Quincy Township (part 63 of 74)

Albert Dick. Endowed by nature with the habits of industiy, honesty and thrift that inevitably command success in the business world, Albert Dick, of Quiney, is numbered among the representative membei's of his city, being secretary of the Dick Brothers Brewery Company. He was born March 17, 1865, in Quiney, which has been his home and the scene of his business career.

His parents, I\lathpw and Eleanor (Deidesheemer) Dick, were both born and reared in Bavaria, Germany, and after coming to America continued their journey westward from the Atlantic Coast to Adams County, Illinois, where both spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying in Quincy in 1886, and the mother in 1876. During his active career the father was engaged iu the milling and brewing business as an active member of the firm of Dick Brothers. Four children blessed their union, as follows: Albert; Ernst, connected -with the Dick Brothers Brewerj-; Lizzatta, widow of W. C. Fick, late of Quincy ; and Elenora, who died in early womanhood.

Having acquired a practical education, Albert Dick entered the official department of the brewery with which he is now associated, and has since become familiar with the workings of every department of the immense plant. In 1909 he became secretary' of Dick Brothers Brewery Company, and has served efficiently in that capacity ever since. On September 2, 1889, Mr. Dick was united in marriage with Anna B. Giegerich, and of their marriage two children have been born, namely : Arthur J., now located at Davenport, Iowa, and Willis E., located at Chicago, Illinois.

Louis H. Bergek, who died April 8, 1918, was a distinguished Quincy lawj-er, distinguished not only by more than fortj^ years of continuous work and success, but also by an exhibition of talents and skill that brought him a recognized position among the keenest and most resourceful attornej-s in the State of Illinois. More than any of his contemporaries at Quincy his name appeared as counsellor in important cases before the Federal tribunals, both iu the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court at Washington. His abilities were eminently displaj-ed in corporation practice.

He was a splendid representative of the Jewish people and also represented a Hebrew family that for many hundreds of years lived in Southern Germany, Bavaria and Wuertemberg. His father's people were largely educators and merchants, while on his mother's side his forebears were largely agriculturists. Three of his father's brothers were teachers in the schools of Bavaria.

His father was Simon Berger, who for many years was active in business affairs at Quincy, and had the oldest insurance agency in the city, operated ever since 1872 and today known as Simon Berger Insurance Agency. He was sole proprietor until a few years before his death, and in 1905 took in a son. Simon Berger grew up in Bavaria, and as a young man filled the office of court reporter in the old country. He abandoned that work and went to Belgium, where he remained 2i/o years, and left there to come to the United States. He arrived in this countrj' at the close of the Mexican war, having crossed the ocean on a sailing vessel belonging to a corporation owned by his uncle. He was seventeen weeks in making the voyage, landing in Boston, where he engaged in the jewelry business. He married there Miss Theresa Wineberger, whose family also came from Germany. She had lived at Bangor and Bath, Maine, before her marriage.

To these parents at Boston, Massachusetts, Louis H. Berger was born in 1855. In 1858 the family came to Quincy, where Simon Berger entered upon a business career which continued for nearly half a century. He was at first a dealer in tallow, waste and furs. Later he was in the grocery trade, also a tobacco and cigar manufacturer, and then in the insurance business. His long and useful life came to an honored close on December 25, 1910, at the age of eighty-three. His wife died September 26, 1899.

Louis H. Berger grew up in Quincy and most of his early training was received from his talented and cultured mother. He also had other instruction, and he studied law under well known local attorneys, including the Hon. O. H. Browning, former attorney' general and secretary of the interior under President Johnson, and also was a student \nth Jackson L. Grimshaw, one of the giants of the Illinois bar. With the inspiration of association with such men Mr. Berger rapidly mastered the principles of jurisprudence, and also gained a practical training as clerk and secretarv to a firm of lawyers. He did this clerical work long before typewriters were introduced into law offices.

He was admitted to the bai- September 6, 1876. at the age of twenty-one, and from that time forward was eoustantly busy with the work of a large general and corporation practice. His first legal case was a marine suit in the United States Courts. He was the first practicing member before the United States Supreme Court of Adams County bar. "While he did not regard himself as a specialist in that line, he was undoubtedly one of the best iufomaed patent lawyers in his part of the state. He argued many cases of importance before the Federal Courts of Appeals in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. Mr. Berger also served as city attorney and corporation counsel for Quincy, and was comiected with many notable causes. Many eases he undertook without expectation of remuneration and as a matter of securing justice to the poorer classes. By appointment from the bench he acted as attorney for the defense of one Dan Porter, who was accused of murder in a case that was locally famous in the criminal trials of the county.

He was also known as the champion of good streets, and while he appeared little in politics he was rather proud, and his friends were likewise, of the fact that his only important political defeat came from putting to test, in the Supreme Court of Illinois, the validity of the Cow Ordinance. In eai-ly years he was active in various fraternities, but increasing professional responsibilities caused him to withdraw, ilr. Berger was a confirmed bachelor. He served for a number of years as trustee of the Jewish Temple of Quincy.

William Scott Gray, ilany of the facts and incidents in the history of Honey Creek Township have been carefully and effectively presented in this publication- by William Scott Gray of Coatsburg. Mr. Gray has lived in that community all his life and has been a keen observer of men and affairs, so that his qualifications as a historian are acknowledged by all. His own career has been a most useful one as an educator and later as business man, and the following paragraphs are meant as a record of his own life and the principal facts concerning his family.

Mr. Gray was born in Honey Creek Township on a farm adjoining Coatsburg on the north, February 15, 1853. His father, Richard Gray, was bom on the Isle of Wight, England, Januai-j' 27, 1815. The grandfather, Isaac Gra.v, was an English farmer and married Sarah Hawkins, of a noted family of ship builders at Portsmouth, England. Isaac Gray brought his family to the United States in 1830 and spent one year in New York and five years in Indiana before coming to Adams Coiuity. He was attracted to Western Illinois by some advertising literature which pictured Quincy as a coming town. He was one of a number of colonists who located in the eount.v in 1886. . His own home was established in section 36 of Honey Creek Township, adjoining the site later occupied by the Village of Coatsburg. This land was in the military tract granted the soldiers of the War of 1812 and he bought a hundred sixty acres for thirty dollars. The original owner paid thirty dollai's an acre for this tract. Its only improvement was a log cabin. This old farm of Isaac Grey is now owned by his grandson, George H. Gray. Isaac Gray besides farming was a veterinai'y surgeon, probably the pioneer of that profession to practice in Adams County, and he fre- (luently answered calls that took him twenty to thirty miles away from his home. Nevertheless he managed to develop his farm, and lived there in peace and independence until his death in 1855, at the age of sixty-eight. His widow remained on the old homestead until advanced years, and then spent her time with her son Richard and her daughter Lavinia until her death in 1884, at the age of ninety-two. She had lived in Adams County since 1836. Isaac Gray and wife were active in supporting and organizing schools, churclies and otlier local institutions. They attended tlie ^lethodist Episcopal Church at Columbus, two and a half miles away from their home. The family of Isaac Gray consisted of tlie following children : Richard ; Lavinia, who married Stephen Booth and lived in Gilmer township at the time of her death at the age of eighty-five; Caroline, who married Mr. Lynch and died in Iowa ; ^Villiam Wallace, who spent several yeai-s in the lead mine region of Wisconsin, but later returned to Gilmer Township and finally removed to Iroquois County, where he was a large laud owner and where he died at the age of eighty-four ; Isaac, who became a pioneer in Minnesota, was identified with the lumber industry, rafting logs from Stillwater, but spent his last days in Oregon, where he met an accidental death at the age of seventy-eight; Maria, who married a Mr. Elliott and died in young womanhood after the birth of one child ; and Geoi-ge, who is the only survivor of this generation of the family and is the only one of his brothers and sisters born in the United States. lie went out to California as a young man about 1856 and is living at Hydesville in that state at the age of eighty-six.

Richard Gray was fifteen years old when brought to this countiy and had just rounded out his majority when he came to Quincy. Before coming here he had cast a vote in support of the whig candidate in Indiana. After coming to Adams County he married Maria Hart, a native of Ohio. She died leaving two children: Albert H., who was a farmer uear Coatsburg and died in 1916 at the age of seventy-two ; and ilary M., who lives at Coatsburg, the widow of W. H. Henderson. For his second wife Richard Gray married Elizabeth (Reaugh) Bass, widow of John Bass. She was born in Kentucky, July 18, 1819, and came to Quincy with her parents, Matthew and Mary Reaugh, in 1832. Her parents located near Columbus and she grew to womanhood there and at the age of twenty married John Bass. They went to the lead mines of Wisconsin, where ]\Ir. Bass died, after which she returned to Adams County. She and Richard Gray had been youthful sweethearts in Adams County, but when they married each had two children. The Bass children were: Frances J., who married A. W. Howell and she died in 1916 on a faimi near Springfield, Alissouri; and Caroline, whose sweetheart enlisted for service in the Union Army, and she died of typhoid fever at the close of the war, when twenty-one years of age. Richard Gray and his second wife had four sons : Zachary Taylor, who has never married and lives in Gray County, Kansas; Richard ]\Ionroe, who served as sheriff of Adams County in 1880-82, lived near Coatsburg until 1914, when he moved to Marion County, Missouri, and died there September 30, 1918; William Scott; and George H., who o\\ms his father's old homestead at Coatsburg and also the farm of his grandfather Isaac.

Richard Gray though he was never inclined to office holding was honored with various places of local responsibility in the town.ship. He was also a stockholder in the railroad company when it built the line through the Village of Coatsburg. He was one of the very active members of the ]\Iethodist Episcopal Church. Richard Gray died January 9, 1909, when nearly ninety-four yeai-s of age. He was at that time the oldest man in point of years and point of residence in Coatsburg. His character and good habits undoubtedly did much to prolong his life. He was always temperate, curbed liis appetite, was mentally cautious, conservative, a safe counsellor and adviser anci a very helpful type of man for the community. He began voting as a whig and later became a democrat, but on the whole was quite independent.

William Scott Gray during his youth enjoyed the advantages of the village schools at Coatsburg and also graduated from the ilaplewood High School at Camp Point, later attending Abingdon College and the Illinois State Normal at Normal. This training supplemented the faculties of his good mind and prepared him for a successful career a.s a teacher. Mr. Gray was active in school work from the age of twenty until he was fifty, and all liis service was rendered in Adams County. For twenty years he was principal of the Coatsburg Public School and for two years was principal at ilendon. Later he was republican candidate for county superintendent of schools, and after that he retired from school work. j\Ir. Gray is remembered by a great many of his former pupils not onh' for what he taught in the formal lines of instruction, but for the influence he constantly and carefully exercised in developing char- acter, decision, and all those qualities that when projected into mature years makes a successful man or woman. He alwaj's sought to recognize as early as possible the strong qualities of his pupils, and encouraged them at every opportunity. It was for these high ideals as a school man that he became so greatly beloved among his pupils, and many now successful men acknowledge a great debt to him while he was their teacher. Mr. Gray for mauy years was active in institutes as an instructor. He is now ser\'iug as president of the High School Board of Adams County.

While teaching he had also become interested in the grain business at Coatsburg, aud in 1906 he built the gi-ain elevator there aud operated it for ten years or more. In 1910 he also organized the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Coatsburg, but later sold this bank to the State Street Bank of Quincy. During the high tide of his activity a-s a grain merchant Mr. Gray shipped annually about 100,000 bushels of grain from Coatsbui-g. At present he enjoys the comforts of a good home adjoining the village. As a republican he has been active in local party circles and has been a delegate to various state conventions. He has refused to become a candidate for the Legislature, though his friends urged that nomination upon him. Mr. Gray is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and has served as steward and trustee. He is affiliated with the Modei'n Woodmen of America.

September 11, 1879, he married Miss Annie L. Gilliland, daughter of Dr. W. E. Gilliland. Doctor Gilliland, who died February 28, 1912, was an old and prominent practitioner at Coatsburg, and was born in Morgan County, Illinois, January 1, 1833. He had lived in Adams County from the spring of 1841. His parents were Kentuckians and came to Illinois in 1827. Doctor Gilliland studied medicine under John T. Gilmer and Dr. J. W. Bonney, and in 1869 entered the St. Louis Medical College, from which he graduated in 1870. From that time for a period of nearly forty j'ears he was engaged in practice in Honey Creek Township. Doctor Gilliland married Miss Sarah Moyer, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1836. 'Sirs. Gray was the oldest of their five children, and was twenty-three at the time of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Gray have a family of four children, the youngest child, Russell, dying in infancy. Lillian is a graduate of the Illinois State Nomial and of the Univei*sity of Chicago aud is now a successful teacher of English in the high school at Duluth, Minnesota. Edward E. is a graduate of Camp Point High School, the Gem City Business College, and is now in the lumber and grain business in Colorado. William Scott Gra.y, Jr., is a young man whose career has been followed with much interest by his old friends in Adams County. He is a graduate of the Maplewood High School of Camp Point, the Illinois State Normal, and has degrees from both the University of Chicago and Columbia University of New York. His scholastic degrees are Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy. He is now Dean of the College of Education of the University of Chicago, and reached that position at the age of thirty-one.

Charles E. Bowers. The qualifications and experiences which have distinguished Charles E. Bowers among his fellows have been the possession of what amounts practically to genius in salesmanship. ]\Ir. Bowers for a number of years represented as salesman and sales manager some of the largest farm implement manufacturing concerns in the United States, and sold agricultural machinery all over Illinois and other states. He has for a numben of years been employing his skill and experience in a way that constitutes another important service, handling real estate, especially farm lands. His offices are in the State Bank Building at Quincy, but through his offices he transacts deals in farm lands over a wide territory, and has hundreds of satisfied clients.

Mr. Bowers represents an old Pennsylvania family of Franklin County, where his grandparents lived and died and where his parents, William and Harriet

(McLaughlin) Bowers, was born. Through his mother ]\Ir. Bowers is eligible in the Sons of the American Revolution. Her grandfather was a soldier iu the struggle for independence. All her brothers were soldiers iu the Civil war, one of them losing his life in battle. William Bowers, his father, was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, about 1835 and his wife in 1842. They married in that county. William Bowers was a blacksmith, and during the three years he served an apprenticeship to that trade was paid only three dollars a month. He later o\vned a smithy and wagon shop of his own. In 1860 he brought his wife and two children to Illinois, and at Jacksonville established a shop. In 1865 he moved to Adams County, and giving up his trade he Ijought a farm in Mendon Township. He developed a good home, prospered by his farm enterprise, and in 1892 retired from the farm and spent his last years ati Loraine. where he died in Jlarch, 1913. His wife passed away in April, 1903. Had he lived until May William Bowers would have been eighty-five years of age. He and his wife were very active members of the ^lethodist Episcopal Church, and in politics he was an important figure in the democratic party for yeai-s. He .served as township commissioner, and was honored with a number of offices in ]\Iendon Township. He was also a Ma.son. The two children who were born iu Pennsylvania and came west with their parents to Illinois were Ira W. and ilary A. In Jacksonville three other children were born, Charles E., Jennie and Laura. The youngest of the famil.v, Belle, was born in Adams County. Four of these children are still living. Ira W. is a railroad man iu the State "of Wa.shington, is married and has a son, Alva. Laura is unmarried and with a niece lives in Adams County. Belle is the wife of Severn Baker, a well known farmer in Lima Township of this county. 'Sir. and Mi's. Baker have a daughter, Cleta, who holds a Government position in Washington, D. C.

Mr. Charles E. Bowers was born at Jacksonville, Illinois, July 1, 1864, and was too young to remember when the family came to Adams County. He grew up here, was educated in the schools of Mendon Township and Village, and his youthful experience gave him more practical knowledge of farming than he has "ever applied. His natural inclinations led him into salesmanship, and his first work in that line was selling agricultural implements in Adams County. His success led to his promotion by the IMcConnick Harvester Company as manager, and eventually he was general manager for the Champion Harvester Company over most of Illinois and parts of ^Missouri and Indiana. He built up a large trade connection with retail dealers and with individual buyers throughout these three states. Wliile selling agricultural implements he also gained a thorough knowledge of land values that stood him in good stead in 1908, when he entered the real estate business at Quincy, specializing in farm lands in Illinois and Missouri. He has a fine suite of offices in the Illinois State Bank Building.

He is a member of the Rotan' Club of Quincy. At Quincy in 1898 Mr. Bowers married Mary Agnes Schwartz. She was born in Quincy in 1872, and finished her education in St. Mary's Academy. Her parents, Frank and Bridget (Morris) Schwartz, were a well known family of Quincy for many years. Her father was a native of Alsace and of French ancestry, was liberally educated and came to America in young manhood. He married his wife in this country. She was of Irish parentage. Both families were Catholics. 'Sir. and ^Irs. Schwartz were members of St. Peters Catholic Church at Quincy. Frank Schwartz while a resident of Quincy had his business activities as a general farmer and stockman in the bottoms of the ^Mississippi Valley. He was a democrat in politics. In the Schwartz family were three sons and two daughters. One son, John, died after his marriage, while the two living sons are Riley and Henry Schwartz, the former married and is the father of a daughter. Mrs. Bowers' sister. Lillian, is the wife of John B. Ricker and has a family of one son and three daughters.

Mr. and Mrs. Bowers have three children: ^lorris William, born in May, 1901, is a student in the Quincy High School. IMarian Agnes, born in 1905, is attending St. Mary's Academy. Charles Elwood, born in April, 1909, is in the

St. Rose parochial school. Mrs. Bowers and her children are members of St. Rose Catholic Church, while Mr. Bowers retains the faith of his parents, that of the ilethodist Church. In politics he is a democrat.

August Schaffer, of Fall Creek Township, has reached that venerable station in life from which he mar survey fourscore years. Nearly sixty of these years have beeu spent in Adams County. Here he worked out his destiny, from that of a poor struggling youth to one of the leading farm owners. He has prospered, and has made his prosperity and his American citizenship subject to no qualification or doubt. Every one knows him as a man of most substantial character, and he is one of that type of Illinois farmers who have not only responded to all appeals to increase the productiveness of the soil, but have been equally liberal in supporting Liberty Bond issues and other war activities. Naturally quick witted and fairly well educated in his native language, Mr. Schaffer easily learned English, and his patriotic instincts have run true and deep ever since he came to this country.

He was born in Lippe Detmold. Germany, June 4, 1838. He came to Illinois in 1859. His cousin, tVilUam Schaffer, of a family elsewhere noted, had l^eeu in the county for several years. Two of his aunts were also li-ving in Quincy, Mrs. Henry Hohnsteiner and ilrs. AYilliam Schmiedeskamp. August Schaffer had spent his early life on a farm in Germany, but from the age of fourteen worked in a brick yard. He had a few dollars when he landed at Quincy. Going out to Fall Creek Township, he visited with his cousin for two months, trying vainly to secure regular emplo^-ment. After that he went to the ^dcinity of Galesburg and hired out at -$12 a month in harvest for two months. Later he cut broom corn at .$1 a day and board. Returning to Fall Creek Township, having spent only 50 cents while away, and with about $50 saved up. he went to work for William Schmiedeskamp. who had the contract for building the first church at Bluff Hall. He was paid small wages and did hea^-^- work driving teams, hauling logs and burning lime until the church was finished. Later he worked on the farm of Clark Chatton near the church and kept his services employed with various parties until he had accumulated about -$200. He then went to Hannibal, ^Missouri, attending a sale of Government horses captured from bushwhackers - this being during the period of the Civil war - and secTired two good horses for $90. After that he rented a farm in company with John Brockmeier for a year and lived with ilr. and ilrs. Brockmeier. There was a good wheat crop, and this sold for 90 cents a bushel. He next rented a farm on the hill.

In 1863 Mr. Schaffer married Minnie Schmiedeskamp. of Quincy, daughter of Fred Schmiedeskamp, a stone mason there. She was nineteen years of age at the time of her marriage. After the crop was sold ^Ir. Schaffer invested in some household equipment, chieflj' a stove, cupboard, and other necessary articles.

It was not until 1876 that he bought his pre-sent farm. He had rented it for several years from Ed Se^Tnour. His first purchase was 160 acres, going in debt for a portion of it. The land was not then in a condition for complete cultivation. Part of it was swamp, part of it sand ridge. He built a small house of logs in 1876, and that house is included in his present commodious dwelling. The land was covered with brush, there were several duck ponds, and he set to wo'rk to drain and fill it, continuing this labor until he had an excellent farm. He used his land chiefly to grow wheat, and one year had 300 acres in that crop. Later he bought more land, and today owns 241 acres le.ss about twelve acres which he sold for the right of way of the Railroad and Powei Company. ]\Iost of this land cost him only $10 an acre, but its value largely represents his individual toil and management. ^Ir. Schaffer also served as road boss three or four yeai-s. He is a democrat and a member of the Bluff Hall Congregational Church.

Mr. and Jlrs. Seliatfer were married more than half a centurj^ before the union was terminated in the death of Mrs. Sehaffer Januarj- 5, 1917. Nine children were born to them, and three daughters and one sou are still living. The son Fred lives on his father's fanu. Heni-y is a resident of Payson Township. "William operates part of the home farm. He married Carrie Miller, daughter of Fred Miller, of Quiney, and has two children, Julius and Arthur. The daughter is Minnie, wife of Andrew ]Miller. One daughter, Lizzie M., married F. Smith and died leaving three children.

WiLLiAii H. K.vy spent his early years in Adams Coiuity, and has divided his time for many years between this county and the Southwest. His winter home is in Arizona, at Phoenix. His summer home is two miles south of Payson, on the old Grove homestead, one of the best farm properties in the county.

Mr. Kay was born near Keokuk, Iowa, June 17, 1861, son of Charles W. Kay. His father left Adams County about 1887 and went out to Phoenix, Arizona, and a few years later went on to Los Angeles, where he lived retired until his death. He was a rancher and fruit grower. His widow is still living in the West. Unusual success attended his efforts at improving homes, and his old home in Pavson Township was just opposite the present place of his son William H. Kay.

William H. Kay was brought to Camp Point in infancy, and at the age of eight years his parents settled in Payson Township, where he grew to manhood. He is now the only member of the family still living in Adams County. He went out to Arizona with his father, and in company with his brother Frank took up general stock fanning, fattening large numbers of cattle and hogs for the market. This business he continued until 1911. In 1898 he had bought out his brother, and thus acquired the sole management of extensive stock interests and a ranch aggregating 1,000 acres, devoted to grain, alfalfa and pasture. He imported a number of the finest males of the Poland China hogs. In 1911 he returned to Adams County.

December 14, 1893, he married :Miss Maude J. Grove, a daughter of Isaac and Sarah R. (Tull) Grove, of one of the old and prominent families of Adams Countv. Her father died January 15, 1911, and her mother August 5, 1918. ]\Irs. Kay was the only child of her parents. Since 1911 Mr. and Mrs. Kay have been in active charge of the old Grove fann of 280 acres. The house was built bv her father in 1886 and is one of the best country residences in the community. Mr. Gfi-ove's only sister. Miss Nancy Grove, had spent many years on the Grove farm and has' since remained with Mrs. Kay. A cousin of Mr. Grove, Miss Anna Vamer, of Newark, Ohio, is also a member of the household. Mr. and Mrs. Kay have no children of their own.

For the pa.st seven years Mr. Kay has leased his Arizona land, but visits it each year and also spends some time in Los Angeles during the winter. He is a director in the National Bank of Arizona at Phoenix, and he sei-ved on the Arizona State Livestock Sanitary Board. He is a republican, while Mrs. Kay is a democrat, ilr. Kay has never filled any elective public positions. He and his wife aft-e both liberal supporters of all church movements.

Jacob Dick, one of the original members of the old firm of Dick Brothers, brewers, was born in Rhine Foltz, Bavaria, October 9, 1834, and his parents spent all their lives in the old country. He was nineteen years of age when he came to America by way of New Orleans, and first located at Belleville, Illinois, and in 1857 came to Quiney. He soon afterwards entered the brewing business and was a.ssociated with his brothers Matthew and John, all of whom are now deceased. They built up one of the largest brewing establishments in the West. After the death of Jacob, which occurred December 22, 1876. the business was continued as Dick & Brothers Quiney Brewing Com-

July 24. 1861, at Quincy, Jacob Dick married Margaret Kedmond, who was born in that city October 1, 1840. Mrs. Dick was educated in a convent and for many years has been very active in everything for the benefit of the city and its people. She is a daughter of Hon. Thomas Redmond, who was born in Ireland about 1804 and came to the United States at the age of sixteen. He had a hard battle to establish himself on an independent footing. For a number of years he lived and worked in the New England states, and at Boston he married Mar^' Dunlevy, and they at once started for St. Louis. On July 3, 1837, they arrived in Quincy, where Thomas Redmond, without money or friends, worked with his hands to get a start. He was one of the contractors in building the Northern Cross Railroad, between Quincy and Clayton, and continued as a contractor for a number of years. He became wealthy and invested much capital in Quincy and nearby real estate. He was elected to the city council and was made mayor of Quincy in 1860. Altogether he served as alderman and mayor twenty-one years. In 1864 he was chosen to the state legislature. He was also a member of the County Board of Supervisors, and stood as one of the foremost citizens in point of ability, integrity and a broadminded philanthropy that made him friends of people of all classes. He died honored and respected December 20. 1878. He had survived his wife several years. They had a family of three sons and four daughters. The survivors are Mrs. Dick, her brother Thomas Redmond, Mrs. Frank Ricker and Mrs. Mollie Forgo.

Mrs. Dick has a son, August R. Dick, who is still living with his mother and is president of the Dick Brewing Company. He was ediicated in St. Francis College. Her daughter Anna is the widow of Jack Ellis. A third child, Catherine, became the wife of John C. Smith, who died leaving two children, Lieut. Lawrence D. Smith and Austin T. Smith.

Frank J. Ohnemus is recognized as one of the substantial fixtures in the agricultural and community life of Ellington Township. He has spent practically all his years there and is a prosperous farmer in section 16, where he operates 120 acres of land, well improved with buildings and other facilities, and raises abundant crops and good livestock.

Mr. Ohnemus has lived on that farm for twenty-three years. He was born in Ellington Township October 17, 1862, and received his education in the local schools. Farming has always been his business, and he has served as road commissioner, as director of the local schools, and at present is an election ,iudge.

His parents are John George and Mary A. (Ohnemus) Ohnemus, both natives of Germany and of old Catholic stock. Though of the same family name they were not related. They came by sailing vessel and through New Orleans to Quincy, and were married in this county August 15, 1855. John George Ohnemus afterward bought 160 acres of the old Ubanks farm in section 21 of Ellington Township, and there lived for more than thirty-five j'ears. He had lived on and rented the Henry Kemp farm for twenty-two years. John George Ohnemus is one of the oldest ancl best known residents of Ellington Township, and was eighty-six years of age on February 11, 1918. He and his wife lived together fifty years. She died September 7, 1905. They were married in St. Boniface Catholic Church at Quincy, and later for many years were members of St. Francis Parish. Frank J. Ohnemus is one of fifteen children. Two died in infanc,y. One daughter, Theresa, died after her marriage, leaving children. The other twelve are still living, three sons and two daughters being unmarried.

Frank J. Ohnemus married in Melrose Township November 11, 1891, Miss Catherine Dittmeyer. She was born in this county in 1867 and attended the

St. Anthony Parish School. Her parents were John and Wauburg (Hellstern) Dittmeyer. Her father was born in Pennsj'lvania and her mother in 'Wuertemberg, Germany, being brought to this coimtry when eight years of age. Her father came to Melrose Township when a small boy with his parents from Pennsylvania. John Dittmeyer and wife were married in St. Anthony Catholic Church tifty-five years ago. They started out as farmers in Melrose Township, and Mrs. Ohnemus' father died there in March, 1908, at the age of sixt.y-three. His widow now lives with her daughter, Mrs. George Geiger, in Quincy and is seventy-one years of age. They were long and faithful members of St. Anthonj''s Catholic Church. Mrs. Ohnemus was one of ten children, seven of whom are living, and all married.

Mr. and Mrs. Ohnemus have five children : Alvena, Cornelia, Frank, Genevieve and Florence. The three older have attended the home schools. Genevieve is now a student in the high school and Florence is in the seventh grade. The family are all members of St. Francis Church, the children having been confirmed there. Mr. Ohnemus is a democrat iu polities.

David Tipple, whose home is one of the best farms of Fall Creek Township, located in section 12. fourteen miles southeast of Quincy, has been a resident of Adams County many years and is farming land that has special interest in connection with one of the oldest families of this county.

Mrs. David Tipple is a descendant of the pioneer William Thompson, who was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, in 1789 and when eight years of age went to Athens County, Ohio, with his parents. He married Rachel Pileher, and in 1S33 they came to Illinois, down the Ohio River and up the Mississippi, locating in what is now Fall Creek Township, some of this land being included in the present David Tipple farm. William Thompson lived there until his death August 24, 1880, at the age of ninety-one. It will be noticed his life was lived under every president of the United States up to 1880. He was born about the time Washington was inaugurated. After the formation of that party he became a stanch republican. William Thompson's wife died of cholera. Several of their children died of the same epidemic, as did also his brother's wife. In 1852 William Thompson married Eliza Graham, whose maiden name was Noel. She was born in Lanca.ster, Pennsylvania, and at the age of seventeen went with an aunt, Mrs. Richard Wilton, who settled in Payson Township of this county. The Wilton family cleared up a farm and built a brick house two miles south of Payson. That was all first brick dwelling in that vicinity. Their first home on coming West was in Schuyler County, Illinois.

Eliza Noel married in Schuyler County William Graham. After his death .she returned to the Wilton home and remained there iintil her marriage to AVilliam Thompson. She had three sons by her first husband, James, Henry and William Graham. James spent his life with his mother and died at the age of fifty-eight, unmarried. Henry was all through the Civil M'ar and for twenty years or more was a merchant at Hannibal, Missouri, but finally retired to California, where he died. William was a soldier in the Fiftieth Illinois Infantry from Adams County, and later was a druggist at Middletown, Missouri, where he died.

Eliza Graham Thompson died at the old Thompson home in 1897, when about eighty years of age. She was the mother of two daughters, Esther and Dora. Esther became the wife of Ed White, a merchant of Pittsfield, Illinois. She was a successful teachev in Adams County for about twenty-five years, being connected with the public schools at Camp Point and Payson, and also with a business college in Quincy. She taught until her marriage in 1918, and her work entitled her to .special honorable mention among the educators of Adams County.

riecl David Tipple. Mr. Tipple was born in "Wisconsin April 9, 18-58. His father died before the birth of his son. At the close of the war David accompanied his mother to Missouri, making that journey with her parents, George and Rebecca Morrison, who came originally from Pennsylvania. The Morrisons settled in Marion Connty, Missouri, ilr. Tipple's mother married for her second husband Edwin Eussell, and they afterwards came to FaFl Creek To\Miship of Adams County. David Tipple grew to manhood here, attended the local schools, and also spent some time with his mother in Missouri. At the age of seventeen he returned to Adams County, and was a farmer at different places until his marriage. He then took charge of the old Thompson place of 120 acres. Eighty acres of this land was inherited by Dora Thompson and her sister, and later Mr. and Mrs. Tipple acquired another eighty acres in the Thompson homestead, giving them a fine farm of 160 acres. The present substantial house was erected by Mrs. Tipple's father. Mr. Tipple has operated this farm for thirty-five years, and has been unusually successful. Mr. and Mrs. Tipple have two daughters. Florence was a teacher in Adams County until her marriage to Robert Edmonds. They now live at Knoxville, Illinois. Ruth, who taught five years at Barry in Pike County, is now the wife of T. J. McVay, of Barry. She graduated from Knox College with the class »f 1911, and her sister was also a student in the same school. Both were graduates of the Payson High School. Mr. and Mrs. Tipple are members of the Payson Methodist Episcopal Church.

John Sharp Eraser. One of the oldest farm homes and one that has been most constantl.v identified, with the associations of one family is the Oakland Farm, now the home of John Sharp Eraser. He is of the third generation of the Eraser family in Adams County, and the name has been one of honorable distinction here for more than three-quarters of a century.

As the name indicates the Erasers are Scotch. In every nook and corner of the wide world the traveler finds the Scotchman or his descendants. The Scotchman, like his land, is many sided. A small country, a poor country, a little nation, yet the doings of the Scotch fill a large page in history and of whicli they need not be ashamed when placed in comparison with any other people. To America Scotland gave a body of citizens whose priceless value can not be reckoned and who has made such an impress upon our history that any of our citizens are proud to claim Scotch or Scotch-Irish blood.

Mr. John Sharp Eraser was born on this old homestead March 21, 1871. He was the younger of two children of Robert Carrick and Fredericka (Stilker) Ei-aser. His only sister, Margaret Elizabeth, also lives on the old farm. She was well educated in the schools of the country, and is very active and prominent in the Good Shepherd Cathedral of the Episcopal Church at Quiney. She is a member of tlie Altar Guild and is prominent in the Red Cross and other social functions.

Robert C. Eraser, the father, was born in New York City October 14, 1825. and was twelve years of age when his father, John Sharp F'raser, came to Adams County. That was in a day before railroads, and the journey westward was made over the Erie Canal, down the Ohio River, up the Mississippi to St. Louis and Quiney. John Sharp Eraser bought land in Ellington Township and the first home there was a log cabin. Robert Carrick Eraser during his long and active career as a farmer accumulated 180 acres in Ellington Township. He was well educated both in the old country schools and in the select school for boys and young men. As a man of affairs he devoted himself to business and was never an aspirant for office. He began voting as a whig but was a republican from the time of the first campaign of the party in 1856. He was a great admirer of Lincoln. In church affairs he was a member of the Episcopal Church. He several times returned to the city of his ])irth. New York. ,He was a man whose honesty of purpose went unquestioned and who made his life count for a great deal in Adams Countv. Robert Eraser died September 25, 1912, at the venerable age of eightj--seven. He was laid to rest in the Woodland Cemetery, in the family lot of the Frasers.

His wife, Frederika Stilker, was born in Germany and was a very small girl when her parents came to the United States and settled at Quincy. She was reared in Adams Countj- and aeqnired a knowledge of both English and German tongues. She was a member of the Lutheran Chi^rch. Her death occurred ilay 19, 1877. Many of the older residents as well as her family still remember her for her fine character and the many contributions she made to the happiness and welfare of those around her.

John Sharp Fraser has always been a resident of Adams County, and acquired a good education both in the common schools and the school of experience. He has steadily devoted himself to the business of agriculture for a quarter of a century and is now the responsible head of the old farm in Ellington Township. The first family home here was built in 1840, succeeding the old log cabin, was remodeled in 1863, and from time to time improvements and additions have been made until it is now worthy to stand with the best country homes in the county. The original building was erected by his grandfather. John Sharp Fraser. At the present time the Fraser home has such modern conveniences a.s hot water heating, acetylene lights, telephone, rural route delivery and many conveniences which even residents in cities would not have expected half a century ago.

December 29, 1897, Mr. Fraser married Miss Alice Cuthbert Smyth. They have a daughter, Elizabeth, who has just entered the kindergai-ten school. Mrs. Fraser was born ilarch 9, 1873, fourth in a family of nine children, seven sons and two daughters, of William and Barbara (Wray) Smyth. Mrs. Fraser is a sister of Mrs. Robert Mclntyre. Several other members of the Smyth family are living in Adams County. Her father, William Smyth, was born near Londonderry, Ireland, in 1825, and died in Adams County January 17, 1906. He was a resident of Adams County from the age of fifteen, and as a farmer developed one of the excellent homesteads in ]\Ielrose Township. He was also a man of affairs, serving ofBcially in many capacities. He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church, and both are laid to rest in the Woodland Cemetery.

Mrs. Fraser was born in Melrose Township, grew up there and attended common schools and is a graduate of the Quincy High School with the cla-ss of 1893. For two years she did some successful work as a teacher in Ursa Township. Mrs. Fraser is active in the Red Cross, the Round Table Club at Quincy. and she and her husband are members of the Episcopal Church. She has played a worthy part with her husband in establishing and maintaining their present fine home.

As a republican Mr. Fraser ca-st his first presidential vote for Benjamin Harrison. He has been a delegate to county conventions and has .served as a director of his home school district since he was twenty-one years of age. While very industrious and busy farming people, Mr. and Mrs. Fraser have used their means judiciou.sly to promote their own happiness and a broader knowledge of the world and the country they live in. In 1897, as the wedding tour, they went to Niagara Falls. In 1917, accompanied by Miss Margaret Fraser. they toured to the Pacific Coast, visiting Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pasadena and Salt Lake City, bringing back with them many sights and charms of the far West. They went West over the Santa Fe and returned by the Union Pacific, including a visit through the Royal Gorge and other Colorado points.

Hexrt G. Echternkajip. With the death of Henry G. Echternkamp on July 16, 1918, a large aud numerous community in the southern part of Adams County felt the loss of one of their best friends and fellow citizens. He was a man of first rate abilities, strong and resourceful in business affairs, upright and tlie soul of honesty in all that concerned liis relations with the public, and he fully earned and merited evei-y measure of respect and esteem paid him.

He was widely known as Justice Echternkamp, having filled the office of justice for a number of years. He wa.s also a fraternity member and a Christian church man. As a public official his constant counsel to litigants was to get together, and in a friendly review of the questions involved most contentions brought before him were amicably solved, thereby neighborly feeling promoted. He had a host of friends throughout the county and few men enjoyed a wider acquaintance and none had warmer and stancher friends.

He was born in Fall Creek Township February 10, 1857, a son of the late Frederick William Echternkamp, whose life has been fully reviewed on other pages. On April 15, 1883, Henry G. Echternkamp married Maria M. Kaiser, oldest daughter of Fred and Anna Kaiser, of Fall Creek Township. A brief sketch of her father follows. Mrs. Echternkamp was bom two miles east of Marblehead in Pall Creek Township December 21, 1862. At the time of his marriage Henry Echternkamp took over his father's farm, generally kno^^^l as the Chatten farm. The house still there was standing when he took possession, and he built a good barn. :Mr. Echternkamp had served twenty-five years as a justice of the peace and continuously except for one term.

In a business way besides farming he wa.s widely known over the county as a practical thresherman. He conducted a thrashing outfit for fifteen years. He wore out three outfits, and each one was a large advance in mechanical efficiency over the preceding. The final outfit comprised not only the usual grain separator but also a clover huller and fodder shredder. He also used three engines during his threshing experience. He was an expert in all lines of machinery, and equally capable in handling the details of his fann. Justice Echternkamp was a large man both physically and mentally and it is not difficult to understand the influence he exercised in all community affairs. He was a faithful member of the Bluff Hall Congregational Church, and was affiliated with Marblehead Lodge of Odd Fellows. Some of his lodge brothers were pall bearers in carrying him to his last resting place.

He and his wife had eight children, three of whom died in infancy. IMatilda, the oldest of those now living, is the wife of Fred WoUbrink, a farmer in Fall Creek Township. They have two children, Henry and Esther. "William is now a resident in the State of Wa.shington. Lora married John J. Smith. IMr. Smith operates the home farm, having been an employe of Justice Echternkamp for a number of years, both as a farm hand and thresherman. The two younger children, still at home, are Anna and Minnie.

Fred Christian Kaiser, one of the well remembered old timers of Fall Creek Township, was born February 20, 1832, in Prussia, Germany. He came to America when a young man and at Quiney October 24, 1860, married Anna M. Struck.

She was born September 24, 1837, in Sehleswig Holstein, Germany, and was a young woman when in 1852 she came to the United States. , Her parents were Amos and Elsa Struck, who located in Quiney about 1857. Her brother John had come to Adams County in 1852, and her sister Katherine, who married Jacob Herleman, was here in 1855. Her brother Henry is still living in Quiney. Amos Struck died in 1863 and his wife in 1881.

The day after his marriage Fred Kaiser and his wife located on a farm in the north part of Fall Creek Township. They lived there over nineteen years, and in 1880 moved to the fann of 291 acres which is still known as the Kaiser homestead. A hundred sixty acres of this is bottom land. Mr. Kaiser put up all the buildings and other improvements, and he also ownied land in ^Missouri.

Fred C. Kaiser died February 7, 1896. He was a member of the Bluff Hall Lutheran Church, a democrat, and served as road commissioner, and was in all respects a model citizen.

Henrj- ; Maria ^I., widow of Henry G. Ecliternkamp ; Catherine, wife of J. M. Wilson, a resident of Qninoy and a railway mail clerk; Margaret, widow of Fred Adams, of Quincy ; Elizabetli, who died at the age of thirteen ; Fred, who lives in Saskatchewan, Canada ; and William IL, who was born in 1881 and has always made his home on the Kaiser farm, living there with his mother.

Theodore A. MroDENDORF. As former president of the Middendorf Brothers & Company Lumber Company, Theodore A. Middendorf occupied a prominent place in the business affairs of Quincy. This business was started in a small way many years ago and through enterprise and business acumen has been developed into a concern that commands a very wide trade territory at Quincy and environs and up and down the river. It has always remained in the Middendorf family. At the beginning of the past war Theodore A. ^Middendorf, on accovuit of two of his sons going to war, severed his connection with the Middendorf Brothers and Company Quincy yard and in partnership with his sons bought out the branch yard of the firm at Ursa, Illinois. This is conducted at present under the name of the Ursa Lumber and Coal Company. Mr. Middendorf is acting as president. Associated with him are his sons Leo H. as vice president and Theodore W. as secretary-treasurer and general manager.

Theodore Middendorf was bom at Quincy, January 8, 1860. His parents, Bernard H. and Elizabeth (Jelsing) Middendorf, were born in Germany and came to the United States in 1840 and to Quincy in 1849. Here the father died in 1888, having been prosperous in the grocery business for many years and active and useful in the upbuilding of many enterprises here.

Theodore Middendorf was mainly educated in St. Francis College, now Quincy College and Seminarj-. When he started out to be an independent worker and self-supporting he entered the employ of Dickhut Brothers, and remained four years in their lumber yard and sawmill. He was then twentytwo years old, and for two more years was associated with his brother, William H. Middendorf, now president of the Broadway Bank, in the grocery business. In 1884 he embarked in a lumber business and for twenty-five years was so engaged on the corner of Tenth Street and Broadway, Quincy, and then sold out. At a later date a new family partnei-ship was formed and the plant was removed to the corner of Seventeenth and Spring streets. The present firm is composed of the two IMiddendorf brothers, William H. and Henry B. together with a son of AVilliam H. Middendorf and Walter Bernsen. The scope of the business covers lumber and building materials.

Theodore Middendorf was married November 29, 1888, to Miss Elizal)eth S. Bernsen, whose parents, John B. and Mary (Timpe) Bernsen, are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Middendorf have five children, namely : Francis, who is a priest belonging to the Franciscan Order, doing missionary work among the Indians in Upper Wisconsin ; Theodore W., who is secretary and manager of the Ursa Lumber and Coal Company; Leo H., who is vice president of the same company; Roger A., who is still with the army in France ; and Frank, who is attending college. The whole family belongs to St. Francis Roman Catholic Church, and the needs of the parish are matters of which they take generous cognizance. The comfortable family home is at No. 530 North Eighteenth Street, Quincy. Mr. Jliddendorf belongs to the St. Francis Society, and he is a member also of the Third Order of St. Francis and of the St. Aloysius Orphan Society. He is a man of generous impulses, and benevolent movements of all kinds claim his interest and when his judgment approves he willingly gives to ease suffering.

Edward A. Mollenhauer is a practical farmer, but is also recognized as an all around business man and a verv capable and public spirited factor in the life and affairs of Quincy and Adams County. He still owns and looks after his fine farm in Gilmer Township, but for several years has lived retired in Quincy and is connected with a number of business interests there.

His father, Henry G. MoUenhauer, was born October 2, 1821. The grandfather was a Hanoverian farmer. In 1835 the family took passage on a sailing vessel at Bremerhaven, Germany, and after six weeks landed at New York. From there they came on to Quincy, which was then merely a river town and dependent entirely upon the river for its communications with the outside world. The MoUenhauer family settled in Burton To^vnship, where they undertook the reclamation and clearing up of a tract of wild Government land. The grandmother died on this old farm, and the gi-andfather retired to Quincy, and he died at the home of his only daughter in Missouri when past seventy years of age. He was known among the pioneers as a hard working and industrious citizen and was faithful as a member of the Lutheran Church. He had three children. Henry G., Augusta and John. Augusta married Fred Feigenspau, and both died in Missouri. John married and died in Adams County, leaving a family of sons and daughters.

After the death of his father Henry G. MoUenhauer took over the old homestead of 105 acres, and later increased it by the purchase of another thirty-live acres. He lived there many years, and in 1899 retired to Quincy, where he died May 7, 1911. He w-as an exceptionally good farmer, a broad minded and public spirited citizen, and in polities interested himself in the democratic party and the affairs of his township, holding several local offices. For six terms, eighteeu years, he was road commissioner of Burton Township. He married in that towuship Louisa Glaeser. She was born in Hanover. Germany, in 1822, and when she was seven years of age her parents came to the United States and settled on a tract of w-ild land in Columbus Township of Adams County. Her parents spent the rest of their lives in that township, and passed away in advanced years. They were also members of the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Louisa RIollenhauer was the oldest of four children. One died young. Her brother, Jacob, is a farmer in Columbus Township and has sons and daughters. Her sister, Elizabeth, is the wife of Louis Wilkie, a retired farmer at the Village of Columbus. Mrs. Henry G. MoUenhauer is still living, at the age of seventyfive. She was the mother of eight children. Her son John died at the age of forty years, leaving three children : Lillie, Carl and Joy. Matilda MoUenhauer married Charles Hyer, and they live on a farm near Paloma, and have three children, Nellie, Alma and Roy. Louis ]Mollenhauer is a farmer in Lewis County, Missouri, and has two daughters, Anna and Iva. Lydia lives at Pueblo. Colorado, widow of Charles Kleinschmidt, and has two daughters, Edna and Lila. The next in age is Edward A. ilollenhauer. His younger sister, Amelia, is the wife of Henry Kleinschmidt and lives on a farm near Chillicotlie, Missouri. They have children named "Walter, Linnie and Lyda, a twin, her sister dying in infancy. George MoUenhauer was educated in the local schools, as were his brothers and sisters, and is also a graduate of the Gem City Bvisiness College and is now successfully farming in Burton Township. He is married and has children named Lewis. Howard and Harold, twins, and Virgil. MoUie, the youngest of the family, is the wife of Albert Kuhn, of Burton Township, and they have a son, Loren.

Edward A. MoUenhauer was bom on the old homestead in Burton Township Febi-uary 24, 1872. He grew up there, attended the public schools, and remained at home assisting his father in the farm work to the age of twenty-one. Later he farmed for himself and established his own home by his man'iage in Gilmer To^\^lship to Lydia Theisen. She was born in tlmt township September 3, 187G, and was reared and educated there. Mr. and Mrs. MoUenhauer have one daughter, Daisy, born April 19, 1898. She graduated from the Quincy High - School with the class of 1916, spent one year in Carthage College, and finished a course in the Gem City Business College in 1917. For a time she was employed in the Gem City College, and is now a stenographer in the local office of the Standard Oil Company. She is also continuing her studies in music.

After his marriage Mr. MoUenhauer was a farmer in Camp Point Township. and in 1904 made his first purchase of land, 160 acres. It was an improved farm.

but since he took charge he has greatly advanced the impi'ovements and raised the efficiency and value of the farm many per cent. The farm is improved with a good ten-room house, stock and grain barns, and he himself built one of the barns in 1911. JMr. Mollenhauer has also bought several other farms, and af*-er improving them has sold them at a nice profit. In 1912 he left the farm and came to Quincy, where he owns a comfortable home at 2432 Broadway. He is still active in looking after his interests, and is also handling outside property for the State Street Bank of Quincy. He is a democrat, a member of the election board, and is also on the registration board, and was a school director in Gilmer Township for three terms. He and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Chui-eh. He is Sunday school superintendent and teacher and has been president of the City Sunday School Association.

George J. Flesner has spent his life quietly but with a record of real achievement and accomplishment as a prosperous and progressive farmer in Northeast Township, and is one of the veiy able and influential men of that section of Adams County.

He was born in the township on January 29, 1860. His father, John H. Flesner, was born in Germany, came to Adams County when a young man and secured forty acres in Northeast Township. Later he also owned a farm of 120 acres in Clayton Township. He died September 6, 1914, at the advanced age of eighty-eight. He was twice married. By his first wife he had children named Henry, John, Annie and George. He married for his second wife Adelina Heineke, who was born in Adams County. She became the mother of two daughters, Marie and Helena. John H. Flesner was a democrat in politics and a member of the Lutheran Church.

George J. Flesner grew np on his father's homestead farm, was educated in the local schools, and has been making his own way in the world for forty years or more. The results of his experience and hard work has substantial evidence in the farm of 240 acres he owns in Northeast Township. He devotes his time to general crops and livestock, and has done much to improve it with buildings and other facilities. Mr. Flesner is a democrat and a member of the Lutheran Church.

In 1883 he married Miss Kate Bruns, who was born in this county, daughter of Ehm Bruns, one of the early settlers. His death occurred ^lay 31, 1876, at the age of fifty-one years. Mr. and ^Irs. Flesner have five children: ilrs. Catherine Totsch, Mrs. Anna Aden, Ehmes Flesner, Mvs. ]\Iarie Gronewold and Lewis Flesner. All except the youngest are mai-ried and in homes of their own.

Daniel Sh.\nk. It would be appropriate to describe the career of this well known retired resident of Clayton as a life of steadfast faith in the rulings of an all wise providence, a high purpose and unremitting industry. The results achieved may well speak for themselves. One achievement alone, as the distributor or the man who put before the public the Missing Link apple, the creator being unknown, would give him a permanent place in the history of American horticulture.

Daniel Shank was born in Brown County, Illinois, six miles east of Clayton, September 10, 184.5. He is a son of William and Julia Emeline (MeCord) Shank. His father was born near New Salem, Virginia, and his mother in Tennessee. "William's family went to Ohio when he was six years old, and later moved to Indiana, where the ]\IcCord family had already settled. They were married in Johnson County, Indiana. The Shanks were of old Pennsylvania Dutch lineage while the McCords were Irish. Julia McCord's father was a typical Irishman. William Shank and wife were married in 1842, and the following September he came to Brown County, Illinois, driving over the roads and trails of that day accompanied by one child. He had two sistei's living in Illinois, and a brother Jacob came about the same time. Jacob is still living in Schuyler County. Both William and Jacob Shank served all through the Civil war, fighting side by side in Company E of the One Hundred and Nineteenth Illinois Infantry. AH these people first settled in Brown Count}'. The three sisters afterward came to Adanis County. Maria married Daniel Roberts and lived at Clayton from 1859, where they died in old age. Two of their grandchildren are their only descendants. Anna married John Lomax, and from Brown County the}' moved to Clayton during the '50s, and in 1859 went to LaClede, Missouri. The Lomax family were intimate with the family of Gen. John J. Pershing. Three of the Lomax sons are still at LaClede. Sarah married Abraham Stover and moved to Brown County, Illinois. They raised a large family now scattered over various places in Illinois and Kansas.

William Shank lived in Brown County until 1884, when he moved to Clayton, and was retired there until his death in 1906. He was a very religious man, and had the deep respect of a large community. He was in his eightyfifth year when he died. His wife, Julia Emeline, passed away in 1888, at the age of sixty-four. They were the parents of seven sons* and two daughters. John served all through the Civil war in Company B of the Fiftieth Illinois Infantry, and is still living at Mount Sterling. Illinois. The second in age is Daniel. James was at one time a farmer in Brown County but for a number of years has lived at Granby, Missouri. William Henry is a minister of the Baptist Church, served at one time as pastor at Pittsfield, Illinois, and is now connected with the church at Claremore, Oklahoma. Lydia, now occupying the old home of her father at Clayton, is the widow of D. M. Crowder, of Bethany, Illinois, who died in 1906. Sarah Emily was fir-st married to Jlitchell Alexander and is now the wife of Daniel F. Extnan, of Schuyler, Illinois. Jacob F. died at Claremore, Oklahoma, where his widow is still living. Charles Edwin is a gardener and florist at Clayton, Illinois. Stewart Thomas married Laura Curry, of Clayton, and died at Diamond, Missouri.

Mr. Daniel Shank grew up on the home farm in Brown County and made good use of his educational advantages, so that for one winter term he himself was a teacher. His early ambition was to become a nurseryman. His father was a skilled fruit grower, and had a more than ordinary knowledge of the science of grafting when that art was not so well known as it is today. His early duties required much handling of horses, and he early became an expert driver of horses and mules and oxen. In fact he mastered all branches of farm work. His father was about forty-three years of age when he went into the army, and the son was prevailed upon to run the home farm for three years during his absence.

While his father was in the army Daniel Shank on June 9, 1864, married Catherine Hazletine Judson Merritt, a neighbor girl of his own age. She died in 1885 in Brown County on the home farm. During those busy and vigorous years Mr. Shank cleared off about 400 acres of fine white oak land, converting the timber into railroad ties. lie bought considerable tracts of standing timber and also frequently the land itself. He possessed a true lumberman's skill at estimating how many ties a certain tract of stumpage would make. He frequently worked as many as twenty men in cutting and hewing ties. His parents were always much opposed to what they regarded as wholesale destruction of good timber. Out of these operations Mr. Shank secured about 310 acres of land and converted it into a farm. In 1881 on his farm he established his first nursery. The business grew so that he felt obliged to get better railroad facilities, and in 1888 he came to Clayton and bought twenty acres, one tract of eiglit acres and the otlier of twelve acres. He set this to smaller nursery stock. Later he paid $40 an aere for another twenty acres and in 1918 this was sold for .'(;266.66 an acre. The land had been set to an apple orchard, with berries l)etween the rows of trees. The berries were very productive in their time and the apple orchard is now a most valuable one. At the same time Mr. Shank was growing nursery stock, and in the course of years he had built up a business worth .$20,000 annually. He employed from eight to ten men the year around, from twenty to thirty during packing seasons, and in the height of the berry season there were from thirty to fifty pickers at work. He also varied this industry by growing vegetables, and engaged extensively in the canning industry. In 1892 he sold his nursery to his sons and the following five years he was in the furniture business. He then bought back an interest in the nursery, and gave most of his time to the canning feature of the business. He early learned that it was unprofitable to keep a given tract of land in successive nursery stock, since the laud required a rest of about two years after the young trees were removed. This interval he made profitable by the growing of tomatoes, and has had as high as forty acres in that crop and has contracted with neighboring growers for all they could produce.

A number of years ago a groeeryman named John Spangler at Rushville called Mr. Shank's attention to a seedling apple, and asked him to grow some of the trees. He made his first experiments in grafting from this seedling at Rushville in 1886. In 1888 he set a row of the trees, and when they came into bearing he discovered that he had one of the hardiest and most prolific apples known. John Spangler sold all these trees that he could grow for a number of years, and the apple is today the leader in sales from the Missing Link apple orchard. It has no equal as a cross polenizer, and is very superior as an excellent keeper. Mr. Shank has exhibited quantites of this apple when eighteen months old. He named it the "Missing Link" apple. It ha.s some resemblance to the Willow Twig and the Minckler, but its qualities are far superior to either. Some horticulturists have persisted in passing it a.s a Willow Twig, and yielded their prejudices only after being convinced of its great difference in individuality of tree and flower and in the remarkable keeping qualities of the fruit. It has required tenacity and a dogged determination on the part of Mr. Shank to give this peculiar apple its proper place in horticultural production, and convince the doubters of its merits. About 1914 Mr. Shank retired, turning his interests over to his sons, and still owns all his farms and orchards. The only public office Mr. Shank has ever held was a term as justice of the peace. He is a republican voter. He now enjoys the comforts of a good home at Clayton.

For his second wife he married in 1887 Amanda Jane Smith, of Brown County. By his first marriage there were eight children: Maggie Elizabeth, the oldest, "married Philip Alexander. They moved to one of her father's farms in Newton County, Missouri, where she died and where her husband pa.ssed away about five years later. Of their five children one son. Charles. is now a farmer near Camp Point in Adams County. Susan Emma, the second child of IMr. Shank, is the widow of Samuel Fenstermaker and lives at Jacksonville, Illinois. William 0. Shank is a graduate of the Rochester Theological Seminary, and as a Baptist minister served four years at Portland, Oregon, and six years at Winfield, Kansas, being called to the pulpit at Winfield without even a trial sermon. He was pastor of the Central Baptist Church at Quincy when he entered Young Men's Christian Association work in France, having the supervision of twelve cantonments. His wife lives in Quincy. Her maiden name was Ardella Hamilton and they have five children. Ellen Mabel Shank was married to Lewis Ulmer. and since 189.3 they have lived in Chicago, where Mr. Ulmer is an employe of the Chicaoro postoffice. George Albert Shank, born February 3, 1872, was a member of the nursery company until his death June 27, 1915. He married Hattie Byms, of Brown County, daughter of Dr. George Byrns. She is now Mrs. C. H. Nethercutt. George A. Shank left one son, Lyle Albert. John M. Shank, born June 9, 1873, died August 4, 1913. He was a third owner in the nursery. He married Josephine Cain, daughter of Dr. Milton Cain, of Lcwistown, Illinois. He left two children, Herbert Milton and ilargaret. Mrs. Josephine Shank still retains an interest in the nursery business. Her husband was an advanced member of the Masonic Order and at one time was president of the School Board of Clayton. Both have been active in the Christian Church. Henry Shank is now active successor to his father as manager of the nursery company. He married

Kuth Caiu, a sister of his brother John's wife, and they have two sons, Harold and Wallace. Louis C. Shank is also connected with the business. Louis C. married Mayme Omer, daughter of Alex Omer, of Clayton Township, and they have two children, Masine and Lewis Omer.

Mr. Shank by his present wife had two daughters, Allene ]\L and Laurel Edna. Allene is the wife of Ray M. Curry, a farmer two miles north of Clayton. They have two children, Dorothj' Edna and John Allen. Laurel E. is a graduate of the Clayton High School, attended Lombard University at Galesburg, and for the past four years has been a teacher in the Clayton schools.

Mr. Daniel Shank has been a member of the Baptist Church since he was ten years old and has been a teacher in the Sunday school since the age of sixteen. For thirty years he has taught the Men's IBible class, and still gives his time every Sunday to that work. For many years he has donated a gospel tithe of his income to church and philanthropy, and did that even when deeply in debt. He considers this to have been the key to his success in life. Mr. Shank is a close Bible student, and believes that the principles of the Christian religion are the only safe and consistent rule of life. "While he has never cared for the honors of public office, he has been deeply allied to public improvement, and again and again ha.s extended tinaneial and moral assistance to every undertaking for the general good.

Willis Cook was a successful farmer before he became an even more successful business man, and his interests today are still closely connected with the agricultural industry. Mr. Cook is associated with other men, especially Charles C. Lawless, at Paloma, where they do an extensive business as grain and stock dealers, cattle feeders and farmers.

The Cook family has been in Adams County more than seventy years. Various members have taken an active part in different communities, at Quincy, in Ellington and Burton townships and elsewhere. Willis Cook was born in Burton Township October 17, 187.5, a son of Reynard and Margaret (Powell) Cook. Reynard Cook was born at London, England, August 24, 1838. At the age of eisrht years he was brought to the United States by his parents, John and Ann (Reynard) Cook. His parents died in Ellington Township and were buried in the Woodland Cemetery. John Cook died suddenly from heart trouble. As a boy Reynard learned the trade of machinist at Quincy, and .just before the Civil war broke out he was living at Galena, Illinois. He rode from that Mississippi River town into Wisconsin and organized a company of volunteers to serve in an infantry regiment. He was commissioned captain and was with his command i;ntil discharged on account of sickness. After recovering he i-eturncd to the army and resumed his commission and rendered a gallant and faithful service until the close of hostilities. He was in the Mississippi River campaign at Island No. 10 and in a number of other engagements.

Soon after the war Captain Cook returned to Adams County, resumed his trade as a macliinist, and in Ellington Township married Miss Powell, who was reared there, daughter of John and Mary (Lewis) Powell. ]Mrs. Reynard Cook was born on the old Powell farm four miles northeast of Quincy and was eighteen when she married. After tive or six years of work at his trade in Quincy Reynard Cook in company with his brother James established a wagon shop. A little later both of them took farms in Burton Township, and Reynard Cook applied himself industriously to the business of farming for about twenty years. He was then made postmaster at the Soldiers' Home near Quincy and served about eight years in that office under Commandant Summerville until the latter 's death. He then lived retired at his old home at 1331 North Sixth Street until his death May 30, 1917. Though he lived a long and useful life, he had suffered much from illness dating back to the time of the Civil war. He kept his health through much outdoor activity and in his later years spent much of his time in outdoor pleasures, especially as a ti.sherman and hunter. He was a republican and an active worker in the party, served several terms as super- visor of Burton Township, and while living on the farm was nominated for county treasurer, but was defeated. He and his wife had a large family of children, nine of whom are still living. Their son Keynard died at the age of twenty-four of typhoid fever. He was in the West at the time and started to drive home, but was taken ill en route and came home on a train, dying soon afterward. Agnes is now Mrs. George Pearee, of Camp Point. Emily is Mrs. A. N. Pearee, of Camp Point. Walter 0. lives at Quincy and is connected with tlie International Harvester Company. Charles W. is also in the local office of the Harvester Company. The next in age is Willis. Robert was a railway engineer living at Boulder, Colorado, and was killed when his engine rolled down a steep mountain embankment. Cynthia May and ilaliel are both unmarried and living in Quincy. Edith is Mrs. Walter Schroeder, of Chicago. Ethel married Elmer Geisel, of ]Mendon.

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

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

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

Edward C. Wedlmann. The important things to know about men in any community is whether they are among those who did or did not. Among the doers in Adams County one whose record is exceptional is that of Edward C. Wellman, a farmer and fruit gi'ower seven miles southeast of Quincy in Melrose township.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mr. and Mrs. Fleer have two children : P. William Clarence, born in Quincy March 22, 1901, and has had a good education and is still at home. Florence was born in Quincy January 20, 1907, and is still attending school. They are members of St. James Lutheran Church and Mr. Fleer is a republican.

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

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

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

John E. Summers supplemented his training in the common schools by a course in the D. L. Mussellman's Business College at Quincy. After completing his education he took up the work which has proved his life career, farming and stock raising.

September 20, 1905, he married iliss Clara Elizabeth Raukohl. Three children have been bom to them, a son and two daughters, and the two living are Marian ^I. and Henry H. Marian is now in the third gi-ade of the public schools.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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