss Alice Mary and Kenneth Taylor. The mother of Mrs Wenger was the late Phoebe Alice Taylor, who for many years held the office of county superintendent of schools of Alexander county. The brothers and sisters of Mr. Wenger are Mrs. Mary E. Dan- forth of Washington, Ill .; Mrs. Louise A. Craig of Twin Lakes, Col .; Abram A. of Ogden, Utah; Charles P. of Cairo, Ill .; Daniel B. of Trinidad, Col .; and Mrs. Nellie Pennewill of Kankakee, Il1.
ELMER SMITH, passenger and ticket agent of the Big Four, Iron Mountain and Missouri Pacific railways, at Cairo, Ill., was born at Allendale, Wabash county, Ill., June 28, 1876. He is the son of Dr. James E. Smith, a practicing physician of Mt. Carmel, Ill. Dr. J. E. Smith was born in Campbell county, Ky., Dec. II, 1838, being the son of Geo. W. Smith. The doctor graduated from the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1877. During the Civil war he served three years as private and hospital steward Illinois regiment of Wilder's brigade. with the Ninety-eighth Since 1877 he has practiced his profession in Wabash county, Il1. The mother of the subject was Nancy Howey, of Arkansas, born Feb. 27, 1846. She is the daughter of John and Eliza (Axton) Howey, and is still living. Of the eight children born to this union five survive: Mrs. Zillah Klindera of Tipton, Tulare county, Cal .; Elmer, Morris and Mattie (twins), and Vera Grace. Mor-
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ris is baggage agent of the Big Four and Iron Moun- tain at Cairo. Mattie is now Mrs. E. L. Holsen of Allendale, Ill. Elmer Smith, the subject, learned telegraphy at the age of seven- teen, and for several years served at various places as operator on the Cairo division of the Big Four. In 1897 he became night operator and ticket agent at the Union Station, Cairo. In 1898 he entered the office of C. L. Hilleary of St. Louis, assistant general passenger agent of the Big Four, where he served as stenographer and assistant city ticket agent for a year and a half. On Feb. I, 1901, he assumed the duties of his present position as passenger and ticket agent of the Big Four, Iron Mountain, and Missouri Pacific railways at Cairo. He holds membership in the following societies: Elks, Royal Arcanum and Knights of the Mystic Krew of Komus. On. Oct. 21, 1901, he married Miss Grace Hewitt, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Hewitt of Cairo, Ill. Two children, Helen Hewitt born Aug. 7, 1902, and Elmer, Jr., born Feb. 28, 1905, have blessed this marriage.
H. T. STEPHENS, local freight agent of the Big Four railway at Cairo, Ill., was born in the village of Normanda, Tipton county, Ind., Oct. 13, 1860. He is the son of Philip S. and Elizabeth B. (Hus- ton) Stephens, now residents of Lapel, Madison county, Ind. His father was born near Goshen, O., April 10, 1830. The mother was born near Mechanics- burg, Ind., Dec. 25, 1840. To their mar- riage, solemnized April 29, 1857, there were born three children, only two of whom survive, the subject of this sketch and A. M. Stephens of Lapel, Ind. H. T. Stephens was reared in Indi- ana and educated in the public schools of that state. He first learned the trade of carriage painter. Laying this aside he served for a time as hotel clerk. Finally he drifted into railroading. His first position was that of clerk in a freight office at Union City, Ind., for the Cleve- land, Columbus, Cincinnati, Chicago & Indianapolis railroad. He has been engaged in railroad work ever since in the constant employ of the above named road and its successor, the Big Four. When in 1888 the C. C. C. & I. was absorbed by the Big Four he went with it. All of his work has been in the freight department. He has been
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stationed at Cairo since Jan. 1I, 1890. After serving nearly three years as cashier he was on Dec. 1, 1892, promoted to the position of freight agent, which he still holds. He is a member of the American Association of Freight Agents. In Masonry he ranks high, being a Royal Arch Mason; a Knight Templar and a past master, past high priest and past eminent commander of that order. In politics Mr. Stephens is a Republican. April 4, 1886, he married Miss Alethea C. Winslow, of Marion, Ind. They have one child, Kathryn, aged nine years.
JOSEPH STEAGALA, the proprietor of Uncle Joe's hotel, restaurant and saloon, was born in New Orleans, La., Feb. 13, 1839, and came to Cairo with his parents in 1854, having previously worked as a river man for three years. In 1857 Joe Steagala helped to organize the first fire department in Cairo, a volunteer relief department, which continued until 1865, when he became a charter member of the "Rough and Ready" fire company, and from that day to this he has been a mem- ber of the company. During the period of nine years that Mr. Steagala served as chief the department was handled more ably and economically than it had been handled before or has been handled since. When the position became a salaried one he promptly resigned. This is one of Uncle Joe's traits. Whatever he does for the community he does for the pure love of the town and not for pay. We doubt if there is another town in the country that can boast of a man who gives up his time and money, and to a certain extent neglects his business, to attend to the duties of a position while it is a voluntary service and then resigns it as soon as there is any pay attached to it. In 1866 Mr. Steagala moved to Hickman, Ky., where he resided for thirteen years. During these years he paid his dues and was a member in good standing of the "Rough and Ready" fire company of Cairo. In 1879 he returned to Cairo and opened up his present place of business on the corner of Sixth street and Commercial avenue. He was first elected justice of the peace in 1885 and is still serving his city in that capacity. He served the First ward as alderman in 1894 and has two or three times been brought out by
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his friends and admirers as an independent candidate for mayor. Mr. Steagala has at all times been identified with every move- ment which had for its object the bringing of people to Cairo, and of keeping them. He is a member in good standing of nine- teen secret societies, to each of which he gives more of his time and money than does any other member. He is at present a director of the Cairo Baseball club, and was one of the active pro- moters of the Central League. Among the various business enter- prises that Mr. Steagala has been connected with can be mentioned the broom factory on Tenth street, operated by him two years, a sewing machine store on Commercial avenue, managed by Mr. Steagala for three years, and the widely popular "Uncle Joe's Hotel," on the levee, which he opened in 1889 and in which he himself placed the electric light plant. Without any display or any notoriety, Joe Steagala has quietly and unobtrusively dispensed thou- sands of dollars in Cairo in worthy charity. Personally he is a quiet, unassuming gentleman, with whom it is a pleasure to have business and social relations. He is known by every man, woman and child in the town, and while he may have enemies we doubt if there is any other man in town who has more or warmer friends than has "Uncle" Joe Steagala.
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