Peoria County Biographies

 

James A. Cameron

 James A. Cameron is the senior member of the law firm of Cameron & Cameron, his associate being his son, Glen J. Cameron.  The father is one of the older and most honored members of the Peoria bar, where he has practiced since the 8th of September, 1873.  He was that year admitted to the state bar and in August arrived in this city.  He needs no introduction to the readers of this volume, because his professional labors and his devotion to high standards of citizenship have made him well known here.  He was born on a farm in Fulton county, Illinois, October 16, 1845, and is a son of John and Isabella (Tulloch) Cameron, both of whom were natives of Scotland.  They became pioneer settlers of this state, establishing their home in Fulton county in 1834, just two years after the Black Hawk was had put a termination to Indian supremacy in Illinois.  Frontier conditions were everywhere prevalent and the family shared in the hardships and privations of pioneer life in an attempt to establish a home in a new and undeveloped region.  In 1847, when James A. Cameron was two years old age, his parents removed to a farm about ten miles west of Peoria, settling in Limestone township.  The mother died during the infancy of her son and the father was afterward married in Peoria county, to Isabella Cameron, who, though of the same name, was not a relative.

 James A. Cameron was reared on the old homestead in this county and the experiences of farm life early became familiar to him, as he assisted in the work of field and meadow.  He attended the country schools and afterward had the benefit of instruction in Monmouth College, thus laying a good foundation for his legal knowledge in his broad literary course.  He read law at Ottawa, Illinois, under the direction of Alexander T. Cameron, a cousin and also in Peoria with J. K. Cooper as his preceptor.  As previously stated, he was admitted to the bar in September, 1873, and has been in continuous practice in this city ever since.  He continues in the general practice of law, is strong in argument and logical in his deductions, while in the application of a legal principle he is seldom if ever at fault.

 On the 1st of January, 1873, in Peoria, Mr. Cameron was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Trial, of this county, her father being William D. Trial, a very early settler of Hollis township, who arrived here in the '20s.  The only child of this marriage is Glen J., who attended the public schools and entered Valparaiso College, of Indiana.  He afterward studied in the Law University at Champaign, Illinois, and was admitted to the bar in 1906.  He then returned home to enter into partnership with his father and the law firm of Cameron & Cameron ranks among the foremost representatives of the profession in Peoria.  Their work has been marked by unfaltering devotion to the interests of their clients and yet they have never forgotten that they owe a still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law.  James A. Cameron is a member of the Beta Theta Phi, a college fraternity.  His interests are broad because his reading has been wide and because his recognition of the responsibilities and opportunities of life is a correct one.  He never fails to cooperate in public measures where the welfare of the city is involved or where the interests of the individual citizen might be advanced.  He commands the respect of all who know him and is best liked where he is best known.

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Fred H. Camp

     The name of Fred H. Camp is largely known throughout the country because of his extensive operations in realty, particularly in farm lands.  The many large property transfers which he has negotiated indicate the day of small undertakings in real-estate dealings is past.  He has bought and sold lands throughout the entire Mississippi valley and his sound judgment is manifest in his careful investments and his judicious sales.

     Mr. Camp claims Vermont as the state of his nativity, his birth having there occurred on the 7th of June, 1849, Bennington being his natal city.  His parents were Harvey and Lydia (Rounds) Camp.  The father was for many years a well known farmer and land owner who met with substantial success in his business undertakings, and while he loaned thousands of dollars, such was his keen judgment that he never lost a cent in that manner.  He became one of the most extensive property holders in Peoria county, owning a number of valuable farms in the western part of the county, north of Elmwood.  Much of this property he bought at a low figure, paying for all of it only sixteen dollars and a half per acre.  Gradually it increased in value owing to the rapid settlement of this part of the state and also to the many improvements which he placed upon it.  He sold none of his land for less than two hundred dollars per acre, and his last sale brought him two hundred and sixty-two dollars and a half per acre.  He died in 1897 at the venerable age of eighty-six years, and his death then was the result of an accident, a fall breaking his neck, although he lived for three days after sustaining that injury.  His widow still survives and is now eighty-six years of age.

     Fred H. Camp was a lad of only six years when the family left the New England states and came to Peoria, settling in this part of the state in 1855.  Here he has since lived, and after attending the local schools he finished his education in Knox College at Galesburg, from which he was graduated when twenty-two years of age.  He then started out in the drug business which he followed for a year, after which he secured employment in connection with the commission and grain trade.  A year later he removed to Brimfield, Illinois, where he erected a brick block and for five years conducted a grocery store.  At the end of that time his stock was destroyed by fired and he returned to Peoria.  He then accepted a position as bookkeeper with the Avery Planter Company, where he continued for five years at the end of which time he entered the employ of the Kingman Company, a firm which he represented on the road for several years, selling their plows and farm implements.  He afterward made settlements for the company, collecting for them thousands of dollars.  As the years passed his services became of more and more value to them and his income increased accordingly.  Thus as his financial resources permitted he made investments in land, and for the last five years he has concentrated his energies upon his land dealings all over the United States.  He has handled property in almost every state in the Union.  He is now the proprietor of the Florida Land Company with offices in the German Fire Insurance building and he also handles farm lands on an extensive scale, not only in Peoria county but throughout Kansas, Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Indiana.  It would be difficult to find one more thoroughly informed concerning land values, or whose judgment is sounder in relation to the possible rise or diminution in the same.

     In 1876 Mr. Camp was united in marriage to Miss Mary Cowles who was then a teacher in the school of Brimfield.  She was born and reared in this county, a daughter of Lieutenant W. W. Cowles, who won his rank by service in the Fourteenth Illinois Cavalry in the Civil war.  Both he and his wife who, in her maidenhood bore the name of Adelia Woods, are still living at the age of more than eighty years, making their home with their daughter, Mrs. Camp, in a pleasant and attractive home at 1005 Knoxville avenue.

     It has been well said that "There is no royal road to wealth," but again and again there is found verification of the fact that the road of opportunity is open to all and that the rewards of labor are sure and certain.  Earnest, persistent effort, well defined purpose and intelligent direction of his investments have been the prominent features in the business career of Mr. Camp, making him one of the successful and widely known land dealers of Peoria and Illinois.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Haller E. Charles

     Haller E. Charles, deputy collector of internal revenue at Peoria, was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, January 12, 1848, a son of John E. and Margaret (Oliver) Charles.  He was a pupil in the public schools and the academy at Princeville, Illinois, and completed the work of the freshman and sophomore years in Hillsdale College of Michigan.  In early manhood he taught school in the vicinity of Princeville and later took up the study of law, being admitted to the bar upon examination in Peoria in 1871 and to the bar of Arkansas upon examination in 1875.  While official duties now claim his time and attention, he is still a member of the legal profession in good standing and entitled to practice in both Illinois and Arkansas.

     Mr. Charles' first active work in behalf of his country followed his enlistment as a solider of the Civil war, on the 4th of January, 1864, when he still lacked a few days of being sixteen years of age.  He joined Battery A of the Second Illinois Light Artillery and was continuously on active duty until discharged July 27, 1865.  He again entered the active service of his country when appointed gauger in the internal revenue department at Peoria, Illinois, in 1878.  Seven years were passed in that position and from 1890 until 1894 he was deputy United States marshal at Chicago.  In 1898 he was appointed deputy collector of internal revenue in Peoria and has since been thus identified with the fifth United States internal revenue district.  He has made an excellent record in all public connections, being systematic and methodical in the discharge of his duties and loyal at all times to the trusts reposed in him.

     On the 21st of January, 1880, Mr. Charles was married to Miss Margaret Raymond, a daughter of Charles Raymond.  They now have one living child, Alive, born in 1881, and they lost a son, Raymond, who was born in 1885 and died in 1906.  Mr. Charles has held membership in the Grand Army of the Republic since its organization and was post commander of Bryner Post during 1903.  He is regarded by his friends as a steady, substantial citizen, who has served Peoria well in every capacity and in every position to which he has been called.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Horace Clark

 Horace Clark is the secretary and general manager of the Clark Coal & Coke Company, with offices on the ninth floor of the Jefferson building.  In this connection he is prominently identified with the trade and business interests of Peoria, yet he does not allow commercial affairs to monopolize his time and energies to the exclusion of other interests and duties.  He takes an active part in promoting the moral progress of the city and is now president of the Young Men's Christian Association.  He was born in this city July 13, 1863, and is a son of Horace and Mary (Kingsbury) Clark.  His father was one of the early pioneers of eastern Illinois.  He came from the state of New York and settled in the town of Morton, in Tazewell county, in 1843.  His wife also arrived in this city from New York in the same year.  They became acquainted at Morton and were there married, and in 1861 they removed from Tazewell county to Peoria.  Here the father established the Horace Clark & Sons Company, owners of flour mills, in 1862.  This is today one of the leading concerns of the kind in the county, owning and operating an elevator and flour mills in the conduct of a growing business that is already extensive in its proportions and profitable in its sales.  Of this company, Horace Clark, whose name introduces this review, is now secretary.  The father died in 1902, and Peoria thus lost one of its representative, well known and honored business men.  For a long period he survived his wife, who died in 1889.

 Their son, Horace Clark, was reared in Peoria and attended the grade and high schools here, being graduated from the latter with the class of 1880.  He then went east to continue his education and was a member of the Dartmouth College class of 1886.  When his college days were over he returned to Peoria and for five years thereafter was a traveling salesman in the employ of Clark, Quien & Morse, a firm which has recently changed its name to the Clark-Smith Hardware Company, of which is brother, Charles D. Clark, is the president.  On severing his connection with that house Horace Clark organized the Clark Coal & Coke Company, of which he is the secretary and general manager.  They have offices on the ninth floor of the Jefferson building and they operate the Empire mines west of Peoria, on the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad, and handle the output of many other mines.  In fact they have branches all over the middle west and their business is one of notable magnitude.  Since the establishment and incorporation  of the business in April, 1892, it has grown continuously under the capable management and active control of its founder.  It was in 1902 that the company opened the Empire mines west of Peoria, where they have about twenty-three hundred acres of the best coal land in the state, and employ three hundred and fifty miners.  The officers of the company are: George C. Clark, president; Charles D. Clark, vice president; Horace Clark, secretary and general manager; and George Arthur Clark, a nephew, treasurer.

 In 1887 occurred the marriage of Horace Clark and Miss Jennie M. Robinson, a daughter of E. J. Robinson, of Brimfield, Illinois. Mrs. Clark was born and reared in Peoria county, and by this marriage there are two children, Thomas and Robert.  Mr. Clark is a member of the Creve Coeur Club and also of the Country Club, and is well known socially.  Outside of his business, however, his greatest activity is perhaps in the line of the Young Men's Christian Association work and he is now president of the Peoria organization.  In this his labors are very effective.  He realizes the necessity of proper environment for young men at the critical period of their lives and is doing all in his power through organized effort to surround them with such interests, advantages and opportunities as will awaken in them an earnest and masterful desire for the best physical, mental and moral development.  His business activities and his labors along this line constitute well balanced forces in his life.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Clifford U. Collins, M.D.

     The medical and surgical profession finds one of its most eminent and capable representatives in Dr. Clifford U. Collins, whose offices are located in the Jefferson building and who is now concentrating his energies entirely upon surgical work, in which connection he manifests superior skill as the result of wide study, thorough research and long experience.  He was born in Batavia, Ohio, December 17, 1867, and is a son of John D. and Martha (Cox) Collins.  His father was a native of Clinton county, Ohio, born September 17, 1838, and was a son of Samuel P. Collins, a native of New Hampshire, who wedded Nancy Dalton, who was also born in the old Granite state.  Removing westward he settled in Clinton county, Ohio, in 1830, becoming one of the pioneer residents of that district, which was then a wild and undeveloped region in which the work of improvement had scarcely been begun.  He became the owner of a large farm and devoted the greater part of his life to its cultivation and improvement.  The death of the grandfather occurred when he was sixty-nine years of age and his wife passed away at the age of forty-two years.  The maternal grandfather of Dr. Collins was Aaron Cox, who was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, June 6, 1880, and whose life record covered the intervening span of years to the 3d of February, 1883.  He wedded Mary Bailey, who was born in March, 1820, and died at the age of seventy-nine years.  They were of the Quaker faith and were stanch advocates of the abolition cause.

     John D. Collins, the Doctor's father, acquired a good education while spending his youthful days under the parental roof, and having arrived at years of maturity was married, on the 25th of September, 1859, to Miss Martha Cox, who was born in Auglaize county, Ohio, January 21, 1839.  The young couple began their domestic life in Ohio but in 1862 John D. Collins put aside all personal and business considerations in order to prove his loyalty to the Union cause by active service at the front.  The country was then engaged in Civil war and he felt that it needed the aid of all loyal citizens.  In 1862, therefore, he enlisted, becoming a member of Company K, Seventy-Ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served as a sharpshooter for three years.  During that period he went with Sherman on the celebrated march from Atlanta to the sea and when the war was over he was mustered out at Washington, D. C.  He participated in the grand review in the capital which was the most celebrated military pageant ever seen in the western hemisphere, thousands of victorious Union soldiers marching down Pennsylvania Avenue over which was suspended a banner bearing the words "The only debt which the country owes that she cannot pay is the debt which she owes to her soldiers."

     The war over, Mr. Collins returned to his home in Ohio, where he remained until 1873, when he removed with his family to Vandalia, Illinois.  He became a prominent factor of Fayette county, this state, acting as principal of the schools of Vandalia and also of Ramsey.  He turned from professional life to commercial pursuits, however, in 1878, when he embarked in general merchandising at Vandalia, where he successfully continued for many years.  John Collins and his wife were people of sterling worth whose influence and labors were always given on the side of advancement, reform and improvement.  They were especially active in support of the temperance cause, Mr. Collins voting for many years with the prohibition party of which he was an active worker, while his wife was very prominent in the Women's Christian Temperance Union.

     Dr. Clifford U. Collins was not yet six years of age when the family removed from Ohio to Vandalia, where he pursued his education until graduated from the high school of that city with the class of 1885.  He then turned to the profession of teaching as his initial experience in the business world, devoting five years to that work.  He was first employed as teacher in the country schools but later became principal of the Vandalia schools.  However, he regarded school teaching merely as a step toward other professional labor and with a desire to become an active member of the medical profession he entered upon a course of study in the Marion Simms College of Medicine in that city.  Following his graduation there in 1892 he practiced for two years in Vandalia and then removed to Averyville, Peoria county, on the 1st of April, 1893.  Success attended him in his efforts at that place and won him a reputation which made him well known in Peoria.  Seeking the broader field of labor offered by the city he came to Peoria in 1904 and after continuing in general practice for a time he determined to devote his energies exclusively to surgical work, in which field of practice he displays marked skill and ability, having comprehensive knowledge of anatomy, and component parts of the human body and the onslaughts made upon it by disease.  Cool and quiet in an emergency, he is well adapted for the difficult and arduous duties that continuously devolve upon the surgeon.

     On the 7th of January, 1890, in Vandalia, Dr. Collins was united in marriage to Miss Belle Henry and unto them has been born a daughter, Constance.  Mrs. Collins is a daughter of Judge B. W. Henry, who was born in Shelby county in 1834 and for many years practiced law in Vandalia.  His father, the Rev. Bushford Henry, who for an extended period resided in Shelbyville, Illinois, was one of the pioneer preachers, contributing to the moral progress and development of that district.  His son, B. W. Henry, determined to devote his life to the practice of law and ultimately attained to high judicial honors in that connection.  He married Sarah Johnson, who was born in Pocahontas, Illinois, in 1842.

     Dr. and Mrs. Collins are well known socially in Peoria and throughout the county where they have an extensive circle of warm friends.  He is identified with several fraternal organizations including the Supreme Court of Honor, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Neighbors.  In strictly professional lines he is connected with the Peoria City Medical Society, and Illinois State Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the Western Surgical Association.  Through the proceedings of these bodies he keeps in close touch with what is being done by eminent members of the profession and in his work employs the most modern and scientific methods.  There has been marvelous advance in the practice of surgery in the past quarter of a century and Dr. Collins is thoroughly informed concerning the work of the most eminent members of the profession throughout the country.

     Although Dr. Collins' professional duties are arduous, yet few physicians have their time better systematized.  He has recently added to his activities by his election to the presidency of the Peoria Association of Commerce, a position which he entered upon the resignation of Douglas H. Bethard.  On March 25th the directors of the association called a meeting to decide upon a successor to the office.  A few hours before the meeting, Dr. Collins was informed that he had been selected as the dark horse candidate for the presidency.  But instead of being the dark horse candidate, when the meeting was called to order, Dr. Collins was unanimously proclaimed head of the big association.  This was a tribute to the acknowledged executive ability of the Doctor, and to the complete confidence which his fellow citizens respose in him.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Abraham P. Colvin

    Abraham P. Colvin, treasurer and cashier of the Peoria Gas & Electric Company, with offices at 316 Jefferson street, has been with this concern since 1899 in the capacity of cashier but since 1909 has also filled the office of treasurer.  He was born at Maysville, Kentucky, October 29, 1856, a son of William and Martha Ann (Crowell) Colvin.  The Colvin family has been established in American for many generations, the ancestry being easily traced to colonial days.  The father for many years conducted a paint and decorating establishment at Maysville, where most of his life was spent.  He was a stanch supporter of the democratic party, although never becoming a politician in the office-seeking sense of the term.  His death occurred in 1870, when he was fifty-three years of age.  His wife survived him for many years, passing away on the 28th of April, 1911, at the age of eighty-three years, and both were buried at Maysville.

    Abraham P. Colvin was reared and received his education in the city and state of his nativity.   Putting aside his text-books at the early age of thirteen, however, he went to work as a clerk in a book and stationery house at Maysville and with various firms handling the same line continued in that business until 1898.  He first came to Peoria in 1882 and remained a short time, returning later to Kentucky.  In 1897 he settled permanently in this city since which time he has made this his home.  Two years later, in 1899, he became connected with the Peoria Gas & Electric Company as its cashier, a position which he has since held.  Owing to his ability and the tact shown in the handling of his official duties he was ten years later given the additional responsibility of treasurer of the company, retaining also the cashiership which he had so long held.

    Mr. Colvin was married, in Peoria, September 18, 1895, to Miss Anna Rulon, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Rulon, and they reside at 478 North Parkside Drive in a beautiful modern home which he erected in 1909.  The business career of Mr. Colvin has been distinguished from the beginning by those essential traits of integrity, strict attendance to business and ambition, without which no young man makes a success in life or rises in the esteem and respect of his fellows.  In the responsible positions which he has held he has by his efficiency made himself almost indispensable and at the same time has extended his acquaintance in business and social circles until he is now well known throughout the city where he has the confidence and respect of all who know him.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


William M. Cooley, M.D.

 Dr. William M. Cooley is one of the most prominent among the younger physicians of Peoria.  While he has practiced here only since 1905, or for a period of about seven years, he has demonstrated his ability to cope with the intricate and complex problems which confront the physician and his professional labors have been attended with a gratifying measure of success when viewed from the health and the financial standpoints.  Dr. Cooley is a native of Toulon, Stark county, Illinois, born March 2, 1879.  His parents were Jonathan B. and Lucy (Parrish) Cooley, the former a shoe dealer who is now deceased, having passed away in 1892.  He had for a number of years survived his wife, who died in 1884.

 In his native city William M. Cooley was reared and he supplemented his public-school education by a course of study in Toulon Academy.  He then started out to make his own way in the world, securing a position in a hardware store, in which he remained for a year.  Desirous, however, of entering the medical profession, he then matriculated in Northwestern Medical College, of Chicago, in which he pursued a four years' course, being graduated therefrom with the class of 1903.  During his residence in that city he was interne at Michael Reese Hospital for two years and in his broad hospital experience and practice gained wide knowledge and skill which have proven of immense benefit to him in the conduct of his private practice in Peoria.  On coming to this city in 1905 he opened an office at 426 Main street and is now pleasantly located in the Jefferson building, in the conduct of a general practice.

 Dr. Cooley's home relations are attractive and pleasant.  He was married in February, 1906, to Miss Ella V. Engstrom, of this city, and they how have two children, Elizabeth and William.  Dr. Cooley and his wife have many friends here and the hospitality of a large number of the best homes is extended them.

 The Doctor is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine and has many friends among the brethren of this order.  He possesses a social, genial nature, which endears him to those with whom he comes in contact but he never allows social or outside interests to interfere with the faithful performance of his professional duties.  He is now serving on the staff of the Deaconess Hospital and he belongs to the Peoria City Medical Society, and Illinois State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.  He served for three years on the board of censors of the first named and was chairman of the board in 1910.  He believes in holding high the standards of the profession, realizing fully now great are the obligations and responsibilities that devolve upon the medical practitioner.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 

Hon. Bernard Cremer


       Prominent among the citizens who have contributed to the upbuilding and prosperity of Peoria is Bernard Cremer, who came with his parents to America from Germany in 1854, settling first in Wisconsin.  Ten years later Peoria enrolled him as one of her citizens and, associated with four of his brothers, he took charge of the Peoria Demokrat, of which he has since been editor and business manager.  The paper had then been in existence for four years, having been established by Alvis Zotz in 1860.  That it is a leading German paper of central Illinois has become a recognized fact.  It has been made both the mirror and the molder of public opinion.  Typographically correct from the modern standpoint of progressiveness, its influence is what has made it a great journal, its editorial discussions of vital questions, and its principles constituting a dynamic force in shaping public thought and action among the German-American residents of this part of the state.

     In business circles, too, Mr. Cremer is equally well and widely known and has contributed in substantial measures to the financial development of the city as one of the organizers of the German Bank, which has since developed into the German-American National Bank, of which he was president for twelve years.  He became one of the directors of the Merchants National Bank and in 1886 greatly assisted that institution in tiding over a serious crisis in its affairs, growing out of the depletion of its capital through embezzlement by a trusted employe.  He was the organizer of the German Fire Insurance Company of Peoria in 1876 and since 1883 has been its president.  This company paid over a half million dollars for fire losses in the San Francisco disaster.  Mr. Cremer was one of the originators of the company which built the Grand Opera House and in other fields his labors have been equally effective and far reaching in results.

     As a political leader Mr. Cremer has long been widely known as his party made him its nominee in 1878 for the legislature.  Following the elections he took his seat as a member of the twenty-second general assembly and was appointed to some of the most important committees of the house.  Mr. Cremer is interested in philanthropic, church and hospital work and is an adherent of the Catholic church.  He serves as secretary of the library board and is the only living member of the original board.  As journalist, as financier and as citizen Bernard Cremer has made a record which might well be emulated by others who is so doing would produce a higher standard of manhood and of citizenship.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Martin V. B. Cumerford

 In a history of the successful men of Peoria mention should be made of Martin V. B. Cumerford inasmuch as personal effort, intelligently directed, constituted the basis of a growing and gratifying success that enabled him in his later years to live retired.  Within the period of his close connection with business interests in Peoria he ever commanded the good will and confidence of those with whom he had dealings and, therefore, was spoken of in terms of high regard wherever known.  He was born in Muncie, Delaware county, Indiana, February 24, 1841, a son of George and Harriet (Collis) Cumerford.  The father, a native of Virginia, was a cabinet maker by trade and followed that pursuit throughout the greater part of his life.  His political allegiance was ever given to the democratic party.

 Martin V. B. Cumerford was the eldest of a family of eight children and was early called upon to contribute to their support because of the invalid condition of his father.  His education was acquired in the public schools and in the Muncie Seminary, and when fifteen years of age he became a post boy, carrying the mail between Muncie and Marion, Indiana, a distance of thirty-three miles.  While thus engaged he never missed a trip summer or winter.  In 1859 he secured the position of bell boy in the Spencer House at Indianapolis and was acting in that capacity at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war.  His patriotic spirit prompted his enlistment and he became a bugler with a cavalry company under Captain Bracken.  He soon ceased, however, to act as musician and went into the ranks, participating in many hotly contested engagements, in the long marches and in the hard campaigning which led to the final victory that crowned the Union arms.  His was the first cavalry company organized in Indiana and was later mustered in as Company K, First Indiana Volunteer Vacalry.  The regiment was assigned to General Siegel's force whose corps was in the middle of the line at the battle of Bull Run, on which occasion Mr. Cumerford was one of General Siegel's orderlies, accompanying him in that capacity in several other engagements.  In August, 1862, and in September of the same year, he was recommended because of brave and meritorious service for promotion to the rank of lieutenant, but owing to the confused condition of affairs this was not agreed upon.  He went through the several campaigns in Tennessee and was then mustered out at Nashville.  In October, 1864, he returned to Indianapolis, where he case his first vote for Oliver P. Morton for governor and a month later supported Abraham Lincoln for the presidency.

 This was an eventful year in the life of Mr. Cumerford, for it was on the 15th of November, 1864, that he married Jennie E. Tout.  They started on a trip southward and after two years returned to Indianapolis, where Mr. Cumerford accepted a clerkship in a grocery store.  He also held the office of clerk in the Indiana house of representatives during 1866 and 1867.  In the latter year he came to Peoria and entered business circles of this city as bookkeeper in the planing mill of Truesdale & Company.  Two years later he became manager of Ballard's lumber yard and subsequently was employed in the freight office of the Indiana, Bloomington & Western Railroad.  In 1874 he engaged in the grocery business, retiring in 1890.  During his sixteen years' connection with that trade he secured a good patronage and the business was one of the profitable enterprises of that character in the city, a large and carefully selected line of goods bringing to him a well-merited trade.  In 1893 he entered the undertaking business with his son, Harry E., at No. 708 Main street.  In this connection they built up a large establishment, being among the foremost in their line in central Illinois.  The father, however, practically lived retired in his later years, leaving the management and active work of the business entirely to his son.

 In politics Mr. Cumerford was always a stalwart republican but was not a politician in the ordinary sense of the term.  He was never a seeker after office, yet in 1875 he was elected alderman of the new eighth ward.  He belonged to Byrner Post, No. 67, G. A. R., and to Fort Clark Lodge,  I. O. O. F.  He passed away on the 29th of April, 1912, being then seventy-one years of age, and thus was ended a life of usefulness and honor -- one which gained for him the high respect of all with whom he had been brought in contact.  He was independent in character, fearless in action and was a splendid type of the high-minded, progressive citizen, whose fidelity to every cause in which he believed gained for him the respect and confidence of those who knew him.  His personal characteristics were such as made him well liked and highly regarded and his record indicates what may be accomplished when determination and energy lead the way.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 

John Dalton

 

 John Dalton is the secretary and treasurer of the S. C. Bartlett Company, grain commission merchants, with offices in the Chamber of Commerce building.  His identification with this concern dates from April, 1872, when he became office boy for the firm then operating under the name of  S. C. Bartlett & Company.  In this connection he has gradually worked his way upward and one of the elements of his success is that he has concentrated his efforts along a single line to the exclusion of outside interests.  His fidelity to the house is manifest in his long connection therewith and his ability is attested by the promotions which have brought him to his present official position.  Mr. Dalton was born in Peoria, June 29, 1857, his parents being Martin and Catharine (Cashin) Dalton, who came to this city in 1848.  They were natives of Ireland and on sailing from that country to the United States landed at New Orleans, whence they made their way northward to Chicago and from that point came to Peoria.  The city by the lake was then a small town of comparatively little industrial and commercial importance and Peoria, too, had scarcely entered upon the era of growth and development which has brought it to its present position as a commercial and manufacturing center.

 John Dalton was here reared and the public schools afforded him his educational privileges.  He started out in life for himself at a comparatively early age and whatever success he has achieved is attributable entirely to his industry, perseverance and resourcefulness.  He first entered the employ of Robert A. King in the produce commission business and nine months later became an employe of S. C. Bartlett & Company, his initial position with the house being that of office boy.  This was in April, 1872.  Forty years have since passed and he has had no occasion to change his vocation for he found the work congenial and it gave to him the opportunities which his ambition sought.  He early recognized the fact that industry and trustworthiness meant promotion and gradually he was advanced through intermediate positions until he was called to the office of secretary and treasurer.  The business with which he is now officially connected had its inception in 1869, having been organized by S. C. and W. H. Bartlett, brothers.  Operations were begun under the name of S. C. Bartlett & Company and were so continued until 1890, when W. H. Bartlett went to Chicago and entered the firm of Bartlett, Frazier & Company.  In 1892 S. C. Bartlett also removed to Chicago and entered the same firm, continuing an active factor in the grain trade in this city until his death in March, 1893.  The brothers still retained their interests in Peoria, however, until the life labors of S. C. Bartlett were terminated in death.  On the 1st of July, 1908, the business in Peoria was incorporated under the style of the S. C. Bartlett Company with a capital stock of three hundred thousand dollars.  Its present officers are: J. H. Riggs, president; Norman W. Bartlett, vice president; and John Dalton, secretary and treasurer.  Mr. Dalton was also secretary and treasurer of the Northwestern Company before it was merged with the S. C. Bartlett Company.  The main offices of this company are in Peoria and they have a line of elevators along the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad between Peoria and Sterling and between Peoria and Keithsburg on the Iowa Central Railroad.  Their operations are now very extensive, making them one of the leading grain firms of eastern Illinois.  They largely control the grain trade in the cities where they operate and their business has become one of magnitude.

 In 1880 Mr. Dalton was united in marriage to Miss Rose Mary Mooney, of this city, a daughter of Thomas Mooney, who served as circuit clerk in Peoria during the Civil war and later was police magistrate.  He was one of the honored pioneer residents of the county, having taken up his abode in Medina township in 1834 in what is known as the Mooney settlement.  He bought up hundreds of acres of land there and for many years was one of the extensive property holders of that district.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Dalton have been born six children: Lucy Frances, the wife of Charles Charvat, of Chicago; Anna L.; Marie; Francis F.; Edwin and Willard.  The family are communicants of St. Mark's Catholic church and Mr. Dalton also belongs to the Knights of Columbus.  He has comparatively few outside interests beyond his business yet is loyal and progressive in all matters of citizenship and gives his cooperation to many measures contributing to the general good.  In the grain trade his name is indeed widely known and the success of the large enterprise of which he is now an officer is attributable in no small measures to his efforts and his interest.  As an employe he worked diligently and perseveringly and since coming to a position of executive control he has bent his energies to administrative direction and his well formulated and carefully executed plans have wrought for success.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Captain Henry Detweiller

     Captain Henry Detweiller, deceased, who was the founder of the Detweiller Ice Company, which has its offices at 108 South Adams street, has been a resident of this city since 1837.  He was born June 19, 1825, in Lorraine, which was then a province of France but now belongs to Germany.  His parents were Christian and Catherine (Shertz) Detweiller, both of whom were natives of France.  The father was engaged in farming, milling and in the transportation business there, in which occupations he accumulated a large fortune.  He owned three large estates, situation in different parts of the province, at which he lavishly entertained the gentry and nobility for weeks at a time, according to the custom of that day.  During the War of 1812 and 1813 he met with great reverses, and he passed away in 1832, a poor man.

     Henry Detweiller remained in his native country until 1837, when he came to American together with his mother and three sisters, reaching New York after a voyage of sixty-eight days.  Then the family made their way to Peoria to join a brother, John Detweiller, who had located in this city in 1833.  Their journey from New York to Peoria covered a period of forty-two days.  They traveled from New York to Rochester and thence to Buffalo by canal, from there by way of the lakes to Cleveland and then to Cincinnati by canal.  From there they went by boat down the Ohio river to the Mississippi and then up the Illinois to Peoria, which at that time was a village of about twelve hundred inhabitants.  During the following year the mother and one sister passed away.  After coming to Peoria, Mr. Detweiller attended school and clerked for his brother, who kept the St. Croix tavern on Water street, which was then the principal street in Peoria.  Afterward he clerked in a shoe store for Charles W. McClellan and later for Samuel Voris & Company, receiving as compensation six dollars per month.  The business of Peoria with the outside world was at that time chiefly transacted by water, and Mr. Detweiller conceived a strong desire to become a pilot on the river.  Accordingly he entered the employ of John Frink, of the firm of Frink & Walker, and became employed on the steamer Frontier, which was then running as a mail and passenger packet from Peoria to Peru.  Through the kindness of Mr. Frink, the captain instructed Mr. Detweiller in the work of operating the boats and he was soon appointed as second pilot.  He was upon this boat, the Frontier, when it was sunk by the steamer Panama, which ran into it at the "Towhead" above The Narrows.  This occurred in the early morning of September 2, 1842, just after the Frontier had left the village of Little Detroit, which was then situated on the eastern shore of the river but which has since entirely disappeared.  By running the boat ashore at the "Towhead," the forty or fifty passengers who were on board, escaped with their lives, but the boat was a total loss.

     The company then built a new steamer which was christened Chicago, on which Captain Detweiller became second pilot under his old instructor.  He remained with that boat until it was withdrawn from the river in the spring of 1844.  He then continued as second pilot on other boats for a year.  In 1847 he was made captain of the Governor Briggs, which then carried the St. Louis and Alton trade.  At that time owing to the war with Mexico, the boat carried many troops and much equipment from Alton to Jefferson Barracks, below St. Louis.  In 1848 and 1849 he acted as first pilot on different boats.  The latter year was remarkable for the epidemic of cholera which broke out in St. Louis and hundreds were dying there daily.  People were leaving the city upon boats as rapidly as possible and Captain Detweiller continued at his post until one night, while taking the steamer Danube to St. Louis, he was suddenly stricken with cholera, super-induced by overwork and loss of sleep, and had just time to ring the stopping bells before he fell to the floor of the pilot house.  Fortunately, a pilot on the Mississippi was on board and he took charge of the boat.  Captain Detweiller was then removed to Peoria, where for nine months he was unable to resume his duties.  His captain at that time was stricken with cholera, died from the effects and was buried in Pekin.

     From 1850 to 1860 the river business between the north and the south was very large.  During these years Mr. Detweiller acted in the capacities of pilot and captain on a number of boats on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers.  In 1856 he became part owner of the steamer Movastart and in 1857 became the sole owner of the steamer Minnesota.  During his last years upon the river he frequently had Abraham Lincoln as a passenger and came to know him well.  In 1862 he offered his services to the government and was sworn into service at St. Louis.  He was assigned to the command of the United States steamer Jennie Lind and was ordered to Cairo to await the arrival of the fleet with General Pop's troops from Island No. 10.  The Jennie Lind was detailed as a dispatch boat to the flagship, accompanying the fleet up the Tennessee river to Pittsburg Landing.  Later on Captain Detweiller was with the fleet at Memphis.  In 1863 he was transferred to the United States steamer Yankee, of which he had charge until the close of the war, and was attached to the fleet at the fall of Vicksburg.  While managing the government transports he performed much important and often hazardous service.  So great was the danger to which his boat was exposed during these perilous years that Captain Detweiller was compelled to adopt various schemes to evade the enemy and often his boat was disguised as a gunboat.  The Yankee was never seriously disabled, although often fired upon, and the last important service of the boat was to take a cargo of horses, mules and stores, valued at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, from St. Louis to New Orleans.  The boat was fired upon, but the cargo was at length safely delivered in New Orleans.  After the war Captain Detweiller was in charge of the steamer Beaver until 1874.

     Captain Detweiller abandoned the work on the river in order to give his entire attention to the ice business, in which he had engaged in 1870 in partnership with N. L. Woodruff.  In December, 1876, Captain Detweiller severed his connection with Mr. Woodruff and the business has been conducted ever since, either in his own name or under the name of the Detweiller Ice Company.

     On the 5th day of November, 1848, Captain Detweiller wedded Magdalena Bachman, the marriage being celebrated at the home of his sister in Woodford county, Illinois.  Mrs. Detweiller was also a native of France.  To this union seven children were born, three of whom are yet living; Thomas H., Amelia M., and Mathilda E.  The son, Thomas H. Detweiller, has since 1903 been the president and manager of the Detweiller Ice Company, and under his capable direction the business has steadily increased.  Mrs. Detweiller passed away December 10, 1888, and her death was a severe blow to her husband, as she had ever been in all respects his true helpmate.  She was in her home not only a devoted wife and mother, but was a useful member of society, kindly, charitable and helpful to all who were in trouble or in want.  She was active in charitable work and was connected with the Women's Christian Home Mission and with the Women's Relief Corps.

     Captain Detweiller died in Peoria on April 2, 1903.  He had taken no active part in his business for some years before his death, leaving everything to the management of his son.  His life was a laborious one, and beset with as many hardships as fall to the lot of most pioneers.  Yet, through it all he bore himself honorably and with characteristic geniality and maintained that pleasant kindly character which endeared him to all with whom he came in contact.  As an evidence of the confidence his fellow citizens placed in his integrity, he was elected six times to the office of city treasurer without his seeking and even against his personal desire.  Fraternally he belonged to the Odd Fellows and was a charter member of the Bryner Post, No. 67, G. A. R. and was an active member of the Creve Coeur Club.  For thirteen years, he was president of the Old Settler's Association of Peoria.  He cast his first vote for General Taylor for president in 1848 and since the organization of the republican party was ever one of its ardent supporters, believing its principles most conducive to good government.  He resided in Peoria for over three-quarters of a century, and during that time he witnessed its development from a village to the present beautiful city and during his life-time contributed his full part to the general growth.  It may be said of him, as of very few men, that he had not a single enemy in the city of Peoria, or anyone who entertained naught but the kindest sentiments toward him.  His disposition was genial and kindly and his efforts were to help rather than to mar the fortunes of any man or woman.  He was a man of decided character and strong convictions, but willing that other men should enjoy the same right and freedom of thought and action which he claimed for himself.  Such evenly balanced characters are rare, and when we see them, we cannot refrain from expressing our appreciation of them and our commendation of the men or women who bear them.  If there were more men like Captain Detweiller, it would be better for the community, for the state and for the nation.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


William Dolphus Dickson

 From a comparatively humble position in the business world William Dolphus Dickson gradually advanced, overcoming difficulties and obstacles and resolutely working his way upward to success and prominence.  What he accomplished represented the fit utilization of his time, talents and opportunities and was the fitting reward of laudable ambition and persistent energy.  He was born in Millsborough, Ohio, August 16, 1848, and was, therefore, in his sixty-third year when death called him on the 21st of January, 1911.  His parents were John and Priscilla (Martin) Dickson, who carefully guided his younger years, endeavoring to plant within his mind the seeds that would in time bring forth rich fruit in all that makes for honorable manhood.  His education was acquired in the public schools of his native city and he started in the business world as a tinner, acquainting himself with that trade and also the trade of a furnace worker.  Gradual advancement brought him to the ownership of a business of that character and in time he extended the scope of his business to include hardware, furnaces, heating and ventilating and eventually a plumbing department was established.  He built up a good business in all those lines, keeping abreast of the progress of the times and doing work as a contractor of a most important character.  His sales, too, were extensive and indicated his honorable, straightforward dealing.  As the years passed he became identified with building operations in Peoria, of which city he became a resident in 1872.  He erected the Observatory building, the Majestic Theater and also the present business house occupied by the Dickson Company in the conduct of the trade which had its inception in the marked enterprise and laudable ambition of him whose name introduces this review.  He was a man of marked constructive and inventive ability and as the inventor and patentee of the Dickson Heating and Ventilating Systems and the Bifurcated Drain Spout, devices which have been accepted and adopted by the trade as valuable improvements in their respective lines.  Each forward step in his career brought him a broader outlook and wider opportunities.  He never regarded any position as final but considered it rather as the starting point for further conquests in the business world.  In addition to his commercial connections he was a director and treasurer of the Farmers Loan Association and aided largely in placing this upon a safe and substantial basis.

 On the 6th of October, 1884, at Camp Chase, Ohio, Mr. Dickson was united in marriage to Miss Ella Heyle, a daughter of John C. Heyle, and unto them have been born three children, a son and two daughters.  Victor Heyle, Hazel B. and Nina.  Mr. Dickson was a member of several clubs and trade associations.  He belonged to the Country Club and the Creve Coeur Club and his high standing in business circles is indicated in the fact that he was president of the Master Plumber's Association and also president of the Master Tinner's Association.  His political allegiance was given to the republican party and his religious faith was that of the Congregational church.  Life to him meant opportunity--the opportunity to accomplish substantial results in business, to aid his fellowmen and to make wise use of his time and talents.  He never faltered in the performance  of any duty and met every obligation and situation with the courage that comes from personal rectitude and an understanding of one's own powers and capacity.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Heye Dieken

 Heye Dieken, who, since 1894, has been engaged in agricultural pursuits in Logan township, was born in Norden, Hanover, Germany, on Mary 14, 1856.  In early youth he decided to seek a home in America, and at the age of eighteen he arrived in Peoria county where for eight years he was employed as a farm hand.  He then visited his native country, but after four months was again in Peoria county where he became employed on the poor farm, and after two years was promoted to the position of assistant superintendent of the insane department, which office he filled for five years.  Subsequently he purchased in Limstone township two hundred acres of land which was known as the Walter Booth farm.  Seven years later he sold the same and bought his present farm of one hundred and seventy-two acres on sections 17 and 8 in Logan township.  He has now resided here for seventeen years.  He has an excellently improved farm and employs the latest methods in tilling the soil, one hundred and forty acres of the land being under a high state of cultivation and thirty-two acres in blue-grass pasture.  He engages in raising corn, oats, wheat and alfalfa, and also raises quite extensively horses, cattle and hogs.

 On the 26th of October, 1885, Mr. Dieken was united in marriage to Miss Mary Davis, a resident of Limestone township.  To this union have been born five children.  They are: Minnie, now Mrs. Richardson; Adeline, the wife of Lester Quin; and Delitha, George and Carl Otto, all of whom are at home.

 In politics Mr. Dieken gives his support to the democratic party and has served in the capacity of road commissioner for three years and as township supervisor for four years.  He is greatly interested in the cause of education, is now a school trustee, and has efficiently filled that office at previous times.  He is a member of the German Lutheran church, and in the country he has chosen to make his home he is a most useful, valued and highly honored citizen.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Isaac W. Donmeyer

 Whether standing in life's sunshine or its shadows, whether meeting adversity or prosperity, Isaac W. Donmeyer faced every condition as a man.  Strong and noble were his purposes and lofty his principles and yet he never took to himself especial credit for what he had accomplished.  He lived his life day after day content to do the duties that devolved upon him to the best of his ability and as the years passed the simple weight of his character and ability carried him into important public relations.  For fifty-six years he figured actively in connection with the milling business, spending much of this time in Peoria, where as one of the members of the firm of Donmeyer, Gardner & Company he developed the extensive interests of the Vienna mills.

 A native of Pennsylvania, Isaac W. Donmeyer was born in Lebanon county, April 22, 1838, and came of German ancestry.  His parents were Michael and Barbara (Wolf) Donmeyer.  The family was established in America in colonial days and the great-grandfather was a soldier of the Revolutionary war.  The father was a scholarly man, who devoted his life to the profession although financial conditions made it imperative that they start out in the business world at an early age.  Isaac W. Donmeyer was a lad of only ten years when he took up the task of self-support.  He filled such positions as he could secure and about the time he attained his majority sought the opportunities of the growing middle west, believing that his chances for advancement were better there than in the older and more thickly settled states of the east.  He had first been employed at the age of ten years as a boy on the towpath of the Schuylkill canal and at sixteen years of age had worked his way upward to bowman.  The following year he entered upon an apprenticeship to the miller's trade and thoroughly acquainted himself with the business, which was the source of his prosperity throughout his after life.  Removing westward to Indiana, he rented a small flouring mill and in its operation secured good financial returns.  Subsequently he removed to Quincy, Michigan, where he continued in the milling business, and later he became a resident of Woodbine, Iowa, where he owned and operated a mill that was afterward destroyed by fire, causing him considerable loss.  He then returned to Quincy, Michigan, and later went to Terre Haute, Indiana, where he formed a partnership with Willard Kidder, with whom he operated a mill for three years.  In June, 1879, he became a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, and established the Broadway mills, of which he was proprietor until the fall of 1882.

 That date witnessed the arrival of Mr. Donmeyer in Peoria, for he had here purchased the Vienna mills from George Cox.  In the following year he was joined in business by R. G. Gardner and Washington Gates under the firm name of Donmeyer, Gardner & Gates and thus continued for ten years, when Mr. Gardner purchased the interest of Mr. Gates, after which the business was conducted under the firm style of Donmeyer, Gardner & Company.  One of the local papers said of Mr. Donmeyer at the time of his death: "He was one of the best equipped men for the milling business in this state.  He was a practical miller, a sagacious business man and familiar with every detail of the milling processes from the growing of the grain to the delivery of flour to the consumer.  As one of the proprietors of an extensive industry and a member of the Board of Trade for twenty-eight years he was a moving force in the commercial life of Peoria and his unswerving integrity and conscientious business methods commanded the esteem and confidence of all with whom he was brought in contact and assisted materially in the progress of the city.  In his passing, the city of Peoria as well as those who are associated with him in business and social and fraternal organizations have sustained a heavy loss."

 During the first period of his residence in Quincy, Michigan, Mr. Donmeyer was united in marriage on the 7th of August, 1865, to Miss Ellen M. Clizbe, who still survives him, together with two sisters, Mrs. Angeline Rohland, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and Mrs. Katherine Gingrich, of Reading, Pennsylvania.  Mr. Donmeyer was a prominent Mason, being identified with the craft for forty-three years.  He held membership in Illinois Lodge, No. 263, F. & A. M.; attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Peoria Consistory; and was also a Knight Templar of Peoria Commandery and a noble of Mohammed Temple of the Mystic Shrine.  He likewise held membership in Electa Chapter, O. E. S., to which Mrs. Donmeyer still belongs.  Since the death of her husband Mrs. Donmeyer has made arrangements whereby she will make a bequest of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars for the erection of a memorial to his memory.  This sum is to be given to the local chapters of the Eastern Star for a permanent home, the only request accompanying the gift being that the ashes of her husband, herself and their one child, a daughter, may always be kept in that shrine as long as the building shall stand.  In their travels Mr. and Mrs. Donmeyer had been most cordially received and entertained by members of the Masonic fraternity in various cities.

 In his life Mr. Donmeyer exemplified the beneficent spirit of the craft, which recognizes the brotherhood of mankind and the fatherhood of God.  His political indorsement was given to the republican party upon questions of national importance but at local elections he cast an independent ballot.  He belonged to the Peoria Board of Trade and was active in support of many measures and movements instituted for the welfare and upbuilding of the city.  In his youth he was confirmed in the German Lutheran church but later he and his wife became members of the First Presbyterian church of Peoria and for eighteen years he served as one of its trustees and during his last two terms was president of the board.  He contributed generously to the support of the church and did everything in his power to advance its upbuilding and extend its influence.  All who knew him admired his rugged honesty and his upright character.  He was generous to a fault and many have reason to bless him for his timely assistance in an hour of need.  He proved himself, indeed, a friend to the poor and needy and it was well known that he never turned one from his door empty handed if he was worthy of aid.  Mr. Donmeyer was firm in his determination and convictions and strict and exacting in his business dealings.  He was never known to take advantage of another in any trade transaction and he required the same strict honesty from others.  To his employes he was not only just but kind and considerate and they had for him the greatest admiration and respect.  Of him it may be said that he was a lover of truth, a doer of deeds and a devotee of manly principles.  He passed away on the 10th of February, 1911, and press and people united in speaking of him in terms of praise and honor.  His friends were many and the high regard tendered him was the expression of an appreciation of the upright, honorable life he had lived and his sterling principles of manhood and of character.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


James B. Dooley

 James B. Dooley is the president of the firm of Dooley Brothers, agents for the Dupont powder and dynamite and wholesale and retail coal merchants in Peoria, having their offices at 604 South Adams street.  He was born in Nova Scotia, June 21, 1856, the son of Edward and Johanna Dooley.  The father followed the occupation of coal mining.  He passed away in this city in 1888 and is buried in St. Mary's cemetery.

 James B. Dooley attended school in Nova Scotia until he was ten years of age when, to help toward the support of the family, he began working in a coal mine and followed that line of work until 1886.  During that time he won promotion and attained a remunerative position in the business.  In 1881 he came to Peoria and here, in 1887, he was appointed by Mayor Kinsey as a policeman, in which capacity he served for two years.  Subsequently he was appointed bridge tender, holding that office for three years.  Then, he and his brother, Richard A. Dooley, started the business with which they are now connected.  They have met with excellent success and in 1908 it was incorporated into the present firm.  They are the only Dupont agents in Peoria.  Mr. Dooley is also president of the Eastern Coal Company, the mine being owned by himself and his brother.

 In Peoria, on the 25th of February, 1884, Mr. Dooley was married to Miss Fredericka Schultz, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Schultz.  The father is a farmer in Peoria county and an old settler here.  To Mr. and Mrs. Dooley has been born one son, Edward, who is the cashier of the Dooley Brothers Company.  The family lives at 713 Garden street in a residence that was erected in 1897.  In politics Mr. Dooley is a democrat and he and his family adhere to the faith of the Catholic church.  Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters and of the Loyal Americans.  Mr. Dooley's success in life is due to his energy, persistence and business management.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Rufus A. Du Mars, M.D.

 Dr. Rufus A. Du Mars, physician and surgeon, who has practiced in Peoria continuously since 1877, was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, about five miles east of Harrisburg, on the 6th of December, 1849, a son of G. W. Du Mars.  His mother died when he was only a year old, after which the father married Sarah Ainsworth Allen who, indeed filled a mother's place in her care for, attention to and love of the boy, who could have no deeper or more filial affection for an own mother.  He was five years of age when the father removed with his family to Illinois with Peoria county as his destination.  He settled upon a farm in Logan township and there Dr. Du Mars was reared, early becoming familiar with all the experiences that fall to the lot of the farm boy.  He attended the country schools and in the further pursuit of his education afterward entered the Wesleyan University at Bloomington, Illinois, in which he spent four years.  He then took up the study of medicine under Dr. Frye, who directed his reading for some time and afterward admitted him to a partnership, their business and professional connections continuing until the death of his erstwhile preceptor.  Following the demise of Dr. Frye, Dr. Du Mars began practice independently.  He pursued his reading with Dr. Frye in 1874 and 1875 and at the same time attended the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia.  In the following year he entered the Medical College at Louisville, Kentucky, from which he was graduated in 1876.  He then returned to the University of Pennsylvania and completed the medical course in that institution in 1877.  Immediately afterward he returned to Peoria and has since been numbered among the capable and successful general practitioners here.  Dr. Du Mars has been for the past thirty-five years on the medical staff of St. Francis Hospital and for the past thirty-one years has been physician and surgeon for the Peoria & Pekin Union Railroad and is at present District Surgeon for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad.  His ability enables him to quickly solve the intricate problems which confront the physician.  He is most careful in the diagnosis of his cases and his judgment is seldom, if ever, at fault in determining the outcome of disease.  He now enjoys a large practice and is the beloved family physician in many of Peoria's best households.

 In this city, in 1879, Dr. Du Mars was united in marriage to Miss Nellie B. Frye, a daughter of Dr. J. C. Frye, who established his home in Peoria in 1834.  Three children have been born of this marriage: Eliza Sterling, who is the widow of Frank C. Bourscheide; Dr. Eliot C., who is a graduate of the Washington University of St. Louis and practices medicine with his father; and Fabian R., who is residing in Chicago.

 Dr. Du Mars is a member of the Masonic order and also of the Knights of Pythias.  He belongs to the Creve Coeur Club and his professional connections are with the Peoria City Medical Society and the Illinois State Medical Society.  His religious views are indicated by his membership in the Second Presbyterian church.  He served as health commissioner of Peoria during the administration of Mayor Miles.  Thirty-five years' residence in this city has made him very widely known and his upright life has gained for him the respect and good-will of the general public, while his methods of practice and his conscientious service have won for him the unqualified regard of his professional brethren.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Charles L. Dungan

     One of the highly enterprising and progressive citizens of Brimfield is Charles L. Dungan, president of the Exchange Bank and proprietor of the local lumberyard.  He was born in the vicinity of the town where he now resides on the 30th of September, 1862, and is a son of John M. Dungan, one of the pioneer settlers of Peoria county.  The father is a native of Pennsylvania, whence he came to Illinois during the early days, locating on a farm in Brimfield township.  He was a man of untiring energy, great sagacity and determination of purpose, and ultimately became one of the extensive property owners and prosperous agriculturists of the county.  In connection with farming he also engaged in the grain business, making a financial success of both and at the time of his death was one of the influential citizens of the township.  The mother, whose maiden name was Miss Ellen A. Burt is still living at an advanced age and continues to make her home in Brimfield.  She is a native of Vermont but accompanied her parents on their removal to Illinois during the early pioneer days and has ever since made her home in Peoria county.

     The education of Charles L. Dungan was pursued in the district schools until he was twelve years of age and continued in those of Brimfield until he was eighteen.  After leaving high school he assisted his father on the farm for four years, thus acquiring a thorough, practical knowledge of agricultural methods that has been of inestimable value to him all through life.  In 1887 he became associated with his father in the grain business and three years later he extended the scope of his activities by buying an interest in the lumberyard of which he is now the sole proprietor.  His entire attention was devoted to these two activities until 1899, when he purchased a half interest in the Exchange Bank.  This insitution was founded in the early '80s by David Herrier, who later disposed of it to H. O. Peters, who in turn sold it to Walter L. Wiley.  The latter took Mr. Dungan in partnership with him and they were associated together for seven years.  In March, 1906, Mr. Dungan bought out his partner's interest and together with his mother, Mrs. Ellen A. Dungan, owns all of the stock.  Two years prior to this, in 1904, Mr. Dungan sold his interest in the grain business and now is devoting practically his entire attention to his bank and lumberyard.

     In Peoria county on the 16th of March, 1887, Mr. Dungan was united in marriage to Miss Carrie M. Tucker, a daughter of Homer C. and Emily Tucker of Brimfield township.  Homer C. Tucker came to this county from Buffalo, New York, in 1845, locating on some land that had been purchased from the government by his father, who settled here in 1832.  Mr. and Mrs. Tucker are now deceased.  Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dungan, as follows: Alma, who was born on the 15th of May, 1895; Helen L., whose birth occurred on May 20, 1897; John, whose natal day was the 29th of November, 1899; Charles F., who was born on July 13, 1901; and Ruth, born on the 12th of January, 1905.

     The family affiliate with the local Protestant churches and Mr. Dungan votes the republican ticket.  For six years he served on the board of supervisors for Brimfield township, and four years of that time he was chairman of the finance committee.  He is one of the foremost citizens of that town, in the upbuilding and development of which both he and his father have been prominent factors, through their successful promotion of various enterprises that have added to the commercial activity of the community.  He is a man who takes an enthusiastic interest in every progressive public movement and champions every cause that he feels will advance the welfare of the municipality either morally, intellectually, socially or financially.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


William Henry Eastman

 Throughout much of his life William Henry Eastman was connected with public office and the record which he made placed his name high on the list of those who in positions of political preferment have conferred honor and dignity upon the communities which they represented.  For fifty years he was a prominent and well known citizen of Peoria.

 He was born in New York in 1831 and died in this city on the 20th of January, 1902, being then about seventy-one years of age.  His education was acquired in the schools of the Empire state and in 1851, when a young man of twenty years, he came westward, establishing his home in Peoria.  The following year he accepted a position as engineer on the first railroad that entered the city--the old Peoria & Oquawka road, which is now a part of the Rock Island & Pacific Railroad system.  He followed that occupation for many years and finally removed to Yates City, where he invested his savings in a mercantile enterprise, continuing as proprietor of that store for several years.

 In 1869, however, Mr. Eastman withdrew from independent business connections and entered the government service as a gauger, occupying that position for nine years, or until 1878.  The greater part of his life from that time on was spent in public office.  He served as alderman of Peoria for one term, representing the first ward in 1891.  In 1894 he was elected justice of the peace and continued in that position until 1898.  He then retired from active life at the age of sixty-seven years, spending his remaining days in the enjoyment of well earned rest.  In all public positions he was loyal, his duties were promptly performed and his faithfulness and integrity were ever beyond question.  He was a well known advocate of republican principles, kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day and took a deep and helpful interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of his city.

 Mr. Eastman was married twice.  His first wife died in 1898 and the three children of that marriage have also passed away.  On the 10th of October, 1899, occurred his marriage to Miss Lydia Knupp, a daughter of Frederick and Ann Knupp, who were natives of Switzerland and on coming to America settled in Philadelphia.  In 1870 they became residents of Peoria, where the father engaged in carpet manufacture.

 Mr. Eastman was a great reader and had a well selected library.  He also loved music and travel and along those lines secured rest and recreation.  He was a prominent Mason, holding membership in Illinois Lodge, F. & A. M.; Peoria Chapter, R. A. M.; Peoria Commandery, K. T.; Peoria Consistory, A. A. S. R.; and Mohammed Temple of the Mystic Shrine.  He was likewise a member of Electa Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and extended his membership relations to the Knights of the Maccabees, belonging to Peoria Tent.  His religious faith was that of the Methodist denomination, his membership being in the Madison Avenue church.  His life was ever honorable and upright, in harmony with his professions, and he endeavored to choose only that which is best in the development of character, which he recognized as the most highly prized possession that is given to man.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Milo T. Easton, M. D.

Dr. Milo T. Easton, physician and surgeon, who is also city bacteriologist, came to the starting point of his career well equipped by thorough training, and in the intervening years has been a close and discriminating student, quickly adopting those methods and measures which his judgment sanctions as of value in the work. He is proud of his native city, and on the other hand, Peoria is glad to number him among her native sons.  He was born September 29, 1884, of the marriage of O. M. and Della  (Tripp) Easton, both of whom were representatives of old American families that were early established in Peoria.  Here Milo T. Easton was reared, his boyhood and youth being uneventfully passed, his time being largely given to the acquirement of his education in the local schools until he was graduated from  the Peoria high school in the class of 1901.  He worked in a drug store in the city for about a year and then entered the Northwestern Medical College when but little more than seventeen years of age.  He was the youngest member of his class but this did not prevent his thorough and systematic work leading him to his graduation in 1906.  He was afterward house physician at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago for a year and a half and during that time also engaged in teaching, giving instruction concerning the diseases of the chest at the College of Physicians and Surgeons.  His active practice in the hospital and his work as an educator were both acceptable and further qualified him for the professional duties which have devolved upon him since he entered upon active practice in Peoria. While he continues in general practice, he has also done considerable microscopic work and his skill in this particular is noted by the profession, as well as by the general public.

On the 18th day of May, 1910, Dr. Easton was united in marriage to Miss Helen Blackburn, a daughter of George M. Blackburn, and unto them has been born one child, Mary Elizabeth.  Dr. Easton holds membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.  Politically he is  a republican and from Mayor Woodruff in 1909 he received the appointment of city bacteriologist.  He also belongs to the Phi Beta Phi, a medical fraternity, and he is a member of the Peoria City Medical Society and of the Illinois State Medical Society.  His reading embraces the most advanced writings concerning the profession, especially in the line of his specialty, and quick to adopt new and improved methods, his work is at all times thoroughly modern and scientific.  


Elmer M. Eckard, M. D.

     Dr. Elmer M. Eckard, a practicing physician and surgeon of Peoria, maintaining his offices at No. 510 Main street, has been a prominent and successful representative of the medical profession here for the past sixteen years.  His birth occurred in Mason county, Illinois, on the 2d of March, 1872, his parents being W. H. and Amelia Eckard.  The father acted as station agent at Topeka, Illinois, where he also conducted business as a coal and grain merchant.   At the present time he resides at San Jose, Texas, in a health resort.  His wife passed away at Topeka, Illinos, in 1906, and was buried in Pekin cemetery.

     Elmer M. Eckard obtained his early education at Jacksonville and was graduated from Whipple Academy in 1892.  Subsequently he spent three years as a student in Illinois College at Jacksonville and then entered Rush Medical College of Chicago, winning the degree of M.D. in 1896.  Peoria has since remained the scene of his professional labors, and the success which has attended him is ample evidence of his skill and ability in the field of his chosen life work.  At the end of the first year of his professional career he was appointed assistant superintendent of the Alma Sanitarium at Alma, Michigan, and while serving in that capacity attended and was graduated from Alma College, which institution conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1898.  He now acts as chief surgeon for the Toleda, Peoria & Western and the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroads.  Through his membership in the Peoria County Medical Society, the Illinois State Medical Society and the American Medical Association he keeps in close touch with the progress that is being continually made by the fraternity.  He is a director of the American Association of Railway Surgeons, is a member of the staff of the Proctor Hospital in Peoria and holds the rank of lieutenant in the medical corps of the Illinois National Guard, and also holds a commission as Lieutenant of the U. S. Army Medical Reserve Corps.

     On the 20th of October, 1895, Dr. Eckard was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Lillian Dessot Sears, a daughter of Alexander Sears and a representative of an old Jacksonville family.  The wedding ceremony was performed at Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Dr. and Mrs. Eckard have one son, Frederick, who is attending school.  The family residence, which the Doctor built in 1905, is a beautiful modern home at No. 615 Indiana avenue.  Our subject likewise erected seven other houses.

     Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Dr. Eckard has supported the men and measures of the democratic party.  From 1905 he served in the capacity of health commissioner.  Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to the commandery and the shrine.  He is also an esteemed member of the Creve Coeur Club.  His professional labor is regarded as of value by the general community and he enjoys the respect of his brethren of the medical fraternity by reason of his strict conformity to a high standard of professional ethics.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Sherman W. Eckley

 The excellent condition of Peoria's streets is due in no small measure to Sherman W. Eckley, who has been the promoter of much of the paving done in this city in the last few years.  He brings to his public work the energy and enterprise of a keen business man combined with the patriotic devotion to duty that has always been one of his characteristics.  Moreover, he enjoyed the public confidence and regard as a leading business man of this city for many years.  He was here born February 27, 1866, the son of Jacob W. and Barbara (Weidner) Eckley.  The father was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, July 12, 1834, and his life record spanned the intervening years to the 29th of October, 1899, when he passed to his final rest.  His wife was a native of Reading, Pennsylvania, and they were married in Philadelphia, removing westward to Peoria in 1855.  The father was a carpenter by trade, becoming senior partner of the firm of Eckley & McKinzie, in which connection he was active in the building of most of the houses on the bluff.  They erected the Griswold, Cooper and other fine residences, well known in those days, and were prominent factors in building operations.  About twenty years prior to his death the father retired, the fruits of his former toil supplying him with all of the necessities and many of the comforts of life.  In the family were four children:  Oscar, Lillie, Sherman W., and Kate, the elder daughter becoming the wife of Thomas West.

 After leaving the high school of Peoria Sherman Eckley became a pupil in Cole's Business College and then turned his attention to the contracting business, especially in the line of brick work.  He devoted fifteen years to that industry and then turned his attention to the jewelry business at No. 1305 South Adams street.  He not only thoroughly acquainted himself with that trade but also pursued a complete course in the Horological School of Peoria and has continued in that field of endeavor to the present time.

 Aside from winning a place among the successful and resourceful business men of the city Mr. Eckley has become well known in political circles as a republican leader.  He has always served as a committeeman from his district and has been particularly active in the efforts to better conditions along many lines.  His practical knowledge of brick laying was one of the features which secured his appointment to the position of sewer inspector under May Woodruff during his first term.  He served in that position during the mayor's first and second terms and during his present or third term received the appointment of commissioner of public works.  He is president of the board of local improvements and in that connection has exercised his official prerogative in support of many works of value to the city.  Under his guidance the greatest  amount of work on the streets within a given period has been done.  Under his direction Harrison, Madison and Perry streets and Baker avenue have all been paved with asphalt, covering sixty-four thousand, one hundred and twenty square yards in paving three and three-fifths miles.  Repair work to the extent of ten hundred and sixty-three square yards has also been done and sixty-six thousand, two hundred and eighty square yards of brick pavement has been laid in different parts of the city.  The creosote block pavement put down under the direction of Mr. Eckley covers fifteen thousand, six hundred and forty-seven square yards, but perhaps the greatest work accomplished under his direction has been the laying of eighteen miles and eleven hundred and twenty feet of six-foot cement sidewalk.  The bridges are under his official care and the most rigid inspection is being put on the new bridge, Mr. Eckley paying a daily visit thereto in order to inspect and pass upon the work and the materials used.  In the near future University street will be opened up.  The hill is being leveled from a seventy-five-foot embankment and a roadway will be built opening up University street to Mechanicsville over a concrete bridge which for years has stood thirty-five feet in the air.  In the summer of 1912 Mr. Eckley expects to build a levee that will be modern in every particular and will cost about fifty thousand dollars.  To this he also expects to give his personal supervision, seeing that the city shall receive full value for money expended.  He is also considering the wishes of the people concerning paving to be done on East Bluff and is carrying forward the work as rapidly as practicable.  In the paving work he has changed all of the old forms of continuous mixers of concrete which must now be so mixed as to produce uniform values and give to the property owners the best for their money.  The opening of Jefferson avenue is another of the most important improvements that have come before the local board, and Mr. Eckley may be called the father of this proposal.  He has been agitating this public measure on various occasions in public gatherings as a long-felt want and its realization must be largely credited to his efforts.

 Mr. Eckley is pleasantly situated in his home life, having in 1911 wedded Mrs. Margaret Reitz, of Peoria.  He has a very wide acquaintance n this city where his entire life has been passed and where his sterling personal worth has gained him a large circle of warm friends.  No better testimonial of his efficient public service could be given than the fact that the mayor has, during the three years of his term, called him to public office, placing him in positions of trust and responsibility.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Robert J. Evans

 Robert J. Evans, president of the Duroc Bulletin Company, founded the paper and has published the same for the past eight years.  He was born in El Paso, Illinois, August 22, 1863, and is a son of Robert and Nancy Evans.  The father was one of the pioneer agriculturists of Woodford county, and as he was an enterprising and progressive man he became one of the foremost citizens of his community, efficiently discharging the duties of various township offices.  Both parents are now deceased, the father having passed away in 1893 and the mother in 1906.  They are buried n the cemetery at El Paso.  The Evans family was originally of Welsh extraction, but they have been residents of America for practically a century, the fourth generation having been born here.

 Reared in the country Robert Evans passed his early years in a manner very similar to other farmer lads of that period.  At the usual age he entered the common schools, completing his education upon his graduation from the El Paso high school in 1883.  He subsequently engaged in teaching in Woodford county for two years and then went to Emporia, Kansas.  There he turned his attention to journalism, beginning his newspaper career on the Emporia News, of which he was city editor for three years.  Returning to El Paso, he bought an interest in one of the local papers, which he edited for eighteen years.  At the expiration of that time, he came to Peoria and founded the Duroc Bulletin.  Three years later the business was incorporated under the name of the Peoria Bulletin Company, and his plant is now located at number 201-203 South Washington street.  As the name would imply his paper is entirely devoted to the interests of the Duroc Jersey hog, and it is the only publication issued whose columns are exclusively confined to any single breed of hogs.  The paper has become well known during the eight years Mr. Evans has been publishing it and not only has a large circulation but has become recognized as a valuable advertising media.  His early agricultural training and thorough familiarity with live stock well qualified him for this undertaking and through judicious management the paper has been placed on a paying basis.

 At Emporia, Kansas, on the 15th of January, 1889,  Mr. Evans was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Rooke, and they have become the parents of six children, as follows: Annie, now the wife of Hugh Miller, principal of the schools of Lockport, Louisiana; Walter R., who is a professional athlete and associated with his father in business; Bernard; Esther; George; and Lawrence, now residing in Chicago.

 Fraternally Mr. Evans is affiliated with the Masonic order and in politics he is a republican.  He has become recognized, since publishing The Duroc Bulletin, as one of the best authorities in the country on this particular breed of hogs and from 1893 to 1906 he was secretary of The National Duroc Jersey Recording Association; in December, 1911, he was elected secretary of the American Duroc Jersey Swine Breeders' Association and maintains an office in the Live Stock Record building, stock yards of Chicago.  He has become widely known through his official duties and also through the columns of his paper and enjoys a favorable acquaintance among agriculturists and stockmen throughout the United States.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Willis Evans

 Willis Evans, residing at No. 803 Bradley avenue, in Peoria, his native city, was born January 16, 1872.  His parents, Isaac and Phoebe ((Waggoner) Evans, were natives of Ohio and came to Peoria about 1860.  The son attended the old Fifth Ward school, later called the Franklin school, on Moss avenue, but instead of entering the high school he became an assistant in his father's grocery store at West Bluff.  Almost immediately he began newspaper work, thus following the advice of his mother.  C. E. Nixon began the publication of the West Bluff Budget, a local weekly paper, and Willis Evans contributed articles, written for it from a stool behind the counter in the grocery store.  Later he wrote for the West Bluff Herald, also a Nixon publication, and while still connected with the store he did valuable work for Edward Francis Younger, managing editor of the Peoria Transcript, who was Mr. Evans' journalistic mentor.  In 1890 the latter became a regular contributor to the Transcript at the same time carrying for the West Bluff Bureau.  Later in the same year he became regularly associated with the Transcript and afterward became a member of the staff of the Peoria Herald, owned by Henry M. Pindell.  Eventually the two papers were consolidated under the name of the Herald-Transcript, their publication being conducted under the direction of Mr. Pindell, P. J. Rennick and Charles H. May.  Starting as a reporter, Mr. Evans was advanced through successive promotions, becoming city editor, managing editor, editor and Washington correspondent.  He has long since won for himself a creditable position in journalistic circles, not only as a writer but one who has adopted the most progressive methods of newspaper publication.

 Mr. Evans was named by Representative Joseph V. Graff as clerk of the committee on claims in the house of representatives at the opening of the fifty-sixth congress in 1899 and served in that capacity for three terms.  He afterward acted as secretary to Mr. Graff to the close of his term of office on the 4th of March, 1911, and at the same time remained in active connection with newspaper work, being Washington correspondent of the Peoria Herald-Transcript.  During the sessions of congress he also acted as assistant to Charles P. Keyser, chief of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat Bureau.

 In politics Mr. Evans has ever been a republican and in 1898 was the candidate of his party for city clerk in Peoria, easily winning the nomination over old-time leaders of the party in the big city convention.  He met defeat at the polls, however, at the hands of Robert M. Orr, the incumbent, who was an old and tried official.

 On the 27th of August, 1895, Mr. Evans was married to Miss Leoti Runyan, a daughter of Washington and Martha Runyan.  They became the parents of two children: Marguerite, who was born June 23, 1896, and is a student in the Bradley Polytechnic Institute of Peoria; and Melody, who died January 20, 1908, when six and a half years of age.  Mr. Evans is connected with most of the representative organizations of Peoria.  He belongs to the Illinois Farmers Club, the Peoria and Illinois Historical Associations, is secretary of the Peoria County Old Settlers Association, is a member of the Peoria Association of Commerce, the Creve Coeur Club, the Peoria Transportation Club, National Implement and Vehicle Show, and the Child's Welfare League.  These membership relations indicate much of the nature of his interests and the line of his thought and activity aside from that already indicated as his chose life work.  On February 1, 1912, Mr. Evans was unanimously chosen executive secretary of the Peoria Association of Commerce and secretary and a director of the National Implement & Vehicle Show, which organizations are flourishing under his direction.  There is something in a journalistic career that keeps the individual in close touch with the world's work and progress, and Mr. Evans has ever been stimulated by the spirit of advancement and in turn has made liberal contribution to that progress which awards Peoria a first place as a typical city of the middle west, utilizing the best that the east has to offer and at the same time possessing the initiative that produces advancement along original lines.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Winslow Evans  

Since the inception of the city, Peoria has always been distinguished for the high rank of her bench and bar.  Each decade has brought new recruits to the profession and many have developed ability which places them in a foremost position among those who are protecting in the courts the lives and liberty, the property and the rights of their fellowmen.  To this class belongs Winslow Evans, who has practiced continuously in Peoria since 1891.  Fifteen years before he had been admitted to the bar in Marshall, Illinois, practicing there and in the surrounding country until he came to this city twenty-one years ago.
 

Mr. Evans was a native of Marshall, his birth having there occurred on the 19th of December, 1855.  His parents were Albert and Harriet (Springer) Evans, who established their home in Marshall county in 1830 upon their arrival in Illinois from Newark, Ohio.  The grandfather, Joshua Evans, was a native of Loudoun county, Virginia, and was of Welsh descent, but in pioneer times had removed to Ohio and later the family became represented in the pioneer development of this state.  Albert Evans was a farmer by occupation, devoting his entire life to the tilling of the soil after he took up his abode in Marshall county, where his remaining days were passed.
 

Winslow Evans was reared upon the home farm until he reached the age of twelve years, after which he spent a number of years in Wenona, Marshall county, and there enjoyed the benefit of public-school instruction.  Still his ambition for an education was not satisfied and he entered the Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington, from which he was graduated.  He afterward did post-graduate work and pursued the law course and in the intervals of his study engaged in teaching in Marshall county.  He regarded that, however, merely as an initial step to other professional labor, for it was his desire to enter upon the practice of the law, which he did in his native town, having been admitted to the bar in September 1876.  He practiced alone for a few years and then became a member of the firm of Edwards & Evans, being thus associated until he withdrew in order to remove to Peoria in 1891.  Since that time he has continued in private practice on his own account.  He remains a general practitioner, well versed in all departments of jurisprudence, yet has been connected with much of the most important litigation tried in the courts of the district during the last two decades.  For four years he was judge of the county court of Marshall county.  He has always been careful to conform his practice to a high standard of professional ethics and never seeks to lead the court astray in a matter of fact or law.  He has ever treated the court with the studied courtesy which is its due, nor has he indulged in malicious criticism because it arrived at a different conclusion, in the decision of a case, from that which he hoped to hear.  He is calm, dignified self-controlled and has given to his clients the service of great talent, unwearied industry and broad learning.
 

In 1883 Mr. Evans was united in marriage to Miss Eva McCullough, a native of Henry county, Illinois, and they now have one son, Donald W., who is a graduate of the Northwestern University, at Evanstone, Illinois, where he pursued the literary and law courses.  He was graduated from that institution and in the fall of 1991 joined his father in practice.  Aside from his law work Mr. Evans is serving on the board of directors of the First National Bank and the Savings Bank of Peoria and for both of these is attorney.  He is a Knight Templar Mason and is a charter member of the Creve Coeur Club.  He has now been a member of the Illinois bar for more than thirty-five years and his work in the courts has placed him in a prominent position, while his individual worth has gained him the friendship and warm personal regard which in every land and clime are accorded in recognition of those characteristics which work for honorable manhood and citizenship.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.

 


 

Thomas Forbes

 

 Thomas Forbes, who now lives retired in Hanna City, was born in New Jersey, May 3, 1830.  His parents were William and Susan (Graham) Forbes, both of whom were natives of Ireland and came from that country in 1828, settling in New Jersey, where the father was employed in the iron works.  In 1836 the parents removed to Philadelphia and the following year came to Peoria county, locating in Logan township, which was then called the middle precinct, where the father entered eighty acres of government land and later purchased an adjoining forty acres.  In their family were four children, of whom Thomas, of this review, was the eldest.  The others are: John, of Lincoln, Nebraska; Mrs. Nancy Shepherd, a widow of Washington county, whose husband was a physician and was drowned while crossing a creek in Tazewell county, on his way to see a patient; and William, who lives in Peoria.

 

 Thomas Forbes, being only seven years of age when his parents removed to Logan township, was reared and educated here and remained under the parental roof until 1856.  At that date he began farming a tract of forty acres of land which he and his father together had purchased.  Later he bought an adjoining one hundred and twenty acres, making in all one hundred and sixty acres in the tract which he cultivated.  At the time of the purchase of this tract the greater part of it was under timber but a few acres of it were ready for cultivation. At the beginning of the war he enlisted in the Seventy-seventh Illinois Regiment, under General D. P. Greer, and remained in service for three years.  During this time he was taken prisoner and lay for thirteen months and nineteen days in prison at Camp Ford.  At the close of the war he returned to his farm and resided on the same until 1892 when he sold it and removed to Hanna City, where he now owns an excellent home and is living retired.

 

 On the first of May, 1856, Mr. Forbes was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Cox and to them have been born five children.  They are: Mrs. Iantha Louila Foster, of Washington, Illinois; Mrs. Susan Stewart, who resides on a farm in Logan township; Mrs. Ida Mary Patton, of Lenox, Iowa; Charles, who is engaged in farming near Mount Pleasant, Iowa; and Mrs. E. M. Patton, who resides on a farm near Clearfield, Iowa.

 

 Politically Mr. Forbes gives his allegiance to the republican party.  He has served as road commissioner and also as township tax collector.  He is a member of the Presbyterian church and his life is faithfully guided by its teachings.  He has done efficient work in citizenship, being at all times public-spirited and progressive.  He has now attained the advanced age of eighty-one years, has resided in Peoria county for over seventy-four years and has been an interested witness to the changes that have here occurred.  Wherever he is known he is held in the highest esteem and is most warmly regarded where he is best known.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.

 


 

Joseph V. Graff

 

 Joseph V. Graff, lawyer and lawmaker, in whose congressional record there is no esoteric phase and whose work has constituted a valuable contribution to various lines of progress, was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, July 1, 1854.  He comes of German and Scotch-English ancestry.  His paternal great-grandparents were natives of Germany and on coming to America settled at Brownsville, Pennsylvania.  There the birth of Jacob K. Graff, the father of Joseph V. Graff, occurred.  The mother, who bore the maiden name of Mary Jane Miller, was a native of Ohio and was of Scotch-English lineage.  The family home was established in Terre Haute, Indiana, and at the usual age Joseph V. Graff entered the public schools, in which he passed through the consecutive grades to his graduation from the high school.  His more advanced literary course was pursued in Wabash College at Crawfordsville, Indiana, but in 1873 he became a resident of Illinois, settling first at Delavan, where he became interested in merchandising in connection with his brother and brother-in-law.  His desire, however, was to enter upon a professional career and he devoted his evenings and other leisure hours to the mastery of the principles of jurisprudence, his progress being such that in 1879 he was able to pass an examination that won him admission to the bar.

 

 Mr. Graff at once entered upon the active practice of law in Delavan, where he remained until 1883, when he removed to Nebraska.  During that period he was for one year a partner of W. R. Curran.  He remained in the west for two years and then returned to Illinois, opening an office at Pekin, Tazewell county, where he remained alone in practice until 1894.  He then entered into practice with Judge George C. Rider and was thus engaged until his removal to Peoria in 1899.  In this city he became a partner of Lyman J. Carlock, their relation, however, being terminated when Mr. Graff was instrumental in securing the appointment of his partner to the position of one of the United States judges in the Philippine Islands.  Mr. Graff was then joined by C. V. Miles, under the firm style of Graff & Miles.

 

 Until 1891 Mr. Graff never had held public office but in that year was elected one of the inspectors of schools for the city of Pekin and was made president of the board of education.  He continued in that position until his nomination for congress.  His political record is characterized by a devotion to duty that none has questioned.  He has ever placed patriotism before partisanship and the public welfare before personal aggrandizement, and his election was a tribute to his personal worth and the confidence reposed in him.  During the period of democratic rule in the state legislature, under the administration of Governor Altgeld, the state was redistricted that the election of democratic candidates for congress might be more sure.  The counties of Putnam, Marshall, Peoria, Fulton and Mason were placed in one district, which was supposed to have a democratic majority of at least twenty-two hundred.  So confident were the democratic leaders of victory that one strong democratic county was given to another district  to make it more sure.  In 1894 was held the first nomination after the redistricting was done and Hon. George O. Barnes, of Lacon, was made the democratic standard bearer, while the republicans chose Joseph V. Graff as their candidate.  The election that followed was a surprise to the democratic leaders throughout the state, for Mr. Graff won by a  majority of thirty-three hundred.  That his first term's service won the commendation and approval of the general public is indicated in the fact that for three successive terms he was renominated by acclamation and reelected by a decisive majority.  He became an active working member of the house, connected with much constructive legislation.  He never gave his support to any measure without carefully informing himself concerning its salient points and its possibilities for effectiveness.  He was made chairman of the committee on claims, which has jurisdiction over every claim presented against the government, with the exception of war claims.  He was made a member of the committee on agriculture.  His most important work was six years' service on the committee on appropriations, where as a member of the sub-committee of five, he had to do with the fortification appropriations of the country, which amounted to from eight to fifteen  million per year.  Afterward he was added to the sub-committee having charge of all department employees of the government.  He was the only member from this part of Illinois who ever served upon the appropriation committee of Congress, which has no rival in importance in that body.

 

 His work in behalf of the Civil War veterans won him the gratitude and thanks of all the "boys in blue."  He interested himself in the river and harbor bills, which were before congress during the session of 1900-1 and led to an appropriation of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the survey of the Illinois and Des Plaines rivers from the lower end of the Chicago drainage canal with the view of deepening the same and giving a deep waterway from the lakes to the gulf.  The bill, however, was defeated.  The republican convention for the next sixteenth congressional district met in Peoria, May 5, 1902, and by unanimous vote, Mr. Graff was tendered the reelection to congress, being thus nominated for the fourth consecutive term by acclamation--a record that is almost without parallel in the political history of the state.  He served in congress from the fifty-fourth to the sixty-first general assemblies, his term expiring March 4, 1911.  Over the record of his political activity there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil.  He has been loyal to his principles and his promises, sans peur and sans reproche.

 

 Mr. Graff is a valued member of several fraternal organizations.  He belongs to the Masonic Lodge, the Modern Woodmen Camp, the Union Veterans' Union and the Sons of Veterans Camp.  His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church.  It is well known that his cooperation can be counted upon wherever matters of public welfare are involved.  Advancement and improvement constitute the keynote of his character and have been manifest in his professional career, in his political service and in his private life.  Since his retirement from congress he has entered upon the general practice of law at Peoria and in addition is the vice president and a director of the First National Bank of East Peoria.  His was an extended congressional service and the record of none has been more faultless in manner, fearless in conduct and stainless in reputation.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 

John R. Grant

 

 John R. Grant, who is serving in his third year as superintendent of streets of Peoria, has made his home in this city for twenty-six years.  He has been a life-long resident of the county.  He was born on his father's farm in Limestone township, July 19, 1861, and is a son of Peter and Catharine (Ritchie) Grant.  The father not only was an agriculturist and owned and cultivated a tract of land in Limestone township but also owned and operated coal mines there.  IN 1858 he removed from Belleville, Illinois, to this county and was thereafter closely and prominently associated with business interests.

 

 The usual experiences of farm life came to John R. Grant in his boyhood and youth while spending the period of his majority upon his father's farm.  He attended the country schools and also a night school but as soon as old enough to begin work he was assigned certain duties on the farm which he performed through the summer seasons and in the winter months worked in his father's coal mines.  His boyhood was therefore a period of earnest and unremitting toil and brought to him an understanding of the value and effectiveness of earnest labor.  He has devoted a number of years of his life to public service and for some time was employed by the Park board of Peoria before entering upon his present position as superintendent of streets.  He has done excellent work in this connection and during his administration many improvements have been made in the thoroughfares of the city.

 In 1886 occurred the marriage of Mr. Grant and Miss Catharine Botzenhardt, also a native of this county.  They have become parents of five children but Ben, the eldest, was drowned at the age of ten years and Elsie, the youngest, died when about nine months old.  Those still living are Fred, Joseph and Janet.

 

 Mr. Grant is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity and his political allegiance has always been given to the republican party.  He has ever taken an active interest in city and county politics and was a delegate to the famous "lockout" convention at Springfield in 1904.  He served on the village board of trustees of South Peoria in 1896 and through his efforts and influence the village was annexed to the city.  He has a wide acquaintance throughout the entire county and his circle of friends is an extensive one for his reliability and personal worth and his social, genial nature have gained for him the warm regard of all with whom he has come in contact.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 

Captain John Harry Hall

 

 Whatever success came to Captain John H. Hall in his long and well spent life was the merited reward of his earnest and persistent labor, for he started out empty-handed, earning his own living from an early age.  He became one of Peoria's pioneers and was always interested in her welfare and upbuilding.  His spirit of patriotism was manifest too when, at the alarm of war, he offered his services to the government in defense of the Union.

 

 He was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, May 12, 1828, a son of Captain William A. and Prudence (Spaulding) Hall, who were natives of Connecticut and became pioneer residents of Chicago, Illinois, traveling overland in 1822, and taking up their abode in the tiny hamlet which was known as Fort Dearborn.  There occurred the birth of their eldest child on the 12th of June, 1823, and it is believed that this is the first white child born in Chicago.  The little daughter grew to womanhood and became the wife of Auren Garrett of Peoria.  In 1824 the parents left the frontier Illinois town and returned westward as far as Chagrin Falls, Ohio.  A year later they took up their abode in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they resided until 1829.  That year witnessed the establishment of their home in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1833 they came to Peoria, arriving on the 1st of September.  They were among the earliest settlers here.  The town contained only a few inhabitants.  The Black Hawk war had occurred the previous year, settling forever the question of Indian supremacy in this state.  However, there were still many evidences of Indian occupancy in Illinois, and only the southern section of the state was at all thickly populated.  To the north lay great uninhabited and unimproved prairies, save that here and there  a little settlement had been established, constituting the nucleus of the great, enterprising cities of the present day.  The Hall family bore their part in the hardships, trials and privations of pioneer life, and contributed to the early development and progress here.  The mother, Mrs. Prudence Hall, died in 1852, but the father long surviving her, passed away August 11, 1881, having for almost a half century been a resident of this city.

 

 Captain hall pursued his education in the public schools of Peoria, and at the age of fourteen years began clerking in the drug store of Tucker & Mansfield with whom he remained for four years.  He afterward went to St. Louis and became salesman in the employ of Charles & Blow, druggists.  A year later, however, he became a clerk on boats plying between St. Louis and New Orleans, continuing in that work until 1849, at which time attracted by the discovery of gold in California, he started for the Pacific coast, hoping to win a fortune in the mines.  He was one of a party of sixteen who left Salt Lake City on a train over which a wagon had never traveled.  They carried with them forty days' rations but were one hundred and twenty-five days in making the trip.  Two days before reaching the great desert five of the party, including Captain Hall, were sent as a folorn hope to secure aid for the others.  This little band almost starved to death ere they secured assistance.  They were obliged to eat a crow and a dog which attended them.  At length, however, they saw a deer which they killed and which furnished them food until they arrived at the mission at San Bernardino, California.  From that point they sent back supplies to the others of the party.  Captain Hall did not meet with the success in the mines that he had anticipated and resolved he would depend upon the business conditions of the middle west for a living.  Accordingly he started homeward by way of Central America, passing through Nicaragua.  At Graytown he boarded an English man-of-war which sailed for New Orleans, and from that point he pursued up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to Peoria.  For two years thereafter he engaged in farming and then began clerking.  In 1856 he took charge of the Springdale cemetery, remaining in that position until August, 1862, when he opened a recruiting station on  Adams street.  On the 29th of the same month he was mustered into the Union army as captain of Company H of the Eighty-sixth Illinois Infantry, and in October the command was sent to Louisville, Kentucky.  On the 8th of the month they participated in the battle of Perrysville, and in September, 1863, took part in the battle of Chickamauga.  They were also in the hotly contested engagements at Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, and in the entire series of battles before Atlanta.  After the fall of that city Captain Hall and his company marched with Sherman to the sea and then northward through the Carolinas, participating in the engagements at Averyboro and at Bentonville, the latter being the last battle in which Captain Hall took part.  He participated in the grand review at Washington on the 6th of June, 1865, where thousands of victorious Union soldiers marched through the streets of the capital and passed the stand from which the president reviewed the army.

 

 At the close of the war Captain Hall returned home and resumed his position in connection with the Springdale cemetery, having charge thereof until 1873.  In that year he became president and general manager of the old Fort Clark Street Railway, continuing at its head for many years, or until a few years prior to his death, when he retired.

 

 On the 16th of March, 1854, Captain Hall was married to Miss Janet G. Coventry, a native of Scotland, who still survives.  They were the parents of four children, of whom two are living, Willis and John D.  The former is married and has five children, Harry, Howard, Leslie, Bernice and Murray.

 

Captain Hall always gave his political support to the republican party from the time of its formation, recognizing that it was not only the defense of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war but that it ever remained a party of reform and progress.  His fraternal relations were with the Masons and the Odd Fellows, and the beneficent spirit of those organizations found exemplification in his life.  He never sought to do anything especially great or famous but was content to follow the lead of his opportunities, and came in time to a prominent position among the business men of the city in his connection with the street railway.  He was ever as loyal and devoted in his citizenship as when he followed the old flag on southern battlefields, and the same spirit of fidelity characterized him in every relation through the long years of an active and useful life which was brought to a close on the 13th of August, 1909, when he had reached the age of eighty-one years.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 

Rudolph H. Hammel

 

 Rudolph H. Hammel, local commercial agent for the Central States Dispatch and also vice president of the Workingmen's Loan & Homestead Association, was born in Peoria on the 3d of August, 1876, and is a son of Henry and Elizabeth Hammel.  The father was a native of Germany and there he was reared and educated.  At the usual age he entered the army, remaining in the service during the German-Austrian war.  He subsequently decided to become a citizen of America and emigrated to the United States, locating in Peoria, and here for thirty years he engaged in the hay and grain business.  He was a man of sterling worth and high integrity and made many friends during the long period of his residence in this city.  He passed away on the 25th of July, 1905, at the age of sixty-five years, and was laid to rest in the family lot at Springdale cemetery.  The mother is still living and now makes her home at No. 611 Lincoln avenue.

 

 Practically the entire life of Rudolph H. Hammel has been passed in this city.  He attended the public schools in the acquirement of an education until he was fifteen years of age and having completed his grammar-school course, he then enrolled in the Brown Business College, where he studied shorthand and bookkeeping.  In 1892 he became a wage earner, his employers being the North Chemical Company, whom he served for eighteen months in the capacity of manager.  He subsequently took a special course in penmanship at the General Business College at Quincy, Illinois, after which he became a teacher of this art.  On the 20th of April, 1896, he took a position as stenographer with the Big Four Railroad Company, serving in this capacity for about a year.  At the expiration of that time he became a freight solicitor for the same company, continuing to discharge the duties of this position until the 1st of October, 1906.  He resigned from their service on the latter date in order to take the position he now holds with the Central States Dispatch.  In addition to his duties in this connection since October, 1910, Mr. Hammel has been vice president of the Workingmen's Loan & Homestead Association with offices at No. 31 Arcade building, 119 North Jefferson avenue.

 

 Peoria was the scene of Mr. Hammel's marriage on the 2d of October, 1901, to Miss Lizzie Kasjens, and to them have been born three daughters, as follows: Hilda E. and Florence M., who are attending the German school; and Verna T., who is two years of age.  The family home is located at 704 Lincoln avenue.

 

 Mr. and Mrs. Hammel are members of the German Lutheran Evangelical church, in the faith of which they are rearing their family.  Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America, while his political indorsement is given to the republican party.  Mr. Hammel is well and favorable known throughout the community as a reliable business man, public-spirited citizen and trustworthy friend.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.

 


 

E. E. Harding

 

     E. E. Harding, a representative of the legal fraternity in Peoria, with offices at No. 107 South Adams street, has here practiced his profession continuously and successfully for almost three decades.  His birth occurred in this city on the 13th of January, 1858, his parents being John J. and Jane (Greenough) Harding.  In 1845 the father crossed the Atlantic from England to the United States, making his way direct to Peoria.  He came here with less than a dollar in his pocket but by dint of unremitting industry and careful expenditure gradually augmented his financial resources and acquired over four hundred acres of valuable land in Peoria county. In politics he was a stanch republican, loyally supporting the men and measures of that party.  He reared six sons, one of whom, Robert G. passed away and was buried in this county.  All of the others, with the exception of our subject are agriculturists by occupation.  They are as follows: John J., who acts as supervisor of Logan township; Henry W., who was formerly supervisor and now holds the office of assessor of Roesfield township; William W., residing in Brimfield township, who is engaged in the raising of Duroc Jersey hogs; and Judson, who resides at Trivoli near where is located the Texas cemetery, in which the family has a burial lot.

 

     E. E. Harding obtained his early education in a district school on one of his father's farms and remained under the parental roof until nineteen years of age.  He then came to Peoria and attended the Peoria County Normal School until graduated from that institution in 1879.  During the next three years he followed the profession of teaching in this county, imparting clearly and readily to others the knowledge he had acquired.  Subsequently he began reading law with Julius Star, former city attorney, and was admitted to the bar at the end of two years -- on the 26th day of February, 1883.  From that time to the present he has devoted his attention to the practice of law in Peoria and has enjoyed an enviable clientage.  At no time has his reading ever been confined to the limitations of the question at issue.  It has gone beyond and compassed every contingency and provided not alone for the expected but for the unexpected, which happens in the courts quite as frequently as out of them.  Mr. Harding is also a prominent factor in business circles, acting as secretary of the W. U. Hanford Company and the E. L. Stevens Company.

 

     On the 28th of November, 1883, at Trivoli, Mr. Harding was united in marriage to Miss Emma Linck, daughter of Jacob Linck, a pioneer settler of Peoria county.  Mr. and Mrs. Harding have two daughters and a son, namely: Agnes, who is a graduate of the Whittier school and also has an excellent musical education, is now soloist at the First Baptist church; Edith, a graduate of the Trivoli high school; and Jacob Weston, a lad of seven.  The family residence is at No. 323 Pennsylvania avenue, our subject owning the property.

 

     At the polls Mr. Harding supports the men and measures of the republican party, believing that its principles are most conducive to good government.  For a period of four years, from 1893 to 1897, he held the offices of justice of the peace.  Fraternally he is identified with the Maccabees and the Moose, while in the line of his profession he is connected with the Peoria Bar Association.  In the county where his entire life has been spent, he is well known as an able attorney, enterprising business man and public-spirited citizen.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 


 

John J. Harding, Jr.

 

 John J. Harding, Jr., who engages extensively in agricultural pursuits in Logan township, was born in Peoria on November 28, 1851.  He is the son of John J. and Jane (Greenough) Harding, both of whom are natives of England, the father born in Bratton Fleming, Devonshire, June 3, 1819, and the mother in Lancashire, July 14, 1830.  The paternal grandparents, John and Mary (Gill) Harding, were also natives of England and resided there all their lives, the grandmother dying at the age of ninety.  John J. Harding, Sr., left England for America on April 4, 1845, landing at New York, and thence came to Chicago by the water route and from there with team and wagon to Peoria, where he arrived June 24.  For some time he was employed as clerk in a commission house but in 1861 he moved to Logan township, settling on a tract of land eight acres on section 5.  Later he removed to Rosefield township, where he purchased eighty acres on section 32 and to this afterward added one hundred and fifty acres on sections 30 and 31.  He was twice married, his first union being with Miss Sarah Tucker, whom he wedded in England, March 29, 1845, and who died in Peoria in September, 1847.  His second union was with Miss Jane Greenough, who was a daughter of James and Jane (Pilkington) Greenough, who came from England to America in 1842 and settled in Brimfield township, Peoria county.  To John J. and Jane (Greenough) Harding were born six sons.  The parents celebrated their golden wedding January 9, 1901, and the father died just six days later, on the 15th of January, at the age of eighty-one years, while the mother passed away January 5, 1906.

 

 John J. Harding, Jr., was reared under the parental roof and when twenty-four years of age his father gave him forty acres of land which was then valued at sixty dollars an acre and is now worth one hundred and fifty dollars per acre.  In 1891 he purchased another one hundred and twenty acres, for which he paid thirty-eight dollars per acre and which is now valued at ninety dollars per acre.  He engages extensively in raising grain and lives tock.  He markets yearly from fifty to one hundred hogs, has sixteen head of horses and yearly raises from two to five colts and about ten head of cattle.  He has fifty-five acres in corn, twenty-five acres in wheat, forty-five acres in oats and fifty acres in pasture land.  He now sells his grain at Eden but when he first came to his present farm his nearest market was Peoria.

 

 In 1875 Mr. Harding was united in marriage to Miss Ida A. Green, of Rosefield township, and they have become the parents of three sons and one daughter.  The eldest son, Ira J., died in November, 1910.  The daughter, Laura May, was born in 1878 and is at home.  The second son, Walter E., was born in 1881 and remained on the home farm until twenty-seven years of age, when he went to Hanna City, where he was employed as engineer for the Applegate & Lewis Coal Company until November, 1910, when he returned to the farm.  In 1907 he married Miss Fay Scott and they have one child, Harley E.  William C. Harding, who completes the family, was born in 1883 and was married in 1907.  He engages in farming in Rosefield township, where he owns one hundred and twenty acres of land.

 

 In politics Mr. Harding is a republican and he served as assessor of Logan township from 1907 to 1911 and in April, 1911, was made township supervisor.  He has been very successful and besides his farming interests is a member of the Farmers' Telephone Association and of the Farmers' Fire & Lightning Insurance Company.  He and his family are all members of the Baptist church at Tripoli.  Mr. Harding is a well known man throughout the community, has been very prosperous and is highly respected by all his acquaintances.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 

C. D. Hartman, D.V.S.

 

Dr. C. D. Hartman is one of the leading veterinary surgeons of Peoria, where he has been successfully engaged in practice for twenty-two years.  He was born in Bird-in-Hand, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on July 3, 1860, and is a son of Christian and Anna (Dipple) Hartman.  The father, whose energies were always devoted to agricultural pursuits, was a native of Germany, but the other was born in the state of New York.

The boyhood and youth of Dr. Hartman were passed on his father's farm, in the cultivation of which he began to assist while still a very young lad.  He attended the district schools in the acquirement of an education and while engaged in the mastery of his studies, was laying the foundation for his present career by assisting his father with the care of the stock, thus assimilating a large amount of practical knowledge that has since been of inestimable assistance to him.  After attaining maturity he decided to adopt his present profession, and therefore matriculated in the American Veterinary College at New York city, remaining a student in that institution for three years, during which period he covered both the regular and post-graduate courses.  He established an office in Peoria on the 19th of March, 1890, and here he has ever since been located.  Dr. Hartman early became recognized as a most efficient and worthy representative of his profession, and has met with most gratifying success, his practice having increased until he now has all that he can do.  Both his office and residence are located at 712 Franklin street, where he has a fine brick building and also a barn, that is thoroughly and fully equipped with everything needed in his practice.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 

William F. Hartman

 

William F. Hartman, who has the exclusive agency for electric pianos in central Illinois and eastern Iowa, maintaining an office at 207 Bridge street, Peoria, was born at Wapello, Iowa, on the 5th of February, 1864.  His father, Henry Hartman, was born and reared in Germany, whence he emigrated to the United States in 1834.  He sailed from Hamburg, and upon his arrival in this country settled in Louisa county, Iowa, acquiring government land in the vicinity of Wapello.  There he reared his eight children, devoting the remainder of his life to the further improvement and cultivation of his land.

 

The boyhood and youth of William F. Hartman were unusually hard, as at the age of eight years he began assisting his father with the operation of the home farm, such education as he received being acquired prior to that time.  In 1880, at the age of sixteen, he left home and started out to make his own way in the world.  Never having learned a trade, agricultural pursuits were the only occupations open to him, and his energies during the succeeding fourteen years were entirely devoted to farming and threshing.  In the latter year he removed to Boston, Illinois, where he worked in the sawmills during the winter months and engaged in threshing in the summer, remaining there for two years.  His next removal was to Illinois City, Rock Island county, Illinois, and there for three years he followed the same vocations.  From there he removed to Muscatine, Iowa, and contracted in a sawmill where they handled hardwood lumber exclusively.  He gave up this position in 1903, however, and coming to Peoria established an agency for electric pianos and other musical instruments, which he both rents and sells.  His territory is good and he has succeeded in establishing a profitable business and is meeting with satisfactory financial returns.

 

On the 1st of January, 1886, Mr. Hartman was united in marriage to Miss Emma Moore of Columbus Junction, Iowa, and a daughter of Lafayette Moore.  The fraternal relations of Mr. Hartman are confined to his membership in the Eagles.  Such success as has rewarded his efforts must be attributed to his enterprise and determination of purpose.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 

William Hazzard

 

     William Hazzard is well known in financial circles as the cashier of the Commercial German National Bank, to which position he has attained by advancement through intermediate positions from that of messenger.  Ability and faithfulness have led to his continuous progress and he is recognized as a keen, practical business man.  His birth occurred in Peoria in 1869, his father being Joseph F. Hazzard, who was also a native of Peoria, born in 1843.  After acquiring his education in the public schools of this city, the father engaged in the contracting and building business with his father, James Hazzard, who came to Peoria in 1840 as one of the pioneer residents of the city and spent the remainder of his life here in the contracting business.  The name of Hazzard has ever stood as a synonym for business activity, enterprise and reliability in Peoria.  During the past thirty years Joseph F. hazzard has been in the government employ in connection with the internal revenue office.  He married Miss Louisa A. Phenix, who came to Peoria from the south with her father, Leander Phenix, who spent the greater part of his life in this city.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Joseph F. Hazzard four children have been born: Florence, who is the wife of John Lloyd, of Los Angeles, California; Charles, a resident of New York city; Mary, of New York; and William.

 

     The latter spent his youth as do most boys, dividing his time between the work of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and such tasks as were assigned him by parental authority.  When he had graduated from the high school as a member of the class of 1888 he entered the office of Stevens, Lee and Horton, with whom he studied law until April 1889.  Thinking, however, that activitiy in the financial world would prove more congenial than law practice, he accepted a position as messenger in the Commercial German National Bank, when about twenty years of age, and since that time has worked his way steadily upward by reason of his close application, ready mastery of tasks assigned him and his indefatigable industry.  He served as bookkeeper from 1892 until 1899 and was assistant cashier and in May, 1911, was chosed cashier to succeed E. A. Cole.  Thus practically his entire business career has been spent in connection with the Commercial German National Bank and his activity has contribued in no small measure to its success.

 

     In Peoria, in 1894, Mr. Hazzard was united in marriage to Miss Lona R. Evans, a sister of Willis Evans, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume.  They are the parents of three children: Lowell B., Lucia and Martha E.   The parents attend and hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.  Mr. Hazzard is preeminently a home man, taking no active part in club life, yet is greatly interested in the welfare of his city and cooperates in measures and movements for its growth and progress.  In quiet devotion to his duties he has won the respect and confidence of his fellowmen who name him as one of the representative citizen of Peoria.  

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 

J. N. Heckard

 

 J. N. Heckard, a man of enterprise and of marked force of character, who through his business life has made good use of his time and opportunities, is now the owner of a general merchandise store at Oak Hill.  He was born March 17, 1858, in Illinois, his parents being Peter J. and Margaret (Wilson) Heckard, who came to Peoria county in 1863.  In the father's family were five children, of whom J. N. of this review, is the third in order of birth.

 J. N. Heckard was reared under the parental roof and remained at home until 1882, when he began working for the Monarch Brewery firm of Peoria, where he remained until 1891.  For the following six years he was employed in the Peoria Malt House and in 1897 he purchased forty acres of land in Rosefield township, on which he followed farming until 1902.  He then, on selling this tract of land, bought fifty-six acres in Elmwood township, which he owned until 1906, when he engaged in the general mercantile business at Oak Hill, where he now has a well stocked store.

 

 On the 22d of January, 1882, Mr. Heckard was united in marriage with Mrs. Mayme Fash, a daughter of Charles and Sarah Moore.  The father, Charles Moore, was killed in battle in the Civil war, and his widow subsequently became the wife of Thomas Clark.  Mr. and Mrs. Heckard are the parents of two children: Frank R., who was born June 16, 1886, is married and is a blacksmith for the Star Mining Company at Peoria.  Goldie R., aged nine, is attending school.  In politics Mr. Heckard is a stanch democrat.  He gives much time to the cause of education and is now serving as president of the school board.  He is an energetic, public-spirited man, well liked both as a merchant and in a social way and is meeting with excellent success in his business career.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 

Henry Hedrich

     No account of the financial interests of Peoria would be complete without extended and personal reference to Henry Hedrich, the president of the Savings Bank and also director of the First National Bank of the city.  He has occupied the presidency of the former institution since December, 1906, when he succeeded to the position left vacant by the death of  W. A. Herron.  Throughout his entire business career he has been associated with banking interests, having served as cashier of the Savings Banks from the 1st of February, 1872.  He was born in the dukedom of Hessen, Germany, September 25, 1845, his parents being Christopher and Catharine Hedrich, who spent their entire lives in the fatherland.  The son Henry pursued his education there and in 1865 bade adieu to friends and native country and sailed for the new world, making his way direct to Peoria where he arrived when twenty years of age.  He was first employed by Dr. McGee in a grocery store, in which he remined for a year, at the end of which time his employer was appointed postmaster of Peoria and made Mr. Hedrich a clerk in the postoffice.  He remained there for five years and during the last year served as assistant postmaster.  He then entered the Savings Bank as cashier and has been continuously connected with the financial interests of the city in an executive capacity to the present time.  From the position of cashier he was called to the presidency in December, 1906.  For six years he has remained chief officer of this bank which is one of the strong financial centers of eastern Illinois.  The policy pursued commends it to the patronage of all and back of it stands a corps of officers who are widely recognized as progressive and reliable business men.  In addition to his interest in the Savings Bank Mr. Hedrich was elected to the directorate of the First National Bank Mr. Hedrich was elected to the directorate of the First National Bank in January, 1911.  He has become a recognized power in financial circles here and his reputation has been gained no less by his business integrity than by his success.  In point of continuous service he is today the dean of the banking profession in the county.  His other activity in financial circles covered nineteen years' service as secretary of the Clearing House of Peoria -- from 1879 until 1989.

     Mr. Hedrich was married in Peoria in 1869 to Miss Jeanette Christens, of this city, with whom he traveled life's journey for about thirty-nine years.  Mrs. Hedrich was then called to the home beyond and at her death left four children: Ida, now the wife of Leaton Boggess, or Peoria; Alice, the wife of Howard Bills; Blanche, the wife of Albert Trubel; and Edward who resides in Chicago.  Mr. Hedrich is prominent in Masonry and has served for four years as master of Schiller Lodge, of Peoria.  He has also attained the Knight Templar degree in the commandery and is a member of the Mystic Shrine.  He is a treasurer of the Old Settlers' Union of Peoria county and in 1906 he succeeded Mr. Herron to the position of treasurer in this society, as he did in the presidency of the bank.  He has for forty-seven years been a resident of Peoria and is everywhere spoken of in terms of respect and high regard because he has never deviated from what his judgment has regarded as right between himself and his fellowmen.  His life has been actuated by high and honorable principles and his record is an indication of the fact that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Oscar Heinrich

 For eleven years Oscar Heinrich has been connected with the county clerk's office in Peoria county, serving first as deputy while later he was elected to the office of county clerk and is now in his second term.  He is accounted one of the leaders of the republican party and as an official his record is one which has brought to him high commendation owing to the prompt and faithful manner in which he has discharged the duties which have devolved upon him.

 Illinois claims Mr. Heinrich as one of her native sons, his birth having occurred in Peru, January 4, 1856.  His parents were Julius and Henrietta Heinrich, who became residents of LaSalle county in pioneer times.  The father was for thirty-five years an attorney, justice of the peace and notary public of Peru, and was classed with its leading and influential citizens.

 It was in that town that Oscar Heinrich spent his boyhood days and in the public schools pursued his education although he has since learned many valuable lessons in the school of experience.  He was early apprenticed to the moulder's trade in an iron foundry and worked at that for many years, but always found clerical work congenial and at various times temporarily withdrew from active connection with his trade to occupy a clerkship in some office.  In 1875 he removed to Nebraska and spent two years upon a farm there.  He then removed to Illinois, and in 1877 became a resident of Peoria, here entering the employ of Hart & Hitchcock, foundrymen, and later working at his trade of moulder in several different foundries.  He afterward served as shipping clerk at the starch works in Peoria for seven years and left that position to enter the employ of the Avery Planter Company, with whom he remained for several years or until he entered the office of the county clerk as deputy.  He is now county clerk, having been twice elected on the republican ticket, and on both occasions he led the ticket, a fact which indicates his personal popularity and the confidence and trust reposed in him.  That this trust has never been betrayed in the slightest degree is manifest in the fact that he has twice been the choice of the public for the position, the duties of which he discharges in a most careful and systematic manner.  His corps of assistants is efficient, having been carefully selected and he attempts to minimize time and labor in the discharge of the duties of the office.

 In 1879, in Peoria, Mr. Heinrich was united in marriage to Miss Kate Trompeter, of Peoria, and unto them have been born seven children, namely: Oscar, Jr.; Minnie, who is now the wife of Herbert Crowl; Annie, who married Robert Koch; Frederick, who is deputy county clerk; Henrietta, Caroline and George.

 Fraternally Mr. Heinrich is a Mason and is also connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Maccabees.  In the early '70s he joined the Moulder's Union and is now one of its honorary members.  His position in the lodges to which he belongs is a creditable one owing to his fidelity to the principles and tenets which constitute the basic elements of those organizations.  A cordial, genial manner wins him friends wherever he goes, and he well merits the political honors which have come to him.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Mathew Henebery

 So important and valued were the business connections of Mathew Henebery as to gain him classification with the prominent and representative citizens of Peoria.  He was associated with manufacturing, commercial and financial interests, all of which constituted features in the city's development and progress as well as his individual success.  His determined purpose enabled him to carry forward to a successful completion whatever he undertook.  However, he never regarded any position as final but rather as the starting point for still further accomplishment, and each forward step brought him a broader outlook and wider opportunities.  He was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, September 8, 1834, a son of Nicholas and Anastasia (Carroll) Henebery.  He was a youth of fifteen years when, in the spring of 1849, he was brought by his parents to America.  They landed at Montreal, Canada, and by way of Buffalo and Chicago, pursued their way to La Salle, Illinois, where they stopped for a brief period and then continued their journey to Peoria.

 Mathew Henebery had been a pupil in the schools of Ireland before coming to America, and soon after reaching this country he began earning his own living, being employed as superintendent of a line of drays for about two years.  He afterward worked upon the telegraph line between Peoria and Chicago, and in 1851 became connected with the liquor business as an employe of Napoleon B. Brandamour.  His ability soon led to his admission to a partnership in the business, and the firm built an alcohol distillery and continued the conduct of their enterprise for two years.  At the end of that time business relations were dissolved, Mr. Brandamour taking over the alcohol still while Mr. Henebery became the owner of the wholesale branch of the business.  From that time until his death Mr. Henebery continued in that line of trade, and yet it would be unfair to speak of him only in this connection.  His business interests were of a most varied and important character, and many of the leading commercial and financial concerns of Peoria profited by his keen sagacity, his unfaltering enterprise and his capability in coordinating forces.  Aside from his connection with the Brandamour liquor business, he was one of the organizers and builders of the Great Eastern Distillery, and for a long period was president of the Peoria Pottery Company and took an active part in formulating its business policies.  He was likewise largely instrumental in establishing the Peoria Stock Yards and in organizing and conducting the Peoria Packing & Provision Company.  He became president of the Peoria Opera House Company, and in financial circles figured prominently as vice president and one of the directors of the First National Bank of the city for many years.  As he prospered in his undertakings, he made extensive and judicious investments in property, becoming the owner of several valuable farms in Illinois and Nebraska.  He remained in active connection with both the Brandamour liquor trade and with banking interests up to the time of his death which occurred November 4, 1907.

 On the 10th of May, 1857, Mr. Henebery was united in marriage to Miss Mary Daniels, and their union was a long and happy one.  Mrs. Henebery survived her husband about five years.  She died on March 12, 1912, at the ripe old age of seventy-seven years, one of the best loved women in the city of Peoria.  Mr. and Mrs. Henebery became the parents of twelve children.  Those still living are: Richard J. Henebery, of Peoria, manager of the Henebery estate; Josephine, the wife of E. J. Cashin of Peoria; Nellie, the wife of Samuel H. Cummings of Peoria; Mary, the wife of Robert De Wald of Fort Wayne; Lida, married to Charles B. Muhler, also of Fort Wayne; Theodosia, the wife of Edwin Muir of Detroit; and Miss Lucy Henebery, of Peoria.  There is still living a brother of Mrs. Henebery, Mr. John Daniels of San Antonio, Texas.

 Mr. Henebery was a member of the Roman Catholic church, and his political faith was that of the democratic party.  He held membership in the Creve Coeur Club, and was identified with various public interests, some of a social, others of a benevolent nature.  Any project that had for its object the welfare and upbuilding of the city received his indoresement and his liberal financial support.  He served as one of Peoria's aldermen at an early day, and was afterward a member of the school board.  Since his death the Mathew Henebery Memorial school has been erected as a monument to his memory.  The cause of education ever found in him a warm friend, and he was an earnest and zealous champion of the public library, having served as a director from the time of its organization until 1894.  He gave liberally in support of the hospitals of the city and cooperated with many organized charities, while his individual charitable gifts were almost innumerable.  He had a deep and abiding love for his fellowmen and was therefore interested in all that tended to ameliorate hard conditions of life for the unfortunate, or sought to further the uplifting and ennobling influences which work for an advanced civilization.  His advice was often sought and always freely given.  He was loving and kind, and his many friends found him a congenial companion who was always considerate of the words and wishes of another.  His advancement in the business world was the righteous outcome of his energy and determination.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Lewis M. Hines

 Lewis M. Hines has since 1906 been numbered among the county officials of Peoria county, filling the office of treasurer at the present time.  He was previous to that time identified with agricultural interests and in both connections has made a creditable record.  Peoria county numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred May 30, 1858.  His father, John Hines, came from Coshocton county, Ohio, to Illinois, in 1835, when a lad of ten years, making the trip in company with his father, John Hines, who settled in Richwood township, where he spent his remaining days, his time and energies being given to farming.  To the same work his son and namesake turned his attention and for a long period was a representative of agricultural interests in Richwood township, where he carefully directed his labors and won a substantial measure of success in tilling the soil.  He was a public-spirited citizen, active in support of all the measures and projects which he believed would prove beneficial to the community.  In politics he was a stanch republican, never faltering in his support of the party, which he believed was most likely to conserve the interests of good government.  Wherever he was known he was held in high regard and a long and useful life brought him to an honored old age, which was terminated by death in 1903.  He married Laura Corrington, a native of Hamilton county, Ohio, a daughter of Washington Corrington, who was a farmer by occupation.  Mrs. John Hines still survives, as do all of her nine children, namely: Lewis M.; John B., who is living in Peoria county; Mary E., who makes her home with her mother; Charles W., a resident of Peoria county, Illinois; Walter Sherman, living in Peoria; Gilbert B., who is located in Dunlap, Illinois; Mrs. Laura A. Sammis, of Chillicothe, Illinois; and Everett and Winfred, both of whom are residents of Richwood township.

 The public schools afforded Lewis M. Hines the educational privileges which he enjoyed and which qualified him for responsible duties in later life.  He worked upon his father's farm when not busy with his text-books, continuing on the old homestead until twenty-one years of age, when he started out in life on his own account as a farmer of Richwood township.  He was identified with general agricultural pursuits until he reached the age of forty-eight years but now leases his land to one of his sons.  He became a prosperous agriculturist because his labors were practical and his industry unfaltering.  He added to his place all modern improvements and equipments and as he prospered, increased his holdings until he was recognized as one of the substantial residents of his community.

 Mr. Hines has never neglected his duties of citizenship and at all times has contributed to public progress to the extent of his ability.  For nine years he served as school director in his township and was also school trustee for three years.  The cause of education has ever found in him a warm friend, and he did all in his power to uphold the standard of the schools.  For two years he filled the office of supervisor and in 1906 he was made the candidate of his party for the office of sheriff, to which he was elected for a four years' term.  He discharged the duties of that office fearlessly and faithfully and the excellent record which he made in that connection commanded for him further official honors, so that in 1910 he was elected county treasurer and is now the incumbent in that position.  He is proving equally faithful as a custodian of the public funds, his record being at all times characterized by faithfulness and promptness in the discharge of his official duties.  He has been an active supporter of the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and keeps well informed concerning the salient questions and issues of the day.

 In March, 1881, in Peoria county, Mr. Mines was united in marriage to Miss Laura A. Pierce of this county, a daughter of Hiram H. and Harriet (Lockwood) Pierce, the latter a native of the state of New York.  Her father belonged to one of the early families of this part of the state and for a long period was a representative of industrial interests, conducting a brick manufacturing plant.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hines were born five children, of whom three are yet living, namely: Mrs. Belle Moore, of Peoria; W. C., residing in Richwood township; and Harrison, who is a resident farmer of Brimfield township.  The parents are members of the Methodist church and Mr. Hines is a prominent Mason.  He belongs to the blue lodge and the chapter has attained the Knight Templar degree in the commandery and the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite.  In his life he exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the craft and holds to the teachings concerning the universal brotherhood of mankind.  He is at all times approachable and genial and wishes to be ranked by his genuine worth rather than by any false standards.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 

Andrew James Hodges


      Through almost three-quarters of a century Andrew James Hodges was connected with the upbuilding and the progress of Illinois, being closely associated with its industrial and manufacturing interests.  His labors constituted an important element in the work of general progress and improvement and he always rejoiced in what was accomplished as the state forged forward and took its place with the leading commonwealths of the Union.  It was in the town of Norton, Massachusetts, on the 31st of October, 1815, that the birth of Andrew J. Hodges occurred and following the acquirement of his education he learned the carpenter's trade in Boston.  The opportunities of the growing west attracted him in 1837 and when a young man of twenty-two years he arrived in Illinois, taking up his abode at Delavan, where for eighteen years he was connected with building operations, working as a master carpenter.  He was first employed upon the building of the well known Delavan House and during his residence in that town he was also engaged in the construction of the courthouse at St. Louis, Missouri.  Experience developed his skill and in course of time he came to be recognized as one of the foremost builders of central Illinois.  He established his home in Peoria in the spring of 1848, occupying a residence on Third street, which he had erected in the spring of that year.  Here he was closely identified with building operations for a long period and gained a position among the leading contractors of the city, erecting a number of the substantial buildings that are still standing, including the Dobbins House, which was afterward used as the Creve Coeur Club, the Universalist church and the Cox building at the corner of Adams and Fulton streets.  From the time of his arrival in the city until his demise he figured as one of its representative and prominent business men, his activities contributing not only to individual success but also to public progress and prosperity.  In 1864 he took charge of the Barker & Hawley works at Decatur, which some years later were consolidated with the plant owned by the same company at Pekin.  Not long afterward Mr. Hodges became proprietor of the business, which he conducted under the firm style of A. J. Hodges & Company until 1890, when he disposed of his interests in that enterprise to the Acme Harvester Company.  In the meantime he had become well established as a leading manufacturer of agricultural implements in this state.  He built what is known as the Haines Illinois harvester, developing from the original wooden machine the Hodges steel header -- a machine used extensively in the United States and also well known in South America.  He displayed great care and insight in developing his business, was watchful of every opportunity relating to the trade, and constantly improving the output of his factory, was able to command a very liberal patronage, making his business one of the profitable enterprises of central Illinois.  It has been said of him: "He was not only a competent but a reliable mechanic and executed every contract with the utmost fidelity.   He needed no superintendent or watchman to see that any work undertaken by him was honestly done.  He ranked deservedly high in his community because of his integrity, his uprightness, his singleness of purpose and his public spirit."

    On the 1st of August, 1844, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Hodges and Miss Sarah E. Grant, of Delavan, Illinois, formerly of Providence, Rhode Island, who is still living at the age of ninety years, a remarkably well preserved woman, both physically and mentally.  Unto this marriage there were born five children, of whom the second died in infancy.  Anna E. became the wife of H. P. Wilber but is now deceased.  Her children are: Belle, who is the wife of Charles H. Thorne, of Winnetka, Illinois, and has three children, Elizabeth, Hollett and Leslie; Nellie, who is the wife of Norman Borland; and Florence, the wife of William Heckler.  Mittie is the wife of E. E. Arnold, of Providence, Rhode Island, and has five children, Mittie, Dorothy, Edwin, Henry and Elizabeth.  The other members of the family are Jennie G. and Charles A., who reside with their mother in a beautiful home on Perry avenue in Peoria, which was erected by Mr. Hodges.  His death occurred on the 9th of Ocotber, 1900, when he had almost reached the age of eighty-five years.  His political allegiance was given to the republican party from the time of its organization and his religious opinions were indicated in the fact that he attended the Universalist church.  It has been well said that he deserved the tribute that "an honest man is the noblest work of God."  His life was, indeed, well spent.  He was fair, reliable, enterprising and progressive in business, faithful in citizenship, loyal in friendship and most devoted to his home and family.  All the qualities that men most admire in the individual were his and yet he never took any special credit to himself for what he accomplished.  He was free from ostentation or display but the breadth of his nature and the uprightness of his character placed him high in public regard.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


William Travis Irwin

 Throughout the greater part of his professional career, which had its beginning in his admission to the bar in 1881, William Travis Irwin has practiced in Peoria and has gained recognition as one of the able and learned lawyers of this city.

 The careful preparation of his cases has been one of the strong and salient features of his success, together with the recognition of the responsibility which devolves upon the lawyer in his efforts to protect life, liberty, right and property.  Mr. Irwin was born in Dayton, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, June 1, 1856, his parents being Joseph T. and Mary J. (Travis) Irwin.  The family is of Scotch-Irish lineage on the paternal side, the ancestry being traced back to Benjamin Irwin, the great-grandfather who was born in the north of Ireland.  He became the leader of the family to America, settling in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, where his son and namesake, Benjamin Irwin, was born and reared.  There the latter married Miss Margaret Marshall, a native of Armstrong county, Pennsylvania.  Although born under the British flag Benjamin Irwin, Sr., became a soldier in the Revolutionary war and rendered valiant aid to the cause of independence.  The maternal grandparents of William Irwin were William and Jane Travis, both of whom were natives of Indiana county, Pennsylvania.

 Spending his youthful days in his parents' home William T. Irwin began his education in the public schools of his native town and afterward entered the Glade Run Academy from which he was graduated with the class of 1878.  During vacation periods he assisted his father in the work of the home farm, and when his educational training was sufficient to enable him to win a certificate he took up the profession of teaching in the grade schools of Dayton, and in 1879 came to Illinois, where he began the study of law with Judge Alfred Sample, at Paxton, Ford county.  His preliminary reading was thorough and comprehensive and enabled him to successfully pass examination which won him admission to Peoria, and for more than thirty years has practiced in the courts of this city and district.  He entered into partnership here with Judge J. W. Cochran, and the association was maintained until Judge Cochran removed to Fargo, North Dakota.  Mr. Irwin then practiced alone until 1896, when he formed a partnership with W. I. Slemmons.  His preparation of his cases is thorough and exhaustive, his presentation of his cause clear, forcible and logical.  He is seldom if ever at fault in the citation of principle or precedent, and the strength of his defense is found in his correct application of legal principles to the point at issue.  In 1891 he was elected city attorney of Peoria and was reelected two years later, notwithstanding that he was a republican candidate in a city which usually gives a strong democratic majority.  The vote given him was indeed complimentary to his popularity and to the confidence reposed in his ability, and his record in office is one which gained for him high encomiums.


 On the 1st of June, 1886, Mr. Irwin was united in marriage to Miss Ida M. Woodruff, a daughter of Nelson L. Woodruff.  Mr. Irwin was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed away in Peoria, on the 7th of August, 1899, leaving one son, Joseph W.

 Mr. Irwin has long been a faithful member of the Presbyterian church, and the principles which govern his conduct are further indicated in the fact that he has attained the thirty-third degree in Masonry.  He likewise belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and enjoys the highest regard of his brethren in those orders.  He is always interested in matters of progressive citizenship and is a cooperant factor in many projects for the general good, yet he regards the practice of law as his real life work, and in his chosen field of labor has won continuous advancement through merit and ability which has placed him with the leading lawyers of Peoria.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Robert P. Jack

 Robert P. Jack is a member of the well known and prominent law firm of Jack, Irvin, Jack & Miles, of Peoria, where he has practiced continuously since 1898.  He is comparatively one of the younger members of the bar of this city and has made substantial progress which has brought him to a prominent position and placed his work on a part with that of many older representatives of the profession.

 Mr. Jack is one of Peoria's native sons, his birth having here occurred September 30, 1872.  His father is William Jack, a distinguished and prominent citizen of Peoria.  While spending his youthful days in his parents' home Robert P. Jack mastered the branches of learning taught in the public schools until graduated from the high school with the class of 1889.  He then went east for his college course and entered Princeton University, which conferred upon him the Bachelor of Arts degree upon his graduation with the class of 1894.  He took up the study of law in the office and under the direction of the firm of Jack & Tichenor, of which his father was the senior partner, and after thorough preliminary reading was admitted to the bar in 1898.  He has since followed his profession in Peoria and is engaged in general practice.  In the fourteen years which have since elapsed he has done good work, carefully preparing and presenting his cases, his logical deductions indicating his thorough understanding of the points in controversy while his correct application of principle or precedent shows his comprehensive knowledge of the law.  He is well known socially in this city and is now a member of the Creve Coeur Club and the Ivy Club, while of the Peoria Country Club he was formerly president.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Leonard D. Jeffries

 The machinery of government in Peoria is in safe hands and capable men are on the whole filling the public offices and directing municipal business.  In this connection Leonard D. Jeffries deserves mention.  He is serving as city engineer, to which position he was called on the 13th of December, 1911, as the successor of Ross J. Canterbury, who resigned.  He had previously had two years' experience as a draftsman in the city engineering department and his qualifications were such as to commend him for appointment to his present position, although he is yet a young man, only about twenty-six years ago.  Peoria is glad and proud to thus honor her native sons whose capability entitles them to such distinction.  Mr. Jeffries was born here November 29, 1886, and is a son of Joseph and Sarah (Woodson) Jeffries.  His father is still a resident of this city and is one of the oldest boiler makers here.  He was born in England but since early manhood has resided in the new world.

 Leonard D. Jeffries was reared in Peoria and attended the public schools, passing through consecutive grades until graduated from the Peoria high school with the class of 1904.  He then started out to earn his own living and secured employment in a gun store, working as a gunsmith and locksmith, thus calling into play his natural mechanical ingenuity and developing his latent powers along that line.  That he was ambitious and desired to prepare himself for advancement is shown in the fact that while there he pursued a correspondence course in civil engineering and thus mastered the technical and scientific phases of the business, while practical experience came to him through a year's service in the sewer department of the city of Peoria, in which he was employed in 1908.  In the following year he entered the city engineering department, where he spent two years as a draftsman, becoming thoroughly acquainted with the duties which constitute the work of that department.  Therefore, when Ross J. Canterbury resigned Mr. Jeffries was called to fill the vacancy and is giving excellent service in this connection.

 

 On the 30th of June, 1909, Mr. Jeffries was united in marriage to Miss Ione Ford, of this city.  His religious faith is that of the Scientist church.  He is widely known in the city where his entire life has been spent and his social and personal qualities have gained him popularity among many friends.  The story of his life is the story of honest industry and thrift and he may be aptly termed a man of purpose.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 

John E. Keene

 

 Starting out in life without any vaulting ambition to accomplish something especially great or famous, John E. Keene has followed the lead of his opportunities, doing as best he could anything that came to hand and seizing legitimate advantages as they have arisen.  He has never hesitated to take a forward step when the way was open and, although content with what he has attained as he gone along, he has always been ready to make an advance.  Fortunate in possessing ability and character that have inspired confidence in others, the simple weight of his character has carried him into important relations with large interests until he is now a member of the firm of Kempshall & Keene, managers of the General Western Agency of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, and, moreover, a prominent figure in financial circles as the vice president of the Dime Savings & Trust Company and the vice president of the Title and Trust Company.

 Mr. Keene was born March 28, 1853, in Loudoun county, Virginia, and has been a resident of Peoria county, Illinois, since 1858, in which year his parents, Thomas W. and Robert E. A. Keene, removed to this section of that state.  Both the father and mother were natives of Virginia and were of Scotch-Irish descent.  They remained continuous residents of Peoria and Tazewell counties from 1858 until death, the father passing away in 1902, while the mother's period of residence covered an entire half century, as she was not called to her final rest until 1908.  Thomas W. Keene was a builder.  He resided in Elmwood from 1861until 1878 and afterward in Peoria and in Washington, Illinois.

 John E. Keene was been practically a lifelong resident of Peoria county.  He supplemented his public-school education by a course in Asbury, now De Pauw, University at Greencastle, Indiana, from which he was graduated in June, 1877, with the Bachelor of Arts degree.  Three years later his alma mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree.  He represented the university in the state oratorical contest of 1877 and was chosen to deliver the master's oration in 1880.  Immediately following his graduation he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church and devoted his life thereto until 1884.  He was pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Peoria from October, 1882, until October, 1884, during which period the present house of worship was erected. On account of failing health he gave up the ministry in the latter year and identified himself with the Aetna Life Insurance Company, of which he is now manager, conducting his business along that line under the firm name of Kempshall & Keene.  While he has thoroughly acquainted himself with insurance in every particular, he has not concentrated his energies upon this business to the exclusion of all other interests, having extended his efforts into other fields with equal success.  As his financial resources have permitted he has made large investments in land and his holdings are now extensive.  Moreover, he occupies a very prominent position as a financier of Peoria, being an extensive stockholder and the vice president of both the Dime Savings & Trust Company and the Title & Trust Company of Peoria.  Well balanced mentally and physically, he possesses sufficient courage to venture where favoring opportunity is presented and his judgment and even paced energy have carried him forward to the goal of success.

 Mr. Keene has been three times married, losing his first two wives by death.  In Chicago, on the 8th of August, 1893, he wedded Miss Florence M. Overall, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James G. Overall, of Lewistown, Illinois.  Her father was an Englishman by birth and was a large stock dealer but died about forty years ago.  Mr. Keene's children are: Dr. Floyd E. Keene, a practicing physician of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Florence R., who on the 25th of March, 1909, became the wife of A. Wilson Oakford, a wholesale grocer.  Mr. Keene is a member of the First Congregational church, deeply interested in its growth and success, as is evidenced by his hearty support of and cooperation in its various lines of work.  Since 1890 he has been a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge and is a past chancellor of West Bluff Lodge, No. 177.  He also belongs to the Creve Coeur Club.  Politically he is a believer in republican principles but does not hesitate to cast an independent ballot, if his judgment so directs.  He believes that in politics and in citizenship and interests of the many should be regarded before the welfare of the few.  He filled the office of school inspector of Peoria from 1900 until 1905 and in 1900 he was also appointed a member of the Library board, which position he still fills, having served for three years as its president.  His influence has always been on the side of progress, improvement and advancement.  He has never believed in choosing the second best in business, in matters of citizenship or in social and church relations.  He is a dependable man under any condition and in any emergency.  His quietude of deportment, his easy dignity, his frankness and cordiality of address, with the total absence of anything sinister or anything to conceal, foretoken a man who is ready to meet any obligation of life with the confidence and courage that come of conscious personal ability, right conception of things and an habitual regard for what is best in the exercise of human activities.  

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Frederick A. Lammers

     Although many years have passed since Frederick A. Lammers was called to his final rest, he is yet remembered as a progressive, prominent business man of Peoria and one whose labors contributed to the material development of the city.  He was here born in 1853, his parents being Henry and Sophia Lammers, who had come to Peoria the previous year from Hanover, Germany, and resided in this city until called to their final rest.  Their son Frederick A. Lammers pursued his early education in St. Joseph's school of Peoria and afterward attended Cole's Business College and the Pio Nono College at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  For an extended period he was connected with the grocery business, becoming the leading grocer in the southern part of Peoria.  He conducted his store in the building at the corner of Cedar and Adams streets, which had been built by his father, Henry Lammers.  He carried a large and well selected line of staple and fancy groceries and his straightforward business methods, his reasonable prices and his earnest desire to please his patrons secured to him a very gratifying trade, from which he annually derived a good profit.  About two years prior to his death he sold his grocery business to his brother Henry and turned his attention to the furniture trade, establishing the store which is now conducted under the name of the Banner Furniture Company at No. 1411 South Adams street.  Sound judgment guided his activities and his energy enabled him to overcome all the difficulties and obstacles in his path.  He met competition by straightforward methods and made for himself a most creditable name in business circles.  Aside from his mercantile interests he was a stockholder in the German Fire Insurance Company of Peoria.

     In St. Joseph's German Catholic church of Peoria Mr. Lammers was married to Miss Elizabeth M. Rubel, of Chillicothe, Ohio, and unto them were born three daughters, Lillian Vera, Martha Henrietta and Maria Sophia, all yet living at home with their mother at No. 1029 North Madison avenue.  In his political views Mr. Lammers was a democrat and labored earnestly and effectively for the welfare and growth of his party.  In April, 1887, he was elected township assessor for Peoria township but had little desire for public office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business interests.  Something of a nature of his recreation in indicated in the fact that he was a member of the Peoria Gun Club and the Peoria Rifle Club.  He held membership in St. Joseph's German Catholic church and he belonged to St. Joseph's Benevolent Society and the Knights of St. George.  There are no unusual or spectacular features in his life record but it is none the less valuable and none the less essential, for his history contains many lessons that may well be learned by those who seek to win honorable success and who never neglect duty but find in each day's tasks the courage and inspiration for the labors of the succeeding day.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Herbert T. Landauer

 Among the well established attorneys at law in Peoria is Herbert T. Landauer, who has offices at 601 Observatory building, having been engaged in general practice in this city since 1896.  He was born in Canton, Illinois, May 15, 1869, a son of Moses and Sarah Landauer.  The father was engaged in the mercantile business for many years and the mother was a daughter of Squire Thomas M. Hamilton, who was one of the first white men to settle in Fulton county, Illinois.  The mother died in 1882 at the age of forty-eight years, being interred at the Greenwood cemetery, Canton, Illinois.   The father is now residing in Jersey City, New Jersey.

 The public schools of Canton furnished Herbert T. Landauer with his primary education and he was graduated from the high school of that place in 1890.  After his graduation from that institution he entered the University of Michigan, taking the law course, and after one year was graduated with honors, receiving the degree of LL.B.  Upon his return from Ann Arbor he practiced law at Canton, Illinois, in partnership with Hon. O. J. Boyer, when he removed to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, for the practice of his profession, which he pursued at that point for three years, after which he returned to Canton, remaining there for a short time, later coming to Peoria with Meredith Walker, with whom he had formed a partnership while in Canton.  This partnership was continued in this city for two years and was then dissolved, Mr. Landauer succeeding to the firm's business in Peoria.  Since that time he has remained alone in the practice of his profession which he has prosecuted with uniform success.  He holds certificates entitling him to practice in Illinois, Michigan, Arkansas and the United States courts.  He is a member of the Peoria County Bar Association and by constant reading keeps pace with the constantly changing legal enactments and supreme court decisions.  His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is at present chief inspector of the city streets and pavements under Sherman W. Eckley, commissioner of public works of the city of Peoria.  During nearly the score of years which have marked the residence of Mr. Landauer in Peoria he has formed a large acquaintance in this city and through the county and has built up a very satisfactory law practice.  His clients are representatives of practically all classes and the attention which he gives to business entrusted to him and the success which he has before courts and juries give him an excellent standing in the community where he is greatly respected.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


 


Albert E. Leisy

Albert E. Leisy is well known in connection with the brewing interests which for many years have been a chief source of revenue for Peoria.  He is now secretary and treasurer of the Leisy Brewing Company, yet does not confine his attention along to this line, being also secretary and treasurer of the Jefferson Deposit Company and a factor in the promotion of other business concerns.  He was born in Keokuk, Iowa, July 18, 1868, and is a son of John and Christina Leisy.  His youthful days were spent in his native state until 1884, when the family came to Peoria.  Throughout the entire period of his residence here the name of Leisy has been associated with brewing interests in this city.  He comes of a family that through many generations has been connected with this line of business.  For two hundred years members of the family were brewers of Germany and after coming to the new world his father, John Leisy, established a brewery in Keokuk, Iowa, where his sons learned the details of the business from the purchase of hops and the making of malt to the art of brewing and the disposal of the product.  They sought a broader field of labor, however, than Keokuk offered and found it in Peoria.  They became identified with the business in this city in the purchase of the first brewery plant established here.  From the beginning of their operations in this city they have met with continuous and growing success until their enterprise is today the largest of its kind in the state outside of Chicago, their plant having a capacity of two hundred and fifty thousand barrels annually.  Their barrel and keg trade extends throughout Illinois, Iowa and Missouri and their bottled products are shipped clear to the Pacific coast, one firm in Los Angeles handling nothing beside the Leisy goods.  They have increased their bottling plant, erecting an extensive addition thereto and equipping it with the latest improved machinery, including two machines which fill, cork and label ninety bottles a minute each, or one hundred and eight thousand in a day's work of ten hours.  During the busy season the plant is operated night and day with two shifts of men and turns out two hundred thousand bottles in the twenty-four hours.  They are also manufacturers of Leisy's Malt Ease tonic, a special brew which is recommended by physicians for its particularly nourishing qualities.  In this department the Leisy Brewing Company spends annually thirty-five thousand dollars for bottles and eight thousand dollars a year for cases.  Their barrel and keg shipments have reached equally large proportions and it is a matter of record that the Leisy Brewing Company has the biggest switching interest on the Rock Island track, distributing twenty-eight carloads daily.  The number of their employes exceeds three hundred and sixty and two hundred thousand dollars is yearly paid out in salaries.  Seventy-five wagons and one hundred and sixty horses are used in delivering the product in and around Peoria and the plant covers a tract on the river front in the upper end of the city four hundred and ninety by three hundred and forty-six feet.  It comprises a number of buildings, all of which are necessary in the conduct of their growing trade.  The brothers who are at the head of this enterprise, E.C. and A.E. Leisy, are both progressive, energetic men, who regard obstacles simply as an impetus for renewed effort.  They accomplish what they undertake and, their business methods are at all times characterized by progressiveness.

 This sketch would not be adequate if it represented Albert E. Leisy merely in this one connection.  He has been interested in many other business enterprises, all of which have benefited by his cooperation and his sagacity.  He and his brother have proven benefactors in many cases in aiding business interests that were passing through hard straits.  They have become stockholders in many a concern that needed a little financial aid and their response to calls of this character are really too numerous to mention, but it is well known that they have produced magnificent results.  The Leisy brothers have come to be relied upon in crises of this sort and the encouragement and aid which they have given have invariably proven to be the prime incentive to further endeavor.  They were the builders of the Jefferson building at the corner of South Jefferson avenue and Fulton street, a strictly modern office building of steel construction, twelve stories in height.  They also became large stockholders in the Jefferson hotel and they erected the Orpheum theater on Madison street.  This is a beautiful structure, equipped and furnished at a cost of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and it will compare favorably with the finest theaters of the middle west.  Albert E. Leisy, moreover, is president of the Peoria Baseball Club and has been connected with the team as one of its promoters for fifteen years.  He gave Peoria the first pennant it ever received in 1911.

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Edward C. Leisy

     Edward C. Leisy is perhaps most widely known outside of Peoria as the president of the Leisy Brewing Company, but in the city his work has included not only the upbuilding of this mammoth enterprise but extended also to other fields whereby Peoria has largely profited.  He is the builder of some of the finest structures of the city and has again and again shown his faith in Peoria by placing his investments in business projects here.  His sound judgment and enterprise are forces which overcome difficulties and obstacles, and he has at all times been able to coordinate seemingly diverse elements into a unified and harmonious whole.

     Mr. Leisy was born in Keokuk, Iowa, November 16, 1859, and, as the family name indicates, comes of German ancestry.  The family record running back two hundred years in Germany shows that throughout this entire period representatives of the name have been connected with the brewing business, and their adaptability thereto comes largely to them through heredity.  John Leisy, the father of Edward C. Leisy, left his native land to establish a home in America brewery.  He was also at one time connected with the brewing business in Cleveland, Ohio, under the name of the Isaac Leisy Brewing Company.  The thorough training which he received in Germany well qualified him for the successful conduct of the business after coming to the new world.  When the family removed to Peoria, Edward C. Leisy purchased the plant which is now conducted, in its enlarged state, under the name of the Leisy Brewing Company.  It was in 1884 he purchased the Old City Brewery which had been established in 1849 and was the oldest in the city.  In 1890 the Leisy Brewing Company was incorporated, prior to which time the business had been conducted under a partnership relation between Edward C. Leisy, who is now the president, Albert Leisy, secretary and treasurer; John Leisy, vice president and Gustave Leisy, who at present is not connected with the business.  These gentlemen are brothers and have continued in the line of trade which was the ancestral business of the family through many generations.   When John Leisy, the father, came to the new world he brought with him between thirty-two and thirty-three thousand dollars in gold.  He therefore had no difficulty in establishing himself in the business on this side of the Atlantic, and under his guidance his sons were trained to the work in which he had been so carefully reared.

     Edward C. Leisy spent his youthful days under the parental roof and acquainted himself with the business in his father's establishment. He has been indentified with brewing interests in Peoria since the purchase, in 1884, of what is now the Leisy Brewery.  From the beginning success has attended the undertaking here and the firm today does the largest brewing business in the state outside of Chicago, their plant having a capacity of two hundred and fifty thousand barrels annually.  Their barrel and keg trade has been extended throughout the states of Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, while their bottle products are shipped throughout the west to the Pacific coast, one firm in Los Angeles, California, handling nothing but the Leisy goods.  To provide for their growing bottle trade the company, in 1910, erected at a cost of fifty thousand dollars, an extensive addition to their bottling plant, and equipped it with the latest improved machinery, including two machines which fill, cork and label ninety bottles a minute each.  During the busy season this plant runs night and day and turns out over four hundred thousand bottles in the twenty-four hours.  The beer is bottled from enameled storage tanks under government supervision in a two story brick building absolutely fire proof.  In shipments by the barrel and keg the business have reached a corresponding ratio, and the Leisy Brewing Company controls the biggest switching interest on the Rock Island track, distributing twenty-eight carloads daily.  They employ three hundred and sixty people and pay out annually two hundred thousand dollars in salaries.  For the accomodation of the trade in this city and agencies seventy-five wagons and one hundred and sixty horses are used.  The plant is a most extensive one, including a number of buildings, and the business transacted each year approximates two million dollars.  The upbuilding of this mammoth enterprise is due to Edward C. Leisy and his associates, and yet this does not cover the scope of his business activities.  In many other connections Peoria has profited by the labors, enterprise and ability of Mr. Leisy, who is a diretor of the Merchants National Bank and also of the Home Savings and State Bank of Peoria.  He is president of the Jefferson Deposit Company, owner of the Jefferson building, which is the finest and largest office building in the city, and a director of the new Jefferson hotel which has just been completed and is the finest hotel in the state outside of Chicago.  The Jefferson building is a strictly modern steel structure twelve stories in height with attractive interior finishings and most modern equipment.  Metal and marble have been used in the interior decoration and mosaic tiled floors.  The building contains over four hundred stores and office rooms and is occupied by the Home Savings and State Banks, and Peoria Journal and many other of the leading business concerns of the city.  It represents an investment of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and stands as a perpetual monument of the enterprise of the man who erected it.  After the destruction of the Grand Opera House by fire Edward C. Leisy and his brothers began the erection of the Orpheum Theater on Madison street, which was completed, equipped and furnished at a cost of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and will compare with the finest theatrical structures in the middle west.  All this indicates how largely Edward C. Leisy has been identified with the improvement and upbuilding of the city and how important has been his work in its behalf.

     In 1893 Edward C. Leisy was united in marriage to Miss Emma Welte, of Peoria, a daughter of Ferdinand Welte, and they have four children, Florence, Lucile, Lena and Elizabeth.  Mr. Leisy stands for all that is of general interest to the Peoria public and is now president and largely the financial backer of the Peoria Baseball Club.  He belongs to the Schiller Lodge of Masons and to the Redman Camp and is also a member of the Creve Coeur and the Country Clubs.  Speaking of the Leisy brothers one of the local papers said,  "They are men with brains, and with the constantly increasing capital at their command  have ideas that extend beyond their original business and make for a city beautiful."  They are still in the prime of life, and what they have done is an example of what they will continue to do.  Their future is rich in hope and the promise of still greater achievements.  

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.


Frank P. Lewis

 Frank P. Lewis, a cigar manufacturer of Peoria, who has engaged in this line of business since 1880 and has conducted his Peoria establishment since 1885, ranks today as a most prominent and valuable representative of industrial activity in this city.  Along well defined lines of trade and commerce he has developed the second largest cigar factory in the state of Illinois, the enterprise being the visible and tangible evidence of his well defined and carefully executed plans.

 Mr. Lewis is a native of Portland, Oregon, his birth having occurred on the Pacific coast on the 25th of January, 1860.  His father was Rev. William S. Lewis, a missionary and presiding elder of the Methodist Episcopal church of Portland, where he died in 1865.  His wife bore the maiden name of Julia Pierce and following her husband's death she returned to the Mississippi valley, accompanied by her son Frank, establishing her home in Havana, Illinois.  It was there that the subject of this review was reared and the local schools afforded him his educational privileges.  After leaving school he learned the cigarmaker's trade in that city and when he felt that his experience and capital were sufficient to justify the step he opened a factory on his own account in Havana in 1880.  He made cigars and conducted a small cigar store and gradually worked his way upward in that connection.  For five years he continued in business in Havana and then sought the broader opportunities offered in the larger city of Peoria.  When he arrived here he employed less than ten people.  In the quarter of a century which has since elapsed his business has constantly grown along substantial lines and something of the extent of his trade is indicated by the fact that he now employs about two hundred people. His leading cigar is called the Lewis Single Binder cigar.  His factory is the second in size in the state and the output brings to him a substantial financial return annually.  Since 1900 he has occupied his own building, which was formerly the residence of Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, using the entire structure for factory purposes.  He has a well equipped establishment, one of the few factories of the United States making all hand-made cigars.  He always holds to a high standard of excellence in his output which is sold not only largely in Peoria but in thirty-eight different states in the Union.  During the past twelve years his employes have earned more than one million, one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, this vast wage sum going into general circulation and thus becoming a benefit to the entire city.  The excellence of the manufactured product, combined with Mr. Lewis' thorough business rectitude, has constituted the salient feature in the attainment of his success.  In addition to his manufacturing interests he is connected with the Commercial German National Bank as one of its directors and stockholders, and he is also a stockholder of the Central National Bank.

 Mr. Lewis was married, in 1895, to Miss Violet Phelps, of Elmwood, Illinois, a daughter of the Hon. W. E. Phelps, and they now have three children, Richard, William and Margaret.  Mr. Lewis is a member of the Creve Coeur Club and also of the Peoria Association of Commerce.  His activities are wide and varied, touching the general interests of society in all that relates to progressive citizenship.  His worth in this direction is widely acknowledged for it is known that his cooperation can be counted upon in support of any movement or project for the general good.  What he has accomplished in a business way represents the fit utilization of the innate talents and powers which are his and the improvement of the opportunities which come to every individual.  No unusually favorable circumstances aided him at the outset but through his energy and close application has he worked his way upward to the conspicuous and enviable position that he now fills.

 

 

From "Peoria City and County, a Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II",  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.
 

 

 Peoria County  |  Biographies